moving moving moving

trying my hand at wordpress it seems to be cleaner..


Come see me at http://optimisticjessica.wordpress.com/

Read More

Super duper pre-work out smoothie

Holy smokes, 2 posts in 1 day? Yup I am on vacation. Cheers. 
I really needed to get back into the workout frame of mind, I always feel so much more balanced and happy. So here goes.

Here is a Super Duper Pre-Workout Smoothie (Think Mint Chocolate milk)

I completed 45 minutes of Fitness Blender Workout #40. And the post work out, munched on some green tea jello. Oh vacation, how I love thee. 

If you like what you see, subscribe, like, comment. If I make it to 10 followers, I will post a giveaway. :)

Read More

Green tea/Lime Jello

While this is true.. I am so grateful for the real thing

Life is good. Today I start my vacation for two weeks. No homework, no practicum. Ah Bliss. My house can finally get the deep clean it deserves. I wanted to share with you a tasty tasty recipe I came up with this morning. Enjoy.

I am a huge green tea drinker. So this recipe was perfectly refreshing and energizing. You get your shot of Vit. C and protein.



Lastly, Jakers has started soccer again (4th year!) and I am so amazed at how he rocks it! Go Team Shockwave!

Jake is the kid in blue on the left

UPDATE: I would add more water/green tea to the jello mixture. Mine came out a bit dense but I happen to like that. 

Read More

Water Kefir and Vacation

So. Boy. I wasn't sure what to write today but I should post about my water kefir experiment. I bought my water kefir grains here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051WV5K6/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And I followed the recipe minus the  spring water, I used tap. I fervently hope I did not damage the grains but I was too lazy to go to the store.

So what do I think? Well.... I haven't ever tried water kefir before, I've had kombucha and KeVita probiotic drink so I have no basis for comparison. This recipe called for molasses which ended up with a darker looking drink and a slight molasses flavor. Its only mildly carbonated and I'm not sure I enjoy it like Kombucha, but everything I have read says to add fruit juice to flavor. I'm going to add some stevia and ginger powder and see how that goes.

Here is a wonderful article about water kefir: http://www.crunchybetty.com/water-kefir

I have my 2nd batch ready to be strained tonight and I omitted the molasses so we'll see how that goes.


As for Kevita.. oh how I love it almost as much as Kombucha..

http://kevita.com/product-family/daily-cleanse/

This tasty tasty beverage has:

• Reverse Osmosis water
• Organic KeVita Probiotic Culture
• Organic Apple Cider Vinegar
• Organic cold pressed lemon whole plant extract
• Ocean water (Blue Ocean minerals)
• organic cayenne extract
• organic maple extract
• organic stevia
• organic milk thistle extract
• 
  

It's really a super wonder drink conveniently ready but however, the price is a bit limiting, about 3 bucks a bottle. I want to check into bulk buying. I would be overwhelmingly ecstatic to have one of these every day. It has 2 carbs for the whole bottle and a whopping 10 calories. SO perfect. I'm craving one right now. 

Hmmm what else what else. I have fallen off the workout bandwagon although I did complete the Zombie Run this last Saturday (3.1 miles). Super fun. I didn't survive the Zombie Apocalypse. 

I need to pop on Fitness Blender workout #39 and sweat. Yeah I'm getting off my booty now to do it! Here goes!!!!!!!!!!

If you like what you see, subscribe/follow, I will do a happy dance..

Here's a feel good song for you to enjoy:

Read More

Ginger Apple Cinnamon Detox Drink/Zombies/Cheesecake Factory/Water Kefir

That was quite the long title. Let's start with the drink recipe:

Did you know the apple belongs to the Rose family of plants? Interesting. Here is a link to a great article about the health benefits of apples http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?dbid=15&tname=foodspice

Here is some info about Cinammon: from http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/lifestyle-guide-11/supplement-guide-cinnamon
Cinammon may reduce inflammation, have antioxidant effects, and fight bacteria and it is super yummy. 

Ginger- great for digestion!! More info at: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=72

Green tea: http://www.health.harvard.edu/press_releases/benefit_of_drinking_green_tea.

Without further ado:

Cheesecake Factory? I went for the first time yesterday with my lovely sisters. We went to Ann Taylor for a free makeover/party thingy where Juice Beauty was demoing products and we received a free birchbox (box full of Juice Beauty products). Great stuff. Had a wonderful relaxing time with the girls.

