Today I want to introduce you to a friend of mine… Carl! Carl has an AMAZING story and I encourage you to go over to his website and read it when you get the chance. This is a man, that against all odds, not only kicked cancer to the curb BUT he also reversed some of the side effects of chemo that he was told he would have for the rest of his lie. The incredible thing is, he did all this not with meds but with changing his lifestyle! He changed his eating habits along with other lifestyle changes. He now helps others change their health through lifestyle changes. He is always around to help us Busy Moms by inspiring, encouraging and when needed, kick you bootie so you can make those changes you wish to see in your body and mind.  Now is time to get to the fun stuff! Go enjoy this recipe he is sharing with you today!

Life is hectic and especially so for moms. Between work, kids, school, sports, the house and everything in between, time is less than limited most days. By the time dinner time arrives, you are exhausted and out of inspiration for a delicious and nutritious family meal. Am I right?

Unfortunately, what most turn to for dinner, while convenient, is anything but nutritious and healthy. Frozen, refined, processed, preserved and made from low quality ingredients, most modern family meals only fill the belly while slowly creating a myriad of health concerns, many of which remain hidden until a crisis strikes. And even when a meal is made from scratch, modern ingredients remain low quality and do little more to fuel the health of the family.

But how do you balance the health and well being of those you love through nutritious meals with the hectic schedules of the modern life? One Pot Wonders! Yep, one pot dinners made simple, fast, delicious and nutritious with high quality ingredients. Prep is quick, you can multi-task while dinner cooks and clean up is a cinch. Better still, you’ll be feeding your family whole, living, empowering foods! You’ll love it, they’ll love it.

Here is one of my family’s favorites!

Coconut Milk Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

·         1 whole, free range chicken

·         4 large organic carrots, large chopped

·         2 large organic yellow onions, quartered

·         ½ large organic head of cabbage, quartered

·         2 large bell peppers, red and green, seeded and sliced

·         1 large organic aubergine(egg plant), trimmed, halved and cubed

·         3 cloves garlic, minced

·         Sea salt

·         Fresh Cracked Black pepper

·         1 can coconut milk

·         Chicken stock, low sodium, free range

You’ll need a large electric skillet, my favourite kitchen tool, or a large stock pot.

Season the whole chicken with sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper then place in the skillet or pot. Add all the chopped veggies, including garlic, with greens on top. Sprinkle with a bit more sea salt and pepper.

Pour in coconut milk. Cover and bring to a simmer. Cook for about 1 hour depending on size of the chicken. Then, remove the lid and simmer to allow the broth to thicken to a sauce. Add some low sodium chicken broth as needed to keep from sticking or burning but not so much that it can’t reduce.

As the chicken begins to fall apart, remove to a platter then toss all the veggies in the sauce.

That is it!

I make this several times a week, giving it fresh, new flavours by simply changing the veggies and adding some fun spices and herbs like curry or fennel seed. Butternut, baby potatoes, Swiss chard, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, snow peas…the sky is the limit to nutritious combinations with this one and it won’t feel like a boring repeat!

Busy moms need and deserve easy, simple and nutritious meals for the family and this one is certain to deliver! Give it a try and let me know how everyone responds! If it is like my household, you may need to double the recipe so there will be leftovers for a nutritious lunch tomorrow! J

Carl Mason- Liebenberg is a Wellness and Weight Loss Specialist, Author, Fitness Coach, and a Leader in Creating a Lifestyle of Wellness.

His passion is for those who suffer from poor nutrition, related illnesses, addictions and overweight conditions; with a specific focus on women. Carl unveils the power of nutrition and fitness to bring recovery, healing, restoration and strength.

Carl has personally experienced what he teaches and continues to study and learn to improve his ability to teach you a Lifestyle of Wellness.

He has recently launched a series of e-products called Simply Good that you’ll want to be sure to obtain in your journey to authentic wellness. For more information and opportunities please join him at http://www.el3mentsofwellness.com.

Here is your chance to WIN the 2 oils that helped me kick my 6-10 can a day Mtn Dew addiction to the curb!

