Veggie Wheat Berry Salad
Carbs with no guilt!  

I feel in love with the healthy meals in the Sept issue of Womens Health. This is one of them. 

Carbs in my opinion is the hardest thing to cut out of your diet. We eat carbs when were happy, sad, anxious or just for a simple comfort food. The bad thing is that we reach for the bad cards and junk food like chips, nachos, fries ect. Research shows that a daily dose of healthy whole wheat grain can help you slim down and keep your body running smooth. Finding this recipe made my day, I have always had a salty tooth and a very low sweet tooth so this was right up my alley. This is great for a summer picnic, a backyard bbq or even just as a side dish instead of rice. With fresh ingredients, delicious and easy dressing you cant go wrong. 

Wheat berries don't get soggy they only get better as they soak longer in the dressing. They take a while to prepare but they are worth the wait. 

Ingredients:

1 cup Wheat Berries  (soft white)

1lb tomatoes, finely chopped and seeded 

1 green bell pepper, finely chopped

1 cucumber, finely chopped and seeded

3 celery stalks, finely chopped

1/2 small red onion, finely chopped

Dressing:

2 tbsp Olive Oil

2 tbsp Fresh lemon juice

2 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp salt & pepper (optional)

(whisk all together)

Soak the Wheat Berries in a bowl of cool water at least 9-10hrs Max 16hrs. Drain them, pour wheat berries in a large pan, fill two-thirds of the way with water. Similar to making rice. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer until grains are tender and chewy (this will take about 1hr). Drain and run under cool water. Let stand in strainer till they get to room temp, meanwhile mix up the dressing ingredients and chop all your veggies. Mix everything together let it marinate for about 30 min and its ready to eat. (I personally like it to marinate in the fridge and its good cool). 

Good luck and enjoy your healthy carb snack!  

Juice Detox: day 3 FINAL DAY!

I made it to day 3!!!  


Final day was a little tough cause all I wanted was some good filling food. But by the time it came to 6pm the lean chicken and veggies meal made me really full. The taste of day 3 was not to bad. The tough one to drink was day 2 out of all of them. This is a great cleanse for anytime of the year, specially a pre-summer cleanse. On the 1st day after the cleanse you feel empty, your tummy has shrunk you feel awesome. Note to self: defiantly work out while doing the Juice Cleanse. For those of you who asked if it makes you have the runs. Well for me no not at all, I was very scared of that so I did minimal workouts.

Also don't forget you have not had much to eat and had absolutely no carbs for 3 days. You want to keep your diet clean and take it slow. Carbs will make you stomach hurt and make you feel sluggish. I would keep it to salads, low sodium soups, sushi things like that.
Ingredients of day 3:

1. Parsley 
2. Lemon
3. Carrots
4. Spinach
5. Cucumber
6. Beets
7. Ginger
8. Lettuce

Would defiantly recommend everyone to try this Juice Cleanse. Any question just leave me a comment I will help you get thru it. 

Good Luck! 

Juice Detox: Day 2

I made it to day 2 of the detox. So far so good, todays drink was not bad for the first couple hours. After hour maybe 4-5 the parsley was a bit much for me. I do fell light and have energy. I had a long walk/run and it was not tiring at all. Would definitely recommend it to everyone. Specially someone that needs a pre-summer cleanse.
Today ingredients. 3-4 of each

1. Apples
2. Ginger Roots
3. Celery
4. Cucumber
5. Parsley
6. I added lemon for taste. 

For my light and lean dinner I went to my go to easy Summer Shrimp & Crab salad.

Summer Shrimp & Crab salad.

1. Crab or Imitation Crab
2. Shrimp cooked and de-veined 
3. Cucumber
4. Tomato
5. Cilantro
6. Red Onion (to taste)
7. Avocado

Chop all ingredients to small bite pieces, mix together well, add lemon or lime, salt and pepper. You can eat alone of with tostadas. Super easy and healthy summer salad.  Enjoy!

Juice Detox: Day 1

Cont... from yesterdays Juice Detox Prep.

Ladies and gents its not as bad as I thought. But I still have to remember its day 1 of 3. Day one went very smooth, I had everything ready to go from last night. The juicer I use is JuiceMan from Target, it did very well with the 64oz you need for the day. The pulp left over I use for my tress and plant food instead of wasting it. The taste of the juice on day 1 is very good, so I had no trouble drinking it. The only thing I had trouble with was keeping track of 8oz every hour on the hour. I didn't feel like I was starving at all. As long as I had water in between the 8oz on the hour. 

