It was until I was in my 20’s that I was diagnosed with asthma but when it happened, I was already a mom of 2, so naturally, I worried about my children having it as well.
Now that I am a mom of 5, I feel it is important to educate myself and others when it comes to health issues in children.
Here is a great infographic from FilterBuy.com to help better understand, recognize and control asthma symptoms in children.
I know I have said it before but I figured it was only right that I mention once again that around here, we like to eat. Since meeting Alex back in 2006, I have developed a new love for food, trying new things and even getting creative in the kitchen and coming up with our own dishes.
Most of the time when we are eating a meal, I have to have my Hidden Valley Ranch in a small bowl next to my plate for dipping. Seriously, I love to dip everything in ranch dressing and no, it’s not a Wisconsin thing. It started back when I was pregnant with Zack. Back then I used to only dip french fries in it but now I have graduated to sandwiches, burgers, onion rings, chicken nuggest, mozzarella sticks, veggies, and more!
Yes, it is very possible that I may have a problem.
Now that I am trying to eat better and lose weight, we have been creating new meals and of course, I’m still trying to get my ranch fix in there somehow.
Hidden Valley Ranch recently launched a line of new flavored ranch dressings, so we picked up a few bottles on our latest trip to Walmart.
I snagged a bottle of Avocado, Sweet Chili and Roasted Garlic because I figured I could find a way to incorporate each of them into a meal.
Our latest creation is Hidden Valley Roasted Garlic Ranch Meatballs and they were absolutely delicious!
I loved being able to satisfy my craving for ranch as well as coming up with a meal the whole family enjoyed.
You can recreate our Hidden Valley Roasted Garlic Ranch Meatballs in just a few simple steps.
First, you will need the following ingredients:
(We also made Spicy Sweet Chili Ranch Meatballs using the same recipe but just added 1/4 tsp. ground cayenne pepper and 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes).
To get started, measure out all of your ingredients in a mixing bowl.
After you have everything in the bowl, mix it together really well. Once it is all mixed together it should be nice and sticky.
Next, using a spoon, grab clumps of the mixture to roll into meatballs using your hands and place them on a broiler pan.
When you have all of your meatballs rolled set oven to broil (high if you have the option) and cook for 5 minutes and then flip and put them back in for another 5 minutes.
Before removing them from the oven, use a meat thermometer to make sure your internal temperature is at least 160°.
If the internal temp is correct, remove the meatballs from the oven and let cool for a few minutes.
Once they are done, drizzle with a little Hidden Valley Roasted Garlic Ranch and enjoy!
I’m already looking forward to making them again!
You can find all 5 of the new Hidden Valley Ranch flavors at Walmart.
Which flavor do you want to try?
Everyday I have at least one friend on Facebook who mentions they want to quit smoking or that they have tried to quit smoking and not had success. As someone who was a smoker, for a very long time, I know what it is like. I started smoking at a young age and didn’t quit until Christmas Eve in 2010 and have been smoke free since.
In the beginning, it was hard. I’m not going to lie. Smoking was something I did to curb food cravings, keep me occupied when I was bored as well as something I enjoyed doing when I was out at the bar with friends. These days I don’t miss it and I’m sorry I every subjected my family to it.
Now I know, there are all kinds of things out there to help you quit smoking and I tried most of them but never long enough to be successful. Although I didn’t have success with over-the-counter products, I think it is important for those who want to quit to know about all of their options and what they offer.
For me, I didn’t want to have to worry about slapping a patch on all the time, taking a pill or chewing gum so it was really hard to do and I constantly had nicotine cravings and let me tell you, nicotine gum….it did absolutely nothing for me.
Quitting smoking was not easy for me and I did struggle for a bit after I quit. I would smell someone else smoking and it would make me crave it. The first time I went out with friends after I quit, it was a struggle and I wanted to light up and I wish I would have had something to use that would get me through those moments. According to Alex I quit smoking on sheer willpower.
The nice thing these days is that there are so many more options available and I wanted to introduce you to a new product that can help curb those nicotine cravings!
