My New Year's Eve Wish

It goes without saying that 2009 was the best year of my life.  I think this picture says it all.

So here's to all we learned and experienced in 2009: the new friends, new children, and starting on the road to health and balance as HOTmamas.  

My New Year's Eve wish for all of us is an EVEN BETTER 2010!  May the New Year bring you and your family love,  health, happiness and all your heart's delight.

Julie and Julia

I've settled in with and movie and a glass of wine. I don't think I've done this in over 2 years. I can't tell you which is better, the complete silence in my home, or the delicious bottle of wine that I picked up in anticipation of the kids going to grandmas. My choices tonight are Julie and Julia and a glass of New Age white wine from Argentina(which is yummy by the way).

If you don't know anything about the movie, you can get some info here. Basically Julie, started a BLOG about cooking all of the recipes from Julia Child's cookbook in 365 days. This is a true story and the blog became immensely popular, thus the movie.

In the beginning of the movie when Julie started blogging, her mother asked her why? Why add another thing to your plate of working long hours, being a wife? Her response.... to have a regimen, to be accountable to something on a daily basis and to set small daily goals.

What am I getting from the movie (still watching it)? Commitment and Inspiration. The commitment to keep blogging and the inspiration to try new things and not let anything get in my way.

I don't make New Year's resolutions but I must say that 2010 will be a year of Happiness, Good Health, Peace and Joy.....more time spent with friends and family, more time doing the things that I enjoy, more time taking care of myself inside and out.....(say it and CLAIM it!)

Tonight I am taking some time for myself.....and enjoying it.

What inspires you?

New Years' resolutions a bit early.

My gift to myself this ME Monday is forgiveness. I’ve been working hard to change my eating habits the past several weeks, and it has paid off: I’ve lost 3 lbs. Or rather, I HAD lost 3 lbs.
Last week, Christmas week, I gained those 3 lbs back. It was shocking to step on the scale this morning and learn that. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised; I ate like a PIG Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It was disgusting. I literally gave myself a stomach ache several times over.
But as the song goes, I’ll pick myself up, dust myself off, and start all over again.
I also know that I DO NOT want those fatty, sugary foods inside my body any more. I felt sick all weekend: so what’s the point? Sure a cookie here and there is FINE, but not to the extent I took it.


I will do better this week, and I’ve learned a valuable lesson about the foods I want to put into my body. So, here’s to new beginnings a bit before the New Year.

The Day After

Well, for us its the "day after" a VERY busy family filled time for us....for the couple of days leading up to Chrismas we are extremely busy and my kids are over stimulated to say the least. We were busy baking, dropping off gifts to friends homes, wrapping gifts and getting ready for the holiday. I have to say that I have a new found respect for my mom, who knew that she did ALL of what I am now doing? GEEZ, I am tired...yes, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, yes I enjoy the holidays but I also dread them because of all of the "hoopla" involved.....Today, the "day after", we did NOTHING, stayed in our PJ's, read books and played in the snow.

Happy Holidays to Everyone!

Happy Holidays to all HOTmamas!

From Sam, Sam's Mom & Sam's Dad -- We hope you are having a wonderful, healthy and happy holiday season surrounded by those you love! We sure are.

What happened?

Why is it that when we "vow" to work out and eat healthy, it all fails?

I have eaten VERY badly since Halloween and my body is feeling it! I have felt exhausted, and nothing quite settles right in my stomach, probably because I have been eating highly processed, greasy, salty, sugary, yummy tasting but bad for your body stuff. I have literally been having a stomach ache or heartburn or some other tummy ailment since I started eating all of this crap. I am not sure what happened nor why but I had been eating delicious meals and snacks, that were also good for my body for ages, just occasionally having little tidbits of processed stuff .. then something switched in my brain....I craved everything sugary, salty and BAD for me, and I feel it. I over DID it! For over a month I haven't felt right physically, been tired and grouchy and I have to get back to my old self....so Here I GO!! Wish me luck!

Are there foods that you eat that don't settle well with your body? How do you stay away from them?

Product review: need your input!

I want to write a review of the Signature Minerals makeup I recently told you about.  But what good is MY opinion?

