I have Arthritis and this has helped so much!!

Linda turned me on to Tulsi tea.  It is made from the Holy Basil leaves and let me tell you, it has changed my life!!  The first 3 weeks of taking it, I lost 10lbs in swelling!  I suffer so much when I am swollen.  It is miserable.  I am amazed at the benefits of this great herb.  Nothing has ever helped as much and believe me, I have tried EVERYTHING!!
So, in doing some research I found:

"Holy basil or Tulsi is a sacred plant that is found in most Hindu homes. Its medicinal value is immense and has been mentioned in ancient Ayurvedic texts."
"Holy basil has anti inflammatory properties and it relieves joint pain that occurs due to gout, arthritis and osteoporosis. It can be consumed in form of tulsi tea and juice or you can simply chew fresh basil leaves to treat inflammation."

See article @ http://www.searchherbalremedy.com/the-top-6-natural-anti-inflammatory-herbs/#Holy_Basil

Also see http://www.herbslist.net/holy-basil.html

This herb is great for depression, Colds, Asthma, Gas and Bloating, I feel so much better since I have been drinking it that I am amazed!
My mom started drinking it and her ankle swelling has all but disappeared.
So check out this awesome tea and see for yourself!

I love the Chai Masala flavor and the Pomegranite the best.  You can find it at health food stores and on Amazon. 

Learn how to make a Chocolate Lovers Lip Balm with this easy to follow recipe.

Learn how to make a Chocolate Lovers Lip Balm with this easy to follow recipe.

Got Allergies?

In my family several of us have autoimmune issues and have found that Apple Cider Vinegar is also great for pain & swelling.  I would love to know what other ailments its good for.  Please share if you have any suggestions. 

The list for useful websites!

I found this website on Pinterest, it is definitely one to bookmark!  I found a terrific online day timer and so much more!  Check it out:

http://www.labnol.org/internet/101-useful-websites/18078/

Great Place for Smoothy Recipes

Click Here!

Why Short Duration, High intensity Exercises are Better than Long Duration Workouts

No matter what age, background or geographical location, the most important thing in a person’s life is their physical health.  Getting healthy and staying healthy includes several activities that must be done on a consistent basis.  These include eating healthy, balanced meals and regular exercise.  However, millions of people dedicate time, energy and expense to regular exercise routines but see little or no real weight loss within a reasonable time.  Many people get frustrated or discouraged and decrease or stop exercising all together.

Every human being needs some form of physical activity on a regular basis in order to stay healthy.  Eliminating physical activity can be very detrimental to the health of any individual, including children and older adults.

Exercise is also the catalyst to burning calories to lose weight. It is common knowledge that maintaining an optimal weight results in better overall health and increase in confidence and self image.  Even for people who are not overweight, having a safe and effective exercise plan will increase the chances they will continue to exercise regularly. While any form of exercise is better than none at all, there is a way to increase its effectiveness for those who are trying to lose weight.

In most cases the issue is the type of exercise which results in slow or no results.  Years of research has shown that short duration high intensity interval training (HITT) is much more effective for losing weight than exercising for longer periods of time because it burns more calories. Not only does this type of exercise burn off calories faster, research has shown it also provides improvement in cardiovascular function even in rapid workouts as short as 30 seconds.

This type of exercise combines high intensity exercise followed by a recovery phase in one workout. It is popular for its effectiveness in addition to the time it saves for people who are too busy for long workouts several times a week.  Before starting this or any other workout routine smokers, people who have never exercised and those over 40 years of age should consult a doctor.  The next step is to find a safe and effective program to assist with reaching goals.  The PrimalBurn program is a comprehensive plan that will do just that.

PrimalBurn combines nutrition and exercise with motivation and recovery for people who are serious about getting fit and healthy.  The program is based upon health and weight loss information obtained from extensive research in this field.   The exercise structure of the program has two sections that are designed for various fitness levels. It also includes an “absolute beginner” workout so that those who are brand new to short duration and high intensity exercise can learn gradually. The exercise portion of the PrimalBurn program also includes the recovery period; which has been proven to be one of the most important things to help the body lose fat.  Details about losing weight, tips for weight loss and health and much more are all included in the PrimalBurn program.

