the big kids Archives - Love Them Madly

I Loved My Birthday Madly

June 4, 2013

A few weeks ago, I bid on and won a yoga and picnic package at a charity auction for our local children’s museum. On Friday, I hosted a dozen friends for yoga in my backyard and a lovely lunch (catered by someone other than me) while the kids were at school. It was my 36th birthday — and one of my happiest mornings.

At 10:30 a.m., the yoga instructor arrived, as gentle and soothing as her expertise implies. We picked a flat shaded spot of my yard for class, then chatted about kids and friends and birthdays.

By 11 a.m., my kitchen was filled with the hugs and smiling faces of some wonderful friends, along with lots of lovely birthday cards, plants, flowers and some unauthorized gifts (no presents means NO presents, people). Strong sun (on a ninety degree day) had enveloped the recently shaded area of my yard, but my guests willingly set their mats out anyway.

I’ve been in my yard hundreds of times and most of these friends have spent considerable time there as well. Never have we paused to listen to the rustling of the leaves and make out the sounds of our kids at recess just down the hill. We definitely never lay in the wood chips beside the playscape, focusing on our breath.

See that teeny-weeny bit of shade over there??

I felt so fortunate to be surrounded by such flexible friends. I also felt that I should do yoga a little more often.

Me: Letting it all hang out. Thanks RA for taking the photos!

My preparations for this party included making some energy bites and mini yogurt parfaits, brushing the pollen off my deck furniture and getting dressed in exercise clothes. Oh, and I also bought two six-packs of fancy bottled water at Marshall’s. Thankfully, the donor of the yoga/picnic package went to some extraordinary effort. While we were enjoying our backyard yoga, she slipped into my kitchen and set up a small feast, complete with a personalized menu.

I promise to pay this forward someday, and make a lovely lunch just appear just like magic.

Never much of a barfly, I was grateful when the twenty-something days of meet-me-at-the-bar birthday celebrations gave way to going out for thirty-something birthday dinners with the girls. Now, I’m simply over the moon to be back on the party circuit. Last month, I attended a friend’s 40th, where local caterers taught a cooking class as they prepared a four course meal for us. AWESOME! Next week, I have another 40th birthday party to attend; this time, at a local farm and vineyard. HURRAH!

My kids have all sorts of parties to go to: bounce houses, video game trucks, science museums, nature centers, art studios, karate dojos, you name it.

I think it is our turn, ladies. Manicures, movies, photography lessons, paddle-boarding, ropes course, cheese-making. Whatever Groupon offers, let’s just book it and call it a birthday party.

“Oh, there are so many possibilities. I can’t wait to get started!!”

- Eric Carle, A House for Hermit Crab

Green and Clean Moms’ Night Out

March 8, 2013

I know that a “night out” should not generally have anything to do with green cleaning products — but it did this week for 20 mom in my town. My friend Stacey and I coordinate the moms’ night out activities for Moms & More, a West Hartford, CT based group of some 200 mothers. We’ve done movies and manicures, drinks and dinner, book club and cooking class. This week, we tried something new: a hands-on class to learn to make your own green cleaning products. Apparently, we weren’t the only ones with a skewed sense of the words “night out” as this event drew a bigger attendance than last month’s night out at our upscale taco/margarita bar. We were glad to see so many mamas (many of whom were pregnant) eager to green up their cleaning routines.

In keeping with our theme, I made a big batch of green fries and a healthy caesar salad, and Stacey made some energy bites that she either took home or were devoured before I had a chance to eat one. The two bottles of wine I left out went unopened; we had other concoctions in mind.

Our Natural Green Cleaning Guru

Armed with a million pinterest links, we nearly tried to teach the class ourselves. Gratefully, a local organic cleaning pro agreed to share her expertise and philosophy with our group.

Sheila (“Shal”) Gagne, owner of Maid Organic LLC in Bristol, Connecticut credits her mom for “instilling the importance of eating organic and all-natural foods as well as using all-natural products to promote a healthy body and a healthy home.” Raised with a brother with severe allergies, she eventually started an all natural cleaning business using only natural products. Shal tested nearly every “natural” cleaner on the market, and like many of us have found, discovered they either worked great and contained not-so-natural products or smelled great and didn’t work at all. Ultimately, Shal set up a cleaning products lab in her basement and created her own line of natural green home cleaners, available for purchase here (along with her signature green microfiber cloth).

