Saturday, November 30, 2013

Homemade Vegan Omelet Recipe From Red Lentils and How to Make a Sneaky Cheap Omelet

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Vegan zucchini omelet. I'm a terribly impatient
 omelet flipper, vegan omelet or not.
Ever since posting why it's generally cheaper to use egg replacements, even for egg heavy dishes like quiches, I was hoping we'd lower our egg usage in our house, but to be honest, our egg usage didn't go down tremendously. Last month alone, we spent $29 just on eggs, but mostly just for omelets. Reason being- omelets are a quick meal for when I haven't gotten anything ready, and it's something my kids will agree to eat without a fuss. But I'm usually in a lurch then, because I don't feel like cooking up another protein just for me, but I don't do well with eggs....

I played around with making vegan omelets with chickpea flour, but I wasn't in love with the results, mostly because of how they made me feel afterwards. Just using plain old chickpea flour gave me a stomach ache after- because, like all beans, chickpeas should be soaked before using to reduce stomach discomfort. I mean, if I soak the chickpea flour with water and something lightly acidic for 12 hours before using, I don't get the same stomach ache... but that takes advanced preparation, and the whole reason for omelets is because I hadn't thought in advance about supper and need something I can get on the stove and out to the family in less than 10 minutes...

Thursday, November 28, 2013

People I'm Thankful For on Thanksgiving

PhotobucketIn honor of Thanksgiving, I wanted to post something to show my gratitude towards the people in my life that have been most effective in helping me live the frugal lifestyle I do, which allows our family the ability to survive on our really small income, in addition to being able to blog about it on this site.

First off, I have to thank my husband Mike. My husband and I certainly have our disagreements when it comes to money and how we spend it, like any couple, but on a whole, he is the person I really have to thank the most. Not only is he on board with cutting back our expenses, he even goes without some things he really likes, because he understands how important it is to live within our means, and is a good sport about it. He is willing to try new and frugal foods, doesn't make demands about what I need to serve, what we need to buy, etc...
In addition to that, Mike is very handy and inventive, so he is always coming up with new money and time and space saving solutions around the house, as well as being able to fix anything that breaks.

Renting or Buying? Which is More Frugal?

Have you ever wondered whether home ownership is for you? Perhaps renting is better? What makes most sense from a financial perspective? The answer to all those questions is not simple, as there are many factors that it entails, and it'll differ from person to person and in each situation.
In some locations and circumstances, renting is a financially sound option, better even than buying. In other locations and circumstances, buying will be the better bet.

Here are some factors that you must consider:

Pricing. Compare the cost of renting and buying in the area where you want to live. Compare the monthly fee for mortgage payments versus the monthly rental payments. Consider also the cumulative cost of renting versus buying- after 30 years, how much will you have paid in rent? How much in mortgage, including all purchasing fees? Consider that after a mortgage is paid off, there will be no more monthly housing fees, but when renting, you never finish paying for housing. In some cases, rental prices are much higher monthly than mortgage payments. In other places, rental fees are much cheaper than mortgage payments would be.

Thanksgiving Menu for 2013

PhotobucketI wasn't going to do a Thanksgiving dinner this year, as my husband is not American, and we don't live in the US... but after deciding that, I realized that I actually had everything in the house that I would need to make a Thanksgiving dinner, so I figured- why on earth not?

Here's my menu, attempting to make our Thanksgiving dinner as frugal as possible:

Ground turkey and wild greens roll up. I made this last year for our Thanksgiving dinner and it was such a hit that I will be making it again, and this time, actually writing down the recipe so I can share it. I am cooking with ground turkey instead of making a whole turkey since whole turkeys are very difficult to get here, and ground turkey is not expensive.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Dutch Style Meatballs Recipe- Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free Bitterballen

Dutch meatballs, mustard, gluten free pasta, and veggie salad with
homemade sweet and sour dressing
I don't know about you, but when I see pictures of food on the internet, it often inspires me to want to make it and have it at home, even if I've never tasted it before, and have no idea what it would taste like.
I saw this "quiz", saying "How many different Dutch foods have you eaten?" and one of the foods listed was bitterballen. Until that point, I had never heard of bitterballen, let alone eaten them, but the picture made me do some googling, and I discovered that bitterballen are meatballs made out of either lamb or beef, seasoned with nutmeg, and breaded, then eaten with mustard.
They usually are made with a roux, which contains gluten and dairy, both of which I don't eat... so I decided to make mock bitterballen, just plain meatballs inspired by the bitterballen, but not quite that. I used ground turkey for mine, but you can also use ground beef for them. I baked mine instead of deep frying them... They were quite good, even if they aren't exactly bitterballen.
These are kind of similar in taste to Swedish meatballs, but are different and unique. I really liked them... I used homemade gluten free breadcrumbs made out of stale homemade gluten free flat bread, but you can make them out of any stale bread, gluten or not, flat or not.
These are good for people that are nightshade free, so long as you make sure that your gluten free breadcrumbs are made without any nightshades.

