Happy Easter Everyone!  This week has been extremely busy!  I enjoyed subbing at Carter's school, a Jaxon/Mommy day on Friday, OB aptointment to check up on the little one in my tummy, house cleaning, Easter planning, and most time consuming....helping my HFASD child prepare for the upcoming SAT-10 test at school the next two weeks.  If you haven't had to experience this test YOU ARE ONE LUCKY PERSON...and if you already experienced it PLEASE SEND ANY ADVICE YOU HAVE!!  I had 3 different meetings with 3 different people at his school this week trying to figure out the best way to manage this test, ugh. 

Anyway, ENJOY THIS WONDERFUL HOLIDAY with you family!  Lots of love and I will see you next week for some grea

This year I refused to give into the "candy isle" at Target or Wal-Mart.  My kids get so hyper and crazy when they have lots of sugar and processed foods, especially artificial color.  This year I filled their baskets with little random things they would enjoy.

A t-shirt for each of them.
A movie for each of them and one to share.
A Disney Parks game pack to share.
Reusable Disney straws.
Coloring books/crayons.
A new umbrella for Jaxon.
Disney ice packs for their lunch boxes.
ONE SMALL WHITE marshmellow bunny.
Silly Puddy
Pencils
Disney note pads
Rowntrees Fruit Gums (from the UK, no dyes, or preservatives) ONE BOX, I picked these up at Epcot.

Do you ever feel like you just don’t have enough “choices”when it comes to buying frozen snacks for your children?  The last few times I’ve been at the grocery store (other than Whole Foods) I have found only one brand of “acceptable”popsicles and they only offer three flavors. The boys enjoy them, but they get tired of the same thing over and over again. 

If you search “Google” for homemade popsicles you will come across so many different recipes that you will have to make a “favorites folder”just to keep track of them all.  I started simple…strawberry popsicles made with honey instead of sugar, they boys loved them!  I ordered my Popsicle molds on Amazon and had all the ingredients on hand. 
    

Strawberry Popsicle Recipe...I added a little water and ice to mine because I wasn't sure if they would be too sweet, next time I think I will leave that out.

I was so impressed by how easy it was to make popsicles and how better I felt about giving those to the boys instead of the store bought ones that I ordered a second set of green star molds (and a set of blue rocket molds).  I made orange creamsicle pops yesterday and am eager for the boys to try them tonight!

Today I Carter helped me make another batch of strawberry popsicles…we made up our own recipe so I can’t wait to see how the boys like them!  

Strawberry Pineapple Popsicles
2 cups strawberries
1 cup fresh pineapple
1 cup juice (we used Apple and Eve’s Organic Peach Mango juice)
1 cup ice
3 Tbs honey

Blend all of the ingredients in your blender and then pour into Popsicle molds.  Freeze overnight and enjoy!

I'm sure we will be trying a thousand different recipes throughout the summer, I will keep y'all updated!  All of the Popsicles I have made a gluten free!  It is nice that you can chose to use all organic ingredients if you like. 

Morning can be a little tough around our house.  Some days we get up extra early to take Brent to the bus and some days Brent drives back and forth to work and we get to sleep a little longer.  On the mornings when we get up early I am much better at making homemade (or mostly homemade) meals, sometimes I make things in advance and put them in the freezer, and sometimes I rely on quick ideas. 

Carter loves to have cereal, probably because it is one of the only foods I loved when I was pregnant with him.  I am fairly picky about his cereal, or at least I try to be. On occasion I buy a box of “junk” and we all (except Jaxon) enjoy it while it lasts.  Most of the time I stick to organic cereal that is stripped of colors, artificial flavors, and HFCS and Carter is just fine with that.

Jaxon on the other hand, doesn’t like cereal.  He prefers things like cinnamon rolls, donuts, waffles, yogurt, smoothies, pancakes…anything with sugar, fruit, and flavor.  I try to swap things around as often as I can so that he doesn’t eat the same thing over and over.  It is my goal to get him converted to a healthier breakfast soon, but with this terrible morning sickness I have been having it just doesn’t work. 

Udi’s, Kinnikinnick, and Vans are our normal “go to” brands of breakfast items.  However, I did get some delicious Katz donuts at Whole Foods the last time I was there.  For yogurt, I only buy Stonyfield Farm  brand, for both he kids and myself.  The kids like the yogurt in a tube and I keep them in the freezer and they eat them just like that.  When I make smoothies I add whatever fresh or frozen (fresh then frozen) fruit, a banana if we have one, some vanilla yogurt, some honey, and a little juice, either apple or orange, ice, and blend it up.  Jaxon will usually drink a glass full and then I pour the left over’s into my smoothie tubes and put them in the freezer for lunches or breakfast in the mornings to come.  Breakfast doesn’t have to be hard, and it can be healthy if you make it.  Here are a few of our typical breakfast items in case you are looking to change things up a bit in your home.  