Shal believes in very simple ingredients – the base of her cleaning sprays are distilled water, distilled vinegar and essential oils like lavender, peppermint and tea tree oil. As a mom to a one year old and as a professional house cleaner, Shal knows the importance of having safe and environmental friendly products that clean effectively, without tremendous scrubbing effort.

What We Made: Cleaning Products

We settled on four products to make with the group – an All Purpose Spray, an Disinfecting/Anti-Bacterial Cleaning Spray, a Facial Scrub and Lotion Bars. I set up stations for each with recipes, ingredients, supplies and of course, some cute stickers for our products.

First, the sprays:

The spray recipes are very simple. No heating, just measure and mix.

Shal provided us with the adorable two ounce spray bottles. It would be green to recycle other cleaning product spray bottles, but you really don’t want to taint your products with any chemical residue. Distilled water and vinegar are inexpensive ($1-$3 per gallon) and available at most markets. Distilled water (and vinegar) is key because the distillation process removes impurities. The essentials oils (available at health food stores and online) run between $12 and $25 for 2 ounces, but a small bottle will go a long way (our group of 20 DIYers hardly made a dent in these bottles) and will not spoil.

The Early Results

I’ve been using the products we made along with some of Shal’s cleaners she generously left behind for me (sooooo glad I hosted this event at my home) since our class. When my six year old came home from school Wednesday, before he even took off his jacket, he said “What have you been cooking? It smells SO good in here.” The house does smell awesome – clean and fresh, not at all over-fragranced or perfumed. Ryan immediately hijacked my new products, insisted on washing all the windows downstairs and cleaning a cabinet in the bathroom. He used about half a bottle of window cleaner (spraying is so irresistible) and somehow spilled half the fruit and vegetable wash on the floor. I could still scream about it but I’m trying to focus on all the green cleaning enthusiasm here.

What We Made: The Beauty Products

Next, the facial scrub (also Shal’s recipe and the one she keeps in her shower for daily use). This one is a bit messier – honey, cornstarch, lemon, brown sugar, honey, heated up and then mixed with apple cider vinegar. I’ve been using it the last few days and I’m loving it. My skin feels good, clean and exfoliated and the scrub tastes pretty delicious too.

Do I look happy? I was deliriously happy with how the evening and our products turned out.

It was a good decision to hold this “party” when Scott was out of town. This doesn’t look much like a cleaning class, does it?

Last, the lotion bars I had read so much about here and here and here. This time of year, I’m always looking to soothe my own dry skin and my kids’ excema patches. Shall hadn’t tried this one, but approved the ingredients – organic beeswax, cocoa or shea butter and coconut oil.

With the right supplies, these bars are incredibly easy to make. I ordered beeswax pellets (“pastilles”) and chunks of cocoa butter instead of solid bars. This made measuring easy. We cooked ours on the stovetop in a covered glass container set in a pot of hot water set on medium heat. The oils melted within minutes (the beeswax took the longest) and were easy to transfer into muffin pans.

To use the lotion bars, just rub between your hands to warm and apply wherever needed. I worried it might be a bit greasy but it soaks right in and my skin feels healthy and soft. I even used a little on my face today and didn’t feel greasy or shiny at all. Crunchy, wholesome and thrifty, yes. A bit like Laura Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie, you betcha. But greasy, no.

Have a favorite green product or DIY tip — please share it below!

What Happens (When Dad Is) In Vegas…

March 5, 2013

Well, the truth is we don’t know what happens when Dad is in Vegas at a beer convention (yes, he calls that work).

I do know that we miss him and we’re grateful that he manages to fly cross-country, attend a bunch of (beer) meetings and make it back home in 50 hours.

I do know that it’s both easier (french toast for dinner) and harder (Mommy! Mommy!! Mommy!!!) without him around.

I do know that I enjoy a certain independence and freedom being the only grown-up around. I might act like I call the shots all the time, but I do defer often to my husband’s good sense. Without him, I do things like painting in a 30 degree garage while also cooking breakfast for dinner in the kitchen.

And this was AFTER I took my kids to Sunday’s opening of our new local Home Goods store. This may deem me an unfit parent, but at least I know I’m not alone in my excitement as there was a theme park-like “thirty minutes from this point” sign in the check-out line. We WI-WA-WO-d it (walk in, walk around, walk out), wistfully leaving behind a lovely 8 by 8 nonstick brownie pan to move on to Michael’s and the grocery store.

