Aloe Vera Hair Gel!

Good evening, friends!  I'm up late tonight- I have to pick up hubs from the airport at 11pm, so needless to say, I'm getting a little loopy sleepy!  I decided to make a video tonight on my newest natural product find... aloe vera gel!!  Who knew that you could use aloe vera gel as a HAIR GEL?!  It works so well!!  And it's cheap, gluten-free, and it doesn't make your hair dry and crispy!  I got a 16oz bottle for $5 from the health food store.  Talk about an awesome cheap find!!  Check it out!

Overnight Crock-Pot Beef Stew

Good evening, friends!  Don't forget, you only have 3 more days to enter my Rescue Remedy Giveaway!!  Do it, you know you want to ;).  Peer pressure.

Anyway, how about a superfast supereasy crock-pot recipe?

Overnight Crock-Pot Beef Stew

1-2 lbs Stew Beef (I got free-range organic beef from Trader Joe's)
2 Bags of Organic Mini Carrots
3 Organic Russet Potatoes
1 Carton of Broth  (I used Trader Joe's Organic Vegetable Broth)
4-8 Cups of Water (Eyeball this one- just enough to cover the top)
Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Italian Seasoning, to taste

Wash and chop the potatoes (keep the peel on).
Throw all of the above ingredients into the crockpot.
Eyeball the water- use just enough to cover the top of the vegetables.
Cover and cook on high for 8-9 hours.

Look how much it made!  I'm going to be eating this for weeks.  In fact, I had it for lunch today.  Om nom nom.  Love you all!

Bach Rescue Remedy Giveaway!!

Good evening, all!  I have a giveaway!!  I absolutely ADORE Bach's Rescue Remedy, and was THRILLED when I got a prize-pack from the company in the mail last week.  I didn't want to keep it to myself, so I had to share the love!  Therefore, I am giving away a pretty cool pack of goodies!  Enter by Friday, March 1 at 5:00pm.  Details as to what is in the prize-pack and how to enter are in the video below!!





Don't forget- "Like" my Facebook Page AND leave a comment on my Facebook wall telling me where your favorite vacation spot is.  That's it!  I'll notify the winner via Facebook on Saturday, March 2nd.  Good luck!!

xoxo

Who Needs A (Virtual) Vacation?

Good Monday morning, friends!  It's President's Day, so hopefully you have the day off!  I did NOT have the day off, but decided to TAKE the day off, as my life is now finally getting back to normal!  (Big sigh).

Just had an OM NOMMY brunch of Applegate Farms Sausage, tomatoes, and spinach topped with nooch.... (awesome quick meal!) and I'm about to change laundry and run to Target to pick up a couple of things we have run out of.

If you don't have a vacation day today and wish you had one, how about a short trip to the Canadian Rockies?  I posted three short panorama videos to one of my YouTube channels, and they can whisk you away, if only for a minute or two.  More vacation videos will be uploaded to that channel over the next few days.  Enjoy!



xoxo

Mess-Free Oven-Baked Bacon

Make bacon in the oven!  Who knew, right?!

Homemade "Laraballs"

Who is in the mood for a snack?  Last night I made some super easy (and totally yummy) "Laraballs" (aka knock off Larabars in the shape of balls.  Creative, eh?)

Enjoy- they make a great snack, especially if you're busy and need something to hold you over until your next meal!  Pop a couple in a ziplock and throw them in your purse for some 'om nom nom' on the go!

Low FODMAP Bolognese Pasta Sauce

TGIF. Seriously! What a week. Next week continues my week-o-busy, so I decided to post a recipe video for a quick bolognese sauce that's also low FODMAP! I'll be making this again next week- it's SO good. Enjoy! xoxo



 

NEW YouTube Channel, and SIMPLE Gummies!

Good evening, loves!  I just wanted to let you know about my NEW YouTube Channel, Sweet Potato Annie.  This will be the spot for all of my newest recipes, so be sure to subscribe so you don't miss a thing!

SPEAKING of new recipes, check it!  Healthy Mommypotamus Inspired Gummies.

Who wants some eggs?

Gooooood Tuesday, my dear friends! Since I have been ridiculously busy with rehearsals, work, house showings, music lessons, etc., cooking food ahead to make it 'grab and go' has been filling up my [lack of] free-time. But, doing this is SO important because I need to have nourishment to make it through the day! One thing I love to eat are hard boiled eggs. They're perfect on-the-go snacks, or easy to chop up with some celery, mustard, salt and pepper to make a great spread in some lettuce wraps! After a few trials and errors (ok, mostly errors...), I came up with the perfect hard boiled egg cooking method. 

