The Deliberate Mom

{this moment: balloon carrots}

May 17, 2013 Labels: photo project

Inspired by SouleMama

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savour and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to see.

"If we take care of the moments, the years will take care of themselves." Maria Edgeworth

Wishing you a wonderful weekend full of amazing moments!

Don't miss a moment of The Deliberate Mom. Subscribe by e-mail or follow me on Bloglovin', Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and/or Google+!

Gluten-Free, Clean-Eating, Pancakes

May 15, 2013 Labels: gluten-free, healthy, recipe

Pancakes. Just the thought of them induces a child-like bliss. Envisioning a stack of pancakes instantly gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling! I recently stumbled across a three-ingredient pancake and decided to make an even healthier version of it.

This recipe makes three delicious pancakes.

Ingredients
1 banana, mashed
1 egg white, beaten
1 Tablespoon coconut flour
1/2 Tablespoon ground flax seed
1 1/2 Tablespoon blueberries

Instructions
Mix mashed banana and beaten egg white together in a bowl.

Add coconut flour and ground flax seeds.

Combine well.

Place scoopfuls into a large hot griddle.

Add 1/2 a tablespoon of blueberries onto each mound of batter.

Cook (on low-medium heat) then flip. Cook through.

Serve with your favourite 100% pure maple syrup.

Additional Information

* These pancakes taste just as good without the blueberries.

* I ran this recipe through the MyNetDiary fitness app. The nutritional breakdown per pancake (without syrup) is as follows:

71 calories
1 g fat
13 g carbs
3 g protein
1 g saturated fat
28 mg sodium
3 g fiber
6 g sugar

Don't miss a moment of The Deliberate Mom. Subscribe by e-mail or follow me on Bloglovin', Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and/or Google+!

Lake Season Begins

May 13, 2013 Labels: lake, summer

On Saturday my little family went out to my parents' lake lot to "open" it up for the season and to partake in an early Mother's Day.

It was a glorious day! The sun was shining and signs of spring could be seen everywhere.

Here are a few pictures from the day.

First glimpses of green. Spring is finally here!

The kids flock to the swing set.

Little helpers.

The first campfire and first hot dogs of the season.

Dogs have a keen sense for the "weakest link".

Learning how to drive my parents' new electric scooter.

So much fun... and I ate my first gooey marshmallow of the season, played a family game of BINGO, hung out, talked, laughed, and watched fireworks. It was a wonderful start to the lake season.

Summer... I'm ready!

Don't miss a moment of The Deliberate Mom. Subscribe by e-mail or follow me on Bloglovin', Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and/or Google+!

{this moment: affirmations}

May 10, 2013 Labels: photo project

Wishing you a wonderful weekend full of amazing moments!

Don't miss a moment of The Deliberate Mom. Subscribe by e-mail or follow me on Bloglovin', Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and/or Google+!

Hope Paige Medical ID Bracelet Review

May 9, 2013 Labels: food allergy, Hope Paige Medical ID, Medical ID, Review

When I was contacted to review a Hope Paige allergy bracelet I immediately agreed. My daughter has an anaphylaxis milk allergy, thus spreading the word about a potentially life-saving product seemed only natural.

Hope Paige created an infographic illustrating the amount of children suffering from allergies who will be attending summer camp this year. It highlights that there are over 76.7 million children in the US and more than 3 million children of those children have some type of allergy. Moreover, according to the Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE), 1 in 13 children have a food allergy and a food allergy reaction occurs every 3 minutes (US statistics). Given this information, it is critical that parents of children with food allergies plan for their children's health and well-being.

A key element to keeping a child with food allergies safe is education. Hope Paige has created fun, fashionable, and affordable medical bracelets for children to wear while outside the home. These bracelets are durable and stylish but would also stand out to medical professionals.

As I browsed through the Hope Paige online catalogue I was impressed by the large selection of medical ID jewelry which they have available. Moreover, the Braided Elastic "Peaches 'n Creme" Medical ID bracelet I received from Hope Paige was of exceptional quality. The elasticized material makes the bracelet comfortable and it is something that my daughter actually wants to wear.

If your child has allergies I encourage you to check out the variety of bracelets available through the Hope Paige Medical ID Marketplace and find one that works for your child.

May is Food Allergy Awareness month. This is an important time to increase awareness of food allergies both in our communities and across the country.

Disclaimer

For the purpose of this review, I received a complimentary Braided Elastic "Peaches 'n Creme" Medical ID bracelet. I did not receive any other compensation. All opinions are my own.

References

Food Allergy Research and Education
http://www.foodallergy.org/research/overview?

The Burning House Project

May 8, 2013 Labels: keepsakes, mementos, project

A lovely blogger, Charlotte from Charlotte's Web, recently shared about a website/project entitled, The Burning House. The website contains photos of what people would save if their house was on fire. As I read Charlotte's posting, I began to contemplate what I would save if my house were on fire.

Obviously, children and pets are first... but outside of that, is there anything I would want to save? I collected some items and snapped the photo.

Here's the explanation:

My Bible (it's sentimental and I have personal writings in it)
My five-year journal
The external hard drive (which has all of our wedding and baby photos as well as various important projects)
Photos which we do not have in digital format (i.e. my grandparents' and parents' wedding photos)
My Pandora bracelets (every charm has a story behind it and each bracelet is loaded with memories)
The sunflower mug which reminds me of my deceased friend, Lynette
One of the wood roosters from our honeymoon in Kauai
Our wedding photo books
Baby books for each of my girls
My iPhone
A stack of cards and love notes from the hubby
My wallet (can't get far without that)
Both of my daughters' birthday keepsake tablecloths (there are so many beautiful memories with those)
My oldest daughter's beloved bunny (she probably would have him in her arms but still, wouldn't want to forget him)

When I asked my husband what he would take, here's what he chose:

He would only take:

His ukulele (which he purchased while we were on our honeymoon in Kauai)
A box of his original comics and writings which he has worked on over the years

Huh. That's it?!

I guess this shows just how sentimental I am. This project made me very reflective. After gathering the items, taking the photos, and making my submission to The Burning House Project, I realized that I probably wouldn't run back into a burning house for anything. As long as my loved ones are safe, I wouldn't want to risk my safety (or anyone else's) to gather keepsakes.

What would you save if your house was on fire? If you haven't already done so, check out The Burning House website. It's fascinating!

P.S. Epic fail! Neither of us brought keys to the car.

Don't miss a moment of The Deliberate Mom. Subscribe by e-mail or follow me on Bloglovin', Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and/or Google+!