Thank you!

Hello Capturing the Good Followers!  I wanted to say thank you for your support in following this blog as I slowly become acquainted to the blogging world.  When I set up this blog, my original intention for it was to capture all the good things going on in the world.  The focus of the blog swayed to health & wellness/nutrition as that is my passion.  If you are interested in continuing to follow along as I discover new healthy foods, recipes, and natural care products, and strive to become healthier in body, mind, and spirit, please follow along at Journey to Complete Wellness.  I will be posting exclusively on that blog in the areas of health & wellness, with my current focus on finding healthier versions of the foods we commonly eat and love.  Check out the newest post Healthy Replacements: Organic Popcorn for some great tips on selecting the perfect ingredients and preparation methods in making popcorn a healthy snack.  Next week I hope to tackle granola bars…I just finished a yummy recipe I think you’ll like…they are packed with healthy ingredients, and my entire family loves them! 🙂

This blog, Capturing the Good, will be for posts of inspiration and all the good things going on in the world, as I originally intended it to be.  You can also “Like” Journey to Complete Wellness or Capturing the Good on Facebook for more tips and inspiration, as those are both updated more often.  Thank you for your support and encouragement.  I wish you a happy, healthy, and blessed 2014!  Happy New Year! 🙂

10 Things I Learned in 2013

On this last day of 2013, it is a great time to reflect on all the things we have learned over the past year. Here are 10 things I have learned. I would love to hear about some of the things you have learned as well. Thank you for your support and encouragement as I began to explore the world of blogging this year. I wish you a happy, healthy, and blessed 2014!

Journey to Complete Wellness

As 2013 comes to a close, I have been reflecting on the things I have learned this year and the new habits I have incorporated that have made a positive impact in my life.  Over the past year, I have taken a much deeper interest in living naturally and becoming aware of the foods and products I put into and on my body.  I dedicated a lot of my time learning about those topics, and I also put a lot of good advice into practice in the area of self care.  I have better learned how to honor my true self, and I spend much more time doing things I truly love.  I live a more authentic life because I stopped trying to please others.  I finally feel like I am following my passions and am living each day fulfilling God’s purpose for my life.  Each morning when I wake…

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Secrets to Happiness

I originally posted this on my blog Journey to Complete Wellness in October.  It was well-received, so I decided to share it here as well.  At this time of the year, I find it is especially important to slow down, do one task at a time, and enjoy the present moment (#6 below).  There is so much to do that oftentimes I find myself rushing from one thing to the next without stopping to appreciate and enjoy the task I am currently working on (Christmas cards are supposed to be fun and enjoyable, not just something else to check off the to-do list).  I need to remind myself often to stop and enjoy the season.

Without further ado, here are some secrets I have found to happiness during the past 38 years of my journey so far (one for each year)…

1.  The attitude of gratitude will ALWAYS bring you happiness.  Find something to be thankful for.  We are all constantly surrounded by so many gifts and blessings.

2.  View every encounter and experience as a gift.  Even the seemingly bad situations are a gift in the end.  Try to recognize and appreciate these gifts every day.

3.  Be kind to everyone, but spend the majority of your time with like-minded, positive people who are also committed to improving their personal and spiritual growth and are willing to support you on your journey.

4.  Fill your mind with only positive, inspirational and uplifting ideas and thoughts.  Turn off the news and leave the disturbing books at the library.  “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” ~ Philippians 4:8 (my favorite bible verse)

5.  Eat real food!! (It’s amazing how much energy you will have!)

6.  Do not multitask.  Do one thing at a time, give it your all, and be fully present in everything you do.  Heaven on Earth happens in the moments when you are fully present.

7.  Do not judge others.  You have no idea what anyone else is going through.  Everyone has reasons for their beliefs and actions.  We are all unique and just want to be allowed to be ourselves and be accepted for who we really are.  Only then can our true gifts shine through.  “If God is infinite, then nobody is wrong.” ~ Panache Desai

8.  Think before you speak.  Is it true, helpful, inspiring, necessary, or kind?  If not, keep it to yourself.

9.  Forgive.  Holding onto anger never hurts the other person.  It only hurts yourself.  Let it go and let God take it from there.

