Loriel is on a journey to a more natural life and hopes to inspire those around her by writing about her stories on her blog Naturally Loriel. She lives an abundant life with her husband Scott, toddler Andrew, a crazy little Lilly cat and a flock of 8 chickens. She’s a dreamer of self-sufficiency, a lover of all things sweet, and has a knack for story-telling. She's also the Editor in Chief of the popular e-magazine, Scratch Mommy.
Ever wonder what real food bloggers eat? They must eat perfectly “healthy” all the time, right? Wrong! Real food bloggers are REAL people too. We struggle just like you; we eat great some days and we eat really crappy other days. Our kids don’t eat perfect all the time, either. My Weekly Meals, on the…
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It’s funny how one little thing can really impact you and the way you live your life. Sort of like kids. But that’s a different story. What I’m talking about is food, budgeting, and saving money. It’s easy (or not so easy.. on the wallet) to go around blindly and buy whatever organic thing you…
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As a crunchy-granola type of person, it’s hard to find other crunchy-granola people who are like-minded and don’t look at you like you have three heads when you’re child is not eating McDonalds, you’re raising backyard chickens, and you are always on the lookout to see if your food doesn’t have GMOs. They can relate to…
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I have this weird conflict with traditions. The thought of them makes me feel all warm inside but they also make me feel a little bit of anxiety. How cool would it be for 20 years from now to talk about all these family traditions we created and to see Andrew carry on these traditions…
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Last week I had such a great response from sharing what I fed my family for one whole week. Many felt a sense of peace that they are not the only ones that struggle feeding their family what we feel is “perfect.” The reality is that we are all humans, life gets crazy, children get…
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It may hard to believe, but I haven’t always been the domestic cook. Nope, this girl right here used to eat cereal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I’d make boxed foods, eat sandwiches for dinner, and more cereal. It was only until 4 craz- I mean, glorious years ago when I first met Scott that…
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It’s easy to get the idea that bloggers are not humans. We take pretty pictures, write a funny or heartfelt story to go with the pictures, and we share the blissful moments. But let me reassure you, I am human and so are all the other bloggers you love. I struggle with balancing work from…
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I used to be able to eat a whole bowl of sour cream mixed with Lipton French Onion Dip in one sitting. Oh, yeah.. those were the days. Something about the crunch of the salty potato chip (you know I love me some crunchy foods) and that creamy, onion-ey flavor together, would basically make me…
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Can I confess something? I have a hard time “playing” with my son. I used to be really hard on myself for this but I’ve come to realize, I’m not the only one and there’s no reason to add any more mommy guilt to the pot. There’s enough of that already. Am I right? And…
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Waiting for your first egg is a lot like waiting for a baby to be delivered. It goes like this. You are going about your normal chicken feeding routine and realize, “OH MY GOD! MY HEN IS IN THE NEST BOX!” Or if you’re talking about a baby, you’d be going about your normal day…
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Did you know that you actually don’t have to shop at Whole Foods to eat well? I know, shocker, right? Especially since the first thing that usually comes out of someone’s mouth when you tell them you don’t eat processed foods is “Oh, you like to eat organic foods and shop at Whole Foods, huh? I…
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Tis the season for Christmas things in October, the mad rush to buy materialistic things, and possibly gaining 10 pounds because of all the holiday festivities. Why does it seem like everything is so rush rush? Why can’t we enjoy Halloween without Christmas decorations right next to it? Why is it that we are so…
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I almost forgot that my chickens were actually going to lay eggs for me. It’s been a long five months of raising my eight girls without any egg bliss. While I thoroughly enjoy their company and look forward to taking breaks from the computer to just be with them, the fact that they aren’t laying…
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It’s been Kombucha week all up on Naturally Loriel lately. First, we walked through a really easy tutorial on how to make kombucha at home. Then we infused it with elderberries and lavender to create an immune boosting elixir that makes the perfect concoction to be consuming at this time of the year. And finally,…
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Technically, because I’m not a doctor, I’m not allowed to make claims like this one: the healing power of elderberries coupled with the gut healing power of kombucha serves as an elixir of immune boosting goodness which makes it a perfect drink for the winter. That’s technically speaking, if you catch my drift. But, there might…
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Booch. Kombucha. Komboocka (if you’re my father-in-law). Kabookie (also if you’re my father-in-law). However you say it, you’ve probably heard about it. Maybe your friend’s crazy crunchy-granola hippie friend drinks it, maybe your somewhat-wacko mom drinks it, or maybe you’ve just heard about it through all the natural blogs you read. Either way, you’ve heard…
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Besides when I was a small child, there was about a 6 month time span in my life that I had absolutely no responsibilities. I grew up pretty quickly (most who know me say I have an old soul) and had to fend for myself during my teenage years so I never felt the freedom of…
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It’s really hard for me to stick to things like an editorial calendar for my blog. I have one and write in it, every day. The only problem is I always have new inspiration to write something else. What ends up happening is the same few posts keep getting pushed back, back, and back. I…
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“…But you ain’t never had my cornbread, little bit of heaven and a little bit of hell yeah, cut it down the middle, open wide, and jump right in…” That’s how you know you’re married to a southern guy who has a minor (okay, major) obsession with Dave Matthews Band… when you make cornbread and…
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Now that I’m a mom, I can’t help but feel giddy when September rolls around. September means the start of holiday season which is super, extra fun when you have a little one to celebrate with. Everything is so new and exciting and it just makes me excited. The other day when Andrew and I…
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