the latest around here and a malibu getaway...

Here's a few of the happenings around here...

  

Our time in Malibu was amazing. We had a golf cart that we cruised the neighborhood in and took it down to our little private beach. The weather was perfect and we really had the most wonderful time. We are so thankful to our sweet family who shared their place with us for a lovely little, much needed getaway!

Ford is the fish. This kid is so close to swimming. He loves the water. 

You cant tell in the picture, but the water was clear, blue and warm.

 Tuck is the sand man. 

Hudson and Tuck are my 6'oclockers... It doesn't matter what time they go to be they are up bright and early ready to start the day. The 3 of us took s walk one morning so we wouldn't wake the others and this was our view. It was amazing. 

Hud is the cautious one, he's just fine digging in the sand and avoiding the water.

Swim lessons start tomorrow :)

Chad and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary on May 28th!

It really has been the 6 best years of my life. I'm so thankful to the Lord for the gift he is to me. He rocks and I can't believe I get to be his wife.

My baby turned one last week?!? What!? Crazy?!

Here's Tuckers birthday feast...I just wasn't super down for giving him a pile of processed sugar. (not that we don't enjoy a good cupcake evry now and then). So blueberries were his "cupcake" and he loved it :)

We went to a darling wedding on Saturday at a lemon farm in Fillmore and these guys had a ball.

I love their friendship. They really do love each other so much.

Our awesome neighbors invited us the the Skirball Noah's Ark exhibit a few weeks ago and we had a blast. If you have not gone, go! Its so much fun and the guys loved it. Thursdays are free, just make sure you have reservation. Here's a link:

http://www.skirball.org/noahsark/noahsark

I've been decorating for a residential client and was designing some bedding for their master bedroom. I was then inspired to swap around my own stuff for the summer! You can never go wrong with white duvets and linens. They're so versatile and allow for easily changing around colors and changing around seasonally. Here's our master layered white, for a cool and clean summer look ;)

sunset out this window is the best!

And I'll end this randomness with our homemade eucalyptus swing, which is Hud's new backyard activity of choice :)

Looking forward to sharing some new recipes I've been testing and some pics of the latest adventures...

Glad to be back :)

Cj

Honey Balsamic Dressing

Just thought I'd share a little dressing recipe I made the other night that was a hit in our house. It turns a simple salad of greens, cucumber, tomato, fresh basil and mint into a culinary delight....

maybe thats a little dramatic ?! But its really good.

Super easy and yummy...and only 4 ingredients! 

In a bowl, whisk together for 30 seconds or until emulsified (should be a lighter brown color :):

1/8 c. good olive oil

1/8 c. balsamic vinegar

1 tbs. raw honey

generous pinch of sea salt 

Pour over baby greens salad, roasted veggies off the grill, chicken...or just about anything :)

Happy Monday!

Enjoy,

Cj

Exploring Greystone Mansion

I took about 5 bajillion photos a few weekends ago when we went exploring at Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills. These don't show on bit of how amazingly beautiful this place is, there's more to come on that. I'd wanted to go for years and we just never got around to it. 

We decided to make it a little Saturday afternoon adventure with the kids and it was a hit. It's one of the most beautiful properties I've ever been to. The gardens and landscape is breathtaking and the gigantic stone house is beautiful! These pics are in the pool area where we played in the shade for a little while. We had a great time til Fordy got thirsty and hungry :/ and of course I had run out of water and snacks! So thats the crabby face Ford is making in these ;) Other than that... It was an incredible adventure! 

Garden and House pics coming soon :)

Oh and to mention, it's absolutely free! The property is now a " beverly hills city park"...the most amazing city park I've ever seen :) Go on a date, or go on a picnic with your kiddos. This place will not disappoint!

Enjoy!

Cj

Well said Karen and one more week of meal plans...

(sprouted veggie pizzas)

(keeping this guy stalked helps the snack options to be fresh and healthy!)

I thought I'd stick this weeks meal plan up here since there was some new stuff on the menu this week! I'm always curious to hear other peoples menus and meal plans who are desiring to eat well and am inspired to hear new ideas. Hopefully there's some ideas for you in these!

 I was going to do a general post on what "healthy food" looks like and is, but I just saw Karen's post and I couldn't have said it better.
Click on  The E-Wife  for the post. It's super balanced and very easy to understand! Check it out if you are wanting a great overall encouragement and broken down, easy explanation on good food.

Here's our menu for the week. maybe this will help add some ideas to yours! 

BREAKFAST

-farmers market eggs with spinach or kale

-oatmeal with money and berries

-farmers eggs with salsa

-almond oatmeal muffins

-raw cheese, raw nuts, raw veggies

-homemade granola

LUNCH

-(leftovers!)

-Baked Yams with Kerrygold butter and sea salt, serve with salad and fresh herbs

-Egg Tacos on corn tortillas with salsa add shredded raw veggies

-Indian Curry with veggies over quinoa (add butternut squash,peas, and spinach)

-Green Nachos: corn chips, raw cheddar, black beans, spinach, cilantro and salsa

DINNER

-Giada's lentil soup with added veggies, served with salad

-Brown Rice Pasta with marinara, crushed tomatoes, onion, garlic, italian squash, spinach

-Sprouted pizzas: leftover veggie sauce, on sprouted bread, baked with raw cheddar.

