Annie's Simple Life

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2011-12-31T21:17:00.000-05:00

HAP-PY NUDE REAR! I mean... HAPPY NEW YEAR! (ha...) Holy.moly. I have not disappeared off of the face of the planet, I swear. It's been a crazy busy few months, and I'm hoping that this year brings a little more organization and efficiency in the time-management department. So, what's been going on? Let's see.... DIET- Brenton and I are staying gluten-free, and I have recently added being

AH-Mazin' Punkin' Smoothie

2011-11-04T20:34:00.000-04:00

Hi folks- TGIF! The Halloween decorations are down, Thanksgiving decorations are up. Because we're so knee-deep into fall... and bordering on Christmas (holy cow), I was inspired to make some Punkin' Protein Smoothies! These.Rocked.My.Socks. Punkin' Protein Smoothie (serves 1) 1/4 C Milk 4 Ice Cubes 1/4 C Protein Powder 1/2 C Canned Pumpkin 1/2 t Pumpkin Pie Spice 1/2 t Cinnamon 1/2 t

Crock Pot Spaghetti Squash

2011-10-27T20:09:00.000-04:00

Hola all! Quickie post- crock pot spaghetti squash! Spaghetti squash is one cool gourd. If you're gluten-free, low-carb, on a calorie restricted diet, or just want to eat a light and healthy dinner, spaghetti squash can replace your pasta and you won't even miss it! And what's even easier is that you can throw it in the crock pot in the morning, and forget about it until dinner! So the crock

Going Home- the food of the trip!

2011-09-30T14:25:00.002-04:00

Good Friday to you all! If feeling overwhelmed was an Olympic sport, I would totally get the Gold this week. TGIF (seriously!). Tonight I'm trying a new-to-me pizza crust recipe (Chebe Pizza Crust). SUPES excited about it. A treat is NECESSARY tonight after the week of busy!! We got home from Disney World, aka my home away from home, on Saturday. Can I go back yet? We're starting to plan

Skintactix Challenge Results

2011-09-29T17:00:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone. I took the Skintactix Challenge. I ordered the Sensitive Skin Kit (A3), and followed the instructions to the letter of the law. The Septicide Cleanser worked GREAT (lots of plant extracts). After using it, my skin felt very clean and all of my makeup was removed (AWESOME!). The Gentile Follicle Exfoliator was very smooth and a little went a long way. It appeared that the the

Skintactix Challenge!

2011-08-31T08:37:00.000-04:00

I'm taking the Skintactix Challenge! I'm going to try Skintactix for 1 month, and I'll let you know how I do!

Soy-ya later!

2011-08-15T20:26:00.000-04:00

Good lovely, sunny evening to you all! I came across 2 new things today. 1- a new product (THAT IS TO DIE FOR OMGOMGOMG NOM NOM NOM) 2- a new recipe (the video link below shows everything you need to know) (THAT IS A KEEPER!!!! DOUBLE NOM NOM!) First, the product. I've been semi-candid about our most recent doctor visit. To make a long story short, Brenton and I are now gluten-free,

A Video and an Article

2011-08-11T08:55:00.000-04:00

Good day, everyone! I wanted to share with you a video that I thought was uber cute, and explains WHY you should eat organic. So basic. So simple. So adorable. ANDDDD!!!! I was published in the Magically Speaking Newsletter!! Click the link to read it- so proud! All about food restrictions and dining at Walt Disney World. (which we all know is my favorite place IN the world :) ) If

End of an Era?

2011-08-06T21:25:00.001-04:00

Happy Saturday! How's the weekend treating you? So far so good on the homestead! Brenton and I are preparing ourselves for Monday, what might be the end of an era. We're going to a new doctor- an Integrative Medicine doctor. He promotes healing/illness prevention through nutrition. Why doesn't every doctor do this? We will be talking to him about our ancestral history and getting a script

World's Best Banana Bread. Period.

2011-07-26T20:04:00.000-04:00

G'day everyone! I'm SO excited to share my recipe for the WORLD'S BEST BANANA BREAD. PERIOD. It's adapted from Bethenny Frankel's Boo Boo Banana Bread recipe. (Boo Boo is her dog lol) Here is the original recipe, and my adaptations are in ( )'s: 1 C Raw Sugar (I used 2 T Maple Syrup instead- it was plenty!) 1 T Butter (I used 1 T Coconut Oil) 1 C Mashed Bananas (about 2ish) 1 Egg (I used 1 T

How to make the PERFECT hard boiled egg.

2011-07-14T21:09:00.002-04:00

Ta-Da! xoxo

Happy Birthday

2011-06-21T11:00:00.002-04:00

....to meeee (yesterday)!!! On Sunday, we celebrated father's day, my birthday, and Brenton's birthday (his is on Friday). After a dinner of Tofu and Veggies at a local Chinese place, we came back to mom and dad's house and opened presents. LOL notice that I'm recording him AND taking a picture at the same time? Pure awesomeness. Reading a card from my sister and BIL. She got me Lego Pirates

Travel Series.... continued. Breakfast Cookie!

2011-06-09T08:43:00.000-04:00

Enjoy! Inspired by the Fitnessista! <3 xoxo

Product Review, and other things...

