Showing posts with label Healthy Recipe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Healthy Recipe. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Tips That Will Help You To Cook Healthier - Starting Today

 

Do you want to try and eat healthier? Then this guide will tell you everything that you need to know in order to get started.

Make a Plan

If you do not have a plan for what you are going to eat, then you may find that you draw blanks when it comes to cooking dinner or lunch. For some people, planning out meals means writing down a menu or even a shopping list for the week. For others, it may be something as simple as having a few sticky notes with things like “pasta night” or “taco night”. Either way, it doesn’t matter what your process is because it helps to have a plan so that you can figure out what you want to make. This will help you to set yourself up for success, and it will also help you to avoid going for a takeaway just because there’s nothing in you fancy.

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Eat More Vegetables

Did you know that on average, only 14% of adults eat the right amount of fruit or vegetables? This means that over 80% of people are not getting enough fresh produce. At the end of the day, fruit and vegetables are very rich in antioxidants, and they are also very rich in fibre and minerals too. It’s highly recommended that you eat around 2 cups of fruit and 3 cups of vegetables a day. This can seem difficult, but when you think about cooking, you just need to make sure that your fresh produce is the star of the show. This may mean that you need to make a fruit smoothie in the morning or that you need to have a big salad for lunch. You might also want to stuff a squash for dinner, or use vegetables as noodles. You can do this by using a spiraliser. If you want to really take things to that next level, then you can look up the best herbs for improving health with ease.

Monday, August 20, 2018

The Benefits Of Basil Everyday + Recipe

If you could only grow and use one herb, which would it be? I've decided that, for me, that would be basil. Don't get me wrong, I love all the herbs. This season I've got chives, rosemary, and mint along with my basil. I shouldn't play favorites, but I do.Why?  There are a few reasons!
 It smells so good--the smell of fresh basil sends me! It is so sweetly aromatic and pungent. It puts me in a good mood every time I inhale. And yes, basil used as an essential oil has vast benefits, among them aromatherapy.
 I can cook so much with it - It adds a nice Italian flair to almost any dish! One of my most favorite spreads is pesto! Anything with a good pesto on top is going to be delish! Basil is one of the main flavors in this amazing spread!

Astonishing health benefits - One of the most compelling but lesser known reasons to love basil are the many health benefits. Basil is so powerful in terms of antioxidant protection that a little bit is going to go a long way. Just a few leaves chopped up can give you at least 20% of Vitamins K and A and the minerals manganese and magnesium.

Including basil in your salads and salad dressing can inhibit dangerous bacteria that have been known to lurk on the leafy greens we love to include in our salads. Washing your greens in a 1% solution of basil oil will greatly diminish dangerous bacteria such as Shigella, a dangerous diarrhea-causing germ that could result in significant intestinal damage.

Another amazing thing is that eating basil can help prevent cancer! It contains phytochemicals that are amazing for that reason!

Unfortunately, basil can't simply be harvested and eaten like the lettuces we eat raw. Don't bother, I tried! It's not tasty at all. But something happens when it is infused into soups, salads, dressings or lightly sauteed with various foods.

With that in mind, I wanted to make use of the several basil plants growing on my porch and garden plot. These beautiful herbs need to be ingested and not simply looked at and sniffed. 
I thought about what I am already eating a lot of--something that might go along well with basil and the answer came quickly enough.

It is my sautéed vegetable and eggs breakfasts. I will now be
adding basil to the mix. This is how I do it. It is so easy, just how I like it. I don't believe in making essential nutrition something that is hard to do. I love being able to incorporate powerful hacks, nutritional or otherwise, into things I already do. Why complicate our lives that are already full to the bursting point? (See how I incorporate probiotics into my smoothies)


Sautéed Veggie And Egg Skillet

Ingredients - Olive Oil, Red Bell Pepper, Onion, 5 large Mushrooms, 2 eggs, 10 basil leaves, chopped

Chop the pepper, onion and mushroom into bite-sizes pieces.

