Vio Family Adventure

Sorry I've been MIA from the blog for a few days.  We had an amazing weekend and I kept myself away from the computer during it all!  Go me!  Friday evening the 4 of us joined our friends for a birthday dinner.  It was yummy and despite eating out, we did very well and made great choices (it really is quite the challange!)  Once home the girls went to the tub and bed while Daddy and I snuggle up and relaxed together.  Much deserved!  Saturday was a long day.  I woke up early to start off my day and then got Lexi up for gymnastics.  At 9am I dropped munchkin off at gym and went to do some shopping.  I had some things to pick up for my neices birthday party (snacks, drinks and such) as well as a super special birthday present for her.  Decided while I was out to get some stuff we needed for the house.  Ran home just in time to pick up Daddy and B and head back to the gym.  We had lunch and the girls switched roles (Brooke did her class and the 3 of us watched...well...Lexi actually was helper for the first 45min of Brookes class and then went to play with 2 of the girls on her team).  Once gym was done we headed out to get groceries from the whole shop and came home.  Alexis went to Nanas for a sleepover and we took Brooke out for a special evening. Once she was in Bed, B headed out with a few friends and bestie came over to keep me company while I worked feverishly on Katis special cake.  Check it out at the end of this post!  So Sunday was Katis big party and it was a total hit!  The kids had SO much fun!  We went over to Nanas after for pizza and present opening.  All in all it was a wonderful weekend.  I have SO many pictures to post and update with, I just need to find the time.


Katis Hannah Montana Electic Guitar cake.  Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Fudge swirl.  Topped with Vanilla buttercream icing.  All details are in icing other then the 6 tuning peices in grey, those are gum paste.

Last Thurs. to make it my first ever pic foodie blog :)

Breaky - Breakfast wraps (scrambled eggs, green and red peppers, fat free cheese, onions)

Snack - Apples and PB

Lunch - Veggie soup (homemade - carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, onion, cabbage, red potatoe, peas and sodium free epicure veggie stock).

Snack - plain yogart w/fruit

Dinner - Chicken Mexican bake made over (grilled chicken breasts topped with a spoonful of salsa, 1oz fat free cheese and a dropping of fat free sour cream) (rice sauteed with tomatos, onions and turkey bacon)

Snack - Fruit pops (another new staple in this house!  So easy to make, so good to eat!!!)

Breaky - Kids had cereal.  Yes...cereal! I had a boiled egg and fruit.

Snack - Apples.  Thats all they wanted.

Lunch - Hearty-full sandwiches and fruit.

Snack - Veggies and homemade dip.

Dinner - Chicken sausage stir fry. (chicken sausage, brown rice,  broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, snow peas, green beans and peppers).

Snack - Ice cream baby.  REAL ice cream.  Made by moi. :)  Thinking mixed berry. (raspberry, strawberry, blackberry and blueberry).


Its been a long and dreary day.  I may be able to get a pic post up and some updates. 

Hello there!  Sorry Ive been MIA the past few days.  We had a busy and wonderful weekend.  I'll be making a post about that after I complete this one.  I'm also going to be editing (I believe) Thursday's foodie post with some pictures.  I'll do a pic foodie post one day this week as well.
Onto the yummies.

*Today was the first day back to school for Lexi.  It was tough getting little miss out of bed this morning.  I anticipated this, so I made sure we had breaky already made last night and ready or her to go!  She also had the same snacks and such packed for school that we are having at home*

Breaky - Whole grain banana muffin (yea, I need to do this more often.  I love being able to control what goes INTO the muffins rather then the mix.  Plus, the smell of your house....ohhhh yum!)

Snack - Pita chips (homemade - pita cut triangles toasted, drizzled in Olive Oil) and hummus. 

Lunch -  Grilled chicken wrap (grilled chicken, lettuce, tomatoe, onion, shredded carrot, pepper sticks, whole wheat wrap)

Snack - Vegetable Flowers with Homemade Ranch Dip (I saw this and thought it was way too cute not to try!!! http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/lunch-ideas/healthy-snacks/vegetable-flowers-with-homemade-ranch-dip-685566/ )

Dinner - Cheddar Vegetable Tortilla

Snack - Fruit, Fruit and more Fruit.

