21.1.14
A Privilege.
Being a mother is an amazing privilege! I get to raise these amazing sweet little people that teach me something new about myself everyday. Photographing Amy and her family was a privilege as well. I got to observe Amy with her 3rd baby, as she ran her fingers across his face and gazed into his little face trying to hold on to the fleeting moments of his infancy. It was amazing to witness from the other side, a feeling I remember, wishing I could have frozen those moments when they are so little and perfect and straight from heaven. I hope I was able to freeze some of the magic found in those moments with these photographs.
14.1.14
Ebb & Flow.
Aloha, a new brand that says hello to health and happiness offers so many healthy recipes like this yummy post! All of their products strive to keep your mind and body as healthy as possible by offering organic and gluten free solutions (loaded with superfoods)! If you want to see some of these recipes that are inspired by a natural lifestyle, check them out here.
There is always a natural ebb & flow in life. Today I was feeling hard on myself for where I am at with my fitness goals. The holidays put a big wedge in my routine and that is natural especially since I was away from my home for over 3 weeks. I had to take a step back and cut myself some slack today. The hard thing about competing in a fitness competition is that physically, its kind of all down hill from there. For me, competing in a bodybuilding competition was part of a single goal, it isn't going to become my life, my family is my life. In order to reach that goal I had to sacrifice certain things and there was a lot of give and take that had to happen. It was an amazing experience that taught me a tremendous amount about what I am capable of; and only the beginning of the amazing things I plan to accomplish in my life time.
On another note, keeping fit and staying active is harder for me in the winter months, I am sure I am not alone in the feeling. The days are shorter, its cold outside, it takes an extra 30-40 minutes to get anywhere between dressing everybody for the weather and the poor road conditions, and on top of all that physiologically our bodies naturally want to "hibernate" a little more and pack on a few extra pounds to keep us warm. In my limited experience I have found that the best way to make your body AND your mind happy is to work with your body, not against it! So, here are my two favorite tips for staying happy and healthy in the winter.
Get some extra ZZZ's in the winter months: the body naturally goes into a kind of hibernation mode in the winter months, so the hours of sleep you get before midnight are the most important. Try to get to bed around 9:30 pm; easier said then done, I know, and I am not a great example of this but I am working on it!
Eat Seasonally: Here is a great site about eating seasonally, go check it out and download their awesome chart; I have it printed and taped to the inside of one of my kitchen cupboards. Eating seasonally is optimal for nutrition, but it is also better for body function in the winter months. Eating entirely seasonally might not be realistic, but try choosing your food wisely. Try adding "warming" foods such as, kale, brussels sprouts, apples, coconut, and cinnamon to your diet (if you want to listen to more about the idea of cooling vs. warming foods click here and for a more extensive list of warming foods click here).
Update: So, the first link about eating seasonally is from the UK. Although I am sure it still offers some good information, upon further investigation it may not be the best and most accurate source for those of us living in the North America. Those of us who live in Canada, are presented with an even harder challenge, because nothing is seasonal in Canada in the months of December - April except Christmas trees. So, what do we do? I am still figuring this out as well, but I think a good plan of action is to talk to your grocery store and find out where there produce comes from, try and buy food that hasn't been stored for several month or is local to the area it has been transported from. Here are a couple more link that I found very helpful! Here and Here.
Here is a recipe for one of my favorite salads, It isn't perfectly seasonal but I feel it is a nice dish for late fall months and winter.
ROASTED HAZELNUT & GOLDEN BEET SALAD
Ingredients:
- 6-8 Golden Beets
- approx 1/2 Hazelnuts
- 1 Grapefruit
- Olive Oil
- Cracked Pepper to taste
1. Roast the beets in a covered dish in the oven at 350 degrees for about 1 hour - 1.5 hours. (Check with a fork for tenderness)
2. Let the beets cool to room temperature. When I make this salad I roast the beets in the morning while I am cleaning and doing other odd things around the house and then just let them cool through the rest of the day until I am ready to prepare dinner.
3. Roast hazelnuts at 350 degrees for about 7 mins or until aromatic.
4. Chop up the nuts.
5. Slice grapefruit.
6. Slice Beets into into desired shape (I like mine in large thing coin like slices).
7. Place all ingredients together in a bowl and toss with a little olive oil and cracked pepper
8. Enjoy!
Tip: you can also make another variation of this same salad with dark red beets, oranges, and almonds.
This iPhone pic from another time I made this salad will have to do, because I forgot to photograph the salad before we devoured it!
