Feeding your Baby: Workshop

Introducing solids to your baby is an exciting milestone for any parent. Along with the excitement come many questions, concerns and sometimes even wonder and worry. When should I start my baby on rice cereal? When should I venture to purees? Which purees do I start with? Should they be organic? Do they contain nitrates? Should I make my own or buy the jar kind? If I make my own how do I freeze portions? Gerber? Beechnut? PC Organics? When is it safe to give fish, chicken, meat or eggs? Feeding your baby soon becomes a world of stress and confusion when it should be an exciting time! This informative 3-hour interactive workshop eases the worry and stress and brings back the excitement of this fun milestone. This class will give you all the basics in creating easy, nutritious and delicious meals for your baby from 6 months to toddler.

Feeding your Baby Workshop includes:

• Professional lead by a Registered Holistic Nutritionist
• Nutrition and Your Child’s Immune System
• Eating Organic
• First-stage weaning and meal planner: Six months
• Second-stage weaning and meal planner: Seven to Eight months
• Third-stage meal planner: Nine to Twelve months • Last-stage: Toddlers
• List of local stores and markets to shop
• Shopping List
• Six-Twelve months meal planner, recipes, various samples and a full meal!
Menu:

• ABC Chicken Soup
• Fresh Fruit with Yogurt Dip
• Chicken and Apple Meatballs
• Creamy Avocado Dip
• Fresh Pressed Juice
• Apple Butter teething biscuits - all 100% Certified Organic

Price:

$95 – this 3 hour workshop includes detailed handouts, lecture, interactive demonstrations, Baby Cubes to get you started, various samples and a full meal for you and your baby!
- Space is limited to 4 couples (parent + baby)

Date/location:

My Home Kitchen Toronto, Ontario
Saturday September 11, 2010.
1 - 4pm

ABC Chicken Soup
My family's chicken soup recipe but with a toddler twist. You can add salt if you like, I don't. Nutritious, delicious and fun to eat!


Servings: 8 - Half Cup Servings
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 50 minutes

Ingredients:
2 medium carrots chopped
3 celery stalks chopped
1 whole roma tomato
1 medium skinless, boneless chicken breast
8 cups water
1/2 cup of Eden Organic Vegetable Alphabets
Directions:
Put the carrots, celery, tomato and chicken breast in a 4-quart saucepan.

Add water

Cover slightly with lid and heat to boiling over high heat.

Reduce heat to medium and let simmer for 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally(the longer you cook the more flavour)

Using tongs remove roma tomato (if there are some bits of tomato in the soup don't worry. Taking the peel out is the most important) and discard.

Also remove the chicken from saucepan to plate and cut into small pieces (easy for baby to eat)

Return chicken to saucepan, increase heat to high and bring soup to a boil.

Add ABC pasta to boiling soup and follow instructions on box.

Once pasta is tender, let soup cool and serve to your little one.

I make this much soup purposely so I can freeze portions.


Beans, Beans, the Magical Fruit....



the more you eat the more you toot!


I made a yummy bean salad today for lunch and naturally wanted to share the recipe and nutritional facts with my readers.





Nutritional benefits of beans


Beans are a water-soluble fiber which form gels that provide beneficial effects including:
* Slow stomach emptying which contributes to fullness and decreased appetite.
* This delayed stomach emptying slows the absorption of carbohydrates which reduces after-meal blood sugar spikes (this helps regulate blood sugar especially those who have diabetes)
* Binds to fatty acids
* Lowers LDL (bad)cholesterol

Beans are a complex carbohydrates (a.k.a.good carbs), which take longer for the body to digest keeping you fuller longer. Because of its complex chain form, your digestive enzymes have to work much harder to access the bonds to break the chain into individual sugars for absorption through the intestines. Because of that, the digestion of complex carbohydrates takes longer. The slow absorption of sugars provides you with a steady supply of energy and limits the amount of sugar converted into fat and stored.



Beans are a great alternative to animal-based protein and they sure measure up to a beef steak. A 50 g piece of beef steak provides 14.5 g of protein while 1 cup of red kidney beans provides 15.3 g of protein minus the saturated fat from the steak. Not bad for this magical fruit!

Beans provide 3.6 - 5.2 mg of iron per 1 cup. When iron is low, red blood cells can’t carry enough oxygen to the body’s tissues, causing fatigue.


