Fighting Boredom with Healthy Food + Creative Living
Thanksgiving is a time for family, friends, and feasting. But hosting this holiday can be a daunting task. Here are some tips to help you navigate the planning, cooking, and entertaining, ensuring a stress-free and enjoyable Thanksgiving:
This beautiful succulent pumpkin project looks like it took a ton of time, but it’s so easy that you’ll find yourself decorating a whole pumpkin patch! This is a great project to do with friends because you can share supplies and have a nice mix…
The new TECHEF Indoor Grill Pan is great for cooking meats and seafood inside the house! I simply put the two piece grill pan onto my gas stovetop and started grilling with my burner heat on high. The process for grilling salmon is very easy.…
The BoredMom.com Gift Guide is here! The recommended items are good for a wide variety of friends and family, and won’t break the bank. These are THOUGHTFUL gifts that will be used and not tucked away in a cabinet or drawer! Without further ado, here’s…
And yes, the name of the wines really is Barrel Sample! In what I consider very innvotive packaging, the bottles of wine are missing the typical foil wrapper on top and the big wide sticker. Instead, each bottle has a clean cork visible on top, no wrapper needed. Instead of the standard wine sticker, there is a very cool and trendy ‘hang tag’ that dangles from the top denoting the type of wine, lot number, PH Level, alcohol content and other important wine notes.
This bottle is super eye-catching and complemented my table decor.
My guests took their glasses of 2013 Barrel Sample Chardonnay outside to enjoy with Supannee’s Summer Rolls. The Barrel Sample Chardonnay has crisp green apple and citrus notes on the initial taste, followed by a creamy buttery finish. The smooth Chardonnay was well balanced and really paired well with the crisp vegetables and shrimp stuffed inside the rice wrapper summer rolls and peanut sauce.
After appetizers, we sat down to eat dinner. I actually had to disappear for about 5 minutes as I quickly microwaved some of the entrees such as Red Curry with Tofu, Green Curry, Eggplant Delight with Veggies and Pineapple rice actually served in a pineapple. I also plated up the spicy tangy green mango salad.
The 2013 Barrel Sample Pinot Noir had been opened about 30 minutes prior, so it had plenty of time to aerate, if it even really needed to. I honestly felt as if it was quite drinkable the minute I took out the cork! My guests and I really enjoyed the bright cherry flavors and light smooth finish. The soft tannins are a great match for spicy Thai food, as it did not overpower the food. The pinot was thoroughly enjoyed throughout all the entrees!
Thank you to Barrel Sample Wines & the Coomber Family Wines for hosting wine to be reviewed. These are great wines that were greatly enjoyed and my guest and I will be sure to have these as ‘go to’ bottles for entertaining! The Barrel Sample wines may be ordered on Amazon. You must be 21 to order and consume wine.
Thank you to Supannee for SDThai.com for your amazing Thai food, dedication to fresh local ingredients and being the hardest working person I know in the San Diego Restaurant scene!
I recently received the EurKitchen Whipped Cream dispenser to review and play with and now I’m addicted to this cool tool! This whipped cream dispenser converts fresh whipping cream into beautiful pressurized cool whip, or in my case creamy chocolate mousse. How to Prepare I…
I like Estate Sales. Real ones. 99% of the time, someone has died and the heirs want to liquidate in the easiest way possible, and it quickens the cleanup process. You walk through someone’s home and everything is basically intact as if they were still…
They’ve packed for dormlife, but have they packed anything to use outside their small cubicle room? The weather is nice outside for many months during the school year, so why not give your student something they can use and enjoy outside?
My pick is the Outdoor Air Hammock. It folds up neatly and even comes with a handy carry strap. When it’s time to use it (a little wind doesn’t hurt), run in a straight line to the big hammock and capture as much air as possible into each of the two chambers (one at a time). Then seal it up quickly and roll the ends until you have a comfy floaty air hammock that can be used in a park, quad, beach, etc. What a great study tool!
Can you really give your college student sleep? Nope, you can’t. They will have many late nighters either from studying or partying, but regardless deep necessary sleep is going to have to happen eventually. Encourage healthy rest with a soft and earth-friendly bamboo pillow. The Cariloha Bamboo Pillow is both huge (a luxe kingsize) and incredibly soft. Its plushy and medium soft interior will cradle that studious head to much needed sleep.
The Cariloha pillow is available online and may be sent directly to your student at college. This is way better than a care kit full of cookies!
Often college kids get stressed out and prone to illnesses that can wipe them out from school. College should be a fun and exciting period in one’s life, but time and stress management skills will probably dictate whether your student will thrive or dive. Send your kid off to college with as many tools to combat stress.
The Phytopia Tranquility Anxiety & Stress Release Essential Oil formula was master crafted by a clinical aromatherapist. It is made from all natural plant oils that have been used since ancient times to bring calmness to one’s life. These plant and bark oils are also known to increase mental clarify – ie, your student can then make better decisions when under stress! Drops may be added to a bath, or a little dab on the neck and massaged into the shoulders will work wonders. Or, your student may enjoy adding some to a difuser (see below) to use in their dorm room – what a bonus for a roommate too!
