Meal Planning 101: Eat Healthy on a Budget

February 23, 2012 by The Motherhood

If your goals include preparing nutritious foods for your family and sticking to a budget, you’ll need two related items: a meal plan and a grocery list.

And as a bonus, before your next trip to the store, you can arm yourself with the below tips and suggestions – all from a team of health coaches who gathered in The Motherhood today for a live conversation to share their wisdom!

As Betsy Moore of B Moore Healthy pointed out, “In my opinion, planning our meals has so many benefits. It saves me time each week, it makes my trip to the grocery store more productive, it saves me money.”

Advice on Getting Started

“My #1 tip is at the beginning of the week, look at your calendar. See what you have going on and decide how many times you want to cook. Start there,” said Betsy of B Moore Healthy. “I shoot for 4 dinners with leftovers for lunch.”

“I shop 1 day a week and prep another,” said Angela Sydnes of Grow Inspired. “Get all the veggies cleaned and cut up, that way my family and I can reach in the fridge and have veggies ready to go for a snack or on the table as I get dinner ready.”

Added Lisa Miller of Lisa Miller Wellness, “I have a master list of dinners I make, so I don’t have to think of new ideas when I’m exhausted or in a rush. Just go to the list, pick 4-5 meals and go!”

Saving Time in the Kitchen

“Leftovers can always be added to a soup or chili!” suggested Gina Marie Hickman of Shore Healthy. “I love preparing more and having leftovers to recycle into other meals throughout the week. Saves a lot of time on busy nights running from school to sports.”

Betsy of B Moore Healthy asked, “Who plans to cook once and eat multiple times? I am a huge fan of this. Plan to make a big pot of quinoa or a bath of brown rice that we last us the week.”

Budget-Friendly Meal Stretching

Buy in bulk and freeze batches of prepared food for later. “In my kitchen I make batches of soup, rice, carob balls, sauces etc. I let the recipe cool and then I freeze it in baggies,” said Sara Ashe of Absolutely Holistic. “That way, if the hubby wants something for lunch any day, there is something there. The best part is that it cuts down on on canned foods and extra prep work.”

Angela of Grow Inspired agreed that budget shoppers can still “limit the amount of pre-packaged foods,” sharing an article on how to buy healthy, cheap food.

Betsy of B Moore Healthy also suggested, “Become familiar with prices at the stores. Since I don’t buy a ton of packaged foods, I don’t find too many coupons in the local paper. However, some websites have online coupons that totally rock.”

Keeping the Focus on Health

“Remember to shop the perimeter of the store,” said Gina of Shore Healthy. “Start at produce, wrap around the back to the meat/fish, and then out around the dairy/bread. I only go through to the middle for beans and rice.”

In some cases, you can avoid the grocery store altogether. ” I head to our farmers market to pick up my meat. It’s all local,” said Sara of Absolutely Holistic.

Meal Inspiration

Check out these tasty recipes for healthy, inexpensive meals.

Slow cooker chicken taco chili

Chickpea and peanut stew

Brown rice and bean skillet

For desserts on the healthier side, try these sites.

Chocolate Covered Katie

The Spunky Coconut

Elana’s Pantry

And try Betsy Moore’s recipe for Peanut Butter Chocolate Coconut Clusters!

Great Resources

Looking for more ideas? “I love to go to Food.com and sort through the recipes based on their ratings. If they’re healthy, look yummy and are at least 4 stars I’ll try them out,” said Lisa of Lisa Miller Wellness.

She also suggested Cookus Interruptus and Find Your Balance for meal ideas, and Emeals.com for planning.

Thanks to Betsy of B Moore Healthy and our co-hosts for the chat:

Angela Sydnes, Grow Inspired

Gina Marie Hickman, Shore Healthy

Lisa Miller, Lisa Miller Wellness

Sara Ashe, Absolutely Holistic

Have you checked out Casa.com yet?

February 23, 2012 by Cooper

We just heard about Casa.com, a recently-launched, very cool looking online houseware site. Check it out!

