Category Archives: Nutrition

Tuesday Recipe: Halloween Treats?

Halloween can be a daunting time for us “healthy ones.” Luckily I don’t have to worry about taking kids trick-or-treating this year but a lot of our patients and a lot of my readers do so here’s a quick guide to help limit the sugar in your kids’ systems:

Set an example by handing out “healthy candy.” However, DO NOT be the house on the block that gives out carrots or raisins. Some ideas for treats most kids love:

^Popcorn Balls – you do have to cook for this one but it’s really easy and they’re delicious.

^ Fruit strips – made of dried fruit and a replacement for fruit roll ups, they can be bought at pretty much any grocery store.

^Cocomels – from JJ Sweets, they are healthy and yummy. A bit expensive maybe to give to all the kids but a great idea for your own or even for Christmas gifts.

^ String cheese – what kid doesn’t love string cheese.

^ Natural Gummies – Surf Sweets sells a great version of natural gummy treats in the shape of spiders! But any natural gummi treat will do. I know this was one of my favorites when I scored on these as a kid.

^ Trail Mix – make your own with your choice of almonds, raisins, dried cranberries, walnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, etc. Be sure to throw some chocolate in there (dark is best) so the kids don’t feel like they’re totally deprived!

^Crispy Rice Treats – click the link to find a great recipe from a fellow blogger. However, I highly encourage you to use healthy marshmallows with less sugar and cereal without any kind of ingredient with -ose on the end (ie. fructose, sucrose, etc).

Note: If you’re making the treats yourself, include a note to the kids parent’s of the ingredients so they don’t think it’s spiked.

Now, it’s inevitable that your kids get your hands on a fair amount of candy this time of year but how do you keep them from riding that sugar high for 12 weeks afterwards? I do not have kids so I really have NO IDEA, but I do have a couple of suggestions!

1. Give them a vacation night. Let them eat the candy. Let them work themselves into a sugar-induced coma. But while they’re there, ask them how they are feeling. Make them realize that the candy is making them sluggish, over-full, and cranky with a headache. Don’t harp on them, but for 5 minutes just try to help them realize the effect of the candy.

2. After their coma, give them incentives to “trade” the candy. For every 10 pieces, they don’t have to do their chore for the day. Something like that.

3. Ask them if they’d rather spend some time with you, cooking something else delicious that won’t make them feel like crap. Then proceed to make an awesome, fun desert (like the popcorn balls or crispy rice treats listed above) to make them feel that this is so much better.

Ok those are a few suggestions from a child-less 24 year-old. I hope they help a little bit! And I hope you all have an awesome Halloween!

What will you and/or your kids be dressing up as?

Thursday Recipe: Sugar, Gluten, and Dairy Free Chocolate Macaroons

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Macaroons are one of the most deliciously allowable foods for those of us that are gluten, dairy, and sugar challenged. I have yet to really explain to you all why I try to be sugar-free but you’ll just have to trust me on this one, sugar is really not good for you. You can substitute Stevia or Xylitol for sugar but sometimes it can taste a bit wonky. In this recipe, it just works!

So I made these macaroons and they are so flippin’ delicious. There are a few more steps than I’m used to but SO worth the brain power.

Chocolate Covered Macaroons

Cookie Ingredients:

4-5 egg whites

14 oz of unsweetened coconut, shredded

2 Tbsp butter, melted

Xylitol or Stevia to taste

Chocolate Ingredients (this chocolate covering is optional):

3 squares unsweetened chocolate

2 Tbsp coconut oil

2 Tbsp butter, melted

Xylitol or Stevia to taste

Instructions:

^ Beat egg whites until frothy.

^ Stir in coconut, butter, and sweetener.

Roll into tablespoon sized balls and drop onto greased baking sheet. Bake at 350°F for 12 minutes. Cool in fridge until firm.

The chocolate is optional but SO good, just do it:

^ Melt chocolate, coconut oil, and butter together. Add sweetener. Dip macaroons in chocolate. Cool on wax paper. Keep refrigerated.

