Category Archives: simple living

Keeping it Simple

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Welcome to the May edition of the Simply Living Blog Carnival - Daily Lives cohosted by Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children, Laura at Authentic Parenting, Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy, and Joella at Fine and Fair. This month, we write about what we do to keep the little things from overwhelming us. Please check out the links to posts by our other participants at the end of this post.

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Life with kids can quickly get complicated, especially if you listen to the media about what marketers want you to believe about what they need or should be doing. It doesn’t have to be like that.
Keep it Simple with Stuff
Those hundreds of items that baby registries tell you a baby needs are mainly just to make money. You don’t need all of that stuff, and your children certainly don’t. The marketing continues through childhood, and with other people, the stuff can take over. Keep the items which are quality and add enjoyment to your life. The rest is just clutter, cluttering up your home, cluttering up your life, and making more work for you. All of that stuff has to be picked up and put away. It need to be moved to clean. If it isn’t adding anything significant to your life, let it go.
Keep it Simple with Schedules
Schedules are a big problem when it comes to older children’s activities. I’ve heard from too many parents who were afraid not to put Little Johnny in the next activity on the list for fear that he might have talent which would go untapped, because some other kid would have a better resume, or because someone they knew was pressuring them. Life is short, and the time you have with your children is even shorter. The fact is your child can’t do everything, and if by some chance you could squeeze in every possible activity, they would never be able to master every activity and become an Olympic winner in every category, a virtuoso on every instrument, and a science and math award in the nth degree (pun intended), along with the collection of novels they wrote. Childhood isn’t a finish line to see how many things you can accrue on some list or to become an expert in something, unless that something is their own self. Childhood is a time when kids get to learn new things every day, explore the world around them, and figure out who they are and what they believe. That takes time – that same time many children are spending being chauffeured from one activity to the next before falling into bed.
Keep it Simple with Activities
Family activities are a great way to spend time with your kids, but you don’t need to spend a lot of money to do it. Cook with them. Read with them. Go hiking at a local nature center. Play a board game (and there are fun board games which won’t have you wanting to hit your head against a wall). Design something. Garden. Build something. Talk to them and most importantly, listen.
Keep it Simple with Family
Really, what your children really want is to spend time with you. Make certain you are getting that time, whether it means spending the weekend or the evenings as a family or making a decision to homeschool. Whether you are a stay at home parent, work at home parent, or work out of the home parent, you are firstmost a parent and your children are waiting for you. Don’t let other things get in the way.
Keep it Simple with Love
It may not be all you need, but love will get you pretty far. Are you doing things you don’t love? Are there things you can cut out of your life? Are there items which are a drain? Are you spending time doing what you love or with whom you love?
Life doesn’t have to be hectic and crazy. We tend to do that to ourselves. When we start cutting back to what is really important to us by keeping it simple, life suddenly becomes much more enjoyable.


 

 

 

Thank you for visiting the Simply Living Blog Carnival cohosted by Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children, Laura at Authentic Parenting, Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy, and Joella at Fine and Fair. Read about how others are incorporating stress relieving actions into their daily day lives. We hope you will join us next month!

 

  • Keeping Stress at Bay From Day to Day – Laura at Authentic Parenting sums up some of the things she does to avoid being overwhelmed.
  • How I Stay Sane! – ANonyMous @ Radical Ramblings discusses the coping mechanisms she has to stay sane when her life is chaotic and often stressful.
  • Organising – sustainablemum talks about how spending time planning ahead has given her more time for life!
  • Simple Menu Planning for New Moms – No longer a lady of leisure, new mom Mercedes at Project Procrastinot has had to rethink her cooking style in order to maximize her time in the kitchen.
  • Happy Homes/Peaceful Homes – According to Lisa at Squishable Baby, It’s the things that bring us closer together as a family – that keep our home Peaceful.
  • Keeping It Simple – At Living Peacefully with Children, Mandy focuses on keeping things simple so that she can spend her time enjoying her family.

 

Vegetables That Promote Bone Health and a Recipe for Fennel-Dill Artichokes

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I am happy to host a guest post today from Elaine Rosales. As our family continually strives to work on  our diet regarding food allergies and healthy living, nutrition is a topic which comes up at our house more and more. We are attempting to balance simplicity with nutrition and moderation. Check out Elaine’s awesome recipe!

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Vegetables That Promote Bone and Joint Health

artichokesMany people, especially those nearing their senior years, are now looking for effective ways to take good care of their bones and joints. This is very important, because as you reach your 30s, your bone mass will start to gradually decline.

