Food
Tuesday, December 22, 2009, by Leigh Anne & Sherra
We're moving! Visit us at Find Your Sock Yarn and re-subscribe to get the latest updates. Your favorite features like Question of the Week, Words of Wisdom quotes and fun giveaways will be there. Archives will remain here for now. Thanks for visiting!
Leigh Anne says…
I met Jenn Ross several years ago at a women’s retreat. We enjoyed a wonderful time together in the beautiful Napa Valley and I was able to introduce Jenn to her first In and Out Burger! We kept in touch and when Jenn needed help developing an idea she hired Sherra and me for some Idea Coaching and within a few short weeks, we helped her launch her first blog. She already has another one in the works!
“Life is an adventure or it is nothing at all.” Certainly when I married my husband 30 years ago I had no idea what an adventure it would be! I married a Navy pilot and along with that came numerous moves, the pleasure of living in Hawaii for 3 years and knowing the life of a psuedo single parent during my husband’s 6 month long Navy deployments. I have a BA in Spanish and returned to school with 3 small children to get a degree in Nursing. I work with new Moms and newborns. I love fun outdoor activities including flying on the trapeze, training for sprint triathlons, hiking and being with my five grandkids (5 yrs-1 yr) In July 2010, I will be training at Duke University in their Integrative Health Coaching program. I believe it is never too late to get healthy and be active.
Favorite color:
Turquoise
Favorite food you associate with this holiday season:
Eggnog
Pet Peeve?
Negative people and gossip
What is something that no one knows about you? (that you want to tell the whole internet world)
If I had been blessed with a great singing voice I would have loved to have been a broadway singer belting out songs in those fun musicals. Instead I really really enjoy a fun musical with great singing .
One word that describes you:
Adventuresome
What’s your motto or mantra:
“Embrace the possibilities”
What are the top three things that are most important to you — the things you love to do and you are passionate about?
- Time with family especially my grandkids. They are so fun.
- Being authentic in my faith, relationships and purpose.
- Staying active and eating healthy
Peaceful Eating
The holidays are a time of abundance. Abundance of family, traditions, lights, decorations, parties and food. Holiday food. Yum. Christmas cookies, eggnog, luscious desserts, breads, mashed potatoes and great chocolate!
And let’s not forget that with all the fun and festivities with the holidays there is also a great deal of stress. How do we often relieve stress? We indulge in our favorite holiday treats and by January 1st our indulge has turned to a bulge.
In the words of Charles Dickens ” It’s the best of times and the worst of times”
And in my words…”the best part of the holidays is the food” and “the worst part of the holidays can be the food.”
This holiday can be all about peace with our food choices and staying fit!
Here’s a few steps you can take now (no it’s not too late) to help you stay healthy and still enjoy the holidays.
Food Glorious Food…mmm, I seem to be on a Charles Dickens kick here.
Ever heard of the 5p’s? Me neither until I met my husband. It’s a boy scout thing and since I was a Camp Fire Girl which had very little to do with camping or fires I remained clueless.
5P’s = Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.
In years past for the holidays and food we usually had just one plan: Plan E Eat, Eat all of it. That didn’t work very well. WAIT, it did until we got on the scale!
For holiday eating lets use the 4 P’s
Prior Planning Promotes Peace
- Plan ahead what you want to eat or what you want to drink (alcohol has lots of calories and leads to more eating)
- Park yourself far away from the food.
- Most hostesses love if you offer to bring something. Bring a healthy veggie tray (or order one from the local grocery) or another healthy dish that you love.
- Let someone else do the holiday baking. My grown daughters are having fun making the traditional family goodies.
- Forgive yourself if you do indulge but get right back on track. No one is perfect and any “rules” about eating that are too strict are bound to get broken.
- Take extras to the office, or make up goodie bags for friends and neighbors
- Be okay about wasting the goodies (throw it out) better to waste it than “waist” it which could cost more health wise in the long run.
When you start to waiver and want seconds and thirds remember how much peace you will have after the holidays because you enjoyed but did not over eat!
Keep Moving!!!
Find inventive ways to do what is called “spontaneous exercise.”
Park far away from the entrance to malls, work, grocery stores.