*Udi’s Cinnamon Raisin Bread (add butter, cinnamon and a hint of sugar)
*Udi’s Muffins (Jaxon likes the chocolate or blueberry, I like the lemon)
 *Udi’s Cinnamon Rolls (I make my own frosting with a little powdered sugar, almond milk, and vanilla)
 *Udi’s Bagels (I mix some cream cheese with fresh strawberries and honey, put in little containers and freeze what I don’t use)
*Van’s Gluten Free Waffles and Pancakes (Jaxon doesn’t care for the cereal or French toast sticks, he LOVED the mini waffles but those aren’t available anymore…make sure to add peanut butter,    almond butter or cashew butter for protein, our favorite is Peanut Butter Company).
*Katz Donuts (We have only tried the sugar donuts but want to try more).
*Kinnikinnick Donuts (We buy the chocolate, vanilla, and sugar).

I try to fix a piece of bacon or two from time to time and I also serve him Canadian bacon when I remember to buy it at Whole Foods (NITRATE FREE on both of those).

I always serve some fruit on the side, grapes, banana, strawberries, oranges, or apple, and I always serve organic orange juice with breakfast.  I hope this gives you some good ideas!  Oh, and breakfast items make great lunches for school too!

I didn't have as many pictures of our breakfast items as I thought I did, I will have to add some later.

Man, finding “healthy” candy is hard to do!  Today I was searching and searching for soft peppermint candy that doesn’t contain any dye in it….never did find any.  I am going to try getting Jaxon some organic hard peppermint candy to suck on during the day (if his teacher will let him) to see if that will help him with his concentration in school.  I wrote a blog a while back about the benefits of peppermint, I even told his teacher about my findings but it never went any further than that.  Lately, I have noticed that if Jaxon has a little peppermint while doing his homework he has an easier time with his math problems. 

Well, in my search for peppermint I did come across a few interesting websites that I thought I would share with y’all.  

Pure Fun is a company that sells candy that ISN’T full
of all the stuff I am trying to avoid! Finally a site where I can look for candy that doesn’t contain artificial flavors, artificial colors, preservatives, gluten, dairy, casein, etc.! 

Natural Candy Store is a website that also sells a “healthier”option of candy.  You can find gluten free, dye free, Vegan, Kosher, Feingold, and other sorts of diet options here.


P.S. If you know of a company that makes dye-free soft peppermints, please send me the info!!

You can read more about my Focus/concentration blog here.


 

 A shopping day at Whole Foods yesterday meant new treats for breakfast and lunch today!  Jaxon loves having a donut, yogurt, and fresh fruit (grapes, strawberries, apple, orange) every morning for breakfast, it’s his “thing” and he prefers that I don’t change it up too often.  Yesterday I saw this new brand of gluten free donuts so I decided he should try them out, after all, eating the same (3 types) of donuts Monday through Friday has to get a little old, even for a child who thrives on routine.  Anyway, the donuts were a hit; they were sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, but not caked with it.  You could easily add a little homemade glaze if you wanted to. Thank you Katz for your gluten free donuts!


 

Lunch today was quick and simple; Jaxon told me specifically what he wanted.  I picked up another product yesterday, Qbel whole grain crispy wafers (*these are not gluten free but Jaxon tested well for them at his doctors appointment), I will be interested to see what he has to say about them.  Along with the wafer (which will serve as his“treat” in his lunch) he got a ham and cheese roll up, a handful of grapes, organic lemonade, and some Santa Cruz applesauce (2 for $6 at Whole Foods right now).  I love when he picks out a few healthy items for his lunch; this way I know he will eat it all and have a great afternoon at school!

What did everyone else pack today?

Last weekend the kids and I tagged along with my husband on his TDY to Homestead AFB for the air show. Traveling with the kids was…a great post for a different blog…feeding the kids is what the current blog is dedicated to!

We didn’t have ANY trouble feeding Jaxon on this trip.  I definitely did my usual “over-packing” of many gluten free snack options, but we didn’t have to crack them open near as much as we have in the past.  Anytime we travel I check ahead of time for a few of our “go-to” restaurants that offer a gluten free menu, but in Homestead, FL they had a few different “local”restaurants that offered Jaxon various tasty choices.  

His favorite meal of the trip was at Portofino’s Coal Fried Pizza where he enjoyed a gluten free pepperoni pizza!  It was your normal “a little overpriced GF pizza” but he enjoyed it, and it was gluten free…enough said!  I am really happy that so many restaurants are adding gluten free options to their menu; it really makes traveling a little easier than it used to be!

