Clean Sweep!

A couple of weeks ago, I went on a cleaning mission. For at least a week, I had a box of glass containers that my father gave to me from my grandma's house. They were the cool glass ones with the flip top lids and rubber airtight seals on top that close with a metal clamp. Know the ones I'm talking about? Ah - These:

Source: thegraciouspantry.com via Sea on Pinterest

 As they sat in my path of walking for a week, I finally had to do something about it. I had decided to replace my old storage containers with grandma's. Grandma's containers needed a good washing though, (as did my place), so I thought I would get it all done in one afternoon.

I washed and dried the containers and started to fill them with the food items in my cupboards; noodles, quinoa, nuts, oats. I looked at a lot of my old containers and other items in my pantry. It occurred to me that, most of them, I hadn't touched in a year. These were foods like white flour, white sugar, maple syrup (made of corn syrup), maseca, and on and on. Foods that I've tried to eliminate from my diet. I was thinking about why I still had these around. I remembered having kept some of them thinking that maybe if I had to bring treats to a dinner or gathering, I would use them. Looking at my overflowing cupboard I realized, I didn't NEED to keep these foods. Not only do I not include them in my diet, but why do I feel the need or want to feed that to my friends?! After all, DAMY Health has plenty of recipes on hand that I can make and bring to gatherings. Most of the time, when I bring these foods, nobody knows the difference anyway!

I decided to make a clean sweep of my cupboards  - just like I do my closets each year! Anything that hadn't been touched in a year was gone! Look at everything I found!

Shortening, corn starch, powered sugar, maple syrup (made with corn syrup), biscuit mix, dry milk, pancake mix! Stuff I don't include in my diet anymore!

Also...

Flour, maseca, white sugar...

No more!

Gone are the non-clean foods!

What I ended up with though, was much more spectacular and CLEAN!

Popcorn, noodles, nuts, oatmeal in Grandma's containers.

Much less crowded and happier shelves!

While I was doing that, I figured why stop there?! I also finally got some organization done for my business stuff! A calendar to write down all my tours on and a little box to put all of my bills in when they arrive for accounting. Attached it to the back of my door and moved my old board to a new location on the back of another door.

I'm newly organized now and I have no refined sugars or flours to make goodies! It's going to be all clean goodies at parties from now on! And why not?! Then I'll have an option to eat and won't be eating any of the bad stuff! :)

How many of you have cleaned out your cupboards of the items you don't want to include in your diet?

MIA

I've been soooooo MIA! Per usual, it's not lack of wanting to blog or having subjects to blog about, rather it's being BUUUSY! It was a really rough week and a half for me when my coworker was gone on a trip at my day job. Plus, it was the extremely busy period for my job. Every end of the month becomes very busy in the food shelf. I worked late every night and was simply mentally taxed by the time I got home! It actually reminded me a bit of my OLD job and how I felt every day when I was working there. If anything, it was a healthy reminder to me that that is NOT what I desire for a career. In this instance, it was just a chance occurrence that my coworker was out of town during the busy period. Normally, it's much more manageable when we are both there to share the work.

Awful...yet funny! :)

Another thing that has kept me busy is the business! But I am HAPPY to say that it's been keeping me a bit busy! I've been getting more requests for tours now and I'm very excited about it because it means the word is getting out more and hopefully the opportunity for growth exists! I did a special with a local paper here to offer a deal. It didn't sell many (which is okay because I took a huge cut in money I would get from the tours) but it did get me a few and it was good exposure. I'm hoping to keep getting more! :) The last couple of weeks I have had my first tours with "strangers" (people that I didn't know or have any connection with before). They were great experiences! I was really nervous about doing a good job and impressing them. Not knowing what they would think about the tours. The people on both tours seemed to have a good time. Here are some pics from the tours!

I have some other tours booked this weekend as well as for the next couple of weekends. I'm looking forward to them! I also get to give an extremely special tour to my sister and her family when they come to visit from Colorado later this month! I can't wait to see all my nieces and nephew and be able to take them out for a fun bike ride around town!

Now that work has calmed down a bit, I'll try and get back to more posts! Good to be back! :)

Wednesday Recipe

I've been behind in posting this week. This week will be an extremely stressful one for me. The end of every month is very busy in the food shelf and this month I happen to be having to do it alone. My coworker went for some travels this week so I'm just trying to stay alive and grin and bear through it. I may not be doing many posts, therefore. I did manage to squeak this one out though so as to not disappoint. :) Plus, I was very excited about this recipe! 

CLEAN SINGLE SERVE MONSTER COOKIE

Whether or not my mom made these when I was younger, (I swear I remember she did but I don't know if it's something I'm just making up in my head or she actually did), I still am in love with monster cookies. I absolutely love them! Of course, I had to make a clean version of it!

