The Most Delicious Seed-Based Salad Dressing (You’ll Make This For Life)

One of our favorite plant-based cookbooks authors, Meredith Baird-Figone has been cooking up a storm on Instagram. In her IGTV series, the Quarantine Kitchen, we've been learning to use simple fresh veggies and pantry staples to whip up recipes so good we can hardly believe it.

As a long-time proponent of the raw food diet, we knew Meredith had some great recipes for healthy, plant-based sauces and dressings up her sleeve. We asked her to share an IGTV with us and her shaved veggie salad with seed-based dressing did not disappoint. Watch it here!

You're going to want to bookmark this one -- this is the kind of dressing recipe that'll makes just about anything you've got in the kitchen taste like a million bucks.

To make easy work of the thinly sliced veggies in the salad, use a peeler like this one. Once you get the hang of quickly shaving veggies in this way, they are a quick way to improve quick salads and bowls of every kind.

This dressing is good with virtually anything. You can add some dulse or nori to give it a caesar dressing flavor as well.

SIMPLE SHAVED VEGETABLE SALAD WITH CREAMY PUMPKIN SEED DRESSING

Salad //
Shave or thinly slice as many vegetables as you want. Zucchini, radishes, carrots, beets, celery are all great options. Toss with a little lemon juice, and as many herbs as you'd like.

Dressing //
1 cup pumpkin seeds, sunflower, hemp or sesame seeds soaked (overnight if possible, but optional)
1 cup water
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon sea salt
Pepper to taste
1 teaspoon cumin seeds (optional)
1 teaspoon mustard seeds (optional)

Blend all ingredients until smooth.

Yields 1 1/2 cups dressing.

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Eat What You Want: A Drool-Worthy Dinner From Gaby Dalkin’s Latest Cookbook

Gaby Dalkin is the down to earth chef and recipe developer behind What's Gaby Cooking. Gaby's third cookbook, Eat What You Want debuted this week and she had us at the title.

Healthful eating has come a long way in the last decade, thanks to so many chefs, bloggers and home cooks applying their best culinary efforts to direct our population in a healthy direction that is also enjoyable.

Try Gaby's bowl recipe below for perfect proof of what modern, healthy cooking looks like. Feeling lazy? Just make the dressing, keep it in the fridge and pour it over just about everything you eat this week!

Cauliflower Shawarma Bowl
Serves: 4
I originally came up with this recipe as a side dish, serving the cauliflower on its own,
because it really is that good. It has all the rich, crispy flavor of a meat- based shawarma, which
is perfect for a Middle Eastern street food–style bowl with fresh veggies, hummus, feta, and
tahini dressing. Serve it with pita chips and you have yourself a meal.

Ingredients:
 2 pounds (910 g) cauliflower florets
 1 tablespoon ground turmeric
 1 tablespoon ground cumin
 1 teaspoon kosher salt
 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
 1 teaspoon ground coriander
 1 teaspoon paprika
 ¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil
 1 cup (240 g) hummus (page 51)
 1 cup (55 g) shredded romaine lettuce
 1 cup (95 g) shredded purple cabbage
 1 cup (145 g) cherry tomatoes, halved
 1 cup (120 g) sliced Persian cucumbers (about 1 cucumber)
 ½ cup (75 g) crumbled feta cheese
 1 cup (240 ml) Lemon Tahini Dressing (see recipe below)
 Toasted pita chips

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Put the cauliflower florets on the prepared baking sheet. In a medium bowl, combine
the turmeric, cumin, salt, pepper, coriander, paprika, and olive oil and stir to blend.
Drizzle the spiced oil on top of the cauliflower and toss to combine so the florets are
evenly coated. Roast for 35 minutes, or until the cauliflower is caramelized and
browned.
3. To assemble the bowls, schmear ¼ cup (60 g) of the hummus in the bottom of 4 bowls.
Top the hummus with equal amounts of the romaine, cabbage, tomatoes, and
cucumbers. Pile about ¾ cup (245 g) of the roasted cauliflower in the middle of each
bowl and sprinkle with the feta. Drizzle with 4 tablespoons of the lemon tahini dressing
and serve toasted pita wedges alongside to scoop up anything you want!

Lemon Tahini Dressing
(Makes 2½ cups)
Maybe one of my best creations yet. It’s great as a drizzle, perfect for dipping veggies, and
doubles as a vegan Caesar salad dressing. Just know that tahini likes to thicken up, so if you
store this in the fridge for a few days, you’ll want to thin it out with a little more water before
using it. But don’t worry—it will still retain its flavor.

Ingredients:
 8 ounces (225 g) tahini
 Juice of 1 lemon
 2 cloves garlic
 ½ teaspoon kosher salt
 ½ teaspoon ground cumin

Directions:
1. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until perfectly
smooth like a peanut butter. Stream in 1 to 2 cups (240 to 480 ml) water a little bit at a
time until your desired consistency is reached. Taste and adjust the salt as needed.

Read our other stories with Gaby here! 

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Deliciously Ella’s Quinoa + Cacao Crispy Treats

                 These quinoa crispy treats from Ella are so simple and perfect for making at home right now, we knew we had to share again!

We're just five ingredients and a blink away from the dessert dupe of our childhood dreams. Chocolatey, gluten-free and completely addictive, these puffed quinoa crispy treats from our October Guest Editor, Deliciously Ella, are everything!

This Brit just seems to understand just what we want to eat, perfecting the healthy "girl food" genre to a tee! Grab her cookbook, try this recipe and please let us know how it turned out for you (or DM us when they're ready and we'll pop by...)

So these little treats are quite a revelation! They take 5 minutes to make and 10 minutes to set, so they’re the best easy dessert or snack to throw together when you’re pressed on time or seriously craving a sweet snack and need it pronto! Think of them as a healthy take on tradition rice crispy treats – although don’t worry they don’t taste healthy at all. They taste totally rich, chocolatey and indulgent. Rice crispy treats were my absolute favourite childhood dessert, so this recipe makes me especially happy!

There are so few ingredients in these too, which makes them so simple to make. You just need five ingredients: raw cacao, almond butter, coconut oil, maple syrup and puffed/popped quinoa. With the quinoa pops you can either buy popped quinoa - it’s pretty easy to find either in a health food shop or online (even Amazon has it!) - or you can make it yourself!

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A Toolkit For Dealing with Tough Changes

As celeb holistic health coach, Koya Webb says below, many of life's big changes are celebrated, but others are far more difficult and too often we deal with them alone.

Lately, the world has been churning with change and that has left some of us grasping for tools and the strength to adjust in good emotional, physical and mental health.

We loved learning through this toolkit inspired by Koya's timely new book, Let Your Fears Make You Fierce...

A Tool Kit for Dealing With Tough Changes

Life is filled with major changes. There are the changes we look forward to – such as turning the magical age of 18, moving into a new home you love, or a long-awaited pregnancy. And sometimes, the changes are a bit tougher. Whether experiencing a job loss, income decrease, a death or health concerns for yourself or a loved one – our lives are often marked by tough changes.

I remember when I experienced a major change in the form of what could’ve been a career-ending track injury. At the time, I was at the peak of my career and even had a chance of going to the Olympics. Track and field was what I ate, slept and breathed; so much of my identity was tied to the sport. And thus, when I found myself sidelined, I was heartbroken. What if I can never run track again? What am I going to do with my life? What is my purpose? How do I move forward from here?

The often-quoted phrase, “The only thing that is constant is change,” is meant to remind us that change is inevitable. Unfortunately for many of us, simply knowing that change is inescapable doesn’t magically make it easy.

