As stated in my last Beauty Routine post on my teeth and body care, I am just as careful as to what I put ON my body as to what I put IN my body. I can't stress enough that investing in high quality products that are gentle on your skin, hair, body, face & nails will help preserve the quality and health you are trying to obtain through diet, rest and exercise. Read on to see how I tend to my skin & delicate eyes...
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This week has been a good week. We are halfway to the weekend. So, that's awesomesauce. I personally loathe the phrase "Hump Day", I prefer the nice simplistic "middle of the week" when referring to this glorious Wednesday. Although my hormones have pushed my anxiety to un-fun levels and I was back at the doctors, there is always good to be found. Like how Mr. Charming and I have a meeting to be Pre-Marital coaches through church! How two of my girlfriends had babies this week! Or how Wanderlust is taking off, sending me to amazing destinations where I get to WRITE and SEE COOL THINGS. And then there is chocolate. Enter brownies... After Mr. Charming and I spent the day Dating Our City, we knew we wanted to end it with a lovely evening at home with a delicious meal. And we wanted to try something new. There seems to be a new phenomenon in the Paleo world in the form of a new book. Being a part of the Paleo community, I'm probably more exposed to things of this nature than most, but I couldn't deny that a certain title kept coming up again and again and again. Paleo Takeout by Russ Crandall... The name Everlast has been somewhat of a fixture in my home since I was a little girl. Growing up I always watched my dad watching the boxing greats. Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and Holyfield were men my dad cheered on as a hobby. He also had a gym in our garage where he would box and workout. Though I may not remember any details from any of the matches, I was after all, only five years old, I do remember his red Everlast boxing gloves.... Seriously. Mikey's Muffins. It doesn't need much more explanation than that. Except for the fact that if you are not yet aware of this fabulous, grain-free, little miracle muffin, then I will continue. I have to say I have not yet used mine to their full potential. The morning my shipment of muffins arrived I ripped open the box, nearly salivating, and made myself a simple breakfast sandwich. But you see, in a world of gluten-free, grain-free, non-processed food consumption a simple breakfast sandwich rarely, if ever, happens. So, this was really exciting for me people. I dub thee my little delicious McMikeyMuffin.I cracked open my organic eggs in my little round mini-pan and flipped them until cooked through, so they could resemble a breakfast sandwich egg, (except non-processed and oil free!) and made some as-healthy-as-you-can-get-for-sausage breakfast sausage rounds and popped my Mikey's Muffins in the toaster. I put it all together with a little slather of Paleo approved mayo with a side of fruit and enjoyed my breakfast barely uttering a peep to Mr. Charming. (When foods really good, we rarely speak at meal time. Food is just that important, haha.) What I love most is how simple and short the ingredients list is. That's what I look for. Brevity is everything. In my line of work as a magazine editor and in my food labels. The original flavor uses just six simple ingredients: Eggs, Almond Flour, Purified Water, Coconut Flour, Baking Soda and Kosher Salt. They are also certified gluten-free and paleo friendly! They come in three flavors currently, Original, Toasted Onion and Cinnamon Raisin. I tasted all three and my personal favorites are the original and toasted onion. The toasted onion flavor is subtle and nice, not overwhelming. The cinnamon raisin flavor uses Stevia, and though I'm not big on the flavor of Stevia, it's nice to know the company uses a natural sweetener instead of cane sugar! Another plus in my book. The original tastes much like the biscuits I make with almond flour, but now I can enjoy them anytime I want without any prep time and very little cook time. They are also easily portable to pop in my small travel toaster in a hotel room when I want something filling in the mornings. I'm excited to try new recipes with them and I have a few in mind in the way of sliders and sandwiches. Keep an eye on Nosh and Nurture's official Instagram - @noshandnurture for those posts. For more information on the product and where you can get your hands on your own yummy little Mikey's Muffins, visit MikeysMuffins.com. This is a sponsored post. I received free product in exchange for writing this review. All opinions, as well as the photography, are my own.
This past weekend I was honored to be one of the official bloggers for a second year in a row at the Gluten Free and Allergen Free Expo in Phoenix. Being in a community of people who celebrate healthy living, gluten-free and dairy-free eating and who just enjoy the companies of others who do, I always get freshly inspired to make new recipes, to inspire others myself and to write and connect with you all even when my schedule is crazy.