Place the onions and peppers into a large skillet and

sauté until onions are tranparent and peppers are soft.

Add the mushrooms and stir into the mixture. Sauté for 2 - 3 minutes. Add the basil and sautee until limp. 

Add 2 eggs and cook them to taste, adding salt and pepper as desired. Top with cheese if desired! Enjoy eating healthy!




Thursday, March 8, 2018

EZ Yogurt Maker + Chocolate Probiotic Shake #Recipe

We have heard lots about probiotics on the forefront of health news. They were first introduced as something good all the way back in 1907, when Elie Metchnikoff  published a study showing that drinking fermented milk could increase longevity! Probiotics have been found to soothe symptoms of IBS, encourage a balanced mood, keep your brain healthy, prevent diabetes or metabolic syndrome, contribute to healthy skin, temper allergic responses, and protect your heart, to name just a few benefits!

Given the importance of probiotics, it would seem that we would want to have them around and readily available for consumption. As a matter of fact, most people do....somewhat. Yogurt is the most popular food source in America containing probiotics. However, many brands of yogurt have been manipulated so that there are less probiotics and much more added sugar! 

Another popular way to get probiotics is through supplementation through tablets, capsules, and pills. I did just that for quite awhile. And while this can be a great way to get probiotics, it is expensive and sometimes you can fall by the wayside if you don't continually stock up and remember to take them. 

Recently I found the easiest way to have fresh probiotics at the ready! I make them myself! It's so easy with the EZ Yogurt Maker! All I need is a gallon of milk (you can choose 1%, 2%, whole, almond or coconut milk), the EZ Yogurt Maker warming sleeve, and a packet of the starter.
Basically the EZ Yogurt Maker is a sleeve that heats up to the perfect temperature to make yogurt, keifer, or a probiotic drink. I like to start the process right before bedtime and by the time I wake up in the morning, I've got keifer. If I want to leave it a little longer, I've got yogurt! 
I love how well it fits into my already established morning routine of a protein smoothie. It gives the added nutrition of billions of probiotics, with 11 different strains. You can't get it any fresher than this!
I'm sharing my recipe for 'Chocolate Morning Probiotic Smoothie.' I love it and so will you!

Chocolate Probiotic Smoothie

1 cup of probiotic drink, unflavored( I used 2% milk to make the probiotic drink)
1 cup of spinach or other greens
1 scoop of chocolate powdered protein
2 tsp. of unsweetened cocoa
1 scoop of chocolate Meal Replacement powder or similar chocolate powder (Your choice)
Cover with ice
Blend for 1 minute or until blended

Things I've noticed: 
  • Easier to keep off weight - normally it's hard to keep off the weight, especially when I have an unexpected eating opportunity. But since I've been drinking my probiotic smoothies, it seems like the scale is more forgiving of those times. 
  • More energy - I have a couple extra hours of energy added to my day, which is huge! More time to get things done! 
  • Better rest - I rest more intensely, and wake up on my own, ready to get going! It's great!
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Monday, July 31, 2017

All The Nuts - Health Benefits of Almonds, Pecans, Walnuts, Etc.


 I grew up in the San Joaquin Valley, home of Diamond Walnuts. As a matter of fact, nuts of all kinds grew there, in addition to any fruit or vegetable you can imagine. It was a wonderful place to grow up. We used to work in the walnut orchards owned by Diamond, as a volunteer project for our church youth program. The trees went on endlessly, as far as the eye could see. Who would have thought that 30 years later, the very existence of the almond and walnut orchards would be on the verge of collapse?

I've been so sad to hear about the conditions recently in northern California and the affect they have had on the nut crops, especially almonds. First it was the extreme drought conditions in 2014 that brought on the necessity for almond farmers to destroy thousands and thousands of acres of almond trees. Now in 2017, it's the opposite. Record rainfall is killing or has already killed the state's almonds. A record 27 inches of rain fell this last winter, the most ever recorded! And it's ironic that water is responsible for killing the trees, because almonds consume huge amounts of water and have even been accused of depriving other resources of adequate water! 

