This morning I started wondering if anyone is reading my blog. I don’t do too much in the way of publicizing it, and that is fine with me. The Leo moon side of me LOVES feedback though, so I started feeling a little self-conscious. Maybe that’s why I ended up doing all this writing on my blog instead of my journal. To get past that whole “is anyone even listening” thing. It doesn’t even matter if no one reads this, because the point is that I’m writing. And writing a lot. Consistently. Whoohoo!

That said, if you are reading this, please don’t be shy, and leave a little note like “Hi!” or something. Just for my ego’s delight okay?

Yesterday afternoon was a very active one. I got off work, went home, did a few chores, and then a full session of T-tapp. I made the Body Ecology Diet mayonnaise and discovered that I definitely should have used LIGHT olive oil. The regular one has too strong a taste for the mayo. I ended up mixing it with a little bit of regular mayo, and ketchup. So it doesn’t fit with B.E.D. but at least its edible now. I think it would taste really good if I redo the recipe with half LIGHT extra virgin olive oil and half coconut oil or something.

Here’s the recipe:

Homemade Mayonnaise (recipe from B.E.D. book)

2 egg yolks
2 Tbs raw organic apple cider vinegar
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp mustard
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (I added a little more)
2 tsp seal salt
1 cup olive oil

*In blender combine egg yolks, vinegar, lemon juice, mustar, cayenne pepper, salt and 1/4 cup of the oil. Blend for 30 seconds.

*Very slowly, through opening in blender lid, add remaining oil while blender is still going. Continue to blend until smooth.

*Scrape into a glass jar with a screw top and it’ll keep safely in the refrigerator for 7-14 days

*************************

I will be trying a few different dressings and sauces. There are recipes for gravy, vinaigrette, curried cauliflower sauce, and more that I want to try very soon. Our dinner last night was, well BLAH. I sauteed turger burgers, chopped up with onions and mixed organic frozen veggies and a little bit of spinache puree. Sounds good, but it just wasn’t that great. I will skip the frozen veggies next time with this kind of meal. The good news is that the boys still ate some of it.

Super-Yummy-Pumpkin-Biscuit-Pancake-Soft-Cookie-Things

After dinner, I whipped up some buscuits from Pamela’s gluten free pancake mix (no this doesn’t fall in line with the healing stage of the B.E.D. because of the almond meal, etc. but at least it was gluten, dairy and sugar free). I mixed in some of the squash puree that I made earlier in the day, some cinnamon, nutmeg, stevia & butter/coconut oil. And they were phenomenal. They are SO yummy! Like a pumpkin-pie-pancake-biscuit-soft-cookie-thing.

Since I’m on such a roll talking about food, I’ll continue!

Breakfast!

This morning, the boys had one of those aforementioned super yummy biscuits and a super green smoothie (bananas, mixed fruit, flaxseed meal, coconut oil, liquid chlorophyll, water). I had a green ACV cocktail (water with liquid chlorophyll and apple cider vinegar) and then made breakfast when I got to work. I cooked two eggs in a lot of coconut oil with sea salt and lots of pepper, and heated up the last of the squash and ginger soup I had made. To help with digestion (since I had animal proteins AND a decent amount of oil) I had a small cup of water mixed with a teaspoon of ACV. YUM. Oh how I LOVE eggs cooked this way.

I feel really good. Between these nutritional changes, t-tapp, dry-skin brushing, and just a changed attitude about food, the body & life overall, I feel a major transformation already underway! I’m already super thin, so I’m not trying to lose weight. In fact, gaining some might be nice. Either way, I FEEL good, so I’m really not all that concerned about how I look. The biggest, more noticable change is my energy levels. I mean, last night I was up till my usual bedtime, but what I was DOING during that time was different. I was in the kitchen, moving around the house, making lunches for the next day, and I CLEARED the sink. This was a first. Seriously. Whatever is going on, I like it.

So I will leave you with some pictures of our sprouts that are growing so big! I need to transplant the sunflowers, zuchinni and cucmber already, they are getting crazy! I’m still trying to figure out where I’m going to put everything. I’d love the sunflowers in the front of our house, but it gets so windy from that direction, I wonder how hardy they are? I need to have my herbs and lettuce right outside the window, otherwise they will end up neglected. And with that, here they are!

Bibb Lettuce!

Sage finally sprouted!

Unruly Sunflowers!