Use the stairs and not the elevator (for reasonable distances).
Make multiple trips up and down stairs at home instead of taking one big load all at once.
Make it a game to find all kinds of ways to do spontaneous exercise and you’ll find it fun and challenging.
OR
Start walking with a friend 3x a week (or everyday)! It not only moves your body but relieves your stress.
Your walking buddy is key! Knowing someone is waiting for you will keep you on track. Plus the conversation will make the time go faster and make it fun!
Have fun this holiday season. We sometimes get lost in all the preparations that we forget the real purpose is to celebrate, spend time with family and remember our many blessings. We can do all of it and still be peaceful about our food and fitness choices. Have a wonderful and joyful celebration this year!
Visit Jenn at her blog See Jenn Tri.
***************
Moments & Memories is a column is centered around our word of the month. We love to feature women from all walks of lives – it may be in the form of an interview or as a guest writer. We’d love to feature you as a guest writer. Qualifications: No experience necessary…just be willing to share a great moment or memory with other women. Send us an email and we’ll schedule a date. Our guest writers do not necessarily have to have a website or a blog as we want iLashGirls to be a place where every woman has a voice!
Popularity: 3% [?]
Categories: Encouragement, Food, Inspiration, Moments & Memories
Subscribe
Monday, August 31, 2009, by Leigh Anne & Sherra
We are changing things up for the next few Mondays. Instead of asking you a question, we are going to give you tips and ideas based on your great responses to our question from the first week.
Last week we gave you some cleaning out the garage and this week we are going to help you tackle all those great recipes you keep printing or clipping out of magazines!
We have both tried all different methods of organizing our recipes over the years. Being the paper people that we are we know that using the computer to organize our recipes just doesn’t work for us.
We need them printed out on paper.
The method that we both currently use is admittedly old-fashioned.
We print the recipes out onto 8 1/2 x 11 paper and then insert them into page protectors. Leigh Anne is a messy cook so having the recipe protected is very important!
We then insert them, organized by category into a 3 ring binder. Our friend Laura over at Organizing Junkie also uses the 3 ring binder method and has some great tips and ideas you might want to check out.
Sherra keeps duplicates of all her favorite family holiday recipes in a folder and adds to it annually. This has proved to be a real timesaver. She also has taken an old pocket photo album and filled it with recipes clipped from magazines through the years.
Leigh Anne keeps a folder of “Recipes to Try” and then files them in the appropriate place if the recipe passes the family test. She shares more tips on her recipe organization system here.
We both tear out magazine recipes, put them in a sheet protector and then throw away the magazine. After many years of saving the whole magazine, this has been a simple change that really saves space!
Real Simple magazine’s website has some other recipe organizing methods.
If you are more hi-tech than we are and you’d really like to organize your recipes on your computer, read about “The Pumpkin Rule”. She developed eChef software to help digitally manage her recipes just like her photos and music.
All this recipe talk has made us hungry!
To find even more great recipes here are a couple of great recipes sites:
- Tasty Kitchen – A new favorite launched by one of our very favorite bloggers, Pioneer Woman!
- All Recipes – An old favorite with seemingly endless recipes. If you set up an account you can save all your favorites in a recipe box online.
And don’t forget our personal favorite site filled with delicious recipes…
Your HomeBased Mom!
How do you organize your recipes – what is your favorite method? Please leave a comment and let us know.
P.S. If you feel like doing some quick and easy baking, check out
Pillsbury’s new cookies. “Simple…” yum-yum. Get a $1.00 off coupon!
Popularity: 6% [?]
Categories: Encouragement, Food, Inspiration
Subscribe
Tuesday, August 11, 2009, by Leigh Anne & Sherra
Last week we asked for the areas of your life that you’d like help in simplifying.
You had lots of great responses and there were several common themes. During the next few weeks we will try to address some of the areas of your life.
We’ll offer tips, ideas, systems and suggestions and would love to get input from all of you too. If you have an idea or a suggestion just leave a comment and let us know. We’d love to hear from lots of you!
Menu Planning seemed to be a popular area for people wanting a little help!
Leigh Anne has some experience in menu planning. She has taught classes on the topic and has experimented with lots of different menu planning ideas and programs over the years.
