#WOWsummit 2014 recap

#WOWsummit was an amazing weekend! Moms Meet put together such a pampering time at Caribe Royal in Orlando, Floirda for their 2014 conference. I was unfamiliar with Moms Meet and #WOWsummit until the opportunity fell into my lap to attend. And I am so glad that it did!

If there was ever a conference designed with me in mind, this was it! Not only did I have the opportunity to sample great products from companies like  Zevia, Flunada, SweetLeaf, and Solgar, I also got to learn from amazing speakers like Robyn O'Brien, Suzy Stauffer, Aviva Goldfarb and Heather White. Talk about a lot of information about healthy living, taking care of yourself, environmental impact and what to do at meal times! I took pages and pages of notes from each speaker and workshop I attended. I'm still mulling over what I learned and working to implement the great tips these lovely ladies shared. And of course, working up some blog posts highlighting great resources for all of you!

This was my first ever conference as a blogger and I tried my hand at vlogging. There is nothing quite like filming yourself in a public place talking about the event you are actually at. I see now why so many YouTubers are in their young 20's. It is a little odd, but I think the vlogs turned out to be a fun, upbeat way to show the conference and my time at it. And my amazing husband edited these together within a couple of hours of the footage being delivered to him. Here are my vlogs from #WOWsummit 2014.




The speaker that made the biggest impact on me was Suzy Stauffer. I share a lot on this blog about finding a non-mom identity and taking care of yourself. This is something I feel very passionate about because I know that I need it to have enough energy to be a great mom. When Suzy posted a picture of herself with her book the night before the conference started, I just about dropped my phone. The title is "Women First, Mothers Second" and I was thrilled to receive a copy at #WOWsummit. Suzy and I connected through Instagram before the event and then at a workshop she gave. Our conversation felt like old friends reconnecting. I can't wait to dive into her book and share it with all of you!

Most conferences have an exhibit hall and I throughly enjoyed that at this conference! I enjoyed being able to sample food and products I had seen in the store but never ventured to try. And the best part was I got to talk to the reps who truly knew the products. Check out my vlogs to see which products I liked the best. As an attendee of #WOWsummit 2014, I walked away both days with a huge goody bag full of amazing products for myself and my family. Below is just the stuff I received on day two.

And the best part was meeting new people and connecting with other bloggers. I even made a conference buddy, Abbe Brown from The Mostly Disney Mom Blog. It was both our first time to a conference and we just clicked.

I was very sad when the conference was over. Hopefully next year I will be able to attend again. I truly and honestly can not recommend this conference enough. Between the incredible line-up of speakers to the stunning resort to the loads of free products, this is one that is worth every penny to attend. 

p.s. Do you know that I love once a month cooking and a blogger in Japan shared her 3 favorite books.

Once a Month cooking tips

Once a month cooking is the best way I've found to balance my life as an actress, blogger and mom of four kids. We believe in a whole food diet and that can take a lot of time and energy. Menu planning is a great step, but is not nearly as helpful as filling my freezer with ready to eat meals.

I have been doing this for over a year now whenever I am about to start acting again. When I'm not in a show, I have a lot more time to cook for the family, so I just cook every night for dinner. That all changes when I have been cast in a show or have signed a new contract. Once a month cooking becomes my family's best friend to make meal time relaxing instead of a scramble as I head out the door to rehearsal.

Here are my tips to making once a month cooking work for you.

1. Use someone else's planning. There are lots of bloggers and websites out there that have menu plans, shopping list and day of cooking steps. Use them! Don't try to create your own plan your first time out. Enjoy all of the free resources out there. My two favorite are the free archives from Once a Month Meals and New Leaf Wellness. Also check out my Pinterest board for lots more ideas and recipes.

Follow Karissa Barber // The Acting Mom's board Once a Week/Month Cooking on Pinterest.
2. Start off small. Don't try to tackle having a dinner for every night of the month. Try pre-making three meals a week and maybe a lunch or two. Once you have the hang out that, add a couple more the next month.

3. Get a babysitter and cook alone. Trying a full day of cooking with kids around is not something I recommend. You will be able to work quickly and efficiently without little ones under foot.

4. Label everything. Either print labels with what the meal is, how to thaw and prepare it or simply write it on your freezer page with a sharpie. This will make it easier to see what you have and how to prepare it.

