Hip Mountain Mama Review: Glass Smoothie Straw!!

Oh ya'll! Am I ever a happy smoothie drinker! This treat came right in time for my Crazy Sexy Diet smoothie-stravaganza!! I usually buy plastic straws by the pack and run through at least one a day. I knew there had to be a better solution to this consumption habit, I just didn't know it was also so cute, fun, and affordable!

My review for Hip Mountain Mama this month is this fabulous reusable glass straw! Check out their whole new reusable section- it's great!

I, of course, chose the purple, because that is my favorite color! This straw comes in amethyst, amber, blue, green, pink, and clear. There are also bent ones and embellished ones.

Look how it casts a lovely purple-y hue on my otherwise fairly muddy (but delicious!) smoothie.

The straw is perfectly wide for smoothies, but also comes in a regular size. I got a brush too, to clear out any straggling flax seeds, spinach, and such.

I actually am storing my straw and brush in another cute reusable item that you can get at HMM, the snack taxi. I've had some of these little pouches for a few years and it seemed to be the perfect place to keep my straw safe :)

I am super happy with my straw and extra pleased to have one more item that will stay in my life indefinitely rather than be replaced by disposables over and over. 

Yay for green choices...and green smoothies!!!

Crazy Sexy Meal: Buddha Bowl

I am continuing on my path with the Crazy Sexy Diet 21 Day Cleanse. I have "cheated" a little but am not too worried about it. I've sipped a little coffee twice and wine twice. Both coffee experiences ended in dumping them out because they just didn't taste good to me. Green tea and green smoothies are both really satisfying drink options for me lately. I am also sipping quite a bit more water in the absence of the previously ever-present wine/coffee. The best fringe benefit so far is that my skin is really starting to look better. Yay! I had a feeling coffee was the enemy of good skin for me, and I think I was right...I was quite pleased when I brushed my Everyday Minerals sampler powder onto smoother skin today!



I am also still working out daily with the Shake Your Booty Challenge at Crazy Sexy Life dot commm! The tummy continues to flatten and the pants continue to loosen :) You can choose whatever workouts you want as long as you move every day, and I am really working on some weight-bearing exercise as well as building some glorious abs!! Obliques, yeah!!

I am feeling a little down in the dumps as I write this and am wondering if that, some low motivation, a little congestion, and a zit beween my eyes could all be the symptoms of my body cleaning itself out. My food for the better part of a week has been lean and green! Tons of raw fruit and veg, with very healthy grains, little to no sugar/alcohol/coffee/flour/etc. I've read that a detox type thing can happen. Hopefully this will pass quickly! I like my new good mood and energy I found and would like it to stay indefinitely!

Here's a supper from this week: my version of Kris Carr's Buddha Bowl.

Millet for the base:

A lovely green pile of goodness! Kale, peas, spinach, broccoli!

Topped with some avocado and tomatoes!

♥ YUM ♥

Homemade Deodorant Check-In...One Month Later

Well lovely Pixiepiners...it's been just a little over a month since I first posted about making my own deodorant. 

Any venture that wacky deserves some follow-up.

Here's the rundown for the month.

Times I've used store-bought deo: 0
Times I've felt stinky: 2-3*
Times I felt sweaty in the pits: 2

It is winter, so as I said before, the real test will most certainly be a Louisiana summer with 3 digit temps every day. Still, as long as I don't get too funky, I will rock this homemade deo. It's just awesome.

The times I felt stinky, I know that no one else could smell me. Those were a couple of evenings that, at the end of the day, a big sniff of my own armpit yielded some stink. It was however, way less stinky than the funk I got with the store-bought naturals I've tried.

What would I change?
My only annoyance after a month is that the scent I made was a little to herbal for me to love day after day. I think I will make the next batch with lavender and rose and/or vanilla, or maybe a little orange. Otherwise, I am in love with this mixture and will be sticking with it!

Yay! Vegan, cruelty-free, eco-friendly, homemade, cheap, and fully customizable. Oh yeah, and won't jack up your body or brain. Wheee!

Healthy Dinner

I am so excited that I got my copy of Crazy Sexy Diet in the mail! I usually use paperbackswap.com but I decided to spring for a new-to-me copy of this one from Amazon.



Yay! I love Kris Carr and am doing the Shake Your Booty Challenge at Crazy Sexy Life this month.

I am just starting the book, but I know the basics already. In the last few years I have really overhauled my eating habits, but there is always room for improvement. Plenty of posts to come as I get further into the book, I'm sure!

Our healthy dinner shown is a yummy stir fry from The Vegetarian Mother & Baby Book. I got this book from the book swap and I must say, despite being a pregnancy/parenthood book, it has some awesome recipes for grown-ups! Besides the stir-fry, we had a nice leafy salad with Sarah Kramer's vegan Caeser dressing, with which I am in mad love!

Happy healthy eating!

Lovey Cookies

Behold, cookies!

