I was tickled pink when Sandy from The Reluctant Entertainer asked me to guest host on her blog! I was blessed to have meet her at Blissdom this past February. She rocks Entertaining and has written a book about it that is going to be released in August! So, what could I possible have to say?

Come check out my post on Entertaining on Vacation over on her blog The Reluctant Entertainer.

Feel free to leave me a comment here on my blog as well!Become a Facebook Fan or follow me on Twitter too!

Smoothies....My best friend!

I will be unplugging for the next 3 days as I head to Phoenix, AZ to attend the Juice Plus conference. I’m super excited! I went 6 months ago and was just blown away by what I learned. I’m going with some of my best girl friends too, so I get a double treat! A girls trip mixed in with one of my biggest passions health and wellness.

One thing I cannot live without are my smoothies! I make them almost everyday, usually after my workout or when I’m crashing about 2:00 pm. Her is the recipe for my Complete Smoothie::

Frozen or fresh organic fruit (1/2 -3/4 c.)
Organic vanilla yogart (1/3 c. – 1/2 c.)
1-2 T. of ground flaxseed
1 scoop of Juice Plus Complete Powder (vegetarian, contains fruit and vegetable powders and non GMO soy isoflavins!)
Juice or water

Blend it up and it is a Complete on the go meal! I’ve always got a can in my car too. I take it into places that make smoothies, like Starbucks, etc., and they will add a scoop of this to my drink for me. The chocolate is good in coffee too! Makes it like a mocha, a mocha that also has about 13 fruits and vegetables in it without you even tasting them!

If you want to follow me on Twitter or FaceBook I’ll be Tweeting some great information from the conference!

If you have been with me for awhile you know that I LOVE NUTS! When I am hungry, one of the first things I go for is nuts. So how thrilled was I when this showed up at my door yesterday??? Four beautiful boxes of amazing nuts mixes sent to me from Nutty Girl!

I am so in love all the great people I get to meet online everyday! I am so excited that Carolyn is The Nutty Girl and that she found This Nutty Girl to bestow her goods on!

The Original Rosemary Nut Mix

The roasted mixed nuts are infused with the herb rosemary! The sweetness of the dried cranberries and brown sugar are a perfect compliment to the herb and salt!

Gotta say that I’m totally in love with the Sweet Nutty Girl Nut Mix. Who doesn’t love a little chocolate with their nuts!

I think Carolyn had me at the box. Check out these cute and catchy phrases on the super fun packaging. Carolyn is also an artist and she did all the artwork on the boxes herself!

Look, its me!

Nutty Girl nuts are sold all over the U.S. from Hawaii to Massachusetts. Check out the Nut Finder to see if they are sold in your hometown. They are also sold through the Nutty Girl website. A great gift idea!

Would you like to have a set of this wonderful snack mix for yourself, or to share with a friend or loved one? Well, The Nutty Girl is going to ship of on my lucky readers there very own supply of Spicy, Exotic and Original Just leave me a comment here at One Nutty Girl to be entered in this giveaway!

I think these would be a perfect treat for any Mother on Mother’s Day! Order some today from The Nutty Girl! Do they sound like winners to you?

I was over at My First Kitchen’s house the other day, yah know just hanging out eating her to die for Lemon Blueberry Scones, and I fell in love with her jars of ingredients! Well I am the first to admit that I can be the biggest copy cat out there, but I always give the rightful owner credit! Anyway, I’ve got ingredients galore so I immediately knew I could fill a few of these stylish and reasonably priced cracker jars from Walmart with out a problem.

I purchased all 12 cracker jars my Walmart had in stock in 3 different sizes. I tackled my organic section first, the ones that everything in plastic bags from the bulk bin spilling out everywhere. Goodbye bags!

Coffee Corner

Then I organized the K-cups for the “I can’t live without” Keurig! I have my tea in the bottom jar and the coffee on top!  I’m running low on K-cups, just ordered more today!

organized with style

Just as I was finishing up the big jars, I wondered to myself how would I label everything. I do not have a label maker {gasp!}. But, then the man in the Big Brown Truck came today. He brought me my Slate Tags I ordered from Melissa’s {The Inspired Room} Open Sky Shop! I almost hugged him! You know seconds later I was making these cute little tags for the jars!

love these slate tags!

read the chalkboard!

So now my kitchen is adorned with pretty jars of all my precious baking and cooking ingredients!  My pictures are not so good because the room is very sunny, but trust me, it is much better than it looks!

Don’t these look just fabulous? I’m pleased to tell you that they are healthy too! I was recently reading Natural Health Magazine {if you don’t know me well, I’m a total health nut!}. I came across this fabulous recipe by Ivy Larson. I was even more thrilled because I’ve heard Ivy speak before! Larson has been battling multiple sclerosis since 1998. She did not see improvement in her disease until she eliminated processed foods from her diet. Her latest cookbook is the Whole Foods Diet Cookbook.

use what you have!

I was thrilled that I had all the ingredients needed to make these Blondies! I’ll share my adaptation of the recipe with you! Use what you have, but keep in mind, the more natural or organic the ingredient you have, the “cleaner” {meaning no processed or minimally processed foods} the end result will be.

1 cup of all natural peanut butter {I used crunchy!}
3 organic eggs
3/4 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of organic milk
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 cup of wheat germ
1/2 cup of light whole wheat flour {I like King Arthur the best – available at Harris Teeter}
3/4 cup of chocolate chips {I prefer Ghiradelli 60%}

1. Combine the peanut butter, eggs, brown sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth.
2. Add the baking powder and blend. Mix in the wheat germ and flour just until blended.
3. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Pour into a greased 8 x 8 glass baking dish.
5. Bake @ 350 for 25 minutes, or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Let cool and ENJOY! You can get great fiber from the whole grain flour and wheat germ. The peanut butter packs in the protein and the chocolate just satisfies the need for some chocolate! Remember dark chocolate is a source of anti oxidants!

