8 top tips for planning a baby shower

8 top tips for planning a baby shower

If you have been asked or volunteered to plan a baby shower you may start to feel overwhelmed with the task at hand. Of course, you want the day to go perfectly but there seems to be so much to do.

But do not worry!

Here are our top 8 tips for hosting an amazing baby shower which everyone will love especially the glowing mother to be…

1. Choose the right date

This will be largely determined by the mother to be depending how far along she is in her pregnancy and whether she wants it early or later. Any time after 6 months into the pregnancy is a good rule of thumb but don’t leave it too late or the baby could arrive before the shower! Once the date has been set, start to think about the invites and send them out in plenty of time for guests to RSVP.

2. The theme

Most baby showers have a theme to them. It could be a simple colour choice such as blue or pink if the gender is known. However, you could go for something more specific such as a princess theme, nautical or even two peas in a pod for twins. The decorations you choose will show your theme so pick one you can really be creative with. There are so many ideas online for a fun baby shower theme with DIY decorations which are much cheaper than buying things brand new. Check out Pinterest for some good decoration ideas.

3. Food and drink

No matter what time of day your baby shower is held, guests will probably expect a bite to eat at the shower. If you are having a morning baby shower you could put out a breakfast or brunch type of spread which is light for the guests. Other times may call for buffet or even a sit down meal that everyone can sit together and enjoy. If you can, try to tie your theme into the food as well.

4. Games

Baby showers will need some kind of entertainment so pick a few fun and active party games the guests can get stuck into and have some fun with. Common games include… Guessing the mothers belly size, guessing the date the baby will be born or even baby bingo!

5. Party favors

You could have party favors as prizes after the games you have held or you could put together a favor or goodie bag for each of your guests. These are typically matching with your theme and could be anything from cookies, cupcakes, pamper packs, magnets or candles.

6. Giving gifts

The unwrapping of the new baby gifts is one of the best bits about a baby shower where women will “Coo” and “Aww” at the tiny clothes and new baby gifts that have been bought for the new arrival. It is good etiquette to make a list of who has bought what gift and give this to the mother after so she can write thank you gifts after the shower.

7. Hostess with the mostess

Every shower needs a host. Unfortunately this means your hard work doesn’t end once all the decorations are up, the food is out and the games are ready to be played. Your hard work starts as the shower begins. Every shower needs someone who can take control of the evening and make sure things are moving along. Even if it is a casual get together, you can be there to make sure people start eating and then get everyone together to begin the games. It doesn’t need to be harsh or bossy but give a guiding hand through the whole event to make sure it doesn't get boring or lose energy.

8. It’s all in the details

There is a lot to do for a baby shower but remember what this occasion is for; welcoming a beautiful new life into the world, so you want it to be perfect! The small details make a baby shower such as… A hanging baby bootie from a door handle, colored ribbons on the balloons or a beautifully laid gifts table. All of your hard work will pay off when you look back at your finished party and see how much people loved being there.

Steps to Take When Your Child Gets Injured

Parents are often concerned about their child’s safety and happiness. While the latter is not so hard to accomplish, ensuring your child is safe can be quite challenging. In the first three years of their lives, children are highly energetic and very curious and this makes them vulnerable to falls and injuries. When you are overlooking your kids, you can make sure they are safe but what happens when they move out of your sight? Many parents are not equipped to deal with a situation when their child gets injured, especially when they are left under the supervision of somebody else. While some may pass off the incident as an accident, others would want to take legal action against the person responsible. For those who don’t know otherwise here are some steps to take when your child gets injured.

Be calm

Toddlers are highly emotional when in pain. The situation may worsen if you fail to control your anger when you see your child is cry. So be calm and hear out your little one before jumping to conclusions and blaming the nanny or other children for the accident. You will be in a better position to take appropriate action only when you have the facts right.

Gauge how serious the damage is

Children are bound to get hurt once in a while and more often than not the injuries are only minor bruises and scars. If you panic or worry too much, you could overlook the severity of the actual injury. Try to distract your child by getting him involved in a fun activity but do not overlook the emotional pain and trauma he has just experienced. Once your child has been taken care of, proceed to check how serious the damage was.

Seek medical attention immediately

In case the injury is serious, seek immediate medical attention. Take the child to the nearest medical facility because delay can cause his condition to worsen. The healthcare providers must be provided with your child’s medical history and all pending issues must be left for discussion when your child is in recovery.

Take custody of the faulty product and look for witnesses

If the injury stemmed from a product, preserve everything that remains. Save all the documents related to the product including its receipt, warranty and instructions. If there were witnesses present at the time of the accident, jot down their contact details. As helpful as witnesses may be, they can also be very difficult to locate after an accident.

