Mason Jar Love

I can’t help but notice the mason jar fad all over the internet. So much so that I decided to use mason jars to help my husband and I stay healthy and focused this week. I used self sealing, wide mouth quart jars for the salads and self sealing, wide mouth pint jars for the yogurts and infused waters. Here are a few pictures and the benefits.

 

Fruit Infused Water

The infusion process involves placing all parts of fruits and vegetables into the water including rinds and peels. These contain high levels of vitamins ad antioxidants. It is much healthier than plain water.

No sugar. Infused water is ideal for people with diet and health restrictions. For example, a person with diabetes or one who is on a diet to lose weight must stay away from drinks that are loaded with sugar. Infused water is unsweetened, yet still tastes great.

Hydration. Instead of drinking soda and beverages which do not hydrate the body, infused water keep the body properly hydrated. Many people do not like the bland taste of plain water, but infusing it with natural flavors makes it more appealing.

No Toxin Buildup. Drinking infused water will keep dangerous toxins from building up in the body. A person will not only feel more energized, the skin will also reap positive benefits. The immune system will also receive a boost from the ability of infused water to keep toxins in the body to a minimum. http://expertmassagetherapy.com/thousandoaks/green-trend-alert-fruit-vegetable-infused-waters/

Yogurt Parfaits and Salads

These are great for me. I find that I easily get off track and “just grab a bite on the go/road” way too often. I make unhealthy decisions on the go. Setting these jars up ahead of time helps me grab things on the go. I can grab a jar on my way out of the door. I’m exploring more healthy snacks to load my jars with. I’m heading to the store today to get smaller jars for smaller snacks in between meals.

You can layer all of your favorite salad ingredients in the jars.  I made separate jars for my husband and I since we like different things in our salads. I love the works, and my husband likes it simple.  It is common to layer the salad with the dressing at the very bottom, but I decided to keep the dressing out of our jars to keep the salad from getting soggy. In my jars, I layered mixed greens (first, especially if you put the dressing on the bottom), red onions, thinly sliced carrots, cheese, strawberries, blueberries, boiled eggs, dried berries, nuts, cucumbers, cottage cheese, and beets. 

In my yogurt parfaits I layered vanilla flavored yogurt, different kinds of fruit, and granola. I just kept layering the yogurt and granola until it was full. I think I will try smaller jars next time. They are good, but just a little too much. I usually snack on the yogurt parfait, then save the second half for later in the day.

I hope this helps you find creative and fun ways to stay healthy with mason jars.

Garden Time!!

Last summer we tried our hands at gardening. I know, I know. Me? The girl that kills anything green. We had so many friends that inspired us from their gardens.  I was determined, and with a little love, attention, good soil, and miracle grow our garden was born. Not just born, but provided us with soooooo much more than I ever dreamed of being capable of growing.

Our summer garden: squash and zucchini (we will have to build a new box to plant these again. They took over our garden!), tomatoes, okra, basil, chocolate mint, green beans, cucumbers, and some grape vines.

Our fall garden: spinach, carrots, beets, sweet peas, and green onions, pumpkins (we tried, but not pumpkins before I just got tired of waiting to see something and let it die off).

Our spring garden: We are still growing things from the winter until early spring, but added a new sweet basil plant, parsley, strawberries, broccoli, red onions, sweet white onions, tomatoes, green and red bell peppers, garlic (not sure if it is the season for it, but we will try), and bought a blue berry plant since they were selling the small ones for only $6 at Lowes.

Most of our plants were grown from seeds. This season we bought an actual small basil and parsley plant. I was too impatient to wait for it to grow from seeds. We also bought the broccoli and strawberry plants. We will nurture them until they produce beautiful fruit.

We planted the green onions and garlic from leftovers from the store. We love it. My daughter barely put anything green near her mouth until we started this garden. She would literally pick the green beans, cucumbers, and even okra right off the plant and eat them right out of the garden. It became our favorite activity to come home from school, go straight to the garden and pick stuff off to eat.