The kids were kindly enthusiastic about my choice of errands. On the way of out Home Goods, I did promise that our next stop had an excellent selection of C-A-N-D-Y. Noah looked at me with the biggest, most sparkly grin and whispered “Mickey Mouse????” (You know, like M-I-C-K-E-Y…)

Though we are on our own plenty, something about Dad being across the country always prompts me to make a few special memories with the kids. I mean the kind you can’t make at a very crowded Home Goods.

At bathtime (usually dad’s domain), I had the kids close their eyes as I got the tub ready.

They held hands and opened their eyes – one, two, three.

I’m not sure who had more fun. We took the glow stick lanterns apart (50 cents at Michaels) and put them back together, then made one giant lantern. The boys swam with glow worms and electric eels.

We played basketball in the tub, and eventually in the bathroom sink.

The boys went to sleep with the lanterns glowing by their beds.

I’m counting on the glow lasting just about until Dad comes home tonight.

Sweet Start Your V-Day

February 13, 2013

We know Valentine’s Day is not really about the kids.

It’s fun to make decorations and eat candy while grumbling about how the holiday is so over-commercialized by greeting card companies, chocolatiers and jewelers.

But why not just give in and take a day or night to spoil your relationship a bit? It’s not a terrible idea.

Bedtime last night was interrupted by the arrival of a dozen of the World’s Tallest Roses in a giant vase . They are beautiful and amazingly hilariously taller than my kids (pics to come) and I do feel deliciously spoiled (and okay, kind of excited to see what we can make with the four foot long box they came in).

So, for Valentine’s Day, here’s my advice: start the day with a sweet treat for everyone, then consider the kids DONE and move on to taking care of your true Valentine.

These cinnamon rolls are not exactly healthy, but they are a lightened up version of the usual and they are miniature enough that you can’t do too much damage as long as you stop after a few.

My three year old loves making these – it’s a totally kid-proof recipe.

Pretty instantly delicious, though the wait for something so yummy is never easy.

Mini Cinnamon Buns

Recipe from Iowa Girl Eats

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients (16 minis)

1 8-ounce Tube Refrigerated Crescent Roll Dough
Butter (1-2 TBSP)
Cinnamon
Brown Sugar
1 TBSP Skim Milk
3/4 cup Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Maple Syrup

Instructions

Preheat oven according to dough package directions. Spread out half the dough (4 triangles) on a cutting board and pinch all the seams together. Flip over and pinch the seams on the other side.

Smooth the seams and roll the dough with a rolling pin. Brush the dough with half the butter, and sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar. Roll into a log and cut into 8 pieces.

Place mini cinnamon rolls into a mini muffin tin coated with butter or cooking spray. Repeat steps 1 and 2 with the other half of the crescent roll dough. Bake according to package directions.

Mix maple syrup and milk in a bowl. Add in powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached. You can also add a bit of strawberry jelly to tint the frosting pink.

Drizzle over warm cinnamon rolls.

Let There Be Junk

January 8, 2013

It was a weekend of working my way through our kitchen, toy room and dining room.

I’ve got plenty of clutter to tackle this fresh new year.

And so do my kids.

Exhibit A: Ryan’s junk drawer in our kitchen.

It looks like one of those I Spy pages.

Can you find mardi gras beads and ten deli ticket numbers?

A chapstick, a toothbrush and two fishing bobbers?

After watching me tackle two messy corners of our kitchen, Ryan was pumped and ready to organize his problem area.

I armed him with a few tools: a garbage can, a box to re-route things that belong elsewhere (play dough to the toy room, toothbrush to the bathroom drawer) and most crucial of all: our peacemaker, a long hanging jewelry organizer. Ours are bright and decorative; if Marshall’s wasn’t around the corner, I might have ordered the white ones from The Container Store.

Each of my boys have one in their closets, and they are free to fill it to the brim with loot bag trinkets, little toys and figures.

This is Ryan’s treasure keeper, post-junk drawer clean out.

jewelry organizer

Often the entire contents will be on the floor after a friend visits, which I know means Ryan has explained every shark tooth, gymnastics medal, duct tape creation and most importantly, his Avengers Superhero membership card (which is a really rare item belonging to only lucky children who happened to have been at the Disney store for Avengers training class). Its an easy clean up though, and one Ryan really doesn’t mind.

