Southern Style Chia Cornbread

This is my super healthy (okay, minus I suppose, the butter) take on a good old southern staple- cornbread.

Those of you with Southern roots can understand and appreciate the art and beauty behind a perfectly executed cornbread.

I like my cornbread sweet and hearty. I enjoy the heavy texture of the cornmeal, crunchy edges and soft warm buttery middle.

Despite the healthy tweaks, this is a recipe sure to make your great-grandma smack her lips with approval.

Ingredients:

1 cup Yellow Cornmeal

1/2 cup All-purpose Flour

1/4 cup Ground Chia Seed

2 Tablespoons Ground Flax Seed

1 Teaspoon Sea Salt

1 Tablespoon Baking Powder

4 Tablespoons Sugar

1 cup Buttermilk

1/2 cup Milk

1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1/4 cup Butter

1/2 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions :

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. In a larger bowl add your corn meal, flour, chia, flax, salt, sugar, and baking powder. Blend the dry ingredients well. In a smaller bowl, combine buttermilk, milk, and baking soda. Once the mixture is blended,  add your melted butter and vanilla extract and mix until smooth.

Pour the wet ingredients from the smaller bowl into your larger dry ingredients bowl. Stir until fully blended then pour your mixture into a greased pan and cook for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick emerges clean from the center.

*If you're looking for a vegan option, simply substitute coconut oil with the butter and use a non-dairy milk in place of the buttermilk and milk blend.

How do you like your cornbread?

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Green Clay Detoxifying Facial Mask

Green Clay Detoxifying Facial Mask- Are you ready for some serious pampering?

This is the first facial mask that I ever learned to make and I'm still in love almost a decade later.

This mask sucks out toxins and soothes the skin, making it an ideal remedy for acne and blackheads.

Here's what you need:

1 tablespoon green clay powder

1/4 teaspoon of turmeric powder

1 teaspoon grapeseed oil

Plain full fat yogurt or rose water

Follow these steps:

In a bowl, mix the green clay powder and turmeric together until blended.

Add the grapeseed oil followed by the yogurt or rosewater (enough to create a past-like texture).

Smooth the mixture over your face and wait for it to dry (usually 10-15 minutes).

Once dry, rinse with warm water and pat your face dry with a towel.

Now you're ready to take on the world!

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Coconut Sugar All Purpose Scrub

Coconut Sugar All Purpose Scrub:

I have been OBSESSED with coconut oil lately.

I've been making facial cleansers, conditioning hair masks and you guessed it, scrubs.

Here's my favorite coconut sugar all purpose scrub recipe:

1 Cup Organic Unrefined Coconut Oil

1 Cup Sugar (granulated or brown)

1 Tablespoon Baking Soda

1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

*2 Drops Sandalwood Essential Oil

*1 Drop Ylang Ylang Essential Oil

*Note- You can use other essential oils or choose to omit them altogether. I happen love the earthy sweet aroma of sandalwood and ylang ylang in a scrub.

**You will need a shatter proof container. I usually use glass, but if I'm making something for the shower, I steer clear of it. Soapy hands are unreliable and nobody wants to step on shards of glass in the shower- ouch!

Here's what you do:

I use this scrub on both my body and face. It leaves your skin baby soft and smelling so good!

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The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the Mall

What makes a man or woman great? Is it their actions? Their thoughts? The words they share that inspire others? Their writings? Their courage? A combination of the above?

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

                                                   -Martin Luther King Jr.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

As I stood at the entrance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial taking in the memorialized words of this great man, I began to wonder.

The sun was deceiving. It was sunglasses weather, but it was also skin a bear and wear his fur to keep yourself warm weather. As the heavy wind gusts pushed us to and fro, we made our way beyond the murky frozen Potomac, past the Lincoln Memorial and along the Washington Mall towards the relatively new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.

Making our way down Independence Ave., the National Monument in the distance, Dr. King's memorial seemed to appear suddenly, three dignified cream colored peaks before us.

I was drawn immediately to the wall of Dr. King's quotes, presented in a smooth arc behind his statue. A powerful living memorial, I followed the semi-circle of quotes, taking each one in, letting them resonate.