5. Plan some crockpot freezer meals. These are a gem to have on your cooking day because you simply dumb all the ingredients into the bag, label and freeze. All that is required is having the ingredients, a little chopping and can opening. It's a great time saver.

6. Switch out what doesn't work. If there was a meal you didn't care for, or you thought of a better way to do something, switch it for the next month. Make a schedule and plan what works for you and your family.

Now that I've found this method of cooking, I won't go back to a traditional meal plan. With a little planning, one day of shopping and one day of cooking, I save myself hours throughout the month. I also know that I am providing healthy and nutritious meals giving myself and my family the energy we need to tackle whatever we need to accomplish. That makes this mother of 4 a happy lady!


p.s. check out this great list of whole food blogs or how I work out with all four kids.

Exercising with all 4 kids

FIT4MOM Lakeland is a company I had heard about, but it wasn't until the owner of FIT4MOM Lakeland, Ginger Johnson had invited me to attend a Stroller Strides class with my quad stroller that I learned more.

My quad stroller weighs 61 pounds on it's own without adding my four, healthy children. I was not thrilled with the idea of pulling and pushing them throughout the hour long workout in addition to what other exercises Ginger was going to lead us through, but I am always up to try something at least once. And it is time to get this body back into shape, so I headed to my first ever Stroller Strides class.

The Stroller Strides class

I was a little late, but I jumped right into the exercises with the other ladies. My stroller wasn't able to do one of the ab activities because of the safety feature hand break on the quad stroller. Thankfully, Ginger knew exactly how to modify it for me so I was getting a great burn with the limitation of my equipment.

We alternated between a walk/jog/run, whatever you were most comfortable with and metabolic exercises using our own body weight as well as using tension bands, soup cans (or 3 pound weights), and a yoga mat. We would continue reps of a strength training movement Ginger had modeled until she gave us new instructions and then we would push the strollers to the next station to begin another exercise. This kept our heart rate up and the kids engaged as we moved around Lake Mirror for our group workout.

Christmas music and nursery rhymes filled the air from Ginger's portable speakers as we completed our workout. The music kept the mood lively as well as kept the kid's attention. As we performed the stationary activities, we would join together in song entertaining the kids with "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" and "Down on Grandpa's Farm." This engaged the kids as they all watched the moms getting fit.

My workout with Stroller Strides took place on Thanksgiving break, meaning schools were not in session. Ginger was very accommodating to some of her regular attenders who had school age children who needed to be at the Stroller Strides class. She thought first of the safety of all the women working out and gave modifications to the mothers with older children, like having the child lay down below the mom doing stair climbers to keep the child engaged and out of harms way.

My opinion of Stroller Strides

For me, it was an amazing workout! Pulling the 180 pound quad stroller and my four children up that hill backwards was no easy feat, but it was rewarding to have done it. Each of the strength training exercises were easy to complete and engaged all of the different muscles from the top of my body to the bottom. It was not too strenuous, but just enough challenge to still be that good kind of sore two days later. The best part of the workout was getting the encouragement and support from the regulars in the class. They would give advice or just a fun chat while we jogged to our next location.

I've struggled with maintaining a consistent workout schedule, but joining a class like Stroller Strides would provide the accountability I need. And the best part is the kids would be a part of the class! This is a great family-friendly activity for moms with young kids and that can be a very hard stage of motherhood to find time to take care of yourself. As Ginger said, "This takes away the excuses." You don't need childcare. All you have to do is sign-up and come. This is a class I would definitely take again and wish I had known about when my children were itty-bitty and I was working on burning off that pregnancy weight.

Check out my YouTube video about FIT4MOM Lakeland and see me workout with all four kids! Ginger also shares more about the other classes FIT4MOM Lakeland offers and a great deal for new people who sign-up. 



Want to join and take advantage of that Black Friday sale (Lakeland location only)? Head to their Facebook page for more details! And don't forget to tell them The Acting Mom sent you.

Post contains affiliated links.

Meeting new moms

I am very excited to be attending my first mom conference this weekend, WOW Summit 2014 with Green Moms Meet. The event sort of fell into my lap and at first I was skeptical. 

