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Showing posts from March, 2017

5 Spring Vegetables You May Not Know

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Seeing the first glimpse of spring vegetables make their appearance at the farmer’s market this month is a welcome change from winter’s hearty abundance. While the usual suspects — bright pink radishes, tender asparagus spears, and bright green snap peas — are there, you’ll also find more unexpected options like fiddleheads, ramps, morels and more. While these vegetables aren’t as common, don’t be intimidated! Familiarize yourself with each of these unique spring market finds and ways you can use each in a fresh and flavorful spring recipe.   Fiddlehead ferns Fiddlehead ferns are the coiled tips of a young fern; deriving their name from the resemblance to the decorative end of a fiddle. This unique vegetable has a grassy, slight nutty flavor that’s similar to asparagus. Try them lightly steamed or boiled, then finished with olive oil and lemon for a quick side dish. They can also be swapped into almost any cooked recipe that features asparagus or haricot verts. Let fiddleheads tak

My “Almost” Success Story

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It’s Friday, everyone! And that means another Primal Blueprint Real Life Story from a Mark’s Daily Apple reader. If you have your own success story and would like to share it with me and the Mark’s Daily Apple community please contact me here . In fact, I have a contest going right now. So if you have a story to share, no matter how big or how small, you’ll be in the running to win a big prize. Read more here .  I’ve entitled my story as an ‘Almost’ Success Story because my story is not yet complete. After having lost 50 kilos (just over 100 pounds), I still have about 10 or 15 kilos to go. Can I say that while I don’t consider myself Paleo (mainly because I don’t believe in evolution, so I’m pretty sure that disqualifies me….lol), but I do appreciate the articles on all the individual foods that have helped me make healthful choices in what I eat and how many carbs I consume. They have been invaluable, and I am so very grateful for this community and especially for Mark and all

Wine Not? (A $300 Giveaway!)

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This post is sponsored by Weekly Tasting When first reached drinking age and started to dip my toes into a barrel of grapes, aka buying the cheapest wine I could find, I knew nothing about it except there were four kinds: red, white, bubbly, and pink. (Surprisingly, I didn’t like the pink stuff until I discovered the wonders of a good rosé later in life!) Early in my adult life, I noticed that some of the local grocery stores held weekly tastings, and I would always stop and try a thimble while doing my weekly shopping. Information is always absorbed best when more than one of the five senses is involved, so seeing the bottle, hearing the host describe the wine, smelling it, and tasting it all helped me start learning more about the different varietals and complexities in the glass (er, plastic cup). To this day, I still enjoy wine most when I am guided through a tasting. I’m excited to share the newest way to learn about wine in the comforts of your home: Weekly Tasting . Launc

Clean Eating Taco Shrimp Recipe

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Shrimp. It’s nearly impossible to not like those little buggers. Versatile and great with almost anything, shrimp are a fantastic way to get some protein. I always purchase my shrimp in 1 pound… Read more → from The Gracious Pantry http://ift.tt/2ogfap5

Cubed.

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^^After school snuggles! M and I went to Sweethaus to pick up some buttercream frosting for our trip. You’ll have to wait and see what it’s for! I mentioned packing cubes in my lunch post and got a few “what are packing cubes?” comments. Again these are the ones I got , and they arrived just in time for my trip! The set came with three cubes and 3 pouches for laundry or smaller items like underwear. Here is the contents of my carry-on suitcase. I am a huge overpacker, so this is only 3 night’s worth, but I have to fit in all the categories: daytime clothes, dressy clothes and shoes, layers if it’s cold, workout clothes (the WORST to pack with the shoes included), sleepwear, underwear, toiletries. Here was my first attempt to pack them in: Haha – look at how many didn’t make it! #fail Attempt two went stacked instead of sideways, and I made lots of progress: And then I realized I could go above the zipper because my suitcase expands. Success! My suitcase is Jessica Simps

Lunch Bunch

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I’m back!! This is fun!! Haha. Is this giving you guys deja vu?! After breakfast, we bike/walked to school. I love this 20 minute walk I do most mornings. We walk everyday unless it’s raining, and we braved the winter cold all season. It’s great to get in some movement before I start my day even if it’s not an official workout. Mazen loves dandelions so much! He’s so excited they are popping up all over. But that does mean we have to stop ever 10 feet to blow them Also that Spiderman jacket from ThredUP is our fashion MVP for this year. He wants to wear it everyday! I split my time this morning packing for a trip we are taking this weekend (!!) and working on KERF and DTF. I am obsessed with packing cubes and lost one of mine in St. Lucia, so I just ordered this inexpensive set from Amazon to get a few more. They make packing so much more fun! I also bought this  Sophia Joy cosmetic bag  (seen on the right below) because it’s kind of shaped like a packing cube and I was tired of

The Plight of the Modern Foot: Conditions that Plague Us—and How to Avoid Them

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For all the focus on hearts and arteries, brain tissue and muscle mass, we tend to neglect one critical part of the body with dramatic influence over how we fare in later decades. It’s little surprise really. Feet don’t exactly garner much attention, let alone media time. Yet, the stakes are big. For example, research shows that foot conditions like hallux vagus (HV, a common forefoot deformity in older people commonly referred to as “bunions”) was directly associated with marked decreases in quality of life. Foot pain, reduced foot function, lowered social capacity, and even degraded general health. That sort of thing. But that’s just one foot condition, right? Yes…and no. The picture of averages looks rather bleak. A clinical assessment of 166 Hong Kong hospital outpatients over the age of 65 found that 70% of those patients had some sort of foot condition. In the U.S., things aren’t much better. While  surveys  have shown extensive variability in reports of foot problems (anywh

Old Skool KERF

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Surprise! I figured I’d throw back to the old days and do a series of live blogs today! Breakfast, lunch, and dinner – hold on to your hats! Haha. Mazen woke me up at 7, as he usually does, with snuggles in my bed. His latest thing is running across a room and saying “HUGGIE!” and today he did that and dove under the covers with me. It’s the best way to wake up! (Actually I was already awake and checking emails on my phone, but still : ) ) We were not alone though, because Thomas and Gus have moved in with us! After a long time of going back and forth, we decided to consolidate our lives here, and we are so happy <3 He is renting his house (which he owns and renovated), so that’s been a great financial bonus for him too. Good morning Gussie! Thomas’s full pot of delicious regular coffee has definitely had an impact on my caffeine adventures ; ) Full mug of regular – no more, no less – today. I made banana pancakes for breakfast per Anne’s recipe : We had mango on the si