13 Favorite Posts of 2013

Hello Darlings!

2013 was a crazy year. I feel like just about everything that could have happened, happened this year! To reflect that, my favorite thirteen posts of this year are rather eclectic. From fitness, to fun, to food, I’ve blogged what I’m passionate about. So, take a look at my favorites this year!

1. Five Foundational Yoga Poses

Holiday Apartment Tour

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Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season! When it comes to the holidays I know I am not the only one who loves to peep into everyone else’s windows and see how they’ve decorated their lives. I thought I would make things easy by sharing a bit of mine!

Do It Yourself: Christmas Tree in a Jar

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If your Christmas tree was anything like mine, you had to hack a few branches off the bottom of it to make it fit into your stand (whoops). I knew I had to keep some of those delicious smelling branches to create something gorgeous. I thought a fun little DIY Christmas project would be a great way to spend Christmas Eve!

Healthy Living Gift Guide: Stocking Stuffers

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I know I’m not the only one who still hasn’t finished my holiday shopping! And for those of you in the same boat I’ve curated a fun little collection of stocking stuffers for the healthy living enthusiasts in your life. Well, mostly healthy living- I saw the cute little dinosaur and just had to include him!

What I Ate Wednesday: Meatless Monday Edition

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I call myself a ‘flexitarian’ that means that I eat a mostly plant-based diet but throw meat into the mix just not every day. I thought it might be fun to share a typical no-fuss Meatless Monday to show that having a veggie day isn’t difficult, even if you are feeling lazy (I most definitely was!) P.S. Sorry for the picture quality-they are mostly iPhone shots!

I started out my day with my usual hot water/lemon/apple cider vinegar drink followed by a cup of tea. And then, to completely counteract any warmth I built up after two hot drinks, I had a smoothie made of organic frozen blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries, Silk Almond Milk, Greek yogurt, and fresh baby spinach leaves.

For lunch I had the leftovers from my Shaved Asparagus Salad recipe I posted on Monday. (Total side note: asparagus is one of those words that for some reason I can never spell correctly on the first try. Frustrating.) The salad is just as good the next day- I love raw veggies!

Holiday Gift Guide for Foodies

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As a self-proclaimed ‘foodie’ I have a running list of things that I would love to add to my kitchen and entertaining collection. From kitchen gadgets, to silly little whimsical touches, the list is constantly evolving- mostly being added to because, quite frankly, I don’t have self-control when it comes to buying toys for cooking! The items on this gift guide are favorites of mine that I am sure will please any food lover on your list!

Meatless Monday: Shaved Asparagus Salad

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While I love salads, I do admit that I tend to get bored of them rather easily. I constantly change toppings, but I rarely stray from the baby spinach I use as a base. So its fun when I decide to pop outside the box for a bit and change it up. I did just that by shaving raw asparagus into ribbons, and topped the veggies with some of my usual garnishes. The best thing about this “recipe” is that it really is more of a guideline- like something? Add more. Dislike something else? Reduce it!

Yoga Lovers Holiday Gift Guide

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If you’ve been following Chickadee Says for a while you might know that I adore yoga- to the point that I can now teach it (yay!).  I have a running list of items I come across that are yoga related and that I would love to have as part of my practice (or my wardrobe) so I thought I would share some of my list to give you a bit of inspiration for the yoga lover in your life (even if it is you!) From practical yoga blocks, to fabulous absurd yoga pants there’s something on this list for every kind of yogi!

Three Ingredient Vegan Hot Chocolate

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While I’m not vegan (I tried, the lack of cheese was my downfall) I do enjoy vegan recipes! Especially when the recipes are substitutes for milk, which I am not particularly fond of. I set out to create a hot chocolate recipe that didn’t call for much sugar, mainly because I’ve been overloaded with holiday sweets, yet didn’t have the slightly bitter taste of pure cocoa powder. Almond milk to the rescue! The slight sweetness made up for the lack of additional sugar and a pop of vanilla give it the extra depth it needed. These three ingredients together stirred with a candy cane made for a delicious hot chocolate that is perfect for curling up with on a cold winter’s day!