Aqua-tine™ loves smokers and they are all about helping you relieve those tobacco cravings.
Aqua-tine™ is a homeopathic nicotine formula that comes in a small 2.4ml packet that you can mix with the drink of your choice (not recommended for use in alcohol or energy drinks) to temporarily relieve the symptoms of tobacco cravings, the beginning of trying to kick the habit.
Aqua-tine™ isn’t a smoking cessation aid, it is an OTC homeopathic drug that meets the FDA’s standards and is intended to relieve temporary tobacco craving where you cannot or choose not to smoke which makes it great to cut out those smoke breaks at work.
Now you may think that using Aqua-tine™ is the same as using an E-cig or vaping but it is not because it is a different, homeopathic solution and as an added bonus, Aqua-tine™ is discreet, odorless, airplane friendly, tasteless and best of all….carcinogen free!
For more information, be sure to check out the complete list of FAQs before using Aqua-tine™.
Aqua-tine™ is available 12 pack box for $6.95 or 40 pack box for $24.95
You can connect with Aqua-tine™ on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
I’m pretty sure if I wanted to, I could right an alphabet theme post like this almost daily. Now I know I don’t post a lot about me lately, but I figured since Zack had his appendectomy last week it was only fair that I share a little tale about me.
On Friday afternoon, in a complete state of chaos (which is our house on a regular basis) I slipped on a toy in our living room. Thanks to our lovely hardwood floors, I went down in the splits and came crashing down on my knee and hand/wrist.
When I first hit the ground I was in sooooo much pain and I was more worried about my knee then anything else. My knee is basically junk to begin with and it hurt so bad I was afraid to move.
To my surprise, when I did go to move, it wasn’t my knee that hurt. It was my wrist and hand.
This constant throbbing, shooting, OMG I just want it to go away pain.
I tried to sit and ice it for a bit and see if it would help the pain….but it didn’t.
So, I drove to the ER and had it checked out.
According to the X-rays, it’s not broken but the doctor said it could still be fractured and just not showing up on X-ray so in a splint my hand went.
So, this is my life this week. Trying to type and being basically useless around the house since it’s my left hand and I’m left-handed.
Now here I sit.
It still hurts, a lot and it is really hard to type but I am hopeful that it will be better very soon!
Our Wisconsin weather has been quite interesting this summer. We’ve had super hot and humid days where you can barely breathe when you walk outside, crazy rain and thunderstorms, and days and nights where it drops to the 50’s. These are the times when I have to remind myself that I live in Wisconsin and the weather is never normal here!
Before we moved into our current home, we rented a house for 5 years that didn’t have central air and was basically impossible to cool off in the summer. The house had hot water heat and the owners didn’t want to spend the money and invest in a AC unit with a company like Halo Heating & Cooling so we relied heavily on fans and 2 window units to try and cool our home. For the most part, we were able to make it work but there were days that it was just so bad that we had to go to my parents house and even spend the night there a few times.
One thing we were super happy to have in our new home is Central Air and it was really nice to have it when I was giant and pregnant with Joey in the summer of 2013. I’m pretty sure if we wouldn’t have had it or if it would have broke that summer that I would have killed someone!
We’ve not been in our home for almost 3 years and whenever we have those super hot days and really warm nights I am thankful that we have central air conditioning and that we can cool our entire home and keep everyone comfrotable.
Since we have little kids in our home, we have to keep the doors to most of the rooms closed throughout the day which means that those rooms are extra cool when you go into them.
Our AC unit is older and will need to be replaced in the next few years but until it stops working, we will continue to have it inspected and keep it going. When we do need to replace it, we will upgrade it to an energy efficient unit like we did with our furnace after it died on an ice cold moring in January of 2013.
Now that we have a home with a good HVAC system, we do our best to maintain it and change the filter regularly as well as have it inspected because it is important that we keep it in great working condition for our family.
Are you taking care of your HVAC system and having is inspected and cleaned regularly?