 
Day 3 of writing and yoga and hooray for sproutings of all kinds! This post is going to include pictures, to satisfy my (and your) visual cravings. I’ve got seedlings and roots coming out of my ears. Okay, not really, but it feels that way! It feels SO satisfying to be putting things in the dirt, watching them work their way out of the soil and up toward the sun, as they grow in height and strength. And to be consuming mostly plants feels awesome! I can’t believe it, really. I was raised by a health nut not-so-strict-vegetarian, but this really feels different to me. Somehow, it is much more “whole” as I’m involved in every part of the cycle. The seeding. Planting/germinating. Watering. Growing. Harvesting. Beautifying. Preparing. Consuming. Composting. Feeding the soil. Planting seeds. And on it goes. There is a sense of completion, contentment, a fullness. The transfer of energy from me to the plant and vice versa is amazing! Its something you just have to experience for yourself to understand.

Green eggs!

I have been experimenting with different dishes and vegetables. Three nights ago I made my classic chicken lemongrass soup. Two nights ago I made scrambled eggs over sauteed kang kung with avocado and carrots. Last night I tried kelp noodles for the first time, chopped up with cucumber and green sprouts mixed with a little apple cider vinegar and wheat-free tamari sauce. Also made some guacamole and had some carrots and corn chips on the side. This morning we had green eggs! I scrambled eggs with a little bit of liquid chlorophyll mixed in and the boys got cinnamon butter toast, while I had mine with romain lettuce and carrots. Lunch for me today was romaine lettuce with chicken, avocado, sprouts and cucumber with apple cider vinegar and olive oil. I’ve had some coconut water, water with powdered moringa in it… I need to figure out some kind of reliable and hefty snack.

Scrambled Kang Kung & Eggs with Carrots & Avocado

Egg Salad Lettuce Wraps

I’ll be experimenting with some of the Body Ecology Diet recipes this weekend. I want to try to do some purees and make more things that my kids will eat. They have been eating more vegetables than ever, just because they are offered so often. A little bit of greens here, a bite of carrot there, etc. I’m realizing how much it adds up. Something I really want to figure out and play with is what to put in their preschool lunchbags. I’ve at least been adding to their usual peanut butter and jelly sandwich and applesauce. I’ve been throwing in baby carrots (since my recent discovery at my parents’ house that my littlest one will eat them…after so long of refusing!). Got any other ideas? I need to find some kind of “green” bread recipe. My kids eat a lot of bread (I’m really missing it right now).

Chakra Recipes Cookbook by Miro

Changing the way I’ve been eating has me feeling lighter. Cleaner. Full of life. Of course, I’ve only been keeping up the changes for a short time now, but if I feel this great about it now, I can’t wait to see how I feel in a few months, or a year from now! Many resources have been popping up around me, including a friend & yoga instructor named Miro. She is a wonderful woman who has published a book called Chakra Recipes, and many of the recipes are great for what I’m doing right now! She has beautiful artwork in the book as well. It is just a lovely creation and it inspires me every time I flip through it. The recipes are very simple, with minimal ingredients, and much versatility. A few of them I have to adapt a little bit to fit more in line with Body Ecology, but its easy. We have a couple of copies for sale at Nuts & Grains for $25.

Something I really look forward to is having most of the veggies that we eat come from our garden! I know it’ll take time, but I’m already so excited about all my little lettuce, cucumber and zucchini sprouts. The kids are having a lot of fun watching the difference in the sprouts even from when we see them in the morning to when we get home in the afternoon. They’ve been talking about sunflowers a lot lately, so when I saw the seed packets, I knew we’d get them and grow them. Plus, I just noticed yesterday when I was look at my treasure map, that I’ve got sunflowers on there!

Kang Kung rooted in a vase!

Zucchini seedling

Our future salad

Speaking of my treasure map, I took it out of the closet (because its too big for me to put it anywhere else for now!) and set it up on the couch. I did my yoga yesterday afternoon and was really feeling connected with my breathing, my body, my surroundings. I felt very grounded, yet with that divine connection that you just can’t explain. The minute you try to explain it, it fades. All I can say is that I felt all the inspiration I was breathing in. And when I was finished I looked at my treasure map and suddenly so many things on there clicked in a new way. I was seeing how certain things were unfolding and I am just blown away by the power of treasure maps! And it really is just that. A map of treasures. A guide to your desires. A visual reminder of your passions, goals, or things that came to you intuitively (even if they make no sense for awhile). I recommend making a treasure map to anyone, at anytime (even though there are some very beneficial and auspicious times to make one!). I hadn’t looked at it for about a month or so, and I can’t believe how much on it is manifesting…in the areas of health, healing, BREATHING, fresh, clean, simple, back to the earth, fun, energy, vitality, flowers, gardening, and more!

A happy mess...

I am truly blessed. The universe is always conspiring toward my highest good and I just love it all to pieces.

Well folks, thats a grand total of  1050 words, so I’m out!

Chicken Cacciatore with a Pomegranate Sparkler!

The Oxford dictionary lists decadence as “a luxurious self-indulgence” and boy does that sound good to me! Last night I was feeling so inspired in my clean and organized kitchen, I decided to make everything look fancy in a not-too-fancy way!

