FEBRUARY 2020 ROUNDUP
This doesn’t look the most appetizing but let me tell you- I ended up having to throw this away because I wouldn’t stop eating it!
I have been so good about avoiding sugar while pregnant but over V-Day 💗 wknd I wanted a little treat. I went to the store on V-Day on my way home & bought the stuff to make this… & then got home and saw Corey had bought me some chocolate covered strawberries! 🍓 Turns out I didn’t need this but I already had the stuff so I went ahead and made it.
This is an example of how I make “ better” choices. I could have looked up a recipe for a clean ingredient dessert but this was a last minute decision & it’s okay to not eat perfectly all the time. I never make anything like this so I picked out a few items knowing they weren’t the best but they were better than other items. I always buy organic when it’s available. Even when you’re eating processed foods it’s better to buy organic than not if it’s an option. Organic doesn’t mean it’s healthy by any means but eating organic protects you from chemicals like glyphosate, artificial dyes, artificial flavors and so forth.
I used PB gluten free Chex and they are SO good. I could eat these all the time so I will refrain from buying again or else that’s what I would do! These have corn syrup & natural flavors so I wouldn’t normally buy them. I found folic acid free/organic pretzels- yay! & organic popcorn & organic chocolate.
You could essentially make this with WHATEVER you want. I just melted the chocolate, poured it on top of everything & let it dry out.So easy & so good! Stressing out over being perfect 100% of the time isn’t healthy so if I’m going to eat something “bad” then I’ll let myself but also make small changes to make it slightly better.
But also as a side note- I felt SO terrible after eating this to be honest so in my opinion it’s not worth eating stuff like this all the time because my body was like nah girl. 🤢 Sugar is incredibly bad for you. It makes you sluggish & messes up your immune system. The processed foods & chemicals you’re exposed to in most treats also aren’t good for your body so enjoy every now and then but don’t make these things a normal occurrence!
I’ve been so busy so it took me a while to get through this book but I finally did so I want to give you some highlights! I definitely recommend this book to anyone- I would actually read it pre-pregnancy if you can. I have done a lot of research on birth already, even prior to reading this, so I sort of knew what types of things this book would cover but I learned a lot.
The first part of the book is all birth stories. I read some and then skipped to part 2. I watch tons of birth videos and listen to birth stories on podcasts so I got kind of bored reading them over and over in this format but they were all good! I will likely go back and read them later on but I was more interested in getting to part 2.
I’m going to go ahead and just list the things I found interesting. Per usual- this is NOT my own research. This is all from the book so I take no credit.
The Creator is not a careless mechanic. Your body is not a badly designed machine.
Unless we have seen it before we can barely imagine that something so relatively huge (a baby) can come out of a place so small yet it happens every single day.
In the Netherlands and Japan midwives attend most of the births. In the US only 10% attend all births- this # is growing though. The mindset in Japan is “ birth is natural. They are afraid of earthquakes but not of having babies without anesthesia”. One study showed women who give birth at home report childbirth pain as less than those who give birth at a hospital.
Scary birth gets high ratings on tv- where a lot of people see it and make that mental note about birth in their heads.
Frequent use of epidurals drives up the rate of c-sections, vacuum-extractor and forceps births. Epidurals can cause long terms backaches in some women. Sometimes forceps can cause injury to baby or mother.
Sphincter Law—just read the book to dive into this. Very informative but too much to type out!
If you need an easy dinner recipe this post is for you!
Every Sunday this is our dinner. I basically just refuse to cook anything hard on Sunday nights 🤷🏻♀️ so this meal is perfect and it provides leftovers!
Take organic chicken - we usually use 2 pounds- and put it in your crock pot. Cover it with a bottle of Tessemaes marinade. I love the lemon garlic the most but sometimes also use the balsamic or green goddess flavor. Add a little salt and pepper if you wish and cover and cook on high for 4 hours. When it’s done shred it up- that’s it!
I normally pair this with organic green beans in grass fed butter and sometimes the Trader Joe’s organic quinoa I found recently. Corey and I both love it!
The best part- leftovers! Make a salad for lunch the next day with whatever lettuce you like. I use organic spinach and romaine with a tiny bit of organic cheese and sunflower seeds. Use the leftover chicken on top and eat it cold! I’m normally not a huge fan of cold chicken but this is so good leftover. I use Tessemaes dressing- either ranch or avocado ranch- on top. So good! It’s always my favorite lunch of the week.
Tessemaes marinades are made with clean ingredients and are USDA certified organic, Whole 30 approved, gluten free, dairy free, sugar free and vegan (refer to each individual nutrition label though to make sure because I think some products of theirs do have sugar but I haven’t seen them in mine!) You can definitely make this in an instant pot or other ways as well- this is just how I make it! See next pictures for the finished product. 😋
And YES I have shared this recipe before but I thought it was worth re-sharing because it’s been almost a year since I shared it last.
The team that I got somewhat randomly put on in Young Living turned out to be such a Godsend for me. I bought my starter kit from a college friend whom I hadn’t spoken to in years. She hosted an introductory oils online class and I went to it. I read all her posts and I was intrigued so I bought my kit that night.
2.5 years later I can see how all of this was planned to put me in touch with some amazing Christian women who are such encouragers through everything in life- not just oil stuff. I was able to meet a girl who has prayed for me through our entire fertility journey and it has meant to much to me. All of this to say I lucked into a good team who teaches me all about YL products but more importantly, they are all just really solid women! My team leader has such a heart for serving others so she created these boxes for anyone to buy. I personally send them to new members on my team but I selfishly wanted one for myself so I bought one and now I can show you what’s inside!
I call this the “Modern House” box & here’s what you get-
1. A pretty card with all of the starter kit oils & what can be used for.
2. A frosted glass roller with MH on one side & Modern House on the other.
3. Roller bottle stickers with blends you can make to put in your roller as well as recipes on how to make each one.
4. My personal favorite- a Thieves glass cleaner bottle- so fresh & so clean!
5. A starter kit diffuser blend card.
All of the cards are printed on gorgeous paper with pretty pictures. The whole vibe of the box is clean and modern which I personally love! I wish I would have had this box when I first got my kit because it would have made it not quite so overwhelming. That’s why I like to send these out to new members now- I’ve been there! I know it can sometimes be confusing to get your kit and not know what to do- that’s what this is for.