For some of us, breastfeeding may come with a challenge or two in the
early days, but with the abundance of resources and products designed to help
make things easier, it doesn't have to be difficult.
Whether you are
breastfeeding, or you are looking for a gift for someone who is
about to start, here are five helpful breastfeeding products to add to
your shopping list:
Booby Tubes are a natural, safe, gel-free breast pack made with a 100%
organic cotton shell and filled with all-natural flax seed. Use warm or
cold, depending on your nursing needs.
Earth Mama Angel Baby's Natural Nipple Butter is a rich, organic cream, made with cocoa butter, shea
butter, mango butter and healing calendula. It's the first organic, all natural, plant-based balm created without
lanolin, so it's certified vegan too. It's safe for both nursing
mamas and babies - no need to wash it off before nursing - and it's
hospital recommended!
Bamboobino reusable nursing pads are made with bamboo fleece, these nursing pads are soft, smooth &
non-bulky. Don't be fooled by its thinness - they are more absorbent
than regular cotton nursing pad.
Earth Mama Angel Baby's Milkmaid Tea is USDA Certified 100%
Organic & Certified Kosher Milkmaid Tea is a fragrant and comforting
blend of organic herbs traditionally used to help support healthy
breast milk production.
Blended with traditional herbal galactagogues, including fennel,
fenugreek, anise seed and caraway seed, and mineral packed nettle and
red raspberry leaf, Milkmaid Tea helps keep breast milk flowing from
healthy mama to healthy baby.
The Peanut Shell® nursing coversare made of luxurious cotton
designer prints with accent piping, a scalloped edge, contoured shape
and an adjustable button clasp. They're made with a super-soft,
lightweight and breathable cotton fabric on the inside and is 100%
cotton, machine washable, adjustable, and features a quick-release neck
strap.Each Nursing Cover comes packaged with a FREE coordinating burp cloth!
OK, I know that I am not breaking any new ground by posting this
recipe—kale chips have been around for a very long time. But I wanted to
share this recipe with you because it's such a delicious and healthy
way to satisfy a craving for something crunchy and salty. I know there
are some of you who are turning your noses up at the idea of this...kale chips? YES!
Kale chips. You must try them. You will most definitely be surprised at
how good they are.
These kale chips are baked at a very low temperature until they turn into little bites of dehydrated, superfood goodness. The low temperature is essential to ensure they retain their vitamins and minerals—you know all the good stuff that makes kale a nutritional powerhouse.
Non-organic kale is listed in the dirty dozen list, so be sure to buy organic kale if you can. Kale chips can be flavoured in many ways, but my preference is with just a little bit of salt. So good.
Simple Kale Chips
Ingredients:
1 large bunch of kale
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
1. Preheat oven to 250ºF
2. Break the kale up into bite size pieces. Discard the stems and ribs.
3. Place kale in a colander and wash well. Shake out excess water.
4. Place kale in a large bowl and add olive oil. Using your hands, massage the oil onto the kale pieces.
5. Add salt and mix again.
6. Place parchment paper onto two baking sheets. Evenly divide the kale onto the two sheets and bake for 1 hour or until the kale becomes crispy.
One of my favourite things about the Internet is finding new recipes. Whether those recipes are found on one of the many amazing food blogs I like to visit or through Pinterest, the bottom line is: discovering new recipes, looking at drool-worthy food photography, and making them in my own kitchen makes me happy.
Here are a few recipes I recently discovered that can be whipped up really quickly, I hope you like them too!
Cookies for breakfast you say? I say yes, please :) The added bonus is that these nutritionist-approved breakfast cookies from Eat Whole Be Vital are super healthy for you!
We don't eat a lot of meat, but salmon makes an appearance on the meal plan every now and then. I like to find creative ways to serve it, because it's fish...fish and kids don't usually mix! The trick with my kids is the serve it in fish cake form and then it becomes a hit which is why I like these Thai Salmon Burger Sliders from A Peek Inside the Fishbowl.
A healthy recipe that can be made in my slow cooker is an instant win with me. This is why I like this Tortilla Soup from Life in Pleasantville. The recipe calls for chicken, but for us, I would omit it and add some extra veggies to make up the difference. Hungry yet?
I find it hard to come by a good gluten-free AND vegan muffin recipe that also happens to contain healthier ingredients. I've tried many gf/vegan muffin recipes and some have turned out great, while some...well, not so great. I came across this recipe on the Gluten-free Goddess website and it instantly caught my attention. The original recipe make a loaf, but on this particular day, I felt like making muffins.
I changed up the original recipe a bit, the major changes being that I use a healthier sweetener and I use less of it, I've also made the recipe vegan by replacing the eggs with flax eggs.
These muffins are nicely spiced, and go great with a nice cup of tea on a cool fall or wintery day. For those of you who are not used to gluten free baking, note that these muffins will turn out a little denser than wheat based muffins, but if you take a look at the image above, you will see that the texture is still great. These muffins have become a regular in my baking rotation and I hope you love them as much as I do!
3/4 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch or potato starch (not potato flour)
1/4 cup coconut flour or almond flour
1 cup organic sucanat
1 tablespoon arrowroot starch
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 flax eggs*
1/2 cup organic oil
1/2 cup of non-dairy milk (more as needed, up to 1 cup)
1 cup finely grated carrots
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional, but recommended)
* To make 2 flax eggs, whisk 2 tablespoons of ground flax seeds with 6 tablespoons of water. Let sit until it thickens.