Get in touch with a legal professional

This is one of the most important steps to take when your child gets injured. If you want to establish that the other party is at fault, you must get in touch with a legal professional and report the incident. A personal injury lawyer can guide you through the entire process and also explain to you your child’s legal rights. He will ensure that the responsible party takes care of all medical expenses and he may also hire an investigator to find out additional information about the incident. It is best to go to a legal professional when you want to seek justice instead of taking matters into your own hands.

Approaches To Lowering Bad Cholesterol Naturally

Many believe that simply removing trans-fats and reducing saturated fats from their daily diet will reduce cholesterol. Paleo dieters believe another extreme. In this case, total fat intake is ignored as long as the eating plan sticks to the paleolithic regimen. (primarily fish, grass-fed natural meats, eggs, nuts, vegetables, and fruits). Neither eating  approach can be regarded as totally heart healthy since, in both groups of dieters, cardiovascular disease still occurs frequently.

Health Tests

Much confusion exists in the general public around heart disease because different people have different lifestyles and inherited traits. What may be a healthy diet for one person may not work for another. Even in the health community, practitioners often provide advice that is too general in nature, perhaps prescribing the latest cholesterol-lowering drug to their patients without gaining a full understanding of their patients' risk factors.

One of the direct ways of determining the health of the cardiovascular system is to have a qualified professional perform a carotid ultrasound. This non-invasive procedure involves no radiation and is completely safe. The patient lies on a comfortable table for about thirty minutes while a doctor or qualified technician passes ultrasound paddles over the neck's carotid arteries. The test provides physical images of the arterial walls and any observable plaque build-up. The health of the carotids reflects the condition of the overall cardiovascular system. When getting this test done, a person should find a qualified specialist since proper interpretation of the images requires a knowledgeable and practiced eye.

Most doctors overlook the above test and simply recommend a general blood workup showing total cholesterol (TC), LDL-C, HDL-C, and Triglycerides (TG). But a normal result here does not necessarily indicate a healthy cardiovascular system.

Another risk factor for developing heart disease is a larger than normal number of LDL particles in the blood stream together with small sized LDL particles. To examine the possibility that this combination is causing disease, a complete blood workup may include TC, LDL-C, HDL-C, TG, non-HDL-C, total LDL-P, small LDL-P, LDL size, inflamation marker CRP, synthesis marker Lathosterol/TC, absorption marker campesterol/TC, and absorption marker beta-sitosterol/TC. While this panel will demonstrate tendency, the carotid ultrasound represents the observable outcome and is still the preferred test.

If plaque is found developing in the arterial walls, the disease can be addressed. Most of the time, targeting a significant reduction in LDL-C and TG, and hopefully raising HDL-C, can stop further disease progression. And even better, these actions can reverse the disease by removing low-density lipid deposits.

Five Natural Approaches To Lowering Cholesterol

1. Diet

Across the broad population, lower cardiovascular disease is seen in people with a diet containing a high proportion of soluble and insoluble fiber, no trans-fats, a low amount of animal fats, and foods with a low glycemic impact. Such a diet includes primarily whole grains, low-carbohydrate vegetables, low-sugar fruits, and nuts. To a lesser extent, animal products are eaten, and the focus is on fish like wild salmon and sardines (avoiding larger, mercury-laden species), white meat from chicken, and lean red meat like buffalo. Dairy comprises the smallest part of the diet.

Other studeis show many processed oils should be avoided, with the preferred oils being extra virgin olive oil and cold-pressed extra-virgin coconut oil (which doesn't burn during cooking as easily as olive oil). High glycemic foods that spike insulin and blood sugar levels should also be avoided. These include not only sugar-loaded candies and sweets, but also foods made from processed white flour, certain root vegetables like potatoes, and sweet fruits.

2. Exercise

For cardiovascular health, the general advice is at least three days a week of aerobic exercise targeting the correct heart rate for your level of fitness and age. The American Heart Association offers a chart of target heart rates. In addition, it is recommended that resistance exercises for muscle fitness be included in a weekly exercise routine.

3. Stress

Another contributing factor to heart disease is stress. Meditation is one effective way to lower stress, and some recommend transcendental meditation.

4. Sleep

A good night’s sleep makes you feel good and it’s healthy too. Studies suggest that good sleep habits reduce the risk of heart disease. Researchers recommend at least six hours a night with seven to eight being the norm.

5. Supplements

Oat Beta-Glucan

Scientific research over several decades shows that the oat constituent called oat beta-glucan lowers cholesterol. Nutrim® is the oat beta-glucan supplement mentioned most frequently in the medical community. Developed by the USDA, Nutrim® contains concentrated levels of bioactive oat beta-glucan, the cholesterol-lowering part of oats. Nutrim® qualifies for the FDA heart health claim, has no side effects and is a natural oat phytonutrient. The suggested dose is 750 to 1,500 milligrams of oat beta-glucan twice a day. More information about Nutrim® can be found at the author's website.

