Is that a bird? A plane? NO! It's a Superfood!

If you know anything about health food in recent years, you will have heard of a Superfood. A Superfood is a type of food that is known to be low in calorie content but have a very high nutrient content pertaining to its small amount/size, for example: Chia Seeds (which I talked about in my first blog post) are considered to be a Superfood, this is because just 1 Tablespoon of dry seeds have about 60 calories, 5 g of Fat, 6 g of Carbohydrate, 6 g of Fiber, 3 g of Proteins, and they are also a good source of Omega-3 fatty acids, Antioxidants, Fiber, and the list goes on. Superfoods are a lot more common than you might think. Certain foods like blueberries, almonds, and even bell peppers are just a few of the many superfoods that many of us eat fairly often and the best part is that we don't even recognize it.

Superfoods are packed with essential nutrients of all sorts, many are high in antioxidants, and fiber as well as many different vitamins. Superfoods are great for making smoothies and other delicious recipes as well. One of my favorite things to do with superfoods is to make a superfood smoothie (essentially a green smoothie with lots of superfoods)for a healthy pre-gym snack. Super foods can be prepared in lot of healthy and delicious ways. I really like the recipes from My Healthy Dish. My Healthy Dish also has an Instagram and a YouTube. The recipes aren't all about superfoods but they are all pretty healthy and tasty. At the end of this post I will include a couple of recipes and a list of 50 great superfoods. Stay healthy and enjoy!

Banana Pops




Chicken Sriracha Spring Rolls




Lemon Garlic Chicken with Roasted Butternut Squash and Brusserls Sprouts




Kiwi Strawberry Pomegranate Green Smoothie





50 Superfoods

Yoga... What's the point?

When you think about Yoga what comes to mind? A bunch of women doing some fancy breathing and bending into weird positions all the while passing gas? That is what I used to think about yoga, but that all changed when I decided to take yoga my sophomore year of high school.

 Before I started yoga I thought I would take it, it would bean easy A and I could take it after school to free up my schedule, I mean it's just a bunch of stretching and breathing, right? I don't think I could have been any more wrong. Yoga was not as easy as I had thought, aside from people consistently passing gas, everything I had thought was pretty off point.

Sure, we did a lot of breathing and stretching, but it certainly was not easy. We were constantly moving, "Now move into downward facing dog, raise your right leg in the air and then bring it forward, then move into Warrior 1 pose... etc. etc." It doesn't sound very difficult, but keeping proper form and and focusing so hard on breathing is a lot more challenging than I had expected for my first time at yoga.My favorite part of class quickly became the end of every class when we would do a pose called Savasana or Corpse Pose.  In this pose you simply lay on your back on the floor.

Despite how difficult yoga had been at first, I quickly began to really enjoy it, I could feel myself becoming stronger and more flexible, I had gained some muscle, and it became increasingly relaxing. After taking just a few classes we had already started to learn the first steps to standing on our heads! I had no idea that I could gain so much from something as simple as a little bit of fancy breathing and stretching. In addition to feeling good, yoga has many health benefits including increased flexibility and muscle strength and tone as well as things like maintaining a balanced metabolism. Doing yoga even improves posture and has been known to lower blood pressure as well as cholesterol. 

One of the best things about yoga is that ANYBODY can do it. Not all yoga consists of constant movement and learning specific poses, some yoga is more relaxed and meditative, and some yoga is extremely warm rooms and the routines are intense. There is even yoga for pregnant women. 

Yoga can be done anywhere, in any form all of the time. I encourage everybody to at least try doing yoga two or three times. It can change your life in more ways than you would think. If you want to try out yoga but you don't want to take a class, youtube has some great yoga routines and Netflix also has some yoga videos to follow along to. 

Namaste.

'Tis the Season

Have you ever wondered why the same tomatoes that you bought in the middle of Summer that were so flavorful are so flavorless when you have them again in November? Or why the basil is so limp in the winter? Well, it's because they are not in Season. Eating seasonally isn't as challenging as one might think, it may seem time consuming, or like it might be difficult to figure out what is in season, but if you give a little bit of extra effort it will pay off in a lot of different areas. In this post I will explain how to figure out which fruits and veggies are currently in season in your area and explain the importance and benefits of buying locally grown and seasonal produce.

