Busy busy bees!

Just wanted to pop in today and let everyone know we are doing great and keeping very busy! I'm not posting as much as I use to and want to, but I will get there! :)


The Embark studies are going great! My son was really reluctant to using a mouse at first, but he is doing just fine now. He's a little pro! What helped me to encourage him to learn how to use the mouse was to go to his favorite TV show websites. Most of the kid shows will have online games for them to play. This is how my son started learning the mouse. At first he wouldn't do his online lessons because he was frustrated with the mouse. Not anymore! We used the website for Peep and also the Disney Junior websites for his other favorite shows. IT WORKS! :)


With all that said, I'm still a firm believer in limiting technology for the kiddos this young. He is now 4 years old and gets about 1-2 hours of TV and Kindle time. I still sometimes feel this is a bit much especially after adding in the 15 min. Embark lessons. So we shall see how that goes. If need be I will cut back somewhere. The good thing is that he will still prefer playing outside or with his toys over the TV or the tablet.


I'm still working very hard at eating healthier. We have come a VERY long way in the last year. I read about 2-3 books a month just on nutrition and health. I also follow a few pages on Facebook that encourage nutrition. I also watch many videos on Youtube when I have the chance. For me this keeps my health and awareness to the foods I eat front and center. It keeps it in front of my face so I am constantly reminded to take care of myself. If not I will slip back into my old habits. For me this works. I encourage anyone who is looking to become more healthy to do at least one of these things. It really helps to keep it in the forefront. Here are a list of the newest books I've read on nutrition. Click here for other great books I have read and recommend. As always check your local library first before you buy! Free is always good! :)

Get Naked Fast

Simply Raw Kitchen

Longevity Now

I have about 6 more new books other than these, but these I have read front to cover and I can easily recommend. I'll add the rest as I go through them.


I hope this helps and encourages you to look more into what you and your family eats. It's a slow journey, but well worth it! Plant those seeds of knowledge now by reading a book!

My Library Run!

You can save so much money going to the library! I checked out about 8 books that valued over $100 and I got to read them for FREE! As stated in a previous post, I am on a healthier food journey and was going to the library to get some books. You can also read my Healthy Eating Series to see why I am changing my diet. Also besides all those fun facts in the series, I am mainly looking to boost my health and my immune system. I was recently diagnosed with Asthma at age 33 and RX meds are not working and have horrible side effects. I believe true health starts with a healthy diet. That all being said it's HARD to change your diet. At least for me it is. I've been living on processed foods, meats, and diary all of my life. So this is a hard change for me. I have a huge book of go-to recipes that we all love and that I can whip up easily, but most of them contain ingredients that lack true nutrition.  So it's back to the drawing board for me! New recipes are in order and new education on diet is also in order. So here are the books I have read and I will outline which are good and which ones to skip. My goal for healthier eating is cutting out processed foods and cutting my meat and dairy intake by 75% or more. My ultimate goal is to be a vegan, but I'm taking it slow! :)

First up is "The Kind Diet" by Alicia Silverstone.

 

This book is REALLY good! It is in line with all of my research on healthy eating. The best thing about this book is that she talks in a calm non-judgmental manner. Some books I have read in the past give you a feeling of "eat this way or die a slow horrible death". This book is not like that at all. She also gives you 3 options to start the diet. Flirt, Going Vegan, and Super Hero. So you do not feel the pressure to be "perfect" right from the start. That's awesome! The only downfall to this book is the Super Hero section does have a lot of hard to find ingredients.

 

Next is "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" by Mark Bittman

 

 

Okay people, this book is HUGE! I mean REALLY! There is no way I could go thru this entire book. There is so much information in here! This is one of those books that you are going to want to keep on hand for a good reference. The recipes looked pretty simple as well.

 

Next is "The Flexiterian Table" by Peter Berely.

 

 

This book is really good for those who are not aiming to become a vegetarian or vegan. For me this book had to many recipes that centered around animal products. I am not aiming to cut out all animal products at this time, but they are not going to be the center of my meals. I will only use them in extreme moderation. This book had to much of an emphasis on this for me. I feel others who are not worried about this will enjoy this book.
 

