Mexican Rice & Bean Wrap

Lacey, here!

Wraps are an easy way to incorporate all those veggies & beans in a quick & tasty way. Here's a recent one that we've made and love!

Ingredients:
1 cup rice (and appropriate water/veggie broth according to package directions)
1 can kidney beans or black beans
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
Dash of cayenne red pepper
Fresh chopped cilantro
Lettuce
Diced tomato
Salsa
Whole Wheat tortillas

Directions:
1. Cook rice according to package directions.
2. Add your beans and stir in seasonings (chili powder, cumin, cayenne red pepper). Let it sit on low heat for a couple minutes to allow the beans to warm.
3. Warm your tortillas in the microwave for 10 seconds.
4. Place rice & bean mixture into a tortilla and add all of your toppings...fresh cilantro, lettuce, diced tomato, salsa, etc)

Your Skin Is Alive?: Natural Products To Keep Your Skin & Body Safe

(Don't forget about our Facbeook page! You get tons of extra recipes, info, and exciting news from us!)

Healthy living is more than just grabbing healthy, natural food.  While we LOVE eating well, healthy living is about making better choices in eating, exercising, hygiene, and everything else you do & use.

The skin is a tissue that absorbs anything it comes in contact with.  It is a living, breathing organism. Just as your body absorbs chemicals & nutrients from the food you put directly in your body, your body can absorb chemicals from products you put on your body.  The more toxins that we get rid of, whether it be from food or hygiene products, the better chances we have of sustaining a healthy and happy body.

All of these products have been personally used by me, purchased with my own money, and been stamped with the natural, healthy Strawberries & Tea approval.

Hair Care:
1. Yes To Carrots
     I am obsessed with this line.  I discovered it at Rite-Aid and have fallen in love with everything they sell since.  Their Yes To Carrots shampoo and conditioner has surprisingly done an effective job on not drying out my hair but not overdoing it with the conditioner (I can't tell you how many conditioners I've tried that leave me feeling like I've just dumped olive oil on my hair. Sooooo oily).  You'll get Beta-Carotene naturally and love that you're not loading your follicles with parabens (which are linked to skin aging, cancers, weight gain & is an endocrine disrupter).

2. Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle
     This shampoo & conditioner (only shampoo shown) has become my new favorite. I love the minty smell and the conditioner is the best!  Trader Joe's does a great job of limiting their ingredients to just a few!

Body Wash:
1. Pure & Natural
    If you have sensitive skin like I do, P&N is wonderful as it is Hypo-allergenic.  This has been my go-to body wash for the last year.  The rosemary & mint smell is super relaxing!

2. Burt's Bees Exfoliating Body Wash
    This product gently exfoliates and leaves my skin extremely conditioned.

3. Burt's Bees Buttermilk Soap (bar)
    Come on, who doesn't love the thought of a lathery buttermilk soap making your shower smell AWESOME? Exactly.

Teeth Care:
1. Burt's Bees Natural Toothpaste
    I was a bit nervous about this and what it may taste like but it tastes just like a normal toothpaste.  This product includes plaque-fighting cranberry extract and is 99.2% natural.

2. Tom's of Maine

    I've used their 'Wicked Fresh!' toothpaste and it has a great minty flavor. Some natural toothpastes are just a bit on the weird side for me when it comes to aftertaste.  Definitely love Tom's!

Lip Balm:
1. Evolution of Smooth Smooth Sphere
    This is my favorite chap stick/lip balm next to Burt's Bees.  It's smooth, 100% natural, and super fun looking.  They have 5 'flavors', Summer Fruit being my favorite.  Also, their Lemon Drop 'flavor' has an SPF of 15 if you're looking for sun protection.  This company (EOS) also has a ton of other awesome products from lotions to shaving cream.

2. Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm
     I think everyone knows why this stuff is so popular.  From getting extremely smooth lips to that fun little tingly feeling you get after putting it on, you just can't resist a tin or stick of this lip balm.

