Days 28-30 or the 30 day cleaning challenge

I've been a bad blogger!  But I wanted to finish off posting about this challenge!  Last weekend I finished the challenge and did a big clean on the Sunday the last day of the challenge.  I cleaned out bedroom (day 28), cleaned some of the kitchen cupboards (day 29) and cleaned all the floors in the house (day 30) in addition to cleaning the bathroom, finishing a ton of laundry and cleaning the kitchen!

Gord took the boys outside to play that day for an hour or so and I got a ton done!  Love that!!

This weekend we are celebrating Fraser's First Birthday!!  The little premie boy turned One on Wednesday!  

Week 5 - 10 Weeks of Real food Mini Pledges

Week 5 is here!  This week I'm going to challenge each of you to try two new whole foods that you have never had before!

Whole foods are considered a food item which only has one ingredient and is not processed or refined.  For example:  Peach, Potato, brown rice, broccoli these are all whole foods.  Here are some  whole foods which is less common:

• Quinoa (pronounced “KEEN-wah”)
• Barley
• Parsnips
• Kale
• Collard greens
• Steel cut oats
• Papaya
• Brussel sprouts
• Black-eyed peas
• Chickpeas
• Bok choy
• Swiss chard
• Radicchio (pronounced “rah-DEE-kee-oh”)
• Spaghetti Squash
• Watercress
• Dates
• Kiwi
• Eggplant
• Pomegranate (and having the juice in a martini does not count!)
• Fava beans
• Lentils
• Spelt
• Pinenuts
• Star fruit
• Dragon Fruit
• Blood oranges

I haven't even tried all of these and this is certainly not a complete list but I challenge each of you to take this weeks pledge to try two new whole foods that you have never tried before and post which you have tried either here in the comments or in the Facebook group!

Week 4 - 10 Weeks of Real Food Pledges

Here is this coming week’s pledge that officially starts on Monday:

Week 4:  No fast food or any foods that have been deep-fried in oil.

For this challenge you must avoid:

• Restaurants with drive-thru windows
• Convenience stores that also typically sell gas
• Places where you watch them assemble your food through a glass wall
• Restaurants that are situated in a “food court” setting
• School lunches (most schools do not have a fully functioning kitchen and simply heat precooked meals)
• Airplane food

The places where you can eat during this challenge:

• Restaurants with waiter service (which aren’t always ideal when it comes to food quality, but we just had to draw the line somewhere)
• Grocery stores (try a greek salad from the deli, or brown rice sushi)
• Your own kitchen!
• Friends’ houses

Even while you are eating at the “allowed” places you must still of course avoid deep-fried foods, which is trickier than it sounds. If it is crunchy and crispy you might want to question it. 

Some other examples of foods to be on the lookout for:

• French fries
• Sweet potato fries
• Potato/tortilla chips
• Chicken fingers
• Chicken wings
• Donuts
• Corn dogs
• Egg rolls

The goal of this challenge is to force you to figure out alternatives to a Big Mac even when you are starving and on the go. And the key to success is planning ahead. Don’t wait until the last minute to figure out where and when you will have your next meal. Consider packing some whole food snacks to hold you over including bananas, apples, oranges, nuts, popcorn (with minimal oil/salt), dried fruit, store-bought Lara Bars, whole-grain crackers, cheese, fruit or veggie baggies etc. Also take the time to pack lunches for work, school, long car rides, and after a sporting event etc.

Just the other night I packed a quick picnic lunch to take down to the beach after Asher's lacrosse game.  It was nothing fancy, just some tuna sandwiches, carrots, water and grapes.  Super simple using what we had on hand, but it ensured that we wouldn't be tempted by the mcdonalds perfectly situated on the way to and from Juan de Fuca where most kids sporting events take place in our community!  I know it's a huge temptation especially when swimming or lacrosse start around 5 or 6pm, its difficult to get dinner into everyone early enough.  But I've been trying to plan ahead and either make a meal that can be quickly heated when we all get home or pack something for afterwards!  

It's all about the planning ahead!  

Day 26 and 27 - 30 Day Cleaning Challenge - the new standard of clean

Yesterday's assignment was deep clean the kitchen.  I've sort of split the job up into two days but it's done now!  It feels great to pull everything out and clean behind the appliances and inside them!  But with baby bottles and other daily used items on the counter that just seem to have to stay there these days it still doesn't feel as tidy as I like my kitchen counters to be.  But what can ya do!

