Hi Readers, Snow day today in New Jersey! It was the “blizzard” of 2015. We definitely fell short of a blizzard but there was about a foot of snow! I shoveled my driveway, had a cup of hot chocolate and binge watched Netflix for a bit; every basic girl’s dream snow day. I have been avoiding animal proteins the past 4 days to see if my stomach pain would subside. It was great for 2 days then after having eggs I had pain again, so now I’m vegan for the time being and I’ve been doing okay…to say the least. After Netflix binging I tried to find a healthy cannellini bean soup, but unfortunately all the recipes had sausage, cheese; lots of cheese (I can’t eat that), and tomatoes. I wanted to steer clear of those too because of the acidity. So after looking for about 30 minutes I created my own recipe for a White Bean Vegetable Soup. This recipe is gluten, vegan (dairy, egg, and animal protein free), soy and corn free. What you will need: 1 stalk of celery diced 2 regular sized carrots diced ¼ of a small yellow onion chopped 4 garlic cloves minced 1 sprig of fresh rosemary 1 can of cannellini beans (I used Goya) olive oil vegetable broth (Pacific lower sodium broth) salt, pepper and oregano to taste Steps: 1. Wash your vegetables thoroughly and cut up the celery, carrots, onions, and garlic. After cutting the vegetables turn on your pot to medium heat and add oil and the vegetables you cut up. Keep stirring the vegetables because they can burn, you can also turn the heat down if you wish. 2. While the vegetables are reducing open the can of beans and drain them in a colander. Take half of the beans and put them in the food processor and leave the other half beans on the side. After you put half the beans in the food processor add a little bit of vegetable broth so it doesn’t become too pasty and set to the side. 3. Once your vegetables are tender add vegetable broth to the pot along with the beans that are still whole. Place the rosemary and let boil for about 5 minutes. Once your soup is boiling add the pureed beans and stir, and reduce for a simmer for about 10 minutes. You can add more broth or water depending on how thick you like the soup. 4. Before serving add salt, pepper and oregano to taste and remove the sprig of rosemary from the pot. This was a quick recipe to prep and cook. I didn’t time how long it took or how many serving because I made this for myself. I also don’t know how many calories because I don’t count calories; I eat when I’m hungry! Hope you all enjoyed the blizzard. Sincerely, Michelle.
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Hi Readers,
I didn’t post a new blog yesterday because I was feeling really sick and when I’m sick the last place I want to be is in a stuffy doctors office. I always try natural remedies first to prevent the anxiety of waiting with sicker people than you in a waiting room! Below I am going to list some remedies that helped me to relieve some pain. (Remember, I am not a doctor, these are just some remedies that helped me). 1. Detox bath with Epsom salts, baking soda and lavender essential oil. Baking soda neutralizes water and in my case, I have well water, so it is essential to make sure the water is clean. Epsom salts help get rid of toxins and harmful substances that you don’t want in your body. Epsom salts can also relieve muscle aches and pains. Make sure not to eat right before or after this bath, you may get light headed and feel nauseous depending on your sensitivity. I added Lavender essential oil to the water because it helps with relaxation. Lavender has so many other properties to help with but relaxation is the most common. Since I was not feeling well the bath did make me feel a little worse at first, but within an hour later I could feel a difference. 2. Peppermint essential oil Peppermint has always been used to soothe digestion and restore digestive efficiency. You can apply oils topically, normally or diluted, I decided to put 2 drops of the peppermint on my stomach where I was having pain and put a warm compress over the area. Peppermint has a cooling effect, which is why I put the hot compress, but if you like the coldness you don’t need the compress. Again, I felt a little discomfort but it eventually went away, it depends on how severe of pain you feel. 3. Thieves essential oil blend First you might be thinking, what the heck is Thieves? It is an essential oil blend with clove, lemon, cinnamon, eucalyptus, and rosemary. I just recently started looking into these oils and Thieves is supposed to boost your immune system which is needed around this time of year. Infusing the oil in the air can help eliminate airborne bacteria, they recommend only infusing the oil for about 30 minutes at a time. Putting oils on the bottoms of your feet are highly effective so try that if you would like a quicker result. 