You must go to Pinterest and enter there to win!

Happy Pinning and Good luck!

Many Blessings,

Dawn

The other day on Facebook I simply asked, "As a Busy Mom what are you dreading about Spring?"  I received a variety of answers and I am going to talk about some of them today.  Maybe what works for us will help you and your family ease into Spring!  Before I go through those, I gotta tell you, Spring is my absolute FAVORITE season of the year! I LOVE seeing everything blossom, the kids go outside and truly play (not too cold, not too hot!) LOVE it!

OK – I am going to talk about the one that came up that I honestly had never thought of… MUD! You read that right, mud! LOL It actually took me a few minutes after reading it to realize exactly what they meant. Then it hit me… in the Spring, it rains a lot so that means the dirt turns to mud and everyone is tracking into the house the mud on their shoes! Got it!

The best and easiest answer to our MUD problem is if you have a carport or garage that is hooked up to the house, then have a mini de-mudding station set up. Have a vinyl tablecloth laying on the floor where everyone can leave their shoes, an umbrella holder for umbrellas and a basket with some old towels in it for muddy hands or paws to be wiped before heading in to the house.

If you do not have a garage or carport available then I have an idea for you too! #1 make sure you have a door mat at the front door. There are several different kinds available but if you are serious about fixing this mud issue, you don't want it to be a thin mat with soft material. The rougher the better gets mud out of your shoes! Next just inside your door, have a towel, mat or even a vinyl/plastic place mat to be able to place your shoes after immediately taking them off. Just as was suggested for the garage/carport areas have a holder for your umbrella and a basket with some old towels for muddy hands and paws.  Make sure everyone in your family knows that for muddy weather EVERYONE comes into the house using the same door.

To clean up the inevitable mud that will arrive, have a spray bottle ready of the Thieves Household Cleaner with a cloth and just quickly spray and wipe. If it is on the carpet, I vacuum once it is dry and then I use the exact same Thieves Household Cleaner on it if necessary.

The next answer was being the Mommy Taxi.  This Busy Mom was referring to the fact that her children were all involved in some type of sports in the spring. Two in soccer (different teams of course) and another in baseball. I completely LIVE this Spring dread! My son plays soccer, my daughter is training for the Kids Marathon (they have training hours at her school for it, then she is also in the school play (which I volunteer with). This is all extras in the spring…. so there is science club, math tutoring, environmental club, etc.  My solution to this common problem is carpool. I trade off with another Mom on the teams so we each have to only be at every other practice. I am not one to leave my kids at their practice alone but I am completely comfortable knowing my friend is there if I am needed. The days that I am the Mommy Taxi, I make crock pot meals so we can quickly sit down to eat. I also take a book, work or my journal with me so I can feel as if I am accomplishing something with there for that 1-1.5 hours. If the weather is really nice, I save my workout until their practice time and run or walk for my workout that day.  

The final thing that was brought up as the thing most Moms dread about spring is …. ALLERGIES!  I will be making a video all about how we have handled our horrible allergy problems over this past year. I am a person who was on both regular and decongestant allergy medicine under doctor's watch all year long for as long as I can remember and I am so blessed to report, I have not taken an allerfy pill of any kind since February 2011! My kids are no longer on theirs either! I promise, that video will be the next thing posted

I would love to read about your most dreaded thing about Spring is! Comment below or on my Facebook page!

Many Blessings!

Dawn

Right now as many of you know, I am in a challenge called the Slique Challenge! This challenge is not only about weight loss but about making lifestyle changes and giving me renewed energy by putting all this good stuff into my body.  If you are interested in learning more about this challenge, come find me on Facebook! I am doing periodic updates there! Anyway, I have brushed off this old but faithful recipe! We all LOVE it! The kids actually eat it for dessert if I make it with Rice Krispies instead of oatmeal. With oatmeal, they think of it more as a snack, granola bar kind of feel.

Now, let me in on a little secret for these delicious filling treats.  #1 they are healthy!  #2 a batch of these make 105 balls!  #3 They are easy to make.  If you are making them into the ball shape (which I HIGHLY recommend) don't do an arm workout that day LOL.  