2011-06-08T20:35:00.001-04:00

Good evening! Holy moly where on earth have I been?!? It's been since the end of APRIL?! Oye... it feels like longer than that. I'm currently uploading my 'travel breakfast cookie' recipe to youtube... it should be up by this evening! (I hope) Sure took me long enough...gah. So what has been happening lately? A whole lot, mixed with a whole lot of nothing. I've been SLOOOOWLY getting

A Song for Friday

2011-04-29T07:27:00.000-04:00

LURVE. Enjoy!! TGIF!

Food for Thought

2011-04-28T07:21:00.000-04:00

Good morning! It's Thursday already. This week has flown by! Which is why I wanted to share some food for thought with you... People who suffer from anxiety, like I do, often don't live IN the moment. We're always worried about what happened in our past (and dwell on it) or what's going to happen in our future (and plan, re-plan, and plan again). I am guilty of doing both...and I'll be the

...it strikes again

2011-04-25T07:53:00.000-04:00

Good Monday morning to you all. I hope everybody had a nice Easter! Mine was....not as nice. Early Sunday morning I woke up with the dreaded food poisoning. Ugh. Now to most people, it's no big deal. Sure it's not fun, but it's not debilitating either. To me, however, it's the absolute worst thing on earth. If you've been following me for a while, you know that I am an emetophobe. And if

Travel Series- Staying Healthy While Traveling

2011-04-10T10:05:00.001-04:00

Staying healthy is something that I STRIVE for while traveling. Here's my general order of operations: 1 week leading up to travel: Be SURE that I sleep 8 hours every night Take my regular pills- Vitamin D (5000 IU), Multi-Vitamin, Zinc, Magnesium (for my tremors), Probiotics Drink a 'green drink' a few times that week with Amazing Grass, Banana, Orange, Spinach, and Rice Protein Exercise

Travel Series- TSA Tips

2011-04-09T22:52:00.000-04:00

Hellooooo everybody. Continuing my travel series, I'd like to talk a bit about how to easily get through airport security. One thing that I do, since I'm an opt-out of the the backscatter xray machines, is wear as little clothing as (tastefully) possible. Even in the winter, I go by probably the best piece of advice that I have ever gotten. "Dress AFTER you get through airport security".

Travel Series- Comfort Items

2011-04-09T21:26:00.001-04:00

Good day, all. To continue this award winning (ha) travel series, I want to share some of the things that make me 'comfortable' while traveling. First off, my bag-o-liquids for the carry-on: Lavender Oil- induces relaxation Peppermint Oil- helps with headaches, sore muscles Rescue Remedy- to help ease panic attacks (yes, I get them) Hand Sanitizer Nasal Spray- to help keep my nasal passages

Travel Series- Chia Fresca, TSA

2011-04-09T20:48:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone! Spring is in the air, flowers are popping up all over the place. Great time of year!! This gets me excited for summer, and more importantly, TRAVEL SEASON!! YESSSSSSS! I have had a love/hate relationship with travel. When I was younger I used to love to go on vacations. Then, as I got older, I started going on vacation with people other than my parents. It was then that

The Sunday Newspaper- Bringing Snacks Your Way!

2011-03-13T20:39:00.000-04:00

Every Sunday I look forward to looking at the newspaper ads. I am not sure exactly why I like looking at them so much- I think it goes back to my childhood days of looking at them while eating a snack after church. Nostalgia... So this morning was like every other Sunday morning. I woke up early (of course, because I CAN'T sleep in anymore) and went outside to grab the paper. The bag that the

Yoga Spy

2011-02-18T07:12:00.000-05:00

Hola chicos y chicas! TGIF! What a week this has been. It'll be nice to enjoy the weekend without having to do a million things. Last weekend was CrAzY busy.... this weekend....ahhhhh... not so bad. I'm sitting here enjoying a loooovely breakfast. YUM. Perfect for a Friday morning. So last night, I made these YUM-O vegan cookies. Catch the recipe HERE. Yes

Holy Crow... That's Some GOOD Pizza!!!

2011-02-16T21:42:00.000-05:00

Happy Wednesday-almost-Thursday! For the very first time this past week we tried Clever Crow Pizza. I first heard of these pizzas being served at Circus in the Short North area when Anthony Bourdain went there on his "Heartland" episode. HOLY CROW are these pizzas FANTASTIC!!!!! We went to the Short North, as we do a lot, and picked up a Butternut pizza to take home and bake. All of these

Muffins!

2011-02-03T05:31:00.001-05:00

Short post today! I made some FANTASTIC blueberry muffins. Check out the recipe here, and just sub blueberries for raspberries. Simple, quick, vegan, and oh so good. To make these muffins vegan, I substituted the egg from the recipe with soaked chia seeds (about 1 1/2 T- I just kind of eyeballed the amount that I thought an egg would be and hoped for the best hahahaha). They worked

A Time to Reflect....