This is what I did:

1 Tbsp Coconut Oil

1/4 C Oatmeal

1/8 C Almond Meal

1-2 Tbsp Natural Peanut Butter

1 Egg White

Small Scoop Raisins

Small Scoop Dark Chocolate Chips

Small Scoop Slivered Almonds

Splash of Vanilla

Dash of Cinnamon

Place coconut oil in small bowl. If not melted/liquidy heat in microwave until it is. Add all other ingredients and mix thoroughly until cake batter-type consistency. It won't be runny but it's not as thick as cookie dough either. The thing that I LOVE about Monster Cookies is that they are different for everyone! You could add a lot of other things in here too that you would like; shredded coconut, dark chocolate M&Ms, whatever says monster cookie to you! Finally, I placed batter on parchment paper in shape of a cookie and baked in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-12 mins just until the edges were golden brown. Delicious! 

I hope you all enjoy this recipe and that you are surviving this week like me!

There is no CAN'T in the gym!

I just wanted to post a quick little Saturday blog. I was at the gym yesterday and decided to take this little video snippet to show that there really is no CAN'T in the gym! Part of my DAMY Health workout this month has been chin ups. Now, I knew I couldn't do just a plain chin up. But it doesn't mean I CAN'T do a chin up somehow! I CAN and eventually I WILL do a plain chin up.

CAN'T is a mentality, it's not a reality. It's only a reality if you LET it be. I knew that I could work on my chin ups and get better at them.

Source: Uploaded by user via Alyssa on Pinterest

I wanted to post this to show others how I improved my chin ups. When I started doing them, I could only do a few in a row. I would have to break and then continue to do more. Last night, I did 10 assisted chin ups in a row without a break! Unfortunately, this video doesn't show my 10 in a row because this was my second set and I had done 21s in between. I did 5 in a row in this video. When I initially started this month, I wouldn't have been able to do even 5 in a row on my second set. In a month's time though, I've gotten all the way up to 10!  Anything CAN be done but you need an "I CAN" mentality.

If you want to get better at chin ups and be able to say, "I can!" this is a good way to get there.

I put a bench under the pull up bar. Use a resistance band (there are varying resistances, use what you need). Put the handles through the ends of the pull up bar. I put a pad on the band otherwise it dug into my leg and hurt. Stand on the bench and put one knee into the band.

You may also use the wider resistance bands that are loops. For those, you don't have to use a pad. You would just pull it over the bar in the middle and stick one end of the loop through the other and tighten it so it's attached. This is shown HERE. They don't have those types of bands at my gym so I had to get creative.

With a CAN DO attitude, you really CAN DO anything!

More Pedal, Less Car

An accidental snapshot that I liked!

I recently made it my priority to accomplish one of my 2011 goals that I didn't make last year. That is biking to and from work! Unfortunately, I cannot bike commute the whole way to my job and back. It's not the distance, I have biked much further before. The difficulty lies in that it IS far but also, there is no shower where I work and I work with clients all day so I cannot easily show up sweaty, stinky and gross and be working with clients all day. I needed to find a happy medium.

The Greenway - on a much more sunny day than today!

I decided I needed to commit to a partial bike commute. One of the things I most despise on my drive back home is when it's a beautiful day out and I see bikes passing me by left and right while I'm stuck in traffic! I want to be out in the sun! I had to join them! I wanted to REALLY commit myself to this. Thus - wind, rain or shine, I will be biking part of the way to work. I think I have even more than proven my commitment in that this morning, in the pouring rain, I made the nearly 5 mile trek down the Midtown Greenway with only 10 other people (I counted)! Even though I got drenched, I'm glad I've stuck with my commitment to myself. Plus, it wasn't so bad anyways! I actually found it to be quite refreshing! I also learned that I need to invest in some rain gear! Mainly just a jacket - I think pants would be uncomfortable. However, I found that the water type shoes that I bought over a year ago and thought I would never have a use for, actually came in handy! Yippee!

This is how you'll find me on the Greenway! Happy as can be!

What I have done for this plan is this: I drive my car down to the parking spot I chose by the freeway every Sunday evening. I bike back home. Throughout all of my work days, I bike to my car, lock up my bike, hop on the freeway to work. Drive back to my bike and bike the rest of the way home. It's a nearly 5 mile bike ride so I am saving about 10 miles per day. That doesn't seem like much but that's 40 miles a week (I work 4 days right now for my day job), 160 miles a month and if I did it all year round 1,920 miles a year! It really does add up! I've already noticed the gas saving this first week! I only had to fill up one time! Most of my gas is likely spent on the city streets anyways. Not only am I getting gas savings from the commute, but when I get home, I have no car as an option. Biking wherever I go is a must! This has really helped too! It has made it a bit more difficult strategically to get errands done that are farther out, but I have been working on planning accordingly and making do! No car during the week!  Most of all, I'm really enjoying being in the sun with the wind through my hair (or helmet)! It's fantastic and puts me in such a happy mood!

Since my near week and a half commitment, I'm crossing this off my goal list. 