Zombies? Tomorrow, my sister Erika and my friend Maylin, and I are making our debut at getting chased by zombies in Seattle. 5k .https://www.thezombierun.com/location/louisville/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=zombie%20race&utm_campaign=Zombie%20Run-Louisville

Water kefir? Just received my order of the kefir crystals http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051WV5K6/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. I have my first batch brewing on my kitchen counter. I will update more as we see how that progresses.

AND Finally a sneak peek of a dish I made tonight for dinner, that I stuffed into romaine leaves and had with a side of roasted broccoli. At first I was going to call this "Pink chicken salad" but that just seems gross, as well as the picture does not do the dish justice. So I'm going to go with "Beet, pickle chicken salad."

And I leave you with some relaxing Jennifer Charles

Read More

An ER visit and nerves

Last night we ended up in Everett because Hanna fell out of a fig tree. Oh that girl. Interestingly enough she commented that "an inside of a fig, looks like the inside of my thigh" because she punctured her inner thigh on a metal pole. Yup. 30 stitches inside and out. My poor girl. When I got the call from her mom's bf that was prefaced with "Don't freak out," I instantly wished that teleportation was a real thing.

Its really difficult to live over an hour away from your kiddos. She was such a trooper, so calm and my heart just felt like bursting seeing her smile as she was laying there in the hospital room. Tough, tough kiddo!

I just started up a FB fan page.. not exactly sure what I'm doing but here it is: https://www.facebook.com/optjess



In other news, I've been dreading tomorrow as I have a school evaluation and then court where I won't get off the hook this time (last time, I just smiled and nodded at the judge). This time I will have to give the social worker update to the court on the family, at the same time as recommending "partial compliance and no progress." Really hate being the "bad guy." Working for the Children's Administration is going to be constantly showing me things about myself.... I'm both happy and... nervous.



On to the eats department:

I have noticed a HUGE significant decrease in my appetite, normally I'm a voracious beast but I'm satisfied with less and I've had to make myself eat meals. I'm going to explore that more in depth in a later post but here is an interesting concoction Connor and I whipped up today:

Chocolate/Orange Jello -with Mango

• 2 tbsp gelatin
• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 cup fresh squeezed clementine orange juice
• 10 drops chocolate stevia
• 1/4 cup finely chopped frozen mango

I really wish I had this mold to make some cute jello shapes but I just threw it in a glass bowl and shoved it in fridge and VOILA, an hour later a yummy treat, Connor approved.

To help me relax and prepare for tomorrow I've indulged in sitting on my rump working on this blog, enjoying one of my fav male artists, Mike Patton.. So Faith No More, Lovage, and Elysian Fields have been soothing me.

Tomorrow I will post about a lovely Apple/cinammon detox drink I whipped up! Stay tuned.

I leave you with some evening sexiness:

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/10327481/?claim=fqk43d3h9kj">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Read More

Over indulgence and gelatin

Yesterday was busy. It was a loooong day at practicum 7:45-5. I found out I will be presenting in court on Thursday after I have a school evaluation. SWEET. (imagine a snarky tone there) Had class 6:30-8:45 but the bright side was ending my night having dinner with my friends Liz, Maylin, and Jeanette at Red Robin. Ohhhhhh the carbs I ingested.. Half a BLTA (avocado) croissant and french fries, 2 vodka tonics with lemon and lime... and then came dessert.. some huge mud pie concoction with an oreo crust. And the best part about it.. I'm not beating myself up! Normally I'd sulk and feel like poo for having over indulged but I woke up with no tummy ache (which I thought I would) and have gotten right back on track. In fact I have not felt hungry today so I have yet to eat something solid but I've been back to experimenting with smoothies/drinks.

Here's the lineup:

Breakfast: My super beauty tonic (see previous post for recipe) tweaked a bit. I excluded the spinach and vitamin c packet and went for almond milk, strawberries with green tops,  couple drops of vanilla stevia and bee pollen and maca powder. 

Lunch: Still not hungry, decided to do a salt water flush. I know it wasn't the ideal time, (early morning supposed to be best) but it felt right. 1 qt warm water with 2 tsp Pink Himalayan salt and 1 tsp Ginger powder.

Snack: Tea: Strawberry-chocolate rooibos tea blended (in the baby bullet) with coconut milk, coconut oil, chocolate stevia and.... GELATIN! Wowser, it was a delicious drink. Next time I will add a pinch of cinnamon. 

Dinner: Will be a large salad with a baked sweet potato with ghee

Here is an article that piqued my interest in this product:

http://wellnessmama.com/7419/12-uses-for-gelatin/

And this recipe in particular grabbed my attention. I want to make these for the kiddos: This picture is from the Wellness Mama site. Click the picture to go to her page: 

That's it for now. Please if you like what you are reading, go ahead and follow/subscribe. It will make me feel good. :)

Read More

Super beauty tonic...