I have been thinking about doing one picture blog post a week.  I will just have to decide if it will be a consistant day per week or if I will just randomly pick a day to do.  I'll let it play by ear and see what works best.  I like seeing the food people are eating, rather then just hearing about it!

Because I *know* there are some waiting for this everyday!  Meant to write this in the morning, but I was up extra early today for a jog and cleaning before B went to work and then spend a great morning with my little ladies.  The weather is beautiful, yet again.  It is 64 out today, better then they had origionally said!  I could take this weather for the next few weeks, its just amazing.  I have about 5 minutes to quickly type this out before we take Lex to her gym session.  March Break is a great time for their team.  They get 4 practices in the week and there are 4 birthday parties in the next 2 weeks.  They are just having a blast together this break!

Breaky - Cheese and pepper omelette

Snack - Famous fruit kabobs

Lunch - Mix plate as per recommended by my beauties (chicken, pepper slices, feta, cucumber, broccoli, carrots, celery w/pb)

Snack - Alexis is having a fruit and nut salad at gym and Brookie and I are going to have some sorbert.  YUM!

Dinner - Hearty Chicken wraps (ww wraps, grilled chicken breast, lettuce, peppers, FF cheese, "ranch", tomatoes, onions, cucumbers and shredded cabbage/carrots)

Snack - Parfaits (plain organic yogart, granola and nuts, fresh fruit [strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries])

*2 days till Disney on Ice - Princess Classics!!!*

Yes, I am a bit over zealous this week.  It is March Break here.  A week off school for my munchkins, vacations for my wee ones and lots of time together for me and my babies.  Yesterday we had a great day!!  The 3 of us slept in until 845.  We got up and made breaky together.  We spent the day outside (once the sun showed us her pretty face), making crafts for daddy, watching a disney movie and preparing a special dinner for daddy.  Today is a new day, and the sun has graced us with her presence right when we woke up.  The Munchkins and I woke up at 830.  We are about to make our fabulous breakfast together, but they werent quite ready for food, so here I am.  Im sure I will get a foodie post in everyday this week, so enjoy :)

Breaky - Plain yogart, granola and fruit

Snack -  Pineapple and yogart dip

Lunch - left over chicken, veggie, lentil and split pea soup

Snack - Smoothie pops (made those last night, they froze well and look gooooood!)

Dinner - Chicken burgers on greens and a garden spinach salad

Snack - 1/2 multi grain toast with Natural PB


**for some super great news!!  I just bought tickets for Friday nights performance of Disney Princess on Ice!!!!  The girls are soooooooooo excited!  Worth every penny!**

Breaky - Multigrain Toast with Natural PB

Snack - Tangerines and mixed nuts

Lunch - Cucumber greek salad (spinach mix greens, seeds, cucumbers, onion, g.pepper, light feta and Greek spice)

Snack - Veggies and hummus

Dinner - Chicken, veggie and lentil soup

Snack - Fruit smoothies.



I finally got a chance to read through the zillions of emails I signed up for this morning before my dentist appt.  There were some goodies in there.  I love the daily tips, and tip 11 really struck me, so I had to share.

Secret #11: Get cooking.

Some of my earliest memories are of being in the kitchen with my mother and grandparents. I was stirring and mixing before I could reach the countertop, and in high school, my "chore" was making dinner. I'm quite lucky that my family recognized the importance of home-cooked meals, and that is a habit I've carried into adulthood. Dinner is never fancy, rarely complicated, and often rushed--poached eggs over steamed spinach and whole-grain toast is a busy weeknight meal--but it's always healthy.
You don't need a culinary degree or hours each night to cook a healthful dinner.
 