Below are the instructions I got from The Skinny Confidential blog where I originally saw it.




Here are the cleanse details! Thanks for your support with The Skinny Confidential!

Here's all the cleanse deets:

++ Frequently Asked Questions:

+ I am making my juice at home; can I use a blender?

Any large juicer and/or blender works : ). Make sure it's large though- there's a lot to hold [ people swear by the Vitamix ]. Keep the pulp!

+ How much & how often do I drink the juice?

The cleanse is 64 ounces a day. You drink 8 ounces, every hour, for 8 hours, with a cup of water in between each hour. You can make the 64 ounces the night before or the morning of- all at once!

+ Let's talk working out:

I would have a glass of orange juice [ << real orange juice, like the 100%, no added shit orange juice ] in the morning, if you're planning to workout while doing it. The only workout that I would stay away from is hot yoga. The temperature of hot yoga can be dangerous while cleansing [ w/ no carbs ]. I workout all three days on the cleanse for an hour [ think: Pilates, spinning, hiking, barre classes, etc. ].

+ Explain the recipe!

This is a 3 day juice cleanse. It's 3 to 4 veggies of each- depending on size [ for lemons: it's 3 juiced lemons ]. Your veggies may be smaller than in CA., so if it doesn't make 64 ounces, add more veggies. The skins can be peeled on certain veggies, especially the carrots & the ginger root. For things like parsley & lettuce, use about 3 heaping handfuls. I like to start drinking the juice at 9 am.

+ I am too busy to make the juices at home; any other options?

Yes. If you have a Whole Foods [ juice bar ] or any juicing place around you, I would recommend choosing that route over making it at home [ it's annoying to deal with all the ingredients ]. I have many friend who too the instructions to a Whole Foods or juice place & it worked out well. If the place doesn't have the particular veggies you're looking for, buy it yourself & bring it counter.

+ So about the protein during cleanse...

Check the site for protein meal ideas . In total, you are allowed 6 ounces of protein a day with a heaping, large handful of veggies. Here's the fab thing about this cleanse: you can have your protein whenever you want. For instance, one poached egg in the morning, a few almonds at lunch, & then four ounces of meat with veggies at night. Not so bad, eh?

+ What liquids can I drink?

No coffee, no alcohol, no sugary drinks. You should be consuming at least 3 quarts of water a day on the cleanse. Green tea is fab. One of my secret tricks  is a trenta [ the biggest size available ] of iced green tea with 2 splashes of passion fruit tea, no sweetener & light on the water. I drink one or two of these a day on the cleanse. 

+ It tastes bad to me, what should I do?

If you cannot stand the taste of a particular day [ each day is a different flavor of juice ], squeeze a ton of lemon in it to neutralize the taste. Sometimes I'll add extra ginger root too.

+ I am starving on the cleanse:

If you're dying - which you shouldn't be if you're doing it properly - have a few almonds or a glass of OJ with half sparkling water. Make sure you're drink the juice cleanse juice every hour. 

This cleanse isn't for everyone- if you have any medical conditions before, during, or after thecleanse please consult a doctor immediately.

As you read above you are allowed lean meat. I choose chicken salad, sprouts, cucumber, tomato, tiny bit of beans.
The chicken recipe is super easy, marinate chicken in a bag with the juice of 1 lemon, 1 orange, 2 pieces of garlic and tablespoon of olive oil and salt & pepper. I like to marinate it over night. My favorite thing to grill it on is my George Foreman Grill its done in 10 min.

Now water all night............

Check back tomorrow for day 2 Juice Detox. 

Juice Detox

Preparing for day 1 Juice Detox. 

About a year ago I started following a blogger by the name of The Skinny Confidential where I originally saw the popular Juice Detox. She has the best workout ideas, awesome skinny cocktails, yummy dinners and endless things to read about. She has always inspired me try new things and of course try to have an active and fit lifestyle.

While sitting here writing this post eating the best pecan cookies and recovering from a drinking weekend.  I realized summers consist of fun activities with friends that end up with martinis, beer, shots and fatty good(bad) food. So what better time to get rid of all the junk in our systems and feel better when slipping on those tiny bikinis.

