Dirty Words!

Hello blog buds! I hope everyone had a great relaxing weekend! I had a request to blog about toiletry items that I use and like. I am always on the lookout for natural products that don't use harmful chemicals. There are a lot out there and new ones popping up everyday, so I am by no means scratching the surface of what all is out there. Here are some that I use and also the words I look to avoid in the ingredients.

Let's start with "Dirty Words". If a product says fragrance in the list of ingredients I try to stay away. I have read that one word can account for 500 different chemicals! Now I know we all LOVE the smells of our products, but a much safer route would be look for products scented with essential oils instead. I follow these rules for all of mine, Matt's, and Sophia's products. Again, as with everything else I do the best I can and by no means am perfect with this.

Other "Dirty words" I look for are: Phthalates (tha-lates), Parabens, Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfates, Formaldehyde. You can google each of these to see the effects on our bodies. This post would be too long if I went into detail. Bottom line is they all cause cancer. And it is especially important for women to watch what is going into our bodies as they are finding hundreds of chemicals in the cord blood of new babies. Our babies are being born already toxic! That is scary!

When looking for lip gloss, lip stick, or chapstick I always check for petroleum. We should NOT be using petroleum. Brands I really like are Kiss My Face, Burt's Bee, and Tarte. Here is a my lip gloss and chapstick stash right now! I am really loving this Burt Bee's lemon gloss! I got it at Crackle Barrel of all places!

My favorite lotion right now is the 365 brand by Whole Foods. I get the unscented so the whole family can use it (don't want Matt smelling like a girl, ya know) I keep a large bottle in all our bathrooms! No more Johnson & Johnson for Sophia, their bottles have "Dirty Words" on them!

Soaps that I really like are the 2 packs at Trader Joe's, Dr. Bronner's, & again the 365 brand at Whole Foods. Also, here are the soaps and bubble bath brands I get for Sophia.

I like to do my shopping as quickly as possible and don't like to sit and read a bunch of ingredient labels, especially on nail polish! That print is SO small you have to have a magnifying glass. So I do my homework before hand and know what companies are producing responsible products. Check out http://www.safecosmetics.org/ to start your own research.

Target, Sephora, and Kroger are great places to start and of course Whole Foods to those who are close to one. Also, I do a lot of my shopping online at http://www.vitacost.com/ and go to the organic section.
Our skin is our largest organ and everything we put on it absorbs into our bodies. So we should be just as concerned as what we put on our bodies as we are about what we put in our bodies!

Here are some pictures of some of the products I am using right now, again they aren't all perfect but remember changing little things make a difference in the long run!

From left to right: J.R. Watkins hand & cuticle cream, Tom's toothpaste, Physicians Formula Organic Powder, Organix Cosmetix Night Cream, Organix Cosemetix Eye Cream, Physicians Formula Eye Makeup Remover, Physicians Formula Organic Mascara, Wilaverde nail polish remover soy formula, Hard Candy nail polish, and Clean Well no alcohol hand sanitizer.

Left to right: 365 Whole Foods body lotion, EO Essentials Hand Wash (I always find this brand at TJ Max), Independence Body Powder (local brand you can find at City Market), Burt's Bee Foot Cream, Loreal Sulfate - free overnight conditioner (def. not perfect product here), Tom's Deodrant, Nature's Gate Deodorant (VERY important to get aluminum free deodorant), & Alba Mango Body Cream.

Peace, love, & products!

~A

Free Giveaway!

For anyone interested in eating a raw diet, check out one of my favorite blogs Kristen's Raw Blog and leave a comment for a chance to win her whole set of raw books that she has published! She is an AMAZING raw chef who just had her first baby!

Got Juice?

Hello! So today was another fun day of juice...However, I did break my fast BUT I made it longer than the last one. It was good though I feel lighter today. Here are my drinks today.
I made a big batch of juices this morning.

Breakfast was pinnapple juice.

Noontime was carrot, apple, cucumber juice & a little later was a Cherry Bomb.

Then I broke my fast with cooked & raw carrots.

Hope everyone had a great day! See you all later!

~A

This is...Beenanas

Hello my blog peeps!

Yesterday's eats:

Breakfast- 32 oz of lemon water & a jar of green juice! I put a little Ginger root in mine today, just a little because it can be very powerful! Ginger is great for digestion. I also made Matt a Green Monster smoothie. He is catching the green fever! Yeah baby! He was actually even creepin' around my juice this morning. Hmmmm.....

Here is our His & Hers photo!

Lunch- Roasted veggies (carrots, zucchini, beets & summer squash) & a small salad.

Snacks- I could not get enough bananas the last couple days! Here is a picture of my new favorite banana sandwich. It is one banana sliced down the middle with almond butter & honey inside & shredded coconut on top! YUMOLA! This stuff is bananas...B-A-N-A-N-A-S

Dinner- Was out @ Arnie's. My mom and I had every intention on getting a salad, but we caved and got the spinach nachos. They were OK, but left us feeling icky.

