A Wicker Redo

My poor wicker chair has been in some serious need of a little tlc. I bought it probably 10 years ago at Ikea and it has somehow managed to find a place in our last 3 homes. However, it has been kicked outside at our current house where the weather has really taken its toll on the poor thing.
In fact, it was looking so pathetic that I almost threw it away. Then my husband, of all people, suggested a new coat of paint. Duh! Why didn't I think of that?

Two cans of yellow spray paint ( It really could have used three), a new bright red cushion I found on sale for six bucks at Target and we have a new wicker chair to atleast get us through the summer. Best of all, someone may actually sit on it now. Lord knows we can always use the additional outdoor seating.

Amazing Nut-Free Granola

I don't mean to brag or anything, but I'm going too; I make the best damn granola ever! It's true. My husband agrees it's the best granola he's ever had and to top it off, it's Nut-Free.

Now anyone with a peanut or tree nut allergy knows how difficult it is to find not only a safe granola, but a good granola. Well, look no further cause you just found it.

Amazing Nut-Free Granola

*You will need:

• 3 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut
• 3/4 cups GERBS peanut/tree nut free Raw Sunflower Seed Kernels
• 3/4 cups GERBS peanut/tree nut free Raw Pumpkin Seed Kernels
• 1 cup craisons
• 1/2 cup dried apricots; chopped
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

* If you are making nut-free, always read package ingredient list carefully and check for advisory labels.

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees.

Mix oats, coconut, seeds, craisons, apricots, spices and flaxseed together in a large mixing bowl.

Heat butter and honey together over low heat in a small saucepan till butter is completely melted. Stir in vanilla.

Pour butter mixture over dry ingredients and stir until evenly coated.

Spread mixture evenly onto parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 1hr 15min.

Allow to cool completely. Granola will still be soft when you first remove it from the oven, but will become crisp as it cools.

Once cooled, break into desired size chunks and store in an air tight container for up to  two weeks.

Recipe adapted from 100 Days of Real Food

Summer Fun with a Treasure Hunt

Round up some pirates booty and get the kiddos outdoors for some summer fun with a sandbox treasure hunt. Argh!

My kids both went to a pirate themed birthday party recently so I happened to have a pile of gold plastic coins, or "golden blooms" as we call them, and beaded "pirates treasure" necklaces. So when my husband picked up some new bags of sand for the sandbox, we decided to do a treasure hunt.

We tossed in the golden blooms and pirate treasures as we dumped in the bags of sand. Then the kids dug away filling their buckets with the treasures they uncovered. It was a great way to keep them outside and busy, especially if your like me and forget to count your golden blooms and necklaces. Oops! Just keep digging, I'm sure there's more. ;)

In fact, my five year old had so much fun, I have had to re-bury his bucket of treasures three times now. Then I just sit back, watch, maybe enjoy a glass of Yellow Tail and enjoy the sunshine and quiet while he digs till his little hearts content. Now that's what I call success!

Trader Joe's - Another reason not to trust a label

This is so frustrating to me! I have been looking for raw pepitas that are safe for my sons tree nut allergy to use in granola with little success. It seems as if every seed is processed with peanuts and/or tree nuts, so I was really excited when I found some at Trader Joe's with no advisory label. However, just because there was no allergy warning, I was still a bit hesitant about giving them to my son. Many of you, including myself,  have experienced issues with Trader Joe's products and there poor allergy labeling. This is why I rarely shop at Trader Joe's for anything other then bread (believe it or not, they're one of the only places I can find safe 100% whole wheat bread).

Luckily, I decided to contact Trader Joe's corporate office for confirmation about the safety of their raw pepitas and sunflower seeds in regards to my sons tree nut allergy and here was their reply:

Hello Trista,

Thank you for contacting us, and we do truly appreciate your comments. In response, our Raw Pepitas are packaged/processed on equipment with tree nuts. Of course all of our suppliers do observe Good Manufacturing Practices, which would entail segregating any of these ingredients and cleaning between each production run. However, to ensure your son's complete health and safety, we would not recommend consumption of this product. However, you will be pleased to know that our Sunflower Seeds are not processed in a facility with tree nuts.

