My 10 Favorite Snacks & A Healthy Snack Guide for You

Being healthy and maintaining your ideal weight doesn't mean never snacking. It means choosing snacks that are packed with nutrition and love, instead of empty calories and guilty feelings.

When choosing a snack, I like to think about what foods make me feel my best and taste good. I also try to think of snacks as an opportunity to fit in the things I know I should be eating, like more protein and veggies.

Here are my favorite go-to snacks:

1. chunky peanut butter by the spoonful
2. dark chocolate, especially with almonds and sea salt
3. tamari roasted almonds

Green Cleaning Essentials Shopping List

Wanna start making your own non toxic cleaning products? Begin here.

Keep these things on hand and you'll be ready to use the safe and effective DIY eco-friendly cleaning techniques I share on this blog and in my eBook, Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning. You probably already have a lot of them in your pantry. 

Sign from last year's workshop at Whole Foods Market University Heights

Most Grocery stores:

• Baking Soda
• Club Soda
• Cream of Tartar
• Distilled Water
• Vegetable Oil
• White Vinegar

Natural/Health Food Store or Amazon:

• Dish detergent (from a green brand)
• Castile Soap (liquid, unless making powdered detergent)
• Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds 

I'm Gonna Wear The Same Thing Every Day

I'm talking about my engagement ring. My fiance and I picked it out together this weekend. It was super important for me to not have a ring that is made from new gold or diamonds for humanitarian and environmental reasons. Overwhelmed and unimpressed by the new jewelry made from recycled gold on the internet, we finally dropped into Reliable Gold here in Providence which sells antique and estate jewelry to see what they had.

I fell in love with this awesome ring with citrine gemstones, wee diamonds, and yellow gold. I was drawn to it- the color and the shape- and it felt perfectly light on my finger. I knew I would want to wear this for the rest of my life.

After a little research, I discovered citrine is a gem that improves energy flow into the solar plexus chakra. Healing Crystals for You reports that the solar plexus chakra is the area where responsibility for others, caring for others, personal honor and courage emerge. I think all those qualities are so important for being a good life partner. The energy of this chakra is about personal power and self esteem, manifestation, creativity and feeling centered. I'm psyched to have this on my finger!

Wanna Look Like a Cover Model?

Upworthy gave four women "cover model" makeovers complete with professional hair, make up, and some serious Photoshopping. They then made this video of their reactions to the final photos.

SPOILER ALERT: The women weren't pleased with the photos, even though the physical features they griped about earlier were gone.




At first I didn't see the big deal. The women didn't look that different in the final photos. When I watched the video again I noticed the things that made them quirky, and stand out, were gone. Freckles disappeared along with curves and smile lines.

Edamame Hummus Recipe: Not Your Mommy's Bean Dip! [Vegan, Gluten-Free]

These fresh shelled soy beans called out to me from the freezer case at Whole Foods, "Edamame hummus. Livi! Make edamame hummus." "What the heck is edamame hummus," I asked. "Don't worry about it. Just pick us up. We'll figure it out," the beans replied.

So I bought them and Googled "edamame hummus." Apparently, it's just like regular old hummus, but made with fresh soy beans. Brilliant! I was totally inspired by Oh My Veggies recipe for Better Than Trader Joe's Edamame Hummus. It seemed perfect, simple, and easy, so I just tweaked it to match what I have in my kitchen and my love of sauteed onions.

I normally make hummus in my big Kitchen Aid food processor. This time around I used the Cusinart mini-prep from my guy's bachelor pad to see if it could handle hummus. The machine got a little hot, but it didn't burn out the motor. So if you only have a little processor, don't let that stop you from trying this yummy, high protein treat!

Vegan Parsley Almond Pesto Recipe [Gluten-free]

I'm having a blast following The 28 Days Lighter Diet. It's such a great way to know the best foods to eat for happy lady hormones based on where I am in my menstrual cycle and for overall reproductive health.

Last night I made parsley almond pesto for the first time since it has lots of 28 Days Lighter Diet approved foods. Almonds have iron, magnesium, and protein. Parsley has vitamin A. Olive oil has vitamin E. Also, can I just say pesto is the easiest, tastiest healthy thing to make ever?

Vegan Parsley Almond Pesto Recipe
This recipe was inspired by Aube Giroux's non-vegan but very good looking parsley almond pesto recipe. Love her!

Vegan Cuts Snack Box Review & Giveaway

Have you heard of Vegan Cuts and their Vegan Snack Box? A vegan snack box is a curated package of plant-based, mostly gluten-free surprise and varied goodies shipped to your door each month. Subscriptions to the box are $19.95 per month, inclusive of shipping in the US. Vegan Cuts offers international shipping as well.

Vegan Cuts sent me a complimentary box for review. Look at what was inside:

Overall, I feel the box fulfilled Vegan Cut's promise: "From chips to cookies and sodas to teas, each month we'll send 7-10 vegan goodies straight to your door." An assortment of treats arrived at my doorstep, neatly packed in a box with minimal fluff. Nothing was broken, crushed, or wet. There wasn't a ton of useless promotional crap- like you usually get with gift bags- just real goodies plus one coupon.