Falling In Love...With Raw Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

I love helping people find healthy alternatives for sweets and candies. When I was about 5 or 6 years old, my grandmother owned a candy shop and I decided to be her little helper for the day. For my break, she took me to her friends restaurant upstairs from her shop where I helped her bake chocolate chip cookies for her customers. She let me eat as much of the raw cookie dough as I wanted and I think from then on, I fell in love. In love with the raw cookie dough that was.

So now, over 20 years later, my cookie dough craving still sneaks up on me from time to time. With a bunch of food sensitivities and not being a big fan of those sugar ups and downs, the raw cookie dough I grew up on wasn't an option. So here's to all of us health conscious, food sensitive, cookie dough cravers out there that want a nutritious cookie dough snack without having to sacrifice ANY flavor! Raw cookie dough that is actually nutritious AND delicious??? 


Some of these simple ingredients are oats, cocoa nibs, and cashews. Here's the full recipe!

4 Legged Friend With Shiny Hair, Strong Nails, Healthy Skin...Who and What am I talking about?

Most mornings I struggle to open up the dark container with the pretty colorful label filled with my favorite coconut oil because I always seem to screw the cap on too tight. I am not forcing the lid open for me either, well maybe I have a taste, but it's for my soulmate, best friend, loving, cutie Sharlena. Sharlena is my 5 year old dog that has a great build, a beautiful shiny coat, strong nails for climbing trees (her breed is known to climb trees but she doesn't know how), and moisturized skin. I scoop about a tbsp into her bowl after she finishes her dog food and by the time I finish washing the spoon I used to scoop it in her bowl, I turn around and she has gobbled it all up! She LOVES IT!!!

Sometimes, I just sit there and watch her gobble it up giggling the entire time. I don' t know why I get such a kick out of the fact that I give my dog coconut oil, and she loves it. It's just funny to see how our dogs like superfoods like we do. My dog is very picky. She won't eat everything. She doesn't like sweets, and really likes the healthy stuff. From treating her body well, and listening to her senses, look at how big her smile is! She is so energetic, loves taking long car rides, and feels great that she is shining from the inside out... This might also have to do with the Green Superfoods I have been giving her. More Raw Superfoods for your 4 legged friends!

What do you want?

With the jewish new year just passing, praying to god for forgiveness from my sins this past weekend, and many others in my passing suggesting this exercise, I made an "I Want" list. I also made a "How Can I Serve" list to go along with it. I think it is extremely helpful to write your deepest dreams and desires down on paper so that you are more clear with the path and direction you are about to travel on for the coming year. Check mine out and then try it for yourself!

what do I want:

- take steps to become a spiritual teacher

- find calm and quiet inside of myself

- feel comfort and trust in silence

- have faith and strength to feel the presence of the unknown

- find comfort in my own spirit

- de-layer my shields of protection and walk bare through the light of space

- begin writing a book on life as a spiritual being in a material world

- create a safe environment for cleaning past wounds and moving on with life in a lighter more spacious way

- clean up the clutter in my life so that I can be more fluid and spacious

- walk through life like a whale swims through the sea

- feel fully satisfied with day to day 

- follow my heart so that I no longer have the urge to run from present tasks

- explore my spiritual power and use it fearlessly

- see god inside of everything that crosses my path

- connect with the god within myself so that I can connect to the god within others and easily forgive

- find community that connects me to me

- find authentic relationships that feel easy and fun

- self express through art

- feed my body with healthy amounts of nutritious foods that can support and energize me

- find movement that feels comfortable and safe for my body

- give myself a push out into the world in moments of unhealthy isolation

- stay with the feelings of discomfort and fear when making the choice not to stuff my feelings down with food

- love my body and mind NOW

- act from a loving, peaceful, and nurturing place

- use my words to honor my hearts message

- become one with inpatient energy in order to calm the waters and settle my anxiety

- forgive myself

- accept what is

- acknowledge my presence and existence and make space in this universe for me

- listen to others

- transform fear into nurture, trust, and love

how can I serve?

- be the strength that others might not have so that it gives them the strength to feel deeply

- help others return home to their hearts

- help others de-layer the exterior shell of pain and suffering and find peace and comfort in the core of their spirit

- inspire large crowds/public speaking

- take people on a journey into their hearts truth

- help others create a safe environment for cleaning past wounds and moving on with life in a lighter more spacious way

- help others connect to their god energy that exists inside their hearts

- guide others to finding comforting spirituality that satisfies their every moment

- help others find comfort in life and death

- author a book that inspires many

- volunteer

Where Will You Be?

Where do you think you will be a year from now? What if I told you that this exercise will give you a look into your future and life in the coming year? I went to a spiritual gathering this past weekend and was given a little exercise. I want to pass it on to those ready to see their future and what will transform in these coming months.

