Health and Wellness INSIDE OUT

When it comes to our overall health, we can't forget about our Mental Health!



Health and Wellness 100% starts from the inside. The foods we feed our bodies, the daily choices we make, the way we speak to ourselves, how we treat ourselves, how we treat others.



I've been reading Personal Development books ever since I was a teenager! I've been working on ME, ever since I can remember. I have been to therapy to help me grow from my trauma. It’s set me free from my limiting beliefs and has helped me learn how to grow and understand that learning and growing never stops! I'm always picking up a new book, or audio book. I want to hear other peoples stories. I love being reminded that we are STRONG, and WE CAN DO ANYTHING we put our MIND to! No one is perfect, we are all just trying to live our best life. We make mistakes, then grow from those mistakes. Life will throw us a curve ball now and again. How will we react to them? Some harder than others too.



Now more than ever, I have my book selection at my fingertips! As soon as I finish one, I'm on to the next. Our minds need the training, just as much as our bodies do!

Every book I read, teaches me something new. My latest book was Mastering Your Mean Girl. And boy does my mean girl like to take a hold over me sometimes. This book reminded me to lead with love. It can get confusing at times, so I've been repeating to myself "lead with love""respond in love" . Do I always? Nope, I'm still learning haha. This is life though. Learning, growing and evolving.



Are you reading any books right now? Drop me a comment below. I'll add what you recommend to my list!

Here's my list of my current Personal Development Books!
https://www.amazon.ca/shop/aka_mama_t

Stay at home/school

Hey Mama’s how are y’all  hold’n up! 

I really wish I blogged everyday since the beginning of this pandemic because the waves of emotions and adjusting has been, ummmm sorta like a rollercoaster. 

We are on DAY 40!!! So let me recap for my blog records :)

This all started on the first day of the kids March break! I won’t lie, it was all pretty exciting in a weird way. Being lucky enough to work from home and keep our family inside and staying home.  The kids were up late, lots of movies and screen time and junk food as mommy and daddy were glued to the news with anxiety but smiling faces to keep everyone in as normal and fun state as possible. 

The news talked about the rise in cases and the extra precautions we all have to take. Articles and news stories about washing produce and wiping groceries, wearing masks and gloves when you are out. It got very overwhelming at times. I panicked about food in our fridge and if we had enough of there was a total lockdown.  I made list after list of things we needed. Thankfully we haven’t had a strict lockdown here in our province. 

Whatsapp chats with alll our groups of friends and families kept us super busy exchanging thoughts and support.

And now here we are day 40. 

I think we are on week 3 of the official roll out from our schools for homeschooling.  Something that is new for all of us.  Teachers working extra hard to provide their students with as much support as possible. Parents trying to juggle homeschooling, work, multiple kids and a household. The busiest kind of busy! 

All while keeping it together.  Every family dynamic is different and every family does things differently. What works for me, might not for you. These are not normal times and we all have to make the best of it. 

These are the things that work for us during this crazy time.  

We have a light schedule. It’s not a strict one either. If the kids need extra sleep then they get it. They are usually up for 9am anyway. 

We enjoy breakfast together, no rushing. Plus mama needs a full cup of coffee before we fully start our day ha! 

After breakfast we head over to our workspace. Getting the boys to pay attention when they want to play instead and giggle and distract each other is no easy task haha! Some days are easier than others. We just roll with it! 

While I try and help my grade 3 with math and English, I get my 4yo to practice tracing and coloring. Then I switch over to help my 4yo with reading and site words. 

We work on school stuff for about 2 hours in the morning. The amount of work the school sends is about 1 hour a day, but we usually take 2 hours.  They complete their lessons that their teachers send by 12pm each day. 

Then it’s a free for all! Haha. They get to play in the backyard, have lunch and snacks, figure out fun games to play, relax and watch movies. I also have my time to work on my project and do house work while they have fun playing. 

This is what is working for us. This is what keeps my kids happy and having fun at home and not feeling the stress of the outside world. 

We have open communication with them, and help them understand what the whole world is going through and the changes to society right now. We have donated to food banks and those in need and pray everyday for the world and those who lost their lives to this virus. 🙏🏻

I want them to remember this time as calming as possible. I want them to remember how we were all lucky to be home together for months with love. Staying home to keep us and others safe. FaceTiming and phone calls to stay connected to those we love.

We are making history right now and we all need to be as gentle with each other as possible. 

Here’s to another day at home :) flattening that curve! 

Super Easy Lasagna Recipe

Easiest and most delicious Lasagna recipe using a pressure cooker for the meatballs and sauce! 

Ingredients

2 bottle of tomato purée 

2 mozzarella packages

Parmesan cheese

2 lean ground veal packages (if you buy the veal at the butcher, tell them to double grind it) 

1 package of lasagna noodle

Italian style bread crumbs 

1 egg (I don’t use eggs because of allergies)

Onion/garlic 

Olive oil 

Turn the sauté setting on the pressure cooker, add olive oil, (I don’t have specific measurements, but coat the whole bottom of the pot with oil!) Slice some onion very thin and 1 garlic very thin. Let these cook in oil then add the bottles of tomato purée you can add some water to jars to get all the sauce out and pour in the pot. Season with oregano/basil/ Italian blend. I also sprinkle Parmesan in the sauce mm mmm. 

Add veal to a bowl, season with with garlic powder, salt. (Any seasonings you like) Add breadcrumbs, little at a time and some olive oil. Mix with hands and form the meatballs.

Place the meatballs in sauce.

Set the pressure cooker to Soup/stew 30min!! 

(follow your pressure cooker/instapot directions) 

When sauce and meatballs are done... release the steam and open your pressure cooker. 

spoon out meatballs with some sauce in a bowl. 

Mash up the meat balls set aside. Make as saucy as you like. 

Cook lasagna noodles.

Drain. 

Get out your baking dishes to prepare the lasagna! 

Add sauce on the bottom of each dish, place lasagna noodles, meat sauce, mozzarella, lasagna, repeat. I think I did 3 layers. 

Once you get to the top, the last layer. Add the noodles and add sauce only, top with mozzarella and parmesan cheese 

Wrap with foil. Cook 30 min at 400F. 

Then remove the foil, cook another 15 mins

And done! A yummy Sunday dinner! Or Christmas lunch like we just had! Enjoy! This is the exact recipe my mother used for our Sunday lunches, minus the pressure cooker, ha! But the sauce and lasagna is sooo yummy! You’ll never know the difference!  

P.S save the extra sauce in jars for other dishes you can make during the week.