Category Archives: Health

Oat Bran Muffins Recipe-Cake Mix Muffins

Health, Muffins, Recipes
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I have some oat bran I’ve been meaning to use more often to add more fiber to mine and my family’s diet. What got me going on oat bran, was when my mom showed me an article in a magazine about the Dukan Diet. She tried it and actually did well losing some weight with it. I tried the Dukan Diet for a week and lost a few pounds but had a hard time sticking with it. I do like the idea of using oat bran to add more fiber to my diet though. The problem  is that I keep forgetting to use it on a regular basis. I kept thinking about making muffins with it, and finally decided to just do it the other night. I searched for a good oat bran muffins recipe, but I was out of eggs and I couldn’t find one that I had all the ingredients for. So I decided to use my eggless  Wacky Cake Recipe and just add some of the oat bran to it making them, Cake Mix Muffins :) . So here is what I did. I am not going to post the whole recipe, since you can just go to the Wacky Cake link above and use that but make the following changes:

I omitted the cocoa powder, but you could try it with the cocoa for chocolate oat bran muffins.

I mixed all ingredients in a bowl according to my Eggless Wacky Cake Recipe and used about 1 1/4 cup of flour, with 1/2 cup of oat bran. (if using the cocoa, you may want to use only 1 cup of flour)

I also ended up using only 1/2 cup sugar instead of a whole cup on accident, but they tasted great, so I think I will stick with only using half the sugar :)

After mixing the ingredients with the changes above, just fill each lightly greased muffin cup about 1/2-3/4 full. I only have a miniature muffin pan, so I baked them for about 15-20 min. You may need to bake regular muffins for about 30 minutes or so. at 350 degrees.

Now these do not rise quite as much as regular muffins and are a little heavier, but I love them that way! They are nice and moist and tasted wonderful!

I hope you enjoy this great, simple, healthy oat bran muffins recipe (with no eggs)!

Turning the Page of Life….

Spiritual Fitness
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My sweet grandma passed away on the 8th of February. It was hard seeing her at the last, but I am so glad I and all the other family were able to be with her in her last days. She passed peacefully and since she knew Jesus as her saviour, I know she’s rejoicing in Heaven right now, and that’s what allowed us to be able to celebrate her passing at her memorial service.

I really think that’s what it should be for a child of God who has gone home. Now, yes, it may be a bit easier when you know their time is very near and you’ve been prepared well in advance. It does maybe seem harder to let go of someone who has passed at a younger age, or suddenly, but still, if they had accepted Jesus Christ as their saviour at some point in their life, I know they are in a much happier place. She was 91 years old, so she lived a long and full life and got to see several great grandchildren. She was such an inspiration as a woman, wife, mother, grandmother…..

She was a beautiful pianist and I wish I hadn’t stopped taking piano lessons from her when I got to an age where I got to choose, because as I got older I started really enjoying playing again and wish I was better at it! She also told the most wonderful, enchanting bed time stories when my brother and I were young and we spent the night at her house.

I love and miss my grandma, but one day I will see her again, and she is now with my grandpa who passed away years ago when I was a teenager.  I’m sure it was difficult for her having to go on without him for so many years, but now she is comforted at last!

I love you Grandma!

Is my baby eating too much?

Baby, Children, Health
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I’ve  heard this quite a lot lately and can only assume that it’s because people are so concerned about childhood obesity these days. Childhood obesity is a big problem, there’s no doubt about that and we do need to be concerned. I just think that most times many are over concerned about whether their baby is eating too much. As long as you are offering healthy foods, you really don’t need to worry. I have 3 boys, and our second and third wanted to nurse A LOT.

I never was concerned about them eating too much, though. Every baby is different and has different needs. Some just eat more than others. Especially with breastfeeding, I don’t believe they can eat too much.  Your baby should be allowed to nurse “on demand” up until probably at least 10 months. This is when I started slowly cutting back on nursing with my first 2 so that they could wean at 12 months. With my 3rd, I’ve decided to continue breastfeeding him past 12 months and still allow him to nurse pretty much “on demand” since he just turned 1. He only nurses about 3 times a day and sometimes only 2 times if we are out and about. He also nurses a couple times at night still.

