Hello, Friends! Are you enjoying November? Today, it has been rainy and overcast all day. Perfection! I am looking forward to a low-key Friday night that includes nothing more than organic wine in the hot tub with the mister. Sounds about right!
Tomorrow, we are heading south to visit the mister’s 98 year old grandfather. We love to visit a couple of Saturdays each month to get him out of the house and into his favorite deli. Then on Sunday, we are hosting a birthday party at our pool for one of Eben’s close friends. It should be a day of fun and maybe sun – if not, there is always he hot tub!
I hope you have something cozy planned for the weekend – while I gather up the swimsuits, here are a few green things to take you into the weekend:
Hello, Friends! This post is sponsored – thank you for supporting the companies that help to run Sweet Greens!
Last spring, the mister and I underwent our first detox – a juice detox to be exact. It’s believed to be very beneficial to your body taking the pressure off and allowing it time to get rid of waste products that have built up. There are different ways to do this, including juice detoxing, all of which draw out toxins. Here are 3 tips for a healthy juice detox.
Tip #1: Be Prepared
Whether you’re planning a short detox or a longer one, you should gather everything you need before starting. Many people begin with a short fast if they are detoxing for five days or more, but it’s not essential, especially for a short detox. You will need to buy a plentiful and varied supply of fresh fruit and vegetables for making your own juice at home. It is important to be able to rest while you do it, so avoid days when you are likely to be busy and do your housework before you start; it’s far easier to carry out a detox in clean, uncluttered surroundings.
Tip #2: Food and Drink
Even if you’re not fasting, you should still restrict your intake to food and drinks that won’t overload your digestive system. Eating plenty of raw or steamed fruit and vegetables before a detox will supply your body with antioxidants, commonly found in vitamins A, C and E, which can help to fight off infection and prevent the development of a range of health problems, including heart trouble, cancer and cataracts. A diet high in fresh fruit and vegetables has also been shown to have a beneficial effect on the skin, leaving it less prone to spots and blemishes. My skin completely cleared up while juice detoxing. Drink plenty of water as you detox, to stay properly hydrated and to ‘flush your system’.
Tip #3: Moisturize and Massage
In order to increase the benefit of a detox, it’s a good idea to stimulate the circulation in your skin and an effective way of doing this is through massage. While you could get your spouse to join you in your detox and give each other massages, if that isn’t an option, you can reach most parts of your body without too much of a struggle. Using a substance to help you to move your hands smoothly across your skin will increase the efficacy of the massage; a good moisturizing body oil spray can be very useful for this as it isn’t too heavy and can be applied easily. There’s very little point in detoxifying your skin if you are going to apply a product that will clog it up!
A detox can be challenging, but with the right preparation and a bit of determination, you will manage it. Once you’re experiencing the benefits of healthier digestion and clearer skin, and possibly some weight loss, you’ll be glad you gave it a try.
Every weekend, my family spends at least one day on a paddleboarding adventure. Since we are gone for several hours at a time, we have to pack snacks that are filling, high-energy, and easy to pack in my dry bag and perfect for eating while we are floating in the water.Planter’s peanuts are always in our pack – sometimes we use them in our homemade trail mix, sometimes we just nosh on them plain.
Last weekend, we hit one of our favorite spots to paddleboard – John D. MacArthur Beach State Park. We love it because it is fairly shallow – meaning no boats, is an excellent place to spot manatees, dolphins, stingrays and a pletero of birds. One this particular trip the fish were going crazy, you couldn’t paddle more than a few feet when a giant fish would jump out of the water. And there were large bait balls everywhere. We felt very lucky to paddle with a pod of dolphins and even saw a stingray jump a few feet out of the water. It was a great start to our day!
After paddling for a few hours, we stopped on a secluded sandbar to rest, swim, hydrate and snack. We defintiely needed an energy burst – we had been paddling against the current all morning. It was nice just to lay in the sand, soak up the sun and munch away. The paddle back was very low-key and relaxing, the current did most of the work for us. We just paddled slowly and watched the baby fish and even a juvenile shark swim by. We definitely feel that living in Florida allows us to experience all of nature’s gifts everyday – we are very lucky!
What is your favorite gift from nature?
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
Remember our back to school party with Target’s Simply Balanced Collection a couple of months ago? It was so much fun and being able to share all of the goodies from Target’s Simply Balanced Collection was a blast. Many of our friends and family have been telling us that certain items have become staples in their pantry and children’s lunchboxes – especially the gluten-free options. However, I received a lot of questions from both them and readers about the collection too. I wanted to go back to Target and ask some more direct questions about the Simply Balanced Collection. Here is the full Q+A session below!
Q: What inspired the Simply Balanced collection? What made Target decide to add it to their stores? A: Target launched Simply Balanced to offer more choices for our guests seeking simple and delicious ways to eat well. We know many of our guests are increasingly seeking to add wholesome and organic food options to their wellness lifestyles, whether that is for themselves or for their families. Our Simply Balanced guest knows that eating well is an important part of managing her overall wellbeing. She is looking for a simple way to choose healthy foods that taste good and offer value.
Q: Since the collection contains natural, organic and GMO-free products, does that mean the collection will cost a lot more than its non-natural counterpart? A: Simply Balanced offers authentic, simple, great tasting foods at a value with a price range from $1 to $14.99. Target has a full team dedicated to costing expertise and product management. They partner closely with our suppliers to make sure that we are delivering the best product at the best price. Q: Will more store locations be carrying a larger selection of the 250 products? Will the product line be expanded beyond the 250 products? A: Our grocery assortment varies by Target store, as will the Simply Balanced assortment. In the future, guests can expect to see additional Simply Balanced products in all areas of grocery, including our frozen and dairy areas.
Q: Many of my readers are gluten-free, are there any gluten-free products in the collection? A: Yes, guests will find a variety of gluten free products in the Simply Balanced line, including:
Gluten free pasta (varieties: spaghetti and fusilli)
Gluten free rice crackers (varieties: sesame, multi-grain with flax and multi-seed)
Gluten free tortilla chips (varieties: blue corn, blue corn flax, white corn and yellow corn.
Additionally, many of the Simply Balanced products are naturally gluten free, such as milk, freeze dried fruit, dried fruit, frozen fish filets and frozen fruits and vegetables.
Q: While the collection includes many natural and organic products, do any of them contain MSG, added hormones or antibiotics?
We have a full list of the 105 common food additive ingredients that the Simply Balanced collection will exclude, available here.
Examples of food additive ingredients that Simply Balanced will NOT include are: aspartame, antibiotics, nitrates/nitrites, high fructose corn syrup, saccharin, sucralose and partially hydrogenated oils.
In addition, as part of Target’s commitment to wellness, the Simply Balanced collection will eliminate all GMOs by the end of 2014.
Yay! I am especially excited that the Simply Balanced collection will eliminate all GMO’s by the end of 2014.
Have you tried the Target Simply Balanced Collection? Which are your favorite products?
Last Sunday was the kickoff of our farmer’s market season – or as they call them in South Florida, GreenMarket. As usual, it was the perfect way to spend a Saturday morning – we had a blast. Here are some shots from our day.
Eben insisted that we pick up a local Star Fruit from our favorite farm – Kai Kai Farm, this is also where we get our CSA from. If you live in South Florida – it is a must. Tell Diane and Carl that Sweet Greens sent you!
We tasted some fantastic and local oyster mushrooms – love the color too!
I love the real, unbleached Lufa Sponge – have you tried one?
It was a super hot day – Eben NEEDED a frozen local lemonade!
Do you have a fall farmer’s market where you live?
