WEEK SEVENTEEN: De-Tox Green Juice

My former neighbor (shout out to Lisie Adamson) might be the healthiest and most overly informed 'mind-body' guru that I've ever come across in my entire life! She single-handily managed three of the most active kids while running her own business, gave birth to her children in big blow-up pools, was able to gauge her toxicity levels and create meals to accommodate acidity and over-base results, educated me on what a colonic (yuck!) is and not only cooks like a star but juices the most unbelievable concoctions with her high-end juicer. So after many a conversation about all-things health--I figured I'd take a small step toward trying out her "green" lemonade and the whole process of juicing. Now, once you read the ingredients, I'm sure you'll be skeptical but believe-you-me, it's actually pretty good. To boot, I had a LOT of fun figuring out different recipes and subjecting my husband to all of them!

With a little extra spending money, I bought myself a BREVILLE JUICER--Now, mine is the basic mode that you can get at Crate + Barrel for about $100 and change. Now, Lisie's juicer, which is in a whole other weight class, (it can chuck wood, digest pulp all while making dinner for 5) makes my juicer look like it has on training wheels but, I've still been keen to give it a go! An added bonus, we had such a huge harvest from our garden that it was a logical next step to use some of our excess cucumbers for juicing.

OUTCOME---
These recipes are not only uber-healthy but will act as a full detox if you're interested in all the buzz and hype around detoxing. Skip the big production of buying marketed products and just do a little juicing/research and you can find the same results!!


LISIE'S GREEN LEMONADE
1 cucumber
2 lemons (peeled)
5-6 stalks of kale
1 tablespoon ginger root

NATT'S HEALTHY HOT MESS (double batch)
2 cucumbers (straight from the garden)
2 oranges 
5-6 stalks of kale
1 pink grapefruit (peeled)
1 tablespoon ginger root
added after: 1 tsp. Green Vibrance

If you try these out and get the bug, just remember--nothings written in stone, create your own mixes using any and all fruit & veggies. When I first got my juicer I was obsessed with beets and those seemed to find their way into everything. Also, juicing has been a great save on those weeks when we overload on produce and then plans change (dinners out, visit friends, etc.), it allows us to use up all those extra groceries instead of having them go bad!

The other thing I've been recently introduced to and am loving is GREEN VIBRANCE. It's a dietary supplement that has more pro-biotics than any other product on the market. In addition, it's an added veggie kick as it accounts for about 1/3 of your daily intake of greens. Andrew and I have been taking this in the mornings for about 6 months now (in addition to eating pretty healthily) and swear by it! We've gotten to the point where we can tell on the days we miss our morning ritual. 

MY NEXT VENTURE-->VITAMIX!

WEEK SIXTEEN: Re-furbished Baby Dresser + Change Table

If you've had a child or are just about to, I'm sure you've been or are about to be, overwhelmed by the multitude of baby options out there. Andrew and I just dragged ourselves to BuyBuyBaby a few weekends back to check out strollers and to start figuring out what we need pre-baby arrival. To say the least, it was definitely an experience! By the end of a 40 minute 'personal' stroller consultation (apparently this is a common place at these type stores) our heads were spinning and couldn't fathom that there was that much to know about strollers--jogging vs. city, travel systems vs. other accessories, light weight vs. two-seater, weight capacity...OYE!!! ...I don't want to even go into cribs or car seats and baby furniture in general...

Upon leaving the store, Andrew and I made a pact that we wouldn't get wrapped up in all things baby-merchandise and with that, we decided to re-purpose our furniture and find a very slim list of 'needs' as we start to plan for our new addition.

RE-PURPOSED ANTIQUE DRESSER FOR BABY'S ROOM---

Recently I was gifted a dresser from my sister (thank you new cottage renovations that phased out this gem!). I forgot to take a bare-bones picture so the picture below is as good as it gets---just imagine very dated wood and the fact that this piece had been in storage for 40+ years.

I decided on grey, white and teal blue to compliment our already jalapeno walls. I stripped down everything washed it with bleach and voila--here it is!

GREY--Benjamin Moore (Natura) -- T-Shirt Grey $50
BLUE--Benjamin Moore (Natura) -- Calypso Teal $25
WHITE--Benjamin Moore (Natura) -- Pillow White $15

*Note, the Natura Benjamin Moore paint has the lowest VO levels. I would recommend it for anyone painting while pregnant (I had a lovely protective mask as well) or painting a room where an infant will reside.

CHANGE TABLE ADD ON---
Have you seen how much changing tables are? $300 for a table that I'm positive will only have a few months of use. So, I decided to get creative and make my own. With supplies, I was able to add a 'topper' to our new re-purposed dresser FOR FREE (BIG thanks to the nice man at the hardware store who cut and filled my wood order for free using wood from the 'homeless' wood pile)  

2 pieces of 2x1 pine cut at 30 inches
2 pieces of 2x1 pine cut at 11 inches

Base using thin wood (can't remember the type of wood) cut at 32 X 11

GREY--Benjamin Moore (Natura) -- T-Shirt Grey

A little grey paint and kitchen cabinet liner. Using the dimensions above, I was able to pop in a standard changing table pad and cover---and VOILA!