Eyes, ears, mouth, and nose~February '13

The short little month brought a lot of things for me to be "into".

I've been fighting a lingering illness, so I've recently been won over by sinus rinse. I won't go into the gory details, but it pretty much rocks at getting your stuffy nose un-stuffed in a natural way.

On the lookout for natural, "gentle" sugars or sugar replacements, I'm falling for coconut sugar. I've been using it in baking recipes mostly...like the best oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (I also used the coconut sugar to make my own chips!), pumpkin muffins, and pancakes.

Speaking of kitcheny things, I have been making a lot of butternut squash soup. On the road the being convinced that I eat too much saturated fat (still not 100% buying it because I've eaten wholesome fats my whole life and remained healthy), I decided to do Meatless Mondays. Since the family I work for on Mondays is essentially vegan, preparing meatless meals has been pretty easy. And cutting out meat and/or animal products just once a week is a much more realistic way for me to tone down the saturated fats because no way in heck am I giving up dairy. Ever.

On the reading front, I'm consistently perusing my GoodHousekeeping mags. Above is a recent photo of the books on my nightstand (or on the floor under my nightstand). Til We Have Faces, by C.S. Lewis has been my main literary pursuit. I am inches away from being finished with it and though I'm less than blown away, it has been nice to read good writing again. Clive Staples, you have such a way with the pen...

I am trying to cut down my TV consumption, so the only show I am legitimately keeping up with is The Biggest Looser. I don't care how people may mock it...this show is so, so inspirational to me. I love watching how human beings can push themselves to their limits and change when they really have a reason to do so.

One last thing: I'm majorly into Taylor Swift's RED for my ears. This album totally satisfies my desire for girly tunes and singability.

And that's what my eyes, ears, mouth, and nose were into this February. Happy weekend!