Tag: lifestyle

Oven Roasted “Fried” Okra

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Okra is a staple of Southern summer suppers. And I buy as much of it as I can while the farmers grow it. It’s my favorite vegetable.

While the South may be all about fried foods, Whole30 is not. So we must improvise.

Meet Oven Roasted “Fried” Okra.

What you need:

  • As much okra as you want to roast, sliced into circles
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • Cayenne, to taste
  • Garlic powder, to taste
  • Coconut oil, to drizzle
  • A sprinkle of almond flour, enough to cover and coat the okra.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine okra, salt, pepper, cayenne, garlic powder, coconut oil and almond flour.

Stir until okra is evenly coated. Spread evenly on baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until your desired crispiness.

It’s the closest thing to fried okra. And it’s amazing.

Nightly Skin Care Routine

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If I could go back in time, I would tell my teenage self to take better care of my skin.

It’s taken most of my twenties to get a grip on how important it is to take care of my skin. Gone are the nights of being lazy and not washing my makeup off. And thankfully so.

Part of the reason I was so bad at skin care bring my teen years, besides laziness, was nothing ever worked for me. I literally tried everything.

Prescription creams and acne medicines didn’t do much. And over-the-counter face wash and toner was a joke.

Back in April, I took a chance and tried a few Beautycounter products. And it changed everything. My skin has never looked better.

So I wanted to share my nightly skin care routine.

Step one.

I wash my face with the Nourishing Cream Cleanser. It’s mild and gives the perfect amount of moisture to my skin. And it takes all my makeup off.

Step two.

Rejuvenating Toner Pads deep clean my skin, clear out my pores and lighten dark spots and freckles from sun damage.

Step three.

The Nourishing Day Cream is lightweight and doesn’t over-moisturize my oily skin. It’s fragrance free so no irritation happens, which I love.

Step four, the final step.

The Nourishing Eye Cream is perfect for deeply moisturizing delicate eye skin. Just a little dab under both eyes is all it takes.

Beautycounter has changed my life for the better. I love every product I’ve tried, and I love that the company has a mission to get safer products to everyone.

Shop my Nightly Skin Care Routine here.

Feel free to ask me what Beautycounter products would work best for your skin type and needs.

Whole30 Latte

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I love coffee.

It’s like a life-line to my sanity.

When I’m on Whole30, I can’t have my occasional (beloved) latte because of all the sugary syrups and heavy cream.

I’ve been working on waking up earlier this week, and the added time left me with a little time to create a Whole30 approved latte.

What you need:

  • Hot coffee
  • 1 heaping tablespoon of coconut oil
  • A splash of Nutpods French Vanilla Creamer (made with almond and coconut milk)
  • Immersion blender
  • Cinnamon, to taste

Combine coffee, coconut oil and Nutpods creamer in a medium size bowl. Blend with immersion blender until creamy and frothy. Top with a little cinnamon.

Enjoy the no added sugar, frothy coffee of your dreams.

When I’m not on Whole30, I’ll add in grassfed butter and a splash of real vanilla to make it extra special.

How do you take your coffee?

Whole30 Eggless Breakfast Hash

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This could be my favorite breakfast creation ever. Eggs or no eggs. It’s delicious.

So much of Whole30 breakfasts are centered around eggs. And after ten days of nothing but eggs for breakfast, I just couldn’t do it. Not another egg. (I’ll go back to eggs tomorrow.)
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The beauty of this dish is the variety of veggies. It is truly a rainbow.

What you need:

  • 2 apple chicken sausages, cut into half-moons
  • 1 small yellow squash, cut into half-moons
  • 1/2 onion, diced
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 large handful of spinach
  • 1 sweet potato, mashed
  • salt, pepper and red pepper flakes, to taste

Directions:

Bake your potato the night before and put in fridge.

Heat a medium skillet with avocado oil to medium-high heat. Add in the onion, squash and bell pepper. Season with a little salt and pepper. Cook until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add in the garlic, red pepper flakes and sausage. Stir well to combine. Make sure the mixture evenly covers the pan. Cook on medium-high heat without stirring for about 5-6 minutes. This will give your meat and veggies a nice crust on the one side. Stir in spinach until it starts to wilt. Remove from heat and set aside.

Take your sweet potato from the fridge. Remove skin. Mash with a fork, and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds. Top with breakfast hash.

Enjoy.

 

Nashville, The Ryman and Judah & the Lion

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I cashed in a major Christmas present this weekend. Brad got me tickets to see Judah & the Lion at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. And it was the best concert I’ve been to in a long time.

First, it was the Ryman. Formerly known as the Grand Ole Opry. The birthplace of bluegrass. The mother church of music. An icon. A bucket list venue of mine.

Being the good boyfriend that he is, he made sure we got meet-and-greet tickets so we saw them play a couple of acoustic songs and answer some questions. And get a photo.
Judah and the Lion
As you can see, I was super happy. My eyes were all squinty. They are one of the funnest bands to watch live. So much energy. So down-to-earth. We loved every single minute of it.

While we waited for the night’s festivities to start, we explored Nashville. We had Whole30 approved salads at the Famous Bar. We visited the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum, and I totally geeked out on all the music memorabilia.

What you see here: Garth Brooks’ very well-used acoustic guitar, Elton John’s baby grand and grand pianos, and Jimi Hendrix’s electric guitar.

But there was so much to see. So many iconic items. Walls of silver, gold and platinum records. It was a super fun way to spend some time waiting for the show to start.

Would I go back to Nashville? Absolutely. The Ryman is THE place to see live music. I can’t wait to go back.

We rounded out the weekend with a drive around the farm before heading home.

It was absolutely perfect.