Quick and Easy Meal Prep Idea

Today I am excited to announce that I am guest blogging over at The Holistic Mama. With the start of the school year this week, head on over and read my article on prepping your fridge for quick and easy meals and snacks. A great way to keep things healthy as we switch into the hectic schedules of homework and after school activities.

With Fear and Excitement

This picture was taken 3 years ago in October of 2009. It is a picture that stays with me always in the back of my mind. My 15th wedding anniversary. He took me back to the place of our honeymoon. It was a best of times, worst of times moment. You see my husband and I had spent the past two years recovering from the 13 year itch and we were at the peak of our marriage, life could not have been sweeter. Yet this trip also signified the moment my life would forever be changed. On this trip I would realize that something was not quiet right. I could not put my finger on it, but I remember specifically knowing that something was off on this trip. Two weeks later I would come down with a migraine that would last a year and a half  with out a break, and that was just the beginning of a long line of  problems, before I was able to reach the turning point. I some days wonder how I ever survived it all. An additional year and a half have passed. The healing journey has been just as difficult and the marriage was unable to survive it all. Then last week the phone call came. The one I've been expecting and dreading since the healing began. After three years of hard work, my hormone levels are finally coming down. My meds are being adjusted and we go back into more frequent doctor visits for monitoring. It's what I've been working on all this time. Yet, if I have to be honest, I go into this with fear. Life with Hashimoto's is never easy, even on the good days. Just when I think things are going well, I get reminded that I have the disease. It's not a day by day prospect, it's hour by hour, and just as I'm getting used to the rhythm it's time to ride the roller coaster again. I'm excited to have reached the point where putting this disease into remission becomes a real possibility, and yet I sit at the top of the hill with my heart doing flip-flops as this coaster gets ready to make that first dive. I've decided to meet fear head on this time and I'm looking forward to the journey. Sometimes you just have to jump out of your routine and see what the unknown has to offer. Wish me luck!

Time for Some Self Care

Half way through the summer semester of college I ran into a road block. To be honest, I was actually kind of expecting it. After over a year of steadily recovering my health, I had finally hit a plateau. I was still dealing with my Hashimoto's but from a much better place and I was ready to start taking my life back. I so I pushed myself to see what would happen. To be honest, I was having the time of my life. Then it happened. Brain fog, exhaustion, hand rashes, slow wound healing, and the list continues. The thing was that this time, none of my usual self care tricks were working. So as the semester ended I had to make a decision. The decision to take the fall semester off and dive into some serious self care in the hopes of coming out even stronger for the next round. First on my list was a little weekend get away. For me this means getting back to nature and so I headed off without my girls to the river.

This was a "solo" trip, just for me (with a few friends to hang back as a safety measure). The weekend was spent in the seat of a kayak. Just me and the river. It was just what I needed. To be honest, the first evening was spent at a local festival with live music and some amazing fireworks, a great way to begin. Then off to the river were I have spent countless summers and the memories of each bend came back to me just like riding a bike. This was the first time I had been out here alone and it was a great time for some self reflection. The realization that.....

"Tension is who you think you should be.
Relaxation is who you are." - Chinese Proverb

...hit pretty strong out there for me. You see, even though I'm pretty comfortable with my life these days, if I had to admit it, I've never truly excepted the Hashimoto's version of me. In my day to day life, I have expectations of myself, out there on the river I had none, and it felt good.

So I am home now, back to the real world, with two realizations. One, that it's time to be who I am, and two, I need to get out on the water more often. Which I plan to do this evening.

Time for Some Change

I've decided that it's time. Things have been slowly evolving for me over the last few months. Big changes in several areas of my life have lead me to make some big changes around here. So over the next few weeks don't be surprised to see a different view until I settle in on what I want to see here. If you have any suggestions on what you would like to see or not see please feel free to leave me a comment. Please bare with me until I get situated here.

And the Winner is....

And the winner in the Grocery Budget Toolbox is....
http://canadianbudgetbinder.com/
if you could contact me with your e-mail I can get this out to you. Thank you to everyone who participated in this giveaway and don't forget that for a few more days you can still receive a discount by using the code "health".

An E-book Review and Giveaway

In recent weeks I've had the opportunity to review this wonderful new e-book by Anne over at Quick and Easy, Cheap and Healthy. As single mom on a budget these days, I was beginning to struggle with maintaining our whole foods kitchen and looking for new ideas. This book was just what I needed to get back on track. It is packed full of resources for eating healthy while keeping within your budget. She covers budgeting, keeping a price book, sourcing healthy food, once a month shopping, price caps, coupons, do it yourself, along with gardening and preserving. There is also information on saving online and an extensive list of resources and printables to get you started. Along the way there are some exercises that help you focus in on finding what works for you. For example, setting your nutritional priorities. In the top seven areas of food what would be your priorities in terms of highest nutritional quality? Mine...

Produce - 1
Meat - 2
Fats - 3
Sweeteners - 4
Grains - 5
Dairy - 6
Everything Else - 7

As a family who eats a mostly plant based diet with meat as needed and a love of sweets, this allows me to see where I want to focus my food dollars.
There are even a few recipes for easy make at home items and ways to stretch the food you have.
From now through Monday I will be giving away a copy of The Grocery Budget Toolbox to one lucky reader. Head over and check out The Grocery Budget Toolbox and then leave me a comment on your favorite way to save. The winner will be chosen on Tuesday. Anne has also been nice enough to offer a 20% discount for the next week, just enter health as your discount code during checkout. If you purchase the book and become the lucky winner you will be refunded your purchase price. Good luck!

Sometimes You Just Have to Have a Little Faith

Recently I've been feeling restless. I'm in that place where dreams and reality are colliding and while things are exciting and wonderful these days, there is also a sense of the complete unknown going forward. I am a control freak and so this not a welcome place. As a sat thinking last week, the tune of this song came to me. It took me a week of humming in my head to get enough of the words together to even begin to look it up on  YouTube but it finally came to me tonight. After listening to it again after so much time, it instantly reminded me that sometimes I need to let go of my need to control everything and just go along for the ride. Sometime I just need to have a little faith, and so I thought I would share it with you.