Food
Are Free Days Good For You?
They Can Be – Here’s How Really, the only downside to healthy eating is not eating part – not eating mass quantities of just anything we want. Most of us would love to stuff our faces with ice cream and pizza every day … but then we’d be sick. What to do? Typical diets, especially fad-ish ones, require the elimination of your favorite treats (chocolate ice cream, I’m looking at you) or even entire food groups (I can’t live without dairy!!). Unless you’re allergic or have an intolerance to a food, there is no scientific reason to ban it from your life forever. Today I’d like to share with you…
Is Shopping At Whole Foods Worth It?
Answer: It Depends … Part of me has always wanted to be a Whole Foods shopper – someone who “cared enough” for my family to shop at a grocery store that adhered to the highest environmental and quality standards. When money was tight, and I could not justify the higher price tag of Whole Foods (vs large supermarket next door). Fast forward to now: we can afford – and are willing – to pay more for responsibly and locally produced food. Another game-changer: Amazon purchased Whole Foods in 2017 and promptly started price promotions aimed at its own Amazon Prime members – like me. I asked myself: Is this the…
7 Ways to Stop Eating So Much Sugar
Most of us realize that too much sugar is bad for our health – not only does sugar have no nutritional value (outside of calories), eating too much can lead to weight gain, type II diabetes, and other chronic health problems. The problem: sugar is wonderfully delicious! Case in point: the average American consumes more than ⅓ cup of added sugar daily – that’s 57 pounds per year! If you have a few minutes, this TEDx video does a great job of explaining why we looovve eating sugar: https://youtu.be/lEXBxijQREo Even though we humans are hard-wired to consume sweet foods, The American Heart Association recommends no more than 6 – 9…
4 Ways to Crush Your Labor Day BBQ
low stress * whole food * gluten free As written: Gluten-free, Whole Food, Paleo; with options for Whole30 and Keto diets Labor Day is truly the last hurrah of summer. We Pacific Northwesterners are getting in the last cookout and camping trip before the chill and structure of fall pulls us from our summer dreams back to the reality of short days, flannel layers, and hot drinks. Plus, it’s a 3-day weekend! You can have a BBQ on Sunday evening and people might actually attend. This means you (or Chris and me – the host(s)) have an extra day to wrap your head around having people in our house and…
Back to School Snack Traps: Top 4 Healthy Not Healthy
And better alternatives for backpack snacks Parents across the nation are singing the praises of the back-to-school season. Because, no matter how painful and tedious back-to-school shopping is, every parent knows that the reward for this effort is that his/her kids will be back in the classroom and out of the house soon. If you aren’t a parent with kids in school, you may be unaware that, these days, kids are allowed – nay, encouraged – to bring snacks to school … for consumption during non-lunch times of the day. I don’t know about you, but when I was in elementary school, snacks brought from home were straight up contraband…
Protein-Packed Lunches
Easy add-ons for a boost in protein and healthy fats Lunch: the meal that is often treated as an afterthought. In our busy lives, lunch is a meal that we “grab”, “pick up”, eat at our desks, or consume while doing something else entirely. Increasingly, lunch is simply a means to an end – a way to prevent hangriness – so we can keep going through the rest of our day until dinner. This relegation of lunch to the sidelines of life just makes me sad. My ideal would be to sit down at a table, maybe with other people (what?!), and enjoy each bite of a simple, fresh, and…
10 Healthy Snacks Under 200 Calories
Being hungry is the pits. That gnawing, empty, relentless feeling of your body wanting food is hard to ignore. If you’re like me, you’ll be irritable, have a hard time concentrating, and give the dirtiest of looks to anyone who causes you to be late for lunch. While not yet in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word “hangry”, or, irritable due to hunger, is a feeling I try to prevent every day. Snacks are the antidote to hangriness, but if you’re not careful, snacks can be unhealthy, meal-sized, and leave you feeling like you need a nap. Whether you work in an office, are at home during the day, or out…
Magic Sauce – Salad Dressing, Dip, Simmer Sauce
Salad dressing can be many things – creamy, tangy, sweet, chunky or smooth. When it’s good, salad dressing makes a salad. Think fresh Caesar dressing made with egg yolks, anchovies, lemon, and a great olive oil. The flavors meld together in a velvety, briny goodness. A great salad dressing evenly coats the greens and vegetables it is served with. It makes greens, vegetables, and other toppings taste better and compliments their textures. In addition to tasting great, salad dressings made with quality ingredients are fabulous sources of healthy fats like olive and avocado oils. When made with nut and/or seed butters (think tahini or peanut butter), salad dressings and sauces…
Thinking Vegan?
The pros and cons of eating animal-free Years ago, a health-conscious aunt of mine recommended I watch a documentary entitled “Forks Over Knives”. If you’ve not heard of Forks Over Knives, it is a film that examines the idea that chronic disease can be controlled or reversed by rejecting animal based and processed foods. The film follows individuals with chronic conditions (eg, heart disease, type 2 diabetes) as they attempt to reduce their dependence on medications through adopting a whole foods, plant-based diet. If you haven’t watched the film, it is a compelling case for adopting a vegan diet. In fact, after watching it eight years ago, I did just…
Vegetable Roundup: 10 Recipes For a Veggie Boost in < 30 Minutes
Nutritional powerhouses but famously avoided and disparaged by both children and adults, vegetables tend to be viewed as the least exciting part of any meal. Some view vegetables as something that they “have to” but don’t particularly “want to” eat. Yes, I’ve had vegetables that were bland and off-color, but I would argue that comes not from an inherently untasty food, but poor preparation. In the suggestions that follow, my aim is to offer quick and super-tasty vegetable dishes that will have your taste buds singing and your body fortified with vitamins, minerals, and fiber. From cold salads to cooked and mashed to grilled – vegetables are diverse and wonderful…