Registered Education Savings Plan

As someone who'd like her children to get the degree she and her husband never got, I am painfully aware if the high price of college, even when choosing to forgo the more expensive universities and opting for cheaper state colleges. Even the cheaper tuition can eat up a big chunk of a family's budget, let alone the more expensive, prestigious, and higher quality schools.
Because tuition is so expensive, most people cannot afford to pay it monthly on top of all their other expenses, so they end up taking out big loans with high interest, which increases the cost of education tremendously, and then they or their children end up paying it off for the next many years.
There are, however, alternatives to going into debt to pay for education, even without a sky high monthly salary.
How is this? By saying up for the education costs even before they're relevant, using Registered Education Savings Plan, or an RESP. This allows you to set aside money tax free, and even accrue interest, as the government provides grants to help increase people's savings in an RESP.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Practically Free Soup- And a Zero Waste Kitchen

 photo IMG_1212_zps92675637.jpgSo last month I did a grocery shopping challenge, tracking every cent I spent, and breaking it down into different categories, and seeing how much we were spending in each area. After that, I challenged myself to do the same this month, only this time, to try to lower our bill by about 100 dollars, to get it down to $340 dollars from last month's $433.
Only... this month of keeping track started on the 17th, its only 10 days into the 30 day month, and we already spent nearly 275 dollars, bringing me way too close for comfort to that $340 goal, and making me concerned that we'll be spending more than last month's $433... I mean, this is partially because we stocked up on meat and chicken we found on sale, and bought a ton of produce, that should last us at least another week, if not more.... But still, it's more than I wanted to have spent only 1/3 of the way into the month.

Mike and I decided to do as little shopping as humanly possible for the next while. To just live off what is in our pantry and freezer and fridge. And while that is totally doable when it comes to carbs and proteins (we are very well stocked there), with produce, it's just that much more of a challenge... Because how long can we stretch a fridge worth of produce anyhow?

One of the things that I noticed tends to cause us to spend more on produce than necessary is that, despite my trying to not waste any food, to try to use up things before they go bad, I do tend to throw out too much produce. This tends to be cucumbers and tomatoes and greens most often- as they have a tendency to spoil quickly, but it's not only that. I often discover shriveled up and neglected produce at the back of my fridge that is so far gone that it is unusable... And sometimes it's some leftover veggie dish that is prepared (either salad or a cooked side dish).
And on top of that, despite my having written before about cooking with veggie scraps, I don't often actually do so. Pure laziness, pretty much. (Though not always. When I buy reduced rack veggies, sometimes the scraps like peels, etc... come already nasty- like brown/black and maybe moldy, or just ucky looking parts that I cut off. I will not reuse those scraps.) And when you don't use the scraps, you end up throwing out a lot of usable food.

So to try to keep my grocery bills down this month, and to avoid shopping as much as physically possible, I am going super duper frugal and smart with my veggies, trying to avoid waste as much as humanly possible.

Monday, November 25, 2013

Fun Times For Free

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Lee as a knight.
When parents want to do something nice for their kids, or when couples want something enjoyable for themselves, buying something is often what comes to mind. More and more people, though, are deciding that instead of accumulating stuff, they'd rather build memories and give the gift of beautiful experiences instead.
Too often, though, people are under the mistaken assumption that in order for something to be worthwhile, it has to cost a lot of money. People take their family on expensive trips, go on expensive dates, etc... all because they want to have an enjoyable time.

Fortunately, it is possible to have a terrific time even without spending a cent, other than maybe transportation. There are so many free things to do in most places, very often offered by the municipality. Tax dollars at work, and all that...

There are those free public places, open to everyone, on a regular basis, which can be great for entertainment purposes. This includes beaches, parks with nature trails, playgrounds, etc...
Then there are those places which may be free only on certain days and between certain hours, or they may be free always. In many cities, there are museums that are free, either every day or on some days, play areas, nature centers in various metro parks, etc...

