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Lifestyle

Strawberry Picking

June 13, 2022 by 15 Comments

This will come as no surprise to my long-time blog followers, but I just love fresh strawberries. There is nothing quite as delicious as a fresh strawberry right off the vine. A bite of strawberry is like a bite of summer sunshine.

We had a free day and visited a you-pick strawberry field. Little Buddy has matured a lot since last year and could actually do a decent job picking strawberries. Sure he picked a few of the green ones (which we added to our basket and paid for), but generally speaking, he could tell the difference between the ripe strawberries and the unripe ones.

The farm also had pre-picked strawberries that only cost a few more dollars per gallon than picking your own. Mr. Handsome started out by trying to convince me that we should only bring home strawberries that we had picked ourselves. He said it was cheating to buy strawberries from a you-pick farm. I decided that instead of debating, I would let the hot summer sun make my argument for me. It worked, and after a couple hours in the heat, Mr. Handsome declared that “rules are meant to be broken” and happily agreed to supplement our hand-picked strawberry supply with some pre-picked berries. My plan had worked.

On the way home, we stopped at a quaint little Amish restaurant and enjoyed some delicious Amish desserts. Mr. Handsome adored the pastry, and we all loved the chocolate milk.

The real treat, however, was the homemade, pectin-free strawberry jam (link below). The process of making it is long but completely worth it.

Link to Strawberry Jelly Recipe

Has anyone else had a chance to pick strawberries this year?

Filed Under: Lifestyle

Our Views on Vitamin D

March 8, 2022 by 10 Comments

This post is partly a product review and partly a post on wellness. About ten years ago, before I was married, I was having a minor health issue, and a doctor determined that it was caused by low Vitamin D levels. I started supplementing Vitamin D3, and the problem diminished in a matter of a few weeks, never to return. I continued supplementing daily.

Fast-forward several years, and we were at Little Buddy’s one-week checkup. I was breastfeeding, as I am right now with our second son, and the doctor randomly brought up the subject of Vitamin D3 supplementation. He informed us that, based on his extensive research, he believes that virtually everyone is low in Vitamin D and should supplement. Humorously put, unless you live on the equator and spend your days sunbathing in a bikini, you would likely benefit from a daily dose of Vitamin D3.

It should be noted that our doctor is only an advocate for other vitamins on a person-to-person basis. I find this worth mentioning because it is what caused Mr. Handsome to get on board with Vitamin D supplementation. Like our doctor, he does not believe multivitamins to be necessary for those who eat a healthy diet. (We have different opinions on this subject, and I take a daily multivitamin, as well as a couple other supplements that were recommended by a specialist years ago. Mr. Handsome is on board with the supplements, but he does not believe that a regular multivitamin is necessary outside of pregnancy. So multivitamins are one of very few subjects that we have agreed to disagree on.)

To make a long story short, all four of us take Vitamin D3 daily, in dosages prescribed by our medical doctors. Mr. Handsome and I take softgels (our current brand is NOW), and the boys take it in liquid form. (Babies that are formula-fed have different Vitamin D requirements, depending on the levels in their formula.)

What is so noteworthy about Vitamin D? There are a host of health issues that can either be caused or made worse by low Vitamin D levels, making it a very essential vitamin for overall wellness. A common misconception is that humans receive enough Vitamin D from foods like conventional milk and eggs, but that is false.

Vitamin D helps build a strong immune system. In today’s world, I think it’s interesting to note that Vitamin D has been shown to help prevent severe COVID symptoms and aid in recovery.

What are your views on vitamins?

Filed Under: Lifestyle

Healthy Eating Tips Part 2

November 13, 2020 by 39 Comments

Last month, at the request of some of my readers, I shared a post with healthy eating tips. Rather than cram everything into one post, I figured I would break it up into two parts.

Ice cream is Mr. Handsome’s weakness. Honestly, homemade milkshakes are usually the only sweets he eats aside from baked goods. And the once-in-a-while donut from Five Daughters. Several months ago, he decided to only eat ice cream on weekends and has done a fantastic job sticking to that about 90% of the time. I’ve been really proud of his self-control.

My principle of choosing items with the shortest ingredient list is very applicable to ice cream. The vast majority of ice creams on the market are filled with artificial ingredients.

Another thing that I keep in mind is that products that are advertised as having low or no sugar or fat aren’t automatically healthier. In fact, you could make the argument that they are often “less healthy” than their conventional counterparts.

Low sugar or sugar-free dessert items almost always contain artificial sweeteners. My opinion is that if you are going to have a treat, go with the real thing (real sugar). Not only do artificial substitutes often taste fake (at lease in my opinion), but studies have shown that they can be quite bad for the human body. Here is a specific example: Cottage cheese that is low fat or fat-free often contains stabilizers to make it creamy, so I opt for the full-fat (4%) cottage cheese and just make sure to control my portion sizes.