Lots of companies trying to sell me something, speakers I had never heard of and I didn't know anyone who would be attending. None of those realities appealed to me and I didn't want to go. But then I read this: "Connecting parents who want to support one another in leading healthier lifestyles!" And I knew that was what I needed!

Living a life focused on health conscious choices for me and my family can be isolating at times. Meeting and connecting with other like-minded moms who are striving to choose products that are environmentally friendly with an organic/heathy bent sounds like a great weekend. I can not wait to connect with other moms just like that this weekend, November 7-9th in Orlando at the beautiful Caribe Royal resort.

The speakers include Robyn O'Brien, Traci Paige Johnson from yummico, Dr. Susan Bartell, Suzy Stauffer of Beyond the Bus Stop, The Six O'Clock Scramble/Aviva Goldfarb, Heather White from the Environmental Working Group, and many more. The topics range from guarding your kids in this screen driven age to GMO's to the importance of music to oral health. I will have my notebook ready to take lots and lots of notes!

And I will get to sample tons of products from amazing companies! Zevia, Solgar Vitamin and Herb, Flunada, SweetLeaf, Envirokidz, Smart Flour Foods, Xlear Inc., Music Together, KIWI Magazine, KIWI Shop, SUJA Juice, Canyon Gluten Free Bakehouse, National Geographic Kids, Prairie Grove Farms, Kidfresh, Applegate, NUK-USA, Primal Pit Paste, Mrs. Thinsters, Garden Of Life, and Maty's Healthy Products. Wow! That is a lot of companies and I have only heard of a couple of them. Bring on the fun and learning!

All of the speakers, products and companies are great, but I truly am excited to connect with other moms who value their families. Getting to know other women who are on this journey of motherhood is such a unifying experience and I look forward to seeing what new friendships will form this weekend in Orlando.

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Little side note: 

As a blogger they let me sample FluNada, a cold and flu relief spray. They are a company that has sponsored WOW Summit 2014 and one I had never heard of before. I received the product a couple of weeks ago and was actually starting to feel under the weather. Spraying in my mouth and in my nose, as the instructions suggested, I immediately began to feel better and my symptoms decreased. As the weeks have gone on, other family members have gotten a cold, but I have not. The taste is a little spicy like peppermint and refreshing. You can buy the product here.

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To keep up with my weekend at WOW Summit 2014, follow me on Twitter and Instagram.

Post contains affiliated links. All opinions are my own.

8 must-read whole food blogs

Whole foods are important to our family. We only have one body and one earth and so we try to make food choices with those two things in mind.


Whole foods has become a more main stream concept thanks to movies like "Food, Inc.", "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" and "Food Matters." More people are paying attention to what we put into our mouths, how that impacts our health and how it effects the environment. Finding how to eat without processed foods has never been easier! A quick Google search of "whole food blogs" will pull up hundreds of options for you to search through.

From my Google searching over the years, the ones that I have chosen to stick with tend to be kid-friendly recipes, fewer ingredients and gorgeous images, because I am a sucker for a good photograph! We eat less meat than the average Amercians, so you'll also notice that many of the blogs are veggie centered. Don't let that stop you from trying something new. Meatless Mondays are a big hit with my family, as are Meatless Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, etc. If whole foods are new to you and your family, start slow and if it looks good on paper (or the screen) it will probably taste good.

If you are looking to dive into whole foods or if you are out of dinner ideas, here is a list of great whole food blogs that I head to time after time. Great photos, whole ingredients and easy to follow recipes. What could be better? Oh yeah: they taste amazing!

MASTER LIST OF WHOLE FOOD BLOGS

1. 100 Days of Real Food

2. Nourished Kitchen

3. Oh my veggies

4. The Nourishing Gourmet

5. Naturally Ella

6. A couple cooks

7. Smitten Kitchen

8. Cookie + Kate

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BONUS COOKBOOKS: 

Whole food cookbooks are a MUST for changing the way you approach food. 

Here are my three favorite cookbooks.

Nourishing Traditions

The Fannie Farmer Cookbook

The Working Class Foodie Cookbook

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p.s. We really want to try homesteading and this documentary changed how we view our impact.


Post contains affiliated links.

