It's What I've Been Drinking

Here's the thing, I'm a water drinker most of the time.

I have one glass of juice in the morning. Some of the time that is made from my juicer. Other times I just don't have the time to do all that at breakfast before I have to leave for work.

Lately I've been craving what I call summer time drinks. All varieties of lemonades, root beer and beer. I just don't drink that stuff, not regularly. It's been warm and I've been thinking about root beer float bars and lemonade stands.

I wanted to satisfy these cravings in a more healthy way. 

What I've done is cut off a wedge, slice or just the peeling of a orange, lemon or lime (depending on the day and my mood) and put it into my water. I heat my water up until it's hot and drink it. It's really pretty good and satisfies my cravings.

Here's a view looking down into my glass water bottle.

Lemony Fresh

I still drink just pain water as well.

I'm Growing Celery

I saw this technique a few places. Pinterest was the first place. Then I saw it on My Journey With Candida Blog.


I decided to try it out and it worked! I'm now growing celery! This is great because my boys love it! 

Win a T-Shirt

I love typography, especially since I teach about it.

This site called Typography Shop .com is giving away a t-shirt every week as long as they get 25 + entries. Go here to enter.

Orthopedic Appointment

I went to my orthopedic appointment this morning. They wanted to get x-rays of my feet and ankles since I haven't seen him in awhile.

• I have to get arch supports built for me. That's one appointment. That will help me to walk straight. Then I won't be so off balance.
• I have to go to another doctor to freeze off my planter's wart. That's another appointment. It hurts, so I want it off. My doctor can get it off at 1 pm today because someone cancelled their appointment. I'm all over that because I don't teach today. 
• I might have to get an MRI done. I guess when I fell in the shower in October (I remember the time because it was near my Mom's birthday party) I may have fractured my tibia bone.

Pinterest

I just joined Pinterest. If you'd like to check out my folder of Green Thumb & Upcycled things, I'd be happy to follow you back!

Home Remedies for Plantar Warts

I'm still going to the doctor on the 19th of this month to talk to him about my feet. I truly think I need arch supports for my shoes.

I've never had an issue with warts until recently. I got one stubborn one that hurts like crazy.

Planar warts are the product of HPV (human papilloma virus) according to the Mayo Clinic. They are not a fungus as some might suspect. The virus can enter the skin through cracks or cuts. 

I was looking online for ways to make them go away with natural products. I ran across an article that has really great tips:

Apple Cider Vinegar Treatment

• Soak your foot in warm water. I find that a plastic bin works well. 
• Apply petroleum jelly around the wart. Don't put it on the wart.
• Apply apple cider vinegar to a cotton ball. Put the cotton ball on the wart with medical or Duct tape. Leave on for up to a day. The wart will start to turn black, raise up and fall off. Continue for 7 to 10 days after the wart has been removed in order to ensure that it does not come back!

Tea Tree Oil Treatment

The Encyclopedia of Chemistry states that tea tree oil, a proven anti-fungal agent, has also been demonstrated in some studies to have anti-viral properties as well.

• Apply the tea tree oil to the wart through the same process used above for the apple cider vinegar treatment, from petroleum jelly right down to the duct tape.
• Tea tree oil can be harsh, so if you experience any adverse skin reaction to it, such as swelling, rash or itch, discontinue use.

Food Treatment

Some foods that are recommended for treating plantar warts are garlic, potatoes, lemon peel, banana peel, and onions. You don't eat these foods to get rid of the warts, you cut them in half or cut them open and rub them on the wart.

• The lemon and banana peel can be taped to the wart, just as you tape the vinegar or tea tree cotton ball. 
• The other items you simply rub on the wart several times a day.

Orthopedic Doctor

So I broke down and finally called the Orthopedic Doctor.

My problem:

I have extremely flat feet with small ankles. My Dad has the same problem. Anyhow when we walk our heels bend more then they should. Something like that.

I was in pain a few months ago. I had what I thought was a corn, but nope it was a planters wart. Gross I know. It must be more common then people think. They have a whole section in grocery stores and pharmacies just for corns and planters warts. I bought all new shoes. I managed to get the sucker to go away and I think it's come back again.

I've never had a wart since I was a child. Then they were small and on my hands.  This planters one HURTS like HELL.

My shoe size has changed since my youngest was born. I'm now 1 1/2 sizes bigger. CRAZY!

My Dad had to get arch supports built. I'm sure I will to. The only sucky thing about that, is then you have to be VERY particular about what shoes you can wear. I'm already pretty particular. It's only going to get worse. It's not like I can wear tennis shoes with skirts or dresses.

Greek Pizza

The other night I made a Greek pizza on a whole wheat crust.  It was so good!!! I try and make something on Sunday that will last through Monday since the boys have swimming lessons that night. It's nothing but, rush, rush on that day.

The crust was just a standard whole wheat crust.

