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Happy Earth Day 2014

Earth Day 2014 Specials

April 22, 2014 By Shannon Leave a Comment

Happy Earth Day 2014Happy Earth Day! First celebrated in 1970, it is now celebrated in over 192 countries around the world. While every day should contain a focus on environmental issues, today is a great day to kick off your efforts at home and in your community. Been wanting to start recycling, begin using more reusable items in your home, or plant a tree? Today is the day to get started!

Recycling can have a huge impact on your local community. When we really started our recycling efforts just a few years ago, we went from throwing away a bag of trash a day (we are a family of three) to a bag of trash every three days. Recycling is made easy if you have curbside recycling. Most communities though have drop off recycling centers. It definitely takes more of an effort, but the planet and I thank you for it.

My advice if you are not currently recycling is to start small. Have a devoted recycling container in your kitchen and start with one or two types of items. Paper and plastic containers are a great place to start. Done with that box of cereal? Fold it up and place it in your recycling bin. Yogurt, sour cream, or butter tub empty? Wash them out and place them in the bin. 


We use this Simplehuman Recycling Trashcan in our kitchen. It is slim, easy to use, and has two side by side compartments. One is for trash and the other is for recycling. I love that we don’t need to have multiple bins in our kitchen. Plus it has wheels to make it easy to move around the kitchen and it has a clip to hold the lid open, make it easy to empty and change the bag. It is easy to clean and looks great in the kitchen.

The other area in our home that I think has made a huge impact on the planet is increasing the number of reusable items we have. Everything from using cloth napkins, kitchen towels (rather than paper towels), sandwich wrappers, and stainless steel lunch containers have really reduced our waste. Many of our items have gotten years of use, which is way better than a single use for a paper napkin or a plastic sandwich bag. 

A really great source for all of these items is Abe’s Market. Today through April 27 they are offering free shipping and up to 50% off thousands of items in honor of Earth Day! 

Items I would recommend starting out with? Reusable sandwich wraps, stainless steel lunch containers, and reusable water bottles.  Check out everything in their lunch kit section to find some great products.

Today we are hopeful for warmer weather (it has been a really long and hard winter here in Michigan) so that we can turn our efforts to our garden and yard. We moved in August, so this year we have some big plans for outside. We started some seeds indoors and we can’t wait to get them outside. This is a simple project that anyone can do and is a great way to involve your kids. They will love picking out seeds and helping to plant them.

How are you celebrating Earth Day? Have something new that you would like to try for the environment? What has been a stumbling block for you? Share in the comments below what you are doing and why it has been hard for you to do it in the past.

Clean Cleanse

Clean Program Cleanse Basics

March 25, 2014 By Shannon 1 Comment

Clean CleanseWhat is the Clean Program? I often get asked that when I say that I am doing a cleanse. A cleanse usually brings to mind either juice fasting for days on end or living on lemon juice, water, and cayenne pepper. When I first started researching doing a cleanse, I was drawn to the idea of a juice cleanse. I was nervous about living on just juice for a week though. I have a pretty busy life with my own business, a daughter to get to and from places, and my home to take care of.

That’s when I heard Gwyneth Paltrow talking about this cleanse that she was on, the Clean Program. I was intrigued because you are allowed actual food and smoothies. I got the Clean book by Dr. Alejandro Junger to learn more. This is really a great place to start as it explains why you are removing certain foods in order to reduce inflammation, acidity, and toxic chemicals from your body. 

I really wanted to do the cleanse, but was initially put off by the large cost of the Clean Kit.I started looking around in their forums and discovered that you could put together your own kit. I’ve put together my make your own Clean Kit recommendations based on doing the cleanse five times now. It really is much cheaper and that way you can buy more higher quality foods while you are cleansing.

So what exactly does the Clean Cleanse entail? It is a pretty simple formula really. For 21 days you have:

  • A smoothie for breakfast filled with green veggies (spinach, kale, chard, etc), water, protein powder, a good fat (avocado or nut butter), coconut or almond milk, and some fruit (I stock up my fridge with a variety of frozen fruit).
  • A solid meal for lunch. This should include some hearty greens, a good source of protein, and healthy fats.
  • Another smoothie for dinner or a pureed soup. 
  • Daily supplements and probiotics. These include digestive enzymes, milk thistle to support the liver, an anti-microbial such as oil of oregano or berberine, and magnesium at night.
  • Drink plenty of water, often with fresh lemon or lime juice to help increase alkalinity in the body.
  • A twelve hour window of fasting between dinner and breakfast.