So, calling all HOT mamas: If you got your free sample and tried the makeup, email me and let me know what you thought.  I'd love to include your experiences/opinions in my review.

Spoiler alert: I LOVED it!

Holidays

So today's "me Monday" I thought I would make "we Monday". We , as in my family. Every year around Christmas, we take some time out for us. We get a hotel room and spend some quality time together, no phones, no email, no laundry etc.....The kids pick something that they want to do , which this year was a horse and carriage ride, and we make no other plans. We headed for Chicago for the night, rooms are VERY cheap right before Christmas, we paid $99 for the night at the Marriott on Michigan Avenue(they even included American Girl Doll beds in the room). We spent a lot of time talking, holding hands while walking around and just re-connecting as a whole family unit. This time is important for us as my husband usually gets home after the kids are in bed every night. The kids chose our restaurant for dinner , Rosebud on Rush, which they said has the best buttered noodles on earth!(i am not sure how you could ruin buttered noodles but whatever). Anyway, My husband and I enjoyed a nice dinner with our children, got to have a couple of glasses of wine and the girls couldn't have been more excited about their carriage ride, they were Princesses in their Carriage!Now that we are back home, they are already talking about next years trip!

Wishing everyone a joyous Holiday season!

Do you have any special holiday traditions?

Best soup ever!

I know I should be posting a holiday recipe today, but I simply HAD to share this quick, easy and DEEE.LISH.US soup with you.  Its from my friend Christine, over at Five Gems.  Christine is a super-busy mom of 5 amazing kids, ranging from 1 to 18 years!  Christine and her husband work very hard to feed their children the healthiest meals possible and the whole family is veg (by choice.)  I tweaked this recipe a bit, because I used what I had in the house at the time.  Please tweak it yourself and let me know the results!

Chickpea & Fire Roasted Tomato Soup

For 4 servings:

2 cans fire roasted tomatoes, undrained (use whatever you have in the house -- I used tomatos w/ green chilies)

1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 onion, chopped

1 T garlic, chopped

16 oz broth (chicken or veg)

Herbs/seasoning to your taste **

Sautee the garlic & onion in some EVOO over medium-high heat until the onion is translucent.   Add all other ingredients, and turn the heat down to low.  Stir, and lid, and put the timer on for 20 minutes.  IF you want your soup spicy, add your seasonings now.  If you want it milder, add them at the end.

After 20-odd minutes, turn off the heat.  If you want a creamier soup, blend w/ a hand blender or in your food processor.  I actually added some quinoa with all the ingredients and cooked for 30 minutes.  It thickened the soup (which I then blended) and added grains so I had a complete meal in one bowl.

I did the cost breakdown and the soup is $0.60/serving without quinoa and $0.80 with the quinoa.  Calories are 188/serving for the quinoa type.  
The next day I had it with some tortillas w/ melted cheddar cheese and WHOA MAMA was that good!

**Christine used Indian spices, but I used Ethiopian (Berber) and it was fantastic.  Spicy! but fantastic.

Food diary, week 2

Not to worry; I don't plan on using my journey on Calorie King as permanent filler for Wellness Wednesday, but I do want to talk about a few more aspects of the program. 

Food diaries. 
Now, you could do this on your own, or in any other program.  My mom used to do this for a weight loss group she was in, back in the 80s.  I have found the food diary the hardest and most useful part of this program.  Writing down every single thing that passes your lips in quite powerful.  It makes you accountable, and if you're like me its a real shock to see what you consume in a 24 hour period.  The calories and nutrients are calculated by the program, so you just have to log the food and drink.  I was amazed by the calories in a simple sandwich, salad or soup out at a restaurant: SERIOUS hidden calories!  By being accountable for my calorie intake, I'm getting educated and am making educated choices on the foods I eat and beverages I drink.  Even after just 2 weeks, I'm looking into getting the most fiber, the healthiest carbs and fat, the "right" protein. 
Being conscious of what's going into my body is also making me conscious of what's going into my son's body.  In the end, this journey to health and fitness will not only benefit me, and set an example for my son, but it will also MAKE me feed him the most wholesome food possible.  And that's a pretty terrific thing, if you ask me.

