Top Five: Favorite Drinks On-The-Go

When I'm heading out for a day on the town or even a trip to the grocery store I usually make sure that I have my reusable cup filled with ice and water. But when my water is gone or I feel like something else then I usually grab one of the following delicious, healthy, and quenching drinks: 

Evolution Fresh Juice

Evolution Fresh juices are delicious fruit and/or veggie blends that can be found at Starbucks. They are made up of only fresh cold-pressed fruits and vegetables with no other added ingredients. I love all of the different flavors.

Roxberry Green Smoothie 

The green smoothies offered at Roxberry were created by the Green Smoothie Girl, Robyn Openshaw. She is a nutrition coach, public speaker, and bestselling author. You can find her website, here. Green Smoothie Girl recommends drinking green smoothies to detoxify the body, lose weight, increase energy, prevent heart disease, lower cholesterol, and boost the immune system. My favorite green smoothie at Roxberry is the 32 oz. Green Smoothie Girl Original which has 200 calories and 15 servings of raw fruits and veggies (15!!) and 12 grams of fiber. It has spinach, kale, mixed berries, peaches, bananas, and agave. 

Smart Water 

My favorite bottled water is Smart Water. It tastes clean and fresh and I drink a lot of it. 

Mamma Chia

Mamma Chia, the original chia seed drink, provides a complete nutritional profile of omega-3, balanced dietary fiber, complete protein, antioxidants, and minerals. They are all-natural and fairly low in calories. I have tried most of the flavors and have loved all of them. Read more about why I love chia seeds, here. Find my homemade smoothie recipe made with chia seeds, here. (I now add chia seeds to every smoothie I make.)

Silk Pure Almond Dark Chocolate

Silk Pure Almond Milk in Dark Chocolate is one of my guilty pleasures. I drink almond milk on a daily basis, but the chocolate almond milk is a treat. It's rich and creamy and perfect for on the go since it doesn't need to be refrigerated. Although I do recommend drinking it chilled. 

Natural Beauty

Last week I visited Utah's brand new shopping mecca in the heart of Downtown Salt Lake City. City Creek Center is a gorgeous new mall with high-end retail shops and restaurants. It is literally one of the most beautiful malls I have ever stepped foot in. There are a lot of stores new to Utah, like; Tiffany and Co., Coach, 77 Kids by American Eagle, Michael Kors, and Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics to name a few. After shopping we had lunch in the food court at Bocata Artisan Sandwiches, which is owned by one of my favorite restaurants, Settebello Pizzeria Napoletana. I had a delicious Caprese Bocata that had fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and sea salt on a hot ciabatta roll that was fresh out of the brick oven (the bread tasted exactly like the pizza dough from Settebello's). It was heaven! 

City Creek Center

Other than seeing this spectacular new mall, I was most looking forward to lunch at Bocata, shopping at Nordstrom, and stepping into Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics for the first time. I had heard a lot about Lush but have never had the pleasure to shop there. Lush makes handmade natural products, they use minimal to no packaging, their bags are made from recycled paper, and they use no to very little chemicals in their products. They have scrubs, bath bombs, soap, shampoo, and much more.

Lush's Ocean Salt

Natural beauty products are more important to me than ever and here's why; 

I recently heard a Doctor on television say "you shouldn't put anything on your skin that isn't safe enough to eat." Your skin is your body's largest organ. What you put on your body, you literally absorb. I never really thought too much about this until lately when I read about chemical ingredients like phthalates and parabens in Crazy Sexy Diet. 

Phthalates: Phthalates are used to make fragrance last longer. It's found in products like shampoo, hair gels, lotions, and deodorants. The scary thing about phthalates is that "a quarter of American woman are already contaminated with high enough levels of phthalates to potentially cause malformations in their male offspring." As of right now, it's not required by law to put phthalates on the label. So until we get better laws it's best to avoid all synthetic fragrance-containing products. Look for natural fragrance or no added fragrance products.

Parabens: "These chemicals, which can act like estrogen in the body are used as preservatives in a wide array of lotions, shaving cream, make-up, and shower products." In 2004 a study was released stating that parabens could lead to breast cancer. 

(To see if your beauty products contain these ingredients, check out safecosmetics.org.)

Even though there are thousands and thousands of products on the shelves with these chemicals and some companies have stated that they are completely safe, I have decided to look into more natural products. I still want effective products - I just want a few less chemicals.

