Flex-Appeal

Fire!

2011-10-01T08:32:00.000-07:00

So my goal is to start blogging more than once a season again! My last post was summer love! Oops!

Today is World Vegetarian Day! I know a lot of you are not vegetarian's and that is fine, but I am noticing a lot of people who do eat meat are trying to eat it less.What about you?

Speaking of eating less meat. I saw an awesome film Thursday Night called Forks Over Knives. I blogged about it over a year ago when I found out it was coming to theatres. Well, I FINALLY got to see it, and it did not disappoint! It was super informative and has really made me look at mine and my families consumption of animal protein. It was showing how studies have proven that animal protein has the ability to turn cancer cells on! I have played around with veganism before, but after seeing this film I am thinking a little harder about it...and so is my MOM! What? and Matt! Double What?

I asked Matt after the film if he would be interested in going vegan (he has SUPER high cholesterol) and his words were, "I'll do whatever, just put a trough in front of me." So I'm taking that as a yes! I just have to really work on finding cheese substitutes for him...

Which led me straight to the used book store to pick up this red beauty...

This is a book about a firefighter who turned his firehouse vegan for the sake of all their health. He says that firefighters #1 cause of death is heart disease and NOT fire related injuries...interesting huh? I figure if his recipes worked on a whole firehouse, surely they will work for my man too! And just in case the book didn't work, I got this too for a little extra motivation for him...or ME!

Kidding, I did not buy that!

Regardless of how it goes, we will definitely be consuming LESS animal protein. Dairy in particular!

And since we are on the topic of FIRE...here is another one of my recent purchases.

Somebody call 911...Adrianne's gonna die on the gym floor...whoa!!!!
I lasted for a whole 10 minutes today! That's something right?
Trying again tomorrow!!!

Have a great fall weekend!

~A

Summer Love

2011-06-05T06:37:00.000-07:00

Happy summer everyone! I am already off to a great summer and wanted to share with you all some of the things I am LOVIN' at the moment...so here it goes!

1. Facebook- Isn't it so wonderful how we have such access to each other? I love it! What did we do without it? Oh yeah, we called each other! Those of you who know me know I struggle with that one! I am SO not a phone person!

2. New Cars- Matt and I got a new car that gets 40 miles a gallon, and I swoon over this car! It is a Hyundai Elantra and it is a BLAST to drive! Matt and I sometimes box over who is going to drive it!

3. Cookbooks- I am a cookbook junkie, but during the school year I don't get to peruse them much. But during the summer I love to plan out our weekly meals and try new recipes! Her are a few of my faves!

4. Reading- Again something I don't have much time for during the school year. I am planning a book- a- thon this summer! Here is what I am currently reading:

And here is my next read (above)

I really try to read fiction and I do like it, but I am such a non-fiction freak! After these I am going to try to read 2 fiction books!

5. Passion Tea Lemonade- I love this stuff, but got really tired of paying $4 for it every time I got one. I tried to make my own at home, but it was an epic fail every time. So I decided to have a little chat with the Starbucks barista. She let me in on a little secret that the passion tea bags are not the ones sold in stores (those are only for hot tea) but rather they use a "special" ice tea passion tea bag! What? No wonder I couldn't get it to taste right. So got on Starbucks.com and ordered me a HUGE box! Now I finally have my own pitcher in my fridge everyday!

6. And BEST of all right now, I am LOVIN' being a teacher during the summer months! I love it during the school year too, but the summer is AH. MA. ZING!

Clean Summer

2011-06-02T04:29:00.000-07:00

Summer is here and so is the HOT sun and the mosquitoes I am NOT a fan of rubbing anything with nasty chemicals on mine or my families bodies! When it comes to lotion to keep our skin from getting too dry I use Whole Foods own 365 brand.

You can get a huge bottle for $3.99, possibly even cheaper than most lotions in big box stores! Although I have a 45 minute hike up to my nearest Whole Foods, a bottle of this lasts a long time!
These are the things these products do not have in them:

■Parabens

■Sodium Lauryl Sulfate

■Sodium Laureth Sulfate

■Artificial Frangrance

■Animal Ingredients and also no animal testing.

Two other products that are must haves for us in the summer are Alba Sunscreens (I get mine at Kroger)
• Water resistant

• Tear free

• Paraben Free

• UVA/UVB protection

• 100% Vegetarian ingredients

And California Baby Bug Repellent

This stuff is a safe and natural alternative to toxic bug repellent chemicals. Non-toxic, DEET free, non-chemical, hypoallergenic formula repels bugs while it soothes existing bites with organic aloe vera, yucca, Irish moss and herbs that are specific to the healing of the skin. Lemon eucalyptus and citronella do not cause harm to humans, pets or the environment.

There are lots of other great non toxic products out there too, I just wanted to share what I use here!
I am loving that regular Big Box store are beginning to sell these products as well. I get the California Baby Bug Repellent at Target!

Now go out and have fun outside without the guilt of smearing chemicals all over your family!

Let me know if you try any of these products! I would love to know what you think! And by the way, I DO NOT work for any of these companies, just sharing what I like!

Peace, love, and fun in the sun!

~A

Punky Brewster

2011-02-25T15:39:00.000-08:00

Do you remember this show? This was my absolute favorite show when I was growing up. It gave me such a cozy feeling because I knew as soon as Punky Brewster was over that my mom would be home from work! Ahhh...childhood memories! I loved watching Punky and Cherri and all their shenanigans! I wish they would play re-runs of this I would definitely DVR it!

Well, come to find out I have every reason to still be loving this girl. Soleil Moon Fry (the girl who played Punky) is now a mom and has her own line of organic baby clothes called The Little Seed. The line is colorful, simple, and eco-friendly. It would make a perfect baby shower gift! And as if it weren't exciting enough that it is all organic, guess where you can get it...Target (my happy place)!!!!

Some of you may be wondering as I used to, why in the world would I buy organic clothing? Organic food I understand, but why clothing? Here's why... for each organic fiber t-shirt you buy it eliminates the use of 150 grams of agricultural chemicals. It takes approximately one pound of chemicals to grow three pounds of conventional cotton, while organic cotton is grown chemical free. Non-organic cotton is commonly portrayed as natural, yet it is highly cultivated and processed which contaminates groundwater and ultimately drinking water, poisoning the food chain.(obviously I researched this)

By purchasing natural and organic fiber clothing you are supporting environmental causes and fair trade working conditions. I am trying to be more conscious of this when I am making purchases. I certainly don't only buy organic, not even close, but now I think of this when I buy things and that is what I think is most important, that we are aware and that we do our best!

Things That Make You Go Hmmm...

2011-02-04T05:43:00.000-08:00

I truly don't believe there is only ONE way to eat for health and although I strongly believe in the way I eat, I know it is right for me and for my family. I certainly don't judge others for the way they eat. Most of my family and friends eat meat and non-organic and I love them all just the same.

I do however have issues with the way America depends WAY TOO heavily on fast food and with the way FACTORY FARMS treat the animals. I emphasize FACTORY FARMS because I am not talking about responsible farmers. I fully support responsible farming. I am talking about mass producers who could care less about the treatment of animals.

I think with anything it is important we are educated fully and understand the truth, especially with what we put on and in our bodies.

So with that, here a few controversial commercials to ponder. I am not trying to push being a vegetarian, but maybe just consider consuming less meat IF YOU WANT or not. Either way, I think these commercials are interesting.

Things that make you go hmmm...

~A

Ice, Ice, Baby!

2011-02-03T06:29:00.000-08:00

Well, today is day 3 of operation iced in here in Indy! Another day off of school! And of course this guy keeps popping into my brain!

ICE, ICE BABY!

We have had lots of fun being off this week. It's nice being married to a teacher too because it allows for a lot of nice family time.

Here are some of the shenanigans we have been up to.

Sophia and I made this beautiful jewelry box.

I also made me green juice with kale, ginger, cucumber, lemon, and green apple.

And then I got it stolen!

Next, was some chickpea curry over quinoa. For this I just used 2 cans of organic chickpeas and store bought coconut curry sauce. It was very good! I love quinoa and I love how quick it cooks!

After some good food, we practiced some yoga moves.

Then settled down to a nice cup of tea.

Heading back to the grind tomorrow and it will be Friday already!

I could get used to this kind of work week!

Bling!

2011-02-02T08:53:00.000-08:00

Happy winter! We are iced in here in Indy and I have to say it is incredibly exciting! One of the perks of teaching is still getting snow days, and I still get just as excited about them (maybe even more) than I did as a kid! Everything here is so shiny and beautiful!

(source)

So, to add to the excitement of being home today, it is also my beautiful sister's birthday AND the groundhog says we are getting an early spring! Wowza!

(my sis and her husband)

I was perusing my vegan cookbooks to make my sis a vegan b-day cake but unfortunately the roads are too bad for us to get together. Here is what I was really wanting to make her!

This is from Angela's blog click here for the recipe. It calls for arrowroot, I have never heard of this have you?
So, with all the buzz around the new movie Black Swan, and seeing how cute Natalie Portman was at The Golden Globes, I was interested to learn more about her and to my surprise she is a vegan and is into being Eco savy. Check out her new bling!

(source)
This ring is "conflict free" which means no one was injured or treated unfairly during the mining process. The middle stone is an antique and it is set in rrecycled platinum. Go Natalie! Since my ring is not Eco friendly I am trying to talk Matt into one of these beauties for Valentine's Day!

A girl can dream!

Peace, love, and BLING!

~A

pHabulous

2011-01-31T14:14:00.000-08:00

Hello Blog Posse!

I thought I would take a minute to update on how I am aiming to eat these days! I still say I am a "flexitarian" being free to eat whatever I want but mainly sticking to plants. However, I find I am living "mostly" a vegan lifestyle these days. I have still been eating goat cheese and a little feta here and there, but am pretty close to cutting that out as well. Last week I had no dairy at all until Friday when I had goat cheese on my pizza and my tummy was singing the blues!

I am really trying hard not to get caught up in what I can't have but rather really focusing on what I can have that is going to really serve my body and create wellness!

I have been pretty much living by Kris Carr's wellness principles since the summer. She has now gone mainstream with her new book Crazy Sexy Diet and I highly recommend it!

I really try to focus on eating a lot of alkaline foods and limit the acidic ones. Kris explains this in detail in chapter 2 of Crazy Sexy Diet. The title of this chapter is pHabulous! You can also click here to learn more about balancing your pH.

I LOVE my green juice, but have to admit it does get hard to keep up on making it while working and raising a family. I usually do my big juicing sesh on Sundays and freeze it for the week, but I also go to the grocery that day, plan dinners for the week, prep lunches for the week, and try to get things done around the house. So sometimes my juicing falls short. Which is exactly what happened this past Sunday, so I am excited to have this new green powder to sip on when I don't have my juice or feel like I need an extra boost of alkalinity!

I will say it is NOT quite as tasty as my green juice and I have some MAJOR getting used to with it. It is not for the faint of heart but the cleaner my diet becomes I think the easier it will be to drink. I LOVE green powders in my smoothies, but drinking it straight with water is a new thing for me.

