Homemade Baby Soap/Shampoo

It took me a while to start doing my homemade bathroom products... Mostly out of convenience (or habit of just buying what I need). Then, because I thought something on the market - in the crazy entire library of baby and personal products - has to be great for a good price.  And I liked a few... But I realize that even out of those that do not have - too many- harmful ingredients, most are DEFINITELY not worth the money. NOT worth. The list of ingredients is clearly way too long for being gentle enough on my little ones' skin.
So I decided to make my own out of simple & natural products. Cheaper, healthier, gentler, EASY. SUPER EASY. Minimum Ingredients...💚

Ingredients:
- A (glass) jar or soap dispenser (I use THOSE for pretty much anything, love them)
- Boiled water
- Dried (Loose Leaf) Chamomile (You can find some HERE - I use chamomile a lot, particularly when the kids are sick or teething, or for good health in general...)  
- Castile soap (Unscented/Baby) - the base of this recipe. I use this ONE
- Sweet Almond Oil (because it leaves the skin so smooth 😍, you can use it straight on your face or body anytime too). HERE is the one I use.

I have learned to love Castile Soap as it is made from coconut, olive & hemp oil. HOWEVER, it is highly concentrated so you should not use it pure directly on your little one. Thus, this post 😉

HOW to Make it
Whatever the size of your jar, the ratio in your jar will basically be 3/4 water, 1/4 castile soap 
1. Boil the water
2. Pour water in about half of your container
3. Use the remaining  to steep 1tsp of loose chamomile for about 5 min (use a tea strainer if you have one, or just make sure your "tea" water is free of herbs before pouring it in the jar)
4. Fill in the jar with the chamomile tea to about 3/4
5. Let it cool down
6. Add 2-3 Tbsp of Sweet Almond Oil
7. Fill the last 1/4th of the jar with Castile Soap
8. Close it & shake it well - et voila!


Few Notes:

• This Soap is NOT tear-free, so just use with caution around eye area and rinse well with clear water in case some dropped in the eye
• This Soap does not foam as much as industrial soap do - and that's completely normal as it is free of foaming agents😉

🎇Don't hesitate to let me know if you tried it or share your own recipes!

Today I am GRATEFUL for…

 

Taxes… it means we have an income and assets to support our family needs

The mess in the house… it means I have joyful and active kids/husband playing around the house

The dirty dishes… it means we have food to fill our stomach

Laundry… it mean we have clothes to wear everyday

Bills… it means we have, and can afford, a phone / electricity / water / a roof over our head / etc…

The rain… as it reminds me that I do not have to worry everyday about water supply, and the reason I can enjoy my fresh veggies

The cold days… they give me  a good reason to cuddle with dear ones and enjoy inside family activities

Short/disrupted nights… it means I have children, a greater purpose than just myself to take care of.

The morning alarm clock… it means I have a job and an other day to celebrate life – better enjoy it as early as possible

Running after time… it means I have a life!

A Healthier (yummy) Thanksgiving dinner alternative (vegetarian)…

As a good French, I DEFINITELY loooooooooove food. For what is in my plate but also for the time I have sharing this meal with my family, friends, loved ones. For the memories this meal creates. And this is the reason why I have come to love Thanksgiving dinner: people have the day off, we meet with loved ones, share stories, laugh, hugs, dance, sing…. and gather around the table. I find that the table is very frequently at the center of celebrations – and I like that. However I can often feel guilty when leaving, thinking of how much I ate, and that it is not really a time of joy for my body…
So below is an idea for an alternative main course.
Salmon, cranberry sauce, crispy sweet potatoes and asparagus

The easy part is that besides the cranberry sauce, everything is cooked in the oven – so no need to stay over the stove.
1. The crispy sweet potatoes bites

This is maybe the most difficult part. Count about 1 sweet potato per person. Wash them, peel them and cut them into little “cubes” (or whatever shape you can as long as it is not to thick). Place all on a thin layer tray that goes in the oven (like a pizza tray). In order for them not to attach on the tray you can wipe it with coconut oil.
Sprinkle the sweet potatoes cubes with: coconut oil, a hunch of salt and cinnamon.
Those will cook in the oven at 390-400 F (or 200 C), for about 45 min / 1 hour or until desired crisp/cook is achieved.

