This week is all about fairies. In an effort to help build my kids imagination, we are going to be creating fairy gardens, houses, furniture, and anything else fairy related I can come up with. My son Noah is the architect so he is in charge of all of the designs, he is building all of the houses and furniture. It should make for a fun week.
Today Noah built the first fairy house with a bed and the girls made fairy soup.
Sunday is prep day in the Cotton household. You would think working from home would provide me with tons of free time but sadly this is not the case. With everything that we have going on, prep days are vital for our family. We normally try and get a lot of our shopping done on Saturday, at the farmers market and Costco, and prep on Sunday. In our family, the farmers market and Costco is entertainment, in fact all of my kids ask to go to the farmers market every week. I know it sounds crazy, but I county my lucky stars for this blessing lol. My son Noah is an aspiring chef so he really gets into meal prep. This week dad is teaching him how to grill chicken under a brick, and is teaching him all about how to butcher a whole chicken. It was seriously one of the cutest things I have ever seen. It makes my heart so happy to see my son learning about food and having an understanding not just how to cook it, but also where it comes from. I think this really helps him to have more appreciation for food and the process food has to go through. I took this picture of my hubby giving a lesson on butchering the chicken.
Since I work as a private chef, meal prep is vital for my business. I have multiple clients who have various dietary restrictions so it can get a little tricky finding ways to cook for multiple people, including my family, efficiently. Whenever possible I try and cook/create meals that can be used in some way, shape or form, for all of my clients. I really love summer, because it gives me the opportunity to grill several different proteins and create a variety of meals. I have found that pre-cooking meat is a great way to save time during the week. This week we will be eating the following meals and they are all gluten free 🙂
Shepherds Pie
Ground beef tacos-
Chicken under a brick with roasted veggies
Korean beef with garlic rice or quinoa
Chicken Cacciatori with gluten free pasta or rice
Having all of this ready for the week makes life so much easier, and I can spend my rest of my week focussing on homeschooling the kids and my own school work.
Happy Sunday!
Steph
http://www.primalcotton@gmail.com
Stephanie
Here it folks! My version of somewhat healthy cracker jacks. Ok so it’s not exactly gonna give you a six pack but (lol) it’s a hell of a lot better then eating the store bought crap and it’s not full of nasty chemicals. This is a perfect treat :).
This recipe calls for popcorn and I only eat organic corn products and that includes popcorn. If you want to use regular popcorn that will work as well. I also use grass fed butter but regular butter will work just fine too.
Cracker Jack Recipe
Preheat oven 175 degrees
1/2 cup of organic popcorn
1/2 cup of chopped pecan or other nut of your choosing
1/2 cup of honey
1/4 cup of pure maple syrup
3 tablespoons of grass fed butter
1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon of corn starch
2 tablespoons of water
1. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large pot and add popcorn. Cook popcorn. When pop corn is done popping, place in a large bowl and toss with sea salt
If you have a popcorn maker you could use this instead
2. In a small sauce pan melt 2 tablespoons of butter on high heat
3. Once the butter melts add honey,maple syrup,vanilla and allow to cook on high heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally
4. In a small bowl mix corn starch and water until smooth and add to syrup mixture
5. Cook for 1 minute and stir continuously
6. Pour mixture over the popcorn mixture and add pecans
7. Stir mixture until all of the popcorn is coated evenly
8. Dump popcorn out onto a large cookie sheet. You want to make sure the popcorn has plenty of room.
9. Place in the oven for 30 min
10. Allow to cool and the popcorn mixture should become crunchy
Enjoy!
My son Noah is an aspiring chef and he loves learning how to cook. Today he learned how make hummus. He made spicy sundries tomatoes hummus. It is amazing! I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to be able to help him flourish in something he loves to do.
Getting her first big girl cut
One of the biggest goals with simplifying our lives has been to spend more time doing things we want to do rather then have to do . The hope is that by simplifying our lives, we will grow closer as a family and be less stressed. I also want to emphasize to my children that experiences in life are more important than having things.
