Experiencing life through trial, error and lots of food.
With springtime comes the inevitable influx of salad recipe creation. After a (theoretical) cold winter, full of hearty, nutrient-dense foods like pumpkins, carrots and winter kale, I find myself craving something…leafier. Traditionally, salads have not been a favorite of mine, but with the nutritional benefits of high fiber, vitamins A, C and K, I still find myself stocking up on leafy greens for salad-making (or at least for smoothie blending) on a regular basis.
Last month through The Daily Meal I had the opportunity to visit Hawks Cay Resort down in the Florida Keys on the largest island in Duck Key. On an early Monday morning I flew down to warm Miami and met with several other press representatives before we all ambled onto a chartered van to take us several hours south along U.S. 1.
I have never really been to Florida before, other than a brief passing through on airlines, but Mr. C lived there for several years before we met and he’s told me many stories about it. Being the food snob (or “enthusiast”- I prefer the term enthusiast) that I am, the thing that stuck most clearly in my mind was the significance of key lime pie from the keys. It was only fitting that after our first meal in Florida (which consisted of amazing fish tacos) during the drive down, I took advantage of being able to order key lime pie.
The idea of making chocolate confections has always made me a little intimidated. The heating, cooling, attempting not to burn it and then somehow get it into cute little shapes aspect of it can be nerve wracking. But I do love rich and creamy dark chocolate- especially when it’s herbal lavender chocolate.
For many, Valentine’s Day is defined by chocolate, flowers and a nice dinner (and probably some wine too) either with someone else or by oneself. I find I don’t usually need an excuse to want or enjoy chocolate but the month of February typically serves as a good reminder to me that oh, why yes, chocolate can easily be had and enjoyed.
In my continued series about sustainability and wasting less, I wanted to address toothpaste. Apart from the tubes being difficult to recycle (as they are usually made with #4 plastic, you first need to check to see if your local recycling program deals with that and then you need to actually clean out the inside of the tube before recycling), many brands often have a lot of additives in them. Without getting too complicated, I wanted to see if there was an easy way to make “natural” toothpaste at home, DIY style.
While many people may be focusing on their own health and fitness goals this month and for the year of 2017, I decided to take a slightly different approach. For January, I am focusing on improving the health of the planet, and subsequently, my own health (whether directly or indirectly) by talking about ways to reduce waste and live a more sustainable lifestyle.
As you may have noticed already, on Instagram, each day I am posting a different tip or piece of information about sustainability and how to reduce waste in our daily lives. This post is to summarize those daily posts!