I have finally joined the ranks of the bike commuters! :)

Wednesday Recipe

I came up with a new, quick, easy-as-pie recipe for everyone. It don't know if I'd even call it a recipe, I'm sure it's even been done before! Either way, I'm still going to post this and we'll see if it serves anyone some purpose.

HORCHATA PROTEIN SMOOTHIE

I'm sure many of you don't know this about me, but I used to live in Mexico. I lived there for a year and have gone back for longer visits various times. I simply love Mexico. I fell in love with the language, culture and people. I even speak Spanish fluently! One dream of mine is to have a little home there in a town called Guanajuato. I love that town. It's small, quaint, hidden in a valley and colonial. The people there are always pleasant and you can get these wonderful fruit cups on the street with yogurt and some granola topping. YUM! I would go and eat those for breakfast every day when I was there! 

Another one of my favorite things was horchata. Horchata is a rice milk drink with cinnamon. It's served cold with ice, sometimes with strawberry slices floating on top. You can get it on the street there at pretty much any corner it seems. You can hardly compare to a good horchata. I even loved it so much, I would just drink it from random street vendors. My Mexican friends told me I was crazy, because I didn't know what water they were using. My love for horchata was just TOO much though! I was willing to risk it and look! I'm still here living today! :) Last night, I was still really hungry late at night. This wasn't just a craving, it was hunger. I knew the best choice I could make for myself was either a salad (I really wasn't feeling like more salad though) or protein. This is what I opted to make.

Here's what I did and I couldn't believe it made me reminisce about and capture a little taste of Mexico!

In blender place:

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

Approx 1/2 C Water

Approx 1 C Ice

A few dashes of cinnamon (to your liking) 

Mix it up in your Ninja Blender (if you have one like I do) and you have a protein smoothie that I swear tastes a lot like an horchata drink but with the added benefit of protein! I love it!

Hope you all had a great day! 

Remember, it's Wednesday! You are halfway to the end of the week!

Clean eating in just 7 days...

I had gotten off of my clean eating for a while. The results were not good. I felt flabby, sloth-like, unable to do my workouts as efficiently and worst of all, I felt out of control. I was addicted to sugars again. I realized what I hated most wasn't that I was flabby but the feeling of not being in control of my own habits. Suddenly the foods had "the say" again. I found myself going back and forth to the sweets at work. There was the realization that when I was eating, I wasn't even enjoying the food rather it seemed like an involuntary action of excessive consumption of sweets. I had lost it. 

On the other hand, I knew that all it takes is a couple of days of dedication and I could be back on track, cleansed of the processed and refined foods that lead to my sugary demise. With this knowledge and the awareness of my love for a challenge, I decided that I would commit myself to a 7 day challenge of clean eating. This wasn't just going to be a "getting on track" challenge. I wanted to demonstrate for once what I have talked about a few times before. That you can visually see a DRASTIC change in your body with clean eating. Here are my results in 7 days!

Just to be sure it is clear. I did not do anything different during these 7 days other than eating clean. I had been doing the same workouts all along. The only change that I made was that I ate clean and eliminated the processed and refined foods. My water intake was the same, my workouts were the same, everything virtually the same. This difference in physique is ALL due to eating the right foods for your body!

Will everyone have the same results after 7 days of clean eating? No. I am well aware that as I have been dedicated to clean eating via the DAMY Health program for a year (and yes, I have had small time periods where I have fallen off track) that I am able to see a quick return of muscle tone. This is because I'm dedicated to working out 6 days a week and have the base of all of this weight training and clean eating behind me. However, I think this does demonstrate how a person who is dedicated to working out and is looking to lose those last 10 pounds or so can get great results from clean eating. You will see a great difference in your muscle definition - just in 7 days!!! Even though that's what THIS post demonstrates, don't forget that others with more weight to lose can see just as good of results as I did with the DAMY Health program. Want to see? Look at THIS POST.

I can only recommend that everyone give DAMY Health's program a try! It will change your life and your relationship with food. Yes, I am not perfect and sometimes my old habits take over. On the other hand, I am able to now recognize these and take back control quick. When I do, I love the results that I SEE and how I FEEL! Back on clean eating and in control! I feel great!

Wednesday Recipe!

Okay, I know this does not say Wear and Fare Wednesday. But you know what? I'm kind of tired of the outfit thing. ;) Yep, I get tired of some things too and I feel like I've nailed down the wardrobe thing. I feel like I've accomplished where I'd like to be for now and I think I'm going to weed it out. I'm still going to create cute outfits for myself on my own time and maybe every now and again I'll post some. Now though, I just want to post clean recipes I make or try. 

