I never measure when I’m making bean soup, and I often end up soaking way too many beans. Lately, I’ve started purposefully prepping too many so that I can freeze some soaked beans for later, thus cutting down my meal prep time by 24 hours. Last time, I threw all the fixings for that week’s soup into the bag with the pre-soaked beans and froze it all together. Now, when I’m in a rush (or forgot to soak the beans, which I sometimes do), I can just grab the frozen stuff out of the freezer, dump it in the crock pot, add boiling water, and be done.

As you can see, this is a really simple recipe. I let my kids choose a new heirloom bean to try from the bulk bins at Whole Foods (and since I never write the name down, I can’t remember what these are called), and I cook them up pretty similarly: a big spoonful of stock paste, a couple strips of bacon, two or three bay leaves. Sometimes an onion cut in half. Then I fill the crock pot up with water and set it on low for the day. When the beans are done, I add Worchestershire sauce or salt to taste, and that’s it.

Having a “bag of soup” in the freezer, ready to go at a moment’s notice is really convenient. And because I prepped one week’s meal with the future bag of soup, it didn’t take any extra effort on my part.

I discovered a new lunch time hack last week. When I cut the crusts off my kids’ ham sandwiches, I added some cheese (they’re dairy free, but I’m not!) wrapped them up in big crunchy leaves of Romaine lettuce, and sat down to the table right away with my very own “Crust Wraps.”

These delicious, inside-out “mini-sandwiches” are a perfect answer to wasted crust and extra calories. Don’t they look delicious?

The only reason we could walk away was because we have always lived below our means and made savings a priority.

This has been true from the time we were first married and were hovering around the poverty line, living in a stranger’s basement in Nebraska and standing in the weekly charity food line at our church. We couldn’t put away much, but we scrupulously stayed within, if not under, our budget; we never went into debt and we often were able to put a bit into our savings account.

As our income grew, we kept our budget much the same - putting the excess into savings and staying committed to living simply. Because of that savings cushion, a few years later we were able to sell our house and move debt-free, despite being thousands of dollars underwater on our home after the housing market crashed. It nearly wiped out our savings, but we didn’t go into debt or have to declare bankruptcy, like so many others did.

Once we moved, our priority was building up those savings again. After several more years of frugal living, we came to this fall’s crossroads of leaving the security of a consistent paycheck. Because our cushion was built back up again, we had the freedom to walk away when we needed to.

My friends, if you don’t have a little financial cushion in your bank account right now, it’s time to bite the bullet and take some steps to get there.

You might not have a ton of extra money floating around, but if you have any kind of income you do have the ability to be putting something away for a rainy day. You might have to trim other areas of your budget; it might not feel all that fun. But do you know what’s legitimately not fun? Living with a fog of crippling fear because there is nothing between you and complete financial ruin.

Make small, incremental sacrifices to your lifestyle now so you can avoid devastating life changes later on.

There are tons of budgeting resources out there; a simple google search is going to give you an overwhelming amount of information. Here are a couple of Laura-approved items to get you started:

The book, I Will Teach You To Be Rich, by Ramit Sethi, is a favorite of mine. His casual, 20-something approach is easy to read and entertaining and the content is solid. I love his scripts for negotiating down your credit card fees and auto insurance premiums, which I think you might be able to access on his blog.

A website that is rich with information is Get Rich Slowly.

We use Mint to keep track of our budgets. It is simple to use and pretty to look at.

Don’t get bogged down in the details, though. Finding the perfect plan or budgeting tool is not as important as just consistently putting money aside in a savings account reserved for emergencies only.

It doesn’t take any special technology or know-how to simply choose to not spend that money you could be saving. All it takes is will-power and discipline, and the foresight to know you will thank yourself down the road when you need to rest peacefully on that cushion when your circumstances take a turn.

It really is delicious - creamy, rich, sweet, and filling. It’s by no means a “Health Drink” but it certainly scratches the milkshake itch without being quite so devastating to your waistline!