While I do enjoy going to various places there are free, there is something nice about going to shows, concerts, and events that aren't there always- because they are entertaining on their own- you don't need to come prepared with ideas how to entertain yourselves, and they're special since they're not something you can go to just any day.

How To Throw a Kids Christmas Party On a Budget

With the holiday season on the horizon, you may have mentally started preparing for your family get togethers and parties. I hope you enjoy this guest post on throwing a kids' Christmas party on a budget.

Do you want to cut down on your Christmas spending this year? There are lots of ways to make Christmas totally magical without breaking the bank, and we have tonnes of ideas that are low cost or completely free, because at FreebiesWorld we believe the best things in life are free.

We’ve covered everything including entertainment, invitations and food so read on to get some ideas and inspiration.

Invitations
It’s great to get children involved in making the invitations. Allowing them to add a personal touch will make them extra special so head to your local craft store to pick up some inexpensive supplies and create something amazing together! 

Here are a few tips:

  • Make stockings from felt and stitch the initial letter of the child’s name on the front. Fill them with a handful of sweets and a piece of paper with all the party details on it.
  • Make each invitation completely unique – just take some card, ribbon and stickers and let the kids go to town on each one.  Print out photos from last year’s Christmas party or nativity play on the computer. Write the details of the party next to the photo or cut it out and stick it on the front of a homemade card.
  • E-invitations are efficient, completely free and require no posting, so you’ll save money on stamps or petrol if you were planning on delivering them by car.


Decorations
Forget spending a fortune on expensive shop-bought decorations! Get crafty with the kids and make your own. Pop some Christmas tunes on, make a hot chocolate and enjoy transforming your home into a cosy grotto.

  • You can never go wrong with paper chains and they look really effective when hung up around a room. Get the kids to make pretty patterns on sheets of paper first and then simply cut them into strips and use sticky tape to attach them together.
  • Make a flying reindeer window display! You can buy window stickers very cheaply online or you could make your own with white paper and spray glue. It will help set the scene for your party.
  • Window film will give your windows a frosty winter look without the mess and fuss of spraying them with fake snow. You can pick this up online or in craft shops for a small cost.
  • Make your own edible decorations with homemade cookies. Hang them with some red and green ribbon and place them around the home and on the tree.


Music
Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a few carols and favourite songs. Here are a few ideas to have fun with the party music:

  • Ask each child to name their favourite Christmas song before the party. You can then make a bespoke playlist of tunes that every child will love.
  • Ask each parent if they have an instrument (real or homemade) to bring to the party and create a Christmas band. Pop a carol on or a pop song and get them to play along. This will be very noisy but lots of fun.
  • Play musical chairs with festive songs. You can give out Christmas prizes such as Santa hats and reindeer ears.


Drinks
You can be really inventive with kids’ Christmas drinks. We’ve thought of some great ideas that are sure to go down a treat with children and parents.

  • Ice Cream Sodas are really popular at a party, especially if they are served in an extra tall glass with a straw and a spoon. Simply put a scoop or two of ice cream in the bottom of the glass, and pour fizzy drink over the top. The fizz expands really quickly, so pour it slowly to avoid an overflow.
  • Mulled apple juice is great for kids and parents alike. Just simmer the apple juice with strips of orange peel, cinnamon stick and cloves for about 5-10 mins until all the flavours have infused. Sweeten with sugar or honey and serve in mugs. Delicious!
  • Make a fruit punch with pineapple juice, orange juice, frozen limeade and lemonade concentrate, ginger ale and orange, lemon and lime sherbet. It will look great served in a punch bowl and the sherbet will create a delicious foamy top.

Here’s the recipe:
1 can (46 ounces) pineapple juice, chilled
1 can (46 ounces) orange juice, chilled
1 can (12 ounces) frozen limeade concentrate, thawed
1 can (12 ounces) frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
3 litres of chilled ginger ale
1 pint each of orange, lemon and lime sherbet
Method: In a large punch bowl, combine the first four ingredients. Stir in ginger ale. Add scoops of sherbet. Serve immediately.

Food
  • Chocolate snowball truffles are delicious and great for parties. Simply pour 200ml of double cream into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Chop 200 grams of dark chocolate into small pieces and place in a large bowl. Pour over the boiling cream, then stir until the chocolate and cream are well blended and smooth. Cool, then set aside in the fridge until the mixture is solid, about 2 hrs. Then pour some desiccated coconut into a bowl, and roll teaspoon-sized balls of the mixture in it. Chill them in the fridge and serve at party time. 
  • Make a batch of plain cookies in different shapes such as Christmas trees or Santas before the party. Leave some icing kits on the table so each child can decorate their cookie how they like. You could make this into a competition if you like and give a prize to the best one.
  • Popcorn is always popular and making your own is so cheap and easy. Pop a few corn kernels in a covered pan with some oil, allow to cool and top with caramel, honey or chocolate. Savoury flavours are also great for older kids. 

