Balanced Vegan Meals

In my quest to a more natural and holistic lifestyle, I have come across Vegan Family Living. As owner and writer, LaTara Ham-Ying provides resources for families trying to live a healthier life. Everyone wonders how to make sure that you get all the nutrients that a body needs to be it’s best. So to all you vegans- and non I ask you…

 

Are your meals balanced? 

As vegans it is important that we learn to balance our meals. The truth is that any diet needs to be balanced to insure proper nutrition gets into the body. The vegan diet has it’s own nutritional needs.

There is a huge misconception that the vegan diet lacks nutrients and that we are not getting enough to be as healthy as we need to be. Nothing could be further from the truth. The vegan diet only lacks because one allows it to do so and does not understand how to balance that meal out. As with any diet when you are not careful you can become deficient.

There is a standard Food Pyramid here in America that many do not follow. Guess what- there is one for vegans too. If you follow it as closely as possible, you will be on target with getting the proper nutrition in your body.

The Vegan Pyramid is balanced like this:

* 3 or more servings of vegetables per day
* 5 or more servings of whole grains per day
* 3 or more servings of fruit per day
* 2 or more servings of legumes per day.

Taking the time to understand this pyramid will allow you to balance your vegan meal properly.

You don’t have to plan it all alone. Let the Vegan Meal Helper help you do some of the work.

The Vegan Meal Helper will assist you in understanding this simple process for eating. We also prepare the meal plans by using the vegan pyramid process along with food combining so that your family gets optimum nutrition in each meal you prepare. While we only prepare the dinner menu for you, we know that the other meals are just as important so we have e-courses, audio, articles, and discounted recipe packs for you to also make healthy meals all through the day and yummy vegan deserts too.

LaTara Ham-Ying is an All Natural WAHM who is married with two boys at home. She owns Vegan Family Living a site that offers simple solutions to the Vegan Lifestyle with an emphasis on Transitioning Vegan Families. She is the author of many articles, reports, and e-books on vegan cooking including the Transitioning Your Family With Ease! e-book.

Should I go organic?

Reusable shopping bags, cloth diapers, and organic living— Organic living? Tiffany Washko talks about how a organic lifestyle not only benefits you but the environment around you.

Why Go Organic?

So what is all this hype about a completely organic lifestyle? Does it REALLY make that much of a difference? YES!!!

For anyone truly concerned about their health and the health of their loved ones, adopting an organic lifestyle is a huge step in the direction of excellent health and wellness. An organic lifestyle means eating organic foods, using organic cleaning methods and toiletries, and wearing organic clothing. You can adopt all of these practices or just a few but any advancement in this area is improvement.

Most people agree that they would like to buy organic food and adopt a more organic lifestyle. Yet, instead of prioritizing certified organic food, the majority of people stick with their habitual processed or conventional foods. These non organic foods are nutrition poor, contain toxic residues, taste inferior and are potentially harmful to the environment, you and your family. So why go organic – you can’t afford not to!

Here are just a few of the reasons why you should go organic:

*Your produce will not adorn the chemical cocktail that conventionally grown produce does.

*Fresh organic produce contains on average 50% more vitamins, minerals, enzymes and other micro-nutrients than intensively farmed produce.

*Organic foods are not genetically modified (GM) and therefore better for you.

*Eating Organic meat means avoiding eating animal meat from animals that are fed a dangerous cocktail of anti-biotics, growth promoting drugs, anti-parasite drugs and many other medicines on a daily basis, whether they have an illness or not.

*Organic produce tastes so much better!

*Wearing organic clothing means you are NOT wearing chemicals on your body.

*Using organic cleaning materials is just as effective as using conventional cleaners but without harmful chemicals.

Once you made the commitment to go organic why not also make the commitment to buy locally? Most produce in the U.S. is picked 4 to 7 days before being placed on supermarket shelves, and is shipped for an average of 1500 miles before being sold. And this is when taking into account only US grown products! What a wasteful food system! This process weakens our communities, destroys our environment, and concentrates wealth and power into a few hands only.

We can counteract these harmful effects and help keep our local farmers in business by buying locally grown food whenever possible. You’ll be strengthening your community by investing your food dollar close to home. You’ll also get exceptional taste and freshness since local food is fresher and tastes better than food shipped long distances from other states or countries. Try to make it as goal to eat organic foods and only ones that have traveled no more then a few miles or perhaps even a few yards to your dinner table.

Tiffany Washko is the editor of Nature Moms and Instead of TV.  After working several years in corporate healthcare marketing and public relations, she took time away to be a mother. This new pursuit lead her to a new passion, natural family living and writing about environmental and political issues. She currently works as a freelance writer and newspaper journalist.

 

Other get healthy- get organic tips…

Resolved to get healthy in 2008

Natural Moms Talk Radio

Natural Moms Business Guide

Raising Fit & Healthy Kids eBook

 

 

It’s summer… now what?

Well, if you are like me now that school is over you are a loss for what to do. Filling the never ending days, especially when raining, is becoming ever so trying. I’m so glad I came across Susan Myers ideas on different crafts using items most homes with kids already have.

Easy Crafts For Your Toddler

Keeping an inquisitive toddler entertained and stimulated isn’t always an easy task. His curiosity will usually get him in all sorts of trouble as he is taking things apart to figure out how they work. A great way to keep him busy with something slightly less destructive is to make crafts with your toddler. Crafting is also a wonderful way to spend quality time with your child. Take a look at the craft ideas below, pick something and start making an easy craft with your toddler.

