Archives for 2014

4 Questions to Help You Spend Less

December 30, 2014 by Sarah

Let’s face it, some of us just have so. much. stuff. How much of it do we even use or need? I feel like there many people in our society (including myself) that are driven by this ‘stuff’ mentality where we just want more and more things for whatever reason at all. I can find pretty much any justification to buy anything. A long while back, my sister and I decided to call this ‘justifying our purchases’ because it was something that happened on a regular basis while shopping. Something like this:

I have a good brown purse already, but this one is saddle brown. It matches with black better.

Oh my gosh, it’s getting colder out, and my closet is not up to the challenge of keeping me warm this winter. I gotta ‘winterize’ my closet more.

I know these posts are a little off the cuff, but I believe achieving balance overall in life and finding areas to reduce spending will help you prioritize and free up money you think you don’t have to spend on things that are highly beneficial for your health or well-being. And just think, if there are ways you can cut spending, you may not have to work as much to pay for all those purchases you might not actually need. There was a post I found on the Minimalists’ website that changed my view on stuff completely. It’s called the Minimalistic Paradox, and this is all it says:

“Minimalists don’t avoid material possessions; we avoid excess. Paradoxically, by owning less, the things we own bring greater joy to our lives.

In other words, all of our things are our favorite things. Otherwise they are in the way.”

Let me repeat that last part because it hit me so hard, and I will never forget it: “All of our things are our favorite things.”

I had a huge enlightenment on this whole idea after reading that post and sentence.

Instead of having five different varieties of one object that are just okay to you, why not just have one (or maybe two) that is/are your absolute favorite(s).

Recently, since I’ve been reading more about minimalism and what it entails, I’ve been inspired to create questions for myself when I am out buying things. I’ve significantly reduced spending on myself this year as I’ve been been paying school loans because I want to become debt-free as soon as possible, and this has definitely helped me recently. I have zero interest in buying or acquiring anything that is just going to end up as clutter.

So here they are. Some of them you may already ask yourself, but there may be some you’ve never thought about:

Will it become one of my favorites? This one is my go-to question. Do your research so you’re finding something that really suits your needs and will be worthwhile. If it’s apparel, make sure it’s versatile! If it will be your favorite item in a certain category, say a purse or watch, then buy it. And use the heck out of it! Which leads to a follow-up question: is it good quality? Spend within your means, but buy less and you will have money to invest in higher quality products that last longer and you may just love more. Think about how good it feels to have something you love and every time you use or wear it, you feel awesome or appreciative because you just flat out love dat thang. I’ll explain more about what I mean under question #3.

Do I need it or am I justifying the purchase? Not as easy as it seems to answer. It’s not hard for me to convince myself that I need many things I really don’t. Again, that’s where the ‘justifying the purchase’ comes in to play; essentially creating a need that is not really there.
Will I use it for a long time? Or ‘will I even use it at all?’ may be a better question. Will it become clutter? Don’t buy things you think have the potential to just sit in a closet or shelf and rarely be used. Another question to consider is: will I be able to use it for a long time?’ This tags on to #1; make sure it’s good quality if it’s something you see being very useful. For example, work shoes. Every time I bought those black Payless ones they would rip, and they weren’t very supportive. When working a lot, I would go through them every five or six months. This year, I found some awesome-looking all-black Nike Frees, and I love them more than anything. Every time I put them on, I just say, ‘yesssss’ pulling down my fist like Kip from Napoleon Dynamite. I may not want to start my shift sometimes, but at least I like to put my shoes on for it 😉 They look great, feel great and aren’t close to falling apart four months later. They were three times the price, but so worth the investment and will last much longer then those Payless ones ever have or will. Sometime higher quality purchases like this can actually save you money (and time really) in the long run.
Will I want to bring this with me if/when I move someday? Right now, I’m in a transitional period in my life. I know I will be moving within the next year so I ask myself, ‘do I really want this to be one of the items I drag on a U-Haul to my new destination?’ Even if you don’t plan on moving, would it be something you would want to bring along if you did?

Obviously, these questions don’t work for everything and may not be for everyone, buy they may be useful when you find yourself in a predicament deciding what to spend your money on. I keep them in a note on my phone for reference when I’m out and about 🙂

Have a beautiful day!!

With love,

Currant Quinoa You-Decides

December 23, 2014 by Sarah

To give ye abundant energy to make the most of your time with loved ones this holiday season… and maybe to open up a couple presents too.

So when I set out to make these quinoa pancakes, I knew I was taking myself on a little breakfast adventure. Turns out quinoa pancakes are not easy to make into actual pancakes.

Maybe it was my impatience.

