POOP!
Do I have your attention? We are going to talk about a subject that a lot of people turn their nose up to as if it stinks or something?! But, it's soo important; poop and colon health. I am going to go into detail about this so reader beware.

Today I had my first Colon Hydrotherapy Treatment. I have heard for a long time about how the average person can have up to 10-20LBS of poop rotting inside of them. Yes, read that again, 10-20 POUNDS of POOP! I've wanted to do something like this for a while now for various ailments I have been dealing with and I have read and heard about the benefits but never knew where to go. Well, the other night I was watching a sweet friend and mentor of mine on Periscope (if you don't know what Periscope is it is a live stream app, It is so dope!) and she did a treatment live on camera! So brave! So to say I was inspired is an understatement. I called Lori at the  Inside Tract in Ogden and set up an appointment for the soonest she had and I was not disappointed.

Find out what Colon Hydrotherapy is HERE

I really wasn't nervous until this morning and mostly because of the unknown. The anticipation of how the process would go intimidated me. I arrived at the location and seriously thought about turning around and going home. Lori greeted me at the front of her home and instructed me to go around to the basement. Great, I thought. I am about to get a tube shoved up my ass in someones basement! Isn't she going to wine and dine me first at least? How rude! Haha. As I walked into her office it was very clean and professional and it didn't even smell like shit! :) I filled out some paperwork and answered some revealing questions about my pooping ritual all while Lori sat next to me and was talking as if this wasn't a big deal, I guess 23 years in the poop biz does this to you. It took all of my concentration to act as nonchalant as she did. She then escorted me to a bathroom where I was instructed to bear all under a sexy hospital gown. I undressed, emptied my bladder in fear that pooping on her would be bad enough let's not add pee to that list too! I snap-chatted a few friends who knew what I was up to and then looked in the mirror wondering what in the hell did I get myself into but thought, here goes nothing!

I entered the treatment room and saw a big machine with gages and dials on it and there was Lori, smiling, with a tube and lube in hand. Oh, my God! I reluctantly sat on the table and well, I think you can imagine what happened next. I do have to say for those who are wondering what it feels like, it doesn't hurt, but I am going to be real with you, it feels like you have to poop and it was in no way sexually arousing. I was then put in a comfortable position on my back and before I even realized it the treatment had started. Lori really made me feel comfortable and at ease. When the water is entering your digestive tract it kind of just feels like you're bloated or full. She massages your stomach to help things "move" along, then just when you think you are going to lose it and your dignity on the table she releases the pressure and out comes the waste.  And, you know, there is a lighted viewing chamber for your viewing pleasure and I really appreciated that, boy is it fascinating to see. I was a little caught off guard though when in the middle of our conversation about marriage, kids, career choices and colon health, she said, "Ah! You're a mushroom girl!" "What did you just say?!" I exclaimed in laughter (remember, laughing is probably not the best idea right now!) Yes, she can tell what you've eaten if you, like me, don't chew your mushrooms up all of the way before swallowing. All this time I thought our stomach acid breaks down the food but I learned today that the saying, "chew your food 20x before swallowing" holds true. Your stomach acid breaks down the food to a molecular level but can only do it with food that has been previously broken down into a paste, so our bodies are not even absorbing the nutrients from the foods that have not been chewed enough. Life lessons people-Chew your food!

After 45 minutes of this it was finally over. I ran to the bathroom gathered my things and my pride and met her in the waiting area, paid for the service and you bet, I rescheduled. I did not go through that one time to not finish it out to get through my entire digestive tract, 3-6 treatments is recommended.

Now, 8 hours later I feel a little crampy, which is normal but overall I feel great! I almost feel cleaner and lighter, maybe that's in my head but I do. I felt energized all day and I did not have to be confined to a bathroom for the rest of eternity or even at all today. I  kept my food choices light today and chose things that are easy on the gut like smoothies. I will do my best to journal my progress and if it helps some of the ailments I have been battling.

Happy Pooping!

Kale Chips

I have been intrigued by kale chips for sometime now but just couldn't bring myself to pay $7 for a small bag of them when the recipe is so easy and kale is very affordable. These are a low-calorie snack and packed with nutrition.
 I loved them and thought they were so good! I think Chris will need some time to get used to them, but I think he'll come around, he usually does. ;) Next time I will  definitely lay off the salt a bit-oops! I will be making these again!

Recipe

• 1 bunch kale
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with salt

Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.

Homemade Dog Treats

Chris and I don't have children yet so our Daisy and Sancho are definitely treated like royalty around here! I have always grown up with animals and couldn't imagine my life without them. It would feel so empty! 

On my journey of learning what is in the food Chris and I eat I have also learned about all of the crap that is in our dog food/treats so I have started making my own treats so that I can control what goes in them and I have also discovered that making your own is really cost effective too; bonus! 

