The Delish Girl Dish: What I am Digging Right Now--Fall Edition
Hi, lovelies! I am starting something new, my friends, and I hope that you will get something out of it that you can thoroughly enjoy. Something might even change your life, be it a book, a podcast, or even a lemonade :). Four times a year (for now--I have a lot to say, so who knows), I want to tell you about everything I am loving right now. I am talking clothes, food, movies, music, exercise, books--anything that's lighting up my world. I want to know if any of this lights you up, too, so leave a comment, text me, or hit me up on social media and let me know! So here goes...
APP: Snapchat
I know--I'm super late to the party. If you don't already have this app on your phone, first of all, you are probably over the age of 35, and secondly, you probably have a very busy life. But, you need to get it. Why? Because, it's really fun to play with, and you could use a little more entertainment in your life. I will admit, I was SOOOO annoyed with my kids when they first started snapchatting. I felt like they were constantly making weird faces and staring at their phones...ok, that was already a problem, but this made it worse. When it comes to my kids, sometimes, I have to put myself in their shoes to really understand them. So, like an old lady, I had to have my daughter set the whole thing up for me and teach me how to use it. Once I got the hang of it, I realized what I had been missing. The filters are CRAZY cool and sometimes hilarious, and they can often make you look WAY better than you do in real life, so I was into it. Note the sparkles in the eyes and butterflies in the hair in the above photo. A snapchat filter can sometimes capture how you feel and not so much how you really look. You may be thinking that the last thing you need is another reason to be tied to your phone, but just do it. Do it to be more connected to your kids. Do it because it's FUN.
AUTHOR: PAM GROUT
I have to give a huge shout out to Pam Grout, because these books have literally changed my life. I stumbled upon a blog post that highlighted her book, E-Squared, several years ago, I bought it right away, and it rocked my world. Pam writes about the law of attraction and how your thoughts really create your reality. She gives you nine energy experiments to perform that will help you prove this. Have you ever gotten a random call, text, facebook message, etc. from someone who you had been thinking about? Not a coincidence. This is a fun, down-to-earth, enlightening book that will help you to see that "the universe is limitless, abundant, and strangely accommodating". You can start manifesting amazing things into your life once you understand the process. Looking back on my life, I realize that I have manifested all kinds of things without even knowing I was doing it--babies, jobs, experiences, opportunities. Knowing that my thoughts, my energy and my intentions can profoundly affect the physical world was a game-changer for me. It's a quick read, but incredibly inspiring. E-Cubed gives you more cool experiments to do, and Pam's latest masterpiece, Thank & Grow Rich, is all about gratitude and how, when we are vibrating on a frequency of intense gratitude, it's pretty easy to attract the things we want into our lives. When you start doing these experiments, please share your magical results with me. I have some pretty cool stories, too. You can find Pam's books on Amazon.com and at most major book retailers https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=+Pam+Grout
PODCAST: Let it Out
I have so many favorite podcasts, so it was very hard to choose one to share with you. I had to go with the one that makes me most excited right now (since Serial is on hiatus). Katie releases a new episode every Wednesday, and this one makes me want to take the dog on a Wednesday morning walk, just so I can have an excuse to listen. Katie is a twenty-something girl who has a really good podcast, an awesome website, has written an incredible book about the power of journaling (which will likely be highlighted in my winter edition) and is just a very cool person who interviews very cool people. She asks great questions, and she is super relatable. I wish I could hang out with her in real life. Her audience is probably primarily female, but I bet mine is, too. Just sayin'. Check it out. You don't have to be twenty-something to enjoy it, but I will say her listening demographic is probably between 20 and 50. You can find her on iTunes or wherever podcasts are found. I use an App called Overcast.
DRINK: Diet Hubert's
I typically don't like to purchase or consume anything with the word "diet" on it. It makes me think of bad after tastes and chemical sweeteners that our bodies don't know how to process, cause cancer in lab rats, blah, blah, blah. But, a Hubert's lemonade is delicious. And, it's around 150 calories, give or take a few. I came across this bad boy at Dillons, of all places, in the natural food section. I flipped it around, with a bad attitude, expecting to see the word "sucralose". but to my pleasant surprise, I didn't. This DELICIOUS beverage is sweetened with stevia, monk fruit, and erythritol, which are all ok in my book. Erythritol is a sugar alcohol that is naturally found in foods that we normally consume. It is non-caloric and easy for the body to digest. Stevia and Monk fruit are both sweeteners derived from plants, so the body can recognize it as an actual food. While stevia is zero calories, monk fruit is very low in calories. There are only 20 calories in a 16-oz bottle of this lemonade, and it comes in blackberry, strawberry, mango and original. So far, every Dillons in town has carried it in their natural food refrigerated section, and Green Acres has one or two flavors, as well. Just for the record, I don't recommend making this a daily habit, but more of an every now and then treat. Sweet drinks are something we probably shouldn't get used to consuming regularly whether they are sugar-laden or not, ya know?