It seems like kids stuff is taking over... between art work and paper work for preschool and kindergarden it's getting a bit hairy!  Thank goodness for my calendar!  I love it!  Helps me keep things straight.  

I also seem to have a pile for work stuff and kid stuff at the corner of the counter in my "office area" right next to the printer!  I used to only bring the printer upstairs on occasion but lately I seem to need to way more often so I just leave it on the counter plugged in.  

Then there is the bag of coffee that could totally be put away in a cupboard but always seems to stay right next the the keurig.  

I had just picked up his toys and tidied them.
He woke up from a nap not 10 minutes later
and they are on the floor along with his lunch
Crumbs as Abbi is helping clean up!

What's a mom to do... Embrace it!  My life has changed so much!  Being a mom means just living with a bit of "stuff" hanging around.  Sure I still love my clean tidy counter tops, but lets be honest, I clean everything perfectly and within the hour the "Stuff" makes it's way back to the counter.  Or I clean up the toys and in no time there is a pile on the floor again.  That's my life.  

There are always dishes to wash, bottles to clean, babies to wipe up, floors to scrub (from that dropped banana on the floor), Shakeology powder to wipe up from after my husband makes his shake, the list goes on.  My kitchen just doesn't stay clean like it used to and I always seem to be in there doing something!  

I've got a new standard of clean and tidy now... if the cutting board is clean with only one or two items on or near it ~ tidy, if the bottles aren't piled up next to the sink to be washed ~ tidy, if there is only one fairly straight pile of papers, books and notes stacked by the printer ~ tidy, if the stove top is not crumbly or dusty from formula or Shakeology powder ~ tidy.  The list goes on.  

I wouldn't change it for the world, these boys keep me busy!

Crazy kid loves to eat on the counter, not at the counter!

Today's Assignment is:

• Surface clean the bathroom
• One load of laundry

I actually did the bathroom a few days ago cause it was getting nasty.  But I'll do it again this afternoon before Asher and I have our mommy and Asher date!

Tomorrow's assignment is:

• Surface clean bedroom
• one load of laundry

pft.... I did this today!  I rock!  But I'll do a tidy up of the bedroom again tomorrow because in this house, nothing stays clean or tidy!

Day 25 - 30 day Cleaning Challenge

Today's Assignment is:

• Surface Clean Living room and Kitchen
• One load of Laundry

Well... today we had a busy and fun morning!

We went to books for breakfast this morning and then right after met a friend at the park!  Since we have been home I've been plugging away at today's assignment in between feeding the kids lunch and putting together trial packs for my 10 day clean eating challenge that starts next week!!

I've started prepping the menu for the challenge but still have some work to do on it since it's a new one!  But i'm excited to start!

There is so much interest in the 21 day fix success groups  right now!  So I'm thinking I'll do two rounds back to back for those who have ordered recently since the first round begins on Tuesday!  I just love this program!  It's great for everyone because literally anyone can do these workouts and the nutrition guide is awesome! 

Well I'm going to go put the littlest stinker for a nap now!

Here is tomorrow's Cleaning Assignment

• Deep Clean Kitchen (scrub appliances, wash trash cans, base boards, wipe down and straighten cabinets)
• One Load of Laundry

I should be able to get this one done in the morning before preschool drop off!! I hope!

Day 24 - 30 Day Cleaning Challenge

Today's Assignment is:

Clean Linen Closet (straighten towels, organize, get rid of anything unnecessary)
One load of Laundry

Here is what I did:

Finished product:

Yesterday's Assignment was to clean all the floors!  through out the day I was able to sweep all the floors upstairs, but there wasn't anything picture worthy to blog about other than this pile of dirt!  

Exciting hey!!

Food Dyes in our food

A child who eats 2 cups of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, a small bag of Skittles, and 8 ounces of Crush Orange will consume 102 milligrams of artificial dye. Behavioral tests found as little as 30 mg can cause adverse reactions. Photo credit: Ariana Stone).

Part of our transition 4 years ago to eating what we call " Real Food" was eating white cheese not orange or marble cheeses.  Why?

Well because food dyes effect children's behaviour and orange cheddar cheese is only orange because it is dyed with food colouring!  Gross right!

It's totally unnecessary and can effect your children's behaviour!

It's not just cheese either!  So many processed foods contain food dyes even cereal that isn't colourful probably has orange or yellow dye.

This article talks about the importance companies labelling how much food dye is in their products and I think this would be a great eye opener to consumers!

https://www.cspinet.org/new/201405071.html