Sherra has developed a great system for her meal planning that she started using when her children were toddlers. She has shared this system in support groups for mothers of multiples and in church groups.
We’d like to invite you to visit a few posts that we have written on the topic of meal planning over at our respective blogs – hopefully you will get some ideas to try out with your family! Let us know what you think and if you give any of them a try. Of course – if you’ve got a great system for menu planning we’d love to hear!!
Your Homebased Mom Menu Planning Part One
Your Homebased Mom Menu Planning Part Two
SherraLifeLesson Meal Planning System
Please let us know what you think!
Popularity: 4% [?]
Categories: Encouragement, Food, Inspiration
Subscribe
Tuesday, May 12, 2009, by Leigh Anne & Sherra
We have designated Tuesday as a day where we will have different women share “Moments & Memories” in their lives.
We plan to feature women from all walks of lives – it may be in the form of an interview or as a guest writer. The column on Tuesday will be centered around our word of the month. We’d love to feature you as a guest writer. Qualifications: No experience necessary…just be willing to share a great moment or memory with other women. Send us an email and we’ll schedule a date. Our guest writers do not necessarily have to have a website or a blog as we want iLashGirls to be a place where every woman has a voice!
Leigh Anne says…
Before I had the privilege of meeting Liz Rosenbaum I met Liz’s mother – over 20 years ago. I took a memory preservation class from Liz’s mother while I was in Utah attending Education Week at BYU. It was at that class that my love and life long involvement with scrapbooking began! When I decided to start blogging two years ago I came across Liz’s blog – at the time it had to do with scrapbooking. Liz was the very first blogger I contacted. Liz has since left the scrapbooking industry and become a personal trainer. I actually got to meet Liz in person a year ago while attending a Startup Princess event. Liz is as energetic, darling and fun in person as she is on her blog. I only wish I lived closer to Liz so I could train with her!
I am so excited to introduce Liz Rosenbaum to you!!
****************
Liz Rosenbaum has been a health nut all her life. Her passion, not only lies in helping women work toward their physical fitness goals, but in also helping them restore inner peace and acceptance of themselves – regardless of their fitness level.
Favorite color:
Pink and anything bright and happy!
Pet Peeve?
Waking up to a dishwasher full of dirty dishes!
What is something that no one knows about you? (That you want to tell the whole Internet world)
I take my blender with me EVERYWHERE! If I’m going out of town, my blender is coming with me! It doesn’t matter if we’re going to Disneyland or camping in the mountains… I never leave home without it!
One word that describes you:
Genuine
What’s your motto or mantra:
It changes depending on the season of my life, but lately it has been, “Life is to be enjoyed… not only endured.”
What are the top three things that are most important to you — the things you love to do and you are passionate about?
- Spend time with my family of course! They are my most favorite blessing and I’m always focused on trying to be a better wife and mother to them.
- Cheering people up. I find that I am much less likely to dwell on my own frustrations in life, if I focus on helping to lift someone else’s spirit.
- Living a healthy life. I am a complete health nut… not only physically but, emotionally and spiritually as well.
Growing a Healthier You!
It’s no secret that women are very busy creatures! We run here and there, do this and that, and often juggle several very important projects at a time! To keep up with the demands of life however, we often sacrifice our own health by making the wrong choices when it comes to the foods we eat. However… since us women are achievers, (and many times, over-achievers), we tend to rationalize our unhealthy choices by thinking, “when life slows down a bit I’ll be able to eat healthier foods and spend more time in the kitchen… but for now, I just have to hurry so the fast food joint will do for today.”
The good news is, I completely understand that way of thinking… I really do. Not only am I a personal trainer, I’m a mom, wife, business owner, friend, taxi driver, church go-er, landscaper, blogger, facebooker, and housekeeper… just like many of you are! I completely get how crazy, busy our lives can be!
But here’s the flip side of that. To put it gently, eating unhealthy foods, (while it may be convenient at times), will always backfire in the end! Making the mistake of assuming that you are too busy, and don’t have enough time to eat healthy foods, is a false belief… and one that will end up proving you wrong, sooner or later in life!
