Recipes: Potato & Bacon Chowder

                 Hey Everyone! Happy Friday!! Well, in Nashville we had 3 inches of snow earlier in the week and this weekend its in the 60's geez oh mighty, if that doesn't mess up your body I don't know what will haha! I loved every minute of the snow and snow days! Hopefully we will get some more before the season is up. Anywhoo, I wanted to share this great recipe that we tried this week on our Week 3 of Whole 30. We are still kicking, yep still making it, it's never easy but always good haha! We tried this one night and loved this easy and delicious recipe and thought it would be fun to share with you all. This is a whole30 recipe/paleo/ GF/DF all that goodness.

             This was a perfect dish for a cold week! I made this in the slow cooker; therefore, I included the slow cooker details below as well as the recipe. I found this from another gal who is paleo and whole30 named Paleo Bailey on social media and her website is linked below if you would like to see more of her recipes as well. This one is great!! Enjoy xo :)

Potato and Bacon Chowder 

Ingredients: 

-3 large white potatoes 

-1/2 cup of onions (I used white and also green onions as well)

-6 slices of bacon crumbled
-28 oz of chicken stock  

-2 cups of almond milk 

-3 tablespoons ghee butter

- 1 1/2 tablespoons of arrowroot powder as the thickener

-3 tablespoons of parsley flakes

-salt and pepper to taste

Details:

For your crockpot:

-Add all of the ingredients besides cooked bacon, almond milk and thickener to your crock pot

-Then cook this on high for 3-4 hours 

-Then, add in your almond milk to a large skillet on the stove top over medium heat, add in thickener, whisk until thick and until it bubbles and the clumps dissolve, then add into your crock pot

-Lastly, stir in the cooked bacon and allow your soup to thicken 

-I garnished the soup with green onions and bacon :)

________________

this recipe is from: Paleo Bailey head to: Paleo Bailey Recipes Including this Recipe

for more of her recipes 

Here are some pictures of this recipe that we made this week:

Style & Beauty: My Go-To Products

               Hi Everyone! Happy Wednesday! I hope you are all enjoying your week so far. We have had actual snow in Nashville and it has been exciting! Cold and snowy, my favorite :) With the cold weather and the dry skin I thought it would be fun to share my go-to products not only during the chilly months but year round. These are products I stay true to and love all year long. As many of you know, I am a consultant on the side for Beautycounter and a lot of my go-to products are Beautycounter but also other products as well. Whether you are renewing your products for the new year, wanting to try something new, or simply want to see what I love I put together a lot of information for you. I hope you enjoy, please let me know if you have any questions!

Here is a detailed list of my go-to's and why I love them: My notes are in red

Coconut Milk Bath Soak by Herbivore:

Product Details

Key Benefits:

• Perfect for hydrating and softening skin
• Leaves your skin soft and hydrated
• Coconut milk powder moisturizes and softens the skin
• Delivers anti-inflammatory properties
• Helps soothe inflamed areas of the skin
• Vanilla helps deliver a relaxing and calming effect on the brain
• Provides relief from anxiety, anger and restlessness
• Imparts a soothing coconut and vanilla extract

Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda) , Dehydrated Vegan Coconut Milk, Coconut Pulp CO2, Vanilla Planifolia Extract.

An ethically sourced, natural skin care line with a wide-range of products, Herbivore Botanicals stick to active ingredients for visible results.

If you need a good clean/safe bath soak this is a great product that I use when or if I take a bath. It smells great and the best part its safe to use. 

You can purchase it here: This is the best deal I have found on this: Coconut Milk Bath Soak

Beautycounter Balancing + Charcoal Mask:

As some of you may know, Beautycounter offers safe products with safe ingredients. All products are clean and safe of harmful chemicals and ingredients and safe for everyone in the family to use. 

Benefits: Activated charcoal and kaolin clay absorb excess oil and refine skin texture, giving skin a smooth, polished appearance. Infused with activated charcoal and ylang ylang, the Beautycounter+ Balancing Collection gently refines oily, uneven skin. 

The nutrient rich kaolin clay mask purifies and balances absorbing excess old and draws out impurities. Activated charcoal minuses the appearance of pores, giving skin a smooth, refined appearance while salicylic acid stimulations exfoliation. Perfect for all skin types and those concerned with congestion and oily skin. 

I use this twice a week and love the way it makes my skin feel afterwards. The mask dries quick and hardens deep within your pores. You skin will definitely feel softer and better just after one or two uses. This is also great for anyone that suffers from acne. 