We both really enjoy a cup of coffee each day, whether it’s decaf or caffeinated. Well, Mr. Handsome won’t drink decaf, but I will. Neither of us takes sugar in our coffee, but we do like a bit of heavy cream. In the evenings after Little Buddy is in bed, I enjoy a bit of snack food. The “natural” section of grocery stores like Kroger has a great selection of snack foods that don’t contain artificial ingredients and are lower in fat but are still satisfying. They certrainly aren’t health foods because they do contain some fat and salt, but they are much better than conventional potato chips.

I’ve also trained myself to see frozen fruit as a treat. Slightly thawed in the microwave, so it’s soft but still cold, and it makes a great reward after a long day.

It’s crucial to do everything in moderation. Choose a few things that really make you happy (cream in your coffee, a piece of chocolate, a single homemade cookie) and find ways to make those treats as healthy as possible.

As far as exercise goes, my goal is to exercise 4-5 times per week. There are a lot of great YouTube videos (I like Blogilates) and DVDs (Walk away the Pounds).

Filed Under: Lifestyle

Mr. Buddy at a Wedding

November 25, 2019 by 25 Comments

A few weeks ago, I was a bridesmaid in my college roommate’s wedding. The dresses were perfect–picture a floor-length, chiffon gown with capped sleeves in a color somewhere between sky blue and dusty blue–and didn’t break the bank.

The wedding was an hour way from where my mom lives, so not only did we have a free place to stay, but we also had free childcare. Little Buddy is still drinking breast milk, and he is almost 11 months but has no teeth, so it’s hard to explain what he can eat to caretakers. It was also going to be a really long day, and I didn’t want to leave him at my mom’s house the entire time. My mom was kind enough to come along as our “nanny.”

While I got ready and took pictures with the wedding party, Little Buddy played in the church nursery with Grandma. Mr. Handsome went to the local movie theater to see a matinee, which worked out great because it gave him a little bit of “me time,” and it gave my mom some much deserved grandma time. Rather than make Little Buddy sit through the ceremony, she kept him in the nursery during that, as well.

The reception was in a very laid-back venue. The bride did all the decorations DIY, with help from family and friends, and it looked beautiful.

I was nervous that Little Buddy would struggle to make it through the evening, but he did great. There was a short dance towards the end of the night. Little Buddy danced with Grandma in the back of the room for a little while, and then Grandma brought him to us and sat down so we could dance with our son. The music was all very tasteful, and the atmosphere was calm and family-friendly. There were several other kids on the dance floor, and Little Buddy enjoyed watching them jump around.

The send-off took place promptly at 8:45, so we were able to head out before Little Buddy got too tired. I was so very pleased at how well he did. He recently started a “cling to mama” stage, so it was nice to have him in the same building so I could go give him a hug and reassure him every hour or two. It was also lovely to see him enjoying time with his Grandma.

Filed Under: Lifestyle Tagged With: DIY wedding, wedding

Eating Healthy While Pregnant

November 6, 2018 by 52 Comments

Third trimester pregnancy baby bumpI am thrilled to be a few weeks into my third trimester. While my pregnancy has flown by thus far, I am wondering if that will continue or if the last two months will feel like an eternity. At this point, I have gained about 20 pounds, and I’m packing on about one pound a week. My provider gave me a clean bill of health after my last round of blood work, which was a great feeling, especially with the thyroid issues I had in my first trimester.

Five months ago, an older gentleman who practiced as an OB-GYN for 40 years shared with me his thoughts on weight gain and eating healthy while pregnant. “People will jokingly tell you that you’re eating for two,” he said. “But if you adopt that as your mantra, you could easily end up gaining too much weight and being at risk for gestational diabetes.” He encouraged me to eat when I’m hungry and to focus on key nutrients, like calcium and protein. Under the supervision of my health care provider, I take plant-based prenatal vitamins, fish oil (not just any brand–certain ones are unsafe during pregnancy), vitamin D, magnesium, and a B vitamin that helps my migraines….

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Filed Under: Lifestyle Tagged With: calcium, eating healthy while pregnant, GreenWise organic caesar dressing, pregnancy diet, protein, protein bars, Publix, Trader Joe's, weight gain during pregnancy

My Pregnancy Announcement for Mr. H

October 1, 2018 by 13 Comments

Several readers have asked when I broke the news to Mr. Handsome when I found out that we were pregnant and how I came up with a pregnancy announcement. Just to be sure that it wasn’t a false positive, I took a few different pregnancy tests over a span of a few days before telling him. After all those came back positive, I searched online for cute pregnancy announcement ideas, and let me tell you, there are a lot!

I considered doing something with fishing–“Future angler to arrive soon,” “We’re expecting a new fishing buddy,” or “Our greatest catch is on the way.” Those were all pretty clever but a little too flashy for me. I ended up going with something slightly more sentimental….

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Filed Under: Lifestyle Tagged With: Christmas, fishing, Goodwill, onesie, pregnancy announcement

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Mr. Handsome and I married six years ago and moved to Nashville, Tennessee. Between recipes, photos from our travels, money saving tips, DIY suggestions, post about our daily life with our son, and more, our lifestyle blog features a little bit of everything. Read More…

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