Making Healthy Living Easier- Salad In a Jar

When starting a journey of healthy living the first complaint is always that its inconvenient.  Well at least that WAS my complaint, but I have decided to finds ways to make living a healthier life more convient for me and my family to make it easier for us to maintaing this lifestyle. All it takes is a little bit of creative thinking and planning.  While putting salad into a Mason jar is not a new idea (check out Pinterest) it is definitely new to me and my family.

So I went on an adventure to my local grocery store and bought quart sized Mason jars. A pack of 12 was less than $10 dollars, I am a very frugal person and even I think that's a great deal.  After purchasing the jars  I set down to craft a plan and after a few minutes online I came across this one site in particular named TheKitchn.com that made it super easy to understand the proper way to layer your salad. So I enlisted the hubby and we commenced to chopping and layering. 

First thing in is your choice of dressing we used a Vinaigrette. Next pile in your "hardy" vegetables  they will act as a barrier between  your dressing and  any other ingredients you don't want to get soggy in our case our hardy vegetables were cucumbers, carrots and cabbage.  Now you pile in the "fun stuff" tomatoes, chickpeas, onions, almonds, cranberries or strawberries, eggs  and low fat cheese made up this section for us. And last but not least comes the Mixed Springs and Spinach you want to save this for last to keep it as far away from the dressing as possible to avoid having a soggy salad. Seal with the lid and you have a meal thats ready to go and stays fresh in the refrigerator for 4-6 days.

In the end we prepared six ready to go salads to be used as our lunch for the remainder of the week. If you layer your salad loose enough you could simply shake it up to mix all the ingredients together and eat it right out the jar.As you can see ours is pretty tightly packed so we will use a separate bowl to pour the contents in to enjoy our flavorful masterpiece. 

Once the boys saw what we prepared they were disappointed to find out that these colorful meals did not belong to them. Note to self buy pint size jars  for the kiddies on the next run to the grocery store!

What are some of your tips for making healthy living easier?

World of Coca Cola- Mother's Day Giveaway!

Photo Courtesy of Coca Cola

At the World of Coca-Cola you can experience the history of the world's most famous soft drink at the dynamic, multimedia home of the 125-year-old secret formula for Coca-Cola. Get closer than ever before to the vault containing the secret recipe, and see the fully-functioning bottling line that produces a commemorative glass bottle of Coca-Cola for every guest. View more than 1,200 never-before-displayed artifacts, take a trip around the world in a thrilling 4-D movie experience and tempt your taste buds with more than 60 beverages from around the globe.

Everyone has there go to places for taking their out of town guest, mines is most certainly World of Coca- Cola mostly because it gives me the excuse to experience it all over again! World of Coca- Cola is definitely a place that can bring moments of happiness to the young and old alike. In honor of  Mother's Day I would love for you to share a moment of happiness that you've had with your own mother. 

Photo Courtesy of World of Coca Cola

I'll go first! One moment that stays at the forefront of my mind was May 27th 2009. This was the day that my oldest son was born. Both the baby and I was pretty groggy after being in labor (induced) for nearly 72hrs, but I recall looking over as my mother held my son as she rocked in the rocking chair and a smile creeped over my face and than my mother said "My baby had a baby". In that moment I felt like a Girl Scott who had just been given the highest badge of honor from their troop leader, I was officially a mom and who better to deem me so than my own mother.

Enter to win! Share a moment of happiness you shared with your own mother and you could win four (4) tickets to World of Coca-Cola, assuming two adult and two youth tickets, the total ticket value would be $56! 

Make sure to Like and Follow the World of Coca Cola on Facebook and Twitter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Disclaimer: The tickets were provided by the World of Coca-Cola no compensation was received. All opinions are 100% my own. 

Best Dessert Atlanta 2013

I had the greatest time at  Best Desserts Atlanta 2013. The hubby and I were able to enjoy fine desserts from some of Atlanta's primer restaurants including Seed Kitchen and Bar, Rathbun's and 4th & Swift. There was a distinguished panel of judges Dolvett Quince a Trainer from the Biggest Loser,  Joshua Russell from the Food Network Challenge and Michelle Rickett the president of She Is Safe (SIS), an international nonprofit that frees and empowers women and girls from abuse and exploitation in 8 high risk countries, just to name a few.There was also a silent auction with a wide selection of items and experiences to choose from. All this excitement was housed inside the beautiful showroom of Hennessy Porsche North Atlanta. 

