I Made it 21 Days Without Sugar!

I don't have a sweet tooth, I have a sweet fang. I love sweets way too much and for years I've struggled with trying to restrain myself. I know sugar is bad for me but that doesn't stop me. 

Last year I discovered Diane Sanfilippo's blog Balanced Bites and I read all about her 21 day sugar detox program. It sounded just awful and awesome at the same time. The thought of actually not having anything remotely sweet for 21 days sounded akin to torture and far beyond any sort of discipline I possessed. It also sounded like just what I needed to reset my carb and sugar cravings.

I stewed and considered and finally put the book on hold at my library. When I held the actual book in my hands I still thought I'd get out of actually putting in any effort. Then I read The 21-Day Sugar Detox: Bust Sugar & Carb Cravings Naturally and it moved me to action.

Here's a brief description of the book: Use the easy-to-follow meal plans and more than 90 simple recipes in this book to bust a lifetime of sugar and carb cravings in just three weeks. Three levels of the program make it approachable for anyone, whether you're starting from scratch or from a gluten-free, grain-free, and/or Paleo/primal lifestyle. 

At the beginning of January I started my 21 days and I gotta say the first week was HARD. No afternoon chocolate? No berry smoothie? No sweetener in my morning cuppa tea? All of these things were SUPER hard for me the first week. My way of compensating was to eat, eat, eat. This isn't a calorie/portion restriction diet so I ate a lot of delicious food. The first big change I noticed toward the end of the first week was that food tasted better and things that normally aren't sweet enough tasted amazing. For example, I usually need some stevia or sugar on my grapefruit because it's just too sour but after having nothing sweet for a week it tasted perfectly sweet with nothing on it. I usually don't care for bananas either but they started tasting better too.

I'm an all or nothing kinda gal so having clear cut rules to follow for 21 days worked for me.

The book is full of some delicious recipes that I cooked for our family dinners. Joe's favorite was the Double Pork Tenderloin which is a tenderloin rubbed in spices and wrapped in bacon. Our other favorite recipes from the book: Beef Jerky, Apple Streusel Egg Muffins, Lemon Chicken, Asian Style Meatballs, Healthy Homemade Mayonnaise and Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing (now my very favorite salad dressing).

It was the most difficult to stick just to the approved whole foods when I was eating outside our house. When I met a friend at Chipotle for lunch I ordered a salad with all the allowed toppings and brought my salad dressing. That worked fine but when we spent a weekend with the in-laws it was a little trickier. I brought along my own food and was as careful as I could be without being weird.

I highly recommend giving this 21 day program a try. I felt so good physically and mentally at the end of the 21 days. I even lost 5 pounds and never felt hungry. I'm already thinking ahead to when I'll do another 21 day detox...maybe in the summer. For now I am back on chocolate and it does taste so good.

I received nothing for this review, not even a free book. Sigh.

Smoothie Time

I make smoothies almost daily for breakfast for my boys. My parents gifted us with a Vitamix blender just last Christmas and since then I've been blending and mixing something up nearly every day. I love the flexibility of adding whatever frozen fruit I've got in my freezer and easily getting lots of healthy, real food in the kids. 

I seem to make a slightly different concoction every day with some more popular than others. No one was very happy when I added kale but small amounts of frozen spinach go unnoticed. I start with a liquid which lately has been coconut milk followed by an oil (flax or coconut). I'm always trying to keep us regular so I add a tablespoon or 2 of flaxmeal and then lots of frozen fruit- berries, bananas, peaches or mangoes and a bit of stevia to sweeten. Only occasionally do I add in the frozen veggies too since they change the flavor and the kids do notice.

I was very disturbed to read in a recent study by Produce For Better Health Foundation (PBH) that only 8 percent of Americans achieve their recommended servings for fruit and it's even worse for vegetables with just 6 percent of Americans meeting the recommended target. Smoothies are an easy and tasty way to get more fruits and veggies into your diet.

I recently joined the Moms Meet program and was given the opportunity to review two of the new Fruit & Veggie Smoothies at Jamba Juice. My family LOVES Jamba Juice and we have been consuming their smoothies for many years so my kids were thrilled when I told them about this. They were not so happy when I said they didn't get to choose their regular smoothie flavors but they eventually came around.

All Jamba Juice Fruit & Veggie Smoothies contain two servings of fruits and one serving of veggies in every blended to order smoothie. They are made from whole fruit and vegetable juice with no added sugar.