Chicken Cacciatore over Rigatone topped with Feta & Flowers

Directions:

1. Boil rigatone in salted water, drain, drizzle with olive oil and set aside
2. Heat oil in skillet and saute onions 3-5 minutes
3. Chop and season chicken, add to skillet.
4. Add garlic, thyme and rosemary.
5. Stir and cook until chicken begins to brown, then add spinach and stir. (If spinach was frozen, I’d add it just before chicken began to brown)
6. Add pasta sauce, olives, artichokes, and more black pepper. Turn heat to med/low.
7. Stir and let all the flavors blend together for another 5 minutes.
8. Dish over rigatone noodles, and top with your favorite cheese!

Sparkling Pomegranate

*In a glass filled with ice, fill halfway with pomegranate liqueur and top with ginger ale. Yum!

***

****

*****

******

As a preface, I will be getting the Style Statement: Live by Your Own Design
book as I am sure I’ll thoroughly enjoy it!

I’ve been experimenting with a lot of style lately, fashion-wise, and more.

The root of it all, I’m feeling & seeing is satisfying the being in me that just LOVES to have fun, feel good, feel beautiful, elegant, intellegant, classy & professional, funky & funny, rough & edgy… ALL OF IT. I love it all, in different doses at different times.

And even deeper than that, is how awesome it feels to NURTURE my soul, my inner being, and to assert my SELF as my number one priority.

After 4 years of feeling like a maternal slave, I am FINALLY seeing a bit of balance coming in to play (literally) and it really all begins with me loving myself. In the past year and a half, I’ve really made a sincere effort to put ME first, and really define WHY me first. Not because I deserve more time for myself than I give to my children, thats not it at all. But more like because I deserve time to myself (in small or large amounts, depending on each unique moment!) as I need it, and am creative in the ways I make that time happen.

This morning, for example, I decided to totally indulge myself. After a not-so-great morning start with the kids, getting ready, barely making it on time to preschool (trying to change my vibe that we don’t HAVE to be there by a certain time…and change/simplify some things that will help us get there at geat time), etc…. I stopped by a bookstore and got a magazine (anyone ever read Monarch? Its a business-professional lifestyle magazine that highlights the talents & accomplishments of african americans, but is also such an inspiration to ANYONE (women!) trying to find there way career-wise and doing good in this world. I sat down in their cafe, splurged on a mochaccino and a slice of veggie quiche, which I savored completely. I felt so romantic, like royalty almost!  I allowed myself to be served and taken care of, while just enjoying the scenery and some feel-good reading material. Then I went to Ross (in the same mall/building) to exchange a pair of jeans for a top and a belt. I let go of my believing that I needed to get to work by a certain time (as long as I made it in by 10am to open the store and set everything up real quick).

I usually drop the boys off at 8:30, and get to the store by 8:45 or 9, dawdle around on the computer/internet, nibble on something, slowly set the store up, to open by 10am. So I decided to use my time differently this morning, and get my ME time in a totally different atmosphere, and WOW that made a different. I made it to the store with 5-10 minutes before 10am, set up SUPER quick (that mochaccino was great!) and here I am, still getting computer time! It just goes to show how much easier/efficient you can be when your vibe is UP! So my # 1 priority is MYSELF, and mostly I mean MY VIBE.

So I have been managing my mom’s health food store on Guam called Nuts & Grains and we’ve been starting a lot of new projects, including the redesign of the store! We’ll be painting, decorating, and reorganizing. Here is a photo of the “inspiration”:

Arbonne Spa Party in my home!

So I hosted an Arbonne Spa party in my home last Sunday! It was fun and a much needed retreat from the daily grind. It is always nice to get women together to have a good time! We had some yummy treats to nibble on as well, like salad, pesto dip, chips, cheese, crackers, brownies, watermelon, tea, and wine! We pampered our faces and our feet. Quite divine if I do say so myself. Amanda Young was the Arbonne representative (along with Kendra!) and we had a lovely group including my mom Libby, sister Marissa, Marie, Vicky & her adorable daughter Jade, as well as Dione & her mother Shirley. We had a grand old time!

I totally recommend any gathering that includes good food, pampering, lovely women & lively conversation! 

Arbonne products...good stuff!

more products!

My mom Libby & Marie

Ta da!! I would have smiled a bit more...but my mask was setting lol

What a title for a post!

Reaching for Joy!

I’ve been consistently doing yoga for awhile now, and of course, being a mother of two little boys, they often join in, or try to thwart my poses. Sometimes, when I am sitting in the pose to the right, reaching for joy, little Kenny will come and tickle me. They say that laughter is the perfect breath, so thank you Kenny, for making my yoga sessions that much more effective and efficient!

