Vegetable Broth

It's time to get into a scrap.

Time to scrap the boxed Vegetable Broth.

Really?!

A picture of all your veggie scraps?!

Yup.

They are beautiful now that I know what to do with them.

I save them, throw them in a bag, throw the bag in the freezer,

and they are ready when I want to make 

Vegetable Broth

that tastes WAAAAAAY better than the boxed kind.

I just throw them in the colander and rinse them off.

Then I put them in my big pot.

Cover them with water.

Stick in some 

salt

garlic

pepper corns

and anything that want to flavor the broth with.

Then I bring it all to a boil,

then when it comes to a boil I turn it to a simmer

and

cover it.

Keep that up for 6 to 24 hours.

I like the 6 to 8 range personally.

Then when it's all cool,

stick it in a large mason jar 

and it's ready to go

when you are.

I love it!

Kaysie Li is coming home!

The best selling book of all time and my personal favorite says this about God:

"He puts the lonely in families."

This has been on my mind since my SweetFriendBarbie

is on her way to pick up her new daughter from an orphanage in China.

Her family of 6 is expecting their 4th little girl,

a five year old beauty

waiting for a family.

If she only knew now how much this family loves her already.
She will be joining her big sister (also from China), along with her 2 big brothers.

Would you all just join me in smiling up to Heaven 

and thanking God that he puts the 

lonely in families

and 

another family is expanding it's heart

to be part of this story.

How awesome is that?!
I want everyone to get to read this post so I'm leaving it up for a few days!

We can revel in the excitement of this awesome family and awesome God that loves 

this little girl so much that he bringing Barbie and Drew across the globe to find her. He set this

one in motion long before any of them were aware!

"No, I can't save them all. But I can save one. It won't make a difference to many, but it will make a difference to her. Isn't that worth it? THIS girl is going to have a family, a home, and know about the God who loves her more than anything." Barbie Roth

Strawberry Fields Forever

This was the song going through my head as I lovingly prepared them for their close ups.

Aren't they gorgeous?

Aren't we enjoying this mild winter so far that is still allowing us to enjoy

sweet, juicy, bright strawberries well into February?

I got this tip from my FavoriteIrishFriendClare,

to clean them up and freeze them.

So I cleaned them up.

Sliced off the green tops.

Blotted them dry a bit.

Then put them into small ziplocs by handfuls.

This is so that when I make my Vanilla Protein Shake in the morning

I can grab the perfect portion of frozen

Farmer's Market strawberries.

Saving some money

in the old freezer section of the grocery store,

while having the best fresh tasting smoothy E-VER!!

Easy!

Roasted Garlic

I seem to forget about the ease and delight of

roasting a garlic.

It's the perfect appetizer as well as,

the perfect little of pouch of goodness that could be added to anything.

Everything is elevated by this powerful pocket of flavor.

If you haven't done it before I encourage you that's it's the 

EASIEST thing ever!

Here's the low down.

Garlic.

Cut off the little twisted tail side through some of the garlic.

Set it on some parchment paper. Or aluminum foil. Or in a stone garlic roaster.

Drizzle with Extra Virgin Olive Oil

and dress with Salt & Pepper.

Wrap it all up.

Stick it in the 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.

Then unwrap a little gift of the gods.

Serve it on a plate with anything that is a vehicle for smearing garlic all over.

When it's roasted, it comes out sweet, carmely, creamy, and fragrant.

In fact, 

don't roast just one at a time.

You'll probably just eat a whole one before the plate makes it to the company.

I love this picture because it captures how

perfectly soft the cloves were.

See that little piece that looks like a little tooth?

Just fell out of the papery shell.

I love it.

Cauliflower

Apple Green, Creamy Mac & Cheese, Grape Juice Purple, and Vanilla! I am describing the colors of Cauliflower. They are beautiful. They are delicious. And they are in season. 

