Fancy That!

  Does anyone else love nut butter as much as I do? It's such a healthy protein and great for breakfast or lunch, depending on how you like to enjoy yours.  Recently, I had the chance to try some by a brand called Nutty Novelties. I ended up choosing their simple blends, like Classic Peanut Butter, Pistachio Butter, Almond Butter, and Cashew Butter. I loved each jar and thought it was just simply delicious. However, they offer a ton of unique varieties that you don't want to miss out on. They have Honey Roasted Peanut Butter , Cinnamon Almond Butter , and  Dark Chocolate Almond Butter . That's only the beginning! They have a ton more jars, plus they're prices are really reasonable. Many of their jar's prices start at $4 a jar, making it a delicious and affordable price. The jars aren't very big but they go a long way because of how packed they are with flavor. What I really appreciate about this brand is that it's a small business and run by real people you

  I am such a huge fan of pasta! Anytime that is the main course, I'm a happy lady. However, making my own pasta sauce has never really been my thing. I know there are recipes out there. The truth is, though, there are also so many awesome jar sauces that I don't find a need to make my own. Recently, I had the chance to try out the Hoboken Farms pasta sauce. And wow! It's such a good experience. I can't wait to tell you about it. First of all, it has some major plusses right out of the gate: It is NON-GMO. That's a major factor for me, because I don't want genetically modified ingredients in my spaghetti. It's also low sodium and gluten-free. And another major perk, it's vegan! So it already has a lot of factors that make me like it right away. I had the chance to try their Marinara and Basil Marinara. What I love about both of these jars are the ingredients. You won't find anything weird about it. The marinara has just whole tomatoes, olive oil, oni

  Do you purchase organic coffee? I haven't always had the budget for organic coffee, but I know there are so many benefits to purchasing organic foods and beverages. Coffee is no exception. Why Choose Organic Coffee?  Organic coffee is so much better for the planet. As stated by the CCOF , "Organic standards address many factors: soil quality, animal raising, pest and weed control, and use of input materials." It's far better for the environment and minimizes your global footprint. It helps farms and completely avoids the use of chemical fertilizers .  The Bean Coffee Company is not only USDA-certified organic. They are also certified by the CCOF, which stands for the California Certified Organic Farmers. The CCOF has its own standards. It's quite an extensive process to achieve this level of certification, which is one of the standout reasons that I loved trying their coffee. What I Thought About The Bean Coffee Company Coffee I have a fairly simple and straight

I'm honored to have author Lisa May Bennett part of my blog today. She shares a helpful guest post as part of her blog tour of her memoir MY UNFURLING .   Nine years ago, I completed my first Whole30. In case you’re not familiar, Whole30 is a food elimination program in which you don’t eat grains, dairy, added sugar, legumes, or alcohol for thirty days. I was looking for something to make me feel healthier, and I was very pleased with the results. To this day, I eat much less of the foods in some of those groups, and I can see exactly how eating them affects my body.   But my biggest discovery that month was how much better I felt without alcohol. I had been drinking regularly since I was 16—for more than three decades! I didn’t think I had a serious problem, but something didn’t feel quite right about the persistent nature of my habit.  Sadly, even with positive evidence in hand, I celebrated the first day after my Whole30 with a glass of wine. It would take me nearly three more y

Bonus #0. Something I’ve long known was especially important during the John Muir Trail adventure that became my memoir, Force of Nature. Plan ahead thoroughly, but be ready to adjust and embrace surprises . I’m a planner. I like to do all the organizing early—creating Plans A, B, and C—so I can relax and enjoy the trip. For example, I had to organize my meals for a month, break food up into packages for each day, and then send boxes ahead to food caching sites to be picked up. One box was even delivered to the trail by packhorse. Out in the wilderness, I was confident my supplies would be waiting for me at the next stop. 1.  Have patience with myself that I will rise to the occasion—I will get stronger or I’ll adjust. I am brave (even when I’m scared).  Early in our adventure, I was terrified of walking across logs over rivers. I felt top-heavy with forty pounds on my back and didn’t trust my feet on rough curved logs. I pictured myself falling headlong into the river below! But I kep

Thank you Rebecca for joining in today! She's doing a blog tour with WOW! Women on Writing about her book " When Mama Grows With Me " My preschooler loves to ask: “What’s your favorite fill-in-the-blank?”. And I love that he asks these questions, because he’s probing for what the other person appreciates and not what they hate! Though when my son asks the bug question, the other person’s immediate response tends to be a narrowing of the eyes and scrunching of the nose. Currently, my son’s favorite bug is a grasshopper. Consider this: when the adult cringes in response to a question that has no wrong answer, what message is that sending to the child? Many people would not place the words appreciation and bugs in the same sentence. Bottom line, bugs keep our ecosystem in balance. Without bugs, human existence couldn’t thrive. According to BBC Science Focus , if all bugs suddenly disappeared, we would have complete ecological collapse and global famine. That is enough to con