Denver Museum of Nature and Science

Along with my hopes of teaching the boys about the immediate world around them and the impact they have on it, I love it when we have to opportunity to go to places where they can learn about where they can from and that the world is a much bigger place than simply Longmont, CO.

Without going far I was able to introduce the boys to a fun day at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Of course on the way down we had to stop at the Krispy Kreme doughnut shop on 120th to discover the science of doughnut making. Connor thought it was fascinating, but refused to eat a doughnut and proclaimed that he does not like doughnuts and I should never buy him one again. Griffin on the other hand offered to eat Connor's doughnut for him.

Once we arrived at the museum Connor was in heaven. I think "A Night at the Museum" is one of his favorite movies so when we walked in and saw the skeleton of a giant dinosaur he thought it was the coolest place he has ever been (even though he has already been there 3 other times, he just doesn't remember).

We spent all of our time before the Imax movie in the Space Exhibit. It seemed to be primarily focused on the planet Mars. There were a lot of awesome interactive games and displays that the kids could try, including a sensory table for "feeling" the surface of Mars, a computer for guiding a remote control aircraft so the kids could take pictures of the surface of Mars, an infared camera that projected their image on a monitor, adn even a star making station. At one point Galileo came out and put on a show about experimenting and the importance of developing a theory and testing it out in reality. I think it was a little over the kids heads, but they enjoyed his humor.

After the Space Exhibit we moved on to the Imax theater to see "Ring of Fire." Yes the title did conjour up several different images for me, not the first being about volcanoes, but that it what the movie was about. The movie was created from research and footage taken over a 7 year period and focused on the volcanoes of the Pacific Rim. It was amazing to see and was an amazing reminder to me about how ustable our world is and how there is a whole different world living under the earth's crust. Pretty Cool!

After the Imax we lunched and head to the Nature Unleashed exhibit . "From earthquakes and volcanoes to hurricanes and tornadoes, nature's forces have shaped our dynamic planet. Throughout history, these catastrophic phenomena have affected people around the world. Now, uncover the causes of these natural disasters and find out how people cope and adapt in the aftermath." It was amazing to see items that were ruined as a result of Hurricane Katrina and the engineering dynamics of the buildings in San Francisco.

Our last stop was in the Prehistoric Exhibit that Connor was antsy to get to all day! They were amazed by the skeletons and all of the different eras and types of animals that lived long ago!

What a day it was at the museum, and we barely even saw 1/3 of it! It looks like we will be heading back to the museum again soon. Especially seeing as though the Expedition Health Exhibit starts in only 3 days! What a great day with the boys.......

Traditional Medicinals

I started feeling a little off this weekend, started taking my Aconite right away, but my throat has just started to get worse and worse. Unfortunately allergy season is starting and although I have never seen a Dr regarding my allergies, I have finally made the connection between this annual throat issue and burning eyes. It seems to have progressed and effect me not only in the Spring, but whenever there is an extreme temperature change (which can be pretty often here in CO)! By this point, I basically cannot speak at all above a whisper without falling into a hug coughing fit.

So what do I do for this throat issue? Well whenever my throat hurts, or is extremely dry for whatever reason, the first thing I reach for is the Traditional Medicinals Throat Coat tea. Not only does it taste delicious, but it also truly coats my throat and seems to moisten my dry scratchy throat that nothing seems to help. What else is great about this tea? I can buy it at the regular grocery store. I don't have to make a special visit anywhere, even though I go to the Vitamin Cottage regularly, it is great when the good ol' King Soopers has what I need!

In addition to the Throat Coat tea, I regularly used the Mother's Milk tea while nursing my boys and I really believe it help my milk supply stay adequate. Adequate, what am I talking about? I could have fed triplets!!

About Traditional Medicinals:

Get the Most Out of Your Tea
Herbal Tea CupThere are several grades of herbs used for tea, including pharmacopoeial (far´mă-kō-pē´ăl) grade, food grade and inferior grades. We use pharmacopoeial grade herbs, (the highest quality herbs available in commerce) and are the only tea company in the USA to designate this quality standard for our herbs. These herbs may cost more, but we think you’re worth it. Learn more about our use of pharmacopoeial grade herbs.

Passion, Knowledge, Commitment
The beauty and mystery of Nature continues to capture our imagination and reverence. For more than thirty years, we have been exploring the plant world, providing you with reliable teas and other herbal products formulated with our knowledge of Traditional Herbal Medicine and the most modern scientific methods of quality assurance.

Recognizing that all things are connected, we are guided by a deep respect for the earth, striving always to ensure that our actions reflect our commitment to the environment.

Living Like There is a Tomorrow
Sustainability and preservation for generations to come...

All things are interdependent; our health and well being rely on the health and well being of the planet. Good stewardship of the earth's precious natural resources, both human and natural, is a cornerstone of our business philosophy. We want to leave a legacy of preservation and sustainability for generations to come.