Many think that the best way to stop or reverse bone loss is to take high doses of supplements, such as calcium. But here’s the truth: you can actually keep your bones strong and healthy simply by modifying your diet. You will be surprised and happy to know that there are natural substances that can help keep your joints and bones healthy even as you age.

The Potential Benefits of Fennel

According to one study in the International Journal of Molecular Medicine, eating fennel seeds may have a beneficial effect on the loss of bone mineral density, as well as on bone mineral content.

The research says that fennel helps reduce osteoclast differentiation and function, which helps to decrease bone turnover markers and offers a protective effect on the bones. Osteoclasts are cells that break down weakened bones, while osteoblasts are cells that build them back up.

Fennel, also called bronze fennel or common fennel, is a plant that produces both a seed-like fruit and a leafy growth used as an herb. It is actually a treasure trove of nutrients: it contains folate, vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, phytonutrients, and antioxidants.

Try This Simple Fennel Recipe: Fennel-Dill Artichokes

Ingredients:

4 artichokes

1 cup carrots, quartered lengthwise

1 cup fennel or celery, thinly sliced

¼ cup olive oil

¼ cup melted coconut oil

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

2 tablespoons or more fresh dill, chopped

½ teaspoon salt

Black pepper

 

Procedure:

  1. Trim the tips of the artichoke leaves and cut off the stems, so they sit upright.
  2. Put the artichokes in a large pot, add water until they’re properly covered, and bring to a boil. Cover the pot, reduce heat, and let simmer until just barely tender. This takes about 15 minutes. Drain.
  3. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  4. Mix the carrots, celery, and fennel, and then spread evenly in a baking dish. Put the artichokes in an upright position on top of the vegetables.
  5. Mix the coconut oil, olive oil, fennel seeds, lemon juice, salt, dill, and sprinkle with black pepper. Pour all over artichoke mixture.
  6. Cover the baking dish and bake until all the vegetables are tender. This takes about 45 minutes.

This recipe makes four servings. Remember that this is a high-starch dish, so eat it in small amounts. You can also combine it with a protein and fat meal.

Don’t Miss Out on Other Healthy Vegetables

Fennel is just one example of a vegetable that has beneficial effects for bone health. High vegetable intake is actually associated with positive effects on bone mineral status for many years. Vegetables supply your body with bone health-promoting nutrients, like potassium and vitamin K1.

Potassium is needed by your body to help keep your body fluid pH levels at an optimal range. Sufficient potassium intake can help optimize your sodium to potassium ratio, which is an important factor for ensuring optimal bone mass.

However, if you eat a diet loaded with processed foods (which are high in sodium but low in potassium), there’s a high chance that your potassium to sodium ratio will be far from optimal and will set the stage for many health ailments.

In conclusion, eating a diet rich in high-quality, organic, and locally-grown vegetables – while ditching high-sodium processed foods – will help you to increase your bone density and strength naturally, and will help decrease your risk of developing fractures.

Remember, though, that healthy eating is just one aspect of bone and joint health – you need to combine it with other natural lifestyle strategies, such as optimizing your vitamin D levels, exercising regularly, and getting enough  high-quality sleep.

About the Author

Elaine Rosales enjoys reading articles written by Dr. Mercola. She is currently researching different treatment protocols for joint pain, and how optimal joint health greatly depends on various natural lifestyle strategies such as proper diet, exercise, and sufficient rest.

photo credit: minwoo via photopin cc

One Ingredient Wrinkle Minimizer

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Wrinkles, while often associated with older age, are not caused by age alone, but by other influences which sometimes seem to go along with the natural course of aging.  There are many products on the market sold as wrinkle minimizers or defenders, usually containing a long list of ingredients, many of which are questionable for using,  and having questionable results.

You may already have a secret, all-natural, wrinkle minimizer in your kitchen: Virgin Coconut Oil!

Coconut oil is great for your skin.

  • Coconut oil helps hydrate the skin. drinking plenty of fluids will help hydrate your skin from the inside out. Putting coconut oil on your skin will help hydrate from the outside in.
  • Healthy oils. We’ve all heard the importance of eating plenty of healthy fats which contain Omega’s. Using coconut oil on your skin also helps add in those healthy fats, keeping the connective tissues soft and supple and defending against sagging and wrinkling.
  • Protection from the sun. Sun damage can aid in an increase of early wrinkles. New studies show that virgin coconut oil aids in sun protection, acting as a natural antioxidant that protects the body from free radical damage and prevents premature aging and degenerative diseases. At the same time, your body will still be able to make Vitamin D from the sun while wearing coconut oil. While coconut oil on its own may not be enough sun protection for you on those days spent out in the full sun, using it on a regular basis will provide some protection against other times.

