Smell the roses

I get stuffy noses a lot. I have a lot of allergies, too. Suffice it to say that I spend much of the year sniffling and sneezing. I used to use a lot of Vicks Vapo Rub, Sudafed, Shower Soothers, nose spray and more. I was always on the hunt for the perfect remedy that would rid me of my symptoms. But, about three weeks ago I bought a neti pot (after friends had been recommending it for months!) and I haven’t had to use any of those other products since. I am so pleased with it, I wish I had bought one years ago!

Specifically, I have the NasaFlo Neti Pot by Neil Med. It was about $12.99 and already comes with 50 of the salt mixture packets. Once you get the hang of it and get used to the idea of it, nasal irrigation is quite easy and doesn’t take much time. It is totally painless and trust me, the results are worth it. Also, it’s not full of chemicals like all the products I used to use. I try to use my neti pot twice a day, but that doesn’t always happen…sometimes I even go a couple of days without using it at all. But for best results, I recommend irrigating consistently. Check out this video to see how it works. You too can smell the roses once again!

10

Ten years ago this May I graduted from high school. Lately emails about my ten-year reunion have been popping up in my inbox and on Facebook. I am undecided about attending. You see, I actually only attended high school for three years. Sometime during my sophomore year my best friend and I decided to graduate early. So while I am acquainted with most of the people I graduated with (it is a small town, after all) they aren’t the ones I had been in class with every year since Pre-Kindergarten.

What are your thoughts? Did you attend your 10 year reunion? Your 15th? Your 20th? Do you regret going? Do you wish you had gone? Were you happy you went?

With my best friend Emily

I graduated outside. In May. In Texas. Enough said.

Because we were the “millenium” class our student council decided we would wear awful gold-ish, yellow graduation robes. Every year before and since has worn blue (school colors are blue and gold). Since I detested those yellow robes, I had my senior portraits done in the traditional blue one I borrowed from a friend who had graduated the year before.

Wearing the borrowed blue gown

My favorite senior portrait

Awesomeness

I have a thing about kitchen tools that are unique, or cute, or fun, or specialized. So, when I saw this…

I added it to my list. I already have the poach pods from this company and we love them. Jason usually uses them a couple of times a week.

21 Day Detox

My last post did not lay out the 21 day detox very specifically, so here is the run down as I got it from my chiropractor…

FOODS FOR DAY 1-10

Vegetables and Fruits only!!!!

Twice as many vegetables as fruit. Green veggie Every Day.

Try to eat at least half raw (or only lightly steamed/stir fried over low heat)

Organic is best, but not required.

Limit sweet potatoes, white potatoes and bananas to only 1 per day. Corn is NOT a veggie!

Fats

Butter (unsalted), flax oil or olive oil or coconut oil or almond oil.  No peanut oil veggie oil

Salad Dressing – oil and vinegar (balsamic, apple cider) or see recipe below

Avocado -  no more than ½ per day

Spices/Herbs

Unsalted varieties (pepper, garlic, red pepper flakes, turmeric, curry, cumin, rosemary, etc). Sea salt is best.

LOTS of Water

At least 64 oz. per day and drink mostly between meals.

Lemon/lime/orange juice (freshly squeezed) can be added to water

Detox Broth ( see below for recipe)

At least 24 oz per day…better to do it in 3, 8 oz servings

Follow recipe exactly. Do not add any spices/seasonings

RECIPE:

Peel of 1 russet potato

1 rib of celery

½ bunch of Italian flat leaf parsley

6 cups Water

Bring water to a boil and add ingredients. Let simmer for 30 mins. Strain and Enjoy.

Protein Shakes

1-2 per day…If you are feeling extra hungry or weak, you can add a 3^rd shake.

Mix with 8oz water

OR with 4 oz. or unfiltered apple juice (knudson is a good brand) + 4oz water OR 4oz. odwalla carrot juice + 4 oz water OR 3 oz. coconut milk (full fat- in a can) + 5oz water

Exercise

Try to get exercise 6 days per week (break a sweat at least 20 mins. per day)

No diet drinks…no articifical sweeteners. Tea is okay–Green Tea or Yerba Mate is EXCELLENT

Eat frequently throughout the day. Do not skip meals. Eat as much as you want of approved items.