We also want to assure you that we are indeed deeply concerned with the complete health, well-being and safety of all of our customers and crewmembers alike. This is exactly why we do voluntarily disclose any of the top 8 known allergens and ingredients in our products on our labeling for our customer review where other suppliers may not. However, as sensitivities may also tend to vary greatly, consulting with your healthcare professional is also the best rule of thumb in this regard. We also invite you to review additional information regarding our Allergen Labeling Standards via our website here:
http://www.traderjoes.com/about/product-faq.asp (see Item No. 8)

We do hope this information helps, and we thank you for shopping with us at Trader Joe's.

Sincerely,

Hazel
Trader Joe's
Customer Relations
Ugh! Don't try and take credit for looking after the well-being of your customers, and especially don't praise yourself for voluntarily disclosing the top 8 allergens and ingredients on your products unless you plan on disclosing this information on all your products! Their logic unfortunately just doesn't make much sense to me. Just another reminder to never trust a label!

Guest Post By Heather - Lily’s Village

I'd heard the saying "It takes a village to raise a child" more times than I can remember in my life. However, it wasn't until after my beautiful daughter, Lily, was born, that an unexpected event changed my life. It was through this event that I truly understood the meaning of the statement. I saw firsthand a living, breathing representation of my own personal "village" show up at critical point of my life.
My daughter was born on August 4, 2005 and my husband and I were thrilled of course. Unfortunately, my happiness was short lived. It was only three and a half months later when I received news that would change my life. November 21, 2005 was the day I was diagnosed with cancer. The cancer I had was malignant pleural mesothelioma, a cancer in the lining of the lung caused by asbestos (which I had unknowingly been exposed to as a child). Symptoms of mesothelioma are difficult to notice as they mimic common ailments. As I absorbed the fact that I had mesothelioma, I couldn't help but think about the little girl I just given birth to, and what this diagnosis meant for her.
If I had done nothing I was told I'd have a little more than a year left to live. Because my mesothelioma prognosis was grim, I decided to move forward with a very drastic treatment option. It was called extrapleural pneumenectomy and required the surgical removal of my left lung. The surgery kept me in the hospital for almost 3 weeks and after 2 months of recovery; I was to begin chemotherapy treatments I had to do all of this while adjusting to being a new mom who couldn't always be with her daughter. Without the help of my village, I am certain I would not have been able to make it through. 　
My daughter Lily was with my parents while I had my surgery in Boston. While my husband and I were in Boston fighting to keep me alive, we were surrounded by people in similar situations who understood what we were going through; they showed us love and support and helped us get through each day. My parents were experiencing the same thing back in South Dakota where I'd grown up.
Lily was with my parents who received a ton of help as well. There were little girls who I had baby sat for who had become mothers themselves offering to care for Lily when my parents had to work. So many of the people I'd known over the years and had gone to church with showed up and offered their support in one way or another. We were all so absolutely grateful for the outpouring of love. Because of everyone who stepped up to help in some way, Lily was able to grow and thrive while my husband I were able to focus on my health.

Heather and Family

Today, the nurses are gone and I no longer have to see my child via the grainy printed email pictures my mother would frequently me while in the hospital. Although my daughter is with me now, my parents have a unique bond with Lily because they were present for so many firsts in her life.

My entire family now has a new appreciation for life and the many blessings in it. The road has not been easy, but we have learned to embrace whatever life sends our way. Cancer, in many ways, has taught us so much about the beauty of life.

To learn more about Heather and Mesothelioma visit her blog at www.mesothelioma.com/blog/authors/heather

You can also follow Heather on twitter @HeatherVSJ

Sol Sunflower Beverage Review

I am so excited to share Sunrich Natural's NEW non-dairy beverage. SōL, a non-dairy, gluten free, soy free and tree nut free sunflower beverage, is a great alternative to milk. It is made from allergy-friendly sunflower seeds, an almighty super food full of antioxidants and phytochemicals that help neutralize cancer-causing free radicals and slow down signs of aging. Who knew?