Cinnamon Banana Date Smoothie

1 frozen banana
1/2 c plain yogurt (I used nice thick Greek yogurt; if you don’t, you might want to reduce your milk a bit)
1/2 c unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or whatever you have on hand)
4 dates, pitted
1.5 TB peanut butter
1-2 tsp cinnamon (I like lots)
splash of vanilla
3-4 ice cubes

Put it all in the blender and blend until smooth. Enjoy!

I am sure this recipe could be tweaked and “healthified” with the addition of wheat germ, chia seeds, flax seed, or whatever your heart desires. I might do that some day! But for now, I’m enjoying a smoothie that isn’t chocolate but just as satisfying to my treat-tooth.

Before I get into the review, let me say a little about agave nectar and sugary stuff in general.

Hey Laura, what about sugar?
Sugar is sugar is sugar is sugar. It is an empty carbohydrate that is not meant to be a quality food substance. Sugar should be a treat, a flourish, a small part of your well balanced diet. Just because a sugar is “all natural” or “organic” or “raw” or “low glycemic” doesn’t mean you should indulge in it any more than you would any other kind of sugar. Those labels don’t make it a health food!

That said, I think that life is only worth living if you are enjoying the living of it! Who cares if you can avoid death for an extra 4-5 years at the end, if you have had such a spartan, unpleasant lifestyle that has kept you from truly enjoying the life you’ve been given?!

For most people, a happy life means (among a lot of other very important, much more existential things I’m not going to go into here) including a moderate amount of sugar in your diet.

Are there certain types of sugar that are better than others? Yes. I believe so.

As a general rule, I try to avoid highly processed foods. I use evaporated cane juice instead of chemically-processed sugars; I buy local raw honey; I love dates as a sweetener for certain recipes. Agave nectar is probably the most processed sweetener I use, and I always buy the organic raw stuff that hasn’t been cooked to death or filtered with nasty chemicals.

Agave nectars are not created equally. The two brands that I trust are Wholesome Sweeteners and Madhava. Their farmers use organic methods and their manufacturers use gentle processing to extract the nectar from the plant. There have been cases in which other manufacturers have adulterated the agave nectar with high fructose corn syrup (this happens with honey, too!); this isn’t a very well regulated industry, so you have to choose manufacturers you can trust.

I really appreciate that Wholesome Sweeteners is Fair Trade Certified and has a “Fair Trade, Not Aid” mentality in their cooperative efforts with Mexican farmers. One of the best long-term ways to combat third world poverty is to fund industry rather than pour money only into rescue missions. It’s that whole “teach a man to fish” philosophy, and I am a huge supporter of it.

But I heard agave nectar is super bad for you - basically HFCS in disguise!
Oh, you are probably thinking about that article that Dr. Mercola got published in the Huffington Post.

I have found Dr. Mercola to be increasingly tiresome in his rants. For someone with the term “doctor” in front of his name - someone who ought to be dedicated to a more scientific approach, his attacks are vitriolic, inflammatory and often not even based in fact. His article about agave nectar seems to be the latter.

Here are some articles in defense of agave nectar, so you can make your own decision.

- A third-party, comprehensive look at the facts and fictions regarding agave nectar.

- Madhava’s rebuttal to Dr. Mercola’s article.

- Wholesome Sweeteners’ rebuttal to Dr. Mercola’s article.

You know that HLW is all about helping you be informed. I can’t make the decision for you to use agave nectar or not; you get to decide what you are going to feed your body. Personally, I have no issues with using agave nectar in moderation - just like any of the other sugary sweet stuff I include in my enjoyable life!

Finally, the review!
In addition to the familiar Organic Blue Agave Nectar and Organic Raw Blue Agave Nectar, I also got a bunch of little packets of Wholesome Sweeteners’ flavored agave nectars. Naturally flavored with cinnamon, maple, strawberry, and vanilla, these single-serving packets are a fun new way to enjoy agave nectar.