Perhaps you’ve found yourself in the middle of a tough change and are wondering “what now?”. While there is no magic pill to instantly feel better – there are steps you can take that will help you turn your lemons into the finest lemon cake. Here is what I recommend that you add to your self-care toolkit to deal with tough changes.

Journaling: It’s important that you continuously take the time to acknowledge that things are changing and don’t try to force yourself to “get over it.” To do so, journal daily to check in on yourself. Reflect and self-assess: How do you feel? What is coming up (Fear? Insecurities? Excitement? Loneliness?)? What does your body need (stillness is an okay option)? What does your mind require? How can you feel more spiritually connected? Changes in our lives require that we make a practice of self-assessing and reflecting to ensure we don’t deny the past and that we stay connected to how to prepare for a new future.

Meditation: Tough life changes tend to bring with them a lot of fear-based thinking. Feelings of anxiety, stress, anger and frustrations arise. The feelings are normal but instead of acting on the feelings, meditation offers you a tool to increase your self-awareness around the emotions that come up. Eventually, you’ll be able to observe when a fear-based thought that doesn’t serve you arises and choose a more high-frequency response. Meditation also provides a moment to connect to Source Energy of Spirit, which helps give people a sense of solace in the storm of change.

Movement: I credit yoga for helping me turn the corner on my healing. Over several long, difficult months of pain and doubt, a regular yoga practice helped me find strength and flexibility in my body, gain confidence and emotional resilience, and reconnect with my spiritual side. Movement – whether yoga, dance or cardio workouts – offers a powerful way to get out of the mind and into the body. Movement has also been proven to reduce depressive symptoms. So, yes, turn on the tunes and flow!

Breathwork: A bit newer to the wellness scene, Breathwork is any set of breathing techniques or exercises that help reduce stress. By helping people work through blocked emotions or energy, exercises such as Holotropic or Rebirthing breathwork can be beneficial in helping relieve tension and reducing anxiety. In fact, I’ve found breakthrough to be one of the most beneficial tools added to my self-care regimen for its ability to help heal trauma and repressed emotions – many of which come up during periods of tough change.

Open Yourself Up To A New Dream: Change can be devastating. We become some married to our expectations for how our life is going to turn out, that it’s not always easy to shift that vision. However, once we give ourselves time to mourn what has left us, it’s important that we create a new vision based on what cards are now on the table. This doesn’t invalidate your ideal vision, but it allows you to shift into alignment with what beauty can still unfold in your life.

 more Resources to explore: 

My book, Let Your Fears Make You Fierce
Psychology Today - On Coping 
Healthline - On Breathwork
Well + Good - On Breathwork Healing
Inner Truth - On Holotropic Breathing

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Emotional Eating 101 From A Nutritionist Who Understands

Emotional eating can be a vicious cycle and when it gets the better of our best habits, it can be a struggle to get back on track. Integrative nutritionist, Jennie Miremadi, helps us take a closer look at our own behavior and figure our better ways to self-soothe. Follow along as Jennie shows us how to spot, handle and move on healthily from emotional eating... 

What I’ve seen in the wake of this pandemic is that emotional eating is at an all time high. Often there’s so much shame around emotional eating. As someone who spent years battling an unhealthy relationship with food, I can tell you this: "You will not find the solution to eating issues in shame." You won’t find it by approaching your struggle with self-loathing or punishing yourself because you’ve failed yet again. The real answer lies in nourishing your body, mind and soul from a place of love and self-acceptance.

If you’re using food to soothe yourself or cope with your emotions, you have nothing to be ashamed of. Your emotional eating is not a sign of weakness, and it doesn’t mean you lack self-control. It’s a sign that you need to nurture yourself in a new way. It’s an opportunity to dig deeper and discover where you can start giving to yourself. And it’s a chance to learn how to listen to your body and emotions. When you let your emotional eating struggle become a catalyst for change, you give yourself the chance to have a healthy relationship with food.

I’ve created a toolkit to help you on your journey. As you work through it, remember: It is possible to overcome emotional eating, but it won’t happen overnight. You have to commit to practicing these tools every day, and you have to be kind, loving and gentle with yourself every step of the way. With that in mind, let’s begin…

Connect With Your Physical Hunger Signals

When you connect with your body’s natural hunger signals, you’re empowered to make food decisions based on hunger rather than emotion. But if you’re used to letting your emotions guide your eating, you may feel completely disconnected from your natural appetite and have a hard time identifying when you’re actually hungry. It is possible to reconnect with this innate ability, but you have to tune into your body. Remember that there are always physical symptoms when your body is hungry -- like a growling stomach and lack of energy. The key in connecting with your natural appetite is to scan your body for physical hunger sensations before you eat anything. If you don’t notice any physical signs of hunger, wait to eat until you do.*

*This may be difficult at first. If you’re unable to identify physical hunger sensations but find yourself wanting to eat anyway, try using some of the tools in “Learn New Ways to Soothe” below instead.

Real Food Matters

Learning to listen to your body’s hunger signals is critical for overcoming emotional eating. But if you skip meals and eat nutrient-poor, unhealthy foods, you’ll skew your natural appetite and sabotage your best efforts. Here’s why: If you skip breakfast, and eat a snacky lunch (like a bar or a handful of nuts), by the time mid-afternoon rolls around, you’ll be starving for nutrients. You’ll likely end up uncontrollably eating whatever you can find, and it will be difficult to listen to your natural appetite. Likewise, if you eat foods made up of refined carbs and sugar, which are devoid of nutrients and spike your blood sugar and cause cravings, it will also be hard for you to listen to your body’s innate hunger signals. Not only will you end up craving more carbs and sugar, your body won’t have gotten the nutrients it needs and will have a hard time feeling satisfied. Set yourself up for success by eating breakfast, lunch and dinner. And make sure your meals are nutrient-dense, macronutrient-balanced and made from real, whole foods. When you nourish your body in a healthy way, you empower yourself to listen to it.

Understand Your Triggers

When you know what triggers your emotional eating, you can create healthy, non-food ways to deal with the trigger itself. Food journaling is a powerful tool to help you dig deeper and identify your triggers. When you journal, track whether you were physically hungry or not, what you ate, the emotions that you felt, and the circumstances that gave rise to those feelings. If a particular circumstance or feeling triggers emotional eating, create a non-food strategy to deal with the situation or emotion so that you’re prepared the next time it comes up. For example, if you’re used to weekly Sunday night suppers with your girlfriends, but now you’re stuck at home and feeling lonely, then set up a virtual dinner instead.

Feel Your Feelings

Nobody enjoys feeling anger, sadness, hurt or other unpleasant emotions. But you have these feelings for a reason, and you’re meant to feel them. When you use food to numb your feelings or push them away, you set yourself up for overeating, binge eating and feeling unwell every time an emotion that you don’t like comes up. To change this, you have to allow yourself to feel uncomfortable emotions and connect with what you really need in the moment. You’ll not only feel more fulfilled when you start giving to yourself in this way, you’ll enable yourself to have a healthier relationship with food.