I call it the peacemaker, because it lets the kids keep all that, well, junk they collect, and have some control over it. Being a kid is hard sometimes: you have no money to buy the things you covet, your parents more or less dress you (by buying your clothes), tell you what to eat, limit wonderful things like candy and television and video games. Its challenging but respectful to allow them to be in charge of the plastic bits they pick up from birthday parties and fairs. They may look meaningless, but Ryan associates each with a sweet little memory.

For sure, I don’t need to weigh in on something that takes up this much room in the closet.

hanging

At some point, the treasure keepers will fill up and the kids will have to make hard choices. Until then, I say let them enjoy every charity rubber bracelet, bubble wand necklace and fake piece of money that comes their way. Even one particular clutter-free friend, who typically tosses her kids’ junk before it even gets in her house, found this idea so irresistible, that she included a treasure keeper in her kids’ Christmas stockings this year.

Ryan shooed me away from his junk drawer clean-up a few times, wanting to be the sole decision maker on what stays and goes. He did throw a few broken toys away and even donated some trinkets to his brother, who worked beside him, continually asking for “a few more things” to fill his keeper.

I was pretty impressed with my three year old’s organization.

Little figures went together. Bracelets, nearby, but separate from a ring and some necklaces.

noah's guys

A few coins in this pocket. And some personalized “Noah” things together, way at that bottom.

noah's organizing method

Ryan is terribly proud of his cleaned-up drawer. I am terribly proud that I taught my six year old the very essential skill of cleaning out a junk drawer. By the way, that is not a real finger in the velvet lined box. That clever piece of plastic actually is a bubble wand from his best buddy’s Halloween party.

The Girl From Ipanema

July 12, 2012

Re-entry is delicious. And challenging.

I love the endless cuddles and hearing stories of the kids’ week with their grandparents and cousins – the fish they caught, the parade at the circus, going to sleep at 10 PM.

And then there’s the rest of the first days at home – lots of laundry, a messy house, and all of us, very tired. As desperate as I was to see the boys after 8 days in Brazil, there are moments when I really wonder where my hotel concierge went. Like when I am cleaning up a pee-pee accident at the diner. Digging crumbs and raisins out of carseats. Begging my almost three year old to take a nap.

It’s a good thing my vacation pictures can still whisk me away. For a few days, I am the girl from Ipanema.

Well, first, I’m the girl from Búzios, a laid back beach town two hours north of Rio De Janeiro. We spent a few days in a relaxed boutique hotel, Casas Brancas. This was our view from our front door.

And from our room.

Buzios is known as the Saint Tropez of Brazil, made famous by visits from Brigitte Bardot in the 1960s. We toured the bits of paradise tucked into the coastline with friends from college, including the groom whose wedding we came to Brazil for and his family.

There was plenty of seaside color:

Next, onto Rio. A bit more bustling, but the vistas continued to impress.

This is the famous landmark statue of Christ, visible from almost anywhere in Rio, day or night.

It’s a lot of Cristo for a Jewish girl. But it started to feel like home.

A major highlight was exploring and dining at Aprazivel, a rustic chic restaurant in the hills of Santa Theresa, overlooking the city.

This is our stretch of Praia Ipanema, viewed from our hotel balcony and rooftop. The black and white sidewalk stretches for miles.

Early morning soccer.

And a bit later in the day.

Sunset at the rock that separates Ipanema Beach and Copacabana.

I’ll take you inside the Rio wedding tomorrow. You can expect a major cameo from Missoni. And I do not mean goods from the Target collection.

We’re Baaaaack!

July 10, 2012

If you didn’t know I left the country last week, then I effectively honored my husband’s internet security and privacy concerns. Sensibly, he prefers that I don’t announce that we are away from our house (or our kids).

So now I can tell you: we spent a week’s vacation in Brazil, kid-free and just returned yesterday. The trip included QT with my husband’s college friends (our friends, really, since we’ve been together since high school), a gorgeously-styled wedding in Rio and lots of beaches, along with unusual sightings – both natural and unnatural – on the beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana.