Favorite gluten free travel snacks…
Bag of popcorn (I like organic, no butter, bagged popcorn)
Glutino pretzel sticks
Peanut butter
Oranges (the real ones…whole, with an orange peeler included in the bag)
Glutino cookies
Gluten free donuts (for breakfast)
Surf Sweets organic jelly beans
Kettle chips
Glutino crackers (put a little peanut butter on them and have a sandwich)
Grapes

Please share some of your favorite “go to” gluten free snacks!

Well, it is two full months into the school year and six weeks until Christmas break…which will mark the "half-way" through the year point!  Jaxon has definitely eaten more so far this year than he did all of last year combined.  I am still struggling to find new and interesting ideas that will “suck him in” and encourage him to eat!  I have found that by snapping a picture of his lunch now and then is actually a good idea because I can show him the pictures and he can tell me which lunches he enjoyed and which ones he didn’t care for.  I also hope that by sharing pictures of Jaxon’s lunches I might give some ideas to other moms who are also struggling (allergies or not) to find different things to send to school each day. 



Here are a few things from my “school lunch pantry”…

http://www.amazon.com/LunchBots-Trio-Stainless-Steel-Container/dp/B006T5BLNU/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1352168045&sr=8-6&keywords=lunch+bots
I use this one (with 3 divided spots) and love that I can use the silicone baking cups to separate different food items and have room at the bottom for sticks of fruit, meat and cheese rolls, or even string cheese.


http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-431-4-Piece-Silicone-Maker/dp/B0036B9KHO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352168084&sr=8-1&keywords=smoothie+pop+mold
These are the pop molds that I use daily for yogurt, homemade pudding, homemade smoothies, or homemade applesauce.  I fill them up and put them in the freezer and grab one in the morning when I am making Jaxon’s lunch.  I have found that they work best if I don’t fill them completely full and squeeze any extra air out of the top before freezing them. 



http://www.amazon.com/Lunch-Munch-Snack-Boxes-3pack/dp/B0072MUD9M/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1352168109&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=wexy+bags
These have been great reusable bags for cookies, pretzels, chips, cut up fruit, and they are super easy to wash out, dry and use again the next day…no more throwing away baggies every night!


http://www.amazon.com/Kitchen-Supply-Silicone-Baking-3-inch/dp/B001ET7B9E/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1352168143&sr=8-5&keywords=silicone+baking+cups
I love these baking cups for lunches, they hold nearly anything you send in the lunch and keep food from touching each other.  They are really easy to wash which is definitely a plus in my house.


http://www.amazon.com/Animal-Cupcake-Picks-Food-set/dp/B004MO99HU/ref=sr_1_19?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1352168195&sr=1-19&keywords=cupcake+picks
As long as your school approves, I love using picks in Jaxon’s lunch.  They add a little “spunk” to his lunch and encourage him to eat.  I get ones that have a rounded end so they aren’t sharp.


http://www.amazon.com/Pure-Hydration-Insulated-Stainless-25oz/dp/B00295ERRG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352168368&sr=8-1&keywords=pure+hydration+bottle
Best water bottle ever! I send ice water every day and when he gets home at 3:00 there is still ice in the bottle!

http://www.amazon.com/Sassy-On-Feeding-Set-Blue/dp/B004X7FMC2/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1352168414&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=sassy+lunch+container
My other favorite lunch container, it also holds anything I send for lunch and I can easily “separate” the different lunch items with ease.

http://www.amazon.com/YummyEarth-Organic-Gummy-Bears-0-9-Ounce/dp/B0023V65GW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1352168446&sr=8-3&keywords=organic+bears
Our favorite “go to” organic gummies, no dyes, no junk, just good!  (My other choice is Surf Sweets bears.)

http://www.amazon.com/Surf-Sweets-Organic-0-9-Ounce-Packages/dp/B003G522W0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1352169293&sr=8-2&keywords=organic+jelly+beans
I like having fun snacks to send in Jaxon’s lunch so h  feels like he is getting a “treat” while he eats.  These are great because they don’t have any icky dyes in them that make my child bounce off the walls.

http://www.amazon.com/Munchkin-Piece-Silly-Sandwich-Cutter/dp/B0076LAGQ4/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1352168522&sr=8-8&keywords=sandwich+cutters
My little one LOVES it when I cut his sandwich into fu  shapes.  Any cookie cutter will do!


  

I thought I would write about Mommy things today!  At the bottom you will find a couple online shopping spots that might make your Christmas shopping a little more budget friendly this year!  I have stumbled on a few favorite websites lately thanks to some fellow friends and bloggers and wanted to share them with you! 

100 Days of Real Food offers lots of ideas if you are looking to cut processed foods out of your diet!  They also have lots of “product favorites”that talk about various products you can use to make your own snacks, foods, and school lunches.  I highly recommend you take a look if you are interested in “greening up” you menu!