Easy peasy Bean Salad




1/2 can romano beans strained and rinsed (or dried beans-rinsed, soaked overnight,picked through and bowled until tender)

1 small finely chopped sliced red onion

3 large red leaf lettuce; washed

1 cup thinly sliced radicchio

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste


Lay red leaf lettuce in single serving salad bowl.

Throw the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl and toss.

Place bean/radicchio mixture on lettuce and serve.
Easy peasy!


Wild Rose Facial Care Kit - Weleda


When I found out that Weleda would be sending me the Wild Rose Facial Care Kit for my very first product review I was excited and unsure all at the same time. Excited because it's the first product review I have ever done. Unsure because I am not a big fan of roses. I know, shocking! A woman who doesn't like roses. Well, not exactly. I do like roses. Fresh ones that is. I have never been a fan of lotions, soaps and perfumes that are rose scented. It reminds me of the overpowering cheap rose perfume that my great aunt wore (good thing she has no idea I have a blog, let alone what a blog is or the internet).

Finally yesterday I received my Wild Rose Facial Care Kit for review and couldn't wait to use it but again was nervous that it would smell of old lady. To my complete astonishment when I opened the cleansing lotion and took a whiff memories of rose shaped hand soaps that filled my aunt's bathroom didn't dance in my head. Surprisingly it smelled of sweet delicate rose petals. Without hesitation I cleansed, toned and applied the night cream. My problem with most toners is that they sting and than my ubber sensitive skin turns bright red. Weleda's facial toner feels like you are literally patting on dew from a rose petal. No sting, no nasty alcohol smell and no redness. The night cream is just as amazing. Rich (but not oily) and velvety just like a rose petal.

Morning time arrives (5:00 am this morning) and my face is feeling hydrated. I look in the mirror and my skin is looking pretty awesome (except for the big zit on my forehead. I hear Weleda's Calendula Diaper Care zaps zits). Usually my skin is super dry in the morning but this morning this doesn't seem to be the case. Could this be from using the products only once? So I cleanse, tone and this time use the moisture cream. It's much lighter than the night cream which is perfect for day use and it distributes nicely so you don't need a ton.



The Wild Rose Facial Care Kit from Weleda is fabulous! I'm a new-ish mom and am 28 years-old. Let's face it my skin doesn't look like it did two years ago pre-baby. As a nutritionist I know what foods nourish my body from the inside-out specifically those who promote healthy skin. Unfortunately nutrition alone is not enough to feed your skin. You need high quality natural skin care products to feed your skin from the outside-in. I have no doubt that my readers would benefit from the Wild Rose Facial Care line. Try it! You'll love it!

Eco-points for Weleda

  • Weleda is 100% Certified Natural Skin Care
  • Their packaging is 100% recycled paper made with certified renewable energy
  • The paper they print on is 100% post-consumer fsc-certified paper
  • Weleda ensure their ingredients are sustainably sourced, including growing many themselves in their biodynamic gardens.
  • Weleda is the world's largest purchaser of wild roses so naturally they developed a fair trade project with the local farmers and area residents of the Turkish village of Senir. The farmers receive better wages, have safe working conditions and are guaranteed a secure living. The cherry on top: the wild roses are grown organically!

Weleda would like to offer one lucky My Wholesome Home reader a


To Enter

Become a My Wholesome Home blog follower (via Google Friend Connect) and visit Weleda and leave a comment here about your favorite product or something you learned about the product and/or company.

Extra Entries (leave a separate comment for each one):

* Blog about this contest (2 entries--please leave comment for me so I know you blogged it and include link to my blog in your posting)
* Subscribe to my updates
* Follow @mywholesomehome and tweet this giveaway, leaving a link to your tweet in the comments. You can tweet once per day (leave a comment each day). You can copy and paste my tweet if you'd like: #giveaway Win a @Weleda Wild Rose Facial Care Kit - @mywholesomehome http://bit.ly/bD4Dxt via @addthis
* Facebook mention this giveaway (include link to my blog)
*If you posted on your blog, twitter or Facebook page be sure to include it in your post so I can check it out and also so I can return the follow.
* You can tweet and facebook mention once per day and receive an entry each time you do so.

Canada and US Postal addresses only.

You must do the first entry in order to enter.
You will have until Friday June 11th at 11:59pm EST to enter.
The winner will be chosen via random number generator the next day and notified by email. I'll also post the winners on my blog HERE. If I don't hear back from the winner within 72 hours, I'll pick another.