1. Take out piece of paper, pen (maybe a few sheets)

2. Write a letter to yourself as if it is already a year from now. 

3. You will write to yourself about where you are, where you have come from, what you are doing, what you are proud of, what you are grateful for, what surprises you, what goals you have accomplished, what are your goals for the following year.

4. You will hide this letter in a drawer for the next year of your life.

5. Mark your calendar a year from now for a reminder of where your letter is located and read it to yourself on that day.

6. Have you been accurate on what has happened over the year? Does anything surprise you? Was there something in your letter that you said would happen but hasn't yet?

Stay tuned for how my letter turns out and how I was able to read into my future! xoxo

Top 12 Foods To Eat Organic

When organic prices are high and we are on a budget, how about narrowing your organic shopping list to just 12 items? This is a list of the current produce with the highest level of pesticides. 

1. Peaches

2. Apples

3. Sweet Bell Peppers

4. Celery

5. Nectarines

6. Strawberries

7. Cherries

8. Lettuce

9. Grapes

10. Pears

11. Spinach

12. Potatoes

8 Creative Ways To Use Oatmeal

1. Treat Acne. Cook, cool until warm, apply to area, let sit for a minute, rinse.

2. Absorb Odor. Leave an open container of oatmeal in the fridge.
3. Soothe Skin. Relieves sunburn, poison ivy, and heals skin.
4. Soothe Dogs Itchy Skin. Mix half oatmeal, half warm water in bowl and mix until starchy texture is formed. Fill a sock with mixture. Rub in circular motion to affected area for 10 minutes. Clean with water and washcloth when finished. Repeat until itchiness decreases.
5. Bath Time. Soak for 20 minutes in warm bath and add: 1 cup coconut milk. 2 cups uncooked oatmeal. 1 tbsp honey.
6. Exfoliate. 2 heaping tsp oatmeal. 1 tsp baking soda. Combine, and mix enough water to make a paste. Rub on skin gently and rinse.
7. Clay for Kids. 1 cup rolled oats. 2/3 cups all purpose flour, 1/2 cup water. Non toxic food coloring (optional). Add coloring to water first. Add remaining ingredients and knead together. Add more flour if necessary until smooth and not too sticky. Make your art piece. Let sit overnight to harden.
8. Workout Boost. Instead of energy drinks and bars, try some oatmeal before your workout to increase energy and endurance.

Inspired by www.thedailygreen.com

5 Critical Ways To Reach Out

Why is it so hard to reach out when you need help? I have a habit of totally isolating myself from the world when I need help the most. The fact is, is that we all need each other to be a working unit. Yes, there is time for independence, and isolation, time for decision making and choices, and time for a friend and a phone call, but where's the balance?

What is holding you back from reaching out, picking up the phone, asking for support? For me it has been fear of disappointment, judgement, mistrust, and setting unreasonable expectations.  Support is crucial to loving ourselves, reaching our goals and dreams, and reaching our full potential in this beautiful life of ours. The first step is to start asking yourself these top critical questions and end having the weight of the world on your two only sesitive shoulders! Take note of these 5:

1. What does support look like for you?

2. What is holding you back from getting support?

3. Who can support you?

4. When will you experiment with a supportive friend?

5. Would you like my support in finding clarity?

If so, let's have a chat and see if I can help you come up with some ideas. Contact me!

Do you have a poor body image?

After menarche and as soon as I started developing curves, my body image was extremely distorted. I started praying to look and be anyone else other then myself. I have written myself off, compared myself profusely to others, and in the midst of it all, completely lost and buried my own identity represented as this curvy body of mine.

I am a women, a women with curves, a women with spunk. These curves represent the dips and turns in my personality and character. In and out my character weaves into someone special, that's me!

Sit cross legged in a quiet space. Inhale deep, exhale deep. Ask yourself, what is it going to take to accept who you are? For me it has been surrendering to my unknown, welcoming moments of silence, letting go, forgiveness, acceptance, support, love. What is it going to take for you? Give yourself the gift of silence and listen to your heart speak. This will bring you one step closer to loving and enjoying this wonderful gift, this beautiful body of yours.

Farm Fresh Local Market

No better morning then arriving early at your local Farmer's Market and having first choice on the ripest fresh fruits and vegetables!  My body jumps inside when it can be in line with nature's natural harvest. Onions, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, beets, peppers, plums, peaches, cherries, melons, all so delicious in the summer months. Feeling the gratitude that comes from tasting foods that are in season. Most foods in our grocery chains are picked unripe in order to travel thousands of miles to get to our plate. Think about all of the pollution that will come from the transport alone!

Go green and support your local farmer's market. Your body and your local farmer will be thanking you for it! Find a market near you at http://www.localharvest.org/.