I have four different celebrations to share with you today – a bit random from each other – but at least they all have to do with eating!
I’m officially back from my trip to Expo West and I haven’t quite recovered yet. Being 3 hours behind on west coast time + the additional day light savings time has really thrown me off. Tonight, my goal is to be in the bed by 10:30pm…we will see how that goes considering the amount of work I need to get done.
Celebration #1
I’d like to announce the Earth Fare Give Away winner from last week….It’s Kelly Duke! Yeah Kelly! Congratulations!
She’s been notified and will be receiving the bag of travel goodies from Earth Fare this week! And I have another delicious Easter themed give away to announce in just a moment…
But first… Usually the day after a trip I try to get back on my eating schedule ASAP – but this just didn’t happen yesterday.
Started the morning off right. You know the drill – Habit #1, Green Vibrance
I was so happy my husband left me a few collard leaves for my protein shake that I consumed on the way to work… I couldn’t believe it, but he didn’t eat out once while I was gone…he didn’t order pizza or anything – cooked every meal himself… I loved hearing this and about the crazy new things he’s cooking up now like Pad Thai and Crispy Collards.
Celebration #2 – Dined at Luce for lunch to celebrate my brother’s 40th birthday. I order the “Organico” salad to start (forgot to take a picture), and this fabulous stuffed pepper with quinoa risotto….This is the best vegetarian dish hands down in Uptown Charlotte – it’s to DIE for.
For dessert – I stole the large strawberry, raspberry and blackberry on top of my brother’s birthday tiramisu.
After work I hit up Smoothie King for 4 ounces of wheatgrass since there was no way I was going to be able to make juice tonight. (Fridge now empty) There should be signs on the side walk for wheatgrass not coke, I tell ya!
Celebration #3 – I was the featured speaker and guest for Elle Palmer’s 3 Weeks to Wellness, a 21 day cleanse program that is a must try if you are trying to clean up your diet and live in the area. The last event of every cleanse is a multi course celebration meal. On the menu – A “Tropical Fiesta” prepared by the fabulous Chef Julia from No Face Plate.
Check out all the delicious gluten free, vegan, no refined sugar eats. I can’t believe this food was “cleanse” approved… it was so decadent and filling… someone could have rolled me out of there at the end of the night.
For the appetizer, Nachos Nirvana – Curry dusted corn chips, peanut-lentil masala mash, cucumber – cilantro guacamole
Here’s a close up. I wish you could smell and taste these from your computer screen. No one would have ever known these were made with nacho cheese sauce made from nutritional yeast and pimentos! After this appetizer I spoke about some tips and tricks about continuing to live a nutritionally clean food life after the cleanse is over. I also shared what a typical day of eating entails for me – this spawned on all sorts of questions like “Where do I get those goji berries!?!”
First Course – Spiced Tomato Bisque with Roasted Corn Granita
Main Course – Samosa Poblanos and Black Bean Tempeh 2 ways, Banana Leaf Tamale, Ranchero Sauce, and Coconut Greens
Dessert – Horchata Pudding and Mango Sauce, this was really really good, but after the above consumption, I only ate a couple of bites – I noticed everyone else at my table cleaned their plate though.
Celebration #4 – Announcing a give away from Yummy Earth! Easter is right around the corner… Forget the conventional jelly beans packed with artificial coloring, preservatives and crazy chemicals this year and choose these “Sour Beans” for the little one in your life (or for yourself) to celebrate! I’ll be using little snack packs of these to fill my nephew’s easter baskets this year – I can’t wait.
As you know Yummy Earth products are featured on the Food Babe Shop and are a staple in my pantry for when I am having a good old fashioned candy attack. Cheers to Yummy Earth for producing a line of gummies, hard candies, pops and now these sour beans for kids and adults to enjoy as a special occasion treat without having to worry about harsh chemicals.
If you win, you’ll get a big family pack of the Yummy Earth Sour Beans as pictured below.
To enter the give away – all you need to do is subscribe here (if you aren’t already) and leave a comment below by 3/20/2011. I would love to know one healthy decision you made today to avoid chemicals in your life – whether it be something you ate, a cosmetic product you used or a lifestyle habit you follow! I’m sure other readers of this community would love to know too. Sharing is caring!
Ok, now I’m off to find some more wheatgrass…getting back on track today.
Food Babe
I started to only buy natural soap products for my family. I took the time to read the ingredients listed on some very innocent looking soaps (even those marketed as fairly natural) & could not recognize any of them. So it’s only products with ingredients I can pronounce & recognize that I am using on our skin now!
Now, that’s attention to detail! Have you tried “Kiss my Face Pure Olive Oil Soap”… it’s my favorite in the whole wide world!
One healthy decision I made today to avoid chemicals was to bring my own: coffee from home (organic with stevia and organic almond milk) bring my own snacks and not buy from my company’s on-site store (which consisted of organic almonds/walnuts with goji berries, organic apple, and Mary’s Gone Crackers crackers), and bring my own lunch) rather than purchase the chemical-induced meats and pesticide-ridden veggies from my company’s cafeteria, which was leftover (all organic ingredient) sweet potato chicken noodle soup from last night). 🙂 Would love to win easter treats!
I’m impressed. That’s like 8 healthy decisions in a row…. you go girl!
I started using Kiss My Face Olive Oil Soap, and it’s the only soap that I use in the shower now!
Loooooove that stuff. I’m almost out right now (we’ve been using a little nub of that soap in the shower the past week… ) I need to order more asap!
