just updating a bit!!

Well, it's been awhile since I blogged, so I'll divulge a bit. I began taking my prenatal yoga class a the Blue Anjou in Lewisville, and let me tell you...I'm loving it. The first class seemed a little boring and I didn't feel like I was really exercising, but as the weeks progressed, classes got a little more intense. I think I actually broke a sweat last week! The only thing that has been a bummer is that for the past 2 weeks, it's been rainy outside whenever I leave class and there's this music festival going on at exactly the same time as my class so I have to park far away. So I get a little wet walking to my car. Ah well, at least it's not cold and rainy. Another addition to my exercise routine is the amazing Wii Fit! That's right. We broke down and bought a Wii. I figured I could pay as much for a Wii as I could to continue this prenatal yoga class for another 12ish weeks, and this way I'll have Wii forever! It's a pretty cool program actually. It features yoga, aerobics, and strength training(with a trainer) and balance games. The thing I love the most is that there's a gauge on the screen that lets you know if you are balanced or not. It really helps with doing yoga at home, because if you aren't balanced, you really can do yourself more harm than good. I also really enjoy the aerobic works outs that include jogging on a virtual trail. Just last night I finished my first 10 minute jog! I normally LOVE to go outside and walk, but with being pregnant, I don't think I can handle the 95-100 degree heat like I use to :) So, Wii is definitely a worthwhile investment if you actually use it!

Last weekend, our baby furniture arrived and we went to pick it up. It's so freaking adorable!!
It looks amazing in our nursery! Once I get all of the packaging and crap out of the room and have it looking all pretty I'll post pictures. I've already begun organizing the abundance of clothing, toys, bath and body products and cloth diapers into each dresser, and now I just can't wait to find out the sex of the baby so I can start adding pink or blue clothing and accessories to the current yellow and green wardrobe! I do have to say though, the amount of packaging that went into making the furniture unbreakable during shipment is ridiculous! I have to fill up the back of my car twice just to get it hauled over to the recycling center! Not only that, but I had to throw away 2 huge trashcans full of non-recyclable foam padding. I cried a little for the environment. Well, at least the furniture is in good shape and I was able to recycle all of the cardboard, so that's good. The picture below is the Baby Cache Manhattan collection from Babies R Us.

Me at 17 weeks!! I know, I just woke up and look like poo, but I don't care.

I've been feeling MUCH better. I think I'm completely over the morning sickness now. Occasionally I'll feel a little queasy, but it quickly passes. I've also learned that coffee doesn't settle well with me anymore, so I've switched to black and red raspberry leaf tea. It's much nicer to my tummy. I haven't really had any ailments yet except for tailbone pain. Since I sit all day at work, my tailbone begins to ache. I guess this is a normal part of pregnancy? I've been propping myself up onto a blanket at work and that seems to be helping a lot. That's really about it though! My energy is returning and my appetite for fresh food has made it's comeback. The only thing I can't stomach preparing is raw chicken. The thought of it makes my stomach turn over. I've been telling Mark that I'll buy chicken if he will grill it or cook it, because I'm not touching the stuff!

Recently, Mark and I decided to invest in a HE washer and dryer. Afterall, we will be washing lots of diapers and using more water, so we figured this would be the best time to make the upgrade. We decided to purchase the HE Whirlpool Steam washer and dryer in sage green. We also added the pedestals which makes the washer and dryer taller. Perfect for the 5'9" woman that will be doing all the laundry! Yep that's me. I'm the laundry do-er in this household. I actually really enjoy doing laundry now! After a week of using these amazing pieces of machinery, I just want to keep doing more and more because it's so easy now! And, we're saving 70% more water and 73% more electricity! A lovely added bonus. I will be very grateful for this purchase when we begin to do laundry every day after the baby gets here.

It's summer, and it's farmer's market season. I never really took advantage of farmer's markets until this year. After doing a lot of research and realizing how important it is for the environment for consumers to support local businesses and farmers, buying local became almost a no-brainer. Granted, I don't buy everything local, but I'm getting better about it. I've been buying most of my beef from a local farm only 15 minutes from my house mainly because it's organic, grass fed and about 96% lean and close to my house which brings the cost way down, but then I also realized the economic impact I'm making. There is a little produce store in Denton, only about 8 miles from my house that I finally went into this evening. They featured some local, and some not so local produce, so I chose the local ones. Here's what I walked out with tonight..Texas grown:

zucchini
yellow squash
tomatoes
fresh black-eyed peas
basil
raisins
broccoli
snap peas

Everything was grown within the DFW area! I was pleasantly surprised at the freshness of each selection. They also carried some local eggs, but I just bought a bunch, so I won't be making that purchase until I need them. I don't know if any of this stuff was organic, but it sure looked fresh and didn't seem like it was treated like the produce you see in the store. The tomatoes had a redish greenish yellow cast to them (not all perfectly red like you see in the grocery store) and fresh black eyed peas!? I mean come on, where can you get those in any grocery store chain? I've decided that I'd rather buy local and maybe not organic(but usually local small farms are organic) than buy organic from a grocery store chain that could have organic apples flown in from chile, or organic grapes which are usually from mexico. My next feat is to find a local source for milk! I definitely buy organic milk, but I'd love to find some fresh local milk!