http://Alli4Sales.xfitstrong.hop.clickbank.net
       

Stuff on my mind

Well here it is, Sunday evening and another weekend over.  I spent a lot of time this weekend pondering about my life.  I work in a job I really like, have a wonderful family, incredible friends and all my needs are met.  So, why do I feel unfulfilled?  I have a creative block and it is really making me a little crazy! 
I have, at times in my life, been wildly creative.  From poetry to painting I was so creative.  I painted and wall papered my kitchen and put in a new floor while my husband was at sea.  I painting a neat scene on a bathroom wall.  I made fabric wreaths, baskets, wall art.  I could cook and bake and I made fabulous soups.
I don't know what happened?!?!?  Last weekend I got together with my friend to do crafts.  I had in mind to make paper birds with a button holding on the wing.  I see so much on Pinterest that I want to try.  Well, I had such a hard time.  I couldn't even make a bird.  I got frustrated and just quit. 
I feel like I'm in the perfect time in my life to be creative, but for some reason, it is just not there.  Things I used to do, I can't even remember how I did them. 
I feel bored and while I have a lot of ideas, I can't seem to bring them into reality.  I'm not sure what is going on.  I don't feel depressed or stressed or anything like that.  I just can't put my finger on it. 

While all the crafty things I like to do aren't coming to the surface, I find I am able to write like never before.  I share previously about wanting to journal and meditate.  I am doing better journaling, I am finding I have a lot to put on paper and it seems to help to sort out my feelings and focus on what exactly I want.  I have plans for my future.  I know exactly how I want to live, for the first time in my life.  But do I really need to trade one for the other?  Must everything I love to do go by the wayside? 
I guess time will tell.  I will keep writing and meditating on these things.  Maybe, at some point, the answers will be clear.  I would appreciate any thoughts or ideas on this subject.  I hope it is ok to use this forum for my struggles.  It somehow feels right to me to put it out there, maybe once I let it out and let it go, it will change!
Have a great week!

Dehydrating Bananas

I love my dehydrator.  I am looking forward to making a larger, solar dehydrator soon.  My absolute favorite food to dehydrate is bananas.  I find that the thinner I slice them, the crunchier they are.  I can literally eat them daily. 
I would love to hear from any of you who dehydrate bananas or anything else.  Tell us your tips and tricks!!

Cinnamon, who knew???


I have always loved cinnamon!  I didn't realize how good it is for me.  Found this on Pinterest.  Hope it's helpful to you!

Journaling, Meditation and Wish Boards

I have, at many times in my life,attempted to become a journal writer, a wish board creator and meditation master.  I want to visualize my dreams, read about them, find ways to always keep them at the forefront of my mind.  I believe it would help me immensely to realize my dreams and goals.  I have found, though, that  I am not good at any of these things.  I will write for a few days and then not pick up a pen for another year.  I actually have journal books I have started that literally have only one or two pages written in them but I have never been able to really get into the habit of writing in a journal.  By  the same token, I have not been able to bring meditation fully into my life.  I try it for a day or two, my mind wanders, I never really feel like I'm in a total state of relaxation and for some reason, I just don't have what it takes to make it a habit in my life.  Then there are wish-boards, I tell myself whenever I see something in a magazine or online, I am going to cut that out or print it and make a wish board so I can visualize what  I want. 
I have all these desires are in me but somehow I can't quite live up to my own expectations.  Am I fearful of having my dreams come true?  Am I just lazy?  Why do I keep stopping just short of my obtaining dreams and goals?  How can I use the tools I know of to really focus on what I want?  Am I the only one out here who feels this way?
I am writing this post as a tool to help myself develop the traits I want in my life.  I think if I put it out there, for the world to see, maybe, just maybe, someone out there can help me figure it all out.  Also, I think I fear being vulnerable and showing others what I really want.  I can't think of a better way to kind of force myself into action, than telling everyone what is going on with me. 
The reasons I would like to make these things a habit in my life are two-fold.  I would like to  have something tangible that I can go back to in order to see what I have accomplished.  I think it would make a great difference in my life.  I have found that I lose sight of things when I don't write them down.  I want to hear and see my dreams and goals.  I need to be able to look back and have something to help me visualize my goals coming to fruition.
So starting today, I'm putting myself out there.  I am considering this post as entry number one of my online journal.  My hope is that my struggles may help someone else and that someone will give me feedback to help myself as well.  
OK, so... I have been trying to find something, for as long as I can remember, that I can do on my own to make a living.  I do not want to trade my time for money anymore.  I want to do something that I love and make a living at it.  
I want to live in a tiny house.  Something I can build and take with me where ever I go.  I don't want a traditional camper, I really want a little log cabin on wheels, with a loft for storage.  I have never really been into stuff, so I want to purge the useless stuff in my life and live a natural, peaceful existence that doesn't  require keeping up with anyone but myself.  
I want to increase my gardening skills and learn to store what I grow so it is available to me all year long.  
I want to be creative, joyful and peaceful.  I do not want drama in my life.  I want to live everyday of my life as if it were the last, with no regrets, no guilt, and no shame.  And most of all I would like to help others who are struggling to make their dreams come  true.  
I hope you will feel free to make suggestions, ask questions and even be inspired to do something you have always wanted to do. 
This is Allison and this is the first day of creating my life my way!

