Sustainable & Creative Living
In honor of National Dog Biscuit Day, I’ve put together a quick little recipe your furry pooch is sure to love. It’s made from ingredients you probably already have in your pantry! One of the main ingredients, pumpkin, is loaded with fiber and beta-carotene which not only helps aid digestion but can also ease tummy troubles for your furry friend. Enjoy! [Read more…]
Breastfeeding your child is a true gift that we, as women, are blessed to have. It can be a tough road to navigate in the beginning for many new mothers.
In a recent post I shared my own nursing struggles, check out My Breastfeeding Journey.
There are so many questions, physical and emotional changes, more questions, and DECISIONS! The decisions are endless! And now your decisions will not only affect you, but also your little bundle of joy. As they grow, so will the decisions that we make as their mother. Like my mom always says, “Little kids, little problems. Big kids, big problems!”
One of the first decisions we make as new moms is [Read more…]
My breastfeeding journey (like many first-time moms) began long before my little J was born.
It began with a question we all ask ourselves (and get asked by many). Breastfeed or bottle-feed? For me, I always knew I wanted to breastfeed. While I know that there are plenty of mothers who want nothing to do with it, I think breastfeeding is a challenge most moms are up for. Either way, it is a choice we are blessed to have.
What I didn’t know was what an emotional roller coaster I was in for. [Read more…]
Love is in the air as Valentine’s Day quickly approaches. This fun and flirty holiday is the perfect time to hone your inner creative skills with an easy DIY project. These Chocolate Covered Pretzels are a perfect Valentine’s Day treat for anyone who loves the sweet and saltiness of Chocolate Covered Pretzels. It’s as easy as melt, dip, and bag! They can be gifted to your husband, wife, nieces, nephews, or even your favorite neighbor!
These Chocolate Covered Pretzels also make a festive work place treat to leave in the break room. This is also a fun treat to make with your kids. They can hand them out to friends in place of those old traditional Valentine’s Day cards that just end up in the trash! No matter whose hands or mouths they end up in [Read more…]
The New Year is always an exciting time – most of us are excited to start fresh. Others are more excited for a different reason – playoff football and eventually the Superbowl. I’ve heard it’s kind of a big deal.
For that reason, I have prepared the only way I know how – with the most important thing when it comes to any sporting event –food!
There are always so many options but this year I’ve gone for a more obvious one, with a twist: Superbowl themed cupcakes! Half the cupcakes are colored for one team and half is for the other team. This year it’s the New England Patriots (shocker) versus the Atlanta Falcons. So the colors are red, white, and blue versus red, white, and black. The best part is that I did not distinguish which cupcakes are which teams. So your Falcons guests may unwittingly bite into a Patriots-themed cake.
Super Bowl Sunday is almost here! While we’re all gearing up for the big game; making bets on who will win, which commercials will be the most memorable, and who will have a wardrobe malfunction, we can’t forget the snacks! These Football Croissants with Chicken Salad will add the perfect touch of festivity to any Super Bowl party.
Recipe yields 20-25 Football Croissants with Chicken Salad. [Read more…]
Valentine’s Day is just a few weeks away, and I’ve come up with a cute way to decorate and give someone special a gift. Valentine’s Day isn’t just for couples – it’s about friends and family too. So if you’re thinking of giving your best friend, daughter, sister, or significant other something special, I’ve got the perfect thing. [Read more…]
DIY Valentine’s Day Footprint Cards are a meaningful holiday card for any parent, relative, or friend. They’re also fun to create! Even for young babies, finger painting is a great sensory development tool that allows baby to feel and experiment with colors, which helps develop creativity and thinking skills.
Valentine’s Day is the perfect holiday for you and your child to explore your creative sides with some homemade colorful greeting cards
The Valentine’s Day Footprint Cards that I’ve created below is [Read more…]
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, many of us will be looking for special treats and gifts for our sweeties! Of course, there will be all kinds of candy to choose from but I have a feeling that, like me and my family, many of you may still be suffering from Christmas candy overload. A good way to avoid candy overload at Valentine’s Day but still enjoy a delicious treat, is to make Chocolate Coconut Covered Strawberries.
Not only are Chocolate Coconut Covered Strawberries tasty, but with my recipe, they’re guilt-free and healthy. Chocolate Coconut Covered Strawberries are also extremely simple to make. Anyone who knows me, knows I don’t do complicated when it comes to cooking. I do, however, do delicious—and that’s what these are!
My little J loves his WubbaNub friends! I bought the brown dog (named Henry by my husband) when he was just 2 months old, and I’ve been hooked ever since! The problem is when you’re 6 WubbaNubs deep and your teething toddler starts chewing through all of the nipples, it can be costly to replace them.
Instead, I decided to cut the ripped nipple off and sew on a new Soothie nipple. It only took about 15 minutes (to repair each WubbaNub) and [Read more…]
One thing in my life that gets frazzled after the holidays is my hair. Normally, I wash, blow dry, and curl it every other day. I may curl it again or use a straightener on the off day. I definitely do all of it more often during the holiday season when I go to parties and extra events. Combine that with the dry weather we have during the winter and my hair needs extra help.
To keep my hair healthy I primarily use Rusk Deep Shine Keratin Smoothing Shampoo and Conditioner, a product line that my hair stylist, Evan, recommended. She also recommended using coconut oil on my hair as a deep conditioner. Sometimes I do use straight coconut oil on my hair and sleep with it on all night. In the morning I just wash it off. Shampooing two to three times gets all the oil out.
I came up with a hair mask that combines the benefits of both coconut oil and honey. It leaves hair moisturized and free of buildup. It’s also simple and easy to make at home with ingredients you probably already have in your pantry.
The New Year’s celebration is one of my favorite holidays. New beginnings can be so hopeful, exciting, and scary all at once. Who doesn’t love a chance to start over?
I like to think that any day is a day to begin again so I’ve never been one to make New Year’s resolutions, but it can be very motivating to use this time as a marking point for a newgoal or for tightening up existing ones.
A goal I shoot for every year is being as productive as possible. I’ve found the number one tool to accomplish this goal is list making. But not just random list making. I use a method based on what’s called the Ivy Lee Method. Ivy Lee was a businessman and productivity expert in the early twentieth century. His method is simple but effective.