How conscious are you of the foods you eat and feed your children?

Hair loss after delivery

Hair Loss....hmmm where do I begin? About 2 weeks ago I got my hair colored and she couldn't even get her fingers thru my hair when applying the color. Granted I have curly hair but this was ridiculous and PAINFUL!!! We literally had to tear thru my hair.

Flash forward to hair washing....I lose enough hair to make a small animal...I would say a cat at the very least. My husband said" stop pulling your hair back all the time..." Like this would make me lose enough hair to need therapy, I mean EVERY woman has a ponytail day at least once a week ..c'mon. I remembered my cousin saying that she lost hair after having her daughter and that it had something to do with hormones or something. I have 3 kids and lost absolutely NO HAIR with the 1st two so didn't feel like I fell into the "after baby hair loss" category...

So I researched and called my Doctor and consulted with friends (after all they are the most knowledgable) and low and behold I fall into the after baby hormone crazy category. Normally, women lose about 100 hairs a day with normal hair loss, in about the 3rd or 4th month after delivery women can lose about 500 hairs a day(this is where I am!) and this CAN occur for a few months until the hormones are back in check!I get teary eyed when I wash my hair or even comb it as it is truly hard to have handfuls of hair in my hand. On the flip side , I have a healthy baby boy that makes those tears go away with his toothless smile.

So with all of the other wonderful things that we as women go thru, losing our hair can also be one of them. Who knew?

Any of you out there experieced this? Can you help me out here...

Doing it for ME

A bit late on today's posting...but better late than never, right?

I have been so frustrated with my health/lifestyle lately.  I WANT to make positive changes, but I cannot seem to stick with them.  I WANT to eat healthy but feel I'm sabatoged by fast food and my husband's cooking.  I WANT to exercise, but I tend to blame the early darkness and the lack of energy to get up at 5 am.  I guess that means I don't WANT it badly enough.

So drastic times call for drastic measures.  Last week, I joined Calorie King, which is an online tool & community to promote and help you STICK with a healthy lifestyle leading to weight loss and weight management.  It IS calorie counting, but you don't do it...the computer does.  You have to be 100% honest and log every single morsel that passes your lips.  Every single one.  It then calculates your calorie intake for the day, and logs & graphs your nutritional intake as well.  Based upon your current weight, and how active of a lifestyle you lead, it calculates how many NET calories** you need a day to lose a healthy 1-2 lbs/week.
** NET calories are the calories you intake, minus the calories you burn through exercise. 

Calorie King promotes "incidental" exercise.  This is the exercise you don't know your doing.  Not running, not going to the gym.  But parking your car in a far-away space and walking through the parking lot to the store; taking the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator; walking the long way around the office to the bathroom; dancing at night w/ your child; pacing while on the phone, etc. etc.
For now, I need to take in around 1730 cals/day to lose weight.  Once I start exercising more (ie: gym) I'll need to take in about 150 more/day (if I go to the gym 3-4 times a week.)  I've found it's actually HARD to eat enough calories when you are watching them, spacing out your meals, and eating healthy foods.  For example, the leafy greens recipe I posted on Friday fills me up a lot more than bread or white rice would.  Come 8 pm at night, I've found I HAVE to eat something (fruit, yogert, popcorn) just to get enough cals in per day.
The site also has support groups to join, based upon how much weight you are trying to lose (decade club, century club, etc.) and age (silver club, golden club) and lifestyle (SAHM club, working moms club), etc.

The moral of this story: I think I've found something that will work for ME.  And I'm doing this for ME for the first time.  Not to look good in a particular outfit.  Not to be "skinny."  Not for low self-esteem or a myriad of other reasons.  But for ME.  And I think that's pretty great.

If you are trying to get healthy/lose weight what's working or not working for you??

