My name is Caitlin and I am the mom of 2 little boys. I live in Ontario, Canada and I am passionate about healthy living.
I decided to write down some of my ideas for eating and living healthy, without spending a fortune. We all know how easy it is to overspend on organic produce, vitamins and supplements, superfood treats, or just flat out get so lost on Pinterest with recipes that definitely do not look (or taste!) like how the recipe says. Or maybe you have really picky eaters. That's where I come in.
Over the years, I have not only experimented with food, but also with meal planning and staying within a budget. Having 2 boys, they eat a lot of food. I'm quite terrified for their teenage years! (I'm also scared of the sarcasm, as they are my children after all!)
A little background:
I suffered from postpartum depression after the birth of my second son. It was during this period that I was lucky enough to find how important it is to eat carefully and healthfully, and certain high quality vitamins can help mental health. This opened the door and turned on the light for me, and I was hooked. I enrolled in a Holistic Nutrition program with a 2.5 year old and a 4 month old baby at home, while my husband worked 40+ a week and traveled for work consistently. I just couldn't stop grasping for more information to further my education.
Since then, I've run my own business and worked closely with numerous health food stores. I've encountered my fair share of personal health problems along the way - but I've never lost faith in the importance of healthy eating and self-care (which EVERY mom should practice regularly!).
Last year our oldest son, now 8 years old, became quite sick. He went from being a completely healthy and normal boy to very sick in the hospital with acute kidney failure. He ended up needing biopsies, dialysis and high dose steroids to control his immune system (which was ultimately attacking his kidneys and causing them to cease function). The cause of the entire ordeal ended up being exposure to Group A Strep. This is fairly common, and while most people get pretty sick with Strep, a round of antibiotics gets them back on their feet. In Gage's case, it activated something in his immune system which then attacked his kidneys. We lived in Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto for weeks until Gage was well enough to come home, then we became out-patients for months. Today, Gage is once again healthy and active. We are so lucky to have had such an incredible support system and a team of doctors that worked very hard to save our boys life.
While doctor's are confident that Gage will continue to be healthy, there is no "sure thing" that this won't happen again and we really don't have an explanation for why it happened in the first place. This makes us even more conscious about the food we give our kids and the chemicals we expose them to - because it all adds up.
I didn't start doing this because it was popular and 'all the rage'. I actually got into this industry before it became "cool" to drink smoothies every morning and eat kale for every meal.
I got into healthy living because I know what it's like as a mother to feel like your drowning. I know how exhausting motherhood can be. I also know what it's like to sit beside your kids hospital bed, sick with worry, and utterly helpless.
I'll be posting recipes, meal planning tips, natural cleaning tips, and how to do it all on a budget.
Stay tuned!
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