Category: Kids

Kitchen Survival Staples (Podcast #25)

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What are those grocery items you MUST have on hand at your house? Join us for episode 25 where we go into detail with our grocery short lists… the things we absolutely can’t manage without, and the things we must have to make the simplest of meals. From pasta and bottled pesto to carrots and hummus, join the kitchen and cooking survival journey with Delish and Healthyish!

And if you can’t listen right now, here’s a teaser:

  • Carrots
  • Onions
  • Celery
  • Garlic
  • Soymilk
  • Cereal
  • Pasta
  • Bottled pesto
  • Marinara
  • Hummus
  • Bread
  • Tortillas
  • COFFEE!

What are your must-haves…. the things you’ll go to the store for at 10pm when you realize you’re out?!

xo, Jen & Corinne

Realistic Resolutions (Podcast #24)

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Realistic Resolutions

Happy New Year from the Delish and Healthy-ish team!

Jen here. Corinne and I kick off Season 2 of the podcast with episode 24 discussing realistic ways to set New Year’s Resolutions. Here they are summarized:

  1. Celebrate what you’ve done well last year and keep those habits going strong. For Corinne, she’s celebrating her triumph over sweets and I am celebrating making my kids’ lunches at night (consistently since September) rather than making them in the middle of the morning chaos. What have you conquered in 2018 that you can keep up in the new year?
  2. Pick out just a few things you want to work on each month or each quarter, and be REAL. Take your yearly to-do list and prioritize the items. If those things don’t make you happier or healthier, kick them off your list! Aim for a TOTAL of 4-6 things this year. I have been putting off scheduling a dermatology appointment and a neglected check-in with my GYN, and I’m going to get those done by March. Can I do it? See number 4 below…
  3. Be consistent and show perseverance about your new challenges and habits. Maybe you want to take control of your finances, get your meal planning groove on,  try healthier eating (um, have you SEEN our incredible 5-Day Detox full of Reilly and Bowen Family Favorites?!?!), or start jogging every day. Really DO those things, and if you can’t go all the way, go part way. Don’t lose interest easily, don’t give up, and you’ll make those things habits for years to come. I’m working on exercising 30 minutes daily no matter what this month. I’m taking 1 month at a time, but so far so good! Corinne is doing daily yoga despite her busy house, and is motivated by how amazing she feels.
  4. Find someone who can help you stay motivated. The buddy system will help you stay motivated and on track. Just this morning, Corinne challenged me to make my dermatology appointment if she made her’s…. and it worked! Boom. Bring on the freckle exam!

New Year’s Resolutions can be an amazing way to make your life better.  Use them as an excuse to try new things and finally cross some chores and headaches off your to-do list. You got this! 

xo,

Jen (& Corinne)

Indoor Winter Survival (Podcast #22)

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Indoor Winter Survival

 

Hi friends! Are you getting cabin fever and going crazy keeping kids busy and keeping the peace in your house this winter? Listen to our tips on how to survive the cold indoor weather as we chat about scavenger hunts, board games, cards, puzzles, and other ways to keep you from losing your mind and actually enjoy the time inside your home this winter.

If you can’t listen, here’s a list with handydandy links which you may want to add to your holiday wish list. Happy insiding!

You got this! Dig into that puzzle and game supply and have some good old fashioned fun!

Jen & Corinne

Navigating Type 1 Diabetes (Podcast #21)

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Navigating Type 1 Diabetes

In honor of November being Diabetes Awareness Month, Jen and Corinne talk about the symptoms of type 1 diabetes, the stories of how Jen’s two kids were diagnosed, and gives resources for parents and adults living with type 1.

She mentions the Juicebox podcast (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/juicebox-podcast-type-1-diabetes/id962416631?mt=2), the books Think Like a Pancreas (https://amzn.to/2DRQGty) and Sugar Surfing (https://amzn.to/2zwkCIX), and the facebook group the T1D Mod Squad (https://www.facebook.com/groups/Modsrus/) as being especially helpful resources. And Jen also talks about how she manages her kids’ diabetes much more easily thanks to the Dexcom G6 Continuous Glucose Monitor (http://www.dexcom.com/) and the Omnipod tubeless insulin pump (https://www.myomnipod.com/home). Take a listen for all you need to know about type 1!

  

 

Immune Boosters for Adults (Podcast #21) & our 5-Day Delish Detox!

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5-Day Detox

Hi friends! Jen here, and Corinne is close by. Thanksgiving and sneezing season is upon us, so check out podcast episode #21 where we talk about ways adults can boost their immune systems and ward off the sickies while everyone else is sneezing and hacking their celebrations away. This tags onto episode #20 where we talked about immune boosting tips for kids. 

In addition to the tips for kids like getting plenty of rest, staying hydrated, getting outdoors (away from germs!), including vitamins, washing hands, getting flu shots, and loading up on veggies and fruits while skipping fatty and sugary garbage, adults also need to:

  1. Pull back on the alcohol. Alcohol not only messes with your restorative sleep, but it makes you cranky and zaps your immune system. If you find yourself partaking in too much fun at the nightly happy hours and holiday parties, scale back to help your body’s defense systems stay in tip top shape.
  2. Exercise 30 minutes a day and preferably outside. You can do it! Believe me, it takes you less time for that 2-mile walk when it’s freezing and icky outside. Bundle up, grab a to-go mug of herbal tea and hit the road. This will help your anti-sneeze powers AND your tush.
  3. Check out supplemental remedies including herbals like echinacea, oregano and medicinal mushrooms, and pump the vitamin C and zinc when everyone else around you is sick.