A Babbling Brook in Italy!!

OK, so my niece, Brook, is living in Italy.  She is amazing at writing emails that really give us a good idea of what life is like there for her.  She has coined several phrases while there, like "inch of coffee" as that is all you can get at one time, LOL.  I will let you discover some of the others.  I am going to post a few gems from her last email.  This girl really needs to write a blog!!

Greetings from Hotter than HECK Italy!!  Wowsa is it hot!! How these people do it in summertime is beyond me..I've been informed that our little summer town swells 3 times it's size when it's summertime and when September hits all of these people will GO HOME!! A girl can only dream..Just to put things in perspective, off peak season it takes me 15 minutes to drive my hubby to work, today it took me an hour to get there and another hour to get home.  As I sat in traffic getting more and more angry at the scooters (who always have the right of way) are whizzing past me with people holding such things as, GMA, flotation devices (blown up to full capacity)and little kids and you should see when a whole family gets on one!  They turn 2 lane roads (country roads mind you) into 4 lanes with the scooters and other vehicles that just get behind the scooters and follow them through the lights.  The cops are just sitting at the side street cafe's drinking their inches of coffee and just laughing at the whole mess. I also sat their thinking that this crazy driving is nothing new to them, they are used to it and no one really gets angry at those who skip in line.  I know if we were in America road rage would be in full effect and someone would have gotten shot or at LEAST a finger gesture would have been offered!!  I also found out that Mario Andretti who drives the formula one car for Italy is really just a guy from Italy who drives like the rest of them because they all drive like him !!

Well, this past Monday I dragged my girlfriend Deanna shopping with me and I see this junk store just begging to be pillaged!! Of course Deanna, like any good friend says "I'm staying in the car while you try to talk to them that way SOMEONE can identify who killed you by trying this stupid stunt" ..I wasn't deterred, that dilapidated building with it's huge fence around it and overgrown tree's wouldn't stop me from seeing the goodies on the inside!! So once I passed the hookers, yes I said hookers..lol..I parked the car in the dirt, left Miss Pris in the car and made my way up to the gate where I promptly forgot all of the Italian I know and just went with the yellow lab language!!  which is composed of me just waving and smiling and looking stupid while yelling Americano, hellllooooooooooo!!! not knowing what the other was saying, Finally the only Italian that came to mind was DEMIJOHN??? and he said yes and pulled a small one down wrapped in a perfect little basket, Then I asked, quanta costa (very pleased with myself that i remember that!!) of course he came back with at least 4 sentences, so i just handed him a pen and a piece of paper and he wrote the price down ..I remembered from watching American Pickers your suppose to buy something to "break the ice" so i agreed and he let me look through the rest of his little treasure chest!! He had some of the nicest things but I had to go so I think I told him I would be back?? and he kindly walked me to the gate and showed me the buzzer for next time!!ahahahahaha..Deanne become upset when she saw what I got but was insistent we come back when the car wasn't loaded down and She must have felt like they weren't going to kill us. If I keep remembering the little things like this when I'm sitting in traffic then it makes living here so much more enjoyable! It really is a nice place but it seems that all the good stuff is hidden behind overgrown trees and fences, Lydia my next door neighbor is in the middle of painting one of our demijohns and I had asked her to paint the coliseum so far it looks wonderful. She is also going to paint some other scenes on other demijohns for me. Ciao for now!

Smoothies, OH Yeah!

I love a good smoothie!  I love experimenting with flavors and seeing what I can "hide" in a smoothie.  This morning I had a banana fig smoothie.  I love figs and bananas and wasn't sure how it would work.  I have a stash of figs frozen in the freezer from this years crop.  I usually put chocolate syrup in my banana smoothie and don't get me wrong, it tastes great, but today I decided to try it without the syrup.  I took a scoop and a half of whey protein, a cup of 2% milk, 1 banana and 5 frozen figs plus ice, of course.  DELISH! I TELL YA!!  I can't really taste the figs but I know the nutrition is there.  I didn't need to add sweetener, the over-ripe banana was just right along with the vanilla protein powder. 

OK so a few other smoothie recipes are:

My family's absolute favorite, Watermelon Smoothie:

about 2 cups of watermelon and ice, literally that is it!
If you find that the watermelon isn't as sweet as it should be, add a little stevia or honey or even real sugar, this is so good you will want it daily.
 I got the idea from a restaurant in China Town in Boston.  They have it on the menu and it is amazing.  I believe they use a watermelon syrup, the real thing is even better. 