Being as it may, the health benefits of eating those water-greedy nuts is huge! I would urge anyone not to make their dietary plans so constrictive that they can't fit in a handful of some kind of nut into their daily food plan! By the way, peanuts are not nuts. They are legumes. Consider the benefits of eating a handful of nuts!
1) Great source of healthy fat! Of course we know that some fats shouldn't be consumed and other fats should be consumed in moderate amounts. Nut fats are helpful for weight loss, heart health and for brain health!

2) 20% less likely to die for any reason! That is huge! Studies found that a person who ate a small handful of nuts 7 times a week or more, were less likely to kick the bucket!

3) People who eat nuts have better cardiovascular health, lower risk for diabetes, lower mortality rate which then raises your longevity!

Sometimes you want something a little more exciting than just a handful of nuts. There are a lot of ways to dress up those nutritionally-loaded nuggets. 

Maple Cinnamon Pecans
2 cups raw pecans
1/3 cup maple syrup (or to taste)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2  Tbsp. cinnamon
Cinnamon Sugar for sprinkling

Combine pecans, maple syrup, salt, and cinnamon. Heat over medium heat in a skillet for 6 - 8 minutes until thickened. Spread onto wax paper to cool. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, if desired, and store in an airtight container.

Rosemary Garlic Almonds
2 cups raw almonds
1 Tbsp Coconut oil
2 tbsp. fresh chopped rosemary
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Combine all ingredients and cook in a medium sauce pan, stirring regularly until toasted and fragrant. Spread and cool on wax paper. Store in airtight container. 

Either recipe is gluten free, vegan, and paleo! I'm such a fan of all the nuts and this is one obsession that I don't feel a shred of guilt for! So enjoy some nuts, and here's to your health!

sources: Grub Street 
Mercola.com
AgAlert 
CenterCut Cook 

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Peanut Butter Grown-Up Style! #Recipe and #Review PB Crave

I grew up eating peanut butter! The taste was so delicious and I'd eat it by the spoonfuls if I wasn't enjoying it in sandwiches and cookies. I must have eaten too much of it, though, because it became one of those flavors that made me say.....meh. I know....it has lots of protein, which is a good thing, yada yada yada!
 One thing that kinda turned me off, however, was finding out that many commercial brands have hydrogenated oils in it, which pretty much neutralizes much of the good in it.
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Then I heard about Peanut Butter Crave, with their 4 yummy flavors and I decided to give it a try! You've got Razzle Dazzle--raspberry jam and organic honey mixed into the peanut butter, Coco Bananas--Bananas and cocoa in the mix, Choco Choco--a chocolate lovers version, and Cookie Nookie--my personal favorite 'cause it's chocolate chip cookie dough mixed in!



What was especially appealing is that it doesn't have hydrogenated oils or artificial flavors for starters. You still have the amazingly high protein content, and of course it is gluten free and has no high fructose corn syrup, or added sugar. Maybe I could become the fan I once was, back in the day! 
After all, peanut butter has reached the status of super food because it is a rich source of niacin, folate, vitamin E, along with other essential nutrients and minerals. It is also high in protein and fiber! It wouldn't hurt to try and fall in love with it all over again!
Long story short, I love this stuff and feel like it's a guilty pleasure. PB Crave was created by women, who have very discriminating taste and created some amazing flavors that make the old, familiar taste of peanut butter a new taste sensation, thus making it exciting again!!! I really enjoy their website because they have great recipes for snacks, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, using all of their awesome flavors!
Easy Recipe
I made 'Overnight Peanut Butter And Chocolate Oats' because it used my favorite flavor, Cookie Nookie! It was delicious! And with 20 grams of protein in a single delicious serving, it is a smart move in the morning! To make it, mix all the following ingredients together!