Casa.com currently has a few sales and specials going on that might interest you:

1) Refer a Friend Program: Anyone who registers for Casa.com, will be emailed a unique “Share the Savings Code” to share with friends. Eligible new customers who enter the unique code (or the person who first register’s email address) will get 20% off one item (max discount $15; some restrictions apply) from any Casa.com order. Also, Casa.com will donate $5 to one of their selected charities for each eligible friend who orders (up to $30). See more about the program here.

2) White Sale: They are having a 60% off white sale on selected sheets through 2/28 starting today.

3) REALLY GREAT DEAL ALERT! Le Creuset: Up to 40% off sale going on now until 2/28.

4) CASAFAMILY: Right now, you can get 20% off one item (max discount of $15, some restrictions apply) with the code CASAFAMILY. Coupon is for a limited time, expiring 4/15/12.

Enjoy!

How bloggers and their families are making healthy oral care a lifetime habit

February 22, 2012 by Cooper

A fabulous team of The Motherhood bloggers today kicked off the LISTERINE® Healthy Habits for a Lifetime Oral Care Challenge 2012. Get ready for beautiful, sparkling, HEALTHY smiles across the nation, folks.

For three weeks, the bloggers and their families are challenged to commit to healthy oral care habits – and they are already jumping in with such creative, fun and inventive ideas!

The Motherhood has partnered with the makers of LISTERINE® and REACH®, who are supporting the American Heart Association’s My Heart. My Life.TM initiative, with the common goal in mind to educate and empower Americans to make positive lifestyle choices each day – including good oral care!

In an information-packed conference call last week with Johnson & Johnson oral care experts, we learned so many critical reasons good oral care is a must-do, non-negotiable, daily routine for everyone in the family.

As Sara, Dealicious Mom wrote on her blog, “Did you know that brushing alone misses 75% of your mouth? Or that 50% of children will have a cavity or filling between the ages of 5 and 9? I know this sure makes me think twice about what I’m doing as a mom to help keep my mouth and my family’s mouths healthy! Since February is National Children’s Dental Health Month, there’s no better time to start re-thinking how you and your family take care of your mouths.”

We love what the bloggers are already sharing – it is so motivational, and fun! Team Momma Findings looks ready to go!

Yay Team Staten Island Family! How cute is this video!?!

The One Bored Mommy Team already has flossing, brushing and rinsing DOWN!

Keeping track of their progress – WAY TO GO Team LA Story!

To read along as the bloggers and their families take the LISTERINE® Healthy Habits for a Lifetime Oral Care Challenge, follow the hashtag #HealthyHabits. They are sharing important information, and really helpful tips and ideas to get you and your family on an awesome path to oral health and wellness!

Here are a few tips from pediatric dentist Dr. Kaneta Lott to get your kids started on the path to great oral care:

1) Make oral care fun! For example, make it a game; brush, floss and rinse to music; etc.

2) Reward good oral care behavior. One option would be using a printable calendar and gold stars to track progress.

3) Show, don’t tell. Make oral care a family affair and brush, floss and rinse with your kids.

To learn more about the American Heart Association’s My Heart. My Life.™ initiative, visit www.MyHeartMyLife.org.

To hear more about improving your oral care routine and see an educational message from professional snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler, visit www.Listerine.com. (Coming Soon!)

Thanks to LISTERINE, REACH and our top-notch blogger team, we’re feeling very inspired to clean up our oral care acts, how about you?

Navigating Hypothyroidism

February 21, 2012 by Cooper

About seven years ago, a few months after my youngest was born, I started to notice my hair was getting thinner, my hands and feet were constantly ice cold – even on hot days, I was anxious, tired, could not sleep, I had really weird heart palpitations and I was gaining weight. I was also so, terribly depressed.

One doctor told me to go on Xanax. Another made some reference to the fact I had just had a baby and sent me on my way. It was a dark time, especially since I had four kids under 7 years old, my husband was on the road for work constantly, and I had never felt so lost emotionally or physically.

Finally I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease in which the thyroid gland is gradually destroyed. Hashimoto’s is the leading cause of hypothyroidism in the U.S. (and it hits us middle aged women the hardest.)

I went on Synthroid and, well, that was that.

