Popcorn Tossing

This is our Friday night!!! While I thought I was sneaking into my room with my book and a cocktail, we got raided by three little people and a bowl of popcorn! I treasure these moments!!!!

Brains!!!

The kids were talking about brains last weekend so that prompted our upcoming anatomy study! This was unplanned butt here we go....Brains first, next the heart!

The Baby

She is definitely NOT a baby anymore but since she's our last, she will ALWAYS be the baby!!

Carrot Curry Soup

This was DELISH!!!!!!!!

Tea Time

I have taken quite the liking to tea!! I've gone from 5ish cups of coffee a day down to one, sometimes two! I know, it's crazy!!  Doing the cleanse showed me that I drink coffee all day because it's warm and comforts me.

I have substituted about 3 of those cups for hot water with lemon and add in some decaf teas as well! There are some caffeinated teas I like too! Jasmine and Chai of course, this one too.....can you say "Tea Time"?????

Menu Plan Monday

Chris is out of town and we have a busy week so this mama it's keeping it simple!!

Questions That Will Save Your Relationships

I read ALOT of stuff on Facebook, I mean ALOT! From all my "friends", the bloggers I follow, the homeschool pages I subscribe to, the fitness and "wellness" pages I follow and on and on and on!  Hey, it's my "Newspaper"!! LOL

Anyway, today I read an article that profoundly touched me and I want to practice daily at better communication so I'm sharing it on my blog for a quick resource!

Questions That Will Save Your Relationships

GREAT questions to ask DAILY, besides the mundane "How was your day?" question for sure! Just because I talk, ALOT, doesn't mean I am the best "communicator", it's an area I'm working on getting better at. 

Go check the post out here for better communicating with your spouse, children and friends.

I loved when she said, "Questions are like gifts -- it's the thought behind them that the receiver really FEELS."

Good Stuff!

Sofia:  "Mama, can I go ask Holland to come over and play?"

Me:  "No sweetie, her mommy just had a baby so let's give them some quiet time"


....silence.....I don't hear her in the house so I go outside to Chris and ask where she is....

Chris: "She told me that you said she can go ask Holland to play if Christopher walks down to her house with her."

WHAT???!!!!  I am in SUCH trouble with this little girl and my mom just sits and laughs while saying,

"She's her mother's daughter! Ha, just wait Gina!"

Lord, help me.

Fire Roasted Tomato Soup with Kale

There's nothing better on a cold, dreary day than hit soup! Yum, yum! Even better with a side of kale chips!

Coconut Chicken Curry

This was YUMMY!!! We all enjoyed it!

Happy Birthday My Love!

Happy Birthday to my Main Squeeze!  Today, we celebrate YOU! You are the glue that holds this family together! You are my best friend, the love of my life, my soul mate.

You are a loving, "good" son to your parents......a big brother that your younger brothers look up to......you are a thoughtful, giving, kind friend .....you lead and support the people you work with day after day .......but most of all, the special gift that makes me fall in love with you over and over again, is your gift of "fatherhood".  You are one a kind! Compassionate, supportive, loving, tender, funny, intuitive and generous beyond what I think a human being is capable of!  This family is beyond blessed to have you lead us!  We adore you Chris Auditore!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

You know ALL the right things to do and say to make me happy! (My birthday this year, thanks for the photo bomb Rebecca! LOL)

You are always looking for ways to have fun family times together!

You teach our girls SO much and show them exactly what they will look for in a man someday!

You are our son's role model.....he completely adores and looks up to you!

You bring the peace in this CRAZY life we live!!  I don't know what I would do without you!

Weekly Menu Plan

Week 3 of Gluten Free dinners!  Here's what we have on the menu this week!


Monday: Making a meatloaf birthday cake for Chris!
Tuesday:  Chicken Curry
Wendesday: Tilapia, roasted cabbage and jasmine rice
Thursday:  YoYo
Friday:  Chicken Fried Rice
Saturday:  Pulled Pork in Crockpot
Sunday:  Grill (Chris's pick!)


New recipe for a couple lunches this week....

Rustic Tomato Rice Kale Soup


Some healthy snackies we will be trying this week.....

Sesame Glazed Cauliflower *wings*
Zucchini chips

Gluten Free Baking

Gluten free baking is a bit of a challenge for me expense wise!!!!!!  I bought a box of Betty Crocker GF Rice blend flour for $4 and made the banana bread. Still cheaper than buying it in the store but not nearly as cheap as old school white flour, GAH!!!!! I will admit, it was yummy though! :-)

Wow!

That's all I can say!!! These little Italians LOVE their pasta, their traditional, WHITE pasta!!

BUT, we tried this one today with a little chicken broth and they loved it!!

Comfort Food

When I was a kid, I LOVED Cream of Rice hot cereal for breakfast!! I tried this stuff last week and it's awesome!!! I squirt a little maple syrup in it and it takes my back to the 80s! LOL

My kids on the other hand have texture issues and are not fans, oh well....their loss!