I ordered a Tropical Harvest Smoothie which contains mangoes, peaches and passion mango juice blended with juices from butternut squash, sweet potato, and carrot. It's dairy and gluten free and full of Vitamins A & C.

My youngest son Luke got a Jamba Kids Berry Beet It! Smoothie which is a blend of strawberries, mangoes, bananas and mixed berry juice with carrots, beets, broccoli, spinach, kale and lettuce. It's also free of dairy and gluten and full of vitamins A, C, B6 and fiber.

The kids and I loved the flavor of the Tropical Harvest Smoothie. It's an orange color with a strong mango flavor. I found it very sweet and delicious and the kids agreed.

Our opinions of the Jamba Kids Berry Beet It! Smoothie were more mixed. I only got one in the kids size for Luke but we all tried it. Luke & Braden liked it and said it had a sweet raspberry flavor. I liked it too but none of us preferred it over the Tropical Harvest flavor. Zane didn't like Berry Beet It at all. He is my most picky smoothie drinker and prefers very sweet smoothies. He said it tasted bitter to him. I didn't agree as I thought it was plenty sweet.

I find Jamba Juice smoothies to be a great treat for the kids when we're out and about. It's far better for them than an ice cream cone or donut. My only drawback is that the smoothies are very sweet but no sugar is added so I'm sure they must use a lot of juice or juice concentrates which are full of empty calories without the good things you get from a whole fruit or veggie. I'm certainly going to keep making smoothies at home but when I need a cool treat with the kids between all my mommy errands I'll be stopping at Jamba Juice.

I received this product for free from the sponsor of the Moms Meet program, May Media Group LLC, who received it directly from the manufacturer. As a Moms Meet blogger, I agreed to use this product and post my opinion on my blog. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of May Media Group LLC or Jamba Juice.

21 Days to a More Disciplined Life e-book review

I struggle with self discipline as a mother and homemaker. I long for a completely organized home but would settle for a decluttered desk. I generally procrastinate as much as I can. I want to add more discipline into my life but I struggle to know where to start. 

21 Days to a More Discipline Life is just realeased today and is filled with practical steps to lead you into a more disciplined life.  I was thrilled with the opportunity to read and review this book as self discipline at home is something I need to work on. With this book you choose an area in your life you want to change and you spend 21 days building toward mastering that goal. 

It is full of encouragement. At no time does Crystal make you feel bad about where you are. The book is full of motivation to keep moving forward. Goal setting is clearly laid out. Crystal explains how to break big goals down into manageable bite sized pieces.

I like that you read one short chapter per day and then have a small assignment. Each days' reading includes a practical application step that you do to move closer to whatever area you are mastering. Crystal uses the example of establishing an early morning routine for herself that includes getting up at 5am on weekdays. She didn't just start getting up that early but instead took small steps to move toward getting up early as part of her regular routine.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking to add more self discipline into your life in a practical and realistic way. This is a book you can re-read as you move onto another area of you life you want to be more disciplined in.

From Crystal's website:

What You Can Expect to Learn From This Book:

• How to prioritize and name your goals so that you can accomplish them faster than ever.
• How to expose the obstacles that will come up, and then make a plan to conquer them.
• How to break up a goal that feels insurmountable into bite-sized pieces.
• How to stop making excuses and get the job done now — and then enjoy the rest of your day!
• How to put accountability in place to help you stay on task and motivated.

Click here to buy 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life in pdf form. It's also available on Kindle.

Am I the only one who struggles with self discipline?

(Note: The link in this post is my referral link. Read my disclosure policy here.)

Back To Eden Documentary Review

Back To Eden : a documentary review

Back to Eden is a documentary about Paul Gautschi's simple but revolutionary gardening techniques. I sat down with my husband with low expectations, unaware I would hear such interesting and easy ideas.

Who is this guy?

Paul is a Christian who seeks God in everything including his family orchard and  garden. Throughout the movie he quotes Bible verses and relates them to nature and how he grows his garden.

Upon moving to the Washington Peninsula in 1979, Paul quickly realized he would have trouble watering his family garden because the area only receives around 16 inches of water a year. However, he found abundant life and growth in the forests bordering his property, so Paul turned to God to discover how that was possible. He studied the forest floor and saw a mulch covering that retained water and grew beautiful trees and plants.

Gardening without fertilizing

This caused Paul to question the traditional gardening methods of tilling the land and adding in fertilizer. Conventional farming requires annual tilling and adding chemical fertilizers so every year more and more fertilizer is needed and eventually the soil gets sterile. These bagged fertilizers contain nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium but do not contain minerals, leaving food grown today less nutritious - or delicious - as in the past.