Exercise: Rebounding
I love working out. I am a six or seven-day-a-week exerciser. I have been trying to mix it up lately with a variety of different workouts. I go to a boot camp twice a week, tennis once a week, I do sprints, lift weights--all the normal stuff. We recently got a little rebounder, which is a mini trampoline. What do you do with this thing, and what can it possibly do for you, you might be asking? Well, the benefits are many. The body's lymphatic system is often referred to as the garbage disposal of the body. Movement turns it on and drains the toxins from the lymph, and nothing moves the lymphatic fluid better than rebounding. The up and down movement forces lymphatic fluid to flow and flushes toxins. So, it's exercise that has a full-body detox effect. Reduction of CELLULITE can be a pleasant side effect of rebounding! Cellulite is often due to a stagnant, toxic lymph system, so bounce on, girls, for smoother legs! The gentle detox encourages fat loss, so that doesn't suck, and rebounding can improve bone density, joint health and cardiovascular health. 15 minutes a day can give you all these benefits. I read an article that sited 20 minutes of rebounding as equal to 1 hour of running on a treadmill. I like to put in my earbuds, blast some good music and do three or four sets of five minutes with some push-ups in between. It doesn't take up a lot of space, you can move it around the house, and this one happened to be under $50 on Amazon.com. So, move it in front of the tv, start watching the latest Netflix series and detox your sweet bod at the same time. It's also useful for activities like the one in the video below.
BEAUTY: Lip Sheers by Beautycounter
When it comes to lipstick, for me, it has to feel good on my lips, smell good, not be full of toxic chemicals (we are basically eating it slowly, right?) and look good, of course. The Lip Sheers by Beautycounter fit all the criteria. They are incredibly emollient, they are scented with the essential oil of vanilla, they have beautiful pigment, and they get an A+ safety rating. You can see my former blog post entitled "I'm All About the Detox" for all the specifics on why this entire line of cosmetics and skin care products completely rocks. These lip sheers come in a great variety of shades, and ladies, there is no need to put the lip balm on before the lipstick when you are using these. They are sheer but they definitely provide enough color to your pretty pout. They smell so amazing that I want to rub it all over my neck as perfume. That would be ugly and wasteful :) You can check out these lip sheers and all the amazing products Beautycounter has to offer at
Music: Ingrid Michaelson
If you are at all into the singer/songwriter genre and you aren't familiar with this badass chick, you need to check her out on iTunes asap. I saw her live at the Greek in L.A. a couple of years ago, and it was definitely one of my top three favorite concerts of all time. She is insanely talented, super smart, hilarious, and a brilliant musician. This is her latest album cover, for "It Doesn't Have to Make Sense" which was released on August 26th. Listen to "Hell No", "Light Me Up" and the tear-jerkingly beautiful "I Remember Her" which is undoubtedly written in remembrance of her late mother. Check out all her old stuff on iTunes, because there are some treasures in those older albums. She has a stunningly unique sound.
Recipe: Creamy Cashew Dip
This is one of my very favorite dairy-free ranch-style kinda dips. Take it to a party with veggies and potato chips, and you will dazzle the crowd. It has very few ingredients, and it's super easy to whip up in the blender. You and all your friends will love it, be they lactose-intolerant or not. Cashews are pretty amazing, my friends. They can become incredible creamy when prepared properly. Always start with celery, carrots, peppers, or whatever veggies you like to dip, and if you want to serve it with chips, this brand is my favorite--Jackson's Honest. My rule with buying processed food is as follows: The ingredient list should be five ingredients or less, and every ingredient should be something that the body recognizes as food. I love Jackson's because they use organic coconut oil which is good for you, their ingredients are non-GMO, they use natural sea salt, and they are DELICIOUS! My favorites are the Rippled Red Heirloom Potato Chips and the Sweet Potato Chips. Each have only 3 ingredients. You can find the red ones at Natural Grocers, but the sweet potato chips are carried at all the health food markets in town.
1 cup raw cashews, soaked 4+ hours and drained
2/3 cup water
2 to 2.5 T. fresh lemon juice
2-3 T. chopped fresh dill
1/4 t. sea salt, plus more to taste
1/4 t. garlic powder
black pepper to taste
Blend drained cashews, water, lemon, salt and garlic in a high-powered blender until very smooth--this may take a couple minutes. Pour into a container and stir in the dill and the black pepper. Add more salt if needed (I always add more), and refrigerate for a few hours. It will thicken in the fridge significantly and turn into the perfect dipping consistency!
Thanks for reading this post, my lovelies! My ramblings can be a bit much, so thanks for hanging in there until the end. I can already think of ten things I want to share in my winter edition, so sign up to be on my email list, so you get all the posts. This particular edition seems to highlight processed food, which isn't usually my jam, but I do strive for balance in my life. I try to eat 90% for my health, and 10% for my soul. Potato Chips taste good. Sometimes I crave them, and sometimes I don't. I have been trying to eat intuitively lately. Taking the stress out of eating can be pretty beneficial in many ways, but that's another blog post. Have a great fall, eat lots of pumpkin, fill your life with things that light you up, and keep in touch! Love you all! --Heather