I wanted to share two blogs I have been following and adoring recently. There's one for each of my favorite topics: clean beauty and clean eating.
Clean Beauty:
No More Dirty Looks
LOVE the writers shared passion for clean beauty and great products. They are so into it (maybe even more than I am!), I know their recommendations are the real deal. They haven't let me down yet and the community they have cultivated through their site is just as helpful as they are!
Clean Eating:
Kath Eats Real Food
I can't get enough of this blog! Kath Younger takes pictures of every meal she eats. I know, you're thinking, "won't that get old?" The answer: NOPE. Her pictures are so artful and her commentary entertaining. She eats whole, nutritious foods and displays how appealing, delicious and simple real food can be. I have been inspired by more than one of her meals and recipes. For example, I never thought to put peanut butter (or any other nut butter for that matter) on oatmeal before and now I don't know how I will ever eat oatmeal without it again! Seriously, you've got to try it and use her oatmeal recipe while you're at it. Thanks to her blog, I also have plenty of preparation options for all that okra building up in the freezer from our CSA!
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Saturday, August 18, 2012
DIY Adventure
The other day, I made my own chocolate syrup. I found a great recipe on Pinterest (and by found, I mean I stole repinned the recipe from my friend, Henna). The finished product tasted so much better than store bought syrup and it really could not have been easier. My husband LOVED it, I LOVED it. It was a win. Riding the wave of my DIY victory, I pushed forward to tackle another recipe idea from Pinterest: Honey Roasted Peanut Butter.
One of my favorite things to do at Whole Foods is hit up the peanut butter grinding machines for freshly ground honey roasted peanut butter. It seriously may be one of the most delicious things on this planet. My only problem is Whole Foods is not located all that close to our house, so I don't get there very often. This recipe I found seemed to solve my pesky little problem by bringing the delicious directly to our kitchen. I roasted the peanuts in the oven, threw them into my trusty food processor with some honey, pressed the "on" button and waited for the magic to happen as the recipe promised. In a few minutes, these little peanuts would transform into peanut butter.
It didn't matter that I had to wear ear plugs because my beloved Cuisinart is so loud and high pitched it could cause early hearing loss. My excitement could barely be contained! I was told to expect the process to take a few minutes and one thing I have is patience. Patience did no good. The magic did NOT happen. The peanuts grinded to a paste and remained a paste. Eventually I added some oil to the mix to help the texture and the paste did turn into a more liquid, edible version of itself. While it is pretty tasty, it does not reach my peanut butter standards. My DIY peanut butter was a failure. I will NOT be attempting this again. Lesson learned: purchasing my peanut butter is the way to go.
How fortunate for me that a few days later, a delivery arrived with THIS:
One of my favorite things to do at Whole Foods is hit up the peanut butter grinding machines for freshly ground honey roasted peanut butter. It seriously may be one of the most delicious things on this planet. My only problem is Whole Foods is not located all that close to our house, so I don't get there very often. This recipe I found seemed to solve my pesky little problem by bringing the delicious directly to our kitchen. I roasted the peanuts in the oven, threw them into my trusty food processor with some honey, pressed the "on" button and waited for the magic to happen as the recipe promised. In a few minutes, these little peanuts would transform into peanut butter.
It didn't matter that I had to wear ear plugs because my beloved Cuisinart is so loud and high pitched it could cause early hearing loss. My excitement could barely be contained! I was told to expect the process to take a few minutes and one thing I have is patience. Patience did no good. The magic did NOT happen. The peanuts grinded to a paste and remained a paste. Eventually I added some oil to the mix to help the texture and the paste did turn into a more liquid, edible version of itself. While it is pretty tasty, it does not reach my peanut butter standards. My DIY peanut butter was a failure. I will NOT be attempting this again. Lesson learned: purchasing my peanut butter is the way to go.
 |
| Heavenly! |
THIS is giving my favorite freshly ground honey roasted peanut butter some serious competition! I heard about Wild Squirrel Nut Butter and I knew I had to try it. Wild Squirrel Nut Butter is an Oregon based company created by two creative young ladies. They started making peanut butter while they were roommates at the University of Oregon and they have turned their snack session into a successful business. I really enjoy that.
I ordered a variety pack to sample four of their five flavors from OpenSky.* Honey Pretzel is the first to be opened. I love to dip pretzels in peanut butter as a snack. This peanut butter does all of the work for me. You don't even need to put it on anything, just eat it directly off of the spoon! Wild Squirrel Nut Butter is definitely a company to check out. They have a variety pack with all 5 of their flavors on their web site or you can check out the deal I got below. When you open the box, be prepared to feel like a kid in a candy shop!
*OpenSky is a shopping site that offers deals on a variety of products including food, clothing and beauty products. Curators (some celebrity, some not) offer these deals after they have tried a product and and given it a positive review. I have placed a few orders through the site because their gift sets were discounted from the full price of the products. I like really like it and they have terrific customer service. (Easy returns and when an order was going to be shipped later than expected, they automatically gave me a merchandise credit to apologize.) If you would like to check it out, they give you free shipping and $10 toward your first purchase. Pretty sweet deal. Why not use that credit to get your own variety pack? Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some peanut butter to eat!
