to my daughter

Organic on a Budget

In a perfect world we would all love to buy only organic, unfortunately this is not always possible. Fortunately, not all produce needs to be grown organically to be relatively safe. Every year the Environmental Working Group provides a list of the produce grown with the most pesticides(dirty dozen) and the least pesticides (clean fifteen).Try to buy your organic produce from the dirty dozen list.

Dirty Dozen                                                                                                                    

apples                    grapes

celery                     spinach, kale                                                     

bell peppers          snap peas                                                      

peaches                  cucumbers                                                    

strawberries          cherry tomatoes                                                   

nectarines               potatoes

Clean Fifteen

onion                          eggplant

sweet corn                  kiwi

pineapple                   cantaloupe

avocado                      sweet potatoes

cabbage                      grapefruit

sweet peas                   papaya

mangoes

cauliflower

asparagus                                                    

                                                                                                                                                                

Try buying your produce in season and buy locally. When out of season frozen produce is another option especially for smoothies and juices. ( remember choose organic when possible) .

Every year the EWG updates both the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen. These two lists are from the 2015 lists.

                                                                                                                                            

Show Me the Way !

Vibrant health is within reach for each and everyone of us. We all have the power to eat and think our way to dynamic health and happiness! Each of us possess an inner wisdom which will always without fail guide us in the right direction.  We have the power of choice. Each thought, each bite we take will move us closer to great health and happiness or closer to sickness and sadness. It is important for us to begin to trust ourselves, listen to our bodies ... to sleep when we are tired... move our bodies when we feel energised... eat when we are hungry not when we are bored or sad. We need to surround ourselves with positivity and let go of negative thoughts. It's my hope that as I continue on my journey what I learn and share helps bring my readers much happiness and sunshine!
Here's to our health and happiness! xo

Live for Today!

So often we find ourselves looking back or worrying about the future instead of enjoying today. 

May your present be filled of much laughter and sunshine!
                                                                                      xo

A Love Letter

A good friend of mine after reading my blog invited me to visit her twitter feed. One of her posts inspired me to write this post. She has posted a love letter to herself, well done I thought. So often we spend so much time cursing what we deem as our faults rather than celebrating what we believe to be our strengths. Why do we spend so much of our time trying to fix ourselves rather than celebrating the beauty we hold inside and out, I wonder? So my challenge to myself and to you today is to write a love letter to yourself. Keep it safe or better yet hang it where you can read it everyday! Use it to remind yourself of what a truly incredible person you! Celebrate your uniqueness!

Dear Self,
I am writing to you today to celebrate you!
I celebrate your beautiful brown eyes with which you see the beauty around you and in the people who surround you!
I celebrate your smile and laugh lines which brightens the lives of the people you touch everyday.
I celebrate those  broad (football) shoulders you lend to others to lessen their worries.
I celebrate the heart you give so freely to those you love.
I celebrate you because you are you. And you is the best person you can be!
Love you to the moon infinity times
Me
xo

Not an easy thing to do I have to admit yet if you asked me what I felt I needed to fix now that would be easy! But I did it I do feel a little full of myself but if I don't love myself how do I ever expect anyone else to! 

Celebrate the Simple Things

The sun, the beach, my Aunt Cyndy and my dog Dublin are 4 of my most favourite things! Last Sunday as I walked my dog along the beach, the sun warming my face chatting to my Aunt Cyndy I smiled life was good! We spent the afternoon walking along the beach remembering my grandmother.  Later as we drank tea and shared a apple crisp I had brought her still hot out of the oven, I looked at my Aunt who has been courageously battling cancer for almost 5 years and thought what an amazingly positive person. Nobody had to remind her to celebrate the simple things in life, it was her daily practice. 
I went to sleep that night thinking the smell of apple crisp will always remind me of this perfect afternoon!

I thought I would share my recipe for my apple crisp .. a recipe for the perfect afternoon! 

8-12 apples peeled and sliced
cinnamon to taste
1 1/2 cups of oats ( gluten free)
1 cup of oat flour ( ground oats)
3-5 tablespoons of butter
1/4 cup of coconut sugar or brown sugar ( add more sugar if you like it sweeter)

• slice and peel the apples.. place them in a pie plate or small glass dish... sprinkle with cinnamon ( your apples should resemble a small mountain)
• in a bowl mix the oats, oat flour and sugar until it resembles a crumble 
• spread the mixture on top of apples

place in the oven at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until the top is brown and the apples are slightly mushy 

MY SECRET INGREDIENT
I bake my crisp in a pie plate that belonged to my gramma. It's liking getting a big hug from gramma every time you take a bite!

My Aunt Cyndy and my daughter Molly  ( an old photo but a favourite!)

Be Happy

So true!

Every cloud has a silver lining!

Im not sure if I would of embarked on this new journey had it not been from losing my job last winter.  As odd as it seems it was one of the best things to happen to me. Its amazing how those negative events in your life make you stronger  and more positive.  Losing my job allowed me a moment to breathe to see what really matter in my life. My only new Years resolution in 2015 was simple...to be happy. While I was off I took a moment or rather several moments to ponder on what would make me happy. Well I certainly wasnt happy feeling like crap everyday. My stomach hurt, I was tired all the time and sad! 

So I began to read.... books about people who had chosen  to change their lives. to use the negative events in their lives to make them stronger!  Books like Crazy Sexy Diet. Passionate Nutrition, and Deliciously Ella littered my bedside table. Each of these authors had taken a holistic approach to healing themselves.... they had gone back to their roots and began to life a simpler life, one filled with positive energy and real food.

Being off work not only gave me time to reflect it also gave me time to cook. Soon my fridge and freezer was full of mason jars filled with simple but nutritious food. I found myself smiling more, excited about what I was going to make next!

A long time ago my father taught me that no matter how dismile a situation is there is always a silver lining in every cloud. Its your choice to .... do you see the cloud or do you see the silver lining. My father is a very wise man would you not agree!