…

I Challenge You

December 22, 2014 by Sarah

In my mixed-up challenge, I was able to more than triple the amount of chin-ups I could do and almost triple the number of hammer grip pull-ups I could do from the beginning to the end of the month.

Seeing progress you are able to make is extremely motivating.

And I want you to try it out for yourself.

So now I challenge you to join me in making 2015 FULL OF CHALLENGES.

Every month, pick a new challenge and stick to it. Choose something that means a lot to you or that you’ve always wanted to stick to but haven’t. It could be related to diet, exercise, emotional health, general wellbeing, ANYTHING that would be beneficial for you and your health.

Make a word document with a line next to every month. Fill it in with something you’d like to focus on that month. Make a challenge out of it. Specify how much time you will spend doing something or what you want to work towards or what you would like to do everyday to help form new habits. Leave space after each month to jot down notes or track your progress. Add pictures or videos. Have something to remember each challenge by.

Then at the end of the year, put it all together, whether it be a video or collage or just a collection of notes – whatever will be the most impactful for you – and look at all you were able to do in the last year. All the new beneficial habits or experiences you acquire will all be compiled into one place for you to look back on. It could be very inspirational life-changing for not only you, but others around you.

I’m very eager to begin, are you?! 🙂

Challenge Ideas:

Physical:

Yoga/Stretching – to improve flexibility and balance
Any fitness ones (pull-ups, push ups, walks, abs, sprints, different types of workouts, amounts of time working out, etc.)
Water drinking habits
Eating greens everyday or a certain amount of vegetables
Cutting out sweets, pop, gluten, dairy, alcohol, fast food or processed food (whichever you’ve always wanted to try but haven’t) *even if you aren’t allergic to gluten or dairy, you could still experiment to see what you feel like without them and if anything noticeable changes
Juice or make smoothies everyday
Better posture – really focus on having the best posture you can and thinking of ways to remind yourself to straighten your back
Change up your sleep schedule (get more hours in general or get to bed earlier so you can get up earlier)

Mental/Emotional:

Mindset (make affirmations and repeat them daily)
Thankful challenge (taking a certain amount of time out of each day or naming a certain amount of things you are thankful for)
Journaling
Give up complaining
Think of a belief you have and challenge it – think about why it’s there and how it may or may not serve you
Focus on forgiving someone who has hurt you in the past
Face a new fear head on each day/week or one for the month

Spiritual

Meditation or spend time daily focusing on your breath
Learning about different religions
Showing more love or compassion
- Go out of your way to help someone everyday – practice selflessness
- Compliment someone everyday
- Judging less
Reading
Think about which morals mean the most to you and focus on them
Focus on minimizing superfluous desires

Misc.

Minimalism challenge – give away or get rid of something you don’t use everyday
Give up TV, video games or Netflix
Spend time in nature everyday
Spend more time with the people you love – go out of your way for it
Any goal (for me, it’s to do more writing) and take steps to achieve it each day

Here is a great reference for many different ideas!!

Humble Sauce

December 15, 2014 by Sarah

Because life is so full of little lessons…

sometimes you just have to name a dressing after one of them 😉

Excuse my little chin zit, I wanted my scarf to cover it but just totally failed:

I think this story and lesson is really important to share because I don’t hear pridefulness talked about much, but I still think it’s important. I can’t even count how many times I’ve been a little prideful and got put right back in my place. This instance was just another subtle reminder, and I’m so thankful for it because it got me down off my high horse. I’d rather have a flat tire now than a much worse accident down the road!

Although it can be good to take pride in your work, being overly prideful – or overconfident – can cause barriers between you and others. Humility is a respectable quality to have because it allows you to see your limits and connect with people better by accepting them just as they are. It can be a state of admitting you may be wrong, don’t know everything, or can’t do everything. I could have just admitted to myself that the snow is mean and fierce and didn’t care that my dad taught me how to drive in the snow good. But I foolishly thought that I was better and could continue going my normal speed AND THEN WHIP DAT TAIL LIKE A BOSS. The ironic part is that the slower driver was prooooobably the better driver..lol.

Anyway, throwing another salad dressing your way! I freaking love salads and homemade dressings..if you couldn’t tell 😉

The components of the salad itself included:

spring mix and arugula
sliced cucumbers
hemp seeds
goat cheese
soaked fig dressing (recipe below)
I also added avocado when I had it the next day, and it was super yummy!