Green Beans

 Basil Bush

 Yellow Squash

 Chocolate Mint (It got huge!) Okra

Beets

Beginning stages of Spinach (this got pretty big too)

Beginning stages of Green Onions

Soleil planting our new stuff to get the spring garden started. 

African Black Soap

I’ve been using African Black Soap for about 6 months now, and I must tell you about the miracle in a bar that I have found. I must first admit that I suffer from adult acne. Yikes!! What grown woman wants to admit that they suffer from a condition that is mostly identified as a teen condition? I’m 31 years old this weekend, not 16! Yet, here I am. I’ve suffered from it since I became pregnant with my first child. The altering of the hormones that pregnancy brings on has its negatives for sure. I suffer from cystic acne.  A condition where the acne is so deep that, although not always visible to the naked eye, they bring on massive headaches (before surfacing and saying hi to everyone).

Now that you know my condition, here is my solution. African Black Soap. African Black Soap is one of those hidden natural treasures that I’ve discovered. I order it 3lbs at a time for only $5-$6/lb on Amazon. The only thing I can warn about using the soap is the slight sting it gives when used. It is definitely not a deterrent, but keep out of the eyes for sure. It will burn! The soap will also leave a bit of a brown residue.  Keep a soap dish close.

Here is a little information for you.

“All natural African black soap is made from dried plantain skins, palm leaves, cocoa pod powder, and kernel oil for an all-natural cleansing process. Plantains skins are largely what make this black soap so effective. It is a natural source of vitamins A & E and iron. When black soap is made, the skin of the plantain is dried under the sun and then roasted in a clay oven. The heat must be constant in order to achieve the perfect brownish black color, texture & smell. Afterwards, cocoa pod powder is added. Cocoa pod is the shell of the cocoa fruit and also has natural healing properties.”

Benefits of black soap:

• Natural black soaps help deep clean skin.
• Black soap works on most skin types including rough and dry or sensitive skin.
• Help clear skin bumps and spots by using black soap daily.
• Helps relieve acne, oily skin & other skin problems.
• Black soap is also great for removing makeup.
• Black soap benefits against premature facial lines and wrinkles.
• Black soap can also be lathered and used as an effective shampoo.

http://africaimports.com/black_soap_article.asp

Book Challenge

 

One thing I regretfully didn’t have much time to do last year was read. I love to read, but life seemed to get too busy to have the energy to read anything other than reports and emails. I’ve challenged myself to read at least one book for each of the 12 months of the year. Four of these books are for Soleil to read to Xavier before bedtime. Soleil is developing a true love for reading, and my hope is that she will influence her brother to do so also. Here are the books on my list to read this year. There is a wide variety of spiritual, inspirational, educational, informative, business, and imaginative. They are in no particular order, but since I’ve already started Unglued, I think I will finish that for the month of January.

 

 

12 BOOKS FOR 12 MONTHS (in no particular order)

1.Simply Christianity by N. T. Wright

2.Seven: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess" by Jen Hatmaker

3.Unglued by Lisa Terkeurst

4. Sacrilege by Hugh Halter

5. Great by Choice by Jim Collins

6. The Gift of Dyslexia by Ronald D. Davis

7. The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan

8. The Shack by W.M Paul Young

9. Lucky Stars by Phoebe Bright (for Soleil and Xavier)

10. Junie B., First Grader Dumb Bunny by Barbara Park (for Soleil and Xavier)

11.Escape from the Forbidden Planet by Julie Anne Grasso (for Soleil and Xavier)

12. Holes by Louis Sachar (for Soleil and Xavier)

2012!

It has been an amazing year! I've felt the presence of God like never before this year, and although I've still got a ways to go, I know that I am closer and more secure in my relationship with Him. I've learned to not be anyone else's expectations of me, but to be the best me that I can be. I've learned to be okay with the mistakes of my past, and not let them hold me back from God's plans for me. I've definitely struggled with letting go this year, but I'm at so much peace with my life right now. Every day brings a new chance to be a better me, serve my God, and move on to be incredible the way He intended for me to be. What an amazing feeling!  My past will refine me and not define me. I'm so excited for the the new, beautiful, fun adventures that 2012 has brought to my family and me. I'm beyond grateful. I'm even more excited for what 2013 has in store for us. I read something that really inspired me today, and I wanted to share it before I put my top moments of 2012.