I'll start off this bright and early morning with a foodie post! I got up at 530am this morning and went for a short jog. Yes, Im crazy. Yes, I enjoyed it. No, I didn't go far enough. It's a start and that is what I'm happy about. Hopefully as the weather continues to get warmer (54 and sunny today!) I will be able to go longer and longer either in the morning or at night. Time will tell. So since I was home by 630 and the kiddos were still off in dream world, I was able to get our foods ready for the day, since I slacked last night. I have the hardest KB session last night and by the time I got home at 930 I was BEAT! An orange in the belly and I was passed out on the couch!

So here we are, todays plan, Thurs. March. 11/10

Breaky - Rolled oats with a spoonful of brown sugar for the kiddos. Mama had an omelet. We all had a fruit and veg Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Snack - Trail Mix (peanuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, white and dark raisons, craisons)

Lunch - We are trying something new today. Grilled Chicken, Aged Cheddar and Chutney Sandwich.
http://www.besthealthmag.ca/recipe/grilled-chicken-aged-cheddar-chutney-sandwich

Snack - Apples and Natural PB

Dinner - Grilled Turkey Burgs and grilled veggies (zuchinni, asparagas, red/gree/yellow/orange peppers)

Snack - Veggies w/hummus

As promised, some updates and pics of my future beauty queens.

Foodie post to start off the week :)

Breaky - Veggie-full omelet, Fruit plus Veggie smoothie (mmmmmm. Ill have to post the recipes for these! SO good! 2 servings of fruits and veggies in each glass!)

Snack - Fruit Kabobs (todays had Strawberries, apple, banana, green and red seedless grapes, pineapple and melon)

Lunch - Mini chicken "pizzas"

Snack - Fresh veg and dip (broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, celery, carrots and zucchini in an epicure spice dip)

Dinner - Turkey and Veg chili

Snack - Strawberry/Banana sorbet.


I have a blog to post full of pics for our fabulous weekend, but the beautiful weather is calling and we must get outside for the afternoon! Be back later to update!

Many of us are aware of what we, as adults, need to eat and drink in a day in order to stay at our optimum health. A good question though is, what about our kids? How many of us know the amount of water a child should drink throughout the day? How many servings of veggies and fruit should they consume? And what about dairy? Are we feeding our kiddos too much, or too little? After plenty of research we are fairly confident that we are feeding our children just what they need to obtain optimum health, a fact that is very important to us.


Water
The standard recommendation of water intake for children is at least 6-8 glasses (1.5 - 2 litres) a day, drunk regularly throughout the day (at least 3-4 glasses while at school) ensuring that plenty of additional fluid is drunk during warm weather and/or when exercising. "When exercising" means before, during and after exercise and is not restricted to formal PE and games lessons, but is also applicable to active play (e.g. football in the playground or periods of running around).

Must note, this recommendation does not take into account the age of the child. A good rule of thumb is to aim for atleast 1/2 the child's weight in water. So, if you have a 30lb child, aim for 15oz of water (2 full large glasses) per day. If you have a 50lbs child, aim for 25oz (3-4 full large glasses) per day.


Food
I think some parents should have this tattooed on their hands so they see it all the time. I am so saddened by the amount children over eat, and even more so by the parents who place their children on a "diet" because of their (parents) insecurities or weight problems. It breaks my heart everyday and all I can hope for is that through proper education, these parents see the flaws in their ways, the extreme dangers they are placing on their children and the harm for their futures and possibly change their poor choices and habits.


For a 4-8yr old child

Grains - 4-5 servings per day (Servings example: 1 slice of WW bread, 1/2 cooked cereal (oatmeal), 1/2 rice or pasta, 1 cup cold cereal)

Veggies - 1 1/2 cups per day

Fruits - 1 - 1 1/2 cups per day

Dairy - 2 cups per day

Meat, Beans, Fish, Nuts - 3-4 servings per day (Servings example: 1oz meat, 1/4 cup cooked dry beans, 1 egg, 1 tbsp PB, 1/2 oz (small handfull) nuts or seeds)



What about our Little Little ones?