With this fresh new start, I made a really fun recipe for you guys tonight! I'm so excited to share it! I actually found this recipe on WholeFoodsMarket.com. However, I did not at ALL like the version that they presented. It was a mushroom and pea quinoa loaf? HUH?!?! I guess maybe some people might like it, but it's not for me. I decided to use the base of their recipe and make it my own! I know you all know that if there is one thing that I like, it's sweets! Of course I was going to make a sweet version of this! Here is what I came up with:

Cranberry Almond Quinoa Loaf

This loaf was delicious! Also, it was heavy! It may weigh a lot, but it's clean! I had small slices of it at breakfast for my carb servings. I also ended up giving some to friends. As a nice little treat, you can heat a slice up and put some butter on it! YUM!

Here is how it's done!

Preheat your oven to 350 F.

In a food processor blend:

1-15 oz can garbanzo beans

3/4 C rolled oats

1/2 C water

Blend until smooth and then transfer this mixture to a bowl.

Mix in:

2 C cooked quinoa

2 Tbsp cinnamon

1 Tsp cloves

1 Tsp nutmeg

1/4 C agave syrup

1/4 C (or more if desired) slivered almonds

1/4 C (or more if desired) no sugar added cranberries

Mix this all evenly. Transfer the dough into a bread pan greased with a healthy oil (I used olive oil spray). I put some more almonds and cranberries on top to make it pretty - you don't have to. If you do, make sure the cranberries are a bit more pushed in so they don't burn.

Bake in the oven for 1 to 1-1/4 hours. There you have it!

Enjoy and share with those that you love most!

People in my path...

Lately, it seems that I have had some new people crossing my path of life. In getting to know a bit more of these people, we began to talk about our lives. What we do, what inspires us, what we are in search of. These two people spoke to me with regards to their circumstances about not being in jobs they love and not pursuing their passions and goals, that they really want to achieve and chase after. I talked with them a bit about where they are at in their lives and what is stopping them from pursuing what they want. Of course, per what I expected, much of the obstacles in their lives were self-imposed. Their patterns of thinking alone were a blockade to achieving their own personal success.

Source: google.com via Alyssa on Pinterest

One of these people was talking to me about wanting to start a business. Yet indicated that he didn't have any funds to do so and therefore couldn't achieve it.  He said he had big dreams and no funds. I told him that we both knew that wasn't true and that you can do anything that you set your mind to. There are social funding sites, there are loans, there are plenty of other ways to fund a business! I would know, I had to fund my own as well and start out with nothing! It's not an easy path and every day will not be a bowl full of cherries, but if it's what you want, it can be achieved. That said, I did tell him that perhaps he's just not in the right place yet to do it. I understand that because it took me a while to be in the right, or maybe wrong, place to start my business.

Don't get trapped by your fears! Intensely chase your dreams!

Source: gotbyouthblog.tumblr.com via Alyssa on Pinterest

All of this contact with these people really made me reflect on my own experiences with my business and goals. It made me think about how much I have grown over the last year and a half. I realize much more now than I did before, that had it not been for my poor employment experience, I may have never started my business. For the lack of that misery, I may have never hit rock bottom and wanted to chase after my dreams with wild abandon.

Source: Uploaded by user via Alyssa on Pinterest

It also reminds me about how I've grown in confidence with my business. Of course, there are things that I'm still nervous about. That is only natural. But I think that I am much more confident with my business and approaching other business people about my business. I know that my business and my ideas have value. I am still a small fish in a big pond, but I know that one day soon, I'm gonna need an ocean! :)

Finally, I have had the realization that I have truly grown as a person. I've become wiser, stronger, more self-confident, less fearful, more hopeful, more faithful, and more HAPPY! I am more confident that I can handle the difficulties placed in front of me and I know I'll never be given more than I can handle. Things that used to be scary, aren't so scary anymore. They are mere speed bumps on my road to life and the speed bumps can be rough, but sometimes the best learning tools. 

Now tomorrow, I have a nice little treat for you all! A nice little recipe! Can't wait! :)

Top 3 Kitchen Tools for Clean Eaters...

As you may have already noticed, I didn't get you a Wednesday Wear and Fare post yesterday. I've had an overwhelmingly busy week with my business starting back up again so that means less time to post. I will still try to get them in though at LEAST once a week! I don't want you all to think that I've been slacking, because that's certainly not the case! I still have been working on some goals - ones on my goal board even! - that are works in process and I'm not quite ready to comment on them yet. When I am ready though, I'll be sure to let you all know! :)

Last night, I was cooking up a wonderful DAMY Health recipe. It's one of her more recent ones and you can find it on the site on the "Blog" section. It's the "Flourless Chocolate Chip Blondie Brownies". So good! I brought them in for a work meeting - and no one even knew that it was healthy for them! HA! So tricky!

While I was baking up a storm last night, it occured to me that while I do talk about recipes on here, I don't talk much about the process of making them! Sometimes, some of these recipes, though pretty easy, can be made more difficult without the right tools! I decided I would do a post on my Top 3 favorite kitchen tools for clean eating!

In no particulare order - here they are!