2011-02-02T15:29:00.000-05:00

Happy Wednesday, everybody! We got a snow day today, which gave me time to do some things around the house and kind of reflect a little bit. I recently got a new job (and by recently, I mean Monday). I didn't change job locations, but I changed departments. My new job is a promotion from my old job, and it has been quite a transition. I'm not finished with the transition yet- it's going to

My New Obsession

2010-12-28T19:28:00.000-05:00

Happy Tuesday! So.... we all have our 'things', right? Some people are obsessed with cats (crazy cat ladies...), some are obsessed with celebrity gossip (Perez Hilton...), and some are obsessed with the newest gadgets (IPod, IPad, I-can't-keep-track...). I am obsessed with dog. THE dog. Dog the Bounty Hunter. I tell you what, now that we have Netflix, I watch this show ALL.THE.TIME. Now,

Shaun T... the INSANITY!

2010-12-23T20:17:00.001-05:00

My hubby and his co-workers met Shaun T (you know... Mr. Insanity himself) a couple of weeks ago. He came and did a masterclass in Columbus. HOW. COOL. Can you believe it?!?! Totally star-struck. HO-LY ABS, BATMAN!!! Hubby is to the left of Shaun T (looking at the picture) Insane.

Christmas 1 of 3

2010-12-23T08:48:00.000-05:00

Once you get married, having multiple Christmas get togethers become the norm. Since my brother and sister-in-law will be traveling to Texas for Christmas (safe travels you two!), we celebrated the holiday together a little bit early. We had a very nice party- lots of good food, fun together time, and lots of laughs. All of the food- from top left, clockwise: Herbed Quinoa, Black Eyed Peas (

Christmas Morning Muffins

2010-12-22T19:27:00.001-05:00

It's almost Christmas. My gosh where on EARTH did this year go!?!? For us, this year has been a blur. Brenton was in school getting his MBA (he's done now YAY!) so our life was consumed by school, work, housekeeping, and very few extra curricular events (aka parties... movies... blogging :(... anything that wasn't necessary to our every day life). Big sigh of relief that we can get back to

Wednesday- We need a song today!

2010-12-15T09:57:00.000-05:00

Happy Wednesday to you all! I think we're all in need of an uplifting Wednesday song, no?? I LOVE THIS SONG!!! Enjoy your day!

Fastest EVER Pasta Salad

2010-12-09T09:21:00.000-05:00

Hi guys! Happy Thursday!! I made pasta salad last night for today's lunch- SO YUMMY, so easy. AND so quick.

A Song.... One Song...

2010-12-04T21:09:00.000-05:00

Happy Saturday, everybody! Today was mentally a very good day for me. It's not like I did anything special or out of the ordinary, but with this past week's events, I made myself do a lot of thinking and reflection. After doing some research about emetophobia and how debilitating it is for the people it affects (obviously...), I realized that I didn't want to let it rule my life. You know

Phobias.

2010-12-02T16:27:00.001-05:00

Happy Friday to you all. What a week!!! It was a very difficult week for me, that really brought to the surface some underlying anxiety that had been swirling around. Do any of you suffer from phobias? I do, in a MAJOR way. I am an emetophobe, aka I don't like ''throw up''. I have been this way since I can remember. What I have recently found out is that this phobia affects more people on

Holiday Prep

2010-12-02T16:18:00.002-05:00

December is here… in FULL FORCE! I don’t know where this arctic blast came from (actually, I do- thank you Lake Michigan…) but boy o boy is it COOOOLD! Ick! Now that the holiday season is in full swing, I figured it was appropriate for today’s bloggie to talk about how I prepared for Thanksgiving/Christmas this year, and how I’m 95% done with EVERYTHING. Yes, EVERYTHING. I started back in

Yummy Christmas Treats

2010-11-13T11:12:00.000-05:00

So even though it's not Thanksgiving yet... I've started working on my Christmas candy! Look how easy! Chocolate Almond Bark Ingredients- 1/2 Bag Chocolate Chips (I used Trader Joes), 2-3 Cups Almonds (just eyeball it) In a double boiler (or microwave), melt the chocolate chips. Stir in Almonds. On a baking sheet, pour mixture and spread. Place in freezer for 10 minutes to harden. The.

Punkins!

2010-10-30T22:06:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween!! I really don't like this holiday... at all. But I like carving pumpkins! Here are my two. First up- Mickey! Isn't he cute! All was going well, went on to pumpkin #2 to carve Minnie.... but then I bent my carving knife! The skin was so tough that I couldn't cut through it! Soo.... I resorted to painting instead. Kinda.... evil looking. HAHA it wasn't intentional. I

Apple Chaider

2010-10-17T09:28:00.000-04:00

Thank you Kevin and Annmarie Gianni for this recipe! IT WAS AWESOME! I used a little modification, but it turned out GREAT!! Here is my modification of the original (original is the title link below). Apple Chai-der My recipe serves 1 1 Apple 2 Chai Tea Bags Boil the chai tea bags in 1 cup of water over medium heat for 10 minutes In a food processor, chop up/blend an apple

Disney World!