Linda makes fabulous breakfast smoothies.  She hides kale in then and other greens.
Yes the smoothies are green but the taste, OMG, try pineapple, berries, bananas, apples, carrots, almost anything you can think of.  These smoothies are super Delicious!

I also love apple & celery smoothie.  I add about 2 apples and 1 large stock of celery.  You will be surprised at how good that is.

Please feel free to share some of your yummy smoothie creations with us!  We enjoy trying new things and would love to hear from you!

Fresh Fig Preserves, mmm mmm!

 For years my Aunt Dot has had a fig tree in her back yard.  I've never seen anyone eating the figs or using them for anything.  This year when the figs started popping out all over the tree, I started picking them.  Some I froze by cutting in half, placing on a cookie sheet and putting them in the freezer.  Once frozen I placed them in freezer bags and use them for smoothies.

Aunt Dot and the rest of my family as well as some friends enjoyed eating fresh figs.  We all ate our fill and they were delicious.  But, I wanted to do something with them so I searched the internet and found several recipes.  I decided to try to make preserves.  Most of the recipes were similar.  So here is mine:

I cleaned and sliced the figs.

I used about 3 cups of figs
3/4 cup of Sugar about a table spoon of lemon juice and just a dash of cinnamon. 

I then simmered the all the ingredients together until the figs were soft and the juice thickened about 30 minutes.  Yes, literally that is all it took!!  Let me tell you, that was some goooood jam!  I took a jar to work for some of my coworkers and they were begging for more, even offering to buy it from me.  I was amazed!

My Aunt Bee made buttermilk biscuits to go with the figs and ooooooooooh my was that good!!

I am always looking for ways to use figs, so if any of you out there has any ideas, I would love to hear them.  I have two freezer bags full of figs just waiting for the right recipe.

When I use the frozen figs for smoothies, I use them in place of ice and I mix plain Greek yogurt, frozen figs, vanilla whey protein and a little Stevia to sweeten.  Yummy Yum!  I also mix them in with other fruit smoothies and love the extra nutrition. 

Let's save some kitties!!

Saw this on Facebook.  Please share with all your friends!  Just think, for every cat you spay or neuter, you save so many others from homelessness, neglect, hunger and the never ending circle of unwanted feral cats.

http://www.foundanimals.org/cash-for-cats

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Where are all the Freebies?

For many years now I have been searching the web for all the free stuff I can find.  I have an email dedicated to free stuff, I subscribe to freebie blogs and websites.  I get at least 50 emails a day to my free stuff account.  I LOVE getting FREE STUFF!!
My best score to date has been a pair of sneakers, completely free, not a prize and no shipping costs.  That was about ten years ago and since then I've gotten my fair share of samples, coupons and free books and magazines.  But I find that the really big scores ( like sneakers)  just aren't out there anymore, unless you want to sign up for 40 different deals and give out your credit card number, social security number, first born and your grandparent's homestead title!  


So I am pondering, via this blog post, how to streamline my searching and increase the quality of the free stuff I find.  I thought, at first that some of the websites I joined would do that for me and in some cases they do consolidate the good stuff and offer real information about them prior to having to sell a kidney to get something.  


I am asking for feedback here folks.  I would love to hear if anyone else out there is confused and overwhelmed by the plethora of information and offers out there.  Do you know of any great sites we can follow to help streamline the process?


Some sites I have found for samples are : getitfree.us, shopforfreebies.com, womanfreebies.com


Sites for earning points towards free stuff: Swag Bucks is great, I've gotten Whole Living & Martha Stewart Living from there so far.   My Points is also a good one for earning points for things.
Now if you want cold hard cash or gift cards, try inboxdollars.com.  I got a check for $32 bucks, but beware, I had to read a lot of emails that pay five cents each and the more things you sign up for the more money you earn.  


If you want to earn money for good causes, freerice.com is a word game that sends rice to the United Nations World Food Program.


Ok folks, I'm anxious to hear about your internet finds.  Thank you and have a fun,frugal,free stuff day!!

Up-Cycling at its best!

Linda and her husband Eric are always coming up with great ideas for up cycling stuff that Eric finds in his travels about town.  Eric, being an engineer can always turn Linda's visions into reality.  I am regularly amazed at what they are able to come up with.  This latest up-cycle is really cool.  Who would have thunk it?!?!?!

Eric found a set of drums and this is what they did.