Now for the recipe:

Nutritional Protein Bars

2 cups organic or natural peanut butter

1 ¾ cup of honey

        Heat in Microwave 60 – 90 seconds

        Mix

Stir in 1 ¼ cup Young Living Balance Complete 

Stir in 1 cup of Young Living Power Meal

Add 3 cups oatmeal (or Rice Krispies)

Mix until consistent

Pour into ~ 9 x 12 pan

Let cool

In a 9×12 pan, if you cut them into 2" by 1" squares each square will have the following approximate nutritional values:

Fat: 5.0

Net Carbs: 15.0

Sugar: 10.0

Protein: 4.0

Calories: 120

Now as I mentioned above, I make them into balls.  I use a small cookie scoop and it works out perfect for 105 balls!  I lay parchment paper or something on a table, then make the balls.  I allow them to sit over night so they do not mush together once placed into a storage container.  The approximate Nutritional values per ball (using Jif Natural Peanut Butter) is: 

Fat: 3.0

Net Carbs: 8.0

sugar: 5.0

Protein: 2.0

Calories: 62

Jornaling… If you had told me a year ago, I would be journaling on a regular basis, I would have looked at you as if you had 3 heads!

You see, I was told in order to be in this coaching program that I desperately wanted tobe in, I HAD to start journaling regularly. I journaled once in a blue moon prior but I just felt like I was sitting there with a blank paper in my hand. I had every excuse under the sun…

• my pen is not my favorite
• this book is not comfortable to write in
• I have no idea what to write
• I am not a writer
• What if somoeone ever reads this???
• oh and the list could go on!

I was blessed to have that push to start regularly journaling. The other day I asked on facebook if you journal… I had a variety of responses but most said no but they think they should but just don't. I want to share with you some of the benefits I have received from journaling then I will outline how I journal.

BENEFITS:

• I am not constantly jumping from one thing to another, I instead have everything on paper so I can refer to it. I don't have to pretend that I "remember" everything
• I am spending QUALITY time with God by truly writing down my thoughts as I pray and read the Bible
• I don't have that nagging feeling that there was something I was supposed to do (ok – as a busy Mom I do get this some but not near as often now!)
• I am more focused within my business
• I am sleeping more soundly and quicker when my head hits the pillow (this is a combo of journaling and oils)
• It de-stresses me!
• I am instilling this habit in my daughter! LOVE that!

Now everyone has their own way of journaling but this is what mine has evolved to, who knows, in the future it may look different!  I actually journal 3 times a day. Before I loose you… Know that I did not start out this way! I am going to show you what I do now AND what I did to get started! Ok re-focus for me my friend… My 3 times a day (usually only 5-10 minutes each time slot) looks like this:

• In the morning in my time with God, I am reading my Bible or Bible Study and i just jot down the things that jump out at me. I have found that these things that I write become clear to me what God wished for me to see in what I was reading usually just days later (How fun is that!)
• While I am in the carpool line to pick up my son, I take 5-10 minutes and journal about my "work day" I include anything from successes, things that still need to be accomplished to new ideas
• Then finally at the end of my day as part of my bedtime routine,  I massage my feet with Tranquil Roll On, I do my "Brain Dump" This actually has turned into my "I Get To List" with some other details thrown in.

When I was first starting, I would just sit and stair at the paper not sure on what to write. What I started doing was writing 5 Blessings. That was my only requirement for myself. Over time, I would add more details and then add more than 5. Next thing you know,I was looking for my journal to write things in it more often and I was veering off track of my 5 Blessings only rule!

I will warn you, don't get caught up finding the perfect book for journaling or pen… just do the action of putting pen to paper, your world will quickly change!

Please share with me in the comment section below if you journal already (if so what tips can you offer) or if you don't, are you willing to give it a try? I would love to check in with you and encourage you along the way!

Love and blessings!
Dawn

What wouldn't you do for a good night's sleep…

Here is an even bigger dream, your kids sleeping peacefully through the night.