Next, "Deliciously G-Free" by Elizabeth Hasselback.

 

 

This is a great book for anyone who is gluten intolerant. I for one don't think I will be using this book. I was hoping for some recipes to use up some coconut flour I bought. This book is for those who are looking to strictly cut out gluten. It does use eggs and diary in a lot of the recipes which is the only reason I passed on this book. I did read thru some of it though and it is an easy read and the recipes did look tasty.

 

Next, "Eat To Live Cookbook" by Joel Fuhrman.

 

 

WOW! The BEST BOOK I have read since the 80-10-10 book!! I love this book so much that I want to buy a copy for everyone in my family! Very practical advice! I was thinking this was just going to be a cookbook, but the start of the book has TONS of important information. It explains why we need to eat this and why we need to stay away from that. Lots of research is shown to back up the claims and is also in line with a lot of books I've read for healing yourself with diet. It gently nudges you toward a more vegetarian diet. It is full of recipes with EASY TO FIND ingredients(hallelujah for that!).

 

Next, "Ani's Raw Food Kitchen" by Ani Phyo.

 

 

I love this book! Great information about eating raw foods. I do not ever plan to go fully raw (though I did enjoy 80-10-10 very much), but I do plan to include LOTS of raw foods into my diet. They are the most nutrient dense, cleansing, and healing foods that we have! Raw food recipes have intimidated me in the past, but these are super easy and also include EASY to find ingredients.

 

Next up is "Eating Well Comfort Foods Made Healthy" by Jessie Price.

 

 

Okay, I couldn't find some other books on my list to check out and came across this book. On a whim I checked it out. Not what I am looking for at all! Lots of animal centered recipes. Some of the recipes are high in calories and lack efficient amount of nutrients to meet my goals of clean eating. If you are not worried about that, then you might like this book. I would definatly check it out from your library first and skim thru it and be sure it is a fit for you and your family before purchasing.

 

Last is "The Conscious Cook" by Tal Ronnen.

 

 

GREAT BOOK! I love this book very much! Lots of great information and cooking tips for eating healthier. The recipes are YUMMY and easy to follow. My only warning with this book is TO READ your recipe thru and thru before starting it! Yes, you should do that with any book. True, but this book requires you to soak some of your ingredients over night. So you will need to plan ahead.

 

So that is it! That is my library round-up! The books I love the most I am buying so I have a hard copy in hand. Those books that are true winners for me are:

-The Kind Diet

-Eat to Live

-Ani's Raw Food Kitchen

-The Conscious Cook

 

Hope this helps to save some of you time and helps to point you in the right direction. :)

What I'm reading now?

I love a good book!! I have a kindle full of books at my fingertips. I honestly think it's the best invention ever! Okay, maybe not, but seriously I love it! If you have amazon prime you get TONS of free books. I think there are about 10-20 different free books a day! I still buy some though! ;)

So here are the books that I am reading now:

The 80-10-10 diet. This is a GREAT book for anyone who is looking to eat healthy. Although I never plan to be full 80-10-10, this is still a really great read. It has tons of details of how our bodies work, digest foods, absorb nutrients, and how we use those nutrients. VERY GOOD! It also is not one of those "eat this or die" type books. There are so many like that! This does not push you to follow the diet 100%, yet gently guides you on how to slowly incorporate healthier foods into your diet. Love that!

 

 

 

Next up is "Women Living Well". WOW!!! Just WOW!! I am having an extremely hard time putting this book down!!! This is a Christian based book, but I think anyone can really take away a lot from this book! This book is about how to find joy in homemaking. It hits on topics that we as homemakers come across almost daily and how to really find joy in it. It is like she is looking thru my windows at my house! LOL! She has a very casual friendly tone that I love. It's like sitting down with a good friend that UNDERSTANDS you and is there to motivate you along the way. LOVE THIS BOOK!



 

So there you go! That's what I'm reading! What are you reading now? What are some really good books that you can share with us? Please let me know in comments. I always love a good book! :)