Jill Amery, Author at Urban Mommies

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Jill Amery

Jill Amery is a mom of 2 small boys and the Publisher of UrbanMommies, a stylish digital lifestyle magazine filled with fitness, style, health, recipes and savvy mom advice to help you through pregnancy, birth, and raising your kids.

Being Healthy Has its Rewards

EAT, lunches By Jill Amery May 14, 2014 Tags: diet, featured, lean cuisine, rewards, slider, thai chicken 7 Comments

We all want to be healthier, stronger and hit the ideal ratio of body fat to muscle. But since when have we actually been ‘rewarded’ for being healthy? Sure – you feel better within yourself and may get a few more whistles when walking past a construction site, but it is typically pretty challenging to become healthier. Personal trainers are expensive, deep-fried in restaurants seems to cost less, and finding a healthy meal on the go is a challenge. But being healthy has its rewards.

As many of our readers know, I have been training for a Run Disney event. Not having run more than a few feet and only when necessary (like being chased by a rabid dog), this was a huge challenge for me. Sure it was personally rewarding when I completed the run, but it took so much mental strength to force myself to train and be healthier. Perhaps I shouldn’t need a reward other than feeling good or personal satisfaction, but….

Part of becoming healthier has been my diet, and as a busy entrepreneur and Mom, washing lettuce leaves and chopping veggies is not always in the cards. I’ve always loved to stock my freezer with Lean Cuisine meals so I have something well balanced, filling and healthy when I need to eat in a hurry. Only now have I discovered that I can get rewarded for pulling this healthy trick out of my back pocket.

The Lean Cuisine Rewards program allows you to pop onto the internet and enter a PIN number found inside your favourite Lean Cuisine meal. The more you enjoy, the more you earn. Rewards range from coupons for free Lean Cuisine entrées to exercise balls, weights and home appliances.

Embarking on this new way to feel rewarded, I pulled a Thai Peanut Chicken out of the freezer. (This is where I admit that I didn’t eat breakfast and ate it at 9am after dropping the kids to school.) After four and a half minutes in the microwave, the veggies were still crisp and the chicken was tender. There seemed to be a ton of chicken for a meal that only has 300 calories, 6g of fat and 40% of my daily vitamin A. I was delighted. And energized. I think I may actually go for a run! Ha!

Excited to check out my rewards, I went to the Lean Cuisine website and registered. There are healthy lifestyle tips, a rewards catalogue and you can also create a meal and exercise plan in order to reach specific goals. I, of course, got sidetracked by the rewards and made a wishlist: a Spafinder gift certificate, iTunes music credits, Best Health Magazine and a Hamilton Beach blender. Not that personal satisfaction isn’t enough (ahem) but that makes me want to get healthy.

How do you reward yourself? We can help out a bit – want to enter to win a free Lean Cuisine BONUS PIN code (good for one entrée or to start you off for larger rewards)? Just use this handy rafflecopter form. Canada only, ends 30. May, 2014. Good luck!

Disclosure: This post was generously sponsored by Stouffers Lean Cuisine Rewards, but the opinions and images are my own. For more information, visit Lean Cuisine Rewards.

Peachy Keen on Health

EAT, FAM, health, lunches By Jill Amery May 13, 2014 Tags: california cling peaches, canned peaches, featured, health, myths, nutrition, peach, slider, snacks No Comments

This spring, the UrbanMommies team has been focusing on health. Jogging, extra water and vitamins have all been part of the routine. With the gardens not quite in bloom and stores of frozen fruit and veggies depleted, I started doing some digging on other options for getting nutrients through food. Canned cling peaches. Who knew? They are actually better canned than fresh and are readily available in stores – even in school lunch snack sizes.

Myth: Canned peaches are less nutritious than fresh peaches.
Fact: Canned peaches are actually more nutritious than their fresh and frozen counterparts. Canned peaches have 3.5 times the vitamin C, 10 times more folic acid and 1.5 times more antioxidants than their fresh counterparts. (And they are in stores all year round when there is nothing growing in your orchard!)

Myth: Canned peaches are full of sugar.
Fact: Canned California cling peaches have no added sugar in the juice or water that they are packed in, other than the natural sugar in the raw product.

Myth: Canned peaches lose their flavour and colour through the canning process.
Fact: Canned peaches retain their flavour, colour and firmness even when cooked or baked in entrees, appetizers or desserts.

Because California cling peaches are picked and packed usually within 24 hours, they retain their appearance, texture, flavour and nutritional content.

So… I need snacks after my runs. I need some great family meal ideas, and after 6 months of making school lunches, they were getting rather boring. Enter California Cling Peaches to remedy all of these situations!

Check our recipes for gluten-free sweet chili and chicken peach wraps and peach, goat cheese and basil flatbread pizza.

Disclosure: This article was sponsored by California Cling Peaches. And we bet you learned a thing or two!

