New Years Resolutions: Progress Report
Progress Report: How are You Doing with Your New Years Resolutions?
I have become a part of #VlogMoms. Every week one of our members will select a topic. Coincidentally, the topic chosen was a progress report for New Years Resolutions – and Resolutions happened to be the subject of my last video blog. I’m happy to share my progress.
Next weeks topic – Jobs we had as teens or college students – should be fun!
Share Your New Years Resolutions with us!
Why Am I the Bad Guy
by Tania
Filed under Food & Nutrition, Musings
Recently at dinner with friends, a contested subject came up; Friday pizza day at our preschool. And notably the fact that Lil Diva was only allowed to have it on special occasions – but not EVERY week.
Pizza... Every Friday?
Many may disagree with this decision, but I would argue that my preschool should never put me in this position in the first place. If I didn’t otherwise love the school – I would go elsewhere.
So before I go any further – let’s examine this weekly “FUN” past time of having
Let’s refresh our memory for a minute and remember that an average 4 year old child should be consuming 1200-2000 calories daily.
Pizza Day Menu
- Numero Uno Personal Cheese Pizza
630 Calories – 250 from fat – 1370 Grams of Sodium – With minimal actual nutrients of any value!- Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookies
280 Calories – 120 from fat – 18 Grams of Sugar – 200 Grams of Sodium- Capri Sun Juice Pouch
90 Calories – 20 Grams of Sugar
Now for a special occasions… I give in. I’m not that hard core. But every week… Really? And don’t forget add the requisite pizza and cake at the birthday parties we attend, then add gatherings with family and friends… and I might like to give a few treats to my lil’s once in a while – So I’m not ALWAYS the heavy.
When I was growing up, every now and then (2 or 3 times a year) the school would have hot dog day and I’m sure my mom didn’t want me eating hot dogs and we didn’t have enough money… so was usually left out. I don’t want my children to feel that way… so I always make sure to send them with a treat in their lunch on pizza day, and I let her have pizza day on special occasions. My mom was never up against a weekly event.
For now at school I’m forced to be the “mean” mom who objects to subjecting my child to a weekly lunch that contains 1000 calories and nearly 1400 Grams of Sodium.
You can argue with me and say “what’s the big deal… it’s just a little pizza… take a chill pill,” and I have to respond by saying that is exactly the problem. We are continually giving in to poor food choices regarding them as a one offs – when in fact they are cumulatively having a significant impact on the diets of our children. In the short term it’s not going to kill anyone…today. But this approach to food is unequivocally reducing their life expectancy of our children and setting them up for a myriad of health issues. There is nothing cute or fun about that.
I believe in a balanced approach and I hear other mom say they use the 80/20 rule – so I think they look for balance too. My concern is the balance of actual real, wholesome food is no where close to 80/20.
Oprah & Pure Natural Diva
Oprah is Having a Contest and my friend, Desiree, at Bottles To Britches told me I HAD to enter. So I got to work.
Now that my video audition is complete – please check it out – and more importantly – VOTE!!! Voting couldn’t be any easier – no forms to fill out – just one second to click on vote.
I Need Your Votes – TODAY, TOMORROW, OVER and OVER and OVER again! The math goes like this - I need every single fan to generate 8 votes daily. Yet we know that only 10% of people really get involved that really means I need my biggest fans generating 65 votes every single day… hmmm…
Your votes will get Pure Natural Diva one step closer to having a show on the air that is fully dedicated to Whole Living with Style and Ease – imagine the difference we could make.
This is a hardcore competition with high stakes. The current leader of the contest is Rener Gracie – he has the entire Fighting Community voting for him – in two weeks he’s gotten over a million votes.
Spread the Word – Share – Share – Share
Forward this via email to everyone on your contact list, copy and paste the message below on Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and all other social media networks.
Tweet & Status Update
Vote for Pure Natural Diva to win her own show on Oprah’s network – give a voice to healthier, greener living! http://bit.ly/dwAlGP
Blogger’s: I’ve created a simple post that you can use on your blog
Click Here to grab your story!