And, at long last, our 5-Day Delish Detox that we’ve been talking about on the podcast is finally ready for you! It’s 5 days of meals and a corresponding grocery list, and definitely a spiffed up, simplified and more doable version of our 7-Day Detox. It’s 100% plant-based and gluten-free and there isn’t a better way you could take care of your body during the holiday season. Take 5 days and go for it!

We’ve designed the detox to serve one person with some soup and chili leftovers you can freeze for another day. So, adjust serving amounts in each recipe based on how many housemates are going to partake in the fun. And lucky for you, we’re going to open a special facebook group for people doing the detox from 11/23-11/30.

But wait, that’s not it! If you buy the detox by Black Friday (11/23), it’ll only cost you $12! A $5 savings! Who doesn’t need an extra $5 during the holidays?

Post your questions below and we can’t WAIT to detox with you!

Jen & Corinne

Immune Boosters for Kids (Podcast Episode #20)

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Immune Boosters for Kids

Hi friends! Corinne and I are fighting cold and flu season, so what a great time to chat about how to boost kids’ immune systems!? Yep, your kids are going to get sick this season, it’s gonna happen. But what are the ways you can keep germs at bay and their bodies fighting things off quickly and quietly? Take a listen to Episode 20 or check out our tips below!

7 Ways to Boost Your Kids’ Immune Systems:

  1. Help them get lots of healthy sleep. Get those kids to bed. Sleep is an immune-booster… let them get the rest they need to fight off the icks.
  2. Keep them hydrated. When it’s chilly out and they’re not sweating all the time and feeling thirsty, it’s easy to get dehydrated. Push water just like you do on the summertime soccer field.
  3. Get them their flu shots. It can’t hurt, and may keep your child from getting super major sick this season. And if you have kids with autoimmune diseases like I do, flu shots are a must.
  4. Pull back on sugar and fatty garbage. Oh the Halloween candy and the holiday parties! Ration, trash, and skip altogether if you can. Foods that aren’t good for your heart are also great at weakening your immune system.
  5. Push the multivitamins. A few extra milligrams of vitamin C and zinc can’t hurt. Get your kids on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule can keep the vitamins on a realistic schedule.
  6. Feed them more veggies. Now’s the time of year when veggies like canned pumpkin can go in every baked item, sauce and pancake. Even if it’s too chilly to chomp on raw veggies, sneak them into every warm dish possible. The fiber and antioxidants are just what little bodies need to stay healthy.
  7. Get them outside more. There are very few conditions where you can’t bundle up and head out into the backyard or to a playground for an hour or two. Bring a thermos of hot chocolate and get them some fresh air. The germs are actually INside, not OUTside, and it’s all the time inside that gives the colder months a bad rap for sickness.

Stay tuned for next week’s episode with immune boosting tips for adults. Until then, happy veggie eating!

xo, Jen & Corinne

Getting Ready for the Holidays: Decluttering (Episode #19!)

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Episode 19: Getting Ready for the Holidays: Decluttering Toys, Clothes and Linens

Hi friends! Jen here. We won’t keep you here too long, because we want you to go declutter 3 fantastic areas of your house before the holidays hit you. Listen here or check out this summary:

  1. Your kids’ toys. Donate toys that haven’t been used in a while (especially those stuffed animals!), store toys for years down the road, and consider starting a rotating toy system where you put away certain toys for 6 months and then bring them back out again and put others away. Clearing the toy clutter before more toys enter your house will keep you sane in January and beyond.
  2. Your clothes and your kids’ clothes. Downsize, donate and just don’t keep! Go minimalistic on the drawers and clothing closets in your house. As seasons change is a great time to evaluate and get rid of worn-out or unworn clothes. Make room for new things coming in or just get simpler and survive with less.
  3. Your linen closet (if you have one!). Keep 1-2 towels on hand per family member (a few extras for guests if you live alone), only 1 extra set of sheets per bed in the house and get rid of old ratty towels and sheets without hesitation. Roll towels and washcloths for easier access and storage and check out these cheap shelf dividers for towels. You can use small baskets for washcloths, and linens can go in collapsible containers like these. And for a “pop-up” linen closet, check out this best-selling shelf on wheels.

Now get those donation bags filled and feel the amazing breath and freedom of less clutter! 🙂

xo,
Jen & Corinne

Getting Ready for the Holidays: Shopping! (Podcast #17)

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Getting Ready for the Holidays: Shopping

Hi holiday celebrators! We’re back with more holiday prep tips in Podcast 17 where we talk about how, when, and where to shop for the holidays, and give ideas for homemade gifts for neighbors, friends, teachers and party hosts. We’re determined to make this holiday season simple, thoughtful and downright fun!

