Friday, April 12, 2013

Live Well Tip Number 1: Make Your Own Natural Body Wash

Living a better life means different things to different people. To me it means feeling good about what I do, what I say, how I act, and the way I treat the world. I've made small changes in my life that are really starting to add up and they each make me feel a little better about how I'm living. 


I believe that taking small steps is the way to go for me and to prove it, I'll be putting together a list of tips that I've implemented so far. 

Living Well Tip Number 1

Make Your Own Eco-Friendly Body Wash



This is one of the first things I did to make my home more eco-friendly. When I get out of the shower now, I can feel good knowing that I haven't added any more chemicals into my body or into the environment that don't belong there.


  1. Find an old body wash container and rinse it out (not as easy as it sounds but you should only have to do it once)
  2. Mix Equal Parts of your favorite Dr. Bronner's Liquid Castille Soap and Water

If you look around the web you'll find many variations of this recipe using various essential oils and other ingredients. I've found that its best for me to keep things simple. This works. You can't get any simpler than that.




This post contains affiliate links! If you purchase a product through one of these links I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting My Journey to Living Well!

Thursday, April 11, 2013

The Carrie Diaries Season Wrap Up with ModCloth


Carrie Bradshaw cannot get enough of the great styles at ModCloth! During the season finale of The Carrie Diaries, Carrie not only wears one but three different pieces from the site. 

The first piece she wears is the Tilt-A-Twirl Dress from ModCloth. Crafted in a classic silhouette, this darling dress features cap sleeves, a full skirt, and a vibrant pattern of black, cream, blue, red, yellow, and green. 

Carrie Bradshaw wearing the Tilt-A-Twirl Dress
Tilt-A-Twirl Dress From Modcloth
Product details




Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Win a $100 Walmart Gift Card

Welcome to the "Spring Cleaning" giveaway event sponsored by Tip Hero, featuring some fabulous bloggers and the opportunity to win a prize that's sure to help you with your spring cleaning efforts!

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Win Plant Therapy's Top 6 Synergy Essential Oil Sampler Set

Welcome to the Honor the Earth Giveaway Hop, hosted by Happy Mothering and Brittleby's Corner. Members of the Green Moms Network are excited to bring you great prizes to celebrate Earth Day, all valued at $25+ . After entering this giveaway, be sure to visit the other blogs listed under the Rafflecopter form to enter more great Honor the Earth giveaways. Good luck!


Honor the Earth Giveaway

My Journey to Living Well is pleased to include Plant Therapy in this year's Honor The Earth Giveaway Hop. You can enter to win  Plant Therapy's Top 6 Synergy Sampler Set which includes Includes Essential Oil Blends of Sensual (Aphrodisiac), Energy (Physical Energy), Germ Fighter (Like Thieves), Relax (Physical Relaxation), Immune-aid (Immune System Booster) and Tranquil (Emotional Stress Relief) 10 ml each. ARV $32.95.

Click here for my review and some spring cleaning recipes using Plant Therapy's Essential Oils.

If you can't wait to try Plant Therapy's Essential Oils then head over to their page and use code myjourney10 to get 10% off your purchase of $25 or more. (One code per customer, not valid for gift certificates)

Monday, April 8, 2013

Win a Flirty Apron! Don't You Look Marvelous Blog Hop!

Don't You Look Marvelous Hop

Welcome to the Don't You Look Marvelous Blog Hop

This event is hosted by The Review Wire. Each blog participating has a prize that is at least $25 and related to products that make you feel beautiful. Make sure to stop by The Review Wire, they are sponsoring The Grand Prize! Two winners will each receive the COOLA ER+ Line a Retail Value of $148! After you enter my giveaway, stop by the other blogs to see the other Marvelous Giveaways!

Here at My Journey to Living Well you can enter to win your own Flirty Apron! Just because you still have dinner to cook doesn't mean you shouldn't look marvelous in the process!

www.FlirtyAprons.com

Enter to Win Your Child's Dream Craft Room from Kiwi Crate and Pottery Barn Kids (valued at $750!)

                   Just fill in your name and email address! Ends April 14, 2013 at midnight.


Enter to win everything in the Kiwi Crate Arts & Crafts Shop plus a brand new craft table from Pottery Barn Kids. Total prize valued at $750!

Enter to win $750 in prizes from Pottery Barn Kids + Kiwi Crate! ››

That's right! I said everything!
One Grand Prize Winner will receive:
Pottery Barn Kids Craft Table (valued at $260)
One of everything in Kiwi Crate's new DIY Material shop (valued at more than $500)



Just fill in your name and email address! Ends April 14, 2013 at midnight.

