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.

Farmers Market Day 2 6.22.2014

Today is Sunday 6.22.2014 and I just HAD to get to the Farmers Market that some people made a fuss about yesterday. Well, I went and have to be honest it wasn't as huge as the one I went to yesterday, but that isn't what matters. What matters is there is healthy food and YOU CAN eat healthy and NOT spend a lot of money!!!! 

 The first Farmers Market (Cameron Station, Alexandria, VA) I went to today (I went to two of them) does not have organic produce, this didn't make me thrilled as I am trying to show you that it is possible to eat healthy - organic and not spend your life savings. However, I did learn what they do is spray the pesticide and let it wash away in the rain and don't reapply it to the buds. Well, I guess that is better than giving us wax fruit we find from the supper market (GROSS)!

How can you tell the difference between organic and non organic? Well, the organic produce look strange and funny, they do not have a perfect shape. Just like a real pearl, a real pearl is not perfectly round when it is found instead it is very ugly and funny looking. What retailers are doing is they are making the food appear to us by how "great" it looks and unfortunately, many of us are falling for it.

 There were peoples crafts from painted drinking glasses to jewelry, baby clothes, baby booties and so much more!

 Anyhow, I did have fun and I got some Amish cookies, a loaf of gluten free bread, berries and veggies.

The second Farmers Market (Tysons Corner, - 8400 West Park Drive in MacLean, VA) was interesting. There was a food truck that served crepes with nutella and savory crepes.
Coco Loco with bananas, nutella, and coconut

Crepe Love Truck

 

There was another person I spoke with and they said they are not organically certified, however their produce is grown indoors (hummmm) and they don't use pesticides (I like this already). Then I went to another tent and they said they use a minimal amount of sprays. I asked, minimal? He then told me they only use the sprays when they need to and since the produce is locally grown and does not have to be shipped for 3 days to reach it's destination they don't need to add any sprays due to transport, which I thought...minimal is better than an overhaul of sprays. Here I purchased peaches & golden apples (suckers are huge) with raspberries, cherries and strawberries ($30)!!! 

Tyson Farms WV

Gypsy Hill Tea & Spices

Della J's Delectables

 Gina's Pacific Jam and Jellies

Arno's Pastry

Sweet Nuna

Hidden Creek Farm

Valley View Bakery

Over all this weekend I did spend a pretty penny on food at the farmers market, but that was my fault. I should have stopped when I ran out of cash, instead I pulled out the plastic. I had more than I needed, but I just couldn't pass up the other goodies. Well, next time I won't be getting as much.

It is better to get what you need instead of over extending yourself and getting more than you need.

Squashed Eggplant

I don't know about you, but for the longest time I was no fan of eggplant. Yesterday at the farmers market I purchased two Japanese eggplants. The funny thing is, I didn't know what type of eggplant the were because I had only been accustomed to one type before. So while I was searching for recipes to cook this bad boy, I came across the following article and learned there are several types of eggplants and different ways to cook each of them, Cooking Eggplant.

So today, I decided to cook the eggplant with onion, garlic, white bell pepper, banana pepper, zucchini, a yellow squash of some sort (it looks like a mini ufo - lol), pink salt, pepper, thyme, and lavender.

Saute the garlic and onions in a pan with 2 tbsp of olive oil. Then add the eggplant, just before the flesh turns brown, add the zucchini & squash. When the eggplant is brown and the zucchini & squash have been cooked down add the pink salt, pepper, thyme and lavender. Mix the mixture for a few minutes to get the aroma, then add the white bell pepper and broccoli. Cook this down for about 5 minutes and serve.

I have an eggplant left to cook, if you have any eggplant recipes that you enjoy, I'd love to hear from you!

My Weight Loss Success Story

For the longest time I had been battling my weight, just like every other American. However, I don't want to be skin and bone like the models. You can be skin and bones, but that does not mean you are healthy. I want to be healthy, tone and a good size/shape/weight for the body that was given to me. 

To begin I had to look at myself in the mirror. I mean I really looked at what I had allowed and I cried. Never in my life did I want to be overweight.

Check out this video to learn about my story:

My Weight Loss Story
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KulrICJmKOs

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me! I also have a Facebook group called TakeHealthyBack! I'd love to hear from you!

It's an EXCUSE!

Today was a wonderful first day of summer! This morning it was raining, but I was not going to allow that to stop me from going to the Farmers Market in Old Town today!

Many people say, I'd like to eat healthy, but it's expensive; I can't afford it, I have other things I am doing right now, I don't like vegetables/fruit and the list goes on (I have heard it all - so I believe). So to prove that eating healthy is not expensive as society, media and big companies say it is let me share with you what I did today!

First I went to the ATM got $80.00, I shouldn't need any more than this right? Ok, keep reading and you will see.

My first stop was to this stand where I got 3 yellow zucchini, 2 green zucchini, 3 cucumbers, 3 large tomatoes, rhubarb (2.5 lbs), and 4 white potatoes~ Guess how much? $10! In the grocery store this would cost you about $13 (depending on your grocery store).

Then I got two heads of broccoli for ----- $1 each!

I went to another area where I got a pumpkin squash and a yellow flower looking squash for $7.50.



Across the way was another stand where I got
purple beans (yeah strange right!) and 2 eggplants for $5.00.

            Then I got some lavender for $4.00

Daisies for $5.50

                 Amish cheese curds for $6

                                                   Bath salts for 1 each! so I got 4 = $4.

                           And finally I got Sunflowers for $6 (with a free rose)!

A total of ---- (trumpet) --- $49!!! Oh yeah and I stopped by Dunkin Doughnuts and got a coffee and French Cruller (my fav!). So this left me with $31 - 2.75 (Dunkin) = 28.25!

Did this prove to you that you can eat healthy organic wholesome foods and not kill your budget? I sure hope so, because what I am going to do is prepare each of these items I purchased and post the recipe on here.