Leafy greens are your friend

On my never-ending journey to better nutrition and health, I've discovered leafy greens.  Specifically "dark" leafy greens.  These guys are POWERHOUSES of nutrients, and shockingly low in calories.  Oh, and they fill you up like nobody's business.  When I eat 4 cups raw (cooked down to 1 1/2 cup) I barely have room for the rest of my meal. 
I get the bag of mixed greens (collard, turnip, mustard) or a large bunch of kale (yes, I said kale, don't be afraid!); whichever is on sale at the store that particular week. 
The first thing you should know about these beauties is you DO NOT need to boil/steam or otherwise, pre-cook them before your sautee.  Its unnecessary and will leech out some of your yummy vitamins.
Here's how I cook them (same method as my other fav: red and napa cabbage!)

Leafy Greens with Garlic
4 cups of greens, washed, patted dry & stems removed
1/2 t. chopped garlic
1-2 glugs EVOO
1/4 c chopped onion (any kind), if you have it around
Chili powder to taste
S&P to taste

Add your oil to a med-high skillet.  NEVER add oil to a cold pan.  Sautee your onions & garlic a minute or so.  If you don't have garlic, you can use garlic powder.  If it's salted garlic powder, just omit the salt later on.  Add your greens, 1 cup at a time.  Turn heat down to medium.  Stir quickly to avoid burnt greens.  You may add some veg or chicken broth (just a bit) if you don't have enough oil to keep the greens from sticking.  Keep adding greens as they cook down.  When adding the last bit of greens, turn your heat off, add chili powder, S&P, and put the cover on your pan.  Let sit for 2-5 minutes.

I like to have greens w/ tofu & a 1/2 sweet potato.  I find the savory and sweet flavors really compliment each other.

Do you have a favorite healthy veg recipe?  Please share it.  either post in comments or post a link to your blog posting.

Guest blogger: House Call Fitness

From our friend Abby at House Call Fitness (where the personal trainer comes to YOU at YOUR house.  How cool is that??  Please check out this great woman's owned business if you live in the Chicago area!)

You say you don't have time to exercise? I beg to differ. Read on for simple strategies on how you can get your 30 minutes per day.
30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise on most days of the week (think 5) is the minimum amount of exercise needed to achieve cardiovascular and health-related benefits. (Remember: more is needed if weight loss is the goal) The good news for people who are time crunched is that you can accumulate this 30 minutes throughout your day. You can break it up in to three manageable 10 minute periods.
Ideas for increasing your daily activity:
WALK ON YOUR LUNCH BREAK
PARK IN THE FARTHEST SPOT FROM THE STORE ENTRANCE
TAKE A WALK AFTER DINNER
WALK OR BIKE TO WORK
CLIMB THE STAIRS TO YOUR OFFICE INSTEAD OF TAKING THE ELEVATOR
ON YOUR 15 MINUTE BREAK, CLIMB THOSE STAIRS AGAIN


Here are a few random facts on stair climbing that I gathered from a recent article in the Intelligencer.
67% RISE IN STAIR USE AT A 10-STORY MIDDLE-INCOME HOUSING COMPLEX IN THE BRONX AFTER THE CITY STARTED POSTING "BURN CALORIES, NOT ELECTRICITY" SIGNS
33% DIFFERENCE, IN A HARVARD STUDY, IN MORTALITY RATES BETWEEN MEN WHO CLIMBED MORE THAN 55 FLIGHTS OF STAIRS A WEEK AND THOSE WHO DIDN'T
STAIR-CLIMBING IS A MORE EFFICIENT FORM OF EXERCISE THAN WALKING: TWO ADDITIONAL MINUTES OF STAIR-CLIMBING PER DAY (APPROXIMATELY 3 FLOORS) CAN BURN MORE THAN ENOUGH CALORIES TO ELIMINATE THE AVERAGE ADULT'S ANNUAL WEIGHT GAIN


WORKOUT WITH A BUDDY, TAKE TURNS MAKING UP NEW EXERCISES
EXPERIMENT WITH A NEW CLASS
PICK UP A FITNESS MAGAZINE AND TRY SOME NEW EXERCISES
PURCHASE A NEW WORKOUT VIDEO SUCH AS TAW KWON DO OR HIP HOP
TRY A BOOTCAMP STYLE WORKOUT
GO ON A WALK/RUN WITH A FRIEND
RUN AROUND AND PLAY WITH YOUR CHILDREN IN THE YARD


Take a look at this video clip and see the measures that some folks in Sweden went to in order to encourage people to take the stairs.

