If I Dream It...

As the holiday season begins I am amazed at how many ‘sales’ are already out -- holiday gift sets, decorations, music... somehow it’s like Thanksgiving doesn’t exist because there’s this big shopping season... more more more. It seems like the retailers are telling you - this will make you happy... and look at the price, you know you want it. The crazy thing is, many retailers are in the black all year until now... this is what they wait for - this is what brings them into profits... can you imagine how much that means we're spending? yes, sometimes it’s fun and I do find things I love or that I know someone else will. and yes, I have enjoyed my shopping - I may have a slight addiction...  But I don’t need more to be happy... more will not bring anything more than a momentary high. More can get you in financial trouble... more can actually make you feel like you have less... having more does not help you -- though retailers sure spend a whole lot to tell you it will.  N...

Well, this week has been crazy already... how crazy? Well, I woke up Tuesday thinking it was Saturday for one (not a fun reality check) and then the day lasted roughly 19 - 20 hours before I made it to bed... and yes, still had to wake up and function today. Add that to forgotten work badge, then the badge not working, baking, new family member, etc - it has been rather non-stop... but in the best of ways! Sleep deprivation aside, today was a rather productive day. The week will be crazy for a bit longer, but every now an then - this crazy busy a blessing! It's fun and exciting and leaves me with great memories... ... this was a little bit ago now... but Sunday was the amazing blood moon that won't occur again until 2033! Did you get a chance to see it? I sat outside enjoying it for almost 2 hours! Ok, apparently 'Blood Moon' isn't the proper term, but it is what it has become known as :) Technically it's a combination of a super moon (when the moon is close...

So I'm sticking with my #TryItTuesday for now... and boy oh boy did a friend of mine just introduce me to an AMAZING product!! And no, neither of us has any benefit of sharing this product other than knowing how good it is, and how good it is for you :) So we've both been trying to clean our diet up - eat healthier, less processed, and less unknown/chemical/manmade ingredients.... cleaner eating for the most part. I still have my protein powders I love as well as some supplements... but I am noticing a change from my cleaner eating. I crave less sugar, natural sugars taste sweeter, and certain foods just don't taste like they used to. The other day for example, I tried a tootsie pop... I used to love these - heck all things sweet and sugary I tend to love. It's not that anything was wrong with it, or that it was any less that it was before... but my tastebuds have changed that all I could taste was the artificial flavoring... Have you ever watched Cupcake Wars? Totall...

In trying to figure out what to share - this week really isn't super different from last week... but it's a different method... again super simple (and who doesn't love that?!) and worth the share in my book. I promise I will branch out soon to share new things - but for now... I stick with canvas, only this time it's not painting per se... it's "painting" by printing (a bit of a stretch I know -- but you get where I'm going) :) So I decided to try those homemade canvas prints that are ALL over Pinterest... that said, I had read a few a while ago,  but you would've thought I'd go look again before trying... that would've been the smart thing... that's not what I did. I had things in my head from what I read and I just went with it. The good news is it was simple and even with the wrong type of print on my first attempt - it still kind of worked (admittedly not as well though). Below are my first two attempts - in order... you can ...

A few days ago, I mentioned that I had signed up with a few companies because I loved the products... well, I'm going to go ahead and share the info of one of them with you now... not to sell you anything or get you to sign up... but to share one of the products I love -- GREENS. I don't know about you, but I do not eat the correct amounts of everything I am supposed to have. Fiber, Veggies, Fruits -- honestly, you could probably pick it and I wouldn't have enough of it. I'm working on fixing that... with food as well as supplements. The GREENS from ItWorks! are amazing! They truly do not have the taste you'd expect... it looks horrible... though maybe that's just me - there's just something about drinking something green that seems wrong in my head... But when I first tried the Orange GREENS on the go -- I was amazed to find that even in water it simply tasted like orange infused water. *this also happens to be one of my all time fav JAMICURES * Wh...

The weekend is over and it's back to the normal daily grind... however, I felt my crafty bug crawling so I went ahead and got my canvas back out. A few months ago I had been working on items for a local animal shelter that does a charity art auction and I absolutely hated one of them... so I repainted over the whole thing in black to make it a black canvas... it was time to create something on it. That said, I wasn't feeling anything that would take a lot of time... I had dinner to get ready and some cleaning to do... and a poker game to play in... so not a ton of crafty time. The last detailed crafty time I did that I didn't have enough time for... well, the remnants can still be seen in my craft room... so yes, that's part of the cleaning I had. When working to get something done in time - I can destroy a room like no tomorrow... craft room and kitchen (for baking) in particular.  Anyways, I thought today's quick little project might be good for a #MakeItMonday...

