Sharing my thoughts on using a castor oil pack and how I implement them in my routine. Friendly reminder that this post is not a substitute for medical information; always ask your doctor if something is right for you! I’m definitely not a doctor and just sharing my experience. My favorite castor oil pack company is offering a free dry brush for readers if you place a castor oil liver kit through Saturday! Details are here and the code is GINA23.

Hi friends! How are you? I hope you’re having a wonderful morning! What are you up to today? I’m hiking with a friend – the weather has been a dreaaaammm – studying for IHP, and have a podcast interview. I’d love to hear what you have going on!

For today’s post, I wanted to talk a little about castor oil packs. I’ve been using them on and off for about 12 years now, and have recently brought them back into my routine more regularly. I first tried it out when I started working with Dr. Flynn with my hormones before we got pregnant with Liv. It was part of the detox protocol and wowwww they’ve come a long way since then! It’s so much more convenient now that there are less messy options. I figured I’d share more about my experience if it’s something you’ve heard about or are considering adding into your routine.

How to use a castor oil pack (and why you might want to)

What is a a castor oil pack?

This ancient healing remedy is one of the oldest and most widespread traditions, used in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, to Modern Naturopathic medicine.

Castor oil packs have been used all over the world for centuries, and users have reported benefits including:

– Mental and physical health improvements

– Improving hormonal imbalances (PCOS, estrogen dominance, etc.)

– Digestive issues, including bloating, constipation, indigestion and IBS

– Insomnia and other sleep distubrances

– Stress reduction, anxiety, and depression

– Period regulation, endometriosis, TTC, ovarian cysts, uterine fibroids, fibrocystic breasts

– Cancer, tumors

– Thyroid health

– Liver and gallbladder support

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Light and slightly tangy creamy pasta salad, with just enough dressing to coat the noodles and vegetables, this is one heck of an awesome summer pasta salad.

Perfect on its own for a light meal or as a side dish for all the summer potlucks and barbecues. Homemade pasta salad is better than any deli salad you can buy at the store.

A few years ago, while visiting my aunt and uncle, we were fortunate enough to arrive around dinnertime. (My aunt is a fabulous cook, so I tend to time my arrivals that way. You know, accidentally on purpose?)

Speaking of Aunt Judy’s amazing foods, have you tried her Almond Bars yet? Put them on your holiday baking list right now.

Her pasta salad was so simple and so delicious, I had to recreate it for my family as soon as I got back home. Thanks once again for the inspiration, Aunt Judy.

Summer Pasta Salad

This salad is filled with broccoli, cucumber, red pepper, black olives, and green onions. I am a big fan of pasta dishes that have a high ratio of vegetables to pasta, so don’t hesitate to add more or switch things up with your favorite vegetables.

Adding extra vegetables to a pasta salad is about more than just making it a little bit healthier. Vegetables add different flavors, textures, and colors to recipes like this one. This salad is about 50/50 pasta and vegetables and I often make it with more vegetables than are actually in the recipe.

Everything gets tossed in a light tangy dressing and the result is a fresh pasta salad that disappears quite literally almost as quickly as I can stir it together.

Recipes like this Asian Pasta Salad and this Summer Couscous Salad are a couple more that thrill my vegetable-loving heart.

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Hi friends! How are you?? I hope you’re having a lovely morning so far. I’m back here in Tucson with a still-froggy voice from 3 hours of screaming at the Taylor Swift concert. I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to! I figured for today’s blog post, I’d throw it back to the blog days of yore and share a recap from the weekend. It was packed with fun adventures and while I need a weekend to recover from the weekend, it was a great one.

We left for the Taylor Swift concert Friday afternoon and after multiple delays and crazy traffic, we made it! We missed Gayle, but got to hear Paramore sing some of the songs we’ve loved over the years. (“Misery Business” and “Ain’t It Fun” were SO GOOD.) I’m always interested to see how artists sound in person, and Hayley Williams sounded even better live. She crushed it and had super high energy.

Before we knew it, it was time for the main event, and it was mind-blowing to hear the echo of almost 70k people screaming and cheering.

I’m not even the hugest Taylor Fan – I like a lot of her songs and think she’s super talented, but not in my personal top 10 – but the concert was AMAZING. Liv is a hardcore Swiftie and knew all of the songs. P danced and clapped, and fell asleep around the 2-hour mark. The Pilot was a good sport and I think he enjoyed it, too.