This 72 hour Juice Detox consist of Liver and Kidney Detox, Green Drink and Super Colon Detox. 64oz of juice a day 8oz per hour, with only lean meat and fresh veggies for dinner.

I choose to prep a day before to make it a little easier in the morning. I will keep you posted on how I am doing, how the drink of the day taste and how am surviving with just juice for 8 hrs. I will also post the instructions I got from the blog.
Feel free to visit the detox day 1,2 and 3 on The Skinny Confidential.

Apples, Beets, Cucumber, Lemons, Carrots, Tomatoes, Celery

Dirty Gossip!

Hello all!  I have not been on my blog for a long time. I miss all those hauls, hiking videos and my random trips that I filmed for you all to enjoy. I will soon get back to that, a lot has changed in my life, I have recently moved and getting your life back in order is a bit challenging. As you all know I'm a hair stylist and planning on taking a "master colorist" class in santa monica and a creative cutting class in costa mesa. So you will see some new videos from a beach front hotel! Im excited for that. Also I have been blessed with busy days at the salon making people beautiful. And the biggest news of all is that I'm strongly thinking of creating my own online boutique store. 


Ne-ways enough venting.!  Lets get back to business. What better way than starting a new blog post about washing all the dirt off and starting from nice and clean :)   I could not think of anything else to write about other than cleaning those dirty makeup brushes after unpacking all my makeup. So here you go, get your dirty on !!!


Why to keep your makeup brushes clean? 

Sometimes you wonder why you get zits in the those random places. Well let me tell you ladies (and some gents) your best friend in the morning your makeup BRUSHES are loaded with all those nasty bacterias, oils and germs floating in the air. I am the first one to say I'm guilty of not washing my brushes once a week like you should. Time is stretched out for everyone of us with work, school, life and everything that comes with it. First thing you do in the morning is to find those brushes scattered on the counter from the morning or night before when you were in a hurry to run out the door. Well we should all make a promise to STOP that cycle today. Here are some easy steps to help you clean your tools and have our face looking better than ever.

1. Pick a day of the week and stick to it. Sunday is easy for me because its the end of the week and why not start with clean brushes on Monday morning. 
2. Things you will need.

• Moisturizing shampoo & Conditioner
• Clean towel
• Disinfectant wipes
•  10 min of your day

This is my TIGI brush set. LOVE!!

** Pull out all your brushes from your holder, start running the water to a very warm feel, its easier to do each brush individual, wet your brush and apply a little shampoo I prefer good shampoo because some of your brushes might be expensive and really good hair quality so if its good enough to use on your hair you better use it on your brushes.


Start rubbing the hair together as soon as you do this you will see all that gross-ness come out of the brush, keep doing this till the water runs clear. Repeat with all brushes, then apply conditioner (I let them sit for 3-5 min, like a little treatment).

Rinse, squeeze all water out and shape the brush with your hand. Set the brush on a clean towel to dry.

 Last but not least don't forget to wipe down and disinfect your pouch, this will keep from contaminating the clean brushes. And please ladies put you brushes back in the holder after use. Don't forget ONCE a week this must be done, your face will thank you.

GoodLuck!

Santa Barbara Bound!

Come travel with me!


For memorial weekend I travel to Santa Barbara beautiful beach area. I had a blast, the weather was perfect 70-80's, and you can't forget the smell and the scenery of the beach. I tried to take as many pictures of where I went. I had a couple things in mind that I wanted to do such as fishing of the pier, I just think its so much fun to relax by the sea, people watch and maybe catch a fish. 2nd I wanted to do some sight seeing and be a tourist. I saw a tour called LandShark, its a bus that takes you to all old and new Santa Barbara, tells you the history and then goes towards the sea. When you least expect it this bus contraption turns into a boat! yea!!!  Drives right into the water, takes you to see a couple dolphins, sea lions and any wild life. This was such a relaxing but fun trip. ENJOY!

Fishing on Santa Barbara Pier.

 1). Squid, our bait of choice. 2). Me soaking up some sun, and waiting for a bit or something........

1). Someone caught a SHARK!   2). My fishing rod. (not a lucky one) 

 At the end of the day we were out for about 4-5 hrs and caught nothing. So sad, but I did have so much fun, lots of laugh, a lot of snacks and a good tan.