Thank you for joining A GAL NEEDS...for this great giveaway! One lucky reader will receive a $50 eGiftCard to purchase any item from The Magic Zoo! Read about our awesome sponsor below and enter the giveaway at the bottom of this post! Good luck!
We all have special people in our lives, as well as special animals. The Magic Zoo creates fine jewelry for you to wear, honoring those special and beautiful animals! Wear the animal or pet that you love in a beautiful animal pendant of
sterling silver or 14K gold. Every one of the designs is available in
gold or sterling silver. Some select designs are also available in ceramic and lead-free pewter. Capture the warmth of the human-animal bond
with an animal pendant representing your furry, feathered or scaled
companion. Add a high-quality chain of either silver or gold and your
pet necklace is ready to wear as soon as it arrives. Feel connected to
your pet wherever you are. Below are just a few of the animals immortalized into wearable art! But there are so many more, check it out! Also, read Helena's full review here! Use the special discount code below, giving 10% off any purchase at check-out! AGALNEEDS10 (Valid through July 29th only)
Are you ready for another barley recipe? Barley, as it turns out, is a wonderful grain. I was able to create a Barley and Black Bean Burger of my own that looks like a real hamburger and tastes amazing! My inspiration comes from The Cooking Network and Pinterest! I never even considered this additional reason as to why barley is great to cook with. Aside from being high in protein and fiber, it is very inexpensive! And when combined with another inexpensive food, black beans, it is a great budget meal! I quite like veggie burgers but have come to understand that if they are purchased, many of them have additives and are full of GMO by-products, so make your own! They look and taste so much better! Here's what I did!
Barley and Black Bean Burgers - Yield: 4 Burgers
Black Beans take a long time to cook but are finally done here!
My Ingredients:
1/2 c. dried black beans, soaked overnight, cooked in crock pot on low until soft (low - 8 hours, high- 6 hours)
1/4 c. hulled barley, cooked on stove top until soft, usually about 1 hour
1/2 c. chopped green pepper
2 stalks celery chopped
1/3 cup chopped green onions or scallions
1/2 cup kale or chard chopped rough
Approx. 3 Tbsp. bread crumbs or crushed croutons
Olive oil
Bacon drippings or oil of choice
Salt and pepper
1/6 tsp. Chili Powder or to taste
1/4 tsp Seasoning Mix (I use Spike) or to taste
1/6 tsp. Cayenne or to taste
After beans and barley are cooked and soft (make sure to salt each while cooking), process them in a blender or food processor until they are well-mixed.
In olive oil, sautee the vegetables until tender, adding kale or chard leaves last, cooking them until wilted. Add in the seasonings to taste. Add this into bean and barley mixture and blend until well processed. In addition, add approximately 2 tsp. bacon drippings (or another oil of your choice), and the bread crumbs. The mixture should be well mixed and feel like wet clay. Form into 4 patties and put into frying pan and brown with oil of your choice.
Burgers browning in the pan
Once browned, finish cooking them in a preheated 350 degree oven, about 15 - 20 minutes. Serve on buns with tomatoes, lettuce, and condiments of your choice.
If
you haven't cooked with Swiss Chard, I suggest you do it this summer!
It's delicious! I'm embarrassed to say I had never cooked Swiss Chard before a couple of years ago, but after I did, there was no turning back. The leafs are very thick and don't look like they would be very good raw, like in a salad.
First, I cut up an onion, 2 carrots and some garlic. I sauteed these in some bacon drippings until they were tender. (I love bacon drippings. I'm like my grandmother, I save it every time we cook bacon!)
I then added some chicken broth and put in the finely chopped red stalks of the chard. I cooked these until they were tender and lastly, added the leaves and cooked them until they wilted! I added some crumbled bacon, lemon juice and topped it with Parmesan Cheese.
The result was amazing! I felt like a chef indeed! I absolutely love the subtle zingy taste of the chard. It is a great addition to any meal!
Some of you know I have a Border Collie named Evee! She is quite like my child and definitely
part of the family.She likes to play
tug-of-war, fetch, catch, and go on long walks, both on and off leash. She is an amazing Frisbee catcher and loves to
show off her skills.She loves to hear
the oohs and ahhhhs when she leaps off of the ground and catches the Frisbee mid-air.She is
a bit finicky and doesn’t like to share very much with other dogs or with
children.Each of my three youngest
nephews has had a little run-in with her because they have gotten into her space a
little too quickly.She requests, no she
demands, respect from those who interact with her, especially those she feels
dominant towards.And by respect, I mean to not get too touchy-feelie too quickly, especially around her nose and face, don’t
take her toys from her unless you have that confidence that she wants you to, don’t tease her with food
and don’t play with her food dish while she is eating.To her pack she is a protector, a nurturer, a companion
and a child.She knows I’m momma.