2010-10-16T21:19:00.000-04:00

So it's been a million years since I have updated. Ok, maybe not that long, but it seems like it! Brenton and I went to Disney World, first time ever as vegetarians. Here's what we got as groceries- 1 Loaf of Bread Peanut Butter Jelly Apples Bananas Oranges Mixed Nuts Oatmeal Raisins Flax Crackers Water Clif Bars Kashi Cereal Kashi Granola Bars Cinnamon **then we brought Amazing Grass

End of Summer Sorbet

2010-09-25T16:32:00.000-04:00

Summer has come to a close, but that doesn't mean that the summertime treats have to! Here is a quick summer sorbet. 1/2 Frozen Banana 1/2 c Frozen Blueberries In a food processor, blend all together. That's it!

Immunity, Part 3

2010-09-17T06:41:00.002-04:00

Part 1 was RELAXATION Part 2 was EXERCISE Part 3 is SUPPLEMENTS You have heard it before- take Vitamin C to get rid of a cold. But for some reason, that's ALL that we've ever heard about. You may have heard of echinacea if you're lucky... There are so many vitamin, mineral, and herbal combos that can REALLY help your immune system along. Here's what we take: 1- Vitamin C (prevents a cold

Immunity, Part 2

2010-09-16T06:29:00.000-04:00

Part 1 was Relaxation. Part 2 is EXERCISE! Take 20-30 minutes out of your day and exercise! VIGOROUSLY. The body has a few different ways of releasing toxins, and SWEATING is one of them. My FAAAAAAVORITE 20 minute workout is Jillian's 30 Day Shred. This little workout will have you sweating in no time. It's only 20 minutes, and well worth it. And for $8.50 on Amazon... you can't really

Immunity, Part 1

2010-09-15T06:06:00.001-04:00

Hi everybody! Fall is in the air... can you smell it??? I walked into the office today and said "boy, it smells like fall in here!" What does that mean?? You know, the smell of apple cinnamon, vanilla, pumpkin, ...and those disgusting candies like apple caramel pops and candy corn (YEP, I said it...groooossssss). Haha, well anyway, that also means something else is brewing.... COLD SEASON.

Vegan Pasta Alfredo

2010-09-14T20:03:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone! I have a YUMMY (seriously!!) vegan pasta alfredo recipe to share... that's soy free! WHOO!! Ingredients: Whole Wheat Pasta, cooked Handful of Arugula (to taste) Alfredo: 1/2 C Cashews 1 clove Garlic Dash of Sea Salt Dash of White Pepper Dash of Apple Cider Vinegar (can use lemon juice) Dash of Water to help blend Cook the pasta according to package directions.

Healthy Motion Sickness Remedies

2010-09-09T07:54:00.000-04:00

Ba ba ba, ba ba ganoush

2010-09-03T06:52:00.000-04:00

Our CSA yielded us a TON of eggplant this year. I decided to make some baba ganoush!! If you haven't had it before, it's kind of like an eggplant hummus. 1- take 2 eggplants, wash, and cut slits in the skin 2- roast at 400 until tender, about 30-45 minutes, then let cool for about 10 minutes 3- scoop the flesh out of the skin and let drain and cool in a

Salsa Time!

2010-09-02T06:38:00.000-04:00

Do you have a MILLION tomatoes that you need to get rid of? Try making this nummy salsa! Here are the ingredients: For those that need an ingredients list.... 1 medium tomatoes 1 small handful of cherry tomatoes 1 small onion Juice of 1/2 lime 1 clove of garlic Dash of sea salt and pepper 1 T cilantro In a blender, whirl all of the ingredients together until coarsely chopped.

Are you up for the challenge?

2010-08-24T06:36:00.010-04:00

We have all heard about how BAD the microwave is for us, right? The whole 'making your food radioactive' thing is not what I call the healthiest idea in the world. In our environment, radiation is all around us. Because of this, the more we expose ourselves to microwaved food, airport body scanners, cell phones, etc., the more in-danger we become. It's the cumulative effect of all of these

Vegan Zucchini Muffins

2010-08-23T06:26:00.003-04:00

Good early morning, everyone! I don't know why- for some reason I haven't been sleeping well. At all. Saturday night I woke up at 3am, last night I woke up at 1am.... BAH I'm ready to stop this cycle!! Aaaaany way.... I made some FANTASTIC vegan muffins this week. Check out my recipe, inspired by this message board post!! 1 3/4 C Finely Chopped Zucchini, water squeezed out 2 1/2 C

Freezing CSA Produce

2010-08-17T07:58:00.000-04:00

Good moooorrrrrrning everyone! It's Tuesday, and in central Ohio it feels like FALL! (which makes me smile a little bit, I'm not gonna to lie) I have run into the issue of having too much CSA produce than I can down in one week, so I have decided to start freezing what I can. This week: GREEN BEANS! Oye... I had 3 whole bags of green beans sitting in my fridge and I surely didn't want to

Another Trader Joe's Grocery Haul!!

2010-08-10T07:05:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone! This is a little bit late... sorry about that!! Much love to you all.

Trader Joe's Grocery Haul

2010-08-01T14:16:00.001-04:00

You asked for it....

