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Wednesday, September 28, 2011

31 Days to a Cleaner Diet: The Appetizer

Hey guys!  I mentioned recently that for the month of October I’ll be doing a series of posts about how clean up your diet.  I am kinda terrified that I’ll forget to post every day super excited about this – because I’ve been writing page after page of ideas for myself and I just keep coming up with more!  I love this subject and there’s just so much to talk about! :) 



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Before we “officially” start on Saturday, a few things:

- Remember that I’ll be posting only on weekdays (with the exception of October 1st, since it falls on a Saturday and I don’t want to be late to my own party)

- If you are pretty far along in the clean foods journey, this series might not teach you a whole bunch of new concepts.  I’m gearing it toward someone with a beginner/intermediate knowledge of healthy foods.  HOWEVER, I will have recipes and meal plans, so even if you are an expert, I encourage you to check out the series at least every once in a while (or every day – hey, I won’t stop ya. ;)

- I encourage you to read some of my previous posts about clean eating, specifically: How to Get Started with Clean Eating {Part One} and How to Get Started with Clean Eating {Part Two}

Some of those concepts will be revisited in more depth, but they’re a great starter course {aka appetizer, see how I worked that in?! lol} to what we’re gonna delve into. 

Looking forward to the series, and hope you all are, too! 

Be back Saturday! :)

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Pinterest Inspiration: All things Autumn

So…I was a little late to jump on the Pinterest bandwagon but now it is a favorite nap-time hobby of mine! I can’t get enough of it!  (P.S. Where has Pinterest been my whole life?!  This totally beats the pants off of copy and pasting links into different Word documents, then trying to find that recipe or design inspiration in a long list of other copied links.)

Today I thought I’d share some of my favorite pins….all having to do, of course, with my favorite season….FALL! :)

Loving this adorable free printable that I found today:

 

 

Or how about this one?

 

I’m loving all the “filler” ideas I’ve been getting, from layers…..

 

To acorns…..

 

To even candy corn! 

 

I thought this burlap and felt wreath was really pretty, and I liked that it’s fallish without being orange or yellow – I think this is my next project!

 

Then there’s some awesome recipes (I’ll just share two of our favorites):

Autumn Salad was a huge hit at our house – and made a-MAAAAA-zing leftovers! (I added chicken to bulk it up a little, and used clean dressings and uncured bacon.)

 

These pumpkin waffles are deliciously moist.  I cleaned them up a little ;), and they are a favorite!  I’ve made them two years in a row now and we just love them. 

 

So that’s what I’m loving recently!  (You can find all of these pins on my “Autumn Love” and “Clean Eating and Recipes” boards.  You can follow me here (or by clicking the red button on my sidebar ---->). 

Are you as addicted as I am?! :)

Linked to Pinnable Me Friday at Paw Prints and Pastry Bags.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Announcement – and YOUR input needed!

I’m baaaaack! :)  Are you guys loving the cooler weather?!  (IS it cooler weather where you live yet?)  Here in CT it’s that really nice time of year – evenings and mornings are a little chilly, but days are the jeans and t-shirt kind.  My favorite.  I have almost all my fall decorations set up, with a few tweaks here and there.  I tend to decorate and then rearrange and fluff and move things around for a couple of weeks until I’m happy with the result – so that’s the stage I’m at now.  Mostly done, with a little left to go. But it’s SO much fun for me.  I love decorating for the seasons - not only does it give my house coziness, it also gives me a visual change every few months without breaking the bank.  That makes me happy. :)

Anyway, on to my announcement, right?  (No, I am not pregnant and we have not adopted yet – although PLEASE feel free to pray for our adoptive process!  It is long and overwhelming and scary and we need ridiculous amounts of money.  Thanks!)

{Okay and now after talking about adoption my announcement seems super lame, but whatever.}

A lot of you out there might read The Nester, or maybe Reluctant Entertainer?  Anyway, there is a group of 8 women (some of my favorite bloggers) who routinely do a series each October called “31 Days….” (they fill in the blank depending on their personal blogging interests).  This year they are opening up the “31 Days” series to any other blogger who has something they’d like to talk about. 

I’ve decided that for the month of October, I’ll be doing a series called “31 Days to a Cleaner Diet.”  (Except really it’s gonna be more like 22 days because I’m not holding myself to posting on Saturdays or Sundays.)

Clean eating is something I’m really passionate about, and I know from talking to friends that a lot people WANT to change their diet but think it’s too confusing, too expensive, too much work, etc. 

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{Clean Sloppy Joes – mmmmm!}

My goal for October is to provide you with information about clean eating so you feel more empowered to make positive changes, both in your own diet and in the diet of those you love. 

Some days I will have informational posts, some days I will have recipes, and some days I might just have a great quote or even a video.  I’m going to give you a peek into our fridge and freezer, and I’ve also been writing down what we eat on a daily basis for dinner so that you can see real-life, {mostly} clean menu planning as it works in our house.

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{Clean Strawberry Breakfast Bars – seriously delicious!}

So here’s where YOU come in: 

What would you like to see covered in this series?  What questions do you have?  What confuses or overwhelms you about eating healthy?  What are some big changes you’d like to make, but aren’t really sure how to take the first steps toward them? 

I’d love it if you shared your questions and interests with me in the comments section!  (You can also always e-mail me at blessedlifeblog{at}gmail{dot}com.)  I truly love talking about healthy, clean, whole eating habits and I’m very much looking forward to this! 

Hopefully you are, too! :)

P.S. Follow this link to read all of the posts I’ve written so far that talk about clean eating. 

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

So….about that giveaway…

Hey everyone….sorry to those of you who entered my giveaway on oh, you know, the TWENTY-FOURTH of AUGUST.  Wow.  We lost power for five and a half days thanks to Irene (a whole other post in and of itself) and then my sister’s wedding weekend happened and basically I still feel like life is a little off-kilter. 

Anyway, enough about me!  The winner of the Dancing Willow Photography giveaway is…….

KELLY!  Kelly is a sweet blogger with a heart for God and two cute kiddos. :)

blog winner

Congratulations, Kelly!  Please send your mailing address to me at blessedlifeblog{at}gmail{dot}com and I will send it on to Becky so she can be in touch. 

Be back soon!  I mean it this time. :)