Omega-3 Fats

Omega-3 fatty acids (EPA/DHA) lower blood triglyceride levels. The typical recommended dose is 1,000 to 2,000 milligrams twice a day.

Red Yeast Rice

Red yeast rice, used over many centuries in China, contains the active component monacolin K, also known as lovastatin, the active ingredient in the prescription drug Mevacor. Label warnings on Mevacor include advice against use by pregnant mothers and people with liver disease. There is quite a bit of variation from brand to brand for red yeast rice, so safety data varies. The suggested dose is 1,200 milligrams twice a day.

Consult With Your Doctor

In general, whenever considering a new health plan, especially concerning heart health, it's a good idea to consult with a qualified physician. Working with your doctor, the approaches discussed here can assist with your cholesterol-lowering needs. Some people may be able to avoid prescription drugs altogether, while others may need drugs at the outset, but later may be able to transition to an all-natural cholesterol-lowering routine.

Author Bio:

Jonathan Sherman is co-creator of HeartHealthySolution.com, a website offering clinically-proven natural solutions for lowering cholesterol. When not researching heart health, he can be found enjoying the outdoors with his family.

Vibrant Ideas for Kids Bedroom Interior

Add colors in your kid’s life by incorporating several unique ideas to transform their old boring room into a comfortable and vivacious place. To equip them with more interesting, creative and imaginative surroundings add their personal dwelling with cool stuff. While decorating kid’s room you must keep in mind their gender, personality, space, their likes and dislikes. As for children a bedroom is more than just a place to sleep it is a place to do homework, play games, rough-house, read, day-dream, visit with friends and stockpile toys. Get up parents stop pondering and start working on your kid’s room. Be more creative and add some color to your kid’s life by applying following ideas to your kid’s room.

Give your little girls bed room a fantasy dream like look by creating a dream like enchanted feeling with butterflies flying around, painted French style furniture and piping on the headboard, in this feminine style scheme, brightly colored sheepskin rug inject a splash of color the room. Hanging a fabric in a soft, delicate pattern over a bed will instantly transform the room.

A boy’s room with union jack would definitely attract your kid. A floor to ceiling blackboard enhances this playful child’s room. The area is defined by using a contrasting neutral paint on surrounding walls, creating a boundary. Union Jack could be dotted around the quirky and eclectic children’s home office. Vintage furniture would give the room an industrial vibe, while colorful accents pop against a neutral backdrop.

Give life to the imagery fairy tales of your baby girls and decorate their room accordingly to give them the real fairy tale feel. Place Twinkle fairy castle bed with snow white bed sheet, wooden fairy Bedroom flower lamps, Mushroom cushion stepping stone, Fairy lights, Fairy dust craft, Girls Fancy Swirls Wall Decal Quote with Birds and Butterflies – Glittering Dust, Fairy Wings, Dreams, awesome fairytale mirror sticker, Woodland fairy  bedroom set, small colorful fairy doors. Use wall papers and wall hangings of Cinderella, Snow white, beauty and the beast, sleeping beauty etc. to give it a more fairy land look.

Kids with intense passion for sports would love to live in a sports themed room to get that sporty sensation. Add the accessories related to their favorite sport, for instance, soccer themed bed and bed cover, baseball cushions, basketball wall hanging or use racket, bat or hockey as wall hangings, football shaped wall clock, posters and wall papers of favorite sports man or team names, tennis themed rugs or carpets, curtains with prints of their favorite team logos like logo of Manchester United etc.

For children’s room in an attic, consider lining the walls with tongue and groove paneling; it is not only an authentic means of insulating the roof but adds an extra touch of character to the converted room space. Add a red spool bed with crochet wool blanket offers the ultimate in cozy charm. Create a mini image gallery on the wall featuring photos, pictures and wall décor.

Add a little imagination and creativity in your kid’s bedroom to give them a feeling that they have the world of their own with perfect surroundings.

About the Author:

James Allen writes about the vibrant ideas and themes in kid’s room interior, furthermore how you can make their bedroom more interesting by applying unique ideas and themes. He also loves to write about photos printed onto canvas.

How to Lighten Your Grocery Load

Living frugally is hard enough in this economy, none the less trying to eat smart and healthy. Despite your efforts, it still seems that you are spending too much money at the grocery store. Fortunately, there is a way to help lighten the financial load of your grocery bill and feed your family. The best way to do this is through gardening. It is simple, the more you can rely on your own crop, the less you have to depend on and spend at the grocery store. Whatever you cannot grow in your garden or backyard, buy at the grocery store.  