Whether it's our commitment to using organic herbs, off-setting our electricity use with solar and wind power, utilizing recycled paper in our packaging or seeking out partnerships for sustainable herb sources, we go to great lengths to bring you reliable herbal products.

EnviroKidz Organic Cereal

Healthy isn't so hard these days, especially when there are companies like Nature's Path out there. My boys absolutely LOVE EnviroKidz cereal. Connor and I were literally cut from the same cloth because he could eat 3 bowls of cereal for breakfast and then again for lunch and dinner. I remember my dad telling me that I was going to turn into a box of cereal. I even remember my college and graduate school days when I would have a nice bowl of cereal for dinner quite often, following my tuna sandwich and tomato soup lunch. I tend to get hooked on foods and eat them over and over and over again. Oh, and over again!!!

We have tried the Peanut Butter Panda Puffs, the house favorite, Koala Crisp, Gorilla Munch and Amazon Frosted Flake (Griffin's new favorite although he seems to need more variety as you never know what he will pick that day). The great thing about these cereals is that they are all gluten free, so I can eat them without guilt and I can keep down the amount of gluten the kids eat each day, they are vegetarian, contain no trans-fats and tend to only have about 7 or 8 grams of sugar. Not bad compared to the other sugar cereals out there masquerading as healthy. Healthy sugar cereals? This is why I worry about the American Heart Association giving their seal of approval of some cereals? What are t to be he requirements considered Heart Healthy? Obviously their standards are not very high, but I digress.

Another great thing about the EnviroKidz cereal is that every year 1% of EnviroKidz sales is donated to Endangered Species, Habitat Conservation adn Environmental Education for kids.

When reading Dr Sears 12 Tips on Choosing and Preparing Healthy Cereals for Your Family I realized that the Peanut Butter Panda Puffs are just under the recommended 4:1 ratio of Carbohydrates to Sugar, but it is only 1 gram of sugar over. Not too bad when you consider the high percentage of horrible kid cereals that are out there. Dr Sears goes on to say:

WHY CEREALS ARE GREAT FOR KIDS

Children love cereal and willingly eat a lot of it. Add to this the nutrition found in cereals and you'll agree that grains are great kid food. One cup of a nutritious cereal can supply as much as half the daily nutritional requirements for fifteen of the top vitamins and minerals. Add milk or yogurt to the cereal, and it boosts the nutritional content even higher. Plain and simple, cereal is a great way to get a lot of nutrition into a child at one sitting. In fact, a nutritious cereal is like a multi-vitamin/multi-mineral supplement in a tasty, attractive package.

In order to add a little extra to our cereal we use Silk Plain Soy Milk instead of regular cow's milk. Sometimes Connor wants cow's milk, but Griffin always goes for the Soy

For more information on the cereal controversary, check out the book Cereal Killer by Alan Watson, very interesting. As reviewed by Healthy Low-Carb Living Blog"

"So! How are the children doing? End of summer, 2008. A record number of American children are being diagnosed with asthma, obesity, diabetes, and bipolar disorder. Along with surging food and medical costs, Americans must come to grips with declining life expectancy – now 37th in the world.

In this explosive book, Alan Watson sheds new light on how corporate greed, government delusion, and slippery science are making our children sick and causing what the late Dr. Robert Atkins called “diabesity.”

Cereal Killer is a stinging indictment of the big cereal companies and drug industries who enjoy huge profits as Americans of all ages suffer from failed “low fat” federal nutrition guidelines and record levels of chronic disease.

After you read Cereal Killer, you will know:

Why obesity is epidemic.

Why diabetes is soaring.

Why cholesterol and saturated fat are not the cause of heart disease."

Pumpkin Muffins & Pineapple Angel Food Cake

I just wanted to pass along one of my favorite, and easiest, recipes in my recipe box! This recipe was given to me by my Sister-In-Law, but I think it may have originated from Weight Watchers because I have had people tell me that they had heard of it before. While the recipe is not gluten-free, it is easy, consists of only 3 ingredients (one of which is water), and kids absolutely LOVE it! I have made this recipe as muffins, cake, in a bundt pan, and in a bread pan. I make a large batch and freeze them so I can take them out one by one or make a large batch and take them into school for snack and the kids & teachers always love them. I am letting out my secret though, while I try to make people think I slave over the stove, if they read my blog they are going to know the truth.

Pumpkin Muffins:

Ingredients
1 Box of Carrot Cake
1 15 oz Can of Pumpkin Puree
8 oz of water

Directions:
Combine the powdered carrot cake mix (do not add any ingredients as stated on the cake box) and can of pumpkin puree. Mix together and gradually add the water until thoroughly mixed. Then you can choose your pan of choice and bake at 350 degrees for the appropriate time. Usually just follow the cake box recommendations for time.

That's it! How easy can you get?

This also reminds me of a recipe my Mom often makes

Pineapple Angel Food Cake.