A good way to look at it is like this: Considering all of the important things you are responsible for in life, you certainly do NOT have the time to be sick! You don’t have days and weeks that you can devote to diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity or depression. You are much too busy to be spending time searching for solutions to your ailments at doctor’s offices, in hospitals or even as you lie in bed. However… illnesses aren’t quite as polite as the PTA president is, when she calls to ask if you could help with the next school activity. Illnesses, don’t take NO for an answer. They don’t say, “Oh I completely understand that you are too busy right now, so I’ll just catch you next time.” Poor health does NOT take a number and patiently wait for its turn.
So what is a busy, successful, go-getter type of a woman supposed to do then? How can she possibly stay on top of it all and still manage to eat healthy, nutritious foods that will aid against many mental and physical diseases? Let me share with you my three favorite strategies that will make life easier for you, as you incorporate healthy eating into your every day routine.
1. Stop and THINK before you eat.
Every single time you eat something, it needs to be a conscious decision. Ask yourself if the food you are about to eat is wholesome and whether or not it will give your body nutrients.
2. Take food with you.
Every time you are going to be away from your home for more than a few hours, take along a small cooler with you. Pack it full of apples, almonds, string cheese, yogurt or cut veggies. This way, instead of settling for fast food when hunger strikes, you’ll have healthy options right at your fingertips.
3. Plan Ahead
Taking just 30 minutes each week to plan out the meals you will make for breakfast, lunch and dinner will keep you on the right track to eating healthy. If you have a plan, you are less likely to grab highly processed, fat-laden foods at the last minute when everybody is hungry and ready to eat.
When it comes to eating healthy and living a vibrant, energetic life, it really comes down to this simple concept: If you want your body to take care of you, YOU have to take care of your body!
Make healthy eating a priority in your life and make it a priority NOW! When things are a priority to us, we do whatever it takes to give it proper attention, and then we act on it. If your health isn’t a priority to you now, sooner or later it will be!
Won’t life be much more enjoyable and productive if you don’t have to waste time in the future, fixing what you could have prevented in the first place?
Here are a few great healthy recipes:
Be sure to check out Liz’s blog where you’ll find more healthy eating and fitness tips. Leave a comment and share a favorite way that you are growing towards a healthier you!
Popularity: 6% [?]
Categories: Encouragement, Food, Inspiration, Moments & Memories
Subscribe
Tuesday, March 3, 2009, by Leigh Anne & Sherra
Introducing a new column we’ll feature from time to time…because as we’ve told you before we love to find things. Look for Sherra’s “Finding the Funny” later this month.
Right now, enjoy this peek into Leigh Anne’s home and her fabulous gift for “Finding the Pretty.”
Leigh Anne says…
Our word of the month is Home here at iLashGirls. Home can mean many different things to different people. But when I think of home the first things I think of are family and food. Yes – the two go together at our house. We are a bunch of foodies!
So when Sherra and I decided to write about our favorite room in our home, the kitchen of course was my first choice!
I love my kitchen.
My kitchen is just an average kitchen.
I don’t have state of the art appliances. In fact my stovetop is black and the dishwasher is stainless and my refrigerator and oven are still white – someday, maybe after the kids are out of college, they will all match.
There are definitely things I would change about my kitchen – a bigger pantry and double ovens are at the top of the list but I love my kitchen!
Why do I love it?
I love it because it is truly the heart and center of our home. It is where we all come together.
Not only are meals prepared and eaten in my kitchen but it is where the kids gather to do their homework, games are played with lots of laughs and of course the occasional quarrel and disagreement – what would a family game be without that!
The kitchen is where we eat and pray together. When people stop by – they don’t sit down in the living room or the family room – they pull out a stool and sit around the island or the kitchen table and visit.
When we have parties, no matter how hard I try to get people to visit in the other rooms everyone ends up in the kitchen – gathered around the island!
Because I spend so much time in my kitchen I want it to be as pretty as any other room of my house. The walls are a yummy, buttery yellow. I have surrounded myself with pretty things. If I have to use a mixing bowl – it might as well be a pretty one!
I usually have a candle or two or three or four or even five burning in my kitchen.
I love hand painted pottery and ceramics and have quite a collection that lines the tops and insides of my cabinets. I don’t just look at it – I use it too! Pretty cookbooks are another thing that line the shelves of my kitchen. A cookbook should not only have yummy recipes but pretty pictures too!