Learn New Ways to Soothe

When you stop using food to self-soothe, you need to find a new way to comfort yourself. Create a daily practice that will fill you up emotionally. Spiritual connection, breathwork, EFT, meditation, journaling, a gratitude practice, physical movement and visualization are all soul-nourishing practices. Pick a combination of these exercises and set aside a time each day to do them. You should also develop a list of go-to tools that you use to replace emotional eating in the moment. Add exercises from your daily practice to the list in addition to any other activities that you find comforting or enjoyable. Some examples might include taking a hot yoga class, coloring in a mindful meditation coloring book or going to a sound-bath meditation. Some examples might include taking a virtual yoga class, coloring in a mindful meditation coloring book, or listening to a recorded meditation. By creating new soothing rituals to nurture yourself, you can let go of using food for comfort.

Reach Out for Help if You Need it

If you try implementing these tools and still find yourself struggling, don’t beat yourself up. Honor yourself for having had the courage to try but be brave enough to ask for support if you need it.

Fascinated by the link between our emotions and our internal health? Learn more about that here!

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12 Brilliant Mom’s Day Gift Ideas From The Shop

Last fall, we discovered this simple collection of kitchen and tableware pieces from Our Place. (Read our gushing review!) Now that it's spring and we're all home cooking more than ever, we can think of no better Mother's Day gift.

Just because we're stuck at home and facing uncertain times, doesn't mean that Mom's Day should get swept aside. We're finding ways to celebrate, from family Zoom dinners to celebratory deliveries in support of our favorite local restaurants.

We just launched our Spring Shop last week and definitely had Mother's Day in mind, but the below curation is especially giftable. A few favorites? The rattan market cart would be so fun to fill with fresh bread, flowers or farmer's market goodies, left on her doorstep. Moms with young children might appreciate Saie's new Glowy Super Gel for an effortless, natural layer of glow in lieu of makeup. We've sworn for years that jumpsuits are the best gift for besties and we can't think of a mother we know who wouldn't fall in love with the ones below.

If budget is top of mind right now, explore our list of charming DIYs that would make great gifts and possibly even better memories like these naturally dyed goods, floral smudge sticks and vintage denim goods. And don't forget to bake a cake!

Back to Our Place, there are Mother's Day offers available from the brand and we're loving them for moms of all ages. Our Place's signature piece is the multi-tasking Always Pan (shown above) and we're obsessed with it in the terracotta-like 'Spice' color, but it also comes in other shades like the new Sage green. Grab their Mama Knows Best Gift Card and allow the recipient to choose the color she loves best!

The multi-purpose Always Pan is quickly becoming recognizable on it's own, what really blew us away about Our Place when we first tried them were these modern plates and bowls with unglazed edges. No surprise, they've quickly become staples in our kitchen. The vintage-esque glassware now comes in clear, green, orange and blue. The full bundle of bowls, plates, drinking glasses and Always Pan make the best gift ever for home cooks and entertainers at $240. Good news: TCM readers also receive $10 off with code CHALKBOARD10 at checkout!

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The Women of Wildling Have Changed Our Skincare Routines For Life

First, there was the jade roller. We got hooked on the quick lifting and depuffing results of the low-tech skincare tool years ago after our facialist here in LA turned us on to them. Since then, tools like jade rollers have reached peak popularity and we've explored skincare tools of every shape and size.

Our favorite of them all has become Wildling's gua sha tool -- a flat, black, unassuming stone we now don't know how we'd live without. Over the past few months, we've shared tutorials galore with Wildling's three female founders unpacking ways to use the gua sha to utterly transform our faces (this one is my fave).

Above, you'll find Wildling co-founder, Gianna walking us through a therapeutic skincare routine for anxiety. Sit yourself down, strip down, and oil up your neck and face. This is just the kind of ritual that blends beauty with wellness so that, soon, you may not be able to tell the two apart. Lasting beauty comes from taking mindful and holistic care of ourselves every day. Here's how...

A Gua Sha Ritual for Toning + De-Stressing

Instructions:

1. Apply Empress Tonic & Oil

2. Begin by using the Empress Wand to relieve tension in the neck, shoulders and jaw. The pressure is firm to release these muscles. These moves release the large muscle groups to help you feel better and increase the flow of blood & qi to the head.

3. Use the comb edge of the gua sha Empress Stone in upward strokes from the third eye to the hairline. This activates an acupoint to "calm the shen (spirit)". Repeat gently several times to ease your anxiety.

4. Follow that with upward strokes with the comb edge over the entire face -- this will lift and tone the skin while also resetting your nervous system. Use slow, gentle, calming strokes.

5. Use the comb edge to open the heart -- from the sternum to the shoulder. Also, add a few gentle downward strokes down the front of the neck to drain the lymph and de-puff.

Watch all Wildling's tutorials here!

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In The Kitchen With Farmer, Chef + Cookbook Author Abra Berens

Feels like spring. We're sharing this ultra-inspiring story from April of last year! 

As city girls, we're constantly fantasizing about a rustic life where we can grow our own food and eat with the seasons. According to our latest poll, most of our readers are dreaming about the same.

Chef Abra Berens is living that life, hosting unique dinners on the idyllic Granor Farm in Michigan and we love how she's managed to balance her passion for farming with a talent for high-quality culinary art.

Abra’s ethos is simple: the meals we eat should change with the seasons and their ingredients should come from the freshest sources nearby. The talented chef and former farmer recently published her debut cookbook Ruffage: A Practical Guide To Vegetables which has us majorly hungry and inspired.

1. Here’s what is inside the new author’s fridge...

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8 Simple Ways To Naturally De-Stress At Home

It might seem extra or as though there is nothing that will really help. But, trust us when we say that when stress levels are peaking a few of these calming strategies from Food Matters can provide major relief. Pretend you have a schedule and pencil these de-stress at home activities into your calendar this week... 

Turn Up The Heat | Warmth relaxes muscle tension and can lower anxiety naturally. It is believed that heat may impact the neural circuitry that influences mood and increase our levels of the ‘feel-good’ neurotransmitter called serotonin. Plus, being warm can just feel downright comforting.

You don’t need to live in the desert to feel this benefit. There are many alternative ways to de-stress with heat! You may enjoy a hot tea, sauna, exercise, spa, an enticing patch of sunlight, a cozy fireplace, a comforting hot water bottle or a warm bath filled with relaxing essential oils. If it’s warm and feels good, chances are it’s helping you to de-stress!

Move Your Body | Exercise is a natural antidote to stress and anxiety. Raising your heart rate instantly increases blood circulation, oxygenates your brain and gets those feel-good endorphins pumping! Furthermore, exercise engages your brain into focusing on each movement; this diverts our thoughts away from a stressful space and into the present moment.

Aim for at least thirty minutes of movement each day, in a modality that preferably makes you huff and puff a little (providing it is safe within your current health to do so). Aerobic exercise makes us produce higher levels of norepinephrine - the super stress-busting brain chemical! Try also to choose something that you enjoy and can actually look forward to. (And if you haven’t already, please try yoga - it’s the ultimate mind-body healing form of exercise.)

Tap Into Acupressure | Ancient people have practiced acupuncture for centuries and documented its benefits. Today, we can still access its powerful benefits! It is believed that two acupuncture points located between the skull and neck may be especially helpful for reducing stress and tension headaches. The trial this simple exercise to release stress in just a few minutes:

1. Position thumbs at the top of your neck, just below the junction where your neck meets the skull.
2. Apply firm but gentle pressure.
3. As you press, inhale deeply and slowly at least three times.
4. Float hands into your lap.
5. Slowly drop your chin into your chest.
6. Take another deep, peaceful breath and smile!

Enjoy Stress-Busting Superfoods + Stabilize Your Blood Sugars | Food affects our very brain chemistry and therefore impacts our mood. We can, therefore, make dietary choices to support our stress.