Also, the organic balsamic vinegar I used is made by the brand ‘Alessi’ and is sooo delicious! It tastes like sophisticated sweet tarts. I looked to see where you can buy it online and it only comes in packs of six – but they also have a lot of other varieties on Amazon! You can browse here: Alessi Balsamic Vinegar

Humble Sauce aka Soaked Fig Dressing

Prep time

8 mins

Total time

8 mins

Author: Sarah

Recipe type: Dressing

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients

2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1.5 lemons, freshly squeezed
1 tbsp. raw honey
5 dried figs, chopped finely or in bite-sized pieces

Instructions

Combine the first 3 ingredients and mix to incorporate. Make sure the raw honey isn't clumped together.
Add the figs and let the dressing marinade in the refrigerator for at least an hour to marinade. Spoon mixture over salad and serve.

30 Day Challenge: Mixed-Ups

December 9, 2014 by Sarah

You know when someone says they’re ‘in between jobs’? Well, that’s currently me… but with gym memberships. I hope to get one again very soon, but have been trying to stay active on my own in the meantime.

Last year, my roommate had a pull-up bar at my apartment, and I would regularly hop on that thing and do some reps. Ever since I ~~moved out~~ graduated, I’ve wanted to continue doing them but didn’t have a bar.

So I fixed that one quick. I went to Dick’s and finally bought myself my very own pull-up bar.

And to celebrate the purchase, I decided to do a 30-day pull-up-turned-into-chin-up-and-hammer-grip-pull-up challenge. HEY-O! So that’s why I’m calling it a mixed-up challenge 😉 Basically, the pull-up grip is really wide on the bar that I got, and I couldn’t really even do one. I thought I would build up strength doing the other grips and work up to the regular joe pull-ups another time. I am happy to say that I can do them now after the challenge! I haven’t counted exactly how many, but I did 2 sets of 4 reps last night just for the heck of it, and I’ll surely keep doing them just because they are totally cool.

Now, this challenge was just for fun so I was really flexible with the rules – if you can even call them that. I basically started out doing 3 sets of however many I could do. I switched to 4 sets, and eventually 5, later on in the month. That was pretty much the only consistent rule (guideline?) that I followed. I didn’t put much thought or research into this little activity before doing it so I know there are a couple things I would change if I were to do this again:

I wouldn’t go to failure (or close to it) everyday and would do consistent reps at about 60% of my max reps if I was going to do them everyday. The way I did it, I should have given myself rest days instead of going at it every single day until I couldn’t do anymore. Then I probably wouldn’t have had to be bringing my legs up so much towards the end. hehe. Nothing bad happened to me at all by doing it the way I did, but that may have been better because it would have given my body a little bit of time to recover before doing it again. I say this because there were a couple days here and there that I couldn’t do any, and I think those days off were good for me because they helped me come back and do more (and they didn’t feel as hard) the following day.

However, I did see a lot of growth from the beginning to the end of the month as far as how many I could do. It was exciting to see what happened when I diligently stuck to it and did the mixed-ups consistently. There is power in commitment!! And that’s really what I want to show in this video. I also felt that it helped me tone up overall, which is always a bonus.

Anyway, enough commentary. Watch for yourself:

What kind of 30-day challenge would you like to do?!

Rooted Detox Juice

December 2, 2014 by Sarah

Here’s a little post-holiday detox juice for ya 😉

But let’s talk detox really quick:

Our bodies are equipped with the ability to rid ourselves of toxins and self-heal. However, we live in an environment where we are constantly bombarded with chemicals and toxins that are not good for our health: chemicals from cleaning products and personal care products, unfiltered water, vaccines, plastics, and chemicals and pesticides in our food, to name a few. Bottom line; our bodies are overworked from trying to get rid of these foreign, and damaging, substances that are in our system. We can make lifestyle changes to help eliminate these toxins from our life, but it doesn’t hurt to give our bodies a little assistance. That’s why consuming foods and herbs that aid in detoxification is highly beneficial.

Detoxing is like doing chores around the house; you just gotta do it, or you’ll be living in filth.

One herb that is well known for its ability to detox heavy metals is cilantro. It possess properties that make it bind to heavy metals in the bloodstream, also known as chelation, and consequently, it purifies the body. Because heavy metals can harm the immune system’s effectiveness, cleansing the body of them could also lead to a more efficient immune system. Pairing cilantro with parsley is a good idea because parsley contains vitamins and nutrients necessary for chelation and helps with the removal of the toxic molecules from the body.

My favorite way to consume cilantro and parsley is by juicing them, because let’s face it, how else are you going to eat a whole bunch of either of these? I do suggest making tabbouleh if you want to use a good amount of parsley in your cooking, but most recipes don’t call for that much of either parsley or cilantro. These herbs are also great to add into smoothies if you want the added fiber! Here is an idea for juicing them with some lemon and lime, which also promote cleansing, and some rooted vegetables.