I have discovered that there are so many gorgeous, non-toxic beauty products on the market. Just check the ingredient labels and have an understanding of what's in your products. Look for words that end with paraben, look for added fragrance that isn't natural, and look for added coloring. I have purchased products with more natural ingredients recently from Aveda, Origins, and Lush just to name a few. Most of their products are fairly natural, however, some of their products do have small amounts of parabens to give them longer shelf life. Again, just check the label or their websites for product ingredients. I also switched my baby's shampoo and lotion to Burt's Bees all-natural after reading that most baby products are loaded with formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane - both known carcinogens. 

I love this product - Lush's Buffy Body Butter

This day and age it doesn't make you a hippie to use natural beauty products (unless your going for "hippie" - that's totally cool). Until harmful ingredients are banned from the beauty industry, you just need to do what you feel is right for you and your family. 

Top Five: Things I Am Loving Right Now

I can't believe it's already February. Since it's the month of love and I am loving so many things right now, I thought I would share my top five list (above and beyond my family and friends, of course). Ready to hear see the word "love" a lot? Here we go...

I Love My Job

I just finished my first week of training and all I can say is I LOVE MY JOB! I love being a Barista and being part of the Starbucks team. My co-workers are so amazing. I love that Starbucks offers their part-time employees such great benefits. I have never had a job like this and I have discovered that I love working with the public and learning all about being a Barista. I don't really love waking up at 4:00 am (Ugh!), but it's only three days a week and that's why naps were invented. I also love that this job has filled a really tiny void I was feeling. Don't get me wrong, I love being a full-time stay-at-home mom, but I also love working as long as I enjoy what I'm doing. Plus, Ella wakes up between 8:00 and 9:00 am, so I only miss a few hours of her week. 

I Love Our Best Bites

Since stumbling upon a few of Our Best Bites recipes on Pinterest, I have fallen in love with their website and cookbook. We have made lots of recipes so far and we have loved every one of them. They are healthy, flavorful, and easy meals to make. So far we have made Apple Butter Pork Chops, Guiltless Alfredo, Tomato Artichoke Pasta, Roasted Broccoli, and Orange Chicken (from the cookbook) just to name a few. Our goal is to make every recipe in the book. They all look THAT good. 

I Love Blue Lemon

I have mentioned Blue Lemon before, but it's because it's one of my favorite restaurants. Blue Lemon's motto is "Pure Clean Food with a Twist." It's all-natural food (mostly local) and really delicious. The reason it made this list is not only because I love them but because they are opening a new location in Cottonwood Heights and I am so excited. I am always in that area at Target, Snider Bros Meats, The Store, or Whole Foods and now I can stop at Blue Lemon for lunch. I love that. 

I Love The Revolution

The Revolution is a new daytime TV show that focuses on women. It provides the tools to help you start your own revolution and make transformations in all areas of your life. The team of experts include;  Dr. Tiffanie Davis Henry (emotional well-being expert), Dr. Jennifer Aston (OB-GYN, health expert), Harley Pasternak (Celebrity Trainer and Nutritionist), Tim Gunn (Fashion Guru), and Ty Pennington (Design Expert). Each expert shares tips and advice on how you can become your best self. Also, each week they feature one woman going through her own transformation (her 5-month journey unfolds over the 5 days of the week). I just love this show and get so many tips from it. It's a daytime show worth watching. 

I Love Pink Pistachio 

I am pretty sure everyone has someone that inspires them, even if they don't know them. They are talented, beautiful, funny, and just downright amazing. One of those people to me is the girl (her name is Missy) that writes the blog Pink Pistachio. I follow her blog daily and pin (on Pinterest) almost everything she posts. I love all of her fashion advice, favorite things, recipes, beauty tips, etc., etc., etc. I also love that she is a mom of a toddler just like me and loves her dog like a child... just like me. She is also into organic and earth-friendly which I love. You can check out her fabulous blog, here. 

Pink Pistachio's DIY Infinity Scarf

My Favorite Organic and All-Natural Foods

In an effort to cut preservatives, pesticides, antibiotics, and growth hormones out of my diet, I have been a little more careful with the foods I select at the grocery store. I have always bought some all-natural foods, but since having a baby I have become so much more aware of what I am feeding my family. I have been trying to prove to my husband over the ten years we have been married that healthy less-processed food doesn't mean it has to taste like cardboard. All of these foods, organic and all-natural, I am about to share with all of you are amazingly tasty and they aren't full of pesticides, preservatives, or growth hormones (which my husband jokes is what makes food taste good). 