Like an idiot, I got so excited to eat these babies that I didn’t take an after picture. DOH! But you can imagine how pretty AND tasty they were. And so easy to make. Try it, you will amaze yourself.

Does anyone have plans for a nice meal this weekend?

Who are you gonna smile at today?

Recipe Sunday: Healthy Fried Rice

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Hey All. Sorry about the late post but Mike and I have had such a busy and relaxing (awesome combo) kind of day. Earlier this week I tried my own healthy fried rice and it didn’t come out so well. I only post delicious recipes so I retried it last night and it ended up being so good!

Healthy Fried Rice

Ingredients:

brown rice (cooked)

3 or 4 eggs (beaten)

veggies (I used red pepper, spinach, and broccoli)

liquid aminos (the healthy soy sauce, I use Bragg brand)

meat (optional)

little bit of sunflower oil for cooking

Instructions:

^ Saute all the veggies on low heat. If you are using meat, cook with the veggies. When it’s all cooked through, add the beaten eggs. Stir as it cooks to coat everything in egg. When egg is cooked, empty it into a bowl.

^ Add the rice to the empty pan and spray some liquid aminos on there (it has a very salty taste so make sure not to use too much). Just until it has the “fried” brown look. Cook until heated.

Add the veggie/egg/meat and mix it all together. Enjoy!

Ashley life Update: Last week, Mike and I decided that we were starting to settle into a very sedentary life. Unacceptable. So today, our day off together, we went for an awesome pancake breakfast and then to a GIANT antique market about 40 minutes away. We didn’t have long at the market but we saw some really beautiful stuff and I bought a cast iron skillet, yay! I’ve been wanting one for a while because they’re such a healthy, non toxic way to cook and they last forever. Got an 8″ pan for $14 (I’m a great haggler). It was a wonderful day with my man 🙂

I hope your Sunday was as great as mine! If not, tomorrow is a new day, so smile 🙂

Produce: To Buy Organic or Not?

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I had a realization last night that I really want this blog to be about staying healthy with no time OR money. I think I’ve done pretty well with the no time but where’s the money guidance Ashley!? Where is it?

Organic produce: SUPER expensive but sometimes it’s really worth it. Here’s an easy to follow list of rules when buying produce. Or anything really.

Rule #1: If it’s available, buy LOCAL – this is because the closer you can get to where your food is produced, the more you can be comfortable that it’s not grown with any pesticides or other crappy chemicals. Also, the shorter the shipping distance, the more nutrients left when it hits your mouth. And you’re supporting your local economy! Here’s a guide to see if your community offers the best thing for local produce, farmer’s markets.

Rule #2: If it’s available, buy ORGANIC – again, chemicals (such as pesticides) are bad in food and very bad in your body. Get that stuff out of there! ~~Also, non organic produce is often genetically modified and much lower in nutrients.~~ [According to a study done by Stanford, link here, there are no more nutrients in organic food than conventionally grown. However, there is a strong but so far unstudied likelihood that the presence of pesticides affects your body so much that it is not able to absorb all the nutrients in the produce.] If you’re gonna eat an apple, might as well get all the good you can out of it, right?

Rule #3: If organic is too expensive or there’s a limited selection, follow the list of the CLEAN FIFTEEN and DIRTY DOZEN. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) puts out this awesome list every year of the cleanest and dirtiest produce on the market that year. If it’s on the clean fifteen, it has very few pesticides and isn’t a huge harm to your body. If it’s on the dirty dozen, only buy it organic because conventional farmers basically bathe it in a chemical bath.

^This is a great pocket guide you can download from the website but you should definitely check it out in all it’s glory. Here’s the link. I am signed up for the newsletter (they don’t bombard your inbox like I do) and I got the app for my phone so I can have it whenever I’m at the market.

How is your market’s selection of organic produce? What has been your organic buying practice up to now?

