attack of the snackimals
oh sure they look innocent enough.
I assure you they are not
I started they day out with a lovely breakfast involving 1/2 Ezekiel English Muffin and a homemade hempmilk latte. Somehow the picture no longer exists.
A few hours later, I snacked on my overnight oats made with 2% Fage Greek yogurt, pumpkin puree, oats & ground flaxseed.
so far, so good
I had one amazing Thai Massage at puraNpdx. Thanks, Jess!! Seriously if you live in Portland you must see her.
Lunch consisted of a mixed green salad topped with canned salmon, capers, left over sweet potatoes, curry powder, olive oil & honey mustard.
still going strong
And then they attacked:
I was/am powerless against them
This bag began relatively full. It is currently empty. I am a victim.
Luckily my very first issue of Oxygen Magazine arrived today.
Here’s hopin’…
Happy Monday!
my kind of make-up
howdy and welcome to skin tip Friday!
A lot of my clients ask me what make-up to use and, truth be told, I am probably not the person to ask. In fact, the majority of the population probably knows more than I do. I need my make-up to be VERY simple. I spend so much time taking care of my face that there simply is not enough hours in the day for me to spend painting it too. So if you want a few recommendations for an easy, peasy regime that treats the skin while beautifying it, then here are my humble suggestions:
Lets break these guys down a little:
MAC's Pro Longwear Concealer
Before this fella, I was only wearing eye cream instead of legit concealer for fear of looking like a cake-y mess. However, before our wedding I decided that I did not want to look like a sleepy beast in pictures, so I sought help from a lovely associate at the MAC store. I couldn’t be more pleased with this little delight. The ingredient declaration is as clean as one could hope for from a MAC product, it has zinc in it (this equals sun protection), and, most importantly, it covers my dark circles without looking like I have a layer of goo under my eyes. Win!
MAC studio fix lash
The fact that I purchased mascara is a mini miracle. I loathe mascara. I have witnessed way too many women desperate for Latisse and I swear it is due to using craptastic mascara. Craptastic mascara causes healthy lashes to become unhealthy and break. I am pretty sure that very scientific explanation is in some very important medical journal. However, the ingredients in this mascara are pretty dang clean and it works. I have tried a fair share of “natural” mascaras that err the less on the craptastic side and they all smudge like crazy and my lashes do not look any longer or fuller for it. However, sir studio fix does a swell job of lengthening and defining my lashes without making me look like I got socked in the eye. Win!
Image skin care's tinted moisturizer
Oh heavens, just when I thought I couldn’t love Image more, I discovered their tinted moisturizer. I just tried this nugget out last week. I was tickled pink with their hydrating SPF 30, so I had no reason to switch. However, I got jealous. One of my clients was wearing it and her skin looked luminous. Hot dog, I do not know what took me so long to jump on the tinted moisturizer bandwagon. I am getting my sunscreen, hydration, anti-oxidants and I no longer look like Casper the friendly ghost. Why do I always sound like an infomercial.
Do I really need to elaborate on why he is great? Nope.
And there you have it, my expert advice on make-up.
I hope all of you have a superb weekend!
Happy Friday!!
2 things I am not proud of
{source}
1. I just goggled “bachelor spoiler.” I do not know what crawled up my knickers. I don’t even watch the damn thing. Well, I sorta do, but that is not really important. I honestly could not tell you what I learned via this very intellectual search. I was so bored two sentences into the article, I stopped reading. If the picture on the website is any indication, then I think I know the answer. I will sleep soundly tonight.
2. I have had 7 of these little darlings. Six were consumed before 10:00 AM. At 9:30 last night I got a wild hair up my fanny and decided to make these grain-free sesame cookies from Elana’s pantry. I know I am on this blog way too much. I pretty much followed her recipe except I used grass-fed butter for the grape seed oil and maple syrup for the agave. I cannot tell you how amazing these cookies are. I have about 7 cookies left and it is taking every last bit of strength I have to not eat them.
