OPERATION : NO CAFFEINATED COFFEE

About a month ago I posted this in my Instagram stories with loads of private replies, so I then posted it in my feed, again with loads of comments, and promised to write a post on how it was all going - the no coffee thing and what I was replacing it with.

Now the reason behind this was because there was a period of a few weeks where Taj's sleep was rough as guts and I wasn't coping the best ever. So instead of my decaf I asked B to make me his (regular, organic, caffeinated) coffee one morning (still Bulletproof style of course). And oh-my-holy-diggity-dang it was soooooo delicious! So it crept in daily again, and then maybe a second one (straight up black or iced) at lunch time... and it took me a while to notice it but two things happened:

AN IMMUNE SUPPORTIVE HOT CHOCCIE THAT TASTES LIKE CHRISTMAS

Recently I got sick. Yep true story. And it had been so long since I was previously sick that I honestly couldn't remember when it was... even with a huge house move from Cairns, pregnancy, birth, post-partum, and 18 months with little Taj (who had also never been sick til a couple weeks ago). I pride myself on never getting sick but I suppose as a parent, the lack of proper uninterrupted sleep is enough to have you catching something when it's going around. And the worse bit, you can't sleep it off with a mini human needing you.

So, on top of all dietary and supplemental protocols I had myself on, this was a deliciously comforting, warm and deeply nourishing drink I made and looked forward to drinking ~ AND it was helping my immune system with every sip!

WHOLE FOODS NUTRITION FOR MY 15-MONTHS BABY

When Taj started wanting foods early on, and as Taj has moved from pureed foods to mashed foods to finger foods, I have always given him the foods Brock and I eat. We don't sit down to steak and roast veg and feed him fish fingers and potato chips. Taj is a little human. HUMAN. So his nutritional needs are the same a big humans (in fact he needs better nutrition and more nutrients as he is growing at such a phenomenal rate). I'm not talking macros, micros, calories and so on. I'm talking REAL FOOD. He needs real food to thrive just as I do. And that's exactly what I feed him. So after my last blog outlining what and how I started feeding Taj from 6 months of age, I wanted to dive deeper and share what I'm doing with him now that he is almost 15 months young.

I once read that what a pregnant woman eats whilst pregnant has a huge impact on the growing child in terms of their tastebuds during their lifetime (of course we know what mama eats impacts bubba directly for many reasons, but tastebuds was a new thing to me). Essentially I recall this study presenting facts to show that the wider range of TASTES mama eats whilst pregnant will mean bubba is likely to eat a wide range also. When I was pregnant I was sure to eat sweet, salty, bitter, sour, meaty, fermented and so on... and besides being an already wholefood-eating-family, I feel this has made a big impact on the fact that Taj has always been an incredible little eater.

GOOD OLD FASHIONED BABY FOODS TO NOURISH YOUR CHILD

Before I had Taj I'm sure I had my own ideas and preferences around what I would or would not feed my child. But as I have found, yes feeding a small human is straight forward and simple, but it is also challenging, time consuming, and frustrating at times. In the early days of Taj eating I would so often actually forget about making food for him. I'd cook, sit down in a tired heap, put dinner down for Brock and I, only to look at Taj and think "oh fuck I've got nothing for him!" 😣Which I honestly think is why he is such a good eater now and always has been - because I've always given him what we eat (he has also always been an exceptional breast feeder... no doubt trying to survive if mum forgets to feed him 😂)

3 SIMPLE FOODS FOR GUT + IMMUNE HEALTH THIS WINTER

These are actually some of my favourite gut healing foods of all time. But I wanted to mention them here especially on the cusp of Winter beginning as it seems to be the time we all jump into health practices again if we've let them slide. So these three can definitely be added back into your routine now as well.

Why amp up your gut now though? Well if you've been living under a rock, you might not know that our gut health is directly linked to our immune health, and Winter is often when our immune health takes a hit and the nasty colds, flu, snotty, drippy noses come in. So as PREVENTION is my jam (and treating issues and illness comes second) I'm gonna share with you all my fav foodie things to boost your immune system, ward off nasties, protect your gut, and improve the health of your entire system all in one! I also recommend increasing your intake of these foods should you happen to come down with anything over Winter. How's that for a win-win-win-win 😉

ANZAC COOKIES. ANZAC STYLE

I was trying to come up with a banging heading of sorts alluding to the fact that these are in no way health-ified as most of my recipes are... "No sugar coating here" (the irony being they're full of the stuff so that didn't really work) was one and then I kinda gave up knowing I'd get nowhere with what would only make me chuckle. So instead, Anzac Cookies. Anzac Style. 

THE TOP 10 DOTERRA OILS AND HOW TO USE THEM

Since using doTERRA essential oils, as I'm in love with these little gems, naturally (like anything we are interested in) our knowledge of them grows as we want to learn more about them. So it may roll of my tongue when I tell someone all the things I could use Lavender oil for (as an example) but for a newbie (as I once was) it can seem overwhelming trying to remember it all.

So I thought, instead of just listing what you can use particular oils for, I've gone one step further to tell you HOW as well. Think of this as your go-to reference. Print it off even. Whatever gets you USING your oils instead of having them sit there, is what I am here to help you with.

NOURISH :: GUT HEALING GUMMIES RECIPE

Gummies. Jelly. Jello. Chewy cubes. Whatever you wanna call them, as an adult, these are way more exciting to eat than you may first think. They wobble and jiggle and you kinda have to be on your chewing game or else the slippery suckers can go all over the place in your mouth. They are super fun, super yum, and so damn healing for your gut! I don't know anyone who wouldn't be happy munching on a couple of these each day for their gut health which I why I love them!