Don’t forget to smile 🙂

Sunday Recipe: Carolyn’s Squash Bowl

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My friend and fellow blogger posted this recipe on Friday and I made my own version that night for dinner. Here is her original post. She is an incredibly healthy and fit woman and I learn a ton of new stuff from her. Check out her blog!

I don’t really love the format of “reblogging” so I’m just going to copy/paste the recipe here.

“Roasted Stuffed Squash

This is a great fall meal and its easy to make, and lasts a while in the fridge. You’ll need:

Ingredients:

Acorn Squash (as many as you want to cook)

Quinoa (or any other easy-to-cook grain like brown rice, kamut, wheat berries, etc.)

Veggies (I usually use spinach and mushrooms, but you can add anything you want!)

Chickpeas (or black beans, or lentils, etc as you can see this recipe is really what you make of it)

Tiny bit of butter

Paprika

Sea Salt

Pepper

Garlic Powder

Instructions:

1. Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds (save these to cook later)

2. Put squash halves on a baking sheet and cook at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes (or until the squash is soft)

3. You can coat the seeds in olive oil and any spices you want and toss them in there on a baking sheet with parchment paper for about 10-15 minutes for a super tasty snack!

4. Cook up the quinoa (or whatever grain you’re using accordingly)

5. Saute those veggies

6. In a large bowl, mix the veggies, cooked quinoa, chickpeas, a tiny bit of butter and the paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste

7. When the squash is done, fill the centers with the veggie-quinoa mix and BOOM you’re done.

8. Grab a fork and get after it.

These things are small but very filling and nutritious so I usually just have one half at a time. Throw some plastic wrap over any of the extra squash halves and you’ve got yourself a delicious lunch for tomorrow, or easily reheatable dinner for another night this week. Enjoy!”

I filled our squash with veggies, kidney beans, and these egg noodles I’ve been wanting to try. I think it would be better with chickpeas and quinoa though. I’m also out of paprika so I used Jamaican All Spice.

There was a photo but it was lost in my recent phone disassembly. BOOO. I definitely plan on cooking it again though and will post photos when I do.

Thank you Carolyn! It was delicious.

Ashley Life Update: Mike and I are holed up in our apartment this weekend trying to get over the last of our flu/cold/strep throat. It’s times like these that make it very tough not taking any kind of medication (including ibuprofen). I’m relying on sleep and my body’s ability to heal itself. Man it takes some self-control though! Hopefully we can end today well and wake up tomorrow morning fresh as the day we were born! Hah. We shall see. I hope you’re all having wonderful Sundays.

SMILE 🙂

Thirsty Thursday: Pick Me Up Green Machine Smoothie

No Workout Wednesday: How to Fight the Flu

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I’m taking a rest week as of Sunday. I could feel my body fighting something and my workouts were just getting more and more painful.

Take Time Off: As important as it is to develop a routine, it’s equally important that, once you’re into the routine, you listen to your body’s warning signs. Unless you’re on a strict training plan, everyone should take one week off from working out every month and a half (5 or 6 weeks). Make sure that you continue to eat healthy and that you lower your caloric intake so that getting back in the groove isn’t so difficult.

No Flu Shot: Second, and I know more people are choosing this route, don’t get the flu shot! This is a personal decision for most people but make sure that you are informed before you get any kind of injection. The government backs the flu shot so there are advertisements for it EVERYWHERE. But did you know that it contains thimerasol (mercury, in every shot unless you formally request a shot without preservatives), aluminum, and formaldehyde? Also, there is a very good chance, every year, that the vaccine won’t actually work. To develop the shot, scientists from FluZone went to Asia last year to try to capture the most prevalent virus. They literally guess which one it will be, bring it back here and start mixing and mass producing to distribute to the American public (people from other countries, do they push the vaccine there too?). Rather than relying on a guess full of terrible chemicals, wouldn’t it be better to arm your body with the best nutrients and minerals instead?