Check out the Audition
http://myown.oprah.com/audition/index.html?request=video_details&response_id=5711&promo_id=1 to view my audition piece – then click “Vote” – that’s it!
One voter had this to say on the Oprah site:
“We need Pure Natural Diva Live! America needs this show! I love that Tania is a mom who wants to make a difference in all our lives. She has passion and really dives into the issues, makes you feel passionate too about wanting to make changes in your own home and life. In addition to being a hilarious and genuine person she is incredibly smart. Tania has invested her heart & soul in Pure Natural Diva….out of not just her own family & personal needs but seeing a genuine need in all of our lives & in society today Please pick Pure Natural Diva Live to be an Oprah show!”
View Tania’s audition here and don’t forget to vote – http://myown.oprah.com/audition/index.html?request=video_details&response_id=5711&promo_id=1
Very Important – So I’ll say it again!
Voting is not limited – so please vote AS MANY times as possible before the deadline on July 3rd.
Thanks guys! Together we can make this happen and positively impact lots of lives.
Extra Bonus Points
Help get the producer’s attention by posting a comment too! Show the producer’s that you believe a show like PND live can make a difference in lives around the country!
Gardening 101: PND Style
I am not the gardener in my family. To keep my yard looking remotely presentable a team of people show up for one hour every Wednesday mornings and presto flowers. Attempting to grow food – other than my citrus trees – is monumental for me.
We live in one of the best growing climates in the world and I have a weekly gardener coming to tend to my yard, sprinklers to water it and NOTHING to show for it… ever.
This year I decided that it was time to try to grow some food. My mother is an avid gardener, as are both of my sister… I could do this.
The initial idea was to plant in an amongst my regular plants. That didn’t work out very well… turns out our team of expert gardeners is not very adept at steering around newly sowed seeds and the soil wasn’t very good.
Our Chosen Location
Not to be discouraged I pitched Dude on the idea of turning a thin sliver of our yard into a garden. By some miracle, not only did he agree – he also said “why not make it bigger”!
So I set to work – which in this case required a meeting with my gardener and we set a time to tear up a section of our yard, put in a drip watering system and import some compost. Now, after a few hiccups in the execution I have a lovely raised bed garden.
I’m still not sure we found the best soil. I searched high and low in Los Angeles for organic compost and ended up going with compost that is made from clippings from Griffith Park and zoo doo – yep exotic poo! The city calls it TOPGRO – they say it’s organic, it’s free for the taking and well tested to ensure that it is ready to be used.
In the LA area you can also get compost from the Green Recycling Center – 2649 Washington Street, Los Angeles. Fri/Sat/Sun from 9-3.
Once we got the compost in the fun started. My family had set up a rough plan for me that I tried to follow… and I’ve been trying to companion plant using this guide. There are many moments of confusion… will this lettuce really work in full sun, I need a taller plant that will work in the shade here… and so on.
The children are over the moon excited. I bought them each their own watering can to avoid the ongoing battles that would have come with one. I also faced an interesting dilemma at the garden store when purchasing a watering can of my own… Buy the plastic can that is made in the US or the Metal Can made in China? I opted for plastic – I think it will hold up much longer and not need replacing.
So far we have planted: Strawberries, heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, red & green peppers, butternut squash, melons, cucumber, snap peas, lettuces, spinach, basil, broccoli, leeks, basil, chives, beets, carrots and grapes! Still to come are parsley, oregano, zucchini, beans and baby pumpkin.
We did a couple other things to help create a natural good growing environment:
- Worms – The kids went crazy over the container of worms I bought to get my worm population started… never thought I’d use those words together in a sentence!
- Ladybugs – Apparently ladybugs eat aphids and other undesirable pests… We’ll see because I set at least a hundred of them free one night. Releasing them at night, they don’t fly away. Instead they look for food and will hang out and lay more eggs. We’ll see!
