Mango Desserts, Pumpkin, Mailbox Finds, Memory

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Hi Friends!  How’s Your Day Going?  Anything fun and exciting happen?  I have had a super busy day!  I went on a huge grocery store run today to restock my produce.  Highlight of the trip was Sale Strawberries!  

Strawberries

Strawberries
2 pints for 88 cents each!!

I got 4 pints of strawberries for $1.76  Does anyone else get excited when they find sale produce?  Because I sure do! 

Strawberries

Skylar adores berries so this was music to her little ears!  Her shirt says “Music Makes me Happy” and it has rhinestones on it.  Just wanted to point that out.

Skylar
 

After the grocery run and cleaning it and putting it all away, I did some yoga and then lifted at the gym.

Then I took Skylar to The Pool!  She was overdue for some pool time since it had been 8 whole days since her Last Pool Day

Skylar at the pool
I forgot my camera today but Here are a few Previous Pics of the Splashing Beaut

Unfortunately taking a 3 year old to the pool is the polar opposite of “relaxing” for the Adult on Duty (me) but hey, no one ever said that parenting a small child is when I’m going to catch up on magazine reading or have any “chill time”!

After the grocery, gym, and pool, we came home and in the mail today I found this waiting for me:  Endangered Species Chocolate that I won in Ashlei’s Give Away!

Endangered Species ChocolateEndangered Species Chocolate
Dark Chocolate works for me!
Endangered Species Chocolate

Remember the Dark Chocolate Coconut Snowballs I made over the weekend?

 Dark Chocolate Coconut Snowballs
Dark Chocolate Coconut Snowballs
 Dark Chocolate is very popular around here.

From what I can tell, Endangered Species is a socially-minded, eco-friendly company.  Since I’d rather eat chocolate from people who care about the planet and animals, this is perfect. 

Endangered Species chocolate
 Thanks, Ashlei!!!  I can’t wait to dig into it!

Also in the Mail… 
Book Publishing Co sent me Speed VeganThe theme of this book is quick and easy vegan recipes with a gourmet twist.  Sounds good to me!

Speed Vegan cookbook
 

I love colorful vegan food pictures and I can never have too many books!

Speed Vegan cookbookSpeed Vegan cookbook
If you missed my previous Cookbook Review Post, Check it out Here

In that post, I reviewed other books from Book Publishing Co
A Few of the books in that post Included…

Vegan cookbooks
Vegan cookbooks
Vegan cookbooks
 And Many More
Vegan cookbooks
Now if only I had as much time as I have books, I’d be all set!
 

From yesterday, Thanks everyone for your warm wishes about my Signing with a Modeling Agency announcement!  The supportive and lovely comments kept pouring in and thank you so much for all the super sweet words…as I blush!

Averie in front of the mirror

I figure that since I am committed to taking care of myself and staying in great shape, so why not try to get paid in the process.  If I get paid work, great.  And if not, I would take care of myself anyway.  So it’s a no-brainer for me to give it a whirl.  Thanks again for the all the encouraging comments you all left me!  

Today in a random food find, I stumbled upon a previously unopened jar of Pumpkin Butter from TJ’s that I stockpiled purchased around Thanksgiving. 

Pumpkin ButterPumpkin Butter

Tip: Stockpile non-perishable Seasonal TJ’s Coffees, Foods, and Spices!  The TJ’s in Phoenix doesn’t stock Pumpkin Pie Spice Year Round like the San Diego TJ’s did.    Sigh.  

I use Pumpkin Pie Spice in my Banana Pumpkin Pie Oats 

Banana Pumpkin Pie Oats 
 If I run out of TJ’s brand, I use the grocery store brand of Pumpkin Pie Spice in The Oats and all is pumpkin-spiced nicely.

The Pumpkin Butter is great for jazzing up Raw Fruit & Veggies.   

Skylar eating food
Skylar seems to be impressed
Skylar eating food
Skylar eating food
I know Janetha mentioned ages ago she loves it, too.  

How do I remember this factoid from another blogger, 6 months and tens of thousands of blog posts later that I’ve read across the ‘sphere? 

Photographic memory of sorts.  Well, when I was younger and in school, I practiced “training” my memory to work this way.  Now, it would be good if it shut off because I don’t need to know or remember what a girl in Georgia ate on her oatmeal three weeks ago.  haha!

I like the Pumpkin Butter, too.  Maybe I should swap it into my Peanut Butter Coconut Oil Popcorn

Peanut Butter Coconut Oil Popcorn
Peanut Butter Coconut Oil Popcorn.

Or Into Pumpkin Pie Spice Coconut Oil Popcorn

Pumpkin Pie Spice Coconut Oil Popcorn
Pumpking pie spice
coconut oil

 

 

 

Sprinkled with Chocolate Chips and Pumpkin Pie Spice and more
chocolate chip popcorn
I love how the cloves in the Pumpkin Pie Spice work really well with the chocolate chips!

I think I need to make Pumpkin Butter Pumpkin Spice Popcorn.  Now, that’s an idea!