Well, we are prepping for an ice storm here in Indy, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a snow day tomorrow! My cuboards are stocked and we have a gas powered generator so bring it you big bad storm!

Peace and pH,

~A

Sunday Funday

2011-01-30T17:24:00.000-08:00

Today began like this...

Sophia had her first sleepover at our house and you better believe she showed her friend EVERY toy in our house! They stayed up until close to 11:00 and were up bright and shining at 6:30 this morning!

So, I of course ~~deserved~~ really wanted this...

Soy Chai Latte baby!

Look at these beautiful dancing queens!

While these girls were dancing their hearts away, I began my food prep for the week.

Vegan whip cream for Sophia's breakfast waffles,

Toppings for Me and Matt's lunch salads, (I cut all the topping so in the morning all I have to do is put the spinach in a container and scoop on these toppings)

I miserably failed at baking us a pizza for lunch! I was so excited to try this dough that I got in my CSA this week but I burnt it to a crisp! It helps to read the directions carefully, I only tell my class that 50 times a day! I guess I should take my own advice!

Dinner was falafel and homemade fries with basil, sea salt, rosemary, and garlic powder! Yumola!

And here is where my day ended! Pure bliss! I made Gingerbread with spiced butter cream icing! It was the most AMAZING thing I have ever made in my life and it is vegan! I got the recipe from my favorite blog, Oh She Glows. Click here for the recipe. This bread is life changing! Fo real, fo sure! It will be my new Christmas time staple!

Now, I'm going to settle in and watch the new Nick Jr. show Bubble Guppy with Sophia!

Have a great week!

~A

Pizza for Breakfast

2011-01-28T16:00:00.000-08:00

Hello friends!

Now I am NO photographer and haven't even read the instructions for my camera (I should really do that) so my photos on this blog are not great and I apologize, but my passion is learning healthy food not photography. So here is an Adrianne photo of my latest obsession...

This, my friends is Peanut Butter, Jelly, and Banana Breakfast Pizza and it is AMAZING! This is from one of my favorite bloggers who happens to be an amazing photographer as well as an amazing cook! So if you want to drool over some pics of this pizza in all it's glory click here.

Here is another one of Matt and I's new favorite eats...

This is sandwich is avocado, hummus, tomato paste, pepper, nutritional yeast (tastes cheesy without the cheese) and spinach. It is AWESOME! We have both had it in our lunches this week and even for dinner one night!

And of course our week just wouldn't be complete without some smoothies!
Here is the his and hers from this morning, can you guess who's is who's?

Did you guess that the green one was mine? WRONG! I totally have him converted! Muahahaha! I love that he is enjoying this journey with me! Such a man!

~A

Snack Attack and Floral Pits

2011-01-27T17:03:00.000-08:00

Today was a great a day! I started taking B-12 this week and I truly feel like I have had more energy! B-12 is the only supplement you really need to take if you don't eat meat, which I haven't been eating.

So after work today, Sophia and I went to the health store. I have been in desperate need for some GOOD deodorant! I am having a hard time finding as natural deodorant that doesn't contain Aluminum that actually works! My friend suggested the Weleda Wild Rose Deodorant Spray, so that was my only intended purchase today. I was so excited they had it! I can't wait to have floral pits!

Here is everything else I left the store with...

I didn't NEED any of it, but I was in a snacky kind of mood and EVERYTHING looked so good!
Coconut Yogurt, seaweed snacks, kale chips, veggie stix, pea snacks, Barbara's cereal, Sunshine Burgers Falafel, Cliff fruit ropes, coconut milk, kombucha tea, Udi's cinnamon rolls, and the thing I am most excited to try are these new Justin's Peanut Butter Cups!

I love Justin's Peanut Butter and Chocolate Almond Butter, so I am sure these are going to be wonderful!

I instantly had buyers remorse for the money that I spent...oops! Damn that budget!

Peace, love, and floral pits!
~A

Lip Service

2011-01-23T17:49:00.000-08:00

Hello Blog Beauties! I hope you are warm and cozy on this cold evening!

I am a huge fan of "moist" lips! Isn't that a gross word? "moist" In less gross words, I love having chapstick or gloss on my lips at all times! During the winter however, it tends to be mostly chapstick. I will not however put bad stuff on mine or Sophia's lips (Matt doesn't keep his moist) By bad I mean chapsticks that contain petroleum and other harmful ingredients. I never get Sophia those princess glosses in the dollar bins because they are usually full of the bad stuff.

I once read that a woman eats between 4-9 lbs of lipstick in her lifetime! Even more important that we pay attention to what we put on them! If I'm gonna eat it I want to make sure it is quality stuff, right?

So here is what I am enjoying on my lips and Sophia's. Sophia LOVES the EOS brand because it is shaped like an Easter Egg! The other brands pictured are Alba Coconut Cream Lip Gloss, Hurraw (organic, raw, and vegan) and comes in lots of yummy flavors including Chai, and Dessert Essence.

Keep those smoochers happy and healthy this winter!

Peace, love, and "moist" lips!

Love List

2011-01-22T06:18:00.000-08:00

Hello blog friends,

I haven't been checking in as often as I did over the summer, the whole working thing kind of gets in the way! Imagine that! I wanted to check in this morning and let you all know what I have been loving lately! So here is my latest love list:

Crazy Sexy Diet

I have blogged about my love for Kris Carr before. I have been following her for the last year or so and she has now gone mainstream with her latest diet book. This book is amazing and I am reading it for a second time! Love this girl!

Mega Salads

This one was spinach, goat cheese, tomato, raisins, sunflower seeds, and a chopped up sunshine veggie burger= DELICIOUS!

Green Smoothies for Everyone

For me

For Sophia

And for my whole class

By the way my class LOVED the green smoothies!

Brown Rice cakes with Avocado

Getting my ~ ing on

This is another book that I am loving right now!

Almond Milk Chai Latte

Birthday Cake

This cake was amazing, and yes my baby girl is now 4!

What are you loving right now?

Talk to you soon,

Long Time No See

2010-12-11T19:19:00.000-08:00

Hello, hello, hello blog friends! Long time no see! I have only one word as to why I haven't blogged since September27th...Life! Funny how that happens right! I miss it dearly though!

Today's post is short and sweet, I want to tell you about the new kid in town. The new restaurant in Greenwood that is...Jockamo's

This place was fabulous! Awesome for vegetarians and non-veggies! They have goat cheese pizza, eggplant pizza, pizza with hummus, Greek Pizza, Slaughterhouse(their name, not mine) meat lovers pizza, and everything in between! I had the Greek salad, which was amazing! The atmosphere was great and it's right across from the library which makes for a lovely afternoon with the family!

It's good to be back!

Peace, love, and pizza!

~A

Pumpkin Mumpkin

2010-09-27T07:08:00.000-07:00

Today, I am home with this Pumpkin Mumpkin!
Not feeling well!

She is a breakfast girl, so I tried some oatmeal, a peach, and water, all atop of her Dora tray for some breakfast on the couch! Let's see if this perks her up?

Just as I suspected!

She picked out these ginormous organic peaches at The Fresh Market. I was cracking up watching her eat it. Peaches as big as your head!

Mom, I don't feel well! Please no pictures. I want to eat in peace!

We are heading off to the Dr. here in a few. She has been complaining of her ears hurting! Poor baby!

Here are some pictures from my week long hiatus from the blog. Although I didn't have a lot of time to blog, I was still clicking away to capture some photos for you guys. Here we go!

Green Juice and lesson plans!

Notice I am reading Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. No worries here, I have lots of these babies stored away for when I get the urge!

"Texas Roadhouse" sweet butter for Sophia, using these ingredients!

Steamed veggies, marinara and goat cheese, raw sweet potatoes with Dijon mustard and Stevia for me!

Pumpkin pie in a jar, on the drive home.

A trip to The Fresh Market (those are my beet greens hanging out)

Exciting finds @ the market...
Yogurt for Sophia, Hint water and goat butter for me!

Annie's salad dressing, Dijon mustard, and carrots.

And speaking of Pumpkin Mumpkins, check out our fireplace mantel!
Fall is here! So exciting!

Peace, love, and pumpkins!
~A

Bye Bye Diet Head

2010-09-25T20:45:00.000-07:00

Hello Beautiful Blog Buds! Wowee, sorry for the delay in posts! It's been a week or so. The new comments didn't work, I got all excited and then let down. I wanted to make it easier for you all to leave comments. I am still working on it though! I'm not going down like that!

So last Saturday was really cool because I got to talk on the phone with my new friend Marlena Torres who is a certified clinical nutritionist and is working with me on an individualized nutritional regimen.

Everything that Marlena emphasizes are things that I truly believe in and have been dabbling in myself.

Such as:
green juice
mostly raw
organic and natural living
cleansing
and quick exit foods

She also has a blog and a new ebook that you should check out!

I am so excited to be working with her and to have her support as I dive deeper into this lifestyle. When we spoke she talked about getting out of that diet head mentality where you are constantly either on or off a diet. This is so me!

She was explaining how diet head= deprivation and all or nothing. Instead we need be thinking, this is my lifestyle and the foods that best serve me! I LOVE that and have had to already remind myself of that a few times this week.

I am really pumped to try out some new recipes this week and to really start feeling great!

Weight is not something that I usually talk about on this blog, but it is no secret that it something that I struggle with. I had a whopping 60 pound weight gain with my daughter and have not been able to find my pre-prgnancy weight since (and trust me, I've looked EVERYWHERE for it) I've decided after talking with Marlena and after years of falling victim to the scale, that I am saying goodbye to it! I am done letting that little glass square tell me what kind of mood I am going to be in today. I am at the point in my life where even though how I feel about myself is HUGELY important, the number is NOT! I know that by following the principles that I stated above that the weight will come off but more importantly I will become healthier, happier, and a great role model for my daughter and Iszler baby #2 (someday)

So here's to falling in love with this journey! I hope you'll continue along with me and fall in love with your own journey as well!

B-well,

New comments

2010-09-15T19:27:00.000-07:00

Let's see if this works? I think I added a new commenting feature to make it easier for everyone to leave comments. Let's try it out...

Leave me a comment and tell me one thing you ate today.

~A

Fueled on Juice Today

2010-09-14T17:22:00.000-07:00

Today was all about business! Grades are due! Always a busy time. Can you believe it is already midterm for my kiddos?

Since I had a juicing fest yesterday, I was stocked for a juicy day! Here are today's eats (mostly drinks):

I started the day with 3 huge grapefruits, juiced to perfection! This is by far my FAVORITE morning drink. I Love it on ice!
Throughout the afternoon I sipped on 2 green juices and water.
As soon as my kiddos left school I drank some pumpkin pie in bowl drink. This stuff is delicious! I knew it was in my lunch bag and I looked forward to it all day!
Then it was time for dinner. here's what I did:

I started with a nice sized salad with spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, and sprouts.

For my dressing, I made this dressing from Angela@ohsheglows.com
it is a balsamic dressing. The only change I made from hers was that I omitted the maple syrup and added NuNaturals liquid Stevia instead.