To start with, most people get more cranky, irritable and stressed when they feel hungry! Therefore, include low Glycaemic Index (GI) carbohydrates at each meal to regulates your blood sugar levels and maintain good energy levels. There are also a few extra foods you could include for some extra benefits:

Almonds: A good source of protein to help you feel full and focussed, almonds also offer B Vitamins, Vitamin E, Zinc, Magnesium and healthy fats that help to maintain brain function and regulate mood.

Blueberries: Offering Vitamin C, antioxidants, magnesium and manganese to support a stressed brain, these beautiful berries are lower in sugar and won’t disrupt your blood sugar levels.

A small piece of dark chocolate: Rich in magnesium and trace minerals to support stress and fatigue, dark chocolate contains compounds that boost mood and feel-good brain chemicals! (Just stick to a small quantity, as the natural caffeine content may also stimulate anxiety.)

Omega-3 Fats: These natural fatty acids are absolutely integral to brain function and may help to lower anxiety. Natural sources include salmon and oily fish, flaxseeds/linseeds and walnuts.

Pamper Yourself At Home | Daily rituals of self-kindness and small pleasures can go a long way towards cultivating inner peace. So often we make time to go above and beyond to help others out but fail to recognize -or make- small windows in our schedules to give some TLC for ourselves.

Whilst pampering may make you think of spas and health retreats (which are great if you can afford to do so!), there are other simple, inexpensive opportunities to pamper yourself with self-kindness. You may like to try:

+ Give your face a mini-massage in the shower. It increases blood flow to the brain, is wonderful
for your skin health and feels simply divine.

+ Say a few positive affirmations to yourself in the mirror as you prepare for your day.
Creating a simple, luxurious body scrub using coarse sea salt and coconut oil. Alternatively, use leftover coffee grounds as an invigorating scrub to wake you up and feel refreshed for the day.

+ Soak your feet in a bucket filled with warm water, Epsom salts and a few drops of peppermint oil.

+ Buff your nails - it’s natural, lasts longer than nail polish and showcases a part of your body that is visible all day long!

Discover Aromatherapy | Aromatherapy has been used for centuries to support the body both mentally and physically. In modern times, essential oils are particularly powerful for reducing stress. This is because the sense of smell bypasses the cognitive brain which processes worry.

Lavender is particularly renowned for its relaxing qualities and is an ‘emotional anti-inflammatory’. Massage a little into your temples or burn some in an oil diffuser to instantly unwind. Look for the pure variety that is derived from plants, not the artificial fragrances that are often chemically produced.

Get Outdoors | In a phenomenon known as ‘biophilia’, humans are naturally programmed to feel peaceful in nature. Plants and natural scenery have been shown to reduce anxiety and depression. Therefore, a regular dose of the great outdoors is good news for our mental health!

You don’t need to become a keen hiker to get your natural nature high. Simply grounding your feet in a space of natural earth is a great start. Perhaps you can step outside for five minutes during your daily lunch break and lift your face to the sun. You may also like to start a small garden or regularly buy yourself a bunch of flowers. Anything that makes you feel more connected to the world outside is likely to lower your stress.

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We Tried The Plastic-Free Shampoo From Hilary Duff’s Bath Routine

Last week on Instagram, Hilary Duff shared her bath time routine while at home and it included a plastic-free shampoo bar. It caught our attention since the bar (made of coconut oil, cupuaçu butter, argan, and castor oil) came from Odacité Skincare, a brand we've always loved.

The product was a brand new product called the 552M Soap Free Shampoo Bar -- named in honor of the 552 million plastic shampoo bottles that end up in landfills every year. We love the idea of moving to a more sustainable, bottle-free option with a soap-free bar, but would it make our hair feel like we washed it with, well, soap?  

We thought we'd try it. After all, the silver lining of spending so much time at home is that we're free to try risky beauty habits, right?

We may not take the risk as far as Hilary Duff who not only tried the sustainable shampoo, but actually took her hair color full Smurf last week (as shown on Instagram) as well. We're here for the look, but sticking with the low-risk shampoo experiment for now. Here's the review...

The Product: Odacite's 552M Soap Free Shampoo Bar | $29

The brand: Odacite is owned by a French woman who really knows her way around clean beauty ingredients. Their serums and face mists are the gold standard in clean beauty. The new shampoo bar is said to "nourish your scalp with argan, coconut, jojoba, and orange oil". It's meant for all hair types and textures and saves the equivalent of 3 plastic shampoo bottles or about 60-80 washes.

Our Experience: First of all, can we talk about how beautiful bar soaps are? There's something so chic and appealing about this sudsy white stone in the shower. This is the kind of fun, simple detail that gets us hooked on a product for sure.

Most importantly, we're thrilled to report that this shampoo works. It creates great suds, easily rinses clean (two things we were majorly concerned about) and after using twice we can personally attest to the brand's claim of "deeply repaired, manageable hair full of volume."

We were skeptical. While we're looking for more sustainable personal care products all the time, what you don't see are all the sustainable products we try that simply don't perform and don't make it to our pages. We're happy to report that this bottle-free shampoo is both aesthetically pleasing and highly effective.

Try Odacite's 552M Shampoo Bar. What's your favorite sustainable beauty product right now?

The post We Tried The Plastic-Free Shampoo From Hilary Duff’s Bath Routine appeared first on The Chalkboard.

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What You Don’t Know About Conventional Cotton Farms Might Shock You

we've learned a lot about conventional cotton farming over the years here at TCM. Most notably, through the fast fashion doc, The True Cost where we first learned about the reported connection between American cotton farmers, cotton pesticides and the high incidence of a very serious cancer. 

When we interviewed Missy Tannen, founder of ethical home goods brand, Boll & Branch, we were equally as shocked to learn about the many Indian cotton farmers who carry dangerous chemical pesticides on their backs while farming cotton. 

We were first drawn to Tannen's sustainable and luxurious sheets and towels in a light-hearted way, just hoping to dress our beds and stock our linen closet with great non-toxic basics. But after our interview with Missy, we're reminded of just how deep the impact of sustainable shopping can be. By shopping responsible and sustainable brands, we are not only shaping our economy for the better, we are having a direct impact on the lives of those creating the products we fill our homes with. Read Missy's interview to learn more...

I am relentless in creating the best bedding that is humanly possible. I realize that our customers are choosing to spend their time and money with us, and I wouldn’t want to ever let them down. And now that we are in our sixth year of business, and thousands of people across the world are making our products, I want to do everything I possibly can to continue providing them with fair wages, safe working conditions and happier lives.

We're now the largest purchaser of Fair Trade Organic Cotton (Textile Exchange) and ours was the first fully Fair Trade Certified bedding.

Why organic cotton matters... | Before launching Boll & Branch, my husband, Scott, and I spent about a year of our lives learning everything we could about cotton and textile manufacturing. Yes, we had used lots of cotton throughout our lives but hadn’t really thought about the actual plant or the farming that went into it. When we realized the positive impact that it has on the farmers, the environment, and the exceptional products we can make with it, there was no turning back! (In fact, we were so inspired by what organic cotton can do that we named our company after it… just Google image search “cotton boll on a branch”!)

+ For farmers | People who work at conventional cotton farms interact every day with all of the toxic chemicals used in the growing process. Pesticide poisoning is linked to thousands of deaths each year. In many developing countries, where they don’t have access to heavy industrial machinery, pesticides are carried in containers on their backs. When we started Boll & Branch, the average life expectancy of a conventional cotton farmer in India was 35 years old.... yes, the chemicals carried on their backs and pesticide poisoning is heartbreaking, but the suicide rate was staggering. Many conventional farmers found themselves in such deep debt because they had to take expensive loans to pay for pesticides and fertilizers to produce conventional cotton. All of the organic cotton we purchase is picked by hand and grown without the use of pesticides.