To purchase: Charcoal Mask

Skinny Coconut Oil: Skinny Coconut Oil is the only 100% RAW, sustainably sourced, small batch, chemical free, preservative free, never heated and hand crafted coconut oil in the world.  The secret is our body and age defying patented Nutralock technology that produces oil below 100 degrees without using heat, chemicals or solvents. Heat and chemicals is the natural enemy of oil because it breaks down its vital medium chain fatty acids (MCFA’s) and naturally occurring enzymes rendering the oil less effective.

With Skinny Coconut Oil you are assured of getting those rare to find yet highly beneficial MCFA’s.  The miracle of MCFA’s is that they are quickly digested by the body instead of stored as fat and arterial plaque like long chain fatty acids found in seed and other types of oils.

Skinny Coconut Oil is also a natural form of MCT oil along with having over 50% lauric acid -the highest levels found in a coconut oil,  which is the immune building key to mothers breast milk.

Skinny Coconut Oil takes 30% more coconuts to produce and in its liquid state above 78 degrees readers completely clear and actually looks like water - the true sign of purity in coconut oil.

Skinny Coconut Oil gives you everything you need to hydrate, repair and protect your body and skin.  Our exclusive age defying patented process uniquely formulates a pH balanced coconut oil which maintains all of its natural occurring fatty acids essential for beautiful hair and skin.

Your skin is your largest organ and works hard for you - return the favor with Skinny Coconut Oil and indulge yourself in the best nature has to offer. Reap the many benefits of younger, hydrated and healthy looking skin and a slimmer, more focused, healthier looking you.  Skinny Coconut Oil is as close as you can get to handpicked from the tree.

Benefits:

• Paleo - Keto - Vegan - Non GMO
• Great healthy Fat for Energy
• Shown to boost metabolism

Details:

• Wild harvested coconuts are handpicked
• No chemicals, fillers, solvents or preservatives
• Patented NutraLock™ process uses cold air instead of heat

How To Use:

• Add to tea, coffee, or smoothies
• Use in place of butter or conventional oils
• Take spoonful for natural sustained energy

For hair, face, and skin care, view our Health & Body collection. Coconut oil may turn liquid above 76 degrees Fahrenheit and become solid again under 76 degrees.

Ingredients:

• 100% RAW Patented Nutralock Coconut Oil (cocos nucifera)

**All information found on the Skinny Coconut Website

I use this every night as a makeup remover to remove the makeup from my eyes before cleansing with my Beautycounter products. This product you can also cook with as it mentions above but I use this as a night time regiment for my makeup. You can also take a look at the website as they have entire section of coconut oil products for style and beauty.

To purchase: Skinny Coconut Oil

Peppermint Pure Castile Bar Soap: Our most popular scent & with a peppermint burst so pure it tingles! Scented with organic peppermint oil to cool skin, clear sinuses and sharpen mind. Our Peppermint Pure-Castile Bar Soap is made with certified fair trade ingredients and organic hemp oil for a soft, smooth lather that won't dry your skin. 100% biodegradable in a 100% post-consumer recycled wrapper.

Ingredients: Organic Coconut Oil*, Organic Palm Oil*, Sodium Hydroxide**, Water, Organic Olive Oil*, Mentha Arvensis, Organic Hemp Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Mentha Piperita, Sea Salt, Citric Acid, Tocopherol

*CERTIFIED FAIR TRADE INGREDIENTS
**None remains after saponifying oils into soap & glycerin.

** All information found directly from the Dr. Bronner's Website 

Reed and I both use this daily in the shower as a body bar soap and also as a hand soap by the sink. We love the peppermint smell but also love the way it leaves your skin feeling after each use. They have great products! We love the bottled castile soap also to clean our home as well. 

To purchase: I find this at Sprouts or my local grocery store also Target now carries this or online at Peppermint Castille Bar Soap

Beautycounter Nourishing Cream Cleanser: Soothe and nourish your skin as you wash away your makeup and other impurities with this ultra-gentle daily cleanser. Lightweight yet deeply moisturizing, the creamy formula contains witch hazel to tone skin, and coconut oil and aloe to help hydrate.

Dampen skin, then gently massage cleanser into your face, Rinse, and this is perfect for all skin types for the whole family.

I use this daily as my daily face wash either in the morning or at night. The other product I love that I didn't mention here is the charcoal bar by Beautycounter. I switch these two from day to night to cleanse my face. Excellent products!!