I’ll share our trip with you later this week. Today, I’m still savoring the reunion with my kids. Nine days away was a bit too long – I simply could not wait to get my hands on them.

While we were gone, the boys were entertained (an understatement, really!!!) by a host of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. The kids didn’t miss a beat (or us, it seems) amid swimming, boating, fishing, fireworks, BBQs, s’mores, golf lessons and more. Both boys look older, bigger and tanner to me, more independent, more brilliant and even funnier than I remember.

The boys don’t have favorite blankets or loveys (except my arm!), so I left them little notes for each of the days we were away, to add a little fun to our separation and help them track our trip and homecoming.

I picked up these library card type envelopes at our local teacher-supply store, The Chalkboard, and slipped index cards in each with a note and some little drugstore gifts I picked up for the kids. For Noah, I stenciled the number of each day; for Ryan, I spelled out each number. The days happened to coordinate with the dates of our trip; otherwise, I might have done a countdown.

If this sounds scary-organized and uber-prepared, think again: I wrote the notes the day before my flight while waiting at the doctor’s office for a check-up and then picked up the drugstore gifts while waiting for the prescription for my sore throat. I had a vision for what I wanted to leave, so actually putting it together didn’t take long at all:

Day 1: A note, plus some stickers.

Day 2: A Brazilian Putomayo CD for kids, instructions to dance like crazy and this great Brazil for Kids booklet I found on Brazil’s tourism website. Ryan told me they didn’t read the booklet, though he reported a pretty fun dance party with his cousins.

Day 3: Go Fish card game for Noah, Crazy 8s for Ryan.

Day 4 & July 4th: Inspired by an adorable decoder I saw on the blog All for The Boys by Ambrosia Creative, I “coded” the day’s notes by writing a message in blue crayon and then scribbling all over it with red crayon. I rigged a decoder by coloring the clear plastic top of a see-through gift box with red permanent marker (you can do the same with a tupperware lid or even a return envelope with a window). Placing the coded note in the decoder revealed the secret message: Make Trail Mix. For the 4th, I left white chocolate chips, dried blueberries and cranberries.

Day 5: Milk Straws and a little rhyme I knew would make them smile: Willoughby, Wallaby, Wilk, the elephant sat in my ____ (milk).

Day 6: A bag of Lifesaver gummies to share (which miraculously went unopened until yesterday when they shared it with me).

Day 7: A note and a toy (Blue Power Ranger, and Thomas the Train Bubble Blower).

Day 8: Puzzles by Dad (actually an illustration of one of the boys’ favorite bedtime stories – Ryan, Noah & Eddie the Eagle Go to The Candy Store.

Day 9: Another secret message to be decoded. When we spoke to the boys after touching down at JFK, Ryan asked me where the prize was for #9. He sounded a tad disappointed to hear it was us, which I think means the notes – and the week apart – were wildly successful.

I Am A Wish Granter

April 29, 2012

If you were in Times Square yesterday, you might have seen this video on the Thomson Reuter’s electronic billboard.

If you’ve already watched this video, you might already know what I have in common with Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Buddy Valastro, Jon Stewart, Nigel Barker and Tiffani Thiessen.

If you don’t know who those celebrities are or what I possibly have in common with them, you better watch this video.

Yesterday, April 29, was World Wish Day^®, a global celebration of wish granting, honoring Chris, the seven year old boy who inspired the founding of Make-A-Wish^®when his wish to become a police office was granted on April 29, 1980.

In the 32 years since, Make-A-Wish® has granted more than 280,000 wishes around the world, with a wish granted nearly every 23 minutes. Make-A-Wish® seeks to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy

I became a wish granter in college after hearing a wish child speak about her 1988 wish to meet and dance with Michael Jackson. Tiffany founded Student Wishmakers at Cornell in 1993 and in 2000, was the first wish child elected to the Make-A-Wish^® National Board of Directors. I remember hearing Tiffany say that she knew if she could spark an interest in Make A Wish® in a college student, she might “pique a lifelong commitment to the organization.” I’ve now been a wish granter for over 15 years in 3 states, and I can’t possibly imagine the cumulative commitment wish “kids” like Tiffany have sparked in donors and volunteers over the years.

