Friday Favorites

On IG I said I’d be sharing my beef stroganoff recipe this week, however LO has recently stopped napping, so my window of time for my blog closed, so I’m trying to find another time which is currently while LO colors or after LO goes to sleep. We’ll see how this all evolves, but for now it may be a bit sporadic 😉

As always these are never sponsored, but if I ever have a discount code, I share it 🙂

• Rasa
  • Adaptogens are all the rage lately. I looked into them and I understand why! I never jump on bandwagons without truly understanding the research and logic.
  • I’ll write a post on them eventually but in summary they really are just superpowers that train your body’s stress response system. Here’s what the bag says, “adaptogens are superhero’s that act like exercise for your body’s stress response system. They tone your ‘stress muscles’ – the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis (HPA) & sympathoadrenal system (SAS). These pathways tell your adrenals that you’re under stress. Adaptogens strengthen and balance these systems providing a calmness and energy”. Sounds awesome! But obviously, more research than the Rasa bag is needed 😉 I’ve done tons of research on it, but for now, I’ll leave you with 3 awesome sources.
    • NCBI
    • Healthline
    • Science Direct
  • A lot of people use this as a coffee replacement since coffee can be so hard on the adrenals. I don’t drink coffee, so I can’t speak to if it tastes similar or not. In reading reviews some people thought it did. Some didn’t. I have original Rasa and Cacao. You have to play around with your preferred ratio, but I typically do 4 cups water with 3 tablespoons Rasa and Dal and I share it. I combine it in a saucepan, bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 min. Once it’s done, I strain it and discard the grounds then stir the liquid in with collagen peptides. I drink mine as is, but Dal adds nut milk and honey to his. He doesn’t like the taste, but we both like the benefits: energy and calm 🙂 I also will say we have been using it daily for abt a month and it took maybe a week or so before we noticed the effects. I love both flavors. Dal prefers Cacao rasa. Ingredients in Cacao are: Fair-trade Ecuadorian criollo cacao; roasted chicory, burdock, & dandelion roots; eleuthero, shatavari, he shou wu, codonopsis, chaga mycelium, ashwagandha, rhodiola, Ceylon cinnamon, reishi extract. All organic and sustainable 🙂
  • It was developed by a tired breastfeeding mom who needed a non caffeinated form of energy, so there’s another reason I love it 😉
  • They’re having a 15% off sale today. I buy mine through subscription on Amazon
• Here are just some of the books we’ve loved for a long time for LO that have representation. We obviously need a lot more books with representation still looking for more
  • The Spelling Bee Before Recess
    • Race representation and also a kid in a wheelchair (not an active part of the story, but I like LO seeing it and am looking for more books with representation of children with disabilities)
  • I Can Dance
    • Has boys and girls and race representation
  • Jingle Baby
    • I love that this has representation and the baby’s grandparents are a mixed race couple
    • These books are part of the “Indestructibles” series. Babies can chew, try to rip, etc. and they’re literally indestructible
  • Maui Hooks The Islands
  • Courageous People Who Changed The World (Little Heroes series)
  • Make a Wish, Midas
  • Everywhere Babies
    • Has babies of many sizes, colors, and so many types of families
• I’m really excited about Bookroo’s new feature. For free you can search for books under almost any topic under the tab book lists! You can even create a profile and save what you’ve read and not, liked and not- like Goodreads! I am especially loving the diversity, anti racism, and Black History filters. I’m also looking for more books written by Black authors and just with representation like the above (not necessarily talking abt it). If you have any recommendations, please pass along!
• PaleoValley supergreens
  • I mix these with water and have 1 -2 times a day! I think they taste amazing. Dal does not and I’m still trying to coax him into eating them, so if you’re the type of person who loves the taste of most healthy things, you’d prob love them, if you’re the type who grew up eating closer to standard American Diet, but try to eat healthy and find those super healthy tastes difficult, it may not be your favorite 😉 they do have a satisfaction guarantee and if you don’t like it, they accept returns 🙂 $20 off here.
  • We also both take their organ supplement daily, sometimes their ACV one, their vitamin C when sick, turmeric when dealing with a headache or achy muscles, and love their beef sticks (I don’t recommend their turkey sticks- taste and texture is off) and chocolate superfood bars. Everything from them is super high quality and I’ve yet to try something I don’t love.
• Swim diapers
  • I brought these on our trip months ago and absolutely loved them. Care is easy and it’s a small way to be kinder to the earth! I first thought the idea of them was as gross, but my cousin got me hooked and we did cloth for LO when LO was solely breastfeeding. Saves money and better for the earth 🙂
• Primally Pure seasonal home lines!
  • I got the room spray and essential oil blend to diffuse. I absolutely love them both and can’t wait for the fall and winter lines! “Christianne10” for 10% off. They both smell strongly just smelling them, but smell amazing diffused or sprayed in a room.
  • My other Primally Pure favorites here

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!