Production of influenza vaccine (Photo credit: Sanofi Pasteur)

When you feel it coming: We’ve all felt that familiar tinge in the back of our throat or the extra struggle to get out of bed in the morning. If you start to feel symptoms of the flu, start fighting it IMMEDIATELY. Some things that your body needs to fight any kind of illness are…

1. Lots of water. People always say this but never really do it. Every time you think of it, drink an entire 8 oz. I’ve at least doubled my water intake over the past few days.

2. No dairy. Dairy makes your body produce extra mucus making it that much harder to clear the chest cough, swollen throat, and runny nose.

3. No sugar. Cut out processed sugar completely. Period.

4. Take Vitamin D. Yes D not C. Visit your local holistic/alternative medicine pharmacy and ask for Vitamin D pills. Make sure that they know the source farm and that there are no additives or alterations. Also talk to the pharmacist about how many IU’s to take.

5. Sleep. Don’t do anything in the evenings or early morning. Relax after work and go straight to sleep. I have to take a melatonin pill (also at your local alternative medicine pharmacy) to make sure I sleep through the night but it’s so worth it when I wake up 9 hours later.

6. Lots and lots of vegetables. Go to the store and stock up on all kinds of veggies but mainly dark, leafy greens. These should be the bulk of your diet until you’re feeling completely better. Eat them raw, lightly steamed, or lightly roasted. Just eat them.

Eat your veggies! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On that note, how is everyone feeling today? I’ve noticed a lot of our patients coming in with one illness or another. But fight through it! Cut out any unnecessary activities and get to work healing your body.

Thursday Thirst: Chicken Stock (15 min prep, 4 hrs cook time)

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Ok, I know this recipe sounds really boring but hear me out! Chicken stock is the liquid that makes everything taste better and cheaper! I make my own every time I roast a chicken and end up using it for the next few weeks.

Before I give you the VERY EASY recipe, here are some ways you can use chicken stock:

1.When cooking rice, replace the water with chicken stock or do a 50/50 combo.

2. Stick it in your crockpot instead of water or cream or whatever.

3. Replace the water with it when steaming veggies.

4. Use it to make soup.

Basically just use it instead of water to make any savory dish SO much tastier.

Ingredients:

chicken carcass (Everything including the skin, bones, and stuffing. Gross I know)

chopped celery

chopped carrots

diced onion

any other veggies that are on their last legs

salt and pepper

garlic (optional)

Instructions:

Pile everything into a big pot and fill with water up to the top of the carcass (the more water the more stock).

Bring to a boil then cover and simmer for 4 hours. I left the house for errands then did a bunch of chores, you don’t really need to watch it. Every hour or so use a small cup to skim the foam off the top (I didn’t have any foam at all).

Turn off the heat, let it cool then freeze it! I use jars that I recycled to freeze mine but you can really use anything, including Ziploc-type baggies.

Now I have a freezer full of stock that I can use whenever. I just thaw a few a week and use them whenever the recipe calls for water (BOOOOORRRING).

Ashley Life Update:

On another note, I have been sleeping terribly lately because I’ve been trying to train myself off a bad pre-bedtime habit. I’ve been trying to drink a glass of wine before bed the last two nights but quickly realized that it’s a stimulant (whoops!). I used the bad habit yet again last night because I just plain needed sleep. Once I’m caught up, experimentation starts again.

I can’t tell you how guilty I feel about this habit because I just don’t want to rely on something besides my own body for something as simple as sleep! But Katie and I were talking this weekend and I think I just need to forgive myself for being imperfect and keep on pushing for my goals, it may just take a while.

Also, a new phone/camera is high on my Christmas list this year so the photos WILL get better! I swear. I hope you’re all having great days. Your challenge today: smile at everyone until you get at least 3 smiles back.

🙂

Sunday Recipe: Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free Pancakes

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Today is a seriously gorgeous day in Peoria. Scattered clouds, beautiful blue sky, about 67°F. AND one of my best friends managed to extend a work trip in the area and we get a whole two days with her! She is leaving very soon and I’m gonna be really sad. It’s so amazing to be around someone who you can sit in comfortable silence with then break the silence with an awesome conversation and easy laugh. I love it and miss it/her a lot.