When I got home tonight, I made a nice fresh black eyed pea salad:
Sourced from http://southernfood.about.com

• 3 cups canned or cooked black-eyed peas (2 15-ounce cans, drained)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
• 1 small sweet red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• .
• Basil Dressing
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, or 1 teaspoon dried
• 2 to 3 medium cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup olive oil
• fresh basil or parsley for garnish

Preparation:

In a serving bowl combine black-eyed peas, 1/4 teaspoon salt, chopped onion, celery, and green pepper. Set aside.

In a small bowl or other container, whisk together the vinegar, basil, garlic, sugar, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Gradually whisk in the oil until the dressing is well blended. You can use a blender for this step, if desired.

In a medium bowl, combine the black-eyed peas, the chopped onion, celery, bell pepper, and basil dressing. Cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 2 hours or overnight. Serve with a garnish of fresh parsley or basil, if desired.
Serves 6.

I didn't let it marinate very long, because I wanted to dig in, but I'm sure the leftovers will taste even better tomorrow! That's all I got for today!!

The Story of Stuff

Anyone ever wonder what happens to our stuff when we don't need it anymore or get tired of it? Well, there's more to the picture than just throwing it in the trash and the dump truck coming by...This video is very capturing, and I think everyone will get something out of it! I know I did!

The Story of Stuff

Feeling better

It's been awhile since I last posted a blog. I just thought I'd have more to say if I wait longer between posts. Mark and I had our first midwife appointment about 2 weeks ago. We heard the heartbeat for the first time and it was so cool! It was beating at about 160...fast like a girl :) I really don't care what the sex of the baby is, just as long as it's healthy, but it would be cool if it was a girl since my sister and my sister in law just had baby boys last year. It's time for a girl! Mark is currently in the process of painting the baby's room a beautiful shade of robin's egg blue and a peachy apricot color. I think it will match the decor perfectly. Check out the no VOC paint that we bought: freshairechoice.com.

For the past 2 days I haven't been nauseous or thrown up once..so maybe this is the end of morning sickness? I sure hope so. I'm 14 weeks right now and this is the time that all the books and websites say that I should start to be feeling better. I have noticed that if I indulge my unhealthy cravings, I tend to end up feeling nauseous and throw up later on in the day. Maybe it's my body's way of telling me to eat healthy for the sake of the baby :) Not a bad thing! I have been having good cravings though too. I can't seem to eat enough fruit. And what a great season to be having fruit cravings! The nectarines and strawberries are so delicious right now. My mom's grapevines are at the peak of ripeness and next month is fig season. I've been lucky and found one ripe one the other day. It was darn tasty.

Starting Tuesday, I'm going to be taking a prenatal yoga class at Blue Anjou yoga studio in Lewisville. I haven't really exercised all that much since I got pregnant, partially because I've been so nauseous and partially because it's been so darn hot outside. My normal exercise routine included daily 30-45 min walks, and I could usually tolerate the heat pretty well, but since I'm pregnant, I figured it's not all that wise to be walking in 95-100 degree heat. I guess everyone knows by now that BellaRosa has officially closed. We had a long run...9.5 years to be exact, and while I'm a little sad that I'll never walk into that store again, I'm also relieved. Finally having only one job that will actually provide steady income has been something I've never really experienced before. It's always been BellaRosa plus one other job. I'm so grateful that I met Rachelle and she's been able to provide me with a great career and future career opportunities. Only working 35 hours a week instead of 50 should allow me to be able to attend a yoga class, childbirth classes and many other things that I've never given myself the time to do. I'll have my weekend back. Saturday and Sunday off!! I haven't had that luxury since I was 18.

