Fun Ideas For Easter Baskets That Keep Your Kids Healthy

🐰Happy Easter!  Just finished putting together Luna’s Easter basket before I go to bed.  I never put any kind of candy, chocolate or crap in there.  I get creative and truly think about what she would like and smile from.  I browse different stores like Marshall’s, Michael’s, Papyrus, Barnes & Nobles, even Mrs. Green’s and Whole Foods.  I gather ALL my stuff and a bunch of empty colorful & clear egg shaped containers I can fill with the goodies I’ve collected below…

🌷I add creative, arts and crafts things in the basket as well because Luna loves them.   I found a little ceramic turtle to color with pens and add stickers to, a wooden butterfly to color, and felt stickers to place ALL OVER the house…

 

🌸Aaannnd of course, I find a book that Luna loves…

🌻OH! And I just couldn’t resist these little guys …

I haven’t forgotten the eggs … I will have oils of them tomorrow! Hang in there! 😘

DIY Easter Egg Colors – Non-Toxic & Safe For Children!

🐰🌸Easter is around the corner, making it time for us to color eggs.  I love getting creative while maintaining a toxic free environment for my child.  It’s not as difficult as you may think.  The egg dyes above are all made with spices, fruits, and vegetables.  Yep, doesn’t get easier than that.

Orange: I used one tablespoon of paprika and the peel of one orange.  You can also use carrots or two cups of yellow onion peeled

Yellow: I used one tablespoon of turmeric plus 1 cup of water.  You can also use lemon peels, chamomile tea, ground cumin or saffron

Green: I used juiced wheatgrass and 1 1/2 cups of water.  You can also use fresh basil leaves, spinach leaves or chlorophyll

Pink: I used one cup of diced beets plus 1 1/2 cups of water.  You can also use raspberries or grape juice

Blue: I used 1/2 cup of blueberries and 1 1/2 cups of water.  You can also use shredded purple cabbage

Rusty Red: I used paprika mixed with juiced beets & carrots plus 1 1/2 cups water.  You can also use 2-3 cups red onion peels, pomegranate juice or rose hips

 

Directions For Boiling Eggs:
🌷Place eggs in a medium pot and cover with water
🌷Bring water to a boil and let boil for 5 minutes
🌷Turn heat off and let sit covered for another 5 minutes
🌷Drain and gently rub eggs with soapy water to remove any oils. The oils will make the dye difficult to stick to eggs.

 

Directions For Colors:
🌻Use about ½ to ¾ cup of the natural dye ingredient per one cup of water.  Spices, you will only need 1 – 2 tablespoons.  The water should come to  about one inch above your dye material.
🌻Bring dye ingredients and water to a boil. Turn heat down to a simmer and keep covered for 30 minutes or until desired color is reached
🌻Remove and let cool
🌻Strain dyes into mason jars and add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar for each cup of dye
🌻Add boiled eggs and close container
🌻Place in fridge for anywhere from 6-12 hours or until desired color is reached. I kept eggs in for about 12 hours

🌻Note: If you’re using juice, just add vinegar.  No boiling needed

 

💖Stay tuned for pics of colored eggs when they’re ready 

 

Sucker For Kids Clothing – Amazing And Unique Find!

I normally stick to wellness, but I love to share my special finds when I stumble across them.  I lovvvvvvvve shopping for Luna and can get a bit obsessive with great clothes and shoes… One of my sweet clients gave me a Christmas gift for Luna.  When I opened it, I was so excited to find the adorable scarf and mittens! Soo soft and so different! I do not like things everyone has, unique is great!   Here’s the site if you want to check them out – tuffkookooshka.com

 

Here’s some other samples of what Tuff Kookooshka has in their stores and site.  

Enjoy Life!

 

What’s In My Kitchen For Luna’s Weekly Breakfast

 

On any given day of the week, I normally use most of the above ALL ORGANIC staples that I always have in stock at home.  Luna who is 2 1/2 years old, eats a few rounds of breakfast from 7am through 10am.

ROUND ONE of breakfast:

-2 fried eggs from The Country Hen

-La Tourangelle coconut oil to grease pan for fried eggs

– 1 small glass of BluePrint orange, grapefruit, lemon diluted with water

– Sometimes she has a half banana before the eggs or some blueberries

ROUND TWO:

– 1 cup of oatmeal made from the following:

– Bob’s Redmill rolled oats

– Navitas chia seeds

– Shiloh Farms oat bran

– Shiloh Farms raw Brazil nuts

– Simply Organic ground cinnamon

– Macadamia nuts from International Harvests Go Mac!

– Homemade apple sauce made from Fuji apples

ROUND THREE:

– 1 glass (4-5 ounces) of homemade cashew milk made from the following:

– Shiloh Farms raw cashews

– Medjool dates

– Simply Organic cinnamon

 

You are what you eat – YOU are your number one investment!