So they sanded down the paint to uncover the wood and Linda stained it.  Eric found the table top also and added it, but the coolest part, it raises up and they can store stuff in it.  They also put casters on it so they can move it around easily.

This is a really cool up-cycle!!  Way to go Linda & Eric.  Keep em comin!

Time VS Money

My sister Linda and I  decided a while back to get into couponing.  All it took was one episode of Extreme Couponing to get us going.  

When we started, Linda ordered six Sunday papers delivered to her house each week & I went to tons of couponing sites and subscribed.  We spent hours clipping and organizing all the coupons we could find.  We were so excited, we put together huge three ring binders with baseball card holders in them.  We printed categories from some of the websites so we could be ultra organized.  We read everything we could find about couponing.  But neither of us were able to walk out of the grocery store with $600 worth of groceries for $15 like we had hoped! Granted we learned a lot and we did save a few bucks here and there. 

You see, I am single.  I don't do weekly or even bi-weekly grocery shopping.  I stop at the store grab some fruit and a frozen pizza or a couple of boxes of cereal, a bag of salad and a 12 pack of diet Mt. Dew.  So all that clipping really didn't do me much good.  I did save on Loreal Hair Color and I bought enough deodorant to last me a year by using multiple coupons on the buy one get one sales, but really, I found I spent way more time surfing coupon sites, printing and clipping coupons, organizing coupons, & carrying coupons around to warrant the $2 bucks I was saving on hair color and deodorant!  I also found I was not able to use all the coupons before they expired, so now add an hour each week taking them out of my coupon book and putting them in the recycle bin.  It was just too much!

Linda had similar experiences.  She and her husband are Vegan, and there really aren't a lot of coupons out there for produce.  Also, she doesn't have kids at home anymore and doesn't eat a lot of processed foods.  So now she has a spare room full of newspapers for recycling and a bunch of coupons she will never use.  When she did find a great deal, she would use her coupon and buy as many as she could of whatever the product was.  But then there is the storage factor.  I mean, where do you store 67 bottles of mustard anyway??

We did find that we could send our coupons to the military for families over seas to use at the base grocery stores and they can even use them if they are expired less than six months too.  I sent more coupons there than I used.  

I know there are folks out there who have figured it out.   But I just can't justify spending 5 hours or more a week to save a few bucks.  Now, if I do find a Loreal coupon in the paper, of course I will use it, but I just can't find the coupons I would use.  

The other thing we have discovered is that we like making our own stuff like soaps & shampoos.  We have been having a great time experimenting with new recipes.  And it is so much cheaper.  For about a buck sixty we can make a gallon of shampoo and split it and it will still last us 3 months or more each.  Now that is what I call a bargain and we can make it smell better than any we could buy.  Plus we enjoy doing it together.  

So, if there is anyone out there who can enlighten us on a better way to coupon in less time that allowing us to save more money, we would love to hear from you!

 

Welcom to our blog!

Welcome to our blog!  I am Allison, the middle sister who thought it would be fun, to start writing about some of the fun, crazy, and creative experiences my sister's and I frequently have. I am a novice gardener, a want to be artist, poet & writer and a seeker of all things that bring joy to life.

  Allow me to introduce Linda, the oldest of us and supposedly the wisest, but don't tell her that or we will never hear the end of it. LOL.  Linda brings some serious creativity to the table.  An exceptional quilt maker, home designer, wood worker, and someone who is always trying to save pennies by making new things and re-purposing old things. She also loves gardening organically and sharing her Vegan ideas.  Linda's husband, Eric, will be most useful to this blog as he is an engineer and the one who can this turn most of Linda's ideas into a real things.

Penny is the youngest of the three of us but is not short on her own brand of wisdom.  Penny, too is extremely creative and her interior design ideas have been copied by many.  She is also a Yoga instructor, mother of 3 teenagers, thus making her a  creative home manager & shopping guru. Time is the only thing in short supply for Penny, but she makes her busy life work and finds joy doing it.  

We have been blessed with a wonderful family.  We are extremely close and though we live in different places, we always manage to find time to talk, laugh and share ideas.  This blog is one way we are hoping to spend more time together, even if it is on Skype.  We cherish or sister time and many a creative idea has come out of  our gatherings.  

Please feel free to offer up any suggestions you have to make our blog more interesting to you.  For now, we will commit to 1 posting a week, even though I think there will be more.  We will be adding more columns as time goes on.  Our niece, Brook, is a navy wife who is traveling the globe with her sailor.  We are looking to get her to post a column on life in other countries.  

Thank you for taking the time to read this first installment. I hope we have piqued your interest enough to come back and check us out and share our blog with your friends.