Saturday, May 29, 2010

Soup Philosophy -- Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

To me soup is green.  It's a resourcefulness that has been forgotten in our consumer driven society.  To make chicken soup from scratch takes time, but it doesn't involve you standing in the kitchen for hours.  You set up the pot, and you walk away.  It's using parts of the chicken normally thrown away.  I won't go into details of how I make chicken stock, I'll save that for once I'm settled into Colorado and restock my own supply.  Today's chicken soup was made out of circumstance.  We had leftover chicken from the other night's chicken roast, and I needed to use the broth in the freezer because we need to be out of here in short order.

The ingredients to this soup is simple.  Three cans of chicken stock (two are only shown), whatever chicken you have on hand (I had one chicken breast left), and the veggie mix from the recipe linked above.  I also used the wine juice (au juice?) as a flavor enhancer.  I added 2 cups of water, and dumped everything but the noodles in.  Then I went about my business through out the house, packing this and that.   An hour later, I added spaghetti noodles, again, what I had on hand.  Any type of noodle would be good.  Add salt to taste (I recommend about 3 tablespoons), and fifteen minutes after you put your noodles in your done.

I also made some bread to go with this, I used up the last of my organic flour to do that...yay for one less thing to move.  So why is this recipe green?  One, it's not in a can, and yes, I realize it's not really convenience food either, but this recipe IS freezable. You have 100% BPA free chicken noodle soup and you know EXACTLY what's in it.  On top of that, it's organic chicken noodle soup, which who knows how much that would run if you bought it pre-made.  While arguably meat is not a green product, if you are resourceful with the meat you do eat you lessen it's impact.

Soup is really easy.  You can't mess it up.  Go try this, and I promise as soon as I get settled in Colorado, I'll show you how easy it is to make chicken broth.  You'll never buy store bought again.  Now that my tummy is full and happy, I have to go back to packing.  What a whirlwind!

Friday, May 28, 2010

Moving -- Money saving green tips

Having to move quickly across the country is exhausting, and could potentially be very expensive.  During the first purging stage I felt like a hoarder because I couldn't just throw stuff away.  It had to be recycled, or donated, or sold, or given to someone.  Then you'd have the stuff that someone made, or my grandmother gave me this...really.  The list could go on.  It almost seems like to put everything in it's place, you'd spend more time driving and it wouldn't be worth it.  Well, you're half right, but only if you don't plan your trips.

We haven't been doing the dumpster thing, but we have been donating.  Goodwill, our church, and my daughter's preschool has been the benefactor of many toys.  Took a few shopping bags full of books to our local library to be re-used.  We've had one yard sale, which proved to be too time consuming and not really worth it.  Craigslist has been awesome.  We've sold all the furniture we wanted to sell through craigslist, and some that wasn't in great condition was put in the free section.  Yay re-purposing.

Next up was packing material.  The other day I visited a 7-11 and asked the if they had yesterday's newspaper leftovers.  Sure enough they did, and they handed me that stack up there.  Free packing material.  Friends and family have been bringing over boxes for us to use, so there has been little need for us to purchase new boxes.  I've heard retail stores are also willing to give away boxes if you get there at the right time.  I've also heard craigslist again is a great resource for boxes.

In the end, moving across the country greenly is best done when you aren't having to move very much.  It's counter productive to have to buy all new stuff when you get there, so I'm hoping to buy second hand things when we get out there to furnish and decorate our new place with.  I was quoted a price of $1 a pound for everything I had to move across the country, eeek!

After everything is all packed, it's time to paint, and show the house.  Hubs leaves Tuesday for Colorado, and I'll  be heading out a few weeks after him.  More later!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Check your Organic Labels!!

It must be video day today, I stumbeled across this video. I know many of my readers are organic mommas, myself included. You can bet, I'm going to my freezer right now and make sure my stuff is not from China. Watch the video.

Movie Trailer -- Crude

In light of the massive catastrophic oil spill in the gulf, here is an eye opening trailer to a movie that is on my watch list. We need to open our eyes and find different sources for fuel. No pointing fingers, no playing "holier than thou." We all use petroleum because that's what we have available to us. Tell the government to give us something else. /soapbox off




So, what do you think?