My favorite was the cinnamon - the flavoring is real and doesn’t leave a weird aftertaste like artificial cinnamon flavors. Plus, the spice of the cinnamon cuts the sweetness of the agave nectar a bit. I absolutely love it over some plain yogurt. I would definitely purchase this for myself as a special treat.

My kids’ favorite was the strawberry, for the opposite reason - it was super duper sweet! I did not care for it, but they thought it was great on their pancakes. It certainly tastes better than artificial strawberry syrup, and is sweet enough that it would be a great alternative if you are trying to wean your kids off the HFCS “fake” syrups out there. Plus, a little goes a long way (agave nectar is about twice as sweet as table sugar). The 2 tsp packet was plenty to sweeten an entire 5 inch diameter pancake slathered with peanut butter.

The maple flavored agave nectar was just okay. I simply prefer real maple syrup (grade B - the darker the better!). However, if you need or want a lower glycemic alternative to maple syrup, this would be a nice treat. (The only trouble I foresee is that since it’s extra sweet, the smaller volume of nectar you need on a pancake leaves it drier than if you were to drown it in maple syrup.)

The vanilla might be really nice in tea if you like a little extra flavoring. But I didn’t think that the vanilla added that much extra “wow” to the already lovely burnt caramel undertones of plain agave nectar.

I prefer the organic raw agave nectar - it is processed at a more gentle temperature, leaving more of the plant’s good enzymes intact. Taste-wise, the “plain” regular and raw agave nectars are not that different. I sometimes use plain agave nectar in place of honey, when the viscosity of honey is going to make stirring difficult. Tea is a good example - the agave nectar dissolves immediately, whereas honey usually settles at the bottom, even after a good stir. I also use agave for certain recipes - if you sub it for granulated sugar, you need to use less (remember, it’s sweeter than sugar!) and reduce the overall liquid amount.

While I wouldn’t replace all the sweeteners in my house with agave nectar, Wholesome Sweeteners’ products are a nice solution for certain situations. Just the other day, I tried using it in place of the honey called for in The Best Peanut Sauce Ever, and it tasted great! I’ll probably do that from now on, since the super-quality honey I buy is way spendier than agave nectar!

The Giveaway!
I have some sample packets of agave nectar to send out to my loyal readers, plus information brochures and coupons! As long as supplies last, I’ll mail samples to whoever is interested, first come, first served. Just email me your address and I’ll send you the loot!

(As always, the postage comes out of my own pocket. If you want to offset my costs, feel free to shop through my Amazon link, which earns me a teensy kickback over time.)

My 6 year old kicked it off with a crazy, croup-like cough that kept us both up basically all night the first night. Honestly, nothing I tried worked for her that night (and believe me, I subjected her to all kinds of crazy stuff!). Cold air from the open window alternating with the warm moist air from a bowl of steaming water helped keep the cough at bay for about 10 minutes at a time. But that was it. It was a long, long night.

The next day, I called my naturopath who said, “Yup, it’s a nasty cough that has lingered for a lot of my patients. Keep doing what you’re doing!” Not the panacea I was hoping to get from her, but comforting words nonetheless!

I made sure everyone had their immunity boosting remedies. That meant Terrible Tea for my husband (I just desperately swallowed raw garlic cloves whole); a spoonful of raw honey with Cod Liver Oil for my nearly-3 year old (I simply swallow the capsules); and the kids’ regular Emergen-C, grapefruit seed extract, vitamin D3 drops cocktail (to which I added Echinacea & Goldenseal as a special short-term boost).

My 6 year old really likes the Zand’s Elderberry + Zinc “Herbalozenges” - they are part cough drop, part supplement, and really help soothe a tired throat without pouring refined sugar into it.

