Gearing Up for RENEWAL in 2015 with Homemade SHRUBS & SCRUBS!!!
To Make: Combine all ingredients except apple cider vinegar in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Once a simmer is reached, lower heat and continue to simmer for an additional 10 mins. Remove from heat and let cool. Pour mixture into a quart-sized glass jar and add 1 C of cider vinegar. Shake and let sit at room temperature for 2 days. To use, simply strain the mixture and enjoy!
Winter Fun
This is probably our favorite time of year. We tend to feel more creative during these quieter winter months because we have more time for self care and reflection. We have been taking long morning walks on the beach and playing with new recipes in our kitchen (like the white chocolate fudge pictured above—amazeballs). In order to keep ourselves on track and moving forward during this slower time of year we like to start off our week by doing what we call the “circle of life” exercise. We draw a circle and divide it into say 8 categories; Love, Creativity, Finances, Health, Family, Fun, Purpose, and Support for example. You can really use any categories you like but this is a good baseline. Then you judge each category on a scale from 1-10, so if you are feeling low in the “fun” category you would place a dot closer to the center of the circle, or on the outside of the circle if you feel like that is a strong point for you. So at the end you connect all your dots and sometimes it doesn’t look anything like a circle. Sometimes it looks like a shriveled up raisin or a pear maybe. But that’s great! Because now you can have something to focus on for that week. So last week my fun category was low so I chose to focus on that one. I began knitting, I planned a night out with friends, I took walks on my most favorite beaches and I went shopping one day. After a week of putting more energy into having fun now when I do that exercise fun is at a 10. Sometimes all it takes is a little bit of effort to make great changes in our lives. It is such an empowering exercise because it puts the reins back in our hands and reminds us that we are in charge of our own lives and changing the things that might need a little tweaking. A little bit goes a long way. What do you guys do to feel empowered around your own lives?
Coffee addiction?
Is anybody else addicted to coffee right now? I'm not saying that coffee is bad by any means, for some people it is medicinal. For me, I tend to go overboard and ignore the signs from my body to stop drinking it. I have pretty big mood swings, strong cravings for sugar and don't seem to cope with stress as well. So I've decided to take a break from drinking it and see what happens. In case any of you are in the same boat, I wanted to share my coffee alternative with you, my Energizing Morning Smoothie. I put some of the most energizing foods around in this smoothie and it gives me a nice clean, long lasting energy buzz. Here's the recipe and let me know what you think and how you feel!
Energizing Morning Smoothie:
1 cup milk of your choice ( I like to make my own almond milk but not required)
1/2 frozen banana
1 T hemp seeds (GREAT source of Omega 3's, brain function)
1 T chia seeds (optional)
1 T Be Cozy or plain Raw Cacao
1 T Maca (GREAT for energy and hormone balancing)
1 T cacao nibs (ENERGY + Antioxidants)
1/2 t cinnamon (Balance blood sugar, fight depression)
Handful of ice for thickness
Blend and drink up!
New chocolate bar in the works!
There has been a lot of creative action in the kitchen this
week. So many new developments. Julianna is working on some new delicious raw
treats for the store, check out her bark pictured on the left. It is SO
amazing. I have been playing with new chocolate bar flavors as well, I have a
ginger pomegranate bar sweetened with maple syrup that a lot of people have
said is their favorite bar so far! Stay tuned for that one. Yesterday I played
around with a coconut almond flavor sweetened with coconut nectar. I am playing
with new sweeteners in an attempt to move away from agave because of all the
controversy. Although we trust our source and of course only use raw agave, we
want to provide more options for you all in case you’ve made the choice to shy
away from agave. I’m loving the maple syrup and coconut nectar, they are super
sweet and delicious. Today I’m going to play with a SPICY flavor so I’m really
excited to see how that turns out. But if you guys have any suggestions on what
you’d like to see in a new flavor please let us know and share below!! And of
course, come by the factory to taste test :)
Cacao as a mineral supplement?
Ahoy fellow humans! In pondering over today’s newsletter topic, I thought to myself, “Have I ever dedicated an entire blog to just cacao??” No I have not. And if I have please send me the link and remind me. Why not learn even more about the food and inspiration behind starting Not Your Sugar Mamas? In my eyes, cacao is the king of all superfoods. It is such a complex and beautiful food. I remember the first time I ate raw cacao, my whole world changed. I felt jazzed in a way that only raw cacao can make you feel. I couldn’t believe that I had been consuming chocolate that was processed my whole life. To process cacao is just plain offensive if you ask me. Taking away the beauty and the nutritious offerings that it has to offer is just blasphemy! My favorite cacao advocate is a man named David Wolfe. His enthusiasm and knowledge of cacao is contagious, so I thought I would share with you a video from David talking about cacao. The man really knows how to do the food justice in a way that no one else can. So please enjoy the following video and share your thoughts/experiences of eating raw cacao below! Have the best week ever.
Click here to watch the video and learn more about cacao and it's amazing-ness!
Bennett
Do you feel the need to cleanse?
This time of year I always get the urge to cleanse. I feel
like the idea of cleansing can either be really exciting for people or it can
cause anxiety and overwhelm. I encourage you to not be overwhelmed by the idea.
Simply put a cleanse is just an intentional simplification of your diet. It
gives your body a chance to rejuvenate when we simplify or lighten the load of
what we are consuming. When we give our digestion a break our body has more
energy to focus on deeper processes of cell rejuvenation, invigorating us on a
deeper level. Some people like to do juice fasts, some people like to eat raw
fruits and veggies for a week or a cleanse can be as simple as choosing one
food group, like meat for example, and excluding meat from your diet from a
week or however long you choose. Personally I am choosing to exclude meat,
dairy, wheat, sugars and alcohol from my diet for the next week. I will be
drinking green smoothies and juices and eating a whole foods meal like quinoa,
kale, veggies and beans once a day.
I always feel so much more energized and clear after I cleanse. I feel like it really helps get my creative juices flowing and helps me develop more focus. Some people choose to simply drink more water in a given day to help cleanse. I think any awareness you bring to making your diet a little healthier and a little cleaner is better than nothing.
Amazing transformations can happen when you cleanse. I’ll give you an extreme but attainable example. I saw a documentary this weekend at the Chilmark Film Festival called “May I Be Frank.” The film was about an Italian man from Brooklyn named Frank. He weighed close to 300 pounds, had hepatitis C, was on a slew of medications and was very depressed amongst many health concerns. As fate would have it he ended up at an organic, raw vegan café in San Francisco while on a trip. They have a “question of the day” at this particular restaurant and this day the waiter asked Frank “what is one thing you want to do before you die?” Frank answered that he wanted to fall in love one more time before he died but he was scared that he never would because no one would love him because he didn’t even love himself. After getting to know the staff they decided to make a film on Frank to document the change from his typical S.A.D. (standard American diet) to a clean, raw vegan diet. To make a really long story short, Frank lost about 150 pounds, cleared up his hepitatis C, mended all of his broken relationships with family by clearing up his anger, fell in love with his current, smoking hot wife, and tours the world educating people on health and reminding people that anything is possible. Sometimes all it takes is a little change in our routine to help us gain perspective on the areas of our lives that need more attention. I encourage you to bring a little more attention to eating a little cleaner and lighter this week in celebration of Spring, the perfect time for renewal. Have you ever cleansed before? If so, please share your experiences. If this is your first time please share your feelings on the topic below!
Bennett