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Broccoli from the garden

I grew broccoli in the garden for the first time this year, so I'm sharing what I'm learning as I go.  I've watched the first head grow, and then grow passed the point of picking.  I wasn't even sure if I was looking at broccoli, or the cauliflower I planted next to it.  It started to bloom, so I panicked and looked online.  Harvest as soon as you see yellow, or you'll end up with what I have here on the right.  So, I harvested some more today.  The heads were smaller then I expected, perhaps it's the type of broccoli, but now we can eat it for dinner tonight.

What I did manage to harvest doesn't seem like it's really worth saving at all.  It's about three little florets which will be enough for us all to have a taste.  Kind of disappointing.  I have a few more weeks before we are out of here, so hopefully we'll get a few more nibbles of broccoli.  I thought I had planted enough to have a crop big enough to freeze some.  Apparently not.  Oh well, can't win them all.

Oh, note the yellow in the broccoli on the side.  According to this website a broccoli bunch should be tight when it's time to harvest.  If you see any yellow on them, harvest them immediately, or you'll end up with what you see up top.


Tuesday Tag-Along

Monday, May 24, 2010

Menu Plan Monday -- Moving

We have about a month or so left in our house, maybe less.  Hubs starts his job in Colorado on June 7th, so now we're in the eat all our food mode so we don't have to throw it out.  I have all kinds of strange things tucked away.  A chicken, a whole turkey...geeze.

Anyway, here's the beginning of our purging.


Tuesday: Shepherd's Pie and fresh Kale from the garden
Wednesday: Potluck Party (Potato Salad) my recipe later
Thursday: Spaghetti with homemade garlic bread, and organic pudding for dessert.
Friday: Homemade Pizza (somehow we didn't get to his last week, and I have a TON of flour to go through)
Saturday: Turkey Tacos (from Thanksgiving Turkey in the freezer...ew?)
Sunday: Chicken Soup and Homemade Bread



Saturday, May 22, 2010

Moving Update


Well, hubs was out last week and found us an apartment, and things have been insane around here. Posts may lighten for the next few weeks (month?) until things get worked out. We have to wonderful beautiful cats who sadly may need new homes. If you or anyone you know in the Virginia area may be able to give these two sweet boys a home, please let me know.

We looked for a place that would take our all of our pets, but we had three and it just proved to be too much for everyone. The dog is staying with us, but the cats need new homes.

Craigslist has been a life saver. I've sold just about everything I've put up there, tucking away the money for moving.  We've been searching Costco for boxes.  You have to be choosy, they seem to cut off the tops of lots of their boxes.  Other then that, it's been a stressful, sad time.  I keep thinking we can just hide the cats, but really...will that work?

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Oh Motts -- How can you screw up Applesauce?

Dear Motts,
Applesauce is a beautiful, easy to make thing.  My applesauce is better than yours.  Why must you lace your applesauce with high fructose corn syrup and abscorbic acid.  I know what your thinking:  We all know there's a high fructose corn syrup controversy, but abscorbic acid is just vitamin C, right?  We all need that, right?  No big deal if the world's leading manufacturer of abscorbic acid wasn't CHINA.

The average apple has 6 mg of Vitamin C.  The UK government recommends 75 mg a day, the US goverment 60-90 mg a day, and the WHO (World Health Organization) only 45mg.  Why do we really need to add synthetic chinese abscorbic acid into your product when lemon juice will do the trick?

So, Motts.  Why is mine better?  I don't use high fructose corn syrup for one.  I don't use sugar either, because fresh picked apples are naturally sweet.  Too sweet actually, because my apple sauce is seriously sweet with out adding sugar.  I add a touch of lemon juice as a canning preservative, and then they are sealed and stored.  Sadly, they don't last because my kids absolutely love mom's apple sauce.

