Giveaway winner plus my bet winnings!

Happy Wednesday Everyone!


I am feeling PUMPED! I got up early to hit the gym with the hubby. I forgot how invigorating it is to complete your workout before the craziness of the day. I feel like I started my day off with an accomplishment. Just knowing that I don't have to fight with all the after work gym goers is a benefit in and of itself:) I will be going in the morning most days during the week from now on....yay! Do you workout in the morning? I highly recommend it!

Okay so now onto the winner of Meghan Telpner's 5 Days Healing With Everyday Superfoods! The winner is KATIE of lilveggiepatch. Yay! Katie can you please email me from your current email address and I'll forward it onto Meghan. My email is in my profile:)

Staying with the winnings theme...I won a bet! I bet that the hubby couldn't NOT spend any more money on his 1966 Chevy truck. I won because I found a receipt that he forgot to tell me about..lol! So, that meant a sweet afternoon at my local health food stores. I know I didn't go for the shoes but I'm not really in shopping mecca right now so I took this chance to try a few things that I haven't tried yet from the coop.

First up, Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap.

I've heard such good things about this stuff that I decided this would be one of my to-try items. I got the Eucalyptus-Hemp variety. There were so many varities I didn't know which one to try. I'm really stoked to try it out and the coop had it on sale so I was able to get the big bottle. Score! Do you use this stuff? Do you use it for other uses besides cleaning?

They have a crazy label hey? So much text on there! I love that it is fair trade, vegan, and organic. Dare I say trifecta? Sorry, I'll stop with the fancy words:)

Anyone want to take a guess at what are in these jars? And yes they are all legal lol! Okay I'll tell you. The illegal-looking contents is actually organic raspberry leaf. Check out the link as Mountain Rose Herbs gives a good description of its medicinal properties. I find that it helps with cramping during my time of the month. I also just love its flavor-mild flavor somewhat similar to green tea and no caffeine! The green powder is organic stevia. I've heard that stevia is the best sweetner to use because it has no calories, no carbs, does not promote tooth decay, does not trigger a rise in blood sugar, and does not feed yeast or other microorganisms. If that wasn't enough, it contains vitamin A, C, and thiamine. It also contains the minerals chromium, cobalt, magnesium, manganese, selenium, and silicon. This stuff is super sweet so you don't need to use too much of it. If a recipe calls for 1 cup regular sugar then you only need to use 1 1/2 -2 tablespoons of stevia. It sounds like the dream sweetener to me. I will have to see how it performs in recipes before I put my other sweeteners to the back of the cupboard. Have you had any experience with stevia good or bad? The last jar is the adaptogen, maca or "Peruvian Ginseng." I've already read a lot about this root vegetable and it has got me intrigued to say the least. I was happy to find that my Vega Whole Health Optimizer already has Macasure added to it. Thank you Brendan:) I don't want to say too much about it now (you can read about maca in the links:) as I'm dedicating my next weeks posts to the power of adaptogens. So stay tuned!

These little red powerhouses are so good. Goji Berries are another wonderful superfood that I can only afford to buy once and awhile. The nutrients that goji's supply is really quite amazing, from their high antioxidant properties, 30 essential and trace elements, to their 19 essential amino acids, these berries deliver! When I had my first taste I didn't really like the flavor but now I can't get enough! PS I saved a couple of berries because I read that the plants are pretty easy to grow. My mom has planted the seeds so we shall see how it goes:)



Sprouts baby! Its the name of the game..are you on board yet? I have tried brocolli, alfalfa, mung bean, lentil, and chickpea sprouts. They are all fabulous and the crunch they provide to any dish really is so great! Check out my post on sprouts to learn more (or Bitt's post). I already have my red clover and daikon radish sprouts going. I love tasting new flavor of anything so I can't wait until they are ready:)

Next up is some chai yerba mate tea. My Mom grew up in Paraguay and this was their drink of choice. It is native to South America and has many health benefits :

• Immune boosting
• cleanse and detox the blood
• tone the nervous system
• restore youthful hair color
• combat fatigue
• control the appetite
• eliminate insomnia

Yerba contains vitamin A, B1, B2, B-complex, C, and E among many others. Minerals such as calcium, magnesium,and potassium are also abundant. Chorophyll is also present.

I looked forward to summers as a kid because this was when I could try the yerba with lemonade. Now, my family doesn't drink it with a tea bag they use something called a bambilla which is a a stainless straw that has a screen at the end so you won't suck up the leaves. The yerba (leaves) are placed inside a gourd that is actually a carved out bull's horn then hot water is poured over top. My mom still have the this traditional set-up but you can buy small wood or ceramic ones too. This is a very social drink for my family as you basically sit around and chat while drinking the mate.

That's my gramps with the gourd and bombilla. And yep that's me..lol!
I actually don't own a bombilla so I drank my chai yerba mate just like tea. This flavor combination is awesome. I will definitely be buying it again.



Last but not least...SEEDS! I was so excited to find a lot of local seeds most of which are heritage and organic.I picked up some spinach from West Coast Seeds and two different salad mixes plus a heritage tomato variety from Sunshine Farm.


I picked up some greens from Laird Creek Organic Seeds which are produced right here in Nelson. Love it!

I picked up a dark carrot and tomato variety. Purple carrots and tomatoes here I come:) I picked up some holy basil or tulsi from another local grower but I forgot to write down the name.

Last but not least, three varieties of kale! Kale is so easy to grow and it keeps o producing into the fall. These are for my green smoothie and kale chip fix.

I'm going to start the seeds today with the soil that I have left over from work plus some compost. My building has a compost so I'm going to make some good use of it:)

I also did a little foraging. Nothing crazy but I did pick up this liver cleansing weed...

Yes, the glorious dandelion is very good for you. Just make sure you forage in an area that is not sprayed. I plan on doing some more foraging but I have to read up more on the plants in my area because some plants have poisonous cousins so don't want to get them confused. Luckily dandelions are pretty recognizable. Besides being an aid to the liver, dandelions support digestion, reduce swelling and inflammation, and helps treat jaundice, edema, and gout.

Here is my stash ready to go into my salad. I even used the blossoms- only the yellow flowers because the green part at the end is pretty bitter.

Here are the greens and blossoms in my salad from last night. I was pretty generous with the greens so their somewhat bitter taste was pretty dominant. I will cut down a bit next time. I tried some greens in my smoothie today and I could taste the bitter taste at all. If you have dandelions in your hood give them a try. My coop sells the greens for over $4 a bunch so why not get them for free!


Have a wonderful rest of the day!