Italy Meets India!

So I have food left over from last weekend when I went to the farmers market and I decided to do something about it!




Ingredients for Sauce: 
2 lbs of tomatoes
1 lg banana pepper
7 garlic cloves
1 bunch of green onions
1 inch of ginger
2 stalks of thyme

Directions:
Blend all ingredients in a food processor.
Ingredients for Dish:
1 green zucchini
1 yellow zucchini
1 Japanese Eggplant
3 shallots
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tsp basil flakes 1 tsp parsley flakes 1 tsp pink salt 1 tsp black pepper







Directions:
Cut the vegetables. Add the oil to the pan and turn on the heat to medium. Add the cut up vegetables and cook until tender. Add the seasonings and continue to cook down the vegetables and stir. Finally, after the vegetables are soft add the sauce and turn to simmer for 10 minutes. Serve & Enjoy!

Hey Ma! Chocolate Ice Cream for Breakfast!

Good morning! What are you having for breakfast? I had a bowl of chocolate ice cream!!! Wwwaaaaaa???? "How is that healthy?" you might ask yourself.

Well all you need is:
2 frozen bananas
1 scoop of chocolate powder
1 cup of Almond Breeze Almond Milk
1 Handful of coconut
Almond slivers
Cinnamon

Directions:
In a blender add the frozen bananas, Almond Milk, chocolate powder in a blender. Blend until smooth and thick like ice cream. Top with coconut, almond slivers and cinnamon. Enjoy!

Are Your Goals to Big?

It is always good to have goals! There are many different types of goals, but sometimes we tend to forget that it is better to start with short term goals that lead us to our long term goals.  For example, you are not going to just go out and purchase a home.  Most people have a short term goal to save X dollars out of each paycheck to go toward the purchase of their home. Sometimes it takes many short term goals to get accomplished before we see the long term to come through to fruition.

Another example is getting married. After you find the person of your dreams and get engaged there are many, many, many things (small goals) to accomplish before the big day (long term goal)!

The same goes with losing weight. The first thing we need to do is correct our way of eating. It will not change over night, but through making more right choices than poor choices, eventually we will be eating healthier. It is important to not beat yourself up for the poor choices, just enjoy it and make a better choice the next time. At this point you should begin to see the number on the scale decreasing! The next thing you want to do is add weights for resistance training, then you will burn more weight because your muscles will be working and toning.  Keep in mind when you work with weights the number on the scale will go up, but the number on the scale isn't important.  What is important is how your clothes are beginning to fit looser on you. Muscle weighs more than fat, but it's leaner and healthier.

So when you set a long term goal to lose weight make sure you also set multiple short term goals to help you get to the long term. So, if I want to lose 50 pounds as my long term, then I may want to lose 10 pounds a month or even 5 to begin and eventually as long as I keep being consistent in my eating and exercise, the 50 pounds will have melted away.

Make your goals reachable and attainable.

Trying vs. Becoming

For years we have been told, if you just try this or if you just try that. From my experience and what I have learned is I can try all I want, but when I actually take ownership, step out and do (Become), then and only then do I begin to see the changes I expect.

You can try all you want to lose weight, work your way up the career ladder or be the next President of the United States, but if you don't put yourself forward or out there taking steps to get to where you want to be, you will always be stuck in trying.

Take the bull by the reigns and begin to step forward, take action, and move out of your comfort zone to see the changes that need to take place in you and your environment to allow you to move forward to see the success in whatever it is you want to do.

Delectable Mashed Potatoes & Almond Green Beans

I made a dish today with 4 white potatoes. I washed and slit the potatoes long way at an angle three times and then sideways 3 times. Then put them in a pot of water and boil until soft. Drain potatoes.  Add 1/8 c green onions, 4 garlic cloves (minced), lavender, thyme, salt, pepper, 2 tsp of butter, dried seasoned tomatoes and dill. Mix well.

Then cut off any ends of the beans and wash them well. Add them to a pot of water and 2 tbsp of olive oil. Bring just to a boil and remove from heat. Sprinkle sliced almonds.

This was dinner tonight, delicious!

Rhubarb - Strawberry Delight

As I shared previously this week I am making meals with the food I purchased from the farmers market this week. Two of the items happen to be strawberries band rhubarb. I found a recipe and with a few modifications I have an even healthier,  but still delicious.

I found this recipe but made some adjustments....1 instead of brown sugar I used granulated sugar and only 1/2 of what was called for. 2 instead of oat flour, I used coconut flour because I had no oat flour. 3 instead of white rice flour, I used gluten free flour 4 instead of sea salt, I used pink salt, now I remember I do have sea salt. 5 instead of coarse sugar, I used 1 packet of Stevia, but I still have my butter....http://www.bojongourmet.com/2012/05/gluten-free-strawberry-rhubarb-crumble.htm

Raspberry Attack!!!

As you know I have been making smoothies for breakfast lately and have never felt more healthy in my life! Try is recipe and let me know what you think.

1 banana
1 container of raspberries
1 scoop chocolate vegan powder
8 ice cubes
16 oz Almond Breeze Vanilla Almond Milk

Blend well in the blender and serve immediately!

This put a smile on my face and I hope it does yours too.