meal plan pt.1

good morning! what a surprise to look outside the window as I woke up and see SNOW ! This time last year we were still cleaning up from winter storm Benedict. (I only know the name b/c it was on the news the other day lol) Seriously though, we were slammed with snow last winter. My husband was gone all of the time to plow. It looks beautiful and is exactly what I was hoping to see this past Christmas morning. Not that it wasn't great to be able to stick my toddler son outside in the 55 degree weather when it started getting a little crazy indoors that day haha. 

Looks like the chicken area is deserted as our ladies do not enjoy the cold snow under their feet. They will most likely stay inside today which is fine by us because after a long 3 months of molting and no egg production, they can spend some time indoors and get to laying. The ladies usually do very well for us in the winter. I took this photo (very quickly b/c it is freezing out and windy) and the sun looked so pretty in the farm field behind our house. I just went back to look and it is all gray with the snow blowing everywhere. Today wont be a day to bring the kiddos outside, no way. 

So, back to the topic of the morning. Yesterday afternoon while the kids napped, I grabbed a few of my favorite cook books and sat down with a pen and paper and picked out our meals for next week. If you read my post about my goals for this year, one was to use my cook books more often and stop pulling recipes off line. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I have all these great books just sitting on shelves and in cabinets being under utilized. I buy cook books and then never use them! Well that is ending. These cook books here are wonderful and have a wide variety of foods in them. We are meat eaters in this home. My husband is a "steak and potatoes" kind of guy. I tried to do Meatless Mondays for a month just for something different, and he couldn't do it lol....even one night a week! Typically I do 2 chicken meals, a red meat meal, a pasta, and maybe a fish...then Fridays I usually leave open for leftovers or take out or whatever. I make my own homemade Italian red sauce every 2 weeks and freeze some. We will usually eat it once a week on something. With Fall and Winter seasons we will do more soups. What I need to get better at is using my crock pot. I have the great Food Network crock pot I got for my wedding shower 5 years ago and I barely use it. I dont know why...laziness perhaps? Except all you do is throw food in and turn it on...so I must be REAL lazy lol. Anyways, these are the books I used for next week:

1. Simply In Season
2. Paleo
3. New England Open House Cookbook
4. Rachael Ray Week In A Day
5. The Pioneer Woman Food From My Frontier

All these books offer such a wide variety of options. It can get a little overwhelming because there is so much, but I just decided to take one recipe from each book if I could, but no more than two. Once I found 1-2 recipes I shut the book and picked up another. Simply In Season is just what you would think it is. Recipes based on ingredients that you find in each season. So if you chose a soup under the Winter category you can bet the ingredients you are using are mostly fresh since they are being grown and picked during the colder months. The Paleo cook book is something I just got last month because I had a few bucks left over on a gift card and it fit the amount. I will be honest and say that I believe the diet itself is a fad. A lot of recipes in here seemed to be normal every day recipes with maybe one or two tweaks to it. One breakfast item for example was an omelet consisting of just eggs and vegetables...I am not sure what makes it Paleo, perhaps just that everything in it is fresh? Either way there were some really good looking recipes in there and I did write one down for us. The New England cook book is awesome. It is beautifully put together and all the recipes are from places up and down the east coast which of course warms my heart because it's where I live. The pictures are great and there are little stories behind each place and recipe. It's like a storybook cook book. It has a lot of great seafood recipes (for my husband lol) and also some with other meats and things. I took one from here also. Rachael Ray is great because her recipes are usually pretty simple and always delicious. This cook book is awesome because if you follow her plan, she gives you one to two main ingredients and you can make 5 meals out of them. Talk about planning and saving money! Lastly the Pioneer Women is just someone I love. I love her show and her recipes. And I would totally steal her home if I could too. She makes a lot of comfort foods and using every day ingredients. She makes healthy foods also but is not afraid to use butter or flour or other ingredients that certain diets say no to. If a recipe calls for a stick of butter, she will use a stick of butter. BOOM Ree! 

