CBD Mint Mocktail

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup cucumber
• 1 Tbsp. Fresh Mint
• 1/2 cup limeade
• 1/2 cup sparkling water

Instructions

1. Add ¼ cup of fresh sliced cucumber and 1 tablespoon of fresh mint to the bottom of your glass
2. Add 1 dropper-full of FOCL Full Spectrum Mint CBD Drops
3. Fill the glass with ice
4. Add ½ cup of limeade and top with ½ cup of sparkling water
5. Add 1-3 droppers of Broad Spectrum or Full Spectrum CBD (more on that below. Use code AM20 for a discount)
6. Garnish with cucumber and mint!

I want to give you guys a little bit of info about the CBD so you can decide if you want to get it to add to your mocktail. The mocktail tastes delicious without it, but I personally always have made mine with CBD because it helps chill me out the way a cocktail would without the effects of alcohol. There are two kinds of CBD. You can get broad spectrum and full spectrum. I’ll explain both. No matter which one you decide to get, use code 25ALI for 25% off at FOCL! That’s right, I got a bigger discount code than last time!

Broad Spectrum CBD

If you’ve tried CBD before you likely have tried broad spectrum. Broad spectrum CBD comes from hemp and has tons of benefits to help with all sorts of things from pain to anxiety to sleep. I honestly find that the best combination for me when I’m unwinding at the end of the day is mixture of broad spectrum and full spectrum combined. Broad spectrum does not have any THC in it and the effects are very subtle. Like if you have a drink with the broad spectrum during the day, you might just noticed that you’re more chill and don’t get annoyed as easily. Ha! I always find I am much more patient with my kids when I have a mocktail with broad spectrum. But I don’t really feel anything, if that makes sense.

And then, if I’m having a mocktail before bedtime, I will use the sleep broad spectrum.

CLICK AND USE CODE AM20 FOR 20% OFF CBD EVERY ORDER!

Full Spectrum CBD As an Alcohol Replacement

Full spectrum CBD has all the benefits of broad spectrum. However, it has trace amounts of THC in it. I want to reiterate that it’s trace amounts. It’s so little that you might feel absolutely nothing if you have one dropper full or you might just feel slightly relaxed. Or you might need 3 droppers full to feel the effects that you’re looking for. When you get it, definitely start with a smaller dose and then play around with more to see how it affects you.

The benefits of trace amounts of THC have been widely studied, and I highly recommend you talk to your doctor about it if this is something you’re interested in. I’m not a medical professional and I can’t give medical advice. But for me, full spectrum CBD has been incredible. It’s hard for me to even explain it. You don’t feel drunk, but you have that little bit of release that makes you feel like maybe you had a half glass of wine. But without the alcohol! I really feel like full spectrum makes the absolute perfect mocktail if you enjoy the release that having a glass of wine gives you, but you don’t want the negative effects of alcohol. I’ve read only good things about the benefits of CBD with small amounts of THC and I personally love it. So if you’ve ever tried broad spectrum CBD in the past and felt like I didn’t do much for you, I highly recommend trying Full Spectrum instead as long as your doctor agrees that it is okay for you! And don’t forget to use code AM20 for the discount! You can use it every single time you order, not just once!

The combo that works best for me is 1-2 droppers of the full spectrum and then 1-2 dropper of broad spectrum. It just really relaxes me and when I use the sleep versions that helps me sleep so so so well.

Disclaimer (because it’s important), for anybody who is struggling with alcoholism. Please know that this recommendation is not for anyone who is struggling with alcoholism and I highly recommend and hope if that is you, you reach out and get the help you need. Sending you love! This blog is intended for people who are looking to cut back on their daily drinking, who might want others options to help them wind down.

Anyway, I hope you guys make this and I hope you love it!

The post CBD Cucumber Mint Mocktail (You Can Make Without CBD too!!!) appeared first on Ali Manno (Fedotowsky).