10.  Do not gossip or spend your time consumed with other people’s lives.  Put your time and energy into improving your own.

11.  Practice acceptance.  Everything happens for a reason, and always for the overall good.  Even the most tragic situations result in more good than bad over time.  Unfortunately, sometimes it may take years to see the good, but just trust that it is for a reason.  God doesn’t make mistakes.

12.  Go for a walk every day.  Outside!

13.  When you’re feeling stressed, go outside.  Take a deep breath, look up at the sky, admire it’s beauty, and say “Thank You!”  An instant moment of peace!!

14.  Spend some time alone every day.  God speaks to you in the silence.

15.  Do less.  Downtime is NEVER wasted time.  (It took me a very long time to learn this!)

16.  Do something creative every day.  Write, draw, cook, paint, anything.  Just create!

17.  The answers are all within you.  Stop looking outside of yourself for them.

18.  Focus on cooperation rather than competition.  There is an infinite supply of love and abundance in the world.  Collaborate with those who have common goals rather than competing with them.  Working together will benefit everyone!

19.  Stop trying to mask your true self.  Learn to fully love and accept yourself as you are.  If you NEED makeup to feel good about yourself, or you NEED substances (like drugs, alcohol, coffee, or even sugar…yes, sugar is a drug) to keep you going or wake you up each day, those things need to be eliminated from your life.  Your passion for life should get you out of bed each morning, not coffee!

20.  Embrace who you are and stop worrying about what others think.  Once you do this, others who are like-minded will enter your life.  You are never alone. (Although you may feel like you are for a while…just hang in there.)

21.  Go on dates with those closest to you (your mom, your spouse, each of your children individually, etc.)  Let them know they are special and worthy of your time and undivided attention.

22.  Remember, you do not set the master plan for your life.  Embrace distractions and view them as gifts.  Everything is happening in its own perfect time, so stop trying to rush everything.  Stop trying so hard and just let go and allow God to work through you.

23.  Don’t do anything out of guilt or obligation.  Only do things out of love.

24.  Have no expectations.  You will never be disappointed, and you will begin to view everything in your life as a gift and blessing.  Every day is full of wonderful surprises!

25.  The best things in life are free!!

26.  Treat others the way you want to be treated.  We are all connected.  If you love yourself, that love will pour out onto others.  If you hurt yourself, you hurt others.  The opposite is true as well.

27.  Every action is a choice toward love or away from it.  Always choose the path toward love.

28.  Guard your time.  Only spend it on things that are truly important to you.  Don’t ever feel guilty for saying no.  Doing something out of guilt or obligation is not an act of love.

29.  Dedicate one day a week to rest and to be fully present with those you love.  Turn off the technology on this day and enjoy your time together creating, exploring God’s wonderful creations, and just enjoying life and making memories together. (For me, that day is Saturday and is ALWAYS my favorite day of the week and always filled with love, blessings, and gratitude!)

30.  Let go of your attachment to your possessions.  Nothing really belongs to you.  Everything and everyone in your life is a temporary gift from God.  Those gifts can be taken away at any moment.  Stop to appreciate them often.

31.  Don’t sweat the small stuff.  In the end, nothing really matters except your relationships…with yourself, with God, and with others.  Spend time on what really matters.

32.  Listen to music!  Dance!  Sing!

33.  Keep a journal.  Write in it as often as  you can.  You will be amazed at the wisdom inside you.

34.  Never stop learning.  Read, read, read!  And take advice from those you admire.

35.  Clear out the clutter in all areas of your life.  Clutter drains energy.

36.  Get adequate sleep so you wake up feeling fully rested each morning.  And if you wake up in the middle of the night and can’t fall back asleep, God wants to speak to you.  Listen.  “The morning breeze has secrets to tell you, do not go back to sleep”~ Rumi

37.  Focus on giving rather than getting.  “Turn your focus from “What’s in it for me?” to “How can I serve?”~Dr. Wayne Dyer

38.  You are not an accident.  You are here for a purpose.  Turn within, learn to love and accept who you are and identify the gifts within you.  Use those gifts to make the world a better place. 

