Category Archives: NuttZo

Food, Going Healthy, NuttZo, Soft Star Shoes, WIAW

WIAW #8: A Kid’s First Taste of Zevia Soda

04/22/2015 R.C. Liley 4 Comments

Zevia has been the only soda in our home for years now. We still treat it like a…..umm, treat and only have it every now. Even though it’s free from all the nasty stuff in regular and artificially sweetened diet sodas, water is obviously the best choice when it comes to a healthy lifestyle.

The fun-loving, extremely generous folks at Zevia have sent our now 17 month old daughter, Avery, a couple of their shirts. She looks adorable (as always) in the shirts, and she loves playing with the cans.

But I never gave her any to drink until just yesterday. She only has breast milk and water right now, so why not a little naturally sweetened soda for something new? I’m not sure if you can tell, but I think she might be ready to try.

I poured some in her sippy cup and proceeded to take an Instagram video of her first sips. Because, that’s what parents do, right? Capture everything and share across all of social media.

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A post shared by RC Liley (@going_dad)

There wasn’t much in there, so she finished that pretty quick and was asking for more.

Guess she likes it. And oh man, she’s had some good burps in the past, but add carbonation and it’s a whole new level of belching from our little girl! #ProudDad

Now, how about a little WIAW action! Thanks as always to the wonderful Jenn from Peas and Crayons, for creating this fun link-up for foodies everywhere!

Head over to Clean Eats Fast Feets to join in on this week’s party!

Breakfast – Homemade Cold Brew Coffee and microwave chocolate bread.

Lunch – Shredded chicken with sweet potato, steamed beets and brussels sprouts along with a couple of green olives.

Dinner – This amazing crock-pot chicken chili I literally made by just throwing in all kinds of herbs and spices we had with black and kidney beans and lots of veggies. My girls loved it and so did I, so that’s a win in my book!

Snack – Sounds weird, but I’ve been enjoying this raw sauerkraut on its own lately and had a few bites of this after dinner. Good tasting and good for the gut!

Have you tried or heard of Zevia Soda? What about your kids?

If not already, would you allow your kids to try a stevia sweetened, junk-free soda like Zevia?

Ever snack on sauerkraut?

Food, Going Healthy, NuttZo, Soft Star Shoes, WIAW

WIAW #7: Homemade Pizza Crust Fail

04/08/2015 R.C. Liley 10 Comments

I blame the kid. Surely my homemade pizza crust would’ve turned out perfectly without little grabby hands reaching up and pulling the parchment paper as I tried to knead the dough. Or maybe I’m just trying to point the blame on something else other than my lack of pizza crust making skills.

Regardless, my wife graciously ate my thick, non-fluffy wannabe pizza crust creation for dinner and even said she liked it. With a little help from goat cheese, balsamic vinegar, and green onions, that is.

She’s a keeper, that’s for sure. Of course, I knew that a long time ago; hence the whole marriage thing. 🙂

Despite my crust making fail, I did make the frittata recipe I never made a reality. I couldn’t stop thinking about it after writing it down and sharing it last week, so a few days later, I made it!

Check out my post with the recipe and step-by-step tutorial if you’d like this in your kitchen. And I know you do! Click here —-> NuttZo Cinnamon Banana Frittata Recipe

All I know, is this will be a multi-repeat creation in our house.

Now, how about a little WIAW action! Thanks as always to the wonderful Jenn from Peas and Crayons, for creating this fun link-up for foodies everywhere!

To join in the fun, head over to The Big Man’s World for this week’s party!

I started the day with an entire French Press of black coffee and a packet of Pyure Sweet Organic Stevia. Great, simple combo that never lets me down!

Meanwhile, Avery turned a NuttZo banana happy face into no face rather quickly.

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A post shared by RC Liley (@going_dad)

After finishing my workout for the day, I downed an un-pictured leftover green protein smoothie I made the night before. It never tastes as good as fresh, but I’m not trying to savor anything post workout anyway.

Lunch was steamed zucchini and mixed veggies with chicken sausage and spaghetti squash with a pat of butter. Veggies + butter = delicious happiness!

On the side was my non-pizza pizza crust smeared with black garlic, avocado, and a sprinkle of sea salt.

I made a large batch of slow-cooker shredded chicken and 2-bean stew for dinner and it did not disappoint!

When you cook every meal for everyone in the house (okay, that’s just my wife and daughter), slow-cookers are a life saver! This gives us meals for a few days. I think it even tastes better after everything has sat overnight to let the flavors marry.