My baby is about to turn 8 and I’m still freezing most of the time, my hair’s a mess and the scale continues to head in the wrong direction. I’m not depressed any more and I rarely have heart palpitations, but I still don’t feel “great!”

I’m also confused by it all. Do I have to be on Synthroid forever? Am I supposed to take supplements or not? And do the foods I eat really matter (like I keep hearing we hypothyroid ladies need to avoid “goitrogens”?)

Oprah said she found out she was hypothyroid, went on vacation and rested for a month, and not too long later she was off meds? Huh?

I need answers and my guess, if you are dealing with being hypothyroid, you do too.

I’m reading The Hypothyroid Diet by Dr. Kevin Dobrzynski right now and I’m hoping I can intereview him for this blog. His wife was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and he put together a diet for her that he says works. Stay tuned.

I suspect a Live Talk here in The Motherhood on this subject is in order, too.

Are you dealing with hypothyroidism? Do you have insight or ideas on ways to successfully manage the disease? Do you have questions like I do and want to know where to begin? I’m eager to hear from you.

Feels like this could mean taking a step in the right direction, finally.

Click here for Update #1 to this post!

The Mometer Monday: Pinterest, Time for Me and The Motherhood Network

February 20, 2012 by The Motherhood

We like to think of The Mometer as The Motherhood’s thermometer, taking the temperature of moms, how you’re all doing, what’s top of mind and even what might be coming down the pike.

You may have noticed our new “The Mometer” polls (you can see the latest polls here) which we love, especially because they help us get to know each other a little better.

Based on recent The Mometer polls, for example:

This community is exactly 50/50 split on the economy – half think we’re coming out of the recession and the other half say we are still in it, and are worried.

With last night’s wonderful season finale of Downton Abbey, we were not surprised that almost 50 percent of us say “OMG, yes” we’re obsessed with the show (and, OMG, how can they make us wait a full year for the new season!!!!!!!!!!?????)

For our new The Mometer Monday series, we’d like to share a few other topics that are particularly resonating among moms this week:

1. Pinterest. We held a live Talk in The Motherhood on Pinterest and it was clear:

-Pinterest is all about women, especially moms

-Pinterest is not necessarily for the uber-social media types — women who are “more Facebook” and “less Twitter” are flocking to it.

-People and organizations are using Pinterest in creative, cool and innovative ways.

From our live Talk we created Pinterest 101: A Crowd-Sourced User Manual, a fantastic resource on the platform, whether you’re a newbie, a seasoned user or a brand considering using it. Check it out!

2. Taking #10Minutes for ourselves. Social media moms get innumerable emails from publicists that lead off with … ‘busy moms need a break’. Clearly, the idea that we’re all overworked and over-tired has hit mainstream marketing messages, with the result that many of these emails get a collective eye-roll from the moms on the receiving end.

Having said that, however, when Christine Koh of Boston Mamas suggested creating a #10minutes for Me Challenge for moms to take just 10 minutes for themselves each day, moms piled into the Talk to share their best ideas and talk about why it’s so hard to do this.

Top #10Minutes ideas included:

-Read

-Get in the car and DRIVE

-Quiet – of any sort

-Stretch!

Read the full list here. And then take #10Minutes for yourself, K?

3. The Motherhood blogger network. For years we have worked with the best of the best when it comes to mom bloggers, partnering with many before they were the stars they are today, and are so proud of the deep and lasting relationships we have formed with women across the blogosphere. The magic and quality content we create together is like nothing else on the web.

Timed with our new look and platform, we’ve created a more formal, official network of The Motherhood’s mom and dad bloggers, too. If you are a blogger and would like to join our network, fill out this form to get started, send an email to erin@themotherhood.com and we can get the ball rolling.

Have a great week everyone!

PS. Our design partners, Red Antler did a wonderful write-up on The Motherhood redesign and we wanted to share! You can read it here.

How Do You Spend #10Minutes of Me Time?

February 17, 2012 by The Motherhood

Last week, in The Motherhood’s Work Life Balance Talk, Christine Koh of Boston Mamas suggested that what we all need to do is to take #10minutes for ourselves every day.

