Recipe: Cucumber Mango Salsa with Avocado

Here in Southern California, chips and salsa could almost be made into their own category of food. That, and avocados, are just a few of the many perks to living in a Mexico-border-town, with access to great produce year-round. This is a recipe I created for a delicious, chunky, super fresh salsa. Inspired by my longings for summer heat and backyard fiestas.

Ingredients: 

• 1 large ripe avocado
• 1 large ripe mango
• 1-2 small baby/seedless cucumbers
• 3 small tomatoes (or the equivalent in large)
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 1/8-1/4 red onion
• 1/2-2 peppers of choice (depending on spice preference, I used 1 jalapeno in mine)
• 2 fresh garlic cloves
• Juice of half a lemon
• Salt & pepper 

I prefer to use the baby/seedless cucumbers, as they tend to be crisper and "fresher" tasting than regular-sized cucumbers. For the mangos, this is a little trick I learned as a kid. I've been cutting my mangos like this ever since! It's super easy and clean to do. Simply cut the mango in half (because of the pit, you can't cut it exactly in half, but you get the idea) then make a cross-stitch pattern with a paring knife, cutting to but not through the skin. Once you have your little squares cut out, simply "pop" the mango pieces out by folding the skin back with both hands.

Once all of your ingredients are diced, mix them in a bowl with the lemon juice, salt and pepper (to taste). I mixed the avocado in last, which works as a nice "glue" to keep all of the chunky delightfulness together and sticking on your chip! This is such a delicious snack, it could be eaten with a fork and spoon. I used mine (pictured above) to top off a breakfast burrito with scrambled eggs, mixed greens, pepper jack cheese, and sour cream. 

Bon appetite! 

Home Remedies On A Budget: The Vinegar "Mother"

In my last post I mentioned putting apple cider vinegar (ACV) on my face as a natural beauty treatment. Today I want to talk more about ACV and why everyone should keep this essential item well-stocked in their home. 

Over the centuries, ACV has been used for a wide variety of purposes, from pickling to polishing, from acne to allergies. ACV is anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and anti-viral. Basically, it can be used for just about everything that is natural home/body/garden/pet care! That being said, I encourage you to hop on over to your local grocer, pick up a bottle of raw, organic, unpasteurized and unfiltered ACV (most effective in this natural state, only raw organic ACV has the "mother" of vinegar that makes it so beneficial, unlike clear or "white" vinegar. The "mother", made of living nutrients and good bacteria, can usually be seen settled in the bottom of the bottle; a dark brown, cobweb-like sediment.), do a little research and discover all of the amazing ways to use ACV. To start you off, here's a list of my personal favorite uses:

• Balance outer ecosystem: Mix equal parts ACV and water or use undiluted, depending on sensitivity of skin. Spray, soak, or apply appropriately to affected area to:

• Treat acne and other minor skin problems such as warts, athlete's foot, and any other fungal, viral, or bacterial rashes (apply 2x a day with clean cotton ball)
• Condition, revitalize, and bring shine to the hair, remove scalp buildup (rinse with ACV/Water solution after shampooing)
• Remove stains from teeth (apply directly, undiluted, then rinse with water)
• Eliminate discomfort from sunburn (add 1 cup to bath and soak for 10 minutes)
• Replace your store-bought after shave and toner (try adding a few drops of lavender or other skin-soothing essential oil to cut down on the vinegar smell)
• Bring massage-like benefits to hands and feet (soak for 10 minutes in equal parts solution)

• Balance inner ecosystem: Mix 2 Tbsp ACV, 2 Tbsp honey, 1 cup of water. Drink 3-4x a week to:

• Detoxify, regulate pH balance. Disease and illness thrive only in acidic environments. ACV is highly alkaline and will bring boosted immunity to the body
• Relieve allergies, sinus pressure and infection by breaking down mucus and cleansing the lymph nodes
• Reduce inflammation, relieve arthritis pain
• Prevent flu and stomach illness
• Lower cholesterol and blood pressure
• Help relieve migraines

• Balance the home: Use equal parts ACV and water to:

• Clean and disinfect almost any hard surface in the kitchen or bathroom including microwaves, floors, toilets and tubs, windows and mirrors
• Repel fleas on your pets and in your house
• Clean coffee makers, remove hard stains
• Replace your dishwasher soap
• Kill weeds

And that's not even mentioning all of the amazing recipes and ways that ACV can be used in cooking, preserving, and more! A must-have item for every household, go get yourself some apple cider vinegar today! 