To Purchase: Beautycounter Nourishing Cream Cleanser

Beautycounter Color Pinch Cream Blusher: This brightens your cheeks with a natural, dewy color. Using jojoba ester and carnauba wax as it conditions and hydrates skin, making the smooth, non sticky formula easy to apply on the go. You dab this on your cheek bones on blend evenly with a blender sponge, your finger, or brush. This creates a natural looking glow and adds color to your cheeks.

 I use this daily and a little bit goes a long way! you just need a dab on each side of your face after you apply your foundation, powder, this is your finishing touch. 

Beautycounter Touchup Skin Concealer Pen:  Hide dark circles, redness, or other areas of imperfections with this concealer pen. Unlike other concealers that move or shift, ours stays put for long lasting, flawless wear. Plus, the click pen and brush applicator make it easy to apply just use the right amount on the go. Formulated with knotgrass extract, our concealer helps reduce the appearance of fine lines and photo aging so skin looks firmer, brighter instantly. 

I also use this daily as well under my eyes and any other redness areas of my skin that I want to touch up. This works great and another favorite product!!

Beautycounter Eye and Cheek Palette:  This Palette is currently sold out on the Beautycounter website but there is another palette called the Ocean and Pacific Palette that is equally great with incredible colors. 

This is the Ocean and Pacific Palette for you to get an idea of the quality and beautiful shades of eyeshadow but also that we offer multiple safe products 

To Purchase: Products shown here 

Beautycounter Peppermint Lip Conditioner:  Soothes and softens lips with peppermint and rosemary oils. Rub a small amount on lips to condition as much as needed. 

I use this daily, especially in the winter months. When your lips are cracked, dried, or whatever is going on with them and you want a good conditioner that works like a chapstick with butter haha I'm not kidding, its the bomb!! 

To PurchaseL Lip Conditioner Sold here

Recipes: Whole 30 Week 2 Meal Ideas

Hey Everyone! Happy Sunday! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend! We definitely did. Full of relaxing, slowing down with a few good books, date night, and getting ourselves in the gym. It was a great weekend :) We wrapped up week 2 of Whole 30 and are feeling pretty good. I refuse to step on the scale until the first program is over and that is what the Whole30 recommends but Reed hopped on and has already lost a good chunk of weight. Which is great, but it doesn't compare to how much better we already feel only after 2 weeks of the program. That's the reason we are doing this again because of how much better we feel. Just like last summer when we did this, it was such a great re-set and we plan to continue this longer than just the 30 days and more of a lifestyle change. Definitely much needed for us.

I wanted to share a few simple and easy meal ideas that we had/made this week for our Whole 30. Just like last week, this is just a few of our meals from the week. If there is any meal below you would like the recipe for, just let me know and I can send that to you or post on the blog. I hope you are all enjoying the first few weeks of the New Year! Have a great night and Happy Sunday!

Thank you for stopping by xo 

Whole Foods Grab-n-Go for Lunch: Paleo chicken, Roasted Sweet potatoes, and Brocoli 

For a side for Dinner one night: Smashed Garlic & Ghee Butter Yukon Potatoes (so good) 

Homemade Chicken Wings with "Everything but the Bagel seasoning" from Trader Joes

Dinner: The chicken wings, garlic potatoes, and leftover Brocoli from above

Dinner Leftovers & Arugula and Green Leaf Caesar Salad using Tesserae's Caesar Dressing

Breakfast Casserole: Hashbrowns, eggs, chicken apple sausage, peppers, and onions 

Snack: Orange, Apple, and Almond Butter 

Home Decor: Our Sunroom project

             Hey everyone! Happy Thursday! I hope you are all having a great week. I wanted to share a space with you that has been a work in progress. Reed placed bead board on our ceiling of our sunroom this past fall and it turned out great! He did such a good job and we love how it turned out. Then, my dad came in (our master painter in the family) and painted this room white for us and the bead board. I wanted a good fresh look in this room but didn't exactly know what furniture etc that I wanted.

            I have kind of always had the idea of wanting to create a book room or a travel room and definitely want those spaces in our future home one day; however, I thought it would be fun to create a travel themed and book themed sun room. I took several photos from our last few years of traveling and put them in black and white all throughout the room. The trip photos are special to us because we have our honeymoon, first year anniversary, our favorite trip thus far, and a fun trip we took to Mount Airy for Reed's Birthday. These are just a few of our favorite travel photos and thought they would be neat in solid black frames against a bright wall.

