Wisdom
wis·dom n. The ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting; insight.
Coconut Muffins – The Best Muffins – Served with a couple slices of cheese and it’s the perfect toddler (and mom!) lunch. Enjoy.
2 bananas mashed
6 eggs (yes, that says six – yay for good protein)
1/2 cup coconut flour (lots of great fiber)
1/4 cup of honey
1/4 cup of coconut oil (or butter)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Chocolate chips (optional, I just put a couple on top of each before baking)
350* for 20-25 min
Be careful not to over bake
The Best Baby Gift (IMHO) – Aden Anais Blankets!
I love the Aden Anais blankest SO much…that I am going to do a post about them.
And I will even tell you about a website I found the best prices without a coupon code!
These blankets are seriously one of the best baby gifts you could give someone. Doesn’t matter if they are a new, first time mom or an experienced mom having her 8th baby. They are 100% muslin cotton. (different than the muslin used for quilting or patterns – this is MUCh softer and a different weave)
So soft and perfect for almost anything you could use a blanket for. Many mothers use them to swaddle their newborn baby with…but you can do much more with the Aden Anais® blankets.
We went to Hawaii last May with our 11 week old and I used the A+A (that is their acronym) blankets all the whole time. I’m telling you these are the best baby gifts, you can’t have too many. I use it to cover the carseat to protect our little one from the sun. When we were on the beach, it was a perfect cover to protect the baby from the wind and sand. It’s so light weight and breathable, that the baby was never too hot.
They are 47×47 cm – a nice large size. I use it for a nursing cover, a stroller cover and a carseat cover.
I have had friends ask me the difference between the ones Target sells versus the ones in the Boutiques.
The Aden Anais ‘snobs’ say the Boutique blankets are better, here is why:
- Bigger – Target’s Aden Anais blankets are only 44×44.
- Better made – rumor has it that the Target blankets are more prone to tears.
- More Prints – Boutique Aden Anais Swaddle blankets have 4 prints to a package, Target 3 prints with one white/plain blanket.
The exciting news I just found is this website BestBabyGifts AdenAnais that sells them one at a time. Normally you have to commit to buying a 4/pk. I think you need and will definitely use all 4 swaddle blankets, but you may not like all four prints or want to mix’n match from different sets. This website sells them one at a time so you can pick and choose. How cool is that?!
OR if you want to give one to a friend without having to spend $40 on a 4 pack, you can just buy one or two ♥
Check this site out (they don’t have a ton of choices, but they do have the cute ones 🙂
Here is a diagram of how to swaddle, I thought it was really cute 🙂
What is your favorite print?
Best Crockpot Cheese Dip | Real Cheese & Hamburger!
Hamburger Crockpot Cheese Dip
2 pounds ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 can (4 ounces) mild green chili peppers
Sea salt to taste
2 cans (8 ounces each) tomato sauce
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
16 ounces cream cheese, softened and cubed
Brown ground beef in a skillet with the onion. Place cooked meat into a crock pot and add remaining ingredients. Set crock pot on low for two hours. Stir, taste, and add additional seasonings if desired. Serve with tortilla chips.
Made With Real Cheese!
Best Way To Store Bed Sheets ♥
Bed Sheets - The Best Way To Store Bed Linens
I think this is brilliant! Now off to my closet to implement this idea 🙂
Chicken Pot Pie | Cooks Illustrated
Why this recipe works: Our goal was to formulate a pot pie recipe for a delicious but quick pie. For the chicken, we found that poaching boneless, skinless chicken breasts streamlined the process. It also made for tender chicken that could be shredded into irregularly shaped pieces to which the sauce clung well. As for the sauce for our chicken pot pie recipe, we preferred a milk-enriched sauce thickened with flour, which made a sauce creamy in both color and flavor.
Serves 6 to 8
You can make the filling ahead of time, but remember to heat it on top of the stove before topping it. Mushrooms can be sautéed along with the celery and carrots, and blanched pearl onions can stand in for the onion. If you don’t want to make a pastry topping, make the related biscuit recipe, stamp out 8 rounds of dough, arrange dough rounds, over warm filling and bake as directed.