It really is pretty straightforward, but it can be pretty tough. Some of the things that you must exclude from your diet include:

  • gluten
  • dairy and eggs
  • processed sugar (including honey and maple syrup)
  • soy
  • coffee, soda, and alcohol
  • beef, pork
  • corn
  • tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, potatoes, yams, sweet potatoes
  • bananas, strawberries, citrus (other than lemons and limes), and grapes
  • most processed foods

I know that the list can seem very limiting, but there are so many options of great recipes and foods out there that you can have. It really is great to eliminate these things from your diet every once in a while. 

The first few days can be rough as your body is detoxing from sugar, caffeine, and the other items on the list. I usually suffer from a headache the first few days, but once that is gone I feel pretty good. My tastebuds change and things that are usually tempting are not any longer.

After the cleanse is over, you go through a reintroduction process where you slowly have new foods to see how they affect your body. It can be a great way to see if there are any toxic triggers that you may want to permanently eliminate or reduce from your diet. 

The cleanse is also great for helping your make better choices in your everyday diet. Weight loss is not the main focus of the cleanse but it can often help your body get to the weight that it should be. I have found it to be a happy side effect. 

It is definitely something that I highly recommend. I have had so many positive side effects from this including better sleep, clearer skin, and a better moving intestinal system (ahem). 

I welcome any of your questions or comments about the Clean cleanse below. I would love to help!

Madison Reed Hair Color

Madison Reed Haircolor Review

March 18, 2014 By Shannon 5 Comments

I was at a conference in January and had an opportunity to meet with some representatives from Madison Reed, a hair care company. I was intrigued because their hair color does not contain parabens, ammonia, and resorcinol – ingredients commonly found in salon and off the shelf hair color. And definitely things you do not want to put on your hair and scalp.

So when they offered to send me a kit for free to review, I jumped at the chance. First up was picking out a color. They offer 27 shades from very black to very blonde. I was interested in matching my current color. They have a really awesome color selection tool. You can either match a color from the brand that you are currently using or you can use their Color Advisor quiz to get suggestions. I used the quiz and come up with Como Light Brown – 7NGM. 

Madison Reed Hair Color Box Closed

Within one week the box was delivered to my door. I really liked that you can place your order on auto delivery and pick an interval between 3 and 10 weeks. Just order once and when it is time to color your hair again your Madison Reed hair color will be on its way.

Madison Reed Hair Color

Getting the box, it really is apparent that Madison Reed is a step above hair color you can buy at the drug store. It has easy to read instructions and contains two pairs of gloves (two!), a cap, barrier cream (to keep your skin from being dyed), a cleaning wipe, the application bottle with activator, a tube of color, and a sample size of shampoo and conditioner. 

Madison Reed Hair Color Close Up

Before getting started I wanted to see what Madison Reed offered on their website as far as instructions and tips. I found this really helpful video on their website. Definitely watch it before starting.

 

I got everything in order (towels, old shirt, hair bands, comb, and the kit) and got to work. I sectioned off my hair and tied it up with hairbands. I would highly recommend finding some hair clips though, as they were a bit difficult to work with. You then add the barrier cream all around your hair line and you are ready to go.

My Hair Before Madison Reed Top
Lots of Roots Showing. Check out those Grey Hairs!

My Hair Before Madison Reed Side

I love that there are two pair of gloves in the kit. And they fit well too. The home kits always give you this pair of baggy plastic gloves that don’t fit well and are hard to work with. Plus you have to carefully pull them off in order to reuse them when you rinse your hair. 

Take out the activator bottle, unscrew the cap, get the tube of color, and squeeze it into the bottle. Shake for 20 seconds until it changes color slightly. The color change was pretty subtle for me and I wasn’t sure that it was working. As I worked with it, it went more and more brown though. I started at my roots, getting those all done first. I wanted to make sure that all the grey at the top of my head was nice and covered.

One of the things mentioned on both the Madison Reed website and in this video is that the hair color smells nice. I was very skeptical about this claim. I’ve done both off the shelf and salon color in the past. Most recently I started going to the Aveda school near me. I wanted a more natural hair color and while it is free of parabens and contains botanical oils, it does contain ammonia. Which just burns your eyes and your scalp as it is sitting on your head for 35-40 minutes. The stuff from the store is not much better.

Madison Reed hair color does not smell awful! In fact it was a very low odor and it did smell a bit like flowers. Definitely a plus. I didn’t feel like I was burning my hair and my scalp to color my hair. 

