Tatyanna Wright's Haute Mama

Let's Go Outside!

Now that camp has ended you might be wondering what to do with your child for the remaining weeks of summer. Pick up a copy of award winning author Jennifer Ward's new book Let's Go Outside: Outdoor Activities and Projects to Get You and Your Child Closer to Nature - and learn to rekindle your relationship with nature through endless outdoor play with your child.
Whether you live in a city or the suburbs “Let's Go Outside” offers fantastic ideas like going for a moonlight walk or waking up extra early to listen to all the morning music birds create right before sunrise. These are special moments to be had with your child.
My five-year old son and I became 'spys' - well bug investigators actually - and brought out a note pad, binoculars and magnifying glass (as the book suggests in spy games) to spy on the little creatures living in Central Park. We looked everywhere for insects and creepy crawlies drawing in his notebook like a little naturalist. He loved it!  We also made a daisy chain with clover flowers – something I hadn’t done in at least 25 years!
“Let’s Go Outside” brought back many memories of good old outdoor fun like playing tag (or tip as we say in Australia) with games like “what’s the time Mr. Wolf” and treasure hunting.
I’ll be bringing “Let’s Go Outside” away to the beach with me where we’ll do some under water exploring next week and make note of the interesting flora and fauna that live in the foreign land we’ll be visiting. “Let’s Go Outside” is out now.

Haute Mama Online thanks the publisher for providing this copy.

Real Food

I’ve never been into dieting. That is to say, I’ve never consumed diet or light foods, beverages or any other manufactured food with the word ‘diet’ in front. My outlook on food has always been to enjoy what I eat.
Growing up I was lucky to spend a lot of time in Europe where eating is an absolute pleasure, people eat slowly, butter is sweet and salty, pastries are rich and the farm animals most of the produce derives live in open pastures feeding on lush green fields. This exposure taught me the importance of a harmonious ecosystem and showed me that it was healthy for woman to enjoy what they ate, rather than pick at a salad or deprive oneself of dessert.
I love pastries and cheese, and combine my indulgence with plenty of fresh organic fruit daily, we cook at home almost every night using fresh food - with the exception of dining out (at a restaurant that serves local, seasonal fare) once or twice a week. So when I read Nina Planck’s new book Real Food for Mother and Baby I was thrilled to discover it filled with common sense advice on eating. Her advice extends to how eating real foods can affect fertility, pregnancy, breastfeeding and babies starting out on their first foods. Her book is extremely well researched offering excellent facts.

I’ve always thought ones diet affected milk production and how quickly your body recovers post pregnancy since your body requires a certain amount of calories. Depriving your body deprives your baby when it comes to nursing. I strongly recommend Nina Planck’s Real Food for Mother and Baby for pregnant woman, new mothers, parents seeking to prepare better meals for their children and themselves as well as anyone struggling with food issues, or simply wanting to learn more about real food. Real Food for Mother and Baby is not a cookbook it’s a complete guide to eating real foods and why.
My motto has always been never deprive so get yourself a copy and start eating how you were meant to.

Celebrate Earth Day and read "What’s So Bad About Gasoline?"

It’s Earth Day! What exactly does that mean? On April 22 1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment, sending a message that “citizens the world 'round wanted quick and decisive action on clean energy”.

While you don’t need to take to the streets with your child today, you can just as excitedly rally them by reading to your child about the deterioration of the environment in a fun and stimulating way while educating them about clean energy.
“What’s So Bad About Gasoline?” is a fantastic eco-book for young readers and parents a like. Its message is potent: The world is dependent on oil as its main source of energy. And while oil is somewhat plentiful right now, the supply will eventually run out, and even worse, burning oil is very damaging to the environment.

“What’s So Bad About Gasoline?” gives the reader alternatives that can help us use less oil, like driving a hybrid car or harnessing wind or solar energy for example, as well teaching children how we can protect our environment. My son (who loves all things automotive) enjoys this book and now regularly mentions fumes, pollution and how to make cars all solar powered - this from a five year old!

Celebrate Earth Day with “What's So Bad About Gasoline?” - A great book for any day of the year.

