To Juice or Not to Juice?

Written with love, by Nikki Lian

Juicing is taking the pulp out of raw fruits or vegetables and turning it into a liquid. It's an easy way of getting the nutrients from these foods without having to actually eat them. For example, juicing 5 cups of Spinach will leave you with a half a cup of Spinach juice. I'd rather throw back a half of a cup of liquid than have to down five cups of this vegetable, and still manage to absorb the same amount of nutrients.

In theory, this sounds great. However, all your fiber from your fruits and veggies are in the pulp. We need fiber in order to digest our food properly. So if you decide to go on a juice fast, you're absorbing the sugars from fruits but not aiding the fruit through digestion.  A couple of ways to avoid losing fiber is to put some of the pulp back into the juice once you've separated them, or to use your pulp in baked goods or solid food recipes.

If you decide you want to try juicing, juicers can start anywhere from $30 and go up to about $500 if you want to get fancy.

Here is a favorite mix of mine:

Spinach: lots and lots of Vitamin A and K that are important for skin, hair and bone health

Carrots: Beta Carotene and Antioxidant agents that are used to help fight cancer

Apples: Contain tons of disease-fighting antioxidants as well, apples are also know to decrease your risk of diabetes and lower your cholesterol

Cucumbers: Like watermelon, cucumbers are made up of 95 percent water. Cucumbers also contain polyphenols called lignans, which reduce your risk of cancer and protect your brain.

I always stick to three different vegetables to one fruit in my juice to avoid too much sugar intake. Try to only make enough juice for a day--all natural, fresh juices can easily collect bacteria if you keep them around for too long.  And always remember to replace that fiber!   Juicing makes a large amount of pulp--more than what I need at times. So if you're done baking and mixing it in with your salads, mix some of the pulp in your pet food (just make sure the ingredients you've used are pet friendly).

So there's a little insight on what a lot of people are talking about. I feel that this is something that can't hurt to try.  Have fun and be creative with your recipes...happy juicing!

Today on The Bridal Boutique // Seeded Plantable Monogram Wedding Favors by Glitter and Twine Co

What I look for in the perfect wedding favor is something your guests will actually use...and these wedding favors just take the cake! Not only are they seeds for your guests to "let love grow" once they get back home, but whatever plant you decide on will (hopefully) last a lifetime in all of your guests' yards as a beautiful memory of your wedding day.

And better yet?

They are shaped as a monogram to bring in that new last name! How cool is that?

Click "Order Here" below and it'll take you to the Glitter & Twine Co Shop!

All photos courtesy of Bleudog Fotography

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3 Ways to Prevent Wedlock from Turning into Deadlock

Written with love, by Pastor Dave Page

Many couples getting married these days will sooner or later move from wedlock to deadlock, from contentment to conflict, and from being a duet to becoming a duel.

So in order to prevent this, here are 3 ways to prevent wedlock from turning into deadlock:

1.      Communicate Your Expectations.

We all enter marriage with preconceived expectations. Couples will never have harmony in marriage until expectations are brought out into the open. Expectations should be discussed, examined, challenged, modified and agreed upon. The bottom-line: our expectations must be communicated to one another.

A husband was talking to his pastor about expectations and the possibility of divorce. “I want to remind you that you took her for better or worse,” said the pastor. “Yeah, but she turned out much worse than I took her for,” said the husband. The wife chimed in, “Yeah and I didn’t realize my husband was so temperamental – 90% temper and 10% mental.”

Few issues lead to the deadlock of a marriage more certainly than unfulfilled expectations. One of the complaints heard most frequently by marriage counselors is, “my needs are not being met.” This often-heard lament is typically translated “what I expected has not come to pass.”

2.      Integrate Your Aspirations.

Integrate your aspirations, dreams, goals and plans. Too many couples live in two different worlds. If you want to keep your wedlock from becoming deadlock, you need to synchronize your lives together. Creating goals as a couple is one of the most powerful and connecting things you can do. Have fun with it and see where it takes you - there is nothing better than sharing your success with someone you love. Having common goals brings unity, purpose, progress, growth, and stability.

My wife and I plan a special trip each year. This year we went to Hawaii and next year we’re going to Italy for our anniversary. It’s fun to agree on a destination. It gives you something to look forward to and untimely leads to creating a happy memory together.

3.      Negotiate Your Irritations.

Negotiate your irritations, confrontations and differences. It’s been said, “Opposites attract and then opposites attack.” Conflict is inevitable but combat isn’t. What’s sad is that many couples stay busy just to avoid each other because they’re afraid of conflict. Conflict isn’t necessarily bad. A marriage that goes the distance results from a couple's ability to resolve the conflicts that are inevitable in any relationship. Many couples tend to equate a low level of conflict with happiness and believe the claim “we never fight” is a sign of marital health. The reality is that we grow in our relationships by reconciling our differences. Conflict resolution requires humble confessing and honest forgiveness. That's how we become more loving people and truly experience all that marriage has to offer.

Questions to Consider

Do you and your spouse compete with each other or compliment one another? Are you moving in the same direction with each other or drifting? Are you both on the same team? Are you growing together or growing apart? Are you closer today or further away then you were a year ago? Do you share more in common or less in common today?

Happiness in marriage is related to how we deal with our expectations, aspirations, and irritations. To develop unity in marriage we must learn to give and take.