Meals & Planning
8 Healthy Alternatives to Junk Food That Are Easy Swaps
Do you love to hate junk food and snacking? You’re in the right place if you’ve ever struggled with how to handle snacking situations and choose healthy alternatives to junk food. You show up to a party already hungry, and the snacks spread out before you like gold coins in Scrooge McDuck’s money vault. What to do? Strategy: How to Choose Alternatives to Junk Food No denying it – junk food is delectable. Once the sweet, salty goodness hits our taste buds, it’s really hard to stop! Whether you’re making your own snack at home or showing up at a party with a dozen of them, this is what works…
Healthy Delicious Paleo Thanksgiving Sides That Everyone Will Love
Five healthy delicious paleo Thanksgiving sides that everyone will love, including and app and dessert. Nut-free and vegan options, too.
Don’t Like Turkey? Here Are 6 Alternatives For Thanksgiving
So you don't like turkey. Here are 6 holiday-worthy alternatives for Thanksgiving, including gluten-free and vegetarian ideas.
What is a Plant Based Diet? The Fundamentals and How to Know if it’s Achievable For You
Have you thought about trying a plant-based diet? If you answered “yes”, you’re in good company. Plant-based diets are on the rise – around 10 million Americans say they follow a “plant-based” diet. That’s up from 290k in 2004! Interestingly, the number of self-identifying “vegans” hasn’t changed much. Are you asking yourself, “what’s the difference between vegan and plant-based?” In this post, we’ll get clear on just what a plant-based diet is (and is not). At the end, you’ll have the information you need to decide if you want to try plant-based yourself. What You Need to Know About Plant-Based Diets Let’s first define a plant-based diet and distinguish it…
15 Red, White, & Blue Food Ideas
Even if you’re not at the park watching fireworks or gathered in a backyard with 50 of your closest friends, there are still ways to get festive with food! Favorite 4th of July Festivities We all want something to look forward to. In the summer, I always look forward to the 4th of July. Independence Day brings parades, fireworks, swimming pools, and barbeques – all good stuff! My family usually attends our city’s “Pet Parade”, then we walk to the town park for an old-fashioned festival – complete with funnel cakes and three-legged races. In the evening, we cook-out with friends and try to stay awake long enough to watch…
Best Breakfast Bowl for Special Diets
If you’ve read my original Best Breakfast post, you probably know that I love a big bowl of nutritious goodness to start my day. But what if you’re vegan, or doing the Whole30? If you’ve read some of my other content, you know I’ve practiced and respect many special diets. So,this post is meant to demystify and lay out your perfect breakfast bowl, no matter what your food preferences or restrictions. Gluten-free: You’re in luck-the original Best Breakfast Bowl is already gluten-free! 1/2 cup whole milk plain yogurt (eg, Fage Total 5% Greek) 1 banana, sliced 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk 1 tablespoon no-sugar-added peanut butter, nut butter, or chopped…
The Best Breakfast for Sustained Energy
What’s your ideal breakfast – black coffee, biscuits and gravy (I heard recently that’s Portland’s signature breakfast), a granola bar on the way out the door? Breakfasts range from zilch to 1000-calorie sugar-and-fat bombs, and everything in between. My “historical” breakfasts have been high-carb, medium protein, and low fat. Think pancakes with strawberry jam (made with love by my mom), Frosted Mini Wheats with skim milk (a 90s favorite), and many derivations of oatmeal … As I’ve gotten wiser (ahem, older) and more aware of how breakfast impacts my energy levels, I’ve observed that these common and carb-forward breakfasts, although delicious, left me feeling super lethargic – and starving –…
Make a Plant-Based Dinner Meat-Eaters Will Love
Are you looking to add more plant-based meals to your diet, but are not sure where to start or afraid your family won’t like it? Believe me, I’ve been there! When I was a vegan for a few years, I constantly tried different dinner recipes, hoping that they would be easy, use “normal” ingredients, and – most importantly – be edible. Not just for me, but also for my kids and husband. After many fails, complaints, and even ridicule from my meat-loving family, Fiesta Pasta is one plant-based dinner that even has the meat-eaters going back for seconds. Goal: Plant-Based Dinner That’s Easy and Delicious The goal here is to…
Make Easy, Delicious Peanut Sauce and Dressing in 5 Minutes
Do you want to be able to make restaurant-quality peanut sauce – or a nut-free version – at home, and in less time than it takes to read a take-out menu? Nothing beats a creamy, coconut peanut sauce – for Pad Thai, on salads, chicken satay, tofu – it’s delicious on almost everything. Recently, I was mixing up some peanut coconut sauce to go with Pad Thai, and had a “lightbulb” moment. What if I used the extra coconut milk from my peanut sauce to make a salad dressing?! If you have one can of coconut milk, you can make an amazing peanut coconut sauce AND peanut coconut salad dressing.…
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7 Surprising Food Hacks That Will Help You Cut Back on Ultra-Processed Foods
Ultra-processed foods can be low on nutrition and high in calories and sugar. Here's 7 food hacks to cut ultra-processed foods in your diet.
