Tuesday, October 11, 2011


Been looking for the perfect trick or treat bags for the kids?! Look no further...

These fashionable bags are made of natural cotton burlap and have plenty of space for all the treats you could possibly collect. Reusable, adorable and for a great cause.

Collect treats in style while helping provide essential nutritional supplements to children around the world. With every purchase of a FEED Trick-or-Treat bag, a donation is made to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF—enough to provide one year's worth of micronutrient powder to a child in the developing world. This helps ensure he or she receives vitamins and minerals needed to survive and thrive. There are no tricks here this Halloween—just the treat of knowing you've helped a child in need.

-Large, flexible shape perfect for carrying treats on Halloween
-When Halloween is over, use as tote bag or reusable grocery bag
-Reflective webbing offers safety precaution for nighttime trick-or-treating
-Orange and black palette and jack-o'-lantern design add fun and festive flair to the spookiest of holidays
-FEED's mission is to create good products that FEED the world

These bags ship for free and are just $12.95

www.hsn.com/feedbag

Monday, October 3, 2011

Baked Chicken Mediterranean

I stick to a meat free diet, but I enjoy cooking it for the ones I love. I would never ask anyone to adapt to my eating habits. I love to cook for them the foods I love, but will always find recipes they enjoy as well. Here is a great recipe I found from www.glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com. A great resource for gluten free living. I have also made this recipe without all of the spices, raisins and capers and it was equally delicious.

Baked Chicken - Mediterranean style

4 split organic free-range skinless chicken breasts
Sea salt and gluten-free Lemon Pepper seasoning, to taste
1 14-oz can Organic fire-roasted tomatoes with juice
3/4 cup of Organic pasta sauce
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup red wine
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups of thin pepper strips- mixed green, yellow and orange peppers
2 large portobella mushrooms, sliced
10 to 12 grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup chopped black olives
2 heaping tablespoons capers
1/2 cup golden raisins (optional)
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano or marjoram

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly oil a 10x13-inch baking pan with olive oil.

Wash the chicken in cold water and pat dry; season with lemon pepper; place in the baking dish.

In a mixing bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and pour over the chicken breasts.

Loosely cover with foil and bake until the chicken is no longer pink inside, anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes depending upon the size of the chicken breasts

Serve with brown rice, quinoa or mashed potatoes. Offer crumbled feta or goat cheese as a garnish.

Serves 4.



Saturday, October 1, 2011

Gluten free goodness

In an effort to try my hand at baking a bit more I took on adventure when trying to cook for a friend with a Gluten intolerance. I enjoy testing new ways of eating anyway as well as listening to my body with these substitutions...so my goal here is to see how I feel in the next week (or longer) trying to stick with a Gluten Free diet. Over the next few days I will share some great recipes I am trying at the moment. Enjoy!

Jewish Apple Cakelets

adapted from Ali Shapiro and EcoliciousLife

Ingredients
6 eggs
1 can white beans, rinsed
3 tablespoons coconut oil
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon apple sauce
1.5 teaspoon baking powder
1.5 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1.5 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 orange (seeds removed)
1/3 up + 2 tabelspoons coconut flour
3 small apples peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons raw honey

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Line standard muffin tins with 12 cupcake liners.

Combine first 10 ingredients in vita-mix or kitchenaid

Add in coconut flour and blend until smooth.

Combine remaining ingredients in separate bowl. Spoon half of the apple mixture into the bottom of the lined muffin tins.

Pour batter from blender over apple mixture to fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.

Spoon remaining apple mixture into the almost full muffin liners.

Bake for 20-30 minutes (this varies widely based upon the oven turn the oven light on and peak in occasionally).

This can also be made into one very thick round 8 inch cake or two thinner round 8 inch cakes. When I made it into a thin cake it took about 8 minutes longer than the cupcakes. It's ready when it starts to brown around the edges.

Working on some great dinners...stay tuned.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Working out...anywhere?!


Make Yourself
You are in charge
It is entirely up to you
Make your body
Make your life
Make yourself

You are juggling a child, or two (or even more?!) and getting to the gym or taking a class just might not be possible. Anxious to get back in shape and feel good I went searching for options to get a great workout in just about anywhere. Mission accomplished in finding the Nike Training app on my ipad. Yesterday my son, Skyler and I had a great workout in the apartment while the little one was napping. This particular workout was fine with a yoga mat and light weights. It was a lot of fun too. They show you demos of the exercises and time the increments for you. You can choose your fitness goals and design a workout to accomplish the results you are looking for. Interruptions are no problem and you can pause at at any time and continue later. You can add your own music or choose from all different genres of music. I think you can also document results too. Keep you posted as to what I find. It really is a great solution to get your butt in gear and was fantastic. Can't wait to check it out today. Really no excuse to get a workout in...any time of day. Now you just need the energy...

Thursday, September 22, 2011

New Exhibits at the Please Touch Museum


On Sunday we took part in the Please Touch Museum's 2nd Annual - Stroller in the Park Event. We had such a great time. This is our second year getting involved and have enjoyed it so much. Last year we even came in 1st Place! This year there were visits by Elmo and the Philly Fanatic and great sponsors from Whole Foods, Odwalla and Foose. One of our favorite parts of the day was after the race when we had access to the Museum before opening to the public. If only for this - the whole experience would be worthwhile (although the walk is a lot of fun too!) What a great way to enjoy and instill exercise. We had the opportunity to enjoy and check out all the new exhibits that recently opened. A new favorite is the room with the obstacle course with climbing wall, monkey bars, balance beam etc. We also really enjoyed the Rainforest Rhythm experience where children can play music on nature-inspired instruments and explore music from around the world.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Bye bye puffy eyes...


To say this week has been exhausting is an understatement. Liam, my three month old has been eating every two to three hrs at night. I am pretty sure I need to start introducing a little formula in the evenings to fill him up. The past two nights I have filled the bottle to give it a shot, but I have hesitated putting the bottle into the fridge as if I am going to use it later. Why do I hesitate?! I allowed Skyler to have formula and look how great he turned out. It is not as though I have never given him formula...just not often. Since when do I have this type A personality that I need to be in control?! Any advice would be greatly appreciated...

Anyway - back to the topic at point. I'm exhausted...trying to do my hair to mask the tired appearance. A little makeup helps too. But the new Clinique all about eyes serum I recently was introduced to puts a smile on my face. The cool application of the roll on applicator gives me the confidence I need to make it out the door - ready to tackle another day.

They have samples at Sephora...I definitely recommend checking it out

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Your PERFECT day?!


Lately I have been thinking a lot about the things that make me and others around me content, happy and fullfilled.

What would be your perfect day?

Here's what I am coming up with at the moment:

7 hrs of sleep
Wake to a cup of hot water with lemon - very detoxifying
2 cups of coffee - no more, no less
A little time with my husband before the kids wake up
Blog
yoga, pilates or lithe in some form during the day
Get Skyler off to School
Alone time with Liam - activity/volunteer
Meetings developing great programs for the kids
Lunch with a friend (or business lunch)
Long walk to pick up Skyler
Playtime at the park or Rittenhouse
Unwind and create dinner
Play with Daddy
Eat dinner
Bath, Book and Bed - kids
Stay awake long enough to spend some time with hubby and unwind with a glass of wine

Have the intention to make each day "your" perfect day. When you know what makes your day ideal - you have a vision of what you want to accomplish!