The remedies that worked for us this week are as follows:
- Drosera Rotundifolia - a homeopathic by Boiron indicated for “spasmodic dry cough worsened at night and by heat.”
- Similasan Kids Cough Relief Syrup - another homeopathic that totally killed her nighttime cough on night two (I didn’t have it on the first night!). This is a new one for me and I’m really impressed.
- Traditional Medicinals Herba Tussin Herbal Tea - she’s picky about tastes, and not even a couple tablespoons of raw honey made this palatable for her enough to drink more than a small concentrated dose, but even that much really seemed to help.
- Young Living’s R.C. Essential Oil Blend - I diffused this at first, which didn’t seem to have any effect whatsoever. But when I applied it (cut with a drop or two of jojoba oil) directly to her throat and chest and soles of her feet, it was quite effective. Last night, when my sinus congestion was untouched by neti pot, hot shower steam, and copious amounts of nose blowing, the R.C. oil cleared out my sinuses in about 10 minutes. Amazing stuff!
- Hyland’s Hepar Sulph. Calc. - I stopped my sneezing cold with this homeopathic remedy. Sadly, it was the only dose left from my Hyland’s Kids’ Kit. Luckily, I can buy replacements for anything in that amazing little kit!
- Hylands Homeopathic, Cold ‘n Cough 4 Kids - since I’m pregnant and have limited options as to drugs I can use (not that I go that route too often), I’ve been using this little product to combat the ridiculous head cold symptoms I’m suffering from. The sneezing is almost constant, even with frequent breaks for emptying my sinuses with the neti pot. While it doesn’t quite take away all of my congestion, the sneezing and sinus pressure is gone. I really appreciate that it doesn’t have a fake “kid-friendly” flavor like cherry or bubblegum. It’s just mildly sweet.
- Gargling with 3% concentration Hydrogen Peroxide - totally killed my sore throat. I was amazed! I’ve always done the warm salt water gargle, which works much more gradually. I’ll probably never return to that method as long as I have that brown bottle in my cupboard!
- Propolis Spray - also really effective for a sore throat. Propolis is the resin that bees collect to protect their hives; it’s a powerful natural antibiotic and antimicrobial substance. This spray tastes horrible. It stings like crazy on contact. But after the initial gag reflex is over, you’ll notice your throat has been majorly soothed.
- Zoe Organics’ Breathe Balm - I was fortunate enough to receive a sample of this new ZO product so I could give Heather feedback on it, and it couldn’t have arrived at a better time. I really got to put it to work. You are going to love it! The package design allows for easy middle-of-the-night application, and the essential oils do a wonderfully soothing work for coughs and sore throats.
- Boiron’s Coldcalm - I currently have my husband (who is usually the last one to succumb to whatever is raging through our family) on this homeopathic remedy. It’s a gentle way to soften the symptoms of a cold without resorting to heavier-handed OTC drugs that knock you out completely.
- Gypsy Cold Care Tea - in between his daily cups of coffee, I’ll be encouraging him to drink this great-tasting, symptom soothing tea. My Naturopath cleared it for me to drink during pregnancy, so I have been having a cup or so a day, too.

There you have it, a comprehensive shopping list of all the remedies that worked for my family this week. I use Amazon links mainly so you can see what I’m talking about, but feel free to purchase through my links knowing that I get a teensy little kickback as an Amazon Affiliate! :)

Oh, and lest you forget: I’m not a doctor. I’m not prescribing any of this stuff. I don’t know what is wrong with you or your kid - if you have any questions or concerns about your family’s health, you really should be talking to your doctor or naturopath about it! :)

Most of the time, the results weren’t that bad. Sometimes they were great, and only very rarely I’d have to throw a whole batch away and start over.

But there was no consistency, because I never found anything that was really worth making again. Even if they were good at breakfast, the pancakes didn’t keep well. They were also never fluffy “diner style” pancakes. Not always a lead brick, but usually a very solid slab.

All that to say, you can imagine my family’s relief and rejoicing when I stumbled upon a recipe for “Eggless Pancakes (easy, soft and fluffy)” from a food blog called Rak’s Kitchen.

Even I was rhapsodizing about these pancakes. They are amazing! Furthermore, they stay soft and fluffy even after you store them on the counter for the day’s snacks - or even freeze them and reheat them in the toaster!