1-2 year olds:
6 servings of grains (one serving = 1/4 slice bread, 1/4 muffin, 2 crackers, 1/4 cup dry cereal, 1/4 cup hot cereal)
• 1 serving of a vitamin-C-rich fruit or veggie (one serving = 1/3 cup juice, 1/4 cup chopped fruit or veggie)
• 1 serving green or orange fruit or veggie for vitamin A (one serving = 1/4 to 1/3 cup juice, 1/4 cup chopped fruit/veggie)
• 3 or more servings of other fruits or vegetables, including potatoes (1 serving = 1/4 of a whole fruit/veggie, 1/4 cup chopped, raw or cooked)
• 3 servings of milk, yogurt or cheese (one serving = 1/2 cup milk/yogurt, 1/2 ounce cheese)
• 2 servings of protein (one serving = 1+ tablespoon chopped meat, fish or poultry, 1 egg)

2-3 year olds:

Grains - 3-5servings (1 slice of bread, 1 cup cereal, 1/2 cup rice/pasta)

Veggies - 1 - 1 1/2 cups

Fruits - 1 - 1 1/2 cups

Milk - 2 cups

Meat & Beans (fish) - 2-4 servings (1oz meat/fish, 1/4cup nuts/seeds, 1 egg)


**For more on all the benefits of a proper diet and the recommendations for specific ages, check out kidshealth.org. Amazing website with wonderful resources!**

Last tip of the day: A child aged 3-6yrs should get atleast 60 minutes of exercise per DAY! The older they get, the more they should get!!!

Goal: post a few days a week of our "meal plan". One awesome thing we figure out was to plan our meals and snacks ahead of time. We follow the 3 small meals and 3 small snacks a day regimen. There is no "diet" for my children. That's abuse. We feed our bodies and our minds.

So here we are. My first foodie blog post :)

Breaky: Fresh Berries and yogurt. (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries in plain yogurt with a touch of natural honey). Tall glass of milk.

Snack: Homemade trail mix (dried fruit mix, mixed nuts and seeds, raisins and craisins). Cool glass of water.

Lunch: The ever famous "mix plate". This is a definite fav for my girls! It consists of: green and red peppers, broccoli, cucumber, carrots, celery with natural PB, 1 serv. Cheese, and chicken bits (1 grilled chicken breast cut into bite size pieces. Makes enough for the 3 of us). Water topped with shaped ice.

Snack: Fruit smoothie. YUM!!! Today we are having:
Healthy Orange Smoothie
1 orange peeled and separated
¾ cup sliced peaches
1 cup orange yogurt
½ cup ice cubes
Blend in blender until smooth. Substitute peaches with different fruit such as banana if desired.

Dinner: "cheesy" chicken (Grilled chicken breasts smothered in organic fat free cream cheese of your choice. We use herb and garlic). Green beans and a salad (mixed peppers, lettuce, spinach, carrots, celery, onion, oil&vinegar). Water.

Dessert: Homemade sorbert. OHHHHHHH yeah! This one I am so proud of. Best buy I've made and never, ever going back to store bought "junk".


Tomorrow is a bit touch and go. We have so much going on. I am certain that breaky will be gluten free homemade waffles. Of course snack one will be a fruit. Dinner we are having stir fried veggies and whole grain rice. For the rest, we shall see. Its grocery day and my goal of the afternoon during naps are to finish our weeks meal plan.

Happy Weekend!!! :)

Chirp Chirp. Tweet Tweet. Who hears it? The sounds of the birds, snow melting, water running. Kids outside playing and laughing, cars being washed, windows being scrubbed, trips to the park. SPRING IS IN THE AIR!!!

Check out our local forcast for this weekend. I know it may not seem like much to some, but for us, this is huge. This is beautiful weather and something we will be taking full advantage of!
47-51 (10-12) this weekend and all next week :) Main thing, SUN. Sun, Sun and more Sun! Not a cloud in the sky. Sun shining, spring beaming down on us.

Any of you who suffer from the winter blues and are effected by the weather can feel the sudden rush of happy overwhelming you right now. So, what are your plans my dear fans, for this beautiful, sunny weekend?