Gardening, some people love it, some people grimace at the mere thought of hoeing weeds, bending over, and watering plants. However, this could make quite a dent in your food budget. Fresh vegetables and fruit can be grown right on your property and enjoyed all summer long: green beans, peas, lima beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, onions, spinach, lettuce, carrots, beets, and much more. Also, fruits like strawberries and grapes can be added to your garden while pear, apple, cherry and peach trees can be planted. These delicious and incredibly healthy fruits and vegetables can be grown right in your backyard and best of all lower grocery costs. Just think, with every bean and tomato you pick, you are saving money.  

What about the winter?

During the spring and summer, eating from the garden is simple and fun. But during the winter your money making garden now is on hold. Thankfully, in the spring, you have the option of growing more produce than you need. This way you can freeze and can your produce for the winter months. Most vegetables can be frozen and even canned, depending on how you want to eventually eat them. You can also freeze or can your fruits, that way you can enjoy them all winter long.

Eating out of your own garden is not only cheaper, but also healthier. You be confident in knowing where your food came from and what is in it. The fresh taste will become a hit, and gardening is a great activity for families to do together. You will be able to save a lot of money through gardening, while putting better, fresher, and more quality food into your body. It is a great way to combat high food prices and enjoy delicious fruits and vegetables straight from your backyard.     

Kelly Shertzer works in Web Marketing at Medical Support Products Inc. On the side she enjoys a life full of health and fitness.

Teen suicide and Cruelty in the Media

By Dennis Matthews

Every week we hear of another case of a young person committing suicide because of bullying at school, or on the internet. The all important Facebook post seems to have become the favorite place to exercise this particular form of digital cruelty. It does not help that the adults in the media are practicing the same form of cruelty on every new cast, entertainment show, and gossip website. Politics seems to be practicing a particularly malignant form of cruelty. But we’re all a little cruel, aren’t we?

Cruelty does not escape even the most loving mothers. When a mother is tense and tired, many times, she lets her child cry for milk for some time, ignoring the cries. The child does not understand any of his or her mother's problems, but only wants to be fed. It is not the child's mistake, but he or she is hurt. Why? There are husbands knowingly not trying to help their wives in household chores or wives knowing all about husband's career problems and still blaming him for small mistakes. Children being targeted for a physical attribute; size, shape, color, sexual orientation, we know this is not a new phenomenon. Are all these not parts of a cruel nature?

Companies not responding immediately to consumer's problems, consumers hammering the companies for smallest faults, lawsuits being filed for trivial matters, students made to over-achieve in the schools to get higher marks at the cost of their childhood, politicians accusing each other of crimes they never committed, and so many other such instances that can be cited to prove that somewhere in our life, we begin losing our compassion. Sadly, in most of the cases, we are not aware of our cruelty. We become aware of it only when we are targeted. Don't you agree that the world is slowly becoming a cruel world?

Is it not playing out before our very eyes in almost every form of media that we consume? Are not our children showing the symptoms of the mental and emotional abuse that this constant barrage of cruelty inevitably causes? Won’t there be permanent scars? If you kick a dog every day, won’t the dog be afraid of your foot every time he sees you walk near him? We react in much the same way as animals; except we have the power to exact vengeance on a world we believe has cruelly mistreated us; Jared Lee Loughner, James Eagan Holmes, Adam Lanza etc. We should all try to be more aware of our treatment of our fellow human-beings and fight the temptation to be cruel to one another.

Dennis Matthews is a writer, musician, husband and father of two wonderful daughters. He lives in New Jersey.

Benefits of White Kidney Bean Extract for Weight Loss

If you are tired of those spot fats and are a bit lazy to join the gym to lose them, you are not alone. After all, everybody under the sun wants to get into shape, though a majority don’t like sweating it out in the gym or foregoing their favorite foods to stick to a diet. But you can’t negate one fact – you must have a sound health to live a healthy life; and being overweight doesn’t allow you to enjoy life to the fullest. But people who need to lose weight often find it a hassle to go to the gym and do all those strenuous exercise. If you too belong to this league, white kidney bean extract is the ideal solution for you. It is such a product that helps you lose weight without doing a lot of exercises or following a strict diet. If that sounds interesting, here are some important facts about it.

What is white kidney bean extract?

This is a natural substance, commonly used as a  weight loss supplement. Acting as a natural starch-blocker, it reduces the absorption of carbohydrates and speeds up the process of weight loss. As studies have shown, white kidney bean extract plays a significant role in reducing the carbohydrate absorption in human body. Since carbohydrates are available in different sizes, ranging from single units to long polymer chains, it is important to break them down in their simplest form even before they are absorbed by the body.

How does it work?

Alpha-amylase, which is one of the main carbohydrate digesting enzymes that naturally occurs in your body, is prevented by the white kidney bean extract from breaking down carbohydrates into glucose. By delaying the process of alpha-amylase activity, white bean extract ensures that there exists only a little amount of glucose that can be turned into fat. By blocking this enzyme to act, white bean extract helps reduce the digestion of carbohydrates in the small intestine. As a result of this, the remaining carbohydrates that don’t get digested in the small intestine, pass through the body, before getting absorbed. Thus, it helps the process of weight loss. In other words, white kidney bean extract reduce the negative impact that carbohydrates have on fat metabolism, and at the same time, decrease the amount of total calories that are absorbed by your body.