Pregnancy Sex & Valentines Day

Valentines Day is fast approaching and you’re used to a sexy night with your partner, be it a romantic dinner, a hot hotel room or a sensual bath. But this year…well, this year there’s someone else in the picture, and that little person hasn’t even arrived yet!
For many women, pregnancy sex quite simply – sucks. There are those who say they enjoyed unbelievable jaunts in the sack, and I often wonder when I hear these stories - what sort of sex they were enjoying pre-pregnancy? If true, Lucky them!

If you do happen to be one of the many pregnant women not enjoying sex the way you prefer, have no fear, you can still plan a romantic evening with your special Valentine and make sure you steam the windows the way you’re used to. 

Laugh if you want, but this book, entitled: “101 Nights of Great Sex” will offer you literally many nights of pleasure. I thought this book was going to be quite frankly, silly and a waste of time. But it has turned out to be quite the opposite. It’s filled with 101 secret sealed seductions consisting of indoor and outdoor “activities”, “events” requiring props, blindfolding, and sensory items that let you use your imagination, really let lose and have fun. It’s a fantastic way to pleasure the partner who might be on the receiving end of the no pregnancy sex stick.
So get a copy of  “101 Nights of Great Sex”, - which, by the way, happens to be a New York Times best seller! - Book a hotel, or in this time of money saving, stay at home and grab some “accessories” and enjoy a romantic Valentines Day the way you are used to pre-pregnancy.

Winter Play Tips

Recently in Vail, Colorado where the snow was in abundance, I wanted to continue taking my son outdoors even on days or afternoons when he wouldn’t be skiing. I hoped to explore and make snow play really fun rather than have him think of it as icy and cold. 

So, we caught snowflakes on our gloves and looked at each one, analyzing their varied shapes and patterns. We watched our “cloud breath” and discussed how cooler temperatures create the perfect environment for clouds. We talked about the different types of trees, and how some lose their leaves and fruit, which mean certain animals and birds lose their food source. We looked for non-hibernating winter animal trails then we created trails of our own using fallen sticks, branches and footsteps.
Of course, many of us live in the city so I don’t expect you’ll be looking for deer, hare or fox trails along the urban pathways, but if you do happen to have a place to get away to on weekends, or a small break planned to a snowy destination, even a visit to the park, these are some really fun activities that will get you and your children out of the house. Just be sure to layer up!

Now I can’t claim these tips as my own, Jennifer Ward the wonderful award winning children’s book author introduced me to these fabulous ideas through her new book: “I Love Dirt: 52 activities to help you & your kids discover the wonders of nature”. The book stimulates awareness and encourages curiosity for the environment and seasonal changes. “I Love Dirt” covers outdoor activities to do for the entire year, no matter what season or landscape you live in. “I Love Dirt” is available online and in bookstores.

Pregnancy Haiku

What a wonderful way to begin the new year, with this surprising new little book entitled Pregnancy Haiku: Three Short Lines for Your Nine Long Months, by Eugenie Olsen.

Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry of seventeen syllables, traditionally over three lines, evoking images of the natural world.
Though it doesn’t take long to read through “Pregnancy Haiku”, you’ll find yourself referencing the book over and over for a quick mental break from other babies, children, work, or at the end of a busy day when you’re simply looking to add a little humour to your pregnancy or motherhood challenges. 

Whether this is your first or subsequent pregnancy, you’ll find “Pregnancy Haiku” gives a hilarious spin on everything from maternity clothes to morning sickness. It made me remember things I didn’t really want to remember, though I did laugh my head off when read them. Haiku like running into the chemist to pick up some Tucks (that’s right, those wipes you never knew existed or what they were for pre-baby), and my husband’s fear of poking the baby during sex. I mean, really!

"Pregnancy Haiku" makes you feel totally normal, reminding us pregnant woman that you’re not the only one with bloating, flatulence and inflating breasts. 
A wonderful gift to a pregnant friend or to your pregnant self!

