Superfood Dinner!

Hi everyone!

I know it's been months since I blogged. I miss blogging a lot, but I'm waiting until my website is complete to continue, except for this post. I made a delicious dinner last night that I just needed to share with you! I wanted to make something different so I got creative....

Veggies over brown rice with an Agave, coconut butter, garlic, and ginger glaze

I don't really measure anything out but I tried to estimate for everyone. This makes about two plates.

Ingredients:

5 carrots

Head of fresh broccoli

6 pearl onions (or regular onions minced, I just like pearl onions)

6 garlic cloves

fresh ginger (cut about 10 slices off the root then mince)

Sesame Oil

Coconut Butter

Agave Nectar

Sea salt

Pepper

Grain of your choice, I used brown rice

Protein of your choice, I used chicken for my boyfriend, and cannelloni beans for myself

Pre heat oven to 425 degrees

Glaze- 2 tbsp coconut butter melted, 2 tbsp Agave, salt, pepper, mix together

Prep veggies- wash chop, peel, mince

I steamed the broccoli then baked the carrots & pearl onions in the glaze

(you can bake broccoli in the glaze if you prefer)

Pour glaze over chopped carrots & pearl onions, bake for 20 minutes

Saute garlic and ginger in sesame oil for a few minutes. I used a good amount of sesame oil so I can pour the rest over the veggies

Garlic, ginger, sesame oil

When carrots and onions are done add them to the steamed broccoli, pour any excess glaze over the broccoli and carrots, then add the ginger, garlic and sesame oil mix. Stir to combine all of the flavors then serve over the grain & protein of your choice.

If you would like to add chicken which is what I did for my boyfriend- I coated the chicken in garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, and a bit of ground ginger.

I love this dinner! It's filled with superfoods, it's healthy, and can satisfy both a plant based eater or a meat eater! The carrots would also make a great side dish for any meal.

Buon Appetito!

UPDATE

HI EVERYONE!

I KNOW IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE I'VE POSTED, I'VE BEEN DOING A LOT OF BEHIND THE SCENES WORK.

******ATTENTION******

I WILL NO LONGER BE ON FACEBOOK AS LEA'S CLOSET.

PLEASE LIKE MY NEW PAGE

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How to eliminate toxins in your beauty routine

Post number #3- How to eliminate toxins from your beauty routine!

Now that you have an understanding of how harmful toxic chemicals in beauty products are, I am excited to start you on your journey of eliminating them!

First I want everyone to know that this is a process. This isn't something that can happen overnight. It can if you chose to make it happen fast, but if you take a little while that's totally fine. There is no time limit. Consider just reading this post a win.

So here are some steps you can follow:

Step 1- Educate yourself. If you read yesterdays post, you're educated. So you can check this step off. If you haven't gotten around to it yet click here

Step 2- Check your products to see which ones contain the toxins I talked about. Even if it's just one of the toxins, I wouldn't use it anymore.

Step 3- Make a list of everything that needs to be replaced. Here is my list and one you can use as well:

Shampoo
Conditioner
Toothpaste
Mouthwash
Body wash
Soap
Hand Soap
Body Exfoliate
Shave gel
Face wash
Face exfoliate
Body lotion
Deodorant
Face Serum
Face Lotion
Eye lotion
Eye primer
Face primer
Foundation
Mascara
Eye liner(s)
Blush
Bronzer
Self tanner
*notice I don't have eyeshadow on here yet- that's something I'm still researching and something I can't replace right away, I have so many!!*

By the way, don't be intimidated by this list, it may look long but remember it's one step at a time. Also this list is based off of my needs, adjust it for your own and start with one, or a few at a time.

Step 4- Separate your products into 2 categories. Exchangeable and almost finished. In the exchangeable category you want to put products that you know can be exchange at stores for better options right away. 

To be honest, I have no shame in returning products even if I used them. If companies are going to sell me products that don't serve my body well I believe I have the right to return them. I recently returned a lot of products to replace them with better options, some were even half used but the fact of the matter is now that I found out how toxic those products were, I couldn't bare to use them for another day!

Most stores take anything back for store credit- SEPHORA, food stores, Harmon's Beauty. Those are my go to stores when I need to do some 'return shopping.'

And that is how you replace all of your products with better options for little or NO cost!

If you have any questions or need help with this comment below!

