Healthy Pizza

This is a must share:
I made this homemade pizza tonight and the crust is made with yogurt.  It was so good.  The kids made their own personal pizzas and eat every piece!!!  


Here is what you need:
1 1/2 cups white unbleached flour
1 cup wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
Italian seasonings
1 tsp sugar (I used sugar in the raw)
1 1/4 cup plain fat free yogurt
2 tsp olive oil

Directions:

1. 1) In a large bowl combine the first 5 Ingredients and mix well.
2. 2) In a seperate bowl mix together yogurt and oil.
3. 3) Add yogurt mixture to flour mixture; mix until well combined and a soft dough forms. 
4. 4) Knead dough lightly, about 1-2 minutes. add more flour if needed
5. 5) Roll out or press dough evenly in a lightly greased pan.
   6) bake at 400F for about 7 min with no toppings
6. 7) Add toppings and bake for about 10 min.
   
   
   This is one of the pizza's we made
   
   

   

   Ingredients are all natural pizza sauce, tomato pesto sauce, green peppers, red peppers, garlic, portabella mushrooms, low fat mozzarella cheese and turkey pepperoni.
   
   

   
   

   We also made an all veggie pizza and a calzone out of the dough : )

   SOOOOO good!!

   
   

   
   

   
   

   Salute to living healthier!!!!

   
   
   
   

Getting a garden ready

I am so excited to be growing a garden this year and having my own fresh veggies! The soil I'm using is organic mushroom compost.
In the years past I have grown tomatoes and cucumbers.  I have tried others but they just didn't grow.  My husband dug out a big space in our backyard for our garden.  I am going to try to grow the following (and take note I said TRY) Tomatoes (big boy and roma), cucumbers, zucchini, squash, asparagus, garlic, green peppers, sweet peppers,lettuce, spinach, strawberries and blueberries.
There is this really cool/easy way to start your seeds.  We found this at Lowes:

Jiffy Greenhouse

All you do is water the soil and let it sit until the soil grows. Fluff up the soil and add your seeds.  Cover and wait for your plants to grow.  The instructions were so easy!

Just after 3 days you can see some of them growing!!

Everything is nice and labeled : )

You can see how some didn't even sprout : (

Before I started this, I used an egg carton and some plastic shot cups and tried to start my plants from them.......only a couple grew and none of the seeds in the egg carton grew.  See why I say I will TRY and grow this garden : )

I'm also "trying" to grow herbs. 

 Growing carrots in a large bin.  I saw this on pinterest.com and decided to give it a try.

Growing carrots in a large tub!

Now all I have to do is wait and see how they all do.  Wish me luck, Trust me I need lots of it.  I do not have a green thumb!!

Salute to living healthier!!!!

I might be crazy but the easiest way to stay healthy for me is to stay organized.  Knowing what I am going to eat throughout the day keeps me eating and snacking like I should to keep my body healthy.  One thing I love about this is that everyone knows what is for dinner.  As for my husband and I.......well we know what we are having to eat every meal/snack of the day.  This way it doesn't leave you spare of the moment looking for something to eat and settling to make bad food choices.
I would like to share what I do every week to try and keep my family on track : )

Here is an example of how I plan out my meals for the week:

================================================================

WEEK 13

 Monday – Breakfast:  Oatmeal/eggs.    Brooke - shake

Snack: Crackers with nut butter & banana -

Lunch: Seasoned chicken breast wrapped in lettuce/baby spinach and filled with veggies 

Snack: Protein shake

Dinner:  Chicken fajitas with lots of veggies and brown rice

Snack: Baked apple with cinnamon or veggies

 Tues- Breakfast: Oatmeal/eggs.    Brooke - shake

Snack: Banana with natural peanut butter -

Lunch:  Chicken on salad with eggs and lots of veggies

Snack: protein shake

Dinner:  Homemade  personal pizza loaded with veg.