Face Wash:
1. St. Ives Apricot Scrub
   I think everyone knows about this scrub, but did you know that it uses 100% natural extracts? If you use this already, keep on doing so! If not, buy it a.s.a.p. and you will love it forever.

2. Yes To Cucumbers Facial Towelettes
     Every night, before I go to bed, I use these towelettes to clean my face.  They are super refreshing and truly do a great job of getting make-up off (which is sometimes hard to find)!  Ingredients? Organic cucumber, aloe vera, and dead sea minerals.

Face Masks:

I make them myself! From olive oil, avocado, oatmeal, cucumber, to pumpkin, there are hundreds of different masks you can prepare yourself and 1. There are no chemicals within the product (as long as you buy organic) and 2. You can have a blast doing it.  When Mom visited me, we put together an avocado oatmeal mask that was so easy to make.

Throw all the ingredients in a food processor.

Store in an airtight container to use again!

Deodorants:
This is one of the most dangerous items you can put on your body.  I don't think it's much of a secret that the amount of Aluminum in deodorants is causing some pretty unhealthy side-effects (Alzheimer's, breast cancer, and is especially terrible for those with Kidney Disease). My solution: MAKE IT YOURSELF. Seriously.  Save the money and the chemicals and just take the few minutes to make your own homemade version.  Check out that link for some more information on deodorants and the recipe on how to put it together.

Lotions:
1. Aveeno Active Naturals Daily Moisturizing Body Lotion
     Not my favorite, but it gets the job done. Definitely a great product.

2. St. Ives Otameal & Shea Butter (Paraben & Phthalate free)
    This is my absolute favorite lotion ever ever ever.  It may be a bit more difficult to find, but I use the heck out of this stuff (hence the abnormally large bottle).

Sunblock:
1.  Burt's Bees Chemical Free Sunscreen SPF 30

2.  Actually, you can also make your own sunblock which uses zinc oxide to protect your skin (a natural blocking agent that is completely safe, as opposed to titanium oxide).  This recipe is good for 6 months.  So, make it in March and you'll be good through September.

Makeup:
This is one area I haven't been able to test out but there is an incredible make-up mother/daughter duo, both professional celebrity make-up artists, who specialize is using chemical free/all natural make-up products.  Their website, www.naturesknockout.com "Where you can be a knockout naturally" is full of information on harmful ingredients & how they affect our bodies.  They also do a wonderful job of recommending & rating particular products and lines of make-up, doing all the research for you! This is one area I would like to improve since I have yet to get rid of all my AWFUL, chemical ridden make-up products.  Baby steps, Lacey, baby steps.  I can't do it all at once, but I'm trying.

So, some basic companies I could recommend that are easily available and much better than most brands?
St. Ives
Aveeno Active Naturals
Yes To
Burt's Bees
Most Trader Joe's Products

I highly recommend doing your research on parabens and other chemicals that can really be harming your body for the sake of beauty.  It's easy to overlook, but if you're going to live a 'healthy lifestyle', you can't simply chose 1 aspect to change (food) and not be concerned about all the other ways your body is affected by the chemicals in product lines.  95% of these products are easily available in most stores. If you know of any products that you've personally loved and want the world to know about, comment and I'll add it to the list!  Remember, it takes time to undo all of the things we've been taught!  Be patient.

Here's to to healthy skin!

Step 3 To Getting On Track: Keep A Record

Like our page for updates!

Lacey, here!

This step is going to be totally foreign to me. I've never been one to record my day in detail, but I have a feeling it's going to make a difference.  The idea behind keeping an active journal of your food intake, exercise regimen, and daily emotions helps keep you in check with yourself.

Keeping a log allows you to be aware of your actions and gives you a realistic sense of how you're eating. Instead of "I only had a couple snacks today" you can see with your own eyes that, actually, you had one bag of chips, a candy bar, 2 brownies, and a cup of yogurt. Now, your later self can distinctly remember, with detail, what you actually had, and not what your mind is tricking you into thinking you had.  It's easier to make change when you're confronted with the issue.