And so here is my list for the following week...obviously it depends on what is happening here at home but these recipes were pretty simple and a lot of the ingredients needed to make them, I already have here which will save me money at the store. Once I have all that I need and get to cookin, I'll try to remember to share a couple. It all looks so good seriously I can't wait to eat next week lol. 

One step at a time and so far I have stuck to at least two goals that I wanted to for 2016. Hopefully I can keep with it. I have to work around my offspring so...I'm sure you can guess what that's like haha:)

Time to refill my glass! 

xo

switching things up a bit

 after I put the littles down for their naps yesterday and I had a chance to sit myself, I was looking over my space here and I realized it needed some sprucing up. I still want to keep it a simple space, but things in my life have changed a bit since I began writing and my topics of choice are proof. After becoming a mom, my attention has been solely on my kiddos. They are still very young so I am still learning and growing in parenthood. I used to sit on pinterest and browse craft boards and DIY pins, now I am looking for healthy recipes for picky kids and how to make yummy baby food, alternative methods for bringing down fevers, and photos to match the rash my kid got at random. This stuff takes over. I still have my same passions... being a chemical free household, making my own products using natural ingredients like essential oils, raising chickens for eggs and growing gardens for veggies, etc...its just that now I have other important things to worry about. Once I thought about this, I realized I needed to re name my space so that it was more "me". While "A Natural Approach" was exactly what I was taking the last two years, "the caffeinated mama" is way more appropriate now lol. It gives a little humor to the life I'm living, and I'm sure a lot of other mamas (and dads) are on the same page. The new name shows my love of the beverage, which I am always talking about...and that its a "mom"  who is ranting here. 

So, my topics will continue to vary...but at least now it will make more sense. I'm just here to have fun, to have a place where I can think out loud, share some things with those who care to read, and follow other bloggers who have the same interests as myself. I love to write and so I will. One of my goals for this year was to focus more on this space...I'm holding myself to it. I have only been at this for two years but am looking forward to growing it more and more. 

xo

picky little kids are picky!

seriously...my son is 2.5, when he was starting foods he ate everything. I suppose it was because his taste buds were developing at that point, but I mean...he ate any veggie I gave him, he ate chicken and turkey, eggs, you name it! I was pretty pumped because my husband is an excellent eater. There is not much he wont eat, with the exception of mushrooms. I thought my son was going to take after his daddy. BOY was I wrong. I have the hardest time feeding this boy. If he had his choice he would live solely on yogurt and "cackahs." I will give him credit, he loves his mamas homemade pasta sauce! Probably the only proof that there is some of me in him somewhere. He looks and acts like his daddy, at least we know he has the Italian in him. Other than that, I can try all I want to make the healthiest meal for him, he will push it away and ask for crackers. It is not like I make him a gourmet meal of like salmon and asparagus or something. I will do something simple like grilled chicken (seasoned) with a side of sauteed broccoli and some cut up strawberries or something. He wont touch it. I know broccoli is a long shot, but the way I make it is so freaking good. I just offer it at random hoping once he will try it. I dont even bother asking him to try a "tree" because honestly, he is too smart for that. The struggle is real mamas. Toddlers SUCK to feed. HOWEVER once in a while you find something that works and you want to praise the all mighty that your child ate it and had no idea it was good for them! I wanted to share a recipe I tried (thank you pinterest). My son ate these for breakfast 4 days in a row and you know what? I dont care! I highly recommend these to any other parents that have a picky eater on their hands. The best part is you can tweak the ingredients to your liking which is what I did for some of it.  So, here goes:

photocred:superhealthykids

Ingredients I Used:

*1.5 medium organic carrots shredded
*1 whole semi ripe medium organic banana
*1/4 c homemade applesauce
*1/4 c organic strawberry yogurt
*1/2 organic zucchini shredded
*2 large organic eggs (thank you my dear chickens!)
*1tsp 100% pure vanilla (none of that artificial stuff)
*1/2 c sugar
*1/4tsp cinnamon
*1/2tsp salt
*3/4tsp baking soda
*1 cup all purpose unbleached white flour
*1 cup 100% whole wheat flour

(By the way....using organic products is my choice, you certainly do not need to use those. This recipe works with any type of fruit or veggie:)