FOODS FOR DAY 11-21

**Continue with same plan from day 1-10, but now you can add:

Fish

1-2 servings per day. 3-5 oz (size and thickness of your palm)

Salmon, Tuna, Cod are best

Avoid farm raised and Cat Fish

Baked/Broiled/light pan fry. No deep fried or Breaded

Chicken/Turkey/Red Meat

Every other day. 1 Serving

Free range, hormone/antibiotic free is Best

Baking/Roasting/Skillet Frying. NO deep fried or Breaded

If you add fish/chicken, do not use protein shake. If you prefer, you can follow the Day 11-21 Plan for all 21 days.

—————————————————————————————

So there you have it. I opted to skip the whole protein shake thing and do the plan for days 11-21 the entire 21 days. Also I opted to go with no red meat and only do the fish and occasional chicken. The first 3 days were very tough. I had a wicked headache and just generally did not feel well. After, that I did really great until day 11. I had only lost about 3 pounds and I guess I just got discouraged because I totally fell off the wagon. For the next few days I was about half on and half off. This brings us to today where I am back on the plan. I will say that even though the scale is not rewarding me much I do feel better and my pants are actually getting baggy. Even Jason commented on this! (and if you know Jason, he hardly notices anything about clothes much less comments on them). So, if you are looking for a jumpstart to healthy eating, a system flush, or a way to get over cravings, I do recommend this plan. But beware, that detox broth is NOT fun! I am going to stick with this plan all this week and finish it on Saturday as regularly scheduled. After I wrap this up I am going with a “lifestyle modification” plan. I will post more about that later. And just for the record, the cauliflower popcorn was a hit at our house, but the name is a bit misleading.

21 days

Starting tomorrow morning, I am going on a 21 day “cleanse.” Really, I would just call it a healthy eating jumpstart, but whatever–it will be great after the Thanksgiving-Christmas eating frenzy. Basically you just eat veggies, fruit, and small amounts of chicken and fish for 21 days. Nothing else. To prepare, I went to Sprouts today and boy, do I just love their prices! I know not everything in there is grown in all-natural environments, but they sure sell stuff cheap.

Here was my list:

• apples
• pineapple
• oranges
• blueberries
• bambino melon
• bananas
• avocados
• carrots
• turnips
• beets
• parsnips
• mushrooms
• yellow squash
• acorn squash
• zucchini
• cauliflower
• sweet potatoes
• romaine lettuce
• spinach
• cucumbers
• frozen green peas
• roasted green peas
• boneless, skinless chicken breast
• fish

No dairy or carbs for 21 days…I can do this. By the way, if you have any awesome recipes for preparing veggies, please pass them along. I am sure I will get sick of plain ‘ol salad pretty quick!

I am planning on trying a couple of new things (new for me, that is) such as “cauliflower popcorn” and “roasted root vegetables.” I will admit I don’t think I have ever even eaten a turnip, beet, or parsnip. This will be interesting! I will keep you posted. Here’s to trying new things.

Want to hire me??

Some of you may (and some of you may not) know that I do a little painting on the side…my full time gig is being an art teacher. Since college, most of that painting has been decorative, primarily for kids rooms and such. I have a few samples I am going to share…unfortunately, I have not taken pictures of all my paintings and some have gone off to their owners without being documented. Shame on me!

So, feel free to give my name to friends, family, and acquaintances. I don’t keep stock, but rather do all my work on a custom order basis. I can match current decor, nursery bedding, etc or start from an inspiration picture.

I also occasionally do pieces that are not paintings, such as the drawings below…

or these type of personalized paper creations…

I have also done some decorative painting directly on the walls in children’s bedrooms.

**I apologize for the bad photogrpahy…that is NOT one of my gifts!**

2 New Favorite Recipes

After the holidays, I always end up with odds and ends of baking products I don’t normally buy that are left from various recipes I have made. In an effort to get rid of some of these ingredients (chocolate chips, baking chocolate, marshmallows, graham crackers, etc.) I was keeping my eye out for some great new desserts to try. I found the first one in an old issue of Southern Living at my mom’s house and I found the second recipe on this blog via this blog.

Not the prettiest of desserts, but oh, so good!

Rocky Road Crock Pot Cake (from the October 08 issue of Southern Living)

1 pkg German chocolate cake mix (18.25 oz)
1 pkg instant chocolate pudding mix (3.9 oz)
3 large eggs, slightly beaten
1 C sour cream
1/3 C butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
3 ¼ C milk, divided: 1 ¼ and 2 C divisions
1 pkg. chocolate cook-and-serve pudding mix (3.4 oz)
½ C chopped pecans (I omitted this ingredient since I don’t like pecans)
1 ½ C mini marshmallows
1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips (I threw in about a handful of white chocolate chips, also)

Beat cake mix with next 5 ingredients plus 1 ¼ C milk with an electric mixer for 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Pour batter into lightly greased 4 qt. crock pot (My crock pot is a little larger and it worked fine).

