Food & Dining

  Soda, pop, cola and Coke; whatever you call them soft drinks have become a main stream beverage in our country and are readily accessible to quench our thirst at check out lines EVERYWHERE! Confession: I'm a self proclaimed former diet soda addict. Growing up in the land of potluck dinners and southern barbecues two-liter beverages were ever present at all meals. Believe me, as a child and well into adulthood I drank my fair share of soda (and other sugar laden beverages). I myself gave up the addictive soda drinking habit many, many years ago when, with a little self-guided research, discovered I was having some nasty side effects when I didn't get my daily dose of soda. In my...

A long work day concludes. My sons are running around, coloring, and watching a cartoon. I am chopping vegetables in the kitchen. My knife knocks the cutting board rhythmically. Onions, celery, tomatoes, carrots, and potatoes slide into my prep bowl. I find a song to groove to on my iPhone. The butter sizzles in my green Dutch oven. I season the butter and dump the onions in to simmer. I work through the rest of the recipe. The vegetables sauté, filling the house with a lovely aroma, and I stir the mixture. I add other ingredients as I go along, savoring the process. From the living room I hear my husband and my boys talking and laughing with the...

I've never been able to get much out of any 'how-to' parenting books. Maybe it's the part of me that hates being told what to do, but they never seem to help. A friend knew my distaste for them and suggested Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman. After reading just the summary I could tell it was my kind of book. An American journalist, Druckerman is living abroad in France and gives birth to her first child. She quickly begins to notice the differences among French and American parenting styles and subsequently how the children behave. What I enjoy most is that it's simply an observation of some of the differences without saying one is right or wrong. A new perspective...

As I recounted in yesterday's post, at 8 weeks old we found out my son had a dairy allergy. Suddenly I had new dairy-free dietary restrictions in order to continue nursing him. Cooking all my meals at home and reading every label became the new normal. It was a struggle in the beginning to adapt, but once I adjusted I quickly saw the benefits. In an effort to make the transition a little easier for other moms who may be going through the same thing, I've compiled a list of my favorite dairy-free and soy-free* grocery items, restaurants, and information. Having to Cut the Cheese Part 2 {Guide to a Dairy-Free Diet} Grocery Shopping: I shopped around multiple stores to find foods I...

I was one of the lucky ones for whom breastfeeding happened pretty naturally with my son. My milk came in just fine, we had no problems with latching, and once I got past the initial raw-ness it was painless. My little man had a great appetite and was gaining weight, but he certainly wasn't a chunk either. I went back to work after 8 weeks of maternity leave and struggled with the breast pump, but I had committed to myself and my son to breastfeed as long as I could, so I pushed on. I had been back at work less than a week when I got a text from the family member caring for my son. It was of...