Eatin' out of the Pantry- Part 6

2010-07-26T06:00:00.000-04:00

Tonight on the menu was Tempeh Chili. You can find the recipe here. I am sad to say that the 'eating out of the pantry' challenge is now over. I have run out of bananas, bread, and chips, so I better get to the store. I must say, though, I did a pretty good job making up menus using only things that we had in the house!!! You should give it a try sometime. Flex your creative

Eatin' out of the Pantry- Part 5

2010-07-25T06:00:00.001-04:00

It's stuffed potato day!!! WHOO!! I LOVE stuffed potatoes. This is a great travel food, as well as quick and easy meal to use up whatever you have in the fridge. I SWEAR there is a potato under there! Simply bake a potato in the oven or in...the...microwave...eek... and top with cooked beans, salsa, whatever veggies you have to use, and avocado. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Eatin' out of the Pantry- Part 4

2010-07-24T06:00:00.000-04:00

I am excited to share one of my most favorite burger recipes yet!!! Thank you to Angela at OSG for sharing!!! Here is her recipe, copied from when she posted it here: Ingredients: 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas 1/2 cup regular oats 10 baby carrots or 2 carrots 1 tbsp coconut oil (or oil of your choice), melted 1.5 tsp Arvinda’s Curry Masala (or other good quality curry powder) 1/2 tsp Paprika 1/4

Eatin' out of the Pantry- Part 3

2010-07-23T06:00:00.000-04:00

If you're trying to save money, eating out of the pantry is great if you have a lot to choose from. We've been doing great so far. Rice and Beans with Veggies This is one of the easiest meals I make. I take quick cook brown rice and cook it in boiling water for 10 minutes. Once cooked, drain and return to pan. Place pan back on the oven burner and mix in cooked beans,

Eatin' out of the Pantry- Part 2

2010-07-22T07:00:00.001-04:00

So far so good! Eating out of the pantry has been pretty easy so far! Here is dinner: Tempeh Mash in Cabbage Leaves In a pan over medium heat, cook chopped Tempeh and any frozen veggies you have on hand in enough tomato sauce to cover. Simmer until hot and add salt and pepper to taste. Spoon into a cabbage leaf, fold up like a burrito, and nom nom nom.

Eatin' out of the Pantry- Part 1

2010-07-21T21:00:00.000-04:00

Good evening, everybody! Whenever I have to buy new clothes, new appliances, new anything... I try and save in other places. And it's not because we NEED to save in other places, it's just a habit. So anyway, I told Brenton this week "let's try to eat out of the pantry for the entire week!" Here we go! Our breakfasts and lunches aren't that exciting, so I'm going to stick to dinners.

Case-O-The Mondays?

2010-07-19T06:00:00.000-04:00

Need a pick-me-up this morning?? I made a great new smoothie that will make the worst case of the Mondays go away! Hello yummy smoothie. Where have you been all my life? 3 Beets Handful of Blueberries Juice of half of a Lemon Handful of Spinach Amazing Grass Green Powder Top with Blackberries Make it a great day!

My New Addiction

2010-07-18T11:00:00.000-04:00

I have a new addiction, and I'm sorry to say that they are SO addicting that I cannot buy them every week. I. Love. These. What I love even more are the ingredients. Nice. Aren't these little 'mistakes' cute? You can't really tell which flavor you'll get because they all look alike. It's like a surprise in each

My Bullet!!!!!

2010-07-17T10:00:00.001-04:00

This time baby, I'll be bullet-proof.... Couldn't resist. Look what arrived in the mail?! My new bullet!!! WOOOO HOOOO!!!! And the best part is.... SEE THAT?! FREE!!! DOUBLE WHOO HOOO!!!! I won it from Camilla. I haven't been able to try it yet because all of the parts are in the dishwasher, but as soon as I do, I'll report my findings. One

Vegan Pizza

2010-07-16T20:28:00.000-04:00

Hi everybody! I made a YUMMY vegan pizza tonight for din din, complete with nut cheeze!! Fastest dinner ever. EVER. All I did was top an Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Tortilla with some Organic Pasta Sauce, Organic Frozen Veggies (literally whatever I had in the freezer... tonight was Peppers, Peas, and Spinach), Organic Zucchini, and a drizzle of Nut Cheeze. Baked at

STRESS is not my friend

2010-07-13T06:29:00.000-04:00

Good Tuesday morning to you all! I tell you what, lately my world has been busy, overwhelming, nerve-wracking, uncertain, exhausting, and insomnia inducing. Sounds like fun, right? Last night was another mind-buzzing sleepless night, and it's starting to catch up with me. I haven't exercised in days, can barely keep up with the house, and I have turned to pre-made food as my go-to. AH! (

At Least We're Not Detroit...

2010-07-09T07:09:00.000-04:00

TGIF y'all! What a week it's been, no!? Last night, we here in Ohio were on pins and needles waiting to hear if LeBron James was going to stay with Cleveland or go to New York, Chicago or Miami. Well, if you happened to turn on the news or go to Yahoo today, you'll see that LeBron is infact going to Miami. The first word out of my mouth, as out of the mouths of other Ohioans was "

Wild Grass...erm...Rice...

2010-07-08T07:07:00.000-04:00

This week is flying by- I can't believe it's Thursday already!!! SHEESH! Last night I made an EASY, yummy dinner Baked Sweet Potato topped with Wild Rice and Chickpeas. (side note: did you know that wild rice is actually a grass?!) Ok so this meal looks a little autumn-ish, but it sure was good! I cooked the Sweet Potato and wrapped it in aluminum foil to keep warm. In the

Time... Is On My Siiiiide....

