[Periscope] The Miracle Morning #MentalHealthMonday

My Fitbloggin friend Liz (A Prior Fat Girl) has started a great link up called "Mental Health Monday" - stay tuned for more content on taking care of our minds and spirits as well as our bodies!

Are you on PERISCOPE? Follow me on Periscope, we'll have live webinars & chats about motivation, body image and more! Margo Porras @shesnachomama

This Mental Health Monday, I am sharing something that has been a part of my daily mental health maintenance for quite a while: The Miracle Morning.

 

Learn more about The Miracle Morning at Hal Elrod's site.

Please send your private coaching inquiries to:

MyCoachMargo@Gmail.com or visit www.MargoPorras.com for more information.

THANK YOU to Liz for starting "Mental Health Mondays"! Check out the linkup HERE.

Wishing you love with extra cheese-

Nacho Mama

© Nacho Mama and nachomamasblog.com, 2009-2015. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this channel's author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

It's PIE TIME we help our community! #Thanksgiving

If there's one food I love more than nachos? It's pie. I honestly can't think of a pie flavor I won't eat with gusto. By far the biggest threat to waistline come Thanksgiving isn't the turkey, the mashed potatoes or the stuffing-it's the pie.

But this year? I'm gonna eat all the pie I want without feeling guilty. In fact, I will feel AWESOME! Okay, maybe I won't actually eat all the pie I want, but I will definitely BUY all the pie I want (and maybe just taste a little of each one) because, once again, this year I AM SELLING PIES FOR MAMA'S KITCHEN! No, not "Nacho Mama's Kitchen"-Mama's Kitchen here in San Diego.

What's Mama's Kitchen?

Mama's Kitchen has been around since I was in high school, at the height of the AIDS scare in the late 80s. Back then the paranoia was so out of control that people thought you could catch HIV just by sitting next to someone on a train or using a public restroom. It was so bad that some patients with HIV were actually dying from malnutrition, not AIDS, because it was so hard for them to get help they needed.

Mama's Kitchen was started right in my own neighborhood to help bring nutritious meals to patients with HIV. Today they serve over 1300 patients (and children of patients) living with HIV and cancer. Many of the cancer patients are moms with breast cancer who have young kids. These women are too sick to cook for themselves, let alone their children, and the meals they get from Mama's Kitchen make all the difference. The staff and volunteers of Mama's Kitchen prepare and deliver 3 meals a day to their clients (remember there are over 1300 of them!) all over San Diego County.

Want to help? I knew you would! Here's the fun part:


I don't know about you, but I just can't get PIE off my mind!



Every fall, Mama's Kitchen holds it's "Pie in the Sky" campaign. The best bakeries in the county prepare delicious pies that you can order for your Thanksgiving table and pick up at your local Wells Fargo (San Diego County only).

Each pie costs $20-$25 and buys this much food:

Just ONE PIE can feed a sick person or their child for THREE DAYS

PLUS a hot meal for an HIV/Cancer patient or the child of a patient. That's enough food to feed that person for three days. From just ONE PIE, folks.

If you don't live in San Diego County, I hope this will inspire you to help end hunger in your community. If you DO live in SD County, I hope you'll order your pies from ME! You can order your pies from my Mama's Kitchen PIE page at:

https://www.mamaspies.org/mypage.cfm?ID=426

Isn't it wonderful to know your Thanksgiving pie can make a real difference someplace other than your thighs? Get yours today!

Wishing you love with extra cheese on your APPLE PIE!

Nacho Mama



Youtube "VLOG EVERY DAY IN APRIL"! #VEDA

Hi everyone!
I've decided it would be fun to participate in Youtube's "Vlog Every Day in April" (#VEDA) campaign. If you don't subscribe to my Youtube Channel you can do that RIGHT HERE-check me out every now and again for a wee glimpse into my day as I try to make Lifetime status with Weight Watchers while having life at the same time.  I promise not to make the videos too long!
Just to give you an idea-here's the first 2:

Are you participating in #VEDA? If so please share your Youtube channel and I'll be sure and check YOU out!