There is always a natural ebb & flow in life. Today I was feeling hard on myself for where I am at with my fitness goals. The holidays put a big wedge in my routine and that is natural especially since I was away from my home for over 3 weeks. I had to take a step back and cut myself some slack today. The hard thing about competing in a fitness competition is that physically, its kind of all down hill from there. For me, competing in a bodybuilding competition was part of a single goal, it isn't going to become my life, my family is my life. In order to reach that goal I had to sacrifice certain things and there was a lot of give and take that had to happen. It was an amazing experience that taught me a tremendous amount about what I am capable of; and only the beginning of the amazing things I plan to accomplish in my life time.
On another note, keeping fit and staying active is harder for me in the winter months, I am sure I am not alone in the feeling. The days are shorter, its cold outside, it takes an extra 30-40 minutes to get anywhere between dressing everybody for the weather and the poor road conditions, and on top of all that physiologically our bodies naturally want to "hibernate" a little more and pack on a few extra pounds to keep us warm. In my limited experience I have found that the best way to make your body AND your mind happy is to work with your body, not against it! So, here are my two favorite tips for staying happy and healthy in the winter.
Get some extra ZZZ's in the winter months: the body naturally goes into a kind of hibernation mode in the winter months, so the hours of sleep you get before midnight are the most important. Try to get to bed around 9:30 pm; easier said then done, I know, and I am not a great example of this but I am working on it!
Eat Seasonally: Here is a great site about eating seasonally, go check it out and download their awesome chart; I have it printed and taped to the inside of one of my kitchen cupboards. Eating seasonally is optimal for nutrition, but it is also better for body function in the winter months. Eating entirely seasonally might not be realistic, but try choosing your food wisely. Try adding "warming" foods such as, kale, brussels sprouts, apples, coconut, and cinnamon to your diet (if you want to listen to more about the idea of cooling vs. warming foods click here and for a more extensive list of warming foods click here).
Update: So, the first link about eating seasonally is from the UK. Although I am sure it still offers some good information, upon further investigation it may not be the best and most accurate source for those of us living in the North America. Those of us who live in Canada, are presented with an even harder challenge, because nothing is seasonal in Canada in the months of December - April except Christmas trees. So, what do we do? I am still figuring this out as well, but I think a good plan of action is to talk to your grocery store and find out where there produce comes from, try and buy food that hasn't been stored for several month or is local to the area it has been transported from. Here are a couple more link that I found very helpful! Here and Here.
Here is a recipe for one of my favorite salads, It isn't perfectly seasonal but I feel it is a nice dish for late fall months and winter.
ROASTED HAZELNUT & GOLDEN BEET SALAD
Ingredients:
- 6-8 Golden Beets
- approx 1/2 Hazelnuts
- 1 Grapefruit
- Olive Oil
- Cracked Pepper to taste
1. Roast the beets in a covered dish in the oven at 350 degrees for about 1 hour - 1.5 hours. (Check with a fork for tenderness)
2. Let the beets cool to room temperature. When I make this salad I roast the beets in the morning while I am cleaning and doing other odd things around the house and then just let them cool through the rest of the day until I am ready to prepare dinner.
3. Roast hazelnuts at 350 degrees for about 7 mins or until aromatic.
4. Chop up the nuts.
5. Slice grapefruit.
6. Slice Beets into into desired shape (I like mine in large thing coin like slices).
7. Place all ingredients together in a bowl and toss with a little olive oil and cracked pepper
8. Enjoy!
Tip: you can also make another variation of this same salad with dark red beets, oranges, and almonds.
This iPhone pic from another time I made this salad will have to do, because I forgot to photograph the salad before we devoured it!
4.12.13
No Bake Coconut Pecan Lemon Bars.
Who doesn't like to indulge a little every once in awhile? Well if you love nuts and are a fan of coconut, than you are going to LOVE these! Coconut with nut butter is a heavenly combination and these are a heavenly way to indulge with no gluten, no refined sugar, and very little work; my favorite.NO BAKE COCONUT PECAN LEMON BARS
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup nut butter (this is where I used the Hazelnut Pecan Butter, but you could use Almond butter too)
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup Pecans chopped (I threw mine in the Vitamix for a few seconds)
- 1 tbsp coconut butter
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1/2 lemon juiced
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
1. Measure all ingredients except lemon juice and vanilla into a oven safe glass mixing bowl.
2. Because it was so cold out, I then placed the bowl into a warm oven for just a couple minutes to soften the coconut oil and honey so it was easier to mix. (You can skip this step if your coconut oil is soft)
3. Add lemon juice and vanilla.
4. Mix all ingredients together.
5. Place a layer of plastic wrap down in about an 8" round or square dish, then pour all ingredients in. Spread the mixture so it is even; it should end up being about an inch thick.