Moving Towards Urban Homesteading

: nature walk

Based on our values, organic lifestyle and desire to live a simpler life, we are moving more towards urban homesteading. We are excited about taking the first steps in this direction by starting a compost pile and removing our deck on the south side of our yard to make room for a garden. Honestly, we have no idea what we are doing! The saying in our house goes, "I found this thing on Pinterest...." And then we begin a new project. I have a LOT to learn about homesteading and living a self-sufficient lifestyle, but I am excited about this new chapter in our lives.

: compost bin

: removing the deck

Last year the focus was living a radical life. I wrote about the problem with the American dream, adopting, and of course The October Dress Project. We still want to live that radical life! I am still involved with the 12X12 Project, making purchases each month from a fair trade company and educating people about the different social justice issues that are constantly around us. We support friends around the world who are doing missions work and of course, we finally have our boys from Uganda home with us! I would call all of that pretty radical from the life we were living just a year ago, and we hope that God continues to lead us towards other radical things.

: fairtrade fashion from Bali Elf and Sevenly

This year, we want to simplify. It probably sounds odd to start a new chapter in our lives with a steep learning curve as a desire to simplify, but it is true. We want a slower pace to our lives, more reminiscent of times gone by. You know, knitting and churning butter kind of times gone by. I am checking out crazy books from the library like, "Almost Amish," and "Self-Sufficiency for the 21st Century." Who have I become? I'm embracing this mental transition towards a more agrarian life most of the time, but it is still odd to think I want to become a small scale farmer. What actress becomes a farmer as her day job? That is just strange! But that is what we are doing, so watch out blog. Things are a lot to become a little bit more crunchy....

No Impact Man

In light of our first ever participation in Earth Hour today at 8:30PM, I thought I would write about another Barber Basic. I'm not where I want to be with this one yet, so I am writing this to share my views, share the resources I have found, and document what I want to be doing so when that margin in my life comes and I can't remember all of these great ideas, I can come back to this post and remember. Fair enough description of this blog post? Let's dive in!

Back in 2009, we watched this crazy documentary about a New Yorker who set out to have zero impact on the earth through his consumption, transportation and every other part of his life. He called himself  "No Impact Man" and made a documentary about his year long experiment to reduce his strain on the earth's resources. He was married and had a kid, and the entire family participated in this experiment with him. It was really fascinating to watch his family eat locally in New York City at the farmers market, ride their bikes to drop their daughter off at preschool and live without electricity. They stopped using a washing machine, re-purposed their plastic bottles and cancelled all newspaper and magazine subscriptions. As the year went on and they struggled with living a new life and giving up their luxuries, they discovered something. They discovered that this simpler life made them happier. Because so many things were gone in this new "no-impact-life," they could enjoy each other and friends and life, because all of those "things" they got rid of had been distractions in their former life. The documentary is truly inspiring and I look forward to watching it again on Netflix soon.

As a Christian, I feel an obligation to be a good steward of the resources I have been given, including the earth. Since we are in the process of adoption and have two preschoolers at home, it is hard to make this a priority right now. Like I said earlier, I am not where I want to be with this, but we are making strides towards reducing our impact on the environment little by little. And for me at this point, that includes reducing my impact on the world through my consumption (how much I purchase), the way I deal with my trash and buying locally. How you ask? I will share!

Reducing Consumption

1. Just don't go to the store. It is amazing how much you won't buy if you don't set foot into a place where they sell stuff. It seems too simple, but this has really helped me reduce my spending.

2. Avoid advertisements. If you don't know there are new products out there, you won't want to buy them.

3. Re-purpose old items. There are many things we have in our houses that can be re-purposed with a little creativity to serve a function you need instead of buying a new item. Check out pinterest for some inspiration.

 4. Borrow. Send out a Facebook or Twitter shout out and just ask if someone would let you borrow the thing you need.

5. Be inspired by The Zero Waste Home tips. Seriously. This blog suggests many, many ways to reduce your consumption and environmental impact. There are things on there I would have never thought about. Watch this little video blurb about her family and be inspired.



Dealing with Trash

1. After reducing consumption, re-purpose and then recycle. Bea Johnson of  The Zero Waste Home calls it the 5 R's: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recyle, Rot. Trash should be the last step in the process.

2. Make bottle bricks. I just discovered this today and am excited! They are being used in Central America to build schools, buildings, benches and more. This is a project I want to undertake when we have a bit more margin. Can we say bottle brick backyard bench?