Benefits of White kidney bean extract

There are a number of benefits that the intake of white kidney bean can bring your way. Let’s take a quick look at what you should expect when you use it as a supplement for weight loss –

• This extract helps reduce the absorption of starchy carbohydrates. So, foods like rice, potatoes, pasta, cereals and breads cannot affect the weight loss program that much adversely as they would have otherwise done.
• Fruits and vegetables that contain healthier carbohydrates are important for your health and this extract doesn’t purposefully reduce the absorption of these carbohydrates.
• White kidney bean extract is widely known as a supplement that helps in weight loss. But it is also used as an effective method of reducing abdominal fat as well as for preventing obesity.
• The intake of white kidney bean extract has shown a decreased fat volume in many users, without affecting their lean muscle mass.

Apart from working as a supplement for weight loss, white kidney bean extract controls blood sugar, offers protection against heart disease and diabetes, fights insulin resistance, gives a boost to your energy levels, thus improving your physical activities as well as athletic performances. It also helps prevent colon cancer and reduces symptoms of arthritis.

Side effects of white kidney bean extract

Though there is not much information available about the side effects of using this extract as a supplement to aid the weight loss, no harmful effects have been recorded till date. Certain minor side effects like nausea, gas, bloating, diarrhea etc. can occur after taking this extract on a regular basis for a certain period of time. Apart from that, it should be kept in mind that this extract should not be used by children, pregnant women or people who are undergoing some medical treatments and take medicines regularly to treat pre-existing diseases.

Where you can get it?

Though white kidney bean extract is widely available in many natural food stores, you can also buy it online. There are many websites that offer special discounts on them as well. However, you should ensure that you get the genuine product, which is why it’s advisable to buy it from reputed online stores. You can shop around a bit and choose the product that suits your requirements perfectly. You can also look for them in the stores that stock specialized dietary supplements. Use it after consulting your health expert or doctor in order to achieve the best possible results and that too, within a quick time frame.

Bio: This post was written by James Hundson fitness expertise. I research & write reviews on health, fitness, muscle building,supplements, weightloss, massage, yoga, diet, alternative medicine, sports, etc.

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How you can help yourself when you’re stressed – a guide for new mothers

Motherhood is a state that can be joyful and demanding at the same time.  Sometimes, new mothers feel warm and fuzzy about their baby and sometimes they feel fearful and uncertain about how to proceed.  It’s often the case that new mothers swing between these two states on a regular basis.  And of course, there are those mothers who feel stressed and depressed when the baby arrives and need to find ways to help themselves.  New motherhood can seem overwhelming at times.

One first-time mother talked about her sense of desperation and her hurt when people didn’t seem to understand and told her ‘to snap out of it’.  She said, ‘All I want to do is snap out of it, but it’s not that easy.’  People around the first-time stressed mom think they’re being helpful by making such comments as ‘relax’, ‘go back to work’, ‘you’re worrying too much’,  ‘you’re working too hard’ and ‘go see a counselor’.  It’s not that such comments can’t occasionally be helpful, but very often they are too pat and don’t take into consideration the individual circumstances of the new mom.

What the new mom needs are some tips to help her help herself.  By learning to help herself, the woman is empowered and strengthened in her new sense of self.  Motherhood brings with it a new role and knowing how to cope within that new role leads to feeling empowered.

Tips for becoming less stressed

• It seems simple enough, but when you’re feeling stressed, you need to breathe evenly and deeply.  Opening your diaphragm to allow the chest to expand fully is a great stress-beater.
• Consciously deciding to take time out for yourself is important.  Relaxing physically and emotionally can de-stress you.  Ask your partner or a parent or friend to help out with the baby so that you can have some regular time to yourself.
• Setting a daily routine – as far as it’s possible – is vital.  Babies can bring a sense of unpredictably into your life, but remember that having an idea of how your day will look is comforting and de-stressing.  Have a plan in mind – and don’t feel too bad if the daily demands mean not sticking to it!
• Avoid any bad habits that seem tempting.  When we’re feeling stressed, it’s too easy to resort to comfort eating.  Resist the temptation to overeat because if you do, you’ll probably feel badly about having done so.  That way lies even more stress!
• Plug into your support network.  Wellbeing and happiness come from having good, supportive relationships.  Call on your relatives, friends and colleagues to find the support that empowers you.

Being a new mom means lots of activity and ‘doing’.  Whenever possible, cultivate stillness.  Stillness is a wonderful stress releaser.