Canning can be a scary task, but apple sauce is the most basic easy thing to can.  You don't need a pressure cooker.  You have to know how to boil water, and cut apples.  That's it.  More on canning apple sauce later, when I'm less annoyed at Mott's and the idiots that make their applesauce.



Sources:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_C
2. http://www.pickyourown.org/applesauce.htm

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Garden Update


I feel like I haven't done a garden update in a while.  I talked about strawberries briefly last week, but not a full blow update I suppose.  It's been difficult coming to grips with leaving my beloved garden, and I've stopped adding things to it at this point.  I will continue to document it's growth until I leave it, for you're information, and mine.  Sadly I don't think I"ll be able to reap the rewards of all my hard work.  Maybe I'll get someone in here who will finish the work, who knows.

The first shot is of my potato tire.  I filled two tires with organic topsoil, and put about six little seed potatoes in there.  I guess it's been about 10 days or so since I've done that.  This morning I noticed some growth popping through the soil.  I'm hoping to be here when they are ready for harvest.  I would have planted bush beans and marigolds in the tires too, but like I said, I've stopped adding to the garden.


Here is a shot of my broccoli/cauliflower patch.  They are doing extremely well, and I am hopeful I'll be able to snip these buggers before we head out.  I plan on being in the house until the end of June, so it's a highly a possibility.  This is my first time growing brassicas, so I'm reading and learning as I go.  I've been told to wrap the cauliflower in it's own leaves about a week or two prior to harvesting.  Perhaps this is to make it white, or has something to do with flavor.  If I get the opportunity to do that, I will document it here.



My roses started blooming last week.  This particular bush is a monster, and has to be frequently cut back or it will be too heavy for itself and fall over.  I've tied it up in years passed but I've learned to just trim it.  I gave it a harsh snipping in March just as it started to wake up from winter.  It's already huge again.  I'm not great with roses, there used to be two rose bushes here, and one died.  How I killed it I will never know, and honestly I think it was just weak stock.  To keep your roses blooming cut the dead heads immediately, you will have beautiful smelling roses all summer if you do.


This is my monstrous lavender bush.  I just got this last year while visiting my best friend, and it's huge. I plan on selling the dried flower buds once they're ready.  Going to keep a few for crafting, and then probably sell the rest on Etsy.  Hopefully lavender is a perennial in Colorado too.  It really does well in Virginia.



This organized chaos below is what I aim for in my garden.  Peas climbing up their trellis, lettuce that is ready for harvest, and complete pulling up.  Tomatoes growing in between said lettuce and kale,  and nasturtiums filling up the spaces.  Bare ground will invite weeds.  Of course you don't want your jam packed garden to suffer because they're fighting for nutrients, so you have to find the right balance.  

  




The last few days it's been raining, and it wasn't until I posted this picture did I notice the bane of my garden on the leaves.  SLUGS.  I hate them...and I fight them always.  Can you spot the creep in the picture above? My solution though is beer, and yes it works.  They are attracted to the yeast in beer, they go to it and drown, like this little f%$k is about to do (sorry, I told you I hate them).  If you don't have beer on hand, then I suggest salt.  It isn't great, and it feels like warfare if you have serious slug issues.  It's so much nicer to set the beer trap and walk away.  I honestly buy cheap beer for this purpose.  I hate going out there with salt.



Die creep!  There he goes!

Anyway, enjoy your day.  Happy Gardening. :)

Monday, May 17, 2010

Menu Plan Monday

Another hard week in front of us. Hubs is on his way to Washington right now for one last interview. Even though he will already be accepting this other job. He doesn't get back until Tuesday morning, and then the next day he flies out again to find us a rental property to live in temporarily in Boulder.

Here's our dinner plans for the week:

Monday: Cheesy Ranch Potato Bake
Tuesday: Chicken Drumsticks, Rice
Wednesday: Breakfast Burritos
Thursday: Spaghetti and Garlic Bread
Friday: Homemade Pizza!
Saturday: Roasted Chicken and Veggies
Sunday: Dinner with Grandparents

Friday, May 14, 2010

5 Minute Gourmet Alfredo


As promised on Monday, here is my five minute gourmet recipe for restaurant quality Alfredo.  Earlier this week we had spaghetti chicken parm (thanks hubs), and we had left over noodles.  I'm sure the tub of spaghetti is not an unusual sight.