3. Compost. Even if you don't garden, take your veggie scraps, buy some worms and let them do what nature started.This is on my to-do list for this spring, aka now.

4. Go electronic with papers. Instead of having bills and notifications sent to you, have them sent electronically and keep a digital copy. This reduces the amount of trash you produce! This is another one that is simple to do, and I need to do it now.


Buying Locally

1. Buy local meat. The amount of fossil fuels that are needed to produce chicken, beef and pigs is alarmingly high. One day I will write a blog post about this very subject, but if you are curious, do some research. Meat purchased at the grocery store costs the environment loads. If you live in the central Florida area, I would be happy to help with this.

2. Shop at the farmers market. Support local artisans, farmers and entrepreneurs. Let your money speak for you by support something that does not need to be shipped from across the world, thereby reducing the amount of fossil fuels it took to put that product in your hand.

3. Support local store. Instead of visiting Home Depot, go to a local Ace Hardware. Eat out at a local pizza joint instead of Carrabbas. Find a local vender instead of purchasing the item on Amazon.

These little changes we are doing now help. They may be little, but they help and that is what we are going for. I am sure there is more I am forgetting to include, since this Barber Basic has not become fully assimilated into our lives yet. But with our lights going out in less then 10 minutes for Earth Hour, I must conclude.

What changes have you made for the environment? I'd love to know! I am always looking for new ideas and practical advice! Please share in the comments below.

Disney Marathon Take-Away

Having completed my first marathon this weekend, I thought it would be fitting to share what I learned (if  you want to read about the marathon, click here). Mostly, this post is for me as a reminder to firmly, but kindly, tell Karen she is out of her mind whenever she tries to talk me into another one (hehehe!), but it is also a way to publicly say thank you to several people who helped me along the way.

Karen and I at the Disney Marathon Expo the day before the run.

Here are the things I am taking away from this experience.
1. I can accomplish something I think is unattainable. If you know me in real life, and talked with me any time during the training process, you know that I did not think I could do it. Nope. Not me. I loathed the training! Mostly because I had a mental block about this unsurmountable task that faced me on January 8th, 2012. But despite my injuries, I completed 26.2 miles. Am I proud of how long it took? No, but I could not be happier that I accomplished something that was so huge to me. I really didn't think I would be able to finish leading up the race, but when I started, I knew I would talk across that finish line and wear a medal for it. I am extremely proud of myself and feel confident about my abilities. I'm going to need this confidence as we complete this adoption in the next couple of years.

2.  I am most proud of the fact that I honored my family by not seriously injuring myself AND completing the marathon. Because of my shin splints, knee injury and back spasms, we really didn't know how long I would actually be able to run. I ran as long as I could, knowing that I had many more miles ahead of me and then I simply walked the rest. The time didn't matter to me, because I knew that the day after the race I would be responsible for my family. But I am so proud of myself for finishing!

3.  Karen is a rock star, and I am lucky to have such a strong friend. Having trained at intervals of 4 minutes running/1 minute walking, at the actual race, Karen ran straight through, taking a stretch break in the line to take pictures with all the Disney characters only. She is super hardcore, because she trained in Maryland, where it was snowing in October and bitterly freezing for most of her runs. And there were hills, people! If all that wasn't enough, she came to Florida on antibiotics for bronchitis! I always knew she had a lot strength, but this adventure really stood out as a testament to her amazing abilities and her mental fortitude. And she is planning on doing more marathons! But don't worry. She is also a funner like me!

4. I am truly blessed with many people who love and care for me dearly. My husband would encourage me and watch our kids while I ran and pamper me when I injured myself. My brother and sister-in-law gave me advice, gear and a training schedule to help me accomplish this goal. My friend, Sabes warned me of the injuries that could happen after the race from personal experience. And of course, I had The Running Club (aka Karen), giving me a swift kick in the pants when I was slacking on my training. I was surrounded by people who encouraged and supported me through this. Thank you to all of you!

5.  I don't hate running! After the race was completed, I said I would NEVER do a marathon again. As the soreness wears off, I now see the appeal of racing and I am thinking about another race this year. Don't worry! That was my only marathon until my kids are out of the house! But a 1/2 marathon is totally attainable. And Craig might just join me, but I think I have a little more convincing to do. For now, we are both running together once a week with the kids in the jogging stroller and running separately as well. And I am going back to Zumba, because, boy! have I missed it. And Karen will totally rub this in my face! She told me this would happen, and she is right. I'm sure we will race together again and this time, I am going to keep up with her!