When I heard there is a company called The Magic Zoo that is passionate about
creating pieces of quality jewelry that depict animals, I was very
intrigued. I love all kinds of
animals and I feel kinship with many of them and felt that I would love many different kinds of animals in a piece of
jewelry.But what did I do first when I
visited the website?I looked to see if
there might be a border collie piece.Why?Because I love my dog!And yes, there was a sterling silver border
collie pendant, which I ordered.
When I received the piece, I was impressed because the
artist captured the Border Collie at rest.The ears flopping down, the content smile on the face with the tongue
slightly out, and the stripe down the nose.I loved it!Don’t have a border
collie?No worries, there are 46
different dog breeds depicted on the site.Also, I heard through the grapevine that the artist, Merry Rosenfield,
loves to work with her customers to make the perfect piece.She is very accessible.I
actually had a question about her most popular animal pieces and she personally
responded, telling me that the guinea pig pieces are super popular.People must really love their guineas! It makes me want to have a guinea pig as a pet...The most popular dog order is the Yorkie
puppy, another really sweet and popular pet!
But there are so many more animals depicted with jewelry at
The Magic Zoo!There are farm animals,
pocket pets, sea animals, butterflies, cats, reptiles, and insects.The materials used are sterling silver,
enamel, pewter, gold, and bronze.There
is a metal for everyone and a price for everyone.
About the Artist:Merry Rosenfield has been fascinated with animals since her childhood
and now has meshed her art talent with her love of animals.She has animals represented from all around
the world.She states, “My dream day
would include creating new animal designs from early morning until I couldn’t
keep my eyes open at night.”You want someone who is that passionate about their work doing
work for you!
If you love animals, and want to express that with the very
fashion you wear, you can count on Magic Zoo to help you make the statement beautifully.Animals are beautiful--why not make them a
part of what makes you unique? Make a lasting tribute to your favorite animal with a unique piece of jewelry! If you had just one choice, what animal would you want to pay tribute to?
Disclaimer: I received product for the purpose of review. All thoughts and experiences are mine!
Here is my diet cycle.Sound familiar anyone?Day 1 – I’m
so motivated. I've got a vacation, events, and cute clothes to wear and I'm going to take advantage of it by being 10 lbs. lighter! This is the day I will
pull myself out of the quagmire of diet failure! I start out with a healthy breakfast.I know that it’s important to start out with
a good breakfast! Gotta keep that energy up!2 hours later, however, I start
to feel hungry and my stomach starts to feel a little growly.I go in and grab a healthy sized
healthy snack, telling myself I will watch it at lunchtime.It’s definitely not too late, I've got this!Lunchtime comes and I’m feeling hungry
again.I look at what my co-workers or
my husband or the people on the Food Network are eating and I don’t want to be
deprived, so I get myself an extra helping of something plus another food
item.Alright now I’m feeling a little
apprehensive about the future of this first day of the rest of my life. C’mon, let’s not make it like all of the rest
of the days I failed!I swear to myself
that I will definitely have to watch it from now until bedtime.Evening comes around and I’m watching my
favorite t.v. show.I can’t watch t.v.
without feeling a bit hungry, which I am.It’s been 5 hours already.I feel
deprived but yet at the same time I tell myself I should be careful.I eat a full dinner.In front of the t.v.Day 1 – Epic Fail!!!!
Day 2 – I don’t eat breakfast, in fact, I don’t eat until 2
pm.I hop on the scale again, after this
morning’s initial eye-popping number to
validate that this was a great idea.Sure enough, I’ve lost a lb. from this morning’s dismal reading.Great!It’s a good thing, ‘cause I’m hungry.I look in the freezer and there sits a carton of my favorite ice
cream!Tillamook, you are a bad, bad
company because before I know what’s happening, I dish out 3 large scoops of
Mudslide.Ha!But I’m being smart.I put in a half cup of Oatmeal to up the fiber count!And hey, that’s all I’ll be eating until
right at 7 pm when I plan to have a healthy green smoothie and call it a
night.
At 3 pm I realize that I
committed to bring food for our women’s group summer get-together.It’s going to be salad with a chicken option
and desserts.I tell myself I will just
have the salad and a tiny bit of chicken for the protein.When I get there, it looks amazing! The food
is delicious and conversations are lively.I look around and I am not, by any means, the biggest gal in the
room.It makes me feel more at ease and
so, I sample all of the entrees and many of the desserts.I leave realizing that I have just failed
Day 2.
But there is a ray of hope.After my 4th of July food fest, I found the motivation to do a little
less eating and a little more exercising and so this morning I was right at my
ready-set-go weight.It is 15 lbs. above
what I’d llke to be, but not as bad as it could be.Of course I've already repeated my Day 1 pattern.However, I do know something that breaks my
cycle of epic diet fails.