Once you start feeding solids, you still shouldn’t worry too much. Just make sure to know the signs of when your baby has had enough. Sometimes it will be turning his head away, closing his mouth so you can’t put the spoon in, losing interest, pushing the spoon away with his hand, spitting the food out (although, that could be because he just doesn’t like what you’re feeding him lol). I used to believe whole heartedly that starting a baby on solids at 3-4 months was perfectly fine, and I did that with our first 2, but with our 3rd, again, I did things differently and I think it has worked out better. I didn’t start Baby on solids until he was 6 or 7 months old and I think it’s better in the fact that they can let you know more clearly when they’re full.

Just go by the saying: You decide what he eats, he decides how much.  I still do not limit my older kids in how much they eat(unless it’s almost dinner time and they say they want a snack, then I make them wait :)  and as you can see in the pictures, neither one is over weight. The are allowed plenty of exercise, and I am very conscious of what they eat.

  • Make sure they get fruits and/or vegetables at every meal(peas,broccoli,corn,nectarines,apples,oranges,bananas,salad,tomatoes,green beans,bell peppers,pears,etc…..)
  • Make sure they get whole grains at every meal(unsweetened cereal,whole wheat bread,rice,oatmeal,etc…)
  • Make sure they get some sort of meat or protein at lunch and dinner(yogurt,chicken,beef,turkey,peanut butter,nuts,cheese,milk,etc….)
  • Make sure they get some sort of dairy at least 2 meals a day(milk,cheese,yogurt)
  • Make sure they drink lots of water, and not much juice, and very rarely soda.

So the list above, lists many of the things I feed my kids that are pretty quick and easy. I’ve never worried about them being overweight or eating too much. They go through phases. Some days they seem like they are always hungry, and other days they don’t eat much. You just go with the flow.

If all you offer them are healthy food choices, then that’s what they will eat!

If your older child won’t eat any vegetables, then don’t let him get up from the table till he’s taken 2 bites. That’s what I always did with my boys when they’d go through a phase where they didn’t want to eat the veggies on their plate. I’d say “just eat 2 bites and then you can be done.” They usually would, but if not, I just made them sit there till they took 2 bites or let me spoon feed them 2 bites. You can’t give in.  The phase would pass and then they’d be eating their veggies just fine again :) It’s also good to make sure you have a couple choices for them, so they can choose which vegetable or fruit they want. That makes them feel like they have a choice in the matter and they’ll be more likely to eat their choice.

And if your older child doesn’t want to eat what you’ve prepared for dinner, then let him go without. Pretty soon he’ll get hungry enough that he’ll decide he wants to eat. Skipping a meal won’t kill ’em!

I also always emphasized to them how important veggies are to our bodies and that they help us grow healthy and strong. That has really helped a lot with my kids. They are pretty diverse in what they eat, and will eat most vegetables that I serve them. There are always going to be some foods that they don’t like, and I don’t force them to eat those as long as they’ll eat an alternative vegetable, then that’s fine. For example, Nboy(6) does not like bell peppers, so I don’t make him eat them. I have him try a bite if he hasn’t had one for awhile to see if he might like them now, but if he doesn’t then I don’t force him to eat them. Ekid doesn’t like tomatoes, so I don’t put those on his salad or sandwich. Occasionally he will taste one to see if he likes it though. But it’s really great because my kids will always at least taste something once to see if they like it.

I can’t stand picky eaters, and so far I think I’ve done a good job at raising our boys to be adventurous in the area of food and not picky(like their daddy lol).

So as far as babies that are ready for finger foods, here is a list of easy, healthy things that I feed my baby:

  • Peas. I also just feed them frozen because it’s nice when they’re teething.
  • Bananas
  • Toast(100% whole wheat),you also can do frozen bread
  • Crackers
  • Pears, cut up and fairly soft
  • Cooked broccoli cut up small
  • Macaroni noodles
  • Cheese
  • Cooked carrots
  • Peaches
  • Avocado
  • Kiwi
  • Cherrios
  • Mini wheats (older babies that can chew well)
  • Cut up chicken,turkey,hamburger

Well, there’s a list of what I could think of. I’m sure you could think of more stuff, these are just pretty much what I feed and have fed, my babies, as far as finger foods go.

So I hope this was helpful and if there’s anything I’ve missed or if you have any other finger foods that you feed your baby, please feel free to comment! :)

To Vaccinate or Not To Vaccinate

Children, Health
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So the kids were watching PBS this morning and one of the kids shows,Sid the Science Kid is talking about vaccinations. So my kids are asking “Mommy are shots really good for you” I say “yes, they help you not to get those kinds of sickness”

Now, I hesitate because I still have mixed feelings about vaccinations. All of my kids are up to date on their shots, so I’m definitely not against vaccinating.