The Phytopia Tranquility formula comes in a gift bag and is beautifully packaged! What a thoughtful back to school gift to send to your student away from home?
Teen girls are like so, oh mmm gee, obssessed with trends and this is one I can get behind. Aromatherapy is hot and it’s also very beneficial! Certain essential oils like lavendar and peppermint are great for clearing the sinuses, and can be stimulating! Great for homework time. The extra bonus is that it smells great! What better thing to have going in a teen’s room!
This MIU Color Essential Oil diffuser by is small, compact and really pretty as it changes color. I recommend using Brooklyn Botany’s lavender and peppermint oil, which are both available on Amazon.
Ack! I’ve seen too many teenies as of late turning into pizza faces, and yes they are becoming hormonal, but the bigger problem is simply lack of proper skin care. Oz Naturals offers a dermafoliant called Ancient Orient Bamboo that can scrub away your teen’s dead skin cells and oils that can cause blackheads and breakouts. In this hormonally challenged age, now is the time to get your teen on a regular skin care program and exfoliating is an important step. This dermafoliant is a powder that can be blended with water in the palm of your hand (about a nickel size). Use this thin paste to scrub the face in a circular motion, and then let it sit for a few minutes. This is a great time to brush teeth while it sits on the skin. Then wash away with warm water and pat skin dry.
As you can tell by now, anything that helps my teen get interested in hygeine and better skincare is a great idea to me. One such novel idea is an ionic skincare tool. The concept it to aid in cleaning by using either positive or negative ionic charges. The flat metal disk side goes against the soaped up skin on the positive ion setting to help draw out impurities such as dirt and dead skin. The negative ion setting is used after the face is clean and you want moisture and cream from your face cream to go back inside the skin. The ionic tool gives off a slight tingly feeling which wakes up the skin. It doesn’t hurt at all. If anything, it helps circulate the blood and give skin a fresh appearance. Again anything to combat teen acne is a bonus in my book and using ions to help do the job is a great idea!
This tool is available on Amazon here.
Mom, don’t be so lame. Snoopy thermos containers are so not cool. This solid color KUUK thermos may be lacking a cartoon character, but it offers amazing insulation power. You can heat up some soup or chili for your child early in the morning and it will still be pipping hot by lunch. What a nice way to send a warm meal on a chilly day – it’s like a big hug! (Plus, all the other kids will be like, “Oooh…” (saddy face) “All I got was a soggy PB&J.”
Lunch Bags
If you’re going to give your kid a thermos, make sure they have bags to accomodate! I love these neoprene lunch bags because they are lightweight and super easy to clean!
The kids are back to school which means they are probably eatting more processed snacks due to the contraints of refridgeration for school lunches, and then sneaking in extra treats like birthday cupcakes, gummies, etc. Combat that extra junk by adding more fiber to your child’s diet in addition to fresh fruits and veggies at home. A great fiber supplement is by OmniGreen Labs. It’s a tasteless, odorless fiber that dissolves into liquid quickly. Your child won’t even know that you’ve added some to their juice, water or tea! Healthy intestinal health is a key to overall health, so sneak some in or you could always just tell them. You’re going to eat it and like it!
OmniGreen Labs supplement is available on Amazon here.
The items listed above are items that I have been given to review previously, however I like them so much I am recommending them again. I was not compensated for this review. All opinions and experiences with these products are that of my own.
There are always endless things to clean and fix around my house. The yard needs constant maintenance as we live under a giant Torrey Pine that rains pine needles and sap upon us. My daughter and her friends are in and out of the house…
As a San Diego Native, I visited the San Diego Zoo on a regular basis while growing up and I’m lucky enough to say that my daughter has had the same benefit. The San Diego Zoo has grown and improved dramatically since I was a…
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“Here, want some fruit?”, I’ll offer. Not much of a consolation prize.
Thankfully, I have just been introduced to Paka Baking Mixes. They offer a large variety of healthier alternative dessert mixes that are low in sugar, high in protein and high in fiber. Some of the baking mixes are gluten-free as well!
*This article has affiliate revenue sharing links in it.
I’ve just baked up a batch of their Cookies & Cream Brownies and they were a hit! In fact, I had to hide the tray of brownies as my gluten-eating friends were devouring them and I wanted to make sure there were some left for my gluten-free peeps!
The Paka Baking Cookies & Cream Brownie Mix is a gluten free, brownie loaded with 6 grams of fiber and 5 grams of protein. The delicious taste of cookies and cream can be served warm and fresh with only 4 net carbs per serving. Each 12.2 oz. box makes 16 bars.
These brownies are also low in carbs as they use Kakato™ Sweetener. Whereas most baking mixes load up on sugar, Paka baking mixes uses Kakato™ sweetener as its sugar substitute. This allows for a teeth friendly, prebiotic, low glycemic index, and fiber sweetener sugar substitute to give you the sweetness you crave from sugar without all the negatives of sugar.
The brownies are easy to mix up and you’ll need two eggs, butter and some water. They bake in about 13-15 minutes max.
* This post is sponsored by Paka Baking Mixes but the content and opinions expressed are that of my own. There are also affiliate links in this article.