+ For the planet | Organic cotton is produced without synthetic fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides. Conventional cotton, on the other hand, uses more insecticides than any other crop. In addition, our organic cotton doesn’t need any additional water or irrigation…we rely only on rain that falls from the sky!

Pesticide runoff from conventional cotton farms doesn’t just affect people—it also kills millions of fish, birds and other animals annually. Organic cotton processes eliminate this danger.

Cotton is one of the world’s thirstiest plants. But organic cotton requires less water. Organic farmers don’t need to irrigate as intensely, because they’re working with healthier soil from the start. The result is a more efficient process that uses significantly less water.

On creating a peaceful bedroom | I’m drawn to a neutral color palette for the master bedroom. It creates a cozy, peaceful, reflective space. Life is busy, fun and fast-paced, but I find a sense of quietness and comfort when I’m in my bed.

Any good sleeping tips? | Invest in your pillow. Everyone has a different definition of what they are looking for, so I recommend getting to sleep on a few options before you can know what you prefer. Look for companies that have great return policies (like ours!) where you can try a pillow out, and return it if it’s not perfect for you.

Tips for that dreaded bottom sheet? | Ah, the pesky storage issue...I actually made a video here to solve the problem!

The post What You Don’t Know About Conventional Cotton Farms Might Shock You appeared first on The Chalkboard.

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One Powder, Three Ways: Which Superfood Blend is Right For You?

Yogi, mama and Philosophie founder, Sophie Jaffe, has loaded up this hydrating smoothie recipe with superfood ingredients that will keep you energized and feeling your best…

Times are absolutely crazy right now and becoming familiar with the “new normal” with a family of six in our home has been an adjustment. (My double Taurus sun and moon are thriving though!) I also know I have so much to be grateful for: a healthy family, food in our fridge, and the extra time with my littles to make new memories. Using this period of softness as a time to enjoy the small joys that pop up in life and feel immense gratitude for all I’m able to do and experience right now.

This is the perfect time to care for and tend to your body in all ways. In our home, we’re supporting and building immunity through alkalizing foods and superfood boosts. This is a great time to try combinations you’ve never tried before. Introduce new ingredients and foods into your daily routine that support your energy levels, ease your anxiety and support your immune functions.

I created my superfood company Philosophie out of a desire to make a healthy, vibrant and abundant life accessible to EVERYONE and this is important now, more than ever. Your health matters. Your happiness matters. What can you do during this gift of sacred pause to care for yourself and your loved ones? I’m so glad I can continue to provide our community with potent, nutrient-dense superfood blends to help flood and restore your body with whole, nutrient-dense foods. People often ask us which one of our Superfood + Protein Blends is right for them. We may be a little biased, but we can’t imagine not having a dose of each one every day! That’s because each of our blends is a unique combination of some of the world’s most potently nourishing foods and each ingredient has a host of health benefits.

Check out the three unique and fun ways you can use each of the three blends to help you achieve a glowing state of optimal health.

Berry Bliss | Beautifying Immunity Blend for Your Daily Source of Vitamin-C This blend was inspired by a trip to Thailand and my love for the exotic fruits and berries that I ate during my travels. This blend uses exotic and potent berries from mangosteen, goji, and acai bringing above and beyond a boost of antioxidants. It also features camu camu - one of the world's most abundant forms of vitamin C and perfect for fighting cold and flu season!

How to use:

+ USE AS A TOPPING TO A BOWL OF YOGURT OR OATMEAL | Mix with yogurt for a quick & easy brekkie that adds a subtle tar flavor and a blast of antioxidants

+ MAKE A GLOWY BERRY BEAUTY SMOOTHIE | One of our favorite smoothies in the Jaffe home is a Berry Bliss Immunity Smoothie. All you need is your favorite berries, milk of your choice, nut butter or coconut butter and the Berry Bliss Superfood + Protein Blend! Get the recipe here.

+ MAKE YOUR OWN SALAD DRESSING | Mix with lemon juice and olive oil for a fresh, tangy, and antioxidant-rich salad dressing.

Green Dream | Detoxifying Blend For Your Daily Dose of Greens
This was the first blend I created and felt a demand for it even in my own life. Every vegan protein powder at the time was loaded with sugar and I craved a superfood + protein blend that tastes good raw and would simply enhance the flavor of whatever I was making and Green Dream was born!

How to use:

+ USE AS A NUTRIENT-DENSE SEASONING | Add to soups, curries, salads, and eggs for an energizing, nutrient-dense meal.

+ MAKE A DELICIOUS VEGGIE DIP | Mix with garlic and tahini for a yummy veggie dip and favorite for any appetizer dish!

+ A DIY FACE MASK | The star ingredient, spirulina brightens skin, combats free radicals, and helps reduce the appearance of lines and wrinkles! All you need is Green Dream Superfood + Protein Blend and water.

Cacao Magic | Energizing Medicinal Blend for Your Chocolate Fix Anyone who knows me knows I have a HUGE sweet tooth and I wanted a superfood + protein blend that tastes like chocolate. Cacao Magic was inspired by my love for chocolate through the use of raw cacao and also my mom’s journey with stage 4 breast cancer and the use of medicinal herbs like reishi mushroom to help heal and restore the body.

How to use:

+ MAKE A SUPERFOOD COFFEE | Every. Single. Morning. I can’t start my day without a superfood coffee using this magical superfood blend. Find my go-to recipe here.

+ BAKED GOODS AND TREATS | I use an equal swap of chocolate for Cacao Magic in baked goods like cookies, breads and cakes!

+ A SUPERFOOD SPREAD | Mix with nut or seed butter for a protein-packed topping for apples or toast.

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The Stress Epidemic: 8 Things You Should Know About Prolonged Stress

Stress sucks and yet somehow it's become part of our daily lives -- it's not just unpleasant, but can actually be damaging to our health. As it's impossible to live without some stress, it's essential to learn about how to cope with prolonged stress. In fact, our health depends on it. This comprehensive piece from our friends at Food Matters all about the impact of our modern stress epidemic -- from the many different flavors of stress and how they impact our health, to simple and sustainable ways to reduce stress daily. Dive in...

Do you feel like ‘stressed’ is your new normal state of being? Can you remember the last time you went to bed without a care in your mind and woke up the next morning energized and excited for the day? Our modern lives, though full of opportunity, have us anxious, stressed and exhausted, and it’s almost at the point where if you’re not constantly stressed about work, finances or relationships, you might just stress about not being stressed enough!

While a stress response is a normal function for our bodies and we definitely do need it in certain circumstances, being constantly stressed is not healthy and it’s making us sick. In fact, according to the World Health Organisation, stress is the health epidemic of the 21st Century.

How We’re Stressed

There are three ways our bodies can be stressed:

Physical: this can be a trauma, injury, accident or fall

Chemical: this includes flu, bacterial infection, hangovers and unbalanced blood sugar levels

Emotional: this is the fear-inducing situations, perceived pressure at work or financially, family tragedies.

Joe Dispenza explains that when our bodies experience physical, chemical or emotional stress, it knocks the brain and body out of balance and activates the Sympathetic Nervous System. This is the fight or flight system that helps us deal with perceived threats in our external environment. When this system is activated, other systems in the body are affected, including the way in which the body sources and burns energy to give the body a rush of adrenaline.