1. The R.N. Witmer Company Co, Inc. Natural Peanut Butter Mixer

Okay, so I bought two of these little tools for myself as a birthday present...for myself! I love to get myself birthday presents! Seriously, this was one of  THE BEST $9.95 investments I have EVER made! If you're a clean eater like me, then you eat a lot of nut butters; almond, cashew, pb, etc. I love them all! The one pain about the natural butters? The separation of the oils and butter! Have you ever stirred them up only to have the oil spill all over your counter?! I HATE that! Seriously, this little tool will solve all of your nut butter blues! It's so easy! You just pop off the original lid, put in the mixer with it's caps that go with it (there are a couple little parts you slide over the mixing rod) and away you go! I usually crank for maybe 30 secs and it's done! You can do it flat or sideways! I was skeptical though. I thought, "Now does it REALLY get all of that hard butter on the bottom?" It sure does! I've tested it! Seriously, the people at the Witmer Company are geniuses. Plus, they make mixers to fit all different size jars. So you can even by peanut butter in bulk sizes and still mix it! Awesome! To buy one of these babies - and I highly recommend it - check out the Witmer Company HERE. 

2. Parchment Paper

Yes, I know this doesn't sound like much of an appliance. Parchment paper will rescue you though! I love parchment paper for baking my snacks. I can make cookies on it, I can put breads on it, I can do kale chips on it...I use parchment paper - A LOT. I like this earth-friendly brand, "If You Care FSC Certified Parchment Baking Paper." It's coated with silicone as opposed to quilon, which contains a heavy metal. No heavy metal for me! Yea! Well, at least in my food. ;)

3. The Ninja Master Prep Pro Blender

I never ask for tangible items for my birthday. I usually feel like I have most things I need, so I try and do without. However, my smoothie blender was going bad so I asked for this for my birthday from my parents. I am SO happy I did! The Ninja is the BEST clean eating cooking tool ever! I make my smoothies in it, but not only that, I make DAMY Health Ice Cream, batters for snacks and even protein balls! I am doing a 3 month test period and just trying to use the Ninja to make all of my recipes and I think it may even REPLACE my food processor! I don't think many days pass where I don't used it. It's great because it came with 2 size pitchers that have measurements on them and the best thing about the ninja is that it has blades all the way up the stem so you don't have to wait for your food to get sucked down into the base to be blended! I love, love, love this thing and I'm happy I finally asked for something tangible for my birthday! Very soon, I may have more counter space with my food processor gone!

Those are my 3 favorite tools for clean eating! What are yours?

Wear. And. Fare. Wednesday.

I'm a little late tonight on my Wednesday post, but here I am burning the midnight (or later) oil.

I've got a new little dish in the oven that I'm waiting on so I thought I would finally get to this post! 

Here you all are!

WEAR

This is not and outfit that is TOO fancy, but I really like it! I just got this type while I was in my hometown and had a little shopping adventure at the Goodwill with my sister! We found some great buys! I picked up this top while I was there and I love it! Nice and soft and just a nice dress/casual top! Plus, it was only about $3.99, I believe!

You can't see the detail too well in the other photo, but it is pleated on top. It's really cute up close!

 I also am finally showing off this new purse that I also recently purchased at a thrift store! My old one was really wearing out so it was time for an upgrade.Such a steal!

Shirt: Goodwill -  BRAND Banana Republic

Jeans - Old Navy

Purse - Buffalo Exchange - BRAND Maurices

Boots - ALDO

FARE

Ice cream for breakfast!

Yes, you read correctly! I made ice cream for breakfast and it was nutritious and yummy all at the same time and I am not ashamed of it! ;)

I put this recipe together one morning recently after a post that my friend, Mary, had made on her Facebook page. She had done a chocolate mousse version of this (it was just greek yogurt, cocoa powder and some sweetener mixed up - try it!). I tried that too one day and it was excellent! I like this little twist on the recipe. It was fun to try something new. 

What I did:

Mixed together in smoothie machine:

1/2 C Non-fat Greek Yogurt

1 teaspoon cocoa powder (unsweetened) 

A dab of Agave Syrup

A handful of ice cubes

2 frozen banana pieces from a diced and frozen banana (the pieces were about 1/4 - 1/2" thick)

A touch of Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk

Blend them all together and there you have it! I threw some raspberries on top and had some ice cream for breakfast! The breakfast of champions! Although if you want it for a treat, I'm sure you could have it at another time of the day!

Also, remember! If you don't enjoy MY ice cream, I promise that you will love, love, love DAMY Health's clean eating ice cream recipes! They have so many! Check them out!

Hope you all enjoy it as much as I did!

I'm a farmer, of a very small farm...

Guess what time it is again?? That's right, gardening, seeding and planting time!

