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Cara lives in California with her two young children. They enjoy the sunshine, swimming, fun day trips (with food packed to bring along!) and hanging out with family.
She uses background in the medical industry (working as a nurse’s aide, medical transcriptionist, and getting an associate’s of science degree with a focus on nursing) to decipher what is nutritional propaganda and what are ‘statistically significant’ studies. She believes that natural, sustainably produced and traditionally prepared food is designed by God to be best for the earth and people alike and enjoys learning more about this all the time.
The goal of Health, Home, and Happiness is to encourage the average family that eating real wholesome foods is something that is a priority in our lives and can realistically be done in any family.[/box]
Cara graciously hosted me from Monday, Feb. 4 until Sunday, Feb. 10. I originally headed out to Northern California to work/volunteer on a farm, but it wasn’t what I was expecting. I send out an S.O.S. to my blogger friends, and many of them—across the country—volunteered to host me in their homes all the way back to Tennessee!!
For six days, I’ve had the time of my life. Cara and her children are beautiful people. I met them briefly at the Wise Traditions conference this year, but having the opportunity to stay with Cara, I’ve made a really great friend! I’m trying to convince her to move to the South with me. Haha!
My first day there, Cara took me and the kids (and Toad, the puppy!) to the beach. It was SOOO beautiful! Very windy and cold, but the kids had fun and got super sandy. Toad was running around like crazy. And we met some cool people, and saw a dog with a pretty plume tail digging a hole to China! (No really, this hole was like 3 feet deep.) Samuel buried his toy cars (like hot wheels) in the sand, and they got lost. Hannah is so cute! She will get really dirty, but she likes to change into clean clothes afterward. (Uh, that is SO me, too!!)
I brought my 15 top spices with me, so we cooked Indian food for dinner: just lentils and a chicken curry. It was yummy!
Toad and Sophie are pretty funny together. Sophie does alright when the kids are asleep, but the kids + Toad is too much. Toad just wants to play, and Sophie is twice as big as he is, but she is still wary!
I’ve been eating eggs for breakfast, while I’m here. On Tuesday morning, I got two twin eggs! How neat is that?
Cara also has a lemon tree in her back yard. Lemon + Eggs = Amazingness. I was literally able to walk out her back door, pick a lemon while my eggs are frying, and squeeze fresh lemon on my eggs within seconds. I want a lemon tree! So cool! See, this is why I want to have a huge garden one day. FOOOOOOOOD. Awesome food.
On Wednesday, Cara asked me if I knew anything about preparing beds for spring. So on Thursday, we all made a lasagna garden! Lasagna gardens are great for building rich, moist dirt, perfect for growing vegetables and herbs. Learn how to make your own lasagna garden by reading this post.
On Friday, we got to walk among giants in one of the many Redwood forests in Northern California. The trees are so incredible, so moving. It’s not the first time I’ve seen them, but it’s impossible not to be awed by their majestic grandeur.
On Saturday, we went down to the coast again, and got oysters, then played on the beach. There were lots of people there, and some girls were wearing swim suits! I couldn’t believe it! I wish I had mittens! That wind was cold! The kids had a lot of fun, and I enjoyed watching them play and spending time with Cara in such a beautiful setting.
I left this morning (Sunday), and procrastinated packing the truck for over an hour because I didn’t want to leave! Frank and I will have to come back and visit them sometime. Lovely family. Thanks Cara for inviting me into your home and being so open and generous. And give Hannah and Sam some hugs for me. :)
Questionaire
Blog Name: Health, Home, and Happiness
Blog Author: Cara Comini (Facebook)
Location:
[googlemap id=”two” width=”570px” z=”10″ address=”Santa Rosa, CA, USA”]
How long have you been blogging?
I’ve been blogging at Health, Home, and Happiness for 4 years.
What topics do you blog about?
Healthy happy families and simple GAPS and grain free recipes.
Describe your family for us.
We’re a spunky family of 3 plus a pup. It’s me, my daughter Hannah, 6, son Samuel, 4, and Toad the puppy.
What hobbies do you enjoy?
Cooking, of course :) Sewing, hiking with the kids, swimming, training the pup, and I just started running with the Couch to 5K program.
If it was your last day on earth, what would you want to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Junk food totally counts!
To be honest, I’m not really a foodie, and I think I’d go ahead and skip food on that day in order to have more times to do other things. I enjoy good food and nourishing my family, but it’s not something that’s very important to me.
What three posts on your blog do you want to share with my readers?
Some of my favorite recent posts are:
Grain Free Crockpot Roundup
12 Easy Breakfast Ideas
Making Room for Healthy Changes: Getting Kids to Eat
How/why did you start blogging?
I started blogging to answer questions I kept getting about Nourishing Traditions style of cooking. I’m a giver, and I felt as I was a mother to a toddler and nursling I wasn’t able to help others outside my family because I was so busy within my family. So I started blogging to help other families that wanted to follow the same path, just sharing what I head learned to hopefully make it easier for others.
What’s the biggest challenge about running a blog?
The biggest challenge is being able to prioritize my time- I always have a million different ideas for new projects and posts, and then there’s the administrative side of things (making sure my payment systems are set up correctly, making sure the software is all still working), and customer service/answering reader questions. So making sure I’m spending enough/not too much time in each of these areas.
What do you enjoy most about blogging?
I enjoy the community of knowing my blog readers and other bloggers, and how we all have a common goal of helping make our world a more healthy happy place.
Do you have any eBooks or classes that readers might be interested in?
Yes!
Grain Free Meal Plans
The GAPS Intro E-book
The Grain Free Freezer Cooking Guide
