Review-Match DNA Certified Organic Matcha Tea

I was sent this bag of powdered organic match green tea. If you are a green tea drinker, or just a tea drinker in general you need to try this stuff! It's packed full of good stuff for ya!

"One glass of MatchaDNA™ may be the equivalent of 10 glasses of green tea in terms of its nutritional value and antioxidant content." Wow, that's a lot of antioxidants in one glass! The cool thing is the package comes with 34 smaller packets that are easy to open and poor into hot water for a hot glass of tea. I like to sweeten mine with just a bit with sugar. Not into hot tea? Add a packet or even two to a shake. I add one to my vanilla protein shake and although the color looks a bit weird you can barely taste the tea.

Here is a picture of the packet.

 

 Making hot tea!

 

 

The nice thing about this powder (not sure if you can tell by the pic) is that is dissolves easily. I've had trouble with different drink powders clumping on me big time but the matcha tea is very fine and mixes easily. My first taste was earthy before I added the sugar. I got a bit of a minty hint as well. My daughters 3 and 5 also tasted it and said they liked it even though they don't like hot drinks. It does come out pretty green but don't let that scare you away, it isn't Starbucks packed full of calories.

 

Need a  boost of energy? It will give you a natural kick without the energy drink or coffee "hangover" later.

 

Want to check out Matcha tea for yourself? Go HERE 

Amazon is also a good place to buy it, they usually have a great deal. Amazon link



Fashion and Makeup by the Husband

My husband got to do my makeup and dress me today. I thought this would be a hilarious post and I would end of looking like a clown but he actually did a great job. Funny thing is I can walk out the door like this!

 

This is what he could choose from. I did tell him what everything was used for but I didn't tell him how to do it.

 

The end result. He went for a very natural look. Eyeliner just on the top lid and no eye shadow. Not blended in from face to neck very well but otherwise I'd give it an A.

 

And this is the outfit he picked out for me. Boring but easy and casual. I'd give it an A too. I had just washed my hair, so he wanted it down and natural. Good job babe!

Have you ever let your husband do your makeup or pick out your clothes? You should sometime its pretty hilarious. If you have, or if you do please send me a link, I'd love to see it!

Happy Birthday Hubby!

Well today is a very special day, its my husband's birthday! Birthday's are always the day to celebrate the life of a person and I just want to dedicate this post to the love of my life.

10 Reasons I love him

 

1. He is ridiculously patient

2. He has a great sense of humor, always knows how to make me smile

3. He is pretty darn handsome! Looks 10 years younger than he is

4. He works hard, at home, at work, at play

5. He has great hygiene, keeps himself shaved and smelling nice

6. He is caring, treats me like a princess

7. He is mentally, emotionally and physically strong

8. He's gentle as a lamb, but still a trained killer.

9. He is a great survivalist. Definitely my first choice for a zombie apocalypse partner!

10. He is one of the most unselfish people I know. He would give you the shirt off his back.

 

 

So, a little history on the hubs. (Since this is a public blog I don't want to reveal too much personal info) Basically, around 6 years ago he came home from the war in Iraq to find he had been stripped away of his things, his money and his beautiful children. After coming back from a place where bullets whizzed past your head, people got blown up in front of you and you faced extreme danger every day, only to find you had nothing left...many men would have taken their life. But my husband held on. He stayed alive and sane to be there for his children. If he was gone who would fight for them? I met him a short while later and we fell in love. I am so blessed to have him as mine!

 

 

 

It's not always easy having a blended family, his 4 boys, my girl and our daughter together. There are many challenges, but many joys also. I'm glad to have such a perfect mate by my side as we progress through this journey together. Occasionally, after all the bills are paid for the month we barely have enough food. I've seen him skip meals just so the kids could have full bellies. How many men would do that for their children? Not many. He (and we) continue to fight for our children, meeting near impossible challenges head on. We don't do only free things, don't go on vacations, don't buy anything but necessities but eventually it will be worth it.

 

 

 

Our oldest, Bryan has been with us since we met. He went through some troubled teen years but with Steven's love, guidance and support he made it through high school, got a job and is heading off to Marine Corps boot camp in the near future. All our boys consider Steven their hero, and that makes my heart swell with pride.