Tonight (Friday) we are heading to the hockey game. Brian won tickets through our local radio station a few weeks back and tonight is the night. We are packing up the girls and going to enjoy a super fun evening together as a family while cheering for our team. Great news is, we will be able to enjoy quite a few more. My dad has 6 seasons tickets and a box for local games. We will be able to attend many more as he has offered them to us at our disposal. Thanks dad!!

Tomorrow morning, bright and early, mama will be getting up before the rest to head to kickboxing. I tore a groin muscle in training yesterday so I will be taking it easy, but the least I can do is go on the downlow and work out arms/abs and hopefully a bit of cardio. I know they will find a way for me to work! :) Right after I get home, the girls will be up and ready and we are heading to my neice Madisons first ever skating competition. YAY MADI!!! We are so very proud of her and ready to cheer for her on her big day! The competition ends by 11 and we will be spending the rest of the day outside (after a good lunch of course!). We may head up to beamer falls for a hike, ground depending. Not sure now muddy it will be. You will find us on our bikes, at the park, hiking and running around outside with our friends.

Sunday is another gorgeous day. Once gym finishes in the early afternoon and lunch is consumed we will be back outside with our friends enjoying a yummy BBQ and lots of playing. Maybe head to the field for a little tball game.

Hope you enjoy this beautiful weekend. Make lots of memories, have alot of fun and get your body moving!!

This post entry may seem a tad random and all over the place. My apologies ahead of time. I havn't had much time online this week and the spare time I do have, which seems to be a whopping 30-45min a day, is spent answering emails, researching for school work or updating recipes and exercises.

I currently subscribe to a wonderful health magazine. It is full of usefull information and tips. I ran by a couple neat things in this weeks edition that I wanted to share!

Quit Smoking - Improved Health......IN 1 DAY!
- within 20 minutes of your last cig, your BP and heartrate begin to drop. Within 12hours, toxic carbon monoxide in your blood decreases and oxygen levels increase, improving cell health and circulation. 2 months and your CO levels lower by 22%. Lung function improves in 2 weeks and within 5-10 years the risk of dying from respiratory disease is cut by 18% and 22% for lung cancer.

Eat More Fruits and Veggies - Improves Health.....IN 14 DAYS!
- Fruits and veggies are loaded with nutrients that may lower blood pressure by 3 points in jus 2 weeks!! That is the same amount that a medication can achieve. Reducing sodium(ew) intake as well to a maximum of 1500mg per day can shave another 5-3 points off your BP. Individuals who eat more then 5 servings of fruit/veggies a day had roughly 20% lower risk of coronary heart disease compared to people who ate fewer then 3 servings.
**Tip** Keep your favorite fruits visible such as in a bowl in your kitchen. If you see them, you will eat them. Also, make sure atleast HALF of your meal plates are filled with a vegetable at every meal!!

Exercise 60 minutes Every Week - Improves Health.....IN 90 DAYS!
Walking at a fast pace for 20minutes 3x per week for 3 months can improve your aerobic fitness by 12%. You can also lower our resting heartrate, the closer you are to 60, the healthier your heart is. (for the record, my resting heart rate is 68. We'll get there!). Acheive optimal health by exercising atleast 3 (THREE) times per week for 60 minute sessions of intensive (yes, HARD) exercise (such as resistant training, spinning, kickboxing or step areobics). Doing this for just 1 month and you can improve your aerobic fitness by 16%! This signifies heart health, muscle endurance, lower cholesterol and blood glucose levels. Also helps your weight, BMI and waist circumference. Most importantly, it greatly improves your energy levels.
**TIP** Choose an activity you enjoy! It can be walking, joging or even dancing. Aim for a minimum of 20-25 minutes a day.

Cut Saturated Fat - Improves Health.....IN 90-180 DAYS!
- It will help lower cholesteral, reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke but it also keeps your brain healthy. High Cholesteral raises your chance of Alzheimers disease by 57%!!!!! and dementia by 50%!!!!!
**TIP** Limit saturated fat to 7% of your daily calories (about 112 calories or 10-11g max) Eat red meat NO MORE then 2 times per week, switch to fat free and increase your fiber intake to 20-25g daily.