A good friend of mine, fellow mommy and military spouse over aThe Spotted Lamb has a great Etsy store where you can purchase homemade (one of a kind) quilts and key fobs (she is the designer of my wonderful Autism Awareness Fobs).  Erin is delightful to work with can design almost any type of quilt or key fob you are looking for!

A few months ago I stumbled onto Zulily, a site where you can shop brand name items at a tremendous discount.  I have purchased things on this site from time to time and have been very satisfied with my items.  I have one complaint about the website…no returns.  I am sure this policy is set because of the huge discounts they offer, but sometimes it makes me hesitant to buy from them.  I try to stick to things I know will work…kids’ clothes, sunglasses, kitchen items, toys, and decorations.  I have friends who have purchased shoes and clothes for themselves and have been completely satisfied.  Check our Zulily if you are looking for a deal this season while Christmas shopping!

Another discounted (and who doesn’t love buying your favorite brands at a discount??) shopping site I have just learned about (thanks to my friend at The Spotted Lamb) is 6pm, I have not purchased anything yet but I have my eye on a few different things!  I can guarantee that this is going to be my new favorite shopping site (for clothes and shoes at least) as they offer a 14 day return policy, and they carry brands that I know will work for me!  You should definitely check this site out if you are looking to update your wardrobe, they even do online gift certificates...can you say Merry Christmas to me?  This is one gift I know I wouldn't want to return!

I don’t know about your children, but mine could (and sometimes do) dress up in costumes on a daily basis.  The only thing that sets Halloween out from any other day (other than all the spooky decorations) is the candy.  Call me a Halloween-Grinch, but I do not look forward to the kids going out and collecting candy every year.  I am a stickler when it comes to feeding the boys sugar and candy so having any extra in the house is just torture for them and makes me a “mean mommy” because I don’t let them eat it.  Up until this year we have always done the “swap”with Jaxon’s candy (and Carter’s too, but his doesn’t usually amount to much).  We would tell him we needed to check his candy and Brent would swap the bag with a bag of organic, gluten free treats.  He never really noticed the difference but I am afraid it is going to be harder this year…which brings me to my nextpoint, the Switch Witch.

I read about a few different options to get rid of all this unwanted Halloween candy…selling it to the dentist, giving it away, but I think the idea that is going to work for my kids is the idea of the Switch Witch.  I will tell them the following story…

The Halloween Story of the Switch Witch

The Switch Witch lives far away and of all the witches that come around on Halloween night, she has the sweetest tooth of all. She eats almost nothing but candy all year long. So that she always has a stockpile of candy to last throughout the year, she comes around on Halloween night and gathers candy from houses with
kids who are generous enough to leave their candy out for her.

What child would be generous to leave out their candy for some witch you ask? Well, the kind of child that likes to get new toys because that's what the Switch Witch does. She'll only come around after all the children are asleep because she doesn't want anyone to see her; all the candy that she eats makes her face
look a bit scary. For every child who leaves out candy for her, she leaves them a new toy in exchange.

With my kids, on Halloween night, after the trick-or-treating is done, the candy is laid out on the floor and we let them choose around 10 candies each to keep. They are given one or two a day to enjoy until it runs out. The rest of the candy is put in a bag and left out for the Switch Witch. The next morning when the children wake up, they excitedly run downstairs to see what the Switch Witch left them.

http://lilyrose.hubpages.com/hub/halloween-stories-the-switch-witch

This is exactly what I am going to do this year!  They are going to pick out 10 pieces of candy to keep and leave the rest for the Switch Witch.  We have actually gone Trick-or-Treating 3! times so far this year…the most Halloween parties we have ever been to in one year, all before Halloween night!  Are you going to keep all your Halloween candy or do something special to haul it out of the house?  Here are a few pictures of our little guys this year!

Since I was little, my family has been the type that “stocks up for the apocalypse” even though we probably didn’t need to.  The nice thing about it was that we never had to worry about not having enough food for a family meal or for a last minute get together.  The stock piling of groceries has definitely been passed down to me.  When my husband and I first got married he thought I was crazy, now I think he is glad he can go to the freezer or pantry at anytime and find something to eat.

So, the question of the day, do you shred your own cheese or buy
it shredded?  I was asked this the other day and was happy to share my experience with my Kitchen Aid shredder (this appliance makes shredding cheese so simple)!  I LOVE buying tons of blocks of cheese (I buy all different varieties at once) and then bring them home and have a shredding party!  My kids love to stand and watch in wonder as I take a block of cheese and turn it into a shredded delight!  I don’t only do this because “that is what my family did” but I do this because I don’t like to think about all the added ingredients that have to be added to shredded cheese so that it doesn’t stick or “cake” to the sides of the package.  I also prefer white cheese (I don’t need my cheese to be orange, did you know that it is not naturally that color?) so I will now and forever shred my own cheese!