I have taken some time off from blogging because I have been working on my Masters degree and preparing to homeschool my three kids. However, about 6 weeks ago I started doing a lot of research about Estrogen dominance and hormone imbalances and what I have learned it to important not to share. I won’t go into the whole story of why I started this research but in a short I have always suffered from really bad PMS. We are talking Jekyll and Hyde PMS. I would spend 2 weeks out of the month with sever anxiety and depression. This combined with a host of other issues made me start to look into hormone imbalances. I have always suspected I had some kind of hormone imbalance but I wrote it off as paranoia. About 6 weeks ago I ran across a pod caster I follow ,who did a whole show about estrogen dominance. As soon as I started to hear the symptoms I knew immediately this was my problem. Now before I go any further let me remind you that I am not a doctor. I am going to say this again, lol, I am not a doctor, and you should consult with your doctor before you start attempting to balance your hormones. Your doctor can do a hormone panel and assess if you have a hormone imbalance. If you are like me and hate doctors, you can also find plenty of links to home hormone test. Once I realized that I had all of the signs of estrogen dominance I began doing tons of research on how to balance my hormones. In short, what I discovered was that I have high estrogen and love progesterone. Progesterone is the hormone that helps you to have periods. When you have low progesterone you can have some of the following symptoms;
PMS
weight gain or trouble losing weight
bloating
irritability
trouble sleeping
depression
anxiety
irregular periods
low energy
migraines
headache
These are just a few of the symptoms
Estrogen dominance is very common in our society because of our diet, birth control, and exposure to environmental toxins, such as pesticides. Many woman suffer from this and never even realize it is happening. The good news is you don’t have to take tons of hormone replacement drugs to balance your hormones. After doing research I came up with a regime that has worked wonders. In fact it worked so well this month I didn’t even realize I was due for my period because I had no PMS. I am happy to report that I have no cramps, no irritability, very little bloating, and no depression. This doesn’t mean that it will happen this fast for everyone and doesn’t mean I don’t still have a long ways to go, but this does give us light at the end of the tunnel. Ok so now you want to know what I have done right?
First– You have to clean up your diet. I know, I know, it sucks but dairy and gluten cause hormones imbalances. If you are going to eat dairy make sure it’s raw and from grass fed cows.
Foods that help clean out your liver and this helps balance your hormones also should be consumed on a daily basis. These foods include leafy greens, broccoli and cauliflower. You also want to make sure these veggies are always organic.
You should also eat 2 medium raw organic carrots daily. No baby carrots, as these contain bacteria. You want good old fashion carrots. Carrots help get rid of extra estrogen in the body.
I also highly recommend starting a smoothie regime everyday. This is a great way to get all of your greens in and you can add supplements to them. I love this site for smoothies http://simplegreensmoothies.com
Second- There are several herbs that are helpful in balancing the estrogen levels in your body and increasing progesterone levels. These are my favorite and they are not super expensive.
Chaste Berry -Here is a link with more info http://www.diagnose-me.com/treatment/vitex-chasteberry.html
Rhodiola- This herbs is an adaptogenic meaning it adapts to what your body needs and I love that!
Maca- This is used by the Aztecs to help increase sexual drive, help with fertility, increase endurance during exercise, helps build muscle, mental clarity, and energy. I love this stuff- Here is a great site with more info http://www.themacateam.com/gelatinized-maca
Spirulina- This is technically an algae, but it’s a great detoxifier. If you get this in the raw I highlight recommend putting it in a smoothie as it doesn’t taste so great.
Third– I started using a bioidentical progesterone cream. I believe the product is made from wild yams but don’t quote me. Bioidentical hormones are note synthetic so you body adapts to them better. It is also less harmful. Here is the link with more info and this is the same product I started using. http://www.womenlivingnaturally.com/product.php?id=21
Fourth- Exercise is also really important to helping your body balance your hormones. One interesting point is that weight training has been found to be more beneficial than long periods of high intensity cardio in balancing hormones.
Ok so there you have it that it. Please make sure to also do some research for yourself and do what is right for your body.
Stephanie
This blog is for entertainment purposes only and should be used in replacement of medical advice.
In my massage practice I work with people who suffer from a lot of muscle soreness. While I think massage therapy is great and is defiantly a huge help for muscle pain there are also a few supplements that help a lot as well. These supplements work really well for anyone suffering from chronic muscle pain or muscle pain associated with working out.