Our Mother's Day Picks from Etsy

beauty, GEAR, style, tech By Jill Amery May 9, 2014 Tags: agenda inserts, diaper bag, featured, featured finds, hair clip, hand stamped wrapping paper, handmade, homemade, iPhone case, letterpress, milk glass, mother's day, peignoir, recipe cards, recycled sail, slider, vintage No Comments

Besides getting my car detailed and wearing noise-cancelling headphones, there is little more I require for Mother’s Day. But since the kids asked… we scoured our favourite Etsy shops for some great gift ideas. Check out ten of our favourite Mother’s Day Picks from Etsy!
1. Vintage Milk Glass Colony Harvest Goblets. Because you can fit lots of wine inside.

2. Letterpress Recipe Cards and Recipe Box. Because letterpress.

3.Custom Recycled Sail Diaper Bag. Recycling as well as a stylish, waterproof and unique bag.

4. Organic Linen Cloth Napkins with a Chickadee Screen Print

5. Minimalist Brass Case for iPhone.

6. Floral Hair Clip.

7. White Peignoir.

8. Ornate circle – one-page-per-day agenda inserts

9. Purple Wise Owl Hand-Stamped Wrapping Paper

10. Organic Bath Salts.

Silken Laumann on a World Without Dieting

FAM, health By Jill Amery May 8, 2014 Tags: featured, multigrain Cheerios, Silken Laumann, slider, world without dieting No Comments

I had very different teenage years than most. I never rebelled, I was an exchange student at 16 and lived in Germany for a year, and I didn’t diet. It wasn’t that I liked my body, but I was so wrapped up in the performing arts and dance classes that I guess I never thought about eating less because I was able to exercise excessively. I was one of the few. Check out the startling statistics above. Think of how much healthier and happier we would be if we threw away fads and crash diets and simply adopted a habit of healthy living. Think of what incredible role models we would be for our children. I am guilty of tugging at my clothes and holding my breath for photos. No more. I vow to give myself more respect and also to model better behaviour for my children. Wouldn’t it be great if we replaced the ‘fashion model’ goal with the ‘positive role model’ one? UrbanMommies had the honour of chatting with Silken Laumann about a world without dieting and I was completely inspired by her wisdom.

Silken is best known for her amazing comeback from a serious leg injury to win the bronze medal for Canada in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics for single sculls rowing. In her 2014 memoir Unsinkable, she revealed that she has battled with restrictive eating and an eating disorder throughout her years as an Olympian.

It was only after becoming a mother that Silken realized the importance of being a strong role model for her daughter and since then, she’s adopted a healthier outlook.

Now, in advance of Mother’s Day on May 11th, she has partnered with Multi-Grain Cheerios and pledged to never diet again for her and her daughters well-being, and is asking other women to join her in the “World Without Dieting” movement for the sake of the next generation. Here’s our interview with Silken.

UM: The term Never Diet Again is like a breath of fresh air! What do you teach your daughters and son about dieting and being healthy?

SL: I have 3 girls and one son. Our kids pick up on our own attitudes towards our bodies. The first and most important thing we can do is make peace with our own bodies. Kids are very perceptive – they watch when we eat or when we tug on our clothes and suck in our stomachs. I had anorexia as a teenager so was nervous in raising own kids.

I don’t have a scale or a full length mirror in my house except in my closet. I tend to talk about why we are eating certain vegetables and what they do to their bodies. I am fairly specific about why we need protiens and why we need vegetables.

UM: How do you combat all of the mainstream media that encourages kids to diet?

SL: Girls are receiving an onslaught on what we are supposed to look like and how we are supposed to act. I try to analyze images that we see on screens and in magazines with the kids. I want to make them intelligent consumers.

UM: Do you see big issues in our male population as well in terms of eating disorders?

SL: Men have different pressures about having the six pack or looking manly but eating disorders touch men as well. It is much more common with women, though, who constantly speak and think negatively about themselves.

We must change the paradigm. We have talked so much about dieting and getting the right abs or what exercise to do to lose weight – not what exercise makes us healthier.

UM: How did you feel when you took the Oath to never diet again?

SL: Taking the oath in front of a video camera was profound. It means a lot of thought stopping of bad thoughts when I have one. I replace the thought with a more positive one.

UM: What would a world without dieting look like to you?

SL: When I get on the multigrain cheerios site and I look and listen to what people are saying, the word that comes up for me is freedom.

Obsessive negative thinking about our body has a huge impact on our self love, creativity and the ability to be what we can be. It’s about freedom, self love, and giving the next generation of boys and girls freedom to not think about this so we don’t have this conversation.

UM (giggle): Where do you keep your medals?

SL: In a recipe box. They were shoved in a drawer for a while but I kept losing my bronze medal – it was never a good feeling losing your medal.