6. Place in the freezer until hardened.
7. When you are almost ready to devour your lemon bars, remove from freezer and then gently pull on the plastic wrap, the entire thing should lift out in one big piece. Let it sit for just a little so it can soften, then cut into bars or wedges or whatever shape you want.
8. Serve and Enjoy!
Nope: These will begin to melt after awhile if left out on a warm day. You can store them in the fridge or freezer; that is if there are any leftover.
2.12.13
Hazelnut Pecan Butter.
I don't claim to be a food photographer at all, so blogging recipes is going to be a good challenge for me as I use my photography in a new setting; I'm always excited about a new challenge. This recipe though is not challenging at all! If your anything like me and love nut butters, be careful with this in the house.
HAZELNUT PECAN BUTTER
Ingredients:
- Equal parts whole raw Hazelnuts and Pecans.
(I used about 2/3cup of each for this batch and it made about 1 cup of nut butter)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spread nuts out evenly on a cookie sheet.
2. Place in oven and bake for about 7min. Nuts should be fragrant and starting to get a little darker; just make sure not to burn them.
3. Let them cool a little.
4. While nuts are still warm throw them all into your Vitamix (or food processor). In my Vitamix I blended the nuts at a speed of about 8-10. The nuts will first turn into what looks like a flour, keep blending until the nuts become a soupy paste. It helps if the nuts are still warm, they will turn to butter sooner.
5. Pour into a glass jar and store in the fridge. Enjoy!
Tomorrow I'll share a dessert recipe where you can use your Hazelnut Pecan Butter. Another great quick snack idea for this butter is slice a green apple and sprinkled with cinnamon, then dip in butter.
You could make this butter with any combination of nuts; Almonds, Walnuts, Pecans, Macadamias, Hazelnuts. Just a little tidbit of info: Peanuts are not actually a nut, they are a legume. If you don't want to make your own nut butter, just make sure to look for a good quality one that doesn't contain hydrogenated vegetable oils or sugar (MaraNatha has a great almond butter that I buy from Costco).
30.11.13
New Beginnings.
This year my photography has taken a bit of a back seat; I have focused my energy into my family, health, nutrition, and fitness. It has been a busy year, but so incredible. I have learned so much and I am so excited to see what the next few years bring as I continue down this path. I have decided I need to get back to blogging, and although I have mostly used this blog as a photography outlet, my plan is to combine that with everything I have been learning. I have spent a lot of time in the kitchen this year, and it is no secret
that I love to cook, It has become a new creative outlet for me. So, my plan is to start sharing some of my recipes and along with them some information about health & wellness.
So, today I am going to share with you a salsa recipe, but not just any salsa recipe, Fermented Salsa. This is something new to me, but it will from now and forever more be a staple in our home. It is so easy and so good and we love salsa in this house, especially with eggs. So, why fermented? Fermented foods are good for gut health, and the gut is the key to many healthy problems; heal the gut, heal the body! When you allow for fermentation, bacteria cultures in the food, naturally preserving it and providing lots of great pro-biotics and not to mention a whole lot of flavor.
FERMENTED SALSA
Ingredients:
- 1 medium onion
- 1 can organic diced tomatoes (796ml / 28oz can)
- 1 jalepeño
- 2 cloves of garlic
- handful of fresh cilantro
- 1 lime juiced
- 1 Tbsp sea salt
- Optional: you can add spices like, chili powder, cumin, oregano, etc.
1. Chop onion and jalepeño into chunks, then toss into Vitamix with garlic and cilantro. Blend on low speed to chop until you get small chunks (you could also use a food processor). Don't blend into a paste, unless you prefer your salsa with no chunks.
2. Then add in tomatos, lime juice, and salt. Blend to mix everything together.
3. Pour salsa into a large glass jar. You may need to press down a bit to release some liquid; ideally the vegetables should be submerged under the liquid.
4. Place on your counter or in your pantry to keep at room temperature for 2-3 days.
5. Enjoy! We love to eat ours with eggs, chicken, green beans, and on salad.
(adapted from this recipe)
Not a whole lot can go wrong, I have made several batches already with no problems. All I would say is, if it smells bad then don't eat it. You can ferment any salsa recipe really to give it that extra pro-biotic boost, so let you imagination go wild! If you want to learn more about fermented foods, starts with these two links here and here.
So, today I am going to share with you a salsa recipe, but not just any salsa recipe, Fermented Salsa. This is something new to me, but it will from now and forever more be a staple in our home. It is so easy and so good and we love salsa in this house, especially with eggs. So, why fermented? Fermented foods are good for gut health, and the gut is the key to many healthy problems; heal the gut, heal the body! When you allow for fermentation, bacteria cultures in the food, naturally preserving it and providing lots of great pro-biotics and not to mention a whole lot of flavor.