I went grocery shopping this morning and noticed there was a bunch of products on sale, and I'm a sucker for sales and saw this product:

From their website: NeoCell states:

"Collagen is essential for the structure and function of many connective tissues which glue other tissues and organs together. As aging is closely associated with the loss of collagen and the deterioration of the connective tissue, supplementation of bioavailable hydrolyzed collagen helps to counteract the negative consequences."

SO I decided to play around with creating a super beauty tonic... and here is what I came up with:

The verdict: This tonic/smoothie might have benefited from a drop or two of stevia but it was pretty tasty and FILLING. I will def continue this recipe maybe a couple times a week and then report on any changes/findings. 

That's it for now. If you enjoy my weird concoctions/ramblings please subscribe.. will give me a healthy dose of ongoing motivation. Thank you!!!!! Perhaps if I gain enough subscriptions I will have to do some kind of giveaway... ;)

Read More

Another pound bites the dust and my Egg smoothie

No makeup, no photo touch ups 

I'm for sure on a smoothie kick. I'm not even sure how many days I've been Paleo now I'm thinking about 10-12 minus the 2 "bad" days I had. But I'm down to 126#. And feeling super fantastic. I don't think my skin has ever looked this good. Seriously, this has been a life-long struggle for me. Even when I went vegan, giving up dairy HELPED tremendously but I still suffered here and there.

I'm not eating copious amounts of meat, maybe 1 meal a day and the rest consists of vegetables, a little fruit, and tons of good fat sources.

For instance today's menu:

Breakfast: I did a salt water flush with Pink himalayan salt, lemon juice, and aloe vera. Plus about 50 oz of water. I didn't feel hungry this morning and felt in need of some cleansing.

Snack: Cup of green tea with coconut oil, 1/2 clementine orange

Lunch: About 3 organic pastured eggs cooked in organic pasture butter with 1.5 organic chicken sausage ( I took the casing off) and swiss chard. Oliver and Connor loved this meal too.

Snack: My egg-licous smoothie. I know it sounds weird but it was really good and satisfying.

Dinner: not sure yet I'm not hungry at all after that smoothie. Probably a huge salad with chopped veggies and/or a small baked sweet potato with ghee

Here is some information about raw eggs written by Ramiel Nagel from NaturalNews:

NaturalNews) Raw fats from organic vegetables and healthy animals are an ideal way for many to build up health and vitality. Raw, unheated, uncooked organic eggs from a clean source are an excellent health tonic. Regularly consuming raw eggs will benefit your health as the raw egg yolk and white helps your body eliminate stored toxins. Body builder's have long known that a great way to build healthy muscle without the extra fat is to eat raw eggs regularly.

When you cook animal proteins, eggs, milk, meat, and so on, it changes the structure of the proteins. This is not to say that all cooked animal proteins are unhealthy, but that when we do not cook the animal proteins, they many times are even healthier. Consuming eggs raw means that vital enzymes and nutrients are left intact.

Eating too many egg whites can cause a biotin deficiency. Eating the yolks only, or the biotin rich yolks with the whites will prevent this problem.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/022607_raw_foods_eggs.html#ixzz2bbmb3bu2

Read More

Loving my fats...

HA! The fats I'm consuming, that is.

Oh I dream of a beautiful Vitamix or Blendtec but my hard working, but not very effective, Proctor Silex will have to keep chugging on... I have been putting it to use.. several times a day. Loving my fat filled smoothies.

I forgot to mention that  I did add about 1 tbsp of coconut oil too. It is an uber filling smoothie, I drank about 3/4.. it made roughly 16 oz and I'm STUFFED. So this was the first one I didn't add greens too, but I was going for a dessert type drink and this really did the trick, albeit I feel a tad guilty without my handfuls of spinach added. Hmm maybe next time.

Read More

Goat's milk kefir smoothie

Here's a blurb about Kefir: from RedWood Hill Farms

Health Benefits of Goat Milk Kefir

Here's to Your Health!

A gluten-free and low glycemic food, Kefir contains vitamins, minerals and complete proteins.

What Makes Kefir a Healthy Food?

An ancient dairy food, Kefir is being embraced for its apparent and potential health benefits:

• Easily digested, kefir provides beneficial bacteria, balancing the levels of "good" and "bad" bacteria.
• A balanced and nourishing food containing vitamins, minerals, and complete proteins.
• Kefir is easily digested for people who suffer from lactose intolerance.
• The complete proteins in kefir are partially digested and more easily utilized by the body.