 

 

Bilingual Babies And Their Developing Brain

I grew up speaking a second language.  My first language was Italian.  I studied Latin for two years and French for seven years – it comes easy to me… I chose to raise Luna with multiple languages, speaking to her predominantly in Italian while explaining everything in English as well.  There are myths that confusion can occur with the child, but this never happened and it’s not true.  Yes, she has and does use both languages in one sentence from time to time, but that’s normal.  Luna’s brain is far more developed and advanced than most her age – I’m not just saying this because she is my child.  She can differentiate between pitches and tones in music class, more so than the others – pointed out by music teacher.  Luna’s vocabulary is extensive – noticed by adults.  Luna has an affinity for the arts – painting, drawing, coloring… I nourish her body and brain with organic, power packed foods, while not introducing her to any crappy processed foods; and stimulate Luna’s brain as much as I possibly can with language, music, arts, dance, puzzles, shapes, coordination, questioning, etc… So far, so good!!!

 

Here are reasons why you want to introduce multiple languages to your babies, toddlers, children… Even us adults should learn another language!

 *Babies who are a few months old can recognize language on sight of the speaker alone. From four to six months, babies from both single language homes and bilingual homes can tell the difference between the two languages when watching silent videos of adults reading from a book in two different languages, but by eight months only the bilinguals can do this.

* Bilingual babies are able to determine the differences in pitch and duration of sounds in order to keep the two languages separate.  Their neural response is considerably larger than that of a single language child.  They are able to pick up on these changes as early as 7 months.

* The vocabulary of babies who are bilingual remains flexible as they grow up and boosts their speaking ability as toddlers

* Blood flow (a marker for neuronal activity) is greater in the brain stem in response to the sound. This boost in sound encoding appears to be related to advantages in auditory attention. The cognitive control required to manage multiple languages appears to have broad effects on neurological function, fine-tuning both cognitive control  mechanisms and sensory process

* The multiple languages are always active and competing in the brain, so the brain actually grows stronger due to constant control mechanism usage – switching between languages.  The associated brain region is actually different, neurological structure is changed by multiple language usage as is the way neurological structures process information

* Higher gray matter volume in the left inferior parietal cortex.  White matter volume changes in both bilingual children and older adults

* Increased cognitive abilities such as increased visual and auditory sensitivity. Subcortical brain areas gain a huge advantage with all the sensory processing

* Increased attentive focus and cognition.  This finding relates directly with the prefrontal cortex brain activity networks, which direct the highest levels of thinking and awareness

* Bilingual children, who had five to ten years of bilingual exposure, averaged higher scores in cognitive performance on tests and had greater attention focus, distraction resistance, decision-making, judgment and responsiveness to feedback

* The networks that appear more active in the brains of bilingual children are part of the brain’s CEO networks, called executive functions. These are a constellation of cognitive abilities that support goal-oriented behavior including directing attentive focus, prioritizing, planning, self-monitoring, inhibitory control, judgment, working memory

* Bilingual toddlers are better able to process new information, more attuned to what others are thinking and feeling, more in control of their will and attention

* Just like our muscles become stronger with physical workouts, the developing brains of children in bilingual environments appear to build strength, speed, and efficiency in their executive function networks. This is the “neurons that fire together, wire together” phenomenon that in response to the electrical activations of messages traveling through them when used, executive function networks develop stronger connections – dendrites, synapses, and myelinated axons.

* Reduction in the development of cognitive degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.  Studies of older people suffering from cognitive decline indicate that bilinguals get an extra 4.1 years of clarity before signs of dementia show up and those who develop Alzheimer’s get an extra 5.1 years

 

Now, go pick up a second language and work that brain!

 

**Books shown can be purchased on Amazon.com or Libreriapino.com.

Favorit Snack, Luna’s Lunch And More

Snacks are a MUST with me because I am ravenous all the time… I’m constantly on the go and NEVER sit down.  I love my nut butters!  Of course, in moderate  amounts because it is high in fat.  This snack above is one of my favorites – Lundberg organic brown rice crackers and Novelle Naturals walnut butter.  One cracker and a half tablespoon of walnut butter satisfies me for a short while – great snack that helps keeps your insulin levels even, avoiding a spike which causes cravings!

 

Luna’s lunch today was about a 2 oz turkey burger made from Organic Plainville ground turkey, Tolerant red lentil penne, steamed organic broccoli and avocados in tomatoes in Bragg apple cider vinegar that’s not shown.  She ate ALL of it and then had my homemade coconut yogurt.  She is an amazing eater – it truly pays off to eat healthy during pregnancy and instill healthy values from when a child is born.  Luna loves all the foods that I ate while I was pregnant and that I eat now – healthy, wholesome foods that are all organic.

 

Back at the Greenburgh Nature Center today.  Teaching Luna how a zucchini grows and that it’s NOT ready to be picked just yet – yikes!  I introduce Luna to as much as I can no matter what it may be –  nature, a growing garden,  animals of all types, the world that’s out of the normal box and in it.  I keep myself as healthy as I possibly can and keep my mind sharp, open and always willing to learn and expand… Why? Because I am Luna’s role model and example.  