Wishing you love with extra cheese- 
Nacho Mama

NIFTY THRIFTY! Electric Ladylamp...

Hello all! Just a little "Nifty Thrifty" to help launch the weekend. I spotted this beauty in a local thrift shop just after we moved into our current home. It was love at first sight...

How did the Salvation Army KNOW I needed a lamp?

I am a sucker for a great "figure" lamp and am always on the lookout for one. This one was in beautiful condition and even the linen shade still looked flawless. I'm not entirely sure whether the statue is of a woman or a man-but for $4? Who cares?! The only caveat was that the switch seemed to be broken and the SA couldn't guarantee whether the lamp would be functional.

A San Diegan dream come true-I'm in The Reader!

Hello all! I've been so busy lately that I almost forgot to mention the "bucket list" moment I had late last week. Nacho Mama's Blog is in The Reader!


image via sdreader.com

Those of you who live in San Diego, or grew up here like me, know that The Reader is where you go to get all the art, theater and music coverage that doesn't get published anywhere else. They also have the best essays on local politics and culture. I've been reading this weekly magazine(? newspaper?) since I was in high school and used to peruse the art reviews over iced cappuccino at Quel Fromage (anyone else remember Quel Fromage? No? Sigh.)

Nacho Mama's "Pie in the Sky"

If there's one food I love more than nachos? It's pie. I honestly can't think of a pie flavor I won't eat with gusto. By far the biggest threat to my diet plan come Thanksgiving isn't the turkey, the mashed potatoes or the stuffing-it's the pie.

But this year? I'm gonna eat all the pie I want without feeling guilty. In fact, I will feel AWESOME! Okay, maybe I won't actually eat all the pie I want, but I will definitely BUY all the pie I want (and maybe just taste a little of each one) because this year I AM SELLING PIES FOR MAMA'S KITCHEN! No, not "Nacho Mama's Kitchen"-Mama's Kitchen here in San Diego.

What's Mama's Kitchen?

Mama's Kitchen has been around since I was in high school, at the height of the AIDS scare in the late 80s. Back then the paranoia was so out of control that people thought you could catch HIV just by sitting next to someone on a train or using a public restroom. It was so bad that some patients with HIV were actually dying from malnutrition, not AIDS, because it was so hard for them to get help they needed. Mama's Kitchen was started right in my own neighborhood to help bring nutritious meals to patients with HIV. Today they serve over 1300 patients (and children of patients) living with HIV and cancer. Many of the cancer patients are moms with breast cancer who have young kids. These women are too sick to cook for themselves, let alone their children, and the meals they get from Mama's Kitchen make all the difference. The staff and volunteers of Mama's Kitchen prepare and deliver 3 meals a day to their clients (remember there are over 1300 of them!) all over San Diego County.

Want to help? I knew you would! Here's the fun part:



BUY OUR PIES! Or join our team and become a seller yourself-click the image to learn more.

  Every fall, Mama's Kitchen holds it's "Pie in the Sky" campaign. The best bakeries in the county prepare delicious pies that you can order for your Thanksgiving table and pick up at your local Wells Fargo (San Diego County only). My sister bloggers at San Diego Momfia and I have teamed up for one whopper of a bake sale! You can read more about it HERE.  Our goal? To sell 6,200 pies by Thanksgiving.  Each pie costs $20 and buys this much food:

Just ONE PIE can feed a sick person or their child for THREE DAYS

PLUS a hot meal for an HIV/Cancer patient or the child of a patient. That's enough food to feed that person for three days. From just ONE PIE, folks.

Isn't it wonderful to know your Thanksgiving pie can make a real difference someplace other than your thighs? If you don't live in San Diego County, I hope this will inspire you to help end hunger in your community. If you DO live in SD County, I hope you'll order your pies from ME! You can order your pies from my Mama's Kitchen PIE page at:

http://mamaspies.org/mypage.cfm?ID=306

And the person who orders the most pies from me? Gets a PRIZE! So get ordering please!

NO-the prize is not the pie hat!



Wishing you love with extra cheese on your APPLE PIE!

Nacho Mama



Coming to San Diego for Blogher 2011? Don't miss HILLCREST!