Organic 

Organic foods are produced using methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, do not contain genetically modified organisms, and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives. 

The day Ella was able to have cows milk I was in search of a milk that was rBST free (rBST is a growth hormone) and found this milk at Sunflower Farmer's Market. It's Shamrock Farms Organic Milk and my family loves it. It is seriously the most delicious milk we have ever had. Quick note: milk doesn't have to be organic to be rBST free, just check the bottle to make sure it doesn't have this hormone (it will say "rBST free"). Some farmer's give their cows this hormone to make them produce more milk which is then passed through the milk onto us. I don't know about you, but I don't need any extra growth hormones.

One of the main reasons I wanted to post about my favorite organic foods is because of this bread - Dave's Killer Bread. It ROCKS! It's organic, it's delicious, and it has 21 whole grains. Dave's motto is "Just say no to bread on drugs!" It has no preservatives, no animal byproducts, and no GMO's (genetically modified organisms). I found this amazingly delicious bread at Costco.

Some of my other favorite organic staples are organic eggs from Costco (I make sure the are free range chicken eggs), Organic Girl Good Clean Greens (click here for one of my recipes), organic whole wheat pasta, and organic steel cut oats. I try and buy organic produce as much as possible too.

All-Natural

"Natural Foods" are often foods that are minimally processed and do not contain any hormones, antibiotics, sweeteners, food colors, or flavorings that were not originally in the food.

A lot of foods I buy are all-natural. I like the fact that they don't have yucky additives. Don't get me wrong, not all of my family's favorite things come all-natural, but everything is okay in moderation (i.e. cupcakes and other delicious items). 

One of my favorite all-natural food makers is Alexia All Natural Gourmet Foods. They make yummy appetizers, artisan breads, fries, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and vegetable sides. I have had almost everything they make (except I am dying to try the new Waffle Cut Parmesan Lemon fries) and I love it all. All of their products are so flavorful and delicious. Alexia products can be found at most grocery stores. Here are two of my family's favorites: 

Olive Oil, Rosemary, and Garlic Oven Fries

Sweet Potato Puffs (think Sweet Potato Tater Tots - Ella especially loves these)

I LOVE anything Kashi and when I need a sweet treat I go for these - Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Soft-Baked Cookies. All-natural, whole grain, dark chocolate, and they are so delish! These can be found at most grocery stores.

Kettle Baked Potato Chips. All I have to say besides they are all-natural and baked - they are my favorite chips EVER!

Other all-natural foods I love are Seapoint Farms Edamame, Gardenburgers, and three others that I blogged about in the past, Diana's Banana Babies, Dave's Gourmet Pasta Sauces, and Dorot Frozen Fresh Herbs.

AND last, but not least I have to mention my three favorite all-natural restaurants that even have organic ingredients in their kitchens; Blue Lemon, Chipotle, and Jamba Juice. I love Blue Lemon and die for their Black Bean Ravioli. I eat at Chipotle at least once a week and even my baby is addicted to their brown rice and black beans. And Jamba Juice has amazingly delicious organic steel cut oatmeal and a new hot cider drink (the Chillbuster) with organic mulling spices. So good!

Skinnylicious

One of my very favorite restaurants, The Cheesecake Factory, just rolled out its new Skinnylicious Menu. There are about 50 menu on the new menu that are all under 600 calories, including; appetizers, salads, burgers, grilled chicken or fish, flatbreads, and more (no desserts, if you were wondering). I LOVE that they have such a huge menu of healthy options.

Saturday night was girls night out and before we hit the stores for some serious shopping we met at The Cheesecake Factory for dinner. I was tempted to order one of 'regular' menu items because after all it was girls night out, but I had been looking forward to ordering one of the healthy options since I heard about the new menu. We ordered edamame for an appetizer and I ordered the Skinnylicious Chicken Tacos. They were seriously so good and I left feeling satisfied and not overly stuffed. I didn't even order cheesecake which I think is an actual crime. I mean it's The Cheesecake Factory, the name pretty much implies that you have to order cheesecake for dessert.

Anyway, I am very excited to go back and try more Skinnylicious Menu items.