Snack: Baked pear with cinnamon or veggies

 Wed- Breakfast: Oatmeal/eggs.    Brooke - shake

Snack: nuts with choice of fruit

Lunch: Seasoned chicken breast wrapped in lettuce/baby spinach and filled with

Snack: Protein shake              

Dinner: Baked chicken, portabella mushrooms, garlic, onion, tomato

Snack: Cheese with veggies

Thurs- Breakfast: Oatmeal/eggs.    Brooke - shake

Snack: Ryvita crackers w/ nut butter

Lunch: Chicken on Salad with eggs and lots of veggies

Snack: protein shake

Dinner: leftovers

Snack: Baked apple with cinnamon
________________________________________________________________

 Fri- Breakfast: Oatmeal/eggs.    Brooke - shake

Snack: hand full of nuts and banana

Lunch: Tuna wrap/sandwich  &  salad with lots of veggies

Snack: protein shake

Dinner:  Eggplant parm with no meat sauce , pasta, bread

Snack: Choice of fruit with hard cheese and rice cake (veggies/fruit)

 Sat- Breakfast: Oatmeal/eggs.    Brooke - shake

Snack: Apple with yogurt -  Veggies

Lunch: chicken salad on a salad – Salad with lots of veggies

Snack: Protein shake

Dinner:  Steak, sweet potato, roasted bussels sprouts broccoli and cauliflower

Snack: unbutter popcorn, (veggies/fruits)

 Sun- Breakfast: Oatmeal/eggs.    Brooke - shake

Snack: Pear w/ choice of nut

Lunch:  TBD

Snack: Protein shake

Dinner: TBD –

Snack: crackers with peanut butter 

=================================================================

The line in in between Thursday and Friday to separates my grocery list.  I usually shop for food on Friday so,  my list goes from Friday to Thursday.  

This is how I organize my grocery list:

An example of my grocery list.  I have it organized pretty much by department.

Feel free to to use any of these ideas and share my blogs : )


Salute to living healthier!!

Pictures from after Standard Process detox

Here are some pictures after the 21 day SP detox.  Pre-tone up!

Add caption

Had to add the Brooklyn picture in here.  These didn't before the cleanse.......so this makes me very happy!!

I am proud to work hard, stay fit, and to say Yes, I had 4 children!!!!!

Salute to living healthier!!!

Well today is my first day not detoxing.  It is going great! My ear and sinuses have greatly improved and I'm getting a lot more energy.  I'm eating about the same way as when I was detoxing.  I guess once you do something long enough it becomes a habit right?   The only thing different is the 10 pistachios, apples with chocolate nut butter and my antibiotic.   The chocolate nut butter was SOOOO good : )
I'm SO looking forward to getting a great workout in.  Who knows when that will be because by the looks of it I'm going to be having one surgery after another first.  I have to go to a surgeon tomorrow to see what this ball like thing above my belly button is.  I'm pretty sure its a hernia!!! I'm thinking I will probably need to have surgery on it before I start to workout again.........such a bummer!

I have to say, going through the 21 day detox really put thing in perspective for me about my health and the health of the people around me and the direction I should be pointing.  It has opened me up to so many different paths. Not only with my body, but spiritually and mentally.   I have been drawn to fitness, nutrition and natural/alternative medicine for some time now.  While detoxing I found myself wanting to learn more and more about natural stuff and living a more healthier life with less toxins.  I've been feeling such a pull to help others it is unbelievable.  I guess that is why I started blogging  : )

Going back to school is something I have wanted to do for a while now.  I would go back and forth over what it is I really want to do.  It wasn't until now that I realize what that is I need to do.  I need to go back to school to learn everything I can about fitness, nutrition and natural/Alternative medicine.  So, my next step is looking into schools and trying to fit it into my crazy schedule of already being a mom to 4 kids.  I am so in love with the idea of going to school and to turn around and help others.  I'm so excited to chase after this and to get the ball rolling.  So let the research for schools begin!

Salute to living healthier!!

Ending my full body detox

Yay, day 21 of my detox is here! I did it with no cheating at all and stuck to the program.  I have lost 11 lbs and feeling pretty slim.  I'm sure some of my weight loss is probably muscle due to not working out for 21 days.  Best part of my weight loss is I finally lost weight where I needed to lose it (My butt and thighs).   I have been working on that area for a while now and with this detox it finally is working.  Now to tone it all up nicely........I'm so impatient to see results I've been looking for.  Some people will say,"Brooke you don't need to lose any weight".  I just say that I have a goal in mind and sometimes it takes doing different things to try and meet them.  My detox was not intended to lose any weight, but to get the toxins out of my body.  But as you can tell from my experience you will lose weight too.