You see, my kids are 10 and 12 right now.  For some reason when they were 8 and 10, we had a lot of issues with sleeping in our house. My son suddenly decided sleep was a waste of time and would NOT sleep past 4am! UGh! Now my daughter would wake up at least 2 times a night.  Her reasoning for getting up would vary between noises, bad dreams, etc. Talk about Mommy not getting a good night's rest! Not to mention, the sleep issues were causing problems for the kids!

I am so happy and blessed to say that these sleep issues are completely behind us! It took some trial and error to see what was best for each person in our house. Literally, each person has their own routine with some common features hanging around.

The common features are we start the "bedtime routine" one hour before I actually want them snoozing We start off with changing into pj's or comfy clothes depending on the child. Then to the couch for Mommy cuddle time! There we do our Bible reading and our blessings list. Each of us have to come up with 10 things we are grateful for from that day (we can't duplicate- makes them stretch their grateful muscle!). Then they each go to their beds and start reading. I then visit each of them with my Mommy Oils and Prayer Time!

For my son, I start by turning on his humidifier then giving him a foot massage with Lavender Essential Oil, which is known for its relaxing properties.  Now my daughter, she gets a Peace & Calming foot massage.  Peace & Calming is known for diffusing stressful situations and relaxing all who are smelling it.  Before leaving her room, I turn on her cd player. She listens to relaxing music as she drifts off to sleep.

Now if either of them have had an extra stressful day or had a sports/play practice close to bed time, I add a drop of RutaVaLa Essential Oil to their feet. There is something about RutaVaLa, it just puts your mind at rest so you can sleep.

Now for me, the Busy Mom of this crew I use a totally different routine. I have a hard time turning my brain off for sleep… I am always on the go so my mind wants to keep everything in play so that nothing gets missed.  For me, my oils of choice are Tranquil Essential Oil Blend Roll On which I roll on my wrist, back of the neck and bottoms of the feet. Next up, Lavender Essential Oil on the bottoms of the feet. Like my kids, if it has been a stressful or extra exciting day, I add a drop of RutaVaLa to the Lavender filled feet. After oiling myself up I then read my devotional and journal… the journaling is partly my brain dump! I write whatever is on my heart and more importantly my mind! I have found that this journaling has ended up being almost an I Get To list for the next day

Now the last two nights, I tried a new product! It is called Sleep Essence! You can take 1-2 capsules 30-60 minutes before bed (I took 1). I did not oil my feet or journal so I could see how well it worked. It has Young Living Oils in it so I was confident it would work. I went ahead and took it and literally in 40 minutes I was so relaxed and just knew, I could go straight to bed. Sure enough I didn't wake up until morning  I still LOVE my routine of my oils so I will use the Sleep Essence on a night that I had an incredibly difficult day.

I hope this look into our bed time routines help YOU and your family to get a better night's sleep.

Oh, in case you were wondering my husband says he doesn't need any oils because he can smell what I have on me and that is enough to put him into dreamland! Shhh… don't tell him, I wipe my hands on his pillow after doing my feet  

What are your family's bedtime routines? Would love to have you comment below!

I wish you an AMAZING day filled with many blessings,

Dawn

By the way! Head on over to Pintrest today! I am giving away one 15ml bottle of Lavender Essential Oil in a Pin It 2 Win It contest! Go Re-pin it and you may win! I would love to hear how you would use this bottle of Lavender Essential Oil if you win it!

If you are friends with me on facebook (if you are not, what are you waiting for?) you already know that my daughter has been battling sickness throughout this past week.

It all started on Sunday with a mild upset tummy that grew some on Monday. I knew there was a tummy bug that has been going around her school and the neighborhood, so I kept her home on Monday. We were blessed the last round of tummy bugs, we missed it, or I should say we didn't have the MAJOR symptoms. Anyway, she was doing a better so to school she went on Tuesday but then was sent home on Wednesday with the possibility of strep throat. Sure enough, strep positive. So she missed Thursday (county rules) and then Friday 4am, she was up with a fever of 103! Not fun! The fever was off and on all day Friday and she refused to eat all day Friday and drink hardly anything. Saturday, no fever but still refused to eat and drink so we went to the doctor before she became completely dehydrated. With it being Saturday, our doctor's clinic hours are at Vanderbilt's Children's Hospital location, which means a longer wait… 4 hours later her doctor told us her throat is looking better, but she has the tummy bug!  While there, she wanted to eat so on the way home we stopped at Kentucky Fried Chicken for biscuits and a sweet tea.  She ate 2 biscuits and the tea before we even got back home!  Needless to say, she has felt great since then!