Once I got all the color on my roots and then on the rest of my hair (my hair was previously dyed but I was using a new color, so I followed the instructions for changing my hair color), I put on the cap and used the included wipe to get any stray color off my skin. I set the timer for 35 minutes and had a cup of tea while I waited. I have shoulder length hair that is fairly thick and one bottle was enough. If you have longer hair, there is an option to add additional color. 

Once the timer went off, I rinsed my hair til the water ran clear and then washed my hair with the included shampoo and conditioner. These are paraben free, gluten free, and sulfate free. The fragrance is a bit strong for me, but it leaves your hair very silky soft. In fact my hair felt very nice and not fried at all. Relief.

The real test was blow drying my hair to see how the color and coverage turned out. I was so happy to see the result! The color was very similar to what I got when I last had my hair dyed and I didn’t notice any spots that I missed. My hair had a nice sheen and color variance to it.

My Hair After Madison Reed Top
No more roots or grey hairs!

My Hair After Madison Reed SideI will definitely be coloring my hair this way from now on. My last visit to the salon for color cost $50 and that was at an Aveda beauty school. An actual salon, especially one offering ‘green’ hair care is going to charge much more. Madison Reed hair color currently costs $29.95 for a one time shipment and only $24.95 when you place it on auto-delivery.

Right now you can save 50% off permanent hair color with code MARCHMADNESS when you place your first order. If you are looking for a more natural and healthy way to color your hair, then Madison Reed is for you.

Thank You Madison Reed

 

Disclaimer: I received this kit for free to review. This post did contain affiliate links until Michigan passed the Main Street Fairness Act and now this merchant will not work with affiliates in the state of Michigan. 

 

Cauliflower Lentil Taco Salad

Clean Gut Day 14

March 17, 2014 By Shannon Leave a Comment

Towards the middle of doing the Clean Program Cleanse I started reading Dr. Junger’s newest book Clean Gut. As I got more and more into it, I realized that it would be the perfect companion to the cleanse. First I got all the toxins out of my body and then I could work on healing my gut. I knew going in that it was going to be trickier than the cleanse, because the restriction list is different.

Here is how I am doing today:

Here are a few of the big no’s on the Clean Gut:

  • beans and legumes
  • most fruits (except berries)
  • grains including brown rice
  • sugar (only allowed sweeteners are stevia, Lakanto, and xylitol, so no coconut sugar)

So what can you eat? Especially as a vegetarian or vegan? You can have lentils and quinoa, as well as eggs (not vegan obviously) for protein. Strawberries, which are not allowed on the cleanse are okay on Gut. My first smoothie on Gut was with strawberries and that was quite a change. I usually avoid them in my smoothies out of habit, but it was nice to be able to add them back into my diet. Split peas, bee pollen, spirulina, and blue green algae are also allowed as vegetable protein sources. I confess I have never had bee pollen, spirulina, or blue-green algae before so I can’t say how they are. I’m open to trying them though.

So for the first few days I just did a really big salad for lunch with either soup or a shake for dinner. I just was a bit lost by not being able to have brown rice pasta or chickpeas and black beans (my favorite). On my salads I would add quinoa or lentils, along with avocado, and all kinds of veggies. Cruciferous vegetables are really great for you, so I would make sure to add cauliflower. Other than that though, not much variety. I knew that I could not live on salads alone for the next three weeks though.

Here are a few of the recipes that I have tried:

  • Cauliflower Lentil Taco Salad – this recipe from the Food Babe made a lot of food. I was able to have lunch from it for about five days. I do love recipes that you can make once and get multiple meals out of. Cause let’s face it, there is a lot of cooking involved when doing Clean. It is both a positive and negative, but definitely worth while. I enjoyed it with cut up avocado and fresh squeezed lime juice with a salad on the side.Cauliflower Lentil Taco Salad
  • Vegan Cauliflower Pizza Crust – I kept seeing these recipes for a quinoa pizza crust floating around, and since you can have tomatoes and other nightshades on Clean Gut, I really wanted to try it. It was a total fail when I realized that you had to soak the quinoa for 8 hours before using and not just used cooked quinoa. So back to the drawing board and I found this recipe. Most cauliflower pizza crusts call for eggs and cheese and I really wanted a vegan option. While it would never be confused with regular gluten heavy pizza crust, it was quite good. I’ve had it twice now and the thinner you can make it the better.Vegan Cauliflower Pizza Crust
  • Gluten Free Pumpkin Pancakes – With eggs back on the table, pancakes became a reality again. While you can’t have maple syrup on Gut, these are really good plain. A bit eggy in consistency, but that isn’t always a bad thing. I haven’t quite figured out what to pair these with yet, but at the very least you could make up a batch and freeze them for individual snacks later.Gluten Free Pumpkin Pancakes
  • Pumpkin Muffins – The Clean Team has a really great recipe for Clean Zucchini muffins that I love making while on the cleanse. I didn’t have any zucchini when I had a craving for these, but I did have some organic canned pumpkin. So I replaced the cup of shredded zucchini and added a cup of pumpkin. It was the perfect substitution and they came out moist and delicious. I also added in a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice as well. 
  • Salt and Pepper Crackers – These crackers involve just four ingredients: almond flour, an egg, salt, and pepper. It doesn’t get any more simple than that. These are great for a snack on the go or eating with sliced avocado.