My favorite kitchen tool is my Kitchen-Aid! I love that thing and it is well used, chipped and worn and is almost always covered in flour, sugar, or something! Someday I hope to have a green one!
One of the other things I love about my kitchen is that it looks out into my garden – another favorite “room” in my home!
But the best part of my kitchen is all the yummy food that is made there and shared by family and friends!
Welcome to my kitchen! Come on in and pull up a stool!
All of these lovely pictures of my kitchen were taken by my friend and wonderful photographer Meg. You can check out her work at her blog – Megan Daines Photography
Popularity: 75% [?]
Categories: Finding the Pretty, Food, Inspiration, Moments & Memories
Subscribe
Thursday, November 27, 2008, by Leigh Anne & Sherra
Three things related to our word of the month…or three random things we thought of while we were shopping, driving, sleeping…well, you get the idea. The only thing we can guarantee is that Sherra thinks in threes and she insisted we do this on Thursday. She’s bossy like that.
Three Ideas for Thanksgiving Leftovers…
Our three favorite ways to use Thanksgiving leftovers:
Leigh Anne & Sherra says…
- Turkey Cranberry Panini
- Potato Cakes
- Pumpkin Pie Milkshakes
Share your favorite ways to use your Thanksgiving leftovers…
Popularity: 7% [?]
Categories: Food, TTT~Three Things Thursday
Subscribe
Thursday, November 20, 2008, by Leigh Anne & Sherra
Three things related to our word of the month…or three random things we thought of while we were shopping, driving, sleeping…well, you get the idea. The only thing we can guarantee is that Sherra thinks in threes and she insisted we do this on Thursday. She’s bossy like that.
Three Favorite Thanksgiving Dishes…
Click on name of the dish which are linked to the recipes.
Leigh Anne says…
- Cornbread and Sausage Dressing
- Cranberry and Brie Appetizer
- Hot Apple Cider
Sherra says…
- Make Ahead Party Potatoes
- Pumpkin Pie
- Chocolate Bavarian Torte
Because you really should have something chocolate on your menu and this cake needs to be refrigerated overnight which makes it great for Thanksgiving!
Share your three favorite dishes and don’t hesitate to include a recipe in your comment too!
Popularity: 8% [?]
Categories: Food, TTT~Three Things Thursday
Subscribe
Monday, November 17, 2008, by Leigh Anne & Sherra
Question of the Week
What kind of pie makes you happy?
Photo courtesy of jblyberg
Leigh Anne says…
Lemon Sour Cream of course! I also love berry, key lime and apple! I am fruit pie kind of girl.
Sherra says…
Pumpkin, blueberry, strawberry, raspberry, apple, lemon, coconut cream, pecan, butterscotch…oh, sorry – what was the question?
Popularity: 8% [?]
Categories: Food, Question of the Week
Subscribe
Thursday, October 30, 2008, by Leigh Anne & Sherra
****Comments are now closed.****
We have a winner! Congratulations to Lauren!! We want to thank everyone for entering and especially for some of the wonderful comments many of you left. We love reading them!
Lauren, we know you’ll enjoy the mug, hot drink mixes and marshmallows!
Please email us your mailing address information so we can get your prizes mailed to you!
If you missed out on this Giveaway or you didn’t win this time be sure and check back often!! There is another giveaway right around the corner…
****
Three things related to our word of the month…or three random things we thought of while we were shopping, driving, sleeping…well, you get the idea. The only thing we can guarantee is that Sherra thinks in threes and she insisted we do this on Thursday. She’s bossy like that.
Three of our Halloween candy favorites that we’ve been known to steal quietly eat from our kids’ trick or treat bags…
Leigh Anne says…
- Milky Way
- Banana Laffy Taffy
- 100 Grand
Sherra says…
- Baby Ruth
- Red Tootsie Pops
- Caramels
What are some of your Halloween candy favorites?
Since it is Halloween tomorrow we wanted to give you an EXTRA TREAT because we appreciate you all so much and all the great comments you’ve been leaving during October’s Breast Cancer Awareness month.
Triple Treat Giveaway!