First off, how does buying locally grown and seasonal produce benefit you? It is pretty simple, buying locally can seem expensive but when you buy produce that is grown locally and seasonally it can take a huge load off of your wallet! When you buy a tomato in the middle of winter (at least in Oregon) the tomatoes have either been shipped here from somewhere where tomatoes grow naturally that time of year or it is picked from a hot house, either way it is an expensive process. If you ever try buying tomatoes during the winter I am sure you have noticed they often lack in flavor and the price is pretty ridiculous, but when the tomato has to grow in a facility that uses lots of energy or has to travel long distances the production cost of the produce skyrockets (and you certainly don't get as much bang for your buck)! Not only is the produce travelling long distances, but it has to be picked when it isn't as ripe because the growers need to ensure that the produce won't rot as quickly through the transport. The reason buying seasonally and locally is so good on your wallet is because it is grown near by, so the transport is very close, and it is in season so it is not only at it's finest but there is also an abundance of the produce which means prices are cheap!

So, now that I have completely sold you on buying local and seasonal produce I will teach you the easiest way to figure out what grows seasonally where you live. The process of finding out what is grown seasonally in the area you live is a lot simpler than you might expect because all you have to do is Google where you live and seasonal produce. You can either read lots of articles, which is the long way, or you can just look for a chart in images that you think is easy to understand in Google Images. The chart depicted is an example of what a chart may look like.

Seasonal produce in Oregon.

 

Eating seasonally can seem like a big hassle, but in reality what takes just a minute to search on the internet can benefit your taste buds as well as your wallet and the economy. Below are a few fall recipes that use locally grown produce, enjoy and keep staying healthy!

1. Squash-Apple Turnovers

2. Bacon and Butternut Pasta

3. Pumpkin Pie Pudding

Healthy Halloween?

When we think of Halloween most of us think of spooky decorations, costumes, scary movies, trick-or-treating, Halloween parties, but most of all candy and sweets! Halloween is a hard day to avoid temptation when there are so many great candies and cookies to eat, so how are you supposed to keep eating healthy on a day where sugar is the number one food group? 

Keeping a healthy diet on Halloween can be very challenging, especially when you're entertaining guests. Everybody wants to stay on track but nobody wants to miss out on all of the special Halloween treats. Today I will provide some fun Halloween inspired treats and snacks that would be great for any Halloween party as well as healthier candies to hand out to your Trick-Or-Treaters!

Healthy snacks at parties don't usually get touched very much, they are usually the typical platters of broccoli, baby carrots and cauliflower, so how do you get people to eat their fruits and veggies? If you want people to eat the fruits and veggies, pair them with a healthy dip or turn them into something that looks fun to eat. You can even doll up classics like celery with peanut butter or carrots with ranch dip. Fruit can be hard to get rid of as well, an easy way to get people to eat it is making it into jack-o-lantern fruit cups, or dipping things like strawberries and bananas in white chocolate to make chocolate strawberry ghosts! White chocolate ghosts can even be one of the sweet treats served at your party. 

As for the unhealthy snacks such as kettle corn and chips, those can be easily substituted by Jack-O-Lantern Sweet Potato Fries and a clean kettle corn recipe. 

Although snacks are always appreciated on Halloween, everybody knows that the real stars are the sweets. Traditionally, candy corn and Halloween cookies are the main focus, but we all know those aren't the best things to be eating when you are trying to keep your diet healthy. Here are a few awesome recipes you will love for healthy Halloween treats.