The Case for Natural Foods. There's one change EVERY woman should make this year: Choose real, whole foods ove processed, fake ones. We are what we eat. Our bodies are made from the nutrients we extract from foods without resembling those foods. The nutritional content of what we eat determines the composition of our cell membranes, bone marrow, blood and hormones. Eating well is part of the formula that can reduce our risk of ANY major chronic disease by 80%. Our bodies are only as clean as the food we feed them.
This is major to me. I decide what I feed my children, I make those choices for them. It is my job to teach them what foods are healthy and clean in contrast to those that are not. It is my job to show them WHY we make these food choices and teach them how to enjoy whole, rich, healthy foods. It is not my job to polute their bodies with "junk" but instead of feed and nurish their bodies with proper foods and nutrition.

Something to think about: "900,000 premature deaths last year alone were caused by smoking, poor eating habits and poor exercise habits".

Theres always that big timely question. Is dieting/living healthy 80% of the time enough? Should you "stress" about that other 20%, or just enjoy yourself. I would post my opinion and an answer, but many would disagree, judge or shake their heads. Instead, lets have proof and facts speak for themselves.

http://www.thatsfit.ca/2010/03/03/is-it-ok-to-eat-unhealthy-sometimes/?icid=maincanada-compaqdl2link3http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thatsfit.ca%2F2010%2F03%2F03%2Fis-it-ok-to-eat-unhealthy-sometimes%2F

That right there could be why "it doesn't work". Sit back and have a thought. Are you putting forth that 100%? If not, there is your answer on why "it isnt working". IT is working, YOU are not working. No more excuses, just go out there and do it. If you have time to lie up in a hospital bed, spend hours at the doctors every week due to medical conditions CAUSED by an unhealthy lifestyle, sit around on the computer or infront of the television then you have time to exercise and change your lifestyle. No excuses. You aren't taking anymore time away from your family then you already are by poor choices. A healthy lifestyle is a choice. A choice that will change your life and your families. Properly. No more excuses, just do it. If I can do it with working during the day, doing evening classes and raising a family, you can too. I exercise during the day with my children. We do activities together, play physical games and spend time together (hikes, walks, trips that involve movement, bike rides, public swimming, basketball court to play ball or the field to play soccer, snow shoeing in the snow or hiking through it). Every individual activity I have involved myself with is when my children are sleeping. Kickboxing after 730pm (815, 745, 830) or early Saturday morning while everyone is sleeping. I spend MORE time with my family now that we live this way. We all enjoy it and are building unforgettable memories together every single day. Just because we dont sit around on the floor doesn't mean we aren't together. Far from it. We are engaging ourselves, together, as a unit and as a team. We cook together, we do activities together. I am with my children from the moment they get up to the moment they go to sleep. Again, its all excuses. Ones that hurt my head and my heart for those they so negatively effect.


Another topic I found rather interesting. I have suffered from anxiety for years. It's a tough road, one that I have struggled with. It will always be apart of who I am, I have accepted that. There are techniques that work for me and some that don't. I know what I need to do on a daily basis to keep my anxiety at bay and use it to the best of my ability. Yes, Im actually saying that you can turn something like anxiety into a good thing. There is a positive about every situation, you just need to search for it and fight for it.
My doctor wanted me to try a different approach this time around. While slowly weaning off my meds, I was to continue, full force, this new lifestyle. He was very proud of the changes we were making as a family in regards to our activity level and diet. He noticed big change. He wanted to give it a go, full force, 110%. Let me tell you, he was right and whatever he saw was working. It is still something I have to live with everyday. Everyday is a new day and everyday I have to remember my techniques, strategies and goals. I am off medication and into my new lifestyle 100%. No holds barred.

http://www.thatsfit.ca/2010/03/02/how-exercise-can-lower-anxiety/