avatar by on March 31, 2010   •   121 Comments Self-Care You

11 tips for eating healthy on a budget

I completely resonate with the message to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables and to buy organic whenever possible.  When I buy meat for my family and myself I now choose grass fed, ethically treated meat and organic, free range poultry.

But what is often missing from this message are ways to make those purchases work within a budget.

There are great reasons to bring organic and fresh foods into your diet:

  • Purchasing organic produce lessons the toxic burden in our bodies, on the environment, and on farm workers.
  • Choosing to eat meat from animals that are ethically treated, raised in natural settings, and free from synthetic chemicals protects animal welfare and provides us with more nutritious, less toxic food.

But as my own shopping patterns shifted toward buying more fresh produce, organic choices, and ethically-treated sources of meat, it became obvious — these choices were pricier.

Most of us need to watch food costs as we manage our budgets while still prioritizing healthy, organic and fresh foods for our family.

Here are some ways to buy healthy while staying responsible to your budget.
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avatar by on March 29, 2010   •   86 Comments Productivity You

4 great reasons to wake up early

Since our life has been crazy the past few months, I haven’t had much of a routine.  But starting this week, our family is getting back at it.  There’s still a lot to do as we move in to our home, but we’re ready to get back to normal life, with some form of routine, predictability, and liturgy to our day.

One of the parts I look forward to most?  Waking up early.

I prefer mornings by nature, but even if I were a night owl, I’d still make a point to rise early.  There are so many things I’ve missed the past few months as we’ve gone through jet lag, time changes, and moving — the valuable benefits to rising early.

Here are my favorites.
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avatar by on March 28, 2010   •   Links

Has this world been so kind?

This weekend I’m over at (in)courage, sharing a bit more personally about our family’s abrupt and unexpected temporary move back to the U.S.  From the post:

“This current move of ours is temporary.  We are taking one year to deal with some family medical issues, and in the meantime, have our third baby and pray about what’s next.  Where we are currently settling will probably not ever be “home.”

Though it’s hard, my husband and I can handle it.  We ride the bumpy ride called re-entry and reverse culture shock, talk a lot together, and hold hands through the challenges.  Our two-year-old son is happy wherever.  He was born in a foreign country, and the only home he knows is wherever his family is.

For our five-year-old daughter, however, it’s different.  …  For her, home is…  everywhere and nowhere.  She’s a third-culture kid — someone who’s not quite home in her passport country, but remains a foreigner in her hosted land.”

Click here to read the rest and to leave a comment…

avatar by on March 22, 2010   •   45 Comments Family Bonding Your Family

The importance of family rituals

Every Friday, no matter how hectic or stressful the week has been, my husband and I have a ritual to celebrate the weekend’s start. We crack open a bottle of wine, plug in the iPod to its speakers, and roll up our sleeves in the kitchen. I make dough for the pizza crust, and my husband chops, sautees, and grates the toppings.

In the spring and summer, we open the kitchen door that leads to our balcony, where we have a view of the bay, the kids playing in the courtyard, and the evening breeze. The sauce I made in bulk has thawed, and because we work together, dinner takes 30 minutes max to prepare.

Our four-year-old daughter enjoys topping the rolled out dough with sauce, cheese, and veggies, and the baby plays with the Leap Frog fridge phonics. While the pizza bakes, we whip up a simple salad. Our background symphony is anything from Jack Johnson, to Sufjan Stevens, to Coldplay, to Mozart, to Ella Fitzgerald, to The Shins.

We then sit down to eat, either at the dining table, or on the balcony. Oftentimes, we end with a simple dessert and coffee, and when the kids go down, my husband and I break out a board game.

It’s a great start to the weekend.
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avatar by on March 19, 2010   •   86 Comments Organizing Your Home

An essential checklist for moving in to a new home

Cardboard, bubble wrap, and newspaper. That’s what I’ve been up to my eyeballs in this past week as we’ve slowly been moving in to our new-yet-temporary home. It feels really good to finally be using some of our own stuff again instead of squatting at other people’s homes — but it doesn’t make moving any less chaotic.

My husband and I have moved seven times in seven years of marriage. Two of those moves have been major transatlantic moves, hauling our small smattering of earthly possessions 6,000 miles each way. Two others have been cross-country moves, trekking a moving truck 1,000 miles each way. This is simply to say that we’ve been through most everything when it comes to moving.

Yet each time, I forget about those basic things you want to have on hand that first week, when I honestly don’t know where anything is. Every move I make, I’m reminded of that feeling of chaos, of helplessness, of not being able to do the most basic of things (drink of water, anyone?) without certain items within arm’s reach.

So here’s my list of those absolutely essential things you want to have on hand from Day 1 of moving into a new place. These are the things you’ll want to bring in your first load, and will want to locate easily all throughout the moving process.
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