UrbanMommies encourages you to also take the oath. Check World Without Dieting for more information.

Disclosure: UrbanMommies was provided the opportunity to interview Silken via telephone. We were not compensated for this campaign.

Year of No Sugar by Eve Schaub

books, GEAR By Jill Amery May 2, 2014 Tags: books, diet, Eve Schaub, featured, health, slider, tisha bryant, Year of No Sugar No Comments

Have you ever thought about how much sugar you consume and it’s affects on not only you, but your family?

Have you noticed that eating sugar with every meal has become the norm and that we live in a time where there is an abundance of food and yet our children are more undernourished than ever before?

Have you considered that there could be a link between high sugar foods and heart disease, obesity, stroke, diabetes, cancer and increased behaviour and emotional issues that could be associated with the enormous rise of children being diagnosed with ADHD?

Giving to the David Suzuki Foundation

charity, FAM By Jill Amery April 29, 2014 Tags: 30 green days, david suzuki foundation, eco, featured, green, green choices, philanthrophy, planet, SC Johnson, slider No Comments

I remember as a little girl being excited for ‘The Nature of Things’ to come onto the TV. As the host, David Suzuki has been an environmental visionary for many years. The David Suzuki foundation began in 1990 with a mission ‘to protect the diversity of nature and our quality of life, now and for the future’.

One of the most exciting parts of the #30Greendays challenge with SC Johnson Green Choices is that by along with having me and my family participate in the challenge, they have also agreed to donate $10,000 to a charity of our choice on behalf of UrbanMommies and SavvyMom. Seeing my boys thrive in taking care of the planet and remembering my experience as a girl watching David Suzuki, we opted for the David Suzuki Foundation. With programs in climate change, creating livable communities, the establishment of environmental rights and justice, building community and helping citizens to connect with nature, this charity speaks to all of us in some way.

We are thrilled to be given the chance to support the Foundation, and also further the UrbanMommies mission to teach and nurture children through family activities. We have chosen to designate the funds to the youth education branch of the Foundation with the following mission:

“Connect with nature — assist Canadians, especially youth, to learn about their dependence on a healthy environment and the benefits of time in nature through outdoor education and opportunities.“

As part of the UrbanMommies commitment to the environment, we will do a regular feature on activities for the whole family that will benefit nature.

Our experiences from the challenge were in recycling, reuse, water and energy. The image above is one of the four Mother’s Day e-cards available to send in support of the David Suzuki Foundation.

Peach, Goat Cheese and Basil Flatbread Pizza

EAT, family meals By Jill Amery April 16, 2014 Tags: california cling peaches, family meal, featured, leftovers, Peach Goat Cheese Basil Flatbread, pizza, slider No Comments

Don’t know what to make for dinner tonight, this peach, goat cheese and basil flatbread pizza might become your go-to recipe.

2 naan, about 9-inches (23-cm) each or 1 thin pizza crust, about 11-inches (27.5-cm)
2 tsp (10 mL) olive oil
11/2 tsp (7 mL) za’atar spice*
½ cup (125 mL) creamy goat cheese
2 slices prosciutto, cut into strips
2 canned California Cling peach halves, cut into thin slices, well drained and patted dry
4 pitted black olives, cut in half
4 fresh basil leaves, shredded

1. Preheat oven according to package directions for naan or pizza. Brush tops with oil. Sprinkle each naan with ½ tsp (2 mL) za’atar or pizza with 1 tsp (5 mL) za’atar.

2. Place on baking sheet. Dollop evenly with goat cheese. Then scatter with prosciutto, peaches and olives. Bake according to package directions, until crust is hot and cheese is melted, about 2 to 4 minutes for naan and 6 to 8 minutes for pizza.

3. Remove from oven. Sprinkle with remaining ½ tsp (2 mL) za’atar and basil. Makes 2 servings for naan or 2 to 3 for pizza

*Za’atar is a blend of dried thyme, oregano, sumac and sesame seeds. Sometime ground cumin and salt is added.

Makes 6 servings

Sweet Chili Chicken and Peach Wraps

EAT, family meals By Jill Amery April 16, 2014 Tags: california cling peaches, family meal, featured, gluten-free, peaches, slider, sweet chili chicken and peach wraps 1 Comment

Instead of tortillas, try this gluten-free alternative. They’re easy to make, a super way to use leftovers and customize to your own taste.

11/4 cups (300 mL) cut into strips cooked chicken
3 tbsp (45 mL) Thai sweet chili sauce
1 (14 oz/398 mL) can California Cling peach halves or slices, in fruit juice concentrate or light syrup, drained and patted really dry
8 large rice paper round wraps
4 very small leaves Boston or leaf lettuce, torn in half
3-inch (7.5-cm) piece cucumber piece, cut into julienne strips
1/2 small red pepper, cut into julienne strips
8 to 12 mint leaves (optional)
Additional Thai sweet chili sauce for dipping

1. Have all your ingredients prepared. In a small bowl, stir chicken with sweet chili sauce. Fill a pie plate with warm water. Lay a damp smooth kitchen towel on the counter. Thinly cut peach halves into slices or use peach slices.