Ingredients
- Pie Dough
- 1 1/2cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/2teaspoon table salt
- 8 tablespoons butter (1/4 pound), chilled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
- 4 tablespoons vegetable shortening , chilled
- Chicken Pot Pie
- 1 1/2pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1can low-sodium chicken broth , with water added to equal 2 cups (or use 2 cups homemade chicken broth)
- 1 1/2tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 large onion , chopped fine
- 3 medium carrots , peeled and cut crosswise 1/4-inch thick
- 2small ribs celery , cut crosswise 1/4-inch thick
- Salt and ground black pepper
- 4tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2cups milk
- 1/2teaspoon dried thyme
- 3tablespoons dry sherry
- 3/4cup frozen peas , thawed
- 3tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- 1. For Pie Dough: Mix flour and salt in workbowl of food processor fitted with the steel blade. Scatter butter pieces over flour mixture, tossing to coat butter with a little of the flour. Cut butter into flour with five one-second pulses. Add shortening; continue cutting in until flour is pale yellow and resembles coarse cornmeal, keeping some butter bits the size of small peas, about four more one-second pulses. Turn mixture into medium bowl.
Time Management | Most Chores Take Less Than 15 Minutes To Complete
I “stole” the following from an email I got from the Life Mastery Course:
‘Do something every day, that takes 15 minutes or less, for the
next 30 days that in some SMALL way moves you forward’
Before you start grumbling about the commitment level here (I dare
you to be more wary of commitment than I am),
let me clarify…
I’m not asking you to make enormous changes…I just want to see what
happens when you decide to commit to taking 1 small action every
day for 30 days.
IT SHOULD BE SMALL…the ONLY rule of this Mission is that you must
be able to take this action in 15 minutes or less or it doesn’t
qualify. (And it doesn’t need to take a full 15 minutes
either…that’s just the top time.)
Here are some examples:
– Learn 1 word of Spanish a day (that’s small)
– Call or email 1 person you want to connect or reconnect with
– Walk for 10 minutes
– Walk for 1 minute
– Wake up and actually enjoy a cup of coffee or tea before you leap
into your day
– Write for 10 minutes
– Drink a glass of water (just 1)
– Write a letter to someone (yes a real letter, remember those)
– Touch your toes 10 times (or as close to your toes as you can get)
– Laugh for 1 whole minute (even if you have to start with a fake laugh)
– Take 1 picture
– Eat a piece of fruit
– Sit in silence for 1 minute (or 10)
– Listen to your favorite song
– Pet your cat or dog and really pay attention to them while you do
– Stare into the eyes of someone you love for 1 minute
– Stare into your own eyes for 1 minute
– Wake up and say, ‘Yes’ out loud
You get the idea…
What’s your commitment?
Circumcision – Pro vs Cons…”Should You Circumcise?” Why Or Why Not?
Since the title of this blog is called “The Contrarian Mom”…then why not write a post on one of the most controversial and heated topics amongst mom’s of little boys – Circumcision.
Yep, I just said that word and am now delving into the topic…
–My goal for you is to be educated–
Know ALL you can before making a decision.
My motto is to not be controlled by fear or the unknown.
You probably are asking “why this topic” or “what does she have to prove” or “she is just choosing sides”.
First of all, there is an ABUNDANCE of info on the internet talking about how horrible circumcision is and how every boy should stay intact because that is the way he was born and it is inhuman to cut anything off the body of a baby.
There is almost NO info on the online talking about and discussing the Pro’s of circumcision. Almost none.
Any mother would love to not expose her precious newborn to the pain of being circumcised.
For those of you who acknowledge there is a God, I have one question for you:
“God created sex. And if sex is suppose to be a beautiful thing, then WHY would God command those in the Old Testament to cut a part of their penis off and totally ruin sex? Why would God destroy a beautiful thing?”
What if the JOKE is on those who Read more…