FERMENTED SALSA
Ingredients:
- 1 medium onion
- 1 can organic diced tomatoes (796ml / 28oz can)
- 1 jalepeño
- 2 cloves of garlic
- handful of fresh cilantro
- 1 lime juiced
- 1 Tbsp sea salt
- Optional: you can add spices like, chili powder, cumin, oregano, etc.
1. Chop onion and jalepeño into chunks, then toss into Vitamix with garlic and cilantro. Blend on low speed to chop until you get small chunks (you could also use a food processor). Don't blend into a paste, unless you prefer your salsa with no chunks.
2. Then add in tomatos, lime juice, and salt. Blend to mix everything together.
3. Pour salsa into a large glass jar. You may need to press down a bit to release some liquid; ideally the vegetables should be submerged under the liquid.
4. Place on your counter or in your pantry to keep at room temperature for 2-3 days.
5. Enjoy! We love to eat ours with eggs, chicken, green beans, and on salad.
(adapted from this recipe)
Not a whole lot can go wrong, I have made several batches already with no problems. All I would say is, if it smells bad then don't eat it. You can ferment any salsa recipe really to give it that extra pro-biotic boost, so let you imagination go wild! If you want to learn more about fermented foods, starts with these two links here and here.
26.11.13
Four Simple Rules.
There has been this little thing going around the web in the fitness world about "four simple rules". The rules are:
1. Never go 3 days without exercise
2. Workout at least 3 days a week
3. Never miss a Monday
4. Never give up.
These are great rules to pattern your exercise goals after! However, my trainer decided to come up with her own personal 4 rules and challenged me to do the same. I decided my rules needed to encompass more than just my fitness goals. Coming off the fitness show has been a bit of a challenge for me. The show was this great high! I felt amazing, lean, pretty, fit, accomplished, and then it was all over so quickly. I had been so focused on this one goal for so long I didn't really know where to go from there; I am still figuring it out. Post show it is easy to slip into bad habits with eating, and feeling directionless, this combined with the huge pile of life stressors that have been piled on me in the past couple months has left me feeling a little "raw" to say the least.
So, here are my "4 Simple Life Rules", they were a lot harder to come up with than I thought they would be, but I think I am finally happy with them.
These rules, although simple, honor my nutritional goals, my fitness goals, and remind me to stay true to myself and the things I love to do. I probably could have written a list of 10 commandments or something, but that would have been too complex and taken to much time, and I've learned that keeping it simple is usually just the best route to take! I hope to set some weekly goals at the beginning of each week to keep me focused and moving forward.
I am really grateful for all of my experiences and all that I have accomplished, and I know that I have yet to accomplish great things. And most importantly, I know that as I move forward, I am not alone! I have my Heavenly Father, my loving Husband, and my entire family who are always there to love and support me when I need them.
I am going to extend the same challenge to you. Create 4 simple rules to help you reach your goals and stay true to yourself! Feel free to leave a comment and share your rules with me, I would love to hear them!
1. Never go 3 days without exercise
2. Workout at least 3 days a week
3. Never miss a Monday
4. Never give up.
These are great rules to pattern your exercise goals after! However, my trainer decided to come up with her own personal 4 rules and challenged me to do the same. I decided my rules needed to encompass more than just my fitness goals. Coming off the fitness show has been a bit of a challenge for me. The show was this great high! I felt amazing, lean, pretty, fit, accomplished, and then it was all over so quickly. I had been so focused on this one goal for so long I didn't really know where to go from there; I am still figuring it out. Post show it is easy to slip into bad habits with eating, and feeling directionless, this combined with the huge pile of life stressors that have been piled on me in the past couple months has left me feeling a little "raw" to say the least.
So, here are my "4 Simple Life Rules", they were a lot harder to come up with than I thought they would be, but I think I am finally happy with them.
These rules, although simple, honor my nutritional goals, my fitness goals, and remind me to stay true to myself and the things I love to do. I probably could have written a list of 10 commandments or something, but that would have been too complex and taken to much time, and I've learned that keeping it simple is usually just the best route to take! I hope to set some weekly goals at the beginning of each week to keep me focused and moving forward.
I am really grateful for all of my experiences and all that I have accomplished, and I know that I have yet to accomplish great things. And most importantly, I know that as I move forward, I am not alone! I have my Heavenly Father, my loving Husband, and my entire family who are always there to love and support me when I need them.
I am going to extend the same challenge to you. Create 4 simple rules to help you reach your goals and stay true to yourself! Feel free to leave a comment and share your rules with me, I would love to hear them!
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