Here are some pictures of people I want to thank.

Thank you, Karen for talking me into this crazy adventure. I wouldn't have loved to hate it with anyone else!

Thank you, Craig for supporting me and Karen through this crazy idea! I truly couldn't have done it without you.

Thank you, Asher for being my biggest fan!

Thank you, Alethea for your hugs and kisses after a long run!

Thank you, Ben and Drew for all your advice, training and gear! You are the best running coaches a girl who doesn't run could have!

Half Marathon for Practice

Tuesday night I did something I never thought I would do. Ever. I mean, never, ever, ever. Not in a million, trillion years. Not even if I was forced a gun point. O.K. Maybe then. Running 13.1 miles was just a practice run for me. It's crazy that I even typed that. Seriously, unbelievably crazy. I am in shock this morning. Shock and a little bit of soreness. Let me tell you how it went.

Taken after I finished my run. Don't you love how I match?

I agreed to do a marathon and you can read all about the why here.

Yesterday was the only day I could fit in my running such a distance because I am super busy. This weekend when I should have run, I had eight different photo shoots to do, and being sore could not be a part of my work. Monday and Wednesday night, I Zumba, and I didn't want to give that up. Thursday and Friday I have rehearsal, so Tuesday was the only night to run.

To say I was nervous would be an understatement. I was terrified to embark on this adventure just for a practice run. I wasn't running in a race and there would be no cheering section at the end when I received my metal. I was alone. Just me and the pavement. And the rain. Did I mention it was raining? Yep. All 13.1 miles it was sprinkling, pouring or somewhere in the middle. I was drrrrrrenched when I got home!

I wrapped my watch that I use for my interval training in a plastic bag to protect if from the rain.

Let me back track and start from the beginning. I had to make a decision: Run in the rain or Run at the YMCA. I called the YMCA, which we have a membership to, and asked if they would make an exception to allow me to run longer then the 30 minute limit. They said they would, which was wonderfully sweet of them, but running on a treadmill for three hours did not appeal to me on any level. So, I met Craig at Lake Hollingsworth with the kids fast asleep and began to run.

I really enjoyed my run! There were only a handful of people in the 2+ hours I ran around the lake and that was just fine with me. I sang out loud with my Ipod. I played the air guitar a couple of times and did a couple of Zumba dance moves as I ran. It was a blast and I am sure it was very entertaining to see me for all of the cars that passed by at five o'clock!

I also wrapped my Ipod and Nike+ to make sure everything would stay dry.

I started to ache around mile 9, and the last 100 meters was pretty hard. But I did it! Totally soaked, but with a smile on my face because I accomplished something I never thought possible. What a feeling! No wonder people enjoy long distance running! I am still not so sure about running an entire marathon, but I will get there one practice run at a time.

This is what I wear after my run, to keep my muscles warm as I recover.

Homemade Hot Chocolate

We drink the most delectable warm beverage in the fall and winter. It is a special treat in our house, meaning we don't make it that often because it is a little pricey to make, but it is so tasty! It blows those little instant hot chocolate packets out of the water and we will never go back.

Everyone in the family approves. Just look at that chocolate mustache and goatee! This is a picture of him "savoring" his drink last night.

I found the recipe in my favorite crunchy, all-natural cookbook: Nourishing Traditions. It has fabulous recipes in there, but don't be surprised if you don't recognize all of the ingredients on the pages. She pulls from a wide variety of foods we quickly disregard in our SAD (Standard American Diet) meals, but are found in the animals and plants we already consume here. The book also has a lot of nutritional and dietary information in the front of the book that is educational to teach yourself about proper nutrition. Example: butter is actually good for you! And so is cholesterol, when used from the right sources and in moderation. Anyway! If you are interested in learning more about eating in a way that is better for you, check it out.

 

Here is the recipe:

Milk Warmer

1 and 1/2 cups milk

2 tbs carob powder

3 tbs maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp chocolate extract

-Heat all ingredients gently over low heat, stirring constantly until mixture becomes warm. 

Do not over heat! 

Enjoy!