As impressive as the desserts, judges, auction and locale was and is sure to be next year, the star of the event was without a doubt  Faith Hope Adoption. Faith, Hope, Adoption (FHA) is a 501c3 non-profit organization that exists to help prospective adoptive parents successfully navigate the often-complex adoption process. The Best Dessert Event is held to support and raise funds for Adoption Discovery which is the mission program of Faith Hope Adoption. Their goal is to reduce the numbers of orphans one child at a time, they do so by helping those who have already decided to adopt navigate from beginning to end of the sometime complex adoption process.

Hubby, Dolvett & I

Michelle of She is Safe & I

Joshua Russell of The Food Network & I

Members of my very own family have had the joy of expanding our family through adoption. While the end results makes the journey worth while it was certainly an experience that could have been less stressful and more efficiently executed had my family been aware of and had access to Faith Hope Adoption. So if you or someone you know are considering adoption definitely seek out assistance to help you/them navigate the process. 

If you would like to support FHA you can find out more about volunteering and donating here. 

Disclaimer: I received complimentary tickets to the event, but as always my opinions are 100% my own. 

FYSIKO LASHES

Every time I look into the sweet faces of my adorable sons and handsome husband I am reminded of one thing I always longed for LONG LASHES. How in the world did all the men in my life end up with these long and thick lashes that I could only dream to have. For so long I wanted to try an Eyelash Growth Serum, but couldn't convince the hubby that it was a warranted purchase. Fortunately for me I have been given a complimentary bottle of  Fysiko, a growth serum that can be used on both the upper, lower lashes and your eyebrows. I will be using the product and sharing my results with you here on my blog.

Before I tried the product here are a few questions I wanted answered:


Q. Can I use FYSIKO with extension?
A. Yes! You Can!

Q. How is it different from LATISSE?
A. Fysiko is made with natural ingredients, doesn't need prescription and it is cheaper.

Q. Is FYSIKO safe for contact lenses?
A. Yes, put contact lenses on 10 min. after applying FYSIKO.

Q. How long until I see results?
A. First results may be seen in 4-6 weeks, depends on the person, full results of FYSIKO will be seen in 16 weeks.

Day 1 

For the past two weeks I have been applying Fysiko on my upper and lower lashes nightly, and have had no ill side effects to date. Make sure to check back here for an update on my progress. I am on my way to longer and fuller Eyelashes!!!

National Boys & Girls Club Week

We had a delightful experience of spending an afternoon at Brookhaven Boys & Girls Club in Atlanta GA. We were able to see what its younger members experience on a day to day basis. My boys were thrilled to take part in the art classes and really enjoyed playing a game of pool tailored to their height in the Game Room.  My oldest son particularly enjoyed his tutoring session from one of the teenage members who volunteers to assist the younger kids in the Learning Center. We finished our tour in the garden that was built and maintained by the students of the Boys & Girls Club, very inspiring.

Our day at the Boys & Girls Club really open my eyes to how awesome this program is. The mission statements says it best. To save and change the lives of children and teens, especially those who need us most, to provide a safe, positive engaging envirement and programs that prepare and inspire them to achieve Great Futures. The Boys & Girls Club is for those families who want to provide their children with a positive place to go, care and guidance from professional staffs and impacted-driven programming.

There are so many graduates of the Boys & Girls Club who have gone on to do great things. Including but not limited to Kerry Washington, Denzel Washington, Shaquille O' Neal and host of others you can find online at GreatFutures.org/Alumni. The Boys & Girls Club are all about giving  a young person a start at a great future and while the names before mentioned we can identify with because of their famous status there are also CEOs, attorneys, doctors, small business owners, stay at home moms etc who also attribute their success in some part to the Boys & Girls Club of America.

The program focus on three core areas a childs academic success, healthy lifestyle along with character and leadership development. Which all makes for an excellent formula for creating a successful individual in the future.

• Club members graduate from high school at a rate of 87% compared to the national average of 66%.
• Club members finish college at a rate of 25% compared to the national average of 16%.
• Club membership show an average improvement of 12% in their grades.
• More than 57 % of national Club alumni surveyed said the Club "saved their life." 