2010-07-07T22:28:00.002-04:00

Maybe. What a crazy last couple of weeks. I swear, busy has become my middle name, and I'm EXAUSTED!! In college, time management was beaten over my head (almost to the point of being annoying), and for a while, I was a time management expert! Every hour of my day was planned out, from morning until night. And then I got sick. Really sick. Every year. I soon realized that I could not plan

Nuts About Nut Cheeze!

2010-07-02T21:35:00.000-04:00

Well, we've really done it now! Hippie is officially my middle name hahaha. Nut Cheeze is our new obsession, thank you Ani Phyo!! Nut Cheeze: 2 C Nuts (any you happen to have) 1 Clove Garlic 1/8 t Sea Salt 1/4 C Lemon Juice 1/4-1/2 C Water (add at the end to achieve the desired cheeze consistency) Blend all of the ingredients together! That's it! Blending..... finished

Smelly No More!

2010-06-28T22:20:00.000-04:00

Hi everybody!!! I am SO excited to tell you about my most recent discovery that I can hardly stand it!!!! I read somewhere that you can use coconut oil as deodorant. Thinking to myself "...heck, you're washing your face with honey, you might as well try it...", I did! AND would you believe it, IT WORKS GREAT! Just rub a little on (enough to cover) after showering in the morning(after drying

Gettin Clean... With Honey?!

2010-06-25T07:16:00.000-04:00

Hi everybody! Sorry for the lack of posting yesterday! I went to the 311 concert at a total spur of the moment. Remember 311? They're the ones that play such songs as: and... It was a good show as usual, but boy I'm tired today!! So if you'll remember my 'Confessions' post, I talked about how I've always had an issue with acne. In college I got so desperate that I resorted to

Happy Birthday to ME! (part 2)

2010-06-23T06:52:00.001-04:00

So to continue on with the birthday festivities.... Brenton and I went over to my parents' house for dinner! Presents for Brenton and me (his birthday is tomorrow). That polka-dot package on the right is a cast-iron skillet. HEA-VY! Dinner- On the menu was whole wheat pasta with sun dried tomatoes, garlic, onion, olive

Happy Birthday to ME! (part 1)

2010-06-21T22:23:00.000-04:00

Hi everybody! Yesterday was my birthday! I decided to treat myself (and Brenton) with some Vegan Pancakes!!! Seriously, easiest pancake recipe ever. Vegan Pancakes 1 C Flour (whatever flour you want! I used Whole Wheat) 1 T Baking Powder (Aluminum Free, of course!) 2 T Oil or Apple Sauce 1 T Agave Nectar (I used Honey instead) 1 C Milk (whatever milk you want! I used Almond Milk) Any

My Exercise Playlist

2010-06-18T06:23:00.000-04:00

Good morning and happy Friday to you all!! When I work out (ha, or do anything for that matter!), music is EVERYTHING to me. I have 5k playlists, travel playlists, housecleaning playlists.... you name it! I wanted to share my exercise playlist with you to help give you motivation! When I work out at home, I throw on YouTube with my own created playlist and it just runs until I'm done! Here

Breakfast Cookie Experiments...

2010-06-15T06:44:00.000-04:00

Happy Tuesday! Just a quickie post about a new breakfast cookie I'm trying (right now, actually!). Gingerbread Breakfast Cookie 1/2 Banana, mashed 1 t Vanilla Exctract 1 T Cinnamon 1 t Ground Ginger 1 T Chia Seeds 1 T Black Strap Molasses 1/2 c Rolled Oats Mash all together, refrigerate overnight. It's like eating gingerbread cookie dough with a fork. Delicious! I'm

Busy? No Problem!

2010-06-14T07:03:00.000-04:00

Can you believe it's Monday already?! Where did the weekend go? People often tell me "I'm too busy to eat healthy" or "I'm too busy to exercise". Those comments are not true, if you set yourself up for success. Here are some tips: 1- Don't buy junk food. That way, you have no choice but to eat healthy at home! Easy snacks are apples, bananas, almonds, raw food bars, cut up veggies, or

Oh the Burger...

2010-06-09T21:10:00.000-04:00

Hi everybody! I'm sooooo happy to share that the weight is STILL going down! 151 on the nose yesterday! 4 lbs to go!! ALLLLLMOST THERE!! I started the day with a LOVELY Breakfast Cookie Lunchie was an Apple with Almond Butter and Chili, with a loverly Larabar for a mid-afternoon snack. Dinner took a little while to make (BUT IT WAS SOOOOO WORTH IT!), so I snacked on a little bit of

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

2010-06-08T07:24:00.000-04:00

Good Tuesday morning to you all! Hope you had a nice weekend and didn't have a case of the Mondays! I don't have a whole lot of time, so here are the highlights. More pictures, less chitter chatter, right?! Breakfast Sunday- Barbara's Cereal with Pineapple and Almond Milk. I don't know why I hadn't been putting this yummy fruit on my cereal earlier!!!! YUM. I then went to

Holding Steady

2010-06-06T17:00:00.000-04:00

First of all, I am happy to say that I am holding steady at 152.8! That's a good sign, right? I started the day off on Saturday with a yummy bowl of Oatmeal, topped with Pineapple and Cherries. If you haven't tried this oatmeal combo yet, you are missing out. YUM YUM YUM YUM. I worked out about an hour afterward (burned 200 calories in 28 min! NICE!), and made myself a

On the up and up!