After making the recipe exactly as Rak wrote it, I modified it for my family’s dietary preferences. I substituted white whole wheat flour, eliminated the sugar, and used water for half of the milk. The pancakes are still perfect.

Here’s my recipe for…

Perfect Pancakes

(makes between 9-12 medium sized pancakes)
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
2 Tbs baking soda
1 cup water *
1 cup milk (we use unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
1 Tbs oil **

* You may need a bit more for the whole wheat flour; add extra liquid if the batter is more like pudding than thick soup.
** I once melted some coconut oil in the microwave and forgot about it. It never went into the batter and they turned out fine just the same; however, I see nothing wrong with a little oil, and they are certainly better with it!

Start by putting a large cast iron skillet to heat on low for 5 minutes.

Whisk everything together and let it sit for 10 minutes. This is important! It’s what makes your pancakes fluffy - all that baking soda needs some time to create a sponge batter.

When you set your batter aside to rest, turn off the stove.

After 10 minutes are up, heat the skillet on medium, spray or wipe the pan with a little oil, and pour (or spoon) batter onto your skillet. (This heating-up rigamarole will help your pan heat evenly, creating a uniformly cooked pancake.)

As with any pancake, you know it’s time to flip when the edges start to look a little dry and the majority of the bubbles on top have popped. Flip ‘em and only let them cook for another minute, at most.

Serve with peanut butter, maple syrup, and an over easy egg on top. Mmmmm. My family thinks that’s gross, but it is my favorite way to enjoy pancakes!

We also like to add a little cornstarch to our frozen berries as we heat them up on the stove. The cornstarch thickens the juice and makes it more like “berry syrup” - which is what I’ve conned my kids into thinking it is.

(In case you’re wondering, this recipe works pretty well in the waffle iron, too, although the fluffy aspect is lost. The resulting waffles are passable, but pedestrian. Nothing like the delight of pancake form.)

In several more words: Why not? It probably can’t hurt, and it might really help you!

I am a huge, huge proponent of postpartum placentophagy, based on my own experience with it after my second birth.

The proposed benefits of placentophagy that are most often listed are:
- accelerated milk production
- faster healing
- reduced hormonal mood swings
- increased energy
- reduced postpartum bleeding
- preventative for baby blues and PPD

This is going to be a link-free post, because there’s no substantial scientific research on human placentophagy. However, the anecdotal evidence is overwhelmingly positive. Yes, you’ll find sensationalized anti-placenta articles here and there (aiming more to gross you out than to inform), but if you Google around and search discussion forums, you’ll read a lot of positive experiences.

My positive experience with placentophagy
I had severe (and undiagnosed) PPD and PTSD after my first child was born. The depression set in even before she was even delivered; I saw the darkness closing in on me and felt like I should just give up and die already - it was all I could do to even push her out. After she was born, she screamed almost nonstop for about 4 months due to undiagnosed multiple food protein sensitivities. Suffice it to say, even after 6 years, I still have to steel myself against a mental breakdown when I hear that kind of uncontrollable crying from a baby!

So, when I was pregnant with #2, I started researching postpartum depression and natural ways to combat it. I was willing to go the prescription drug route if necessary, but I wanted to know if there was anything else available; I knew I’d be breastfeeding and I’m not a fan of heavy duty drugs passing into my baby’s system (let alone my own!).

That’s when I stumbled upon the concept of eating one’s placenta. I was impressed with the body of anecdotal evidence I found - it was consistent and not overblown. Most of it was from women just like me: second-time moms who had suffered with depression their first time around, looking for a non-pharmaceutical preventative to their postpartum trauma.

I figured: It can’t hurt. And if it doesn’t work for me, I can try something different. But I’ve at least got to give it a try.

I informed my parents that I was putting them in charge of my placenta encapsulation after my second baby was born. Since my dad’s a biologist and my mom’s a nurse, they weren’t too squeamish about it! (Besides, they were hippie parents and planted trees over my and my brother’s placentas!)

