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Category: Food Balance Your Body Type

Radish Salad – For Healthy Living and Weight Loss

Radish salad is one that isn’t often a first choice for most. Because fresh radishes are bitter, pepper-spicy.

But the salad recipe below is more sweet than bitter notes.

This salad is radi(sh)-cally DIFFERENT.Radish salad with low-acidic red radishes easily prepared.

And radishes are super healthy and I have a way to lessen the bitter. It’s a good way to replace or eat a variety of healthy foods besides tomatoes. Especially for less acidic meals.

You can even replace tomatoes and cherry tomatoes in your salad for radishes in a radish salad.

You may even fall in love (with this no-tomato salad again). Radishes are  a year-round produce staple that often gets overlooked and not over picked in stores.

And it’s a good substitute for tomato because some people can’t eat tomatoes despite their bright attractiveness and summery abundance.

Because tomatoes are acidic. Even though they’re healthy lycopene food.

And radishes have a different profile (or personality if food were people).

Radishes prepared the way I describe below look a bit like yellow potatoes (also abundant), but have no starchy calories, so that’s another good reason to ra-dish.

This radish salad recipe is a new way but a traditional salad in that there’s no cooking meal prep involved… gotta love that!

A salad is great in the hot or summer months when you want to eat lighter and meet weight loss goals.

Red radishes are available and abundant year round in most stores.

They’re usually packaged next to their baby carrot root veggie friends… and cost about the same affordable pennies each as price.

Plus the packaged ones have been de-stemmed so they’re ready to eat after you rinse them off.

But unlike the carrot, the radish is part of the Brassica family that Cousin broccoli, Brussels sprouts, collard greens, and cauliflower are all in.

There are many interesting types of radishes with names just as curious, like Watermelon, Cherry Belle, Daikon, Easter, and French Breakfast radishes.

But keeping it simple and wallet-friendly, you can use red radishes for your radish salad.

And to make the radishes soft and less bitter, there are 2 ways that I’ll share here…

The first way is: instead of cutting or thinly slicing up in round radish coins fresh from raw radishes, wash off your radishes like you would, put them back in the plastic bag and tie up the top or in a freezer safe plastic bag with a ziplock for at least 2 days.

Don’t bother to dry them off (…even easier!).

The moisture helps them mush a little.

The radishes will transform and change color.

Where instead of the vibrant magenta-ish reddish purple pink color, you get a white-washed pale faded magenta color with a slightly burnt light brown hue around looking more like a yellow potato.

Did I do my paint color description justice? 

When you’re a few days away from working with the radish in your salad and meals, you can take the bag out of the freezer and place in the fridge in a noticeable place you won’t forget about (but you can intentionally temporarily forget).

If you add to you fridge mid-week, they’ll be ready for your weekend salad.

There is some exercise of time and patience here… but if you leave the radishes as an afterthought, then it’s just time…

…So just fuh-gettabout it!

And then when you’re ready to use your radishes for your weekend dish, they will be soft and squishy… and if you squeezed one like a cherry tomato, it would squirt juice across the room like a water gun

Except it’s more like watery juice than tomato juice.

So that’s the first way.

The second way takes less time.

You’d freeze your radish like the first step in the first way already mentioned.

But then after they have formed icicles after a day or longer, bring the bag out to room temperature and place the bag in a bowl.

There will be a lot of juice coming out that you can use for a gazpacho or some other juicy food bowl dish.

After a day and overnight at room temps, they will get soft. But the color will be more like the faded pink-purplish colors in case that matters for your dish.

…Like these that are ready to be cut and used for your radish salad.

Tips for radishes from frozen:

Cut the squishy radishes with a serated knife (with jagged edges). Pierce into each radish first, in order to let out the radish water and air that has accumulated like a pressure cooker… except they won’t explode on their own.

[Btw, if you use a butter knife, the radish will just roll around like a  inflatable beach ball.]

With prepared radishes from frozen, you should notice easily the less bitter pungent smell (than that of raw radishes).

…Ya never thought you could have so much fun with produce, did ya?

And then you can cut up the radish bits to the sizes you like and place them in your salad.

They also go well with pasta salads or an Italian bean salad with radicchio.

…And btw… radishes and radicchio are not related. That would be ridiculo! Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

But they pair well on a salad plate together.

…And wow-za, you have one bright plate that’s calling. The contrast against a bed of spinach or Iceberg lettuce is inspiring… and if you add Romaine lettuce, that would be a salad melange party.

Anding sweet diced pimento peppers, chopped red bell peppers, and corn also dazzle up the dish.

If you’re sensitive to cheese dairy, but you still want to add, you may find buffalo mozzarella is better since it’s cheese made from buffalo milk or  halloumi made from sheep and/or goat milk.

Also, radishes goes well with microgreens and microgreen salads.