We’ve combined THREE awesome treats from the Etsy Shops we’ve been featuring this month for one lucky winner!
1. The Mug
This beautiful porcelain mug is finished in a translucent amber glaze that reveals pools of blue crystals. The swirl imprint is made from one of my hand carved stamps and the unique pattern on the bottom is created when the mug is cut off the potter’s wheel. It is 3 1/2″ at the rim, 2 3/4″ high, and comfortably holds 8 ounces. $16.00 Retail Value
Special thanks to Tina of Bear Creek Pottery at Etsy.com for sponsoring this fabulous giveaway!
2. The Cocoa
This gift set is for 2 hot drink mixes. One Creamy Caramel Cocoa. and one Caramel Mocha Latte. Each jar of mix will make 3-4 cups of drink depending how strong you like your brew. 2-3 tablespoons of mix suggested for each 10 ounces of hot water. $10.00 Retail Value
Special thanks to Maija of TranquiliTea at Etsy.com for sponsoring this fabulous giveaway!
3. The PINK Marshmallows
Cinnamon Red Hot Homemade Marshmallows. You will receive 24 marshmallows (2×2.5 approx. size). Several flavors available, winner can pick their favorite! Marshmallows are packaged in gift boxes with ribbon and tissue paper. $12.00 Retail Value
Special thanks to Micki of Simply Sweet at Etsy.com for sponsoring this fabulous giveaway!
Enter to win by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post by midnight PST, Sunday, November 2nd. (Scroll all the way down to the end and you’ll see a comment box.) You just have to have a valid email address, you do not have to have a blog to leave a comment. We’ll have a random drawing to choose the winner and announce the random winner on Monday, November 3rd. Share your favorite Halloween treat (or trick) with us!
Please visit the Etsy Shops that have donated and help support National Breast Cancer Awareness by making a purchase from their shop. Find perfect gifts for everyone you know and support handmade and homemade gifts from these great shops.
This is another Bloggy Giveaway Carnival where you can win here at iLash Girls and then click over to the Carnival and find more great things you can enter to win!
**********************
Surprise Giveaway Guidelines
- Anyone in the U.S. with an email and a name is eligible.
- Sherra says you can use a code name if you want to.
- One entry per person, please.
- Emails are never published nor is your identity revealed if you choose to use a code name.
Tell your mother, tell your sister, tell your girlfriends so they can enter too!
Popularity: 26% [?]
Categories: Finding the Best, Food, Giveaway Surprise, TTT~Three Things Thursday
Subscribe
Friday, October 24, 2008, by Leigh Anne & Sherra
We have discovered that we both love to find things. We love to research and solve problems. The finding is what we love most.
Leigh Anne is excellent at Finding the Pretty.
Sherra has a unique way of Finding the Funny.
Together we are really great at Finding the Answers
This Friday we’re Finding the Best for you!
More great Etsy.com shops!
As promised, we’re sharing some of our favorite Etsy shops each Friday in October.
One other great holiday shopping idea before we dive into the great shops we’re featuring today is a fun site called Tip Junkie that has featured one of Leigh Anne’s great tips!
She has a Mom-preneur Shop-a-thon going on at her blog. Check it out and shop and support other women this holiday season!
Now back to our Etsy Gift Guide featuring 10 great shops!
This week’s shops feature delightful and delicious sweet treats. Fabulous desserts, cookies, candy, cake…okay, maybe the theme is the abundance of SUGAR!! It is no secret that we both have a sweet tooth.
Don’t have time to bake this season or it’s just not your favorite thing to do? These shops will send some great homemade goodies right to the doorstep of the lucky people you have on your gift list.
We are overflowing with an abundance of generous shop owners who are sponsoring more great Giveaway Surprises!
So keep watching for more great surprises and know that if you are an email subscriber that you’re getting an abundance of emails from us because of the great giveaways!
We think it couldn’t come at a better time and we hope that it makes your holiday shopping just a little easier…
Click on the banners to go check out these great Etsy shops.
Go forth–shop from home, save gas, support other women and have fun!
When you’re done, come back and leave a comment and tell us your favorites!
Popularity: 11% [?]
Categories: Finding the Best, Food, Giveaway Surprise
Subscribe