At first, I would get frustrated when I was trying to focus in a pose (like the vulnerable bridge pose) and someone would come over and start beating on my belly. I’ve had to rethink my reasons for doing yoga in the first place, and also give in to the realities of being in the presence of little ones. If I really want to do a more peaceful and meditative session, I will wait until nap time. Otherwise, I have learned to incorporate my kids into my poses. You can take a look at some of the photos below of my pose modifications to involve my playful little toddler.

I’ve also discovered the benefits of photographing yourself while in a pose. I can see the areas that I need to adjust and shift. I can see where one side of my body is able to stretch further than the other. I can get an outside perspective, which is always refreshing and offers me a better chance for improvement when practicing at home. I don’t really ever make it to actual yoga classes, so I don’t have a teacher to adjust my movements as I do them. I am my own home practice teacher and student I guess!  

Weeee! I put him in the "airplane" position, and then, while supporting his hips, slowly lifted my legs until he was upside down.

My favorite backbend pose!

This is harder than it looks, LOL

Don't you touch that camera Kenny!

Downward Dog Pose

Ahhh....Peace.

Prosperity Goddess

In the prosperity corner of my home, I have applied some Feng Shui principles and techniques to enhance the overall prosperity in my life. To the left is this really cool goddess figurine that my mom gave to me. I just love her! I have decided that with her beautiful purpleness, bouquet of roses, and general peacefulness, that she is a definite symbol of prosperity. My vision of prosperity is one of peace, love, beauty and joy, and she emulates all of these for me! And her golden skin is just the icing on the cake if you will. 

Happy Little Golden Buddha!

And who better than a joyful little golden Buddha to have in your prosperity corner? He sits in the leaves of silk plant in a wooden basket on the same shelf as my prosperity goddess. I just love how he makes me smile. My friend Amanda gifted me with this little guy, so thanks Amanda! 

Pictured below is a painting I did of the mouth of a river flowing out into the ocean. For me, besides water being a symbol of prosperity, this image is a reminder that as we just effortlessly flow downstream, we eventually flow out into expansive oceans of infinite possibilities. That life is indeed meant to be easy, effortless, and peaceful. I put a rainbow of color into this painting to signify the variety in life, and the wide array of joyful possibilities we can choose from. Most of all, it is very calming for me to gaze upon, reminding me to not work too hard, and to pause to enjoy life’s glorious silences.

Prosperity Water Painting

About five years ago, I discovered T-Tapp. Developed by Theresa Tapp, T-Tapp is a series of copyrighted, sequential movements designed to put the body in proper functional alignment. Its special sequence of comprehensive, compound muscle movement helps establish better alignment as well as increased strength and flexibility of the spine, better neuro-kinetic flow, lymphatic function, and increased metabolic rate. Its physical therapy approach to fitness makes it safe for those with shoulder, hip, knee, neck, and back concerns. Yet, it delivers a challenging workout for all fitness levels! 

T-Tapp…

• Is done without weights, equipment, or jumping!
• Is very rehabilitative, especially for the lower back and knees. The movements look so simple, but they provide a workout like no other.
• Works all layers of the muscle at both attachments to develop muscle density instead of muscle bulk.
• Is more than a mind/body workout! T-Tapp is a left/right brain, mind/body workout.
• Is where less becomes MORE! Instead of working long and hard, discover how quality of movement can be more important than quantity! Just try the move called Hoe-Downs, featured in the video below! 

I absolutely love T-tapp, because I can incorporate the techniques into practically everything that I do, whether its washing dishes, walking, carrying kids, doing yoga, driving, or sitting at the computer. It is so comprehensive and I can do less but accomplish more on so many levels. As a mother of two young boys, if I am intentionally doing a workout, it had better be a short one! 

I have been doing Hoe-Downs since I discovered them on the Try-Before-You-Buy page of the T-tapp site, and one Christmas, my mom got me the 15 minute Basic Workout Plus, and the Step Away the Inches 30 minute Walking Workout. I love them both and I do the Basic Workout Plus on a regular basis. I also do some yoga, a lot of walking and playing outside with my boys. Lots of fun and relaxing, and my body looks and feels awesome!! I’ve always been a petite person, so when my first and second pregnancies stretched my belly to the max (I was “all belly” as they say), when it was all said and done, I was left with a very wrinkly mess of skin. It looked worse if I flexed my abs. Below I show what my belly looked like not too long after the birth of my 2nd son, and next to it shows my belly now, a year and a half later. I can’t believe the difference even when I look at the photos! I attribute it to t-tapp, yoga, breathing exercises, and dry skin brushing. Basically, when I actively moved toward total body wellness and healing, everything in my life improved, and as a side effect, my belly is not so wrinkly! LOL

My belly flexed, before I consistently engaged in mind/body exercises.