 This year, I'm super excited to be, once again, growing my own food! It's very rewarding to know you took your time and dedication to care for it and the added bonus is that it saves you money AND you get even more nutrients as it's picked straight from the garden! I know I mentioned this last year when I took my canning class, but for those of you that didn't catch it, I posted a fact about our food. Food loses nearly HALF, read 50%!!!!! of it's nutrients just one week after it's picked! Think of all the produce that you eat that comes from different areas of the world. Makes you wonder how many nutrients are left in them, doesn't it? This is why it is so important for people to eat local foods that come from farmers markets! The freshest you can get! Also, it helps the environment by not having to travel so far. Of course, when you live in places like I do, the frozen tundra, you  have to eat the shipped produce during the winter months. However, when you are able to, during the spring, summer and fall months, local produce is the way to go!

There are some new developments with my garden. My landlord gave me an even BIGGER plot this year to garden, so I really have my work cut out for me! With hopefully getting busier with the business though, I knew that I wouldn't be able to get it all done by myself. So my new friend, Kate, whom I originally met at the gym, is going to be helping me out! I'm excited to have someone to help me grow and eat up these vegetables!

Kate and I modeling a car at a recent event. :)

Kate and I sat down not too long ago to go over just what exactly we wanted to plant. 

We came up with this list:

This weekend, we spent some time planting the seeds in my house. I wanted to get the seedlings started so that we could get them out as soon as the weather is consistently warm. 

We planted 2 types of tomatoes (cherry and beefsteak), parsley, squash (spaghetti and small yellow), 3 different varieties of lettuce, peppers, and we already have strawberries and chives outside! Kate said she would like to experiment with a row of carrots (I warned her about my results from last year) and I have yet to get basil planted too.

Seedlings sitting by my windows...

I also found this online recently and forgot that I would love to try this! It's a way to grow celery without even buying a seed!

I stole this picture from FARMER'S PAL. I couldn't find anything like it and they posted it on their Facebook page on April 18th. Find it HERE. And definitely like their page! A cute little page, it's interesting to look through! 

Turns out, you can grow celery from the end of the celery that you cut off! I'm going to by some organic celery and test this out! So fun! I'm so glad they posted that idea! 

I will also this year, be testing the soil at my place for lead. My landlord suggested it and said she would even pay for it if need be because she was curious. However, Minneapolis offers free lead testing. For anyone living in the are and wanting to test their soil, check out this site. It appears that the U of M offers a more extensive test though for a low cost which can be found here.

I'm proud that I'm continuing on even bigger this year with my goal! I have a new goal that I DIDN'T complete last year, that I'm going to work on for this year.  I will be telling you all a little about that goal sometime soon!

Happy Gardening Season Everyone!

Wear. And. Fare. Wednesday.

Another Wednesday post! Enjoy!

WEAR

I put together this little number for work the other day! 

Jacket: SES - Australian Store

Striped shirt - Mossimo - Target

Skirt: Old Navy

Shoes - Goodwill

I love these wedged Mary Jane's! My sis found them for me for $3.00 at the Goodwill! Brand new! Gotta love sisters!

FARE

Clean Eating PB Cups!

I have to admit, I cannot claim to be the mastermind behind the idea for this clean eating treat, I have to credit DAMY Health with the idea. However, I did make up this recipe on my own. I LOVE DAMY's treats, but I thought that I could do this one a bit differently and enjoy it just as much. I am not a huge pumpkin puree fan all the time, so that's why I made this variation. You can also find DAMY's version HERE.

Here is what I did for my version:

In a small bowl, mix together:

1/4C PB

1/4C Non-fat Greek Yogurt

1/4 Tsp Salt

2 Tbsp Maple Syrup or Agave

Next:

In a double boiler, melt 70% cacao dark chocolate (I used 2 of these giant bars from Trader Joe's):

Poor enough of the melted dark chocolate into the bottom of a muffin cup (in a muffin tin) - enough to cover the bottom. Perhaps 1/4" thick. Do this with all of your muffin cups. I made about 6 with this recipe.

Put the muffin cups with the melted chocolate into the freezer for about 10 minutes to let the chocolate harden.

After the chocolate has hardened, pull out the muffin cups and put the PB/Greek Yogurt mixture over the chocolate. Once again, enough to cover the chocolate. I would say another 1/4". Then pour some more of the melted dark chocolate over the top of the PB mixture. 

Put this all in the freezer again in the muffin tin to harden. Once hardened, you can store them in an air tight container until you are ready to eat them. Let them thaw a bit before trying to bite into them - they get hard.

OR

You can go crazy like I did! I made a PB Cup Blizzard one night with one PB cup and DAMY Health Ice Cream. Just blend them together! You can find the ice cream recipe I use HERE. Seriously...it is good stuff!

Happy eating and a happy Wednesday everyone!

A strange thing happened to me the other day...

As life has been rather busy lately with the business starting again and other life events, I have been checking my email inbox as well as receiving a lot more emails for my business. One of these emails was from a young man, I would guess about 6 years my junior, seeking employment with my bike tourism business. He indicated that he had read an article about my business and that at that time he was, "having pipe dreams of starting my own bike tour company, but (I) would not have the time to do the behind the scenes work."