Today is going to be my #foodiefriday - it's the day the weekend begins and often when I can justify food splurges... I am trying to have a more regularly healthy diet, but you need a cheat day now and then... right?  Maybe that's just me but I love food way too much to not enjoy it :) Plus, my day started on a bit of a sour note - so the thought of vegging on the couch snacking sounds divine now that I'm home. Plus, what better way to spend a Foodie Friday other than talking about something yummy that you can enjoy over the weekend?  Unfortunately my morning migraine is now a dull headache, but that's not going to stop me. I wouldn't let it keep me from work... I wouldn't let it keep me from walking 5 miles or doing my 15 minute ab challenge... and it sure isn't going to keep me from food! It will however, keep me from getting over complicated... but sometimes a handy quick yummy recipe is the best!  There are a ton of simple snack recipes out ther...

Wow, hard to believe it has pretty much been a year since I last published anything... I like sharing the info and my experiments, but I'm bad at actually taking the time to write. It's not that I don't have the time - I just tend to jump around with things and, admittedly, I like my lazy time too. However, that lazy time isn't necessarily all that productive. Not that I HAVE to be doing something.... but I want to feel like I've done more... made at least some impact.  So I'm giving this another go. I'll need to figure out a pattern to my sharing that can go across topics,  so bate with me as I try to create new habits and see what works :) Over the past year I've gained all sorts of hobbies... My baking has continued and I keep getting fun challenges. I'm still far from charging what they're worth, but they're fun, good practice, and my friends and family enjoy them :) I play poker almost nightly... not for the money, but the people... ...

I wish I could explain where the thought for these tilapia tacos came from... but other than having extra cabbage I have no good excuse :) I love cabbage - thing is I buy it with one recipe in mind and then I have to come up with different ways to use it :) So with cabbage in mind and a peach that was starting to near the too ripe point, my version tilapia tacos with peach salsa was born. And wow - was I happy! To explain how much I enjoyed these - I've now had them two days in a row and I'm contemplating having them for dinner tonight :) Gotta finish off that peach salsa after all... Now I will admit, the peach salsa doesn't look the prettiest - but I made it in my mini food processor to avoid chopping everything by hand. But that aside - for my first attempt at peach salsa... I gotta say I like it! I made it spicy as the hubby generally isn't a big fan of fruity flavors for dinner - but it sounded good with tilapia... after the fact I even googled it, not ...

I don't know why - but I've been craving pancakes a lot lately. So this weekend I finally set to taking the time to take care of that craving :) Now I don't generally think healthy when I think pancakes - but I didn't want something too bad for me. So I figured - wheat pancakes. I mixed together some wheat flour, coconut flour, ground flax seed, and baking powder and I had the base for my pancakes ready. To finish the batter I mixed together some milk, salt, and maple syrup. Maple just sounded good and out of my usual sweeteners it is surprisingly the lowest in sugar content. Then I tossed in some blueberries and decided to make a blueberry syrup to go with them :) And just because it sounded good I added coconut flakes to top it all off..... Mmmmm YUM! In case anyone else finds this interesting -- here's the sugar / calorie break out for the 3 options I looked at for my syrup... clover honey: 1 Tbl = 16g sugar and 60 cals blue agave: ...

I don't know why - but the other day I started craving pudding. It's a sweet treat that I have always enjoyed but rarely have any more. One, I never want much of it and two, while I do enjoy my sweets - I am trying to eat more healthy sweets and less processed sugars. I have gotten better with this at breakfast - I've been having fruit smoothies every day for breakfast with about a tablespoon of agave nectar for sweetener upon occasion and have loved every one (though I do wish I had a better blender that actually blended in the seeds). The simplest, and one of the best is frozen pineapple chunks with coconut milk and a little agave. This reminds me of a pina colada and is just totally yummy :) I have no measurements as I blend in the cup I drink from. It's about 1 1/2 cups of fruit though and usually enough liquid to cover it. Milks make it thicker and juices/water thinner. Upon occasion I add chia seeds as well. Yes, I know it looks odd - but it's good! I...