Healthy Pasta Salad

Are you looking for an easy side dish to make for you Memorial Day cookout? Check out this pasta salad recipe (video and printed recipe below). It's one of my favorites!

Healthy Pasta Salad  

Ingredients:
12 ounces small shell pasta

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
18 ounces cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup black olives, sliced (optional)
2 Tablespoons fresh chives or 2 teaspoons minced onion
1/4 cup fresh basil or 2 teaspoons dried basil
1 large cucumber
4 Tablespoons white wine vinegar
7 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions: 
-Boil pasta, adding 1/4 teaspoons garlic powder to the water. 
-Combine cooked pasta, chopped tomatoes, sliced olives, chopped cucumber, and minced chives (or onion) in a large bowl.
-Add basil, and stir to combine.
-In a small bowl, mix white wine vinegar and olive oil. Stir into salad. 
-Add 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder and salt/pepper to taste.


Recipe adapted from Jamie Oliver's Best Pasta Salad

What's Lurking in Your Baking Powder?

While researching homemade cleaning products, I made a shocking discovery. Did you know that many brands of baking powder use aluminum in their products? That's right, a metal that is believed to be a potential cause of serious health problems could be lurking in your kitchen.

I'm guessing that many of you are familiar with the push to avoid antiperspirants, which contain aluminum. Now I'm not going to lie, that is not easy transition to make. Deodorants that work well and do not contain antiperspirants are few and far between. In fact, I don't blame anyone for refusing to forsake their beloved antiperspirant.

But let's be honest, does anyone have a brand loyalty to baking powder? Personally, I buy whatever is on sale. As long as it does its job, it works for me.

For that reason, when I found out that my Clabber Girl Baking Powder contained aluminum and that Walmart sells Rumford's Aluminum-Free Baking Powder for virtually the same price (both under $2.00), I was more than willing to make the transition.

Am I late to the game on this one? Is it a known fact that many baking powders contain aluminum? (I wouldn't be surprised...) I would also be interested to hear if any of you know of any other easy ways to cut out potentially harmful ingredients in food?

Carpal Tunnel?

A few months ago, I started experiencing pain in my hands, wrists, and lower arms while using the computer. I tried taking it easy for a few days, but that didn't help.

I went out to Office Depot and purchased a keyboard, ergonomic mouse, and gel wrist rest, but none of that seemed to do any good. I even figured out how to use the mouse with my foot (LOL), but that didn't seem to work, either.

At that point, I was pretty discouraged. I'm in my early 20s, and I'm already having to deal with this? I thought. That's just not right.

After doing some research, I determined that I needed a new desk. My old one was about 50 years old and had been handed down to us by my in-laws. Not only was it not the correct height, but it did not have enough room underneath for a proper office chair.

So I did more research and ended up purchasing a sit-to-stand desk, which has a hand crank that allows me to adjust the height. It cost $300, but it's built like a tank.

When I'm not standing, I sit on an exercise ball. I take frequent breaks to stretch my arms, wrists, and back and am also very mindful of my posture throughout the day.

I sleep with wrist braces, which I purchased for $16 each at Walmart, so my arms don't curl up. I've also become a pro at voice texting and swipe texting on my iPhone. Oh, and I've been taking 450 mg of turmeric to heal any inflammation.

That sounds quite complicated, doesn't it? It's only been a week since I started the full regimen, but it seems to be helping. Have any of you struggled with carpal tunnel syndrome or tendonitis? If you have any suggestions to share, I would be very grateful!

Quack, Quack!

To all the animal lovers out there: Y'all are going to love this post. :)

My hubby recently cashed in on his joint Christmas present from his grandparents and me, which was a four-hour guided fishing trip on a local lake.

The weather was beautiful, and we had a wonderful time catching fish, but the highlight for me was feeding the two ducks that touched down beside our boat and swam along with us.

The male duck looked pretty normal to me, but the female was a much lighter shade than any of the female ducks I had ever seen.

She also had a beautiful blue feather, which you can kind of see here...

Is it just me, or does the angle of her beak make it look like she is smiling?

They stuck really close to the boat and at one point came up beside the ladder and looked like they were trying to find a way in. Am I the only one who thinks these ducks are absolutely precious?

My Favorite Things Part 2

Sounds like you all enjoyed Saturday's "My Favorite Things" post. I loved reading your responses! You suggested so many follow up questions that I just had to write a second post. So here goes. I would love to read your responses to these questions, too.

1. Dog Breed
Call me crazy, but I really like dachshunds (aka "hotdogs")...they're just so cute!

2. Color
Purple

3. Boy/Girl Names
I'll have to keep those a secret for now. :)

4. Song
"Come Thou Fount"

5. Style of Music
Hmm...my top three are hymns, bluegrass, and contemporary Christian.

6. School Subject
I always enjoyed French class and language arts.

7. Vacation Spot
Tropics/beach

8. Relaxation Technique
Exercising. I don't usually like jogging, but we belong to a gym, and I enjoy the elliptical.

9. Bible Verse
I have lots, but one is Romans 8:32.

10. Book
I don't usually have time to read anything other than the Bible, but I love historical fiction. Growing up, my favorites were the Little House on the Prairie books.

11. Letter of the Alphabet
Maybe E? LOL.

12. Bath and Body Products
I usually just buy whatever lotions are on sale and are either unscented or have a natural scent.

13. TV Show
Little House on the Prairie (and When Calls the Heart)

Giveaway!

Thank you for all the feedback you submitted to my 1 Million Pageviews post!

It sounds like most of you would like me to host a giveaway of one of Mr. Handsome's paintings. Great idea! It's going to take him a little bit of time to whip one up, so we will have to put that giveaway on the back burner. (He is currently working on paintings for two of his sister's birthdays.)

You have been such loyal readers that I would like to do a giveaway now, while we wait for the painting. I wanted to raffle off something with meaning, so I spent a few days thinking it over and came up with something that I think you all will enjoy: fancy hair clips! Feel free to keep them for yourself or give them as a gift to a friend.

One winner will receive a pair of Lilla Rose heart bloom bobby pins...

...And the other will receive a Lilla Rose felicity flexi clip (size small).

To enter, follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter widget below. Two of the entry options are mandatory, and the others are optional, but the more you do, the greater your chances of winning.

The first mandatory entry option is to submit a comment telling me which hair clip you would prefer. The second is to visit each of the tabs below the blog header (Meet Ellie, DIY Wedding Planning, Recipes, etc) and search through the posts that are linked to on each of those pages. One of the posts has a message in hot pink at the very top. Simply submit the title of that post as a comment to this giveaway post. (Hint: It's in a post that is linked to in one of the first five tabs.)

This giveaway is open to all readers, but those under age 18 must have permission from their parent or guardian.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Weekend Getaway

We spent the weekend in the beautiful city of Indianapolis, Indiana. Mr. Handsome had a continuing education class there, and I went along for the ride.

Have any of you been to Indianapolis? I never had, but it turned out to be a wonderful place with a lot of rich history.

When we first arrived, we drove past the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in the center of the city. On Sunday afternoon before leaving, we decided to go see it up close and discovered that there was an observation deck on the very top.

I was eager to go up there, and although Mr. Handsome was tired and ready to get on the road, he agreed to go with me. You can either pay $2 a person to take the elevator or walk up all 330 stairs for free. Being the frugal folks that we are, we took the free route, and oh my was it challenging!

Even though the observation deck was no higher than our 15th-floor hotel room, it was still a neat experience and provided a beautiful view of the city. But I would not recommend it to people who are claustrophobic. It was quite cramped in there!