"We instantly embrace wins. But what happens when a dream fails to reach sunlight? It bends or breaks transforming both the dream and the dreamer. Some settle, accepting forgotten ambitions. Others become trapped, preoccupied with regret, rendering yesterday's inspirations as today's sorrow. Are you who you want to be?"

I love this quote. It really encourages me to, while still praising the victories in life, not let the failures become my regrets, but motivators to keep pushing for what I believe in.

2012

• Fell head over heels in love with my hubby again:) I didn't think it was possible to love him more, but we managed to find more love, fun, and a better partnership between us. We forced ourselves to set up more lunch dates and date nights. Marriage is something that should constantly be worked on.

“A successful marriage is an edifice that must be rebuilt every day.”
Andre Maurois

Marrying for love may be a bit risky, but it is so honest that God can't help but smile on it.
Josh Billings
  

• Watch this insane athlete of a daughter of mine grow into a big girl. Where did the time go? When did she start having grown up conversations? When did she learn to start journeying her life in a diary? How in the world does she master and blow every sport she tries out of the water? Oh, the joys and pain of watch your baby grow into her own. She becomes more beautiful everyday. 

• Watched my 4 YEAR OLD become the biggest computer and gaming nerd I never imagined anyone his age could become. I think about the things we played with at his age, and I’m blown away with the way this kid can navigate through a computer, gaming system, and Ipad.

  

• Took a leap of faith and got a retail location for our learning center. It was definitely a God thing. I am thanking God for a wonderful year, and claiming another in advance. It has blessed me in so many unexpected ways. There are so many changes coming, and I can barely contain my excitement!

 

• FOUND ADULT ONESIE PAJAMAS!!!  Yes, it is that serious. My husband and I were jumping for joy.We are silly like that.

 

• Took my daughter to her first ballet to see the Nutcracker.

• My ten year Delta reunion

 

• Seeing my Big Papa for Thanksgiving.

• Taught my first women’s retreat lesson. It was so much fun.

• Experienced the most snow ever in Texas (or maybe just my lifetime).  Christmas 2012 in Dallas! We were sinking in it!!

• Started a garden!! We produced more okra than anything else. This year we tackled okra, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, basil, green onions, garlic, green beans, sweet peas, beets, spinach, chocolate mint, and carrots. Not all were successful, but most of them were. Not bad for our first year gardening. 

• Found two tumors in my body, one which was removed. They were not a threat, but it was the eye opener that set me on a path to ALWAYS strive to be the healthiest April I can be. This year I STRIVED to eat healthier, and in the words of Forest Gump, “I just started runnin.” It is always at the forefront of my mind. I’m more aware of the things I put into my body, and when I get off track I’m very motivated to get back on.

• Watched more TV shows than ever before. LOL. My husband and I made a routine of ending every day with a show or two. Here are just a few of our favorites.

 A little comedy and mystery solving

  A little syfy, action, and extraterrestrial

A little SCANDALous action and plotting!

  Just pure grossness. My husband drug me into this one. It is quite gross, and yet I can’t turn away.

More syfy with a little fairy tale. This show really grew on us. I love how they tied all of the fairy tales together to make one big story.

   And of course comedy!!

• I’ve learned to love and serve others on another level.

 

• Celebrated entering my 30’s in Vegas!

• Grew closer to a dear friend. I've known this friend for a while now, but I usually enter my friendships with a big wall these days. This particular friend completely loved me in my good, bad, ups, downs, encouraged me spiritually, mentally, and physically. I've grown to love her dearly and despite my wall, she touched my heart (and drop kicked my wall down. LOL). Having her around lets me know what TRUE friendship looks like, and makes me value, appreciate, nurture all my valued friendships (old and new) even more. Oh, how I love my friends.

Yes, it has definitely been a good (no great), busy year!!