Do you have a favorite way or recipe for using apple cider vinegar? Be sure to leave a comment and let us know!

Weekend Recap: Pine Valley, Antique Row Cafe

Happy Monday, friends! The rain came to visit us here in San Diego over the weekend. The sun is poking her head through today but I'm still in lazy-rain-mode, enjoying a cloudy morning sipping hot coffee in my sweatshirt and yoga pants. Yes, we're staying comfy all day. Speaking of comfy, it was a delightfully cozy weekend for us in THE HIVE. 

On Friday I met up with my older sister and her BFF for coffee, breakfast and laughs; then went to Target for some attempted-maternity-clothes-shopping. We turned 17 weeks pregnant today and my belly is really starting to pop. It's still in this in-between stage, though, of not quite fitting in my old clothes, but not being quite big enough for full-blown maternity wear. I'm making do with tights, comfy knitwear, and loose dresses. Not to mention my beloved yoga pants, which I'm finding myself in more often than not. (Note to self: do not become homeless-looking-pregnant-woman!) When Oscar got off work we headed East on Interstate 8, to the small mountain-town of Pine Valley, where I grew up and where my parent's still live. We enjoyed the rain, my mom's delicious vegan cooking, and cuddling up by the fire. 

The rain continued to fall all through Saturday: we enjoyed a late breakfast, took a misty walk through the woods, scoped out the garden space (look at those beautiful raised beds: the irrigation! the compost! the glory!), and I helped my mom grade papers while Oscar enjoyed the coveted massage chair. Oh, and more food, of course!

Sunday: we celebrated my younger sister's 23rd birthday with breakfast at the Antique Row Cafe. The rain brought a unique freshness to the air and we enjoyed Rosemary and Jade blossoms everywhere. The evening was spent relaxing and preparing for the week. I pampered myself with a little apple cider vinegar on my face and fancy polish on my nails, while Oscar worked on his computer and Frenchy slept enough for all of us. (He always gets so worn out on trips to Pine Valley!)

That's all for now, folks! Apologies for not having the pickling and dehydrating tutorials posted yet. It's been a busy week and I never can say when our sweet baby will allow me rest. (I think I have experienced almost all the symptoms of pregnancy that one could have so far!) Needless to say, we go with the flow here in THE HIVE, and as soon as I have time to sit down and pickle, you'll be the first to know!

Love & peace,

Ashley, Oscar, and the sweet potato babe

Handpicked

Good morning and happy Thursday, friends! As promised, here's what online musings kept me motivated, hungry, and contemplative this week.  

• Going crazy for all the adorable recipes & sweet photos in this awesome book. Can't wait to be a mama!
• It's that time, friends! Order your organic seeds & supplies for Spring & Summer gardening. 
• Speaking of seeds, Gayla Trail, founder of You Grow Girl and my go-to gardening guru, is giving away five packs of her favorite heirloom vegetable seeds. 
• DIY 101: homemade extracts of vanilla, peppermint & almond. Yum!
• Pickled WHAT?!  I'm drooling over this amazing recipe. Can't wait to try it out! 
• Nine months pregnant and doing handstands! SERIOUSLY inspiring my prenatal yoga practice.
• Garden Betty's Nasturtium Pesto has my mind reeling with Nasturtium-induced recipe ideas. (Like Los Angeles, nasturtiums grow in a weed-like fashion here in San Diego and I just knew there was more to be done with that edible plant growing everywhere, including my patio, pictured above.)