In what I have long-considered the best volunteer opportunity in America, I feel lucky to have witnessed the power of a wish and the joy wishes brings to wish kids and their families – for Jessica who met Katy Perry this fall, for David who went to Superbowl XLVI, for Brianna who went to Disney — twice, actually, since her sister Alanna was eligible for a wish too. To hear the impact firsthand from a wish recipient, click here to meet Jamie and hear about her wish trip to Atlantis.

Jamie spoke with tremendous poise at Make-A-Wish® Connecticut’s Evening of Wishes Gala last weekend, sharing with us her desire to “pay” her wish “forward,” which she did LIVE as she introduced Chandler, a four-year old cancer patient she met while in the hospital for her own treatment.

Photo by Kat Loughery Photography

The lights dimmed and Tinker Bell flitted through the ballroom and introduced herself.

“I am Tinker Bell, the fairiest of all the fairies. And you are Chandler, the fairiest of all the Chandlers.”

Tink then guided the hundreds of Gala attendees to wave their wands (Make A Wish® Connecticut had left them at our seats) to grant Chandler’s wish to go to the happiest place on earth (Disney World). The room filled with blinking, waving wands, and blinking, crying eyes, as the evening’s guest Chef Robert Irvine of Restaurant Impossible escorted Chandler to the limo that would whisk her to the airport.

As if that wasn’t sweet enough, I then got to enjoy Chef Irvine’s dessert trio: spiced cotton candy, chocolate covered caramel and a caramel drizzled apple.

Make A Wish® changes lives. It certainly has inspired mine.

To learn how you can make wishes come true by donating (airline miles always needed) or volunteering, contact Make A Wish Connecticut or your local chapter.

Have You Been Fooducated?

April 17, 2012

A few weekends ago, my sisters were in town and with a lot of help cooking (and watching the kids), my kitchen churned out Mochi Dumplings, grilled chicken marinated in this sesame-ginger vinaigrette, Love U Madly’s PB&J crepes and Kale Confetti Salad. By Sunday evening when my little sister missed her train back to NYC and my older sister, niece and nephew were still hanging around, my refrigerator was bare. My sisters giggled, surprised, as I took two packages of Perdue Turkey Meatballs out of the freezer. I added the meatballs to Trader Giotto’s Three Cheese Pomodoro Pasta Sauce and added fusilli. I defrosted some green beans and sauteed them with some seasoning. I was slumming it but the naysayers marveled at the tasty processed meatballs and how fast I turned out a really yummy meal for 10.

Later, that night, I had to text my sisters,”DON’T EVER BUY THOSE MEATBALLS.”

Their teasing had pushed me to find out more about possibly the only processed meat I’ve served to company. I used one of my favorite iPhone apps, FOODUCATE (also available on the web and on Droid), to see if the turkey meatballs were as harmless as I’d always imagined after eating them a few times at my mother-in-law’s house (she’s a fabulous cook often called upon to feed the masses congregated at her lake house).

I used my phone’s camera to scan in the meatballs’ barcode (you can also type in its name or UPC code). In an instant, I got this report:

Here’s what Fooducate told me:

OVERALL GRADE: C (when you tap the grade, a pop-up tells you that products in this category (sausages and hotdogs – UGH! I thought turkey was something else entirely!!) score between a B- and a D.

CALORIES: 180 per serving (average for the category)

Below the grade, Fooducate gives the product’s highlights – good, shown by a check mark in a green circle (none here!), neutral, shown by an i for information, and bad, shown by an exclamation point in a red circle. For the meatballs, there are seven bits of information, which are abbreviated on the home screen, but tapping on the screen brings you to a few digestible (for your brain that is) sentences on each, which I’ll summarize below.

Salty! Has over 20% of the daily max. Enough said! The additional detail tells you how much sodium we should have in our diets and how most of us could cut back.
Contains MSG / Equivalent. Fooducate provides names other ingredients that may mimic MSG in providing flavoring and possibly causing allergies to those sensitive to MSG.
For dieters: FoodPoints value is 4. Here, the fewer points the better. The more familiar you are with the app, the more meaningful this becomes.
Heavily processed product. It’s worth giving you the whole blurb here from Fooducate: “When was the last time you prepared something with more than 35 ingredients in it? If you’ll take a look at the ingredient list you’ll discover many new words to add to your vocabulary. Many of theses ingredients are required to increase the shelf life of the product and improve the flavor that disappears when food is not fresh.”
Learn about corn syrup, found here.
Natural Flavorings added. By “natural,” the manufacturers don’t mean bee’s honey and beet coloring…it may be better than artificial flavoring, but it likely contains glutamates or animal products.
Learn about mechanically separated meat. SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU DON’T LIKE MOVIES LIKE FOOD, INC. and FORKS OVER KNIVES, STOP READING RIGHT NOW. Fooducate tells us: “Mechanically separated meat is manufactured by passing bones leftover after the initial cutting through a high pressure sieve. The resulting paste goes on to become the main ingredient in many a hot dog, bologna, chicken nuggets, pepperoni, salami, and jerky.”

