Fighting Boredom with Healthy Food + Creative Living
I received this product for free from Moms Meet to use and post my honest opinions. Compensation for this post was provided and this page may contain affiliate links. Back to school typically means back to germs for us. Crowded classroom conditions often mean more…
This post is sponsored by Montchevre but the content and opinions expressed here are my own. Now that school has started, my time is limited with afterschool sports and other craziness. I love making spaghetti squash because it cooks up quickly and it’s easy to…
I’m so excited to share information and my personal experience with some awesome new natural products out on the market. Full disclosure, I’m often asked to review products. If they don’t fit in the realm of natural or healthy living, I decline. I do like reviewing natural products because I feel that starting a new business is scary, and as a ‘little guy’, it’s costly and scary to go up against big box brands. I’m also a huge advocate of using natural products whenever possible and know that for many change can be slow, but if everyone starts to gravitate towards better-for-you brands, our planet will ultimately be healthier and cleaner for it.
So, I’m forever a green cheerleader – the more natural choices we have, the better! Some natural products do miss the mark, and ultimately they’ll fail because their products were not strong enough to get ‘mainstream’ product defectors.
The following body/health products all pass muster with flying colors, so I hope you’ll check them out when it’s time for you to restock your household bodycare basics.
“Paying attention to every detail. Overachieving expectations.” If you’re a type A person, you’re already trying to find this product online. Will this product help you manage your incredibly overbooked, yet self-induced quest for perfection life? Nope. However, the Aluminum Free type:A Clean Crisp Citron will make you feel like you can breeze through your day as a pleasantly scented overachiever.
type:A contains a unique sweat activated formula that releases natural active ingredients. This allows for wetness and odor control during the day. The tube design is super smart as there is less product waste and the formula glides on very easily. Initially, I squished out too much and quickly learned that this smooth cream was just as effective used in smaller amounts. No need to cake layer! A thin swipe right after the shower was awesome and left me feeling fresh all day long, even in our hot Southern California days that we’re experiencing (suffering through) right now. If you’re looking to make the switch from a mainstream brand to a natural, aluminum free brand (AND YOU SHOULD SWITCH), then I recommend giving type:A a whirl. Now go and conquer the day, you little overachievers!
Period cramps, irritability, headaches, nausea….these are just a few of the super fun symptoms many of us experience either before our period or for the super blessed, before and during! Our bodies are actually very smart machines, but often we muck up our own hormone machines by poor diet choices, too much alcohol, processed sugar, overdoing it with the cafe’ lattes. As a gal in my 40’s, I experience some doozy cramps and heavier periods NOW than I did when I was younger. My doctor (and friends of the same age) all tell me this is normal and it’s sort of like the last hurrah before it stops. Gee, thanks body! However, on the other end of the spectrum, I am seeing my daughter and her teen friends also experience some fairly severe cramping, hormone breakouts and nausea! I often hate taking something like a Motrin, as I find it’s harsh to the stomach lining and makes my stomach ache. So what are the natural options?
Homeopathic medicine is old (developed in the late 18th century), however, it is making a comeback as people realize that we’re not necessarily getting better with modern over the counter medicine. If anything, we are masking symptoms at best, but adding a lot of unnecessary garbage to our bodies. Homeopathic medicine is the use of small quantities of substances extracted from plants and minerals. It’s using nature to alleviate human ailments!
So when Nicole Burdock asked me if I could try out the homeopathic natural relief GoPatch, I was an enthusiastic, “heck yeah!” Nicole, the creator of the GoPatch, holds a B.S. in Biobehavioral Health from Penn State and earned a Masters Degree in Asian Medicine from Emperor’s College of Traditional Oriental Medicine. Nicole has also studied at The National College of Naturopathic Medicine and completed advanced studies in Ayurvedic Medicine, while studying abroad in India.
Nicole sent a Motion Sickness and a Menstrual Cramps GoPatch to review. I am actually the only person who will NOT get sick on a boat or road trip, so I need to find a weak-stomached or inner-ear challenged friend to try out the Motion Sickness patch. The Motion sickness patch may also help with hangovers! (I put them in my nightstand for the next time I ‘swear off’ drinking and am suffering from a hangover). However, I WAS able to find a Menstrual Cramp subject almost instantly. My teen daughter just happened to be experiencing menstrual cramps and didn’t have time to wallow in pain on the couch. She’s a golfer and spends long days out on the golf course practicing. I gave her a patch to place over her belly button and told her to check in with me later in the day. The feedback was great – she said her cramps were not very noticeable by the afternoon, and she had minimal nausea. Usually, she feels sick to her stomach for a few days, so the patch definitely helped relieve common menstrual symptoms so she could go about her day! We also joked that the patch covered her navel, so she now had no belly button like a Victoria Secret’s lingerie model. Yes, belly button removal surgery is actually a thing – good grief WHY, right?
We are always out in the sun. We love it outside, so I try to keep a healthy supply of mineral sunscreen options stocked in the car. Sun sticks have been popular as of late, as my daughter golfs and after five hours on the course, she often gets burned on her neck, ears and face as she sweats off sunscreen. As she’s the toughest critic, I opened the Bare Republic sunstick and let her look at. “Oh, I don’t wear tinted sunscreen.” Cool, review over.