What Really Matters

I came across this beautiful poem this week, and it really spoke to me:

“When I’ll be dead, your tears will flow, but I won’t know…Cry for me now instead!
You will send flowers, but I won’t see… Send them now instead!
You’ll say words of praise, but I won’t hear…Praise me now instead!
You’ll forget my faults, but I won’t know…Forget them now, instead!
You’ll miss me then, but I won’t feel… Miss me now, instead!
You’ll wish…you could have spent more time with me…Spend it now instead!!”  ~Author Unknown

I feel so blessed to have spent two days of this Thanksgiving holiday weekend with my 4-year-old niece, Mya.  I am thankful for having the opportunity to play with her, listen to her laugh and sing, and watch her run around like any other 4-year-old, for what might be the last time.  She reminded me of what really matters in life…

Mya was diagnosed with a brain tumor one year ago, in November 2012.  She survived 6 rounds of chemotherapy and was in stable condition as of June 2013.  She spent 100 days in isolation while she began to gain her strength back.  Her hair began to grow back, her appetite came back, and everything was looking great.  Tragically, on November 6 she went back for an MRI and it showed the tumor had spread to different parts of her brain as well as her spine, and it is now in a very aggressive state.  The doctors estimate she has 6-12 months to live.  You can imagine how devastating this news was to her parents.

Until this past week, Mya was feeling fine with no symptoms.  On Tuesday, she started to experience headaches.  While at my house on Thanksgiving, she was experiencing headaches, vomiting, dizziness, and loss of balance.  There was nothing she wanted more than to join in and play with her older cousins, but the pain was so bad she could not concentrate, even with the medication.  Mya spent Thanksgiving night and most of Friday in the hospital.

This was the first time I had ever witnessed her with any symptoms.  Living this experience was much more difficult than just hearing about it or reading about it.  I wanted to take away her pain so badly, but there was nothing I could do.  I can’t imagine what her parents have been going through for the past year, wanting to take away her pain, but feeling so helpless.

On Saturday, we saw Mya again at another family gathering.  This was a much better day!  She had no pain at all and spent the day laughing, singing, playing, and running around playing with her cousins.  Knowing this might be the last time I see her, I focused on being truly present with her and really paid attention and appreciated seeing all those beautiful smiles, hearing her sing and laugh, and watching her play with my kids.  Mya loves having her picture taken, and she loves being behind the camera.  It was great watching her run around the house with my camera taking pictures of everyone and everything.  I am thankful she had a good day and we were all able to see her in a good state.

Right now I don’t understand why this is happening to Mya and her family, but I trust that God has a reason for this and over time people will be brought together and many good things will happen because of her existence.  I know God doesn’t make mistakes, and everything happens for a reason for the overall good, but that doesn’t make it easy to watch Mya and her family suffer.

My time with Mya this weekend reminded me of a few things.  We all have little day-to-day problems, but when we change our perspective, we realize we are beyond blessed to simply be here.  Every person and experience we encounter each day is a gift, and we need to try to recognize and appreciate every one of those gifts.  We take so many things and people for granted each day and waste so much time worrying about the little things.  In the end, the only thing that matters are our relationships– with ourselves, with God, and with others.  We need to spend our time on what really matters, make the most of each day, and be truly present in everything we do.

Please pray for Mya as she begins radiation in the coming weeks to give her a little more time, and especially pray for her family as they prepare for something no parent should ever have to prepare for.

For the most recent updates and to view her entire story, visit http://www.fightformya.org.  Thank you and God Bless!!

Unprocessed Pumpkin Dip

With less than two weeks left until Thanksgiving, the pressure is on to find some terrific new recipes that are both healthy and delicious to serve to my guests.  Today I feel like I hit the jackpot!

I discovered and tried this amazing recipe for “Pumpkin Fluff Dessert Dip” on 100 Days of Real Food.  My entire family loved it, including my picky 9-year-old who won’t even look at anything orange!  All ingredients are real food ingredients, which gives me even more reason to love it!  This recipe certainly makes the cut on my Thanksgiving menu!