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Simplification
It's no secret that I attempting to rid my life of toxins. And it's no surprise that toxins come in all forms such as the pesticides or preservatives we ingest with our food in the name of nourishment and the chemicals we apply to our skin in the name of beauty. It's just that some forms are more surprising than others. What about the stuff we keep in our lives beyond its value? I believe these qualify as toxins in their own way and yet we don't always allow ourselves the freedom to let it go. I'm the worst with letting go. However, I've said goodbye to processed foods and icky beauty products with relative ease. I'm having fun finding products that work better than the gross ones I used for years. So what's the problem?
Here I am, a girl on a journey to simplify her life by making healthy, sustainable choices and telling toxins to "kiss off." Yet, I still have toxic stuff standing in the way of my simple life in the form of CLUTTER. Did I mention I'm the worst at letting go? There's no need to call "Hoarders," put the phone down. I do get rid of things, but it takes me a little longer than the average bear. I feel guilty getting rid of gifts I have received because someone spent put their time and thought into choosing it for me. Or I feel guilty because I think I'm being wasteful and should just find a use for the item. Well, I think enough is enough. It's time to let go of things that no longer have a use or purpose and things that are no longer precious or loved. It's time to clear this clutter to make space for the things that matter to me - like updating this blog more than twice a year (!) or playing piano or maintaining a regular yoga practice. Hmm, when I look at the things I love, they aren't things at all. I'm calling this The Summer Simplification Project a.k.a. getting rid of the toxins cluttering my personal space and creativity.
I think this project really began last summer albeit unbeknownst to me. You see, I went on a DIY tear. I had already had some success with simple DIY beauty products and I decided to venture into the realm of food. If there was something that I loved from my "processed past," (like, say, Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing), I thought "I think I can make it myself." And by Google, I could! If I tried something at a restaurant that I loved, I aspired to make it myself. Pretty soon, "I think I can" became "I totally can" and I learned it's pretty rad to make it yourself. I didn't stop at food. I went back to beauty products and tried more complex recipes. As a result, I haven't bought lip balm (HUGE!) or whole wheat bread in a year. I find a lot of satisfaction from making things myself and controlling the ingredients. As my confidence builds, I have branched out to such things as butter, barbecue sauce, and face wash (although not together, that would be gross). My personal care routine is slowly becoming populated with homemade products instead of bringing home more "stuff." Making more from scratch has been fun and simple enough. I think it has prepared me for the next step.
This summer, I continue my journey to simplification with Part II: a massive decluttering project in our house! I'm ready to let go of the stuff and the guilt that goes with it. This blog post appropriately titled "Permission to Let Go" was very helpful and motivating. While I can't justify simply throwing out items I no longer want or need, I am ready to donate them to a good cause. Goodwill, here I come!
In Part II, I will also add more items to my "I can totally make it myself" list, reduce the waste I produce by improving my composting skills and being mindful of packaging on products I purchase, and determine if an item really has purpose BEFORE I buy it so I avoid the whole need to purge things in the first place!
Do you have any "hidden" toxins lurking your home and cluttering up your space? Maybe we should all try to be more like this incredible family from the UK. I don't think clutter is really an issue for them.
Here I am, a girl on a journey to simplify her life by making healthy, sustainable choices and telling toxins to "kiss off." Yet, I still have toxic stuff standing in the way of my simple life in the form of CLUTTER. Did I mention I'm the worst at letting go? There's no need to call "Hoarders," put the phone down. I do get rid of things, but it takes me a little longer than the average bear. I feel guilty getting rid of gifts I have received because someone spent put their time and thought into choosing it for me. Or I feel guilty because I think I'm being wasteful and should just find a use for the item. Well, I think enough is enough. It's time to let go of things that no longer have a use or purpose and things that are no longer precious or loved. It's time to clear this clutter to make space for the things that matter to me - like updating this blog more than twice a year (!) or playing piano or maintaining a regular yoga practice. Hmm, when I look at the things I love, they aren't things at all. I'm calling this The Summer Simplification Project a.k.a. getting rid of the toxins cluttering my personal space and creativity.
I think this project really began last summer albeit unbeknownst to me. You see, I went on a DIY tear. I had already had some success with simple DIY beauty products and I decided to venture into the realm of food. If there was something that I loved from my "processed past," (like, say, Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing), I thought "I think I can make it myself." And by Google, I could! If I tried something at a restaurant that I loved, I aspired to make it myself. Pretty soon, "I think I can" became "I totally can" and I learned it's pretty rad to make it yourself. I didn't stop at food. I went back to beauty products and tried more complex recipes. As a result, I haven't bought lip balm (HUGE!) or whole wheat bread in a year. I find a lot of satisfaction from making things myself and controlling the ingredients. As my confidence builds, I have branched out to such things as butter, barbecue sauce, and face wash (although not together, that would be gross). My personal care routine is slowly becoming populated with homemade products instead of bringing home more "stuff." Making more from scratch has been fun and simple enough. I think it has prepared me for the next step.
This summer, I continue my journey to simplification with Part II: a massive decluttering project in our house! I'm ready to let go of the stuff and the guilt that goes with it. This blog post appropriately titled "Permission to Let Go" was very helpful and motivating. While I can't justify simply throwing out items I no longer want or need, I am ready to donate them to a good cause. Goodwill, here I come!
In Part II, I will also add more items to my "I can totally make it myself" list, reduce the waste I produce by improving my composting skills and being mindful of packaging on products I purchase, and determine if an item really has purpose BEFORE I buy it so I avoid the whole need to purge things in the first place!
Do you have any "hidden" toxins lurking your home and cluttering up your space? Maybe we should all try to be more like this incredible family from the UK. I don't think clutter is really an issue for them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)