Natural Cold Remedies + Artisana Giveaway Winner

What a beautiful week it's been! Now, to what you've all been waiting for! We have a winner for the Artisana Organic Food giveaway!!! I apologize for this post being so late in the day; I'm sure there must have been some suspense :P I've had trouble with Internet access, hence the reason. So, now onto the winner! And, it is . . .

Audrey!!! Congrats, girl! You've won a free 8oz jar of  Artisana Organic Raw Coconut Butter & the  Assortment of On-the-Go Squeeze Packs :) 

Since my last post I've experienced my cold from bad to worse and now to better :) I had a painful ear infection which tempted me to get antibiotics. I'm all for meds when you need them! I'm currently out of town, though, so it wasn't as easy as running to the family doctor for help. Plus, it was late in the day making it harder to find something open. I guess you could say I was "forced" to go the natural route :P And, I really didn't want to use antibotics unless I absolutely had to and now that I'm over the hump- I'm glad I was able to muscle through it :-) 

I made an onion poultice which REALLY helped to calm me down. Has anyone else ever done this with success? For those interested: you slice an organic onion in half, boiling until soft. Then you wrap it in a cheese cloth, holding the onion next to your ear as you tilt your head to meet the steam as it rises. This soothes the pain, and helps to move the congestion that is clogging up the ear. 

Some of my family went hiking at Grandfather Mountain yesterday! They did this 8 mile rough terrain hike in 4 1/2 hours. Joey did it too and he's only seven! I wanted to go SO bad!!! I had to be left behind - which almost killed me because I was sick as a dog. In the end, I was okay with it as I needed the rest :)

This picture is from last year, though! 

Delicious chocolate green smoothie from earlier this week :)

I love this picture! It's one I took from a picnic adventure this afternoon.

This was our delicious packed lunch. Chicken salad & lettuce stuffed into whole wheat pita pockets and ginger snaps for dessert!

And, of course - if you go on a picnic and there's a creek you have to stick your feet in, just for the experience :) 

Have a great weekend everybody! Let me know what recipes and workouts you've been up to of late :0)