Rooted Cleansing Juice

Prep time

5 mins

Total time

5 mins

Author: Sarah

Serves: 2

Ingredients

2 limes
1 lemon
1 bunch organic cilantro
1 bunch organic parsley
1 organic apple
1 large handful of fresh cranberries
1 beet
5 carrots

Instructions

Juice all ingredients and enjoy!

Stay tuned for more posts on detoxification and as always, happy juicing!

With love,

The Raw Cranberry Relish that Stole Thanksgiving

November 26, 2014 by Sarah

I have three siblings, and all of them live out of town. They were all here yesterday for an early Thanksgiving celebration, and my mom thought she would take advantage of all of us being in the same town at once. She has been going through pictures and old keepsakes the past couple weeks and found her stash of notes and cards and letters we wrote to our parents when we were kids. We had a fun time laughing at all of the different blasts from the past, but nothing was quite as funny as this letter that we came across.

Let me preface by saying that I was in 7th grade when I wrote this, and I recruited my 5th grade sister to help with my persuasion techniques.

I can’t tell if I was trying to be funny with the whole overly formal writing or I thought it would increase the probability of us getting what we wanted. Either way, I had some nice elements of imagery and emotional connection going on, and I don’t even know where I came up with some of these words, but it definitely provided for some great entertainment.

Notice the wite-out over the time and repetition of ‘o’clock’. HAHA!

Apparently we were sincerely sincere about this letter and our ‘startling statement’ of a request.

Hopefully you got a kick out of that because I sure did.

But back to some food. When I say this raw cranberry sauce stole Thanksgiving, I mean like a star actor stole the show and not like the Grinch who stole Christmas. 🙂

This fresh tasting addition to your Thanksgiving dinner will blow your mind! It’s probably unlike any cranberry relish you’ve ever had before.

***A note on the essential oil use in this recipe: you should not ingest just any essential oil. Make sure that the orange essential oil is Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade (CPTG) because these are a high enough quality that they are safe to ingest. I use and love dōTERRA oils, and you can buy them here.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Raw Cranberry Relish

Prep time

15 mins

Total time

15 mins

Author: Sarah

Serves: 15

Ingredients

1½ pounds of organic fresh cranberries (about 1½ bags)
2 tbsp. raw honey (or more, to taste)
4 apples, diced into small pieces
Juice from 3 lemons, freshly squeezed or juiced
10 drops wild orange essential oil

Instructions

Dice ½ of a bag of cranberries and add it to the diced apples, lemon juice, raw honey and essential oil. Depending on how tart you want it, you may want to change the amount of raw honey you put in the recipe.
Place 1 bag of cranberries in the food processor with the 'S' blade and process until shredded (about 10 seconds)
Mix processed cranberries with diced mixture and let marinade in the fridge for at least an hour before serving.

Eat up tomorrow! 😉 And be thankful for the awesome body you’ve been given!!

Love on those close to you, but most importantly, love on yourself.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

With love,

Making Local Work

November 24, 2014 by Sarah

Calling all Michiganders and the like.

If you live in a climate similar to mine, you may have thought to yourself, I hear all this buzz about eating local, but how the heck do I get fresh, local produce in the wintertime?!

I mean, we were just bombarded with snow in the middle of November for goodness sakes; the tomatoes don’t stand a chance!

Well, that’s where greenhouses come in.

I recently learned about and visited a market farm about an hour north of where I live that uses an acre-sized computer-controlled greenhouse to grow organic produce. It’s called Good News Farm. They have a program where you can buy a farm box filled with fresh, organic produce each week, and they have pick-up locations all over the state! If you live in Michigan, you should definitely take a look to see if there is one near you. If you don’t, there may be something similar in your area, and you could ask around or do a google search for organic greenhouse farming.

Or if you’re really adventurous, you could even have your own greenhouse 😉

By visiting the farm, we learned all about their veganic growing methods and saw the whole greenhouse. We also met some of the high schoolers who work on the farm and are given scholarships for tuition at the local private school. I sure didn’t miss the opportunity to snap some shots of this beautiful operation.

I’ll let the pictures do the talking 🙂

I’m so excited to start receiving boxes soon and be able to contribute to local, sustainable farming! Hope you’ve been inspired to do the same 🙂

With love,

Cherry Chocolate Chia Pudding

November 19, 2014 by Sarah

Because cherries and chocolate just complement each other so nicely.

And because we all need a reason to entertain our palettes.

This chia pudding is just the perfect little treat for any hour of the day, but it’s not just a sweet tooth satisfier. Oh, no. It can also be a delicious pick-me-up.

Why?

