This is our take on low-carb twice-baked potatoes… it has quickly become a family favorite! You could easily use potatoes in place of the cauliflower, if you please.
Continue reading “Loaded Cauliflower Casserole”
Category: Health and Wellness
Trim Healthy Mama Secret Recipe Release! Protein Pleasure Cookies
Just wanted to share this link to these cookies… I haven’t tried them yet but I plan to try them soon as I’ve read so many good reviews about them! They are usually available for purchase on the website but I know that things go quickly so it may be hard to get your hand on them.
The sisters have graciously released the recipes so we can make them at home without the wait!
I believe there are four recipes included in the Free printable and they are:
- Cinnadoodles
- Peanut Peanut
- Chocolate Chip
- Choc Choc
Here is the link to the printable recipes:
I’m sure you can play with the recipes and create your own flavors to suit your needs as well!
Life Updates – October 2023
I think it’s been a little while since we’ve posted any life updates and quite a bit has happened over the past few months so I thought I’d give a quick summary of what we’ve been up to.
Preparing for Daylight Savings Time
It is almost that time of year again and when you have so many kiddos with so many unique needs then this is something that can cause complete CHOAS in your household… along with weather changes, moon changes, and just about any kind of unexpected changes.
‘Losing’ that hour of sleep can wreak havoc on your body and upset your circadian rhythm which isn’t good. Here in our house, it’s really not good because we have kiddos who don’t understand the concept of time change and they just get unbearable to be around.
This year we’ve been trying a little experiment to hopefully prepare us for the upcoming time change and maybe keep things under control around here… fingers are crossed.
We’ve been setting our alarms 15 minutes earlier every Sunday night for the past 2 weeks and getting in bed a tad earlier at night… with the idea that when Daylight Savings Time actually rolls around they won’t have so much trouble with the adjustment… fingers and toes crossed now!
The kids have been a little grumpy the first couple of days of the week with the earlier wake times but it doesn’t last long. We usually head outside first thing in the morning to feed up and that seems to chase the grumpies away… yay! It has been shown that getting some daylight early in your day can help with your circadian rhythm and we already know that fresh air can work wonders.
On the night before the actual change, we always set the clocks ahead to prepare for the next day. Sometimes we do it directly after dinner so they go to bed a little early without realizing what going on… lol.
I will also try to have a ‘light’ school schedule for that first week after the time change so kids can get outside to work those grumpies out or take some naps if they need to. We already have some good routines in place so hopefully, they will help to keep us going on the right track without too many interruptions in the next few weeks.
What are your favorite tips for preparing for Daylight Savings Time?
You can read more about how Daylight Savings Time affects your body and ways to adjust HERE and HERE.
31 Ways To Go Plastic Free
Back to the post though… part of my New Year’s goal was to start using less plastic and disposable items in our house. I know we probably won’t be a zero waste household anytime soon but I know that we can have really cut back on single-use plastic items in our home.
Just the other day I realized that our plastic storage containers have been disappearing. Where have they gone? Well, that’s a question that may never be answered but I do know that I really need to replace them. I’ve been looking at a few Plastic-Free options on Amazon and Walmart but haven’t decided what to get yet but I will need to find something soon.
I know that some things will not be replaced soon like our favorite lunch boxes but I have found some replacements for some time in the future. I have also been looking for non-plastic/non-glass replacements to the kids’ water bottles that they use at home. We do try our best to use reusable shopping bags when we go for groceries.
Here are a few ideas of things we’ve replaced recently:
- Disposable drinkware for:
- Mason Jars – I love my Pioneer Woman Drinking Jar
- Yeti tumblers or similar metal tumblers
- Glass water bottles from Berkey (We’ve been using our new Berkey for our drinking water so no more buying plastic bottles of water.)
- Reusable Straws:
- Metal straws for the adults
- Colorful Silicon Straws for the kids because they don’t like the metal ones
- Plastic bags for:
- Reusable grocery bags – I really want to try out these Trolley Bags and Bag Podz
- Reusable produce bags
- Reusable storage baggies
- Disposable diapers (when my kids were smaller):
- Cloth diapers – They have so many pretty styles now!
- Cloth Wash Rags instead of baby wipes
- Other Household:
- Reuse plastic bottles by using cleaning solution concentrates
- Glass bottles and containers for sprays and soaps
- Reusable K-Cups
- Metal or Glass storage containers (Mason Jars of various sizes can store a wide range of things!)
- Metal or Glass Bowls
- Bamboo plates/utensils instead of disposable plastic items
- Cleaning cloths/rags instead of paper towels and napkins which come wrapped in plastic.
I know that there are some items that might hard to replace but there are new solutions coming out every day. Making these changes one at a time will make a difference and you may find that it saves you money as well!
Join the Plastic Free Challenge Today!
So many places around us are putting bans on plastics as well so this is something that everyone really needs to adjust to. It’s crazy to see the numbers on the plastic pollution crisis and our family wants to do our part to help out with this. With the Plastic Free Challenge, you can choose where you will be going plastic free, what you choose to refuse, and how long you choose to go plastic free.
This week I got an email from Life Without Plastic about their Plastic-Free Tooth Tabs which can replace those plastic toothpaste tubes and are packaged in a paper box. They also talked about their new Plastic-Free Lunch Boxes which were funded on Kickstarter. They also have a wide variety of Plastic-Free Containers for packing those delicious lunches in.
Here are a few more interesting articles I’ve found about this topic:
- Plastic Free July – Going Zero Waste
- How To Have A Plastic Free July – Plastic Pollution Coalition
- Plastic Free July – Green Matters
- Millions pledge to go plastic-free for July in global challenge – Euro News
It’s not too late to join the Plastic Free Challenge Today!
**This post does contain affiliate links to products and/or services that we use. We may earn a teensy weensy small commission (at NO EXTRA cost to you) if a purchase is made through these links. These links help to support our family, our blog, and our homeschooling mission.
–Thank you!
Pollywog's Place Blog 