In other news I am doing my second juice fast. The last one I did was a one day juice/smoothie fast. This one I am doing a few days. Today was Day 1. The reason I am doing this is just to get a full cleanse. I would REALLY enjoy your positive encouragement! Tomorrow will be day 2 and I will keep you posted. Honestly, I drank so much fresh juice today that it wasn't hard until this evening. I went to Vacation Bible School with Sophia and it was a little too long to go without juice. But when I got home I fueled up with a Cherry Chocolate Bomb and felt A ok! I am going to try to hit the sack early tonight before the belly rumbling starts!

The book I am following for juice fasting is called Juicing, Fasting, and Detoxing For Life by Cherie Calbom. I highly recommend this book.

Check in with me tomorrow to see if I can make it through Day 2. I will post pics of all my juice combinations!

Peace, love & B-A-N-A-N-A-S!!!!

~A

Sunshine for Breakfast

Hello blog crew! So with being out of town and then family being here from out of town, I have not been on my A game with my eats! But today was a day full of green goodness! Today I am going to focus the blog entry on juice! Some of you have recently gotten new juicers! Yippee!
I love it!

Here was my eating day: I woke up and immediately drank 16 oz of water with lemon to get things moving- this is a great daily habit to get into to break up mucous (gross word) in the body and get your bowels moving (pleasant huh)? Ain't no shame though, a healthy body should be ready to "eliminate" first thing in the morning. Your body has been working all night to get the "package" prepared, and who wants it sittin' there all day...not me!

Ok so now that some of you are probably completely embarrassed, let's move on. Next, I had 16 oz of "Sunshine for breakfast" green leaves & grasses are synthesized sunlight. Chlorophyll is energy produced by photosynthesis. (yes, I am a teacher) So just imagine, you ARE eating sunshine! Here are some juice facts that I have learned from my new Natalia Rose book (love her)

~The goal is green, but not super dark green, rather a blend of light greens and dark greens.

~The darker the green, the more bitter and medicinal they are.

~A simple 50% carrot/50% romaine is an excellent choice & great for those on a tight budget.

~It's ideal to drink your juice right away, BUT you can seal it it up, keep it cold and drink it a few hours later if needed. You can also freeze juice in Ball jars for times you need to just grab a juice and go! (I will be doing this once school starts)

~If you want to make up a big batch in the AM and drink it throughout the day, DO IT, anything is better than not juicing at all!

~Once you get into it, you will be hooked!

~Green juice cleans your blood and renews every cell it reaches!

Lunch was a big Mediterranean salad from Arnie's (sorry no picture, I was starving) and a side of steamed broccoli.

Dinner was a homemade salad with spinach, onions, tomato, purple pepper (tastes just like green bell pepper), cilantro & garlic. My dressing was a smushed up avocado with lemon juice and Stevia. I also had an omelet with onions and basil & of course I topped it with Ketchup!

After dinner treat was 2 Endangered Species mint dark chocolate squares.

Make juice, and more, and more, and more!

~A

I Scream, You Scream...

Hello everyone! It's Friday for you working folks! I have a few recipes to share with you today...but first I wanna know who likes ice cream? Better yet, what if I told you it was dairy free, super healthy, tasted awesome, and even makes a healthy breakfast?

Now we can ALL scream for ice cream!

Well here you go! This is a recipe that I got off of another blog and it's called Protein Ice Cream

The only variation I made was doing 3/4 teaspoon of Xanthum gum and not using Guar gum. However, I have read that it is much thicker when you use both gums together. I actually got my xanthum gum at Meijer and just found Guar Gum @ the health food store. Both are Bob's Red Mill Brand.

Also here is the Vegan Potato Salad recipe that my sister in-law made. Enjoy!

~A

A's Top Ten List

HELLO BLOG FRIENDS!!!! Oh how I have missed you all! I have been out of town visiting family and now I have so much to tell you! So here it goes, 10 things I have been dying to tell you!

1. I am in LOVE with Greek/Mediterranean food and just discovered it this weekend! Any good places here in Indy? Did you know a lot of these restaurants also do raw juice? I ate at an insane place called The Pita Cafe in Mo-Town! I am smiling just thinking about it! Thanks for taking me E!

2. I got new stainless steel pots and pans! The blood doctor I saw said scratched non-stick pots & pans were a big culprit of metal toxicity. Got mine @ Meijer for $100

3. Natural Born Juicers now have all compostable cups! WOO-HOO!

4. I got some new Raw Vegan Protein Powder! I'll let you know how I like it tomorrow!

5. I learned over the weekend that S'mores are the main reason I can never be 100% vegan!

Those little things are off the stizick!

6. Coconut Kiefer rocks! (got it at Nature's Market)

7. I tried Amazing Grass Berry flavour and it was DELISH!

8. I got some cacao nibs to put on top of my green smoothies and my overnight oats. They are different from what I expected, but good. Gives a nice crunch on top!

9. Michigan's Farmer's Markets are AMAZING!!! I have never seen so many cherries!

10. Indy's City Market was off the hook today! Parking lots were full! That didn't stop me though. I loaded up! Here is what I got: cucumbers, squash, eggplant, onions, PURPLE peppers, a bottle of rhubarb wine, a bouquet of beautiful flowers, and a large Ultimate Greens from Natural Born Juicers...all for $30. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself!

I'm excited to try some new recipes this week, so of course I'll share them with you! I also have a vegan potato salad recipe I want to give you that my sister-in-law made! YUMMY!

~A