If you want to learn more about how to help yourself when you’re feeling stressed see Out of the Blues:  Helping Woman Overcome Depression 

Bio

Zita Weber, Ph.D. is an author and honorary academic, and has worked as a counselor and therapist with individuals, couples and families.  She has researched and written about communication, relationships, anxiety and stress, sexuality, depression and loss and grief.  More information about her work and books can be found at: ZitaWeber.com.

Tips for Children’s Lunch Boxes

This article was written by Ella Rose West, author of the Selfish Mum parenting blog – Ella posts about all things travel and home related, and believes passionately in mums living life to the full!

Why Lunch Boxes?

I like to send my boys to school with a packed lunch because, unfortunately for them, I’m a control freak and like to know exactly what they’re eating. The trick with a packed lunch is to find a balance between what’s healthy and what they’ll enjoy. Here are a few of my recommendations.

Sandwiches

The staple of a child’s lunchbox! Chris hates brown bread, but that’s an easy battle to win now with ‘50/50’ or ‘Best of Both’ loaves available, and I use a low-fat spread as opposed to full-fat butter. I’ve experimented with salad, and discovered he hates lettuce (though I can’t blame him for that), but will accept cucumber with tuna or tomato with ham! Winner!

The 5-A-Day Rule

If a child’s hungry, and the only option is fruit, he’ll eat it. I would never force my child to eat something they truly didn’t like (flashback to sitting ALL DAY at the kitchen table when my mum tried to force me to eat porridge; it looks like sick to me and tastes even worse!), but I know Chris will often complain that he won’t eat an apple because he thinks he’ll get a biscuit or crisps instead. The power of the lunchbox lies in the fact it has a captive audience.

The small snack bags of fruit have proved a success with both my boys (and me actually, too!) – perhaps because it feels like you’re tucking into a bag of crisps? Perhaps not. Guess it’s just a mystery as to why they like them so much!   

One of the easiest ways to get vitamin C into any child I’ve found has been a carton of decent pure orange or apple juice.

I’ve found a fabulous snack that looks and tastes like sweets but, in actual fact, only contains fruit, is 100% natural, and is one of a person’s 5-a-day! Bear Nibbles! This has been my discovery of the year, as it’s largely replaced biscuits in my house now.

And Calcium…

Don’t all kids love a Babybel? I drop one in as a treat – sometimes a Cheestring instead – but sometimes use a nice little yoghurt as an alternative.

Fruit and Nut (But NOT the chocolate bar!)

The last thing in Chris’ lunch box that he truly loves is a small snack bag of dried fruit and nuts. I only discovered he liked these when he asked to try some from my packet one evening. A bag of fruit and nut mix contains loads of vitamins that traditional fruits don’t, as well as many types containing Omega 3. Great stuff!

Juicing for Mom and Baby:

 A quick way to boost your health and make super nutritious meals for baby, too.

By Melanie Rose

There is a lot of buzz around juicing these days, and for good reason. Juicing fresh fruits and vegetables is known to be a panacea for many ailments, as well as a great boost for physical appearance. I know for myself that when I am drinking fresh vegetable juices that my eyes and skin are sparkly clear, and people often ask me what my secret is for looking so healthy.

In addition, drinking freshly juiced vegetables and fruits will lift energy levels and enhance your moods. Juicing is the closest thing we have to a magic elixir, and if you haven’t tried it, you will be very surprised at how fast you begin to see many positive benefits.

But most people don’t know that some of the juicing machines out there will also make baby food. Not only can you get tremendous benefits that you desire as a new mother, but you can extend all of that nutritional value to your baby, too.

Two world class juicing machines that you can make baby food with

The two juicing machines listed here are superb for juicing for adult health and for making baby food, which can either be made by simply juicing, or homogenizing solid whole foods into purees.

Below is a quick overview of each machine. For more in-depth information, you can check out my juicing machine reviews at Coffee and Juicers.

1. Omega J8004 Nutrition Center Juicer Extractor. Omega produces some of the highest quality masticating power juicers on the market. Masticating juicers are excellent juicing machines and this one also has many food processing capabilities, including the ability to produce baby food. Top of the line in it’s class.
2. Hurom HH Series Premium Slow Juicer & Smoothie Maker. An excellent masticating juicer that also makes smoothies and baby food as well as many other foods.

Either of these machines will do a great job for you, and they will output juice and baby food that has the most nutritional viability. One significant difference that may make a difference to you is that the Omega is a horizontally-oriented machine that takes up more counter space than the vertically-oriented Hurom.

