With the sun rising off Lake Michigan pretty early these days, the kids can’t sleep much past 6:15 am.  Fortunately, our usual Blueberry Spinach Smoothie is an easy and healthy way to start the day.  It is a nice energy boost for all of us. This morning we were out of frozen blueberries – yikes!  […]

When the doctor yelled “Its a girl!” immediately after my first child was born nearly three years ago, I must admit that I breathed an immediate sigh of relief.  Deep down I really, really wanted a girl, and no matter how many more children we have at least I’ve got my girl.  Evie is my […]

Chris and I are on Day 3 of the 28 Day Health Challenge Whole Foods Market invited me to try.  Much to my surprise, Chris is having no trouble with the plan, while I am struggling. Here’s why a restrictive vegan diet just is not my friend (so far): 1. I like to cook.  A […]

Whole Foods recently invited me to participate in and blog about their 28 Day Health Challenge. Featuring the plant-based diet outlined in “The Engine 2 Diet” by Rip Esselstyn, the challenge asks that I cut out all meat, dairy, eggs and oils and consume only vegetables, fruits and grains.  Proponents of this lifestyle contend that […]

As I have written about before, we start every morning with a breakfast shake.  The kids don’t like cold cereal, and I like packing more than a couple servings of fruits and vegetables into a tasty and convenient smoothie. Every night when I put Evie to bed I ask her what she wants me to […]

The local produce market I shop at once a week had a sale on domestic strawberries – just $0.50 a pound!!  Granted, the fruit was about 5 minutes from going bad and it wasn’t organic, but at that price I just couldn’t walk away.  So, I scooped up four packages, raced home and spent yesterday […]

Such a fun morning! I was a guest host on Heartbeat Radio for Women‘s “Mom Hour.”  I had the chance to speak about the concept behind Homemade Mothering: going back to basics while taking care of my family, my home and our planet. While on the air, I was so fortunate to interview Lori Taylor, […]

I love living in a big city.  We never suffer a shortage of things to do, I walk e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e., we have plenty of friends nearby and just about anything we could possibly need is with a few blocks of our home.  City living offers so much. But, I often lament my lack of private green […]

I was recently asked when I first felt like a “mom”.  In less than a second, a vivid memory flashed: early morning about a year ago…sun streaming through the windows…I’m serving 2-year-old Evie breakfast while breastfeeding tiny baby Mack…when, all of a sudden, Mack throws up a stomach full of breastmilk ALL OVER ME.  At […]

When I was growing up, my family always had a large Polish dinner on Christmas Eve in recognition of my grandfather’s heritage.  My sisters and I looked forward to this meal all year – every dish was so flavorful and special.  But, of all the dishes served, we always favored the pierogi because they were […]