Cosmetic toxins 101

Welcome to post number  #2 in my toxin free series. I hope you enjoyed yesterday's post, and I'm sure some of you were eagerly waiting for this post! I am going to share with you what toxins to look out for in beauty products and why they are harmful.

When we eat toxic foods, our saliva has the ability to break down some of those toxins, (that doesn't mean you should go out an have a pink slim McDonald's cheeseburger but you get the point) however when we put toxic products on our body 60% of that is absorbed right into our blood stream. The skin is our BIGGEST organ. What's even more crazy is that these toxins are BANNED in Europe and on our toxicity watch list, yet they are STILL in our products. Here are a few of the toxins I look out for:

PEG- Found in almost every personal care product, may cause damage to the central nervous system, liver and heart

Triclosan- Used as an antibacterial, classified as a pesticide by the FDA, possible carcinogen

SLS- Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Found in MANY personal care products possible carcinogen

Parabens-  Used as a preservative, could disrupt hormonal balance which can lead to hormonal cancers, also linked to birth defects and organ toxicity in both men and women

Aluminum- Found in antiperspirants, may lead to breast cancer in women, prostate cancer and Alzheimer's disease

Mineral oil- Found in many lotions, clogs pores because of its consistency which allows toxins to be trapped inside your skin

Petroleum- Found in lip balms, petroleum is what makes up Vaseline, it is a carcinogen

Fluoride- Found in our drinking water and dental hygiene products, unapproved by the FDA, contains a number of harmful chemicals- lead, arsenic, aluminum

Here is a guide that I have been using that has helped me eliminate toxins:

I can't make the photo any larger, but save it to your phone so you can not only make it bigger
but so you always have it when you're shopping!

I actually had a really bad experience with Dove body wash which contained a handful of the ingredients above, but specifically because of the mineral oil in the body wash. As I mentioned above mineral oil causes pores to get clogged. It basically acts like saran wrap over your skin trapping toxins inside. After using the body wash for a while I developed Keratosis Polaris all over my arms. If you haven't heard of this before I'm sure you've seen it or have it yourself! Keratosis Polaris is the official name for those little white bumps all over your arms, that aren't pimples but they are kind of hard. That's a bunch of trapped built up toxins!

If you want more information on this subject visit posts from my two favorite sources: Food Babe and The Healthy Housewives

I highly recommend checking out the video in Food Babe's post! Also refer back to yesterday's post, now you'll have some insight as to why I chose those cosmetic lines. 

Stay tuned for post # 3 in this series coming within the next few days. This post will talk about a plan to start eliminating toxic products for little or NO cost!

New non toxic beauty buys!

I am SO excited to share something with you..

I am going to be doing a series on non toxic beauty buys! This will be my first post of the series so I hope you enjoy it :)

Quick introduction..

I've been wearing makeup for over 10 years now and I've only recently realized how toxic some of my beauty products are. I never knew that the products I was using contained toxic chemicals that lead to a number of health concerns.

This topic was first brought to my attention a few months ago. I first started to eliminate toxic cleaning products from my home (If you are interested in that click here.) After I was done with that I decided to focus on my beauty routine. I came across a few articles on specific chemicals to look out for in products, so I decided to check out some of my products to see if they contained any of the toxins, and let me tell you I was shocked! Every single one of the products I used had at least two toxic chemicals.

Chemicals that lead to cancer, Alzheimer's, nervous system disorders, fertility issues, liver and kidney damage and MUCH MUCH more. I was so horrified that I didn't even want to go a second longer using products like these. Of course it isn't easy just to replace every single product overnight. It takes a lot of research to find better options, and of course it costs money. Some of my products were brand new! Thankfully I've done all the research, and I've even come up with a plan for you to replace some of your products without spending a penny, so all the hard work is already done for you.

I wanted to start off this series with a post that talks about the specific steps to start identifying the toxins in your products, and how to start replacing your products, but I am SO excited about my non toxic beauty buys from yesterday that I have to share them right away!! Tomorrow's post will be about identifying and eliminating without spending any 'new' money. Check out what I picked up yesterday at Sephora..

Tarte, and Josie Maran are both cosmetic lines that do not contain ANY toxic chemicals.

Josie Maran

Tarte

Josie Maran Argan Daily Moisturizer

Josie Maran focuses on using Argan Oil as a main ingredient. 

Tarte Pure Maracuja Oil
How cool is that box?!

I am using this to replace my night time serum

Tarte foundation primer

What I love about this primer is its also working for my skin. Look at the vitamins it contains!