I made whole wheat angel pasta and steamed veggies for Matt and Sophia

Of course I used Mr. Newman for the sauce (actually this kind was not my fave) Wasn't he such a handsome man? My family is huge racing fans, so we miss Mr. Newman.

Rather than pasta, I just had the steamed veggies with the pasta sauce over them. I have been doing this a lot when I make pasta for the fam. It is a much better choice for me, but since I get the sauce I don't miss the pasta at all. Truthfully, I am not a huge pasta fan. I'm a sucker for Mexican food though!!

And of course the man of the house and I had to polish this off! Oh, how I do enjoy a glass or 2 of wine at the end of a hectic day!

Hope everyone had a fantastic day!

Be well,
~A

Juicing Jubilee

2010-09-13T19:31:00.000-07:00

Yeah, we are over the Monday hurdle! I REALLY am not a big fan of Mondays. I hope yours was good though. I wanted to show you some recent finds at the store and do some explaining on my recent eats.

On Sunday, I went here and got:

This for me. I saw Jenni McCarthy talk about these in Shape Magazine. They are pretty high in calories but good for a treat.

This for Sophia. I am trying to gradually get her off of dairy because it is so mucus forming and she has asthma. This is a coconut Keefer. She wasn't impressed. I think it is wonderful!

This for Sophia. She won't eat regular peanut butter, but loves chocolate peanut butter on strawberries! It is a great healthy snack for her! This stuff is kickin'

Then I stopped here:

And got this: Vegetarian nachos- Yikes! I felt so gross after eating this. WAY too heavy. I prefer Qudoba!

Tonight was a grocery night for me so we had this. This is my favorite pizza, I've talked about it several times on here, but here is a picture of the box for you visual learners!

Afterwards Sophia had a healthier version of a fruit roll up.

These are called FruitaBu's and they are 100% real fruit with no added sugar. Here is the box.

The rest of the evening was pretty much a juicing jubilee for me! I have been eating a lot of packaged foods the last couple weeks and boy can I feel it. I feel sluggish, grumpy, and bloated. It is amazing how much lighter and happier I feel when I am juicing. It has been a good lesson for me taking a few weeks to eat less than ideal food because I realized just how good the juice makes me feel, and how bad the packaged stuff makes me feel.

Cut

Wash

Partaay! They are like my little cheerleader pyramid! G-O Let's go Green juice, G-O Let's go!

Ok, sorry!

Carrot juice for pumpkin pie in a bowl.

Sophia drinking the pumpkin pie drink! She loves this stuff! Never mind the bad picture and the dirt all over her face! Point is even three year olds like veggie juice!

What I am realizing right now in my diet is that I am feeling the best when I am eating mostly raw, mostly vegan. Notice I am NOT saying all raw and all vegan because I do still liked to eat cooked things at dinner and I am really enjoying goat cheese and salmon (sometimes) salmon grosses me out sometimes too. I am still learning what works for me. This is still all part of my journey.

I have some exciting stuff coming up next week! Will share soon.

~A

Comfort Food

2010-09-11T17:44:00.000-07:00

Hello blog buds! Today was a day full of comfort food and laziness!

I started the morning with a bowl of VOO (vegan overnight oats) except they weren't over night, I made it all this morning.

These oats were:
1/3 c. oats
3/4 c. almond milk
1 scoop chia seeds
1/2 scoop of Sunwarrior protein powder (best protein powder I've ever had)

All of those ingredients were mixed into a bowl and put in the fridge to soak for a little over an hour. (usually you would do this part the night before)

Then you make the delicious ~~ice cream~~ banana soft serve:

Mix a frozen banana and a little almond milk (or milk of choice) in the blender. This morning I drizzled maple syrup over the top!

SO GOOD!

SO GONE!

Sophia wanted her own ~~ice cream~~ banana soft serve for breakfast. I'll just let her think she is having ice cream for breakfast.This makes me a really cool mom! This is a great dairy free ice cream alternative for kids or grown ups!

We had a nice relaxing day that included naps for everyone! Before I knew it, it was on to dinner. I drank this while fixing dinner, it is sweetened with Stevia. It was just ok, nothing earth shattering.

WARNING- You will not see any veggies in this dinner. I know shame, shame!
It was NOT an alkaline dinner tonight. It was all about comfort food! Mama needed comfort, and to use up some things from the freezer! We had 2 kinds of pasta:
Mushroom Ravioli from a Local Farm and family business

Mushroom Goodness!

And Sophia's favorite, whole wheat Rotini

Smothered with this: ( I love Paul Newman brand anything, it's usually all natural or organic and all proceeds from all his products go to his charity for kids)

Rolls on the side with Earth Balance Butter (vegan) Can you say carb overload!

Meat for the man!

And the final product:
His

Hers

And Little Hers

She takes her pasta eating serious!

Forget the fork!

Cleaned the plate of pasta! (fake smile)

Then this arrived at our door, so we are back on track with our fruits and veggies tomorrow! Thank goodness!

And I can't wait to juice this baby with a little ginger in the morning!

Now, we are going to be lazy some more, this time with bellies full of pasta! It's been a week!

~A

Breaking Up With Lady Starbucks

2010-09-10T20:57:00.000-07:00

Isn't she Beeeautiful?

In the words of Kris Carr "Oh Lady Starbucks, you little "Hoochie Mama" we love to frequent!"

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE fun flavored coffee...vanilla, hazelnut, pumpkin spice, you name it. I LOVE it. However, since I am transitioning to eating a more alkaline diet I have to trade in my daily coffee habit for some less acidic habits. Now don't get me wrong, I still LOVE the "Hoochie Mama" but only indulge in coffee occasionally and let me tell you it has been tough. But here is my new morning routine:

1. Rather than drinking a cup of coffee on the way into work, I now enjoy hot water with lemon on my drive in. (don't worry I was at a red light)

I always have sinus issues in the morning when I wake up and I literally can feel the sinus release and my head clear as I drink this! Try it!

2. Then I have either a juice or a smoothie which are both full of alkalinity! I was double fisted with Cherry bombs today for myself and my friend Denise. (Check out her new blog)

Although, I have decided to do away with some of her yummy treats. I can't seem to let go of "Hoochie Mama's" pretty face. So to make the break-up less traumatic I keep several pictures of her on my desk, but she now holds my water and my smoothies!

Lady Starbucks, it's not you, it's me. I know we can still be friends. Things will just be different between us. I will still stop by and see you I promise, but I will now enjoy your Passion Tea instead of your creamy brown goodness. Please don't be mad at me! I think this will be good for both of us!

I will always love you "Hoochie Mama"

~A

I Found Carrot Cake!

2010-09-08T18:44:00.000-07:00

Hello blog friends! Hope everyone had a great hump day!

Sophia and I made two stops on the way on home. First here:

For all you locals this is @ Stop 11 and Madison. It is lots of different International foods.I must warn you about the fish smell and the meat department. I did glance over and see some chicken feet, nails and all! Seriously! But, I LOVED the spice section and the produce section! I got some dried mangoes I am excited to try!

Next, we stopped here:

Locals, this is at Smith Valley and 135. They have so many things that you can usually only get on the North side of Indy! Tonight I found some exciting things including the new Carrot cake Lara Bars. I didn't forget about my blogger friends Sentiments by Denise and That Hoosier Girl. They will come soon girls!

I have now tried all the new flavors of Lara Bars and I have to say this is still my favorite
Coconut Cream Pie- G double O D = GOOD

Dinner #1 tonight was a tostada with beans, avocado, and tomato

Dinner #2 was this cereal that I bought for Sophia, but I have now had 2 bowls of it and she will only eat the marshmallows...guess I won't be buying this again. It is really good though!

Here is my breakfast tomorrow. Greeeen juice! Cucumber, celery, apple, lemon, and kale.All I have to do tomorrow is grab and go...I love quick and easy!

All the juice and smoothie supplies after getting a nice warm bubble bath!Have I mentioned my love for my juicer and Vita-mix??????

Have a great evening!

Be well,
~A

Create.

2010-09-07T17:31:00.000-07:00

We were in the car for a good portion of the day yesterday heading back from Michigan. On the way home we pass through Muncie, In where I went to College and also met my sexy husband! Grr...

I saw this billboard and snapped a quick picture of it. It is a Ball State billboard, my Alma mater!

Create

This sign made me really think about how much Ball State really helped to create who I am today and how much I've changed since my Ball State days. I am certainly not that 18 year old girl who headed off to Muncie with her best friend to finally be "Free" I am SO much better now.

Now that I am thirty something, I feel like I am truly finding who I really am and I LOVE it! I love creating this new lifestyle for me and my family.

Here is my list of ways I am creating change for myself and my family:

Paying more attention what we put in and on our bodies
Taking me time in the form of walking or rebounding (jumping on mini trampoline- really cleansing for your cells)
Juicing and blending
Accepting who I am no matter what
Realizing perfection is my enemy
Training my mind to stay in the now and stay positive

My whole blog is about constantly moving closer to where I want to be. I do not always make the best choices, but I am conscious of the choices I make. I certainly don't judge others for choices they make. I do wish the way our kids eat on a daily basis were taken more seriously, but please don't ever read my blog and think I would judge what you are doing in your house.

So, all that being said I thought you should see what we picked up at the gas station on the way home.

YIKERS! I did manage to tear off only a small section of the nerd rope and Sophia thought that's all there was. So then why did I eat the rest? Shit! Oh well not about perfection just creating a better me!

What things are doing to create a better you? I would love to hear!

Peace, love, & create!

Grown-Up Stuff

2010-09-06T06:40:00.000-07:00

Hello Blog Friends! This weekend was all about Grown-Up Stuff! First, I discovered this new soda called GUS- Grown up Soda. It is all recognizable ingredients. Not something I would have everyday, but really great for when you want that fizz!

After this, I decided to switch to a REAL Grown -up drink! I ended up having a few of these! I put them in the sand for the commercial effect! Ahh, the perks of being a grown-up!

As I was drinking that, someone else decided she was nearing being a grown up herself and decided she was big enough to walk out on the dock herself. (the water is really shallow)

In her hands is something from the ice cream man called a "shot" Slow down there girlie, no shots yet!

Here are some highlights from the eating scene this weekend!

This is orzo pasta with tomatoes! AMAZING!

I was SO excited to finally try this! It is ice cream made with goat milk. Goat milk is a lot easier on our digestive system. This was good and I will definitely have it again, but it did have a definite after taste that takes some getting used to. Natalia Rose (Detox 4 Women) talks great about this stuff!

We had a great weekend, but definitely realized that growing-up is happening way too fast!

Family Weekend in Motown

2010-09-05T09:30:00.000-07:00

We are spending this weekend with the fam in Detroit. The drive up with a three year old required several stops at nasty gas stations to use the facilities. So needless to say we used lots of this on our hands.

I like this hand sanitizer because it is all natural and doesn't have alcohol in it.

My sister-in law is very much into the same things I am with living green and organic. She has been into it longer than me, so I love coming to her house and seeing all her "green things"

Yesterday she picked these from her garden. Pear shaped yellow tomatoes. So cute and so good!

