Thursday, May 23, 2013

What I'm Loving Thursday!

Hey Starshines! I hope you all enjoyed my wedding post, thanks for the comments! :) I'm a little off still, so "What I'm Loving Wednesday" is "What I'm Loving Thursday", for this week. So here is what I am loving..
My sweet potato that was shaped like a heart! For those wondering, I top them with coconut oil, garlic powder, and ground pepper. That's my favorite combo for all potatoes. I like them savory, not sweet.
Our fig tree is blooming! Gotta love that!
It's almost watermelon season!! Little A insisted that we buy this watermelon, we usually wait until they are truly in season, but how could I turn her down?
These are my new favorite bars, I bought a box on Amazon.
Last week there was a halo around the sun. Something to do with the clouds and rain..
The bunnies that live in my yard. I leave them my juice pulp, so they've made shelter under our shed.
These raw olives from Essential Living Foods. Some people find raw olives to be bitter, but we love them!
And finally, this natural electroylyte drink that really helped me after being so sick with the stomach flu.

What are you loving this week?

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Wedding Festivities!

Hey All! I am back from a looooong weekend! As I mentioned, my sister's wedding was Saturday. Unfortunately, I came down with the stomach flu the morning of the wedding. I was bed ridden with a fever and throwing up for most of the day. I slept in the limo, left the alter to get sick, passed out a few times, it was horrible! By the time the reception came, I started to feel better and I pushed myself to dance and enjoy! I was and am really upset I had to miss a lot of it. I am still not 100%, T got a touch of it too. Just horrible timing!!!


Anyway, before I got sick, on Friday we headed to the shore for the bridal party mani/pedi. Before heading there, I grabbed lunch at Deans, a cacao smoothie..
And some Lydia's Kale Chips. 
Here is our little family before heading to the rehearsal dinner!
We started with caprese, I stole a piece of roasted pepper, tomato and basil. It was kinda funny, I sat with my sister, so all that was left on the plate was the cheese, the people sitting with us were happy about that! HA HA!
We also had a salad with a balsamic dressing.
The vegan entree was beans with spinach, roasted tomatoes, and potato wedges.
They had a regular cake and gluten free vegan cupcakes from Papa Ganache for my sister, Little A, our friend and I.
The day of the wedding, my Mom took care of Little A so I could sleep. Here is Little A with my Mom getting her "Flower Girl Sparkles" on. She loved every second (so mad I missed this!).
Little A and T dancing the night away!
T and I, I was trying not to look sick!
We started with a salad (forgot to take a picture) and fruit. Then the vegan entree was grilled veggies with a balsamic glaze.  I missed the cocktail hour (I was sleeping in the bridal suite!), but they had lots of gluten free vegan options: rice crackers, pasta with tomato sauce, hummus, veggies.
They had a normal wedding cake and a vegan gluten free one. This was my slice of vegan gluten free strawberry shortcake, also from Papa Ganache. Too bad I couldn't eat it..
And Little A was already passed out so she didn't have any either!
My sister was the most beautiful bride I have ever seen! The wedding was so much fun (even though I was sick). They had one of the best bands on the Jersey Shore: Brian Kirk and The Jirks. Such a beautiful, love filled day!!! I didn't get too many pictures, so once I steal some from other people, I will post, for now, here is my Matron-of-Honor speech (the beginning was cut off)! ENJOY!


Have a great day! 

Monday, May 20, 2013

Natural Food Supplements That Can Improve Your Health

Hey all! I will have my "post wedding" post up tomorrow! Until then, here is a guest post for you to enjoy! :)

Natural Food Supplements That Can Improve Your Health

Eating a diet that contains all the nutrients and minerals that your body needs on a daily basis can be hard.

Between work, family, friends, and all the Facebook statuses we need to ‘like’, eating the correct way can get lost in the shuffle—particularly if you follow a vegan diet. A plant-based diet can provide numerous health benefits and can be environmentally sound; however, it can also bemore difficult to get the required nutrients than from eating a normal diet.

If you are a vegan that is having difficulty consuming all the vitamins and nutrients that you need, taking natural food supplements can help vastly improve your health.

Here is a quick list of natural food supplements that you can add to your daily diet.

Natural Food Supplements

Coenzyme Q10

This substance is naturally produced by the human body and controls the basic functioning of cells. It alsohelps convert food into energy, is a powerfulantioxidant, and assists with maintaining normal blood pressure, and for heart support.*

Vitamin D

Many people do not get enough vitamin D in their diet. In fact,some studies have shown that as many as one in six people suffer from a Vitamin D deficiency

Vegans and vegetarians are at a particularly high risk of vitamin D deficiency, and taking the vitamin supplement can be an excellent way to help improveyour overall health. This important vitamin helps strengthen bones, the immune system, and to prevent extra body weight.*

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

These acids are not naturally made by the body and must be created from the foods that we eat. Fish, walnuts, and flax seed are excellent sources and provide numerous health benefits, such as lower triglycerides levels, boosting hearth strength andhelping muscle soreness.*

The Omega-3 acids are essential for a normally functioning body, and should be taken as a supplement if you cannot find other ways to incorporate them into your diet.

Vitamin E

This vitamin is essential for building a strong immunesystem and as well as healthy skin and eyes.Itnaturally occurs in foods such as nuts, vegetable oils,and leafy vegetables such as spinach and lettuce.*

Iron

There is a multitude of iron-rich foods that a vegan can incorporate into his or her diet. Green, leafy vegetables, such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, spinach,and sprouts, are a great source of the iron.