Ingredients

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• ½ cup cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice mix (found in the spice aisle)
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• Optional garnish: A few extra sprinkles of pumpkin pie spice (or just plain cinnamon)
• Optional dippers: Sliced apples and whole-wheat graham crackers

Instructions

1. In the bowl of your mixer fitted with a whisk (or use a large mixing bowl and electric beaters), combine the heavy cream, cream cheese, syrup, vanilla, and pumpkin pie spice. Turn the mixer to low and blend until the cream cheese is broken up and no longer in big clumps. Turn the speed up to high and blend until the mixture thickens, about 1 to 2 minutes.
2. Turn the speed back down to low and carefully blend in the pumpkin puree. Scrape the bowl with a spatula if necessary.
3. Serve with sliced apples and whole-wheat graham crackers. Store leftover dip in the fridge.

Coconut Flour Brownies

This week I came across a recipe for brownies on the package of coconut flour, and I decided to give it a try.  It is a “healthier” version of the packaged brownie mix I used to buy, using mainly real food ingredients and no white flour.  I don’t feel great about having an entire cup of white sugar in there, so I may try to find a replacement for the sugar next time I make them.  But this time I made them according to the recipe, and my entire family liked them.  Here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

1/3 cup butter

1/2 cup cocoa powder

6 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup coconut flour

1 cup chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium saucepan over low heat, blend butter and cocoa powder.  Remove from heat and let cool.  In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, sugar and vanilla.  Blend this into the cocoa mixture.  Stir in the coconut flour, and mix with an electric mixer for 1-2 minutes, or until the batter is no longer lumpy.  Add the chocolate chips.  Bake in a pre-greased 8×8 baking pan for about 30-35 minutes.  Allow to cool before cutting into squares.

Enjoy! 🙂

The Season of Gratitude

I love Thanksgiving!  It is a day filled with love, family, and gratitude and it is my favorite holiday by far.  I strive to live every day of my life in a state of thanksgiving because I truly believe that the attitude of gratitude always brings happiness.  I need to remind myself daily that every person, every thing, and every experience I encounter each day is a gift and even the seemingly bad experiences are a gift in the end.  Turning my focus to all the blessings in my life daily is something I strive for each day, and I try to remind my family to do the same.

This beloved turkey has become a favorite Thanksgiving tradition in our house.  He returns each year around this time to remind us of how blessed we truly are.  This weekend my kids asked if we could take it out, and they were all really excited to help put it up.

Each year we ask our Thanksgiving guests to fill out a feather and write what they are thankful for.  When we take it out each November, it fills our hearts will love and wonderful memories of past Thanksgivings and reminds us of how blessed our lives have been and all we have to be thankful for today.  Occasionally we are reminded of people or things that are no longer in our lives, but that just reminds us that nothing really belongs to us and we need to take nothing for granted.  Everything in our lives right now is a gift and blessing from God.  We need to focus on the present and try to recognize and appreciate all the gifts in our lives today.

May you recognize and appreciate the gift of every person, every thing, and every experience you encounter today!  Peace and blessings! 🙂

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances;” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV

October Unprocessed – One week later

It has been one week since October Unprocessed ended, and I am happy to say I am still eating mostly unprocessed (with the exception of a few pieces of Halloween candy here and there.)  I found a new local juice bar and visited it with a friend this week!  It has only been opened for a few weeks and is the first juice bar to open in our area, so it was an exciting experience!  I ordered a smoothie containing banana, cashews, coconut oil, vanilla and coconut milk.  It was delicious!!  I also ordered some raw granola, which was also delicious!  My friend tried a shot of wheatgrass, but I wasn’t quite brave enough to try that this time.  Maybe next time 🙂

The last month really changed my food buying habits for the better!  Today I was looking at the grocery store for ice cream for my daughter with a sore throat.  I normally would have just chosen the least expensive one that is full of unnecessary ingredients, but instead I chose the small carton of Haagen-Dazs with only real ingredients.  It was more expensive, but it was on sale and if I don’t have time to make it myself, I feel much better about feeding it to my family knowing the ingredients are all real.