I decided this year to do something a little different. Instead of a walk through play-by-play, that already played out on my social media, I wanted to highlight my Top 5 Favorite Vendors of the weekend. A few old, that I've been a fan of along my gluten-free journey, and a few new, who I was pleasantly surprised by. Below my review on each... (note that none of this post is endorsed, in any way, by any of these companies. This is purely my personal opinion.) My Top 5 Favorite VendorsAnd #1 Goes To....Beanfield's offers delicious gluten-free, corn-free, bean and rice based chips in a variety of flavors. The sea salt flavor is my favorite and is delicious by itself or with your favorite salsa. I personally pair them with fresh avocado and Trader Joe's Peach Salsa. Mompops was new to me! And although their products are not yet available on the West Coast (bummer!) they should be coming here soon and offer 100% fruit pops with just 2-3 ingredients per bar. They were serving up a mango flavor and a coffee variety at the show and the company reps were some of the most charming and friendly people at the entire show! Wildtree offers gluten free bread (YUMMY, gluten free bread) that is also YEAST free. Enough said. Yummy. Yeast Free. Buy some now. Neal's Yard was promoting various products including teas, but their beauty products stuck out to me. All created with essential oils their deodorant and face masks caught my eye and may be popping up on my beauty reviews soon. Jovial Pasta. I've never eaten a pasta that tastes LESS gluten-free than this one. In a lot of brown-rice pastas you get that heavier texture and that after taste. Gluten-free foodies, you know what I mean. And rarely do I find a pasta with such fresh, pure taste. They offer a variety, from lasagna noodles to penne, spaghetti and egg noodles (my absolute FAVORITE), so you can mix it up. When I'm tolerating grains well, this is one of my top go to dinner party pasta. Overall, an amazing show again this year! There were so many more people this year, and so many amazing food, beauty and home vendors. Make sure to check it out if and when it comes to a city near you. Did I mention ours was within walking distance to an H&M? So I just had to... Until next time my lovelies...This is a sponsored post. I received free product from Soy Nut Butter Co. in exchange for writing this review. Although this post is sponsored, all opinions, as well as the photography, are my own. Have I mentioned for the 14th billionth time how much I LOVE FALL. No? Ok. Cool. Well then this would be the 14th billionth time. Fall makes all my food-loving tendencies just bubble over. The crockpot gets a permanent residence on my counter, and cinnamon goes in EVERYTHING. Which is good, because cinnamon is super good for you. So it's a win/win. It's easy to make savory fall dinners and desserts. What I wanted, was to find a delicious FALL themed breakfast that was more substantial than the latte's everyone's carting around in their mittened hands and healthier than a muffin or donut. I met the wonderful people at Soy Nut Butter Co. recently and a light went off. So many of my readers and friends have been requesting more nut-free recipes, and Soy Nut Butter Co. has an extensive product line that allows my recipe-creating loving ways to go wild. I recently got a bag of their new gluten-free breakfast granola made with their soy-nut butter (that's right, a non-nut butter that tastes like peanut butter) and apples, and I knew what I had to do. I wanted to created a warm-the-soul fall breakfast cereal that my non-nut eaters could enjoy. So many of my other featured cereals use almonds, and this one is completely nut free. AND as a bonus, as I don't include much soy in my diet, when I do I make sure it's non-GMO and Soy Nut Butter Co. soy is GMO free. It was SUPER easy to create, and the additions of pumpkin, organic maple syrup and cinnamon gave the cereal such an added robust warmth. The pumpkin seeds added additional crunch to the already wonderfully crunchy granola, but added another fall aspect. Since the Soy Nut Butter Co. granola is already prepared, I simply had to prepare my sweet maple pumpkin coating to mix it into. A little maple syrup, organic pumpkin puree and coconut oil, mixed in nicely with the granola and cinnamon. Once baked, the aroma was heavenly and once cooled, it was enjoyed both as a cereal with dairy-free milk or a top coconut yogurt, or as a handy snack to take to the pumpkin patch. Pumpkin Maple Granola
(using Soy Nut Butter Co. Gluten Free Apple Granola) Ingredients: 2 C. Soy Nut Butter Co. Gluten-Free Apple Granola 3/4 C. Pepitas 2 Tsp. Organic Cinnamon 1 TBSP. Coconut Oil 1/8 C. Organic Pumpkin Puree 1/8 C. Organic Maple Syrup Instructions: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment. Pour the Soy Nut Butter Co. Gluten-Free Apple Granola into a medium sized mixing bowl, adding in the pepitas and cinnamon, stir. In a small bowl, mix the coconut oil, maple syrup and pumpkin puree with a small whisk until fully mixed. Pour the wet ingredients into your granola and seed mix, and coat completely. Spread onto parchment paper and bake for 10-20 minutes until aromatic. Be careful not to burn your granola, as it's already prepared oats. Let cool completely and store in an airtight container. Enjoy! I would love to hear the delicious healthy fall recipes you are all trying! |
Welcome! My name is Mandi & I hope you stay in this happy little space a while. I'm a Christian, a wife to my Mr. Charming, mama to baby Greyson, healthy food-lover, traveler, professional journalist and Personal Nutritionist who hopes to inspire others with my story...
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October 2017
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