All I need is a little bit of coffee and a whole lot of Jesus!

So, this won't come off as much of a surprise but, I am not a morning person. If I could just wake up in complete quiet for like, 3 hours, that'd be great! HA! That does not happen with three children, as I'm sure most of you know! One thing is for sure though, coffee is the first thing I think of when my alarm goes off! Before starting Keto, my husband would joke that really I had creamer with a little coffee. Which was kind of true. LOL. So, when I decided to start this new way of eating I knew that I was going to have to change my coffee situation. Stat! I had been hearing a lot about the Bulletproof coffee, and honestly I was nervous to try it. I mean, butter and oil in coffee? EW! But honestly, its not bad at all! Its actually quite good! So, I wanted to share with you how I make mine, and some of the awesome benefits if you are doing Keto as well!

Benefits of Bulletproof coffee when eating a Keto lifestyle:

• It helps to keep you feeling full for a longer period of time
• MCT Oil has been known to stabilize blood sugars, improve brain function and even help your mood! 
• Increases the amount of fat your body burns
• Reduces cravings 
• And you can even substitute breakfast for this because it is so filling!

Ingredients I use are:

• 1 Cup of brewed coffee of your choice
• 1 TBSP of MCT Oil
• 1 TBSP of Heavy Whipping Cream
• 1 TBSP of Ghee
• 1 TBSP of Sweetener of choice- I like this
• 1/2 TSP of Cacao Powder
• *Sometimes I will add a dash of cinnamon on top once its all mixed

Once you get all of that together, I use a Bullet blender to emulsify all the ingredients together! Remember that water and oil don't mix, so we have to force them together. I turn it on and let it run for about 10 seconds and then its finished! What you are left with is a creamy and frothy coffee! So yummy! 

I hope this helped any of you who were wondering what all the fuss is about this coffee! Its definitely my go to every morning and keeps my feeling full until lunch time! 

Let me know if you decide to try it and what you thought! 

Lets talk skincare..

Some of you may have already heard of the company called Limelight by Alcone, and maybe some of you haven't? I recently became a Beauty Guide with them back in January after struggling with some hormonal acne that would just not go away. Since switching to our all natural skin care line, my face is breakout free 90% of the time now! What a huge victory that is! I wanted to share with you all what my go to products are, and what I use on a daily basis!
I have combination skin, which means I'm dry around the perimeter of my face and oily in my T-zone. Because of this, I mix up our products a little bit depending on what my skin is telling me.
Here is a normal day for me.

I cleanse my face morning and night with our Dream Clean Cleanser. Its great for problem skin!

After I cleanse, (at night) I apply our Sotoks Serum with a drop of our One Drop Wonder- These two together are great for their antiaging properties!

I moisturize next, in the morning I like to use our Calm Balm because its a lighter weight texture, and at night I use our Skin Therapist, its a little heavier and adds a little more moisture.

Lastly I apply our Must Dew Oil. This oil took me a couple weeks of using off and on to figure out if I liked it, now I love it and it is a MUST DEW! " :)

Once or twice a week I use our Masque of Zen, which is a great detox mask and makes it awesome for breakout prone skin! You can even apply it as a spot treatment, and by morning it has made a significant difference!

I know this may seem like a lot, but for me its just become my routine. And I can honestly say my skin has never felt better! If I can help you begin your journey using our amazing products, please contact me!

Loving myself.

Some days we just don't take care of ourselves enough. We don't get enough sleep, we eat things we shouldn't, we stress over things beyond our control. Its never easy, but sometimes we need to learn to practice more 'self love'. That was part of my resolution to myself this year, take better care of myself -in and out-.I suffer from Post Partum Anxiety, even three years later. It has definitely gotten a lot better, but sometimes I still struggle, so I think practicing more of this will help heal from the inside!  I started with switching out my skincare to a line that doesn't have a bunch of garbage chemicals in them. Those chemicals can cause disruptions in your body, imbalances and sickness. I've already noticed quite a difference in my hormonal breakouts just by making this change. Next, I decided I was going to start doing Keto. *Brief note, I quit and restarted three times, and in the middle joined Weight Watchers for a brief two weeks. (not for me). Its hard, its so hard- but aren't we worth it? I'm at the point now where I don't really 'love' myself, and that is not a place I want to be. So, Sunday I decided it was time to start Keto again, and I made my husband and my sister hold me accountable, and help keep me from quitting, again. I guess that's another reason blogging came back to mind recently, another way to be held accountable. I'm not really sure how many people will actually read this, but I know its out there for anyone and everyone that wants to see it. That makes me feel pretty vulnerable.
I did some Pinterest searching a while ago for ways to practice more 'self love' and I found some pretty neat ideas. Some I've done already, and some I haven't, but I thought Id share some!