That's all for now, folks. We're heading out to Pine Valley for a weekend getaway at my parent's house in the mountains. Excited to relax, eat my mom's food, melt into my dad's massage chair, and, AND! We're finally planning our garden in the new space up there (pictures soon, it's amazing), PLUS convincing my mom to let us build a chicken coop. Dad is on our side, so all should go well. Haha! Wish us luck. Enjoy your day and have a blissful, blessed weekend!

It's Easy!

You've heard the song, you love the word, you know it's all you need... 

LOVE! 

I love to love things. Oscar often catches me overly-referring to things as "favorite" or "best" or, well, you get the idea. My excitement often finds me exaggerating with words and Oscar in his infinite say-what-I-mean-and-mean-what-I-say wisdom will gently guide, "Really, honey? Didn't you say this was your favorite (insert so-and-so) last week?" Yes, so I admit it. I'm a lady who calls at least half a dozen people her best friend and, well, basically I have several versions of my favorite everything. (I'm working on it!) All joking aside, though, as we talk about love and the objects or people that we give our affections to, I personally have found it a beautiful challenge to narrow that scope of influence and to be more protective over where I invest these precious energies. As Mumford and Sons would say, 

"Where you invest your love, you invest your life." 

In a similar vein, a quote by the author Annie Dillard reminds us that, 

"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives." 

These days we spend a lot of our time engaged with social media. Even those of us who consider ourselves naturalists at heart still find a portion (or more!) of time during the day that revolves around connecting our ideas and inspiration to people through the internet. For a few years I struggled to find peace in this technological realm, experiencing almost constant tension over the time that could be (and was) wasted on Facebook, Tumblr, Flickr, etc., and really, the futility of it all. These tensions usually led me to the point of feeling the only answer was to erase my identity and flee to a barren existence of life in the woods. Seriously, though. I once had a public meltdown while sitting at a coffee shop because of how many people around me were on their iPhones. Hysterical tears, crying for the loss of humanity! 

OK, so I used to be a little dramatic. Alright, a lot dramatic. Needless to say, my ideas have grown up a lot since that time. (Proud iPhone owner, what-what!) However, I do still see what potential there can be for negative/destructive habits to form around our technological devices. For me, I've found peace in this area through continually keeping in check the key-factor that is BALANCE. I've learned that it's all about keeping the pendulum centered, never swinging too far into reclusiveness or over-sharing. It's about balancing where and when and how to share, and with whom. But even more powerful than what I choose to share, I found it's what I choose to consume that holds the most weight. 

So without getting too preachy, or going into too much detail, (let's face it, we all know our own "weaknesses") I encourage everyone (myself included!) to consistently examine what we are allowing ourselves to consume, through media of all forms. Are healthy habits being created that will lead to positive mental wellbeing? If not, think of one small discipline you can practice that will take you a step in the right direction. Maybe this means limiting computer time or not allowing yourself to look at certain websites. Whatever it may be, I think Rob Bell advises beautifully in his book SEX GOD when he says, 

"It’s not about getting rid of desire. It’s about giving ourselves to bigger and better and more powerful desires. What are you channeling your energies into? Because they will go somewhere. If they don’t go into a few, select, disciplined pursuits that you are passionate about and are willing to give your life to, then they’ll dissipate into all sorts of urges and cravings that won’t even begin to bring the joy that the “one thing” could. You are crammed full of the “madness of the gods.” And you will end up giving the force of your being to something."

Knowing that we are full of the "madness of the gods" (love that!), that our energies must go somewhere, and that honestly, running away to the woods doesn't work for most people, our desire is for HOME IN THE HIVE to be a safe haven of resource and information that would benefit both the mind and spirit. That being said, every week or so we plan to highlight our "favorite" blogs, videos, recipes, tutorials, etc. that have been getting recent love from us around the interweb. I'll be calling these posts "Handpicked", and please! If you have great sites you follow or information to share, please feel free to leave them in the comments section! Our goal is to create a shared space with trustworthy links to reliably positive sources and material. 

Stay tuned for my first "Handpicked" post, coming later today or early tomorrow! Make it a great Wednesday, friends! And special thanks to The Beatles for all their love-spiration!