Refresh! Electrolyte Lemonade

I saw this recipe this morning while I was reading around my usual pile of morning emails and it looks to be like the perfect summer drink! No silly not the kind of a summer drink that will leave you with a hangover but the kind of summer drink that will leave you refreshed and better (see how I snuck that in there)!

The Electrolyte Lemonade recipe can be found HERE on the Well Daily website!


Enjoy and be sure to double the recipe that way you get more out of your time in the kitchen!

xoxoxoxo

Mushroom and Olive Veggie Burgers

It can be hard on sometimes on week nights to make something yummy for your tummy,good for your skin and quick to make but this week at my house we managed to find and make just that recipe!

 If you need a few reasons to make these burgers consider the health benefits of the mushrooms alone:

1. Lowfat: Mushrooms contain about 80 to 90 percent water, and are very low in calories (only 100 cal/oz). They have very little sodium and fat, and 8 to 10 percent of the dry weight is fiber.
2. Potassium: Mushrooms are an excellent source of potassium, a mineral that helps lower elevated blood pressure and reduces the risk of stroke. One medium portabella mushroom has even more potassium than a banana or a glass of orange juice. One serving of mushrooms also provides about 20 to 40 percent of the daily value of copper, a mineral that has cardioprotective properties. 
3. Riboflavin, Niacin and Selenium. Mushrooms are a rich source of riboflavin, niacin, and selenium. Selenium is an antioxidant that works with vitamin E to protect cells from the damaging effects of free radicals.Selenium is also very good for health of bones, teeth, nails, hair and as an anti oxidant
4. Immunity: Ergothioneine, a powerful anti oxidant present in mushrooms is very effective in giving protection from free radicals as well as boosting up immunity. Mushrooms contain natural antibiotics (similar to penicillin, which itself is extracted from mushrooms) which inhibit microbial and other fungal infections. They also help heal ulcers and ulcerous wounds and protect them from infections. A good combination of vitamins A, B-Complex and C, found in mushrooms also strengthens immune system.
5. Other Benefits: Mushrooms are the only vegetable and the second known source (after cod liver oil) to contain vitamin-D in edible form. They are rich in calcium (good for bones), iron (benefits in anemia), and copper (anti bacterial).

So whip these up this week! We added sliced avocado and sweet potato fries on the side!!MMMMMMM

Click here for the Recipe!

Balancing the NOW with the FUTURE

Lets face it a girl has to have big dreams! Some dreams are way more day to day like a dream of having nothing but Bacon for dinner! Some dreams are a tad bigger like meeting the man of your dreams and riding off into the sunset or planning the vacation of a lifetime to Nepal or Africa.

Finding a balances between how to achieve the far off dreams all the while trying to enjoy the realized dreams of today is a big work in progress for me.

I want to travel, make music, make art, have substantial money in savings, have a big family, read a ton of books, have a lush beautiful garden and own a pony! ETC!!! You get the drift!
 I also would really in the next year like to move out of TEXAS! I want to live on the West Coast. There are a few things that need to happen for this to be a reality but I am setting the intention that I would like to be moving out of state this time next year.

I also want to meditate more and do a better job of staying in the present. I tend to start my meditation practice and about mid-week I watch it trail off even though as a Yoga teacher I know and have deeply experienced its profound benefits.

Someone wise once told me that every problem is also solved by GRATITUDE! Loving what you knowingly created TODAY in the very here and now only helps to strengthen your projection on what you want in the FUTURE!

URGG so why is it so hard to do? Staying rooted in gratitude is a challenge to staying in the present. 

So my challenge to you and myself is to stay more rooted in the present and stay more rooted in GRATITUDE!
PS:
Here is the mantra I am going to start in my meditation this week! Feel free to try it!

xoxooxxo

MUSIC is the MUSE!

Music like most other artistic endeavors falls under the "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" category but folks let me just go out on a limb here and say that we all love music in some way shape or form.
If you are anything like me you find that the constant discovery of new music thrilling! I am always searching for the next best song to play on a Sunday drive.
Lo and behold I found a fabulous blog a few days back that does marvelous Music Monday posts!
Have a listen for yourself and you too will soon be hooked!

Music Mondays via Destined to Design

xoxoxoxoxoxxo

Thyme Infused Honey

As per my post last week I am hopelessly in love with honey! What could be better in life than honey and the tasty and ever so healthful Thyme!
Infused honey's are a wonderous thing. They bring together the powerful kung fu punch of honey with all of its anti bacterial and antioxidant benefits as well as the benefit of whatever herb that you choose to infuse in the honey.
Today we are using Thyme!
What you will need:
1. fresh thyme- if you have a garden be sure to pick your herbs first thing in the morning when they are fresh and dewy, or you can use store bought FRESH thyme and it needs to be ORGANIC!
2. Organic RAW honey!
3. a small glass jar ( I like to get mine at the container store) be sure to use only glass!
4. a couple of cloves of garlic ( if you want to kick things up a notch!)