I passed on the red meat sandwich today (especially after reading about the pink slim here lately) and opted for an Earthbound Organic Power Greens salad with homemade Balsamic Vinegar Dressing!
Sounds yummy. I haven’t tried one of those power meals yet …
I decided not to use dryer sheets anymore when I found out that a few drops of essential oil on a washcloth can help with the static cling and fragrance my laundry naturally. I love using lavender for my towels and that tiny bottle of essential oil takes up no space in my cabinet above my dryer. For more information on this go to experience-essential-oils.com/homemade-dryer-sheets.html.
Super good tip! Thanks for sharing the link too.
Ran my first 15K Saturday…couldn’t have done it without you and my diet change ~8 months ago…water instead of Coke, green smoothies, juicing, tons of raw fruits and veggies….I couldn’t feel any better! Thank you so much for your blog!
WOW. That’s incredible Holly! I’ve never run a race in my life… I admire your commitment!
I was going to buy Pssst Dry Shampoo, but I noticed the first two ingredients are butane and propane. Yikes!! Needless to say, I did Not buy it.
That’s awesome Powell. My favorite shampoo used to have those ingredients in it too. Good thing I trashed it years ago!
Satisfied my craving for something SWEET with a navel orange and it completely did the trick!!
Those oranges really do the trick…I ate a few on the plane rides I took recently – sweet and hydrating 🙂
First off, love your blog!!!
I do my best every day to eat clean and live clean. Today began with exercise, use of my natural cosmetic line (including my pure coconut oil lotion ritual!) and a tasty green drink. 🙂
Thanks for sharing Rachel. That coconut oil lotion ritual sounds nice!
Let me just say that I love reading your blog! I have always had health, wellness and nutrition on my mind, but only really started being a bit more hardcore about what I eat and how much I exercise this past January. Your blog is so inspiring in my journey to become a healthier and happier woman!!!
I’ve been an ovo-lacto vegetarian since I was 10 years old. Being young and easily-influenced, I thought it was a cool thing to do, and unfortunately I unwittingly formed some bad habits over the last 18 years (like replacing meat with dairy products that were loaded with sugar and tons of refined carbohydrates).
Recently, however, I started seeing a wonderful nutritionist and writing down every little thing I eat/drink and every minute of activity I can squeeze into my busy days. I have seen a huge change in my body, my sleeping pattern, my mood, and even my way of thinking. It is truly incredible what a huge impact the things you eat can have on your wellbeing and your entire life.
I’ve also cleaned out my entire bathroom cabinet and pantry that used to be full of products that contained terrible chemicals and preservatives (sorry, Sephora!) and am now obsessed with 100% Pure products (http://www.100percentpure.com/). Not only do they all smell amazing, but I feel wonderful about using them, knowing that they won’t damage my hair or skin, or worse, cause cancer!
I’ll have to check that out… I love how your nutritionist is having you write down everything you eat. I really believe that is one of the only ways to stay on track. Good luck in your journey Heather!
Since reading your blog, I’ve made a number of healthy changes starting with following Habit #1 (lemon + cayenne + warm water) every morning! I’ve been doing that since mid-January now and starting this week, have included my husband in this morning habit! I haven’t been doing my green juices daily (time crunch!) but manage to get it in on average 4 times a week. I’ve switched my body lotion & facial cleanser to Avalon Organics and have ditched my chemical-laden antibacterial gel in favor of Clean Well.
I’ve been good about favoring organic produce for a while but now I’m honing in on packaged goods and being very critical of the ingredients to what used to be some of my favorite foods – if the ingredient list is confusing, why do I want to eat that?! A healthy decision I’m making today is to grab some organic beer tonight (probably Peak Organic) for my husband and friends for their St Patrick’s Day celebration and prepping some mint cacao chia pudding for the celebration as well. If I have time tomorrow, I’d like to also make an organic wheat Irish Soda bread!
Those nachos look AMAZING – is there a recipe available? I’m throwing a Cinco de Mayo bridal shower for my brother’s fiance and I’d love to make those nachos for it!
Excited that you are picking up organic beer for St. Patty’s day – someone at work asked me today what the best way was to color their beer “Green” – Haha!
I’ll check to see if I can get the recipe… they were INSANE!
Those nachos look AMAZING! YUM!
I try to eat clean every day. Some days are better than others, but I always make both my breakfast and lunch at home the night before and steer clear of the cafeteria, McDonalds (ew), and vending machines at my workplace.
I just discovered your blog today and can’t believe I’ve been missing out! I, too, live in Charlotte and the food from Luce has me drooling! I’ll definitely be sure to pay them a visit.
Just this week I changed my mascara and picked up an all natural version from Earth Fare.
My kids and I had homemade granola (with honey) with raw pumpkin seeds and organic dried fruit along with a green smoothie for breakfast….no more boxed chemical laden cereal for us! Hope I win to help our Easter baskets be healthy!
I love this company… would be great to win some more 🙂 Subscribed.
i’ve been saving up to be able to go a week with nothing but organic foods. took me about two weeks, and now this week i only bought organic fruits, vegetables, beans, and nuts! looking forward to seeing how my body feels after =)
I would love to try this candy.
Sorry Jaclyn – A winner has already been chosen. I’ll be having some more yummy give aways in the future… stay tuned!
Lunch today: organic homemade guacamole, Garden of Eatin’ chips, organic apple & almond butter! Totally GMO free! Thank you so much for all of your recommendations, work, and standing up for NC!