I am off to study for my first Integrative Institute for Nutrition exam. I wonder if there is a question on there on how to control a cookie addiction? Deep thoughts
devil
Happy Wednesday!
meat madness
pardon my blog hiatus, these things happen from time-to-time.
Here is recap of what has been happening in ma neck-o-the-woods
Sunday we had breakfast at one of my favorite breakfasts spots in Portland, Cloud Seven Cafe.
I got Petunia’s Pies & Pasteries gluten-free, vegan spice cake. I do not know what they do to their baked goods, but they are beyond delish. I can’t stop thinking about this gem. I will be recreating.
Coffee made this gem even better
And so did this guy- despite the fact he is currently perusing Mr. iPhone.
After breakfast we ran a few thrilling errands that involved Keith getting new work shoes and me getting a sassy, green blouse. We also hit up the grocery store, so I could get my cook on for the duration of the day.
I had the ambition to make oodles of eats that worked with the Live Fit program.
I made Jamie’s Apple Cinnamon Protein Bars. I would show, you a picture, but I forgot to take one. And they are not very good, so I am thinking the garbage disposal might be dining on them in the near future.
I also adapted her Turkey Meatloaf Muffins. They turned out swimmingly and they make a superb salad topper.
Here is my version of the meat muffins.
- 2lbs ground, organic, grass-fed buffalo
- 2 egg whites
- 1 whole egg
- 2T ground flax
- 2t dried mustard
- 2t black pepper
- 1t chipotle pepper spice
- 2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
- 1 small onion (finely chopped)
- 2.5 celery stalked (finely chopped)
- 2 carrot sticks (finely chopped)
How to:
- Pre heat oven to 375
- grease muffin tins with coconut oil
- mix all ingredients together in med-lrg bowl
- roll mixture into balls and place in muffin tin. Muffins are about the size of a tennis ball
- bake for 40 minutes
makes 15 muffins.
After the meat muffins were in the oven, I decided to try my hands at roasting a whole chicken. I saw a recipe for a roasted chicken with prunes and olives on Carrots-n-Cake and thought it looked so dang good, I saw it again on Elana’s Pantry while sleuthing for soup recipes, so I decided I must give it a whirl. I followed Elana’s recipe to the tee and it was the best chicken I have ever had. My love with Mr. Chicken is slightly amazing given, I sincerely considered giving up meat after preparing the fella. I definitely shed a tear or 7. I wish I was joking. I am a bit of a nutball. If you can get past any emotions that might come up in the prep of roasting a whole chicken, they really are super easy. I know, I am an odd duck.
Mr. Chicken was consumed on a bed of welcoming spinach and roasted brussel sprouts
And with that, I am signing off.
Happy Tuesday!
one of my favorite products
Howdy and welcome to skin tip Friday!
My tip for this Friday is one of my favorite products: Sweet Blessed Bee Magic Balm
source: Sweet Blessed Bee Magic
I adore this stuff for a variety of reasons as it is my windex (please tell me that reference is not lost). Basically if you use Vaseline (pitch it immediately) and order this vat of goodness. Here’s why: Vaseline (side note: I spelled “vaseline” “vasoline” and the auto correct went to “gasoline” -oh the irony) is indeed mineral oil and miner oil is petroleum. We all know what petroleum is and why would you want to put this on your precious visage? Lately, a few of my clients have come in with the little white bumps residing around their lips and eyes. Coincidentally they are also using Vaseline. Vaseline is occlusive, this means that your skin cannot breath. When your skin cannot breath, a variety of unsightly conditions happen, one of which are milia, which are those little white bumps. Bee balm feels similar to Vaseline, but it contains: Organic extra virgin olive oil, organic beeswax, organic honey, propolis, organic bee pollen and royal jelly. These ingredients are light years away from gasoline. I adore this stuff for its hydrating and antibacterial properties, so if you are acne prone this is a great product for you. However, if you are not acne prone, this is a great product for you. The only person who would not benefit from this product is somebody with a honey allergy.
