Low-Impact Gift Wrapping

Ok. Let’s talk Christmas. I love Christmas. Maybe a little too much. I don’t know. But how about Christmas waste? I don’t know about you, but when I think of the holidays, waste is not the first thing that comes to mind. Something like caroling and cookies sounds more like it, but you cannot deny that Americans create so much waste around the holidays. It is estimated that half of the annual paper used in the US is wrapping paper. Ouch. Also, American households create 25% more waste between Thanksgiving and the new year.

NO, I am not just trying to be a party pooper, so let’s come up with some solutions. In this post, we will tackle the problem of gift-giving waste. Let’s go over some alternatives to traditional wrapping paper.

Newsprint

This was always one of my grandma’s favorites and it’s a great way to use up old newspapers. One way to make this look more intentional is to make sure that you are using black and white print with no photos. This looks great with some ribbon (I find that saving ribbon from gifts can be a great way to do this).

Yes this is cardboard, but you get the point

Paper Bags

I love using old brown paper bags to wrap gifts. There is something magical about the simplicity of the brown and the options are endless when it comes to embellishing. I love to use rubber lettering stamps.

Boxes

This is one I learned from my grandmother (#2) and it is such a good idea that I use it almost every year. It’s great because you can use the boxes over and over again with different decorations!

Now, did you knw that most shoe boxes aren’t even held together with tape?!? This gives us a great opportunity to make these boxes gift-givable. (this method can work with other boxes such as the one I will demonstrate with, but shoe boxes are the most common).

For this you will need:

• 1 box with a flip top
• Decorations (ribbon, bows, stamps, etc…)

It is important to remember that this process will differ for every box, so we are just working with general steps now.

Any size box will do but I am using a small one for the purpose of this tutorial

Finding the slot

First, you want to identify the best place to start. Usually, there will be a slot somewhere along the bottom that is holding it together.

Dissecting…

Now you want to find that slot from the inside of the box and remove the cardboard that is held in place by it. If you can’t get this with your fingers, try a butter knife.

When you are done it should look something like this

Dissected!

Repeat this on both sides so that you end up with a flat piece of cardboard.

Turn your piece of cardboard over.

Putting it back together

Now we are going to start putting the box back together. You want to basicly reverse everything that you did before.

Now do this to both sides.

And that’s it! Decorate the box how you like and you have a completely reusable gift box! If you don’t like being able to see the old outside of the box on the inside you can line it with newsprint or tissue paper.

• 

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That’s all!

There are tons more options but these ae the three that I find myself using a lot. Wishing you a white Christmas!

-Sara + H

Curing Candida Part 1

The Candida Cure. If only it was that simple. One pill, one anything. But, no.

There is no ‘quick fix’ for candida overgrowth. It is also important to remember that Candida is a natural occurrence so it will never be ‘gone.’ Your goal is to get the candida back in check. Also, beware when you see recipes that tout their candida killing properties. The recipe may, in fact, help you kill the excess candida but there is no one thing that will get your body back to where it is supposed to be.

The Three Steps to Curing Candida

1. Starve the Candida
2. Overpower the Candida
3. Build up good bacteria

Now, we’re going to take a look at each one of these more closely, but for now, let’s look at step one; Starve the Candida.

How to Starve Candida

If you don’t know what Candida is you can read my post here. Ok, so our problem is basically that your naturally occurring Candida has taken over. The only way to fix this is to kill the excess Candida. The only way to do that is to starve it. Candida lives on sugar and carbs so to ‘cure’ candida you have to cut those out. Completely. This is where this diet may differ from others. If you go on the candida diet and then give yourself a ‘treat’ in the form of sugars and carbs there is no point in going on the diet in the first place. Even a tiny amount of sugar and carbs could feed the Candida, meaning it will take that much longer to die, and all of your work up to the point of cheating was a waste. ‘Tis strict. Very strict.

There are also a few other things you should know. 

• ‘Sugar’ includes natural sugar so fruit is a no. This includes tomatoes and peppers.
• ‘Carbs’ are defined as any grains (for the starving period) as well as carby vegetables such as potatoes. Starchy vegetables are also bad. This includes carrots and such.
• Uncultured Dairy should also be cut out of the diet. It can be extremely inflammatory and should be avoided. Excluded from this are Yogurt and Kiefer which contain good bacteria.
• Fungi are also a no. This is because you are trying to kill a fungus so eating fungus is bad (I’m a little confused on the reasoning behind this but trust me when I say these are out).
  
• And last but not least, nuts are out. This is a controversial one but I would say for stage one (the starving) you should cut out nuts altogether. Nuts often contain molds which you want to avoid at all costs. Some people say that avoiding high mold nuts such as peanuts and pistachios is enough, but since all nuts contain some amount of mold, I would say that you should just cut them out altogether.

At this point, it seems that it would be easier to tell you what you can eat rather than what you can’t and I do just that in this post. Now keep in mind that the list is meant for the first stage of the diet. It is the strict list. Speaking of this I should probably cover the stages.

• Stage one. This is the strict part of the diet. It is the most important part. You also want to make sure that you do this for long enough that all of the Candida is dead. This portion should last no less than one month.
• Stage two. This is the reintroduction phase. You want to slowly start building things back into your diet that are beneficial for you but were not allowed in stage one. For most people, this would include nuts, carrots, beets, sweet potatoes, etc. While in this phase you want to make sure that you are introducing things one at a time. If you have a negative reaction you want to know what caused it. If you do have a reaction cutting that food back out of your diet is a good idea. You can always try again later. This stage can take anywhere from 1-4 months.
• Stage three. This is when you slowly try to reintroduce things such as fruit, whole grains, and other ‘forbidden’ items. Again, it is important that you do this slowly and pay attention to your body.