Because chia seeds are what we call ‘nutrient dense’, meaning they contain many nutrients per calorie. In other words, they’re the total opposite of empty calories. Because chia seeds are loaded with healthy fats and protein that can provide you with energy along with many other benefits. They also contain Magnesium, which is a mineral many people may not receive enough of! I also recently learned that gelatinous foods, like chia, aloe and seaweed, promote cleansing. One more reason to love and eat those awesome little seeds on the regular! And all the fiber in them will also keep you regular too, if you know what I’m sayin’.

It’s nice to make a double portion of this recipe so you can keep some in the fridge or enjoy some with a friend! Or eat it all yourself in one sitting. No judgement what.so.ever.

If you let the pudding sit overnight, the dried cherries will soak up the liquid from the milk and become all plump and juicy. JUST HOW I LIKE ‘EM 😉

Get organic Chia Seeds here:

Cherry Chocolate Chia Pudding

Prep time

10 mins

Total time

10 mins

Author: Sarah

Serves: 1-2

Ingredients

1 large or 2 small bananas
¼ cup chia seeds
¾ cup coconut milk
small handful of dried cherries, cut in half
1 tsp. cherry concentrate (optional)
1 tbsp. raw cacao powder
small handful shredded coconut (optional-can be used in pudding and/or as garnish)

Instructions

Mash bananas in a bowl.
Add remaining ingredients and stir.
Leave in the fridge for a couple hours or overnight.
Mix again before eating and stir in more milk if too thick.

For more ways to get creative with your chia creations, check out my Beginner’s Guide to Chia Porridge!

Decluttering Life

November 14, 2014 by Sarah

I recently started reading about the idea of minimalism and found it quite fascinating. I came across the website ‘The Minimalists‘ and read for awhile about what minimalism is and different ways to carry out a more minimalistic lifestyle.

The authors of the website, Joshua and Ryan, briefly explain Minimalism as:

“a lifestyle that helps people question what things add value to their lives. By clearing the clutter from life’s path, we can all make room for the most important aspects of life: health, relationships, passion, growth, and contribution.”

Could it really be possible that having too much stuff makes us stressed out and possibly feel overwhelmed at times? I know it does for me! And something crazy to think about is this: most of us spend a good portion of our lives working and paying for things we can’t even enjoy because we may lack the free time to do so. I love the idea that eliminating extra things from our life can help us free up time and money to spend on what really matters to us, adding value to our lives in a way that mere stuff can’t.

I realized I could afford (haha) a little minimalism in my life, and I set out on my first task last weekend. I read about this minimalism game where you get rid of one thing on the first day of the month, two on the second, three on the third, and so forth. By the end, it gets tougher and tougher as you start having to get rid of many more things; it ends up being a total of 465 items!!

I thought I’d try and do as much as I could in one day.

I headed back to my dad’s house, where a lot of my stuff is being stored (really all the stuff from my old apartment that I didn’t need on the island over the summer and everything from my childhood!), and I went to town.

I didn’t count, but I managed to get rid of A TON of things. I just kept reminding myself how irritating clutter can be while I added endless items to the giveaway bag and the trash.

I also asked myself the following questions to help in situations where I was a little torn:

1. When was the last time I used this?

Obviously it really depends greatly on the item, but if I’ve gone several months or years without using or needing this item, it was usually out the door. Unless maybe it’s a first aid kit and not using it makes you cry,

…and then you still keep it on hand.

2. Do I see myself using this anytime soon?

Chances are, you probably won’t. Some things are just a thing of the past, and that’s a great thing. Trust me. It was in the case of my stained white flat-brimmed hat that I never really wore.. except for in these selfies from 10th grade:

…I’m still laughing. What was I thinking?!

3. Is this item really adding any value to my life?

I know that necklace and poster I made when I was little was SO CUTE and took SO MUCH TIME to make, but it really doesn’t do anything for me now. And neither does that cute little mini bag I crocheted so I could keep all my pens and pencils right next to my bed for some intense journaling and diary-filling activities. I’m all about keepsakes, but I realized I’ve maaaybe been a little bit hoardy in some ways (no, not horny, although when you say it fast, it does kind of sound like that, haha).

I definitely want to go back again soon because I didn’t even bust open the doors of my closet where this kind of stuff may possibly fall out on me:

Lisa Frank

…these things are still going to be worth loads of cash someday, right?!

You can also visit this page from Becoming Minimalist for more ideas on how to declutter your life. The author offers various creative ideas on how you can start eliminating unnecessary stuff from your life right away!

How about you? What do you think about minimalism?

When’s the last time you had a declutter day or would you be interested in playing the minimalist game I mentioned?

With love,

Sarah