My mom researched the various methods for preparing a placenta for consumption, and chose the Traditional Chinese Medicine approach that steams the placenta with ginger, dehydrates, and encapsulates it.

I gave birth in a free standing birth center, so it was no trick to get my placenta into my parents’ possession (it can be, with hospital regulations). The afternoon after I gave birth, they took my placenta home with them to prepare it, while I took my baby home. Less than 18 hours after giving birth, I was taking my first placenta capsule.

My milk was fully in and gushing within 8 hours of that first dose. My midwife was amazed!

The most significant thing I noticed was the mood regulation. If you’ve given birth before, you may remember the postpartum crashes on days 3 and 10. They were super gnarly for me the first time around. With my placentophagy postpartum, I breezed right through. I had to increase my dosage on those days, though! I could feel my emotions taking a nosedive, and within 20 minutes of taking a couple capsules, I could feel myself normalizing again.

I never even had the “baby blues,” let alone the full fledged depression of the first postpartum period.

Was it a placebo effect?
Who the heck cares?! It worked for me; it’s worked for many other women; it might work for you as well. It costs around $150-200 to have someone encapsulate your placenta (it’s really not something you want to be bothering with right after birth, and requires some slightly specialized equipment; if you can afford it, hire the work out!).

For such a small investment, isn’t it worth a try?

I’m not posting right now because there is this weird legal issue with some spammer threatening a ridiculous lawsuit for something *they* maliciously did to *my* site. I’m not sure about the details (because my wonderful husband is taking care of it for me) but it’s stupid and annoying and makes me want to hide.

But I did want to come out of hiding and share this awesome coupon code with you!

Get $5 off your next Angelina Organic Skincare purchase! (Click the link: works online and in-store.)

The fine print is that if you use that link, I will accrue some store credit myself (whee!), and I bet when you make a purchase, you’ll get your own code to share with friends on Facebook and by email to continue the cycle of savings. : )

This summer I’ve been slathering the Skin Doctor on my feet every night, to keep my heels from cracking. It works wonders!

I’m also really loving the Calendula Hibiscus Hydrosol as a gentle cleanser and refresher before my face’s nightly dose of Radiance Serum. The latter is spendy, but a tiny squirt goes a long way, and I believe in investing in your skin’s natural beauty rather than buying makeup with which to cover it up! : )

This is for anyone who needs the courage to speak up about what they’re going through and ask for the help that they need to make it through.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

HELP WILL ALWAYS COME.

YOU ARE PRECIOUS. YOU ARE LOVED. YOU ARE WORTH A RESCUE.

There are a million different flavors of struggles the human race goes through, but it seems as if Depression always seems to tag along - a bonus affliction, if you will.

Depression is an opportunistic parasite, latching onto our hearts and sucking us dry of the will to fight; to get up in the morning; to breathe.

The most insidious evil of Depression is that it isolates us.

Not only does it isolate us from our true Self, it whispers lies in our sleep: telling us we are alone, that no one could ever understand the depths to which we’ve fallen. And even if they could, Depression sneers, no one’s arms are long enough (or willing enough) to reach out to help.

But these are lies!

There is nothing unique about misery in the human condition. We are capable of the highest highs and the lowest lows - the beauty and the curse of who we are.

Your circumstances may be unique, but your suffering is not.

There is someone out there who has gone through something similar and come out the other side. Find them, ask for their stories; ask how they survived.

Ask for help. Help will come to you. Always.

Summon your courage and speak your needs. Until your need is known, it will be assumed that you are okay…when you are not okay!

It’s okay to not be okay.

It’s pretty normal to not be okay, actually - you just don’t realize it because everyone has been taught to hide their hearts.

There is a huge difference in hiding your heart and guarding your heart.

Always guard your heart - guard it so that you can live from it, not walk away from it. But do not stuff it down or disassociate from it.

Your heart is the wellspring of life - the very thing you are dying for right now.

Ask for help. You are not alone. Help will come

(If you can’t find your voice yet, you can always, always email me. I love to help; it’s why I started this blog, for goodness sakes!)