Grocery shopping has become a mind-game.

Label reading is confusing and most of us just don’t spend the time to really understand what is actually in our food.

Reading ingredient lists is a LIFE skill.

It takes a little time, patience, and practice to become an expert!

I highly recommend you investing time in reading every label on each product you buy.

Understanding exactly what you are ingesting and putting into your precious body is SO important!!!! 

As you will see, it can be extremely difficult to know what food is simply by the ingredient list.

This is why it is paramount to discriminate what goes into your cart because those are exactly the foods that go into your body!

For example, you can buy peanut butter with tons of preservatives, additives and brain-starving processed oils or you can buy a jar with just peanuts and sea salt.

The choice is entirely up to you.

 Being empowered and confident with label reading is one of the first steps in...

How many people do you know that suffer from digestive issues? 

I know SO many and I was one of them for a long time.

Bloating, gassiness, indigestion, constipation, and countless other symptoms show up in our lives and many of us don't know understand the cause or a possible solution that doesn't include a pill or chemical concoction promising to make the symptom go away. 

I want to share with you one of the most common things people consume in packaged foods/drinks that may seem healthy but unfortunately aren't. 

Tell me, do you know about the different types and uses of gums in food? 

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Well, the majority of us don't. 

I want to dive into gums a little here because they can be hard to avoid as many gums have names that sound potentially harmless. 

I'll also explain why eliminating or reducing these additives is best for your health, especially your gut. 

If you've been following me for a while, then you know...

Once you taste homemade nut milk, you will NEVER buy synthetic vitamin, gum and carrageen infused, and chemical-laden nut milk again.

All the gums, emulsifiers, stabilizers, and additives added to seemingly healthy nut milks are a huge cause for concern. 

They are all linked to major digestive issues. 

Wondering why you feel bloated after drinking your coffee with oat milk? 

Read my blog post all about gums and how to avoid them. 

Learning about these gums and how they are linked to poor health catapulted me to making my very own nut milk and well, there’s just no turning back.

Nut milk is super easy to make and absolutely delicious. 

It takes a little foresight since we must soak the nuts/seeds overnight with a little bit of sea salt. 

Soaking helps break down antinutrients in the nuts and seeds AND helps soften them to make the nut milk creamy and so yummy.

So it's vital that we think ahead and make it happen.

First there...

Ridiculously beautiful human,

My husband and boys left for the annual school camping trip on Tuesday. 

Listen to the expanded version of this blog post on my podcast! 

I chose to stay home. 

I would usually attend these types of events and be excited to do so. 

I love being in nature, around kids, and even though I'm a novice when it comes to camping, I'm down to give it a go. 

A few days before they left, I vacillated on whether or not I should go. 

Honestly, I had a bit of FOMO and really wanted to connect with this amazing community. 

I knew I'd be missing out on some special times with my kids. 

I wanted to be there to help and possibly be a buffer for my husband in any awkward social situations. 

I was creating a lot of guilt around the thought of not going. 

However, I knew that my cycle was coming. 

The dates the trip were planned were the days leading up to my cycle. 

I shared this with a few of the moms at...

Hey beautiful, 

One morning this past winter I went in to wake my boys up for school. 

LISTEN TO THE EXTENDED PODCAST VERSION OF THIS EMAIL

My eldest didn't look so well. 

The whites of his eyes were red and he had bags under his eyes. 

"Mom, I don't feel so good," he said. 

He told me his stomach and head hurt. 

I knew right away this wasn't a scheme to miss school and watch TV all day long. 

I felt his head and he was hot. 

Fevers are the body's defense mechanism to help it heal and fight the infection that's happening in the body. 

One of the worst things we can do it stop it.

[Read more about why and how to treat fevers naturally here.] 

I drew him a bath, put some salts in, and plopped him in with a cold wet town upon his forehead. 

He lay in the tub still and quietly moaning. 

My heart hurt. 

No mother ever wants to see her baby in pain. 

Thankfully I trusted that I could take care of him and I...

Hello Sunshine, 

I saw this posted on Instagram. 

It reminds me of years ago when I was in a race. 