If you don’t have a chance to listen, I’ve summarized our tips here:

Tips on How to Shop for the Holidays:

  1. Make a list of who you need to buy presents for. Don’t forget teachers, coworders, host and hostess gifts, and some unexpected quick presents to give.
  2. Decide on a budget either per person or total, and try to stick with it.
  3. Put down as many ideas as possible for all the people on your list.
  4. Decide on your homemade present: a sugar scrub in a mini mason jar with coconut oil and peppermint oil? or 32-ounce mason jars filled with the dry ingredients for brownies plus instructions for which wet ingredients to add (one how-to here!).
  5. Make wish lists on Amazon or in a simple spreadhseet to share with family members.

Tips on When to Shop for the Holidays:

  1. Before Halloween! We can all try, right? Ok, that’s only 2 weeks away, but can you imagine? How about just the major presents and then you have November for stocking stuffers, homemade gifts and holiday cards?
  2. If you can’t get all your shopping done in October, at least try to get your list done and check a few purchases off your list. Buying early means you won’t be rushing with less thoughtful gifts toward the end.

Tips on Where to Shop for the Holidays:

  1. Amazon is great for wish lists, searches for “best toys for 8 year-old boys” and best sellers. But Amazon also has such fun ideas for stocking stuffers like these WikkiStix and figurine “Toobs” like these sets of safari animals, around the world monuments, vehicles, and even fruit and veggie toobs!
  2. The Mall is a dreaded, but a great option too. Try to go only once with your list for ideas, and set a time limit for yourself. I like to go early on in the season while the pickin’s are plenty and the crowds are few. My girls (ages 4 and 13) love anything from Claire’s and $5 Below.

We want to hear your tips too! Comment below with your favorite homemade gift ideas and holiday hacks!

xo,
Jen & Corinne

 

How to Make a Spooky Halloween Lunch

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5 ways to create spooky Halloween lunches

Packing a fun holiday lunchbox doesn’t have to add more than a few minutes into your lunch-packing process. Here’s how we created a spookier spin on a simple and healthyish Halloween lunch…

5 ways to create a fun and simple Halloween lunch!

    1. Spider sandwich: Add pretzel sticks as legs to a PBJ (or nut-free option)—we cut out the circle shape with a ball jar rim, but you could just use the rim of any cup or small bowl. Two raisins were stuck on using peanut-butter glue.
    2. Eyeball crackers: Use tahini, hummus, or guacamole to stick half an olive on a round cracker.
    3. Witch’s fingers: Put a dab of hummus on the end of 5 Peas Please or veggie straws.
    4. Apple mummy: Wrap an apple in gauze and tuck two googly eyes under a piece of the wrap.
    5. Pumpkin carrots: Slice two small, shallow wedges length-wise to create a “stem. Then slice the carrot stick to create individual “pumpkins”.

Carrot pumpkin

Extra treat: Wrap your kiddos favorite kind of lollipop in a tissue, tie it with a ribbon or string and draw the mouth and eyes with a marker.

Halloween lunch ideas for kids

Happy Halloween!

Jen & Corinne

PS: Here are more tips on packing lunches for kids under 10 and for kids 11 and up!

No Spend September: Division of Labor (Podcast #15!)

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Division of Household Labor

Hello again! Jen here and we’re still no-spending, but getting really close to “overdoing it October” (ha!). In episode 15 of the podcast and our last one in #NoSpendSeptember2018, we bring up the importance of having a conversation between you and your partner about the division of labor in the house.

We encourage you to sit down and:

        1.  List out the adult chores in the house and to-dos in your family life. These include homework, making lunches, keeping track of school activities, taking kids to the doctor, taking out the trash and paying the bills, to name a few. Name all the things that need to get done. This also includes keeping the kids on track with THEIR chores that we talked about in this post. If you’re a single parent, MAJOR props!!!
        2. Figure out what you’re both willing to do (who likes that chore the least?!). A biggie here for couples is dishes, and another one is the kids’ bedtime routine. Who likes scrubbing spaghetti off the pot AGAIN and chasing the kids around with a toothbrush? Not fun! Draw straws or pick days. If your kids are helping with dishes as part of their chores, then who is the ‘enforcer’? I guess try to make it fun. My kids are really into the army right now, so we hear a lot of “Sir, yes sirs!” during dish time and table cleanup, and that definitely keeps us all laughing.
        3. Determine what is REALLY important to your partner and fit it into the week. Does your partner want to go to the gym, make music or meet up with friends? See how you can make those fun and healthy diversions happen for both of you. Tag-team parenting and chore-doing aren’t rocket science, they’re survival science!
        4. Pick a time to look at the week ahead together. Perhaps it’s a Sunday “date” on the living room couch where you look at the next 7 days and figure out who is doing what and where you might need to reach out for help. Sharing a calendar can also be really helpful. This prevents scrambling at the last minute when one kid needs to get to basketball, one kid needs to get to lacrosse and you need to attend back-to-school night. Time to enlist that carpool or call on a sitter.

     

  2. Share your family and partner responsibility systems in the comments below. We are always upgrading our methods and want to hear from you! xo, Jen & Corinne