People are discouraged by boredom and encouraged by novelty. What can you do to make exercise more appealing to you? How about making it more fun?


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Since Zenfull Mommy and I are both doing the 2010 AWBC, we will be doing some long training walks together. YEAH! I'm also getting a friend at work to join our AWBC team: she lives just 2 miles from my house so we're going to start working out together as well. This will get ME motivated, as I cannot let these two amazing ladies down.

Finding the ME in this holiday season

I'm sure the title of this post sounds odd, especially in light of this recent post.  But work with me a little and you'll see the message I'm trying to convey.
The holidays are stressful and I personally think they are MOST stressful on moms.  We try to make everything perfect for everyone in our lives.  Getting that PERFECT gift, decorating the house JUST SO (and I seriously have trouble keeping my house clean enough to avoid a DCFS investigation...), extra amounts of cooking/baking, finding cute-as-a-button outfits for the kids, trying to ensure those velvet dress pants from last year still fit after Thanksgiving, spending extra time with in-laws and extended family (which is ALWAYS stressful, let alone with this added pressure), and the list goes on and on and on. 
I remember as a child, my mom hid/kept all gifts in the basement.  We had an old (150 yr+ farm house with an unfinished (ie: cinderblock w/ dirt floor) basement.  It was cold and damp.  Mom MADE the majority of our gifts (sewing), but made sure we had a couple store bought ones as well.  Even back then, poor as we were, she went over-board with gifts.  Because my dad ran the farm and routinely worked 18 hour days, it was up to mom to get Christmas organized.  On the evenings leading up to Christmas she would spend hours in the basement at night after we went to bed.  Then Christmas Eve she's spend hours baking: cookies, cakes, sweet rolls, etc.  Come Christmas morning I cannot fathom how exhausted she must have been.  She did EVERYTHING for everyone else, and never took time for herself.  I often wonder if she enjoyed the holidays herself.
As a new mom, I'm committed to find some time for myself this season.  Otherwise, I fear, the stress would prove overwhelming and I wouldn't enjoy the holidays at all.  So what am I doing?  I'm making all gifts.  The time I spend on these gifts is actually ME TIME.  I ENJOY making things for others, but even more, I LOVE the satisfaction of homemade projects and the solitude it takes to complete the projects (usually in the basement where my sewing machine and craft cabinet are.)  It's a peaceful time for me.  I play Christmas music and reflect.  I emerge from the basement renewed and frankly, more sane.

What are you doing to take care of yourself this season?

The importance of giving

Every year I try and re-inforce the fact that giving to others is so very important. This year, I think my kids finally got it...they got "it".

We had several toys in the basement , New and in Boxes, from Birthdays, Christmas, etc ..that for some reason or another my girls never got around to opening or playing with. It seems as though no matter how many times I ask the Granparents (my kids have 3 sets) NOT to buy them toys, they ignore me and Dive in head first.....So We pulled out ALL of the toys, I think there were about 30 items and put them out on the living room floor. Each of my girls were told to pick 1 toy that they wanted to keep....this was a VERY SLOW process, as they NEEDED all of them but they eventually each chose 1 toy and we packed up the rest. After talking as a family, the kids decided to give the remaining toys to a local orphanage in our area.

My girls have been asking me every day when we are going to take the toys.They are so excited to give them to the kids and to make others' happy. My 7 year old told me that it makes her heart feel good to give her things to kids that need it. She got it.



On a final note, my husband and I didn't want to clean out the kids toys and give them away while they were not home. We feel that it is important for them to be involved in the giving process and to willingly give things to others.

How do you help others less fortunate than you?

Sweet and Spicy Nuts

My friend made these for Thanksgiving and was nice enough to share some with our family, they are delicious! ♥


1 ½ cups lightly salted roasted cashews
1 ½ cups shelled unsalted pecans
1 ½ cups shelled unsalted walnuts
1 ½ cups shelled unsalted almonds
2 Tbsp. snipped fresh rosemary
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. coarse salt
1 tsp. ground red pepper
3 Tbsp. butter, melted

Spread nuts on a large baking pan. Toast in a 350 degree oven until golden, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Add rosemary, brown sugar, salt, and ground red pepper. Add melted butter and toss to coat. Let cool and store in an airtight container. Makes 6 cups.