Paper Plate Mask

Who knew that plain paper plates could be so much fun? All you need are the plates themselves of course, some scissors, markers and some string. Start by holding the paper plate in front of your child’s face and mark the spots for the eyes. Cut two holes for the eyes so your child will be able to see through the mask. Cutting a mouth opening is optional. Then let your child decorate the mask with markers or crayons. You can also have her cut shapes (think ears) out of construction paper and glue them on the paper plate mask. Tape or staple a piece of string to each site of the mask and use them to tie the finished mask around your child’s head.

Collages

Here’s another one of our favorite craft activities – a collage. You can make a collage with your toddler on just about any topic. Keep old magazines and even grocery flyers around and let your child cut items out of these papers. Then use a glue stick to glue them on a large sheet of paper or construction paper. Use markers, crayons and stickers to further embellish the collage. Don’t forget to hang it up when you’re done.

Macaroni Necklace

Macaroni aren’t just good for making mac and cheese. They are also the building blocks of macaroni necklaces. All you need is a handful of uncooked macaroni noodles and a piece of string. Make a large knot in one end of the string, then let your child thread the noodles on the string. When she’s done, just tie the two pieces of string together and the necklace is ready to be worn. You can also make a colorful necklace by painting the individual noodles with acrylic paint.

Crayon Suncatcher

If you have a toddler in the house, you are bound to have lots of small pieces of broken crayons as well. Here’s a simple craft that will turn those crayon pieces and a little wax paper into a colorful suncatcher. Start by grading the crayon pieces with an old cheese grater, or shave them with a knife. Put each color into a small bowl or in a little pile. Then cut two round pieces out of wax paper. They should be the same size. Let your child sprinkle the crayon shavings on one of the pieces of wax paper. When she’s done, cover it with the other piece of wax paper. Put an old towel on your ironing board and carefully transfer the wax paper crayon “sandwich” on the ironing board. Turn your iron on medium high (without steam). Add another towel on top of the wax paper and gently iron over it several times until the crayon shavings are melted. Allow your suncatcher to cool and harden before you pick it up. Thread some yarn through it to hang it up in the window. You can also sew a button stitch all around the suncatcher with some yarn and a thick needle to make the suncatcher a little more stable.

Finger Paint

What child doesn’t love to finger paint? Smearing paint with your fingers is just plain fun. You can use store-bought finger paint, or make your own by mixing condensed milk with a few drops of food coloring. This works just as well as commercial finger paint and is completely non-toxic. Don’t forget to cover the “work area” with plenty of old newspapers to make cleanup a snap

Sock Puppets

Does your washer or dryer eat socks? Ours sure does and we end up with quite a few single socks whose counterparts have mysteriously gone missing. These socks are perfect for making sock puppets. All you need are two buttons for eyes and some scraps of fabric or felt and a little yarn. After that it will be up to your toddler’s imagination to turn the sock into a puppet – with your help of course. Not only will you have a lot of fun making these sock puppets, you and your child will enjoy playing with the finished products just as much.

 

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Here are some other great activity ideas…

Survival Kits (Christmas, Spring and Mother editions)
Make It Fun Mom! a monthly guide to quality time with your kids

 

 

Toddler - Diaper = Stress for Parents

Right now my husband and I are in that difficult phase where we’d like to get our boys potty trained but they don’t want to take that step. It’s frustrating to say the least, but I find peace in knowing that I’m not the only one out there facing the ‘potty battle’. I recently came across a article by Stefanie Fauquet, owner of Tips For Toddlers. This amazing blog is filled with great advice for every bump in the road that a family can come across. Here are her tips for that potty pothole….

Tips for Potty Training your Toddler

Potty Training seems to be one of the most anticipated and also dreaded tasks among mothers of toddlers. On the one hand it is an exciting time because the thought of not having to buy diapers anymore is a great feeling, especially on your pocketbook. However, when it comes down to the actual training and getting your toddler to actually use the potty, this is another story.

There are a few tips to help make the potty training process a bit smoother.

1. Make sure your toddler is ready! The worst thing you can do is push your toddler into potty training when they are not ready. You will be wasting your time with something that may not be meant to be…yet. Wait until your toddler starts to pull or take off their diaper when dirty. Another sign is that they will be curious about the toilet and what it is used for.

2. Buy an inexpensive and basic potty chair with out all the bells and whistles that can cause distraction. Place the potty chain in an area where your toddler frequents the most so it can be visible through out the day. The living room is a good choice. This is just until your toddler gets acquainted with the potty chair.

3. Show your toddler how the potty works. You can get a doll that simulates how to go potty, or bring your toddler into the bathroom with you and show them. They need to see it happening before they can do it themselves.

4. Once your toddler has a concept of what the potty is used for and how to sit down and go, try taking off your toddlers diapers and letting them wear real underwear and encourage them to go.

5. Offer a reward system. After your toddler has gone at least once on their own in the potty chair you will want to keep this momentum going by offering rewards every time they use the potty. Cheering loudly and giving high-fives is also very encouraging. Go to the dollar store and pick up stickers, crayons and other age appropriate treats to give them once they go on their own.

6. Repeat the process and be patient. You will want to continue encouraging and rewarding your toddler until they are completely potty trained. This can take six months or more depending on your little one.

Have patience and before you know it you’ll have a fully potty trained toddler and not have to buy diapers for them again!

 

Stefanie Fauquet owns the blog Tips for Toddlers where you’ll find tips, activities, recipes and more fun for moms with toddlers. Visit www.tipsfortoddlers.com for great advice on common parenting struggles.

Here are some simple potty chairs we found…

BabyBjorn Potty Chair - comes in a number of different colors

Trendykid Wooden Family Seat - great for after successful training