• Remove toxic people from your social media accounts
• Spend some time every day alone, doing something you enjoy
• Do something to pamper yourself
• Eat more real foods and cut out processed 
• Wake up earlier, so you aren't as rushed in the mornings
• Go enjoy the sunshine
• Turn the music up, and dance
• Take a drive to nowhere
• Listen to an old mixed CD and reminisce on those times
• Buy yourself some fresh flowers

These things aren't hard to do, and yet sometimes we still cant find the time to do them. I encourage you, if you are suffering similar to the way I am, to take the time to do these small but meaningful things for yourself! 

Avovado, eggs and bacon. Oh my!

Want a simple keto breakfast?
I don't typically eat breakfast. Usually I make my bullet proof coffee and call it a day! HA! But when I do have the time or urge, this is my go to!
Super easy. I scramble 2-3 eggs in butter and add some cheddar cheese. After they are cooked I put them in a bowl with some cut up avocado and some bacon pieces. To top it off I add some Everything but the bagel seasoning which you can find at Trader Joes! I add that to a lot of different things, its so yummy!
What are some yummy keto breakfast ideas that you love or have tried? Id love to hear!

Amazing almond butter cookies, keto friendly!

In my last post I mentioned these delicious cookies! Almond butter chocolate chip, they were amazing and hard to believe they don't have any flour in them at all! One of my biggest struggles while on keto is sweets. When I cheat, its usually on some kind of sweet snack. So finding recipes that work, and taste good is a big deal to me! I found this recipe on Pinterest and wanted to share! Ill post it below, and if you try them make sure to comment and tell me what you thought!

Cookie Recipe- Belleofthekitchen

Snow, and a revamp of the blog.

A snowy  day called for a revamp of my old blog. Its been quite a while since I have been on here, five years actually. And man, what has happened in those five years. But, that just may be for another day and another post. Today I just want to reintroduce myself and share what I plan for this page in the days ahead.

We finally got our 'big' snow today for the Winter, I took the girls outside and we played for a while. When we came back inside I made them some hot chocolate (because that's always what you do after you come in from playing in the snow!) After cleaning up a bit, I decided to make some cookies, Keto almond butter chocolate chip cookies to be exact. And that brings me to how I got back to this old blog today. After I posted a pic of the cookies when they finished baking, it hit me how much I missed taking photos and writing about my life on a day to day basis. Don't get me wrong, I know I do enough of that on Facebook and Instagram. But there is just something different about blogging, and although I hadn't thought about it in quite some time- I have missed it. So, here I am! :)
What I'm planning for my page is to share my journey doing Keto. I have been struggling significantly with my weight over the last year since the baby quit nursing, and every time I stray away from Keto I keep coming back. It works, I have just realized that I cannot allow myself a cheat day or even a cheat second. Once I cheat, I'm done. So maybe if I share my journey, and recipes (what we loved and maybe even what we didn't) it will help to keep me accountable!
Next, as most of you know I  am in the beauty industry, I own a salon, and do hair as well as share my love of Limelight makeup and skincare. So, I figured this would be a great place to continue to share those things as well as what I share in my Facebook group! My New Years resolution this year was to take better care of myself. Mind & body. Limelight has been part of that change, and its been so amazing thus far!
And of course, it wouldn't be the blog of my life if I never shared about my husband and our three girls! So every so often you will see an update on them as well! I hope that you all enjoy what I post, and I encourage everyone to comment and interact! I cant wait to meet new people, and hopefully some that may be on the same journey as I am, and can relate to my posts!
Thanks so much for taking the time to read this, see you soon!