Since this is a gluten free blog also, I thought I'd share a recipe that I'm going to make today. I've been craving coffee cake or cinnamon rolls for the past few days, but being gluten free means that I can't just run to the local Starbucks for coffee cake or the grocery store to pick up a container of cinnamon rolls (making them homemade is healthier anyway). Haven't tried this recipe yet, so we'll see what happens.

adapted from this recipe: heythattastesgood.com


Cinnamon Coffeecake Muffins
1 stick butter, softened
1 c brown sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 c GF flour mix (or, alternately, 2 c rice flour mix, 1 t baking powder, 1 t baking soda, 1 t xanthan gum)
1 t vanilla
1 c sour cream
Topping:
1/2 c brown sugar
2 t cinnamon
1/4 c nuts (of your choice, optional)

Beat butter and sugar, then add eggs. Mix in flour, then vanilla and sour cream, and beat until completely mixed. Scoop with an ice cream scoop or plop with spoons into a greased muffin tin, if you have extra, grease some ramekins and use those for the rest of the batter. Mix the topping ingredients, and sprinkle on top, then bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes, until they start to brown and a toothpick or thin knife inserted in comes out clean.

Well, that's all I got for today. Will blog more later!!

Whole Foods and the joy it brings!

Well, while my husband and I were out at Babies' "R" Us on Sunday, we decided since we were nearby Whole Foods (it's a good 40 minute drive from our house) that we would stop by and look around. With the way gas prices are now, it's not a trip I embark upon very often. Since going gluten free, I've realized that bread and baked goods are now something to be savoured. Going to the grocery store and picking up a two dollar loaf of bread is not a luxury we celiac's have. Since Whole Foods is the natural, organic mecca, I figured I'd go check out their Whole Foods brand gluten free baked goods section. Oh, the choices!! I browsed through the frozen section and found pizza crusts, banana bread, blueberry muffins, cheddar biscuits, and the best one of all, gluten free sourdough bread!! Just before I went gluten free I recieved a sourdough bread starter as a gift but had yet to use it because it contained wheat. I new for years that I had a wheat sensitivity, but always thought "well, a little won't hurt me," so I had every intention of using it with the thought that eventually the starter would be so watered down with the spelt flour that I had intended on using (also contains gluten) that the wheat would eventually be undetectable. Well, a few short weeks later, I decided to go gluten free (finally succumbing to the non-chalant gluten sensitivity diagnosis that I recieved 6 years prior) and that sourdough mix is still sitting in my pantry. Maybe I will give it back to the person who originally gave it to me! Boy was I happy to find gluten free sourdough bread already made. I thawed it in the refrigerator, and when it was room temperature, I began to slice a hunk off of the perfectly rounded loaf. It began to crumble, so I placed it on a plate and microwaved it for a few seconds. Instead of trying to piece the crumbs together to spread butter on it, I decided to dip the bite size morsels into some hummus. It definitely paled in comparison to a freshly baked loaf of gluten-filled sourdough, but turned out to be a nice substitute. I think I'll try my luck and bake my own sourdough next time instead of spending 6 dollars for a loaf. Does anyone have any recipes for gluten free sourdough bread?

The next purchase was the cheddar biscuits. I've actually had these before and they sort of taste like Red Lobster's cheddar biscuits. And finally, after craving pizza for weeks on end, my final indulgence was the pizza crusts. A crispy crust pizza topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni and veggies is exactly what the baby is needing right now (well, maybe not the baby, just me :) And my final selection of the day was Nancy's Organic cultured cottage cheese. .
I've always been a huge fan of yogurt and cultured products like sourdough bread, sauerkraut, kombucha tea, kefir and kimchee, so when I first discovered Nancy's Cottage cheese, I was filled with anticipation to try the tangy, sour treat. Now, I can find it at a local health foods store about 20 minutes from my house and at Sprouts, a local natural grocery store about 5 minutes from my work, so I never have to be without it again. As an added bonus, because live cultures help with digestion, and this cottage cheese is LOADED with live cultures, it seemed to help with my nausea a bit. I just eat a little before going to bed, and I feel great in the morning!

Another thing I've learned about gluten free products is that you have to pay good money to get convenience items like premade pizza crusts and bread. We left the store with the grand total of $23, where If I were to purchase mainstream goods at a regular grocery store, I could get out of there spending closer to $10 or $11. For this reason, I savour my gluten free goodies. Now I just need to learn to rely on my own baking abilities rather than on packaged goods.

