Pinterest Wins!

Recently I've seem some of you mentioning on Facebook that a few of your Pinterest "pins" weren't working out or tasted disgusting. It's hard to know which ones will be "winners" until you try them yourself. 

Well, there are a few recipes that I have tried and most of them were all "wins" for me. I thought I would just share a few of them here with you so you don't have to waste money on ingredients since you KNOW that they work! :)

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

This recipe has been a HUGE hit with my family! It's very easy to make and really gives you that "pizza" taste without the bulky, gross feeling afterwards.

Protein-Packed Bacon Omelet Bites

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These are really delicious. You can add whatever ingredients you like. I used turkey bacon and green pepper and omitted the chicken.

To Die-For Crockpot Mushrooms

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These are not healthy, by any means....but oh my! Super, super yummy. Great for a party!

Honey-Chipotle BBQ Sauce

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This sauce is amazing and has become a staple in my house. I plan on trying to omit the brown sugar and just see how it tastes.

Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins

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These muffins were so delish that they only lasted a mere 24 hours in this house. My son kept calling them "cookies!" haha.

There were more we've tried that here "wins", but I'll save that for a later post. :) I'll most likely be trying more in the future as well, so I'll keep you posted!

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Making the Switch

Happy Monday!

I'm so glad you stopped by to read this post today. I quickly wanted to share with you how my family is making the switch to all-natural, healthy and "green" alternatives.

 I decided about a year ago to start really trying to eat healthy and live simply. It hasn't always been easy, and I have failed many, many times.

 It really is a CONSTANT work in progress to completely transition your home over to "natural/green" alternatives. There are so many things to take into consideration, not just for you, but for the overall health of your family. From cleaning supplies and food to beauty products and baby essentials; there's just SO MUCH to take in all at once!

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To be honest, it can get very overwhelming at times and completely take over your life. The best advice that I can you is to take each day ONE step at a time. Don't try to change everything ALL at once. You must choose to start somewhere, and from there make small changes each day, week, or month.

I'm not going to lie, eating healthy and buying healthy supplements can be expensive. I still haven't got it all completely figured out. But I can tell you that the small changes that you implement a little a time are the ones that stick the best.

I have learned that if I try to limit myself too much, than I often fail. I need to take small steps, conquer those, and then move on to the next. 

To see what my family has changed in the area of living naturally, see this post.

 By the way, do I know everything about living healthy and simply?? 

NO.

 I probably never will, either. BUT I can tell you that I know WAY more now than I ever did before. And for the record, the only reason I blog about these things is because I want to share what I've learned and what God has shown me. LITERALLY I knew NOTHING about being "healthy" until a couple of years ago. But....more on that later. I think I'll probably give you guys a little VLOG on why we're making the switch. Look for it soon. :)

 

Tomorrow I would like to share with you some "recent" health food store purchases that we've made. I'll let you know why we purchased them, what I'm using them for, and give you some informative links on what their health benefits are.

Thanks for reading and Good Luck in all of your implementing of Healthy Habits! :)

Natural Cosmetics Review

On my Friday Fav's post last week you saw that I ordered some all-natural cosmetics for the first time. I read each and every ingredient on the things I purchased and I can say with confidence that they are toxin-free! It makes me feel really good to know that. 

Here are the 3 items I bought from Honeybee Gardens. 

Satin Sheets Mineral Eye Shadow Pod

Jet Set JobaColors Eye Liner

Truly Natural Mascara in Black Magic

I will say that I have waited a very long time to purchase any all-natural makeup because I was convinced it wouldn't work right. Well, all in all, I'd say I was wrong. The only thing that would be negative to say about this makeup is that it doesn't stay on as long.

I'm used to wearing the 12 hour stay eye liner, but I have found that to be typical with any pencil liner. This stuff works just as good as any other pencil liner that I have used. 

Now for the mascara, it really does work well. It looks great on, too. I did have to apply like 2-3 coats, but I usually do anyway. And this mascara didn't get come off and leave itty bitty "crumbs" in my eyes like the other did, so that's definitely a PLUS.