If you want 10 free recipes from Ivy, go to her website The 2 Larsons!

So, who is goning try to make these?

Official Food, Inc. Movie Site – Hungry For Change?

I’ve talked about Food Inc, The Movie before on One Nutty Girl. I saw it when it first came out last summer. I traveled from Greensboro to Asheville to see it because it was not playing here yet. I was aware of many of the things in the movie before I went to see it. However, seeing it, and understanding the effects of the changes in our food systems over the years, really helped fuel my passion for changing the way we eat.

I’ve told many people about the movie since. Many of you have watched it as a result. I love that! It takes more than Lil ‘Ole Me to spread the word on this movie and this crisis. I was thrilled recently when Oprah had Michael Pollan, the brain behind the movie, on. I then purchased my own copy on special from Amazon for $9.99 and people all around me are begging to borrow. I feel like I should have weekly showings at my house in my bonus room!

Bessie

I’ve been blessed that I have a friend who gets local grass fed cows and shares the meat with me and a few others. It is the only red meat that my family eats. I feel so much safer knowing that my meat was locally raised with no antibiotics or hormones.

I was thrilled when I saw that Kendra at My First Kitchen is giving away 3 copies of the movie! I wanted to share this giveaway with you! So get on over the My First Kitchen and enter to win!

If you have seen the movie I would love to know your thoughts on it? Do you pay attention to the food you buy? Would you rather just go with “Ignorance is Bliss”?

Chocolate

Food or Drug?

Milk or Dark?

Nuts? No Nuts?

The list of discussions, questions and curiosity about chocolate could go on and on! There are so many wonderful ways to enjoy chocolate! I checked the history and found it dates back to 1100 BC! Wow! Can you imagine how much chocolate has been consumed since then?

In the last year I have discovered a passion for dark chocolate. My passion runs deep. In my quest to find the perfect dark chocolate, I have almost completely given up milk chocolate. It just doesn’t do it for me anymore.

My all time favorite right now is Green & Black’s  Dark 70%.

My evening serving!

My motto is “everything” in moderation. After the kids get tucked in and I’m finally alone, I break off my 3 little pieces and savor them. It is just enough to get my chocolate fix…at least on most days.

Do you have a favorite chocolate? I’d love to know what works for you!

I’m very passionate about what I feed my family. They love it when I make them home made and healthy foods to snack on. It is also fun to get them involved in kitchen as well. Banana bread is a staple at our house when we have bananas to use up.

I start with at least 3 ripe bananas. Peel and mash away.

The Best - Stoneyfield Yogurt!

My next favorite ingredient to bake and cook with is Stoneyfield Yogurt. It’s organic, wholesome and very delicious. I feel good knowing there are no hormones or artificial colors in their products. I’m a butter girl, so I always bake with organic butter…again the rBGH hormone factor for me.

My Flour!

Another great ingredient I use to bake with is King Arthur Flour. This one is unbleached and whole grain, a very important choice. To get used to it, you can start baking with 1/2 white flour and 1/2 whole wheat flour. This brand is very light and bakes well. The kids won’t even know!

Yum!

I almost didn’t get this picture! We inhaled most of it before I realized I needed an finished shot!

So, here is the receipe….

1 c. sugar (organic raw if you choose)
1/4 c. butter
3 mashed bananas
1/3 c. vanilla yogurt
1/4 c. milk
2 large eggs
2 c. whole wheat flour
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt

Combine sugar and butter. Add banana, milk, yogurt and eggs. Add flour, baking soda and salt. Add nuts if desired. I really like pecans. I’m the nut so I’ve always got some nuts on hand!

Bake at 350 degrees about 40-50 minutes.

It is always fun to share my DIY stuff with Kimba’s readers.

Artificially Flavored Vanilla Frozen Dessert

I’m very passionate about what this generation is eating. I often eat lunch with my kids, and take note of what they, and the kids around them are eating. I’ve been collecting wrappers from the “food” that they sell in the school cafeteria. I’ve noticed that at least two thirds of the kids buying lunch have an “ice cream” treat or Fruit by the Foot, or some other purchase in addition to the regular lunch on their tray.

This wrapper is from my visit the other day. Note that they claim it is High in Vitamin C. Also, twice they tell us on the front of the wrapper that it is Artificially Flavored.

Yum?

Here is the flip side…the real story of what is inside this wrapper. Yes, we see the dreaded High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) and the Yellow 6, Red 40, and Yellow 5. Where is that Vitamin C coming from?

Really?

Have you missed me? I’ve missed myself! Well, I am back from the most incredible weekend I have had in quite some time! I was attending the Juice Plus+ Convention in Memphis, TN. The integrity of this company and this time together just blew me away! I am so honored to say that I have taken JP for 1 year and I will never miss a day of it for the rest of my life! I am so grateful for my dear sweet friend Kelly for introducing me to Whole Food Nutrition….check her out!

Kelly walking the stage!

Congratulations Kelly on achieving Senior Sales Coordinator!

Yeah!

If you have not heard of Juice Plus, it is very simple. It is just 100% vine ripened, pesticide free, fruits and vegetables that have been put through a proprietary process that removes the sugar and water and put into a capsule. 13 different fruits and vegetables and that is it. Plain and simple. Want to know more? Watch the 12 minute video and read the research here.

Think you can’t afford it? It cost $10 a week for an adult and children ages 4-18 are FREE! That is a lot of produce for $10 a week!

Oh My!

I love you all! I care about your health!

Coming soon…Pantry Makeovers….Don’t miss out!