First, I put one pad of butter on top of the noodles and then added a few roasted tomatoes (optional, but boy does it really kick up the flavor). I pour some heavy whipping cream (half and half is a great alternative) and garlic powder on this, and throw it in the microwave for 90 seconds.  Add some parmesan cheese and stir.  Cut up the tomatoes into bite size pieces and you have an amazing quick lunch.  My kids actually really like this recipe too.  You can mix it up, add garlic, or chicken, or shrimp...or broccoli, or...you get the idea.




Doesn't that look yum? Even in a plastic gladware dish, haha. ;) Who needs food coloring and preservatives? Psh.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Sunshine Award

A few days ago Jessica over at Mia Ma Mia Diaries nominated me for the Sunshine Award. I've had to mull over a few blogs to weed out some of the few I've really been inspired by. So many awesome blogs out there it was really hard to choose, but I had to try.


BWS tips button



Here are the rules for the Sunshine Award:

Nominate 12 other bloggers (This was pretty hard!)

List the award in either a post or on your sidebar

Link your nominees within your post

Let the nominees know you have passed this on to them by commenting on their blog

Now the Hard Part...If I could only list everyone!
I Nominate...

1. Andrea over at Good Girl Gone Redneck
2. A mom writing.
3. Lisa over at 5 orange potatoes
4. Carrie over at The Magic Onions
5. Ida Mae over at Trees Will Bend
6. Liz over at A bell, a bean & a Chicago dog
7. Childhood Magic
8. Nicole over at Redbeet Mama
9. Lou at Seaside Siblings
10. Linda at Simply Living Modestly
11. Colleen at Penny Wise People
12. Amy at New Nostalgia

Whew! You ladies inspire me! Thank you for your creativity! Thank you Jessica for nominating me! :)

Cleaning Silver with Baking Soda and Foil

Still purging here, and cleaning up stuff that we haven't used in a long time.  This beautiful silver serving dish was one given to us 8 years ago when we got married.  It's been in storage for probably the five years we've been at this house.  Polishing a large plate like this can seem a scary task, but it actually wasn't so bad with the Baking Soda and Foil technique.  You can see here, the plate started off in a pretty dingy state.


I brought needed supplies to our bathroom, since the bathtub is the only large enough container I had to soak it in. I recommend lining your bathtub with a towel or something so you don't scratch it. I used hot water and let the plate soak for about 10 minutes, flipping it over now and then. I wasn't satisfied with the results initially, so I got a dark towel, and started rubbing the plate. I added more baking soda while rubbing to help get the tarnish off, and it did rub onto the towel, so either use a rag, or a dark towel you won't see it on.

In the end, I have a shiny silver platter that was cleaned with only baking soda, not some crazy harmful chemical. What a difference. Now I need to decide if I should sell it, or keep it.



Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Moving Cleanly -- Purging


So, in case you're not in the scoop, hubs got a job. This summer will be spent moving from Virginia to Colorado. Of course I will be documenting this process here on the blog, and how I intend to do this in the most green way possible.

We already messed up this morning when we went to the Uhaul place to buy boxes. I've put the word out. I need boxes! I don't want to buy brand new boxes. Anyway...

Our first step is to purge. The less we move, the less it costs and the better for the environment. We'll either be doing a yard sale this weekend, or we'll get a flea market booth. Flea markets are huge here, and this time of year they are booming. The other thing I've found is Freecycle. On their website, you can browse the area for people giving stuff away, or post what you need. Green can be cheap!

For greener, yet pricier solutions you can try Green Box. Sadly for me, they are located in Southern California. Not much help to me in the suburbs of D.C.

While we use the boxes we have, the rest of our boxes will be a miss match of stuff we ask for from the stores we shop at, or from friends or from Freecycling. Wish us luck, or moving journey begins!

