Foldable Stainless Steel Straws for on the Go, Who Knew?!

 My previous post mentions how I became a huge water drinker, after avoiding it for years....I was a water snob. Now, I got to thinking, what else do I hate about drinking water, eating out at restaurants. 

I cannot stand drinking out of glasses (see previous post), AND I hate plastic straws for 2 reasons. First, they aer horrible for the environment. Second, I don't like the taste of water coming through a plastic straw. Drinking water out of a paper straw is even worse! We have stainless steel straws at home, and we love them. 

I had no idea that I could buy travel stainless steel straws. I can put it in my purse, desk etc... Now, I always have a straw to drink from. This is the set that I bought, and I LOVE them. They are super easy to clean, especially if you only drink water through them, and not soda or milk!

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

I'm a Water Snob.... Stainless Steel Bottles Changed my Life!

 I know that I need to drink more water. I always have an excuse as to why I don't drink more. It really comes down to laziness and the fact that I am a water snob.  I don't like to drink tap water... I only like filtered water.  I don't like to drink from most glasses, or plastic bottles because the water tastes like the dish soap used to clean them. I don't like to drink from aluminum cans/bottles, because the water has a metallic taste. I also only drink extremely cold water with ice. 

This past spring, I discovered stainless steel bottles. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that water could actually stay icy cold for at least 8 hours. Once I used my new bottle, It was not as difficult to forget to drink, it was always on my desk as a reminder. 

Here is my FAVORITE "go to" bottle for work. HYDRO FLASK I like the ones that are 32 ounces. 

I fill them up before school and that is enough water to get me until the end of the work day. I am hooked, you should try them too. I also have to hid them from my kids because they are hooked on them too.

Click the link to read more about DEHYDRATION SYMPTOMS according to the Cleveland Clinic. 

How much water should I drink? Check out this link "DAILY WATER INTAKE CALCULATOR".

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

OUR kids LOVED this SALMON?!!!!

Tonight I made the easiest meal ever! It is a recipe by Williams-Sonoma. It's called "Roasted Salmon with Thyme Vinaigrette". To be honest with you, I cannot stand fish in general, especially salmon. The only reason I truly made this, was because it is one of my husband's favorite foods. I was not sure how this was going to go with 2 kiddos under the age of 3. Especially for my boy, he is the pickiest eater ever!

When making the recipe be sure to triple the vinaigrette if you are making four salmon fillets, so that you can have a little remaining to put on a fresh green salad for this meal or another. 

I will tell you that EVERYONE in the family LOVED this recipe. My daughter LOVED the tangy salad dressing, which didn't surprise me since she loves pickles and lemons. My son was not keen on the salad but really enjoyed the salmon. He gobbled it up completely. I am glad that such a healthy meal was a 5 star meal! Even I, was able to enjoy this meal, that's saying a lot. I was not looking foward to trying it, because it is hard to have a "poker face" for your kids, when you are eating something that you dislike equally as much as them :)

A word of caution, when putting the vinaigrette on the salmon to marinate, make sure that you don't touch the salmon with the utensil and then re-dip the utensil in the vinaigrette. Otherwise, you could cross contaminate the vinaigrette with harmful bacteria. I always use a separate bowl as well as utensils. I love putting marinades on with silicone brushes, this set is my favorite. My kitchen has very neutral colors, but in my opinion, there is nothing more fun than using kitchen tools and gadgets with a pop of color. Here is a set of my favorite silicone brushes from Amazon. They have 2 sizes. As an Amazon associate, I earn a small amount of money for qualifying purchases. #recipe #salmon #Williams-Sonoma #healthy #foodie #meals #supper #dinner #kids #family 

*I originally published this in 2012, but when I updated it the date changed to 2024.

Part 2: Why We are Trying AGAIN!

 While writing this blog to help my husband's cholesterol,  I was struggling too.  Fatigue, stomach issues, adrenal issues, were symptoms that I was battling every day. In addition, I was busy with 2 kiddos under the age of 3. I have a lot of mom guilt for being so tired and lacking energy to meet all of my kids needs.In addition to all of that, I was working full time, and had this great idea to start a blog. 

I started a blog about healthy eating, but I did not have time to journal in baby books about about the kids big life events? Mom guilt!  As I sit and think about what I just wrote, it seems silly. Prioritizing the health of my husband, the kids' dad,  and feeling guilty about it, just sounds ridiculous when it is said out loud. Desiring to keep a family healthy seems much more important than what their favorite veggie was when they first started to eat. 

While I was struggling with some health issues, my husband's cholesterol issue was the biggest one that we wanted to tackle. Needless to say, the conscientious act of cooking together not only physically improved my husband's health, it also brought the family together mentally too. Cooking daily in the kitchen leads to good conversations, hard conversations, tears, giggles, and mad cooking skills. 

Once the blog stopped, so did the healthy eating. We did do cooking, not with the intention of keeping healthy, but more for the purpose of convenience. Did we give our kids healthy meals? Sure. Could we have done better? Of course! As the kids got older with sports, and we got more tired, we developed a bad habit of eating out more. Sometimes sit down restaurants, other times, it was fast food. While we were eating out more, we were spending more money, that too became an issue with me working part time and having 2 kids in full time daycare.

Fast forward to a few years later, when Covid-19 hit. All of the eating out, and fast food came to a screeching halt. We knew that we needed to change our game and start cooking again. 

Final part next time....

TTFN,

Vanessa

It's Been over a Decade Since this Blog was Made?

 Wow, is all that I can say. Looking back on these blogs, it seems like forever ago. Thinking about the fact that in 2011 my son was an infant and now he's 13, our daughter was 2 and now 15. There are so many things that I wish that I could go back and change. I would parent better, get on the floor and play more, holler less, read more bedtime stories, worry less about my job, go for more walks etc... However, I cannot go back and should not have regrets...Hahahaha, that's easy to say. 

My purpose for this blog was to get  my husband healthy. Writing this blog helped keep us accountable for the process. We knew that Kevin did not have longevity in his family, so when we found out that he had high cholesterol in his early 30s it scared us. We wanted to make sure that we could get him healthy so that we could spend decades and decades together as a family. In the process, we were able to lower his cholesterol, but not to a level that was acceptable. Eventually he had to go on medication to help. His cholesterol has been great ever since.

Now, we have a new purpose for eating healthier..... I'll let you know more tomorrow. 

TTFN,

~Vanessa