Immune Booster Tea

 My friends Claire and Lindsey shared this recipe with me a while back. It's awesome. It's a great blend of immune boosting herbs, and tastes delish with a spoon of raw honey! My whole family drinks it.  Ford would drink this all day long!  Its great hot, on a cold day or iced on a warm one. I get my loose leaf tea from More Than Alive, a friend and I split the shipping and save on the tea 

prices since it's bulk. 

8 parts Red Raspberry

3 parts Alfalfa Herb

3 parts Peppermint Leaf

2 parts Nettle Leaf

I recommend mixing a large batch of it, it makes brewing a breeze! You then can brew a small single cup or brew big batch in a tea ball, without making a big mess to mix all the parts!

Enjoy!

Cj

my new personal trainer

Yes, true story. I have a personal trainer. Her name is Jillian...Jillian Michaels :)

She's fabulous and we are trying to meet often.

Ok, enough rambling ;) My super fit friend Hillary recommended this to me after I had Tuck. I had asked her what she did to shed her post baby pounds and she raved about this DVD series. 

I got "Ripped in 30" for my birthday and I absolutely LOVE it. It really is the PERFECT workout. You get a killer workout in 30 minutes! It has 4 different 30 minute workouts on one DVD, such a deal! I have been doing it for about a month (3-4 days a week) and have already lost around 10lbs. :) I have hunted for a long tome for a workout like this that is fun, not crazy long and effective. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Here it is on Amazon prime :)

Amazon.com: Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30

Enjoying Jillian kicking my booty and enjoying fitting in to some pre-preggo clothes :)

Cj

lovie

little lovie :)

the cut

this is how Ford's first hair cut went...

i'll do anything for food!

really mom? school scissors? thats really the best tool?

how much longer are we thinking this is going to be?

(oh, those eyes...they make me melt)

okay, i'm being pretty patient, you think we could wrap this hair session?

whoo hoo! Done :)

Enjoying my Fordy,

Cj

DIY dry erase menu and meal plan board

Well, there's not much of a tutorial on this one!

 Hang a frame on the wall and write on it :)

I put some vintage linked paper in mine but you could do anything! Cool patterned paper or wall paper would be fun too :)

This ever so simple idea was inspired by a few friends blogs and pinterest. I put this in the utility room/pantry, and we love its usefulness! I had this 5 photo frame I bought in the damaged section of IKEA because it was $5 and had nothing wrong with it!? I think it was hung in one of the staged rooms? The frame was from my store and I had saved it but couldn't find the right spot. Both were sitting in the garage and either needed a home or needed to go! 

I have to say that I LOVE it! It is SO handy and useful has been super helpful for me to plan meals and keep my grocery needs written on the side. Helpful too when my kids are asking for snacks, it helps me stay creative and healthy!

Enjoy,

Cj

the sweetest little thing

oh, i enjoy him so much :)

these dirty little boys are the best.

Cj

new insta's

Hello! Here's a few of our latest intsagrams.

Look who's getting  really big :)

I'm slightly crazy and like to move my house around every few months. I'll have to share our latest "free-model" (it's my new word :) basically I just moved EVERYTHING around and re-ourposed a bunch of oldies! I'll post some projects this week :)

These guys rock. I'm having so much fun with them. We'll have to share some of our latest adventures too. I just cut Fordy's hair this week, It's quite sad how not baby he looks :( He's a little man now.

I'm working on a new decorating project, the pic above is from a few inspiration spots :)

This is my "camera battery is charging so I can't upload real pictures post :)" 

All the latest coming soon :) Have a great week,

Cj

Spinach and Egg Tacos

Leanna, These are for you :)

Yum Yum Yum... and ridiculously easy. We eat these for breakfast lunch and dinner :) My boys love them and I love that they're healthy and not a big mess to make...key for me these days. It's another not really a recipe recipes . 

Spinach and Egg Taco's

6-8 eggs

1 cup spinach

pinch of salt and paper

1 tsp. taco seasoning

1.5-2 cups cheddar cheese (i love trader joe's raw milk mild cheddar)

12 small corn taco size tortillas

salsa (optional)

Scramble and cook eggs, adding spinach in when eggs are halfway cooked, season with sea salt and pepper. While eggs cook, sprinkle tortillas with cheese and pinch of taco seasoning and toast in toaster oven/reg.oven until cheese is melted and bubbly. Layer about 2 spoons worth of eggs on to the tortillas, fold in half like tacos and Enjoy! 

You can add a scoop of salsa for some extra flavor, but they're good with out it!

perfect rainy day dinner :)

Here's what I'm making for dinner tonight! It's the perfect one pot meal for a rainy day like today :) Packed with good healthy things and so tasty!

Enjoy! 