Tuesday Tag-Along

Monday, May 10, 2010

Menu Plan Monday

I'll catch you up on my life, promise. This week is going to be one crazy week. So instead of having every item planned out, I'm going to have 5 easy quick dinners planned out so we can be prepared for what this week might bring.

We're moving. Hubs got an offer, and he plans on accepting. We might be flying out this weekend to go house hunting in a new town. Life will be nutso until we get situated. Anyway, here are my easy standbys. Some are simple recipes of my own making.


Five Dinners for this Week.

1. Spaghetti Alfredo (pop back in for my quick recipe this week)
2. Organic Chicken Drumsticks, and Rice
3. Homemade Garlic Bread, and Speghetti
4. Potatoes Au Gratin
5. Breakfast Burritos

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all you awesome Mom's out there. Especially my own mother, thank you for all you have done, and all you continue to do. I love you.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Organic Strawberries

Long long ago, way back when I was in college (ok, not that long ago) I had a sweet little lovebird. Researching what her diet should be, I was surprised to learn that strawberries were a no-no because of the pesticides put on them. This was the very beginning for me some ten years ago to question what we eat.

Strawberries this year are ranked number three on the Daily Green's Dirty Dozen. Having grown these luscious yummies, I can see why. When on the ground, strawberries are a yummy treat for everything. They'll get slugs burying holes through them, squirrels take off with them, everything loves strawberries. Can you blame them?

For a home grower, simple precautions can keep your berries all for you. First, try them in a container. Sometimes as the plant ages, containers can get too constricted, so if you must put them on the ground keep a close eye on them. They should have some kind of fence around them, and for any berries getting ready to turn red like this one here from my daughter's strawberry bush, put a plastic card or something underneath it. This will keep the slugs and bugs away.

Last fall, hubs and I took the kids to Florida to visit some family. My like-minded brother took us to one of his favorite places The Girl's Strawberry Patch. I had never been to an organic strawberry patch before, and seeing how they stack the strawberries up like that in rows, I can see why they don't need pesticides. You don't even need to bend over and pick them. A very neat place.

In the end, I would strongly suggest you do you're own research. My children either eat organic strawberries, or they don't eat strawberries. It's really that simple.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Having a Carbon Neutral Blog

This, my friends, is so simple. Three easy steps and your blog is carbon neutral. How cool is it to have a tree planted for your blog? We plant a tree every year in our yard, and I've been a member of the Arbor Day Foundation for years. Anyway, here is a cut and pasted snippet about how to become carbon neutral.

Happy Friday!




carbon neutral coupon with kaufDA.de


Just write a short blog post about our programme “My blog is carbon neutral” and include one of the buttons below on your site (ideally in the sidebar). Send the link to your blog to CO2-neutral@kaufda.de and we plant a tree for you, neutralising the carbon dioxide emissions of your blog. The trees will be planted in the spring of 2010 by the Arbor Day Foundation. For more information about how and where the trees are planted, see the NEWS section.

Just a few easy steps to make it green:

1. Write a blog post about the initiative + insert your favourite button
2. E-mail the link to your post to CO2-neutral@kaufda.de
3. We plant a tree for your blog in Plumas’!
Note: We plant a tree for each domain. Please copy the html-code and paste it in your blog. Make sure the carbon-neutral button works, the html-code must not be changed. Use the carbon-neutral-white button for a white background or the carbon-neutral-transparent button for different colored backgrounds. If you need help, please contact CO2-neutral@kaufda.de. We are looking forward to planting your tree!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Environmental Impact of Cellphones

I saw this imagine here which I included below. As confusing as a lot of this green stuff can be, I think the need to recycle things is simplified well here. The image speaks for itself.

Here are a few places to consider when you are getting rid of your old cell phone.