Not Your Grandmother's Apron! - A Review

When I think of aprons, it always brings to mind memories of my great grandmother cooking in the kitchen. I love those memories and I've been wanting an apron of my own but never really cared for those styles. Don't get me wrong, I love my grandmother, but her style was slightly outdated. Imagine my surprise when an opportunity to review a Flirty Apron practically jumped out of the screen at me. I was thrilled! These are definitely not my great grandmother's aprons!



Spring Cleaning Naturally with Plant Therapy Essential Oils

I understand that some parts of the country are still having snow right now, but here in Tennessee my thermometer has topped 80 degrees for the past 2 days! I'm ready to get some fresh air going in here and get my spring cleaning going. 

In the past spring cleaning has meant the smell of Pine Sol and/or bleach but I'm going all natural this year courtesy of Plant Therapy's Essential Oils

Plant Therapy Logo

I received some great oils to get me going on some homemade cleaners.


My Journey to Living Well Plant Therapy Essential Oil Review Homemade Cleaners

Tea Tree Essential Oil is best known for its antimicrobial activities. It contains the compound Terpinen-4-ol which is thought to be the responsible for fighting all three categories of infectious organisms (bacteria, fungi, and viruses)
Peppermint Japanese Essential Oil has long been credited as being useful in combating stomach ailments. It is also viewed as an antispasmodic and antimicrobial agent.
Lemon Essential Oil has been historically recognized as a cleanser. It is reputed as being antiseptic, and as having refreshing and cooling properties. 
Diffuse Eucalyptus Globulus essential oil into the air to help with frequent sneezing, flu, respiratory problems, headaches and improving concentration. Also can be used as an insect repellant.

Fagor America Halogen Tabletop Oven Giveaway! Ends 4/16

Warning! This review and giveaway will make you HUNGRY!
Thanks to April over at Down South Savings for this great giveaway, good luck everyone!

Thanks to Fagor America for allowing me to review their Halogen Tabletop Oven free of charge for review on my blog.




I received my Halogen Tabletop Oven this morning via UPS and I already had a whole chicken waiting for the oven to arrive! Lucky for me the oven came with a recipe guide inside the user manual and there was a recipe there for Savory Roasted Chicken and I had all of the ingredients on hand so I gave it a shot. I will share the recipe at the end of the post but to get started I'll tell you a little more about the product.

The Halogen Tabletop Oven has a 12 qt. capacity, cooks up to 50% faster and is up to 75% more energy efficient than a conventional oven. The powerful halogen heating and convection system circulates heated air evenly around oven. It has an easy-to-clean glass body with two stackable cooking racks (Racks may be used independently or simultaneously), simple to use dial for timer and temperature settings.


Included Accessories: 

•Two cooking racks; Upper & Lower.

•Tongs for lifting racks and foods from the oven.

•Stainless steel extender ring (adds an extra 5qt. capacity)

•Non-stick pan

This highly efficient and portable convection oven does the work of many appliances in one. A powerful internal fan circulates hot air to cook food uniformly and seal in natural juices for full flavor and aroma. I personally like the tabletop oven because it doesn't heat my home up like my conventional oven. I can still cook all of my favorite meals in the hot summer heat and enjoy the comfortable coolness of my home! The recipe possibilities are endless because this oven grills, bakes, broils, steams, and roasts! You can do anything from bake a cake to roast a chicken! 


The recipe I used was the Savory Roasted Chicken 


Serves: 4 
Cooking Time: 1 Hr 5 min.


INGREDIENTS
1 whole chicken (about 4 pounds)
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons seasoned salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
2 whole lemons that have been poked all over with a fork


DIRECTIONS
Rinse the chicken inside and out under cold water, pat dry using a paper towel.
In a small bowl, mix the lemon juice with oil and melted butter until blended, then rub all over the chicken and under the skin of the chicken breast.
Rub the inside and outside of the chicken with seasoned salt, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper and cayenne (you can season the chicken under the skin also if desired). Place the lemons inside the cavity. Using cotton string, tie the legs together tightly.
Place chicken on low rack in oven, breast side down. Bake for 35 minutes at 400°F. Turn chicken over so breast side is up. Top oven with extender ring and bake an additional 30 minutes or until the temperature of an instant read thermometer registers 165°F when inserted into the thickest part of a thigh.

Cover with foil and let sit for 15 minutes before slicing.

The end result.... Delicious


Click Here! for more online delicious recipes

Fagor America has generously agreed to give one lucky reader the chance to own their very own Halogen Tabletop Oven (ARV $80.00) Enter to win on the Rafflecopter form below Good Luck!

Giveaway Ends 4/16/13 @ 12:00 am EST Open to US residents 18+, Void Where Prohibited
a Rafflecopter giveaway




I received no compensation for this post. 
All opinions expressed are solely from Down South Savings and were not and will not be influenced by any form of compensation. My Journey to Living Well is NOT responsible for sponsor prize fulfillment. 
I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” 
Please see the Disclosure Policy for complete details.