2010-06-06T11:24:00.000-04:00

Hi everybody! Sorry I have been MIA for the last day or so- summer has hit me with a BANG! Running here, running there, doing this, doing that. PHEW! So here's an update! Friday, I weighed in at 152.8!! (dances) For breakfast, I had the breakfast cookie-o-champions: Massive. I used Gina's recipe, and then added a little more oats and replaced the nut butter with a little

So Far So Good

2010-06-04T07:11:00.001-04:00

Happy Friday to you all! What a short week it has been (which is fine with me)!! Any big plans this weekend? We don't have too much going on- couple of grad parties, laundry, cleaning...the norm. OH!!! My CSA is supposed to start today or tomorrow. I'm SO excited! If you don't know what a CSA is, it's "Community Supported Agriculture", where you pay a certain amount and get veggies

The Diet.... Day 1

2010-06-03T19:06:00.001-04:00

Happy almost Friday to you all!!! If you haven't already done so, I'm now on Facebook and would LOVE for you to be my friend! Click over there (and down a little bit) to follow --------> I want to thank you for your kind comments so far! The last post was a lot of ramblings, which I hope will get me where I want to be, and inspire you to come along, too! Sorry for the delay in update- I was

Confessions

2010-06-02T11:16:00.000-04:00

Good day, everyone! I wanted to share with you my journey to health- where it has been and where it is going. It all started back in elementary school. Boy, that's sad. I remember waaaay back in first grade, we started learning about healthy snacks. We were taught that any snack that had 5g of fat or less was a good choice. For whatever reason, one day we were all sitting in our 'tables' (

Memorial Day Cookout- The Verdict

2010-05-31T14:34:00.001-04:00

After all of the prep work for the Memorial Day Cookout- how did everything turn out, you ask? Well.... here are my thoughts. We made absolutely DELICIOUS veggie kabobs. Look at all the veggie yummies!!! Our kabobs and tempeh before it went on the grill Aaron (my brother-in-law) did a GREAT job of keeping the meat separate from our non-meat selves.

Memorial Day Cookout- The Prep

2010-05-31T13:39:00.002-04:00

Happy Monday, everyone! This is a 2-part bloggie about the BBQ yesterday! In the morning, I marinated some tempeh with a spicy and fabulous BBQ sauce! Annie's Naturals Hot Chipotle BBQ sauce. SO GOOD. Like the technique?! Then I wrapped it in plastic wrap and foil to let it marinate for a few hours in the fridge. On to the

Out in the Woods

2010-05-30T12:19:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone! Hope you're enjoying your weekend so far! Yesterday, Brenton and I had quite a productive day!! We started out at Kohl's, trying to find Brenton some new clothes that actually fit him (he's been swimming in his outfits for a while now...). He made out pretty well- got some new pants, shorts, shirts and shoes! ...and as I sit here typing to you I hear him in the basement putting

Memorial Weeknd

2010-05-28T15:57:00.000-04:00

HAPPY FREAKY FRIDAY AND LONG WEEKEND TO YOU ALL!!! (dance dance shimmy twiiiiirrrrrllll) In light of Memorial Day, I wanted to share with you my thoughts on gratitute and what this day means to me, but first, the food! Yesterday was full of whole-food deliciousness!! I started the day off right with my favorite YUMMMY oatmeal This baby had 1/2 C of Oats, 1 C of Water, a

Sweet Treat- Chocolate Covered Raisins

2010-05-27T07:00:00.000-04:00

Hi everybody! Happy almost TGIF! AND it's almost TGIF of a LONG WEEKEND! Woot woot!! Just a quickie post about my brand new favorite sweet treat! I got inspired to make some chocolate covered raisins the other day (remember having those chemical-laden ones as a kid?!...gross). Check it out! They look pretty good, no? All I did was melt a square of Trader Joe's dark

Happy Birthday! Real Cake!

2010-05-26T07:00:00.002-04:00

So we've made it to Wednesday, huh? What a a BEAUTIFUL day in Central Ohio! The sun is shining, no clouds in the sky, about 86 degrees for the high- LOVELY! Speaking of lovely, my mom's birthday was this weekend! I decided to try a newb birthday cake recipe! My version of the recipes is not (gasp) RAW or VEGAN (I know... that's so not like me, right?!), but the original recipe IS vegan.

Starbucks gone RAW!