 

 

 

Recently, someone called my husband a coward. Of course he just brushed it off, like the easy-going man he is. I on the other hand was infuriated. How could someone call my husband a coward? He has been through wars and seen and experienced things very few people could even imagine. There is not a cowardly bone in his body. But then I got to thinking. This person is just calling names because they are so dissatisfied with their own life and so jealous of the great man Steven is. This person has accomplished nothing in their life, lives off of several baby's daddy's child support checks, collects welfare, lives rent free and has contributed nothing to their family. This person has never had to work, been handed everything on a silver spoon, or played the victim enough to get what they wanted. I then had to just laugh at the accusation. It was just too silly, they wouldn't last an hour in bootcamp, even airforce bootcamp (haha can you tell I'm a Marine brat?) let alone set foot in a combat zone without running home with their tail tucked behind them crying for mommy.

 

Anyway, I kind of went off on a rabbit trail there. My point being that Steven is one of the greatest people I know and I can't wait until the day where I have enough money to buy him all the nice things he deserves.

 

Happy Birthday my love, and here's hoping to many more!



Serenity's First Day of School

Wow this post has been long overdue! I've just been physically and emotionally tired lately. I may be getting surgery on my shoulder in the near future...its been giving me terrible pain. I do however have several reviews and a giveaway in the works so stay tuned! Anyway enough about myself.

Serenity is now attending Kindergarten! I cannot believe she has grown so fast. Time just flies by when you have children. She has been excited for while to start school and bugged me almost all of July asking if school was starting yet. We went to her open house the Friday before school started and she got to meet her teacher and see her classroom.

The first day of school I walked her to her class and kind of lingered to make sure she was ok. She told me "Ok mom you can go know, I'll see you later." I have to admit there were a few tears in my eyes as I walked back to my truck.

I realized later after I took this pic that I misspelled Kindergarten lol! I blame it on the emotion of the day haha!

Another funny thing that happened that day was the lunch I sent with her to school. I packed a sandwich, carrot sticks, a juice box, cookies and one of those applesauces that come in a pouch. She came home with the applesauce and I asked her why she didn't eat it. She replied that she was a big girl now and those were for babies. I cracked up but it was also sad because she is so grown up now.

Moms, cherish every minute with your children...they go by so fast!

Quick Chicken Parmesan

I looove Chicken Parmesan. It's one of my favourite Italian dishes. Here is my quick version.

Ingredients

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 eggs
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
salt
pepper
1 tsp. basil
1/4 tablespoon garlic powder
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese
Box of spaghetti noodles
Jar of marinara sauce (I love Emerils, its to die for!)

1. Place chicken breasts between two sheets of wax paper and beat with wooden mallet. I don't have one so I used a wine bottle. (While you are messing with the chicken, preheat your oven to 350, and start your water boiling for the noodles)

2. Beat egg in one bowl. Add bread crumbs, spices and parmesan cheese in another. Stir well.

3. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in saucepan over medium/high heat. Make an assembly line like pictured above. Dip breasts in egg, making sure they are completely covered. Dredge in bread crumb mixture, completely coating chicken. Then place in saucepan.

 

 

4. Cook until lightly browned, then flip over and cook other side until lightly browned. Remove from heat. Chicken will not be completely cooked, you are just searing it to hold in the juices.

 

5. Pour marinara sauce into casserole dish. Nestle chicken into the sauce. Cover with mozzarella. Cook at 350 for 20 minutes or until cheese on top is bubbly and chicken is cooked through.

 

 



Crockpot Sesame Chicken and Fried Rice

I can make almost any food taste amazing but for some reason I have a problem with Chinese food. It is the bane of my cooking existence. I've tried making crab ragoon, cabbage rolls and egg rolls. They all turned out as flops and my hubby told me to stay away from cooking Chinese food. Buuuut I am not one to back down from a challenge! Here is one of my few successful Chinese meals.

Crockpot Sesame Chicken

Ingredients
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
4 tablespoons tomato puree
2 tsp. sesame oil
3tsp. corn starch
1/4 cup water
toasted sesame seeds

1. Start by laying chicken in the bottom of the slow cooker.
2. Mix all ingredients except for water and corn starch and pour over chicken.

 

3. Cook on low 4-6 hours, turning once or twice to make sure chicken is cooking evenly.
4. Remove chicken and shred in separate bowl. Stir together the corn starch and water then add this mixture to the sauce in the crockpot. Stir well. Return chicken to crockpot and mix evenly with sauce. Add as much sesame seeds as desired.