Now I tell you all of this so you know, even with essential oils, you are still going to have some illnesses.  What I want to share with you is the essential oils that we have used during this time period because you know what, she is the only one in our house who has truly gotten sick!  

Ok – for the initial tummy issues that started this whole thing, I put some DiGize Essential Oil blend on her abdomen diluted and rubbed it in a clockwise direction.  I did this every hour until she felt better.  For the strep throat, I did a capsule cocktail of Oregano, Frankincense and Thieves Essential Oils. She takes this 2 times a day as an antibiotic.  For her fever we put Peppermint and Thieves Essential Oils on her feet every hour while the fever was present. I also had her take a bath with Peppermint Essential Oil Bath Salts that I had made. For her stomach, we used Peppermint Oil and Digize Blend alternating through out the day. Fortunately, she only vomited one time through out this entire mess, whereas I am hearing that many people are out for the count and are having every type of digestive issue… diarrhea, vomiting, cramps, you name it! 

Here is the BIG news, I kept the rest of the family from getting this by diffusing Thieves, Purification and Lemon Essential Oils and cleaned using the Thieves Household Cleaner. I truly believe, this has kept us healthy throughout my daughter's week of "misery" as she calls it.

The moral of the story… Essential Oils don't mean you NEVER get sick but they help keep you from catching every little bug AND it gives you the tools to try and get over the illnesses quicker that without. How great is that, we can feel better using all natural products instead of over the counter medicines that may carry un-necessary ingredients and possible toxins!  

For me and my family, we choose the natural Young Living Essential Oils, what do you choose? If you need help or have questions, please don't hesitate to ask below! I can show you how to get the oils for you and your family and get you a discount to boot!

I am so grateful for this new week God has given us and that we have our health to enjoy with it! Praying for health and blessings for you and your family!

Dawn

Are you on Pintrest????

If not, oh my!!! So much goodness to be found there! I have found recipes, craft ideas, new books I want to read, and much much more! 

Click this button  to find me there!

Now for the fun stuff!!!

Pin It 2 Win It is today, Friday, February 17, 2012 and I am giving away 

This is the Thieves® Waterless Hand Purifier is an all-natural hand purifier designed to cleanse and refresh the hands. Thieves Waterless Hand Purifier can be used by adults and children to keep hands clean and promote good hygiene, without the use of water. Dermatologist tested.

The most AMAZING part is…. it does not burn on open cuts!!!! That was what sold my kids on this! Nothing worse than using a waterless hand purifier and you had a cut on your hand that you didn't realize was there! OUCH!

Ok – now how can you win this??? Easy! Simply go here and re-pin this Thieves Waterless Hand Purifier picture! How fun is that! 

At 9pm central time tonight (Friday, Feb 17) I will choose the winner from those that re-pinned this photo through random.org

I must put a disclaimer here… I would strongly encourage you to use a timer what you are pintrest as it can become VERY addicting and you will loose a ton of time there if you are not careful!

Who will win the Thieves® Waterless Hand Purifier? Will it be you? I can't wait to see!

Happy Pinning! Dawn

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I want to introduce you to a friend of mine… Denise Taylor. I was first introduced to her through her book that she wrote, "Heavenly Birth". I then found her on facebook and have been friends on there, since! You may have heard me mention that I am making my "I Get To" List instead of a To-Do List. Well, Denise and her daughter are the "master-minds" behind this concept! I hope you fall in love with this concept as much as I have! I can't wait to hear what you think!  Make sure you comment below and share some love for Denise!

From Burdened to Blessed

by: Denise Taylor