A New Year’s Cleanse – A giveaway and discount!

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I’ve been wanting to do a cleanse for a few years now. But having to feed 5 people 5 different meals everyday was already too much for me.  You know what I’m talking about mamas, no one will eat exactly the same thing at every meal and it’s maddening. To consider a different meal for me every time, well that wasn’t happening. Sometimes even the things that we should do for ourselves we just don’t take the time to do.

If you’ve read my blog for a while you know that I’ve done the 4HB  way of eating and had great success. Well, processed foods have slipped back in to our house and our whole family needs a more whole food approach. And it all starts with me. They need to see me eating whole foods and then slowly offering them only those kinds of things. It starts and ends with mama.

I’ve decided that this is the year that I stop making so many meals and I start using more whole foods, for everyone (I’m looking at you 3 year old). Big changes around here! So it would follow that now is also the perfect time to do that cleanse I’ve been putting off to kick start it all!

I’ve chosen a 14 day guided Whole Food Detox through Team J and A. Just in time for some New Year’s resolutions – the program starts on the 5th!

 The Basics:

It’s a 14 day program – 100% virtual, online program, starting on Jan. 5th. I’m online all the time anyway right? It’s a Whole Food Detox – which means that you are eating the whole time, learning how to eat real, clean un-processed food in a way that tastes good and fits your lifestyle. No powders or pills, just food! Jody & Ashley (the J and the A ;-)  are both certified holistic health coaches. They lead clients  step by step via live group training calls, live group Q&A calls, and emails with PDF materials, recipes, shopping lists, workbook & guidebook – so you know exactly what to do and why. Then there’s the group community & accountability – via a private Facebook group, that Jody & Ashley moderate to answer your questions … additionally over 70 people are already in the group who have experienced this program and are here to support you.

Just some of the benefits of this cleanse include:

• Better sleep & stable moods
• Reduced cravings
• Improved energy, weight loss, improved digestive system
• Outlook on food may change
• Lose the inner thigh & belly fat

Sounds awesome right? I’ve looked over the recipes and the shopping list and everything’s there. Laid out. Simple. I don’t know about you but I could use a bit of hand holding when it comes to this sort of stuff. I like to be accountable to others to keep me on track. It all sounds like a good fit for me and at the very right time!

How about you? Are you ready? C’mom – do it with me!

The Giveaway and Discount:

Jody and Ashley were kind enough to not only offer my readers a very generous discount ($50 off!) but also a GIVEAWAY! WOOT! The Detox starts on January 5th.

If you want to make sure that you’re in for the 5th with me you can sign up at www.TeamJandA.com  with the coupon code violacay for $50 off! You will receive your getting started guide within the hour.

You can use the coupon for either the Basic ($197) or the VIP plan ($347). So that’s $147 for the Basic Plan. I just spent that on a pair of boots that aren’t even waterproof. Which purchase would prove more beneficial to me?! The VIP plan gets you ALL IN with private coaching calls and emails at $297 with the discount code!

Want to enter the Giveaway? It’s for the Basic Plan  – a $197 value!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Well I’m ready! Are you? Who wants to do a 14 day Whole Food Detox with me? Its starts this Sunday, January 5th – 7pm. Be there or be square

If you sign up, let me know in the comments:-)

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Winner has 24 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen. This giveaway will close at 11:59PM ET,  Jan 1,  2014. The winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter and will be notified by email and announced here on the blog. This post (and my sharing on social media) was inspired by my participation in a program by SOKA Wellness. I have been given a basic version of the cleanse to participate in for this post. All opinions are my own.
Photos by Michael Maina, used with permission. 

Smoothies are Green

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I love that, in our house, smoothies are green. They started out all pink and pretty. Somewhere along the line it all changed and we never looked back. Someone, somewhere told me they put spinach in their kids smoothies and that they couldn’t even taste it. Really?

Intriguing.

So one day I said “How about we make our smoothie green today? Who wants to help?” They jumped up on the stools and said “Let’s do it!”

All I did that day was add some baby spinach to a smoothie that they already liked and the rest is history.

It has evolved to include kale, swiss chard, and avocado. And yes they still drink it. They ask for it. They ask for seconds. It makes me so happy.