Firstly, I thought it was a nice email but it also made me giggle. I had to laugh that people see a logo and get an idea in their head about what a company must be. Surely, he thought that my company already had employees. Little does he know, the company is all me.

Then, I got a really strange sensation. It hit me, here was a young man, not too unlike myself, who in all likelihood is even more qualified to do the job I'm doing (based on his resume and personal experience) yet I am the one with the business to whom he is sending a resume seeking employment. How is it that I am the one running a business as such and he isn't? Where does the difference lie?

Now, I know that it certainly can't be that I have more time than him. Between working out at the gym, blogging, working a full time job and the business, I know I don't have a lot of time. I make it work though and I make the time. I'm committed to the business and it's what I want.

Source: etsy.com via Alyssa on Pinterest

Then I thought, well...maybe it's money? It can't be the money though. I started my business with nothing...literally. No savings, no investors, just a small loan that I got from a bank and the willingness to get into debt to hopefully build my way out of it. Besides with school loans for a masters degree and working at a non-profit, I'm quite certain I wouldn't have much more money than most people.

With those two major things crossed off of the list, there were only a few more barriers to consider, fear, passion and support.

Is there fear when you start a business? YES! More than you can imagine! Fear of debt, failure, of jumping into it, of the unknown. I certainly had my moments and it took me a long time to be ready to make the leap of announcing my business and putting it out there. Even when it was "ready," I still was fearful. I remember making a call to my sister, before officially starting, just crying because  I was so scared and wanted this, but was afraid it wasn't going to work out. She had to talk me down from jumping off of my "emotional ledge." In the end, I wanted to have and work on the business more than I was scared, so I kept marching on.

Source: mth2011.tumblr.com via Alyssa on Pinterest

A positive aspect that I also had on my side, one just mentioned, was that I had a great support group. My family and friends have been very supportive of my journey. Helping me with mock rides, handing out flyers, and just offering words of encouragement. Sure, I had people that expressed doubts and were negative about my leap of faith into the business world, but for every one negative person, I'd say I had at least 5-10 positive supporters. That made such a huge impact. Perhaps this young man had no support? Maybe no one was there to cheer him on and root for his dreams.

Source: goo.gl via Darcey on Pinterest

Finally, I had passion. Writing this post reminded me of a scenario I had at the beginning of starting my business. A friend of mine had read that some other people were starting a bike tour business. I was a bit worried to be honest. But then I thought about it and said, "Well, there are tons of coffee shops out there and they are all pretty successful. Perhaps we will each offer something different. I might have some tours some people like and they might have something else that others like." I still felt a bit defeated. Afterwards, I talked to my friend, Mary. She had just seen a video where someone had addressed the the Wright Brothers and the first flight. Many of us know about the Wright Brothers, but do you know about a man named Samuel Pierpont Langley? Nope, I didn't think so. Mr. Langley was an educated gentleman (the Wright Brothers had no schooling past high school) who was given money by the Smithsonian Institution as well as other funds to create a plane that could carry a soldier. This was before the Wright Brothers made the first flight. Mr. Langley made 2 flight attempts, which failed. He then quit. Just 8 days later, the Wright brothers achieved this goal. The Wright Brothers weren't attempting to fly for the money or the fame, but because it was their passion. That is why they persisted, despite many failed attempts.

Source: savingnaturally.com via Alyssa on Pinterest

I had said early on in my business that people would see my passion and that's what shows. However, I can't say that this young man doesn't have passion for biking. He seems to love doing it. However, does he have enough passion to attempt a bike business, put in a lot of work hours and risk everything? At least for now, it appears he doesn't. However, it was so striking to me that he could have just as easily been doing what I am. Yet here I sit, the owner of a growing business - with applicants for jobs, much like himself.

The moral of this story?

If you want something, pursue it with passion. Surround yourself by people who will be your supporters through thick and thin, failure and success. Push past your fears. The best things in this life, are those that we work hard for and yet are the scariest to go after.

Source: tumblr.com via Alyssa on Pinterest

Grandma.

I've been up and missing for the last week or two but for just cause. To my dismay, my grandmother unexpectedly passed away - Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012 at 7:05pm. Grandma had an injury that wasn't caught at the hospital which caused her further damage and she was unable to sustain her own breathing. Her living will requested that she not be dependent on machines to live and that she may be allowed to pass quickly, peacefully and with dignity. My family honored my grandmother's request and she passed surrounded by at least 20 family members - all of whom had the opportunity to say their goodbyes and give grandma a hug and kiss. I wanted to write this post, to remember and honor my grandmother, however, it was a difficult post to write. Not because of grieving but because I simply felt that I didn't know if, in one blog post, I could do grandma justice. Nevertheless, I've decided to write this post to remember the strongest woman I think I have ever known in my life, my grandmother, Dorothy Katherine Gladys.

Grandma 2011 - A visit with grandpa. She wore her own crocheted headband.

