Healthy Happy and Free

Have you been spending more time at home? Have you finished your entire list on Netflix? If the answer to these is Yes, you might be looking for some ways to fill your time. I personally love to read, especially while laying out in the sunshine. So I thought I would share some of my all time, must read books! I'm a fan of fiction so these books are all fiction! Longtime Favorite:  A Separate Peace I read this book as a freshman in high school and it never left me. The emotions are so piercing and the story so unique that I never forgot it.  Classic:  The Picture of Dorian Gray Thought provoking, emotive, and relatable to the core - this timeless classic will have you turning pages.  Female Must Read:  The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath captures a character that reached deep within my soul. It touches on mental health, feminism and more all while being extremely readable, imo.  Lived Up to the H ype:  The Fault in Our Stars John Green is a master story-teller an...

Long time, no blog post. Oops!  I guess I fell off my blogging game a little bit. As the pandemic rages on, I've actually been working more! Perks of being an "essential worker", right? So anyway, something that I've also been dealing with is constipation. Yeah, I said it. I know it is a topic a lot of people shy away from but it can actually have very serious health implications. Anytime I am injured and can't run or hike, I notice my constipation gets worse. So I decided to test out an entirely made up protocol to try to find some relief.  First of all I've tried: laxatives - DIDN'T WORK - I tried a laxative once and it caused me so much pain and no bm. No thank you! eating an orange, rind and all, with cayenne and cinnamon - DIDN'T WORK. This did nothing.  prescription stool softener for 3 days as prescribed - DIDN'T WORK. Nada.  doctor recommended suppository - DIDN'T WORK. Ok, can you tell I'm desperate? This caused a bm but not relief...

How to make mug cakes e-z-er? How to make getting protein e-z-er? How to make a vegan, protein, mug cake in 60 seconds? EZER! Let me break it down for you. EZER snacks makes protein mug mixes. Each mug cake has 20 grams of plant based protein. Yes, 20 grams to fuel your active life. They are also gluten free, refined sugar free, and vegan. They utilize pea protein which is a great vegan source of protein as it has 9 essential amino acids along with BCAAs for muscle protein synthesis. They come in 3 flavors: Coffee Latte, Dark Chocolate Extreme and Peanut Butter Blast. To make the mug cake, add two scoops of a flavor of choice, add cold water, stir until smooth and microwave for 1 minute. How easy is that? I first tried the Coffee Latte flavor. The water and cake mix stirred together quite easily. I popped it in the microwave and then used a knife to remove my cake from the mug. I topped it with whipped cream and mini chocolate chips! It was a tasty treat! The texture of...

I love popcorn. I love sweets. With all the chaos in my life, you'd think I love that too. So why not wrap all that up in one delicious snack. I first spotted Sweet Chaos on the 'gram as the kids call it these day. Then  I spotted Sweet Chaos seasonal peppermint popcorn at The Dollar Tree of all places. I had to buy a couple bags obviously. Recently I had the opportunity to try three more flavors: Peanut Butter Chocolate, Cake Batter and Chocolatey Double Drizzle Before you ask, I honestly cannot choose a favorite. Peanut butter and chocolate is a classic combination, cake batter is delightfully sweet and fun and chocolatey double drizzle actually surprised me with how well it was executed. Each flavor had a decent amount of drizzle - enough to satisfy the sweet tooth, but not too much to overwhelm the popcorn. It makes you treasure those clumps of sweet drizzled goodness. Not only do these drizzled popcorns taste fantastic but they also happen to be non-gmo...

Long time no post! Time has simply gotten away from me the past few weeks but given the current situation (COVID19 outbreak), it looks like we all my be spending a little bit more time at home. Whether you’re under quarantine, isolation or just practicing social distancing as we’ve all been advised to do, I find it handy to have a list of activities in my arsenal. As ironic as it may seem, though I’m a self proclaimed introvert, sitting at home with nothing to do gives me great anxiety. So I’ve compiled a list of things to do that are good for the mind, body and soul. I thought I would share my list with you! Feel free to share and take it to the next level! Sell something on eBay? Why not donate some of the money to a charity? Clean out your closet? Why not donate it or make a quilt? The sky is the limit! Stay positive, have fun and don’t forget that despite everything, there is beauty here.

All of this press surrounding the Corona Virus and the bad flu season has me feeling like I'm living in a version of the movie Contagion.  Everyone is a threat of illness. Touch nothing. Stay healthy.  Okay, I'm being a bit melodramatic but it's easy to become paranoid about catching something when so many people are getting hit with one illness or another.  So here's just a quick rundown of a few things I've been doing and/or am trying to do.   Elderberry Tea/Syrup  Elderberry has been used in different parts of the world for centuries as an immune support agent. It has been shown to reduce the severity and length of influenza. Plus, the tea tastes good. I love drinking the tea nightly!  Thieves Essential Oil Blend Okay, now I don't know if there's any real science surrounding this one but my friend has started using Thieves as a way to stave off infections and viruses. She swears by it! Placebo or not, I figured I would give...

Hop on Pop. Hop on what? No, I'm not talking about the Dr. Seuss book; I'm talking about popped snacks! We all love them, right? From popped corn (the OG) to popped rice snacks and now popped sorghum! Who is this for: people who are intolerant to corn people who are gluten free  people who love to try new snacks Sorghum is an ancient grain that has been shown to provide a multitude of vitamins, aid in digestion, support the function of the thyroid glands, aid in the regulation of insulin and balance sugar levels and more!  Sorghum is also sustainable for farming and drought-resistant. Winning!  Pop Bitties has taken that ancient super grain and popped it creating a munchy, crunchy air-popped snack.  The popped sorghum has a similar taste to popcorn with a bit more nuttiness? It's also much tinier than popcorn which can make it a little difficult to just pop in your mouth - I used a spoon lol!  They come in four varieties: Sea Sal...

She's here! My e-book is here! The idea came to me a few weeks back and I excitedly began working on it right away. What is it? It's a quick reference guide to cooking for one! Many of my friends have expressed that they don't cook because they can't cook for just themselves or that it's too much work. I have a few tips and tricks to make it easy, hassle free and efficient to cook for just one! I also included a sample grocery list and sample week of meals using those groceries. I hope you will find this resource to be helpful and fun! Click here to download your copy:  The Lazy Girl's Guide to Cooking For One

Can you believe it's 2020???  Where is time going? I thought it would be fun to round up some of my top picks from 2019! Let me know which things you have tried and what your top picks are! Protein Ice Cream: Enlightened  If you're looking for a protein ice cream, I would hands down say #TeamEnlightened. Some other popular brands seem to consistently have texture issues/freezer burn. Enlightened has a dense, creamy texture (make sure to let it soften), and flavors that I truly love! It's a very tasty way to get that extra punch of protein! Vegan/Paleo Ice Cream Ooh this is a tough one! I tried a few new to me ice cream products and a couple of stand out ones were:  Fronen ( https://www.eatfronen.com/ ), a banana based paleo ice cream with very few ingredients. If you have gut issues, this would be a good choice!  Vixen Kitchen Ice Cream is paleo vegan gelato made with the highest quality of ingredients and it shows. The texture and fl...