Emergency Pie: Paleo Pumpkin Pie Recipe

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So, this fall heralded the concept of “Emergency Pie”. Because, you know, words like company, and lazy, and delicious. Sometimes you have all of those, or just one of those, or sometimes you just gotta have a pie.

This is my “I gotta have a pie” Paleo Pumpkin Pie Recipe. It is delicious, consistent, and simple to remember. Please enjoy:

Paleo Pumpkin Pie “Emergency Pie” Ingredients

3 Eggs (+ another yolk, if you have the patience for that, but it’s also fine without)
1/3 Cup Honey
1 Can pumpkin
1 Splash coconut milk (let’s say 1/3 cup if you’ve got to measure it?)
1 TB Cinnamon
1/2 TB Nutmeg
1/2 TB Cloves

Bake until firm-looking at 325 degrees (about an hour). EAT QUICKLY* (after all, it’s an emergency ;-))

*Please note you do not need to eat this quickly. Eat quickly, or savor, or share. Your call. 

Natural and Non Toxic Pillows & Sleep Products — And Latex Pillows Giveaway!

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First, a little backstory: a month or so ago, I purchased a 40 Winks sleep mask and was really excited to try it out. But then I noticed that it stank from the moment I took it out of the package to the moment I put it back in.

I did a little research online, only to find out it is 100% polyurethane (you know, that thing that Dr. Oz shared can disrupt your hormones, thyroid, and adrenal gland). So, like JHubb’s pillow, into the trash it went (or, in this case, I just returned it to the store), and the search for non toxic pillows began.

natural latex mattress

In the mean time, I plan to upgrade to an eco mask from Etsy. But this took me down a rabbit hole of researching the products I use in my bedroom as I try to have a more restful, more natural sleep experience.

Before you get too annoyed by all the raving I’m doing about Savvy Rest, all of their products meet my standards for “not having things inside them that will make me sick,” and some of these items might make it on to my Christmas list for our cat, Miss Kyle.

Let’s take a virtual walk through the Savvy Rest store and see what kind of products they can offer to the family on a mission to eco-fy:

savvy rest pet bed

Natural Latex Pet Beds

#1 – These are adorable. Who wouldn’t want a happy, comfy cat or dog? I bet a ferret would enjoy it, too, before eating all of it. #2 – Another eco practice: instead of tossing mis-sized pieces of latex, Savvy Rest decided to use those pieces to create natural latex pet beds.

Natural Latex Crib Mattresses

Children and babies are especially sensitive to dangerous chemicals in their food and living environments, so I’ll definitely be pricing natural latex crib mattresses when the time comes for us to be crib shopping. These mattresses leave that whole “toxic flame retardants and pesticides” thing out of your crib mattress, with firm Dunlop natural latex and organic cotton with organic wool batting.

non toxic pillows

Natural Latex Pillows

All through this month, I’ve had the chance to review two of Savvy Rest’s natural shredded latex pillows and their queen size EarthSpring mattress. I’ll save the mattress for another post, because now it’s time to gush about these pillows.

Have I tweeted about them enough yet? They arrive so generously overstuffed that I literally had difficulty carrying two of them at a time (in a good way). Heavy, comforting… unbelievable. I’ve never met a pillow like this, and you can literally customize it to the firmness you want, and create a third pillow from the “leftovers”. I don’t think I’ll ever go back. They’re fully warrantied for three years, but are expected to last much longer.

These pillows are so awesome, I’m desperate for someone else to experience their glory. So, I’m here to announce a Natural Shredded Latex Pillows Giveaway!

Enter the giveaway below by leaving a comment about how you sleep!

Do you love it? Can you never get enough? Have you ever been frustrated by all the options for pillows, so you settle for whatever you purchased last?

Let me know… and possibly win this head-rest of the Gods! You have three weeks to enter, and the winners will ring in the New Year with a free natural shredded latex pillow. Winners will be chosen by random number selection on January 1, 2014. SORRY to our friends in Canada, and elsewhere, only available to continental US residents! 

Want to hear more about Savvy Rest’s ideas for eco-fying your home and bedroom? Connect with them on social media!

Savvy Rest on Facebook
Savvy Rest on YouTube
Savvy Rest on Pinterest
Savvy Rest on Twitter
Savvy Rest on Google+

Savvy Rest provided me with several products free of charge in exchange for my unbiased review that will be published later this month, but has not otherwise influenced my review or opinion. This post includes a sponsored link, and be sure to stay tuned for a fun giveaway later this month!

How We’re Saving Money Through the Holidays

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Welcome to our lean Christmas!

Starting your own business is not without sacrifice. Things that seemed important pre-small business and pre-Paleo AIP (AKA lattes and eating dinner out) aren’t as important anymore.

And since we’re still in the beginning stages of trying to make up for lost time when I first became self-employed (there’s a delay between working and getting paid, did you know? ;-)) and I haven’t quite got up to replacing my income (when you factor in taxes on income and taxes on free mattresses…. OUCH), I’m safe in saying there’s not much disposable when it comes to our Christmas budget.

Here’s how we’re ringing in the season spending less than ever, but in a way that doesn’t feel like a sacrifice:

Christmas Draws for Family

No, not Christmas drawers… though buying everyone boxers could probably save some money, too.