I found these in her collection of books! If you haven't read Food Rules by Michael Pollan you should check it out. It is a quick fun read and very informative! The Green Living book is a great resource of green products.

Sophia LOVES coming to see her cousin Van she also loves that her Aunt Elizabeth always has these for her! They are called Pro Bugs, they are an organic probiotic yogurt drink that we used to be able to get in Indy, but can now only find at Whole Foods 45 minutes from us. She seriously will have all these gone before we leave!

We enjoyed lots of this "Fizz" last night! Getting a little crazy!

This was our amazing breakfast this morning! French toast made with walnut cherry raisin bread, coffee with cream and sucanat (stands for sugar cane natural), and some OJ!

Hope everyone is enjoying some family or friend time this weekend!

My Love List

2010-09-02T18:38:00.000-07:00

Hello Blog Friends! I am a huge fan of Kris Carr who also has a blog. Every once in a while she does a love list of things she is loving at the moment. I thought I would do the same for things I am loving right now!

1. Making my students laugh each day even though we have so much to plug through each day!

Source
My kids really do point at me and laugh like this! My job can be so fun!

2. Watching my daughter when she doesn't know I'm watching.

3. Crunchy roasted peas

4. Using my itouch as an alarm and waking to the sound of crickets

5. Owl prints

6. Fairies and Fireflies Clothing

7. Sauconies in a size 9 1/2 So cute!

8. Green juice and smoothies!

9. Tazo Passion Tea

10. Meeting new like minded people!

~A

What is that smell?

2010-09-01T19:14:00.000-07:00

So as most of you know I am a teacher. Well the last couple days some of my kids have had some MAJOR flatulence issues, to the point of having to move some students away from the teacher's desk. If ya catch my drift (pun intended)

Anyhow, today I decided to pop into to one of the lunch periods and peruse the lunch scene. We all know school lunches could be better. Just ask Jamie Oliver! But today I was mostly looking into the lunchboxes to see what parents were packing. Most lunch boxes were very similar: luchables, sandwiches (nothing wrong with healthy sandwiches) however most were processed meat or bologna (nitrates, yikes!), chips, and juice.

One lunch box, no joke, was a bologna sandwich, Doritos, a capri sun, and a ding dong! No wonder my room smells like a bathroom! This stuff is not real food! Their little bodies are trying to get it out, hence the smell in my room! Where are the fruits and veggies? How can kids even have a chance at getting their daily servings of REAL food if there isn't any present at a meal?

Now I am not saying I am perfect and I never give any of this to my child because she does enjoy some chips and juice occasionally, but not on a daily basis in her lunch box. It just all makes me VERY sad because as a working parent who packs my child's lunch box daily, I do know how much convenience comes into play. Although in my experience fruit is very quick and convenient and most kids love it. I only saw 1 lunchbox with fruit in it today.

A lot of irresponsible companies are getting richer and richer at the expense of our kids' health. This makes me SO angry! This is why I wanna be a billionaire and start a company to educate parents/caregivers about how to feed our kids and reforming school lunch! Oh, the Places I Could Go! Right Dr. Seuss?

This whole topic just really gets me going!

Check out some great healthy lunch ideas @ easylunchboxes.com

Do you worry about what your child's school is serving? Do you pack them a lunch? I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic!

Smell ya'll later!
~A

Nasty Hair

2010-08-31T19:36:00.000-07:00

Last night I rushed through the grocery after a long day at work! Never fun! Here were two highlights from my trip. First food...

Amy's Cheese less pizza! To die for! Even my cheese loving husband loves it! (freezer section Meijer, Kroger, and Target)

Next, Green product...

This stuff smells AMAZING! I saw it featured in my Natural Health Magazine and thought I would give it a try. My hair thanked me because yesterday morning I stepped into the shower and realized we were out of shampoo. I mean OUT! No hotel samples, nothing! So I did the only thing I could do. I washed my hair with soap! It was the nastiest hair day EVER! So glad to have shampoo back in the house! By the way, this brand is Organix, you can't really see that in the picture. Hope everyone is having a great week!

Juicy Juice

2010-08-29T14:56:00.000-07:00

Hello blog friends! Sorry for the delay in posts, the laptop is on the fritz so I am blogging on the little net book. Yesterday I met an amazing person who shares a lot of the same interests as I do. Her name is Brandy Mason and if you are here in Indy, you should go check her out. Her and I had a great conversation about cutting out animal products in your diet and also about the power of juicing. Brandy is a colon hydrotherapist and a living foods nutritional counselor and is very knowledgeable about the digestive system. She taught me a lot yesterday.

Brandy is about to embark on a pretty intense juice fast and asked me to join her. I am considering but feel a bit intimidated. She has done several before and is going to chronicle her fast on her website.

She gave me some books that I can't put down. I am soaking them up like the book nerd that I am. I am LOVING them both and trying to read the juice feast book quickly to decide if I am going to join her. The other book is by Norman Walker. I am eager to start reading his books. This man cured himself of cancer and lived well into his hundreds. Lots to learn from him!

I would love to hear your thoughts: Would you be interested in reading about my juice fast if I did it?

Make juice, not war!
~A

Lunch Box Madness

2010-08-22T12:33:00.000-07:00

Hello blog buds! I am so excited to share with you today Sophia's new lunch box system! I have been looking for awhile for something new to pack more of a waste-free lunch (less trash) and was so excited to come across these! Easy Lunch Boxes .com

The way it works is first you purchase an actual lunch bag from them. We chose blue.

I was a little disappointed that they didn't have fun designed bags, but they do have a spot on the side to decorate your bag with fun key chains. We got this little picture frame key chain at the dollar store.
Next you buy a 4 pack of the Easy Lunch Box containers. We ordered 2 sets. They are BPA free!

What I really love about this lunchbox is that after you put the container inside the bag, you still have PLENTY of room to put a thermos or water bottle and an icepack on top! You can actually fit three of these containers inside the bag (family picnic)

So of course I had to try them out immediately! Today I packed all of Sophia's lunches for the week!

Lunch 1 is: a small whole wheat bagel with cream cheese and honey, goldfish crackers, strawberries, and vanilla yogurt with granola on top.

Lunch 2 is: 2 laughing cow cheese and crackers, animal crackers, and mandarin oranges

Lunch 3 is: a Trader Joe's veggie corn dog (it will fit in there once I cook it), an avocado (I will cut it the morning of so it doesn't brown), and grapes and strawberries.
Lunch 4 is: turkey bites & cheese on toothpicks, triscuts, cottage cheese, & mandarin oranges.

Lunch 5 is: a plum, cucumbers & hummus, a Dannon yogurt drink, and left over pasta from one of our dinners this week will go in the empty spot.

I really have to think for lunch ideas for Sophia because there are a lot of typical lunch things that she will not eat like pb&j and deli meat sandwiches. Really the only meat Sophia eats is turkey pepperoni and these little turkey sticks. I'm not complaining though. I like that she naturally just doesn't care for meat. I really try my best to pack her as healthy of a lunch as I can knowing what things she will and will not eat. I definitely make sure she a fruit everyday but we are still working on getting in her veggies. I know that will come with age. ( I hope)

So look how nicely these containers fit in the fridge!

I am So in love with this lunch box system! It is really important to me to make sure Sophia is eating healthy even when she is away from home and also to be buying things in bulk rather than individual packages to create a lunch that does not have many things that need to be thrown away. I teach my kids at school about this too. Here is a great website with more info on waste free lunches.

I was also so excited to find these at the grocery today!

I don't feed Sophia too many things from a can. Most cans contain BPA in their lining which leaches into the food. I am also not a fan of buying fruit that is drenched in heavy syrup or sugar free fruit that is sitting in Splenda (Splenda is NOT healthy) So I was so excited to find this product by Dole that is fruit in 100% fruit juice and is in a GLASS jar! It would be even more exiting if it were organic but you can't be perfect!

I hope this gives you some ideas for own kids' lunches or even for your own! Also, I would love to hear what things you pack for your kiddos to give me some more options too!

Peace, love, and lunch!

~A

3 is a magic number!

2010-08-21T07:23:00.000-07:00

This morning I was thinking about how significant this digit is in my life as Sophia asked if she could get on the scale and said "Momma am I still three?" Yes Sophia the scale says you are still three and Momma has far exceed the life expectancy of humans according to the scale! ( I didn't actually say this out loud) I love the innocence of having a 3 year old. I hope I never forget how fun this stage is!

This week I finished my first full week of school where I teach third grade! Third graders are So fun! I am so blessed to have a job that I truly enjoy!

We are a little family of 3 and oh how we are enjoying our days as a threesome!(we need a new family picture, Sophia still has her baby look in this photo)

I have officially entered the BIG 3O (OK 31) and I feel like I am finally coming into myself and really figuring out who I am and what I am passionate about!

I am reading an amazing book Eat, Pray, Love. 3 things that are so important in my life. Anyone else reading this before you go see the movie? My mom actually got me this book 2 Christmases ago and I am just now getting around to reading it! I am actually the third person to read this book because both my mom and my husband read my gift before me! Thank you mom. This is the perfect time in my life to be reading this and I am loving it!

Speaking of 3...Here are 3 things I enjoyed for dinner the other night. A 3 egg omelet, a spinach salad, and a glass of Riesling!

Thank you 3, you are truly a magic number and I am so enjoying you in my life right now!
I will leave you with 3 words as always!

Peace, love, & 3!

~A

I've been looking everywhere for you!

2010-08-17T19:03:00.000-07:00

Hello Blog friends! Yesterday after picking up Sophia from school we stopped at a sketchy little grocery that I don't love to frequent. She was starving though and I had no snacks in the car. To my surprise I found these little lovelies on the shelf!

These are 3 of the 4 new flavors by LaraBar! I LOVE the new polka dot packages! The only one missing is carrot cake! But I did find Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Chocolate Chip Brownie, and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip. I have been looking everywhere for these bad boys so you can imagine my surprise that the sketchy little grocery had them!

So far I have only tasted the Cookie Dough and it was pretty good, although I must admit I am a big fan of the fruity flavors. I thought these chocolaty flavors would be good for sticking in your purse when you go see a movie or for when you just need a chocolate fix!

For those of you who have never tried Lara Bars, what makes them different than most "bars" on the market is the very small ingredients list on the back. They only have a handful of ingredients and I promise you will be able to pronounce and recognize them all because they are 100% real food! They make a perfect on the go snack and taste delicious! (I sound like a commercial, I promise they are not paying me)

My favorite flavors are Apple Pie, Coconut, Key Lime Pie, and Lemon and I can't wait to get my hands on the new carrot cake! I usually buy my LaraBars at Meijer or Kroger. Also any health food store will sell them too!

Let me know if try any of these out, and let me know if you see the carrot cake flavor anywhere!

Peace, love, and polka dot packages!

~A

Clean House, Clean Food, Clean Week

2010-08-15T17:40:00.000-07:00

Hello blog friends! This weekend has been exhausting, but I did get a lot done. Now it's back to work again! This working stuff is for the birds! Today was spent prepping for the week. Cleaning the house, grocery shopping, and then prepping food for the week.