One of the more important aspects of keeping a journal allows you to track how you physically feel. If your concerned about food intolerance or any allergies, documenting when you eat, how much you eat, and how you feel (bloated, headache, constipated, nauseous) can help you get to the root of the problem.

Ultimately, the goal of the logging your days is that it will hold you accountable to yourself, encourage you to make better decisions, and gives you the chance to look back at a truthful account of the decisions your making, and not a fantastical world your mind tends to make up when dealing with guilt.

Here's how I organize my journaling:

On the front of the first page I keep track of my weight as soon as I wake up, what time I woke up, my meals, and workout routine. You can keep track of these things as you go throughout the day. Feel free to keep a small notepad in your purse or even a piece of paper so you can re-write it later in your book.  On the back of that page, I keep a more personal/emotional log of how I'm feeling, where I'm feeling discouraged or encouraged, and any fun things I did that day. This tends to get done just before bed. I don't always go into full  sentences; just bullet points or phrases. Some days I write paragraphs. Whatever feels right. Then the next page starts a new day.

The about my day is on the back of Monday's log. This is the page where I document
non-workout/food stuff, my feelings, etc. Obviously I didn't take a picture of a completed day
for privacy reasons.

This is definitely a task I have to remind myself to do, and it's not always the most fun, but truthfully, when I started writing down everything, I began making more conscious decisions about my food and exercise. It's as if I don't want to embarrass myself later by going back to read and exclaiming "Why did you eat that?! Why didn't you exercise that day?! Shame on you!"

Here's a great article that talks further about the studies done behind journaling and weight loss.

Just remember, we're our own worst critics. 

Let's use that to our advantage.

Happy Healthy Living!

Rekindling My Inner Yogi

Lacey, here!

Over the past week, my morning routine has slipped into place (can I get an AMEN!) and I've really rekindled my love and joy for Ashtanga yoga.  I practiced this variety pretty heavily for about 5 years. It started through attending a class at a friend of the family's gym.  There was an incredible instructor there who really helped me get into my groove with yoga, and I adored it. Then college hit, and I had nowhere of real worth to go. The college yoga class was extremely basic and very...ugh. I don't know how else to explain it other then the few times I tried to go, I simply sighed with disappointment and said something along the lines of "ugh".  It just wasn't what I experienced for all those years back in that dim room.

But, during my yoga-ridden phase of life, I bought a really good book (sort of life an instruction manual), with the intentions of having it as a reference when I did yoga alone in my dorm room.  That was, until I moved into a forced triple and couldn't take more than 2.5 steps in my room, let alone set up a peaceful space for my meditation and movement.  The book "Ashtanga Yoga: The Practice Manual" by David Swenson has truly been a lifesaver in helping me remember my sequences and positions.

And yet, years later, here we are. I'm 25 and married, starting fresh in so many ways, and finding my passion for the Movement. So, last Monday, I did the first Surya Namaskara that I've done in years, and I took the deepest breath, and I found that relaxing peace I could never really find through anything else other than prayer. And I'm thankful. So very thankful.

I went through some of the sequences, struggling to "weave the tapestry of vinyasa". It wasn't the prettiest, I promise. But it felt really, really right. My body may not be not where it was when I was 16, but my mind remembered, and it's oh-so-excited to get back, physically & mentally, to where I was before.

My husband leaves for work around 5:30 or 6, so as soon as he walks out the door, I turn on the fireplace, move the coffee table, turn on the subtle music, and dim the light. This is my peace. It's my hour in that unforgettable dim room, the sweat dripping down my face, and the threads of breath and movement intertwining.

So, why do I do yoga as exercise? Well, that's a more technical post for another day, and I'll get to that. But for now, I'll just let my inner yogi makes it way out.

Honey Glazed String Beans & Radish Quinoa

New and interesting dishes have been my goal for the last few nights. Fed up with the same 7 or 8 recipes I make every week, it's been my goal to try new textures and flavors.  After buying our bulk 25 pound box of quinoa, we've been less hesitant to cook with it. While it's one of our favorite staples in the house, buying a small box from the grocery store was costing us around $5+ at two a week so we limited our intake to save some money.  Now, we're free to cook with it as much as we please.