Good thing too! We are eating "Clean, clean like Listerine." Ok. Cheesy quote, but my dad used to say it all the time and given this is the 3rd anniversary of his passing, I use his cliches proudly. I've finished my 30 Days to Feeling Fit and I'm feeling fit! So much so, that I'm going another 30 days! I've lost about 12 pounds, and have only had one stomach ache the whole time. I am not puffy any more and I get a lot of great sleep because when I'm tired, I go to bed instead of munching in front of the t.v. True love is halfway through his cleanse and needing some interesting munchies to share with the guys during the Super Bowl and these brightly colored heads of did the trick. Add, some olive oil, salt and pepper, and the Tomato Spread from Hummus Heaven and everyone's happy!

So happy that I made a platter for the girls too and added some other veggies to round it out!


Turns out I made too much for just us and we ended up saving a lot of time making dinner the next night. All these already chopped veggies ended up in Thai soup one night and a pasta sauce the following. I love eating like this!

Crash!!!

First it was just an inconvenience.

Then it appeared to be a legitimate bang up.

And as our hearts dropped,

our stomaches ached,

our wallet was squeezed dry,

we were then sure

that it was a full blown CRASH.

The emotional roller-coaster ride accompanying

the event has left us with whiplash

and

I am happy to report that we are 

slowly recovering.

Before you start sending us

"Get Well" cards,

I must confess that it's my computer 

that I'm talking about.

It was a huge bummer. 

Irreplaceable photos,

hours of my life invested,

 and a few false hopes of full recovery.

If this post makes it,

cross your fingers, 

it means we're back on our feet.

Forgive me for abandoning my post.

I copped a bit of an attitude and 

refused to blog until my 

computer was 100%.

I've missed you.

I'm back!

New Year! New You! Event

I've been making pretty gift bags for my Open House

New Year! New You! 

Event

I am getting so excited!

Everyone's invited!

Bring a friend!

Three gorgeous friends,

Jeanne Norsworthy of Worthy Granola of San Francisco,

Amy Sidebottom with Norwex,

and 

myself with Arbonne International.

Side Note: I only used the word "gorgeous" to describe myself because

I'm reveling in the discovery that I've lost 10 pounds

since I started the 30 Days to Feeling Fit.

Thank you!

And for all of you out there I encourage you to say something nice about yourself

 to yourself!

It feels so good to say something sweet about yourself!

Did you say something nice about yourself yet?

Well done! You gave yourself a gift!

So, back to my event!

This event is just to introduce friends and family to what makes

Arbonne products so special and why I am so delighted to be embarking in this business.

 This event is informal, no heavy sales or pitches,

just discovering new fantastic products and booking demonstrations/events

for the year and this is a great time for people to start booking.

So,

for everyone who books an event with me,

they will get to take one of these delightful gifts home!

Please make sure you are one of those people!

In fact, 

if you can't come on Monday,

you can still book an event with me

925 389-2775.

Mmmm!

You are interested and you do not know what an "event" means?

Great question.

An event is just simply getting 3 or 4 friends together.

It can be at your home, office, coffee shop, or you can even bring your friends to my home,

to learn and experience what makes Arbonne so fantastic.

These events are easy, fun and super educational!

When you host an event for me,

there are wonderful incentives like special pricing and free product!

Plus, you are helping me build my business in a very fun venue 

with your very own precious friends.

Come.

Bring a friend! Bring two friends!

We will be sipping on smoothies, effervescent energy "cocktails",

chewing on luxurious herbal carmels,

all while sampling amazing botanical skincare.

That's not all!

Remember that Norwex will here demonstrating how to rid 

chemicals from you home with effective rags that

require only WATER! And by "demonstrating" I mean cleaning some of my

tables and mirrors! Don't you want a "demo" in your home? You don't even need to clean

first! Right?!

And still, that's not all!

Worthy Granola has won me over to granola!

You can bet that she's going to have fresh, scrumptious granola circulating and ready to buy. So come hungry and take home a few jars of granola that is definitely 

worthy of your devotion.

A great idea is to just pop in on your lunch break, 

you won't leave hungry after you've sampled all of the fair and it will only take a moment to book your event!

Please call for directions: Nicole (925) 389-2775