My First 30 Day Challenge: Commitment

With an active toddler and new baby at home, I can not think of much I would really rather do when the kids are napping than to nap myself. However, staying active and healthy is at the top of my priority list as well so I have to put the work in. Our newest edition is 8 weeks old today <3 It took forever for me to get this posted, again trying to keep my priorities in order, so I am a week into my new beginning.

As I thought about how I wanted to begin my new regime, I wanted to focus on things I could do at home. Of course immediately I thought of all the stuff I could buy for the most effective at home work out. I got excited! New work out videos, kettle bells, resistance bands, some heavier free weights, this is going to be great.  Then I sat and though about how much I already had to work out with.

At some point we have all sat and watched that infomercial about the latest new work out video or product and purchased it with the best intentions.  You know what I'm talking about; Insanity, P90X, Hip Hop Abs, Zumba, Rockin Body, Xbox Kinect work outs, Wii Fit, the various Yoga videos.  Most if not all come with 30, 60 or 90 day plans to help shape you up.  How many of those have you completed?

So here is the first challenge. Don't spend anymore money. Pick something you already have at home and commit to their work out for 30 days. You may find that you love what you have or maybe you are looking for more of a challenge. You can move onto another work out you already have, increase intensity of what you are doing, or go get those weights you had your eye on. At least you would have earned it and have less of a chance of seeing your money laying around as you loose muscle tone.

I was cleared to do low intensity workouts.  I decided to begin with My Wii Fit Plus and Wii Active Personal Trainer.

For the first 30 days I will follow the work outs they have designed for me for my low intensity work out.  It tracks my work out days, rest days, calories, and time spent.  Best of all I don't need a lot of space to do it and it gives me a great work out in half and hour.  If I have more time throughout the day I'll add yoga in.  My favorite part of working out at home has been setting a great example for Marissa. She joins in or will eat her breakfast and cheer me on. 

" You can do it Mommy!" 

"Go Mommy, Go Mommy, Go Mommy!" 

and my favorite

" Mommy, I'm so proud of you."

That's all the motivation I could ever need.

Mission Accomplished! And then...

Last summer I put on a swim suit for the first time in two years. It was a goal I had set six 7 months prior and I achieved it in a two piece at that. I was proud of myself.  I just didn't count on achieving it AND being five months pregnant.  So here we go again. After a solid six months of not working out on purpose (being pregnant and having a toddler is a work out of its own) it's time to get back at it.

Why I exercise?

• I like to feel my best and it really helps boost my mood. 
• I feel sense of accomplishment after each work out.
• I want to be my best for myself and my family. Setting a good healthy example for my girls.
• I like to look good for myself.
• Give my boyfriend of 4 years, cohabitant of 4 years, fiance of 9 months, and husband of almost 4 years, and the father of my children a little extra reason to stick around :-) (Thank goodness they are all the same person! That would be some drama! )
• I LIKE TO EAT!

Here I am over the past few months.

Aug 15

Aug 24

Sept 5

Sept 14

Sept 19

Sept 28

Oct 4

Nov 7

Nov 15

Nov 20

Nov 28 DUE DATE!

Dec 1 

Dec 2

READY...SET...GO!

What I'm doing!

http://realworldmomconfessions.blogspot.com/2014/01/my-first-30-day-challenge-commitment.html

What's Cooking:Stuffed Shells

There is nothing like whipping up one of your childhood favorites.  My Mommy makes the best stuffed shells, with mozzarella, parmesan, ricotta and mascarpone. Having a husband that would be strict carnivore if I allowed, I had to add a little something :-)

All ingredients are straight from your local grocers isles and are low fat, but please do splurge on some quality ingredients, home made sauce and fresh herbs if you like. It will taste that much better :-)

Ingredients:

1 box Jumbo Shells

1 lb Ground Turkey

15 oz Ricotta Cheese

3 c Mozarella

24 oz of Spaghetti Sauce

1 egg

1/2 onion finely chopped

1 clove of garlic minced

2 cups fresh spinach chopped

1 tbsp Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

Oregano

Basil

Rosemary

Preheat Oven to 400

Bring a pot of water to boil and cook shells for nine minutes or as directed on box. Drain and let cool or rinse with cold water. (Very important since you will be handling these. Don't want to burn your hands)

While shells are boiling, add olive oil to hot pan and toss in onions and garlic. Stir fry for about two min and add Turkey and herbs (dry herbs pack a punch so go easy first, until its to your liking). Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook well until no longer pink.

In a medium bowl combine ricotta, mozzarella, turkey and spinach and egg. ( I initially forgot to take my spinach out...oops)

Fill each shell and place in a lightly oiled baking dish.

Top with sauce and remaining mozzarella cheese.

Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 min. 

With ingredients listed this makes about 34 shells at Approx 110 calories each.

We enjoyed it with a spinach salad :-)

I have made this a variety of ways over the years, like adding, mascarpone, mushrooms and red pepper flakes, have fun with it :-)

Hope you like it!

Sleep Is Precious

As I sat down in bed after changing, nursing and tucking my little one in next to me, I began thinking about they layout for dialog about my next subject, and then I realized the time.  Its Midnight!  And on that note, I'm going to bed before one of my boss's wakes up! Sleep is precious :-)

Cloth Diaper Chronicles: Diaper Prepping

When it came to prepping our diapers, I have to admit I was a bit thrown off.  I have to wash and dry that how many times before I use it?  Ummmm, that's not very efficient and nobody has time for that!  