         With the travel photos, came along the book idea of compiling and re-organizing all of our favorite books into one location. If you know me or just by following my blog, you know I love neutrals in my house; however, our sunroom has some colorful books on the side that really gives this room a different look from the rest of the house but still ties in as well. I have come to love this sunroom nook in our house and have really enjoyed it since completing it. I searched for months (I am not kidding) for sun room furniture and to be honest didn't really find anything I fell in love with and because of that I re-arranged our living room and added in our love seat that was originally from the living room and moved it into our sunroom space.

        I think what ties this room together is the new basket weave light/chandelier that I found at Ikea. I am in love with it and love the feel it gives for this room. It's clean, kinda earthy toned, and think it fits perfectly in this space. I hope you enjoy the photos below of the finished project. As always, I hope this inspires you to create your own travel or book themed room or whatever room that is that you are working on. I hope you have a great day and rest of the weekend. Thank you for stopping by! xo

Recipes: Whole 30 Week 1 Meal Ideas

Hi Everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your weekend. Last summer, Reed and I did our first Whole30 program and really enjoyed the results of the program and now we are doing another round this January. For any of you who are doing Whole30 or similar diet programs to start off the new year or just simply wanting to eat better I thought it would be good to share some of the meals we are having/making each week. I hope this will serve as inspiration for anyone wanting some new meal ideas. Since we have fully completed a round of Whole30 before, we know how great it feels to complete an entire 30 days of no processed food and a diet free of dairy, gluten, and sugar; therefore, it is a goal of mine to do my absolute best in completing another round after this January program. I would love to maintain this fully as a lifestyle change. It is definitely not easy, but always worth it in the end. 

Here are just a few of our meals that we made/had this week. Some examples of lunches, breakfast and dinner. Not all are pictured obviously, but just some of the highlights haha. 

I hope you enjoy! More to come next week xo

-A quick grab-n-go dinner at whole foods: roasted sweet potato wedges, green beans, one plain chicken wing, pulled pork, and one piece of cilantro lime chicken

Lunch: Lettuce, Arugula, Green onions, cashews, with Tessemae's ceasar dressing 

(dressings and sauces that are whole30 approved can be purchased at Tessemae's

Breakfast, Lunch, or dinner: Egg Muffins with eggs, whole 30 approved bacon, and salt/pepper

Dinner: Baked potato with shredded chicken tossed in Tessemae's bbq sauce, cilantro, and ghee butter.

Breakfast/Lunch: Sweet potato pan with roasted sweet potatoes, 4 eggs, whole30 approved bacon pieces, arugula, and garlic salt/pepper.

Dinner: Zoodles with Rao's Basil Marinara, diced onions, and grassfed beef

Dinner: Sweet potato & cinnamon, sirloin, and grilled asparagus 

Home Decor: Everyday Decor Details

             Hi Everyone! Happy Thursday! After getting all of the Holiday decor put away it was time for a fresh start in the house. There is nothing better than re-decorating and starting fresh to give your a house a few new touches (well that's how I feel anyways haha). I wanted to share how I have transitioned our house back to everyday decor and what that looks like for us. I added a few new ideas and items that I purchased with Christmas gift cards, which is always fun. A few new pillows and items to give the house some extra life after all of the red and green. 

            As always, I stick with my neutral palette but that doesn't mean when the time comes to Spring that a few color pops wouldn't hurt :) See below for pictures of our everyday home decor and what I did with each space. I will walk you through some ideas you can incorporate in your home as well. I hope this gives you some inspiration for your home. I will be posting our sunroom next week since we finished the bead board ceiling and finally found the perfect chandelier for that area of the house. I love how it turned out and can't wait to share it with you. Enjoy! xo

Living Room area transitioned from Christmas to everyday neutrals 

I added a new white frame for a personal touch as you enter our home with grey, tan, and white with a pop of silver. I always want the entry way to reflect the rest of the house, simply because when guests enter our home this is the first look they see. 

Here are some of the places I purchased these items for the entry way: 

-wired baskets from At Home 

-throw and pillow Dillards

-old books at The Nashville Flea market

-Glass vase Target

-White pom stem Kirklands

-Silver decorative object At Home

-Lamp is vintage from my great aunt Lorene

-White frames from Hobby Lobby

-Table The Nashville Flea Market

-Decorative balls Pier One Imports

Coffee Table accents: A wired letter basket I found at an antique store displaying The Southern Lady with tile coasters that came from one of Reed's building projects downtown Nashville

I love the colors of these books I have collected over time from different antique stores. I love how the colors of the books play off of this new small globe I found yesterday at Homegoods.