I tried another new recipe today that I thought was delicious and worthy of sharing.  I love this recipe because you don’t have to stick to it exactly.  Just use whatever vegetables you have.  The original recipe didn’t call for broccoli or red peppers, but I had some that needed to be used up, so I added them.  Here is the recipe with my additions:

Roasted Autumn Vegetables with Cranberries

Ingredients:

1 medium butternut squash

1 large onion

1 cup broccoli

1 red pepper

4 Tablespoons olive oil

Himalayan Pink Salt (or Fine Sea Salt)

4 Tablespoons dried cranberries

Feta cheese to top

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Peel, halve, and remove seeds from squash and cut them into large chunks.  Peel onion and cut into large chunks.  Chop broccoli into large chunks.  Slice red peppers.  Toss vegetables into the olive oil, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for about 30 minutes.

When vegetables are well caramelized, top with cranberries and Feta.  Enjoy!

October Unprocessed Results – Eating only Real Foods For 1 Month

Over the past month, I have been taking the “October Unprocessed” challenge.  I pledged to eat only real, unprocessed foods for the entire month of October.  In this post I will share the benefits I found, challenges I encountered, and my overall thoughts on the experience.

Benefits

1.  Eating real foods has given me much more energy throughout the entire day.  I generally wake up fully rested and do not get tired during the day.

2.  Although losing weight was not a goal of mine when I started the challenge, I have lost 7 pounds.

3.  Every day was an adventure.  It was fun trying to find new foods and recipes to try.  Some were successful, and some weren’t, but it was exciting and a wonderful learning experience.

4.  I’m hoping this set a good example for my children.  I want to teach them the importance of eating healthy and respecting and taking good care of their bodies, and I think this experience helped me to do that.  Although they seldom tried the new foods with me, there were a few things my 10-year-old tried and liked (and one was a green smoothie)!  I think just exposing them to these foods is a good start for now.  Maybe after they see the foods enough times, it won’t be so scary to them and they will try it out.

5.  Habits are hard to break.  This challenge broke me out of those bad habits of only buying and eating the same foods all the time (without even realizing what was in them) and it introduced me to a whole new world of delicious, healthy foods.  Before this challenge, I had never tried (or had very little exposure to):

Sundried Tomatoes

Mangoes

Avocado

Butternut Squash

Kale

Beets

Lamb

Grape Leaves

Quinoa

Unsweetened Shredded Coconut

Yellow Cherry Tomatoes

Fresh Cranberries

Almond Flour

Dates

Brussels Sprouts

and I’m sure there are more I am forgetting.

6.  I am more aware of what is in the foods I buy as well as the source of my food.

7.  This challenge got me in the habit of having a green smoothie every day!  Now I crave them if I miss a day!

8.  I was fairly successful at eliminating white sugar and white flour from my diet for the entire month.  At the beginning of this challenge, I really didn’t think I could survive without bread, but I did it…for the most part (I may have had a few slices of pizza during the month.)

9.  It got me to clean out my pantry and refrigerator.  Many of those products will not be brought back into our house, but will be replaced by healthier substitutes.

10.  I have found healthy substitutes for some of the foods we used to eat.  For example, we now use only pure maple syrup on pancakes instead of the syrup found in the stores that is made up of mostly corn syrup.  My daughters resisted this change for a while, but they are now adapting to the pure maple syrup.  We also switched from microwave popcorn (in the bags filled with chemicals) to organic popcorn kernels (actually we made that change before this challenge, but it is another example of a healthy substitute.)

10.  This challenge has been a frequent topic of conversation with my close friends, and they have become more aware of what they are eating and feeding their families as well.  We have been swapping recipe ideas and supporting each other in our quest to improve the health of our families.

11.  I have enjoyed being part of a larger community of like-minded individuals committed to improving their health.  I enjoyed being a part of a Facebook group of October Unprocessed participants who shared unprocessed recipes and tips and supported each other every step of the way!