Prefold Prep:  Keeping it simple

1. Boil your prefolds in a large pot a couple at a time for 20 min (set a timer). 

2. Wash on Hot. 

3. Line dry (May be stiff) Or use Dryer

4. Use on Baby :-)

Prefolds will shrink when washed

Bumgenius Prep:

1. Wash on Cold ( I through them in with our regular laundry)

2. Wash on Hot (through them in with pefolds that had already been washed twice)

3. Use on baby :-)

I am using All Free and Clear as our detergent. No laundry additives should be used.  Be sure not to launder your unbleached prefolds with all in ones until they have been boiled and washed or washed a few times.  The natural oils from the unbleached prefolds will cause your AIO not to absorb.

When you have a nice sunny day, give mother nature the opportunity to dry and sanitize your diapers. We can all use a little sunshine :-)

Hope this helps!

Food Made Fun: Guilt Free Frozen Treats

There are a couple of things we do not go without in our home and one of those things are fruit.  We always have fresh or frozen fruit on hand for snacking, tossing into our greek yogurt, or making a smoothie (we live on these).  But things got a little crazy, and I mean awesome crazy when I got a birthday present from my mom in the mail.

Have you heard of the Yonanas? You can use it to turn frozen fruit into the constancy of soft serve ice cream, so much so you really don't miss ice cream, seriously.

So what is it? I would say its a counter top combination blender/chopper, except you would never get results like this with those devices. It has tiny blades that rotate in a circle on the inside of the device to crush the fruit. The blade can not be accessed while the device is in use, making it safe for children to use with supervision.

Wondering how it works? You place froze fruit of your choice in the shoot, press down and wallah! Soft serve yummy fruit deliciousness!  To get the perfect consistency they recommend that you use a banana with each of your creations since it adds that real creaminess, but its not totally necessary.  Its also suggested to let your fruit thaw a little before using it (i'm not that patient). You can also microwave it for 10 seconds before processing it. Be sure not to overdue it though.

Clean up is a super easy. All detachable pieces can be thrown into the dish washer or very easily rinsed.  A good amount of fruit is left in the unit, so be sure to spoon all of that goodness into a bowl before being put to wash.

My favorites are banana, mango, and strawberry banana. Black berries and raspberries still leave behind quite a bit of seeds still, so the kiddies or picky adults may not love that.  I would highly recommend the Popsicle maker accessory that is offered with it as well if you dont already have some. They make the most awesome frozen fruit bars with what's left over.  It also comes with a little quick reference recipe booklet.

When to enjoy it? ANYTIME!! Its just fruit :-)

The only thing negative I can say about it is that it is noisy, but so is my blender :-)

I highly recommend the Yonanas for every household.

 Yonanas can be purchased online or locally at the following retailers.

Target

Bed Bath and Beyond

Walmart

Cloth Diaper Chronicles: How it all began

I always said when I had a little one that we would do cloth diapers. I made a very sad attempt with DD1 2011. We started out with G diapers, because they were cute, available at Babies R Us and I had done absolutely no research. Two covers, six inserts, and a few disposable liners later, I could not really tell you how I felt about it with my occasional Saturday morning use. DH was not going near them.
Fast forward to Dec 2013 with the arrival of DD2. Now a stay at home mom, tons of research under the belt, much less income and DD2 going through 14 disposables one day (FOURTEEN!!!), I knew I had to make a commitment and get DH on board.

We started with the most affordable option, prefolds and covers.  I chose a 12 pack of OzoCozy Chinese Prefolds in size 4x6x4, a five pack of Snappi diaper fasteners in size one and three Bububibi PUL one size covers, all available on Amazon.

Stock Photos:

With only twelve prefolds to rotate, we were going part time and using up our disposables too. At the end of the first week, I can honestly say, it was not bad at all. I actually enjoyed it and made a commitment to it. The prefolds absorbed well and the covers were not bad.  They are water proof which is great, but we did have a few leaks at the leg opening.  All stools stayed in place though :-) None of those baby blow outs to deal with.  While changing the snaps have come undone as I adjust the cover under her bottom, which can get a bit frustrating. Looking forward to trying some other covers. We also have some Ozo Cozy Birdseye Flat Unbleached diapers. We just received those so the verdict is still out, but I do love how thin they are. DD2 seems more comfortable in those with the cover than the prefolds.

Now to get DH on board.  Research and talking to other cloth diapering moms, I decided to try an All in One or AIO diaper. No stuffing, wrapping or pinning required and as easy to use as disposables. We went with Bumgenius Freetime AIO with snaps.  They are also one sized diapers, which saves a ton.  We purchased a two pack from Target online, with free shipping and an additional 5% off as a red card member.  After using these, I have to admit, I was in love with a cloth diaper! Super cute, compact, and I could tell DD2 was really comfortable in it. And best of all, no leaks overnight and DH used them!  We change DD2 every three hours or when she is up from a nap and the diaper does not even feel wet and her skin is dry.  It pulls moisture away from her so well.  Needless to say we went from two to ten Bumgenius Freetime AIO diapers in a week.

This may in fact be our first a last stop on a cloth AIO diaper.  I'd be willing to give another a chance if HIGHLY recommended, but this is going to be hard to beat.

Our diaper drawer :-)

Check out diaper prepping as well :-)

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