Daily, Health

What to do with expired/unused meds?

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This shop has been compensated by Inmar Intelligence and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #DrugTakeBackCA


We don’t have a large house with tons of storage space, and we also have two small little boys, the youngest one being incredibly pokey. Turn your back and he’s into absolutely everything. The other day I saw him standing on a kid-sized rocking chair trying to get something from a shelf! So everything needs to be locked away, or up high out of reach – and when done with unused or expired medications, they need to be disposed of properly before they get into the wrong hands. I had already stored cleaning supplies and medications up in the higher cupboards in our house, but now we’re going to have to be more vigilant about it.

National drug take-back day is at the end of April, and with the expired medications in our home, I recently went to dispose of them properly. There’s a LifeInCheck Consumer Drug Take-back ™ kiosk located inside my local Lucky grocery store. It’s never advised to flush expired/unused medications down the toilet (so damaging to our environment), pour them down the drain, or simply throw them out with the garbage (it could get into the wrong hands) as it’s damaging to our environment. I’m not a fan of stockpiling and storing items we’re not using, especially something that could harm my children if they get into it. I encourage you if you have children or teens in the house to reevaluate where you store medication.

In an effort to assist in reducing these issues and bringing awareness to the massive opioid crisis that is plaguing many families, LifeInCheck created a Consumer Drug Take-Back program that provides consumers with a safe option to discard their unused or outdated prescription medications in secure kiosks located across the US. LifeInCheck Consumer Drug Take-back ™ is helping you safely dispose of unused or expired medications. When you go to the site you simply enter your zip code and we will provide a list of safe drug take-back kiosks in your area.

Note: In California, they do not allow pet meds or sharps.

LifeInCheck Consumer Drug Take-back ™ has many locations and their in-store kiosks are incredibly simple to use. Enter your zip code to find a LifeInCheck Consumer Drug Take-back ™ in your area.

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Daily, Fitness, Health

Ways to hydrate your body naturally

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Hydrating-headerAlthough summer is almost over (let’s not talk about it). I still think it’s important to talk about hydration, even leading into the autumn months. Included in the post will be healthy, easy recipes for those to recreate on a hot day (or… a cool day now that we’re heading into fall). But let’s be real, I feel like California is super hot well into September-October.

It’s obvious that drinking water is a great way to re-hydrate your body. But sometimes it’s great to have alternatives. Here are my 10 beneficial ways to achieve your glowing healthy skin, and here’s to a more hydrated body!

pressed-juiceryPressed Juicery //
Cold pressed juices can be drank as a meal replacement, a juice cleanse or as a snack. There are tons of varieties of Pressed Juicery juices to choose from. My favourites are the Strawberry + Apple + Lime combo, or Citrus 1! The chocolate almond one is such a nice one to drink too, kind of reminds me of chocolate milk.

cucumber-radish-saladCucumber Radish Salad // 
This is a light refreshing salad with a bit of kick to it, thanks to the radish. I’ve been making this a few times per week this summer, for lunch, since I don’t want to be cooking too much in the heat.

Ingredients: Cucumber, radish, feta, sprinkle of dill. Optional dressing: lemon juice, oil & vinegar, garlic. 

watermelon-saladWatermelon Salad // 
There’s nothing easier than a watermelon bowl is there. This one is yellow! I had never seen a yellow watermelon until I spotted it at Trader Joe’s last week! I think it tastes different than regular watermelon. Just eat a whole bowl full, or grab one of Pressed Juicery signature watermelon drinks.

Ingredients: watermelon, feta (or mozza!), olive oil, lime juice, salt & pepper.

Acai bowlAcai bowl //
We have been making acai bowls every single weekend this summer. It’s a healthier alternative to icecream, and is just as satisfying.

Ingredients for acai bowl (for 2): 3 Sambazon frozen packets, 1 banana, ½ cup frozen blueberries, a handful of fresh strawberries, top it off with a splash of milk (skim).
Ingredients for topping (for 2): 1 chopped up banana, chopped up strawberries, granola, and coconut flakes.

zero-waterPurified water //
You should start with clean water when hydrating. ZeroWater is the only pour through device/pitcher NSF certified to reduce lead and other heavy metals. It also eliminates TDS (total dissolved solids). Although I have no problem drinking refrigerated California tap-water, Scott says he tastes something different in it. So, now we’ve switched to using our ZeroWater filter.

diorHydrating face masks //
Although eating and drinking liquids is best, it’s always nice to pamper yourself with hydrating facial masks too. These mini Dior pods I bought from Sephora are great for 2-3 nights in a row. Apply as a mask, or keep on overnight, your face will feel so soft!

What are some of your tips to keep hydrated? 

Thanks to Pressed Juicery, ZeroWater, and Sambazon for teaming up with me so I could present this post to you.