Paul changed his gardening techniques, no longer using fertilizers or tilling, but raking in compost and putting down wood chips, then planting seeds directly into the wood chips. The soil never gets compacted and the wood chips retain water like a sponge so the soil is always damp.

Unlikely benefits

I was struck by how crop rotation is unnecessary with this gardening method. Paul stated that it doesn't happen in nature and it's not needed with healthy, thriving soil. He also doesn't have a problem with pests. Bugs will attack weak plants, but they leave Paul's healthy ones alone.

I was also impressed that watering is not needed when using a wood chip covering. Paul said he waters when planting seeds and not at all after that. He cites the ancient world of Genesis before the flood when plants weren't watered by rain, but rather from water vapor from the ground. Ground water is a much more efficient watering method since spraying water through the air with irrigation is only 50% efficient. Mulching with wood chips means that the soil’s nutrients stay put when it rains, with little nutrient loss.

In my view, one of the best benefits with this system is that weed removal is easy. The plants grow their roots down through the loose wood chips into the soil and since the soil is never compacted it's easy to pull out the roots.

You can do it, too!

As Back to Eden concludes, we’re shown some family gardeners trying out this method. You get to see how it works out when you try it from scratch. I was inspired to try this out in a section of my own garden! I like how Paul states he's not interested in making money, he just wants to get his information out there to help people grow their own sustainable gardens to feed their families healthy, delicious food.

It's free and easy to watch the movie online or you can buy a dvd off of the website. I highly recommend watching Back to Eden to anyone who is interested where their food comes from, likes gardening or wants to start their own Back to Eden garden.

This post is part of: Wicked Good Wednesday, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Wildcrafting Wednesday, Healthy 2Day Wednesday, Small Footprint Friday

K5 Learning Program Review

I recently had the opportunity to try out K5 Learning for six weeks with my two boys, ages 7 and 10.
Here's a description of the program from the K5 website:

Overview
K5 Learning is an online reading and math program for kids from kindergarten through grade 5. Our intent is to help kids build reading, math and study skills through independent study. K5 is designed for home use and can be used for after-school, weekend and summertime supplemental study or in conjunction with a homeschooling program.
How it Works
Kids complete an online assessment of 8 key reading and math skills, and then work independently at their own pace through over 3,000 online lessons and activities. The lessons are animated, interactive and simple enough that a 4-5 year old can use them independently. We automatically choose lessons for students (based on their assessment and past lessons), track student progress and provide reports for parents.
Benefits for Kids
K5 helps kids learn essential reading and math skills, develop good study habits, and fulfill their academic potential.
Benefits for Parents
K5 makes life easier for parents by allowing for effective, independent study by kids. Simplified interfaces, automatic lesson selection, student tracking and reporting all contribute to minimize the amount of daily supervision required.
Who we are
K5 Learning was founded by parents who wanted better learning tools available to their kids for home use. In 2010, we licensed the very best reading and math software, used by thousands of students in hundreds of schools, from leading U.S. education companies. formed from the combination of this award winning software.

Each of my boys completed the online assessment first. They liked this part of K5 the least because it was a test that was very hard in some places and too easy in others. I understand it had to be that way to adequately evaluate what levels the boys were at but they were not happy about it.

My first grader Braden was injured in March and home from school for over a week so I thought this was a great opportunity to try an online learning program. He used it daily during that time and enjoyed the lessons for 30-45 minutes in a sitting. He did sometimes get frustrated and would need me to help him. His favorite part of the program was when he got to play arcade games between lessons as a reward for doing well.

My fourth grader Zane did great with K5. Zane did not need my help at all and could just sit down and go. He generally was not interested in sitting at the computer more than 40 minutes which was fine with me.

I liked that I could check on the kids lesson progress and assign lessons when I logged into the parent dashboard. Overall I found K5 to be a wonderful learning tool and a good chance for kids to spend time learning on the computer instead of wasting their time on games that only entertain.

K5 offers a free two week trial period to try it out and see if it's right for your child. I think that's a great idea before buying as it may not be right for every child. I think K5 would be even more beneficial in the summer when the kids aren't in school. This program would be great to keep up with academics during the break.

If you are interested in supplementing your childrens' learning with online independent lessons I highly recommend trying out K5 Learning.

*All views are my own. I received nothing for reviewing K5 beyond a free trial of the software. 

**This post does contain affiliate links.