Here I was naively thinking I was feeding my family lean turkey meat (albeit a little processed) and turns out I was pretty much feeding them hot dogs. I should point out that my 5 and a half year old has NEVER had an actual hot dog, though he’d had plenty of these meatballs before he turned vegetarian.

A click on the app allows you to see healthier alternatives (Trader Joe’s frozen turkey meatballs get a B-), though in this case, you can bet I’ll make my own meatballs from now on (Perdue ground turkey breast gets an A).

I’ve had Fooducate for a few months and I use it multiple times during every supermarket trip. I often get stumped in the cereal and bread aisles, trying to find a low-sugar cereal my kids will like, or a bread that is soft enough for lunchbox enjoyment but not loaded with soy fillers, oats/seeds that bug my kids or empty carbohydrates. The other day I spotted Kashi’s new Honey Sunshine Cereal in Whole Foods. The white box with cheerful yellow lettering was inviting. 20 grams Whole Grains! 5 grams fiber! Sounded terrifically healthy. We like Kashi’s Heart to Heart in our house, but sometimes it seems a bit too crunchy (so much harder than cheerios) for the morning.

I scanned in the UPC.

If you recognize my kitchen counter here, you're right. I brought it home, despite its so-so score.Here's what you learn from Fooducate:

It scores a B-, in the category of Cold Cereals ranging from A- to D+. This product fared decently, especially for me, as I was seeking something low-sugar to start my kids off with in the morning; the green check indicating “less than 1.5 tsp of sugar. Nice.” A little soy lecithin (soybean extraction that helps the ingredients stick together) and some natural flavors though. Guess we are better off with the Heart to Heart (or Kix or Cheerios) and maybe we will try the Cascadian Farms Honey Clusters next time.

Next up, yogurt. We eat a lot of Chobanis and Fages, all which score As and A-s, even the honey and fruit flavors. My kids are often tempted by the characters on the labels and the squeezers, like Trader Joe’s Squishers.

Verdict: A little more sugar, but not terrible for a snack. The first suggested alternative is actually another Trader Joe’s product, which I appreciate while in the TJ’s dairy case.

The Fooducate website asserts that it is not funded or influenced by food manufacturers, supplement companies, diets, or any sort of magic pill. The free version, however, does have some advertising and sponsored messages, though you can upgrade to an ad-free version for $3.99. In two months, I have received just two messages on the free app, one from Yoplait Trix (which scores a B) and a coupon from Larabar (B- for most flavors).

So far, I’ve found shopping with Fooducate to be a quick, helpful guide to resist really good marketing and making more nutritious choices. It certainly seems aligned with Clean Food eating. On the Fooducate FAQ, to the question “Why doesn’t any food get an A+, Fooducate writes, “If you grow it in your backyard or buy directly from a farmer, give yourself an A+.”

From the Fooducate Website:

Fooducate is a team of parents, dietitians, and techies. We realize that at the supermarket you have very little time to analyze food labels and extract the information that is important to you. We’d like to help you make better choices for you and your family.

You get to see the stuff manufacturers don’t want you to notice, such as: excessive sugar, tricky trans fats, additives and preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, controversial food colorings, confusing serving sizes and more.

Hitting the Reset Button

March 13, 2012

Does it get any better than this?

Take this sand dune, add five close friends, who live within five miles of each other and haven’t finished a single conversation with one another in five years…likely on account of the 11 young kids they raise between them.

Add absolutely NO agenda, except an hour for each of us with an extraordinarily talented massage therapist, armed with strong hands, orthopedic guidance and a lovely collection of life stories.

Add some awesome food & drink, including a local sandwich shop with serious flair (not to mention adorably cute owners).

