I'm Kristin. I'm here to help you simplify real food and natural living.

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Easy Healthy Lunchbox Swaps

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Easy Instant Pot Black Bean Soup Recipe

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Live Simply, The Podcast: School Lunch Q&A

Live Simply, The Podcast Episode 060: School Lunch Q&A

How Two Moms Approach School Lunch (routines, recipes and ideas, & more)

Live Simply, The Podcast 059: How Two Moms Approach School Lunch (Routines, Ideas, & More)

Live Simply Podcast Motherhood

Live Simply, The Podcast 058: Pregnancy, 4th Trimester, and Motherhood Self-Care

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Green beauty hack/tip.... Weekend project: clean m

Green beauty hack/tip.... Weekend project: clean my makeup brushes!
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Mine desperately need it. Here's how I wash my brushes:
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1/4 up water
2 tablespoons witch hazel
generously squirt of castile soap
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Mix the ingredients together in a glass or bowl, then add the brushes.
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Combine as much of the mixture needed in a bowl.
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Add the makeup brushes to the mixture. I like to swish the brushes back in forth in the mixture and then let them soak for a few minutes.
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The mixture will go from clear to a dirty makeup mixture quickly. After a few minutes, remove the brushes, dump the solution, and rinse the brushes under the water.
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Let the brushes rest on a towel to dry. Repeat weekly or twice a month to keep your brushes clean.

Farmer’s market week 3. I’m going to try and t

Farmer’s market week 3. I’m going to try and take a photo each week to show how the variety changes with the seasons #livesimplyfarmersmarket. I thought this would be a fun way to document the beauty of real food and its seasonality.

Ultra-processed food is engineered to always taste the same. For example: A Big Mac is specifically formulated to always taste the exact same, with no variation.

Real food, on the other hand, tastes different depending on the variety, the season, and how it’s grown or where it’s grown. All beef doesn’t taste the same, neither does milk (it actually changes with the seasons, as the diet of a grazing cow changes), cheese changes based on how it’s cultured (a beautiful fermentation process that transforms milk into a beneficial, bacteria-rich food), and tomatoes and lettuce vary in flavor. Broccoli and peaches aren’t grown year-round, instead there’s a specific season for these foods which makes us savor each food and that particular season. This is true for all real food. And this is a beautiful thing, because it means that we were intended to eat variety. Our body needs a variety of nutrients, and the seasonal shift in food provides us with this variety in a very natural way.

(Swipe to build this salad —>) Can you feel it? 🍁
Fall is in the air--even in Florida where our first cold front just arrived, early.
This time of year is busy, which means it’s way too easy to let healthy, nourishing meals slip.
Today, I’ve teamed up with @cypressgrovers to share a simple & nutrient-rich, make-ahead lunch for the fall months. #sponsored
This recipe can be prepped on a Sunday and then stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. To keep everything crisp and fresh, the ingredients are layered in a jar, keeping the greens, dressing, apples, veggies, & @cypressgrovers Purple Haze goat cheese separated until meal time.
Before sharing the recipe, let’s talk about the Purple Haze goat cheese. This ingredient adds protein & healthy fats to the salad (keeping you satisfied and sustained). Purple Haze is made with the highest quality goat’s milk, the building block for every Cypress Grove cheese, along with lavender and hand-harvested fennel pollen. It adds an unforgettable and unique flavor to this salad.

RECIPE:
Dressing
1/8 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

2 large beets, chopped
1 medium butternut squash, chopped
2 TB extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 large apple of choice, chopped
1 cup quinoa
4-ounces @cypressgrovers Purple Haze goat cheese
3 cups arugula

1. Combine the dressing ingredients in a bowl.  
2. Preheat the oven to 425F.  
3. On a parchment-lined sheet pan, combine beets and butternut squash. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Roast for 25-30 minutes.  
4. Cook the quinoa according to the directions on the package.  
5. Crumble the goat cheese using a fork. Squeeze the juice from half a lemon over the apples.  
6. Allow the quinoa and veggies to cool before the next step.  
7. Evenly add the ingredients among 3 quart-size mason jars: dressing, apples, roasted veggies, quinoa, goat cheese, then arugula. Top with a lid. Store in the fridge.  

To serve, empty the salad into a bowl or shake the jar gently to combine ingredients. Serve at room temperature.

#CypressGrove #purplehaze

Swipe for all the lunch examples —>We could all

The return of market season! #livesimplyfarmersma

The return of market season! #livesimplyfarmersmarket @stpetesaturdaymkt @littlepondfarm @lifefarmsfl @providencecattle @trailbale

When it comes to food and determining what & how t

When it comes to food and determining what & how to eat, we can succumb to confusion OR we can use tradition as our guide. Understanding tradition takes away the fear & confusion surrounding many foods. This is what real food is all about.

A wonderful example of this is found in Parmigiano Reggiano. #sponsored

The making of Parmigiano Reggiano dates back almost 1,000 years. Today, Parmigiano Reggiano must meet very strict quality standards, which are rooted in the tradition of a natural, artisanal cheese-making process.

According to European law, one of the many requirements for a cheese to be labeled as “Parmigiano Reggiano" is that the entire process must take place in the place of origin - a very small, very beautiful region in Italy. The region in which this 1000 year-old tradition was created.

Parmigiano Reggiano is made using a traditional fermentation process and 3 ingredients: milk, salt, and rennet. The milk comes from cows that are fed forage from local meadows (never treated with pesticides). The salt is Mediterranean sea salt. And rennet is a natural enzyme that is used to jump-start the fermentation process.

The result of this fermentation process is a food that’s not only delicious but also good for you: gut-loving probiotics, zinc, iron, manganese, biotin, copper, & B6. The process also eliminates lactose which means that people with lactose intolerance can enjoy the cheese without negative effects.

It’s important to know you’re getting the real deal, so when purchasing Parmigiano Reggiano, look for the words “Parmigiano Reggiano” engraved in a dot pattern on the cheese rind. If you don’t see this pattern, it’s not the real deal!

You'll always find Parmigiano Reggiano in my fridge. We shave the cheese on salads daily, enjoy in chunks for snack, & add shavings to pizza--top with arugula after cooking, then cheese.

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