A little history: The Linzertorte, one of Austria's most famous desserts, dates back to the 1700's. Traditionally this torte consisted of a crust made with flour, ground nuts (traditionally almonds), sugar, egg yolks, spices and lemon zest that was filled with preserves (jam) and then topped with a lattice crust.

I began experimenting with baking Linzer cookies way back in high school! I'm quite proud of the vegan & organic version I've evolved into now.


I made these for my honey's Valentine, using Sarah Kramer's sugar cookie recipe, some store-bought organic jam, and raspberry sugar for the topping.


The idea was a "You Are My Sunshine" sorta theme :)


Viva la cookie!

Chili Burgers!

I cannot remember in any way where I found this recipe, but it was yummy! I think it might be in The Vegetarian Mother & Baby, which is full of suprisingly great recipes for even non-baby having people! This book has my favorite felafel and hummus recipes by far. 

Oats, mashed red kidney beans cooked from dry, and a buncha good spices....

Not a very fancy looking meal, but yummy! I used soy white "cheese" and a little salsa on the burgers. 

Here are a few of the cookbooks I've been perusing lately:

Made From Scratch: Flax Seed Crackers

Happy Valentine's Day, sweeties! 

Today starts the Shake Your Booty Challenge at Crazy Sexy Life iffn' yer interested! And now, onto the food...

Crackers! 

A socially challenged John Waters' character...

but also my latest baking achievement!!

I made Flax Seed Crackers from Sarah Kramer!

Piles!

Our fairly non-sophist after-work snack :P

Despite the fact that we were perched at the kitchen counter eating out of plastic, these crackers along with baba ganoush and wine made me feel like I was on a cocktail hour date with my honey! 

Some for safe keeping...they won't be around long!!

Giveaway Winner!

And the winner is....

Lizzie!

Please email me your info :)

Thanks, everyone!!

Bread, Bread, Soup

The weather down South, as you've probably seen, has been nutty. We've thankfully escaped anything brutal, but ice and 10 degree windchill do not set well with this girl. I rarely eat bread of any kind besides my beloved sprouted grain stuff, but I took a little breather from my health plan and ate for comfort in the cold!

First I made a Sarah Kramer recipe for focaccia. It's a pizza dough recipe and I just adjusted the herbs a little. My bread making needs some work...namely due to the fact that I hate kneading/letting it rise for the appropriate amount of time. It always still tastes good though!

We also sampled some Alexia rolls courtesy of Alexia and Foodbuzz. I must say, they were quite delicious and fairly healthy as ready made bread products go. 

To soak up all that bread (heehee!), I made a wild clean-out-the-fridge soup that turned out quite nicely.
Leftovers included: kale, spinach, red peppers, carrots, broth, onions...you name it!

Remember to enter the giveaway!

I'm In

Yup...I'm on it!

Vegan Caeser Salad Dressing

OHHHHH YUM! I can't believe I haven't tried this before...

I used the recipe from La Dolce Vegan. I didn't blanch the almonds cuz I am lazy like that, but otherwise I followed the recipe.



Humble...delicious. I've made it twice this week. I have been eating it on big yummy romaine shreds. My zero-waste accomplishment lately is realizing that I can skip bagged salad altogether and just rotate through the leafy green area of the produce department. Easy...but it took me a while to realize I could skip that plastic bag!

Two thumbs up on this vegan salad dressing!

Still time to enter the Green Giant Giveaway! 

Veggie-tastic Giveaway!

***Closed***

I am very pleased to bring you the latest Pixiepine Giveaway...sharing one of my favorite things! Veggies! I participated in a review of Green Giant veggies and had a great time! Green Giant is promoting healthy living and cooking, two things I love.

Here are the goodies I got and you could get too:

Free Green Giant veggies!

New mixing bowl and silicone spoon- super cute!

A pedometer to measure steps and miles...I went 3 miles in my house in one evening! Busy lady I tell ya!

A cold bag for grocery shopping! I am excited about this!

To enter your own healthy prize pack, including a coupon for a free Green Giant veggie product, do the following:

Mandatory: Be a follower of Pixiepine Blog on GFC, and comment here with your favorite Green Giant product. Easy!

For extra entries:
Like Green Giant on Facebook (1 entry)
Follow Green Giant on Twitter (1 entry)
Post about this giveaway on your blog (3 entries, leave 3 separate comments)

The information, prize pack and giveaway have all been provided by Green Giant through MyBlogSpark.
Giveaway will end on 2/12- thanks and good luck!

Making Seitan

The Little House on the Prairie industriousness continues....the pantry is a veritable banquet of legumes and grains in reused jars, and the home-made food marches on.

Today's post is on seitan-making. I have only used one seitan recipe ever, because it's good, it always works, and the disaster stories I've heard keep me from fixing what ain't broke so to speak!

My recipe of choice is the chicken-style seitan from the lovely Yellow Rose Recipes by Joanna Vaught.



I love this cookbook!

Here's some highlights:

The super important ingredient!

Making cutlets:

Done!

I used this batch to make the Mustard Crusted Seitan from YRR and it was awesome!