Fried Rice

 

 

 

Ingredients

 

3 cups cooked rice (leftover, day old rice works best)



 3 tablespoons sesame oil

2 tsp. garlic

1 cup peas and carrots (I use the can but you can use frozen thawed also)

Rest of the onion, chopped

2 eggs slightly beaten

1/4 cup soy sauce

 

 

1. Start by heating the sesame oil over medium high. Saute onion, garlic, peas and carrots until tender.

 

 

 



2. Add in rice (I used brown rice which is why it looks brown) and cook on medium low until warmed and soft.

 

 

3. Push rice mixture to the side and add the eggs in one side of the pan.

 

 

4. Cook egg then stir everything together.

 

 

CHINESE FOOD SUCESS!

Parental Alienation

This is not the type of post I usually put on this blog,  but this is something we are dealing with right now. I've done hours of research on this topic and didn't want to let it go to waste. Its a long read but hopefully it will help someone in a similar situation as ours. (By the way I got an "A" on this paper in my Advanced Comp class) Woot woot! I'll have another post coming soon that will tell our story.

The Effects of Parental Alienation on Children of Divorce

 

     What is Parental Alienation? Probably not a term most people have heard unless they have

dealt with a nasty custody battle. After a divorce, when one parent seeks to keep his or her child

or children from the other parent by any means necessary, it is called parental alienation.

Parental Alienation Syndrome or PAS can also be described as brainwashing a child into

thinking one parent is good and one is bad. This behaviour is detrimental to a child and some

consider it abuse. It must be recognized by all as abuse, punished and stopped before any more

children are hurt. Despite opposition, PA cannot be allowed to continue for the sake of children

everywhere.

     Michael Bone and Michael Walsh, in an article written for the Florida Bar Journal, give four

main criteria to use in detecting PAS. One or all of these criteria may be present. Criteria one

involves blocking the child from access to the absent parent. This may involve restricting phone

time, intercepting mail, taking away gifts sent to the child or more. In court the guilty party may

argue that they are a better parent, have better parental judgement and visiting the absent parent

upsets the children or they have a hard time adjusting when they come home. Criteria two involves

false allegations. These are most commonly allegations of abuse, especially sexual abuse. An

alienating parent may also accuse the other parent of emotional abuse, this is usually over a simple

parenting disagreement. For example, one parent may let the child stay up late once or twice and the

alienating parent says this is detrimental to the child’s health. Criteria three involves a decline in

relationship between child and alienated parent after the divorce. If there was a good relationship

prior to separation, and it suddenly declines this is a sure sign. A healthy parent/child relationship

does not just change on its own unless it is attacked. Criteria four involves a fear reaction by the

child. The alienating parent may “punish” the child for talking favourably about the absent parent or

expressing excitement about visitation with the absent parent. The parent may also shut the child up if

they want to talk about fun things they did at absent parent’s house. Contrarily, the alienating parent

will be all ears if the child has something negative to say about the other parent. Over a fairly short

amount of time the child may start to show fear of visiting the absent parent and/or say only negative

things about them (Bone and Walsh 44).

     If a child is subject to PA, the alienating parent should immediately be punished. It isn’t always

that easy though. There are only a few cases where PA is punished. This is because there is

some major opposition. While many experts have proven the existence of PA, the American

Psychology Association refuses to classify it as a mental disorder or even acknowledge it in their

manual of mental illnesses. They believe it is a relationship issue and not a “Syndrome” or

 illness. A major argument against recognizing PAS in courts is the fact that an abusive parent

will sometimes accuse the other parent of PA to take the attention off his or her abusive

 behaviour. David Cary, in an article in the Boston Globe, includes a quote from the National

Organization of Women, ‘‘The truth is that parental alienation really is a dangerous and cleverly

marketed legal strategy that has caused much harm to victims of abuse.’’ Not all women feel this

way, but since most of the perpetrators of PA are women, many of them do. Another argument is

 that proving PA in court is not financially worth it since attorneys can charge more billable

hours, and an expert witness has to be paid as well. If PA is recognized as a crime it opens the

 door for false allegations and/or punishing the innocent, as with any crime.