This activation and mobilization of energy and particular body function is great in situations where we need to be able to react quickly - jump out of the way of speeding car or falling object - situations that are short-lived but require immediate response. However, when the perceived threat to us is ongoing - say mortgage and financial stress - the body stays on high alert for prolonged periods, using up enormous amounts of energy and leaving the body unable to return to its normal state.

What’s The Problem With Prolonged Stressed?

“Over 90% of disease and illness today is based on lifestyle and stress, not genetics,” - Bruce Lipton

Stress hormones shut down the immune system making us vulnerable to disease, infection and cancer.

What does that mean for the average person living with constant stress? Bruce explains that by always being stressed “we are inhibiting our immune system every day.” This creates an environment for disease to develop… and that’s serious.

Consider this: people produce cancer cells every day, but healthy immune systems can get rid of it. If you’re constantly stressed, creating a weakened immune system, your body will be less likely to protect you against cancer cells.

Additionally, Dr. Josh Axe has shared that our emotions can impact our health with specific feelings driving disease in specific organs. He believes that managing our emotions is just as, if not more, important than fixing your diet for your health.

The impact of emotions on the organs:

Fear: reproductive organs, kidneys, and adrenals

Frustration: liver

Grief, sadness, depression: colon, lungs, immune function

Anxiety: heart, small intestines

Worry: spleen, pancreas, stomach

Techniques Proven to Reduce Stress

By acknowledging your stress you can start to reverse its presence and impact on your life. There are a number of techniques you can implement to reduce stress and improve your health, and it starts with making a commitment to change your lifestyle.

Dr. Libby says that ‘stressed’ is the busy person’s word for fear. She shared with us that most of the time, people who are stressed at work have a fear of disappointing others or letting down the team, or a fear of failure. If you can understand the source of your fear, you can start to overcome the issue and reduce the stress.

Dr. Libby also explains that it takes time to change the way we respond to stressful events. “We understand that for physical fitness, we need to train our body - we can't just get up one day and run a marathon. The same is true for our mind - it requires a daily practice of 'training'.”

8 Ways to Reduce Stress

Quit The Coffee. Reducing your caffeine consumption.

Talk To Yourself. Talking to yourself about the source of your stress, try to change fear into fascination and learn more about yourself. Catch negative thoughts as they appear and replace them with thoughts of gratitude and positivity.

Track Your Triggers. Considering your perceived pressure - most of the time we’re putting deadlines and pressure on ourselves that aren’t necessary.

Get Mindful. Meditating to calm your mind and bring your thoughts internal, rather than being worried about everything external. If you like guided meditations, we’ve got plenty!

The Food Fix. Working on improving your diet. We know that when people are stressed their diet decisions are generally very poor and limited to things that are convenient.

Shut Off The Screen. Try reducing your technology use… and turning those email notifications off when you finish your work day!

Try Conscious breathing. Yes we all breathe, but being conscious about your breath and making time to take nice deep breathes will change your mood and your body’s interpretation of what’s happening in your environment.

Pick A Practice. Finding a practice that relaxes you and do it often. Whether it’s yoga, surfing, painting or running, whatever it is that you enjoy and enables you to take your mind off things that stress you, make it a priority and enjoy it often.

Learn how to effectively manage emotional stress.

The Chalkboard Mag and its materials are not intended to treat, diagnose, cure or prevent any disease. 
All material on The Chalkboard Mag is provided for educational purposes only. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified healthcare provider for any questions you have regarding a medical condition, and before undertaking any diet, exercise or other health-related programs.

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On Personal Triggers + Holding Space For Your Partner During Quarantine

Jennie Miremadi is a licensed functional nutritionist, coach, and EFT practitioner who
has been a regular contributor to The Chalkboard for several years. She specializes in helping her clients
with difficult GI and inflammatory issues, and coaching them to overcome emotional eating with a
variety of tools. When Jennie met her fiancé Ahram Arya, she had already done a ton of personal work
on herself, and so had he, which was the catalyst for their deep connection.

Ahram is a coach and "spiritual surgeon" who uses the science of Human Design to help his
clients manifest the life they want to live. Together, Jennie and Ahram coach individuals and couples.
At a time like this, it seemed ideal for them to share some of their own relationship wisdom...

Relationships are stressful enough without the added pressure brought on by living and
working together 24/7 during the coronavirus pandemic. If you’re having a hard time
right now, it makes sense. In fact, there’s a growing concern about a mental health
crisis that may be brought on by these Stay at Home Orders, including a possible
increase in domestic violence and child abuse. We’re grateful that the media is focusing
on mental health right now, and one way we are responding is by making healthy
relationships a priority.

In “regular” life, one pattern we see over time is that couples fall into the habit of
covering up their most sensitive wounds to avoid a confrontation. It’s only natural that if
one person is not getting their needs met or not being seen by their partner, they avoid
predictable cycles of conflict.

Years of “productive avoidance” may have flown under
the radar to this point, often disguised by the fast
pace of everyday life.

Now all of sudden with these brand new Stay at Home conditions, many of these avoidance
routines have been stripped away, exposing raw emotions and old wounds.

During this time, we can either choose to continue avoiding the hard work that goes into
a relationship or decide to co-create the growth that we desire. Instead of just hoping
that our relationships survive this pandemic, why not aim to come out the other side of it
closer and more connected than ever before? To help, we wanted to share our best
advice from coaching couples through the daily challenges. We’re offering some of our
most powerful and inspiring tools below, including how we implement them in our own
relationship.

Holding Space vs. Problem Solving
If you’ve gone through a lot of difficult emotions lately, hopefully your partner has been
able to support your process. But if it’s been a struggle to get the support that you need,
know this: Sometimes we actually don’t know how we feel or how to articulate what we
need from our partner in the moment. For this reason, we recommend that you make
the default setting to simply hold space for each other. This way you automatically create
a container to process feelings that can allow both of you to feel seen and heard.You can
also circumvent disagreements that may arise from feeling like your partner
isn’t giving you what you need.

Holding space goes beyond just listening- It means listening openly and supportively no
matter what until the emotional sharing is complete. For many of us, our gut reaction is
to respond to our partner by attempting to solve the problem or to give them advice. If
you jump to problem solving, your partner may not feel seen. Problem solving can be
incredibly helpful in the right moment if you can offer it in a way that validates your
partner’s experience, but we recommend that offering advice should be by “invitation
only.” Waiting patiently until your partner is done speaking and then responding with,
“would you like some help with that?” gives your partner the opportunity to tell you if
that’s what they need.

Once you get a feel for this, you can actually step into a discussion by asking for what
you need at the outset, by saying, “Hey I just need to vent about this, can you hold
space for me?” or “I need your help with this, can you tell me what you think?” Coach
each other to practice this approach to reduce your reactivity and help each other feel
supported now and in the future.

On Personal Triggers
We all have little triggers that can escalate an annoyance into an aggravation or a full
blown disagreement. And now that we're all in close quarters, this may be happening
more frequently. It’s important to work through your triggers together. We suggest
spending some time reflecting on what triggers you and your partner so that you both
can recognize them and come up with your own creative solutions.

Here’s an example of how we have done this in our own relationship:

When Jennie feels triggered, it’s usually because Ahram is too aggressive with
his problem solving by projecting or “man-splaining” (man + explaining). Upon
reflection, Jennie realized that it wasn’t Ahram’s words that were the problem, but rather
his harsh tone. Ahram has learned to use a slower, gentler tone and that makes an enormous
difference in Jennie’s receptivity toward him.