1. preheat your oven to 375 degrees. 2. Mix your flours, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together and put to the side. 3. Soften your butter. 4. Mix together sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla. 5. If you have a food processor this part can go quickly...combine your fruits and vegetables with the applesauce until mixed through. 6. Now combine the puree with the yogurt and your wet ingredients, beating until mixed. 7. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined and wet. 8. Add your muffin papers to your pan OR spray your muffin pan with a cooking spray. (I prefer the muffin paper b/c I dont like the taste of the sprays). 9. Fill each paper about 3/4 full. Bake 20-25 minutes. Tops should be a bit springy and lightly browned. 

It seems like a lot of work, and yes I always make a mess when I cook. But it was worth it to me b/c my child ate these up. You can also freeze these!! 

The original recipe is on the Super Healthy Kids website if you want to find it. And like I said, you can use different veggies and fruits or just omit what you dont want. I was going to attempt broccoli but decided against it assuming once he saw it in there he wouldnt touch the dang things haha. We have to take our wins as they come! 

Enjoy!
xo

are you...a coffee lover too?

So, it is cold here! Which by all accounts it should be seeing as it is winter. But we have not had any snow, unless you count the dusting we had the other day. It is January 5th and we have not had one snow storm yet. I will admit that I am not a fan of the cold weather and not much of a fan of winter in general, but when you have kids you have to forget all that and go play. If it is going to be 2 degrees in the morning, there should be snow. 

Anyways, I don't in fact have a real post today. (Like I said, I am working on organizing my topics...and it will come soon!) I just wanted to share a new link on my blog. You will see it at the top next to my "about me" and "EO recipes I love"...its called, COFFEE LOVE of course! I decided to post recipes for coffee drinks I am loving on at the moment. I will include photos when I think to do so. The first one is up, so be sure to check it out and try it if you can! 

Take care and be sure to check back for more! 

xo

New year, New things...

Here we are again. The start of 12 new months on dear planet Earth. I have to be honest, 2015 was an insanely busy year here. A baby, a toddler, school , taking care of a house, (barely) managing bills and in between all of that...trying to find time for myself. It was great, and stressful, wonderful and exhausting. At this very moment I am sitting down for the first real time today. My kids are in bed, my hubs is making popcorn and we are getting ready to continue RE watching "Breaking Bad" on Netflix. I love this time so much, though in the back of my mind I am thinking that I shouldnt stay up too late because my darling little one will be waking to eat at some point. That point is usually as soon as I am falling into sleep. Oh well, as mamas we do what we have to do. I will take my two hours a night with my love and risk less sleep. It wont happen forever, and one day I will be missing snuggling my babies in the middle of the night. 

I am not one that believes in making New Years resolutions. I feel like when trying to make one of these promises to yourself, it is just really for talking purposes. It is hype. I am sure there are people out there who do it and can stick to their guns and that is wonderful. I am not one. I wish I was. No, what I believe in is setting goals. Taking little steps to accomplish something you truly want. There are a few things I want to try and change this year. Things for my family, but also for me. Since 2012 I have either been pregnant or nursing (with about a yr in the middle off) and yep, still nursing at the moment. However, there is no reason why I cannot set a few goals now evem though part of me still physically belongs to someone else for the next few months. Dont get me wrong, I love being home with my children. The thought of having to have left them and gone back to work makes me want to cry! I wouldnt trade one crazy day of the last 2.5 years, but when you are a mama, one that stays   home and probably one that works also, you tend to lose a bit of yourself. You become so wrapped up in taking care of your little family that you sometimes forget to take care of yourself...or perhaps youre just too darn tired. I have decided that this year that will change. In order for me to be the best mother and wife, I need to be happy and to focus a little on myself. And there is nothing wrong with that. 

So, here are a few goals I am setting for myself in 2016. They may not happen in order, they may not happen at all...but I am going to do my best to tackle them in small bits. If I try to many things at once, forget it. I will become overwhelmed and will give up all together. 