If you want to learn more about the Boys and Girls Club now is the perfect time national Boys and Girls Club week Open the Door Take The Tour begins April 7-13, 2013. Local communities are encouraged to visit a local Club and see the magic happening behind their blue doors or, take the virtual Club tour here.

Clubs across the country have planned fun daily activities for club members, their parents, and the entire neighborhood to enjoy. These  events include teen forums, carnivals, health fairs and so much more. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta (BGCMA) is launching the “75 Blue Doors” Project to celebrate its 75th anniversary and show how local Clubs are “opening doors” for youth in and around Atlanta. For more information on this initiative please click here.

If you don't have a child between the ages of 6-18, but are interested in learning more and helping out this deserving organization Boys & Girls Club of America is always seeking out volunteers as well as donations and partnerships. If you want to be a part of creating a great future click here.

I wrote this review while participating in a campaign for Mom Central Consulting on behalf of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. I attended an information session and received a gift bag and promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

hCG1234 Drops Update and Giveaway!

As you may have read in my initial post about the 90 Day Challenge with Creative Bioscience, I have been using their product hCG 1234 in an effort to lose weight and things have been going pretty well. At my last update I had lost 22.4 lbs, since than I lost an additional 5lbs and have been working hard to maintain the lose while I go through phase three of the process. During phase three you stop taking the drops and slowly introduce some foods back into your diet (excluding breads and sweets). The reason for this phase is so your body doesn't become accustomed to the drops thus hindering your weight loss progress. The diet protocol states that you should take at least a three week break from the drops.

So that's where I am at the end of phase three holding on tightly to my 27 lb weight loss and ready to gear up again for round two. In round two I am challenging myself to out do myself. :) My goal is simply to do even better than I did the last round even if that is just 1 lb more than I lost last time I will be happy. I do believe going in the second time around I am wiser and now know what to do and what not to do, the obvious being not to cheat it's so not worth it.  I am looking forward to sharing my progress with you.

Speaking of you I would love to have you join me on this weight loss  journey and share your success story here on Your Unexpected Beauty! Three lucky readers will win a 30 day supply of  hCG 1234 to join me on my second round of drops!

Enter to win a 30 day supply by filling out the Rafflecopter below. Good luck! Giveaway runs from March 27th at 12:01am to April 11th  at 11:59PM EST.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure:  I received a 90-day supply of the product in exchange for my honest review.  All opinions are 100% mine and not influenced in any way.

Curly Hair Gone Straight- A Simple How To

Every now and than I get a sudden urge to wear my hair straight and this passed weekend was one of those times. If you hair is curly like my own you know that wearing it straight can be a challenge. I try to keep my hair routine as simple as possible whether I wear it in its natural state or not, so here's how I   straighten my hair in a few simple steps with minimal heat. 

Step 1. Wash hair and deep condition. 

Step 2.  Detangle hair

Step 3. Apply a heat protectant and twist/braid several sections of hair

Step 4. Allow to air dry a few hours 

Step 5. Once hair is only slightly damp blow hair. Working with a small section (1 inch thick and 2-3 inches wide) detangle section if needed and have the dryer follow behind the brush down the length of hair for a straighter end result. (Only need TWO passes of the hair dryer per section). Complete Entire head.

Step 6. Taking an even smaller section (1/2 inch thick and 2 inches wide) of blown dry hair, using the same method as blow drying have the flat iron follow slowly behind the brush take ONE past down the length of your hair. Repeat until your entire head is straight.

*Dryer was set on 125 degrees

*Flat Iron was set on 400 degrees

 ***BONUS***

How To Maintain Hairstyle Without Reapplying Heat

Step 1. Part your hair into two sections

Step 2. Take one section and twist it AWAY from your face and wrap it around itself to for a bantu knot secure with a hair pin.

Step 3. Repeat 

Step 4.Wrap head in a silk scarf

Step 5. Wake to full hair with subtle waves.

Hey curly girls how often do you straighten your hair? Do you do it yourself or get it professionally done?

Wordless Wednesday- Harlem Shake Father & Son Style!

The things they do when moms away!