For Ahram, his trigger is that sometimes Jennie leaps too quickly into emotional sharing
without providing enough background about a particular situation. He gets confused and
frustrated. In order for him to hold space like he should, he needs to understand the
context of Jennie’s situation. When Jennie reflected on her part in “triggering” Ahram,
she realized that often she wasn’t providing enough context for Ahram to understand
the situation. Now she catches herself when she isn’t giving enough background and
reframes the situation for Ahram with more details.

There may be more to say.
If you and your partner bottle things up from time to time, the above heading might
seem obvious. The problem is that deep resentment can build up over time if one or
both of you is not speaking your full truth. The intention of this advice is actually to
direct your attention to your partner to sense if they have more to say. This can be
delicate.

When we tune into each other, sometimes we sense that our partner’s energy
and disposition doesn’t fully align with their words.

Trust your partner’s energy and body language as the ultimate gauge.

If they say they’re okay but they still seem tense, angry or not over it, there is more that
you can encourage them to share. Saying, “Okay, I understand, but is there something
underneath that?” is a kind way to allow your partner to discover their own truth. If you
are the person not sharing enough, it’s time to speak up. And of course don’t hesitate to
contact a professional for support with this.

Have Fun: The 3rd Person Game
Adding a little levity can make a difficult conversation feel lighter, easier to receive, and
playful. We call this the 3rd Person Game because all you have to do is tell your partner
what’s going on and how you feel, but you have to talk about yourself in the 3rd person
as if you are the narrator of your own story. When we shift our orientation from “I” to
“Jennie” or “Ahram,” it forces us to really examine what we say about ourselves, and it
can remove the sting out of a confrontation. By bringing laughter to a conversation that
may otherwise feel inflammatory, it enables us to be more receptive to each other.

Example: Jennie says “Jennie felt completely underappreciated and ignored this
morning because Ahram promised he would clean the bathroom yesterday…” Ahram
responds, “Ahram is sorry and sincerely forgot about his commitment. He’ll do it today
and he wants to make it up to Jennie by asking her on a pizza delivery date tonight. Will
she accept his invitation?”

Use Human Design in your relationship.
Our most advanced tool to coach couples is to utilize the wisdom of Human Design.
This is Ahram’s specialty, and we use it ourselves to regulate our emotions and improve
our communication. And it’s fun! People gravitate to different aspects of Human Design,
so we recommend that you hone-in on what speaks to you about your personal design.
To begin, imagine that each of us is uniquely designed to respond to our world and
make decisions in a particular way. We each have insecurities, gifts, and challenges
that are part of our programming. When you understand your own Human Design and
your partner’s, the door opens to completely accept yourself and each other. It can
inspire empathy toward your partner and your relationship, and it also gives you new
tools for communicating and resolving conflicts. You can read more about Human
Design here: A Complete Guide to Human Design.

Here are a few examples of how we use Human Design for each other: For Ahram,
when he is out of sync and not in flow, he is often just “in a hurry to get things done to
be free of the pressure.” This is one of his own “Not-Self” behaviors. See more about
this idea here: On Forgiveness of Self. When Jennie senses this, she brings it to his
attention. Most of the time, to be his best self, Ahram just has to slow down and wait for
things to come to him instead of rushing projects along. In Jennie’s case, she has an
uncommon Authority, which is Human Design lingo that describes her way of clearly
picturing a situation. Jennie’s Authority is called “Sounding Board,” which means that
she needs to speak her thoughts out loud and then hear them bounce back to her. So
when Ahram senses that Jennie is stuck on a problem, he encourages her to sound out
her ideas until they crystallize for her. Human Design helps us to be our best selves and
make better decisions together.

Create a morning ritual.
Now more than ever, we need to start the day with inspiration. If you can create a
morning ritual together, you can automatically begin each day feeling connected to one
another in a positive way. Our advice is to keep your ritual simple and to commit to
doing it every single day.

Here’s what we do: Right after we wake up, we make our favorite lattes and sit in front
of our fireplace. We share what we are grateful for and say a prayer for what we
want to manifest that day and in the future. We speak what we want into existence from
this place of gratitude and abundance.

This practice is a way to powerfully connect your independent dreams into a collective
purpose. What do you want to create for yourselves and your community by the time the
Stay at Home Order is lifted? Why not dream it together?

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A Delicious Idea For That Bag of Frozen Blueberries (Just Add Maple Syrup)

Hoping to use up all those shelf-stable staples and frozen bags in the back of the fridge? It seems we always have a bag of frozen blueberries on hand and are never quite sure what to do with them.

This deliciously simple breakfast recipe comes from London's 26 Grains, a restaurant (and now cookbook) specializing in cozy consumables geared towards a breakfast crowd, but with plenty to pine over for lunch and dinner too. Try whipping up this blueberry breakfast from the pages of chef Alex Hely-Hutchinson's cookbook...

The post A Delicious Idea For That Bag of Frozen Blueberries (Just Add Maple Syrup) appeared first on The Chalkboard.

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In the Spring Shop: 34 Gift Ideas + Other Things To Enjoy At Home

From Earth Day to Mother's Day, spring is still happening whether we're ready for it or not. Perhaps these spring holidays are more special than ever this year -- we're gifting Mother Earth with what it virtually an extended vacation and have more time to spend with our own mothers or children than ever before (If we're lucky. All our thanks to essential workers!).

We've filled The Shop with a spring curation of useful tools, books and home goods to enjoy while at home, as well as great gift ideas for moms -- or just those who are isolated at home and could use a pick-me-up.

Explore the full curation below and over in the The Shop. Here are notes on a few of my favorites...

+ This unexpected modern lamp from Brooklyn designer, Virginia Sin. If you're looking for a simple room upgrade while home, this is it.

+ Instead of sending flowers this Mother's Day, consider sending a plant instead -- it's more sustainable and will last longer. One exception? This divine-smelling jasmine bunch that will scent an entire room.

+ A sustainable self-care product that's still stylish and thrilling? Odacite's new 552M shampoo bar, named in honor of the 552 Million plastic shampoo bottles that end up in landfills every year.

+ I get a small thrill out of rows of white plates, clear glasses and unglazed ceramics in the kitchen. However, I'd gladly make room for this rainbow of watercolor tumblers to light up a long table once we can all entertain again. A great gift to send your favorite hostess who just can't wait to host a dinner this summer.

+ Haven't worn jeans in weeks? We get it. WFH life is made for joggers and t-shirt dresses. That is, unless we're talking about Citizens of Humanity's head-to-toe jumpsuit that is surprisingly comfortable, perfect for wearing out on lone grocery runs, and, later, first meet-ups with friends this summer. Add a set of Citizen's cotton masks to your order and gift one to all those long lost friends.

+ I'll never take access to fresh produce for granted again. Sign yourself up for this monthly fruit delivery service for chic, seasonal and edible centerpieces. You may not know what day of the week it is, but these deliveries will definitely remind you that it's spring.

Explore all of our picks here....

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Kelly Leveque’s Skincare Routine – Plus A Huge Clean Beauty Giveaway!

Now listen, if we listed every friend in wellness with incredibly glowy skin we'd be here a long time, but one nutritionist we know had us all asking questions and we've finally got some answers.