I had no clue what to expect with this concert but was blown away by how many songs she performed (44?!), the costumes, the dancers, the special effects/sets/lighting, and how great she sounded.

Also, I have this weird thing where I feel extremely proud of people I don’t know after they perform. I get choked up at the end of every Broadway show and concert because I appreciate the effo

Juicy oven baked chicken thighs are possible with almost no effort at all!

If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you likely know that we eat a lot of chicken. I’ve shared over 150 chicken recipes already and there isn’t an end in sight.

Chicken is so versatile that you can serve it for dinner several nights a week for months and never have to have it exactly the same way.

Baked Chicken Legs and Thighs

Learning a few different ways to cook chicken thighs means always being able to whip up a delicious, inexpensive meal that everyone in your household will love without putting in a ton of extra time or effort.

Today, I’m serving up a round-up of my favorite recipes for baked chicken legs and thighs. These are dishes I’ve made again and again over the years that are simple, nourishing, and incredibly flavorful.

Every recipe included in this post relies on ingredients that are a cinch to find at any grocery store. Many ingredients you are likely to already have in your fridge and pantry.

If you’re wondering what to make for dinner tonight, baked chicken thighs are the answer. If you happen to have potatoes in the house, this Sheet Pan Chicken Dinner is a great idea too.

This is such an easy dinner recipe and my family continues to make it at least once a month. It only takes about 5 minutes of effort to toss the chicken, potatoes, and green beans in a simple lemon and herb vinaigrette before roasting until tender and crisp.

Despite being so easy to prepare and cook, all of these chicken recipes are far and away tastier than almost any takeout meal you could get for the same cost.

Oven Baked Chicken Thighs

Did you know it’s possible to get crisp, flavorful chicken without frying? I’ve always loved the crispiness of a pan fried chicken thighs, but don’t always have the time to monitor the chicken as it cooks on the stovetop.

Crispy oven-baked chicken thighs are what you need. This recipe only requires about five minutes of preparation and an hour of hands-off cooking time that results in the most crisp, juicy, delicious chicken dinner you could want.

I’ve made many variations on this recipe over the years

Lemon Herb Spatchcock Chicken Recipe

If you want the juiciest chicken with crispy skin and the most incredible flavor, then you have to make this lemon herb spatchcock chicken!

When I was pregnant with our second child I was not in any kind of position to cook, eat or even think about either thing. But it was like taking a surfer away from the ocean, I was determined to make better than ever meals when I had the baby. And spatchcock chicken was strangely at the top of my list. I have absolutely no idea why I hyper-fixated on chicken, but it ended up being a blessing. It gave me something to look forward to. To decide without ever deciding that I was going to not only survive, but thrive post traumatic pregnancy.

I’m not saying that anyone who is going through something hard should just think about chicken to fix things, because again, I WOULD NOT think about chicken during that time. But maybe there’s something about positive psychology that could take us from A-B that is found in the kitchen. So without telling you what I think… yet… what is the happiest memory you have around food?

Why does food more often attach itself to happiness than sadness?

I’ll move on, I know you just want the recipe, but it’s something to think about. Is there a secret about food and cooking that might make a difference in your happiness in the midst of your trial?

What is a Spatchcock Chicken?

A spatchcock chicken is the same thing as a butterflied chicken. It is a method for cooking chicken where you remove the backbone of a whole chicken and flatten it so that it lays flat and roasts more evenly. For some reason, this little bird’s legs curled up again at the end, but otherwise it will lay far more flat than this.

Why Do You Spatchcock a Chicken?

When you roast a whole chicken, the chicken breasts sit higher and cook first and dry out while the rest of the chicken comes to temperature.

With a spatchcock chicken, everything is at the same level and roasts evenly resulting in juicy chicken breasts, thighs, legs…the whole bird!

And the skin gets so crispy and delicious! I dare say that once you spatchcock, you’ll never go back to roasting a chicken any other way.

Do You Flip a Spatchcock When Cooking?

No, a spatchcock does not need to be flipped while cooking. You roast it with the meat side up and it will come to temperature just fine without flipping.

What Do I Need to Make Spatchcock Chicken?

All you need to do is grab a whole chicken and then hit the produce section for some fresh herbs and citrus. You’ll likely have everything else you need in the pantry already. BONUS…this recipe is so budget friendly! Here is what you will need:

• Whole Chicken: a 4-5 pound chicken works best, skin on<