I’ve also created a Clean Gut Pinterest board that you can follow to get inspiration on what to eat. I’m adding things to it all the time, so definitely check it out.

Finally here at the end of week 2 I have a good idea of what works for me and what I can make. As you can see from the above list cauliflower and pumpkin are very popular. 

The recommended supplements for Clean Gut are also a bit different than the cleanse. Next time I will talk about them, where you can get them, and what they are supposed to do. 

Please share any questions or comments below. Thanks for visiting!

Make Your Own Clean Cleanse Kit

Clean Program Cleanse Resources

March 10, 2014 By Shannon 9 Comments

Make Your Own Clean Cleanse KitHaving just completed the 21 day Clean Program Cleanse I wanted to share some resources with you to help you be successful. You can buy a kit from Clean, but I have found it to be very cost prohibitive. I have always created my own kit and utilized the resources on their website. 

First of all the book Clean by Dr. Alejandro Junger is an absolute must. It really gets into the heart of why you are doing the cleanse and what can be accomplished by it. It is available in paperback and a Kindle edition.

Supplements that you will need:

  • Probiotic – Get a great quality one with at least 50 billion bacterial count and multiple strains. Your local health food store should have a couple to choose from. You should look for ones kept in the refrigerated section. You can also order them online from Amazon, as it is okay for them to not be refrigerated for a short period of time. I really like the ones from MegaFood MegaFlora and Dr. Junger recommends Klaire Labs Ther-Biotic.
  • Milk Thistle – This helps support the liver while you are detoxing. Jarrow Formulas is known for their high quality products and you can order their Milk Thistle here. This one is gelatin capsules, so if you are vegetarian you may want to buy a different product.
  • Digestive Enzymes – These help your body break down and absorb nutrients from the food that you are eating. Again Dr. Junger recommends the ones from Klaire Labs Vital-Zymes. 
  • Oil of Oregano – This is a great anti-microbial that will kill the bad things in your gut, allowing the probiotics to repopulate your gut with good bacteria. Learn from my experience and use the capsules and not the oil in a dropper. Whew! I have been using the Gaia Herbs Oil of Oregano. 
  • Natural Calm – Magnesium is one of those things you probably don’t get enough of and it has many benefits. I can help with headaches while you detox, constipation, and it can help you get a really good nights sleep. The Natural Calm Raspberry Lemon flavor is very good. Just add to some hot water and drink before bedtime.

Protein Powder:

You will need a protein powder to add to your daily smoothies. Try to find one that is vegan and is based on either brown rice, pea, hemp, or cranberry protein. It should not have any added sugar or artificial sweeteners. Stevia is fine. I have used the Sunwarrior Warrior Blend Raw Vegan Protein Power and Garden of Life Organic Raw Meal Protein Powder. 

Blender:

You will need a good quality blender to make your smoothies in. While I would love to have a Vitamix, I have been making due with this Hamilton Beach Smoothie Smart Blender. It has a great pour spout and a smoothie button that does an initial three pulses and then a longer timed blend. Which makes it great for starting and then walking away. Which you have to do because it is quite loud. At the price point though, I find this inconvenience worth it for its smooth blend. If you have a choice though, always go with the Vitamix!

Additions:

  • Flax Seeds – They are great sources of fiber and omega-3 and are a perfect addition to your morning smoothie. It is best to buy organic whole flax seeds and then grind them just before using. A simple coffee grinder devoted to this task is the perfect tool. You can also buy ground flax seeds as well. 
  • Chia Seeds – Also a great source of fiber, omega-3, and protein too. They work very well as an egg replacer if you want to try baking clean, you just need to soak them first. In fact you can make a gel with them and store it in your refrigerator for about a week. They are more easily digestible in your smoothies that way too. Definitely get organic such as these Nutiva Organic Chia Seeds.
  • Raw Cacao Powder – I generally buy Vanilla flavored protein powder to add to my smoothies, but sometimes I want some chocolate. This is a great addition to smoothies, baked goods, and making things like clean hot chocolate. I use Sunfood’s Chocolate Cacao Powder.
  • Coconut Sugar – This is one of the only approved sweeteners on the Clean Program Cleanse. Use it sparingly, but it can be used in baked goods and the before mentioned clean hot chocolate. This Nutiva Organic Coconut Sugar in a three pack is a great deal.
  • Almond Butter or other approved nut butter – Since starting doing Clean a few years ago, I have switched from using peanut butter on my sandwiches (not clean friendly) to using Almond butter for everything. Sandwiches, baking, and in my smoothies. So delicious! Make sure that there is no added sugar or oil from the disallow list. 
  • Unsweetened Coconut – I love adding this to smoothies made with pineapple, coconut milk and some lime juice. It is almost like a pina colada. Definitely buy shredded coconut in larger quantities, it is less expensive that way.
  • Coconut Oil – This is great for sautéing, baking, putting in a smoothie for a little extra good fat, a moisturized for your skin, and oil pulling. Buy a good quality cold pressed and organic coconut oil. 
  • Gluten Free Flours – While the Clean Program stresses the importance of only eating when you are hungry, it does allow for small snacks if you need them. You should never feel like you are starving. So it is nice to be able to back yourself a special treat that is clean friendly. Many of the Clean Cleanse recipes call for some type of gluten free flour and two of the favorites are Coconut Flour and Almond Flour. I really like the products from Bob’s Red Mill. 
  • Olive Oil – You will be cooking with olive oil, as well as drinking two tablespoons of it before bed. Put it in a shot glass and have a glass of water with lemon juice at the ready. Tip back and then immediately drink the water. It really isn’t so bad once you get used to it. You will probably be going through a lot of it during the 21 days, so a bigger bottle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil is better. 

Cost Comparison

I know that when I first looked into doing Clean, I was very put off by the price. To order a kit the current price is $425. I really wanted to do the cleanse, but I didn’t have that kind of money. So I put together my own kit. The recommendations above are what I have learned from successfully completing the cleanse five times. Here is what it costs to put together your own kit (approximately).

Protein Powder: SunWarrior Protein Powder – $41.61
Probiotic: MegaFoods Megaflora 30 capsules – $32.77
Milk Thistle: Jarrow Formulas 100 capsules – $7.39
Digestive Enzymes: Klaire Labs Vital-zymes 120 capsules – $28.60
Oil of Oregano: Gaia Herbs 60 capsules – $15.22
Clean Book: Paperback $9.60 or Kindle $3.99

Total: $135.19 (paperback) or $129.58 (Kindle edition)

You can use your savings on buying food and other extras. The support offered by the Clean team is available to you whether you buy the kit or not. They really are a company committed to a movement of change. 

Clean Program Day 21

March 3, 2014 By Shannon Leave a Comment

Three weeks ago I hesitated to start. Even though I have been through the Clean Program many times before, I just didn’t know if I was in the right place to start and successfully make it through. My inner voice and body was telling me that I had to though, so I jumped right in and just did it. And here it is. Day 21! I have successfully completed another round of this really fabulous detox program.

Here is how I am feeling today:

 

The benefits for me have included:

  • tightening a notch on my belt and better fitting clothes
  • releasing about 10 pounds
  • feeling better with more energy
  • clearer thoughts
  • greater motivation
  • better sleep at night
  • clearer skin

It is recommended that when you end the Clean Program, you experiment to see if you have any toxic triggers. For the first two days you reintroduce gluten to your diet by eating a piece of bread with breakfast, perhaps some wheat pasta for dinner. Observe how you feel. Then eat clean for two days. See if you notice any symptoms. Then for two days do the same with dairy. Eat clean for another two days. In this way you can see how you feel and decide if you need to remove or reduce them from your diet.

I however have decided that I would really like to take this opportunity to repair any damage there may be to my gut. After reading the Clean Gut book I am convinced I can benefit from it as well. So for the next few weeks I will continue to forgo certain foods. 

I will be adding eggs and nightshades (tomatoes and peppers) back into my diet, but removing all beans. In my transition into the Clean Gut diet I will eat eggs for two days and then eat clean, then do the same for nightshades. I am curious if either of those are triggers for me. I suffer from eczema and acne and both of them clear up while I am eating clean, so I know it is something that I eat. I’m just not sure what.

The Clean Gut differs from the Cleanse in that you are also able to eat a more solid meal at dinner and you are not limited to a smoothie or pureed soup. That will be a nice change. I will be discussing the plan as I go forward.

Thank you to everyone who followed along and offered support. Please leave any comments or questions below. I look forward to hearing from you!

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