The problem is that I feel like I should have stepped in and told them at the hospital with our first two boys that I didn’t want them vaccinated so soon after birth. Instead I went ahead and said ok when I wasn’t really sure. The funny thing is that with our 3rd, they didn’t vaccinate him in the hospital, so obviously they decided that maybe it was too soon to do that! I feel like I should have at least delayed vaccinating with some of the vaccinations. And I’m not sure that vaccinations aren’t a cause of the rise in autism and that kind of scares me!

So I just kind of feel like I’m saying, yes, vaccinations are good for you and safe for you, yet I’m thinking, are they really? What if one of my children started showing signs of autism? I would naturally think that it was probably because of the vaccinations.

At the same time, most vaccines don’t have the questionable stuff they used to have, but are there other things in the vaccines that could cause the autism? Could it be that so many viruses are being introduced all at once at such a young age that maybe some kids just can’t handle it? At the same time, though, naturally our kids are subjected to tons of germs and viruses every day, which is how the immune system builds up and learns to fight against them, so is it really that bad that they get so many shots so close together?

Anyway, I was just thinking about this this morning. All the things that our government tells us and we just believe, because it’s the government or the doctor, and we teach our kids to do the same. Hmmm……

How to get your kids to eat spinach…

Children, Health,
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I’m going to share a secret that will blow your mind…well, that is unless this secret was already out and I just learned about it…But anyway, my kids Love spinach! I never liked spinach when I was a child. I do now, but for some reason there is this aversion to spinach with many kids and I’m not really sure why.

So my secret… Popeye. Yep. They watch enough Popeye and they’ll be asking for spinach! At least my boys did. LOL  We have Popeye cartoons on dvd, and last year they started watching it quite alot. We went grocery shopping one day and I was looking at the bagged salad, and low and behold, Kroger bagged spinach has a picture of Popeye on there, so my then 2 year old says “Papa!” which, translated means Popeye, and of course then my then 5 year old wanted to get it too, so, of course, I happily bought some.

At dinner time they proceded to eat it, raw, and pretend they were getting strong like Popeye!

Now whenever I buy spinach, they happily eat it raw and they’ll even pretend that lettuce is spinach if I don’t happen to have spinach on hand, and did I mention they eat it raw, no salad dressing or anything? LOL

So there you go. Want your kids to eat spinach? Sit them in front of Popeye for awhile. :)

Oh, yes, and when they ask if it really makes you strong like Popeye, I just told mine that it doesn’t grow your muscles like it does with Popeye, but it is good for your body.  Emphasizing that vegetables are really good for your body and help you grow healthy and strong has really helped with my kids wanting to eat vegetables. Most of the time they have no problem and they love most vegetables that I put in front of them.  It’s also very important to start right off when they start eating solids to introduce them to lots of veggies and make sure they have some at most every meal. Then there shouldn’t be any problems with them not wanting to eat them.

Well, “Me thinks it’s time to go now”

My Kids Gave Me A Hernia?

Health
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Yes,,Yes they did. I went to my OB yesterday for my annual, and as I’ve got my arms raised(a little embarrassing since I hadn’t shaved for about a week!) and she’s telling me to roll my shoulders forward and backward and all that, she asks “So, has your hernia been bothering you?” I was a little confused and said “What hernia” She smiled and said “Didn’t know you had one, did you?”  No, I, Did, Not.  Apparently it is just a small umbilical hernia, which explains why my belly button just stays popped out. 

It kind of concerned me though when she told me to just be aware that if it gets hard, or starts hurting, to get to the emergency room right away! Yikes!  So I couldn’t rest untill I got home and looked up some  more info on umbilical hernias, even though my OB told me that it isn’t something to worry about, just to be aware of.  So I do feel better that something going wrong with it is pretty rare, but I still keep thinking about it and feeling it just to make sure it’s still ok!

Well, last night I ended up dreaming about it! Ahhh. I dreamt that it started sticking out more and more untill it was like a foot out from my belly, and hard! I told my DH, we need to get to the hospital, Now! I think that’s when I woke up and breathed a huge sigh of relief!LOL

Anyway, so anyone else have one, and if so, did you have it fixed or no? Does it ever bother you?

Thanks in advance for the feedback! :)

P.S. It is true- Your children can give you a hernia! (at least while they’re in your belly!)