What an amazing week! My sister and nieces have been visiting us and it’s  been so wonderful to have them. Especially now that the pool is swimmable, it truly makes us not want to leave the house! My dad and his wife were visiting as well earlier in the week, so we truly had a full house. So much so that I constantly found that we needed things like toilet paper or bagels for breakfast and we never really wanted to leave to have to go do these little errands so my Walmart+ membership came in so so so handy!

You guys know that I use this blog to share different ways that my membership was helpful and this is just another time that I used my membership and not only did it save me time, but also saved me money and made it well worth the membership price!!!

MY TOP

So this week we not only ordered groceries multiple times, but we also ordered other random things, like the toilet paper and kids bath soap. Another time I used it this last week is when we were super low on sunscreen, but we were all hanging by the pool and no one wanted to go to the store to get sunscreen because we are having too much fun and relaxing! We were able to have all of these things delivered from my local Walmart store with no delivery fee because we spent over $35. Some restrictions do apply, but I haven’t run into any of them yet so I honestly don’t even know what they would be!

Gas

We did take one little mini trip while they were here and on the way we stopped by a Mobil station to get gas in one of our cars. Because I’m a Walmart+ member, I was able to save money on that gas! With how expensive gas is for so many people all over the country, this is a really really massive benefit of being a member. Members can save ten cents off every gallon at Exxon and Mobil stations. There’s over 12,000+ stations nationwide! You can also get member prices on fuel at Walmart, Murphy, and Sam’s Club stations. Of course fuel discounts very by location and are subject to change, but take advantage of them as a member!

THE BEST PART

Here’s the best part. Walmart is so sure that once people try the Walmart+ membership they won’t want to be without it so they offer people a free 30-day trial to test out Walmart+ before committing to a membership. So use this link here to start your 30-day free trial and if you don’t love it you can always cancel it. But I truly think you guys are gonna love it and it’s gonna help you so much just like it’s helped me!

Our Family Recipe

Perhaps my absolute favorite time we used my Walmart+ membership this past week is when my sister and I were telling the girls about our grandma Molly and how she made spaetzle for us growing up and the girls really wanted to learn. So we hopped on Walmart’s website and ordered using free local delivery and got all the ingredients we needed it to make it.

FYI, I don’t know if you guys realize this but a lot of other grocery delivery apps mark up the prices so you end up paying more. But Walmart doesn’t do that! With your Walmart+ membership, you’ll get the free local delivery as long as you spend a minimum of $35 and there are no mark ups! So with that alone you’re saving money not only on not having a delivery charge, but also in the fact that the prices aren’t marked up. That’s a huge savings!

I decided that I HAVE to share with you my grandma’s spaetzle recipe! You can get a special press to make it, but if you don’t want to invest in one you could also try to use a colander or a cheese grater, but it will be a bit more messy and a tad more difficult. But it will still do the job. These noodles are so so so good and if you are a noodle fanatic like I am, you’re gonna love them! My grandma always served them with a beef stew that she would pour over the top, but ever since I was a kid I just have eaten them with parmesan cheese and butter!

 1. FLOUR | 2. EGGS | 3. SALT | 4. MILK

Ingredients

I ordered these all from Walmart using my Walmart+ membership! Linking them so you can sign up for the free Walmart+ trial today and add them to your cart! You will be shocked how quickly you will get them!

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 8 large eggs
• 2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup milk

Click on the images below to be taken right to the items on the Walmart site so you can order them easily and make it too!

MY TOP

Instructions

1. Put a large put of water on the stove and bring to a boil. Add a tbs of salt. Water should be close to top of pot without spilling over.

2. Combine the flour, eggs, milk, and salt in a large bowl. Stir, or use a mixer, until the batter is well combined – it may develop small bubbles. Let the batter sit for 5 min.

