The Consummate Rule Follower.

Here I am (behind the camera) coaxing my almost 2.5 year old to jump out of his crib......

I, for some reason, felt if he started jumping out it would justify me moving him into a toddler bed..... but the kid just loves his crib and apparently he did listen all of those time that I told him he needed to stay in there.

This was the big attempt to jump and at that point I realized that my little guy is just like his mom, a Rule Follower.

Here he is several days later, in the toddler bed. No surprise here but he has yet to climb out without us being in the room. We did see on the baby cam him dangling his legs over the side but that was the extent of it. Note- the temptation of a toy bucket right next to the bed. What self restraint!

Juice It Up!

We just love juicing, it is a nice change from eating our fruits and veggies. We will juice anything we can get our hands on.....apples, oranges, carrots, ginger, beets, green peppers, spinach. You name it and we have probably thrown it into a juice before! After some research we purchased the Breville BJE510XL IKON 500 Watt Juice Extractor and have been extremely pleased, you get a lot of juice, a very dry pulp and somewhat easy clean up. Luke loves to hand me the fruit and then push down on the feed tube and watch the juice come pouring out. Before downing a glass he always insists on the mandatory, "Cheers."

Anyway, here are some of our favorite recipes.

1. Luke Delight- 3 apples, 3 carrots and a slice of ginger.

2. Jess' Masterpiece- 3 apples, 1 cucumber and 4 sprigs of mint.

3. Beet Surprise- 1/2 beet, 3 apples, 3 carrots. (It is best not to drink beet juice alone, it is an extremely powerful cleanser/detoxifier.)

4. Green Goo- handful of spinach, 4 carrots, 1 lemon and 2 apples.

5. Vitamin C Powerhouse- 3 oranges, 1 grapefruit, 1 banana (You never get a ton of juice out of a banana but if I have an old one around I throw it in for flavor.)

Hg........

Matt and I get a kick out of quizzing each other on the periodic table of elements... Au, Fe, Mg, Na, K, Hg. (Can you remember them? See answers below.) I loved science as a kid and he is just one of those ridiculously intelligent people that remembers everything, I am jealous.

Well, here is the scoop, Hg is mercury, a toxic liquid metal found in barometers, batteries, fluorescent lamps and a majority of the food products sitting in kitchen pantries. Yep, it has been found, at detectable levels, in high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Seeing that the average American eat about 12 tsp of HFCS a day, yes, that is right, 12 tsp each day, I think it is worth looking in to.

In two separate studies, one by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy and another published by the scientific journal, Environmental Health, they found that 30-50% of products containing HFCS tested positive for mercury. The American Academy of Pediatrics states that mercury is an "ubiquitous environmental toxin that causes a wide range of adverse health effects in humans." Those most greatly affected are the unborn fetus and young child. Oh FDA, where are you? Seeing that this information came out several years ago why have you not informed consumers or changed industry mandates? Why do a majority of food products sitting on my grocer's shelf, that I fed to my child STILL contain HFCS as the first or second ingredient......be your own advocate. Take a peek, what is in your ketchup, bread, jelly, Gatorade, soda pop, breakfast cereal, relish, salsa, cookies, graham crackers?

For me the safest exposure to HG, is none at all. I make homemade graham crackers now, buy the ketchup that is 50 cents more in the organic section that is both HFCS free and refined sugar free. Changing how you live will change the way you live forever.

(Answers: Gold, Iron, Magnesium, Sodium, Potassium and Mercury.)

31....here I come.

I am not a big birthday person but did have some fun with the fact that I am a 30 something this year....yeah! This is my decade, I feel it! This year the day was pretty low key, Matt took me out for brunch (my favorite meal of the day), sent me on my way for a massage and then cooked a delicious meal. I have to share the recipe because it is one of my absolute favorites. Easy to prep and tastes like it came right out of a 5 star restaurant. You can use most any white fish in this recipe. I love Chilean sea bass and have also tried this recipe with flounder, cod and tilapia, usually I just get whatever is on sale as long as it is wild, caught in the US or stamped by the Marine Stewardship Council.

Ingredients:

3 TB peeled fresh ginger

1/2 c pineapple juice

1/2 c orange juice

1/3 c soy sauce

2 TB sesame oil

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

4- 6 ounce fish fillets

2 chopped green onions

Grate the fresh ginger and mix with orange and pineapple juice, soy sauce, sesame oil and cayenne pepper in 1 gallon zip top bag. Squeeze bag and mix well. Add fish and chill for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place fish in a baking dish, skin side down, and pour in the marinade. Cover with foil and bake until the center of the fillet reaches 150 degrees (about 25 minutes). Transfer fish to plates. Strain marinade and place in a saute pan over high heat and reduce, reduce, reduce! Boil marinade until thickened enough to coat a spoon, about 6 minutes; spoon over fish. Garnish with green onions.

I do love myself some green beans but mine always turned out mushy until I learned this great trick! So, toss beans (with the ends cut off) in a pot of boiling, salted water. Wait until the water begins to boil again. Once boiling let it be for about 5 minutes. Drain the beans in a colander but DON'T rinse them. Put them back into the pot and stir over high heat for about one minute (this will dry them out). Toss in 1 TB of butter and serve. Crunch, crunch!

One last thing, I was spoiled rotten this year. Gift cards, clothes, picture frames, you name it but I am thrilled to say I received a Nutrimill Grain Mill so I can starting grinding my own flour to make homemade bread. I have been waiting for this, semi patiently and can't wait to get started! Ordering my grains here shortly so stay tuned.......

Pure joy.

So, after spending most of July in Colorado and then having some major technical difficulties with my computer (and I am not a technical person)....I am back....finally! Oh, I am so elated.

Luke is at such an incredible age. When he was 6 months old, I said this is my favorite age. Once he turned a year, I swore that was my favorite age. It really just keeps getting better and better. Now that he is almost 2.5 years old we are having the time of our life. Every day it is something knew where Matt and I just look at each other and laugh 'til it hurts.

Anyway, this weekend Matt was getting Luke up in the morning and I could hear them shuffling through the bookshelf. It is completely overstuffed; the child loves to read. Luke was thumbing through the titles, pulled out his Children's Bible and exclaimed, "I found God."

Pure joy.

That same day I kissed this little guy a thousand times over.......

Doubled my joy.