12.  Over the past year, I have taken a strong interest in becoming educated on the foods I feed myself and my family.  I had been taking small steps and finding healthy replacements one food at a time.  This challenge really gave me the push I needed to step it up, put more focus on it, and really discover some wonderful foods!

13.  This challenge has inspired me to start a new blog and Facebook page called Journey to Complete Wellness, where I will be sharing health tips, unprocessed recipes, and inspiration as we all strive to better ourselves every day.   I am excited to continue on my lifelong journey toward complete wellness in mind, body, and spirit and this challenge was just one more step along the way.  I still have so much to learn, but I am passionate about my personal and spiritual growth and am excited to share what I learn along the way.

Challenges

1.  Of course I did not eat 100% unprocessed for the entire month (especially with all the Halloween candy around the house).  But I did not beat myself up over it when I did cheat.  I would say I ate about 90-95% unprocessed, which is MUCH better than I used to eat.

2.  It was eye-opening and a little scary at times to realize how poorly I was feeding myself and my family before this challenge, when I truly thought we ate healthy.  Unfortunately, it is still scary to see that I am still feeding my kids the same foods they always ate because they don’t want to try anything new.

3.  It was VERY time-consuming.  Before the challenge, I spent very little time cooking.  I never would have put all that time and effort into making something for just myself, but this has forced me to and was well worth it.  I also spent a lot of time keeping track of what I ate and posting it in this blog.  That was also worth it because I feel that this blog is what kept me accountable.  I probably would not have been as successful with the challenge if I wasn’t going to be putting it down in writing every day.

4.  It was very expensive.  Whole, REAL foods are expensive.  Especially organic fruits and vegetables.  I found myself shopping on the discount produce rack quite often for fruits and vegetables that were just going to be juiced.  I did save a lot of money that way.  But in the end, I believe all the extra money spent on groceries for real food is worth it.

5.  I found it very difficult to throw away the leftovers from my kids, especially at the beginning.  I have a big issue with throwing away food, so it was really hard for me to throw away bread crusts, etc. at first.  I used to eat whatever they didn’t.  I did get over it, though.

Overall Thoughts

Although October Unprocessed is officially over, it has been a life-changing experience for me and has changed the way I will be eating from now on.  Although it was not without challenges, it has been an extremely rewarding experience for me overall.  It has been a fun month learning about and trying new foods and recipes.  I feel great, have lots of energy all throughout the day, and am very excited about incorporating new healthy foods and recipes into my diet.  I’m sure there are many other wonderful, healthy Superfoods out there just waiting for me to find them.

I am planning to take this pledge again next October, and I highly encourage anyone reading this to try it out as well.  Because really, there’s nothing more important than your health.

Thank you so much to everyone who supported me during this month by sharing your recipes, tips, encouragement, etc.  I really appreciated it! 🙂

October Unprocessed – Day 31

To start the day, I had one of the energy balls I made yesterday.

I had some apple juice, and then I made a smoothie (purple this time).  I added spinach, a little water to blend the spinach, pineapple, cantaloupe, and frozen black raspberries.    This is what it looked like:

I went for a walk and then made an omelet with onions, cranberries, and yellow cherry tomatoes.

Yesterday I wished that I wouldn’t eat any candy today.  Well, be careful what you wish for, because it just might come true.  My kids have been sick for the past week now (each of them was sick for 2 days.)  Well, now it is my turn.  I got the worst sore throat, and it feels like I have strep.  Even eating healthy foods couldn’t keep it away!  I knew I was playing with fire eating and drinking after the kids.  Now I’m regretting it.

So, for the remainder of the day, I did stay away from candy.  I had a Greek Yogurt with Pure Maple Syrup, lots of raw, local honey, raw garlic cloves, and warm water with lemon, honey, and garlic.  It doesn’t seem to have helped yet, but we’ll see what tomorrow brings.

So, this brings us to the end of October Unprocessed.  I plan to post once more tomorrow to review my results and experiences over the past month.  Happy Halloween! 🙂