I promise your kids will love it. I make this smoothie at least three times a week. When we are pressed for time and I want them to have something I know is healthy and quick. Smoothie it is. Make a batch put it in some mason jars (pro tip – mason jars are great for shake and serve leftover smoothie). Always on hand. Awesome and easy.

I don’t measure these things so all of these are approximate.

Nate’s Green Smoothie
1 cup Plain Kefir
1 cup Orange/ Banana/ Strawberry juice
2 tbsp Vanilla Protein powder (why not) I have used both whey and hemp
baby spinach
baby kale
baby swiss chard
1 Banana
half an avocado
1/3 cup frozen strawberries
1/3 cup frozen mango

I load the blender with the greens all the way to the top. Then I pour the kefir and juice over the top. Add banana and avo, protein poder and fruit. Add water or ice as needed for the consistency you or your kids like. We like it a little thick.

A few weeks ago I headed on out to Whole Foods at Fresh Pond for a #SpringSmoothieSummit and introduced everyone to Nate’s Green Smoothie. The nice folks there gave us all some gift cards to do some serious fruit and veggie shopping. We all came back and made our smoothies. It was a hit there and it will be at your house too!

Maybe some of my bloggy friends who were at Whole Foods that day will share their recipes too!

Chop Chop Magazine Mingle and a Giveaway

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Not too long ago I got to go to Sofra Bakery after hours. Yes, a bakery after hours. There was no bingeing don’t worry, well maybe a little. The fabulous umommy gathered some bloggers together to visit with Chop Chop Magazine. We were there to taste, learn, and mingle.

We tasted plenty of hors d’ouvres from the chef at Sofra and these two lovely kid friendly dishes:

Then we learned how to take pretty pictures. We received some awesome tips from the food stylist at Chop Chop Magazine. I heart her. She helped us make crackers look good. See.

I can hear you guys “Girrrrrl, you make crackers look good!” Right? No just me again, ok?

As we mingled we talked about our kids, and food. Because that was the overarching theme of the night – kids and food. Which is what Chop Chop is all about too.

My kids love when I bring the magazine home. Often I’ll just have them pick something out the magazine that looks good to them and we make it. Making food with your kids, cooking and baking, is a sure fire way to get them to eat more food. And by more I mean different food. And by different I mean NOT chicken nuggets. (No judgement here people. My 2yo will currently only eat Lightening McQueen chicken nuggets. I’m trying. I really am.)

It’s hard for me sometimes to get the kids in the kitchen because, let’s face it, it’s easier to NOT have them involved. Plopping them in front of the TV while I run around the kitchen making 4 different meals is easier. But I’ve come to realize that for my kids, unless they’re involved, they’re not going to change their ways. It’s also about quality time with me. AND quality time with food. I want to nurture a love of food in them. A healthy love of healthy food. I’m not going to get that done if they’re watching Mickey while I cook. So back to the kitchen we go.

With the Holidays coming ChopChop is also a terrific gift for kids, foodie families will love it! It’s also a great “Under $25” gift for those elusive “Hard to Buy For” on your gift list. A two-year subscription costs $24.95 (Bonus:each subscription helps pay for a subscription to families in need).

To help you out in your own kitchen creations and gift giving, the lovely people at Chop Chop have offered a free year long subscription for me to give away to YOU!  Yay :-)

The Giveaway: The winner is Lara!
Just leave a comment below telling me one food you love making with your kids.

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Wine I’m Likelii to love

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Yes, please. For love of all that is good and grapey can someone please tell me what wine I will like?

You? You site on the internet you will tell me? I’m game!

When I go into the liquor store (packy for those of you of a certain age and live in New England) I am sometimes (always) dumbfounded by what wine to choose. I know what I like, but I don’t know what else I might like because of what I like. KWIM?

A new startup in Cambridge, MA knows what I mean. Likelii brands itself as the Spotify and Netflix of wine. Intriguing, no?

Sure I’ll give it a whirl. I’m postive a computer can do better than the college student that mans the register and my local wine seller. But can it compete with my sommelier? Wait, I don’t have one of those, just that college kid. Wait, Likelii has them on staff and they also have some coding and algorithm nerds (lovingly said by a nerd) that have a built a super magic wine search engine?? I’m beginning to understand.