1. Cellphones for Soldiers.
2. Recycle my Phone
3. Call to recycle will take cell phones and batteries.
4. Recellular has a way that you can get paid to recycle.


the environmental impact of cellphones The Environmental Impact of Cell Phones

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Garden Update

This passed week or so the garden took off. Maybe it's the warm weather, or the rain...who knows. Friday I harvested my first bit of lettuce for our Fish Tacos, it was definitely a nice touch. Today I think I have enough out there for an entire bowl of salad...but now I want tomatoes to go with it. Oh well.

I have the entire garden now fully planned out. I know where everything is going to go, so I went ahead and bought some perennial flowers over the weekend. I'm sticking to small flowers that attract beneficial insects, and some that spread. This is alyssum pictured here to the left. I found a yellow variety, which I thought would be nice. Cosmos, zinnias and calendulas are also a pretty and beneficial flower for your veggie garden. Who says veggies can't be pretty??

Here is a shot of my cauliflower. It's growing! It's been in the ground about five weeks now, and this is the only one growing any food. I'm excited, this is the first time I've grown cauliflower. If I'm still living in this house come fall, I'm planting another crop. No brocolli yet, but I will let you know as soon as I see any growing. I'm getting worried that from here on out, it will be too warm to get any good stuff growing.


Here is a shot of my lettuce, onions, peas and kale. I think there is enough lettuce for salad now, but this is the only lettuce that managed to come up this year. I had another row that didn't do anything. I blame it on the heat wave we had a few weeks back.

My next project will be with this tire here. I have some potatoes that are ready to be put in the ground, and probably should already be in the ground.

Easy and green way to reuse tires if you have some laying around. Taters like warmth, black tires absorb heat from the sun. I've read you'll have tires full of taters if you try this method. I've also heard that brand new metal trashcans work well too. Tires are free though, so I'm sticking to the used tires. :)


Anyway, feel free to link you're own gardens, I would love to see what other people are up to. Happy gardening!

Monday, May 3, 2010

Green Works Coupons -- save 6 bucks


Green Works is offering a $3 coupon on their facebook profile. All you need to do is like them, then click their coupon tab and print.

On top of that Target also has a $3 coupon, so print that one out too and make it really worth it.

I haven't tried their products yet, and I've heard mixed reviews so let me know if you try it, or if you have tried it.

Menu Plan Monday -- Themed Week

This week, we're going back in history. We homeschool, and this time of year is so very hard to stay focused on anything. It's warm, we want to play, we don't want to work. So, we're going to discuss food in history, just to keep learning happening with out it being painful...and actually enjoyable. ;)

Sadly this week will be interrupted by a gig for me later this week, and hubs going out of town for an interview. Please keep your fingers crossed. While hubs is gone, I'll be staying with my parents since they live about 10 minutes away from where I'll be playing.

Anyway, if some of the days we end up doing our themes turn out well, I'll continue next week when I'll have more time at home.




Monday: Medieval Monday
  • Breakfast: Porridge (oatmeal), and ale (orange juice)
  • Mid-morning Snack: Bread and cheese. Cook with kids: Applemoyse
  • Lunch: Peanut Butter and Jelly, strawberries
  • Dinner: A dauce egre

    Tuesday: Colonial American
  • Breakfast: Slapjacks
  • Mid-morning Snack: Fresh Fruit
  • Lunch: Grilled Cheese
  • Dinner: Chili

    Wednesday: (gig)
  • Breakfast: Oatmeal
  • Mid-morning Snack: Fruit Salad
  • Lunch: Leftovers
  • Dinner: Dinner at grandparent's

    Thursday: (gig)
  • Breakfast: TBD
  • Mid-morning Snack: Fruit Salad
  • Lunch: Peanut Butter/Jelly Sandwiches, Salad
  • Dinner: Dinner at grandparent's

    Friday: (gig)
  • Breakfast : TBD
  • Mid-morning Snack: Fruit
  • Lunch: Leftovers/Sandwiches
  • Dinner: Dinner at Grandparent's

    Saturday: Germany
  • Breakfast (FrĆ¼hstĆ¼ck): German Toast
  • Mid-morning Snack:
  • Lunch: Cream Cheese Sandwich
  • Dinner: Hamburgers

    Sunday:
  • Breakfast: Egg Sandwiches, banana
  • Mid-morning Snack: Church!
  • Lunch: Leftovers
  • Dinner: Out with Grandparents.




