The 6 Best In-Season Fruits & Veggies To Buy For Spring

How does getting food that's not only delicious, but also good for you, and in season sound? It sounds pretty great to us too! Certain types of fruits and vegetables are in season about now, as spring is in full swing. Check them out below, and hit up your local grocery store to grab the goodies.

Strawberries

Everybody loves strawberry season, as short as it is. Those deliciously sweet local strawberries are packed with vitamin C, which is a potent antioxidant and important for the immune system. Strawberries also contain folate, which helps prevent neural tube defects when taken during pregnancy and may also play a role in preventing cardiovascular disease.

Spinach

Though we can usually get spinach all year round, there’s something satisfying about spinach from a local farm or picked from the garden. Spinach is rich in detoxifying chlorophyll and is a good source of vitamin E. Vitamin E is a potent antioxidant that most people don’t get enough of in their diet.

Rhubarb

Rhubarb is one of the first signs of spring at the farmers' market. The very tart rhubarb is a good source of calcium and is delicious when stewed with a natural sweetener.

Asparagus

Those tender local asparagus stalks can’t be beat when it comes to flavor and nutrition! Asparagus contains folate, vitamin A, and iron. For best results, steam, sauté, or roast asparagus.

Beets

Beets do double duty, since you can eat both the root and the greens. The vibrantly colored beet root is a great source of antioxidants and may be helpful for liver detoxification. Beet greens are a good sources of vitamins A and K. Vitamin A is important for vision and a healthy immune system, while vitamin K is essential for blood clotting and plays a role in bone health. Beets are delicious roasted, shredded on a salad, or juiced.

Mangoes

These juicy and sweet tropical fruits make a great dessert and should satisfy even the worst sweet tooth! They are packed with vitamin C and niacin. Niacin is a B-vitamin essential for deriving energy from the food you eat, and it may play a role in cancer prevention.

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7 Simple Steps To Get Happy Now

Everyone’s got things in their lives that stress them out, whether it’s work, home, or whatever. No one likes being stressed out or unhappy, so take a look at ‘7 Simple Steps To Get Happy Now’ below and flip that frown upside down!

1. Begin your day by writing down your intention.  

It may sound something like this: “Today I'm experiencing a gift. I'm letting go of any expectations and accepting all that comes my way with love.” Write down how you'd like your day to be in the present tense and affirm it. Our thoughts and feelings create our future, so set yourself up first thing in the morning with the future you desire!

2. Remind yourself daily that you're starring in your own movie, and you get to write all of the scenes.  

Our perception is our reality, so perceive life the way you want to see it! No matter what happens, be thankful for it and trust that it's a gift. If we believe something wonderful is happening, it is!

3. Be gentle with yourself.  

Often we blame ourselves for our circumstances, and that only causes us more pain. Remind yourself to be gentle and kind toyou... numero uno! Give yourself a break and love yourself fully, without conditions. It feels really yummy and is contagious as well!

4. Make an agreement with yourself to let go of judgements.  

You can have them back if you want, but I guarantee if you take a break from judging for a few days, you won’t want them back.  Judgements are just a reflection of something we don’t want to see in ourselves, so examine that judgement (what is the judgement trying to tell you?) and let it go!

5. Spend time focusing on what you want instead of what you don’t want.  

It’s easy to get caught up in what's going wrong in your life. Exchange that inner dialogue for what's going right in your life. What we focus on grows, so focus on what you want more of!

6) Gratitude, gratitude, gratitude!

When we are in a state of gratitude, we are in love with life! And guess what? Life reflects that love right back to us. Yes, please. I’ll take some more of that!

7) Chill, dude!

It’s not that deep. Ok, sometimes it is deep, but in general life is a series of experiences intended to encourage us to trust and love more. So take everything with a grain of salt, think happy thoughts, and dream big!

Full article here: http://bit.ly/ZjsKAZ

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Puppy Pie Pops

Easter may be over, but by no means does that mean that the sweet treats need be as well! We’ve got a recipe that you and your kids are sure to love from ‘Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons’. Check out Puppy Pie Pops below and get to work, chef!

Pillsbury asked us to come up with some fun pie pop ideas so we will be sharing some this week that we have created!  We made these Puppy Pie Pops and my boys loved them!  Pie pops are easy & lots of fun to make!  Kids seem to really enjoy them and it's a nice change from cake pops.

Puppy Pie Pops

Pillsbury Pie Crust

Jarred/Canned Pie Filling (we used strawberry)

Regular & Mini Chocolate Chips

Chocolate Cookie Frosting

1 Egg

Lollipop Sticks

Preheat the oven to 375. Roll our your pie crust.  We cut out heart shapes using a heart cookie cutter....

Then cut out one 1 ear using a knife.  Use that piece as a guide to cut out the other ears...

Place one heart on a pan lightly sprayed with cooking spray.  Then place on the ears. Cut out some small pieces from the pie crust to make a tongue & nose. Now place on the tongue. Fill with the pie filling and then press on the stick in the center. Top with another heart cut out then use a lollipop stick to seal the edges. Beat 1 egg and brush the tops. Now place on the nose. This is what it will look like before baking....

Bake for about 15 minutes until lightly browned.  We attached chocolate chips for the eyes and mini chocolate chips on the face using the chocolate cookie frosting.

We slipped out Puppy Pie Pops in decorative straws to give them a more colorful look!:)

WOOF WOOF!!

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Bon Voyage, Clutter: Organizing with Suitcases

If you love traveling, or could do with some good looking storage options then we have some suggestions for you. Ok, the first one might be really expensive, but it's too gorgeous not to include. Check these five high quality suitcases below!

This luggage has functional storage with vintage style. No longer practical for jet-setters, old world suitcases can have second lives as handsome sources of storage for the home. Their easy portability makes them especially handy for things that need to be moved from one room to another, like toys, craft supplies and magazines.

Some of these suitcases may look weather worn, but they are brand new and ready to be filled! To add an eco-friendly factor, reuse vintage suitcases rather than buying new. I use mine to store heaping piles of yarn for crochet projects that I move from one room to another.

1. Globe-Trotter Centenary 33" Extra-Deep Suitcase, from J. Crew; $1,750.00

2. Antique Ivory Suitcases - Set of 3, from IMAX Corporation; $163.86

3. Cargo Cool Traveler Suitcases, 3 Set, from Cargo; $120.00

4. Antique Style Suitcase With Stripes (Set of 2) from Quickway Imports; $82.99

5. Cargo Cool On the Road Suitcase, from Cargo; $40.00

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