2. The salmon

It is always best to pick a big fresh (wild if you can) piece of salmon. Cut it into as many portions as persons you have at the table. Marinate these in lemon juice, salt, a bit of black pepper and dill during the time your prepare the sweet potatoes.
Place each portion in an aluminum wrap, which will go in the oven. These will cook for about 15/20 minutes at the temperature given above.

3. The asparagus

Similar to the salmon, I wrap them into aluminum foil, and squeeze a lemon on top, add some salt and black pepper. If you have plenty of asparagus, divide them into several wraps (like 1 wrap / 2 persons) so that they cook better.
Place each wrap in the oven, same temperature than the potatoes, for about 15 minutes.

TIP: To make things easy, and have everything cooked at once, place first the sweet potatoes in the oven at the top tray. 20 minutes before due time, add the salmon (second tray is fine), and 5 minutes later the asparagus (can be at the lowest tray).
4. The cranberry sauce

I will leave this one up to your taste. On my side, I like the sour taste so I only put a couple spoons of brown sugar and some cinnamon.

You can eat this meal without feeling guilty so that you can indulge a bit more on the dessert, the wine, the cheese, or whatever is your “soft spot” :)


HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Screen Time for Kids

 

As parents we all hear / know that too much screen time for our kids (or for ourselves for that matter) is not good. But why? And how much screen time is too much?

All researches seem to agree on the fact that we need to keep kids’ screen time to a minimum for health, psychological and educational benefits. However, recent studies seem to show that parents believe that technology and “gadgets” are of help to their kid’s development. Kids own tablets and/or phone at a very young age. Of course the reasons behind this are easy to understand (and fall for): convenience, keep the kid entertain, hope for him/her to be tech-savvy…The truth is, no matter the content, purpose, support (TV, educational, video games, homework, phone, etc.) ; screen time is screen time and should be limited as it is linked to several issues in children: 

• addiction
• lower academic grades
• lack of social connection
• increased incidence of illness
• decreased “problem solving skills” needed in real life
• sleep disruption (particularly if used before bed time)
• health issues (obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease)
• premature mortality ???

Below the maximum screen time advised by different health organizations and experts:

AGE	Recommended Screen Time
<2 years old	None
2- 5 years old	<= 1 hour / day
5-18 years old	<= 2 hours / day

The French government recommends no screen time for children under 3, and has even banned TV programmed aimed at this group. Australia and Canada have similar guidelines. Some Asian countries even have legalized for parents to monitor how much time their kids spend in front of a screen (though this may be extreme measures)…

You might also be amazed to learn that plenty high techs leaders send their kids to school that exclude screen time until teenage! When a technology journalist suggested to Steve Jobs, in 2010, that his children must have loved the just-released iPad, he replied flatly: “They haven’t used it. We limit how much technology our kids use at home.”

Now, if you worry that by removing any screen time your kid may be bored, comfort yourself with the fact that many professionals agree that being over stimulated is worse than being bored. Children need to learn how to deal with boredom with healthy alternatives: Physical activities, Social activities, Hobbies …

Where my daughter goes to daycare in the Netherlands, they are true believer that over stimulation is not good for kids, the space is studied to limit the amount of colors, noisy/electronic toys: kids have fun playing with each others, educational toys using their imagination, arts and crafts, and playing/going a LOT outside (weather is not even that great there, but if it is not extra windy/rainy they spend time out). It is so nice as a parent seeing your kid having fun jumping outside, gardening, playing with sand…

Also note that background noise at home (TV/radio turned on in another room), also ruins your child’s concentration.

My last comment to close that topic: remember that parents set the example. So if your kids see you regularly turn on the TV when you get home, or while eating dinner ; they will take that as a standard and reproduce it. I know it’s a bummer, as honestly when I get back home home from work and walking the dog, or when it is grey and rainy outside, I would sooooooo feel like putting a nice movie and lay down – and honestly still do from time to time. So I am not saying you can never do that, just be aware of the influence you have on your child and what you are setting as standards for him/her.