Giada's Lentil Soup

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 pound lentils (approximately 1 1/4 cups)
• 11 cups low-salt chicken broth
• 4 to 6 fresh thyme sprigs
• 2/3 cup dried elbow pasta
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan

Directions

Heat the oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery. Add the garlic, salt, and pepper and saute until all the vegetables are tender, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juices. Simmer until the juices evaporate a little and the tomatoes break down, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Add the lentils and mix to coat. Add the broth and stir. Add the thyme sprigs. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and simmer over low heat until the lentils are almost tender, about 30 minutes.

Stir in the pasta. Simmer until the pasta is tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Ladle the soup into bowls. Sprinkle with the Parmesan, drizzle with olive oil, and serve.

Melissa's Famous Scones

I was printing this recipe tho make these for a bridal shower tomorrow. I thought I'd post it here while I was at it! They are delish. Anytime I have a shower or brunch,
 I always ask my friend Melissa to make these!
 They vanish quickly, watch out :)

Enjoy!

Melissa's Famous Scones

1 1/4  cups flour

1 1/2  tsp. baking powder

   1/4 tsp. salt

   1/4 cup cold butter

3 TBSP sugar

   1/3 cup milk

additions: 1/2 cup  (choc. chips or dried cranberries)

* Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.

* cut butter into pieces

* Use pastry blender & work butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is crumbly

* Add sugar and additions

* Toss with fork

* Add milk & stir until it holds together

* gather into ball and kneed 10x

* pat into 6-8 inch circle

* cut into 8 wedges (but leave together in a circle - "scoring it")

* brush with milk and sprinkle with decorative sugar crystals (optional)

* Bake @ 425 degrees for 12-14 minutes

* remove scones to cool

* serve warm with your favorite jam and cream - yum!

burpee?

CrossFit Burpee Demo - YouTube

Yeah, super dumb name... but killer exercise! 

 I know them as up downs, but here's a picture and a video is you were wondering what a burpee was 

from thebrannon-people-workout I posted!

On another note :)
Get ready for recipes!
 I feel like I've been living in the kitchen this week, I have SO many fun new recipes to post. Coming soon.

Enjoy, Cj

(and Yes, Erin! I still totally recommend the sneaky toy organizer.... it's looks and works like it did when we first bought it :) Holding up great!)

gush

If you're in my house for long enough you'll hear me call Ford, "gush". It originally started when he was a baby, he was the squishiest and gushiest little thing... hence gush. He was (and is) simply squeezable. The name just stuck and he is now known as "Fordy Gush". 

Here's a little series of Gush. Enjoying some oranges in the yard today :) He's so fun. 

And I must make a note, he was insistent on wearing the crazy colored vintage button down shirt today. 

I just love you Fordy. I really can't squeeze you tight enough or hold you long enough. You are so sweet and so wonderful. I love spending my afternoons eating oranges with you and playing outside in our yard. 

Much love, 

Momma

new pics

Here's our latest family pics from {emmaleigh} :) 

Hire her. She's wonderful :)

 Here's the comment I left on her blog after she posted the shoot:

"Emma,

Thank you for another wonderful shoot! I can't wait to put these up in the Emma Gallery, also known as our house:) You have incredible talent. Shooting a couple or a new baby, most photographers can do. But shooting a family with 3 squirmy and half the time tired or crabby, little ones and getting amazing photos, now that's talent! Really! Your sweetness and patience I think is the secret to your success :)I remember saying over and over "did we get anything good? Did we get at least one shot." Well we definitely got more than one!! We got a million great shots! Thank you for your wonderful work, you are such a joy!

Carly and the boys :)

Also, I couldn't have been more happy with Melissa Mathews who did my make-up! She is awesome! She does weddings and special events, and I had been wanting pro-make up for our next shoot because it looks so much better in photos. She's wonderful, hire her too (you can email me for her info) :)

new favorite workout :)

My days are very full and working out at a gym or running is close to impossible for me in this season with 3 little people. I have to find little 15, 20, 40 minute windows of time to exercise at home. I feel so much better when I do workout. I have much more energy, a desire to eat well and my days feel more productive.

Here's a workout you can do no matter how much time you have and you can do it anywhere! I've done it a few days in a row now and am loving it! I even wrangled Chad into doing it with me this morning. We added some crunches and added a few reps to some of them. It worked us! Maybe you'll enjoy it too :)

Enjoy,

Cj

LACMA and the lights

Chad and our friend Jason had some filming to do down at the 

Los Angeles County Museum of Art this weekend. So his wife Claire and I brought all our kids down for a fun evening. We ran around the museum and had a blast playing in the lights :) 

L. A. rocks. I thoroughly enjoy this city so much!
There is so much culture, creativity and fun. 

Cj