I really like the eyeshadow a lot. It's super shimmery and stays on nicely.

My two favorite things about this chemical-free makeup are 1.) It's no more expensive than chemical-laden the makeup brands that I've been purchasing for years and 2.) I know exactly what's going onto my skin and I know it's not going to promote toxin buildup in my body.

I sort of decided that even if these products didn't work, I was going to switch anyway. I'm just SO GLAD that they do and that I enjoy wearing them everyday. If you're not a makeup buff and could care less, good for you! I just gotta have it. ;)

Friday Fav's!! ~ 3/8/13

YAY for FRIDAY! :D

We've got another busy weekend planned over here, so I'm looking forward to it all. :)

What do YOU guys have planned this weekend??

I hope you all don't think I was lying to you about having a VLOG for you yesterday! I PROMISE I did one and tried numerous times to get it up, but for some reason my file was too large and blah, blah, blah!

BUT I do have one for you today!

By the way, let me just apologize in advance for looking so awful in it..yikes. 

ALSO, the sound goes out half-way through for some reason. LOL Basically, I have no uploading/video making skills. 

The gist is that I now weigh 196.6 lbs.
My goal for next Wed. is 195 lbs.

Little known fact, when I weigh myself at church, I'm always 5 lbs. more than I am at home. I think it's just the difference in scales, but I go by my home scale. :)

CLICK HERE to see my latest WLW VLOG!

Anyway, it's time for Friday Fav's so enjoy! 

1.) Premier Designs' Over the Moon Necklace

Isn't it GORGEOUS??! So simple and so beautiful. :)

2.) www.HoneyBeeGardens.com

NATURAL COSMETICS, PEOPLE! I read the ingredients on the eye shadow, eye liner, and mascara and I'm super excited to try them. Cosmetics has been one of those things that I've been refusing to buy natural....until I read this article. 

3.) Garden of Life Lemon-Mint flavored Cod Liver Oil 

 Yes, that's right. Lemon-Mint flavored. Maybe that sounds gross to you, but it was seriously great. It's my first experience with cod liver oil (we used to take the pills), but nonetheless, it was a good

one. AND it's a lot more inexpensive than some brands.

4.)  My New Puppy, Grimm

Isn't he just stinkin' adorable! Love him!  

5.) Chalene's Tuna Sandwich 

OH MAN! I have never liked Tuna Salad. yucky... UNTIL NOW. I really, really, really love this. I found the recipe in the TurboJam Guidebook. I simply added a few ingredients that I enjoy.

 Here's the recipe:

Tuna Sandwich

  5 ounces tuna in water

1 T. Mayo 

1 pickle, diced

1 T. red onion, chopped

1 boiled egg white, chopped

lettuce to taste

1 tsp. mustard

2 slices Ezekiel bread, thawed or toasted

*Drain tuna. Combine with mayo, pickle, onion, and egg white. Spread mustard on bread, then spoon on tuna mixture. Add lettuce. Enjoy! 

 

  Have an awesome weekend!

Grow Your Own!

This week I've stumbled upon some really great resources if you or your family are interested in starting a backyard garden or even if you just want to show your kids where food really comes from!

This is something that has crossed my mind recently. I want both of my kids to grow up knowing where their food comes from. Not at all like the picture below.

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Interesting, right? I know, super far fetched, but you never know where our kids could end up! I for one, need to be better about completely "ditching" the fast food lifestyle. The stuff is just complete junk. 

Anyway, I came across a picture on Instagram of these Grow Your Own Mushrooms Kits from Back to the Roots, and I thought Ruby would really enjoy helping me grow these. It would be a fun project for her and I to do together. Plus, I love mushrooms, so why not try and grow my own? They make it seem extremely easy in the directions, too. Order two kits at $19.95 per kit and get FREE shipping? Not half bad!

Click here to see a YouTube video watching them grow!