Don't expect to get peace in the kitchen while making these! My dogs sit at my feet the entire time waiting for scraps to fall. I may or may not sneak them some dough though which probably doesn't help ;) but I can't help it! I just imagine it's like being a kid and your mom letting you eat the cookie dough before they're baked!

This recipe is really easy. If you are making smaller treats this would make a huge batch, I make a combination of small and medium since I have a small and medium sized dogs and it still makes a good sized batch :)  

Tip: Double the batch and freeze the extra!

 Ingredients 

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 cup boiling beef broth
• 3/4 cup cornmeal (there is some controversy on feeding animals corn, which I do normally avoid for my dogs but I use organic cornmeal to be sure the corn has not been genetically modified and this recipe is the only one I use with corn in it so I figure a little is ok.)
• 2 teaspoons white sugar
• 2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules 
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 egg, beaten (or 2 eggs to make treats softer for older dogs)
• 3 cups whole wheat flour

Directions

Combine rolled oats, butter, and boiling beef broth in large bowl. Let stand and soften for 10 minutes. Thoroughly stir in cornmeal, sugar, bouillon, milk, peanut butter, and egg. Mix in flour, 1 cup at a time, until dough comes together. Knead dough together so that it looks like this:

Roll out dough to 1/2" thickness

Cut out shapes with cookie cutter. I found my bone shape cutter at Walmart and then used my mini star cutter for Daisy sized treats

Place on cookie sheet. They don't spread apart so you can fit a lot on a sheet:

Bake 35 (smaller treats) to 45 (larger treats) at 325 degrees, until golden brown. remove from oven and let cool. 

Note: My picture shows both sizes on one tray, I suggest you do larger ones together and then smaller ones together. I ran out of time and stuck them on one tray and my smaller ones were a little over baked!

Enjoy! 

Hand-Made, Anti-Dandruff Coconut Milk Shampoo

Your skin is your largest organ; what you put on it matters! Part of my mission to become more hippie is to make my own personal products so I am in control of what goes into what I put on my body. 

Chris has used Head & Shoulders for years but it has stopped working. Not to mention it has sodium laureth sulfate which is a inexpensive and very effective foaming agent, but is very irritating to the skin and dries out the hair follicle.

 I came across this recipe for your basic shampoo, but added my own combination of oils to make this shampoo specifically to target dandruff: 

• Melaleuca, (dandruff appears to be related to the fungus Pityrosporum ovale. Tea tree oil (Melaleuca) has antifungal properties with activity against P. ovale and may be useful in maintaining a healthy scalp.) 
• Lavender
• Wintergreen

 Lemon, Peppermint and Rosemary are all great choices too. 

*this shampoo does not lather up like your typical shampoo, but since Chris has short hair he doesn't mind. I am in search of a recipe for my thin, greasy hair so stay tuned!

Homemade Coconut Milk Shampoo:
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup liquid castile soap (like Organic Dr. Bronner’s)
1 tsp vitamin E, olive or almond oil
10 to 20 drops your choice of essential oils (I used lavender, melaleuca, and wintergreen)

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a shampoo bottle or jar and shake well to mix. (I bought the squeeze bottles above at the dollar store.) You can keep it in the shower for up to one month…just shake before use.
*Use about a teaspoon every time you shampoo.


If you have heavy dandruff I would suggest incorporating this into your routine too:

•  Massage the following blend into scalp nightly.  Cover with shower cap if necessary. Shampoo out the next morning with your coconut milk shampoo:

•  1 teaspoon VCO or other carrier

•  4 drops Lemon

•  4 drops Lavender

•  4 drops Melaleuca

•  4 drops Rosemary

A List of 157 things you can compost

Why Compost?

• Compost recycles organic materials, from apple cores and coffee grounds, to dried leaves and Shredded Wheat.
• Compost improves any, and all, soil types.
• Compost provides the basic nutrients of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) as well as dozens of micro- and macro nutrients that are vital for healthy plants.
• Compost "gives back" nutrients that flowers, herbs and vegetables remove in their normal growth processes.
• Compost prevents nutrients from leaching away from plant roots.
• Compost protects soil against wind and rain erosion, drought, dust storms, earthquakes and other extreme conditions.
• Compost extends the life of landfills by reducing space needed for food and yard wastes.

Every year, tons of organic materials are thrown away, needlessly filling up landfills. By composting these materials, you can lengthen the life of your local landfill. You can make a difference by composting. 

Compost is not limited to tossing leaves and grass clippings into a pile. It's much more creative than that! Here's a list of 157 materials (and still counting!) you can add to your compost pile or even bury in your garden. Just think, 157 materials that don't end up in the landfill. Plus, your plants benefit from the gourmet meal. Such a deal.