 

Sources:

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/may/23/screen-time-v-play-time-what-tech-leaders-wont-let-their-own-kids-do

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/feature/digital-home/how-much-screen-time-is-healthy-for-children-benefits-3520917/

https://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/aap-health-initiatives/pages/media-and-children.aspx

http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2014/08/28/343735856/kids-and-screen-time-what-does-the-research-say

Introducing Baby and Dog for the 1st time

This is a video we made the first time we came back home from the hospital with
our baby girl, and how we introduced her to our dog (black Labrador).



As a note: I am not saying this is THE way to do it. We have put quite a lot
of training into him so his behavior may not reflect another dog’s. One good
advice we were given, is to bring every day from the hospital, one of the linen
used to swaddle our baby and put it in our dog's bed. This way he gets used to the
baby smell, and eventually understands when he sees her.

Shaving your Baby’s hair

My husband’s mother is Russian, and in Russia there is a tradition that you shave (= cut very short) a baby’s head when he/she turns 1 year old. She had it done to herself, and did it to her 3 kids (2 daughters, 1 son). Talking with different people from different backgrounds, I have learned that quite a lot of different cultures do it as well (some several times during the kids growth): eastern Europe, India, Korea, Vietnam, Greece, and many others… The reason for this? It may be a tradition, linked to religion or a particular belief, but they also all agree with the same outcome: shaving your baby’s head is supposed to help the hair grow evenly and thicker.
Hmmm… interesting… Beautiful thick hair, well that is definitely something I wish for my daughter! She has quite good genes already on that end, but I have to admit, when I see the result on my mother in law and sisters in law, I can’t help but think that if one shaved head at 1 year old is the price to pay it is definitely worth it! Now, it is not something we do in France so I have to admit I had quite a pinch in my heart cutting my beautiful baby girl’s hair (she had by far the longest hair of her age group and I was so proud of this!).
Putting some thinking into this, it also made a lot of sense to me: from my teenage time my mom kept on telling me never to shave but always to use wax or the epilator – as shaving would only make my hair grow thicker. And this is a true fact by the way, I shaved my legs a couple times and it took me a month of using the epilator twice a week (rather than once) to get my growth back to normal. It was awful and I hated it – and swore never to use the razor again lol. (I will write a blog entry about this). But if you do not believe this, then you can try shaving your upper lip, or you forearm for instance, and see how the hair grows back: my bet = thicker.

To sum up = I did it! My good (Greek) hair dresser friend trimmed my baby girl’s hair at around 1 year of age. Today, 1 year later, my husband and I think this was indeed a great decision and will do it as well for the second. Her hair have grown back so thick, nothing like those baby hair she had before – I think they are even thicker than mine! She beats all the kids of her entourage. At her daycare the nannies love to do her hair because she is the only one with such a head full of hair. The only inconvenient: she does get quite hot from the head in the summer time…
You can see below the before/after pics. Please let me know if you did it as well / or consider doing it or what you think about this, I would love to read your story.

// Recipe // Healthy & Filling Pancakes (coconut milk, almonds, berries, chia seeds) – no added sugar, no added fat!

Healthy, filling and yummy pancakes – perfect for those Family Sunday Mornings! They contain everything you need for a healthy meal without the guilt of splurging: protein, healthy essential fats and vitamins. No topping even needed as they are delicious by themselves!
And honestly, you will fill completely full with only 2 of those!

Ingredients for about 10 to 12 pancakes:

1. 175g of whole wheat – unrefined – flour or almond flour (1 1/4 cup)
2. If you did not use the almond flour, 1 cup of chopped raw almonds
3. Chia seeds
4. 4 eggs
5. 500 to 700 ml (2 to 3 cups) of coconut milk, depending on the consistency you like
6. 1.5 cup of chopped blackberries (and/or blueberries)

Mix Ingredients 1 to 3. Then make a funnel and add the eggs, mix with a fork. Add the milk slowly, while mixing, then the berries.
Make one pancake to test the consistency and adjust milk/flour if needed.
Tip: Use coconut oil on a paper towel on your pan to avoid sticky pancake (every 2 or 3 pancake should be enough if you have a good Tefal pan) –> no fat needed in your pancake mix!
Serving: either by themselves or with a touch of honey / maple sirop if you have a sweet tooth . Add these to your green juice and Udo’s oil and you have a great day ahead!