Color blind

Note: if you don't know me in "real life" for this posting you should know that we are white parents with a black child adopted from Africa.  With that bit of background, please read on.

Last week, and this is by far not the first time this has happened, I was telling a friend that we are looking into Jamaica and/or another Caribbean country for Sam's brother's adoption. The friend responded "what do you have against white kids?"
WOW. And this is a GOOD friend.
I'm sure I'm not the first IAP to experience this. I'm sure I won't be the last. But it hurts just the same.
I'm sure I don't need to say this to you but WE HAVE NOTHING AGAINST WHITE KIDS. Just like we have no particular preference for black kids. Sam being African is just the way it all worked out. We wanted to parent, and Ethiopia was a good program/good fit for our family at the time. Now that we're home, we want some sort of racial equality in the house, so our next adoption will also be a black child from an African diaspora nation (since we aren't returning to Africa.)
I could say (1) DCFS (state) adoptions in IL are 99.9% African-American children, and chances are better than 50% once the child is in your home, but before the adoption is finalized a birth parent will return and take the child. (2) Private IL adoptions can cost up to $65K and are, for the most part, open so the birth mom/parents are always a part of the child's life, if they so chose. (3) Russian and other "white" European programs are dicey, expensive, require extensive in-country stays, and there are no guarantees as to the health of the child (ie: blind adoption.) (4) we chose not to pursue years of extensive fertility treatments that would likely NOT ever lead to a live pregnancy.
But I shouldn't have to.
People should be excited for us because we are parents and wish to bring a second child into our family. But they aren't always. This makes me very sad. Sad for those would don't "get it." Sad for any discrimination my children will face, not because they are black, per se, but because they don't look like us, and are obviously adopted.
I'm sure my friend didn't mean to "sound" racist, but that's what I "heard."
Have you experienced racism regarding your family structure/children?  Or yourself?

AWBC 2010: In it to END It

In 2010, once again, we are participating in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.  If you don't know about this amazing 2 day journey, please check it out here.  We each have been touched by this disease personally, with friends and family members courageously fighting, and winning.  These loved ones are beautiful, strong, and feisty women with children and husbands and careers.  They fight for themselves and those around them.  They garner strength from other survivors, and we are humbled and awed by the grace and courage they have shown to us over the years. 

Although we cannot take away the physical pain or emotional hardships this disease causes, we CAN WALK.  And we can raise money to fund mammograms for underinsured women, and research for a cure.
If you'd like to donate to our team, BREAST INTENTIONS, drop us an email and we'll tell you how.  But this isn't about US, so donate to other walkers/teams, or become a walker yourself, form your own team, be a volunteer to pass out water, do whatever you can.  Because together, WE CAN FUND A CURE!

Doing more this holiday season

I'm a busy mom. But I have a home, a job, a husband, food on the table, clothing for my baby, 2 cars...and the list goes on and on.  But many, many moms around the world don't have these things.  They are trapped in the cycle of poverty.  They cannot provide for their children.  I cannot imagine that level of pain, not being able to feed and cloth your children.
But there is a way out of poverty. 
It's called Kiva.  Kiva makes microloans ($25) to individuals around the world.  The recipient of the loan uses the money to purchase inventory to sell (be it food, clothing, etc.)  The recipient improves her life, her family's life, and her community by being a small business owner.  Through local banks, the loans are disbursed and PAID BACK IN FULL to the lender.  YOU are the lender.  YOU can transform a life, a family, a community.
If you are reading this blog, then you have a computer.  If you have a computer, you have $25.  Let's face it, we are all going to spend a lot more than that on holiday gifts for friends and family this year.  We ALL have $25 to give. 
So I encourage you to make a Kiva loan, and maybe even have THAT be your gift to a family member (like Charity: Water or Heifer International.)  Kiva has gift certificates so your family/friends can pick their own project to loan to with YOUR money.  How great is that??

Do you have a favorite world-charity?  How are you working to help others and take the "commercial" out of the holidays this year?