So last Friday, I started to get an itchy throat.  Pollen is all over and coating everything so I figred it was allergies acting up.  I didn't want to take any store bought medicine to ruin my detox so I settled for some wellness tea. Saturday, my throat was the same way so I loaded up on drinking my tea. Saturday night, my husband and I went and got massages at Banyan Tree Message Studios in Monroe, NC.  You can check out their website at www.banyantreemassage.com I have to give a big thank you to Amanda and Cindy there.  They did an awesome job which left me so relaxed.  Check them out and tell them sent ya.  Massage during a Detox is beneficial because it helps release more toxins in the body.
Sunday morning we had to be up bright and early for my oldest son's baseball game. During the game I started feeling worse. My throat and left ear was really starting to hurt.  I stuck it out though. I'm so close to the end and didn't want to ruin my detox.  When I got home I researched some home remedies I could try to relieve some of my discomforts.  Here is what I found:


For a sore throat, aches and pains,acid reflux, upset stomach you can use this recipe:
2 tablespoon - apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoon - honey (I use raw honey)
squeeze of fresh lemon juice
hot water to dilute it
Drink and gargle   
It doesn't taste that great but it really helped with my throat pain.
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While reasearching I found this out:
Apple Cider Vinegar is also wonderful for pets, including dogs, cats, and horses. It helps them with arthritic conditions, controls fleas & barn flies, and gives a beautiful shine to their coats!
________________________________________________________________


When Monday morning came around it had moved to my sinuses.  My head was all stuffy, sore throat, ear itching/throbbing and slight headache.  Was this the signs of more toxins being released? I did get a massage a couple days ago and that is suppose to push toxins out faster..... but I decided I was going to stick it out and not give into taking medications.  I continued the above recipe, gargling salt water, neti pot, saline spray and loading up on my wellness tea.  This seemed to be working and I was so excited I didn't use any store bought product to help me feel better.
So Tuesday rolls around and there is no change.  All the stuff I was doing worked to help me get by but I wasn't getting better.  I decided at the end of the day I better go get checked out just to be on the safe side.  So while at CVS Minute Clinic I find out I have a very bad ear infection and sinus infection.  GREAT .....I'm thinking just my luck to end a detox with infections.  But I am glad it happened on the last day and not in the middle of it. I'm also glad I went to get checked out.  Its important to listen to what our bodies are telling us.
So needless to say today.......my last day of detoxing I am taking an antibiotic. Nothing else besides that will change on my last day. 


This has been a huge experience for me with mind,body and spirit!!!




Salute to living healthier!!

Almost done

Today is day 15 of my body detox. I am down 8lbs now in just 2 weeks.  I am still doing light workouts.  Workouts consist of yoga, elliptical, stretching and a light ab workout.  I am eliminating  toxins around me by using my homemade dishwasher soap (which I love), vodka multi-cleaner and homemade remedies for facial cleanser.   Along with other natural/organic products and foods that are wallet friendly. I even did a natural spa night with my daughter to teach her natural things she can use to keep her skin and hair healthy.  Overall my kids are adjusting very well to all of these changes. They are asking for more fruits and veggies for snacks during the day and for lunches at school.

Monday (day 11) was my first day of eating meat.  I made baked chicken with lots of seasonings.  I was cringing about eating it.  I don't know why all I can say is that chicken, beef or any animal meat does not sound good to me right now. I cut it up in small pieces and ate it with roasted veggies. I only had about the size of my palm and it was very filling. I still have my carb cravings.  I wonder if the cravings will ever go away.  When I get craving I drink more water and it slowly goes away.  Is it just in my head that I want them or just habit maybe?  Well I'm hoping when my detox is over my cravings for carbs are lessened and I will resort to fruits and veggies instead.

How have I been feeling?  Well the headaches are very very light and only come a couple times a day. I get waves of fatigue but not as much as in the beginning.  I think adding the extra whey protein isolates have really helped in my boost of energy.

6 more days left!!!!!!

Salute to living healthier!

Made it to day 11

Yay!  I did it, I made it to day 11 with no cheating at all.  This morning started with a great workout!  P90X was in my head to do, but I settled for a fitness ball workout. It felt so good.  I have so much energy today and I haven't felt this great and this much energy in a while.
I want to give an example of what my days of eating have been like.

This is the SP shake I have 1 for breakfast every morning and 1 as a snack in the afternoon.  Once in a while I will have one at night if I feel hungry.  It consists of 2 scoops of SP Complete, 1 tsp flax seed oil, 1/2 banana, 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange and 1/4 cup water.. Just a couple days ago I started adding 1 scoop of whey protein isolate for more energy.  