Everday Kitchen Table details as you know are my favorite. My grandma gave me these placemats last year for Christmas and I love the neutral paisley look. I found these white rustic chargers at Hobby Lobby for $1.99 which I thought was a steal. The linen napkins I found at TJmaxx and the silver napkin rings were purchased from Pier 1. 

Lastly, the dining room area. We switched out our kitchen glass chandelier with a simple glass large pendant light. I love this light and the simplicity it creates in this area. Wood, white, and glass is the theme here and I love how it turned out.

My Organizing Tips: A fresh start to the New Year

            Hi Everyone! Happy New Year! I took a couple weeks off of blogging right after Christmas which was so nice and relaxing but I am back to kick off the New Year with many exciting things coming up for my blog but also sharing ways to stay organized, new recipes, home decor ideas, and so much more! My blogging goal for 2018 is to share more content with you and hopefully inspire you to create things in your own home.

           2017 was a wonderful year for us filled with ups and downs, traveling, family time, and so much more. One way to kick off 2018 is decluttering and re-organizing. As you know, I am a pretty organized person and love the feeling of cleaning and keeping things tidy. Some of you are like this and some of you aren't, either way I thought it would be fun to share a few ways to start off the new year by giving you some of my organizing and decluttering tips that I use for our own home.

Here are a few of my organizing tips: 

First, start small 

         Pick a place in your house that needs the most attention. Start small by focusing on one room or spot, this way you aren't overwhelmed by all of the areas that you want to accomplish. For us, it was the kitchen. Once you pick your place in the house start by throwing away anything you don't use, need, or want.

Create 3 Piles 

         Create a donate pile, trash pile, and keep pile. This can apply to your kitchen, closet, office, kids play room whatever area needs the most attention. Once you start and give that one area a little attention, it will give you the motivation you need to start de-cluttering. Trash items you don't need, have wear & tear, or simply don't want. Donate any items you want to remove from your space to your local Goodwill or Salvation Army or maybe a family member/friend wants to go through your pile. I ask myself several questions when I am determining my "keep pile" (Is this something we need, something we will use in the future, or something we can do without?)

Utilize your space 

       Whichever room or area needs some help, once you tackle the cleaning out part of the job you can then start fresh with utilizing your space properly. What I mean by this, for an example we needed some serious cleaning and organizing in our kitchen cabinet area and pantry. With the rush of the holiday's we kind of starting throwing things left and right. Use plastic bins, fabric totes, door hangers, or containers to organize your space. This will not only make your area look better but it will feel better if everything has a place. Especially if you are working with a small space and need some extra room, using a door hanger for your cleaning supplies, crafts, or shoes will really help your space situation. 

Labeling 

     I know you are thinking, I don't have "time" to label. Well, maybe you don't but I can promise you if you label the folders, label the plastic bins, or label your pantry items it will help you stay organized throughout the year. I really stick by this and this has helped me stay on track throughout the year and not just at the new year. Even if it is one label or two it will definitely not only look better but also feel better. 

         Here are a few areas that I have organized in the past week to make small changes in our everyday lives. Even starting with one drawer in your medicine cabinet or in your closet will start to make a difference and keep you on track. I hope you enjoy my own organizing tips and I hope this inspires you to create your own organizational needs in your own home :) Thank you for stopping by!

I organized the small areas of our pantry that needed some organization by using jars, containers, tupperware and bins to create an easier way to find things we are looking for. 

Our kitchen cabinets quickly get out of hand and just taking some extra time to re-organize a cabinet or two goes a long way. 

I received this spice rack from my parents for Christmas and it has been a wonderful way to get our species organized in our pantry and I love how it looks also haha :) Another way to organize your spices is by purchasing these clear boxes or trays to separate your goods. Very inexpensive and easy! I purchased these from Target for $6.99 and $9.99

I don't know about you, but we have books everywhere in different locations I thought it make a good statement in our sunroom but also a great way to organize our books! I created two simple book ends with greenery and larger books on the other end. 

Same thing with my cookbooks, they were everywhere after the Holidays. I made a cookbook statement in the Kitchen to add some color and this was a great way to keep them organized as well. 

Going back to my bin and tote idea, I love using these totes and bins even in our drawers to keep product, medicines, or any excess goods organized.