Last week was a bit chaotic, so the goal for this week is to stay on top of things and have everything organized including food. I ordered Sophia the coolest new lunch box system so that we can pack a waste free lunch everyday. I will blog on it when it arrives.

So Saturday morning I had some cleansing to do because of the Taco Bell and drugs I ingested on Friday! So here is how I started my day...a Green Monster! This consisted of 2 cups spinach, handful ice, one cup almond milk, 1 tablespoon chocolate peanut butter, 1 scoop chia seeds,1 banana, 1 scoop Chocolate Amazing Grass! It was just what I needed! So delicious!

I spent most of the day at school getting things ready for this week since I left early Friday. For dinner I made nachos with Trader Joe's Blue Corn Chips, Eden Black Beans, Soy crumbles, avocado, onions, tomatoes, and Annie's Ranch Dressing. Here is the adult version.

And here is the Sophia version.

Here are my "bags of juice" Each bag is what will go into my morning juice. This way all of the produce is washed, cut, and ready, so that all I have to do in the morning is run it through the juicer. And clean the juicer! Blah! Each bag has 1 cucumber, 1 apple, 1 grapefruit, 3 kale leaves, and 3 celery stalks...aka "The Green Greyhound"

I also prepared all of Sophia's lunches, a few salads for me, and these sandwiches for Matt. They are cucumber, tomato, spinach, hummus, and Gouda cheese on rosemary and olive oil flat bread.

I also juiced and froze a bunch of "Green Lemonade" for a mid morning juice each day this week.

This juice is 1 lemon, 1 granny smith, 1 cucumber, 2 stalks of celery, and kale.

The whole middle row is juice! I buy ball jars and plastic lids to freeze my juice in.

I love having a clean house and clean food for the week. It makes me feel so prepared and ready to go!

Now I'm going to rest before that alarm goes off at 5:00 A.M. YIKES!

This is us on Drugs!

2010-08-13T19:04:00.000-07:00

Hello blog friends! I hope everyone had a great week! This was my families first week back to school and guess what...? We are SICK! Well 2 of us are. Sophia went back to "school" and immediately "the daycare drip" began. I know you working moms know what I'm talking about. It's like as soon as your kids go to daycare they have a constant snotty nose.

I had to leave work early to go get her. Anytime she gets a cold her asthma kicks in and it is a battle. Apparently she got me sick too. Although I have been a juicing maniac my immune system must of been down from being away from all my third graders over summer break.

So Miss Sophia and I had a drug filled afternoon that looked something like this.

Yes, that Taco Bell is a drug too! I needed something fast and easy and Taco Bell is on the way home. I had a bean burrito and Sophia had a cheese roll-up. Oh, and in the cup is Dr. Pepper!!!! WHAT??? My throat hurt so bad and I wanted the bubbles on my throat. It was pure Ecstasy!That is the first pop I have had in months! I got regular because I read that at least with the regular pop your body knows what to do with the sugar. With the diet pop your body has no idea what the artificial sweetener is and doesn't know what to do with it. Don't get me wrong, I am a firm believer that all pop is EVIL! (but oh so good)

This is Us on Drugs!

Nice, huh?

And here is our endless pile of tissues!

I am hoping that next week will be much better and that we got our fill of germs to keep us healthy for the rest of the year! (wishful thinking) Looking forward to a big green monster in the morning to fight off the Taco Bell and Dr. Pepper!

Peace, love, and drugs (legal ones, of course)

Give me salad, or else lady!

2010-08-09T18:07:00.000-07:00

Hello Blog friends! It is official, I am now a working woman again. It was great to get back to work and now kiddos will come on Wednesday. Am I prepared you ask? NOPE, but I'll get there. Tomorrow is Sophia's first day at her big girl pre-school so right now that is my first hurdle. It is SO hard to send her now that she is bigger! I thought this working mommy thing was suppose to get easier! I am so blessed though to get the time with her in the summer, and for that I am SO thankful!

So staying on the topic of Sophia let's take a look at tonight's dinner! Usually at dinner I will substitute things for Sophia (things I know she'll eat) but tonight this girl was ALL about the salad! She wanted exactly what I was having.(ok, minus the wine)

So here is mine: a large salad with red and yellow tomatoes, onions, and goat cheese with a piece of salmon and a glass of Riesling!

Here is Sophia's with her substitution. Cottage cheese rather than salad. (and water instead of wine)

"No thank you, Mommy. I want salad!" Can't argue with that!

Salad it is Kiddo!

And boy did she enjoy it!

Three salads later, I had a happy kid! (yes, I said 3)

And after one of these, she had a happy mommy too! (yes, I said 1 but really meant 2) They are So good! I love you Trader Joe's!

Peace, love, & messy salads!

The Black Box

2010-08-06T06:19:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is a Box-o-wine, BUT it's Riesling and I don't discriminate when it comes to Riesling! I found this little treasure at Meijer! The way I look at wine is if I do everything else right through the day (eating wise) then a glass ~~or two~~ at night is deserved!

Have a great day everyone!
~A

A Tale of 2 Greyhounds!

2010-08-05T05:20:00.000-07:00

As most of you know I have a brown ~~pony~~ Greyhound. He is the sweetest thing ever! We are So in love with him! This is my favorite picture of him! Sad thing is his whole face is gray now! This pic was taken back in '05.

I recently discovered a different Greyhound that I am also in love with! This is called The Green Greyhound and I found it on another blog I follow. Here is what went in the juicer!

1 grapefruit

1 apple

1 cucumber

3 stalks of celery

3 kale leaves

And here is what came out!

The Green Greyhound! Pure Bliss! This may be my new favorite juice! I try not to juice to much fruit but grapefruit and granny smith's are both very low sugar.

Have a great Thursday! Talk to you all tomorrow!
~A

The Innapropriate Backpack

2010-08-04T06:03:00.000-07:00

August Break Picture of the day = a little girl who likes to pretend that her Mommies bra is her backpack! Funny thing is she really could fit some schools supplies in this thing!

Ok so now on to some more blog appropriate material. Here is my fantastic dinner last night . Notice how big my salad bowls are. They are actually mixing bowls. I don't mess around with my salads! I also sprinkled veggie Parmesan cheese on it. Yum!

And this is my SPECTACULAR omelet that my husband made me! I already let him know that we will officially be having omelet night around here once a week and he will now be in charge!

I am super excited! Nothing like someone cooking dinner for you! It had green pepper, onion, tomatoes, and goat cheese in it. And of course, I always top off my eggs with ketchup on top. It's a childhood thing for me!

I get my eggs from Seven Springs Farm in Carthage, In. It's amazing how much brighter in color the yolks are than store bought eggs. I do struggle with eggs in my diet. The omelet tasted great don't get me wrong, but eggs can also gross me out easily while I am eating them. Anyone else have this issue? I could definitely see a time in the future where eggs won't be in my diet, but for now they are a good transition food for me, especially stuffed with veggies and smothered with ketchup!

Have a great Wednesday everyone! Talk to you tomorrow!

My New Obsession

2010-08-03T05:42:00.000-07:00

This my friends is Pumpkin Pie in a bowl! I LOVE me some pumpkin pie! Just ask my Mama. In high school I was know to eat a whole pumpkin pie from Kroger from time to time.

Recipe

12 ounces of carrot juice

1 raw sweet potato peeled and chopped

1/2 t pumpkin pie spice

1 or 2 packets of Stevia

1/2 avocado, pitted

Place all ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth. WOWZA!

Let me know if you try it!

I have a vision!

2010-08-02T06:05:00.000-07:00

This is my vision board. On it are pictures, sayings, and people that keep me motivated and focused on my journey. I have it hanging in my closet so I will see it everyday. And yes, that says Eat your veggies and shake your ass! What a great motto to live by! Those are Kris Carr's words. She's the best!

And yes, I have a love obsession with my Vita-mix blender! I may or may not have kissed it a couple times!

Also, I may have covered my goal weight with a picture of a kaIe leaf! Can you find it?
It's like I Spy!

~A

August Break

2010-08-01T12:26:00.000-07:00

Hello Bloggies! Hope everyone had a great weekend! Mine t'was lovely! OK, so since school is starting IN ONE WEEK (holy cow batman) I know things are going to start getting super busy. So I've decided to take Susannah Conway's blog challenge to post one picture a day through the month of August with a choice of words or no words to go along with it. Short sweet and to the point! If I have more time on some days I may post more. Today is August first, so here goes day one!

This is going to be fun!

I love this book! You should check it out!

I have been pitting and freezing cherries all day! I'm like an animal storing up for the winter! I might go crazy without my Chocolate cherry bombs in the winter!

And oh how I love my green juice, even if it did have a bit too much ginger!

Peace, love, and oh my goodness it's August!
~A

Joe and Chicago

2010-07-29T21:08:00.000-07:00

Hello blog friends! Yesterday was a great day in Chicago & today was a great day at Trader Joe's!

I know she looks really unhappy here, but we really did have a great time, I promise!

Eats from yesterday:
For breakfast yesterday I had a green juice with the usual: Spinach, celery, lemon, green apple, cucumber, and just a little ginger. I decided yesterday I like this juice a lot better when I use a whole lemon versus a half. It tastes more like lemonade to me this way.

Road food= Lara Bar

Lunch was pretty comical. Matt wanted to just stop for fast food, but I would rather just not eat than to eat a fast food salad. YUK! So we stopped at a Texas Roadhouse and I got a carryout salad and he lovingly made fun of me!

Dinner was a few things. First this. Can you guess what it is?

It is Portabella mushrooms in a vinaigrette and oil. You should of seen Matt's face when they brought this out. He didn't hear me order and he totally thought it was beef!

I let him think it was for just a few so I could continue to watch his face as I shoveled it in...priceless!

Next, was a huge bowl of romaine, tomatoes, and shrimp. It has been a while since I have had any kind of seafood. I am very picky about seafood. This was really good though!

So, on to today. I had my green juice this morning, then was off to meet up with a friend and then to Trader Joe's. So lunch was skipped. Not good, I know! But here are my goods from Joe!

Round 1

Tough to see, so here's what it all is. Starting from the back left:frozen eggplant slices, chicken burgers, organic cucs, veggie kabobs, organic celery, 2 Trader Joe's vegetarian pizza, organic cottage cheese, 2 raw cheddar cheese blocks, 3 goat cheddar blocks, 3 goat Goudas, regular Gouda slices, cheddar cheese sticks, and a Greek salad.

All the cow dairy and meat are for Sophia and Matt and the goat cheese are for MOOWA. Ok, so I do share with my family!

Round 2

From back left: 2 boxes organic cheese crackers, 2 bottles stevia sweetened lemonade, 2 jars PB, 4 bottles of wine, agave maple syrup, veggie lasagna, pita chips, yogurt stars, probiotic smoothies, eggplant garlic spread, applesauce squeezers, 3 dark chocolate bars, organic yogurt, 100 cal dark chocolate sticks, 6 bars of vegetable soap, and yes folks that is a one pound 72% cocoa dark chocolate bar! I am going to cut it up, stick it in a freezer bag and toss in the freezer for a nightly square!