However, if you do not incorporate these vegetables regularly, you may develop an iron deficiencyone of the most common deficiencies in the modern world. Itcan cause constant fatigue, irritability, and difficulty concentrating. Studies have shown that women are at greater risk than men, and young children between theages of one and four are also susceptible to iron deficiencies because of their irregular, and sometimes, bad eating habits.

Not sure if you’re getting enough of a certain nutrient or vitamin? Consider talking to a nutritionist or other practitioner about your diet. He or she may recommend a blood test to ensure that you have proper levels.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These productsare not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.





About the Author:
Brian Forester is a health and wellness writer in the Chicago area. It is his goal to help people learn more about healthy natural foods and incorporate them into their diets. Companies like Now Foods offer healthy options to improve wellness for everyone with natural options likegreen coffee bean supplements.

Friday, May 17, 2013

Wedding Nerves

Hey Sunshine! Tomorrow is the big day! My sister is getting married! Eek! I'm so excited, I am the matron of honor, T is the patron of honor and Little A is the flower girl! I'll have lots of pics for Monday. Since my sister is gluten free and mostly vegan, there will be lots of food for us. Also, Sunday is T and my 7 year wedding anniversary! We are probably going to just relax since Saturday is going to be a long day, but we will see! ;)
Anyway, this was some juice ingredients from this week: orange, parsley, romaine, lemon. 
Last week, T did a run near my parents house (it's once a month), so I had a nice smoothie for dinner at Deans. This had kale, coconut, almond milk, and bananas in it. Yummy!
This was dinner one night: spinach from the garden, rice, lentils, red onion, nutritional yeast. 
Another juice, right from the garden! Romaine, apple, cilantro, lemon. 
This was my favorite dinner this week: a kale salad with raw olives, kimchi, avocado, Bubbies pickles and on the side I had raw rye bread (from Rayo de Sol), with Dr. Cow's raw vegan nut cheese. 
And finally, with the over abundance of kale from our garden, I made kale chips in the dehydrator! I massaged the kale with a little olive oil, coconut aminos, nutritional yeast, garlic and onion powder, and cayenne. They were amazing!


Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Happy Wednesday! Here is what I'm loving this week..
This little inch worm I found on my shirt last week while playing outside with Little A
Lilacs! This are all over my yard, I love the smell!
White Sage incense. Sage is great for clearing any bad energy. 
My new workout sneakers! These were a Mother's Day gift from T and Little A. 
This beautiful healing necklace I won from Dara Dubinet. 
She made it specifically for healing my belly!
My new workout! Quick, high paced, covers everything!
Who doesn't need stress relief? My sister's wedding is Saturday! Lots to do! 
Got this organic Argan Oil which is making my skin look fabulous!
Easy Canvas Prints recently launched a new promotional for their site where you can design custom canvas prints anyway you like! They were kind enough to offer me one for free! There was a step by step setup that was easy to follow and you customize every detail the way you want it. This is what I designed with Little A's picture! So cute, right? Now I need to find a place to hang it! LOVE LOVE LOVE!

Have a great day!

Monday, May 13, 2013

Mother's Day Weekend--I'm STUFFED!

Hey Everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day! We spent the whole weekend celebrating! 
Starting on Saturday, we went to visit our families..
We had dinner at my Mother-in-law's house. This was my appetizer plate: hummus, olives, broccoli and cauliflower.
For dinner, we started with a salad.
Then had my Mother-in-law's delicious vegan, gluten free eggplant no-parm (made with Daiya) and some gluten free pasta with broccoli rabe. She also made regular versions, but she is a vegan and eats mostly gluten free and my Bestie-sis-in-law recently found out she has celiac, so she has to eat gluten free as well. 
For dessert, T and I brought gluten free peanut butter chocolate cupcakes from Papa Ganache.  Papa Ganache recently won Food Network's Cupcake Wars!
T had told my Mother-in-law how much I wanted to try Coracao's Raw Chocolates..
So this was what she surprised me with! WOW! How lucky am I?
On Sunday, T said we could go anywhere I wanted, I chose Quintessence, my favorite raw food restaurant! I started with a STRONG green juice, T had a Keffir Lime Shake that was amazing! Little A drank most of it! 
Speaking of Little A, we got her a fruit plate with "yogurt", she enjoyed this, but was pretty full from the shake.
T had their strawberry banana crepe. I tasted this and WOW! Delicious!
I went with my favorite, their All American "Burger", this time on grain free bread. I also had a side of corn chips, salad and coleslaw. Mmm! So good! I crave this "burger!" 
As if we weren't stuffed enough, T found Tu-Lu's, a gluten free bakery that has vegan items..
Little A and I shared a gluten free vegan chocolate chip cookie. Probably one of the best gluten free cookies I have ever had. It was soft and chewy, not stale tasting like some gluten free baked goods tend to be.
We also stopped at "Live-Live" where I grabbed some raw goodies: Jana's Sweet Strawberry Oat Jam Cookies, Rayo De Sol Rye Bread, and some Dr. Cow Tree Nut Cheese. 
These gluten free vegan cupcakes we brought home for dessert! ;)  Not sure how hungry I'll be for dinner, but I will be enjoying one of these! He he!

(I wrote this post before dinner yesterday)

I'll be back soon!

Have a great day!