Here is what I use it for:
- make-up remover when I am traveling and I do not have coconut oil on hand
- chapstick
- I stick this goo around my nose in these dehydrating winter months
- I put it around my eyes to hydrate, nourish, & protect the delicate eye skin. An extra perk with this is it makes your skin look like it is glowing.
- I put it on my dry, cracked feet. sexy
- I put it on cuts to hydrate & repair skin as well as offer its antibacterial properties
- when traveling I use this is as a moisturizer because I do not want to pack an extra product. However, I am so very acne prone, I wouldn’t do this every day, but while traveling exceptions are made.
- I also use this when skiing. I put the goo under my sunscreen to protect from windburn. Works like a charm
- If I had a baby, you can bet I would be using this on his or her’s bum.
Need more convincing? Read their story.
Need to order? Go here. Side note: If you live in Portland, I know Food Front Coop sells this vat of love.
And with that, I am off to give some facials!
Happy Friday!
two new loves-maybe three
Love 1
I am way late to this game, but I just tried overnight oats and I am officially hooked. I love that my lazy fanny can eat breakfast in four easy steps:
- open fridge door
- grab jar of goodness
- remove lid
- insert spoon
Not to mention they are delish. I got my inspiration from Clare over at Fitting it all In. My over night oats, don’t actually contain oats because I cannot follow protocol to save my life . My version contains oat bran.
Here are the goods:
- 3/4c Fage Greek yogurt
- 2T oat bran
- 1T ground flaxseed
- 2T canned pumpkin
- a few drops of vanilla stevia
- dash of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg
- 1-2T water
Mix above goods in a jar, put on lid & place in fridge night before consumption. donezo.
Love 2
This stuff may be my ticket to skinny. Allow me to explain: my bewitching hour/ hours arrives after dinner and before bed. I love dessert. I try to do fruit as dessert. Fruit equals dissatisfaction and hours of grazing among the cupboards for satisfaction. Satisfaction is never achieved. To end this battle I decided to go for the gusto and just eat a damn cookie. However, when I eat a cookie it is over in two seconds and I am left with wanting 10 more cookies. Sometimes I give into this want. Sometimes I spend the evening staring at the cookie jar. Here’s why Dagoba is saving me, it is sweet, filled with chocolate goodness, and it takes me a good 10-15 minutes to consume. This last part is the ticket. By the time I finish consuming, satisfaction has been registered. Not to mention, I am freezing ALL of the time, so to have a warm bevi in my hand, satisfies more than just ma tum.
Furthermore, the nutrition deets are better than one single cookie.
How to:
- heat 1c milk (I used unsweetened hemp milk) in small saucepan over low heat for 3-5 min
- whisk in 3T dagoba drinking chocolate
- give your cookie jar the middle finger
Side note: ignore my dry skin. I use a lot of hand sanitizer.
Second side note: admire the mug. Thank you sister for getting me these adorable mugs for christmas!
one mug for each season = love
I followed the rules and drank out of the winter mug or is that the Spring mug?
The 3rd (maybe) love
source: bodybuilding.com
I am going to give live fit trainer the ole college try. All of the other bloggers are doing it, so I might as well. Although that is a fantastic reason to do something, I am doing it because I know I need to get my more muscles in my life. I am a cardio rat and I know this needs to change if I stand any chance of looking like Gisele. My version of live fit, because I always need to modify (see above) involves me following it the best I can, while still doing a half hour of cardio prior to my Arnold inducing session. These two things need to be completed in under 70 minutes. I have no interest in spending oodles of hours lifting weights. I am loosely following the diet. By loosely, I mean I am going to be mindful of reducing carbs and increasing protein. However, I cannot promise that mindful is going to equal doing. Here is day 1. I did 10 minutes on the elliptical and a new 20 minute treadmill interval workout prior to the lift sesh, and I got out of there in 70 minutes. Afterwards, I felt like a million bucks, so here’s hoping’…
I am off to battle the rain to poop the pug.
Happy Thursday!
lentils and muffins
good times with both.
