Banana bites are one of the simplest snacks ever so today I have gut healthy banana bites 7 ways.
Nut Butter E-Book FAQs
I have received many questions about A Gutsy Girl’s Nut Butter Recipes: The A Loving Spoon nut butter original recipes since I released it, so today I put together my nut butter e-book FAQs.
Goodbye, A Loving Spoon nut butters
A Loving Spoon nut butters has been my baby, a relationship I have nurtured, loved and poured every last ounce of myself into. But today, Goodbye, A Loving Spoon nut butters.
Sit Down, Let’s Chat Over Broth
Sit down, let’s chat over broth to get this weekend started.
{This post is part of my 101 Days of Blogging series, inspired by Experience Life magazine’s 101 Revolutionary Ways to Be Healthy, authored by Pilar Gerasimo.}
Day 10: See the Bigger Picture
Yes, this is about you, but your well-being also affects everyone and everything around you. When you get healthier, everybody benefits. Revolutionary Act #10, powered by Experience Life
Having broth with you this morning makes perfect sense because this past week I developed a new broth recipe for Nutiva. I actually think it’s more of a “stock” than broth, but we’ll just go with broth.
In addition to that recipe, I also tell you all about the two new recipes I made on Thursday night for A Loving Spoon nut butter:
‘Thai’ Peanut Sauce for noodles
Honey Vanilla Bourbon Peanut Butter + Crunchy Banana bars
I tell you that both of them will be coming out soon via the A Loving Spoon nut butter peanut butter e-book. (If you’re subscribed to our email, you’ll get it free. Not yet subscribed? Click HERE to do so.) You’re excited. Obviously. Peanut butter.
You ask what I’m up to on this lovely Saturday, and I tell you work, work, work but that that’s far from what I really want to be doing. I really hate giving up Saturdays with Samarah. But alas, I have to be at my commercial kitchen early for production, and at noon, I’m doing another event with Williams-Sonoma in Union Square. I tell you to stop by if you can. That store in Union Square is beaaauuuutiful!
You tell me about all your fun plans for the day, and how you’re going out on the town for the night. I tell you that I’ll be catching as many zzzz’s as possible because Sunday will bring a 6-mile run, church, a 2-year olds birthday and working on the MOPS newsletter, since the new “season” starts this upcoming week.
You kind of think I’m boring. That’s okay. Aside from the fact that I wish I could just spend all day with Samarah, I really love the life I have created. And you say, “It’s so true…..we create the life we live.” Yes ma’am.
You ask me about little mama, and I tell you she got hurt this past week. We had a little bit of an accident, and I say I’m not really ready to talk about it yet. You understand, and then I tell you yet again how much I love that little girl. I never knew this kind of love. People always told me it, but then I felt it. It’s really incredible.
Our broth cup is almost empty, and so you quick mention our new house. I tell you how much we love it, but that we have had to do a ton of work on what we thought would be an easy house to move into. That’s the “bad” news. The good news is that the house is now completely ours with all the changes we made. We removed the carpet on the first floor and put in hardwood + we took out all carpet from the second floor and replaced it with a much different carpet. We painted almost the whole house. We got a new dining table. Our furniture should be here by the end of September. And then there are the white rocking chairs for our front porch. We got them, but they are yet to arrive.
(At this point you look at me and are silently thinking, “You go to bed early, and now you’re getting rocking chairs. Are you 93?” I smile, silently thinking back, “Yes, yes I am 93. And it sure feels good to be this healthy and happy at 93-years young.“)
I can’t wait until you can take a peek inside our new house. Stay tuned because I’m likely to invite you.
I know I always say it, but we really must have broth together more often. I love these little chats of ours. I walk away feeling a little more sane, and a lot more insane. And I like that about you!
Xox,
SKH
To get involved in the #MyRevAct campaign, follow @ExperienceLifeMag on Instagram and post your own revolutionary ways to be healthy using #myrevact. In the meantime, read the best in healthy living at ExperienceLife.com.
I Am On the Lift Like a Girl Podcast
Yesterday my episode titled, “Be Your Own (S)hero” released. I am on the Lift Like a Girl Podcast.
{Image credits: “Micro sur perche” by Lionel Allorge – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons}
Just writing those words ROCKS! Do you know Nia Shanks? She is constantly and consistently on lists with the best trainers, female trainers and fitness blogs to follow. I have been a fan for a very long time, and if you haven’t been reading my blog for long, just click Nia Shanks and you’ll see everything I’ve written!