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A race to get healthier, happier, and more fulfilled. 

I had no idea that I was racing against myself. 

For so long I felt like I was just trying to keep up with the world. 

My mind was flooded with to-dos and overwhelmed with self-criticism. 

I could never live up to my own expectations. 

I was hyper-focused on keeping up my image and social media and trying not to drown in my habitual and negative thinking. 

I would rush through everything. 

It was like I had very little time to do anything and everything. 

I always felt overwhelmed and lived in my manic monkey mind. 

Running myself ragged took its toll on my body, my relationships, and especially my relationship with myself. 

My kids were suffering from all this rushing. 

You can see this rushed energy everywhere. 

The rush to...

Hello Generous Soul,

I think it's easy to forget the good in the world. 

LISTEN TO THIS MESSAGE HERE

So many of us get wrapped up in what's not working that we can't even see the beauty of life around us. 

The news, social media, maybe our neighbors and family tend to focus on reporting fear, illusions, and scarcity. 

BREAKING NEWS always happening, media manipulating the masses into mass psychosis who have forgotten reality and see through a fuzzy and filthy lens. 

Then we take our annoyed, frustrated, and scared personalities into the world and project it upon everyone else we forget that the veil of fear is easily taken off so that the truth can be revealed.

The truth that love is only what is real. 

I'm reading one of my favorite books, so far, by Jack Kornfield, The Wise Heart, A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology. 

It was recommended to me by my youngest's guide at school. 

Does that ever happen to you?

That you...

This past weekend I had the honor to see a dear friend of mine perform.  

LISTEN TO AUDIO VERSION OF THIS BLOG POST HERE

She was a bright shining star and it was an event I will never forget. 

After as we ventured to the after-party, I got to finally chat with her dad and spend some time with her mom who is like a sister to me. 

One of the very first things her dad said to me, after some kind and heart-warming words, was, "Peanut butter, is peanut butter okay to eat?" 

I said, "Of course it is, AND the kind that only has two ingredients, peanuts and salt!" and then her mom chimes in with, "But not Jiffy!" 

"Oh no, I said... not Jiffy."

He looked sad... LOL

It was his favorite brand of peanut butter, and according to his wife, he had been eating it for a very long time. 

I could tell this was sad news to him. 

His wife had been preaching this news to him for who knows how long, yet he wasn't able to accept it.

He loves his Jiffy peanut...

Have you ever heard of the term obesogens? 

[LISTEN TO MY PODCAST: How to Avoid the Chemicals that make us Fat]

It's a relatively new term that describes chemicals that influence and promote obesity in humans or animals.

They can be pharmaceutical and/or industrial compounds, like herbicides, pesticides, and other chemicals used in beauty and household products that literally alter metabolic processes and predispose people to gain weight! 

If you haven't noticed, obesity is on the rise. 

Almost 50% of all adult Americans are obese and almost 20% of children ages 2-19 are considered obese. 

This is just insanity! 

Many people think that food and inactivity are the only culprits that contribute to obesity,  but toxins in our food, air, and homes can significantly alter how the body gains and holds onto fat. 

A biology professor at the University of California coined the term "obesogen" in 2006 when he discovered that...

Hello Sunshine,

It's almost officially summertime as I write this...

LISTEN TO MY SHORT PODCAST ON SAFE SUNSCREENS

My eldest came home last week after a day of play in the sun. 

He was out in the sun for almost 3 hours. He forgot his swim shirt at home and applied sunscreen to all major areas, except his shoulders and upper back. 

The tops of his shoulders were burnt to a crisp and he is still suffering. 

As summer approaches non-toxic sunscreen is always a hot topic in the Hippie Moms Facebook community. 

I mean, when we were little my parents would rub us down with whatever white goop they had to keep us from burning in the sun. 

Back then, no one had a clue what chemicals we were wiping on our bodies. 

When I was a teenager, I would lay in the sun for hours lathering my skin with the Banana Boat tanning oil spray with a meek SPF of 4.  

I have the freckles and age spots to prove it. 

Now that we are wising up, more...