Watch. Learn. Love. Eat.

 xoxo

Spring Ba Ding Ding Flashback

Ok, it's 65* outside.  Is it spring?!  No, it's January- mother nature is just playing games right now. Too bad  on Thursday it's going to be in the 20*s.  What is going on.  Ah well, to prepare for the cold weather that is to come, I'm putting up my uber yummy Quinoa Soup recipe video (HELLO FLASHBACK!!).  This is a great recipe- and super nourishing if you have a cold.  You could sub bone broth for the veggie broth if you'd like, throw in some chicken maybe... mmmm.

xoxo

Grain-Free Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies

Good Sunday evening to you all!  Who's ready for Monday???  .....merp.

Today started what I call "The February Marathon".  I know, I know.  It's not February yet, but from now until February 18th I am going to be RUNNING from one thing to another...

January 27 Rehearsal
January 29 Rehearsal
January 30 Rehearsal
January 31 Rehearsal
February 2 Music Lessons
February 3 Rehearsal
February 4 Rehearsal
February 5 Rehearsal
February 7 Rehearsal
February 9 Music Lessons
February 10 Rehearsal and Concert
February 11 Rehearsal
February 12 Rehearsal
February 14 Rehearsal
February 15 Performance
February 16 Solo and Ensemble for my students, and Performance
February 17 Performance

((faints))

Actually, looking at that list gives me a little bit of anxiety, not gonna lie.  One day at a time- I'm SERIOUSLY going to take some time every day to exercise, meditate, take a foot bath with Epsom Salt
and Lavender Oil, sip some Natural Calm (which I am doing right now...) or something because if not, this is burn out city waiting to happen.

So who wants some cookies??  LOL.

Grain-Free Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe:

1 Cup Mashed Bananas
2 T Almond Butter
2 t Vanilla Extract
1 t Baking Soda
1/2 t Ground Cinnamon
1/4 t Sea Salt
1 1/4 Cup Almond Flour
1/4 Cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

Preheat Oven to 350*

Line a baking pan with parchment paper

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl

Drop on parchment paper using spoons, flatten out a little bit.

Bake 9-12 minutes until golden on top.

Devour immediately.  Seriously.  Ok, let them cool for a minute or two, then go to town.  They're so good- they taste just like chocolate banana muffin tops.

Ok everybody, that's all for now!  Have a great Monday!

xoxo

Coconut/Almond Flour Pancakes

Happy (almost) 2013!  What a year it has been.... I think 2012 can be summed up in one word- CRAZY.  At one point in 2012, Brenton and I looked at each other and had the exact same thought:  "This is the strangest thing we have ever done" (referring to the last minute trip where we flew CMH-PHX-LAX-LAS so he could play onstage with 311 at the MGM Grand Arena).

 
















2013 will have a new word.  Sure, spontaneity is always fun (...sometimes fun, or maybe just exhausting), but this upcoming year needs to chill back a little.

Breathe.

Ah.  That sounds nice.   Breathe.  More exercise- more breathing.  More meditation- more breathing.  More practicing of music- more breathing.  You get the picture.

So who wants pancakes (lol)?  I made some awesome coconut flour/almond flour pancakes this morning that were totally om nom nom worthy.


4 eggs, room temperature
1 cup coconut milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 T honey

1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup almond flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Blend all of the ingredients together in a food processor or blender

Then scoop into a 'pre-heated coconut oil greased' skillet and cook both sides until done!  We added some chocolate chips to a few of them....

Happy New Year, my dears.  Good things to come in 2013- maybe even some VLOGGING.  Lord help us all.

xoxo

In a rush - No-Bake Pancakes

Good day, everybody!  December is a-flying by (holy.cow.) and I feel like in another blink of an eye, Christmas will be here!!  I have a good amount of time off of work during the time between Christmas and New Years, and I've gotta say, I'm REALLY looking forward to it.  2012 has about done me IN!  I feel like I have been in a rush to get something done every day for the last few months.  In an effort to try to help keep my stress level down, I have been trying to do really quick or cook ahead meals lately.  I've been eating eggs for breakfast almost every day, which is great because they're nutritious and very quick to make, but this morning I wanted something a little different.  So, I adapted Ani Phyo's Raw Coconut Breakfast Cakes this morning and I've gotta say, they came out really good!

Coconut Breakfast Cakes

Ingredients:

1/2 C Flax Meal (Ground Flaxseeds)
1 T Shredded Coconut (Unsweetened)
1 T Coconut Oil
1 t Raw Honey
1/8 t Sea Salt
1/2 t Cinnamon
1 T Water

Mix all of the above ingredients in a bowl until a soft dough forms

Pat the cakes into "pancakes" on a plate

Top with grass-fed butter and berries of your choice (or maple syrup)

Be sure to enjoy these with a big glass of water!  Your tum tum will thank you  :)

xoxo

Why I am back on meat.

Yep, you read that correctly.  Here we go.  I have already lost a few Facebook Fans with the comment that I am eating meat again, so we'll see how this goes!  It's true, I am back on the meat.  To keep from going into a dissertation, I'll give you a cliff-notes version as to why I decided to make this switch.