The Martin Luther King Jr. memorial was dedicated on August 28th 2011, 48 years after the historic March on Washington.

Behind Dr. Kings image lies the mountain of despair, which is divided into two pieces to symbolize the hope of the present. In the distance, between the mountain of despair, one gets a clear view of the Jefferson memorial, a symbol of freedom and liberty.

Located in West Patomac Park in Washington D.C., the memorial is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There is a parking area.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial: 1964 Independence Ave SW, Washington, DC

Dr. King's legacy should inspire us all to aim to be great. To live lives of service, lives that matter. Whatever your mission, whatever your cause, let it ring from the mountaintops and refuse to be moved.

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The National Air and Space Museum

It was like being in a flashback of my childhood.

My feet clicked across the glossy white floor, bright light streamed in from the window spaces above, and everywhere around me, suspended overhead, bolted to the ground, were massive relics of aviation and space exploration.

I remember being dragged here as a child by my grandfather, a former Tuskegee Airman. He would stand and marvel at the B-52 bombers and telescopes, the space shuttles and astronomy dioramas. Not at all interested in science, airplanes or space exploration, I was always bored and unimpressed.

"Come on grandpa, is it time for ice-cream yet?"...

Flash forward twenty years and I've found myself the proud yet baffled mother of an airplane obsessed two year old. His love of all things aviation certainly didn't come from me or my musician husband, it must be an inherited love from his great-grandfather. My role as a mom is not to question, but to support, so off I found myself, yet once again heading to the National Air and Space Museum. At least I told myself, this time I was the adult, and could control when we would leave and how long we would spend lost in space.

Located on historic Independence Avenue, the National Air and Space Museum boasts the largest collection of historic air and spacecraft in the world.  A part of the Smithsonian museum collections, the museum is FREE! A great perk of many things in the nation's capital.

The National Air and Space Museum

600 Independence Ave SW, Washington, District of Columbia 20560

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Decadent Healthy Hot Chocolate

Wait a minute Sojourner, decadent, healthy and chocolate in one mention?

Yes, my dear reader, yes!

I love to indulge in rich hot chocolate, especially when the weather dips below zero (what has been going on lately?) There's something so lovely and soothing about sipping warm creamy chocolate and I feel even better about my sinful sips, knowing that I'm drinking to my health as well. You see, health is all about the ingredients.

Follow me...

This is your basic set of ingredients. You can choose to get fancy as I usually do, or you can settle for the old classic.

What You'll Need:

- 2 Cups of Milk (Here I chose regular organic cow's milk which I think tastes the best, but you can substitute any    milk of your preference).

- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

- About a 2" by 2 1/2" chunk of organic dark chocolate 70% or higher

What You May Want to Add:

- Brown sugar to taste (you may skip this step if you like a bitter dark chocolate)

- Cinnamon to taste (a simple sprinkle will do, you may skip this step if you don't enjoy cinnamon in your chocolate)

- Cayenne pepper (just a tiny pinch to add a pop of spice, you may skip this step if you don't like spicy hot chocolate)

Steps:

So, what makes this healthy?

There are three ingredients that make this delicious treat healthy:

Dark chocoalate, Cayenne pepper and Cinnamon.

Dark chocolate in my opinion is a super food. It contains a ton of anti-oxidants and has heart healthy attributes as it is known to lower blood pressure and aid in the prevention of blood clots. Dark chocolate also contains the chemical PEA which helps to release endorphins resulting in the blissful feeling of being in love. Does it get any better than this?

Cayenne pepper is cleansing, warming and detoxifying. Cayenne pepper eases stomach and throat irritation, helps to break up mucus (a great compliment to all of that milk) and has anti-fungal properties. Cayenne is a great addition to winter beverages especially during cold and flu season.

Cinnamon is a miraculous spice that is known to regulate blood sugar, reduce LDL (harmful) cholesterol levels, and manage minor pain. Cinnamon contains manganese, fiber, calcium and iron and tastes so lovely.

So there you have it...decadent, healthy, hot chocolate!

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