Just keep a small container of coconut oil in the bathroom and lightly massage into your sin at night (massaging also helps strengthen facial muscles). You can even use coconut oil as an all-natural make-up remover. Try it for a couple of weeks and see if you notice a difference.

Simply Living Blog Carnival May 2013 Call for Submissions: Daily Lives

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Welcome to the Simply Living Blog Carnival cohosted by Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children, Laura at Authentic Parenting, Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy, and Joella at Fine and Fair. We hope that you will join us on the third Tuesday of each month as we share posts about simple living in our lives. Submission deadline will be the second Tuesday of each month.

Daily Lives Everyday life can be hectic. Talk to us about how you keep everyday things from overwhelming you. Are you an organizer or declutterer? Do you avoid shopping like the plague? Perhaps you treat yourself to picking up dinner for your family sometimes. What in your daily life helps keep things simple?

To submit an article to the blog carnival, please e-mail your submission to mandy{at}livingpeacefullywithchildren{dot}com anddelilahfineandfair{at}gmail{dot}com, and fill out the webform by May 14. Please write a new, unpublished piece for the carnival. We will e-mail you with instructions before the carnival date. We ask that you publish your post on May 21.

We want you to use creativity and to express yourself as you see fit. To that end, you are welcome to post at your discretion with a few guidelines in mind. Please be respectful in your posts. Avoid excessive profanity and poor grammar or spelling. As the co-hosts of the carnival are all advocates of peaceful living and gentle parenting, we ask that you not post about non-gentle practices or violence toward others. While we will not be editing your articles, we do reserve the right to not add your post to the carnival if it is not on topic, is poorly written, or goes against the guidelines which have been set forth.

Blog carnivals are a great way to generate blog traffic and build a supportive community. Your blog will receive links from many other blogs and you and your readers will have the opportunity to discover other blogs with similar goals in mind. Please join us as we embrace Simply Living through Simple Living! We hope you will consider joining us every month as we discuss ways we simplify our lives.

An Easy Way to Make a Simple Compost Bin

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If you have wanted an actual compost bin but have been intimidated about how to go about it, her is an easy way to make an inexpensive one.

Do you have any large containers laying around? We had an old trash can that had previously been in the garage holding hockey sticks. We moved the hockey sticks and were considering what to do with this trash can. I realized it was a compost bin in disguise!

Take your container, in our case an old trash can, and turn it upside down. Drill some holes in the bottom, making certain to drill a hole in any area which is depressed so that rain water can easily drain through the holes. You don’t want rain water collecting and sitting in your compost bin.

It’s that simple. Set it upright and place it in an out of the way corner of your yard. You are ready to add your kitchen scraps, yard waste, or other organic material.

 

Simply Living Blog Carnival April 2013 Call for Submissions: Going Green

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Welcome to the Simply Living Blog Carnival cohosted by Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children, Laura at Authentic Parenting, Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy, and Joella at Fine and Fair. We hope that you will join us on the third Tuesday of each month as we share posts about simple living in our lives. Submission deadline will be the second Tuesday of each month.

Going Green Just as simple living and voluntary simplicity have become catch phrases, so too has the phrase going green. How do green practices affect your decisions? Do you find that your simple lifestyle is in tune with environmental issues? Perhaps you have a practice or product which simplifies your life.

To submit an article to the blog carnival, please e-mail your submission to mandy{at}livingpeacefullywithchildren{dot}com anddelilahfineandfair{at}gmail{dot}com, and fill out the webform by April 9. Please write a new, unpublished piece for the carnival. We will e-mail you with instructions before the carnival date. We ask that you publish your post on April 16.

We want you to use creativity and to express yourself as you see fit. To that end, you are welcome to post at your discretion with a few guidelines in mind. Please be respectful in your posts. Avoid excessive profanity and poor grammar or spelling. As the co-hosts of the carnival are all advocates of peaceful living and gentle parenting, we ask that you not post about non-gentle practices or violence toward others. While we will not be editing your articles, we do reserve the right to not add your post to the carnival if it is not on topic, is poorly written, or goes against the guidelines which have been set forth.

Blog carnivals are a great way to generate blog traffic and build a supportive community. Your blog will receive links from many other blogs and you and your readers will have the opportunity to discover other blogs with similar goals in mind. Please join us as we embrace Simply Living through Simple Living! We hope you will consider joining us every month as we discuss ways we simplify our lives.