Epson salt- I can’t tell you how much this helps. Seriously! Magnesium helps relax muscles. Take 2 cups and soak in a warm bath for 20-30 minutes. You will thank me for it 🙂
Arnica- These little pills are life saver. I take these at the slightest sign of muscle pain. They are safe for kids to take too. Here is a link to the ones I use.
Natural Vitality Cal-Mag- This little miracle tonic saves my life on a daily. It also helps me sleep like a baby. I have posted a link below.
Foam rolling- I can’t tell you how important it is to roll out before and after you work out. This will help keep your muscles supple and healthy as well as flushing out lactic acid. You can get them for around $20 and it’s well worth the $20.
H20- Yup good old fashion water. Drink lots of it and apply it in the form of ice anytime you have muscle pain.
Hope these help. Let me know if you have questions.
Stephanie
http://www.primalcotton.com
All information found on this blog is for entertainment purposes only and should not replace medical advice from your doctor.
Who hasn’t suffered from muscle pain at one time or another? Muscle pain is one of the main reasons I stay in business as a massage therapist. It seems like almost everyone suffers from some form of muscle pain. This has become even truer since I started working with crossfit athletes. Crossfit is great, but it really takes a beating on your body. But it’s not just people that work out who suffer from muscles pain; I see lots of clients who work at desks who end up with really sever muscle pain because of poor posture or repetitive motion injuries. Heck my 11 year old son suffers from muscle pain because of sports. It is something everyone deals with from time to time. While I defiantly think massage is the best way to truly correct muscle pain because it helps release tension in the muscles and helps realign the body, I know that sometimes massage isn’t realistic for everyone and sometimes you need a little extra help. For this reason I keep Arnica in my house at all times.
Arnica is a flower that is part of the sunflower family. It comes in several forms. It can be used topically in a cream or salve form or it comes in a homeopathic pill form that can be taken internally. I keep both forms in my house. Arnica has an active ingredient that helps aid in healing, recovery, and relieves inflammation. It can be used for bruising, muscle soreness, sprains and strains, tendinitis, as well as arthritis. More and more coaches and athletes are starting to use arnica because it cuts down on recovery time after physical activity. I highly recommend it after a hard work out day as well.
While I defiantly recommend taking arnica to help with muscles pain, I also say this is a must have if you have little ones in the house. I currently have an 11year old, 4 year old, and 2 year old, in the house and every day someone has fallen or gotten hurt. As soon as they get hurt they run and grab the arnica cream, lol. It really does work!
Arnica can be found in most grocery stores in the vitamin isle or in almost any health food store or natural foods store. I have attached a picture of the one I use so you can see what it looks like. Trust me if you are not using this stuff you will want to add it to your medicine chest. At the first sign of any muscle pain take this stuff! You won’t be sorry. :)
One of my favorite things to do is teach. I have been lucky enough to be able to combine my passion for wellness and helping people into one career. As anyone who is a teacher will agree, teaching becomes so much more then just teaching the subjects you are knowledgeable in. In my career I have become a teacher of spirituality, finding ones self, and manifesting ones true potential, in addition to massage therapy and holistic health. One of my favorite things about teaching is being able to watch people transform into who they are meant to be as people. I get to impart my little bit of knowledge and help people take that knowledge and create careers and improve their lives.
When I was teaching in the post secondary world, one of my favorite classes to teach was business class. This was a class most of the teachers hated to teach, but I loved it because it was an opportunity to teach people how to change their way of thinking. As any great business person will tell you, being good in business has a lot to do with how you think. If you think you are going to fail, you are going to fail. I love being able to help people change their way of thinking and helping them to unleash their true potential. Each and everyone one of us has the potential to be and do great things. We just have to get out of our own way in order for this to happen.
I have decided to take my teaching experience a step further and ,I am excited to announce that this Spring I will be offering a 2 day camping retreat in Point Reyes California. This retreat will be a 2 day intense workshop teaching people how to manifest the life they have always wanted to lead. Everyone has the ability to have life they have always dreamed of, they just need to have the proper skills and tools to do it. Stay tuned for the exact dates and more information!
Here is a little sneak peak at the beautiful beach at Point Reyes.
PrimalCotton 