Paper napkins
Freezer-burned vegetables
Burlap coffee bags
Pet hair
Potash rock
Post-it notes
Freezer-burned fruit
Wood chips
Bee droppings
Lint from behind refrigerator
Hay
Popcorn (unpopped, 'Old Maids,' too)
Freezer-burned fish
Old spices
Pine needles
Leaves
Matches (paper or wood)
Seaweed and kelp
Hops
Leather dust
Old, dried up and faded herbs
Bird cage cleanings
Paper towels
Brewery wastes
Grass clippings
Hoof and horn meal
Molasses residue
Potato peelings
Unpaid bills
Gin trash (wastes from cotton plants)
Weeds
Hair clippings from the barber
Stale bread
Coffee grounds
Wood ashes
Sawdust
Tea bags and grounds
Shredded newspapers
Egg shells
Alfalfa
Winter rye
Grapefruit rinds
Pea vines
Houseplant trimmings
Old pasta
Grape wastes
Garden soil
Powdered/ground phosphate rock
Corncobs (takes a long time to decompose)
Jell-o (gelatin)
Blood meal
Winery wastes
Spanish moss
Limestone
Fish meal
Aquarium plants
Beet wastes
Sunday comics
Harbor mud
Felt waste
Wheat straw
Peat moss
Kleenex tissues
Milk (in small amounts)
Soy milk
Tree bark
Starfish (dead ones!)
Melted ice cream
Flower petals
Pumpkin seeds
Q-tips (cotton swabs: cardboard, not plastic sticks)
Expired flower arrangements
Elmer's glue
BBQ'd fish skin
Bone meal
Citrus wastes
Stale potato chips
Rhubarb stems
Old leather gardening gloves
Tobacco wastes
Bird guano
Hog manure
Dried jellyfish
Wheat bran
Guinea pig cage cleanings
Nut shells
Cattail reeds
Clover
Granite dust
Moldy cheese
Greensand
Straw
Shredded cardboard
Dolomite lime
Cover crops
Quail eggs (OK, I needed a 'Q' word)
Rapeseed meal
Bat guano
Fish scraps
Tea bags (black and herbal)
Apple cores
Electric razor trimmings
Kitchen wastes
Outdated yogurt
Toenail clippings
Shrimp shells
Crab shells
Lobster shells
Pie crust
Leather wallets
Onion skins
Bagasse (sugar cane residue)
Watermelon rinds
Date pits
Olive pits
Peanut shells
Burned oatmeal (sorry, Mom)
Lint from clothes dryer
Bread crusts
Cooked rice
River mud
Tofu (it's only soybeans, man!)
Wine gone bad (what a waste!)
Banana peels
Fingernail and toenail clippings
Chocolate cookies
Wooden toothpicks
Moss from last year's hanging baskets
Stale breakfast cereal
Pickles
'Dust bunnies' from under the bed
Pencil shavings
Wool socks
Artichoke leaves
Leather watch bands
Fruit salad
Tossed salad (now THERE's tossing it!)
Brown paper bags
Soggy Cheerios
Theater tickets
Lees from making wine
Burned toast
Feathers
Animal fur
Vacuum cleaner bag contents
Coconut hull fiber
Old or outdated seeds
Macaroni and cheese
Liquid from canned vegetables
Liquid from canned fruit
Old beer
Wedding bouquets
Greeting card envelopes
Snow
Dead bees and flies
Horse hair
Peanut butter sandwiches
Dirt from soles of shoes, boots
Fish bones
Ivory soap scraps
Spoiled canned fruits and vegetables
Produce trimmings from grocery store
Cardboard cereal boxes (shredded)
Grocery receipts
Happy Composting!

School Lunch Peanut Butter Bars

Do you remember peanut butter bars from elementary school? I sure do! I have to admit that chocolate and peanut butter are two of my favorite combinations. This recipe makes a whole sheet pan so I usually make them for large gatherings otherwise my waistline might regret it!

School Lunch Peanut Butter Bars

 1 1/2 C Flour
1¼ tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Baking Soda
¾ C Butter
¾ C Sugar
¾ C Brown Sugar
1 ½ tsp. Vanilla
1 1/2 C Creamy Peanut Butter (split)
2 Eggs
1 ½ C Quick Oats
 Frosting:
 ½ C Butter (1 stick)
 3 ½ C Powdered Sugar
 2 T Cocoa
 ¼ C Milk (I use whatever I have in the fridge)
 1 tsp. Vanilla

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small mixing bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugars, 3/4 C peanut butter, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy. Gradually add dry ingredients, just until incorporated. Then, stir in the oats. Spread onto a greased 11 x 15 Jelly Roll Pan (cookie sheet). Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes.

 The frosting is a two step process. First, whip the remaining ¾ C Creamy Peanut Butter until it becomes lighter colored and fluffy. Carefully spread the whipped peanut butter over the pan cookie.

 Then, add butter to a small sauce pan and melt the butter. Add the milk and cocoa. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. Heat just until boiling. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Then, gradually add the powdered sugar. Stir until thickened. Pour over the peanut butter and gently spread over the cookie. Cool completely, and slice into bar cookies.