The toppings included:

• 1 can of tomato paste that had basil mixed in
• 1/2 a chopped onion
• A small bunch of green onions from my garden
• 1 clove of diced garlic
• Spinach leaves
• 1 can of artichoke hearts
• Katamala olives I got from Tropical Traditions - If you buy olives through Tropical Traditions {the link provided} will get you a free recipe book for using coconut oil. This will only work for first time buyers. It's so worth it!
• Crumbled feta cheese
• 1 medium sized tomato chopped up

It was so tasty and better for you then cheese and pepperoni pizza.

I made two of these. Everyone liked it!

SeaSnax

SeaSnax

This snack sounds pretty interesting. I'm all for trying things out once at least.

It's seaweed. You can find out the benefits here and here.

Life in the Lost World is hosting a giveaway for this snack.

Do You Use Plastic or Cloth Sandwich Bags?

Since my husband and I both work full-time and our oldest is in school, we have a lot of lunches taken places.

I have a few cloth sandwich bags and use them as much as I can!

I love them because they are BPA, lead and phthalate free!  I also don't throw these away.

Go Graham Go! is giving away:

THREE sets of LunchSkins 2 packs ($33 value) AND a three-month subscription to The Six O’Clock Scramble ($21 value) - a time- and stress-saving weekly dinner planning system to help busy families put easy, healthy and delicious meals on the table each and every night!

Do You Purify Your Home?

I have always wondered if purifiers really work? The good ones are so expensive. Then of course you have to pay extra for filters to.

Since I have allergies pretty bad I've been wanting to try one. Does anyone know, do they actually do their job?

Feisty Frugal and Fabulous is giving away a Honeywell True Hepa Air Purifier.

Removing Chlorine From My Hair

I have chlorine build up in my hair. YAY! NOT! It's been so long since lately that we've gone swimming on a regular basis that I just didn't think about it happening. First it was our son Mica that got swimmers ear and now chlorine build up in our hair.

Mica's been swimming with ear plugs and we give him 3 drops of 1/2 rubbing alcohol and 1/2 white vinegar. It seems to be working.

I A) Haven't been able to go to the swim store to get shampoo meant for cleaning out the chlorine. It's across town. B) Haven't decided if I want to use it. Yep with my reactions to sulpha I've been pretty much hesitant with bath products lately. I bought all natural shampoo at Whole Foods and will be using that when my gigantic bottle from Costco runs out. C) I don't know if my boys are ready for no tear shampoo and they need to use it as well.

I read online that you can rinse your hair after swimming with regular water.

• Then apply shampoo mixed with baking soda. Then you are supposed to leave it in for 2 minutes before rinsing. We tried it for the first time last night. I still have build up, but they said on the site it takes a handful of washing before it works. You are not supposed to do this everyday because it will dry out your hair. 
• Mix a combination of 1 quart water and 1/4 cup white vinegar in a bottle or jar, and rinse the hair with this solution. Let the vinegar water sit on the hair for two minutes, then rinse with clear water. This restores the natural acidity of your hair that the chlorine stripped away. I haven't tried this one yet either.  It was found here. Condition hair really well afterwards.
• Also tomato paste in your hair for 20 minutes is suppose to do the trick. I haven't tried that yet!

So...I'm Eembarrassed to Say That I Have a Corn on My Foot!

It hurts! I've been doing every text book thing I've read to do. I soak it in hot water, file it down, moisturize it, put Dr Scholl's Corn/Callus Remover on it and put a disc on it. I even bought new shoes. It hurts, just saying. It happened so fast. Oh and the shoes I was wearing never bothered me before, odd! I know they are the shoes that were doing it. I could feel the damage being done when I wore them.

If anyone has any tips on removing these suckers, or thinks the Dr Scholl's product is bad to use, I'm all for tips on getting rid of this punk of a corn!

For Breakfast We Had Something New

I made fresh orange juice. Nothing new there. I do think it's easier to make it with clementine rather than oranges. They are easier to peel and I just drop the whole thing in the juicer. With oranges the peeling is thicker, it takes longer to peel and I have to break them off into sections. Sometimes the when I break them into sections, I get juiced in the process.

We had our vitamin by H & N Health Paradise. It's taking us longer to get through the bottles then usual. Before I got them, I had a HUGE bottle of vitamins I bought from Costco. I alternate days for vitamins.

The new thing(s) we had was from Wasa.

Travis and I had this:

Photo Source

Our son's had this:

Photo Source

I'm not sure which one was better. I only tried the egg one. The boys did gobble theirs up. Isaak sort of dissected it first though. Yep berries came off first, then went his finger in the yogurt to lick and lately the Wasa cracker. He's three, what can I say? He still ate it.

My parents have Wasa crackers with all natural peanut butter and swiss cheese. Then they stick it in the oven on broil. I love it!

They have a lot more recipes on their site, so we may be having more Wasa treats for now on.

I've heard of Wasa before. I've even had them. I just never realized they had so many good recipes on their site until I read this post by A Nut in a Nutshell. She had a contest going, it's now over, but I still wanted to plug that inspiration in this post.

Win a Type T-Shirt

I love typography, especially since I teach about it.

This site called Typography Shop .com is giving away a t-shirt every week as long as they get 25 + entries. Go here to enter.