Baby Safe Straws

I just got these brightly colored drinking straws for Luna.  These reusable drinking straws are 100% non-toxic, plastic free, BPA-free Silicone, have a two-piece design that pulls apart and is easy to clean.  Bendable to fit into any water bottle and wide enough for smoothies.  I LOVE them and Luna does too! 

These are sold by Green Paxx and I purchased them on Amazon.

Always trying to keep Luna and myself as toxin free as possible.

Be green, be healthy, be happy!

Safe, Non Toxic Skin Care Products For Baby And You!

 

I’m a complete health fanatic with food and have become more so with skin care products because I want Luna to be as toxin free as possible.  I am trying to raise Luna as best as I can, as protective as I can be, allowing her body and brain to have the cleanest environment to grow and flourish in – that’s my real job!  

The more I read, the more toxic this world is becoming.   Products and advertising are not what they seem or portray.  We have to do our homework, READ labels and see where products rate in safety.  I LOVE the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) Skin Deep database for cosmetics and personal care products – it’s fabulous!  

The first picture is Nurture My Body Baby Shampoo & Body Wash, which I purchased on Amazon.  This product rates a zero on EWG’s safety list, meaning it’s the safest which no toxins whatsoever.  I’ve been using this on Luna for the past few weeks and it’s great.  Washes hair and body beautifully, and creates a great bubble bath! Luna loves it 🙂

The second and third pictures are of products from a company called Enkido from Australia.  Enkido is an ethical and eco-friendly company using EWG’s database ratings.  The ENTIRE product line rates a zero on EWG’s safety ratings, which means COMPLETELY toxin free!  I ordered from them Sensitive Kids Body Wash and Sensitive Kids Shampoo.  I also ordered for myself Foaming Cleanser and Hydrate Moisture Lotion.  I purchased these items form enkido.com directly.  All this came in the mail today and I’m going to try it all out this week.  I’ll let you know after this weekend what I think!

 

Grass Fed Whey Protein

Why supplement your eating with organic, raw, cold pressed whey protein?  Personally, I need to supplement my daily intake of food with protein shakes in order to gain and maintain muscle mass – that’s just my body.  I normally opt for vegan based Epic Protein, but do rotate in Source Organic Whey Protein (raw and cold pressed).  I do not eat dairy, aside from this.

I supplement my eating with raw, organic, cold pressed whey protein because it’s one of the best gluathione promoting food sources.  Glutathione is one of the most powerful antioxidants in your body. It’s different from other antioxidants because it is actually inside your cells. It can maximize the activity of all the other antioxidants, including vitamins C and E, CoQ10, alpha lipoic acid, and fresh veggies and fruits you eat.  The main function of glutathione is to protect your cells and mitochondria from free radical damage.  Therefore, it boosts your immune system!  As you age, your body’s ability to produce glutathione diminishes – even more reason to eat foods that will increase it’s production, such as raw whey protein.

Supplementation of gluathione is NOT effective because of poor absorption and can actually interfere in the body’s natural ability to produce it – yikes!

 

Other benefits of organic, raw whey protein:

*Contains all essential amino acids for overall health

*Keeps your energy levels up

*Supports your joint and muscle health

*Helps maintain beneficial gut bacteria

*Promotes your muscle strength, endurance and recovery

*Protects all your tissues’ cells with its antioxidant properties

*Supports your body’s optimal metabolic rate and fat burning level  – we like this!

 

Remember, when choosing a whey protein please stick with these guidelines:

*All natural pasture raised and grass fed cows

*GMO free

*Cold pressed, NOT heated

*Acid free processing, NOT acid/ion exchange

*Whey protein concentrate, NOT protein isolates

*Sweetened naturally, NOT artificially

*Easy to digest medium-chain triglycerides (MCT), NOT digestive stressing long-chain fatty acids

*Free of from toxic heavy metals or extremely low as to not be a health risk, NOT mercury, lead, cadmium, and arsenic containing whey protein products

Luna’s Healthy, Happy Easter Basket

Happy Holidays!  I love, love, love Eco-kids.  They have great organic, plant based ingredient products.  I used eco-eggs for our Easter egg dying – Luna’s is safe from toxic dyes and eggs are beautifully colored! Look at the ingredients – natural and organic fruit, plant and vegetable extracts from annatto seed, curcumin, purple sweet potato and red cabbage.

I took a candy free, chocolate free approach to making Luna’s Easter basket.  I found a great basket and ribbon at Michael’s, a bunny in an egg, some bath toys in little clear eggs, a baby Ty baby beanie lamb, and two books – Ollie’s Easter Egg and Little Owl’s Night.  Colorful, fun and educational! 

Holidays don’t have to revolve around food and junk… Get creative! Be healthy!