I’m still noticing that some critters are munching on my delicate fresh plants, so I need to determine what is doing the damage to find the right natural predator for the job. I’ve also planted nasturtiums throughout the garden to help.
The gardener got me up and running and I’m doing the planting myself. For the gardening purists this may seem wrong, but for this Diva I’m going to call it a happy starting point.
Once I get this plot going – I’m going to go through my landscaping and see where we can find places to add raspberries, blackberries and blueberries.
Please VOTE for my Oprah Audition!
Help Pure Natural Diva Live get on Oprah’s New Network
Blogger’s: I’ve created this simple post that you can use on your blog
I would love it if you would support the PND effort to win a talk show on the Oprah Winfrey Network. You get a break from writing and I benefit from your amazing support! Simply cut, paste and edit at your discretion and presto! Feel free to use all, part or none of this! I’ve included the code and image as well.
You get a day off – PND get’s invaluable promotion!
I’d love to know who takes me up on this – so please leave a comment so I can thank you personally!
If you don’t have a blog – click here for some of the ways you can support the latest Pure Natural Diva adventure!
Here is Your Post
Oprah’s new network OWN has created a contest and the winner will get their own talk show. Tania Reuben was inspired by her blog – Pure Natural Diva – to enter the contest. Pure Natural Diva is an informational site dedicated to Whole Living with Style and Ease.
The show – Pure Natural Diva Live – will cover the same topic. Simple Solutions to help people live greener, healthier lives.
This is a hardcore competition with high stakes. The current leader of the contest is Rener Gracie – he has the entire Ultimate Fighting Community voting for him – in two weeks he’s gotten over a million votes. As a blogger I am thrilled to support Tania and leverage the power of social media to make her a contender! She has a great mission, a wonderful site and a her show has the potential to create meaningful change in our country.
One voter had this to say on the Oprah site:
“We need Pure Natural Diva Live! America needs this show! I love that Tania is a mom who wants to make a difference in all our lives. She has passion and really dives into the issues, makes you feel passionate too about wanting to make changes in your own home and life. In addition to being a hilarious and genuine person she is incredibly smart. Tania has invested her heart & soul in Pure Natural Diva….out of not just her own family & personal needs but seeing a genuine need in all of our lives & in society today Please pick Pure Natural Diva Live to be an Oprah show!”
View Tania’s audition here and don’t forget to vote – http://myown.oprah.com/audition/index.html?request=video_details&response_id=5711&promo_id=1
Her website can be found here – www.purenaturaldiva.com
Grab the code for your post here!
<h5><span style=”font-size: small;”>Here is Your Post</span></h5>
<p>Oprah’s new network OWN has created a contest and the winner will get their own talk show. Tania Reuben was inspired by her blog – Pure Natural Diva – to enter the contest. Pure Natural Diva is an informational site dedicated to Whole Living with Style and Ease.</p>
<p>The show - Pure Natural Diva <em>Live</em> – will cover the same topic. Simple Solutions to help people live greener, healthier lives.</p>
<p><a href=”http://www.purenaturaldiva.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Picture-11.png”><img title=”Picture 1″ src=”http://www.purenaturaldiva.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Picture-11-300×160.png” alt=”" width=”300″ height=”160″ /></a></p>
<p>This is a hardcore competition with high stakes. The current leader of the contest is Rener Gracie – he has the entire Ultimate Fighting Community voting for him – in two weeks he’s gotten over a million votes. As a blogger I am thrilled to support Tania and leverage the power of social media to make her a contender! She has a great mission, a wonderful site and a her show has the potential to create meaningful change in our country.</p>
<p>One voter had this to say on the Oprah site:</p>