-17 Bean Soup with added veggies served with salad (greens,  tomatoes, cucumber, cilantro, mint)

-Hearty Salad: greens, TJ's "harvest blend", hard boiled egg, raw veggies, herbs, homemade dressing

-Avocado Salmon Salad with greek salad (greens, fresh basil, tomatoes, cucumber, purple onion)

-Asian veggie stir fry served over quinoa

SNACKS

-raw veggie slices

-raw fruit sliced

-raw nuts

-dried fruit

-corn chips

-un-sweetend apple sauce

-celery and natural peanut butter

-apple and raw cheese slices

-peanut butter sandwich

-homemade popcorn with Kerry gold butter and sea salt

DESSERT

-almond chocolate chip cookies

-apple sandwiches with peanut butter and mini dark chocolate chips

-baked apples with cinnamon and maple syrup

DRINKS

-Water (add lemon or lime)

-Iced green tea with raw honey

-Iced "good earth" tea with oranges and mint

Have a wonderful week!

Cj

6:45 adventures

The kids were done with baths, and we were getting them in their jammies. As I walked through the house I could see the most beautiful light out the back window...bedtime might just have to wait, I thought to myself. I had wanted to get some pics of Tucker for some 1st birthday invites and thought this might be the perfect time to do it.

I asked Chad if we could do a little impromptu change of bedtime plans. :)

I walked back in to the boys room as they were just about to get in bed to read some books and asked them if they wanted to go on an adventure instead of going to bed? They squealed and said they'd like to go on the adventure :)

I quickly threw them into regular clothes and we zipped up the road to a little hike spot up the street.

The spot was not as fabulous as I had imagined and the light was gone by the time we got there. They aren't any photographic masterpieces,  but at least we had a fun little adventure! Here's a couple of the pics...

enjoying the adventure,

Cj

real food meal plan ideas and my sources of food inspiration

veggie lasanga

raw snacks

TJ's veggie burger, onion, raw cheese and blanched asparagus with sea salt

quinoa with roasted veggies and raw spinach and cherry tomatoes

YJ's lentil soup, sliced apples, and lentil chips

raw lunch add rig, cheese, and good turkey

TJ's Curry over quinoa add raw kale and cashews

I've been getting emails asking about what we eat. Several have been curious to how and what we eat and some have wondered if my kids really do eat all this "healthy stuff" and they do! 

I've had several readers ask to share my meal plans or a list of ideas to help them get more creative with healthy food. So here's a very small, rough list of some meal and snack ideas to maybe help when meal planning! You can easily google recipes to some of these things or I'd be happy to share some more of mine!

This is just our meal plan for the week( and a few from last). I could add so much more to it, but at least this is a little launching place. I hope this helps with some ideas!

Breakfast:

raw green smoothie

oatmeal with raw honey and fresh sliced strawberries

oatmeal with chopped raw apple, cinnamon, honey, and dried berries

raw fruit and veggie slices with hard boiled egg

gorilla munch cereal with coconut or almond milk or raw cow’s milk add sliced banana 

homemade granola with coconut or almond milk or raw cow’s milk add fresh berries

egg and veggie scramble with peppers, spinach, and tomato

gf bread with almond butter or peanut butter, raw honey and sliced bananas
soaked grain or quinoa pancakes
heavenly gf french toast

Snacks:

raw organic fruit: apple, orange, banana, strawberries, blueberries, etc.

dried fruit (sugar and sulfate free....just dried fruit on ingredient label)
celery sticks with peanut or almond butter (raw nut butter :)
apple slices with peanut or almond butter (raw nut butter :)

raw veggies sliced: cucumber, carrots, tomatoes, broccoli, celery (add pinch of sea salt and pepper or greek seasoning)

raw nuts: cashews, almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds

sliced peppers and homemade hummus

TJ’s black bean and quinoa chips with salsa

half avocado (or guacamole)with gf corn chips
greek tomato and cucumber dip with rice chips

fruit leather (homemade/ TJ’s All Fruit bit’s and pieces/ Archer Farms Organic)

Lunch:

greens with raw veggie salad (olive oil and balsamic) add olives and org.hard boiled egg

hummus,avocado, raw cheese melts

TJ’s curry over quinoa, add raw kale and raw cashews

TJ’s lentil or split pea soup with rice chips and salad

sliced raw veggies, raw cheese, and small salad

veggie burger with salad

black bean burger with salad
lori's baby greens or spinach, avocado, artichoke hearts, toasted walnuts , tomato and feta cheese salad
cauliflour crust veggie pizza

Dinner:

veggie lassanga with baby greens salad

homemade lentil soup with salad

black bean burgers with raw milk cheddar over baby greens and roasted red peppers 

stuffed peppers with quinoa and roasted veggies

homemade veggie burgers(topped w/onion,garlic,raw cheese) with blanched asparagus and sea salt

herb baked wild salmon with roasted cauliflour and goat cheese

brown rice pasta with sautaeed veggies and marinara sauce, salad with strawberries/walnuts

lori’s wild salmon patties/cakes over quinoa raw veggies chopped and baby greens
black bean soup

vegitarian chili add kale

TJ’s 17 bean soup add kale, squash, garlic, serve with salad

Deserts:

coconut milk fudge pops
bomb.com GF chocolate chip cookies

lori's carrot cake muffins
Brannon Peep's Gluten Free Oatmeal Cookies

You may already know about these but if you haven't and you're interested in learning more about food... These are a few things that have really inspired me to eat better for myself and my family, I'm not endorsing every detail of them but defiantly found them insightful and quite informative! 

Forks Over Knives and Food Matters if you or anyone you know is sick or suffers from chronic illness (cancer, ms, diabetes...) watch these!

Food, Inc. made a huge impact in my view on the food industry and a big part of why I shop Farmers Markets when I can and try to buy local organic.

 Weston A Price Foundation- great information on traditional diet

The book Nourishing Traditions was one of my favorite wedding gifts and taught me so much about good food. (Thank you Erin :)

I hope this helps!

Enjoy,

Cj

spring swap

Here's the living room's new Spring/Summer look :) 

Using pieces I already own, I love finding new spaces for them or repurposing them! Here's the latest.

Enjoy,

Cj