This was a "thrown-together" recipe out of necessity to get rid of some string beans in the fridge and use up a few of the radishes I picked out of the garden this morning. Surprisingly, cooked radishes are a pleasant change from the raw radishes we eat in our salads daily.

Onto the meal:

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa + 2 cups water (cook per box directions)

1 teaspoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

4 large radishes (6 or 7 small), sliced & quartered

1/2 small onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

Bunch of stringbeans

2 teaspoons honey (or to taste)

Juice of 1/2 lemon

2 teaspoons dried parsley

1 teaspoon thyme

2 T crushed walnuts

1/4 cup halved cherry tomatoes

Directions:

1. Cook your quinoa according to package directions. (Usually 2 parts water, 1 part quinoa. Bring to boil, then reduced to low-medium heat for about 20 minutes.)

2. In pan, add EVOO and allow to heat up. Add your radish, onion, and garlic. Allow to cook on medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes, stir every minute.

3. Add stringbeans, cover, turn to low-medium heat and allow to cook for 5-7 minutes. Stir halfway through.

4. Add honey and lemon, and allow to cook for about a minute. Toss in thyme and walnuts. Cover and cook 2 minutes to allow flavors to blend.

5. Toss in walnut and cherry tomatoes.

6. Serve string bean/radish mixture on top of quinoa on a plate. Enjoy!

 

The honey and lemon in this dish add a wonderfully sweet and fresh flavor to what could have been a fairly heavy dish with all this quinoa.  Hopefully this encourages you to explore some diverse and interesting ingredients to change up the taste of some of your dishes!

-Lacey

Photo Blog: Meals & Snacks This Week

Here's a simple post on some of the meals & snacks I've been eating this week:

String Beans and Tomatoes

 Poor Man's Shrimp (cauliflower/old bay/cocktail sauce)

 Big salad with veggies & Italian roasted garbanzo beans & corn on the cob:

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

This is an old photo since I forgot to take one Monday night!

 Fresh Pineapple

 Cherries (which Rita always begs for)

 Almonds, my favorite snack

 Gala apple and all natural peanut butter (my go-to breakfast!)

I hope this gives you some ideas for snacks & meals! I think this will turn into a weekly post, just showing you what I've been eating since so many people ask "What do you eat other than salad?" Also, keep an eye out as I may have a surprise for you involving a trip next week. YIKES! Hopefully it works out!

-Lacey

String Beans & Tomatoes: A Light Summer Dish

This has been my staple lunch a few times in the past 2 weeks. It's a flavorful way to get in some greens (although, I have no problem with that as string beans are my favorite veggie). This could be a great side dish, too!

Ingredients:
Vegetable Broth
String beans
Tomatoes (halved cherry or diced regular)
2 cloves garlic, minced
Thyme, Parsley, Dill Weed, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Salt & Pepper- all to taste (or any other Italian flavors you might like!)

Directions:
1. Pour vegetable broth in a pan, just enough to coat the bottom to steam your string beans. Depending on how big your batch will be will change how much broth you'll use. For a pound, use a few tablespoons.

2. Place beans and garlic in pan with veggie broth.  Cover pan and allow to steam on medium-high heat for approximately 5-7 minutes. I like to leave a bit of a crunch to my beans. No need to cook them so long until they're limpy and all their nutrients are gone.

 

3. Add in your seasonings, all to your liking.  Allow to cook on low heat for 5 minutes so the beans can absorb the flavors of the seasonings.

 

 4. Add your tomatoes and cover pan, keep setting on low for about 3 minutes.

 5.  After the three minutes is up, you're done! I don't like to cook the tomatoes too long. I leave them in just enough to get warm that way they don't get mushy and weird. This helps keep the dish tasting fresh and light.

 6. Pair with your favorite salad wrap or eat the entire thing by itself!!

To fresh dishes that fill you up without making you feel gross!

-Lacey

Feel free to Like us on Facebook for all of our updates!