Grow.

Today is day eight of my life style change. Although yesterday pretty much didn't exist since the kids & I picked up a nasty stomach bug. I sanitized everything, cooked a simple clean dinner & upped our probiotics for the day. 

Every week I make mini goals for myself. This weekend I'm working using my mini green thumb to sprout. I don't know why, but I'm really excited to try my hand at this. This week I'm working with seeds & beans. A sprout is basically a plant that is right in the process of germinating. Nuts, seeds, grains, and legumes have many locked up nutritional advantages that can be released by sprouting. Once the germination process begins via sprouting, any anti-nutrients like phytic acid are cast aside and you are able to absorb the vital vitamins and

Sprouting increases your nutrient absorption, makes food easier to digest, decreases antinutrients & phytic acid, increases protien availability, increases fiber content & so much more. 

I'm starting simple with chia in this batch. I'm using farm fresh egg shells from the farmers market that I cleaned out. The bottom photo are sprouts I purchased at the farmers market & I also have chickpeas soaking.

Usually I place them in my salad, I eat them with avocados, throw them in my smoothies, put them on sandwiches and so on, so I can eat them raw in their most nutritional form. 

Update on oil pulling: it's been eight full days without toothpaste & only oil pulling with coconut oil. Before starting I had been having tooth pains near my wisdom tooth area. Unfortunately I have enough room in my mouth so I never had to get mine remove. That doesn't change the pain that comes with then cutting through. But I noticed last night that u haven't been in pain all week. I also suffer from frequent headaches. Ever since I was a teen. With the exception of yesterday (throwing up) I haven't had a headache either. I did some research, and I don't know medically 100%, but from my research I read how it helps with head aches & decreases tooth pain. It's been really nice not having to take medication for my head pounding or my tooth ache. I haven't taken a single medication at all in eight days. 

Roasted chickpeas

Chickpeas are one of my favorite versatile foods. The benefits are great for you and they taste pretty darn good. 

High in fiber, good source of protein,  improves heart health, iron boost, stabilizes blood sugar, can assist with weight loss, lowers inflammation, beneficial for digesting, the list goes on and on. Did I mention they taste good? Especially when you roast them. Today I made a bbq blend for my salads & a raw honey & cinnamon blend for snacking.

 (Weekend is over so it's back to clean eating. Always 80/20)

I used fresh chickpeas & slowcooked then overnight in my crockpot. Before dropping my daughter off at school I drained the beans & laud them on a kitchen towel to dry. In order for them to roast properly they NEED to be full dry. 

Bbq blend: 

2 teaspoons coconut oil

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 tablespoon vinegar

2 teaspoons organic sugar cane 

• preheat the oven to 400.

• line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

• after the beans are fully dry, toss them around in the blend. 

• place beans evenly on cookie sheet & place in oven.

• roast for about 45 minutes.

It's that simple. 

For the cinnamon & honey blend:

• 1 tablespoon raw organic honey 

• 1-2 teaspoons organic cinnamon 

• 1/2 teaspoon ginger 

• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 

• preheat oven to 400

• line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

• evenly lay out beans and roast in oven for 40 minutes.

• while hot, toss the chickpeas in the blend and place back into oven for ten minutes. 

Storybook Pumpkin Project

My daughters school is having a storybook pumpkin decorating contest. The rules are simple: decorate a pumpkin  creatively (no carving or puncturing) like your favorite storybook character. 

My daughter chose 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' as her book & picked "Sally" as her character. 

We used:

• Acrylic paint

• 1 pumpkin

• Glue gun + glue sticks

• Red yard 

• Scissors 

• 1 large poster board 

• Paint brushes 

• Crayons

• Markers 

First we painted the pumpkin all around with Apple Barrel #21973E Summer Sky. This blue pops & is really close to her actual color in the book. 

This took sometime to get the entire thing even. Be sure the pumpkin is dry when you apply new layers or it will peel. Next we added the eyes & features after the blue was dry. 

Then we cut long strands of red yard to make her rag doll hair. Because the glue gun is very hot I glued on the yard to the pumpkin. 

While the pumpkin dried yet again we worked on Sally's dress to attach. We made the neck extra long & thin to stick underneath the pumpkin. 

After it was all colored we cut it out & attached it to the pumpkin.

And this was our finished product for the storybook pumpkin contest.