First of all, let me tell you why we decided to go OFF of meat in the first place.  It was because of this movie, Food Inc.  It is a sad, but enlightening movie into the food industry, but after seeing the inhumanely treated animals, our hearts caused our brains to not want to eat meat again.  We were vegetarian for 2 years (I went on and off fish).

And now, why I decided to go back ON meat.

1- Gluten-free, Soy-free.  When we started eating vegetarian, we were NOT gluten free or soy free.  Eating out at restaurants being vegetarian is a piece of cake.  Eating out at restaurants being gluten-free, soy-free, and vegetarian is not.  In fact, I had a meltdown at Walt Disney World back in 2011 (where the chefs are AWESOME with food allergies) because I felt like I was starting to develop an eating disorder by being so restrictive.  Being a recovering emetophobic (yes, I am working on this), I am prone to eating issues, and this was something that was adding to my list of anxiety-causing situations.  I am gluten-free and soy-free for health reasons, but vegetarian by choice.

2- Energy.  I am a very healthy eater. You all know, I eat almost completely organic, unprocessed foods.  Even with eating a zillion plants, nuts, seeds, fruits, eggs, dairy products, etc., I felt hungry and drained all the time.  I wanted to eat every 2 hours, I wanted to take naps, and I was super irritable.  My busy lifestyle couldn't support me feeling this way, and I knew that if I felt like this, there was a reason, and I needed to make a change.

3- Acne.  Holy heavens.  When I went gluten-free and soy-free, my acne ERUPTED.  I attribute this to one main factor- sugar.  I was replacing the wheat products I was used to with gluten-free products...sugar from grains, sugar from dairy, sugar from fruit, sugar itself... sugar was in most everything.  Within the first WEEK of adding pastured/free-range meat to my diet, my acne calmed WAY down, and is now almost non-existent.  I also attribute this to my hormones becoming more regulated from being off the soy.

4- Travel.  The last trip to Disney about did me in.  I cried in 3 of the restaurants, had to get up and leave one of them a couple of times.  It wasn't pretty, and was probably the worst Disney vacation I had ever had.  Hubs and I do like to travel, and we didn't want food restrictions to get in the way of us having a good time.  Life is too short for that.  So, this past trip we went to the Canadian Rockies, and had an AMAZING time.  We were able to eat at restaurants without feeling 'different'.  They're so gluten-free friendly in that part of Canada (it was wonderful), and I didn't have to live on salad or brown rice pasta.  I'll do a bloggie about my foodie adventures there soon.  We're planning on going to Disney in September, 2013, and Norway in 2014, with some smaller trips in between, and it's so much easier to dine out gluten-free when you can eat meat- that's just the way it is.

5- Life.  It was a big, emotional decision to start eating meat again.  We are very picky about the type of meat we get- all free-range, pastured meat.  We don't buy any conventional, factory-farmed meat because we know it's not good for our bodies.   I have lost 5+ pounds, I'm more emotionally stable, my acne has calmed down, I have more energy, my 'cycle' has regulated (TMI, sorry), and I feel GOOD.  That in itself is plenty of proof that I'm doing the right thing for MY body.  I'm sure there are people that do very well on a vegetarian/vegan diet, but over the past two years, hubs and I found out that we don't.

Now, I do have an eating routine that I'm sticking to-

1- Increase the amount of veggies I eat each day (lots of different types, both cooked and raw)
2- Increase the amount of probiotic foods (Bubbies Sauerkraut, Kombucha, Yogurt...)
3- When cooking for myself at home (which is 95% of the time) only use pastured eggs, free-range meat, raw dairy (if available) or at least organic.
4- Limit gluten-free pre-packaged products.
5- Eat some fruit each day, mostly berries.
6- Limit beans, rice, corn, and other legumes/grains.
7- Increase water intake

I have been doing this for a couple of months now, and I really do feel a difference.  This is right for ME, though not right for everybody, I'm sure.  I'll continue to post gluten-free and soy-free recipes, both vegetarian and non, and to all of my veggie and vegan followers out there, never fear- I still love a good raw meal every now and again ;)

xoxo

Who Wants Apples?! Crust-less Apple Pie a la Mode

Good afternoon everyone.  Who wants apples?!  Tis the season (thank gawd)- apples are in full swing, and I'm noshing away on them!  I made a SUPER EASY dessert this weekend that is TOTALLY worth a try!  Check it-

Crust-less Apple Pie a la Mode

Serves 2

1 Organic Apple, chopped into bite size pieces
1 t Cinnamon
1 t Nutmeg
1 t Vanilla Extract
1/4 c Water

Add all of the ingredients (except for the water) to a saucepan

Put a lid on the saucepan, and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes

Add 1/4 cup of water, remove lid, and allow to simmer for 5-8 minutes

Once the liquid is reduced and the apples are soft, it's done!   Eat as is, or top with vanilla ice cream.

















This makes a great topping for pancakes, too!  Enjoy!  xoxo