Grandma, as I mentioned, was a strong woman. Strong in spirit, mind, body and will. Many of the qualities that I, as a woman, would like to possess, I saw portrayed in my grandmother. If I could attain at least 1/4 of the strength that she had, I would say that is a success. Grandma was very strong - some my call it "stubborn". Okay, we all called it stubborn, but it was a strong stubborn. A stubborn that didn't want help, a stubborn that persisted through surgeries, illnesses and injuries, a kind that got her through raising 5 boys on a farm, being a grandmother to 16 grandchildren and a great-grandmother to 17 and one that made her one of the most desirable seamstresses in her town.
Yes, my grandma was a stubborn German.

Underneath this stubborn exterior lied so many of the other characteristics that those close to grandma got to experience firsthand.

Grandma and I while visiting Grandpa - 2011

Grandma was a creative woman. As I mentioned, she was a seamstress in her and grandpa's town of dwelling and well-known for her sewing abilities. My father told us how once a popular chain store in my grandmother's town approached her to make them curtains. Grandma had a lot of orders backed up and told them that it would be a year and a half till their curtains could be completed. Guess what? They waited. Now if that doesn't speak to someone's reputation, I don't know what does.

Though grandma's curtain making skills were second to none, I don't believe this was what impressed us grandchildren the most. Instead, it was the manner in which she used her God-given talent to express her deep love and care for her grandchildren. This was most clearly witnessed in the mass production of Christmas ornaments - every year a unique and different one - from birth till we reached 18 years of age for every grandchild and I believe great-grandchild. Even though I knew every year that my ornament (with a gift of money) would be waiting for me at Christmas, it still didn't ruin the suspense. I couldn't wait to see what unique handcraft grandma had brainstormed for that particular year.  I can't imagine the countless hours that she likely spent in her easy chair every year preparing each of these hand-crafted treasures, not knowing their future destiny. Would the ornaments be kept and treasured, would they continue to hang on Christmas trees for years to come? It didn't matter. This was a labor of love and the ornaments would continue to make their annual appearance.

A family day at the park. Grandma and Grandpa at the head of the table.

Being born in another era altogether, many of the things some of us grandchildren did, I am quite certain were a shock to grandma. During grandma's funeral, we had pulled out a ton of different photos. My cousin posted one of her with my grandmother - her with her tongue sticking out with a giant bar piercing going through it and grandma happily smiling next to her. I thought that this was such a unique picture that demonstrated quite a juxtaposition. Though I'm sure grandma could not understand why anyone would put something metal through their tongue, there was grandma, sitting next to her granddaughter, still loving and accepting her as she is. This really captured the essence of grandma. My sister, during the reading of the eulogy piece she had written for grandma's funeral, mentioned that we all have had less than shining moments, but grandma stuck by our side in all of them. Though grandma didn't always approve of our decisions, her love and acceptance was unconditional. The one thing I know that we can all say is that we most certainly experienced her unconditional love.

Grandma, Grandpa and I - Grandpa's 92nd Birthday Celebration 2012

Something that really struck me during grandma's funeral and that I was reminded of by all of our pictures was that grandma had a real zest for life. As long as she was here, she was going to be living life. Grandma was adventurous - from a trip to Europe with grandpa in her younger years, card clubs, bowling leagues, dances with grandpa as a youngster, to being the grandma that you could take out for a giant glass of beer (sometimes in a glass boot). If opportunity for an adventure presented itself, grandma would take it. This was made even more clear to me by grandma's living will. Upon returning from the hospital after grandma had passed, I was looking at grandma's living will. Grandma made the statement in her will that, "life is about quality, not quantity." Grandma lived in the way that if she was going to be here on this earth, she wanted to LIVE. There probably isn't a woman more insistent upon living in her own home than my grandma. Grandpa recently has had some dementia problems so had to go into a rest home only a matter of blocks from their home. Grandma would visit every other day but wanted to stay at home because she said they couldn't afford for both of them to be in an assisted living facility. I don't think this was necessarily the case, I think grandma wanted to continue living life, on her terms, until it was impossible not to. Despite all of our concerns, grandma was going to be home alone and she was going to keep on doing what she had always done; going to card club, doing laundry, visiting grandpa, doing crafts, and simply living. Grandma wanted quality, not quantity. Till her day of passing, she lived and loved life.

Source: etsy.com via Martha on Pinterest

There are so many other things that I could say about grandma, but blog posts can't go on forever. Some of the things I think I will miss most when I think about grandma is her indelible laugh, one that will always remain in my memory and that I loved to hear. The way she always played with my hair when I sat next to her. Understanding that only she could give and the belief that she expressed in my goals and dreams, even at the sacrifice of getting to spend time with her and grandpa. The bright pink colored lipstick she wore, that only a woman like her with a strong personality, could pull off. The way that, even though I speak of her as if she was perfect, she wasn't.  Yet she was  perfectly human and the perfect grandma.

Love you and miss you grandma!