<blockquote><p>”We need Pure Natural Diva Live! America needs this show! I love that Tania is a mom who wants to make a difference in all our lives. She has passion and really dives into the issues, makes you feel passionate too about wanting to make changes in your own home and life. In addition to being a hilarious and genuine person she is incredibly smart. Tania has invested her heart & soul in Pure Natural Diva….out of not just her own family & personal needs but seeing a genuine need in all of our lives & in society today Please pick Pure Natural Diva Live to be an Oprah show!”</p></blockquote>
<p>View Tania’s audition <a href=”http://myown.oprah.com/audition/index.html?request=video_details&response_id=5711&promo_id=1″ target=”_blank”>here</a> and don’t forget to vote – http://myown.oprah.com/audition/index.html?request=video_details&response_id=5711&promo_id=1</p>
<p>Her website can be found here – <a href=”http://www.purenaturaldiva.com” target=”_blank”>www.purenaturaldiva.com</a></p>
<h5><span style=”font-size: small;”>Grab the code for your post here!</span></h5>
<blockquote><p>Oprah’s new network OWN has created a contest and the winner will get their own talk show. Tania Reuben was inspired by her blog – Pure Natural Diva – to enter the contest. Pure Natural Diva is an informational site dedicated to Whole Living with Style and Ease.</p><p>The show - Pure Natural Diva <em>Live</em> – will cover the same topic. Simple Solutions to help people live greener, healthier lives.<a href=”http://www.purenaturaldiva.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Picture-11.png”><img title=”Picture 1″ src=”http://www.purenaturaldiva.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Picture-11-300×160.png” alt=”" width=”300″ height=”160″ /></a></p>
<p><a href=”http://www.purenaturaldiva.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Picture-1.png”></a>This is a hardcore competition with high stakes. The current leader of the contest is Rener Gracie – he has the entire Ultimate Fighting Community voting for him – in two weeks he’s gotten over a million votes. As a blogger I am thrilled to support Tania and leverage the power of social media to make her a contender! She has a great site and a her show has the potential to create change in our country.</p>
<p>One voter had this to say on the Oprah site:</p>
<blockquote><p>”We need Pure Natural Diva Live! America needs this show! I love that Tania is a mom who wants to make a difference in all our lives. She has passion and really dives into the issues, makes you feel passionate too about wanting to make changes in your own home and life. In addition to being a hilarious and genuine person she is incredibly smart. Tania has invested her heart &amp; soul in Pure Natural Diva….out of not just her own family &amp; personal needs but seeing a genuine need in all of our lives &amp; in society today Please pick Pure Natural Diva Live to be an Oprah show!”</p></blockquote>
<p>View Tania’s audition <a href=”http://myown.oprah.com/audition/index.html?request=video_details&amp;response_id=5711&amp;promo_id=1″ target=”_blank”>here</a> and don’t forget to vote – http://myown.oprah.com/audition/index.html?request=video_details&amp;response_id=5711&amp;promo_id=1</p>
<p>Her website can be found here – <a href=”http://www.purenaturaldiva.com” target=”_blank”>www.purenaturaldiva.com</a></p>
<a href=”http://www.purenaturaldiva.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/n1576231091_30005075_15621.jpg”><br />
</a></p></blockquote>
<blockquote><p style=”text-align: center;”><a href=”http://www.purenaturaldiva.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Optimized.41_2_3.jpg”><img title=”Optimized.41_2_3″ src=”http://www.purenaturaldiva.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Optimized.41_2_3-258×300.jpg” alt=”" width=”258″ height=”300″ /></a></p>
Greener Shopping Spree at the Local Outlet Mall
Trying to make eco savvy choices at the mall can be a challenge! In this video I share some finds from a recent outlet mall shopping spree.
I’ve dropped one dress size and many of my clothes no longer fit. This was in no way a perfect effort – it is a realistic idea of choices anyone can make that are a little kinder.
Stores where I had the best success:
AG – Made in Los Angeles
Banana Republic – Organic Offerings
American Apparel – Made in Los Angeles
Pyrex – Made in America
Two Fresh Ways to Honor Your Mother
Uninspired about what to do for your mom this Mother’s Day? Here are two ideas that promise to transcend typical offerings – they are gifts that will keep giving and will truly make a difference in the lives of the recipient.
