Mean Girls: It Starts So Early

I dropped my kids off at camp yesterday. It’s a thing that should be normal. They’ve gone to camp almost every day this summer. But this time…it was not OK.

It’s a good camp. A great camp…but this is so not about the camp. This is about a little girl who has been encouraged, her whole life, to be who she is—unapologetically. A little girl who wanted to wear her shirt inside out to camp, because she felt like it. And, hey—why not? (The ’80s taught us this is totally rad.)

But this little girl was mocked by her group as I signed her in. They laughed, and pointed, and told her she wasn’t “dressed right.” I gave them a “mom stare” (my North Valley stare is not as effective as Carmelina’s South Valley version)—but then I had no choice but to go off and work. But work waited as I cried in the car for 20 minutes, because this little girl is…a little girl. A girl who has endured a very long time of watching her family and friends deal with medical emergencies. A girl who has a room filled with fluffy stuffed animals and her own baby clothes because she refuses to part with them. A girl who is on the brink of becoming a woman and doesn’t understand what the heck that means. A girl who is trying to make sense of the world.

A girl who is…a girl.

I remember that I was mean-girled when I was little. I remember the sadness, the confusion, the sting of their words—to this day, what they said still sticks.

And I remember, too, upon holding this sweet, brand-new baby girl that already smelled like sunshine and hope and laughter, I had the back-of-the-brain knowledge that she’d eventually have to encounter those same kind of sticky words.

I guess I just didn’t think it would be now.

The Easy High Protein Breakfast

We all know that trying to lose weight is a hard shell to crack. With most diets, we spend our time eliminating food from our daily intake, which only makes us want to eat more. You scramble from skinny jeans to fat jeans and back to skinny jeans in just one month. Sometimes it seems like a losing battle, and just thinking about dieting is making me hungry right now, but there is some good news. Recent studies have shown, there is one thing you can add to your diet that will help you lose weight and aid in keeping it off. Protein.

Eating protein can reduce snacking by half, and a new study in the FASEB Journal found eating twice the RDA of protein, promoted weight loss without muscle loss. Others discovered, those who ate more protein for breakfast were even more successful in long-term weight management. To determine your Dietary Reference Intake of protein use this calculator.

This is no yolk, one of the easiest high protein breakfasts you can prepare is a hard-boiled egg. On average a large egg contains 6 grams of protein. They are self-contained, portable and you can cook them in advance. Cooked eggs can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Not a fan of hard boiled-eggs? You’re not alone, many people are turned off by the dry, green ringed yolks of a hard-boiled egg, but as soon as you learn how to cook an egg correctly, it’s like a gift from … a chicken. And the secret, don’t boil them. This video will show you exactly how to cook the perfect egg.

Of course, always check with your doctor before changing your diet.

Meet Our Partners

Find out more:

https://carmelinaandlexi.com/2016/07/27/whats-for-dinner/

Looking for something new for dinner? We are too!
On The Rocks with Carmelina And Lexi and Katherine’s Wildtree Workshops are giving one lucky winner one free Wildtree bundle, a $78 value. Contest ends 8/3/2016. Follow the link for complete details on how to register to win. Also watch the video for more information on discounts and flash sales this week.

What’s For Dinner?

It’s about 4 in the afternoon, you’re aimlessly staring into the refrigerator, awoken by the question, “What’s for dinner?” There is no answer, your mind draws a blank. Spaghetti is always easy or we still time to run out for fast food … ugh!

Sound familiar? Some days we just don’t know what to cook or we’re stuck in a food rut. There has to be a better way to feed our families, and there is … meal planning from Wildtree.

Katherine Morgan is a local representative from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and she has helped families take the stress out of dinner while keeping it healthy and within budget for about two years. She is so much fun and can answer any question you have about the ingredients and foods available from Wildtree (really. just watch the video and you’ll know what I’m talking about).

 

When you use the Wildtree system you get the kit or bundle which includes meal plans and recipes, prep and cooking instructions, grocery lists and labels, and USDA organic spices and oils to make your meals delicious and complete. You won’t have to think about “what’s for dinner” because it is all planned out for you, or as Mari said, “I can pull something out of the freezer in the morning and put it in the crock pot. I don’t have to worry about it all day.”

All you do have to do is the shopping for your fresh food items. Then put it together, and freeze until you are ready to serve a healthy meal to your family. It is truly that easy.

With the price of the kit plus groceries, each meal costs about $18, and that feeds 6 adults. That means each individual adult serving is only about $3. You are not going to find a deal like that at any restaurant.

This is all new to us, but having meals planned out, the convenience and low-cost, we’re in and we want you to be in too! On The Rocks with Carmelina and Lexi and Katherine’s Wildtree Workshops are giving one lucky winner one free bundle, that’s a $78 value, and we want you to prep with us at our workshop too.

Follow these three easy steps to register to win:

Go to On The Rocks on Facebook
Like our Facebook page and
Share the post What’s For Dinner on your Facebook page.

Contest ends August, 3, 2016. The lucky winner will be notified on Thursday, August 4, 2016. We will provide all the details about the bundle and workshop on that date.

Car Seat Safety

Picture from Safer New Mexico Now

Whether you are getting ready for a family road trip or just day-to-day driving, one of the most important things you should do is check your child’s car seat.

Making sure it is installed correctly is something we forget to do, but if your family spends any time in the car, it is important. Safer New Mexico Now, holds state-wide fitting clinics for parents and caregivers on car and booster seats.

They do require an appointment and there is one this Friday, July 22nd between 8:30 a.m. and noon at the Albuquerque Fire Station #20 on Paseo just north of Wyoming. For information call Safer New Mexico Now at 1-800-231-6145 or at the link fitting stations and clinics.

Happy and safe travels!