Good luck!

Check out Weleda's website for coupons and special offers

Disclosure: I received a Wild Rose Facial Care Kit from Weleda for review.


Kicking the Habit for Good


My hubby Chris hasn’t had a cigarette in two weeks. The longest he has ever been without in 16 years. Way to go, honey! He calls himself a, “Non-smoker” which makes me smile ear-to-ear. I really hope he sticks with it for the sake of his health but more so for our son. I lost my mother to lung cancer 2.5 years ago and there isn’t a day that goes by that my heart aches for her.

What is so sad is that the 45,000 deaths per year in Canada due to cigarette smoking can be preventable. How? By kicking the habit for good!

But before we get into nutritional support for quitting smoking here is a friendly reminder of why smoking is nasty.

Some Nasty Facts about Smokers
Cigarette smoking kills more than 45,000 people a year in Canada, making it more lethal than AIDS, automobile accidents, homicides, suicides, drug overdoses, and fires combined.

One in every five deaths is attributable to smoking.

Of the 45,000 deaths each year:
29,000 are among men
16,000 are among women
100 are among infants

It reduces life expectancy by 15 to 25 years and is the single most preventable cause of death.

Smoking is the primary risk factor in 85% to 90% of lung cancers. About 15% of all people who smoke develop lung cancer.

People who smoke a pack a day have almost two and a half times the risk for stroke as nonsmokers.

Cigarette smoking may be directly responsible for about 62,000 deaths from heart disease each year.

Smokers are more apt to develop degenerative disorders and injuries in the spine (my mother had 3 bulging discs and numerous cancerous tumors on her spine and sacrum)

Women who smoke tend to start menopause at an earlier age than nonsmokers, because toxins in cigarette smoke damage eggs.

Smokers age much more quickly than non-smokers (wrinkles, sagging skin, gray hair, baldness, yellow teeth, cataracts)

Smokers wreak of cigarette smoke (you may not smell the stale tobacco but we sure as hell do!)

Smokers often have deficiencies in numerous nutrients, including – zinc, calcium, Folate, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Beta-carotene, Lycopene, Omega 3 and Omega 6.

Free radicals in cigarette smoke destroy the body’s natural antioxidants.

Now that you've decided you are done with being a nasty smoker here are a few suggestions to reduce cravings and withdraw symptoms.

Suggestions to reduce cravings and help with withdraw symptoms
• Maintain constant blood sugar by eating 6 meals a day, consisting of fresh fruits and vegetables, plant protein and whole grains.

• Reduce or eliminate (slowly) refined sugar, salt, refined flour, caffeine, alcohol and processed foods.

• Ease withdrawal symptoms with a mainly vegetarian diet, which slows down the removal of nicotine from the body.

• Exercise regularly. Start with gentle exercise such as walking, yoga and Pilates. Deep breathing exercises are excellent.

• Snack on raw sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds – the zinc content may reduce cravings by blocking taste enzymes.

• Eat plenty of oats. Studies show oats diminish cravings.

• Soothe the nerves by drinking calming herbal teas (i.e. German chamomile) – if you are on medication always be careful as to which herbal teas you are consuming. Always ask your doctor if you are unsure.

• Drink lots of water 2-3 litres per day

• Incorporate these whole foods: cantaloupe, citrus fruit, broccoli, carrots, leafy greens.

• Supplements: High potency Multi-Vitamin and Omega 3, 6 & 9

Smokers also tend to have poor adrenal function. Foods which support the adrenal glands include potassium rich foods – raw almonds, avocados, yams, lettuce, lentils, spinach, pineapple, strawberries, kale, bananas and brown rice.

Physical Benefits after Quitting

20 minutes - Blood pressure and pulse rates return to normal
8 hours - Levels of carbon monoxide and oxygen in the blood return to normal
24 hours - Chance of heart attack begins to decreases
48 hours - Ability to taste and smell increases
72hours - Lung capacity increases
2 weeks to 3 months - Lung function increases up to 30%

1 to 9 months
Decreased incidence of coughing, sinus infection, fatigue, and shortness of breath; regrowth of cilia in the airways, increasing the ability to clear mucus and clean the lungs and reducing the chance of infection; overall energy level increases.

Long-Term Effects of Quitting

After a year, risk of dying from heart attack and stroke is reduced by up to half!

Source: http://www.smoke-free.ca/health/pscissues_health.htm