    Sources:
    1. Castles of Britain
    2. Food in the middle ages
    3. Hamburger History
    4. Food Time line
  • Sunday, May 2, 2010

    Sunday in My City

    So I found a new meme that really interested me, called Sunday in My City. This is the first time I've participated so here's my city. Hopefully next week I'll get some better pictures.


    Here are some pictures taken from Front Royal, Virginia.






    This first picture is the Shenandoah River.












    Here is a shot of Happy Creek, one of the many creeks that lead to the Shenandoah.








    This is Main Street in old town Front Royal. This is a historic town off the beaten path in Virginia, one of the most northern confederate strong holds during the civil war.





    This last shot is of the gazebo in old town Front Royal.

















    Unknown Mami


    Ni Hao Y'all

    Guest Post -- Jessica Guthrie




    Hello my name is Jessica Guthrie and I am a hairstylist, a mother of 3 girls, Consultant for Just Jewelry, and an blogging junkie. The best thing about me is I love what I do. Whether it is down time with family or making people look and feel their best. I have been a hairstylist for 15 years and continue to enjoy every minute of it. There is not one part of my job I like better than the other. I look forward to meeting new people and love growing my business. It is a passion and not many people can really say they love to work. I have become a better person and stylist because of my clients that have continued to follow me through all my lifes ventures. I wanted to earn a little extra spending cash so I began researching at home businesses that would incorporate into the salon. I thought to myself what would sell well? Then I thought jewelry! It never goes out of style. I then began researching the different jewelry companies. Lia Sophia, Silpada, etc. They all had great stuff but I could not see myself asking people to spend $50-$100 or more on an item. Then I came across Just Jewelry. Great jewelry items at affordable prices!

    As a consultant and hairstylist I am able to share a personal touch to one's own style. Working in a salon I get the chance to meet all types of people and to be able to extend that service to beautiful jewelry is a great pleasure. Outside of the salon I offer home shows, office parties, fundraising and events. Its just another great way to be yourself and look great doing it.
    Just Jewelry all started with close friends Virginia Depp and Nicole Nelson. They discovered that they shared a desire to own their own business. Just Jewelry was created in June of 2002 with currently today close to 1200 consultants through the United States and Canada. The selection of jewelry is stylish, trendy and fits anyones budget. It compliments any style from jeans and T-shirts, office attire, to a formal night out! People ask me about the jewelry every where I go. I love to see there reaction when I tell them I sell it! Then I tell them how much! SOLD! In this economy everyone is cutting back. As a hairstylist I know first hand that us women will do everything in our power to have they way we dress and look be the last thing we cut back on. That is what I love about Just Jewelry. Everyone can afford it and still look stylish! Beautiful, affordable, fashion and sterling silver jewelry and the Just Jewelry opportunity from home. What is so great is that all prices are a set price.



    Necklaces $22.00
    Bracelets $15.00
    Earrings $12.00
    Watches $26.00
    Sterling Silver Toe Rings $12.00
    Sterling Silver Anklets $26.00
    Sterling Silver Rings $38.00
    Sunglasses $15.00
    Scarves $15.00
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    Saturday, May 1, 2010

    Quinoa -- easy healthy eating


    This week we adventured a bit with food and tried some Quinoa based off my best friend's suggestion. I am a believer now, and it will definitely become a staple in this house.

    So why is this a health food? First, it's a great source of vegetable protein; it contains iron, magnesium, copper and phosphorous. It is a whole protein, as an in and out vegetarian, I know this is key, making this a fantastic alternative to beans and rice, or soy (which I avoid like the plague!). It contains omega fatty acids, which the typical American doesn't get enough of.

    Here is another link to the recipe we tried this week. If anyone else has any quinoa recipes that are yummy, please share. If you haven't tried this yummy grain, I can't recommend it enough.


    Sources:
    1. The world's healthiest foods
    2. Quinoa.net

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