Category Archives: Money Saving

Workout Wednesday: Loosey Goosey Plane Ride

Our visitors this weekend live very similar healthy lifestyles to Mike and me. Amber, a new friend of mine, is a fitness and nutrition enthusiast and we found common ground in our health goals. It was a breath of fresh air to be around someone just as analytical and knowledgable about natural health.

Before they got on the plane, they wanted to get in a workout. I totally understood their plan. It always helps to have exerted yourself before a long flight. It gets fluid to your joints, stretches out and activates your muscles, and frees any built up energy so you can relax more easily once you finally board the plane. It can even help you sleep!

So try to squeeze in one of my workouts before a flight, and lessen the discomfort and staleness.

I hope you’re all having happy days :)- Ash

Delectably Delicious Honey Mustard Dressing

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Making your own dressing can become complicated very quickly. You start with a few ingredients and keep adding more until your tongue gets beyond confused. When it comes to dressing, the simpler the better.

I happen to LOVE honey mustard dressing. But it wasn’t long before I found out all the crappy ingredients in the processed stuff (so annoying!). Luckily, this is one of those simple dressings that is absolutely delicious and super easy to make. Plus, all the ingredients are really great to keep around for other recipes.

I make a big salad every week and keep it in the fridge. Each morning a serving goes in tupperware with this on top. It makes for a really easy greens fix for lunch or just a snack. So try it out. SO YUMMY.

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Tasty Thursday: Moroccan Stew

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This past several days have been unbelievably hot in San Diego. Every year winter comes and goes and I forget the feeling of sweat-soaked clothing on my skin. Not terribly comfortable for the woman who regularly wears black polyester pants (we’re getting close to laundry day here).

However! I’ve had the veggies for this recipe almost a week now. They were on the verge of going bad. So we sat in our sweltering apartment and ate hot stew. Oddly enough, it made us feel cooler! I have heard that when you eat hot food, it heats your body temperature and there’s not such a huge difference between you and the air. Hmmmm…

Regardless, I would have eaten this stew even if it made me sweat like a Scotsman at a charity fundraiser. In other words: it’s delicious. Chunky and thick and SO tasty.

I’m trying to teach myself a few recipes to prep on Sunday nights and crockpot cook it on Monday while I’m at work. It makes our late track riding clinic much easier to handle if dinner is ready when we get home. You could do it in a pot though. Just try it, however you decide to cook it.

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Wednesday Workout: 16 Minute Total Body #1

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I know there are a few readers who come to this page only for the workouts. That makes me pretty happy because that means people are catching on to how awesome they are. It is very important though to vary your workout. Eventually, muscle memory gets the best of your body and your workouts aren’t as effective. The variation can be as drastic as starting a different activity, or as simple as switching up your intervals.

So this is the first of the 16-minute total body. Try to mix these in with the 20-minute workouts to keep your body guessing. Continue reading →

Marvelous Monday: The Ultimate Bathtub Cleaner

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Cleaning the bathtub/ shower SUCKS. It’s my least favorite cleaning job in the whole apartment (including the toilet). I think because it’s actually physically demanding to clean up and down the tile walls then into the tub, etc. And by the time I’m done, I’m soaked from head to toe in a lovely mix of shower water, soap scum, bubbles, and a little bit of bleach. It’s just unpleasant.

Mike, being the amazing man he is, used to do that particular job to save me the strife, but he takes most showers at work now and has a very valid excuse for giving that job back to me.

On top of that, we use HUGE amounts of bleach while cleaning the tub. So when I started this health kick about a year ago, I started searching for a tub cleaner alternative. My pinterest time was consumed by research for tub cleaners (this is some serious business) and every few weeks we tried a different concoction. We tried at least 3 or 4 and some of them were getting expensive. I was about to give in to the bleach when I found this heavenly mixture.

It’s so simple, very cheap, and perfectly effective. It take a bit of time to soak (2 hours) but there is almost no scrubbing involved and everything gets so sparkly clean!

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Womanly Monday: The Cup

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Men by warned, THIS POST IS DEFINITELY NOT FOR YOU. It concerns menstruation and, unless you’re very curious, don’t read any further.

Ladies, welcome! For the last several months I’ve been testing a product called the Diva Cup. It is a long-lasting, eco-friendly, healthier, cheap alternative to tampons and pads. Continue reading →

Workout Wednesday: Total Body #5

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Summer time can be tough to keep a workout schedule. Why would you go to the gym when you could be laying in the sun?? Fortunately, there are tons of workouts you can do outside, in the sun, while on vacation.

Personally, vacation is my break time. Every body needs some down time to recover. I usually come back even stronger from a week-long break. But a few times while in Maine, I felt the overpowering urge to do a bit of yoga and one of my Total Body workouts. Sometimes I just wake up needing to do something positive to start the day, working out is usually it. Continue reading →

Workout Wednesday: Total Body #4

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This past Saturday was the last class of the first ever session of my boot camp. Luckily I found some great friends to be my guinea pigs and they were perfect. So enthusiastic and responsive. It was really fun to teach them every week and I learned a ton. Unfortunately (but really very fortunately) I got a second job and won’t have much time to nurture this fun gathering I call my bootcamp. The jury is still out until I can see how this new routine settles in. I’m really crossing my fingers that I will be able to muster the energy to do more.

But until I figure that out, I’ll keep doing (and posting) workouts. So here’s this gem from the last week of class. Get sweaty and enjoy!

Also, if anyone has any questions about form, pain, awkwardness, etc, feel free to comment and ask! I usually answer within 12 hours. Hope you’re all having happy days 🙂

Mindful Monday: Money Makeover

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Happy Monday Everyone! This is by far the toughest day to stay upbeat but whatever you happen to be doing this Monday, try and be thankful in some way. That might help your state of mind. This Monday I am thankful for my awesome new job, the fact that I recently got to hang out with my Australian family for the first time in five years, and the companionship of my lovely man 🙂

Moving on … there were a few friends/patients back in Peoria that I let know about the desperate state of my finances. Some of you may understand: when deeply in debt, you know you shouldn’t run around telling people but the pressure is so intense that you can’t help let it slip to the people you trust.

On this particular occasion, I was glad I did. Candice (the friend) told me of a book she and her husband read. It absolutely changed their financial outlook and within a few weeks it did the same for me.

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Hillcrest Farmers Market

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With summer comes an onslaught of Farmer’s Markets. From coast to coast there are streets lined with tents and under those tents is some of the freshest, tastiest, local produce you’ve ever had. Our new neighborhood, Hillcrest, is no exception.

I’ve written about Farmer’s Markets before and while the one is Peoria is pretty awesome, our new local market is spectacular. The area is rife with crazies like us, all looking for raw, vegetarian, organic, blah-blah-blah and these vendors supply some of the best health food I’ve ever had.

One of my favorite things about farmer’s markets is the ambience. They’re usually on the weekend and people usually aren’t in much of a hurry. They’re there to taste, peruse, and barter for the local flavor. Ours are held on Sundays and that is when I’ll be doing ALL my grocery shopping. So check out your local Market this weekend, you might be surprised by how much you enjoy it.

Shopping is a joy when you can taste and buy strawberries like these.