You haven’t experienced a glitter explosion until you’ve turned your back on a five-year-old and an art spinner. If you don’t know what an art spinner is, you probably need one in your life. You pop some paper into a spinning wheel, set it in motion, drizzle on paint and glitter, and voila, you have created a masterpiece for the fridge. I am so pro art spinner that in fact, I bought Chloe five new tubs of glitter to add to her collection. I set it up, left her to it and went to put the dinner on. When I looked up (90 seconds later) it was to a falling shower of sparkles reminiscent of an American Idol finale. There is a “spinner shield” you see. And when you don’t use it and you do go for broke on the glitter application, it’s fairly spectacular.So if the Lovely Husband ever tries to forget that he is surrounded by women, it won’t be for long. There’s glitter on his golf bag and in his running shoes. It’s in the crevices of the mac. It reached the laundry pile and his bike helmet. The bike helmet is probably the biggest problem …. I’m not sure that sparkling hair is a good look for a CEO.Of course the girls thought the whole situation was hysterical. It made me stop for a minute and wonder how many little moments like these they’ll remember. I was so tempted to hurry up the tidying process, have dinner and just get them in to bed, but I’d read a blog about the art of slowing down as a Mum and it had really hit a nerve. I tried to relax about the blanket of glitter that was settling over every surface we owned and stopped checking the clock. I put the e-mails and the work that had to be done out of my mind. It was a slow bedtime tonight, but there was zero whining. It was amazing how stopping the rush changed the girls behaviour completely.It’s easy for these kind of revelations to fill me with self-doubt. There was a time when I wasn’t sure if I could be a Mum, and so having these two amazing girls is a great privilege. Nothing is more important to me than doing a good job for them, and so when I feel as if I’m getting it wrong, it makes me sick to my stomach. Sometimes it seems like everyone around me is getting it right, and I am the only one shouting and rushing and regretting.But I stumbled across a saying the other day that has been a great source of comfort to me, and it’s so simple: “Don’t compare your inside, to someone else’s outside.” There’s others too, “comparison is the thief of joy” and “don’t compare your behind the scenes’s to someone’s else’s highlight reel”. They all say the same thing and are wise words indeed.So, tonight and over the next few weeks, this is what I’ll be focusing on. A combination of losing the self-criticism and spending some quality, unrushed time as a family. We’re off on holiday for ten days and I’ll be taking a quick break from these pages until September 6.While I’m away, consider this. If you are ever self-critical of the food you feed yourself or your family, don’t let comparisons to people, web pages, blogs or Pinterest make you feel disheartened. I am 100 percent certain that none of us are getting it right all of the time. I made my kids mashed Peruvian purple potatoes today … and served it with shop-bought chicken nuggets. Shhh, don’t tell anyone!Instead, focus on small changes that make you feel better about what you do, one step at a time. It may mean sliding some green veg into dinner (hidden or otherwise) or using whole-grain flour when you bake, but small triumphs add up and also make the transition to healthy eating easier to accept for the family.I am always looking for ways to improve, especially to bring down the sugar content of some of the things I bake. This banana bread recipe is one of my all-time favourites because it happens to be gluten and dairy free, at the same time as being moist and delicious! It’s also packed full or good fats and protein. But I’ve just gone one step further and replaced one of the bananas with a whole, grated zucchini. It still tastes amazing and I guarantee you it will be a crowd pleaser. Whether you follow this recipe, or half the banana and use zucchini in your own, either one is a win. Let me know how you get on!Banana and Zucchini Bread (makes one loaf)Ingredients:¾ cup brown rice flour (Down to Earth, ABC store, Lindos)6 tbsp almond flour (as above)¾ tsp baking powder¾ tsp baking soda½ tsp salt½ cup brown sugar or preferably Sucanet (Down to Earth)1 very ripe banana, mashed1 medium sized zucchini, grated2 large eggs¼ cup coconut oil, melted and extra for greasing the pan¼ cup dairy-free “buttermilk” (see step 3)½ cup chocolate chips (dairy free)½ cup protein/fibre/good fat mix (this can be a Linwoods mix from Miles or any chopped nuts/seeds/hemp of your choice)Directions:1. Preheat the oven to 350F.2. Coat an 8 ½ x 4 ½ loaf pan with a little coconut oil. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and coat again.3. Make the dairy free “buttermilk.” Add ½ tsp lemon juice or apple cider vinegar to a measuring jug and top up with any milk alternative (soy, hemp, almond etc) to the quarter cup mark. Set to one side (let it stand for at 5-10 minutes before using.)4. In a small bowl, mix together the brown rice flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.5. In a bigger bowl, whisk together the Sucanet and banana. Stir in the grated zucchini. Add the eggs and mix with a manual whisk. Then slowly whisk in the oil. (TIP: make sure the eggs are at room temperature as otherwise the melted coconut oil will start to harden and go lumpy as it comes into contact with the cold eggs.)6. Now add the flour mixture and the buttermilk to the batter and whisk in gently but completely.7. Stir in the choc chips and the protein/fibre mix.8. Pour the batter in to the pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes until firm but bouncy.9. Cool for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack, loosening the edges with a spatula. Peel off the base paper.10. As best with all gluten free options, cool completely before cutting.The advice given in this article is not intended to replace medical advice, but to complement it. Always consult your GP if you have any health concerns. Catherine Burns BA Hons, Dip ION is the Managing Director of Natural Ltd and a fully qualified Nutritional Therapist trained by the Institute for Optimum Nutrition in the UK. Please note that she is not a Registered Dietitian. For details, please go to www.natural.bm or call 236-7511. Join Catherine on Facebook: www.facebook.com/nutrifitandnaturalnutritionbermuda