Infusing Honey
Be sure to rinse and pat your thyme dry with a cloth towel so that all of the extra moisture is taken out. Fill whatever glass jar that you have selected about 3/4 full with honey and then ad the thyme stem and all. A lot of people bother with putting the herbs in tea bags but personally I think the more the thyme and the honey mingle the better. This is where I will peel and slice a garlic clove in half and put it in the honey. This make for a spice, thymy, sweet mixture that is beyond amazing!!!
Leave your honey on the counter for about a week and then because its your honey you can dip your finger in and try a little bit.
I will usually leave the thyme in the whole time I am using the honey but if you don't feel like working around the glorious herb while you are scrapping the honey out of the jar then feel free to just pick up up the thyme by the top of the stick and remove.

Uses for Thyme Honey because It's Really Fucking Good For You!
- MMMMMM drizzle all over a nice sharp cheddar, sprinkle with walnuts and serve with crackers
- use as a cough syrup!
-add to your tea in the morning it makes a nice little addition to green tea
-add to a your own homemade salad dressing mix for a little sweetner
-if your not a cheddar cheese fan go ahead and drizzle it all over some greek yogurt for an afternoon snack!

Monday: Herb of the Week THYME!

THYME!

A couple of years ago I took an herbal intensive in Denver, CO. It was an herb/Celtic wisdom bootcamp if you will. Aside from learning a lot I met a ton of very cool women who connected with the earth in very different and real ways. There were all walks of life and ages in this group of women but the one thing that bound us together was that we were all interested in deepening out knowledge and understanding of HERBS. 

Perhaps you have not started to explore the deep, magical and wide world of herbs. I thought in keeping with the intention that I started this blog we could dive into one herb a week! Learning and spending time getting to know each HERB and how to use and care for our bodies and skin with the wisdom and knowledge of the HERBS!

I am excited about this project for two reasons. I feel like I use HERBS in so many ways in my everyday life but I forget about all the awesome and cool knowledge and history they all have so this little assignment will help me to reinvestigate some of my old favorites! This weekly adventure will also expose some people to some new HERBS and give a wider audience knowledge that HERBS are for more than just cooking!

Over the next week I will post skincare, cooking and overall wellness tips incorporating thyme!

 Now some fun facts about Thyme!

-When the Greeks said that someone "smelled of thyme" it meant that the person was elegant, refined, and stylish.

- Fairies are said to love thyme. In France and England, people often created a bed of thyme to attract fairies and make them feel at home in the garden.

-The essential oil of thyme is called thymol. It was isolated in 1725 by the German apothecary Neuiuiann.

-Thyme was sacred to the Druids, who used it to treat depression and ward off negativity. 

-

-A member of the mint family, thyme is a perennial evergreen shrub, whose sometimes woody stems are covered with small, gray-green to green leaves. Its small, two-lipped flowers range in color from pale pink to purple and bear quadruplet nutlet fruits. The entire plant is aromatic. 

ahhhhhh don't you just love Thyme!

xoxooxoxoxo

 

Fun Product Packaging Friday

Lets face it folks Bee's are the Bee's knee's!!

Trust me I would know my fair share of information about bee's they love to seek me out and say hello ALOT with a big ole stinging KISS.
I probably have been stung about 40-50 times! That's quite OK, I still find them totally amazing and they are pretty much essential in this whole circle of life thing were all involved in!

Pretty Awesome Facts About Bee's!
1. Honey bees, scientifically also known as Apis mellifera, are environmentally friendly and are vital as pollinators.
2. It is the only insect that produces food eaten by man.
3. Honey is the only food that includes all the substances necessary to sustain life, including enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and water; and it's the only food that contains "pinocembrin", an antioxiant associated with improved brain functioning.
4. Honey bees communicate with one another by "dancing" OMG cutest thing ever to imagine!
5. "If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live?" ~ Albert Einstein
6.  A honey bee visits 50 to 100 flowers during a collection trip.

OK whew sorry about that little tangent it's just those little buggers are really freaking amazing.
Here we are back to FUN Packaging Friday!!

 1. Ballard Bee Company! 
2. Be Raw
3. Urban Apiaries 
4. Tru Bee
5. Spanish Honey