3. Reduce water to a simmer and then press batter through a spaetzle maker into water. Use a cheese grater or colander if you don’t make a spaetzle press/maker

4. Work in batches of about 1/3 of the batter at a time. After you add the first batch to your water, wait for spaetzle noodles to float to the top (this means they are done!) and then use a slotted spoon to transfer the spaetzle to the colander so that excess water can drip off.

Bon Appetite!

 1. FLOUR | 2. EGGS | 3. SALT | 4. MILK

Free shipping with no order minimum for my top!

I probably use the free grocery delivery with no mark ups the most, but the fact that Walmart+ members also get free shipping with no order minimum is huge! You guys know how much I shop at Walmart online. So the fact that I can legit have almost anything shipped for free (Excludes most Marketplace items, location
& freight surcharges), no matter how much I spend, is amazing! For example, that’s how I got this top that I love so so so so much and highly suggest you get. It is a boxy cut and the material feels SO expensive! I have the medium which is my normal size.

You could order it with no shipping charge, even though it’s only $15  (it’s actually on clearance!). I used to fill my cart in the past just to get the free shipping and sometimes it worked out because I could get things I needed already, but a lot of times I just end up spending money that I didn’t really need to spend to get the free shipping, so I find that I save money just because I don’t spend as much. I bet it will be the same case for you!

MY TOP

Bonus Recipe!

Adding this bonus recipe because I also got all the ingredients delivered for free from Walmart with my Walmart+ membership this week. It’s one of my FAVORITES!

Ingredients

Walnut Parmesan Cream

• 3/4 cup walnuts
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 clove garlic (I put 2 in mine!)
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (1 1/2 oz.) – For this you can also use vegan parmesan!
• Sea salt to taste

Crostini + Toppings

• 24, approximately 1/2″ thick, baguette slices
• 1/8 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup basil pesto (homemade or store bought)
• 1/4 cup course chopped sun dried tomatoes (either dried or from a jar)
• 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped (optional: toasted)
• Fresh basil (I got mine from my garden but linking for you guys if you don’t have a garden!)

Instructions

1. First step is to preheat your oven to 350 degrees, that way it is ready to go once your ingredients are prepped!
2. You will then start this off by making the walnut parmesan cream. I actually like to double the recipe for this part because I will keep the extra in my fridge and use to it throughout the week on some veggies for a refreshing and delicious snack!!
3. If you have a food processor, that is the easiest way to make the cream, but a blender should work just as well! Start by adding in the 3/4 cup of California walnuts, water, and a clove of garlic. If you really like garlic like we do, add an extra clove or two! That’s what we tried this past time and it was delicious. Blend it until your ingredients are mixed and are looking light and fluffy. You might need to stop the food processor or blender at times to scrape the sides as well.
4. Then, add the parmesan cheese and blend until well combined and fairly smooth. I mentioned it above in the ingredient list, but the parmesan can easily be substituted for vegan parmesan! When I make this, I do half regular parmesan and half vegan parmesan for Kevin. Both ways are sooo good.
5. Next, take your thinly sliced pieces of baguette and brush each side lightly with olive oil. Place on a baking sheet and put in the oven for about 8-10 minutes, or until golden crisp. All ovens are slightly different, so make sure to watch your crostinis closely the first time you make them. If you are choosing to do this recipe sans bread, you will not need to heat your oven!
6. If you are choosing to toast your walnuts for the topping, throw them in a skillet on the stove. Stir until they are a slightly darker color than they were originally and fragrant. Usually takes about 2 minutes.
7. Once the bread is toasted, top each slice with 1 teaspoon of your pesto sauce and 1 1/2 teaspoons of the walnut parmesan cream!
8. Top your crostini with walnuts and sun dried tomato. Add microgreens or some basil if you want a little garnish!

 1. BAGUETTE | 2. OLIVE OIL | 3. BASIL | 4. SUN DRIED TOMATOES | 5. WALNUTS

Thank you!