4. Grape juice 100% no sugar added Grape juice has strong antiviral properties that can help you prevent the stomach flu. It also changes the pH in your intestinal tract that prevents the virus from multiplying. I’ve read a lot about this topic because the stomach flu is the worst! Flu shots do not prevent the stomach virus so it is important to prevent such an aggressive virus. Ideally 3-8oz glasses is the best dosage, however if you have stomach sensitivity like myself, one glass a day is the most I can handle. 5. Ibuprofen After I ate the smallest amount of food I would get severe pain on the left upper quadrant of my stomach. It felt so swollen, I felt nauseous and I didn’t know what to do. Next I thought what do you take when something feels swollen? Ibuprofen (Advil). Ibuprofen reduces swelling and just as I suspected, my pain subsided until I had to take another dose. This really helped me but please contact your primary care doctor before taking the anti-inflammatories persistently!! These drugs can damage other organs if taken incorrectly. 6. Ginger Ginger has been used for many years to soothe an upset stomach. I always keep ginger candy on hand incase I feel ill. They do magic!! Make sure the candy doesn’t have sugars in them such as high fructose corn syrup. The sugar actually triggers stomach distress. Same for ginger ale, Canada Dry and Seagram’s are fake ginger ale, avoid the corn syrup and look for brands that are natural such as Grown Up Soda. 7. Tea Ginger tea is not very appetizing for me personally so I like to drink peppermint tea or the Yogi Immune Booster tea. Sometimes tea upsets my stomach so it’s a hit or miss when you are feeling sick, although it does help sore throats and other ailments. I created my own concoction to take when I feel like I’m coming down with something. I boil hot water and infuse the water with a couple of whole cloves, organic raw honey, lemon and cinnamon. I let that steep for about 2 minutes and then I add a decaf teabag (I use Lipton’s) and let steep for another 3 minutes. You can either use a coffee filter to get rid of the cinnamon or leave it in the cup, it’s up to you. The tea tastes very good and it is really good for you as well!! There are many anti bacterial/anti viral advantages of using the spices together. If you think about it, it’s almost a Thieves tea! 8. Chicken soup Chicken soup is a sick person’s go to meal. To get the ultimate health benefits of the soup, try to use organic chicken, chicken broth and vegetables. If you can’t find the organic food items or afford them it’s okay but the cleaner the food the better! I like to add carrots, celery, lots of onion and garlic, either broccoli or asparagus, and sometimes I will add long grain white rice. White rice is a lot easier to digest than brown rice therefore it would be a good idea to stick with the white for this soup. I never measure anything unless I’m baking, you can just play it by ear! It’s very easy to make and tastes so yummy, a lot better than the kind in the can! 9. Activated charcoal I have not used activated charcoal yet but I did buy a bottle to keep on hand. It is supposed to suck up all of the bad toxins out of your body. It’s bad to take too much because you do need toxins and bacteria to survive and build your immune system, however if you are feeling some stomach distress or gas take some to limit the pain. Once I try this I will update you on how I think it worked for me! I bought the essential oils from http://www.youngliving.com/en_US check them out!! I am feeling better but I am going to go to my doctor to get looked at. I’d rather be safe than sorry! I hope one or all of these remedies will help you too! Comment to let me know if these remedies helped you. Sincerely, Michelle. Hello Readers! This is my first blog post, and I am SO excited to share my interests with you! I wanted to write about my look from this past Saturday because it was cute AND comfortable. The focus of my look is the Free People over-sized sweater. Over-sized sweaters are extremely “in” this winter because you can pair it with jeans if you want a casual look or leather pants for a night out. The sweater can be transformed to your mood! To go along with the over-sized sweater I wore Express skinny jeans and Marc Fischer riding boots. Those two items are diverse and you can wear them almost all year round, great staples to keep in your closet. On Cyber Monday I found great deals on gold midi rings from Charming Charlie’s and Forever 21 that I could not pass up! These accessories and neutral nail polish can enhance your look tremendously even though they are so small! This is the perfect outfit to hang out in with your family and friends! I hope you find this post helpful when planning your next get together! Stay tuned for weekly postings!!!
Sincerely, Michelle. |
Michelle
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March 2020
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