{coconut oil-y hair}

Girl friends are great for more than just gossip and shopping! My group of girl friends and I often trade recipes, decorating, and beauty tips. One day, during one of our long walks, we were talking about how to naturally make our hair grow and ticken faster. Than goodness for my friend Lora or I would have never even tried this trick! 

Now, I've always heard that coconut oil has many benefits for the inside of your body, but who knew you could plaster it all over the outside of your body and reap the benefits too? 

Lora told me to combine a couple spoonfuls of coconut oil {more if you have tick hair} and about 5 drops of lavender--amaazzzinng aromatherapy. Mix it together and start rubbing it all over your head. I start at my scalp and work its way all over the scalp and then gradually work my way down. I use a small comb to comb through my hair to make sure I covered it, then I twist my hair and put it in a clip. You want to use a clip instead of a pony tail holder because clips don't break your hair! 

Make sure you have at least 2 hours to sit around the house and do nothing because you want to let this soak in as long as possible. I suggest making a nice warm bubble bath, turning on a show or reading a good book, lighting some candles, and letting the oil work it's magic. This does wonders for the stress in your life. 

Ingredients: 

Coconut Oil

Essential Oils {I use lavender} 

*Make sure you buy pure 100% organic coconut oil to reap all of the benefits* 

I bought mine at Trader Joes

{vegan sweet potato chili}

Tonight I made one of the yummiest dishes I think I've ever made--Sweet Potato Chili! 

Tonight's chili was the perfect combo of colorful veggies and the taste of fall and I highly recommend it to you. I found the recipe via pintrest and altered it just a tad. 

Ingredients:

1/2 large diced onion

2 cans of black beans (rinsed and drained)

28 oz of diced tomatoes

1 zucchini diced

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp crushed bay leaves

2 tsp orange zest

1 cup veggie broth

a few dashes of chili powder

Combine all ingredients, throw in to a crockpot. Heat on high for 4 hours! Serve. Enjoy!

I served my chili with corn bread muffins and could just taste fall in my mouth!! 

**the great thing about using a little bit of orange zest, you can use the left over peels to make your house smell yummy!! Throw the peels in a sauce pan, fill with water, add a little bit of cinnamon and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and allow your kitchen to be overpowered by yumminess! 

{vegan lasagna}

monday I made a vegan lasagna found {here} that is to.die.for. seriously. my husband even said he doesn't miss the meat! I followed the recipe but used regular lasagna noodles {instead of no boil}, added in mushrooms and got some diaya cheese and added it on top. so good! highly recommend you try it!

{stuffed turkey burgers and quinoa}

After being out of town this past week and eating out literally every meal, Dale and I were ready to cook a homemade meal. We headed to Earth Fare today and got some yummies! I decided to make Dale some stuffed turkey burgers and quinoa with veggies as a side. Poor thing, I've kind of only made veggie meals for the past month and a half. My man needs wants some meat every now and then. This is a super easy meal that you can both make together..Dale did the grilling on the George :)

Ingredients for Burgers:

all natural (veggie fed, hormone free) ground turkey

roasted red peppers

jalepenos

1/4 organic white onion

dale's sauce

cookie's seasoning

Quinoa:

1/2 c organic quinoa

1 c water

organic peppers {red, yellow, orange}

1/4 organic white onion

organic tamari sauce

organic sesame oil

1/4 c organic black beans

Start by chopping for veggies for the turkey burgers
keep chopping!

throw in your ground turkey and mix in all of your veggies {yes I did this BY HAND}

*add your cookies in now*

once you've mixed it all together, make some patties

I also poured some "Dale's" on top to marinade just forgot pic!

Quinoa with Veggies:

wash and chop sweet peppers
when I chopped the onion for the turkey burgers, I chopped extra for the quinaa

throw it all on to a skillet, add some tamari and seasame oil, mix and satuee.

while your veggies are sauteeing, bring 1 cup of water to a boil in a small pot. once it starts to boil, add in 1/2 c. of quinoa, reduce to a simmer and cover for about 10 min or until all water is soaked up like this:

Once your veggies are done, add in quinoa and mix together!

now your burgers should be done!!

Enjoy!!

-i thought i had veggie burgers in my freezer that I could make real quick but I didn't :( So I whipped up a hummus wrap w quinoa for me :)

{cluck cluck}

For a while now I've been day dreaming about chicken. No, No, not eating them! I want to have them as PETS!! At first it took a lot of begging, pleading, and researching to prove to my husband that this was a good idea. But when I mentioned that I also wanted a teacup pig he agreed to let me have chickens! {i'll still get the piggy some day :)}

I don't even eat eggs that much {i'm pretty much vegan but sometimes eat eggs or something with eggs in it} i don't know the technical term all I know is that I don't eat dairy {no, eggs are NOT dairy contrary to popular belief} and I don't eat meat. But my husband eats tons of eggs, especially on the weekends!

Anyway, chickens are cute, and it's the absolute BEST way to get fresh, organic eggs for your family. Apparently they are very clean animals, the best fertilizer for your plants, AND eat your weeds! We have been buying Tennessee cage free, "organic" eggs but they are like $2.58 a carton {which really isn't that bad}. Chickens are like $6.00 a piece!! In turn, you save money! They love to eat your veggie table scraps!

So, here is my wish list:

-get a home with a fenced in backyard

-Dale to make me a coop for a {cheap low cost}

-Have 2 chickens

-let them roam freely around my yard

If you have chickens please please give me any advice that you think would be helpful because I really don't know where to start. I would love to know the best breeds to buy {I'm thinking a Rhode Island Red and a Barred Plymouth Rock}, how to make a coop, and all that jazz!