(excuse my candles that I didn't push out of the way)

And then there were these amazing green beans who never stood a chance! I told you I didn't have lunch!

Dinner was the frozen Trader Joe's veggie lasagna. It was very tasty!

Here is the "Story"

2010-07-28T05:24:00.000-07:00

So yesterday, we got all packed up and hit the road for Brown County, In. This is about a 40 minute drive for us. We had our bathing suits on and we were all ready to hit up the pool! But when we pulled in this is what we saw.

Are you kidding? Closed? On a Tuesday? Come on people it is 90 something degrees here and we are hot! They weren't hearin' it and they didn't open for us! So we tried to make the best of it and tough out the heat. So here is what we did...we went for a pony ride,

We left the deer some dinner treats,

We did a mini hike,

We drank green juice (ok, I did... the rest of the fam had carrots and hummus)

And then we found "The Story" the famous "Story Inn"

Matt discovered this little piece of heaven while on a mountain biking trip with his brother and has been dying to take us there. I fell in LOVE! First off the place is so stinkin' cute and secondly they served us our drinks in Ball Jars! My kind of place!

Here is a snap of the inside of the restaurant. It is also a bed and breakfast with 13 rooms. We got to look inside 5 of the rooms and I can say we will definitely go back for an overnight. Oh, and it is "haunted" Matt and I love some Ghost Hunters action!

They had lots of fantastic vegetarian and non vegetarian choices. They also serve LOTS of local items! Including several ingredients that they grow in their own gardens! Have I mentioned I fell in love! Unfortunately, we got there in between lunch and dinner so we could only choose from the bar menu, so we just had a snack. Sophia enjoyed some local ice cream from a dairy farm in Columbus, IN

Here are some other views that we enjoyed on our impromptu trip. Beautiful flower gardens,

Cool tractors and barns,

Covered Bridges (and a little girl OVER mommy's camera)

Wide open spaces

Beautiful Butterflies,

Horses,

Lots of sweaty hair,

And then to top off the night we enjoyed this along with some Bachelorette on DVR. Nice! By the way if you like sweet wine you should try this Woodbridge Riesling. It is my new Fave!

Tomorrow is another special day! Matt and I will have been married for 9 years tomorrow! Yikers, we are getting ~~old~~ better with every passing year! Where does the time go? Especially once you have kids, the time really flies!

Thanks for reading my "Story" If you haven't been to Story it is SO worth the trip!

Peace, love, and wide open spaces,

Pretty 'n Pink

2010-07-27T07:25:00.000-07:00

Hello blog friends. So I am definitely a fan of pink and today was a very pink day beginning with 2 freshly juiced grapefruits! They juiced so pretty 'n pink, and tasted amazing on such a hot day!

I don't have pics of my in between eats today, but they included 2 green juices, a ridiculous salad with a new dressing I will share later, and while the rest of the fam ate whole wheat spaghetti, I had sauteed cauliflower and topped it with the spaghetti sauce!

Next, we were off to a princess Birthday Party. Talk about pretty 'n pink. Just look at my pink princess(on the left) with her best friend Hannah (on the right)! Aren't they the sweetest!

This girl LOVES cake. She waited for about 30 minutes just sitting at the table while the rest of the kids ate pizza just so she would be in position and ready to go when the cake arrived! She is all business when it comes to cake! Do I want her to eat healthy? Of course! But I also want her to be a kid and part of that is enjoying all the sweet things that go along with a friends birthday! Such a Pretty 'n Pink day for us!

Have a great day everyone & see if you can find something Pretty 'n Pink today!

Summer Treat

2010-07-24T08:21:00.000-07:00

Hello blog friends. I hope everyone is staying cool! It is scorching hot here in Indy! So I've been really bad about taking pictures of my eats lately, but I have a few new faves to tell you about. First, I made vegan banana cherry coconut butter bread that was delish! Let me know if you make it! Here are the pics of mine, you are gonna LOVE this! If you don't have coconut butter, just put shredded coconut in your food processor and there ya have it, you just made your own! It takes a lot of scrapping down on the sides of the food processor.

Ok, so I'm really frustrated with Blogger right now. So I apologize if my format is all whacked out, it's Blogger not me! Anyways, I also wanted to share with you my new favorite "treat" from Starbucks. Has anyone had the passion tea lemonade? DAYUM! It is good! I get it unsweetened and put 2 stevias from my purse in it! You must try!

I hope everyone continues to have a great weekend! Sweat out all those toxins!

Peace, love, & banana cherry bread!

Dirty Words!

2010-07-17T22:11:00.000-07:00

Hello blog buds! I hope everyone had a great relaxing weekend! I had a request to blog about toiletry items that I use and like. I am always on the lookout for natural products that don't use harmful chemicals. There are a lot out there and new ones popping up everyday, so I am by no means scratching the surface of what all is out there. Here are some that I use and also the words I look to avoid in the ingredients.

Let's start with "Dirty Words". If a product says fragrance in the list of ingredients I try to stay away. I have read that one word can account for 500 different chemicals! Now I know we all LOVE the smells of our products, but a much safer route would be look for products scented with essential oils instead. I follow these rules for all of mine, Matt's, and Sophia's products. Again, as with everything else I do the best I can and by no means am perfect with this.

Other "Dirty words" I look for are: Phthalates (tha-lates), Parabens, Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfates, Formaldehyde. You can google each of these to see the effects on our bodies. This post would be too long if I went into detail. Bottom line is they all cause cancer. And it is especially important for women to watch what is going into our bodies as they are finding hundreds of chemicals in the cord blood of new babies. Our babies are being born already toxic! That is scary!

When looking for lip gloss, lip stick, or chapstick I always check for petroleum. We should NOT be using petroleum. Brands I really like are Kiss My Face, Burt's Bee, and Tarte. Here is a my lip gloss and chapstick stash right now! I am really loving this Burt Bee's lemon gloss! I got it at Crackle Barrel of all places!

My favorite lotion right now is the 365 brand by Whole Foods. I get the unscented so the whole family can use it (don't want Matt smelling like a girl, ya know) I keep a large bottle in all our bathrooms! No more Johnson & Johnson for Sophia, their bottles have "Dirty Words" on them!

Soaps that I really like are the 2 packs at Trader Joe's, Dr. Bronner's, & again the 365 brand at Whole Foods. Also, here are the soaps and bubble bath brands I get for Sophia.

I like to do my shopping as quickly as possible and don't like to sit and read a bunch of ingredient labels, especially on nail polish! That print is SO small you have to have a magnifying glass. So I do my homework before hand and know what companies are producing responsible products. Check out http://www.safecosmetics.org/ to start your own research.

Target, Sephora, and Kroger are great places to start and of course Whole Foods to those who are close to one. Also, I do a lot of my shopping online at http://www.vitacost.com/ and go to the organic section.
Our skin is our largest organ and everything we put on it absorbs into our bodies. So we should be just as concerned as what we put on our bodies as we are about what we put in our bodies!

Here are some pictures of some of the products I am using right now, again they aren't all perfect but remember changing little things make a difference in the long run!

From left to right: J.R. Watkins hand & cuticle cream, Tom's toothpaste, Physicians Formula Organic Powder, Organix Cosmetix Night Cream, Organix Cosemetix Eye Cream, Physicians Formula Eye Makeup Remover, Physicians Formula Organic Mascara, Wilaverde nail polish remover soy formula, Hard Candy nail polish, and Clean Well no alcohol hand sanitizer.

Left to right: 365 Whole Foods body lotion, EO Essentials Hand Wash (I always find this brand at TJ Max), Independence Body Powder (local brand you can find at City Market), Burt's Bee Foot Cream, Loreal Sulfate - free overnight conditioner (def. not perfect product here), Tom's Deodrant, Nature's Gate Deodorant (VERY important to get aluminum free deodorant), & Alba Mango Body Cream.

Peace, love, & products!

Free Giveaway!

2010-07-15T20:47:00.000-07:00

For anyone interested in eating a raw diet, check out one of my favorite blogs Kristen's Raw Blog and leave a comment for a chance to win her whole set of raw books that she has published! She is an AMAZING raw chef who just had her first baby!

Got Juice?

2010-07-14T16:25:00.000-07:00

Hello! So today was another fun day of juice...However, I did break my fast BUT I made it longer than the last one. It was good though I feel lighter today. Here are my drinks today.
I made a big batch of juices this morning.

Breakfast was pinnapple juice.

Noontime was carrot, apple, cucumber juice & a little later was a Cherry Bomb.

Then I broke my fast with cooked & raw carrots.

Hope everyone had a great day! See you all later!

This is...Beenanas

2010-07-11T10:25:00.000-07:00

Hello my blog peeps!

Yesterday's eats:

Breakfast- 32 oz of lemon water & a jar of green juice! I put a little Ginger root in mine today, just a little because it can be very powerful! Ginger is great for digestion. I also made Matt a Green Monster smoothie. He is catching the green fever! Yeah baby! He was actually even creepin' around my juice this morning. Hmmmm.....

Here is our His & Hers photo!

Lunch- Roasted veggies (carrots, zucchini, beets & summer squash) & a small salad.

Snacks- I could not get enough bananas the last couple days! Here is a picture of my new favorite banana sandwich. It is one banana sliced down the middle with almond butter & honey inside & shredded coconut on top! YUMOLA! This stuff is bananas...B-A-N-A-N-A-S

Dinner- Was out @ Arnie's. My mom and I had every intention on getting a salad, but we caved and got the spinach nachos. They were OK, but left us feeling icky.

In other news I am doing my second juice fast. The last one I did was a one day juice/smoothie fast. This one I am doing a few days. Today was Day 1. The reason I am doing this is just to get a full cleanse. I would REALLY enjoy your positive encouragement! Tomorrow will be day 2 and I will keep you posted. Honestly, I drank so much fresh juice today that it wasn't hard until this evening. I went to Vacation Bible School with Sophia and it was a little too long to go without juice. But when I got home I fueled up with a Cherry Chocolate Bomb and felt A ok! I am going to try to hit the sack early tonight before the belly rumbling starts!

The book I am following for juice fasting is called Juicing, Fasting, and Detoxing For Life by Cherie Calbom. I highly recommend this book.

Check in with me tomorrow to see if I can make it through Day 2. I will post pics of all my juice combinations!

Peace, love & B-A-N-A-N-A-S!!!!

Sunshine for Breakfast

2010-07-10T19:46:00.000-07:00

Hello blog crew! So with being out of town and then family being here from out of town, I have not been on my A game with my eats! But today was a day full of green goodness! Today I am going to focus the blog entry on juice! Some of you have recently gotten new juicers! Yippee!
I love it!

Here was my eating day: I woke up and immediately drank 16 oz of water with lemon to get things moving- this is a great daily habit to get into to break up mucous (gross word) in the body and get your bowels moving (pleasant huh)? Ain't no shame though, a healthy body should be ready to "eliminate" first thing in the morning. Your body has been working all night to get the "package" prepared, and who wants it sittin' there all day...not me!