Okay, so aside from the fact that SōL is loaded with Vitamin E, Phosphorus, Folic Acid, Calcium and Vitamin D, just to name a few, I'm particularly excited about the food allergy awareness the company has to offer.

“The journal Pediatrics recently confirmed what many American parents and teachers have suspected – that food allergies are increasingly prevalent among children in this country,” said Tina Nelson, vice president of Sales & Marketing, Consumer Products, SunOpta Grains & Foods Group.  “With 8% of U.S. children suffering from food allergies, and 40% of those kids having a history of severe reactions, parents and schools are looking for a greater selection of foods and beverages that are free from allergens such as tree nuts, which can trigger fatal or near fatal reactions.  SoL™ is made with wholesome sunflower kernels.  It’s a delicious, allergy-friendly beverage that everyone – not just those who can’t drink dairy, almond, or coconut milk – can enjoy.” 

They seem very dedicated in helping those with food allergies find healthy dietary alternatives.

So as far as my review goes, I gotta be honest in that I am not a big fan of soy or almond milk. I love regular full on dairy milk and fortunately we have no dairy allergies or intolerance's that prevent us from drinking milk, so I don't have much to go on comparison wise. However, my husband does try to avoid regular milk and dairy as a personal dietary preference.

The problem is that too much soy is said to elevate estrogen levels which, lets face it, kinda puts up a red flag for any man, including my husband. Other then possibly interfering with a mans ego, a rise in estrogen is a risk factor for breast cancer as well. (Yes, men can get breast cancer too, in case you where wondering.)

Another side effect of too much soy is hypothyroidism. So basically, as much as my husband would like to stay away from dairy, he is left with limited options given the risk factors of too much soy and  my son tree nut allergy obviously eliminates almond milk. This is why I was so excited to find SōL sunflower beverage. The health benefits are obvious and after a taste test it was clear, this was the way to go.

SōL is very close to almond milk as far as consistency, according to my husband (I have never had almond milk). In fact he preferred the thickness of SōL over both soy and almond milk. We tried the original, which I thought was pretty sweet, but they also make a Vanilla and an unsweetened which I think would work best for cooking.

Recipes using SōL can be found at http://www.sunrich.com/health.html. I have been using the original in smoothies and it's great. I think I'm gonna try the vanilla next. With a little added sweetness, I think it would make a great replacement to those artificial coffee creamers.

SōL comes in shelf stable, 32oz containers and is sold at fine health food stores and natural food retailers nationwide or at Amazon.com. I found some over the weekend at our Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market. It retailers for $2.69. To learn more about SōL, visit www.sunrich.com.

Too Good to be True

Yep. Some things are just too good to be true. After A's last visit with his allergist I was absolutely sure he had outgrown his allergy to tree nuts. His skin test came up negative and all we needed to do was a simple oral challenge, that I was certain he would pass with ease, and that was it; we would finally be "normal".

Ha! That will teach me to get my hopes up! Apparently my motherly instinct was on vacation.

I am sad to say that A never even made it past his skin test. When we went in for the oral cashew challenge I was in it for the long hall; sure we would be there all day. I packed his video game, they had movies and LEGO'S ..... this was gonna be a cake walk.

Okay, so I would be lying if I said I wasn't the slightest bit nervous. Thank god! I have never had to use the epi-pen so the thought of this day possibly being that day, did send me into occasional moments of utter fear. However, my instincts (you know, the ones that forgot to tell me they would be on spring break!) wouldn't let those thoughts take over for long.

The nurse came in, scratched his arms and boom! Our visit was over as quickly as it started. The hives appeared almost immediately and my heart sunk. Seriously?! I was shocked, heartbroken, and angry all at once. It was not suppose to go like that. He was gonna start elementary school next year like all the other kids. He was gonna go to every birthday party, share snacks with his friends, go out for ice cream, and never have to say the words again, "does that have nuts in it?" Labels would be a thing of the past.

And here we are. Reality kicked me in the ass ..... Hard!