On Sunday, I made Angela’s lentil soup and I am thrilled to the gill that I did so. The only changes I made were: I used less curry, but added cumin & turmeric. I also added more water (only because I cooked all of the water out of it) and a titch of hot sauce. I also did not puree a portion of the soup simply because I did not want to wash the blender. After the soup was finished, I piled it a top a bed of welcoming kale. This soup is so filling and tasty, not to mention, so dang easy and full of good-for-you nonsense.
On sunday I also had a hankering for muffins, so I decided to put one of my many protein powders to work. I bring you gluten-free, protein-packed, spice muffins:
To be perfectly honest, these were not my finest creation. They are a little too dry. I think this could be rectified with coconut oil, grass-fed butter, or an overly ripe, mashed banana. Next time…
I am sharing this recipe with you in hopes, that with your tweak of choice, they will be divine. I may, or may not ,make these again. Honestly, I have a hard time making anything twice only because I get a silly little rush out of seeing how new recipes turn out. I know, I am bonkers.
The Goods:
- 3/4 cup Teff Flour
- 3/4 cup Millet Flour
- 3/4 cup Tapioca Flour
- 3 scoops (or 1/2 c) Vanilla Egg White Protein Powder. ( I used Vitol’s Egg White Protein Powder you could use any protein powder you like. This protein powder is sweetened with stevia, so it helped to make the muffins sweeter, if you powder is not sweetened, I would add additional sweetener)
- 2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Nutmeg, Ground
- 1/4 tsp Cloves, Ground
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp Organic Vanilla Extract
- 2 tbsp Molasses
- 2 tbsp Pure Maple Syrup
- 1.5 cup Unsweetened applesauce
- 2 eggs
How To:
1. preheat oven to 350
4. mix all ingredients with a hand mixer
5. fill muffin cups 3/4 full with mixture
6. cook for 15-20min (depending on how full you actually fill the muffin tins)- remove when toothpick runs clean
7. allow to cool for 5 min
apply butter, nut butter or any other topper.
Enjoy with wild Abandon!
say farewell to this week’s workouts
I know all must be shedding many tears that I will no longer be posting this week’s workouts. Fear not, I will still be working out and sharing a single workout from time-to-time, but the collaborative post on the weekends had me bored to death. And I am my biggest fan, so if I was bored I can only imagine where that left you cats.
Now lets get on to more important matters:
This post is full of random. Beware.
I fully intend on making this curried lentil soup from Oh She Glows. I plan on following this recipe to the tee except adding some kale at the end. big plans!
veggies preparing themselves:
carrots, celery, green onion
The star of the show:
sprouted lentils are easier to digest
In addition to getting goods for the soup, I picked up these two fun finds:
fiesta time rice chips and garlic gold evoo
I have been itching to try this garlic gold oil for a while and decided to splurge on it yesterday. I am thinking he will be a nice topper to my salads. deep thoughts.
The fiesta lime chips have also been on my radar, but I have passed them up in lieu of the sugar and whey in the ingredient declaration. I got a wild hair up my fanny yesterday and said “screw it.” I am wild! They are delish!
I also decided to try a new shampoo and conditioner. I have been buying the same salon stuff for over a year and didn’t feel like making a separate stop, so I hope these two do not disappoint.
I have been using Earth Science’s olive and avocado conditioning masque for a while as a treatment and I adore it. This fella can also be purchased at Whole Foods. If you have dry, frizzy hair like myself then this guy should be added to your toolbox asap.
Two other loves that were purchased on grocery store expedition:
the lavender is intended to help me chill out and the white musk is to make me smell oh, so good. The white musk is a mixture of oils that allow you to smell devine without knocking you out. To boot, the little bottles are only $7.99 and they last for months. Win!