Instead of sending another box of candy full of calories she’d rather avoid or flowers that will wilt in days, consider a gift that will make an unmeasurable difference in the life of someone on the other side of the world.
I can’t think of a better way to honor your mother than to help another.
Make a difference in the life of a Refugee
The International Rescue Committee has created a program that will allows you to honor your mother and make a real difference in the life of a refugee family.
For example with $24 you can purchase a safe birthing kit for a refugee mother, which includes vital supplies for a safe home delivery in a conflict zone, plus a blanket and clothing for a newborn other gifts are available and pricing start at $18:
- Mosquito nets for a refugee family in Africa – $18
- Pre-natal care for a new mother living in a war zone – $52
- One year’s education for an Afghan girl – $52
- A farming kit, including seeds and tools, to help a family grow food – $60
- Summer school for a newly arrived refugee child in the U.S. – $100
- Job training for a refugee to help her become self-sufficient – $330
Purchase one of these options and the International Rescue Committee(IRC) will send the honored mothers a beautiful, personalized Mother’s Day card in the gift-giver’s name.
The IRC has been helping refugees since 1933 and you can shop with confidence knowing that 90% of all the funds they raise goes directly to fund programs and services.
Finance an Entrepreneur Around the World
If you want to let your mother choose who she wants to help – send her a gift certificate to Kiva.org. I first heard about Kiva on Oprah and what they do is pretty extraordinary. They enable individuals to lend money to entrepreneurs across the globe.
Your mom will be able to browse through profiles of entrepreneurs from around the world, she’ll be able to decide who to fund with her gift certificate, and the best part – when the loan is repaid she’ll be able to fund another entrepreneur.
What I love about Kiva is they give people the tools they need to be able to create a sustainably better life. I’ve made several loans and have had all of them repaid – which is fun because then I can chose another person to fund!
I know for some – it might be a stretch to think about not sending a gift that mom can hold & touch – but this might just be more tangible than most options we would typically consider.
Child Free & La Jolla Bound: The Very Long Walk
Part 2 – read part one here.
Where were we? Dude and I had just checked into Estancia La Jolla for our first weekend getaway in almost 2 years.
Mustang's & Burros
After settling in we made a beeline to the bar – Mustang’s & Burros – for what might have been the best nachos Dude and I have ever eaten! Seriously. The atmosphere couldn’t have been better – we managed to to snag prime seats in front of the gorgeous outdoor fireplace.
Best Nachos Ever!
Tip
Be sure to check out their happy hour specials – they had a cheese platter for $9 on Friday and the other offers looked appealing.
Don’t make your drink “a double” or you’ll find the priciest margarita’s I’ve seen anywhere at $22 each!
At the beginning of this story we’d asked “Ted” how far it was to walk into town? He told us it was about 2 miles. So… after leisurely drinks and stuffed with nachos we decided a walk into town for dinner.
It was a perfect night for a walk – the sun was setting – the conversation easy. Wild nasturtiums were everywhere - for some reason this fascinated me. About an hour into our “2 mile walk” we started noticing that we weren’t even close to town … as a matter of fact we can see “town” on the other side of the bay.
Wild Nasturtiums... Everywhere.
Our relaxing evening stroll to dinner – over 2 hours long. For some reason I found myself humming the Gilligan Island theme song. I was grateful for the practical flats I’d chosen to wear yet wished they were sneakers and secretly wondered if “Ted” had known we were going to order nachos that night and intentionally underestimated the mileage in consideration of my waistline.
After wandering through town looking at restaurants we settled on Vigilucci’s an Italian Restaurant with a large outdoor patio, great atmosphere, live music and a stunning view.
I wish I could say the food was equally impressive – both Dude and I were a little disappointed. I like garlic, but my pasta had enough to keep away more than a few vampires and Dude’s meat had to go back for a little extra time. The restaurant wasn’t the only one struggling. I somehow managed to send a shrimp tail flying across the room - if anyone noticed they didn’t say a word.
