Fire!

So my goal is to start blogging more than once a season again! My last post was summer love!  Oops!

Today is World Vegetarian Day! I know a lot of you are not vegetarian's and that is fine, but I am noticing a lot of people who do eat meat are trying to eat it less.What about you?

Speaking of eating less meat. I saw an awesome film Thursday Night called Forks Over Knives. I blogged about it over a year ago when I found out it was coming to theatres. Well, I FINALLY got to see it, and it did not disappoint! It was super informative and has really made me look at mine and my families consumption of animal protein. It was showing how studies have proven that animal protein has the ability to turn cancer cells on!  I have played around with veganism before, but after seeing this film I am thinking a little harder about it...and so is my MOM! What? and Matt! Double What?

I asked Matt after the film if he would be interested in going vegan (he has SUPER high cholesterol) and his words were, "I'll do whatever, just put a trough in front of me." So I'm taking that as a yes! I just have to really work on finding cheese substitutes for him...

Which led me straight to the used book store to pick up this red beauty...

This is a book about a firefighter who turned his firehouse vegan for the sake of all their health. He  says that firefighters #1 cause of death is heart disease and NOT fire related injuries...interesting huh? I figure if his recipes worked on a whole firehouse, surely they will work for my man too! And just in case the book didn't work, I got this too for a little extra motivation for him...or ME!

Kidding, I did not buy that!

Regardless of how it goes, we will definitely be consuming LESS animal protein. Dairy in particular!

And since we are on the topic of FIRE...here is another one of my recent purchases.

Somebody call 911...Adrianne's gonna die on the gym floor...whoa!!!!
I lasted for a whole 10 minutes today! That's something right?
Trying again tomorrow!!!

Have a great fall weekend!

~A

Summer Love



Happy summer everyone! I am already off to a great summer and wanted to share with you all some of the things I am LOVIN' at the moment...so here it goes!

1. Facebook- Isn't it so wonderful how we have such access to each other? I love it! What did we do without it? Oh yeah, we called each other! Those of you who know me know I struggle with that one! I am SO not a phone person!

2. New Cars- Matt and I got a new car that gets 40 miles a gallon, and I swoon over this car! It is a Hyundai Elantra and it is a BLAST to drive! Matt and I sometimes box over who is going to drive it!

3. Cookbooks- I am a cookbook junkie, but during the school year I don't get to peruse them much. But during the summer I love to plan out our weekly meals and try new recipes! Her are a few of my faves!

4. Reading- Again something I don't have much time for during the school year. I am planning a book- a- thon this summer! Here is what I am currently reading:

 

And here is my next read (above)

I really try to read fiction and I do like it, but I am such a non-fiction freak! After these I am going to try to read 2 fiction books!

5. Passion Tea Lemonade- I love this stuff, but got really tired of paying $4 for it every time I got one. I tried to make my own at home, but it was an epic fail every time. So I decided to have a little chat with the Starbucks barista. She let me in on a little secret that the passion tea bags are not the ones sold in stores (those are only for hot tea) but rather they use a "special" ice tea passion tea bag! What? No wonder I couldn't get it to taste right. So got on Starbucks.com and ordered me a HUGE box! Now I finally have my own pitcher in my fridge everyday!

6. And BEST of all right now, I am LOVIN' being a teacher during the summer months! I love it during the school year too, but the summer is AH. MA. ZING!

~A

Clean Summer

Summer is here and so is the HOT sun and the mosquitoes I am NOT a fan of rubbing anything with nasty chemicals on mine or my families bodies! When it comes to lotion to keep our skin from getting too dry I use Whole Foods own 365 brand.

You can get a huge bottle for $3.99, possibly even cheaper than most lotions in big box stores! Although I have a 45 minute hike up to my nearest Whole Foods, a bottle of this lasts a long time!
These are the things these products do not have in them:

■Parabens

■Sodium Lauryl Sulfate

■Sodium Laureth Sulfate

■Artificial Frangrance

■Animal Ingredients and also no animal testing.

Two other products that are must haves for us in the summer are Alba Sunscreens (I get mine at Kroger)
• Water resistant


• Tear free

• Paraben Free

• UVA/UVB protection

• 100% Vegetarian ingredients

 
And California Baby Bug Repellent

This stuff is a safe and natural alternative to toxic bug repellent chemicals. Non-toxic, DEET free, non-chemical, hypoallergenic formula repels bugs while it soothes existing bites with organic aloe vera, yucca, Irish moss and herbs that are specific to the healing of the skin. Lemon eucalyptus and citronella do not cause harm to humans, pets or the environment.