If you're one of the 3,000 attendees expected at this year's Blogher conference this August here in San Diego, I hope you've set aside a little time for exploring America's Finest City (yes, I still have trouble typing that with a straight face :) but San Diego is awfully pretty!)

The conference will be downtown at the San Diego Marriott and Convention Center. There are scads of parties being planned all over the city but what about daytime, family or after-hours fun? From the Convention Center, it's just 2.5 miles down Fifth Avenue to my lovable, colorful stomping grounds, the neighborhood of Hillcrest.

R Gang Eatery? Yeah, it's in Hillcrest!

I've compiled a Top 10 list of places in Hillcrest to see, eat and shop for San Diego Momfia. You can check it out HERE!  Writing this post kind of reminded me of this...

Because you can buy Kale in Hillcrest too!


Wishing you Love with Extra Cheese-
Nacho Mama

Nacho Mama's Day Out-with TATER TOTS!

It's not often this mama gets a day out. So when I saw on twitter that my online friends Theresa and Beth were going to be lunching in Hillcrest? I just had to weasel solicit an invitation for myself. After all, the ladies were going to be in Nacho Mama's 'hood. And? They were going to be vlogging about the launch of their AWESOME new site SDMomfia. And? They were going to be joined by Aaron from He Said, She Said. AND?  It was going to be at R GANG EATERY!!! Which I have been dying to try since it opened but haven't because, as I said above, it's not often I get a day out. (Whew! That's a lot of links for one paragraph, no?)

OK, so I totally horned in on their awesome mommy lunch. But it was worth it.

First of all, even though we all live in the same town, and all write for Theresa's site Rock On Mommies, I've never met the ladies in person. We tweet each other all day long, but there is a singular thrill that comes from meeting the face behind the twitter-handle that is difficult to convey unless you've actually experienced it. Let's just say that the web is waaay to small to contain the ferocious divinity that is Theresa and Beth. Now with Aaron I had some idea what to expect, having seen his hilarious webisodes. He did not disappoint and yes boys, he is even cuter and sweeter in person!

Speaking of cute-our menu was personally selected for us by R Gang's a-dorable chef, Rich Sweeney. Who was recently on a show called "Top Chef" - perhaps you've heard of it? He is also mas chulo in person. How lucky am I? 

So there we were, enjoying the gorgeous Hillcrest afternoon and gabbing away with Theresa's webcam capturing it all. They brought us cocktails. In honor of Nacho Daddy (who's real name is Todd) I'd ordered the Hot Toddy. It was absolutely delightful-like I was drinking in the warm Hillcrest sun.

Aaron ordered the Gingerbread Martini-which had a little Gingerbread Man drowning in it! If you want to save him, you have to drink really fast.

The cocktails made us even more talkative. Until the food came. Then the silence was deafening. Where to begin? First there were Tater Tots:

Then a spinach salad with duck and duck confit Tater Tots (even now I have to pause for a moment of silence):

Then? A scallop Po' Boy with some of the tastiest fries I have ever had.

(For my fellow weight-watchers, I figured I took in about 35 points with this one meal alone! But, that's what our new Points Allowance is for! And I had the other half of the sandwich for dinner. It was so worth it-for the company and the food!) 

Other food highlights at our table included Mac & Cheese and also Chicken & Waffles. Back when Nacho Daddy and I lived in New York, we'd get chicken and waffles in Harlem, and R Gang's might be better than we had back in the day (gasp!)

And the BEST thing we had? It's on the wall in the photo behind us.

Chef Rich Sweeney, Theresa, Me and Beth (Aaron took the photo)

No one asked me to write this review. But I had such a fab-you-luss time that I just had to share it with all of you. If you live in America's Finest City, or are visiting (perhaps for the holidays?) I hope you'll stop by R Gang Eatery. Be sure and check the chalkboard for new menu items, since Chef Rich likes to mix things up. You moms will be glad to know that it's SO kid-friendly. And you weight-watchers will be glad to know you have some place to spend those extra points!

Wishing you love with extra cheese,
Nacho Mama