Ok so now that some of you are probably completely embarrassed, let's move on. Next, I had 16 oz of "Sunshine for breakfast" green leaves & grasses are synthesized sunlight. Chlorophyll is energy produced by photosynthesis. (yes, I am a teacher) So just imagine, you ARE eating sunshine! Here are some juice facts that I have learned from my new Natalia Rose book (love her)

~The goal is green, but not super dark green, rather a blend of light greens and dark greens.

~The darker the green, the more bitter and medicinal they are.

~A simple 50% carrot/50% romaine is an excellent choice & great for those on a tight budget.

~It's ideal to drink your juice right away, BUT you can seal it it up, keep it cold and drink it a few hours later if needed. You can also freeze juice in Ball jars for times you need to just grab a juice and go! (I will be doing this once school starts)

~If you want to make up a big batch in the AM and drink it throughout the day, DO IT, anything is better than not juicing at all!

~Once you get into it, you will be hooked!

~Green juice cleans your blood and renews every cell it reaches!

Lunch was a big Mediterranean salad from Arnie's (sorry no picture, I was starving) and a side of steamed broccoli.

Dinner was a homemade salad with spinach, onions, tomato, purple pepper (tastes just like green bell pepper), cilantro & garlic. My dressing was a smushed up avocado with lemon juice and Stevia. I also had an omelet with onions and basil & of course I topped it with Ketchup!

After dinner treat was 2 Endangered Species mint dark chocolate squares.

Make juice, and more, and more, and more!

I Scream, You Scream...

2010-07-08T17:33:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! It's Friday for you working folks! I have a few recipes to share with you today...but first I wanna know who likes ice cream? Better yet, what if I told you it was dairy free, super healthy, tasted awesome, and even makes a healthy breakfast?

Now we can ALL scream for ice cream!

Well here you go! This is a recipe that I got off of another blog and it's called Protein Ice Cream

The only variation I made was doing 3/4 teaspoon of Xanthum gum and not using Guar gum. However, I have read that it is much thicker when you use both gums together. I actually got my xanthum gum at Meijer and just found Guar Gum @ the health food store. Both are Bob's Red Mill Brand.

Also here is the Vegan Potato Salad recipe that my sister in-law made. Enjoy!

A's Top Ten List

2010-07-07T18:43:00.000-07:00

HELLO BLOG FRIENDS!!!! Oh how I have missed you all! I have been out of town visiting family and now I have so much to tell you! So here it goes, 10 things I have been dying to tell you!

1. I am in LOVE with Greek/Mediterranean food and just discovered it this weekend! Any good places here in Indy? Did you know a lot of these restaurants also do raw juice? I ate at an insane place called The Pita Cafe in Mo-Town! I am smiling just thinking about it! Thanks for taking me E!

2. I got new stainless steel pots and pans! The blood doctor I saw said scratched non-stick pots & pans were a big culprit of metal toxicity. Got mine @ Meijer for $100

3. Natural Born Juicers now have all compostable cups! WOO-HOO!

4. I got some new Raw Vegan Protein Powder! I'll let you know how I like it tomorrow!

5. I learned over the weekend that S'mores are the main reason I can never be 100% vegan!

Those little things are off the stizick!

6. Coconut Kiefer rocks! (got it at Nature's Market)

7. I tried Amazing Grass Berry flavour and it was DELISH!

8. I got some cacao nibs to put on top of my green smoothies and my overnight oats. They are different from what I expected, but good. Gives a nice crunch on top!

9. Michigan's Farmer's Markets are AMAZING!!! I have never seen so many cherries!

10. Indy's City Market was off the hook today! Parking lots were full! That didn't stop me though. I loaded up! Here is what I got: cucumbers, squash, eggplant, onions, PURPLE peppers, a bottle of rhubarb wine, a bouquet of beautiful flowers, and a large Ultimate Greens from Natural Born Juicers...all for $30. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself!

I'm excited to try some new recipes this week, so of course I'll share them with you! I also have a vegan potato salad recipe I want to give you that my sister-in-law made! YUMMY!

Think Happy!

2010-06-30T05:44:00.000-07:00

Hello blog friends! I hope everyone is having a great morning.

I am a big believer in the body mind connection and need a lot of work in that area! I recently downloaded an app on my itouch of positive affirmations by Louise Hay and I have been really loving it! However, the other night as I was putting Sophia to bed we read one of her new library books and little did I know that all I need to know about being happy & making myself happy, I could learn from a children's book. I wanted to share this book with you it is called Think Happy by Nancy Carlson. This book is filled with pages of colorful animal characters with recommendations on each page and it really made me smile! We are definitely getting this one for our home library and I have a feeling it will probably end up on my nightstand as a reminder to me how easy it is to stay in a positive mind frame!

Here are a few of my favorite pages:

~Make yourself HAPPY by taking care of your body! (picture is bunny running)

~Drink lots of water because your body LOVES water! (picture is bunny drinking water
~Wave at your neighbors!
~Make yourself HAPPY by staying calm. (picture is frog doing yoga
~Have FAITH and you'll always have someone to talk to. (picture animals at church service)
~When you make yourself happy, something REALLY AMAZING will happen!Try to stay happy today and do something nice for your body and mind!

Peace, love, and happiness,

Oh baby!

2010-06-27T08:27:00.000-07:00

In honor of a special reader of my blog who just delivered 2 beautiful (I've not seen yet, but heard) 34 week babies, and all my girls @ work who had babes this year, I thought I would blog a bit about baby products. Since Sophia is 3 and I just jumped on the natural band wagon about a year ago, some of these I haven't used before.

Eating- Of course breastmilk is a wonderful choice for babies, some don't have that option and I haven't researched organic formulas yet, but I am sure there are some great ones out there. So I will start with baby food. When Sophia was eating I bought Earth's Best a lot. Also, there is a fairly new baby food line called Sprout(Farm Fresh sells this now) There are a ton more these are just a few I am familiar with. Of course you can always make your own using fresh organic produce. This is another reason I am so in LOVE with my Vita-mix. Can't wait to do this next time around! (occasionally of course, I'm not the making all of my own baby food type unfortunately)

Bottles- Avoid bottles with a 7 on the bottle (that's the scary plastic) and make sure plastic bottles are BPA (bisphenol A) free. Glass bottles are a great choice, but I am not sure if there are a lot of these on the market. (I haven't looked, obviously)

Diapers- All I'm going to say about this is there are some really cool new cloth hybrid diapers that are shaped like disposable, velcro on the sides, & convenient to use. Some you just through out a middle insert and wash the "shell" I know this doesn't always seem convenient, but I will say my friend Denise does it. If your reading this Denise what brand do you use? I would love to get your opinion on this.

Monitors- This is something I didn't learn until recently and followed this rule immediately. Place the monitor as far from the crib as possible, at least 3 feet away. Due to EMF's (electromagnetic fields) It is said that EMF's can have a negative effect on our health, both adult and child. This research is controversial in the science world, I would rather not my family be the guinea pigs so I took the advice. On a side note I also moved my alarm clock so it wasn't right next to my head on my night stand. Just something to think about!

Buy Secondhand- There are some things you Do Not want to buy secondhand, but clothes, shoes, and some toys are great things to buy at yard sales or pre-owned stores. I buy almost all of Sophia's clothes at yard sales. My friend Amy and I call each other when we find a good one with clothes the size of our kids, then we stalk them every year to see if they will have another one! No shame here in buying used, I think of it as doing my part to be a super star recycler!

Here is a picture of my girl when she was a baby, who by the way Krista she weighed more than your twins put together! Holy cow, LITERALLY!

Peace , love, and the miracle of babies!

~A

Holy Kale!

2010-06-25T17:39:00.000-07:00

New discovery! Kale chips! I have been using Kale in my juices (not smoothies, I've read it doesn't blend well) But today I discovered cooking Kale! It was AMAZING!

I made 2 batches because we ate the first batch before dinner!

Kale Chips

wash kale and rip off stems
Lay kale on baking sheet
drizzle kale with olive oil
sprinkle with sea salt and pepper
cook @ 350 for 10 minutes on each side
(I did 15 minutes without flipping it & they were perfectly crispy)

And this was the rest of dinner, a wrap with "fake" chicken (I only buy this when it is on sale) couscous, tomato, spinach, onion, and garlic hummus.

I thought you should all see what I have to work around in my kitchen! My kitchen is not big and he is, so I have to step over him every time I go to the fridge! So annoying, but I try to make the best of it because I know some day I will miss stepping over my big boy!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Rest & re-energize!

What is your milk of choice?

2010-06-22T06:53:00.000-07:00

Good Morning blog friends! Yesterday I didn't juice or have a smoothie and I felt lazy all day! Now, it may have just been the weather that made me feel so lazy, but I'm curious today to see how I feel after juicing since the weather is rainy yet again!

Yesterday's lunch was Butternut squash and white bean soup with Mary's Gone Crackers. I get this soup from Farm Fresh Delivery & all you have to do is heat it up. Delish!

I wanted to share this ABC pasta with all of you who have kids. It is organic, whole grain, and delicious! It only takes 5 minutes to make and it's one of Sophia's favorites! I just sprinkle it with Parmesan cheese and she gobbles it up! I get mine in my Farm Fresh Delivery bin, but I have also seen it at Whole Foods.

Dinner last night was Sandella's. I got the vegetarian quesadilla, and it was just ok. Didn't I say last time I went there I was going to stick with their salads? Their salads are wonderful!

Breakfast this morning was 1/2 cup Bear Naked granola with 1/2 cup almond milk.

For those of you who haven't tried soy milk or almond milk. Silk makes both of these milks & is my favorite brand. I also really like coconut milk made by So Delicious. These are my favorite "cow milk" alternatives. However, when I was still drinking milk I always bought Horizon brand (or any other organic brand) It is a lot more expensive, but to me it was worth it for my health.

Also, while I had the camera out I took a picture of 3 of my favorite things to put in my smoothies. I am a visual person and thought you might like to see what the packages look like. On the left is the chia seeds, in the middle is Amazing Grass wheatgrass, and to the right is my FAVE the Amazing Grass Chocolate Superfood! I got all of these at the Vitamin Shoppe in Greenwood, but again you can order them online & find them other places I'm sure.

Off to the grocery! I'll show you tomorrow any new exciting finds!

Kohlrabies

2010-06-21T08:20:00.000-07:00

And the winner is the one and only player...Denise! Hooray! I'll have to find out if she like these before I buy her some!

You pronounce this kohl (just like the store) rabi (sounds like the name Robby, not the foaming at the mouth animal disease) Kohlrabi is an above ground vegetable from the cabbage family and resembles a turnip. They grow well in a hot or cold climate.

The farmer I bought these from told me to cut off the leaves (they are useable too, however I didn't this time) and then peel it and slice it, and eat it raw. She said her family eats it like chips and dips it into ranch dressing or hummus. They can also be cooked. I followed her advice and ate them raw.

So here is my review of Kohlrabi:
It was a little radish like. However it was very mild in taste and the crunch was wonderful! Definitely something good to eat when you want crunchy! As I was eating this I was dipping it into a vinaigrette dressing and I decided it would be really good if you let it soak in a vinaigrette.