Menu Plan Monday

Week 1 was a success!!! Gluten free is easier than I thought and while this is only a 30 day cleanse I can foresee MUCH less gluten and dairy in our future for sure!

Here goes Week 2:

Monday: Tacos

Tuesday: Chicken Tenders (kids request, they LOVED then last week!)

Wednesday: Breakfast for Dinner

Thursday: BBQ chicken in Crockpot

Friday: Rice and Beans

Saturday: Chicken Burgers

Sunday: Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs

Gluten Free Cookies

You know me and my love sweets! I've been looking at gluten free baking and boy it can be expensive!!! We met up with Jay, Ruth, and the kids today at Trader Joe's to see what all the fuss is about and to check out the GF stuff. Cool little place for sure but nothing compared to Central Market or Whole Foods in my opinion. I've found that HEB has some great deals on GF products too. I picked these cookies up today and they got a thumbs up from the kids.

Live IN the Moment

This has been our first week back in a structured school routine since Thanksgiving and let new tell you......it's been H.A.R.D!!!! Sprinkle in a Pulmonologist appt. for mom, dentist appts. for kids (with expensive outcome), my well exam, (always makes me nervous), and just everyday mom stress and, well, yea......rough week!!!

Last night I was SO ready to tell the kids goodnight!!!! I yelled a ton this week, even more than usual, and I'm a yeller, lol. I just wanted ME time. They hopped in bed and I immediately felt guilty. I snuggled in with each of the two big kids one at a time and decided to read some poetry book we got at the library, watched Christopher make shadow puppets on his wall and enjoyed rubbing Adrianna's head on my lap as I read to her. I felt like I made peace with them, they were going to sleep happy. Then I went and read to Sofia, said my goodnight and locked myself in my bathroom to let calgon take me away....ha!! I forced myself to sit STILL, listening to Pandora ands paint my toes, THEN....I come out and see Sofia laying on the floor by my bedroom door. She wanted to sleep in our bed and was not going back in her room so she said she was fine on the floor......oooh that strong willed child of mine!!! I picked her up and put her in bed with us. Within 5 minutes she was sleeping sitting up, resting on daddy's arm, drooling.

I had to just stop for a moment and instead of beating myself up for yelling, stressing out about bills, worrying about health issues, thinking about the housework.............I had to just live on the MOMENT!!! These moments do NOT last forever!!!

GF Dinner #4!

Ok, so I'm figuring out that this gluten free dinner thing isn't half bad at all!!!!  40 clove garlic chicken,Delish....Crockpot carnitas with corn tortillas and bean salad, Yummo....Burger wraps with homemade French fries and sauteed zucchini, Yes please.....aaaaand tonight, GF chicken tenders with roasted cauliflower and kale salad....Oh Yeah!!!

Now, you'll say.....no way the kids eat that stuff, but in this house the golden rule is you WILL try it! Anna is a texture freak so she didn't like the zucchini sauteed, but she ate it as did the other two. They love beans and had fun eating burgers wrapped in romaine. I've heard the moans and groans, they are kids after all, but they have done a great job and have been great sports about it this week which is why they are getting rewarded with rice krispie treats tonight! (Yes, they are gluten free)  When it comes to a strange veggie with a weird texture, Sofia usually has sliced tomatoes or carrots raw instead and the other two will have a salad with ranch instead. It's all good! :-)  We've always been a healthy eating family that rarely eats out, dinner at a family table is a must for us. We are doing this gluten free thing together like we do everything! 

Tonight we encrusted the tenders in crushed rice chex and roasted the cauliflower with sea salt, garlic and sprinkled a little parmesan on it. Kale salad had apples, almonds, and a lemon garlic vinaigrette!

Day 1 SUCCESS!

Yesterday was our first official day going gluten free! And yes, we are still alive! Breakfast was easy, new protein powder was great in the smoothie, lunch was fun and colorful and dinner was delish! Coffee has been slowly decreased over the last two weeks so my one cup in the morning was fine.....no headaches or afternoon crashes (thanks Yogi Perfect Energy tea!). Started the morning off with hot water and lemon and drank a few more during the chilly day too!

My challenge was snacks for the kids. They will eat all my fruit in one day if I don't get creative!!!! We are making a gluten free baked popcorn snack today and will work on chex mix as well because store bought gluten free stuff is EXPENSIVE!!!! Way out of my $125 weekly budget for sure!

The kids don't realize I'm doing dairy free with them too and a MAJOR sugar decrease as well!  We all need a reset sometimes, EVEN the kids!! Healthy Mind, body, and spirit......our goals for 2014!

Weekly Menu Plan 1/6/14

The Auditore family has accepted the Gluten/Dairy Free challenge!! Lots of inflammation between the asthma and excema.....we are SO ready!!!! My sister in law helped me get a plan together and we will be holding each other accountable.

I'll be adding in a detox tea for kidney/liver detox along with my daily green smoothies and green tea! I am ready to start 38 off with a bang!