So the weekend of May 14th (yes very late post) my husband and myself kept quite busy. On Saturday I went to the gym with a friend - which gave me a whopping seven hours away from the house, and away from my babies. Which I haven't had EVER, and it went over well for both parties, I had fun, and everyone at home was happy and content. Then on Sunday we spent the day in Bellevue and got some hiking shoes for Chris, and had a relaxing, people watching time.
Later that evening we headed up to Beacon Hill for a Vegan Chili Cook-off! Mmm vegan chili and bread and treats and people. It was an enjoyable time, and we were able to try most of the chilies and my FAVORITE won! Awesome!! (The vegan cupcakes were really good too MMMM MMM!!) However, what leads me to write this blog is that on the way to the vegan cook-off, the bus driver was a lovely, friendly guy, who was chatting it up with some vegans who were en route to the cook-off as well. And I am not to sure what brought the topic up...BUT they ended up talking about "natural flavouring" ad how it doesn't really have to be "natural" at all - let alone vegan or vegetarian for gods sake.
Now, my opinion on natural flavouring before overhearing this conversation and doing my own personal research was the following; natural flavouring was naturally derived flavour from whatever the main flavour or flavours were in whatever I happened to be eating and/or drinking. For example, the raspberry sorbet that contained "natural flavour" was of course a flavour, or odor, or taste made from raspberries, or apple, or pear, and/or whatever other fruit derived flavours made up the raspberry sorbet, etc..
WRONG. Here is the definition of "natural flavour" and how the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations describes "natural flavorant" as:
"the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or any other edible portions of a plant, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose primary function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional."
And if you begin to look up individual products flavourings, (natural, artificial, and the like) you will be surprised as to what concoctions we are actually consuming. NOT to mention putting into our babies.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Keeping your SANITY
So, if I have learned anything it is 1) I cannot get hardly anything done with a baby around 2) Either he wants what I have or he wants me. So I have figured out some helpful tips for those situations where you can't take a step forward without first taking four to the side and two back.
One of the tricks I have learned is that if I am cooking or reading, or opening mail and he is dying for my attention, I either give him the cardboard box I am cooking from, or a spoon, pot, or anything I am touching in the kitchen that is safe for him to play with. If I am going through the mail I just throw him a cardboard advertisement or the equivalent, paying mind to the fact that he can devour it if he wishes, or just hoard it in his mouth (NOT GOOD).
When I am reading it is quite a bit harder. And to be honest I haven't found a good way to read more then a paragraph or two while he is awake...(even though as I say this I am writing blog and he is happily playing with a chair leg 4 feet away). So I guess you have to choose your moments VERY carefully. However, when you are caught in the usual moments where you can't even begin reading, what I normally do is grab him one of his books, however this doesn't keep him occupied long, because he always seems to want mine more. Anything that you have found that works better when it comes to reading let me know!
Another little trick I tried one day was taking an ice cube and letting him toss it around in the kitchen while I cooked. He would flip it around and chase after it, (I can imagine this would have worked real well when he was still only sitting and not crawling) But he still had fun playing with the ice. One precaution is be careful not to trip or slip on the baby or the ice while you are moving around. You kind of have to keep an extra third eye out.
Mmm and since he has been moving around ALOT more these past couple months, it has been difficult to get his diaper changed. He is always wanting to roll one way or the other, or crawl away. So I have been handing him a diaper, and this keeps him busy. Because HEY! he has the same thing as mommy! I also let him grab on pretty much whatever else he is wanting at that point - even if it is my ipod or cell phone. It lets me change his diaper 50 times faster. Then we just move on to something else.
I don't know about your baby, but mine is usually happy any time I give him a chunk of bread to chew on, or a cantaloupe skin, or some baby puffs. He is an eater, and is most often happy when he is doing just that, eating. He is my big chunker. Sometimes as well, if he is particularly unhappy for no reason at all, he just needs to get outside, go for a stroll and see some different scenery. Great time to walk to the library and get a book you probably wont get a chance to read. :D
One of the tricks I have learned is that if I am cooking or reading, or opening mail and he is dying for my attention, I either give him the cardboard box I am cooking from, or a spoon, pot, or anything I am touching in the kitchen that is safe for him to play with. If I am going through the mail I just throw him a cardboard advertisement or the equivalent, paying mind to the fact that he can devour it if he wishes, or just hoard it in his mouth (NOT GOOD).
When I am reading it is quite a bit harder. And to be honest I haven't found a good way to read more then a paragraph or two while he is awake...(even though as I say this I am writing blog and he is happily playing with a chair leg 4 feet away). So I guess you have to choose your moments VERY carefully. However, when you are caught in the usual moments where you can't even begin reading, what I normally do is grab him one of his books, however this doesn't keep him occupied long, because he always seems to want mine more. Anything that you have found that works better when it comes to reading let me know!
Another little trick I tried one day was taking an ice cube and letting him toss it around in the kitchen while I cooked. He would flip it around and chase after it, (I can imagine this would have worked real well when he was still only sitting and not crawling) But he still had fun playing with the ice. One precaution is be careful not to trip or slip on the baby or the ice while you are moving around. You kind of have to keep an extra third eye out.
Mmm and since he has been moving around ALOT more these past couple months, it has been difficult to get his diaper changed. He is always wanting to roll one way or the other, or crawl away. So I have been handing him a diaper, and this keeps him busy. Because HEY! he has the same thing as mommy! I also let him grab on pretty much whatever else he is wanting at that point - even if it is my ipod or cell phone. It lets me change his diaper 50 times faster. Then we just move on to something else.
I don't know about your baby, but mine is usually happy any time I give him a chunk of bread to chew on, or a cantaloupe skin, or some baby puffs. He is an eater, and is most often happy when he is doing just that, eating. He is my big chunker. Sometimes as well, if he is particularly unhappy for no reason at all, he just needs to get outside, go for a stroll and see some different scenery. Great time to walk to the library and get a book you probably wont get a chance to read. :D
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