Health Tip Tuesday: Posture

There are SO many health benefits to having proper posture that I barely know where to begin. Less stress on back and joints - aids in breathing better - portrays a healthy, lean you (and who doesn't want that, right?) - etc.

Proper posture is an adage that is as old as the trees, "sit up straight, don't slouch". But having proper posture isn't just "shoulders back", there's a bit more to it than that. But, I promise, the benefits will be plentiful!

  

This is how I default stand (which is kind of embarrassing when it's captured in a picture).



Slouchy shoulders, tummy rolled forward and standing on one foot.



First, start with your feet. Stand evenly weighted with your feet under your hips. Point your toes forward. 



Don't push your belly forward and roll your hips back.
This is proof of tight hip flexors. Try the cobra or upward
dog yoga poses to stretch and lengthen them out.



Your spine should be virtually flat and if you are not
used to it, rolling your hips forward may feel like you
are sucking your bum in.



Lastly, pull your shoulders up, back, and down. Your middle finger should line up with your side pant seam.



I think Wren was listening to my instructions on good posture. She's got it down! How about you? Give it a try when you are doing the dishes or standing chatting to someone. You can't go wrong with amazing posture.



Company, Games, Food, Recipes

Today we had Ron and Ayla for lunch: waffles, yum.

And then we had Kyriel and Jordan for supper and games.



Playing some Catan.

Wren loves it when we have company over!

I made a blueberry and cream cheese coffe cake. I'll definitely do this one again.

Pretty ladies.

So every Sunday I want to post a recipe and then show our weekly menu plan too. It'll be Recipe Sunday.

The best habit we got into was spending some time one day a week to figure out what we would have for supper every day. I can't encourage this enough! No more worrying about what to make for supper every day. It makes grocery shopping super easy; just get what you need for ingredients. And you waste less food because you only buy what you know you're going to use.

So please, feel free to copy our menu, or start doing this yourself. We found this notepad at Chapters and it's magnetic so it stays on the fridge.



We use AllRecipes.com a lot. You can make a free account and save the recipes, which means they're easy to access later in the week when you're cooking. We almost always have the laptop in the kitchen when we cook because of recipes and for good cooking music :D I'll put links in the menu where we are following a recipe.

Sunday

- braised rabbit

- sweet potatoes

- spring salad

- quinoa

Monday

- twice baked potatoes

- sausage

Tuesday

- homemade pizzas

Wednesday

- beet salad

- turkey breast

Thursday

- taco lasagne

Friday

- maple chicken

- sweet potatoes

Saturday

- bean and rice salad

- pulled pork

Saturday Happenin's

Today was cloudy until the afternoon revealed the sunshine. And it was met by a warm welcome. We went for a picnic with Andrew, Sonya and Jack at a little park. Was super perfect!

Loving these comfy slippers Mom got me.

Our garden, not growing as much as we'd like but the peas are taking off!



Nothing like a Saturday to pick up a good read.



Lane picked me flowers from the yard.



Can you tell what kind of meat this is?




....kangaroo! And it was delicious.




Sonya loading the kids in the swing.



They both loved it.....



.....and each other it looks like





Dads look so handsome when they are holding their babies. I love it!



Hope you guys are having a great weekend.

Ikea Day

I decided to take Wren to Ikea on this gloomy, gray day. We had a blast there. And might I add that going to Ikea on a Friday during the day is the perfect time; it's not busy with weekend hustle and bustle.

Ready to go on an adventure (can you tell how 'mom' I am?)

"Common Mom, it's time to go"

This little girl's pink room was adorable!

It had tiny doll beds and a tunnel going to the room beside it.

Love the bohemian feel of this spread.

Lunch time with the babes

In the checkout; I guess this is what shopping does to a girl.

*Welcome to my newest follower, Brenaya!

Laundry Day

Out of all the house hold chores, I some how really love to do laundry. I'd take it over dishes or toilets any day, that much is true.

Making piles

What a turkey

Exhibit A

This was so cute, she had to come watch what all the action was about.

Lane put up a clothing line for me, such an awesome way to do laundry because you have an excuse to be outside in the sunshine! It's a little saggy though, we will have to get a wire instead of a rope.

End result, well  just needs to be folded.

We also make our own liquid laundry soap designed for HE machines. It's cheap and easy!

*Thanks to my newest follower, Jennifer, glad you joined!

Health Tip Tuesday: Food Journal

My first health tip ever on TheJourney, yay. I would consider this one to be my most important one. There are lots of other things that can be added to it, but in it's simpliest form I would have to say that it is crucial to:

*BE CONSCIOUS OF WHAT YOU ARE EATING*

I have become quite good at keeping track mentally, so I don't need to physically write down what I eat. But I did, however, do this for a long, long time. I recommend that you write it down for a while until you really get the hang of it.

Here are some super cool notebooks from Pinterest

Keeping track of your food intake throughout the day doesn't have to be some huge, scary process. Just write down what you ate and how many servings (notice I didn't say calories - stay away from this trend as calories don't give you the whole picture on quantity and quality of food). In reference to servings, you will need to look at the Canada Food Guide for what a serving looks like and how many in each food group you need (this isn't a huge concern yet, but just look at what they recommend).

I want to keep this a simple and non-daunting task for the week (hopefully longer than a week though) so it will be a self-awareness exercise. If you find it easier to use your cell phone, then use that. Or, if you want to make it exciting, go out and find a cute little notebook that fits in your pocket/purse.

Here is a sample:

Morning
1 serv milk
1 serv oatmeal with cinnimon and brown sugar
2 cups of green tea

Afternoon
2 serv crackers
2 serv chedder cheese
2 serv baby carrots
bite of cookie

Snack
1 serv yogurt
2 serv iced capp

Dinner
3 serv spring mix salad
1 serv cashews
1 serv dressing

* You can organize this any way you like, this is just an example. Just write down every bite and be conscious of everything going into your body. Good Luck!

Yummy Raspberry Scones

So now I have all these raspberries to use up; this was my go at it.....

Combine:
3 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
6tsp baking powder
1/2tsp salt

Cut in:
3/4 cup cold butter

Mix seperately:
2 tbsp lemon juice
2tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk
(This will be a brownish, thick, sour milk. Don't be alarmed)

Pour wet mixture over flour mixture and mix with a fork only enough to form a dough ball. Over mixing will make scones too dense.

Add:
1 1/2 cup frozen raspberries
(I used fresh but I recommend frozen as they are not as fragile)

You can either roll the dough out like buscuits or just make 1" blobs like I did. Place on parchment paper on baking sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes (depends on size).

Enjoy for a warm afternoon snack on a rainy day like this.

This is what happens when Wren plays with grandma H....

Obsessed with keys right now.

She's got this look on her face that is so proud.

"Look momma I'm reading!"

Crazy lioness

...and she figured out something was on her head.

Oops that's not the right way.

Have a super de duper monday!