What are blondies? Blondies are basically brownies without the chocolate. As a mom of a toddler, I have lots of friends that are also toddler-moms. We tend to flock together, playdates for the kids and adult socilization for the moms, it is a win-win actually. We enjoy coffee or wine while the kids learn how to play well with others. It is a great time to unload your "did you child do _____ when they were this age?" or "how long did it take for _________ to go back to normal." In all honesty, us moms need playdates, often times more than the kids do-- especially in the military community. 

When you or your spouse is in the military, life can be a little bit lonely. It is not all butterflies and sunshine like the movies and television shows try to make it out to be. We have to try really hard to make friends, we might have more social media friends than we do real friends. Some of us are stay at home moms, others are work from home moms, while even others work for a company. It is very important to reach out, even though it can be hard sometimes, and continue to make new friends and new relationships or you will end up a very lonely mama! 

Any ways, one subject that tends to get a lot of attention is the 18-24 month food strike. This is when a toddler's palate and will begins to change. There are many reasons for this. Speaking as a nutritionist, I've seen this a lot. I've seen it in a wide variety of ages and just about every kid goes through some sort of foods strike at some point. It can be due to an underlying medical issues, a vitamin or mineral deficiency, or just the fact that the child doesn't like anything at that particular moment in their life. Speaking as a mom, kids will do the darnedest things. They have minds of their own. There comes a point when we get tired of fighting them and just want them TO EAT SOMETHING, but we also don't want them to eat "crap". 

I think it is time to write this post because I have something to say. I've drafted a Facebook status or two but always ended up deleting them because I just didn't want to deal with it and it would be a really long post that most people wouldn't read. You see, I don't like feeling vulnerable.. at all.. whatsoever. I was not always this "put together" person. I wasn't always "sure" of who I was- in fact, I was extremely insecure. 

When I began to share my natural lifestyle on Facebook, it was downright terrifying. I wondered what people would think of me and then as time went on.. I stopped caring because I was so happy with the way my life was going. It is important for my followers to know that I wasn't always super health conscious, health conscious to an extent but not the way that I am now. I didn't think about minerals, vitamins, fermented foods, and food pairing too often. In fact, I was more concerned about calories than anything until about five years ago. 

When I first became pregnant with Ezra, I knew I was going to breastfeed. I mean, duh right? I already live as naturally as possible, breast milk is less expensive than formula, and my mom did it with me so why shouldn't I do it? I've been asked by other moms, "When did you first decide you were going to breastfeed your son?". I never really knew how to answer that question because I don't think I really ever decided, I just knew that it was what I was going to do. 

I thought I was fully prepared. I mean, I had a nursing pillow, a nursing top (ONE nursing top), a nursing bra (ONE nursing bra, this is my favorite one), and made some lactation cookies. I had packed a container of Infinity Balm for my nipples, just in case they were sore or cracked and it doubled as a diaper rash cream for Ezra if he needed it. I had a few breast pads in case my milk leaked (my mom said hers did all the time). I even planned to consume my placenta because I had learned in school that studies have shown that it can help your milk come in. 

So, me, being the "Type A" person that I am, thought I knew all there was to know about breastfeeding. I mean, I read a bunch of books (these are my favorites here and here), I had taken classes in school, and I had helped my former clients and family/friends breastfeed.

Well... there was a whole different world I didn't even know about. 

Red wine, netflix, a heating pad, and chocolate are in every girl's emergency kit right? 

Did you know that the main reason that women crave chocolate during that time of the month is because chocolate (raw and dark) are very high in Magnesium. During the time of bleeding, a women loses 40% of her magnesium stores. This is why it is important for women to take a magnesium supplement during their period. Another blog post for another time? Sure but we shall get back to the chocolate. 

Since I became more health conscious about 5 years ago, I began to look into a good brand of chocolate.I made the switch from milk chocolate to dark chocolate, after learning that milk chocolate is more processed than dark chocolate (usually).  I learned all about why it is important to only buy chocolate that has a Fair Trade label on it. It took me a long time to find a chocolate that was Fair Trade that had a good taste, so for a while I just ate raw, unprocessed cacao nibs (these are my favorite kind to this day). Then one day when I was strolling the aisles at Whole Foods, I happened upon Endangered Species Chocolate.