There are lots of other great non toxic products out there too, I just wanted to share what I use here!
I am loving that regular Big Box store are beginning to sell these products as well. I get the California Baby Bug Repellent at Target!

Now go out and have fun outside without the guilt of smearing chemicals all over your family!

Let me know if you try any of these products! I would love to know what you think! And by the way, I DO NOT work for any of these companies, just sharing what I like!

Peace, love, and fun in the sun!

~A

Punky Brewster

Do you remember this show? This was my absolute favorite show when I was growing up. It gave me such a cozy feeling because I knew as soon as Punky Brewster was over that my mom would be home from work! Ahhh...childhood memories! I loved watching Punky and Cherri and all their shenanigans! I wish they would play re-runs of this I would definitely DVR it!

Well, come to find out I have every reason to still be loving this girl. Soleil Moon Fry (the girl who played Punky) is now a mom and has her own line of organic baby clothes called The Little Seed. The line is colorful, simple, and eco-friendly. It would make a perfect baby shower gift! And as if it weren't exciting enough that it is all organic, guess where you can get it...Target (my happy place)!!!!

Some of you may be wondering as I used to, why in the world would I buy organic clothing? Organic food I understand, but why clothing? Here's why... for each organic fiber t-shirt you buy it eliminates the use of 150 grams of agricultural chemicals. It takes approximately one pound of chemicals to grow three pounds of conventional cotton, while organic cotton is grown chemical free. Non-organic cotton is commonly portrayed as natural, yet it is highly cultivated and processed which contaminates groundwater and ultimately drinking water, poisoning the food chain.(obviously I researched this)


By purchasing natural and organic fiber clothing you are supporting environmental causes and fair trade working conditions. I am trying to be more conscious of this when I am making purchases. I certainly don't only buy organic, not even close, but now I think of this when I buy things and that is what I think is most important, that we are aware and that we do our best!

Things That Make You Go Hmmm...

I truly don't believe there is only ONE way to eat for health and although I strongly believe in the way I eat, I know it is right for me and for my family. I certainly don't judge others for the way they eat. Most of my family and friends eat meat and non-organic and I love them all just the same.

I do however have issues with the way America depends WAY TOO heavily on fast food and with the way FACTORY FARMS treat the animals. I emphasize FACTORY FARMS because I am not talking about responsible farmers. I fully support responsible farming. I am talking about mass producers who could care less about the treatment of animals.

I think with anything it is important we are educated fully and understand the truth, especially with what we put on and in our bodies.

So with that, here a few controversial commercials to ponder. I am not trying to push being a vegetarian, but maybe just consider consuming less meat IF YOU WANT or not. Either way, I think these commercials are interesting.

Things that make you go hmmm...

~A

Ice, Ice, Baby!

Well, today is day 3 of operation iced in here in Indy! Another day off of school!  And of course this guy keeps popping into my brain!

ICE, ICE BABY!

We have had lots of fun being off this week. It's nice being married to a teacher too because it allows for a lot of nice family time.

Here are some of the shenanigans we have been up to.

Sophia and I made this beautiful jewelry box.

I also made me green juice with kale, ginger, cucumber, lemon, and green apple.

And then I got it stolen!

Next, was some chickpea curry over quinoa. For this I just used 2 cans of organic chickpeas and store bought coconut curry sauce. It was very good! I love quinoa and I love how quick it cooks!

After some good food, we practiced some yoga moves.

Then settled down to a nice cup of tea.

Heading back to the grind tomorrow and it will be Friday already!

I could get used to this kind of work week!

~A

Bling!

Happy winter! We are iced in here in Indy and I have to say it is incredibly exciting! One of the perks of teaching is still getting snow days, and I still get just as excited about them (maybe even more) than I did as a kid! Everything here is so shiny and beautiful!

                                                      (source)

So, to add to the excitement of being home today, it is also my beautiful sister's birthday AND the groundhog says we are getting an early spring! Wowza!

                                               (my sis and her husband)

I was perusing my vegan cookbooks to make my sis a vegan b-day cake but unfortunately the roads are too bad for us to get together. Here is what I was really wanting to make her!

This is from Angela's blog click here for the recipe. It calls for arrowroot, I have never heard of this have you?
So, with all the buzz around the new movie Black Swan, and seeing how cute Natalie Portman was at The Golden Globes, I was interested to learn more about her and to my surprise she is a vegan and is into being Eco savy. Check out her new bling!

                                                   (source)
This ring is "conflict free" which means no one was injured or treated unfairly during the mining process. The middle stone is an antique and it is set in rrecycled platinum. Go Natalie! Since my ring is not Eco friendly I am trying to talk Matt into one of these beauties for Valentine's Day!

A girl can dream!

Peace, love, and BLING!

~A