2010 - a year in review

I wanted to write a post about our family's most memorable moments of 2010, but how do you do that when 2010 marked your first child's first year of life? Every day is filled with all kinds of memories. There's just no way to really capture it all in a single blog post, but I'll try.

Best Family Moment
Let's get this one out of the way because it is the hardest.  There were so many great moments as a new family of three.  When I think of our best moments I think of our Christmastime stay in the hospital with newborn Jack, I think of Jack's first smile, and I think of the pure, giddy joy we felt when we watched Jack take his first steps.  But overall I think that my favorite moments came on our hiking trip at Mirror Lake.  Seeing Jack so excited about being out in nature - touching the rocks and the leaves and just being so inquisitive about everything really gave me a glimpse into what our great adventure with him will be as he grows up. 

Best Moment with Friends
When Jack was just a few weeks old, a huge group of our friends gathered for a long dinner at the now-defunct Claim Jumper restaurant.  We had such a fun time.  A close second place goes to our outing to the Milwaukee Public Museum with dinner at Buca's afterward. In 2011, I resolve that we will spend more time with our amazing friends.

Best Vacation
Our trip to California in May was amazing.  Dan's mother met Jack, her first and only grandbaby, for the first time - how can you top that?  And taking Jack to Knott's Berry Farm was just the icing on the cake.  It was a wonderful vacation.

Best Purchase
Our PT Cruiser, the replacement for my beautiful lost Mustang, was our best purchase.  Don't be fooled by this car - as a convertible it turns heads in the summer - at least as much as the Mustang did - and so far it handles the winter roads beautifully.  It was definitely a wise buy and I'm so grateful that we have it.


Best New Hobby/Interest
For me, obviously it is my newfound love of running.  I can't overstate how much running has changed my life, and I look forward to more races, more long runs, and hopefully a little more speed in the new year.


What I'm looking forward to most in 2011
Our family road trip in May is the biggest thing I'm excited about.  The planning is proving to be so much fun, if the trip itself is just as fun it will be a total winner.  On a personal level, I look forward to challenging myself by running a 10K this summer and a half marathon by fall.  

2010 was great, but I have a feeling that 2011 is going to be amazing.  Happy New Year everyone!

Clean Eating - What is it, and why do we need it? (And, a great coupon deal too!)

While clean eating is often categorized as a "diet" program, I think it is better defined as an eating lifestyle. Using the word "diet" implies that weight loss is the desired goal, and that just isn't necessarily true. Clean eating, generally, means choosing whole foods over processed. It means whole grains, lean proteins, fruits and vegetables. Savory, good foods that haven't been saturated with unhealthy chemicals and preservatives. Many people who follow clean eating guidelines like to have several small meals a day instead of three larger meals, although that's just one of many options for living a clean eating lifestyle.

So why do we need clean eating? If my post about high fructose corn syrup wasn't enough to get you reading your food labels, let me share this gem from Yahoo this morning. (Warning: if you are currently eating a fast food burger, or would really like to enjoy one in the near future, just do yourself a favor and skip this. I'm pretty sure this segment has put me off of fast food forever).

Although it was labeled a weight loss article, The Truth About Weight Gain is more like a food horror show. The most appalling part about it was the truth about fast food burgers.

Are you ready? Take a deep breath and steel your stomach. Straight from the article:

Most fast-food hamburger patties begin their voyage to your buns in the hands of a company called Beef Products. The company specializes in taking slaughterhouse trimmings—heads and hooves and the like—that are traditionally used only in pet food and cooking oil, and turning them into patties. The challenge is getting this byproduct meat clean enough for human consumption, as both E. coli and salmonella like to concentrate themselves in the fatty deposits.

The company has developed a process for killing beef-based pathogens by forcing the ground meat through pipes and exposing it to ammonia gas—the same chemical you might use to clean your bathroom. Not only has the USDA approved the process, but it's also allowed those who sell the beef to keep it hidden from their customers. At Beef Products’ behest, ammonia gas has been deemed a “processing agent” that need not be identified on nutrition labels. Never mind that if ammonia gets on your skin, it can cause severe burning, and if it gets in your eyes, it can blind you. Add to the gross-out factor the fact that after moving through this lengthy industrial process, a single beef patty can consist of cobbled-together pieces from different cows from all over the world—a practice that only increases the odds of contamination.

Remember my resolution about no fast food in 2011? Pretty sure that will be a breeze after reading that. Ladies and gentlemen, this has to be why, as a nation, we are so damn unhealthy, doesn't it?

Back to clean eating. Reading things like that just affirms to me my resolution to eat more whole foods, to scour our labels and to know where our food comes from. I owe that much to my family. Eating locally, shopping at farmers markets, gardening - all of these are basic steps towards clean eating. Healthy eating.

And now, my coupon for you. For a limited time, Tanga is offering Clean Eating magazine at a huge discount - a one year subscription for just $5.99, no strings attached. Just use the coupon code "EAT" at the checkout. (It initially shows up as a discounted price of $24.99 - entering the coupon code will reduce the price by $19.00).

Click here to go directly to the deal, while it lasts. As of this writing, Clean Eating is already in the "second chance" section of the website, so it won't be long before the deal is no longer available.

The Toddler and Eating Healthy

Have you heard? We now have a TODDLER. Not only did Jack decide to turn a whole year old last week, but he has decided that because now he's a big boy, he's going to walk.

For me, this means not it is time to revisit his diet.

I loved making his baby food back when purees were sufficient, and he still occasionally has some veggies and meats pureed because it seems to be a better way to introduce him to new flavors (we grownup types easily forget that our little ones are experiencing not just the tastes of new foods but also their textures for the first time). For the most part though, Jack has transitioned to eating what mom and dad eat, just in smaller bites. He needs more than just three meals a day though. He needs healthy snacks as well. We've bought him some of the toddler finger foods - organic fruit flavored cereal Os - but he needs more than that. And he deserves to eat food that comes from someplace other than a box on Target's shelf. He needs fruits and veggies and meats and grains.

Remember Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution - when the elementary school children couldn't recognize tomatoes or cauliflower, but they sure knew their McNuggets and ketchup? Horrifying. It was that show that inspired me to reevaluate what I eat on a daily basis.



And that show alone was enough reason for me to find some wholesome snacks for my little boy. In my searching, I found a fantastic website with some great nutritional recipes for toddler meals and snacks, including some that can be premade and frozen. Wholesome Toddler Foods is my new go-to site for cooking for Jack. I love some of their recipes - veggie pancakes, stuffed apples, stuffed pitas - all great ideas, reduced to toddler-sized portions.

Plus, I can't lie: I was sold at their definition of "toddler:"

A child who is between the age of 12 months and 48 months old (1 year and 4 years old)

One who loves to eat food one day and then dislikes that very same food the next day

One who requires a lot of clean laundry, tidying-up after, and lots of attention, and constant amusement and stimulation

One who is methodical and focused in his or her attempts at launching a spoonful of mashed potatoes as easily as a robotic arm assembles a car!

One who's innocence and wonder inspires us to do better

One who possesses an abundance of love to share

One who is unconditional in the giving, and delightful in the receiving of that love, along with showering hugs, kisses and smiles to those around him or her; a true joy and a true blessing to treasure

Yeah, I have a toddler. He's all of those things. And he's going to know his tomatoes from his carrots, and hopefully he'll like them all, because he deserves that.