Hopefully you've discovered some great and easy ideas to try this Christmas. Be creative, be inventive and most of all have lots of fun. Happy Christmas from the team at FreebiesWorld.co.uk!

See my disclaimer.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Indian Spiced Radish Greens Recipe- Vegan, Gluten Free, Dairy Free

I love finding recipes for often discarded food items that other people don't realize are edible and healthy. I make recipes with cauliflower leaves, have cooked banana peels into chutney, turn watermelon rinds into side dishes, and make delicious dishes from fish scraps and chicken skins.
So when I was in the farmer's market, and saw a huge, beautiful bundle of radishes being sold with their greens attached, for not very expensive, I knew I could get twice my money's worth- because in addition to getting the radishes, I knew I'd be able to cook the radish leaves into some delicious dish.
Radish leaves I knew were edible, because radishes are in the mustard family, and everything in the mustard family is edible- the entire plant, top to bottom- the leaves could be cooked the same way as any mustard greens, or like broccoli rabe.
Of course I bought them, and I really enjoyed this Indian spiced radish green dish that I made, served over rice. It was a drop on the bitter end- if you prefer less bitter, I've included instructions for making it less bitter.
If you don't have wild radishes, try making this dish with any mustard greens, from broccoli raab to wild black or white mustard leaves or turnip greens. You can also make this with spinach or most greens, but the flavors will be more different, so adjust the spices to taste.

Indian Spiced Radish Greens Recipe- Vegan, Gluten Free, Dairy Free

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Can't Get Life Insurance? You Have Options

This is a guest post by Nancy Evans.

You probably know the importance of having insurance. This is why you have auto insurance, homeowners insurance and health insurance. And if you’re a renter, you may have a renter’s insurance policy. These policies are undoubtedly a priority. But they aren’t the only priorities when it comes to insurance.

Life insurance is just as important. You may skip coverage because you think it’s too expensive, or maybe you feel you’re too young to think about this type of insurance.

But you are never too young to prepare for the future, and if you’re the head of a household or have dependents, you need a policy more than any other group. The importance of this cannot be stressed enough.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Breakdown of Money Spent For the Month

 photo IMG_1028_zpsf9d12bad.jpgA month ago I announced that I would be diligently tracking my grocery expenses, down to the last cent, so I could see exactly how much our family was spending in a month, and then break it down into different categories, so we could see how much we spent in different categories. I had a rough guesstimate that altogether my family spent 425 dollars a month on groceries, but since I never tracked things down to the last cent, I wasn't 100% sure.

Turns out my guess was very close- we spent $433 dollars in the past month.

Two years ago, with 4 people in our family instead of 5, when we ate less healthily, when we used more processed foods, ate gluten and white sugar and less healthy oils, and before prices in our area were raised tremendously, we were able to get our grocery bills as low 250 dollars a month... but that simply isn't doable now, both because our family is larger, our kids are older (and pickier), and because we have health issues that we are taking care of via our diet.
However, most people with families our size and gluten free/sugar free, etc... end up spending a lot more than what we spend each month, so I'm pretty happy with what we're spending. Even so, there definitely are things I would like to cut back on, and would like to lower our grocery bills further.

So, what are we spending in each of the areas?

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

How to Fix and Teach Your Kids About Credit

This is a guest post by Nancy Evans, a freelance writer who enjoys writing about frugality and parenting.

How to Fix and Teach Your Kids About Credit

It’s natural to want to hide your money mistakes from your kids. You don’t want them to worry about things that are your responsibility and, if you’re honest with yourself: you probably want your kids to see you as an infallible force. It’s better, though—especially if they are older—to be honest with them. And remember, every moment is a teaching moment.