Whoo. That was a lot. At this point it is probobly tempting to say that dieing is a much simpler option and wonder “HOW THE HE** YOU CAN MAKE ANYTHING WITH THESE FOODS?!?!?” but I will soon be posting recipies and inspiration so you no longer have to whither up and die. We like you better alive.

Courage and thanks,

-Sarah

The Short List (Candida)

Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. At all. This is one person’s research and conclusions. That being said, I do have Candidiasis myself so most of my info has been self-tested

This is the short list of foods that can be eaten in phase one of the Candida diet.

Veggies:

Artichokes
Arugula
Asparagus
Avocados
Bok Choy
Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Celery
Chard
Collard Greens
Cucumbers
Dandelion Greens
Eggplant
Garlic
Green Beans
Green Sprouts
Jalapenos
Jicama
Kale
Leeks
Lettuce
Mustard Greens
Okra
Onion
Radish
Rutabaga
Rhubarb
Seaweed
Shallots
Spinach
Turnip
Turnip Greens
Watercress
Zucchini

Fruits:

Lemons
Limes
Almost all coconut products (including coconut milk, coconut flour, aminos, dried coconut, etc)
Olives (these are fine as long as they’re not in vinegar. Also be careful of the stuffing)

Sweeteners:

Stevia

Seeds:

Hemp Seeds
Chia Seeds
Pumpkin Seeds
Sunflower Seeds
Flax Seeds

Meat:

All meat* is ok on the Candida diet but make sure that you are limiting red meat. It can slow down digestion which is bad on the diet.

*This includes seafood.

Oils:

Avocado oil
Coconut oil
Olive oil
Sesame Seed oil
Ghee (clarified butter)
Coconut oil
Flax oil
Apple cider vinegar (no other vinegars). Yes, I know that this is not an oil…

Dairy:

Yogurt (unsweetened)
Kiefer (unsweetened). This is really only ok if it is homemade. Post on this coming soon!

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As a general rule, if it is not on the list it is a no, but feel free to ask me any questions!

-Sara + H

What Is Candida?

I had been struggling with health issues for several years before finally discovering the cause, Candida. (my particular candida has been christened Derrick. You can say Derrick with a lot of disdain).

So what is Candida?

The short answer: a fungal overgrowth.

The long answer: Candida (Candida Albicans) is a yeast that lives in the gut lining, and can also be found in many other places including the vagina, the mouth, and select areas of skin. Everyone has it and it is a perfectly natural occurrence. In a small amount. It is only when the yeast overgrows and takes over your good gut flora that you run into problems.

What causes Candida overgrowth (Candidiasis)?

Candida overgrowth can be caused by many things, but the most common include:

• Antibiotic or steroid use.
  • Frequent (or even occasional) use of antibiotics and steroids can kill off much of your good gut flora while leaving the loathed candida to take over the, now empty, playing field.
• Bad diet
  • A diet high in processed sugars and carbs can weaken your immune system and give the Candida lots of the things that make it *ahem* proliferate.
• High stress
  • Unusually high stress can cause your body to create more of a hormone called Cortisol which, in turn, causes a weakened immune system and the possibility of elevated blood sugar.

All of the above (or a combination) can cause candida to thrive and affect your overall health.

What does it does an overgrowth do?

Candida in large amounts can damage the gut lining, causing leaky gut and allowing the candida to enter the bloodstream and wreak its cruel havoc all over the body. Ummm… yuck.

So what are the symptoms?

Symptoms include, but are not limited to:

• Digestive issues
  • Candida can take over the gut and affect the natural balance of good vs bad bacteria. This makes digesting a much bigger challenge.
• Brain fog
  • One of the most common symptoms, brain fog, can feel like a constant sleepy fog obscuring your thoughts.
• Recurring vaginal yeast infections
  • Just because you’ve had a vaginal yeast infection doesn’t mean that you have Candidiasis, but if they are recurring it’s a good idea to pay attention for other symptoms.
• Oral thrush
  • Oral thrush is an overgrowth of Candida Albicans in the mouth. It is common in babies and elderly people lacking good immune systems. It appears as a white coating on the tongue and (in severe cases) the sides of the mouth.
• Fatigue
  • A heavy tiredness much like brain fog.
• External fungal infections
  • Such as eczema, extreme dry scalp, or nail fungus. This is the candida manifesting itself on your skin. Taking care of the candida problem internally generally takes care of these problems.

How do you treat it?

Well, now THAT is for another post.

 

-Sarah+H

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Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. At all. This is one girl’s research and conclusions. That being said, I have Candidiasis myself so…

When life gives you lemons…

A few weeks ago I found out that I have Candidiasis. I will go into more detail on what this is in a later post, but for now, suffice it to say that it involves a diet. A very, very strict diet. No carbs, no sugar, no yeast. That sort of thing.

It is so strict, in fact, that when I looked through the list of foods that can be eaten on the diet, there were only 4 words under the heading ‘fruit’; Avocados, Olives, Lemons, and Limes. Before this, I don’t think it ever even occurred to me that lemons and limes would go in the fruit category, much less, olives and avocados.

So here I am, eating my fruits and vegetables (although a significantly smaller variety). I miss my smoothies, and my yogurt topped with raspberries, and my clementines. I definitely miss my clementines.

But here’s the thing,  I do like all of the fruits that I’m allowed to eat. I’m spending so much time thinking about all of the things I miss and wallowing in self-pity that I have forgotten that I like lemons. I was, in fact, the child known to remove the lemon from my glass of water and chow down. I guess you could think of it as the appetizer… or something. And don’t even get me started on olives. I swear it was love at first taste.

It’s not that I won’t miss my fruits, but when life gives you lemons, make lemonade (without sugar, of course)

-Sara+H