I also found this awesome Make Your Own Vegetables Seed Kit from the Bulk Herb Store. All of the seeds included in this kit are Heirloom seeds, passed down from generation to generation. I hope to purchase my own kit in the near future. Now, if this weather would just cooperate and get warm! ;)  If you would like to purchase your own kit, please click on the Bulk Herb Store icon on my sidebar and peruse around their lovely online catalog!

You can read more about Why to Buy Heirloom Seeds, here.

 If you're interested in being able to grow some indoor plants, then check this link out! Onions, Bean Sprouts, Herbs, etc.. can thrive while growing indoors. I never knew that before!

 My family recently joined our local CSA and I'm super excited about it! CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture for those of you who don't know. It means that we purchase a share, then the farmers pick the produce and divide it up among the shareholders. Each week we will be getting new organic crops to cook, freeze, can, or use however we please! 

The reason we did this was because with 2 small children, plus all of our other commitments, we really don't have the time to plant and tend to a large backyard garden ourselves, although we do plan on having a small one. The price is certainly reasonable and you can add in egg shares and honey or fruit as well. I'm not going to lie, the idea of supporting a local organic farm makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, too. haha

Here's a great tip for growing your own foods:

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I hope maybe this inspires you to start growing your own this Summer season! I know I'm inspired! :)

Have an awesome Thursday!

{Healthy} Sausage Biscuits

I don't know if this grosses you out or not, but....I LOVE SAUSAGE BISCUITS!

Seriously....

I'm all about them lately.

But, alas, they are fattening and full of nasty junk (the ones from McDonald's) PLUS they cost extra money which I'm not willing to pay as much as I crave them.

I guess I always knew how easy it would be to make a healthier version at home, I just never really did....until the other day.  

I just bought a tube of hot turkey breakfast sausage at the store, then made very small patties. 
Cooked them in just a drizzle of olive oil over medium heat, then put them on these Weight Watchers Yogurt Biscuits and....VOILA! A healthy sausage biscuit!

Now, whenever I'm craving these, I can have them at a very low-cost and at no expense to my body.

By the way, those biscuits are wonderful! You can use them for so many different things and they're really yummy. Only 1 point if you're on Weight Watchers! Usually, I don't use white flour, but that's what the recipe called for, so I used it. I think next time, I'll try them with whole-wheat flour. Also, I used Greek yogurt instead of regular yogurt. 

 You definitely should try them. And the sausage biscuit...Yum.... :)

*Linked up with these lovely ladies, today.:)

Covered in Grace
Create With Joy
Nourishing Treasures

Friday Fav's!! ~ 2/22/13

Here we go, again!

It feels like I just did this! Can't believe it's Friday already! That's ok, though...I'll take it!

Tomorrow we will be enjoying a lovely evening out, then friends over on Sunday, plus church, so I think it's going to be a great weekend! :)

Here are some lovely things that I've come across this week....

1.)  Carbodroid App

Coolest thing ever! This has helped me so much with my water intake! All you do is enter in how many ounces of water you want to be drinking per day, then it reminds you to drink your water. When you drink a glass, you just enter it in and you make your little droid man happy! It's not been annoying at all, either. Loving it! You can read a review about it, here.

2. Old Navy Striped Pencil Skirt

Sorry, it's SUPER blurry!

As soon as I get a little extra cash, this little number is joining my wardrobe! LOVE the stripes and I've been wanting one like this for awhile. :)

Buy it, here!

3.) Premier Designs Dreamsicle set

Blurry again! Sorry!

I got this GORGEOUS necklace in the mail this week and I'm in love! I love Coral, anyway, so this is just perfection in my eyes. It's going to look awesome this Spring and Summer. :)

4.)  Spending time with my Kids

Can you tell who is WHO??!

I don't know, I've just really enjoyed it this week. Even though there were times where they drove me crazy! Sometimes, I think it's easy for us moms to take for granted the time we get to spend with our kids. I really want to try to cherish every second with them!

5.)  Spring Bling

 Yes, I am LOVING all of this! Have a few pieces and can't wait to get the rest! :)

As much as I don't feel like working out today, I'm off to do it, anyway! lol

Have a WONDERFUL weekend! ;)