Healthy Living Holiday Gift Guide

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If you are anything like me, you are still shopping around for the perfect presents for your friends and loved ones for the holidays this year. I’ve put this fun little healthy living gift guide together for a bit of inspiration for those in your life dedicated to living healthy and rocking it!

What I Ate Wednesday: Holiday Cookie Party

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I love that the winter holiday season is all about getting together with greats friends and family, having fun, and being thankful for our loved ones! Last Saturday was a super fun day- I headed to the Park Meadows mall for an event with Chex playing around with recipes for Chex Mix Party mixes, then headed home to get ready for my fellow yoga teacher training girls to come over for the night!

When I have a big day ahead of me, I am all about a healthy breakfast! I love MixMyOwn.com, an awesome small business granola shop (review here) and I mixed my current custom mix of granola (that has bee pollen in it-so cool!) with persimmon and Greek yogurt!

Can you tell the darlings at Mix My Own like Tinkerbelle?

Hip Opening Yoga Poses

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Tight hips seem to be in a give-in in today’s world. Everything from running, to biking, to sitting in an office chair can lead to tightness, which can cause discomfort in everyday life. A great way to help alleviate this stiffness is to work on loosening your hips by working on stretching the intricate sets of muscles that keep you mobile. As do all yoga poses, the following five hip openers stem from the Five Foundational Yoga Poses (which are also great for opening your hips!) that I’ve gone over in this post, so make sure to pop over to that post for a bit of a refresher! Remember to check out my yoga tab for lots of yoga poses for stress, office workers, and runners!

Meatless Monday: Triple Chocolate Peppermint Bark

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You can’t get more festive than a candy cane. Well, that is unless you use them to top three different kinds of chocolate! Peppermint bark is one of my favorite holiday treats, not just because it tastes delicious, but because it is so easy to make! Ten minutes of chocolate melting, a couple whacks with a rolling pin, and a few minutes cooling in the freezer and you’re ready to impress your family and friends at this year’s holiday party.

Traditional Medicinals Winter Wellness Kit Review and Giveaway (Closed)

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If you’ve been following me for a while you may have noticed that I am rather obsessed with tea. We’re talking obsessed to the point that I have an entire cabinet full of just tea and four very large teapots in a one-bedroom apartment, obsessed. So when the darlings at Traditional Medicinals reached out about their Winter Wellness Kit I was undoubtedly excited- a fabulous brand and a chance to try three of their teas and share them with you all? Yes please. 

What I Ate Wednesday: Thanksgiving

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This year my Thanksgiving was really low key. However, that doesn’t mean we skimped on food- thus a short but delicious What I Ate Wednesday: Thanksgiving edition!

Meatless Monday: Three Ingredient Homemade Cranberry Sauce

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I love cranberry season. When the gorgeous deep red berries start popping up in produce aisles you know that the holidays are just around the corner. Cranberries are so multifaceted in the autumn and winter they make it in to both my menus and my decorating- you really can’t go wrong with homemade cranberry sauce and strands of popcorn and cranberries decorating the tree. However, knowing that I am rather partial to anything delicious I thought I would share my super simple, three-ingredient (four if you count water, but I don’t!) cranberry sauce recipe. Simple and quick, you really can’t beat some homemade cranberry sauce to top off a winter meal.

A December Update: I'm Back!

Hello Darlings!

So I have been rather non-existent on the Internet this last month. So sorry! I disappeared without saying where I was going, so I thought I would catch you all up before I jump back into the swing of things starting with a delicious Meatless Monday post tomorrow!

The main reason for me going internet-black was my crazy yoga workload, which took over all of my free time in such a wonderful way. But now I am officially finished with the ‘training’ bit of my 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training! Yay! I still have some coursework to turn in (lots of sequences!) but I can now officially teach- super exciting! Add that to the hustle and bustle of the holidays and a full time job and you have one very exhausted Kait.

However, December is going to be a fun filled month here on ChickadeeSays! Be on the lookout for lots of tasty recipes, how-to yoga posts, holiday DIYs, fun winter drinks, giveaways, and more!

I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving! I sure did up here in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Where, appropriately enough, you are greeted by a giant turkey complete with a tail made of skis!

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