Nowhere is this more important than with money. You obviously know how important it is to teach your kids the value of money. It’s also important to teach your kids how to recover if money gets the better of them for a while. Here are some things that you can do to both fix your credit and teach your kids about credit repair (and their rights if creditors come calling) at the same time:

Ground Beef Kebabs Recipe- Greek Style- Egg Free, Gluten/Grain Free, Soy Free, GAPS Legal

 photo IMG_1148_zps71590ada.jpgMy kids haven't been the easiest to feed lately. Every single thing I make for them, they seem to complain about. Even foods that they previously were in love with, they now complain about. It drives me bonkers. I tried making them foods that I thought would entice them, like spaghetti and meatballs (plain meatballs, not with lentils mixed in), ground beef fried rice, and spaghetti and meat sauce, and they refused it all, saying "the meat is too hard". (It wasn't.) 
But I haven't been in the mood for legumes lately, feeling the need for animal proteins, and there's only so much egg I want to make for my family, especially since I suspect that Ike is sensitive to eggs, as I am, and I got a good source of cheap ground beef, so I really wanted to find a way to make ground beef that my kids would enjoy.
Someone suggested I try making ground beef kebabs on a stick- you know kids, and how food being on a stick makes it so much yummier and appealing...
I found some recipes online, and played around with them until I got this recipe, which ended up being perfect. Unlike beef kebabs that are sold in the store near here and are filled with lots of soy, these are "straight meat", which increases the price, yes, but also the health. These are egg free, and are Greek style, which is my favorite kind of kebabs. Their texture is pretty wonderful because of the ingredients in it- moist and soft enough. (Though it might possibly be a bit too moist. They are soft, not solid like a rock, so if you care about these being very firm, I'd add an extra tablespoon of ground flax seeds to the mix.)
I cooked these in my skillet/griddle, with low sides, which allowed me to cook it with the sticks. You can also cook these on a grill, or in the oven, or you can cook them without the sticks in a frying pan on the stove.
A classic Middle Eastern meal to make with this would be serving this together with couscous and a tomato and cucumber salad, but since I wanted this to be gluten free, I served it with quinoa that I cooked with some turmeric, to make it couscous like. 
The meal was an absolute hit with every single family member, and I will definitely be making this again.

Ground Beef Kebabs Recipe- Greek Style- Egg Free, Gluten/Grain Free, Soy Free, GAPS Legal

Friday, November 15, 2013

Mustard Thyme Chicken Recipe- Gluten Free, Grain Free, Sugar Free

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I had a bunch of chicken that I wanted to cook up, but wanted something different than my usual random spices that I just throw on. I wanted something flavorful, but without any added sweeteners or processed sauces, etc...
I remembered having artichoke once with mustard and thyme, and remembered that mustard with thyme was a winning combination. An internet search revealed that mustard thyme chicken is an "official thing", though many of those recipes had honey in it, and I'm nearly out of honey and didn't want to use it up on chicken that could also be tasty without the honey.
I made up this recipe, played around and made a delicious sauce for the chicken, adjusting it to taste until it was just right. I then smeared it on the chicken parts and baked it until fully cooked. Perfection!
This is the perfect recipe for people on a low carb/sugar free diet, GAPS (so long as you use a GAPS legal mustard) or even if you're just looking for something delicious to serve for supper.
Hope you like it as much as I do!
P.S. The drippings from this chicken tastes superb on rice!

Mustard Thyme Chicken Recipe- Gluten Free, Grain Free, Sugar Free

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Flourless Chickpea Blondies Recipe- Egg Free, Refined Sugar Free, Vegan Option

 photo IMG_1098_zps0ff098d2.jpgBean desserts, cakes and cookies made from black beans, navy beans, and chickpeas have taken over the healthy eating bloggosphere. The problem with most of those recipes is that, while they are gluten free and grain free, they tend to be with eggs, and as someone who gets sick from eating eggs, they simply don't work for me.
I've found a few recipes without eggs, but they often have white sugar in them. And white sugar is another thing I avoid- also for health reasons, and also because lately I've discovered that it makes me nauseous. So it's not worth it to even think about cheating.
But then I found this recipe for chickpea blondies which I adapted a drop to suit my tastes, and was very excited about it. It tasted awesome! It was best fresh, but even a day or two later, it was still delicious! My kids devoured it, not knowing how healthy they really were, how much protein was in it, and that it was refined sugar free.
If you're gluten free but don't want to spend lots of money on gluten free flours for dessert, this is a good option, especially if you cook your own chickpeas instead of using canned stuff. It's also great if you're hosting a gluten free family and don't want to need to stock up on gluten free staples.
The original recipe called for chocolate chips, but I don't eat them because I haven't found sugar free ones, so I ended up dividing the batch into two, and mixing chocolate chips into only one of them, which my kids ate. (Sorry, pic is without the choc chips.)
This makes two 8x8 pans of blondies.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Sweet and Sour Pickled Beets Recipe- Refined Sugar Free

