Today I’m packing! I’m headed to Long Beach, CA tomorrow to attend the Juice Plus+ Convention. It is my fourth time going and I’m super excited!!! But, I’m a total stress packer. It is embarrassing how many hours I will spend today gathering things to cram into my suitcase. Totally and completely self absorbing and embarrassing as to how many hours I will spend trying to figure out which shoes to take and what outfits to plan. The hardest thing is the time of year. In between seasons is the hardest time to pack. It is warm in the afternoon, pretty cool at night and then the whole air conditioned conference atmosphere to deal with too!!! A girls worst nightmare!

Shoes

I generally start my packing with shoes. A girl’s feet must be happy, it sets the tone of the day for me. So, I must be fashionable and comfortable. That is why I own 7 pairs of Dansko clogs…ranging from cow, to leopard, to snake to mary janes, etc. I can’t bring them all though. I also am still very much into my fab cowboy boots I splurged on this year…

but, they take of precious cargo space in the suitcase. I’m also thinking it t is also time for the toes to be popping out and I did get a french pedicure yesterday to show off….shoe dilemma unresolved…

Layering

With all the elements I will be exposed to I will need to master the art of layering…more things to take up in the suitcase! The good thing about layering is that you can mix and match the pieces. The difficult thing is that I need to stick with a base color of brown or black. If I do both, then I’m doubling my clothes (and shoes!)….ugh! I think I’m going with grays and black as my base color. Speaking of color I can throw white in there if necessary. I did google “white shoe rules” and it seems they are no longer a big deal as to when you can wear them. You can go with white if you need to. That helps a lot!

Food

I must strategically pack my food. I will need some in my carry on. It is a total flying time of over 7 hours and I will never rely on an airline to provide me a morsel of my subsistence. I will have my Juice Plus+ soft chews with me that will provide me a tasty snack packed with fruit and veggie concentrates, and PB&J and a variety of other snacks. I have made my homemade granola bars, trail mix and bought a bunch of healthy snack foods to take. The conference is so incredible you don’t want to miss any of it so you tend to miss opportunities to get food, so I take loads of stuff in with me. So, yet another section of my suitcase must be dedicated to food. I’d hate to get up to eat and miss out on Bear Gryls!!!

Techy Stuff

I am the official photographer for my team. That equal lugging the Nikon D90 with me. I’m a little worried about this because it has been acting funny lately. I need to get it looked at, but did I? No. I hate to drag the thing out there and then have it not work. But, I love taking pictures so I guess it will go. I also go nowhere without my MacBook. I have anxiety being away from it…seriously….sad situation. Anyway, it will provide me about 3 hours of entertainment on the plane. I can watch a movie, organize my e-mail, pictures, delete crap I don’t need, etc. Productive time. OK, it is going. The poundage with the MacBook and Camera and food in my carry on will put me in the chiropractor’s office a few extra times when I get back. Not to mention I’m going for my pre flight adjustment today.

OK, if you have made it this far in my post I may have stressed you out too! One more thing to add to the list is that I have to go color the gray too! So, I’m off to go color the hair, shower and PACK!!!

Have a blessed day my friends….come back next week and visit when I return from sunny California!

My very favorite chocolate EVER! Loco for Coco!

It is Day 2 of my Thankfulness for the little things in life. If you missed Day 1 yesterday, go back and read first, the part where I’m not ready for Christmas music.

I pick up one of my bestest girls ever this morning {who I am thankful for because I did not have to face a long list of errand running alone!} and the first thing she says to me {and she does not read my blog either!} is “Hey, I got the News Boys new Christmas CD and I brought it with me so we can listen to some Christmas music today!” I said, “Are you serious? It is only November 2? You know my music rule!” She insisted, so I appeased her for about 30 minutes and then I had to draw the line.

Flash forward a few hours later and we decide to hit Kohl’s {yes again!} and I tell her how thankful I was that they were not playing Christmas music when I was in there the day before. So, we are shopping for about 10 minutes to some teeny bopper type music. An announcement comes over the loud speaker. Then, out of nowhere the Christmas music starts!! I”m not kidding! I look at her like I can’t even believe this! Here is the weird thing, only one song plays and then they go back to the bee bop stuff. HOW WEIRD!

Of course we stopped at my favorite chocolate shop in town, Loco for Coco and I was indeed thankful for the dark chocolate caramel sea salt truffles that I cannot live without! Hey out of towners…THEY SHIP! Tell them you were sent my me, they know me well!

I won’t even tell you how bad my day started. It just discounts the thankfulness. Because in the end all the bad stuff that went wrong this morning had a beautiful ending, and even more beautiful because I never stressed once about it. I trusted it would all work out and it did!

Yep, its the little things. Like girlfriends, and chocolate, and yes even a few Christmas tunes!

Got anything you want to share in your thankfulness tank?

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.