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4 Days of Juicing {and I almost ate my children}

April 24, 2012 By 44 Comments

We have been juicing since before we had kids.

My favorite used to be carrots, apples and parsley.

We have gone through a few juicers over the years and even the kids like it.

Since finding out all about my food allergies we have gone back to juicing and basically trying to make most things from scratch.

I kept on reading about people doing the juice fast and feeling terrific.

High energy levels, clear skin, sharper mind, you look 18 again….

OK, that last one wasn’t on the list but I did read tons of awesome benefits of just juicing for 4+ days.

I thought, “Hey, I juice almost everyday anyways.  What is the big deal to just juice for 4 days?  How hard can it be?”

I almost ate my children.

Seriously.

The first day was a piece of cake.

Cake…Mmmmmmmm.

Second day was harder but I could do this.  Right?

Third day was HARD.

There wasn’t enough juice in the world on day three to make me feel full.

I was caught randomly chewing on the furniture and….

OK, OK…maybe I am exaggerating just a bit.

It was hard though.

I just kept telling myself that I was half way there.

One more day to go.

On day four I was thinking about what I was going to eat on day five.

I had everyone all ready to hit White Chocolate Grill and order ribs and fries.

Don’t even think for a second I didn’t also have some of their chocolate souffle

At the end of day four I could have gone on.

For real.

Why would I do that?

The truth is that I really did feel great during the juice fast.

My energy level was very high throughout the day and then I went to bed at a really decent time.

Maybe I was just going to sleep to forget that I couldn’t eat anything.

My skin was clear.

My stomach felt flatter.

Duh, there was nothing in it!

I lost 5 pounds but I am sure once you eat real food that just comes back.

I felt so good and my energy was so high that I have really tried to continue juicing until noon or so each day.

I juice in the morning and then make enough for a second glass later.

We juice pretty much anything around here but during the juice fast this is the juice I made each day.

Green Juice

Organic Kale (1/2 of a bunch)

2 cups of organic spinach

2 1/2 organic, green apples

1 organic cucumber

3-4 stalks of organic celery

1 organic lime

1/3 bunch of organic cilantro or parsley

{sometimes I would throw in a little ginger root}

The apple and lime makes it sweet enough to drink and like I said before….even my kids will drink it.

It is a really great way to start the morning and I would do it again.

Maybe.

If all sweets were out of the house.

And the grocery stores had burned to the ground.

And my children were not around to be a tempting snack.

OK, maybe not.

On a side note I thought you would like to see where I put my extra stash of “green juice” in the fridge today.

(and not like your cool “stash” of cigs or vodka…..just green juice)

This made me laugh after I took the photo because this was not staged at all.

Protected on each side…..by whipped cream.

Nice!

Filed Under: Family First, Inspired, Made From Scratch, Me Myself and I Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Handmade Christmas {The Littles}

November 18, 2011 By

Did you know that there are only six Fridays until Christmas?

Sorry to freak you out.

The truth is that we keep Christmas pretty simple around here.

We don’t break the bank around here.

We either try to buy homemade or make it ourselves.

It means more.

At least to me.

There are so many creative and brilliant small businesses that it would be a shame not to support them and let them know we value their work.

For the next six Fridays I will be sharing some Christmas gift picks all from small business and handmade artists.

Each week will be a different theme.

Today is for all of those littles in your life.

1. Colored Pencils {these would make a sweet stocking stuffer for boys or girls)

2. Fabric Reusable Wall Decals {You have to check out this whole site.  Beautiful ways to easily transform a room and your child will love them}

3. United States Chalkboard {I want this for the boy’s rooms.  Love}

4. Cloth Doll {I may order one just for myself}

 

5. Felt Shoes {How precious are these and so beautiful they would be handed down}

6. Paper Dolls {I played with paper dolls for hours growing up and I love that my daughter loves them too}

7.Child’s Cowl Pattern {I will be requesting someone to make me one for Christmas:-)}

8. Crown Hairpins {One of the most unique hairpins I have ever seen. So cute!}


If you have a small business or you are make handmade items please leave your link in the comments so we can visit you:-)

******************************************************************

 

I am offering my first e-course beginning January 9!

I hope you can join me.


 

 

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I am excited to be a part of an amazing team of artists in Christy Tomlinson’s new MINI, online, holiday workshop.

It is pure yumminess.  Come and play with us!


Filed Under: Made By Hand, Made From Scratch, Me Myself and I, My Nest, Shop Talk, Style Page Tagged With: , , , , ,

Show and Tell {Bedroom Makeover}

September 9, 2011 By

Thank you for all of the nice comments about Maddy’s new room!