Read More

Well I did it.. a ghee smoothie!

I got majorly off track the last few days, I even ate pizza the other night with the boys. My tummy hated me. It was the start to my girly time and yeah yeah yeah, I was crabby and irritable. There were some other things going on, so it was def emotional eating between health concerns for family and the fact that someone TRIED TO SUE ME, I was a bit of a grump.

But moving on.. I was out of ghee for a few days and began to dance a jig when I saw the FedEx dude. I'm back on track today, although I did go over  my sugar intake as I drank a whole young coconut +flesh all by myself. So damn tasty.

After work out #1 I was majorly craving ghee and somehow got this idea to put it into a smoothie. Here's the recipe:

-Fresh blueberries

-Spinach

-MSM powder

-Maca

-Bee pollen

-Vanilla stevia

-Almond Milk

-Coconut oil

-Ghee 

So what do I think? Very yum at first, but you have to drink it quick or it turns into this jelly like drink. It was uber satisfying but I would tone down the fat next time and omit the coconut oil. 

Thats it for now. I have school work, housework and mommy work to tackle. 

Read More

Sunday morning musings on Paleo eating and Oil pulling

Its been 5 days since I posted the pic of me at 130#. I'm currently 127#. Not bad for 5 days time. And the above picture illustrates my own mirrored inner "YES!!!"

I feel incredibly GOOD. I find, so far, what seems to be working for me is the addition of ghee, butter, and eggs. I don't really feel drawn to meat. I'll eat it but I'm more craving the fat. I use ghee the most, and butter (organic) when I run out and I did. In a weeks time I (and the kiddos) toasted through this:

Plus, I have always had extra virgin coconut oil but I've really upped my intake. The many uses of this product is amazing! Click the pic of the coconut for a great article from Wellness Mama on 101 uses of this deliciously fabulous oil. This past week, I've been drizzling it in my warm green tea and in any smoothie I make. AND I've been oil pulling with it.

Here is a great article on oil pulling: http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-7857/why-you-should-start-oil-pulling-today.html

My very first experience was an instant.. "OH GOD I just put a whole glob of oil in my mouth" and I had to kind of fight the gag factor. But I soldiered on and swished and pulled for about 10 mins while I was in the shower. Then I blissfully ran to spit it out in the trash and instantly my sinuses began to feel leaky. I don't have sinus issues but something was going on. My main reason for giving oil pulling a go is I started having a tooth ache, I still have unfilled cavities and well, I really don't want to get them filled. I've been reading Ramiel Nagel's Cure Tooth Decay. Fascinating.

Here is a link to a well layed out article: http://www.naturalnews.com/022564_cavities_root_canals.html

My toothache is gone and my teeth are looking whiter. I actually like this part of my morning routine. I feel good after, pretty energized. I'm not having the gag factor anymore and can swish for longer periods of time.. up to 20 mins.

I know this post is kind of all over the place but yes that's how my brain works.. Going "Paleo" for me seems to be quite awesome. My main focus is still on TONS and TONS of glorious vegetables. I eat greens with almost every meal. I've limited my fruit consumption just because I want to limit my carbs for a brief time to speed up weight loss. I eat berries because they are lower glycemic and DAMN, when you take away the sweets and then have a piece of fresh fruit, your taste buds explode. Really. They do. Blueberries rock.

In a nut shell I have taken away from my diet: White sugar and white flour. And added: glowing skin and weight loss.

Whenever you cut carbs, your body can experience a "detox" and mine did. I feel it in the background but its not annoying. It was the 3rd day and I needed sleep like I never needed sleep before. I believe it was on Thursday, I came home from practicum, fed the kids dinner and all that mommy stuff and then I told everyone I was going to go lay down AT 8:30 at night!!! I didn't wake up until the next morning at 8am. I got up to take Ollie home to Everett and when I came home, I fell asleep for a nap with Connor for 2 hours.

The only other side effect I have experienced is a slightly "off" feeling that my body is switching to burning fat for fuel instead of carbohydrates. I guess if this was your first time with low carb eating, this would be really weird and potentially scary but I'm an old pro at this. Hmmm not sure if I should be proud of that statement... lol.

I continue to work out to Fitness Blender (I'm so absolutely in love with this couple because their workouts WORK for me and I'm always excited to check what my work out is for the day).

Hmm what else what else? I guess that's it for now. Stayed tuned. :)

Read More