This was a girls weekend of the very best kind. Two days, no kids, no laundry. Minimal planning (once the date was finally set amid business trips, bachelor parties, tennis matches, St. Patty’s day parades, etc.), traveling and cooking, although we learned that a pretty sweet margarita can emerge from dumping these three ingredients in a pitcher:

Despite our best intentions, there was no exercise. Except us exercising a weekend of freedom – decadently sharing stories and laughter, napping at leisure and learning more about each other than we ever could in the hushed whispers of toddler music classes, the chaos of preschool pick-ups and drop-offs and the distracted moments of playdates.

My friends have some adorable traditions with their kids: Carrie plays Go-Fish with her daughter over lunch every day and when she is away from her girls, she slips each of them a quarter to pocket and cherish until she comes home. Natalie rhymes excessively with her three, especially to help them remembers things, like their home address.

We love being moms. But we agree it is hard. We doubt ourselves endlessly. We feel guilty for not being as accomplished/relaxed/ disciplined/impulsive/creative/organized/tidy/put-together/environmentally-friendly/caffeine-free/WHATEVER as we imagine other mothers are, for not measuring up to those voices in our heads, which may or may not be the accurate expectations of our mothers/sisters/fathers/husbands.

Though we found we were hilariously different from each other in some ways, we ALL want to always have a clean kitchen counter ALL of the time AND also be game to drop everything, any time of the day, to lie on the floor and play legos with our kids. And some of us really hate playing legos. No matter what we choose, it seems we can’t fit it all in – that we often feel we are choosing a load of laundry over our kids, or kids over husbands, everything over ourselves. In feeling stretched-thin and worn, we sometimes get angry at our kids, when they are the farthest thing from the real problem. We hate yelling at our kids even more than we hate playing legos.

As if she was lounging with us over Ten Sandwiches, my sister Kim chimed in on a Saturday morning Facebook post, with this nugget from Sassy Radish (I don’t know who this is either, but I like giving credit): ”[I]f we had a friend who doubted us as much as we, at times, doubt ourselves, we wouldn’t even speak to that person… Who wants to be friends with someone who undermines and second-guesses her?”

I have long considered my sisters to be one of my life’s greatest blessings (mom and dad, you too…and of course, THEM). Thankfully, in my mommy life, I can add to the list the many friends I have who rarely doubt or judge me, who champion me against the voices in my head. Some of them never even read this blog, but still, I know, they believe in it a hundred percent.

One of us (NOT ME) had never been apart from her children overnight. In convincing her to join us (and threatening to kidnap her if she didn’t), we repeated a few philosophies you should tell your brain (or anyone else questioning you) when planning kid-free time:

We cannot teach kids how to take excellent care of themselves if we do not take excellent care of ourselves.
What better example of friendship can we model than by making time for our friends and our friendships.
This is good for everyone – obviously for the moms, but also good for the kids to feel independent, to know that other adults love them and can take care of them, that they can be safe and have fun (and even fall asleep) without their moms. And good for the husbands to take a turn at 48 hours alone with the kids.
It’s only hard until you walk out the door. The minute you’re gone, you’re wondering if you can extend your stay.

A few other details…

While we were gone, everyone at home survived. Go figure. Elizabeth marched in her St. Patrick’s Day parade without her mom at her side. One took a nap on the couch, one didn’t nap at all. Noah, the recent graduate of Nana Bonnie’s Esteemed Potty Training School did pee through three pairs of pants in ten minutes, though he did sleep through the night for the first time in a month. One dad made his kids a lovely lunch of grilled turkey burgers and green Thin Mint smoothies, another had a steak dinner awaiting his wife’s arrival home.

On the reading list: Still Alice (Lisa Genova), Talk Nerdy To Me (Vicki “The Only Thing Hotter Than Naughty Talk is Nerdy Talk” Lewis), and Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids (Bryan Caplan)… Reviews forthcoming if they are any good, not many pages turned this weekend.

On the screen: We watched half of The Help. It was a good half. Someday we will see the rest.

On the nightstands: My sister Kim has also taught me the importance of the weekend swag bag. I skipped the bags, but left a few indulgences for my guests: a fun magazine, Vitamin-Schtick chapstick, H20 and a jar filled with a favorite treat all dolled up with a fancy knob (jar tutorial coming tomorrow).

The weekend went way too quickly but we’ll do it again. How could we not?