The day ended with a few NuttZo topped NuttZo Banana Frittata wedges.

I enjoy eating them cold, but I’m sure warmed up would still be outstanding. It’s hot enough in Texas now, so cold food just sounds better.

Have you ever made your own pizza crust? Was is a fail or a win?

Do you make everything for your family? Tell me you love the slow-cooker too!

Just want to mention I love NuttZo and you MUST try it at least ~~once~~ forever! Plus, if you go to their website and enter code liley15, you can save 15% off your order. 😉

Life, NuttZo, Parenting

Give This Divorced Dad Blogger Some Love

04/03/2015 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

The blogging community as a whole is pretty tight-knit, but us dad bloggers take it up a notch and share the common bond for the love of our family and writing. This divorced dad and I have been reading, commenting, and sharing each others’ posts for a while now, and I’d even say we have become online friends.

Sounds corny, huh? Maybe he even thinks so and would quickly disagree. But just like he says about his blog, this is my blog, I own it, and I can say what I want. So there!

His name is Gary Mathews (yes, just one “t”….blame his mother), and he owns the blog Skipah’s Realm. He is as open as he can be about his feelings towards his ~~ex-wife~~ daughter’s egg donor and has an awesome sense of humor. All around great guy and wonderful father to a beautiful girl. Almost as beautiful as Avery, but obviously I’m allowed to be biased just like any parent. 😉

Guess I should explain the title to this post. When I say “love”, I don’t mean it in the sense that most of your dirty minds are probably thinking, I’m talking about NuttZo Love, or #NuttZoLove, just for the Twitter aficionados. Gary and I have been going back and forth about Girl Scout cookies and NuttZo for some time now. He’s all about the only packaged form of legal crack that’s sold by cute little girls just to make it even harder to refuse, and I’m all about NuttZo. Obviously, I’m a proud ambassador because I believe in it’s healthy goodness!

Like most people I know, he’s resistant to changing from his tried and true peanut butter (albeit hydrogenated), but I’m hoping he gets the chance to try and love NuttZo! As I told him before, if not for his own sake, for his precious daughter’s sake. Give her the healthy benefits without sacrificing taste so she has all the energy to ride bike and walk with her daddy for years and years to come.

Okay, I’m not trying to make a sales pitch here (I won’t earn anything from your purchase anyway), just wanting Gary to get some NuttZo (besides his ex) of his own to try and share with his little girl. I shared a few recipes he could try with NuttZo, and meant to give him the NuttZo Banana Bread Recipe I posted a couple weeks ago but forgot. So there it is now, Gary, put down those crack-infused cookies and make something for you and your beautiful blonde bomber!

Since your daughter is seven, I probably wouldn’t feed her like I do Avery though. Just a tip. 🙂

So, if you’re around the New Albany, Indiana area and happen to have or want to get an extra jar of NuttZo, please swing for Gary to try (I rhymed!!). Gary, hope you don’t mind me sharing your location, but I just figured it’s okay since it is on your Twitter page!

Or if you’re a lucky NuttZo employee who has the power to send this guy a jar, please do so! I know he won’t be disappointed and will “spread” the good word after trying and sharing with his daughter. It might even make her as excited about the set of cool cinnamon-scented socks from littlemissmatched.com he was able to let her have and write a review on. Notice I said “set”, they come in threes and not a pair. Genius!

Wow, I’ve gone on about this single dad for a while now, huh? Should Going Mom be worried? Ummmm, no, she’s beautiful enough to turn a gay guy straight! But I’m already straight, I wasn’t saying she turned me straight. Not that there’s anything wrong with being gay. Ahh, shut-up, R.C.!!

Anyway, if you don’t want to give him NuttZo Love, just go over to his blog and read about his adventures of being taken back to court by the crazy egg donor, spending time with his daughter’s Russian KGB spy, vodka-drinking hamster named “Hammy”, how he overcame the depression of divorce, and his blissful time with his daughter when she gets to stay with him.

Disclosure: All stories about Hammy are completely fictional, but he does house a Russian Hamster named Hammy for his daughter.

As he says, co-parenting sucks, and I’m forever grateful not to know about that firsthand. And never want to!! Hear that, Kelley? 🙂

Also, I’d like to thank Mr. Skipah for mentioning me several times (like here and here) on his blog and linking back to my blog. It’s all a part of the dad blogger (or all bloggers really) community just supporting one another.

Thank you, Gary, I enjoy reading your posts and the comments you leave on my posts. Wish you and your daughter the best, and it’s obvious you are the best dad/parent for her! Now go find some NuttZo!