Foods and other things to consider when making baby food

It’s much easier than you would think to make baby food, and really doesn’t require much time either. But you do want to be clear on what foods are the best for your baby’s nutritional needs and which foods to use more moderately. There are some other factors to be aware of, too, so below are some general guidelines:

1. Cleanliness is really important when it comes to babies. I wash the produce thoroughly and wear disposable rubber gloves in a  squeaky-clean work environment.
2. Choose fresh and organic fruits and vegetables.
3. Use fresh fruits and vegetables within 3 days.
4. Frozen is okay if fresh is not available, but think of frozen food as a Plan B strategy.
5. Don’t use canned foods. High amounts of sodium and other preservatives are not healthy for babies.
6. Nitrates need to be avoided, particularly with infants under 3 months old. The most likely sources are beets, carrots, green beans, spinach, and squash. Well water can also be high in nitrates.
7. Remove skins where possible as they are harder for the baby to digest.

With those guidelines in place, here are a few great foods to start with on your baby food making quest:

Apples, apricots, bananas, blueberries, mangoes, peaches, pears, plums, prunes, asparagus tips, avocados, peas, potatoes, sweet peppers, and sweet potatoes.

To be safe, avoid beets, carrots, green beans, spinach, and squash, or use frozen versions of them. Nitrates develop over time in food, so foods that are frozen are typically safe for use in baby foods.

There are particular foods that will really help your baby’s brain development, here are some that you can include in your baby food recipes:

Olive oil, wheat germ, flax seed, pumpkin seeds, blueberries, blackberries, blackcurrents and açaì berries are all super foods for the brain, good for both mom and baby.

How to make the baby food

Below are some guidelines for making the baby food with your juicing machine. In order to free up time over the course of your week, you can even make your baby food in bulk and store it.

1. Prep the food

To prep food for making baby food, start by removing the skin, seeds, and any other extraneous stuff like stems.

Chop the produce into small pieces that will fit into the juicing machine’s chute.

You don’t have to steam or cook the produce at all if you don’t want to, but if you do want to, you can steam it lightly for about 9 minutes, or until a fork can easily run through it.

Sometimes it’s ideal to steam the produce to soften it for baby’s sensitive teeth. You could also bake, boil or microwave, but steaming the food will ensure that the most nutritional value is maintained therein.

2.Using the juicer

Check your juicing machine manual to find out if there is an attachment specifically for homogenizing, or pureeing the food. If so, place the correct attachment onto the juicing machine. Run the food through the machine. If there is too much pulp or it is too wet, run it through twice.

Now is a good time to mash in a little bit of wheat germ, olive oil or flax seed so that your baby can receive all of the amazing brain development benefits that they offer.

The food should be diluted with some water due to the strength of straight juice. It will still maintain it’s nutritional value, but will be easier on baby’s stomach. If you have steamed the produce, you could use the cooking water for thinning and add back lost nutrients. Baby formula or breast milk can also be used for nutrition and also to give baby a familiar taste with his/her meal.

Voila, that’s it! You’ve made your baby food in less than an hour.

Freezing the baby food

Here is a nifty and convenient way to freeze and store the fresh baby food. First, by the way, be sure to freeze immediately after you’ve processed the food. This way you will capture and retain as much nutritional value as possible.

• Pour the puree into clean and sanitized ice cube trays and place in the freezer with some plastic wrap or wax paper over the top. I love the silicon trays because it’s really easy to pop the frozen cubes out of them. As a side note, old baby jars are not good freezing containers.
• One cube is just about 1 ounce, just the right size for a serving for most babies. Once they are frozen you can pop them out and place them in freezer plastic baggies.
• Label your bag full of love cubes with the date that you prepared them, and be sure to use them within about 3 weeks.
• When you are ready to use them, just put a few into the refrigerator in the morning. You could use the microwave to defrost them, but personally I don’t use the microwave for much of anything because it zaps nutrients and flavor right out of food.
• Be sure not to re-freeze the baby food after this initial defrost as it will not be good for the baby to eat at that point.
• I like to serve the baby food at room temperature without reheating, but if you feel the need to heat the cubes up, simply place them in a small glass bowl, and put the bowl in some hot water.
• You’ll find that your little cubes of good lovin’ are easy to carry around with you, too. Zipped up in a baggie works just fine.

Conclusion

So there you have it. I haven’t included any recipes here, but recipes for juicing and for baby food abound on the internet, so you can have a ball finding ones you like. The important thing is to remember that a juicing machine can be a great addition to your kitchen for a lot of reasons, but your health and your baby’s health is the best reason of all to consider adding one to your appliance cupboard.

About Melanie Rose :

Hi, I’m Melanie Rose, the president of Coffee & Juicers. We do coffee maker, espresso maker and juicing machine reviews that help you to eliminate hours of shopping time online. I hope you’ll visit my website, http://www.coffeeandjuicers.com, where we give straightforward, in depth reviews of the best coffee makers, espresso machines, and juicing machines on the market, and lots of other fun information.