Of course, we all said ‘yes, great idea!’ right before saying, ‘darn, why is that so hard?’ So clever girl that she is, Christine suggested we all challenge ourselves to take just #10minutes a day to relax, do whatever we want, have fun, breathe, or take care of ourselves in some way. Time just for us, without guilt. And we could share with each other what we do with our time, how it feels and inspire each other along the way.

So, the #10minutes For Me Challenge was born.

Today in The Motherhood we kicked off the #10minutes for Me Challenge with a fantastic conversation among the most wonderful bloggers all sharing their favorite ways to carve out some time for themselves. Now we are all charged up to actually DO IT, to take ten minutes every day for ourselves!

Check out their inspiring ideas and let us know how you most like to spend your #10minutes of downtime!

Twenty Ways To Take #10minutes for Yourself

1.) Run or Stretch. “”A 10 minute run is better than no run … A 10 minute run feels awesome. You sweat and feel like you’ve done something, but it isn’t the commitment of spending an hour on the pavement. But if you hate running, or don’t want to get sweaty, STRETCHING is one of the best things you can do for yourself.” – Christine, Boston Mamas

2.) Read a Book. “I read a lot. I’ll just sit on my bed and open a book. It lets me shut off everything else.” – temysmom

3.) Browse Pinterest. “I know I love to browse Pinterest in any free time I get – sometimes that leaks over into more than 10 minutes though!” – Tesa, 2 Wired 2 Tired

4.) Take Photos. “My everyday life is my muse. I use my photography (specifically Instagram) to get the little bursts of creative Me Time I need throughout the day. It works wonders for me!” – Tracey, Shutter Sisters

5.) Send a Card. “I try to send a card or letter to a friend once a week- #10minutes is all I need and it really lifts me up.” – Steph, Adventures in Babywearing

6.) Shower. “I take a hot shower with some aromatherapy! Peppermint is very invigorating!” – Diane, Turning the Clock Back

7.) Drive. “I enjoy ME time in my car!” – Liz, Thoughts of a Mommy

8.) Drink Tea. “I’ve started daily ‘tea time.’ The kids have figured out which kind they like. We sip tea, have a little snack, and then each person goes to their space for some quiet time.” – Julie, Using My Words

9.) Write. “I’ve started keeping a worry journal. Whenever I catch myself worrying about stuff, I write it down and save it for later. Clears my mind for more productive thinking, for a few minutes, anyway.” – Liz, This Full House

10.) Open a Magazine. “I’m such a magazine addict. HGTV Magazine is one of my new favorites. But I am starting to enjoy the style magazines like InStyle and Harper’s Bazaar.” – Mary, Everyday Baby Steps

11.) Get Outside. “In the summer, I weed the herb or flower gardens. It can be so relaxing to be outside in the nice weather playing in the dirt.” – Ellen, Confessions of an Overworked Mom

12.) Start a Playlist. “My new thing? Putting together playlists in Spotify. Finding new music, combining just the right songs in the right order and having a neat selection to listen to while working.” – Julie, Using My Words

13.) Make a Coffee Run. “Sometimes honestly my #10minutes is the car ride to the Starbucks drive-thru. My tunes, ALONE AND QUIET and caffeine.” – Steph, Adventures in Babywearing

14.) Walk the Dog. “Dogs are a great motivator to go walk. I call my walks “gratitude walks” and try to focus on all the things around me that I am grateful for. It’s a good perspective changer.” – Tracey, Shutter Sisters

15.) Phone a Friend. “I like to take #10minutes to call and catch up with a friend while waiting for kids in the carpool lane.” – Liz, This Full House

16.) Play Games. “I play Words With Friends or Sims Social on Facebook – such silly guilty pleasures.” – Mary, Everyday Baby Steps

17.) Do a Home Manicure. “I paint my nails. I’m always so impatient and can never wait for them to dry but if I had the time they just might come out perfect for once!” – Tesa, 2 Wired 2 Tired

18.) Knit. “My biggest ‘guilty pleasure’ for me time is knitting. Usually sneak it in more than #10minutes but it’s such a wonderful and fulfilling pastime.” – Steph, Adventures in Babywearing