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I wanted to apologize for not being so on top of posting on the blog lately. Life has been a little crazy. Last week a few members of my family were sick with a stomach bug, and I ended up bringing Anneliese to the ER, only to be able to avoid getting an IV last minute... and then more craziness with some other stuff, and then for the past few days, we've been sick again. We as in me and one kid...
When Mama is sick, no one is happy. I am exhausted, cranky, lightheaded, without a voice, and with absolutely no energy to do ANYTHING. And on top of that, Ike is super clingy because he's sick and not letting me sleep at night...
It got so bad, Ike so miserable at night and keeping us all awake all night, and none of the natural treatments seemed to be helping, that I finally took him to the doctor today, willing to give him antibiotics, even though antibiotics cause lots of gut issues and Ike is my kid with the most gut issues... anything, so long as he feels better and I have my happy, healthy Ike back instead of miserable crankypants who is making me feel even more cranky because on top of not feeling well, he's depriving me of sleep. But bad news/good news- what Ike has isn't bacterial, and antibiotics won't help him feel better... just more of what we've been doing unsuccessfully until now... and waiting it out...
So we're back to that, and when Ike cries to me that he's in pain, I just have to comfort him, but not much I can actually do for him that will really help him... And that makes me feel really guilty as a mama...


So yes, beyond exhausted, and housework is piling up and I have no energy to take care of it... and my washing machine is leaking but I don't have any energy to get around to figuring out what is wrong with it so we can fix it... so laundry is piling up... and I have to make supper soon and I have absolutely no clue what to serve....

Just needed to vent a little bit, my way of explaining why I've been slacking in the blog front.

But the least I can do is leave you with a yummy pickled beets recipe that I made a few days ago and was a hit... I made mine with no refined sugar, but to keep down the costs, feel free to switch to cheaper sweeteners...

Sweet and Sour Pickled Beets Recipe- Refined Sugar Free

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Taking Care of Yourself While Pregnant

 photo IMG_1067_zps57f8fd16.jpgI'm sitting here, more than halfway through my second trimester of my fourth pregnancy, and, quite frankly, I feel terrible. I feel nauseous and gross, as if I haven't left my first trimester.
But for all my frustrations with my body when pregnant, that I get to experience 9 months of throwing up and nausea, I am happy that I do not have hyperemesis gravidarum like my sister does, and that I am not losing weight nor in need of hospitalization from dehydration and malnutrition from the constant puking that people with HG get.
But I am assuming that there is something genetic related to HG, which is why I get more nausea and for longer than average.
However, since adjusting my diet (I went off gluten and dairy when I was 10 weeks along in my last pregnancy) I've found that I am able to function much better than I did in previous pregnancies. I may have nausea and feel icky, but it isn't generally so debilitating that I can't function (as happened with my first three pregnancies).

This pregnancy I am nursing my nearly 2 year old, in addition to nourishing the baby inside and myself, and because of that, it is extra important that I nourish my body well. Since going off of gluten and dairy, I noticed that while I may have nausea a lot, it doesn't tend to be triggered by specific foods or smells- it's just an all around nausea that doesn't stop me from being able to eat well.

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Italian Herbed Zucchini Soup Recipe- Vegan, Gluten Free


I had the pleasure of being gifted with a huge amount of zucchinis the other day, and wanted to figure out a good dish to make with them. Then I remembered the time when, as a guest in someone's house, I was served a delicious herbed zucchini soup. I have no idea what the recipe was- I only knew it had zucchini and oregano in it, but with that in mind, I made up this recipe, which was quite delicious. It can either be eaten as is, or it can be blended to make a delicious creamy soup.
The soup is vegan, GAPS/Paleo/Primal legal, is gluten free, grain free, sugar free, and just perfect.

Italian Herbed Zucchini Soup Recipe- Vegan, Gluten Free

The Cost of Living Abroad in Bahrain

This is a guest post.

For many of us, living abroad, even for a short time, giving our families the opportunity to enjoy a new culture and, of course, the learning experiences that result from this, is a dream we feel is just too unobtainable. Reasons cited tend to be finances, the complicated upheaval, leaving family behind and of course finding a job in another country. However there are many countries, especially those in the Middle East, such as Bahrain, that offer an array of job opportunities with high demands for talented individuals in specific sectors such as finance and media.

When it comes to finances, beyond the initial move costs, you may find that, especially in Bahrain, the lower cost of living will result in a higher quality of life, especially for those of us who have mastered the art of living frugally. You may be surprised at just how far your money will go with very little effort.