Heat remaining 2 C milk in non-aluminum saucepan, heating and stirring just until scalded.

Sprinkle cook-and-serve pudding over the batter and slowly pour hot milk over the pudding.

Cover and cook on low 3 ½ hours. Meanwhile heat chopped pecans in a small nonstick skillet on medium-low heat, 3-5 minutes until lightly toasted and fragrant.

Turn off slow cooker when time is up, or when cake seems set and not soupy or jiggly (In reality, it took about 4 hours for my cake to not be what I considered jiggly).

Sprinkle cake with pecans, marshmallows and choc.chips. Let stand 15 min. or until marshmallows slightly melted. Serve warm with ice cream (Ice cream MAKES this cake).

I served this dessert to company and they loved it! Everyone complimented it and cleaned their bowls…some even had seconds! It was a hit! Leftovers can be refrigerated once cake is mostly cooled. For reheating, place in a microwave safe bowl and heat for about 30 seconds, then top with ice cream.

Photo from One More Moore, as I forgot to take any pictures of my own PB Bars.

Peanut Butter Bars

1 c. butter
1 c peanut butter (I started out using creamy but had to use end up using about 1/4 cup crunchy, also)
2 c graham cracker crumbs (I only had regular graham crackers, not the crumbs you can buy, so I used one sleeve of graham crackers, crushed)
2 c powdered sugar
1 1/2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 Tbsp peanut butter (Here I used 2 tbsp creamy and 2 tbsp crunchy)

Directions: Melt butter & 1 c peanut butter. Add graham cracker crumbs and powdered sugar. Mix until well blended. Press into ungreased 9″x 13″ pan. Melt chocolate chips with the 4 Tbsp peanut butter (either on stovetop or microwave–I did it in the microwave) and spread on top of graham cracker mixture. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Note: I used all natural peanut butter which I can only assume is why my mixture would not “press” into the pan–I had to pour it. Also, when serving, my bars were somewhat crumbly, which I also assume may have been caused by the type of peanut butter. But, this is NO WAY affected the taste and the pan was quite literally licked clean.

8 Years

30 by 30

Today is my 27th birthday. In honor of the occasion, I thought I would post my 30 by 30 list, originally posted two years ago around my birthday. I have updated accordingly (2009 updates in green, 2010 updates in purple).

1. Finish my MA degree (3 more classes!)(Graduated in August 09).
2. Become a mother (on the road to adoption)(Still on that road!).
3. Visit a new country (went to Japan–summer 08 )(Ecuador in June 09).
4. See (for the first time) a white sandy beach with clear, blue water (saw some white sand but definitely not the clear water in Japan)(Saw beaches in Florida and Ecuador this year–still holding out for an even better beach).
5. Go to California.
6. Participate in a foreign mission trip (I’d love to make this happen summer 09)(It did indeed happen…went to Ecuador in June).
7. Support a child through Compassion International or a similar organization.
8. Go to Disneyworld.
9. Donate several more times to Locks of Love (donated once more).
10. Take a photography class.
11. Sell a painting (for more than just the cost of supplies) (I had a painting that sold at a charity auction, but I am holding out for an actual customer)(actually did a couple of things for money this year).
12. Have my own business (Doing the little bit of art I do on the side might count, but I’ll hold off on crossing this one of the list).
13. Learn how to drive a vehicle with a stick shift.
14. Become skilled at shooting (did some practice this year for the first time in a while).
15. Purchase a gun (or I guess someone could give one to me).
16. Get my concealed handgun license (I have pretty much decided against this one).
17. Own a Scottie dog (Still trying to convince Jason).
18. Become a regular volunteer for a local organization.
19. Participate in a book club (had a great time!).
20. Go sailing.
21. Go on a girls-only trip with the women in my family.
22. Get a second hole pierced in my ears.
23. Actually finish the AFI Top 100 Movies list.
24. See a Broadway show.
25. Read at least 10 books a year (it was more than 10 this year)(Again, it was more than 10 this year).
26. See the Grand Canyon.
27. Learn to sew.
28. Move.
29. Play tennis regularly–maybe even be in a league.
30. Organize my mother & grandmother’s old family photos–possibly even scrapbook them (I am hoping for this to be a summer 2010 project).

I need to get moving on this list….only 3 years until I turn 30…Yikes!

Festive