We focused on enjoying our wine – which was chosen because the Vineyard and Lil Diva share a name and the winery was local.
We made our way back to the hotel, marveling the entire taxi ride at just how far we had walked. We finished the evening with another glass of wine at Mustangs & Burros before turning in for the night.
I don’t have to tell you how nice it was not to be woken the next morning by children crawling on top of us for the first time in forever!
While I caught a few extra zzzz’s Dude went off to read the paper, and have an early breakfast.
Stay tuned for our hike to the beach… “Ted’s” way.
More Vegetables Please? Getting Your Kids to Eat Vegetables
by Tania
Filed under Food & Nutrition, Musings
It's All In How You Dice It
Do you dream that your children – or in my case husband – will ask this question at the dinner table?
You’re not alone – It’s just a dream in my home too! Do you know that ideally we would consume 9 – 1/2 cup servings of fruits and vegetables a day and should have no less than 5! Some of my friends seem mystified by how many vegetables my children eat, so I’m giving away my secret.
Many people are familiar with hiding puree’s in your food. I do use this technique, but need it less and less as my children eat their vegetables without me having to hide them.
Once you have this mix – add it to everything you cook that week at the end of 5-7 days cook up whatever is left and put it in the freezer for use on a day when you are out of the fresh mix.
We use this mix to up the veggie count in spaghetti sauce (1/2 vegetable and 1/2 meat), shepherd’s pie, tuna noodle casseroles and other comfort foods. I put it in mac & cheese, quesidilla, enchilladas, burritos, rice pilaf, soups, ready made spaghetti sauces (my kids never met a noodle they didn’t love!) and eggs. Basically if I’m cooking – there are mixed vegetables going in.
Once the mixed vegetables are in, I also add chopped frozen spinach to most dishes and other vegetables that are part of the dish. For example, in our home peas are part of shepherd’s pie and tuna casserole.
It’s also a good idea to add flax meal to any dish that will hide it’s dark color, 1-2 tablespoons in the sauce. A tablespoon in the pancakes or french toast egg mix. You won’t taste it, but you will amp up the nutritional value.
So there you have it. You are hiding vegetables, but they still know they are there.
Some of you may find your eaters pick around the vegetables (I’m OK with this, they can’t get them all) and in my experience they will eventually give up with most dishes. My daughter used to pick around the vegetables in spaghetti sauce and after enough nights of “you can’t have more noodles until you eat the sauce”… the sauce is now eaten with the noodles.
We just need to be more persistent and consistent than they are.
All Diced Up
Tamiflu Use Leading to Drug Resistant Virus
by Tania
Filed under Health & Wellness, Musings
The flu sucks.
We all want to do everything possible to shorten it’s duration or better yet avoid it all together.
Yet – virus’ are clever little buggers and are mutating to become immune to our biggest tool – Tamiflu.
Unless we are in a high risk group… we don’t want to be treating the flu with drugs that are causing these virus’ to mutate. Doing this puts us all at greater risk.
Natural remedies like Black Elderberry have been shown in studies to shorten flu duration.
The moral of the story seems to be – once again – use caution before taking drugs. If we don’t all collectively do this – we’ll find ourselves without the tools to fight these virus’ when we really need them.
Image by mybloodyself - photo links.
While we’re on the subject of virus’ mutating it’s a good time to remind our readers that antibacterial products have been shown to be of concern for a similar reason – bacterial resistance according to the AMA.
Our best defense against cold and flu is frequent hand washing with REGULAR soap and water (not antibacterial).
Read up on the tips and tricks we use to fight cold & flu in the Diva home.
The Bottom Line is that we are putting ourselves at risk using antibiotics and other drugs when a cold or flu is inconvenient rather than saving these drugs for true medical emergencies.
Pandemic Flu, Like Seasonal H1N1, Shows Signs of Resisting Tamiflu.