On another note:
Today we are watching our friends’ kiddo, Mr. Maxx.
the hat game
lunch time
sharing is caring
Maxx has moved in
I will leave you with Mr. Dead Dog
so weird
there it is again
And with that, I am off. Happy Sunday!
how to extract sir zit
welcome to skin tip friday!
in case you missed it the first time around, here it is again…
If you spend hours analyzing and digging at your skin, then you, my friend are a picker. Most pickers pick in hopes of doing something to help speed up the healing process or to find some way to control a lesion. I’ve been there and I totally understand the motivation. I understand the urge to pick, but oftentimes picking makes acne worse. Most people when picking, squeeze the pimple, which can actually cause the bacteria to spread to nearby follicles. When bacteria spreads this equals more pimples- exactly what we pickers do not want. Furthermore, most picking causes a scar, which makes it look like the acne is there for far longer than it actually is. With that said, people will still pick. It’s human nature. I know better and I still cannot control the urge to get in there. So if you must pick at least pick in a way that warrants the best possible outcome. Have I used the word pick enough?
Here’s how to pick (there’s that word again):
1. Cleanse your skin in the shower for 1-2 minutes- preferably with a salicylic acid based cleanser. Salicylic acid helps to loosen the debris in the pore, so you can get at it. Salicylic is also antibacterial, so you’re lessening the chance of any bacteria getting into the pore you’re about to open.
2. If you’re feeling extra skin savvy, while in the shower use an exfoliating mask. If you have lots of white heads and several lesions, then do not use a mask with grains or beads. A manual exfoliant can spread bacteria on skin with several acne lesions. However, if you have a few blackheads or 1-3 lesions, then a manual scrub would work. I am a big fan of masks containing alpha hydroxy acids. A few of my favorites: Cellex-C betaplex clear complexion mask. Warning: this mask is not for sensitive skin.
Image’s total resurfacing mask. Again, this mask is not sensitive skin. If you have more sensitive skin, go for a mask with enzymes, they are gentle exfoliants. A few great masks containing enzymes are:Image’s hydrating enzyme mask and June Jacob’s papaya purifying mask. Leave this mask on while in the shower for 10-15 minutes. The steam from the shower helps to soften the pores, so they are more pliable. The more pliable your pores are the less likely you are to rupture a follicle while picking, which means bacteria will not travel to the next follicle over.
3. After getting out of the shower, prepare to extract (aka pick) by wiping down the area of attack with witch hazel. Witch hazel kills the bacteria on your skin without striping it.
4. Clean your hands very well then wrap your finger tips in tissue to prevent your nails from digging in to your skin and cause scarring as well as preventing any bacteria in your nails from entering the lesion. Instead of squeezing the lesion, come on either side of the lesion and stretch the skin out then apply pressure. Note: cystic nodules are NOT extractable, so don’t even try! Only go after white heads and black heads.
5. After you’re done extracting, cleanse the skin with witch hazel again, to ensure you’ve cleaned up any existing bacteria on the skin.
6. Apply an antibacterial, clay-based mask to soak up any existing oil and bacteria. A great mask is Astara’s blue flame mask. Leave this mask on for 10 min or over night if you’re extracting at night. Note: you may only want to apply the mask to only the extracted lesion because it could be too drying for the rest of your skin. If you don’t want to walk around with a glob of clay on face, apply an antibacterial ointment containing sulfur, tea tree or benzoyl peroxide. A few good recommendations for this are: Image’s medicated acne lotion. And Good old Persa Gel. Note: both of these products contain benzoyl peroxide, which means they can bleach your linens, so use white linens when using these products.
7. Try not to put any additional products on your newly extracted lesion and keep your paws off of it until it heals!
a case of the missing pug
when I arrived home from work today there was no pug, jumping bean waiting to greet me. This does happen from time-to-time, so I wasn’t too rattled when my snorty buddy was absent. However, after a few hollering of “buuurt” with no takers, I became a little alarmed. I then looked at sir pug’s bed (in which he almost never vacates unless there is a food involved) and I did not see my beloved 18lb sack of goodness. or did I?
do you spy a pug?
I think I spy a pug
a very sneaky pug
pug senses he has been spotted and readjust to fit rear under very sneaky hiding place
busted, pug. weird pug.
This guy keeps getting weirder and I adore his guts for it.
Happy Wednesday!
