Natural Products I Love

It can feel impossible to avoid all of the chemicals floating around in our day-to-day lives. From the water bottles we use to the food we consume to our sheets and everything in between, you could make yourself crazy. And poor! I'm pretty sure there is an organic or natural version of almost every product under the sun nowadays. 

For years, I've tried to take on the mentality that I'm going to do my best with it, but not let myself be crazy. It's very similar to my attitude toward eating, exercise and, honestly, a lot of life. Do my best to reduce the chemicals we use. Don't beat myself up if I use a plastic tumbler from time to time. Also, sometimes you just need Clorox. (Looking at you, flu season when your husband is on an airplane every week!)

Sometimes you need a workout and a kale salad. Sometimes you need a soft robe and Cheetos, nahmean? Does "Baked" make them natural? :) 

One of the areas where I try to be most aware, though, is when it comes to what I'm putting directly on my body and face. I read once that whatever we put on our skin is eventually absorbed into our bloodstream. This fact has made me extra aware of the products I allow to soak in all day. Pregnancy has made me extra-aware, knowing the baby is probably getting a little bit of anything I'm putting into my body. 

I do a quick check of each product on the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep site before purchasing to make sure it's in the green zone.

My go-to for moisturizers and face wash is Batty's Bath.

I've tried BeautyCounter moisturizers, but I don't think they compare to Batty's. I highly recommend taking her quick skin quiz before purchasing anything, but my favorite products are the Calendula & Cucumber cleanser and the Raw Radiance moisturizer. It saved me this winter! 

For an anti-aging line, I love everything I've tried by Goldfaden MD.

They sponsored an event for The Letter Project a few months ago and I was lucky enough to try a slew of products. Every single one is pregnancy and breastfeeding safe and I highly recommend them. I love the Doctor's Scrub and the Needle-Less lotion.

For body wash, I love Shore Soap.

Mermaid Kisses is my fav :) It smells wonderful! 

For dry shampoo, I love Qēt Botanicals. 

Their Lavender Dry Shampoo powder works really well. It's $20, but lasts forever! If you need extra, extra moisture for your skin, I also really like their balancing and cleansing face oils. 

I still haven't found a clean shampoo I love and am absolutely taking recommendations. I'm considering trying Hairprint's line, but they have no scent at all and I'm not sure I'm ready for that. I love a good smell!

For deodorant, I love Arm & Hammer. 

I'm not exaggerating when I say I think I tried 15 deodorants before I found one without antiperspirant that worked for me. If you want to talk deodorants, email me. I'm not trying to brag, but I really consider myself somewhat of a professor of deo. :) 

Happy March! 

Things Worth Your Time

This article from NYT about teaching kindness in schools. All the yes yes yeses from my end!

This beautiful guide to seasonal eating. Baby Saxon has me craving tangerines and clementines like crazy, just in time for January produce. Is this baby already outsmarting me!? Probably :) The artist has one for every month and I was salivating as I looked ahead to spring. 

This list of 2018 resolutions. My favorites: "There will always be a new superfood. Just eat food that makes you feel super." and "Vulnerability is strength." 

This incredible story of love after loss from Cup of Jo. I cried as I read it in a coffee shop. It weaves hope into a tragic story. I also really appreciated her sister's guide to writing a condolence note. And it made me want to read The Bright Hour: A Memoir of Living and Dying. 

This delicious winter salad recipe from Oh She Glows. My sister made it last Wednesday and, after tasting it, I turned around and made it again Thursday!

Super Simple Pasta with Pumpkin Sauce (gf)

Last Wednesday I shared a recipe on Instagram and have never gotten so much feedback from a story. People love food, y'all! I thought I'd share the dish here - it's the perfect hearty, healthy, autumnal dish. 

I was inspired by this Paleo Hacks recipe, though I made a lot of changes to it because her sauce was trending sweet and I like mine spicyyyyyy.

Pasta with Pumpkin Sauce (gf)

Ingredients:

•  1 T extra virgin olive oil
•  I small white onion, chopped
•  1 cup pumpkin purée
• 1.5 to 2 cups unsweetened almond milk (adjust for consistency - should be sauce-like)
•  2 T tomato paste
•  1/2 t sea salt (adjust to preference)
• 1/2 t black pepper (adjust to preference)
• 1/2 t cayenne (adjust to preference)
• 1/4 t Pepperman (or any all purpose seasoning blend of your choosing)
• Pasta of your choice (we used this Edamame & Mung Bean Fettucine and it was delicious) 
• Fresh, chopped basil (optional)
• Fresh parm (optional)
• Spinach (optional)

To make:

• Heat olive oil over medium heat in saucepan and add chopped onion. Sauté until onions are soft.
• Add pumpkin purée, almond milk, tomato paste and all spices.
• Let cook on low heat.
• Begin boiling a large pot of water for pasta. Once boiling, add pasta, salt and pepper so noodles absorb the flavor. Boil until al dente (7 - 8 minutes for bean noodles) or until they are the texture you like.
• While pasta cooks, be sure to continue stirring the sauce. Turn to a simmer if it has begun boiling. If it has gotten too thick as it has cooked, add more almond milk. 
• Once the pasta is finished, drain in a colander. Remove the sauce from the heat.
• Serve the sauce over pasta. Add basil, parmesan, spinach or (if you're like us!) chicken meatballs (which we bought pre-cooked and simply heated up!). 
• Enjoy!

Moringa (or Matcha!) Mint Smoothie

First of all, let me answer the obvious question here: wtheck is Moringa!?

The best comparison I can make is that it's a lot like matcha, but has more powerful health benefits and is more bitter in taste. Also, it provides a natural energy boost, but doesn't have caffeine, which means you won't have that 3 p.m. crash from it. 

If you want to learn more, I think this article does the best job comparing Moringa and. Matcha: Battle of the Greens: Moringa vs. Matcha. And this article does a great job explaining why it's so, so, sooo good for you: 11 Surprising Facts About Moringa And How It Can Improve Your Health.

When Chris and I were in Kenya, we picked Moringa leaves and processed them all the way through to consumption. This meant drying the stalks, pulling the leaves off of them, grinding it to powder (a machine did this part), weighing, measuring and packaging it - and even creating the nutrition label. It was super cool and, obviously, not something we could do in the US for resale because, ya know, health codes. 

This is the Moringa leaf after we picked it from the stalk and dried it in the sun for a few days. After this, we ground it to powder!

We brought six containers of it back, which was really lucky, because I had no idea it's pretty pricey in the US. In Kenya, it's abundant and people eat it constantly. They'd never pay the premium we pay - cost of living adjustments aside! Their access to it is our like our access to refined sugar. 

So, now that you're a Moringa expert, I wanted to share an awesome smoothie recipe. We had an abundance of mint in our backyard (which we planted more than three years ago - mint is crazy!), so it was the inspo for this guy. 

Moringa Mint Smoothie

Ingredients:

2 t. Moringa Leaf Powder (any brand will work, as long as it's powder!) 
1 c. almond milk (Califia Farms is farrr and away my fav)
3 softened dates
1 handful of mint
1 t. vanilla
1 handful of ice
1 c. of spinach

To Make:

• Assemble all ingredients in a powerful blender. I love our Vitamix! 
• Pulverize until consistency is smooth and creamy
• If you like it thicker, add more ice. If you like it runnier, add more milk! Is that obvious? :) Idk smoothies can be tricky to get the consistency right!

I sipped it down in seconds and cannot wait to make it again.