2. Working with 1 wrap at a time, dip in warm water until it is just pliable, 20 to 40 seconds. Place on kitchen towel. Place ½ a lettuce leaf near bottom of circle. Place 2 peach slices on top of lettuce, followed by 1/8 of chicken, then 1/8 of the cucumber and red pepper and 2 to 3 mint leaves depending on size.

3. Fold bottom (edge closest to you) of rice paper wrap over filling towards centre. Fold in sides to slightly cover filling. Then roll to totally enclose filling and form a roll. Set seam side down on a cutting board. Repeat with remaining ingredients. If sending for lunch, leave whole. If serving as an appetizer, slice in half diagonally. Serve with additional sweet chili sauce. Best eaten right away but if storing, make sure they aren’t touching each other as they will stick. Cover with barely damp paper towel, then seal tightly with plastic wrap.

Makes 8 rolls

11 Ways to Reuse Common Items to Make them Useful

FAM, self By Jill Amery April 10, 2014 Tags: 30 green days, baby clothes quilt, environment, featured, reuse, SC Johnson, slider 1 Comment

I’ve been exploring household items we can reuse. I thought I would stretch the whole family to use items around the house we don’t really need to create things that are either beautiful or serve a function needed to be filled. We are getting crafty. Of course there are many ways in which we already reuse items—pickle jars become Lego storage, coffee tins collect coins in the laundry room and broken terracotta pots become drainage at the bottom of other potted plants.

My Family on Recycling

Uncategorized By Jill Amery April 4, 2014 Tags: 30 green days, featured, recycling, SC Johnson, slider 4 Comments

Of all of the weekly challenges in the SC Johnson 30 Green Days Challenge, recycling is my all-time favourite. It’s not the easiest task for our family, but it is definitely the most personally satisfying! Living on an island 40 feet from the shore means that all groceries, gardening supplies and bags have to be brought across in a wheelbarrow on our boat. Recycling, garbage and yard waste have to be carted across the other direction to be disposed of properly. For our family this has always meant two things:

1. We purchase refillable containers and buy in bulk where possible. I have fancy jars with chalkboard paint on the front and feel very crafty when I fill them. The process also makes me prepare more home-cooked meals for the family.

2. We compost everything (including dryer lint and egg cartons) so as to reduce the amount of garden soil we have to buy and bring across to bolster the gardens. It also saves us hauling garbage back across to put in landfills.

As with any goal, we do have a long way to go in terms of recycling. This week (and henceforth I hope), this is what I will focus on:

1. I am guilty of not removing labels and washing jars and cans properly. I will fix this. Or have the kids add this task to the ways they can earn a few extra dollars. Removing labels and washing cans ensures that items sent to recycling facilities are never rejected.

2. We also tend to toss beer cans and wine bottles into the recycling when we could be returning them to the store for a refund. I will set up a bin in my trunk for the returnable containers. Even though the family has always recycled these containers, we may consume less if we add in the extra step of returning the items.

3. I like to buy on sale and I’ll admit that when they are on sale, I buy premade, processed foods like family-sized lasagnas (that come in a foil pan inside a box). I will go back to my Sunday routine of cooking double and triple recipes and freezing family meals to pull out during the week. Eliminating packaging by cooking for myself and re-using my own dishes is always preferable. When I do purchase processed foods, I will try harder to make sure they come in fully recyclable packaging.

4. Birthday parties and Christmas always create masses of garbage – plastic from toy wrappings and cartons from all of the tech that I adore. I vow to gift in alternate ways: donate to charity or purchase unique and special items on Etsy that will be cherished and don’t come in exorbitant packaging.

5. I have a confession. I do not actually know for sure if milk cartons and other containers made of something other than plastic, glass or metal can be recycled in my area. I will make an effort to research the criteria in my city to ensure that I am recycling all that I can.

6. Part of recycling involves the reuse of furniture and necessities around the house. I just bought a new slow cooker and instead of tossing the older one, which still functions, I will list it as a free item on Craigslist. Looking around my home, there are many pieces of furniture, glassware and other ‘treasures’ that could be more appreciated and put to use by another family. Let the culling begin!!!

This past week’s water challenge got the family into a routine of putting the environment at the front and center of our consciousness. Turning off lights, taking shorter showers and repurposing rainwater have become part of the norm. I am thrilled that the kids are becoming aware of each tiny step they can take to help our planet, and this challenge – even in two weeks – has forever altered our footprint on the earth.

While SC Johnson is the sponsor of the 30 Green Days Challenge, all opinions and comments within the post are my own.

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