It's no secret that eating well, working out and mindfully managing stress can result in clearer, plumper, glowier skin -- and so many of the health pros we know have the dermis to prove it. We asked for the skincare routine of long-time collaborator, nutritionist and author, Kelly Leveque and, apparently, we wern't the only ones who wanted to know -- Kelly just produced a skincare guide in response to growing interest from her Instagram community. True to Leveque's approach on all things wellness, Kelly released her skincare routine with an in-depth fourteen page guide filled with science-driven reasoning for each of her favorite ingredients, habits and products. After checking it out, we knew that Kelly's guidance would be right up our readers' alley and we decided to collab to turn the guide launch into a story with one of our best skincare giveaways EVER.

To grab Kelly's skincare guide packed with glowing insights and TCM-approved product picks, simply enter your email below and the team at Be Well By Kelly will send you the full guide -- but that's not all: three of the email entries below will win some of the best products mentioned in the guide from KYPRIS, specifically, their  Nighttime Ritual set valued at $671. ($671!!)  

KYPRIS is a clean skincare brand we've celebrated since launch. Not only is their packaging a complete thrill to have on our vanities, but founder Chase Polan's unique and potent formulas are some of the best clean skincare products we've found. My personal favorites are KYPRIS Clearing Serum, the most gentle and effective spot treatment I've ever tried and Beauty Elixir I - 1,000 Roses, a healing rose oil KYPRIS once sent me to heal a bad vacation sunburn (it worked wonders!). On Kelly's shortlist of dream products you'll find KYPRIS' Moonlight Catalyst.

KYPRIS Nighttime Ritual set includes: Cleanser Concentrate, Moonlight Catalyst, Beauty Elixir III: Prismatic Array, Puff of Love (just named Best Moisturizer by Glamour Magazine Beauty Awards!) and the brand new, Ad Astra.

Enter your email below to get the full guide and to enter our incredible KYPRIS giveaway!

To give you a sneak peak at Kelly's thorough skincare guide, here are the products included in her night-time routine to get you inspired. Remember, everything in the guide is clean, safe and up to par with our own clean beauty standards!

Kelly Leveque's Night-time Skincare Routine

Cleanse

Honest Gentle Cleanser
(gentle, herbal gel formula)

or

MyChelle Perfect C Cleansing Oil
(vitamin C cleansing oil)

Exfoliate

Goldfaden MD Doctor's Scrub Grapefruit Oil
(ruby crystal microdermabrasion)

or

Versed Daily Brightening Solution 4 Acid Toner for Daily Use
(lactic, glycolic, azelaic, and kojic acid)

Evening Treatment Serum

 Kypris Moonlight Catalyst 
(pumpkin enzymes)

or

Cocokind Vitamin C Serum
(vitamin c)

Oil:

Pai Skincare Organic Rosehip BioRegenerate Oil
(soothing rosehip oil)

or

Biossance Squalane oil
(deeply hydrating vegan squalane)

Get Kelly Leveque's Skincare Guide + Enter to Win over
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By entering your email you'll receive Kelly's 14-page Skincare Guide, plus be entered to win 1 of 3 KYPRIS' Nighttime Ritual sets ($671 value)!

Contest will be announced via email to 3 winners. Open to residents of the continental US only. By sharing your email you agree to receive email communication from the Chalkboard, Kelly Leveque and KYPRIS.

The post Kelly Leveque’s Skincare Routine – Plus A Huge Clean Beauty Giveaway! appeared first on The Chalkboard.

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LA Bite of the Week: Skinny Fish LA’s Delivery-Only Cauliflower Sushi Rice

Are delivery-only restaurants about to become more of a thing? You can bet on it. With the explosion of food delivery apps over the last few years, things were already trending this way, however, with the disruption caused by Covid-19, creative delivery-only models are likely to become more and more popular.

Enter Skinny Fish LA.who just opened last week and hooked us on our very first order...

Headed by Chef Ei Hiroyoshi, former head sushi chef at Sasabune (one of LA's original omakase-style restaurants), Skinny Fish is sure to become an instant hit with Angelenos and here's why: Chef Hiroyoshi has mastered sushi-style cauliflower 'rice'.

What We Ate: We ordered the Salmon Sashimi Bowl filled with sashimi, traditional sushi veggies like cucumber, edamame and seaweed over cauliflower sushi rice and greens. We also ordered sushi rolls which were small, but incredibly impressive. Chef Hiroyoshi hand makes his sushi 'rice' and it makes all the difference. According to Skinny Fish LA, they have spent a long time perfecting the cauli rice -- from how it is cut, how much it's boiled, and when and how much vinegar is added.

Why We Ate It: This is the kind of delivery dish we know beyond the shadow of a doubt that wellness lovers across the city will be ordering daily. The bowls are clean, keto-friendly and perfect for in-office delivery (should we ever returns to our desks!).

Why you need: We're all for more restaurants innovating low-touch ways of doing business right now. While we're interested in the delivery-only restaurant trend, the true story here is the rice-free, keto-friendly cauliflower sushi rice. Skinny Fish LA's bowl are what all our healthy delivery dreams are made of.

If you're in New York, Bondi Sushi also make cauliflower rice offerings. According to their site, Bondi is still delivering during this time. 

The post LA Bite of the Week: Skinny Fish LA’s Delivery-Only Cauliflower Sushi Rice appeared first on The Chalkboard.

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33 Good Habits To Start While You’re At Home

Whether you are working from home, unexpectedly homeschooling multiple children, or dealing with new financial realities this month, this quarantine provides us all with enough stress on it's own without the added pressure of projects and robust personal growth goals in the mix. However, many of us find we have more time on our hands than ever before, even if just in the in-between moments we're having at home. And we've found that small habit adjustments like the below have perked us up and given us some life while we spend more time at home.

If you're feeling overwhelmed, sit this one out. So many of us are committed to turning lemons into lemonade, mistaking an over-zealous sense of personal accomplishment for 'positivity'. Sometimes true positivity just needs a nap and a good cry in order to make it through the long haul.

Peruse our list and learn more about these good habits with some of our links to classic stories. Get inspired and find a few projects that inspire you or simply sit back, brew some tea or pour a glass of wine, and enjoy the idea of these new habits for a near future in which we hope we'll all have a bit more energy...

Floss everyday (better yet oil floss)
Make your bed in the morning (while you're in it, try this uplifting meditation)
Dry brush before you shower (summer will still come)
Stay off your phone for one hour after waking.
Learn to use a gua sha every day to de-puff. (Watch the video)
Diffuse mood-lifting essential oils in the morning. (Learn which oils connect with various emotions.)
Detox your makeup stash of toxic ingredients.
Clean out your pantry with this useful guide.
Break a habit without any guilt. Here's how.
Begin taking supplements. Here's how.
Start a new habit with this 20-second rule.
Drink 1 or 2 glasses of warm water on waking.
Use a tongue scraper.
Learn a breathwork practice.
Do inversions every afternoon to give your back a break.
Learn to make your own salad dressing.
Try adding more simple superfoods to everyday meals.
Use cuticle oil on fingers and toes every night.
Turn off screens an hour before bed.
Detox your closet.
Take a daily multivitamin.
Take a daily probiotic.
Learn to master your own mindset. 
Learn to communicate your feelings better.
Understand your sleep cycles.
Learn to make smoothies the right way.
Try an in-bed yoga routine.
Improve your marriage. (This advice is refreshing)
Learn to pre-party before for a night out the healthy way.
Get abs.
Learn how to manage stressful moments better.
Make peace with your body.
Detox from a sugar addiction.

The post 33 Good Habits To Start While You’re At Home appeared first on The Chalkboard.

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