Lunch!  Salad with mixed greens and baby spinach.  I loaded it up with lots of veggies!!  For a dressing I use freshly minced garlic, fresh lemon juice, parsley and evoo.

Dinner!  Lots of veggies for dinner.  This is an example of a dinner I made:
 eggplant, zucchini and mushrooms.  I seasoned it with seasalt, pepper and garlic.  
Other dinners I have made are veggie soup, lentil bean soup with veggies and 1/2 sweet potatoes.
My favorite dinner was portabella mushrooms with sauteed onions and garlic topped with tomato sauce......super yum!

Here is my result after just 11 days!  No more bloating that I have been trying so hard to get rid of and I got my flat stomach back and definition!  Its only gonna get better from here as I work out more and more : )  I'm on my way to meeting my fitness goals for the year!

Salute to living healthier!

Homemade dishwasher soap

As I am reading on what things are toxic to us, I come across how some dish soaps have toxins in them.  Hello...... our glasses, silverware, plates and everything else we wash are getting coated with toxins on them.  GREAT!  So I wanted to try and make my own automatic dishwasher soap with no toxins and not hurt the wallet.  It was so easy and with little ingredients.  You can get almost everything at the grocery store too.




Here is what you need:
washing soda - (NOT BAKING SODA) I bought at Walmart for under $4
borax - walmart for under $4

kosher salt - Walmart under $2

citric acid - Health food store - $6

white vinegar - Walmart under $2

*make your own washing soda by using baking soda and baking it at 350 degrees for about 45 min

*Substitute citric acid for lemonade kool-aid or something similar to that

Now here is what you do:

2 cups washing soda

2 cups borax 

1 cup kosher salt

1 Tablespoon citric aci­d/per load

2-3 Tablespoon white vinegar

*Mix the 1^st 3 dry ingredients in a container with a lid and shake. Make sure you label it. Don’t add citric acid now as it will clump up your mixture.

*Fill the rinse aid in your washer with vinegar.

*Scoop 1 Tablespoon of mixture and 1 tablespoon of citric acid per load.

*The citric acid is key in making sure there is no residue on the dishes

*Shake mixture before each use.

Salute to living healthier!!

Detox day 8

8 days now with no meats, dairy, carbs, sugar or sweets!  I'm so proud of myself for making it this far.  It is all about self control and knowing what I want to get out of this detox that keeps me excited to stick to it and finish.
I still get headaches on and off and my craving for certain foods are still there.  Its mostly when I see or smell them.   On Monday (which will be day 11), I get to eat lean meats.  This will be interesting because meats are one of the things I stopped craving for.  But I am excited to add more foods to my meals!!!
Every morning I do 20 - 25 min of a light workout.  It consists of light yoga, stretching and the elliptical.  I have so much energy in the mornings.  Then it dwindles in the afternoon and by night time I am so exhausted.  I think its because I am so active during the day.  So I bought some all natural whey protein isolates to add to my shakes.  I'm hoping it helps give me the energy I need to finish out my days.
When I went grocery shopping today it was much different.  I was conscious before what I bought and what my kids were eating but now its so much more.  I want my kids to have as healthy of a life as I can provide.  I want to teach them how to be healthy and conscious of what they eat and do to their bodies.  They may learn some in school but how will they really learn if its not practiced at home?
This detox experience has been awaking me to so many different things.  I hope that as this journey keeps going I can pass helpful, healthy information onto my family and others.

13 detox days left!!!!


Salute to living healthier!!

Day 4 of my detox

I can't believe how well my detox is going!  Day 2 (sat) was a good day. It was a day of resting for me because I didn't know what to expect. I only had light headaches on and off ,waves of being tired and food cravings. But my biggest complaint is not working out. Well my kind of workouts anyways. You shouldn't do any kind of strenuous exercise while you detox.  I  heard it could release toxins too quickly, which could be harmful.  Also, I need to let my body heal itself as the toxins are being released.
Sunday(day 3), my son was suppose to have baseball scrimmages.  So I prepared a salad for my lunch along with a bowl of veggie and fruits to snack on while at the games.  After all the prep work baseball gets cancelled......  well great everyone is all ready so we decide to go shopping at the mall : )  I will be getting some exercise by walking right?!
I have to say I'm so glad I have such a great support system around me.  As we walk through the mall my family points out.....oh look at those pretzels.  Can we have one please please please....my kids ask. My brother points out...oh there's Chili's......then laughs at me. Then there is the cinnabon.......my son says oh mom doesn't that smell sooooo good!  Why yes, yes it all does, but I got out my container of veggies and ate them instead.  They just laugh at me.  That is until they start getting hungry and eat my veggies and fruit.  I'm sure they are happy now that I brought my snacks.
Day 4 is going great I lost 5 lbs so far.  I started the day with a light workout on the elliptical.  Just enough to sweat a little.  Then a couple of ab crunches nothing to intense.  Wish I was able to do more.  I'm craving a good workout! But I am still going through my ups and downs of tiredness, light on and off headaches and cravings.  Nothing I can't handle.  I thought this whole detox was going to be much worse!
17 more days left : )