Supporting Self-Expression in Children

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Welcome to the March 2013 Authentic Parenting Blog Carnival: Self-Expression and Conformity

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Authentic Parenting Blog Carnival hosted by Authentic Parenting and Living Peacefully with Children. This month our participants have written about authenticity through self-expression. We hope you enjoy this month’s posts and consider joining us next month when we share about Peaceful Parenting Applied.

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When I was pregnant with our first child, my husband and I joked that if nail polish were ever to be involved, he would be in charge. He thought I was joking at the time, but painting nails was never something I wanted to do. My grandmother tried to no avail to interest me in the finer aspects of nail painting when I was little. I hated it with a passion and still do. In fact, until a couple of years ago, our home was a nail polish free zone.

We were walking in a store when my then 6 year old daughter asked if we could buy some nail polish some day. Part of me would have loved to give an excuse as to why we couldn’t buy nail polish, but really there was absolutely no reason I could give. Instead, I told her we would research what brands were better and see about getting some. A few searches later and I had found brands which were less toxic and yet still affordable.

Shortly after that, I made my first ever nail polish purchase in a variety of colors. My children, all four, sat around waiting for their turn to have their nails painted. This happened several times with quite a bit of excitement on their part, trying out different colors, having that one on one time, until for the most part it died down, with only occasional nail painting happening now.

We support our children in their self-expression, whether it is nail polish or something else. Childhood is a time to learn about who you are and what you believe. We have purchased and helped paint finger nails and toenails. We have picked up colored hairgel for washable hair expression. And while I do save hand me downs for my children, they always have the choice about whether they like the clothes and want to wear them or not. Our children have gone to restaurants dressed in costumes at times other than Halloween, much to my mother-in-law’s disbelief, and the dress up bin is for everyone to play with – no sexism here. For now we draw the line only at permanent changes. We will support our grown children’s right to piercings, tattoos, or even cuttings if that is their choice, but we believe it is our responsibility to keep that option for them until they are old enough to make those types of decisions.

Self-expression doesn’t end with bodies, though. We encourage our children to explore new things and see what it is they really like. It’s important to us that they have opportunities to do this, and we have made it work on a budget, mainly in part to my mad organizational skills to get businesses and venues to give us group rates (just don’t remind me of the aquarium trip with 150 people. It’s something I would prefer to forget). As an unschooler and parent, it’s my job to facilitate, not dictate, my children’s learning experiences. Since life is learning, this includes allowing them the opportunity to explore and express themselves.

I think it’s working well. When my then 9 year old son was questioned at gymnastics for wearing hot pink nail polish, he merely turned to the kid in question and asked, “Why shouldn’t I wear pink nail polish? I’m secure enough in myself to wear it. Colors aren’t sexist.” Apparently the other child had never heard such things.

For me, it’s not about allowing my children to express themselves but rather not preventing them from being authentic. It’s about my children being themselves.

photo credit: Melchorseg via photopin cc

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APBC - Authentic ParentingVisit Living Peacefully with Children and Authentic Parenting to find out how you can participate in next month’s Authentic Parenting Blog Carnival!

 

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

(This list will be live and updated by afternoon March 29 with all the carnival links.)

Help Prevent Home Break-Ins: Think Like a Thief

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Last December, our home was broken into. We weren’t home, and luckily nothing was stolen that couldn’t b replaced, but it had our family living in fear for a little while. Today I would like to share a guest post by Carrie Van Brunt-Wiley containing some simple tips you might want to consider to help prevent break-ins. 

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You’ve seen the famous Hollywood heist movies such as Ocean’s 11 and Heat where a glamorous gang of hot-shot thieves strategize and scheme for months in order to pull off elaborate, million-dollar robberies. However, it would probably be overkill to install motion-sensor booby traps in your own home or to store all of your belongings inside a high-security vault like the Bellagio’s.

The reality is that most burglaries can be attributed to male teenagers who live within just a few miles of your home, and the average loss from burglaries in the U.S. is about $2,000. So with that in mind, it’s easy to take a look at your home the way the average thief would and take a few simple steps to help prevent break-ins.

Locate easy points of entry

The average thief probably won’t try to scale the walls of your house and drop in through a skylight. Think simpler: If you’re a teenager wandering the streets of your neighborhood, what’s the easiest route inside without attracting unwanted attention?

You guessed it: The average burglar is most likely to enter your home through the front door, a sliding glass door or a large window.

To help prevent break-ins, make sure you’ve installed deadbolt locks (and use them!), lock any sliding glass doors and use a door jam or sturdy stick to keep them from sliding, and keep your windows locked.  It’s also a good idea to keep shrubbery around points of entry trimmed in order to provide clear visibility of everyone who enters or exits your home.