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Daily, Fitness, Food, Health

Let’s dig in! (Weekend meals recap)

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Sun BasketI’m not very adventurous in the kitchen. Come supper time I’m ravenous and don’t want to be cooking for any time over 30 minutes. Maybe it’s a good idea I start cooking before I get hungry, hey? :)

I have a handful (yes, only a handful lol) of recipes in rotation, and I keep making those over and over… and over again. That gets old, quickly. Another reason why I love going back home to Newfoundland: a food variety from all sorts of people (ahem…Hi Mom! Hi Bro! Hi Mom-in-law!). Those three people are practically chefs in the kitchen, they come up with recipes off the top of their head, and it always tastes fantastic! Over Christmas, my brother cooked my husband and I a feast of Indian food, and it was flippin’ incredible. How? How does he do that? And why can’t I have that cooking gene? He made us wait hours until it was done to perfection. But none-the-less, I enjoyed it and went back for thirds. Lol.

I’m happy my pal Lauren passed along my information to Sun Basket. They reached out to me while I was in Newfoundland, and I put it on the back burner, until about two weeks ago. I re-followed up with them and mentioned … IT’S TIME. I’ve been in California for over a month now, and I’m getting re-sick of the foods I’m making.

I need something new!Making-supper

They sent me a weeks worth of choices, and to pick three meals out of the bunch. The first meal I made was on Friday night, and I went for the chicken salmoriglio with charred broccolini. The ingredients were pre-measured and bagged/jarred separately for easy assembly. Perfect!

chicken salmoriglio with charred broccolini.Chicken salmoriglio with charred broccolini (Paleo)
2 servings & 720 cal/serving

On the recipe sheet it mentions that the prep time is about 10 minutes. Total lie for someone like myself, I was doing everything backwards it seemed, even with the directions literally right in front of me. I suppose it would be accurate if you weren’t me. It ended up taking me longer to prep then cook because my darn chicken didn’t cook fast enough for my liking ;)

Chicken salmoriglio with charred broccolini:

What I loved: We both polished off our plates! The chicken was a fantastic cut of meat without any gooey bits on it. I loved that it incorporated things I’ve obviously heard of, but didn’t know how to integrate it into a meal (parsley, and roasted red pepper for instance). Mmm! Loved the broccolini mix with the crunchy toasted almonds, and the roasted red pepper. All in all, I love chicken. I could, and do, eat it every single day. It’s a different approach to add a parsley/lemon sauce to the top of the chicken, with the skin kept on!

What I would change: I would definitely do a better job next time at finely chopping (or even mincing) the garlic, and definitely getting the chicken started before anything else.

Overall rating: It was a two thumbs up from my husband and I. I’m keeping this recipe slip and making it again. Soon!

Saturday night I made pan-seared salmon with fennel, capers, and olives. Have to say, this was the one I was most skeptical about. I wasn’t entirely sure how it would turn out, and if it would be too spicy. But this is the one I was most proud of making. Ha! It turned out really well.

Salmon dish by Sun BasketPan-seared salmon with fennel, capers, and olives (Paleo, Gluten Free)
2 servings & 630 cal/serving

Pan-seared salmon with fennel, capers, and olives:

What I loved: This one came together so easily and in no time. I’m definitely keeping the recipe sheet for the sauce (tomatoes, maple syrup and veg stock) but incorporating my own veggies next time. While I was iffy on trying the fennel, capers and olives I’m pleased I did. I enjoyed the fennel, and a few capers but the olives weren’t my favourite. Same goes for the husband.

What I would change: I’m not sure I’d change anything from the recipe at all. I’d actually add to it, like rice, or more veg.

Overall rating: One set of thumbs up, because we are picky eaters, ha!

Last night, I made our third and final meal, the udon noodle salad with roasted butternut squash. I was worried about this one because it was unlike anything I’d ever made. And vegetarian to top it all off. My husband prefers I make meals with meat in them. Ha

UdonUdon noodle salad with roasted butternut squash (Vegetarian)
2 servings & 610 cal/serving

Udon noodle salad with roasted butternut squash:

What I loved: So colourful and enjoyable to eat, with all the textures of the crunchy seeds, squash and noodles. Also quite flavourful, more than I was expecting.

What I would change: I would mince the ginger next time. I finely chopped it, but sometimes I bit into a piece and was all “whoa!”. I might even add chicken next time.

Overall rating: Well, my husband mentioned there was flavours in there he wasn’t a huge fan of.  I found it to be tasty, really healthy meal that luckily didn’t take too long to prep and make. So I’d definitely consider making this one again for myself. Again, I guess it’s a one set of thumbs up!

Great things about Sun Basket, came in an insulated box that was completely recyclable. It had a return label inside, which I then entered into USPS, and the mail man came and picked it up, to send back to Sun Basket.

From my front door step!

Guys… that’s a first for me. So cool. To those who do this on a regular basis, I hear you laughing at me :)

Sun Basket has hand-selected, seasonal ingredients from the Pacific Coast’s best farms. Everything is organic, non-GMO produce with recipes ranging from vegetarian options, to paleo, gluten-free or the Chef’s choice. Sun Basket has free delivery to these states: CA, WA, CO, UT, OR, AZ, NV, & ID. Don’t ask this Canadian what all those states are! ;)

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