I hope you give the recipe a try, and I definitely hope you give the Walmart+ free trial a try as well! In fact, sign up for the free trial and get all the stuff delivered so you can make this recipe ASAP!

The post My Family Recipe appeared first on Ali Manno (Fedotowsky).

I threw this together super quickly so I just kind of copied and pasted it from my old blogs about these things with any of the copy doesn’t make sense that’s why. Ha! Enjoy! And happy Thanksgiving!

Cranberry Sauce

I grew up thinking that cranberry sauce was disgusting. Ha! No, really! And now it’s what I look forward to more than anything at my holiday dinners. This recipe was passed on from my friend Lisa who is basically like family to me. Because I spent most of my adult life in California and my family lives on the East Coast, I haven’t spent Thanksgiving with them in years. Usually, I would visit them during other parts of the year because the air travel was so much less expensive than flying on actual Thanksgiving. So, my friends Lisa and Mith sort of took me in on Thanksgiving every year and out of the last 10 Thanksgivings I think I’ve spent seven with them. It’s become our little yearly tradition to spend Thanksgiving together!

She always would make this cranberry sauce recipe every year, and it’s now such a tradition to me that I made sure that I have it every year on Thanksgiving and Christmas, even when I am not with her! I met her when I was working at Facebook, and that’s actually where she got this recipe! She spent an afternoon baking with a Facebook pastry chef and has been using it ever since! Here are her recipe cards!

Ingredients

• 1 bag of fresh cranberries
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
• 1/4 cup Grand Marnier
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp All Spice
• 1 tsp salt

Cauliflower Rice

I can’t take credit with this recipe though. I got it from Sophie Uliano on Home & Family. Check out her site HERE for a bunch of super yummy and healthy recipes! On one of my first days on Home & Family she made this dish and I told her right then and there that is was one of my favorite things I’ve EVER eaten! And that’s the truth. Since I had it on the show, I’ve made it countless times. It’s so so so yummy and SUPER healthy! But the best apart about it is that it’s fulfilling and feels hearty. I legit feel like I’m eating carbs/rice even thought the entire dish is fruits and veggies! In fact, when these pictures were taken my friends Ashley and Kim were over and they were both obsessed too! Ashley went home and made it for herself the very next day! Anyway, I hope you guys love it as much as I love PLEASE let me know if you make it and tell me what you think. And also, please share YOUR favorite healthy recipes in the comments below. This preggo lady is obviously not trying to loose weight but I want to try to eat as healthy as possible for my little baby growing inside me!

Ingredients

1 bag of cauliflower rice (My was 16oz – You could also chip or grate a head of cauliflower)
Yellow onion
vegan butter
Fresh mint, cilantro, parsley
Sliced almonds
Dried Cranberries
Edamame
1 Lemon (2 if lemon is small)

Finely chop up half the yellow onion and sauté it in a pan or pot with some vegan butter until onion is translucent. I like to use a pot over a pan because it keeps the cauliflower more contained.

Add the cauliflower. I cook it on low to medium setting for about five minutes or until the cauliflower is more translucent.

That’s the only cooking you need to do.

Take the leaves off the stems of all the herbs and finally chop them. You’ll want about a cup of each herb (give or take). If you don’t like cilantro just add a 1/2 cup more of parsley and mint.

I get edamame from the freezer section that is already de-shelled to make it easier. But if you get edamame with shells just de-shell them.

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. I’d say I use about 1 cup of cranberries, 1 cup edamame and 1 cup sliced almonds. But really it’s to taste. If you add a cup and you think it needs more, add a little more of each. So

I add the juice from one lemon for dressing.

And there you have it! I delicious and healthy recipe that will satisfy your need to a hearty dish without the guilt! Hope you guys LUV it!!! Happy 2018!

And while you’re here, check out my other recipes by clicking the recipe tab at the top of my site.

The post My 2 FAVORITE Recipes of ALL TIME! appeared first on Ali Manno (Fedotowsky).