Random stuff

So, yesterday was an okay day. I woke up with every intention of cleaning the house from top to bottom, but around 1pm, after having put away all the laundry and cleaning our bedroom, the nausea came again. I jumped in the shower and decided to rest for a bit. My husband and I put on the new Family Guy movie (which, by the way was pretty dumb, and I typically love family guy). After it was over, my tummy felt better. Yay! So, Mark and I decided to drive to Frisco to shop for the baby. We had no intention of buying anything, but we have not been able to agree on any baby room decor until yesterday. We drove to Babies' "R" Us and found the perfect bedding and decor, but with it came a hefty price tag. the photo to the left is what we decided on. It's the Bali collection by Cocalo Couture. I was so nervous about picking out paint colors before we had decided on what the decor would look like, but I was too excited to wait, and magically, the paint we chose matches perfectly. By the way, we chose Freshaire paint from Home Depot because it is zero VOC. While the rest of our house is painted in paint that contains VOC's (because I was unaware of their dangers until just recently), I decided that we should chose as non toxic an environment for our little tot as possible. Well. I gotta run to work. I'll probably write a little more later, I just don't have time right now ;)

Welcome to my blog

I've been a member of Myspace since early 2005 and have blogged there a few times, but since my brother became a TV star, I've been bombarded with friend requests from his fans. At first, I would reject the friend requests, but after several days of receiving 3, 4 requests at a time, I gave in and accepted them. Since then I haven't really gotten personal in my blogs. I thought I'd create a new blog page that is completely separate from Myspace...where I can share my thoughts and not worry about who is reading them.

In this blog, I am mainly going to talk about natural living, gluten free cooking, pregnancy and motherhood. This is what my life is mainly focused on right now. I will share tips on natural cleaning products and recipes, gluten free recipes as well as divulge what I experience in my current pregnancy. Maybe I'll get a little more personal. I haven't decided yet.

My name is Stacey Bone. I live in Oak Point, TX with my husband, Mark. We have a golden retriever/lab mix named Piper who is a sweetheart but can be a big pain in our asses at times. We haven't decided yet whether we'll keep her when the baby gets here. We are currently 11 weeks pregnant with our first child and we are very excited to bring our little tater tot into this world. Oh by the way, I own a ladies' clothing boutique with my mom and sister called BellaRosa. We've been open for 9 years now and enjoy the experience of working together. I also work for the very talented jewelry designer, Rachelle Dauphinee as a jewelry maker. I've been making jewelry since I was about 13 and I am so grateful for the opportunity to make a career out of it.

This pregnancy has certainly been a learning experience for me. While I am only 11 weeks and haven't seen the baby or heard the heartbeat yet, I am certainly aware of it's presence. The nausea and vomiting are true signs that I am sharing my body with another being. I have good days and bad days. Yesterday was a bad day. I woke up, ate some eggs and toast, but shortly after that, up it came. Not the most pleasant feeling in the world. I thought I was doing okay until I got to work, and ate lunch. I felt pretty nauseous after eating, but managed to keep it all down. Then came dinner time. I never realized what a chore eating was!. I ate some gluten free rice pasta with smart balance and salt and pepper. An hour later, the nausea came again, and there I was, bowing to the porcelain god for the second time that day. My husband was heading out to get some fast food (since I haven't cooked in, ohh about 7 weeks) and I asked him to get me a shake with butterfinger. For some reason, sugar and milk sounded tolerable. Boy was I right. It stayed down no problem.

I always criticized pregnant women for eating junk food during their pregnancy, but now that I am in the same position, I certainly understand how they feel. Sometimes you just gotta eat what sounds good and will stay down. Now, that's not to say that I eat milkshakes all the time. I certainly do my very best to eat healthy and balanced, but in the first trimester, it's all about eating what will stay down, and I have to keep reminding myself that. It doesn't do any good to choke down steamed chicken and salad when it sounds repulsive to you and you know you'll throw it up later. I've also learned that if I'm nauseous but need to eat, to make sure I eat something that won't taste horrible coming back up.

Some foods that don't taste bad if they don't stay down:
fruit smoothies
fresh fruit
tea
bland rice or pasta
umm..anything bland.

throwing up lentil soup, doritos, salad and fried eggs are 10 times worse then throwing up fruit smoothies. Now that I've grossed everyone out a bit, I'll move on to the good parts of pregnancy.
So far, even though I can't physically see or hear the baby, I know it's there and want to do my best to nourish it. Having severe allergies during pregnancy is not so pleasant. So, drugs are a last resort. I have taken a benadryl here and there for my worst symptoms, but my body certainly surprises me at times because I get through the day without taking anything and I know it's better for my child. Being pregnant has opened my eyes and made me realize that there are a lot of decisions to be made about childbirth, vaccinations and breastfeeding. I've bought so many books and read so much already because I want the very best experience possible for both me and my child. I've decided to have the baby at a birthing center with a midwife rather than a hospital. Some people may balk and criticize my decision, but I know that it is the best choice for us. I've interviewed a doctor and two midwives already and the midwives agree more with me on birthing choices.

Well, that's all that I can write today. Hopefully I'll sit down tomorrow and write some more!