Tarte Volumizing mascara

According to Tarte's website this 4-in-1 product is..
"A lengthening, curling, volumizing, and conditioning mascara infused with olive esters to condition, treat, and protect lashes."

I am not kidding after using this mascara my lashes have never looked better!! Not only when I have mascara on but when I am not wearing any as well! After using this and washing it off my lashes still looked curled.

Have you guys tried any of these products? What are your favorite non toxic beauty buys? Share below, and stay tuned for tomorrow's post!

Lash glue, life threatening?

Although I would hate to be the one to bring bad news to the table, in this case I love it! To some it may be considered 'bad' news, because this is a product you may not be able to live without. To others it may be considered more like 'Thank God' news- thank God, this was brought to your attention!

Ok ladies, we all know we love to have full, and think lashes, but at what cost? Threatening your life for lashes that touch your brows isn't a smart idea.

There once was a time where I wore fake lashes almost every day! If it wasn't for the lash glue causing minor, FIXABLE (Thank God) damage to my eye, I may have still been poising myself with that glue today. This post is not about the damage that lash glue did to my eye, it is about a serious health risk involved with long time lash glue exposure.

For those of you who have used lash glue before, you know that the second you put that stuff near your eye it causing an uncomfortable feeling. Hmm I wonder why? Let's see..

I pulled up the most popular lash glue, 'Duo' on EWG's Skin Deep website. Skin Deep is a data base run by the Environmental Working Group. EWG is a non profit organization who's mission statement is "to use the power of public information to protect public health and the environment." You can enter any chemical or product on their website and see the rankings. 1 is best 10 is worst.

Overall harm- Moderate
Cancer- HIGH
Developmental and reproductive toxicity- Low
Allergies and Immunotoxicity- Above moderate
Use restrictions- Moderate 

The biggest ingredient in the glue is formaldehyde, go figure. This is highly toxic and acts as a preservative. Skin Deep rates formaldehyde as a 10.


I don't know about you, but when I see a product that may possibly cause cancer, even tho I may not be using it a lot, or in large quantities, I am not going to continue to use that product period.

So what are the alternatives? Ardell and Revlon make lash glues that are both rated at a 3. They do however include ingredients that are rated pretty high. For me, no glue is worth the risk-A few years ago I decided to give up lashes and glue all together, learn about my alternative here.

Has anyone had a bad experience with lash glue? Tell me about it below!

Buyer Beware!

This is another post that is going to start to save your life. Sound like a bold statement? I'm serious, cutting out processed crap will add years onto your life, just as stuffing your face with procesed crap will take years OFF of your life. Who wants that?!

Processed foods are a harmful chemical landfill. From MSG, to nitrates, to chemicals I can't even pronounce and chemicals that I'm sure you've never even heard of before! Processed food companies do a great job at making sure we do not know what their products really contain. I mean if we did, who would buy them!? Here's a look into some false advertising by processed food companies..

Remember years ago when it was discovered that MSG (monosodium glutamate) was bad? A ton of companies started to remove MSG from their products and advertise on their labels 'no MSG.' One brand that comes to mind right away is Campbell's soup. Well many brands decided to take MSG out of their products, or so we thought.

What's the point in taking MSG out when you're just going to replace it with an alternative? Yup that's exactly what these sneaky companies did. You surprised? I'm not! This is the price to pay when you mess with processed foods. Unfortunately people aren't aware.

In my process of cutting out processed foods I came across some things I had left in my pantry from 3 years ago when I didn't know a thing about cooking. One such item included a pre made stir fry sauce. I would NEVER even think about using anything pre made today. I deiced to look into the product a little bit more and I came across some false advertising.

This product advertises on its label 'no MSG'
MSG is also not listed in the ingredients

La Choy proudly advertises no MSG because, yes its true this product does not contain the official MSG but an MSG alternative. How sneaky! Take a look..

Campbell's was huge with advertising no MSG...

How about when companies went crazy to advertise that their product did not contain trans-fats? Well they lied about that too! Check out this example...

Last product we'll look into today is one that for years many people were lead to believe was a 'healthier' alternative to butter...

Wait, did I read that correctly? I Can't Believe it's Not butter, contains a chemical that is on the FDA'S toxicity watch list?! Of course that wasn't stated on the label! 

Shocking isn't it?

I am highly against processed foods. Start eliminating them from your diet today to live a longer, healthier, chemical free life!

Questions? Comment below!