Appetite Curbing Foods. I
recently wrote about barley being very good at suppressing the appetite because
it makes you feel fuller longer.It
really does work!Another thing that is
a great substitute for the ice cream that somehow I feel like I need in my life,
is an appetite suppressing shake.It needs to have natural ingredients and it needs to make me feel full,
as well as satisfy that sweet-tooth dairy craving I have. It's the craving that makes me buy ice cream even
though I know I’m kidding myself when I tell myself that it will only be eaten
in small amounts and will last for at least a fortnight. I will eat every last bit of it in less than a
week.
I know appetite
curbing foods work because I was successful at replacing certain trigger foods
that are high in calories--low in staying power.And that is why I’m not any heavier than I am
right now.I just need to have a lot of
it on hand. And that is my commitment.
Trusted Health Products carries some amazing natural facial care products that I love.Now they have
finished developing and have released their newest product.It’s called Shake The Crave, an all-natural meal replacement/snack.The name says it all.I like it because it’s 120 calories of high
protein, great- tasting goodness!You
can mix it with whole milk, 2% milk, almond milk, rice milk, coconut milk, etc.
depending on your preference.I really liked the taste of both the chocolate
and vanilla!They taste great, not like
some kind of yukky diet drink.And it
does keep me very satisfied until it’s time to eat.It’s got 100% organic natural ingredients.Here is the ingredient label for the
vanilla:Organic Non-Fat Dry Milk,
Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Coconut Powder, Organic Ground Vanilla Bean,
Electrolyte Blend (Potassium Citrate, Calcium Chloride, Sodium Bicarbonate,
Sodium Sulfate, Potassium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride).Allergen information: Contains milk and coconut.
At only $40 per canister, allowing for 2 shakes per day for
one week, the cost boils down to $2.67 per day.Not bad, you could break an energy drink habit, a diet coke habit, or a
candy bar habit for that amount, replacing it with something amazing for your
health!Right now you can get a free 2
sample package for just the cost of shipping, which is $4.95 U.S.It’s a great way to see for yourself whether
or not you can succeed at your goals, especially if you have
unwanted food cravings!
disclaimer: I received sample products for review purposes. All opinions and experiences are my own.
I’ve been
interested in cooking with different grains lately for health reasons, but also
for diversity. We recently rediscovered
cracked wheat cereal and it’s not as terrible as I remember when I was a kid. My cute mom would try to make us eat it, but to no avail! The mistake she made with that was to have a
variety of cold cereals tucked neatly into the cupboards. What sugar-infused kid wouldn’t
prefer the artificial rush of manufactured cereal over cracked wheat? We were
good at holding out, that’s for sure! I've wondered what other kinds of grains are out there that I haven’t tried, but want
to now!
I’ve chosen barley as my grain du jour and
will be focusing on some recipes here for the next little while.
For one thing, barley is a natural appetite suppressant, keeping you
filled up for up to 16 hours, while being tasty and nutritious. As someone who loves to eat-- and
eat a lot--this would be a great weight control tool! I know from first-hand experience that while
it is hard enough to practice portion control when feeling satisfied, it is
virtually impossible when hungry!
Barley has
the most fiber of all the grains, which is why you stay feeling fuller,
longer. It may also have anti-diabetes
and anti-obesity actions. Basically, it
is eaten like rice, except it takes longer to cook. Hulled barley is the best, because it has
the tough outer shell taken off, but is still not processed other than that. It’s also best to soak it overnight unless you are cooking it for a long time.
I made a Bean and Barley soup in the crock pot that was really tasty and super easy! It had Parmesan Cheese, bacon and lots of veggies.
I actually utilized the rind on the cheese, which is naturally salty, to give it a bit more flavor. Also, because it's summer, I put my pot outside on a bar stool because I don't want the extra heat inside! That's why it's called Summer Bean and Barley Soup! Put the pot inside and it becomes Winter Bean and Barley Stew! See how that works?
Adding the rind to the mix!
Ingredients
1 cup
multi-bean mix or Great Northern Beans, rinsed and soaked overnight.
½ cup barley
3 cloves
garlic, smashed
3 medium
carrots, roughly chopped
2 ribs
celery, roughly chopped
½ medium
onion, roughly chopped
1 bay leaf
4 tsp. dried
Italian herb blend
Salt and
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 14-ounce
can whole or diced tomatoes with juice
¼ cup freshly
grated Parmesan
1 Parmesan cheese
rind
Optional: 4
- 5 crisp bacon strips, crumbled, Hot n' Spicy All Purpose Seasoning
Mixture before cooking and adding water
Directions
Put beans,
barley, vegetables and seasonings and cheese rind into a crock pot. Add 6 cups water, cover, and cook on high
until the beans are tender and the soup is thick, which could be 6 – 8 hours.
1 hour
before done, add the tomatoes and stir well.
Just before serving, add the Parmesan and the crumbled bacon. If you have any Hot 'n Spicy All Purpose Seasoning, you can put that on and it really makes the flavor pop! I use Spike. Serve
with a crusty bread and salad. You'll stay full for quite awhile!
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