Pumpkin Butter Pumpkin Spice Popcorn
Pumpkin Butter Pumpkin Butter

 Green Food: Asparagus, Sugar Snap Peas, Mixed Greens, Tomatoes, Cukes

Asparagus, Sugar Snap Peas, Mixed Greens, Tomatoes, Cukes

 

Asparagus, Sugar Snap Peas, Mixed Greens, Tomatoes, Cukes

Dressed with Homemade Vegan Slaw Dressing

Homemade Vegan Slaw Dressing
 

For Dessert There was Mango x 2:

1. Mango & Pineapple Chocomize

Mango & Pineapple Chocomize



2. And I made a Batch of Mango BananaVanilla Softserve

Mango BananaVanilla Softserve
Mango BananaVanilla Softserve
Totally Refreshing and Naturally Gluten/Soy/Dairy/Nut-Free and it’s Raw and Vegan

I always tell people who are struggling with food allergies or trying to get to the bottom of their food intolerances or random symptoms that they should stop trying to “re-invent” the wheel, i.e. buying Gluten-Free Pizza Crust with Dairy-Free Cheese with Soy-Based “Pepperoni”.  No!!!!!   That’s a smorgasbord of allergens.  A food-intolerance nightmare!

Instead, Eat foods that are found in nature, grew on trees or in the ground.  Simple foods. 

Think Mangoes and Bananas!  If it doesn’t grow in the ground or you can’t pick it from a tree, and you have food allergies, don’t eat it.  And even if you don’t have food allergies, keep on reducing the amount of processed foods you consume because I don’t believe any of us need to eat highly processed foods.
Mango BananaVanilla Softserve

And Scott hit the Dark Chocolate Coconut Snowballs I made yesterday.

 Dark Chocolate Coconut Snowballs
Dark Chocolate Coconut Snowballs

Yoga Today is Matsyasana, Fish Pose.  Be mindful of your neck in this pose because you are resting quite a bit of weight in your neck, while it’s tilted back.  Don’t over do it, this is not one to push in, at all.

Averie doing fish pose yoga
 p.s. Stock photo, 6 months old
In Yoga when your heart and throat chakras are wide open as in this pose, you may find it really intense, and you may even get emotional, because you are opening your heart center to both give and receive love, as well as your throat and voice which is how you express yourself…they’re both wide open so you may feel vulnerable, loved, blissed out, or any combo of the above.

Gym & Weights Workout Today was Day 4 Split: Back/Hamstrings

I posted a Few New Pictures in My Gym Workouts Tab!

Here’s One of Them

And I just came in from a Workout Session and the Pool.  95F outside.  Excuse the heat stroke look.

Averie
 


Questions

1.  Do you have memories of your parents taking you to the pool as a kid?  Did your mom complain that she didn’t want to get in, didn’t want to get her hair wet, couldn’t swim, and told you to “just go play”?
My mom definitely did and said all of the above and I loved it when my dad would play in the pool because he really got into it, but my mom was very much just on the sidelines with her stinky Coppertone sunscreen on.  As Skylar’s mom, I try to be as active as possible but sometimes I would definitely prefer to just chill on my chair.  Who wouldn’t!
Do you have Pool Memories from your Childhood?  Or swimming lesson memories in freezing water and the teacher said, oh, you’ll get used to it?  Yeah, right.  I used to be a lifeguard and taught swimming lessons and may be guilty of telling the little kiddies the same thing.  Ha!

2. Do You have any Seasonal Foods or Items You Stock up On?  What are they?
Around the fall and winter holidays, it’s easy to stock up on canned pumpkin and candy cane coffee and things like that, and I do.  But this time of year right now, there’s not much to stock up on.  No one stocks up on Memorial Day picnic-wear. 
What are your fave foods and items to stockpile?

3. Fave Cookbook or One You’d Love to Have?
For simplicity in the recipes, raw recipes, not too many fussy or exotic ingredients, not soy or gluten based, I love Ani Phyo’s recipes.  If I was looking for artistic inspiration in food, I’d look to Sarma’s books.  If I was looking for a fabulous dairy-free resource, I’d look to my friend Alisa of One Frugal Foodie, and author of, Go Dairy Free.
But there are so many books out there!  What ones do you love or want?

4. Memory.  How Good is Yours?
(I talked about Childhood Memories and How Far Back Can You Remember in This Post)

As I mentioned above, my memory is great if I concentrate on the task or item at hand and “commit” it to memory, and sometimes certain things I read just really stick.  But I also am like most people that I can go to the grocery store wanting to buy something very specific and I go, shop, buy tons of things, but leave without purchasing the item I needed the most!  So my memory is not perfect. 

And raising a child reduces brain cells.  It just does.  Sorry, but the sleep-deprivation and giving selflessly to another human being and fending for them, not just yourself, well, my memory cells are not as sharp or plentiful as they once were.  Dirty little secret and I bet the other parents will agree!

How’s your memory?

Stay Tuned For Sculpting your Abs, Tips & Suggestions, and My Thoughts on Making your Abs “pop”.  

5. Do you want me to be blunt even if it’s “tough love” or do you want me to sugar coat it? You can’t shoot the messenger (me) but I also don’t want to give false promises.  Of course, it’s all just my opinion but do you want my honest opinions about abs?  No haters if you request blunt tough love!  But let me know…

 

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