Just kidding – Actually, she grabbed it and said, “MMMMmm…this smells SO GOOD!” The stick has a lovely coconut vanilla scent. My picky teen ran the stick across her arm and then said it was actually very sheer and went on nicely, not sticky or clumpy like some mineral sunscreens can be. She said, yes she would wear it and then asked if she could put it in her golf bag. I actually already knew how she would react because I had tried it the day before on my face. I just wanted to get some unbiased teen feedback! I do love that the Bare Republic Mineral Sunscreen didn’t leave a ghostly white glow. It does have shea butter in it, so it’s moisturizing and you’ll feel it as you put it on – this isn’t a sheer dry product. However, I didn’t feel yucky or gummy after a long afternoon in the sun.
I received this product for free from Moms Meet (momsmeet.com) to use and post my honest opinions. Compensation for this post was provided and this page may contain affiliate links I am a probiotics fan and use them in my daily regimen with other supplements…
This post is sponsored by Bistro Favorites, but the content and opinions expressed here are my own. Why go out to purchase an artisan sandwich when you can make one at home? Please excuse my humblebrag, but my turkey sandwich is gourmet tasting because as…
At my daughter’s preschool ‘graduation’, they asked the kids what they wanted to be someday. The kids chirped to the crowd – doctors! lawyers! farmers! dolphin trainers! and I think there were a few mermaids. Then there was that one kid who stood up and said, “I want to save the world someday”. Collective gasps. My jaded self instantly had hope for our future – good luck, kid. So imagine my surprise, when I had the great pleasure of meeting Richard Stark of Level Ground Trading at the Natural Products Expo West show last March. As Richard lit up while speaking, no preaching about Level Ground Trading, I thought, geezus…Richard is essentially the ‘save the world kid’, but grown up.
The Expo West show was overwhelming, and honestly, I’m STILL catching up on content and reviews. However, I saved Level Ground Trading to blog about because I’m a ‘save the best for last’ type of gal. Level Ground Trading, based in Canada, trades fairly with small-scale farmers in developing countries. They have developed personal relationships with these farmers to grow crops such as coffee, tea, cane sugar, dried fruit, cacao nibs, vanilla, coconut, heirloom rice and beautiful spices.
As Richard spoke to us, it was clear he had a deep passion for what Level Ground does. He knew the stories of where each product came from, farmer’s names, size of farm lots and how the fairtrade process that Level Ground Trading has set-up results in a direct beneficial impact upon people across the world.
The Level Ground Backstory:
In 1997, four families came together with the idea of improving the lives of disadvantaged producers through trade. We were inspired by the work of Ten Thousand Villages and were keen to see the principles of Fair Trade applied to foods we consume every day.
Level Ground’s first Fair Trade initiative was buying coffee from a cooperative in Colombia. Fair Trade premiums are directed to educational scholarships in the coffee growing region and the project has grown to support 200 scholarships /year! We’ve loved watching amazing students grow up to become incredible professionals including doctors, agronomists & social workers.
From there… lots happened!
As a self-proclaimed home chef, I use spices on a daily basis and quite liberally. I used to buy fancy brands from Whole Foods, or go to spice shops and buy by weight. But where were these spices coming from exactly? My spices were faceless with origins unknown. Richard gave me some spices to play with at Expo West, and for the past few months, I’ve been cooking with them. I’ve been extremely happy with the quality and rich flavors from the LevelGround varieties. Fresh spices also pack more anti-oxidants, so I’m not only using sustainable, fair-trade spices but I’m getting an extra health boost!
Level Ground works with Ethical Inspirations in Sri Lanka to purchase spices from small-scale farmers. All spices are purchased fresh off the tree or out of the ground and are dried and ground and packed as soon as possible post-harvest. Farmers are selected for their organic practices and are verified as holders of organic certification by the Department of Export Agriculture in Sri Lanka. Due to cost, each farmer does not hold the rights to their certification certificate and therefore, we they do not state organic certification on the package label, but it’s good to know WHY. LevelGround’s trading partner, Ethical Inspirations, is a Fair Trade organization focused on supporting marginalized farmers with fair prices. As farmers are able to get better prices for their efforts, they can sustainably grow even more spices!
Level Ground Trading has a huge variety of products from around the world, and you can read the stories of individual farmers. The relationship between product and farmer is SO personalized, that you’ll note that there are faces on all of their product packaging!
I truly enjoyed meeting the team (Richard & Kelley) of Level Ground Trading and am inspired to make purchasing changes that not only benefit my family but benefit the world.
If you’re running low on spices, coffee, dried fruit or want to try out some beautifully colored heirloom rice, you may purchase Level Ground Trading products online – and they are available on Amazon. Their prices are competitive for comparable ‘organic’ brands (prices as in CAD online), but with Level Ground you know that there is a great story of human support behind the products!
PSST – Spices, Tea & Coffee make GREAT holiday gifts and that craziness will be upon us before you know. Shop early, shop smart & hey – Save the World 🙂
Make this cute ‘school themed’ flower vase for your child’s teacher as a back to school gift! I only spent $4 on materials – 3 packs of pencils and one glass vase from the Dollar Tree! I had hot glue on hand and extra ribbon…
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Every packaged food company is going to shake their head and utter a few choice words at this blog post. I get it. You pay a premium for pre-packaged, ‘I don’t have to think about it’ snacks and meals. But here’s the thing. I DO think…
Hi, Summer! You’re awfully hot! Need some refreshing party bites that are tasty, but not super filling? Check out these healthy and beautiful endive bites. (more…)
