Homemade Natural Cleaner

You know how some cleaners just smell awful? I really hate the Clorox smell.  Well, I have a remedy.  So simple... AND cheap! Grab yourself a bottle of distilled vinegar, some dishwashing soap {Dawn, Gain, etc}, and a new squirt bottle.

Vinegar is a fantastic natural cleaner.  I worked in food service at a school once and they used this to clean surfaces, because it truly wonderful at cleaning, while safe & natural for the kids!

Just pour equal parts vinegar and water into your squirt bottle. Then add a few squirts of liquid soap. Easy! It will smell like vinegar, but at least you know it's a safe chemical & won't stain your clothes. Enjoy!

Xoxo

-Kristin

Easy Lunch- Black Bean & Corn Quesadillas!

Ever need a recipe for a very easy lunch? Here's a very easy and quick meal you can throw together in no time.... Black bean & corn quesadillas with avocados and salsa!

What you'll need:

Black beans

Corn

Cilantro
Shredded cheese

Avocado {optional}
Salsa {optional}

2 whole wheat tortillas (small 10")

{makes 1 delicious quesadilla!}

First, drain and rinse the black beans.  Also drain the corn.  Mix together.  Chop cilantro (optional-- I love the taste!).  Spray an omelet pan with cooking spray and lay down one wheat tortilla.  Top with shredded cheese and a few tablespoonfuls of the black bean/corn mix.  Sprinkle with chopped cilantro.  Finish by topping with shredded cheese and the second tortilla.  Grill until brown, then flip by placing a plate on top of the omelet pan & flipping the quesadilla over.  Spray the pan with cooking spray if needed and brown the other side.  When finished, garnish with 1/2 an avocado and a Tbsp of salsa.  Enjoy!

My Favorite Health App-- Lose It!

My mom and I decided one day recently that we had very similar yet opposite goals-- she wanted to lose weight and I wanted to gain weight.  What a better way to keep track of our progress than with the Lose It app.  I am obsessed with entering in my information, because it's so fun and so easy.  You guys need to hop on the bandwagon with me here and try this out.  It really is GREAT.  I'll tell you about the features and show you some screen shots along the way.

First, to register, add your height, weight, goal weight, and how many pounds you want to lose per week, or if you'd like to maintain your same weight.  It provides you with really healthy weight loss options-- 1/2 lb, 1 lb, 1.5 lbs, or 2 lbs per week.  Lose It is setting you up for success, because these are really attainable goals.  Let's just say you want to lose 1 pound each week.  Lose It will do all the calculations for you.  They'll show you how many calories you should eat each day if you want to stick with that weight loss goal.

Next, you'll log what foods you've eaten each day.  Some of you might be groaning right now, but with the ease of this app & our smartphones, it's a breeze.  Thanks Lose It!  They've got a ton of foods to choose from.  Oh, & don't forget to add how much you ate.  If you can't find a food within the app that you've eaten, just add it through "create a food".

Moving on, you'll log the type of exercise you did for the day.  From bicycling to yoga to zumba, Lose It has it listed.  You simply choose your exercise and log the amount of time you exercised.  Now, I have noticed that when I cycle for 60 minutes I burn a different amount of calories than my mom does.  This is normal, because we are a different weight.  Don't be worried! 

  

A great thing about this app is that it allows you to compare the calories burned from different exercises.  You can look at how many cals you would burn during an hour on the elliptical versus an hour in a spin class.  How many calories do you really need to burn today? What a great feature.

Another great feature on the app is you can friend others and motivate them.  Message me on this site if you need a motivator!  Also remember, if you "mess up" your healthy eating plan one day, it doesn't all go down the drain.  Lose It reinforces that for me with the home screen reminder, "you are __ calories over/under budget".  This is a great way to see if you've been exercising too much & need to eat more to fuel your body or if you've been snacking too much & need to focus on your calorie goals.  You can register online at loseit.com.