Ingredients:
1 Box of Angel Food Cake
1 can of Crushed Pineapple, with juice

Combine the two ingredients and bake at 350 degrees until done, times will vary depending on what type of pan you use. My Mother typically bakes this in a 9 X 13 pan and tops each piece with a dollop of "whipped topping" as she always says!

Product Find - Hero Bags

As you can imagine, I receive several product review emails, group emails, and subscribe to about 10,000 blog. That's why I am so thankful Paul introduced me to Google Reader, an app to aggregate all of the blogs I enjoy reading. While receiving this volume of email and trying to stay up to date with such a large number of blogs can at times feel overwhelming, it also how I get info on some pretty cool products and articles that I otherwise would not have time to find, and would miss out on.

One of my more recent finds, as sent out by The Daily Stroll, was the Hero Bag! This adorable little store carries Grocery Bags, Gift Sets, Large Shopping Totes, Medium Shopping bags/Book Bags, Musette Messenger Bags, Mini Hero Tote, Two Bottle Wine Bags, and Lunch Bags. All of the bags are made from quality recycled cotton canvas and are designed to withstand years of use. In addition, all of the bags are manufactured in the USA by fair labor workers in a fair labor certified factory.

I am particularly drawn to the lunch bags and the wine tote. What a great gift within a gift. For only $14.95 it is a unique idea and the answer to my question on how to manage bringing wine and an appetizer to a party. Perfect!

I love that so many products made of organic materials are becoming affordable and mainstream. If I have the choice why wouldn't I choose organic? Check it out when you get a chance.

Crockpot Jambalaya

Last night I made the Crockpot Jambalaya recipe that I had on the schedule for last week. Of course with my birthday messing everything up over the last few weeks and my busy business meeting schedule I didn't focus much on cooking last week and still had some recipes left over. So tonight I finally got it together to prepare a real dinner for my family.

The recipe for the Jambalaya was very easy. Of course I did have to pre-cook the sausage, but I just stuck it in the oven for 20-30 minutes and tried to make it as easy as possible on myself. Everyone seemed to like the dinner, I thought it was pretty good myself. In order to make it edible for the boys I only used mild sausage, I didn't want it to be too spicy. I picked up Mulay's Mild Italian Sausage at the Vitamin cottage because it is All Natural and contains no nitrates, preservatives or artificial ingredients. Paul said that it was good and that he liked it. Not an exciting recommendation, but I think he was just happy that I didn't serve frozen pizza, soup or grilled cheese sandwiches. I think he figures he doesn't even care what type of dietary experiment I am on, as long as I am cooking decent meals. I am sure that in and of itself is a welcomed change!

Crockpot Jambalaya

The Ingredients:

--5 fully cooked sausages; 2 spicy and 3 not-so-spicy. I chose 3 garlic-artichoke turkey and 2 turkey Louisiana hotlinks. They were left over from when I made this.
--2 cups chicken broth
--1/2 cup white wine
--1 cup raw brown rice
--1 can (and juice) Itallian stewed tomatoes
--1/2 can drained and rinsed black beans
--1/2 chopped onion
--1/2 head chopped garlic
--3 chopped celery spears
--1 green pepper
--1 red pepper
--1 cup frozen white corn kernals
--2 cups cooked frozen shrimp

The Directions:

--pour the broth, wine and the uncooked brown rice into the bottom of your stoneware. Stir the rice in the liquid.
--cover with chopped vegetables, frozen corn and garlic
--put in the black beans
--add sausage
I promise it's enough liquid.
--cook on low for 8-10 hours, high for 6.
--an hour before eating, stir in frozen shrimp and turn to high.

Confessions

So you may be wondering how my gluten free diet is going. I have talked about it enough and made intricate dining plans each week, but guess what? It appears that I am a week day gluten free person. I am trying so hard, but my birthday was my downfall. No it wasn't cake, it was pizza. I thought I would have the will power to go to our favorite Pizza place and just have the Italian salad, but I just couldn't say no. I had to have a bite. Since then I have made healthy food choices and have eaten gluten free throughout the week, until the weekend. The good news however is that I am not binging on gluten based foods, I just don't say no. For instance on Sunday afternoon we went to Denver and had lunch at the Paramount Cafe. I ordered the Mediterranean salad and it was served with Pita bread slices. How could I not eat my hummus on Pita bread?

Well, it is what it is, I don't have the greatest self control. Are you wondering how I am feeling when I eat gluten. Aren't the side effects of eating gluten what inspired me to change my diet in the first place? Yes, of course it is. Well lets just say that I enjoyed several Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies on Saturday evening for dessert and I was asleep by 7:15pm and literally felt comatose throughout the night until I finally dragged myself out of bed around 5:45am. What? 11 hours of sleep in one night? I don't usually get 11 hours of sleep in 2 nights usually!

So, I am back on track with the aspiration of being gluten free, but most of all to have a healthy clean diet that helps me run to my maximum potential and with any luck lose some weight, but basic health is my main goal.

After all, I am only human. Right?