Keep the lights on

Most thieves won’t try to sneak into your home and sneak out with all of your belongings without you noticing while you’re sipping coffee at the kitchen table. They’ll look for signs that no one’s home, such as a full mailbox or a stack of newspapers in the driveway, no cars parked outside and a dark house.

If you’re planning to be out of town for an extended period of time, arrange with a neighbor you trust to have your mail and newspapers picked up daily. Leave a light or two on inside, or set a couple of lamps on timers so they turn on at night but save energy during the day. Make sure you’ve installed outdoor lights and check that they’re functioning properly. Every point of entry to your home should be well-lit so your neighbors can easily see if anyone’s coming and going. If you can leave a car in the driveway, it also will add to the illusion that someone is home.

Make them hunt

You don’t have to install a high-security vault with retina-scanning entry – just make your unwelcome guests hunt for anything valuable. The average time a burglar spends inside a home is about 12 minutes. It’s simple math: the longer it takes him to find what he’s looking for, the better your chances are that he will give up.

Never leave cash or jewelry sitting out in plain sight and put away any high-value electronics such as laptops and gaming consoles. This may also actually be a time when your usually inconvenient tangled wires come in handy – the longer it takes a thief to wrestle with your electronics the less likely he is to take them and the less time he’ll have to loot other parts of the house.

Let them know they’ll be caught

A house that is not protected by a security system is 2 to 3 times more likely to be burglarized than one that is. It makes sense – would you try to break into a home if you knew you’d set off an alarm and probably end up in handcuffs within the hour? Set up signs in your yard and stickers on your windows to let potential intruders know they’ll be caught if they try any funny business. In addition to reducing your chances of a break-in, installing a home security system could also help you save some money on your home insurance premium.

When it comes to home security, the most important thing is to use common sense. The average thief is looking for an easy job; the harder you make it to enter your home and get away with valuable loot, the less likely you are to lose your belongings.

 

This article was contributed by Carrie Van Brunt-Wiley, Editor of the HomeInsurance.com blog. Carrie has been writing insurance news and consumer information for HomeInsurance.com since 2008. She graduated from the University of North Carolina in Wilmington in 2005 with a B.A. in Professional Writing and Journalism.

 

photo credit: chrisinplymouth via photopin cc

Bunny Poo!

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Looking for healthier alternatives to traditional spring candy? Sometimes buying bulk at the heath food store means less junk in the candy while being easier on your budget.

These cute little bags of bunny poo can be made with chocolate or dark chocolate covered dried fruit or nuts. Buy in bulk and divide into smaller bags. Add a cute little label, and your bunny poo is ready to go!

 

Click here for a free printable version of the Bunny Poo! labels. Just print out the page, cut them out, punch a hole, and attach to your own bag of “bunny poo.”

Simply Living Blog Carnival March 2013 Call for Submissions: Clearing the Clutter

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Welcome to the Simply Living Blog Carnival cohosted by Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children, Laura at Authentic Parenting, Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy, and Joella at Fine and Fair. We hope that you will join us on the third Tuesday of each month as we share posts about simple living in our lives. Submission deadline will be the second Tuesday of each month.

Clearing the Clutter. Not all clutter is physical, but any type of clutter can get to us. Do you declutter on a regular basis? Have you cut back on activities to spend more time as a family? Did you struggle with letting go? Share with us your views on clutter and how you incorporate those views into your lives.

To submit an article to the blog carnival, please e-mail your submission to mandy{at}livingpeacefullywithchildren{dot}com anddelilahfineandfair{at}gmail{dot}com, and fill out the webform by March 12. Please write a new, unpublished piece for the carnival. We will e-mail you with instructions before the carnival date. We ask that you publish your post on March 19.

We want you to use creativity and to express yourself as you see fit. To that end, you are welcome to post at your discretion with a few guidelines in mind. Please be respectful in your posts. Avoid excessive profanity and poor grammar or spelling. As the co-hosts of the carnival are all advocates of peaceful living and gentle parenting, we ask that you not post about non-gentle practices or violence toward others. While we will not be editing your articles, we do reserve the right to not add your post to the carnival if it is not on topic, is poorly written, or goes against the guidelines which have been set forth.

Blog carnivals are a great way to generate blog traffic and build a supportive community. Your blog will receive links from many other blogs and you and your readers will have the opportunity to discover other blogs with similar goals in mind. Please join us as we embrace Simply Living through Simple Living! We hope you will consider joining us every month as we discuss ways we simplify our lives.