1. Clean Eating Pumpkin Cupcakes

2. Peanut Butter Pumpkins

3. Clean Eating Candy Apples

4. Candycorn Popsicles

5. Chocolate Covered Ghost Strawberries

There are so many easy, healthy Halloween snacks and treats that I can't even come close to listing them all, so below are some links to places where I have gotten a lot of the recipes I will be using this year as well as a link that tells you the healthiest candies to be giving out to your trick-or-treaters. Enjoy, and have a very happy and healthy Halloween!

http://greatist.com/health/20-better-halloween-candy-choices

http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-halloween/

http://www.listotic.com/64-non-candy-halloween-snack-ideas/

http://www.cleanandscentsible.com/2013/09/heathy-halloween-food-ideas.html

Going Green

You know those nasty green drinks you see health freaks carrying around? You know what I'm talking about, they're usually olive green or brown, kind of lumpy, and have a reputation for tasting like freshly pureed dirt? Well, these disturbing creations are called Green Smoothies. A green smoothie is basically a normal smoothie but with a bunch of leafy greens shoved into the blender along with all of the fruit. So, why do these drinks have such a horrible reputation? And why do people subject themselves to this tastebud torture?

First or all, let's  talk about why people drink this green sludge. Green smoothies have all sorts of great health benefits. Every day we are supposed to eat 2 cups of fruit and 2.5 cups of vegetables each day. It doesn't sound like a lot of fruits and vegetables but when you factor into consideration our busy lifestyles, it is a lot more difficult to get the recommended servings each day. The green smoothie is filled with vitamins such as A and C as well as some others depending on the fruits and vegetables one chooses to put in the smoothie. Green smoothies also have a lot of fiber in them, which makes the green smoothie a better choice than a fresh fruit and vegetable juice because the whole fruit is not used when making juice. Green smoothies use the whole fruit (not including pits or skins from fruits such as mangoes and avocados). Over all, green smoothies are a wonderful way to get full servings of  fruits and vegetables without even noticing it.

So, why do green smoothies have such a bad reputation? Well, people give green smoothies such a bad reputation because green smoothies are believed to taste horrible! In truth, if done properly, green smoothies can taste just as amazing as a normal smoothie. If you put the right ratio of fruits to vegetables and use enough liquid, the smoothie may not even be green (or blow) and it will even be SMOOTH, the way a smoothie should be! Green smoothies are a wonderful way to feed kids their fruits and veggies too.

 

Now that you know all about these wonderful creations, here are some tips to make an awesome green smoothie! Enjoy and stay healthy!

1. Blend the greens with the liquids before blending with the fruit and other ingredients.

2. Use Greek Yogurt to make the smoothie creamy with a pack of protein.

3. Use one or two frozen veggies so the smoothie will be nice and cold!

4. Add chia, flax, or hemp seeds for extra nutrition.

5. Do the prep work for your smoothies and store individual servings in mason jars or plastic baggies for smoothies on the go. Make sure to keep your prepped fruits and veggies refrigerated! 

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia!

 We have all heard about Chia Pets, but did you know that the little black seeds that create the magic of the Chia Pet have amazing health benefits? In fact, chia seeds are one of the many superfood secrets that have exploded in the health community in the past few years. Originating in South America, these seeds were a huge dietary staple of the Aztecs and Mayans. The Aztecs and Mayans prized the seeds because of their ability to provide sustainable energy; however, these seeds provide more than energy.

One serving (one ounce) of seeds is filled with protein, fiber, fat (5 grams of which are Omega-3s), Calcium, Manganese, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Zinc, Vitamin B3 (Niacin), Potassium, Vitamin B1 (Thiamine), and Vitamin B2. They are also a great source of antioxidants and claimed to help control hunger. Just to add to all of these pros, a whole ounce is only 137 calories. 

But enough about facts, I am sure you are wondering how you are supposed to eat these tiny packages of nutrition and the answer is simple; you can eat chia seeds any way you want. When I eat chia seeds I typically put them in my yogurt with granola, or I like to put them in smoothies. Chia seeds have a very similar size and texture to seeds from marion berries. Although I typically include them in my breakfast, there are a million more ways to include chia seeds in your diet. You can put chia seeds in your breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. You can even use chia seeds as an egg replacement in baking! So, in order to help you in your journey with the Chia Seed I have put together five of my favorite chia seed recipes! Enjoy!

1. Gluten-Free Fresh Blackberry Oat Bars

2. Chocolate and Coconut Chia Seed Mousse 

3. Honey Almond Chia Granola

4. Chia Seed Pudding

5. Banana-Peanut Butter Chia Seed Muffins