So this is what happens- you go to the homepage and it prompts you to tell them which wines you’ve been sipping (or chugging) on recently. Then you press a button and voila. The sommeliers and algorithmers bring you a list of wine recommendations you’re Likelii to love. Easy.

Can’t remember any names? Haven’t been to a swanky dinner party lately? No problem. Under Get My Recommendation on the home page is a little i. Why they have made it this small I have no idea, but lies beyond it is nothing short of amazing. My favorite part of the site really.

Choose red, white, or both. Then narrow it down. Cabernet, Malbec, Pinot Noir. Oh my. You’re on your way to finding something fantastic in no time.

You can keep a list of wines you’d like to try, rate the ones you’ve already tried, and then buy away and have them shipped right to your house (if you live in a state that allows that).

So it turns out you don’t need fancy sommeliers, or seemingly random reviews on the bins (90 anyone? Huh?) You don’t need to pick the most expensive, or the cheapest for that matter. Pick the one you’re Likelii to love by telling the super computer what YOU already love.

Salute!

(That’s Italian for cheers, I’m not saluting you. Stop already.)

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This post (and my sharing on social media) was inspired by my participation in a compensated program by Likelii. I received a gift certificate :-) All commentary and opinions are, of course, my own. Cheers.

Invasion of the fruit flies

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GAH! Fruit flies. God damn mother $#@%&*ing fruit flies.

With the CSA this summer -there were flies. With the aging bananas that are on my counter always – there are flies. But when summer ended and turned to a nice crispy fall air I figured those buggers were gone. Then, all of a sudden, they’re baaaaaack. At one point I was just clapping my hands like a maniac in their vicinity figuring I would get some of them.

Nope. Not one.

Something had to give. Stop dive bombing my wine you tiny useless vermin.

Then I remembered I saw something at my parents house this summer. They grow gorgeous yummy tomatoes. With gorgeous yummy tomatoes you get disgusting annoying fruit flies. I remembered seeing a few little bowls of something on the counter.

So I called him up. He says, “Yo what’s up?” (seriously this is what my Dad says all the time when he answers the phone).

“Help me kill the mother effing fruit flies please.”

“Baby girl? Is that you?”

I’m kidding. This is his fruit fly trap and by default Nana’s fruit fly trap which is how I tie the whole thing in to being about grandmothers. We’ll he is a grandfather, in fact a leeeeeetle bit like an Italian grandmother. Anywhoo…

This concoction is white wine vinegar with a drop of dish soap.

You can use any kind of vinegar you have on hand. Don’t use too much soap. If the layer of soap is too much they can’t get past it to DIE.

Which bring me to this concoction. Vinegar, dish soap, and DEAD FRUIT FLIES!

Yummy.

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edited to add (because really? who doesn’t love inbound links? :-) inspired by this post and dedicated to this lady

My kid ate coleslaw – COLESLAW

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It’s a really strage word isn’t it? COLESLAW.
Is that even how you spell it? God it looks weird. Doesn’t it look weird?

Huh.

We belonged to a CSA this summer. Next to the tent where we pick up our veggies, they set up a little food table to show us how to make yummy things out of our yummy, likely too expensive, organic, local veggies!

We stopped and on offer were radish sandwiches and coleslaw. I laughed maniacally in my head when the super nice food lady sweetly asked my children if they would like to try some. To my surprise they said yes. To my utter surprise they both like the radish sandwiches. My son, who won’t eat any normal kid foods like chicken nuggets, grilled cheees, or pasta. None of it. That son? He LOVED the coleslaw. Really?! Coleslaw?

Now it wasn’t your normal supermarket coleslaw. It wasn’t mayo based. It was an olive oil/lemon/dill concoction. Who knew? My husband and I don’t like regular coleslaw either. We all ate this for dinner. Enjoy!

Quantities are at your own discretion. For a dinner side dish I used

1/2 Napa cabbage chopped
1 medium Kholrabi julienned

Special Sauce (that’s what the boy calls it and now so do we)
Juice of two lemons
1/2 cup Olive Oli
2 cloves garlic
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 tbsp fresh Dill chopped

I use carrot when I don’t have kholrabi or in addition to when I’m feeling crazy.

I use oregano or basil and put it on pasta – he will eat PASTA if there is special sauce on it!

Special Sauce FTW!

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