Composting For Organic Gardening

Any garden will produce a certain amount of waste and in as such it make perfect sense to recycle as much as possible. The best way of doing this is by composting as much organic waste as possible, and when you consider that production of this waste has taken a certain amount of goodness from the soil it makes sense to put it back.

What is Composting

Composting is a process of decomposing and recycle the waste generated from garden and house and used as fertilizers. Composting is done in bins, the waste has been filled and left to be decomposed and is added to the soil. Composting is one of the most important step of organic gardening.

There are many types of composting bins available with many of them constructed from plastic and this seems a bit at odds with the spirit of composting, much better to opt for ones made from wood even better to construct your own using old timber. It is very easy to construct your own compost bin.

How to make a Compost

In the average garden almost all plant material can be used to produce your own rich compost you can also add:

• All organic kitchen waste including egg shells, however do not use cooked waste
• Coffee grounds are ideal to chuck on your compost heap and this will save them from clogging up your sink
• Shredded paper from a paper shredder can be added as a layer this will help give you a drier compost and help avoid a soggy mess
• When placing your garden waste on to your compost heap it is always better to create layers of brown waste and green waste
• It of no use to just dump loads of grass cuttings in in one go as this will produce a sludge
• Take smaller soft wood twigs, leaves weeds etc and create a layer and then add grass cutting and try to always repeat this sort of mix
• It is also good to add a little garden soil as this will provide organisms that will greatly aid the breakdown of all your organic material
• It is also good practice to ‘turn’ the contents of your compost heap say once a month this will introduce air and also aid the correct high temperature that help create the death of weed seed.

In general it will take about  6 months to a year to get your first compost and this should be rather dark and like a fine tilth. If the compost is wet and smelly you need to look at adding more brown dry material like leaves and thin twigs.

Your end product of rich compost can be used in several  ways , if you really want to improve the soil structure then dig the compost in at about a spade’s depth. It may also be used as a mulch that will help retain moisture and keep weeds down. The other nice thing about compost is that it will encourage a good amount of worms that in turn will improve soil structure and also enrich your garden.

There are on the market several products that claim to speed up the composting of your garden waste, however it is questionable if there is a need for these products as a compost heap that is maintained and looked after should work just fine.

Author’s Bio: The article is written by Anurag Agarwal who is blogging enthusiastic and writes professional content at Plants and Trees online.

8 Great Baby Costume Ideas

8 Great Baby Costume Ideas By Joey Pebble

Picking out a costume for a baby boy or girl can be a ton of fun. You get to sift through a wide variety of adorable choices, and then dress up your little one as the character of your choice. At the same time you will be introducing them to concepts of creativity and make believe that can open them up to whole new worlds of imagination.

1. Animals: A cute little kitten, a fluffy fuzzy dog, or a towering elephant tooting his horn. Animal costumes are some of the best choices for infants and toddlers, because they generally are lined with “animal fur” which serves to make a particularly warm and cozy enclosure for your precious baby. That can be especially important when setting out on a chilly October Halloween night.

2. Princes and Princesses: This is a classic look for any age, and one that will be extra sweet and heart melting on your little baby boy or girl. Prince and princess costumes also gives you a lot to draw on, from classic folk and fairy tales, to animated movies, and old Mother Goose stories, there are so many princes and princesses in childhood storytelling that you should be able to find the perfect character to match your baby.

3. Cartoon Characters: Some of the first characters your baby will recognize will be the animated figures they watch on TV. So dressing them up in cartoon characters can be a particular delight, allowing them to make the leap from screen to me, in a unique and eye opening way.

4. Monsters: Rawr scary monsters. But monsters don’t always have to be scary, sometimes they are just misunderstood. By putting on a monster costume you can help introduce them to the idea that things that may look scary, can sometimes be sweet and lovable underneath. A subtle lesson, masked in a roaring fun costume.

5. Candy: Who could be sweeter than your little one? So why not dress them up as candy! This is a particularly adorable costume for Halloween trick or treating. You can find a variety of candy bar, candy corn, and baked treat costumes that will make them look almost good enough to eat.

6. Superheroes: Comic book super heroes are all the rage these days, with multimillion dollar movies popping out every few weeks to tell the story of these caped crusaders. Whether you are an old die hard comic book fan looking to introduce your child to the wonders of your stories, or are just looking for something fun and trendy that will be readily available, a superhero costume is a great choice.

7. Magical Creatures: With magical creatures you have the ability to transform your baby into a dragon, a unicorn, a fairy, or a scary hairy evil monster. This is a great choice if you are looking for a costume that is warm, distinct, and yet still playfully sweet.

8. Pirates: Arrrr matey, pirates are always a fun costume, combining a bit of the rogue with a dash of daring charm, to create a character that is an adorable choice for your little loved one. Available for girls or boys in a variety of fun fashions, although you’ll probably want to avoid the eye patch and rum bottle.