A little over a month ago, Nia reached out to me to see if I’d want to do an entire podcast with her for her STRONG Woman Series. While I’m quick to say “no” to so many things these days, I jumped at the chance for a nice, long conversation with her. Besides, have you heard her accent?!
We recorded the podcast about three weeks ago, early in the morning before my “real” day even began. And it was worth every single second.
I’d like to invite you to listen to it today!
Click HERE to listen at your desktop, or click HERE to listen via iTunes.
Wondering what we discuss?
Here are the questions she asks me (mostly paraphrased):
- You say, “I’m better now for me.” Can you tell us all what that means?
- You have on your website a quote that says, “When gravel roads are all you’ve ever known, you learn to find beauty in the dust.” Can you elaborate why you have that up there, and what that really means to you?
- You say that for the most part you don’t consider yourself lucky girl. If you don’t attribute all of these things to luck, then what is the recipe to your success?
- You mentioned that the one place you do feel lucky is with the adoption. Can you talk about your previous experiences with infertility, and can you just be open about thoughts that went through your head during that journey?
- How were you able to stay so strong even after everything happened?
- What gave you the spark to take the risk for starting A Loving Spoon?
- What is the Part 2 reason why you decided to start A Loving Spoon?
- Didn’t you get word again that Shark Tank might be interested in you for an upcoming season?
- You mentioned that you are able to do it all now with less stress. So how are you able to do it all?
- What are some of the lessons you’ve learned that have helped you become the (S)hero in your own life?
Thank you, Nia! I adore you.
I hope y’all enjoy it.
Xox,
SKH
Lucky Girl, My HERLIFE Magazine Cover Story
I have never considered myself a lucky girl. In the August edition of HERLIFE Magazine (with my story on the cover), Editor in Chief, Kimberly Mullen, states (on page 12),
Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.
And again, I’ve never considered myself a lucky girl.
Everything I have in life, I have worked really, really, really hard for. Earlier in life (in high school), I made it to the National DECA (an International Association for Marketing Students) Conference (coincidentally in California) not because I got lucky, but because I worked hard. When others were on the bus (headed to the state conference) talking and playing around, I was studying for the written test I knew we’d have to take upon arriving (because written tests are a weak point for me).
“Luck” perhaps got me on the Nike+ Human Race Ambassador Team, but winning wasn’t luck. It was purely hard work + a ton of intentional effort.
When I got sick with SIBO, adrenal fatigue, low thyroid, extremely low B12, and perioral dermatitis, I wasn’t healed due to luck. I didn’t sit around and make excuses for why I couldn’t get better. I took action. And then I realized what had really happened.
I didn’t get lucky with building a thriving health coaching business. I studied long and hard at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition (and years prior to and after) to ensure that those who worked with me would start to see their own light at the end of the tunnel. I wrote several e-books to ensure success, and proved it with testimonial after testimonial.
A Loving Spoon nut butters definitely have not made me a lucky girl. If you only knew the sacrifices I have had to make to keep my business running so that it can contribute to the greater mission of giving to foster and orphaned children, you might think I’m nuts (though, you probably already do!) For the most part, I am the only one running the company. I drive over an hour to produce the product in a Commercial Kitchen. I hand label each and every single jar. I source all ingredients. I maintain all inventory and manage the shipping department. I do 100% of the sales, outreach, PR (although my friend Karen is the PR diva who landed me this front cover story) and marketing. I put every single last penny I have back into the business (because no I still have not taken $1 from it, not even to cover the time I put in).
The physical things and possessions I have in my life have been obtained through means other than luck, and so I’ve never considered myself a lucky girl. (As such, telling you the above is not to paint me as wonder woman. I am so far from that, but I do hear frequently that I have been “so lucky,” and that has simply never been the case. I am just the SHERO in my own life. And by the way, you can be, too!)
I’ve never considered myself a lucky girl until I read Kimberly’s forward to my magazine article.
I cried.
In that moment, I too, felt like a lucky girl.
For many years, we put in so much hard work with attempts to conceive our own child….naturally, artificially, IVF, all of it. The hard work didn’t pay off, and that’s exactly what finally made me a lucky girl.
In her article, Kimberly describes all the “what if’s.” She then concludes,
The only answer I can land on is simple. I am a lucky girl.
By these same tokens, with our angel Samarah Josephina Hoffman, I can officially admit that I too, am a lucky girl (and probably more importantly – that the Lord makes everything beautiful in its time).
I really hope you love the article. If you are in the Central Valley, look for it at your favorite local shop/store! Click HERE to read it! Click HERE to share on Facebook, and click HERE to share on Twitter.
Xox,
SKH