1. Pre-heat oven to 350ºF.
2. Whisk the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl (everything up to the spices)
3. Mix the flax eggs, oil, and half cup of the dairy-free milk in a small bowl. Add to the dry ingredients and as you
beat the liquid ingredients into the dry mix, keep an eye on the batter.
It should be smooth and slightly thick, like a regular muffin batter. If it
is too stiff or dry, add in more dairy-free milk as needed, add small amounts at a
time to achieve a creamy-thick batter.
4. Stir in the grated carrots, raisins and nuts by hand and mix to
distribute. Scoop the batter into your muffin tin.
5. Bake in the centre of oven for 25-30 or until the muffins should feel firm to the
touch, and a wooden pick inserted into the center of the largest muffin
emerges clean.
6. Remove from the oven and set muffin tin on a wire rack to cool for about 10-minutes. After 10-minutes, remove muffins from tin and let cool completely on wire rack.
As you know, Nayla Natural Care is a small, family-run Canadian business, so when we come across similar companies, it's natural that we want to support them. I learned of Anointment Natural Skin Care quite a while ago and became very interested in carrying their products in my store. It was really a no-brainer, these products are truly top-notch. I love them and I think you will too!
Anointment Skin Care is based in Sackville, New Brunswick and run by a mom of 3, April MacKinnon. April has a passion for all things eco-friendly, natural, and healthy. Sounds familiar!
From the Anointment Natural Skin Care website:
"...we make our soaps and body care products in small batches, by hand, the
old fashioned way. This way, we can ensure product quality and attention
to detail. We use high quality certified organic ingredients. We grow
many of our own herbs and research each product extensively with
attention to the tiniest detail. We believe that beauty shouldn’t cost
your health, nor should it cost the environment. We believe you don’t
need to spend an hour in front of the mirror to be beautiful."
What's not to love about a company who cares so much about the products they manufacture?
At Nayla Natural Care, you will find the following Anointment products:
Belly Butter - An intense moisturizing lotion that contains soothing ingredients including Shea and cocoa butter
making it smell delightfully like chocolate. Simply scoop out a small amount, melt in your hands massage gently into your
skin.
Shea Butter Cream - Made with Shea butter which is renowned for its incredible moisturizing capacity. Shea butter is often
used to minimize the effects of aging and nourish the skin. This
moisturizing cream is recommended as a face, hand, and body cream and
even lends moisture to dry hair.
Skin Soothing Ointment - An all-purpose ointment containing skin
soothing herbs in a certified organic olive oil base. This ointment
generates exceptional feedback from individuals with extremely sensitive
skin. Protects against and relieves dry, cracked, chapped skin. Use on
minor cuts, scrapes, burns, bruises, sunburns, bug bites...you name it!
Have you tried one of these Anointment products? If so, let us know what you think!
As the holidays approach, it's important to get your orders in as soon as possible to ensure that your package is delivered to you on time. The following guidelines have been provided by Canada Post. Remember that these are only guidelines and delivery times may fluctuate slightly depending on where you are located.
These dates represent the latest time you can place your order at Nayla Natural Care to ensure timely delivery for the holidays:
Canada (Expedited) - December 10 Canada (Xpresspost) - December 19
USA (Expedited) - December 10 USA (Xpresspost) - December 17
International (Xpresspost) - Depending on where you are located, holiday delivery deadlines vary. Please contact us for more details.
Nayla Natural Care has carries excellent natural, organic and eco-friendly items, many of which would make great stocking stuffers! Below you will find a few of our favourites:
1. Sweet Leaf Bath Co. Chocolate Peppermint Soap - Mmm...chocolate peppermint...as tasty as this sounds, this fair trade organic treat is for your skin and not your tummy! Sweet Leaf Bath Co. soaps come in 6 different scents.
2. Hugo Naturals Holiday Cupcake Bath Bombs - Perfect for relaxing after a long day of holiday festivities, Hugo Naturals Cupcake Bath Bombs are a great stocking stuffer or would make a perfect teacher gift.
3. Badger Night Night and Sleep Balms - One for the kids and one for you! These soothing organic balms are enriched with calming essential oils to bring you and your little ones some zzz's
4. Crazy Rumors Lip Balms - Candy Cane Infused, Soda Pop, Citrus, Gum ball and Ice cream flavoured lip balms...there is a flavour to please everyone.
6. Urban Forest Shave Bars - Forget the aerosol can and choose a more natural and
eco-friendly shaving companion! Urban
Forest's lightly scented shave bars are handcrafted using only
natural ingredients and are great for both men and women.
8. BABYBEARSHOP Lip Balms - One of our favourites! BABYBEARSHOP lip balms come in 3 different flavours and each tin lasts a very long time.
9. Boon Benders - Boon Benders are great for the little ones on your list who are learning to feed themselves. Boon Benders come in 3 different colour combinations.
10. All Things Jill Body Butters - With cocoa and Shea butters as its base, these body butters come in 5 pleasing scents and will keep your skin moisturized throughout the cold winter and beyond.
Still can't decide? We also offer gift certificates! Please contact us if you have any questions about the products show above.
And be sure to check out our other gift suggestions:
or almond flour