    We must realize, however, that PA is extremely detrimental to a child and some consider it

 abuse. “Any attempt at alienating the children from the other parent should be seen as a direct

and willful violation of one of the prime duties of parenthood.” (Bones and Wash 44) Anna

Lavadera, Stefano Ferrcuti and Marisa Togliatti, professors at the University of Rome, in Italy,

 did a study on how PAS affected children. They studied 12 psychological reports where PAS had

been diagnosed. They also studied 12 reports where there was no PAS diagnosis. Their results

 found that the alienating parent was always the one who had the most custody. They also found

that the children diagnosed with PAS had identity problems and showed manipulative tendencies

 (Lavadara, Ferracuti and Togliatti 1) Amy Baker and Naomi Ben-Ami did a study on 118 adults

who had been children of divorce. Those who had been subjected to alienation strategies were

 found to have lower self-esteem, higher rates of depression, insecure attachments and in some a

higher rate of alcohol abuse (Baker and Ben-Ami 1). They also found that parents who

 constantly made negative remarks to the child about the targeted parent lowered the child’s self-

esteem dramatically. The child translated these negative remarks into the idea that if one parent

 is bad, he or she must be half bad because they were half of their parent (Baker and Ben-Ami 3).

Many alienating parents or even divorced parents make nasty remarks about the other parent

 thinking they may turn the child against the other parent. In reality, all they are doing is tearing

that child down.

     One would think after hearing the effects of PA, people would take it more seriously The

problem of PAS is a hard one to solve since some professionals deny it even exists. The first step

in helping the victims of PA would be to have it recognized as a clear form of child abuse. Once

it has been established as a real problem by both psychologists and legal professionals alike, it

 will be easier to diagnose and then prove in court. Brainwashing happens over time, so early

diagnosis of PA is important. Immediate judicial action can then stop it in its tracks. Some may

 think 50/50 custody is the only solution needed. While equal custody is the right idea and should

be implemented, alone, it is not likely to stop the alienating parent from their actions. There

 needs to be consequences enforced as well. “It is our feeling that when attempted PA has been

identified, successful or not, it will contaminate and quietly control all other parenting issues and

 then lead only to unhappiness, frustration and, lastly, parental estrangement.” (Bones and Walsh

44) PA and bona fide abuse must also be differentiated from each other. A good indicator of Pa

 versus abuse is to take a look at how the parents respond to bringing in a neutral examiner. A

parent who is guilty of PA will usually be unwilling to cooperate; the same with  a truly abusive

 parent. One difference between the two, however, is that an Alienator will be willing to bring in

their own examiner who has only had a chance to speak with them and not the other parent. An

 abusive parent will be unwilling for any examiner to be brought in for fear their abusive

behaviour may be found out. (Gardner 100)

      It must be concluded that first of all, Parental Alienation is a serious matter; it needs to be

recognized as a genuine syndrome, and the perpetrator swiftly punished for his or her crime. PA

 causes devastating effects on children and their alienated parent, and while there is a margin for

error in diagnosing or convicting, the harmful effects simply outweigh everything else.

  

Works Cited

Ben-Ami, Naomi, and L. "The Long-Term Correlates Of Childhood Exposure To Parental        Alienation On Adult Self-Sufficiency And Well-Being." American Journal Of Family Therapy 40.2 (2012): 169-183. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 21 July 2013.

Bone, Michael J., and Walsh, Michael R. “Parental Alienation Syndrome: How to Detect It and What to Do About It.” The Florida Bar Journal Vol. 73 (1999): pg. 44-48. Web. 20 July 2013

Crary, David. “Psychiatric Group: Parental Alienation no disorder” Boston.com, 21 September 2012. Web. 31 July 2013

Gardner, Richard A. "Differentiating Between Parental Alienation Syndrome And Bona Fide Abuse-Neglect." American Journal Of Family Therapy 27.2 (1999): 97. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. Web. 3 Aug. 2013.

 Lavadera Lubrano, Anna, and Ferracuti, Stefano, and Malagoli Togliatti, Marisa, Parental Alienation Syndrome in Italian legal judgments: An exploratory study, International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, Volume 35, Issue 4, July–August 2012, Pages 334-342, ISSN 0160-2527

Lowenstein, Ludwig F. "Attachment Theory And Parental Alienation." Journal Of Divorce & Remarriage 51.3 (2010): 157-168. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 20 July 2013.

Morrison, SL et al. "Parental Alienation, DSM-V, And ICD-11." American Journal Of Family     Therapy 38.2 (2010): 76-187. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 21 July 2013.