An Essential Life

When your superfood elixir matches your shirt you take a selfie 🤷🏻‍♀️
But in all seriousness this elixir from was SO delicious I was sad it wasn’t a full size juice.

details; pineapple // turmeric // ginger // cayenne

Do you have a favorite combo elixir?

When I want something to quench my thirst if I’m not drinking a coconut water it’s usually a fresh pressed juice.

I’ve been a fan of drought juices from the very beginning and also enjoy visiting their store front. (You can find their juices all over now!)

apple + lemon + ginger is my fav and love when it’s got some extra heat!

Just a mom with her three babes shopping around on this beautiful day ☀️

Just another thing I love about summer is being able to visit all he different farmers markets. We went to the Ann Arbor’s fm the last two weekends and had to stop by for a breakfast sandwich.

The first time I got this sandwich and enjoyed it so much I got it the next weekend too! Anyone else do that? Find something on the menu and then only get that the next times you go because you know it’s so good, or do you try other things anyways??

breakfast details;
applewood-smoked bacon + two eggs + vermont cheddar cheese on a toasted sesame bagel

One thing I love about social media is getting new ideas for healthy recipes + finding new products to try.

With our first daughter it was difficult in the beginning when she would refuse to eat or didn’t want to try something. My husband and I established from the early days that our kids would eat the same dinner as we were having (sometimes with slight modifications) but we would never cook all different dinners.

It’s worked well for us thus far, and along the way we’ve been able to not feel as guilty if someone doesn’t eat their dinner or they don’t like one thing without even trying a bite first.

I am more strict with what our kids eat when they’re with us, and as they get older I try to involve them as much as possible with the food prep and cooking to get them excited about food and understand healthy options. So most of the time dessert is a special treat, and not just one thing we have everyday after dinner. And sometimes it’s a chocolate donut because you’re in Chicago and you pass by 🍩

Yup. This is real life right here. I tried out my new bakeware pans and little hands are right there wanting the goods. since they are healthy donuts but they don’t know the difference 😉

Sharing my food since 2015 ✌🏼

I always used to make my own nut butters...and then 3 kids happened 🤷🏻‍♀️ so when I came across this recipe from , I decided that I wanted to get back to it again! This picture def makes me want to eat it right out of the jar with a spoon!
Cashew Almond butter:
1 cup Raw Cashews
1 cup Raw Almonds
1 tbsp Coconut Oil
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Set oven to 325 F. Spread nuts in a single layer on a cookie sheet and roast for 10 minutes. Place in a food processor and grind for 4-5 minutes. Use a spatula to push the nuts from the side of the food processor. Let it grind for another 4 - 5 minutes. At this point, it should be more of a "paste", but not a creamy butter texture. Add 1 tbsp coconut oil, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp of vanilla extract. Blend for another 5 minutes until creamy!
How easy is that?

So I’ve been on a little bit of a baking kick lately... and I’ve been letting my girls help, and they’re obviously enjoying everything we’ve been baking.

Banana Zucchini bread

Ingredients:
3 Ripe Bananas
1 zucchini, peeled and grated
2 Eggs
¼ cup Unsweetened Apple Sauce
¼ cup Coconut Oil
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 cups flour ( I used ottos cassava flour)
¼ cup Maple syrup
½ tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Mash bananas well with potato masher or fork. Add mashed bananas, eggs, coconut oil, apple sauce and vanilla in a mixer and combine well. Add baking soda, cinnamon, maple syrup, and flour in the bowl. Mix again until the batter forms. Add in chocolate chips ( we only added them to to top but I will definitely add them too the batter too next time) Grease your choice pan, we did a loaf pan, add batter, sprinkle remaining chocolate chips and place in oven. Bake for 45-60 minutes.

I love finding a good (clean) baking recipe like these blueberry cassava flour muffins from . She has so many recipes I can’t wait to try!

Ingredients
3 eggs
3/4 cup applesauce unsweetened
1/2 cup organic coconut milk full fat, blended
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 1/2 cups cassava flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup fresh blueberries
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and line a 12 cup muffin pan with parchment liners. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, applesauce, coconut milk, lemon juice, vanilla extract, maple syrup until smooth. In a separate bowl, combine the cassava flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, then gently stir the dry mixture into the wet until just combined. Fold in the blueberries, then fill parchment liners nearly to the top to make 12 muffins.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20 mins or until muffins rise and toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean. Cool on wire racks before serving. Enjoy!

This pizza only took me 5 minutes to make and 10 minutes to bake, but it’s combo of flavors are seriously delicious.
Recipe:

▫️Naan flat bread drizzled with olive oil
▫️Shredded whole milk mozzarella sprinkled over entire bread
▫️Shaved Prosciutto torn into small pieces
▫️Bake in oven at 400 degrees until bottom is browned or about 10 minutes.

Basalmic reduction:
1/2 cup basalmic vinegar into sauce pan and simmer on low until reduced and thickened.

After flatbread is baked, sprinkle with arugula and shaved Parmesan.

Drizzle basalmic reduction over entire pizza.

My kids are always at the top of priority list...While over the past few months we’ve really established a good routine now that my youngest isn’t a newborn anymore,- there are many times I find myself struggling with maintaining a healthy balance and putting myself first. (I think it’s just a mom trait)

I thrive on routine but I’m trying to allow myself to bend that a little, fit in more time for myself (and for me + hubby). It’s been working out quite nicely and I’ve found I’m more efficient on the daily living tasks.

We all need to pause once in awhile, daily, weekly...I love this quote I found recently “the 5/5 rule: if it’s not gonna matter in five years, don’t spend more than five minutes being upset about it”

Kale is my most preferred green (even more than spinach) and getting it from the farmers market is 10xs better! I even think this bunch is in the shape of a heart ❤️

I’ll be sautéing this with some avocado oil + pink salt and once crisp I’ll add some nutritional yeast.

What do you love getting from your farmers market??

Since we know that 80% of our body’s immune system is located in the gut, I’m always looking for ways to improve my gut health.

Say hello to Mojo wellness shots by .

My GUT Mojo contains ginger, aloe leaf, cinnamon, cranberry, lemon and hibiscus to support the digestive system and improve overall immunity.

My gut mojo and all the other Mojo wellness shots including my brain, my adrenal, my liver, and my immunity are available on Amazon and in select stores. They are all unsweetened, caffeine free and USDA organic. No added sugar, no preservatives.

Which one do you want to try?? 👇🏼👇🏼