January 2013 Guest Blogger!

I'm very excited to have my first guest blogger. My sister! I couldn't think of a better person to guest  post first then my big sister. I used to follow her around everywhere, try on her makeup, and drive her crazy. I'm hoping to have a guest blogger every month to bring you something different and have different points of views. Enjoy!

"If you don't understand how a woman could both love her sister dearly and want to wring her neck at the same time, then you were probably an only child. " ~Linda Sunshine

Name: Laura Goodermont
Age: 37
Kids: 12 yr old son 6 yr old twin girls
Location: Southern California
How did you find Gina's blog: Sister’s blog
Links to Find Laura:
Blog: http://foodieandbaker.blogspot.com
Twitter: @lcrazymom3
Favorite quote: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel” – Maya Angelou

My name is Laura Goodermont and I am a single mom of three kids. I currently am a stay at home mom right now but will return back to the work force once my twins go to school full time. I do run a small cupcake business out of my house that I do part-time.

I’m approaching 38 and its right around the corner. And the issue of health has been my goal to focus on the last couple of years. It’s been a very slow progression and I have learned a lot by reading certain articles, watching documentaries, and learning from health experts and doctors on TV. My first step to living a healthier lifestyle was to completely change my diet for good and become a full vegetarian. Now I know most of you are probably either rolling your eyes or scrunching up your nose but this was a decision I was ready for in my life. I just couldn’t close my eyes and stay naïve of what I was putting into my body anymore and what that process was. I also started making the effort into buying more organic foods such as eggs, milk, and produce. Yes it can be expensive but you would be surprised in how many times I’ve bought organic items on sale or even found some at the .99 store.

In addition to committing to vegetarianism and veganism (no I’m not a fully committed Vegan-yet). I also started hearing things like staying active will help keep you young and help you to live a longer healthier life. As I’ve become a little bit older I now look at eating right and exercise not as a way to lose weight but as a healthier happier me.

No it is absolutely not easy at all. After all I’m a foodie and a baker! Making the effort to plan meals, portion control, and exercise every day is really hard. I’ll be the first to admit that. But as being a mom of twin girls I want to set a good healthy example for them. And I want to stick around for all my kids as long as my body will last. But you have to take care of your body just like you take care of your children’s. That in itself can be a very hard thing to do for us mothers I know.

Currently my goal is to lose 40lbs. I’ve lost around 18lbs and so excited about being almost half way there. So here’s what I’m doing. I use a phone app called MyFitnessPal which helps to keep track of how many calories I eat each day, your activity (exercise), and weight tracker. I also fell in love with Zumba over a year ago and I currently just started the Zumba fitness connect on Xbox. This is great because it keeps track or your daily progress, how many minutes you work out, and the calories burned. In addition to that I take natural supplements. I use the Vegan Sport recovery drink (right after my hard workouts) and potassium for my muscles. I also take a multi vitamin, cinnamon (which helps supports sugar and fat metabolism), and Green Coffee Bean with Svetol (supports weight control). I just started taking this strict supplement regime and hope that it aids in my weight loss. Oh also forgot I’ve cut down on drinking. I try to only have a few cocktails for weekends only. I know this helps a lot with the puffiness and water retention.

I also want to mention that I’m no expert and my weight loss is a slow and hopefully permanent life style change. I’m a large woman of almost 6ft tall and like most women have gone through major body changes after having three kids (especially twins-yikes).

I’m going to include a healthy vegetarian recipe for you to try that even my picky twin girls like.
Chickpea curry (Cooking Light Janurary/February 2013)
Serves 4 (1 ¼ cups curry mixture & ½ cup rice)
Calories per serving: 305 Fat: 5.8g
2 cups of cooked basmati rice
1 tbsp canola oil
1 large onion, diced
1 ½ tsp garam masala (I add two tsp)
2 (15oz) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 (15oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 (6oz) package fresh baby spinach
½ cup plain 2% Greek yogurt
½ tsp salt (I use 1 tsp)
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion; sauté 5 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Stir in garam masala; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add chickpeas, tomatoes, and spinach; cook 2 minutes or until spinach wilts, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in yogurt and salt. Sprinkle with cilantro. Serve over rice


Thank you to my sister Gina for inviting me to her first guest blogger and hope you all try to make your life the best and healthiest you can.
Thanks, Laura

Work and Home, the Biggest Balancing Act

Balancing work, family and home is difficult, but most of us have to do it. I wanted to talk about this subject today because I heard some comments from other working moms that I could totally identify with. I fortunately have been able to be a mom both ways. Stay at home and working. My goal is to come back home, but until then it's time to deal. Do you hear things from your kids like?: You never spend time with me! Your always tired! You're always at work! Now those comments can just make you cry! So I try different things and they're not always successful. But I thought I'd shoot some ideas out there to my fellow going crazy moms.