1. Budget!! By The end of March I will have a budget in place and will stick to it best I can. With a husband who works seasonally and myself who does not work...you can imagine how tight things get this time of year. I WILL find a budget that works for us. No more sweating and stressing over bills.

2. Use my cook books. I have many cookbooks that are taking up space in my cabinets and I refuse to get rid of them. Every few weeks I will take out my books and plan meals. I will post each that I do. 

3. Keep up with my blog. I was not great with this in 2015. This is a wonderful space to be creative and get my thoughts out, even if noone reads it. I will try for the first 3 months of this year to organize and plan blog topics. I will try to make this page more fun and informational. Continuing on the theme of natural living.

4. Me time. This will be sporadic b/c I do have two littles who require my attention 95% of the time...but I am promising myself that I will find time to do something that I want. Read a book, take a drive, get coffee with a friend, take a bath, etc...It is going to happen. 

5. Take charge of my health. Even if it is only 30 minutes a day, I need to get some exercise in. I do not do anything besides chase kids and go up and down stairs. I have this post-double C section pooch that I want gone. I will try to add healthier options to my food choices and try to work out at least 3 times a week.  

6. Random Acts of Kindness. This is something that I have done and enjoy doing, but would like to do more of. I think I can handle a RAK once a month.

In fact I KNOW I can. It is important to think of others even when trying to better yourself. There is so much negative going on on the world, we need to remind people that good still exists. 

7. Put more energy into my business. As I may or may not have mentioned, I am a Young Living Essential Oil distributor. Hoping to spread the word about a product I love and help out my home financially. My goal for this is to have sold at least 1 full kit by April. I will invest more time in talking to clients and sending samples etc...time to get serious. 

For now, these are the main things I want to focus on in my life for the start of 2016. It seems like a lot, but like I said...they may happen randomly and when timing allows, or they may not happen at all. I set them as goals however because I plan on meeting each one this year. No matter when it happens. I will follow up with posts and I encourage anyone else to set their own goals. Start with one and once its met, try another. Just the thought of it already makes me smile!!

Have a peaceful sleep all 

Xo

New Developments!

There has been a lot of changes happening in our home over the last few months. I have not had any time to sit down and create a post. Truth be told, there was not much too interesting to share. I have just been busy, and although I could write a lot about it...it just did not seem like anything worth reading. Everyone has busy lives, that is nothing out of the ordinary. Now that things are (sort of) settling down, I figured it was a better time to share. 

I gave birth to our second baby boy this past Monday the 18th. He was a planned C section, born at 7:48 in the morning. He was and is beautiful. Healthy weight and height and such a cuddle bug. I was very uncomfortable at the end of this pregnancy and I spent a lot of time in our bath tub trying to ease the pain I was feeling. I was very ready to get baby boy out of there. We spent only 2 full days and nights in the hospital and were let go by lunch time that Wednesday. Since it was a second C section the doctors said if I was feeling up to it and the baby was doing well then we had the option to go home earlier than the three full days they normally keep a C section patient. Of course I wanted to go home. There is no real sleep when you're in the hospital, and I was feeling stiff from being in the bed most the time. Plus my husband had to be home (besides delivery day) with our toddler the entire time I was in the hospital and I wanted to at least be home to give the boy some sense of normalcy.

We have been home a week now and adjusting ok. The first 5 days home I slept downstairs with the baby...just to get him used to his bassinet and to see what his sleep schedule would be like. I did the same with our first when he was born. I did not want my hubs to wake every time the baby had to feed. We are back in our room now and to my surprise this baby is actually letting me get some sleep in. Number one was up every three hours almost to the T...this babe is giving me a little more time that that. Last nite we only woke twice! He slept for 5 hours straight, woke, ate, fell back asleep for another 2 hours and woke at 530 am. He sleeps a lot during the day which is nice b/c then I can spend time with my toddler as well as get things done around the house. Fingers crossed he continues this behavior. I was and still am a little nervous about being by myself with the two kids. Not safety wise, just busy wise. My toddler is on the run and into everything, pushing my buttons and not listening all the time. Now I have an infant who is breast feeding and that takes time out of the day for which I have to sit and cannot chase the other one around. I sure hope the amount of busy I will be aids in the baby weight loss!! Haha.