Holiday Party Pregnancy Cocktails

Chanukah Bubbly Bubbala
Celebrate the Festival of Lights while sipping Bubbly Bubbala and impress your Mommy-to-be guests with a perfectly palette pleasing combination to tantalize those taste sensitive tongues.

•    Champagne flute
•    Sparling concord grape juice
•    ½ ounce lemon juice
•    1 teaspoon granulated sugar
•    1 lemon wheel
•    Pour sugar and lemon juice into a champagne flute.  Fill with sparkling concord grape juice.
Garnish with lemon wheel.

Christmas Spice of the Season Mulled Wine
Simmering spiced wine on the stove makes the whole house smell like Christmas.  With this alcohol-removed version, you don’t have to miss out on that special sense-memory.

•    Wine goblet, or other heat resistant glass
•    1 bottle Fre® merlot alcohol-removed wine
•    1 teaspoon almond extract
•    2 cinnamon sticks (If desired, buy additional cinnamon sticks and garnish each cup with one).
•    3 whole cloves
•    ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
•    1 tablespoon of honey
•    Pour wine into a double boiler pot, over medium heat.  Add other ingredients, and stir until honey has dissolved.  Reduce heat, cover and gently simmer, stirring occasionally. Serve

Bubbly Bubbala and Spice of the Season Mulled Wine recipes were kindly provided by and excerpted from the book “Preggatinis: Mixology for the Mom-To-Be," by Natalie Bovis-Nelsen, copyright © 2009. 
Used by permission of The Globe Pequot Press. "Preggatinis" will be available in bookstores this week.

 

Preggatinis?

Pregnancy practically invites the many things we ladies often deprive ourselves of, the little indulgences like extra chocolate, more cheese, ice-cream and pasta. And how about a good old cocktail? I have to confess, I often missed having a drink with the girlfriends whilst preggers. While our bodies tend to naturally reject alcohol during pregnancy – natures way of protecting both mother and baby – I rarely drank more than two or three sips of wine over the course of a dinner.
So I am thrilled to tell you about Author/Mixologist Natalie Bovis-Nelsen’s perfectly titled new book “Preggatinis(TM): Mixology For The Mom-To-Be”. Natalie is best known as The Liquid Muse and her first book is due out in December – just in time for the holidays, when your pregnant self wishes she could be drinking with her non-pregnant mates!
With a job description that involves tasting, sampling, mixing, and creating cocktails for corporate events and private parties as well writing about alcohol for magazines and her blog, The Liquid Muse, Natalie wondered how she could possibly avoid nine months of alcohol consumption should she become pregnant. So, like any good mixologist would do, she began experimenting with non-alcoholic cocktails and jokingly called them Preggatinis. Thus the idea of creating non-alcoholic cocktails was born.
Natalie drew inspiration from her favourite potation combinations like refreshing citrusy cocktails, exotic spicy concoctions and the occasional dessert drink. She also loves champagne, and tried really hard to make her sparkling non-alcoholic cocktails good replications of ‘the real thing.’ Soon, her pregnant friends enlisted her preggie-friendly drinks for their baby showers.  “They loved holding pretty, tasty drinks in sexy stemware and I realized I was on to something.  So, I decided to trademark Preggatinis, and write a book”.

Many recipes in Preggatinis(TM) call for fresh fruits and vegetables to be juiced at home. Natalie approaches non-alcoholic cocktails the same way she approaches a quality “fully leaded” cocktail.  The philosophy behind The Liquid Muse Mixology is to avoid artificial flavorings, colors and pre-bottled mixers as much as possible. Creating non-alcoholic drinks is not as simple as you think. Natalie builds each recipe from scratch as its own balanced drink: “It is not a matter of simply removing the tequila from a margarita and leaving the mom-to-be with a glass full of disgusting, neon yellow sweet-n-sour mix.  All 75 of my original recipes in the book reflect quality mixology and are created from scratch”.

Her favourite preggatini? The indulgent Pumpkin Pie.  “It is so decadent”. 
Well I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy and actually taste a few preggatinis!
You can pre-order your Preggatin(TM) book now at Amazon.
Buy one for yourself and one for a pregnant friend for the holidays and ‘indulge’ away!