And what’s even more awesome is that she is gluten and lactose intolerant just like me! So this morning we made gluten free pancakes for all of us. They were SO good. Just sweet enough and dense enough to be like normal pancakes without all the bloating and over-full feeling. And Katie had the awesome idea to use the leftovers for a post-workout snack.

Ingredients:

2 large eggs
4 tablespoons melted butter
2 cups coconut milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/3 cups multi-purpose gluten free flour (I keep this around to use as a thickening agent in some recipes)
1/2 tsp stevia powder or 15 drops stevia liquid
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon xantham gum

Instructions:

1) Whisk together the eggs, melted butter, coconut milk, and vanilla.

2) In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Stir in the egg mixture.

3) Let the mixture sit for 15 minutes (this makes them fluffier). Preheat skillet on medium for the last 5 minutes.

4) Lightly grease it with coconut oil or another high heat oil. Scoop the batter (I use a small glass) into small dollar sized pancakes.

5) Cook pancakes for 1 to 2 minutes, till the tops lose their shine and bottoms are golden brown. Flip and cook for 1 to 2 minutes on the other side.

6) Top it with whatever delicious yummies you can find in your fridge. We used berries and pure maple syrup (not sugar free).

Sunday breakfast is probably one of my favorite meals of the week. YUM.

I hope you’re having wonderfully peaceful Sundays 🙂

Thursday Recipe: Build-a-Salad

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*to those interested, birthday update at the bottom of the page

Whenever I mention healthy eating, people’s automatic reaction is, “I hate salad.” Let me share something, me too. The typical restaurant salad is cold, unsavory, and wholly unsatisfying. But I’ve recently determined that they’re doing it wrong. As I’ve mentioned before, my current lifestyle goal is only eating grain for lunch and restricting carbs at dinner. This is not to lose weight but to prevent a haphazard insulin spike right before bed. So “salads” have become my go to dinner options and I’ve realized, they’re not all that bad!

To build a great salad just replace whatever carb you were going to use (pasta, rice, potatoes, etc) with dark leafy greens (I prefer spinach). This means that you get the healthy without sacrificing the hot and savory.

Recently, in the vain of cooking a big portion of one thing, I made cooked a big batch of lentils and steamed some extra veggies I had lying in my fridge. Here is the result:

^ Start with the leafy green base. Don’t worry, it will be covered up soon.

^ Add whatever warm veggies you decided to cook. I have zucchini, red bell peppers, and eggplant.

^ Pile on whatever protein you want. I made lentils but you could do any kind of meat or legume.

^ Top it off with a healthy fat like goat or sheep cheese (pretty much lactose free) and some oil based dressing like balsamic or italian. And enjoy!

* Final note: My birthday ended up being quite wonderful. My coworkers remembered and even gave me gifts. I got so much love through this blog and facebook and texting and phone calls. AND Mike came home from his business trip early! He surprised me at work with flowers, a bottle of wine, and a Gap coat that I’ve been eyeing for months. What wonderful people I have in my life. Thanks everyone 🙂

Today, just smile.

A Happy Lass

One woman's journey to her healthiest body and mind.

Category Archives: Nutrition

Tuesday Recipe: Halloween Treats?

Thursday Recipe: Sugar, Gluten, and Dairy Free Chocolate Macaroons

Recipe Sunday: Healthy Fried Rice

Produce: To Buy Organic or Not?

Sunday Recipe: Carolyn’s Squash Bowl

Thirsty Thursday: Pick Me Up Green Machine Smoothie

No Workout Wednesday: How to Fight the Flu

Thursday Thirst: Chicken Stock (15 min prep, 4 hrs cook time)

Sunday Recipe: Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free Pancakes

Thursday Recipe: Build-a-Salad