As much as getting up early is never really wanted, I am enjoying it because my hubs gets up at 500am and for the last few days I can enjoy a coffee with him while he gets ready for work. The toddler is still asleep until about 730 and the baby usually falls back asleep after feeding, so I actually get some quiet/relax time. I need that iced coffee every morning and it is nice to enjoy it in peace!

Anyways, this is the newest development in our little corner of CT. I really and truly hope to find time a couple days a week to sit and write more. I do love to write. With the nicer weather and farmers markets, etc there will be so many fun things to talk about. I hope to try some new spring/summer recipes and share them here also. For those that read this, thanks for just looking! For those that don't, well I really write for me...so its ok.

Time to get the toddler up from bed. Until next post!

xo

Three Things Thursday

I thought instead of a typical post, I would talk about three blogs I am loving these days. When I find myself at the computer or on my i pad, I visit the same places almost every time. This morning, I am sitting with my second iced coffee, my son is enjoying some Mickey Mouse and toast and the hubs is off to work. These days my sons nap time has turned in to school time for me as I mentioned previously I am taking two online classes. So early morning or late night will be the only times I have to sit and write about things that interest me. So lets just get into it shall we?

 First blog: Natalie Creates. I cannot express how glad I am to have stumbled upon her site. Everything about her style is exactly what I love. From her adorable little farm house, to her actual farm "Freckled Hen Farm" it is so comforting to sit and scroll through her daily posts, look at her bright and colorful photos, and then wish I had her here to completely re do the inside of my house hahah. She is extremely organized and one thing I think is wonderful (though my hubs would never be into anything like this) is that she and her husband have weekly and monthly meeting together to discuss finances and plans etc. If you check out her pinterest board she has one dedicated to organization, which is something I could really get better at. She does a lot of decorating with simple items she gets at thrift stores. I never seem to find anything when I go to one! Maybe its just that I am not as creative. She owns her own Etsy shop and makes adorable home made items. Coffee cup cozys, head bands, decorative things, etc...On top of that she runs her farm with her hubs and its complete with animals and an amazing garden. The photos she shares of what they harvest are amazing. I would give anything to have land like that and to have a garden and place for all those animals. Right now our chickens will have to do. Trust me, if you are into the same things I talk about...you will love her just as much. She is on instagram and Pinterest. The farm is on facebook. Links are at the bottom. Seriously, take a peek!!

ETSY SHOP

INSTA

PINTEREST

FRECKLED HEN FARM

Second blog: The Chicken Chick  For anyone else who owns and loves their chickens, this is a new blog I came across that is super informative and all around fun to browse. If you want to know anything about the health of your chickens, to why they do certain things they do, how to keep the coop clean easily, fun healthy snack ideas, etc...this blog has all that and more. Take a few minutes and navigate around her site. One of my favorite things she does is Flock Focus Friday where she puts up photos of different chicken breeds. She has a lot of giveaways also. Her DIY projects are amazing. There is just so much going on on her website and if you love chickens like we do then you will find it nothing but interesting. I also follow her on pinterest. She has a lot of social media pages which I will list a few. Grab a big cup of joe and head over for a visit.

FACEBOOK

PINTEREST

TWITTER

INSTA

Third blog: For The Love Of Cooking This is not an actual blog, but she is a "food blogger" and this website is where she posts delicious recipes for those of us that like to cook. I have made a few things from her site. Her recipes are simple and she lists the steps easy to follow. Her photos are bright and close up so you can see how to make the dish. She tends to use a lot of organic ingredients which of course, I love. She has an amazing amount of recipes to choose from and they are organized into categories. So if you need something quick, just jump on and find what you're in the mood for. I hit the Italian link often. It can be overwhelming searching online for a recipe because there are so many wonderful sites out there. But if I can suggest one to make it a little easier...try here first. 

FACEBOOK

TWITTER


There you have it. Three places I enjoy spending my online time. Feel free to check them out and let me know what you think!!

Take care for now!

xo