Salute to living healthier!!

Wow, did you know that Vodka has many uses besides drinking?  I'm going to start cleaning my house with it!  
I will be using it as a multi cleaner by diluting it with water.  Here are some other tips to use Vodka and maybe cut out the chemicals you are using with your everyday cleaners.
I know I'm going to be trying these!!!


*Spray straight vodka on caulking around bathtubs and showers, fill a trigger-spray bottle with vodka, spray the caulking, let sit five minutes and wash clean. The alcohol in the vodka kills mold and mildew.


*Shine chrome, glass and porcelain bathroom fixtures. Soak a soft, clean cloth with vodka and shine 


*Prolong the life of razors by filling a cup with vodka and letting your safety razor blade soak in the alcohol after shaving. The vodka disinfects the blade and prevents rusting


*Spray vodka on vomit stains, scrub with a brush, then blot dry


*Put some vodka on a cotton ball to clean your face and pores


*Add a little bit of vodka to a 12-ounce bottle of shampoo. The alcohol cleanses the scalp, removes toxins from hair, and stimulates the growth of healthy hair


* Fill a sixteen-ounce trigger-spray bottle and spray bees or wasps to kill them


*Pour one-half cup vodka and one-half cup water in a Ziplock freezer bag, and freeze for a slushy, reusable ice pack for aches and pains


*Clean jewelry and cutlery. Soak it in vodka for five minutes, rinse and dry



Leave feedback if you like after you try any of these tips!!




Salute to living healthier!!

Today is day 1 of my full body detox.  I am so excited to start the steps to a healthier me.  Thanks to Dr. Jen at Integrative Chiropractic & Natural Medicine. Check out her website for all her information at http://www.integrativechironc.com/.  She is so awesome.  She has helped me with my back and hip problems.  What Dr. Jen has done allows me to do my workouts a lot easier with  no pain and issues. For those of you who know me know that I love fitness and working out.  She is the one who recommended the SP detox which I know will help me reach my goals.   I highly recommend her to everyone!

I have to take 30 pills a day, 10 in the morning, afternoon and at night.  For breakfast I had a SP shake. I was feeling good all morning until it came to a snack.  I had some sugar snap peas and carrots but they weren't cutting it.  I have to admit I love my carbs and I think that is what my body was craving.  I didn't cave though, I made some kale chips.  You just take kale leaves drizzle with EVOO sprinkle salt pepper and garlic.  Bake and you have kale "chips".  They are pretty good and it did the job for me to get over the cravings.   Lunch was a huge salad with tons of veggies.  I couldn't even finish the salad.  After lunch, I started to feel irritated and fidgety a little.  I just kept drinking my glasses of water and that seemed to help.  My afternoon snack was another SP shake and dinner was cubed eggplant, zucchini and portabella mushrooms drizzled with EVOO, salt, pepper, garlic.  
I have to say the hardest part to all of this is being on such a strict diet and having to make food for the kids.  I made them popcorn this afternoon and was so tempted to just have a couple pieces.  I couldn't even go in the food pantry for long because I kept looking at all the different food and getting tempted.  Then what do the kids want after dinner........left over cupcakes from my son's birthday party. I did it though, I have made it the whole day so far and I'm going to keep push though these little temptations.   I'm looking forward to the end results from the detox.  Only 20 more days to go : )

Here's a little beauty tip:
Instead of using products with chemicals to get your eye make up off...... try using extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) applied with a cotton ball.  It will remove the dirt and make up while moisturizing your eyelashes at the same time!

Next week I will be making my own dishwasher soap.  It will be a lot cheaper than buying a store bought.  This should be fun and easy!

Salute to living healthier!!