A recipe I found online said to:
Peal and cut the Kohlrabi into 1/4 " pieces
Cook in salt in salt water until tender
Pour a white cream sauce over the Kohlrabi
Add Blue or Gorgonzola cheese on top

(too cheesy for me, but I may try this sometime for Matt and Sophia)

So here is breakfast today! I LOVE breakfast food!
Oatmeal with these mix-ins:
chia seeds
cinnamon
strawberries
almond butter
pecans

I also had hazelnut coffee with sucanat and a little creamer. I decided today that once this can of coffee is gone I am going to try really hard not to buy anymore, and try to drink green tea instead...we'll see!

Hope you all have a great Monday!

Who wants to play along?

2010-06-20T11:27:00.000-07:00

Hello blog friends! I am really excited that you all are checking out my blog and maybe even joining along on your own journey! I think there is a lot of power in surrounding yourself with like minded people and sharing ideas with each other. Maybe we could even start a little dinner group once a month @ different restaurants??? Thoughts???

Yesterday was a fun day of Farmer's Markets. We hit up two, cause that's how we roll! I started the day with a nice "Cherry Bomb" smoothie.

Here are all of my goods from the markets! The white container is my new talc-free lavender powder from Natural Independence, it is local and handmade. No chemicals and no artificial fragrance, just pure ingredients and essential oil! The other goods I got are parsley, kale, peaches, beets, & a mystery vegetable!

Who wants to guess what it is? The winner gets a free bundle of them on me!

Of course, I also had a green juice at the market then we walked down to the circle and I stopped and got an unsweetened green tea @ Starbucks. I really wished I had my stevia. Starbucks didn't have any, so when I got home I loaded a bunch of packets into my purse for future outings! (thanks for the idea Mom)

Dinner was a loaded salad with romaine lettuce, mini sweet peppers, onions, cucumbers, edamame, & raisins with Mary's Gone Crackers.

I also rebounded on my little trampoline for about 35 minutes. I am really lovin' this! At first I didn't know if I should wear shoes or not. I googled it and found that you can do it either with or without shoes. The first day I wore tennis shoes and my feet were a little sore the next day, so every time since then I have done it barefoot and I think I prefer it this way. I love the time of just having on my music and making a fool of myself, and let me tell you I sweat like crazy while jumping. Way more than when I go running believe it or not (may have something to do with my turtle pace when running)

Hope everyone is enjoying Father's Day!

Peace, love, mystery veggies, and of course DADS!

Fasting Friday

2010-06-18T11:07:00.000-07:00

Kris Carr is one of my favorites! I am so inspired by her, she a thirty something former actress who was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer nearly 8 years ago and there were no treatments the doctors could do for her, so she has treated herself with whole foods, and many other interesting practices. Kris is a big believer in the power of juicing. One day a week she gives her digestive system a break by juicing all day.

So yesterday, I decided to try it. This certainly isn't for everyone, and I wasn't sure I could do it but I have been researching and learning a lot about it so I wanted to try. Matt wasn't here today which made it a lot easier to not watch someone else eating. Sophia doesn't make a difference on this because I am not tempted by the food she eats.

I started the day with a "Green Monster" with

spinach

chia seeds

water

frozen banana

frozen cherries

Amazing grass

Then around noon I had a fresh juice with

celery

cucumber

apple

lemon

kale

spinach

~This is when I wanted to just forget it and go to my favorite Mexican Joint, but I stayed strong I had another Ultimate Greens Juice (the same one above)

Then I did another workout rebounding! By the way I LOVE doing this!

After working out, I fixed myself a "Cherry Bomb" and Matt a Green Monster!

I felt incredible after juicing all day, I felt so lite! I think I may try this one day a week from now on. I definitely won't do Friday's again, but am thinking maybe Tuesdays or Wednesdays would be good. It will be challenging once school starts again, but I love the way it made me feel so I am going to plan on doing it through the rest of the summer and then re-assess in the fall.

By the way, I highlighted Matt's name in red throughout this post because he I love him, he is fine, & he does a lot of nice things for me! Janet Jackson reference here, from the song "What have you done for me Lately"

Make Juice no War! (Kris Carr says this and I love it)

Where is your local Farmer's Market?

2010-06-17T18:30:00.000-07:00

My cousin asked me where I was finding out about where the Farmer's Markets are. You can find farmer's markets in your area by checking out your Local Food Guide or your state's agricultural department. Here are the links for Indiana:

http://www.in.gov/apps/ISDA_FarmersMarket/destination.aspx

http://www.in.gov/icw/files/food_guide.pdfh

Happy Hunting!

You dropped a bomb on me...baby!

2010-06-16T13:40:00.000-07:00

So I got an idea for a new "Green Monster" off of another blog and it is AWESOME, and for those of you who are a bit afraid of the "Green" good news! It's brown, as in chocolate brown! The name of this drink is "Cherry Bomb" and I am hooked! I changed it a bit from the blog I found it on. This all goes into the blender:

1 cup water
1 frozen banana
1 cup frozen cherries
1 scoop chocolate protein powder
1 scoop chia seeds (optional)
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 scoop of chocolate Amazing Grass
a splash of vanilla

And here you have it, Cherry Bomb!

So inside the cup is what the UPS man brought me, My new glass Dharma Straws! I like them because they are glass not plastic so they won't leach plastic chemicals into my drinks, and because they are eco friendly. I LOVE drinking through straws, they make me do a better job of getting my water in!

Lunch was a big gianormous salad that I made!

Dinner was a veggie burger.

Then, we were off to spend time with good friends and sip wine!!!
~A

Sleepy Head & Sprouted Bread

2010-06-15T18:00:00.000-07:00

I have been so lazy and sleepy the last couple days, hence the no posts!

My day started out with Ezekiel sprouted bread w/ almond butter, blueberry jam, & chia seeds.

I also had a cup of hazelnut coffee with creamer, and sucanat (sweetner)

~I use the sprouted bread because it is flour less, wheat free, and gluten free making it much higher in nutrients and easier for your body to digest.

Lunch was out at my new fave Sandellas. Today I got the black bean and rice bowl but wasn't real impressed. Should of stuck to the Greek Salad, it rocks!

Tonight we went to the Stadium Village Farmer's Market.

For you Hoosiers, it's on Meridian across from Shapiro's. Here are the goods we got:

Cucumbers from Stouts Melody Farms

A Grassy Knoll (mango, banana, wheatgrass, hemp protein powder) from Natural Born Juicers this ended up being my dinner.

Sophia got these marshmallows from 240 sweet.

And Matt got an amazing pretzel and I didn't catch the name of the vendor, because we were all stuffing our faces. I'll get it next time because they are amazing!

And this my friends is the booth I am running too first next week! We ran out of cash and couldn't get any tonight, but this is both vegan and non-vegan treats! Yumola!

That's it for today! Another stormy night! Tomorrow I will show you what the UPS man brought me today! I am so excited!

Peace, love, and Farmer's Markets!

Let's Go Shopping

2010-06-12T15:22:00.000-07:00

Good evening everyone! I hope everyone has had a nice "muggy" Saturday!

I spent the day volunteering for Farm Fresh Delivery @ PBS kid's Day at the Park, which brings me to the topic of SHOPPING for groceries. I try to include in my posts where you can find some of the items that may be new to your household. Here are the places I shop and what I like about each place.

Farm Fresh Delivery- a year round to your door delivery of local organic produce and natural groceries. I get this bi-weekly and absolutely love it! You can also get local organic meats, eggs, & several other items. I also LOVE the excitement of my 3 year old when our bin arrives! The fact that she is connecting excitement with fruits & veggies has got to be instilling a good healthy food relationship for her. That makes me happy!

Kroger- This is where I do most of my shopping. I love that they have all their organic items together in one place rather than searching the whole store. This makes shopping a lot faster!

Meijer- I love that Meijer has their own brand of USDA certified organic items! I also love their organic produce. The tricky thing is you have to look for the brown organic tag, all of the organic is mixed in with the regular items.

~My two FAVORITE stores are Whole Foods and Trader Joe's but they are 45 minutes from my house, so I don't get to go very often.

~I also want to tell you about a great online store that my friend Denise told me about called vitacost and that is where I get a lot of our soaps, shampoos, baby wipes, vitamins, etc. They have a ton of things on this website at a discounted rate. I love using the organic section because you can get a lot of items you might get at a drugstore like CVS, but without all the harsh chemicals.

My Eats Today- I was pretty rushed today so didn't get to take many pictures of food today.

Breakfast- A whole grain waffle with almond butter and a sliced banana and a green juice with kale, spinach, lemon, apple, cucumber, and celery

Snack- Lara bar and edamame

Lunch- was out went to Chili's. I got a house salad with avocado and chips-n-salsa

Dinner- a bowl of kashi cereal

Something to comment on- Where do you like to grocery shop?

Geek fact from my book assortment- The best way to grocery shop in a supermarket or health food store is to focus your attention on the periphery. That's where the fresh food is!

~Kris Carr, from the book Crazy, Sexy, Cancer

Happy Shopping,

Jump Around...Jump Up, Jump Up & Get Down

2010-06-10T21:17:00.000-07:00

I'm going old school...watch out!

Yep, that's right I got a mini trampoline and I am stoked! I promise I won't break out the legwarmers! I have been reading a lot about "Rebounding" (jumping on a mini trampoline) and it is awesome for you! I won't go into all the boring science of why, but rebounding helps to tone, cleanse (rid your body of toxins), and stimulate your metabolism. All while burning some mega calories! Just google it if your curious.

After training for the mini marathon, I am excited to get off of the treadmill (nothing against the treadmill, I do love the treadmill) and start jumping! My plan is to put on my ipod and just go nuts...ALONE! No one can watch! LOL I'll let you know when I come up with a real plan. First, I just want to experiment.

I will try to get Matt to take a picture of me on it...if you promise to laugh!

On with the eats:

Dinner last night was my vegan version of my favorite fast food meal...three cheese nachos from Qudoba minus the cheese! Here is what I mixed in a bowl:

~black beans

~brown rice

~100 calorie pack of Guacamole (Love these! I get them at Kroger)

~tomatoes

~onions

~Tofutti Sour Cream (vegan)

Then I dipped my favorite chips (Guitless Gourmet) in it! It was SO satisfying! You could do a non-vegan version of this by adding cheese or chicken.

After Sophia was in bed Matt and I each had a square of this dark chocolate. I like keeping my chocolate in the freezer. For some reason it feels more like a special treat that way, and I am less likely to get into it a lot.

~Apparently no one has told Macy what chocolate does to dogs, because she really wanted some!

This morning I started off with a green tea with Stevia to sweeten it. Since cutting out pop I am trying to drink more tea.

Then for breakfast I had oatmeal with a little yogurt on top, strawberries, and chia seeds sprinkled on top.

*Chia seeds can be found at health food stores or online. They are good source of Omega 3's. Click here to read what Dr. Oz says about chia seeds. I love Dr. Oz!

Hope everyone is having a great day!

Peace, love, & chia seeds!

~A