Before I get into more practical tips I use my vacation and sick time wisely. My family can't really afford big or long vacations. So I use days at a time, instead of weeks. If its someone's birthday I'll take it off or a Monday or Friday to celebrate. I also do this for school breaks. That little bit of extra weekend time is worth it to you and your family.

When I'm totally exhausted, which is a lot! I come home and relax for hopefully up to a half an hour. This is when I respond to comments on my channel, twitter, ect. Which is still in essence "work" for me because, believe it or not YouTube is a labour of love. If I'm still tired tv/movie time may be a bit limited in talking but it still is time being spent. In a family are you really just sitting there not talking or moving? Another lazy way is snuggling. We snuggle right before we go to bed which is just laying there, came get more simpler than that right?

Now is homework time. Which is struggle time for my son! During this time I play catch up on all I missed. I try to bring my daughter to the table to do her "homework" to do the same. When I do cook dinner cause I'm not gonna lie to you, these days I'm cooking way less because of my issues. Bad I know. The kids like to help. So whatever I cook I try and let them do something. I remember always sitting on the counter cooking with my mom. Other chores I try to include the kids cause I just need their help. Now every night isn't perfect by any means. But theses are just little things. These little things do make up the family life.

The weekends are for sleeping in and enjoying. That's why we have Disney passes! Lol

Above all, remember no matter what, no one or family is perfect. Your kids love you unconditionally even if they tell you they hate you. Oh and the dishes will be there tomorrow!

What are some things you have tried! Did they work?


"The family — that dear octopus from whose tentacles we never quite escape, nor, in our inmost hearts, ever quite wish to." ~Dodie Smith

Beauty and the Mom

Being a mom and looking good, no matter what age your children are is a challenge. Now, I love makeup and always have, but there was a period in my life where I just lost that. It's sad when it happens, but it is reality for a lot of women. We get so wrapped up in giving our selves to others we don't realize that we are on the back burner. This comes into play with weight, fashion, makeup, & hair. Yes, people change and grow up and understand that the frivolous young life style you once had is gone. But, you don't have to loose yourself. So stop and think about the person you were, who you are now, and who you want to be. I know this sounds a little deep for talking about beauty, but it's really whats inside that needs to start shinning on the outside again.

Most of us are on a budget so we need items that are wallet friendly. So here's some suggestions to get you to where you want to be.

Find one item to splurge on. I personally choose foundation. Foundation is the base on to what we show the world. I don't know about you, but I'm horrible at picking foundation for myself. So I suggest to go to the mothership,Sephora, dressed nice, makeup on. Yes I said it, the employees are more attentive to people who look like they are ready to shop. It sad but true, you can ban the store for this reason if you'd like, but its just like that in most cases. Status profiling. Talk to them and tell them what type of skin you have and what your looking for. Don't buy unless you are far away from the store. Get a sample or samples of your choosing. Try at home in real life circumstances.

Use coupons. Couponer or not, if you use coupons for makeup and nail polish you will save a ton and start a makeup collection. I recommend the CVS Beauty club because for every $50 you spend pre coupons you get $5 to spend your next trip. If you follow my weekly deals on my other blog ginagina909 you will see good deals that I personally choose. If you don't have a CVS most pharmacies have a similar deals not the beauty club though. You can get coupons online, in the newspaper and in store.

Try the Dollar Tree. The Dollar Tree has mostly good makeup and nail polish. Keep to name brand plus L.A.Colors. The deal with makeup at the Dollar Tree is that it's discontinued,not bad. If you find something good buy at least 2 because you will probably never see it again. Oh yeah they take coupons too!

Just a thought while your budgeting your beauty. The more you save the more you'll get to spend on your splurge.

Have you lost yourself in your family? Comment Below, I love to hear from you guys.

"Go fierce into the world with a perfect face, paint on your clothes, and applesauce in your hair!"-Me

"When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child. "~Sophia Loren, Women and Beauty