JHubbs and I are blessed that both sides of our family have moved to “Christmas Draws,” in which each couple or person chooses one couple or person and treats them to a nice gift or set of gifts.

This brought our spending from $25 per person in our family (ouch) to $50 on one side and $100 on the other side (less ouch!). There’s still a little mystery, and there’s still a fun gift, but with much less cash output. Kids under 18 still get fun gifts, though! So we’re countering that with home-made surprises that I won’t ruin on the blog :-).

Christmas Card Replaces Christmas Gift

To any friends reading this…. sorry, haha! This year, our Christmas Card replaced our Christmas gifts to many friends and family members.

We’ll still pack the emergency wine bottle when we hop on the road, but otherwise we traded out spending money on gifts with spending time updating our friends and family members on what we’ve been up to this year. So far, no one’s upset! :-)

ChristmasOrnament

Think About the Financial Blessings You’ve Already Got

When you start to get present-greedy, calling attention to financial blessings is really, really helpful. Instead of lusting after the pretty things this season, I made some paper ornaments of Christmas blessings we don’t need to worry about.

Things like, Slowly doubling my per-post rate and Last-minute changing our non-refundable hotel reservations with no fee. We could also add to that Paying our rent in a gorgeous apartment, and Affording Paleo AIP foods for me.  

These things have really helped us financially and “didn’t cost anything” outside our normal budget. In fact, these are things that even some with high-paying jobs or expensive Christmases might not have. Spending time remembering that makes you feel very rich indeed.

Overall, I still feel like I’ve been blessed with an amazing opportunity that covers all the birthday and Christmas gifts I could want for a long, long time. And one that’s encouraged me to consider my non-gift blessings. So when people ask me what I want for Christmas, I can confidently ask for, “More of the same!”.

Small Businesses Like Savvy Rest Inspire Me

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I showed up in Charlottesville, after winding through the idyllic countryside (I’m sorry to use that word, but since I learned it in high school I’ve been waiting to use it at the perfect time, and the Charlottesville countryside in the fall is the DEFINITION of idyllic, so forgive me), to be greeted by John McMullen, the Savvy Rest Art Director-Marketing-Specialist-Gentleman-of-Many-Hats (you know, the way small businesses do and ought to work).

John proceeded to walk me through the relaxing showroom, filled with gorgeous, hand-made bed platforms (here’s a peek at my favorite, the Trousdale) and comfortable looking wool and latex mattresses. I got to sit on all of them.

savvy rest products

I asked all my questions, squished all the example latex fillers, and got to hear the Savvy Rest story for myself:

The Savvy Rest Store & Business Model

Savvy Rest is the brainchild of Michael Penny. He lived in an ashram for 20 years. When he emerged, he worked for a futon company and gradually learned the mattress business. He picked up on how most mattresses are made, marketed, and sold.

As he learned what toxic chemicals wind up in mattresses, it became his life’s work to create a healthy, comfortable alternative… because he couldn’t find an awesome, natural mattress already…

It doesn’t get more American small business than that!

The idea took over — good customer service, a good attitude, and good products. The company now provides products to 120 dealers across the country, and 4 company-owned stores on both coasts.

People Are the Heart of Small Businesses

The home office is as messy as it is busy — there’s no sense of pretense or corporate inanity in the large rooms that meet in the showroom, and the vibe through the whole place is just good people working hard.

Speaking of good people, you can see on their site they’re a well-rounded group. They are comprised of a yoga teacher, a sailor, an actor, a health editor, musicians—and many more. Can you even imagine what that holiday party is like?

But really, that’s how I imagine I would want to grow my own company. Not by searching through a stack of resumes — but by connecting and bringing real people on the journey with you.

savvy rest product assembly

Local? Still Better

The finishing touch to supporting a small business like Savvy Rest is how they manage their testing and production. Their mattresses are manufactured just outside Charlottesville, VA. That means no side-trips through Asia to be sprayed with formaldehyde, and reasonable shipping in-country shipping costs.

Savvy Rest has no secrets about where it sources the mattress parts and where the mattress is produced. That way, you’re sleeping on what you’ve paid for: high-quality, natural ingredients.

We just missed Small Business Saturday, but I think we should celebrate year-round. What’s your favorite local, small business?

Savvy Rest provided me with several products free of charge in exchange for my unbiased review that will be published later this month, but has not otherwise influenced my review or opinion. This post includes a sponsored link, and be sure to stay tuned for a fun giveaway later this month!

Quick Clean House: Clear the Counters

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Living in a teeny tiny apartment is awesome for several reasons (though not, at this time, price ;-)). The main one is that it is so easy to maintain: there’s no room for stuff, so we don’t buy stuff, and we put stuff away ASAP.

This has morphed into an amazing quick clean house tip:

CleanCounter.jpg

Keep your counters cleared, not necessarily clean. 

Kitchen and living rooms clutter up really easily, but  keeping tops clear of actual items makes everything feel a lot fresher at all times, whether you have time for a full dust and wipe down or not.

This photo shows a sink of gross dishes, an oven covered in pots and pans, and nothing’s been wiped down today. But in person it actually looks orderly!

Try it out! Go clear of your counters. Even without actually cleaning (spraying, wiping), look at how clean everything looks! And now you’re ready for company at any time, because all it takes to clean up is a quick wipe down.