I have gotten so many emails asking about paint color, lighting, bedding etc. that I wanted to share some of the details.

If you have anymore questions just ask in the comments I would be happy to answer them on this post.

 

 

 

 

 

I also have six different hat boxes that someone asked about.

Three of them are from Land of Nod and three of them are covered in vintage wallpapers (bought on Etsy).

If you have anymore questions feel free to ask.

I am very excited that I will soon be able to offer you one of a kind custom bedding made from vintage fabrics!

Happy Weekend!

Filed Under: Inspired, Made By Hand, Made From Scratch, My Nest, Shop Talk Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Chocolate Chip Scones (yummy)

June 5, 2011 By

I do not bake a lot.

I do not bake a lot because I don’t want to weigh 400 pounds.

I do bake about once a week.  I really love making fresh gluten free breads and the occasional sweet treat.

One of the regular treats baked around here are chocolate chip scones made from almond flour.

My children gobble them up like crazy…also keep in mind that I don’t bake a lot:-)

I truly believe my children’s palate has changed as we have had to change the diet of our whole house to remove wheat.

I think they are amazing sports and I have loved seeing them make choices to healthier foods.

Don’t misunderstand me….we still love a little junk food…but I hope our healthier baking balances it all out.

I really love baking in the kitchen with my daughter.

She will have to eat a specific way for the rest of her life and I love that we are learning this new way of eating together.

This recipe is from The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook by Elana Amsterdam

(I am not a fancy cook and I just mix everything below together in the mixer)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour (I use almond meal b/c I was able to get a ton from the health food store cheaper than the blanched.  She doesn’t recommend it but I have never not have something turn out)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup grapeseed oil (I have also replaced it with olive oil when I have run out)

1/4 cup agave nectar

2 large eggs

1 cup coarsely chopped dark chocolate (I use one bar of sugar free chocolate bar from the health food store that is sweetened by xylitol..no one knows the difference)

Mix.

My friend Shamanie also makes these and she adds dried cranberries to hers.  Since I had those I can’t make these scones without them.  I add 1 cup of apple juice sweetened dried cranberries.

Line your baking sheet with parchment paper and drop the batter in 1/4  cup sizes, about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 12-17 minutes (I usually take the whole 17 minutes).

Let cool and serve.

I hope you love them as much as we do.

Perfect afternoon snack and really good for you too!

Gluten free can be just as unhealthy as eating with wheat….and it doesn’t have to be:-)

Filed Under: Family First, Made From Scratch, Me Myself and I Tagged With: , , ,

Breakfast {gluten free}

March 7, 2011 By

I get regular emails asking me what we eat with gluten allergies.

I am trying to do better with sharing these recipes and answering questions when you have them.

I think breakfast can be a hard transition for people because people are used to eating pancakes, cereal, muffins, pastries…etc.

The unfortunate truth is that these foods aren’t usually even healthy.

It is first thing in the morning after your body has been fasting and we can feed it garbage.

The first thing I should tell you about our eating is that we are on a rotation diet….which means we don’t eat the same things every day.

If you eat eggs every single morning your body can actually become allergic to eggs.

Here are some samples of what our breakfasts look like…..

Egg whites with spinach, red onion and feta

Gluten free oats with a diced up apple, a sprinkle of raisins, cinnamon and one packet stevia

Protein/fruit smoothie

Scrambled eggs with salsa

Gluten free pancakes {one time a week at the most}

These are all really simple breakfast ideas but they are safe for all of us to eat.

I know if I were more creative of a cook I could give you fabulous recipes but in the busyness of our day these recipes work very well for us.

I save gluten free almond scones and muffins for afternoon snacks instead of breakfast.

If you have fabulous breakfast recipes I know we would all love to hear them.

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{Protein Smoothie Recipe}

I originally saw this on my friend Melaine’s blog and we have tweaked it a bit.

I fill the blender with two-three cups water (sometimes I will also add a cup of orange juice or apple juice)

2-3 cups fresh spinach

one packet stevia

a few tablespoons of coconut creamer

two heaping scoops of our non-GMO protein powder (no sugars and 25grams of protein per scoop)

2 bananas

a few cups of fresh or frozen organic strawberries

1/2  or up to 1 cup frozen cherries

(I  also regularly replace the above fruits with a mixture of strawberries, blueberries, black berries and pomegranate seeds.}

The main thing is to use enough berries to take the green from the spinach out of the smoothie.

This smoothie is so good that my kids will drink it even when we have run out of enough berries..but if you have picky eaters make sure you have enough berries:-)

Filed Under: Made From Scratch, My Nest Tagged With: , ,
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