Click on image to read review! 

Which means I am counting down to fall. Eighteen days to go. I'm seriously counting. I wasn't kidding. I live in Arizona, which means each day that creeps closer to fall means I am closer to hiking again. Running outside. Picnicking in the park. Playing mini golf with Mr. Charming. Basically, not feeling like I'm going to die if I roll down the windows in my car only to be hit in the face with an oven-like heat. 

So... a few awesome things in September. The new featured recipe is now on the site! Zucchini pancakes which are scrumptious and are free of gluten, dairy, egg, grains, nuts and are completely vegan! 

Cold & flu season seems to have hit our house early this year. Oh joy. So Mr. Charming and I are stuck on the couch with an abundance of movies and veggies and supplements. Ok. and I snuck 2 gluten free chocolate chip cookies. But it was only 5 grams of sugar and I ate REALLY clean. Like, all week. 

To help better prepare your immune systems for the magic that is school and workplace germs, the following supplements and vitamins seem to work quite well. 
*Remember to always discuss any regimen with your doctor before starting new medications, vitamins or supplements

• Vitamin D -I load up on extra when I feel rundown, though I am also deficient. So it's a double whammy. I'm taking 4,000 iu a day right now.
• Echinacea - I do 1 capsule 2-3 times a day as a tea. Sometimes I add honey to cut the bitterness, but not often, because sugar feeds your germs. 
• ViraClear - I get this from my Naturopath in liquid form and I believe its saved me some colds in the past. 
• A pharmaceutical grade Probiotic - Everyday. 100 Billion. With gut issues and now a weakened immune system I can't afford not to devour these by the billions. 
• My morning protein shake - Loaded with turmeric, ginger, blueberries, and coconut it packs A LOT of anti-inflammatory, immune-boosting goodness. To see the one I use, click here. 
• And water - LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of water. Seriously. LOTS. 9+ glasses.

Stay healthy & be well! 
Sincerely ,
Mr. and Mrs. Sniffles. 

This week has definitely had its fair share of ups & downs. It mentally exhausted me. I cried a lot. Tried not to worry too much. Spent time with family and let my soul laugh and rejuvenate  I got to spend some much needed one on one time with my husband. And I wrote and worked, a lot. In a nutshell I went in for some tests, that looked as if they may be worse than they were, however, my Dr. is amazing and wanted to be thorough. So I am alright kiddos, however, I have been feeling sicker lately. A mix of hormonal stuff and I think grains were getting the best of me and I am on a mission to be grain free by Christmas. And a long term goal to control my candida. 


And this goal has really been a challenge for me. Because I like rice with stuff in moderation. I gave up gluten, dairy and corn cold turkey. Didn't look back, even though I still dream about cheese sometimes, but for some reason letting go of rice and sugar (even in the healthy, organic honey kind of way I consume it) hasn't been as cut and dry.


But my candida hasn't cleared and I know that it poses a real health danger. Fungi can lead to all kinds of worse health problems like my little scare this week so I want to do everything in my power to put the healthier fuel in my body, the fuel that God created for me to consume, that my body can handle. This week when I had a crazy chocolate craving I sat down and ate this. A big bowl of spinach, smothered in apple cider vinegar. I can't let it win. 

So, this week I am planning to attempt to create "rice" out of cauliflower to serve as a side dish. I will let you know how it goes, Mr. Charming isn't a cauliflower fan so I shall attempt to make it as "ricey" as possible with sea salt and a little coconut oil. A happy moment highlight, I spent the weekend at my sisters house and my picky-with-food two year old niece loved my lasagna and it made my heart happy! Wishing you all health, healing, love & happiness. Take it one day at a time. The great ones make it all worth it. 

So, the beautiful Nosh & Nurture guest poster, Miss Kaity, touched on her experience when I first met her. It's a concept I wasn't familiar with and truth be told am still not very familiar with. However, I feel it fits closely with the family of massage, and eastern practices of just using things from the Earth, natural, beautiful things God placed here for us to care for our bodies so I've asked her to do a few blogs introducing us all to it, to better understand the philosophy behind it and incorporate some of the lessons into our own health journeys. Read Kaity's latest blog here. 

I also wrote a review on the anti-inflammatory protein powder I get from my doctor to help internal inflammation (pictured above). It's called InflammaCORE and you can read the review on it here. That's lunch!

So, my Nosh & Nurture readers, today I came home to ANTS. It's summer and they've made their way into my kitchen seeking water and food I'm sure. We've located the little mound out in our yard, but Mr. Charming's instinct was to grab the ant spray for in our home! Since we are in the process of ELIMINATING all chemicals and toxins from our environment I'm thinking ant POISON is the LAST thing I want in my home, especially in my kitchen. So for the time being we sprayed our vinegar counter cleaner on them while we research natural ways to eliminate them and detour them from entering out home. Are there any natural remedies YOU'VE used on these little picnic-y pests? Leave advice in the comment box in the right hand column! Any advice would be appreciated. When we find a good solution, I will post it here as well.