2010-05-25T09:52:00.001-04:00

It's been a long time since I've been in Starbucks. Actually, the last time I was in one was before our trip to Miami last October. My sister and I went a few days ago, and let me tell you, I was AH-MAZED! I cannot BEGIN to tell you how excited I am that Starbucks carries Annie's organic snacks and (OMG!) RAW FOOD BARS! Look how great! These are made by Two Moms in the

Simple Raw Fruit Sorbet

2010-05-24T06:49:00.002-04:00

Boy do I have a treat for you!!! This weekend I made raw fruit sorbet and it was DE-LISH. Look at all this fruity goodness!!!! Freeze 1/2 to 1 whole banana, peeled and chopped into smaller pieces, per person. Dump in some fresh or frozen fruit (your choice! I used fresh strawberries and frozen blueberries). I think I used 4 large strawberries and about 1/4 c of frozen

Quinoa Soup Recipe- SO EASY

2010-05-20T20:25:00.000-04:00

SUPER EASY Quinoa soup recipe!! It's what was for dinner tonight!

Travel Breakfast

2010-05-20T08:38:00.000-04:00

It's almost TGIF day!! With summer just around the corner, and a trip to Disney following closely behind, I have been thinking about different types of breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks that are good "on the road" types of meals. This breakfast that I made the other day requires nothing that HAS to be refridgerated- and can be made right in your hotel room with no fridge or (YIKES)

Healthy... what does that mean?

2010-05-19T08:42:00.001-04:00

Happy Wednesday! I hope you are all enjoying this very strange weather we're having! Today in Columbus it felt like Seattle! SO WEIRD. Not to rant, but I have a little nugget for you to think about today. Last evening, I was on one of my favorite message boards, and someone had posted a question asking about a 'healthy cake' for them to take to a party. The FIRST reply was a recipe that

The Almond Milk Experiment- part 2

2010-05-18T16:25:00.000-04:00

Good afternoon, bloggies!!! I'm excited to share that I have made a SECOND BATCH of almond milk! So, that goes to show you that the first batch was good enough to try again! I tried my first ever almond milk green smoothie this morning, and let me tell you, it was DI-VINE! That's a tower of raw goodness if I've ever seen one. Smoothie of champions. Ingredients:1/2 C Almond Milk1/2 Banana1/

Healthy Chocolate Brownies

2010-05-14T16:01:00.000-04:00

Good afternoon, bloggies! I am so excited that I found Happy Herbivore's recipe for brownies! These are great if you're on a whole food or vegetarian diet (not diet. LIFESTYLE), or if you're just trying to eat healthy but still want to have a treat. Boy, are these a treat! Here is my version of HH's Black Bean Brownie recipe (you can see the real version here) Ingredients:1 Can of Beans (

The Almond Milk Experiment

2010-05-13T06:00:00.001-04:00

Are you ready for this? Brenton said to me the other day "you know... we don't NEED milk..." So that got me thinking- should we start getting Almond Milk? But the pre-packaged stuff has all that junk in it- even the organic kind! So, how about making my own? You bet-cha! It was SO easy. Seriously! And if you're wondering about calorie breakdown, each Cup of this recipe is 138 calories.

You Say Tomato...

2010-05-12T06:00:00.000-04:00

You say tom-a-to, I say tom-ah-to... ...ok that's enough. I made two GREAT tomato dishes yesterday that I want to share with you!! First up, a tomato-caper sauce for pasta. TALK ABOUT MAJOR YUM FACTOR!!! All I did was saute cherry tomatoes (a good couple of handfuls), a couple of teaspoons of capers, dash of olive oil, 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic, and black pepper in a

Slop for school lunches? Think again.

2010-05-11T08:31:00.001-04:00

One of my students said to me today "Hey, did you read this article in the paper?! Granville is getting rid of processed food in their cafeteria!!" WHAT?! THIS IS HUGE!!!! Thank you Jamie Oliver for seriously staring the 'revolution'!!! Here is the article if you would like to look at it: Fresh food pays off for Granville schools. To paraphrase, if you don't have time to look at it, this

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T21:27:00.000-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to all you mom's out there!!! In celebration of this day, I made a BRAND NEW (to me) recipe!! Pineapple Icebox, thank you Ani Phyo! You can also watch her make it here. Look how FABULOUS this looks. Yeah, it's THAT good. And SO easy to make. Here is my version of Ani's recipe. Crust: 2 C Cashews 1 Vanilla Bean, scraped (I used 1 T vanilla extract) 2 T

Hodge -Podge Dinner

2010-05-08T10:00:00.004-04:00

So as weird as this looks... I made a fantastic dinner the other day!! This recipe was SO quick, and SO hearty. Oh, and was FABULOUS as leftovers (as Brenton says) Here's what's in it- (serves 2) 1/2 C Brown Rice 1/2 C Black Beans, drained and rinsed 1/2 C Frozen Peas 1/2 C Frozen Peppers, chopped 1/4 C Salsa Salt, Pepper, and FRANKS RED HOT SAUCE to taste (I love Franks...

Breakfast of Joy

2010-05-07T21:51:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone. Just a quicky green smoothie recipe because I have a busy weekend ahead. Luckily it's a foodie weekend, so there will be lots of pictures to come! Pick Me Up Green Smoothie In this baby I have: 1/8 c Chia Seeds, soaked to form a gel 1/2 Frozen Banana 3/4 c Frozen Spinach 2 Kiwi 1 scoop of Amazing Grass Green Powder Water to help it blend This