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Radish Salad - No Raw Bitter Taste

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

  • salad mix bag
  • 3 large radishes, frozen in freezer and then brought to fridge/room temperature to soften. Add more if you prefer
  • 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1/4 cup goat cheese crumbles
  • 1 tbsp chopped bell peppers or sweet pimento peppers
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Healthy Mediterranean Foods – inspired by restaurant notes

Healthy Mediterranean foods is my world and a healthy diet way as in what you eat. Like this list of printable Mediterranean diet grocery list.

 

 

Healthy Mediterranean Foods Printable Grocery List.

Off and on my hospitality career, I worked behind-the-scenes in food catering planning and event management for Spanish, Italian, and Lebanese restaurants and fine hotels in the Washington, DC area… a foodie hub.

During that time, I picked up many great healthy Mediterranean foods inspirations and also visited Italy and Spain.

Some of my fondest food event memories were the large corporate and bridal events that started out in my hotel days and then in restaurants. 

And where I could be table setting pops of color with the festive food dishes. …I know where my today-brunch table roots came from.

In alignment, I was also co-hosting brunches in some of the foodie-st restaurants near the ones  I represented and worked in… like Jose Andres’ fun DC restaurants and many American farm-t0-table ones that stand out.

From all those experiences, I learned to create balanced menus for preferred and customized tastes around specific seasons, daily occasions, and special events.

I got to make input and taste-test delicious foods, recipes, and dishes. With the Spanish, Italian, and Lebanese chefs, I was thankful they were much easier to work with than the ones that came from Ritz Carlton type-hotels (that give chefs their edge and what-you’d-expect in a chef fiery reputation 😊).

Today, the Spanish and Italian chefs stick out for me.

…Which btw, Spanish and Italian cuisines are having a moment (yes?) with Stanley Tucci’s Tucci in Italy and Eva Longoria’s Searching for Spain.

Have you seen?

They’re great for sparking food travel. If only you and I had  smell-o-vision… 💭

But without, those countries had some of my favorite inspired healthy Mediterranean food dishes that can be prepared and made at home. 

For starters, these are 3 healthy Mediterranean recipes soups and salads that also help to balance Vata and especially tame Pitta imbalances that are common in hot months.

One of my favorite plates was the fresh watermelon feta salad that many people love around the world.

watermelon mint salad as part of a healthy Mediterranean foods diet.

Salt and watermelon are great pairings because the coarse salt stops the juicy in watermelon and gives a nice balance.

Salt added here is a lot like when you add a coriander seed and you bite into one and you get a strong burst of favorable flavor. 

And when you add mint, you get a super-refreshing salad. Cooling mint added to juicy-ripe summer watermelon with salt and then finished off with a drizzle of balanced olive oil is a balanced salad or dessert. 🍉

summer mediterranean recipes

watermelon mint salad.
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Watermelon Mint Salad

Course Salad
Cuisine American, Mediterranean
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

  • fresh watermelon cut
  • olive oil
  • fresh mint
  • coarse sea salt
  • goat cheese crumbles (optional)

Instructions

  • Drizzle olive oil over watermelon
  • Add coarse sea salt
  • Generously add mint to watermelon

Feta cheese is often added but I prefer a sweeter goat cheese crumble that’s less salty. That way you get an overall sweet taste. Or you can add a dollop of Greek yogurt that’s more creamy like an Icelandic yogurt.

You could serve with lightly toasted pita chips where you can also make your own easy pita bread chips.

Spanish food dishes:

Planning parties and marketing at a Spanish restaurant chain called La Tasca allowed me to experiment with many Spanish food tastes and healthy Mediterranean foods.

The menu was full of variety… and never-ending like a Cheesecake Factory menu.

And in the Spanish restaurant version, one of my faves was a seasonal freshly-prepared gazpacho soup that traditionally is served cold and without tomato overpowering as the base. 

But I like the sweetness of tomatoes that are abundant in hot temps when you want a cold soup.

So for this gazpacho, the blend I like is: blended watermelon (or cucumber if watermelon isn’t available), fresh diced tomato, cumin (that’s also cooling), and a drizzle of olive oil and garlic.

There’s enough water in watermelon to make a soup.

Minced pimiento sweet peppers are also great to add. They’re anti-inflammatory healthy and the bright fire engine red is striking. 🌶️

No heat in this gazpacho!

Then I like to add balancing fresh cilantro and salt & pepper.

…I remember ingredients used to always end with “salt and pepper to taste” and somehow that got dropped, maybe ‘cause of all the other great ingredients that we have access to.

I think S&P still are the two that often are the final balancing flavors if you can’t quite put your finger on what’s missing. 🧂

Coarser kosher or sea salts are star ingredients for certain healthy dishes, like a gazpacho, Brussels sprouts, edamame, watermelon salad, and pasta water.

Btw, Brussels sprouts are actually named after Belgium’s capital, Brussels. So that’s how you can also remember.

Food is simple in that the name often gives its origin away, but is complex because you don’t know what’s inside until you’ve had a taste.

And a gazpacho is one taste you can’t forget and named after “soaked bread” from Andalusia… I love how that region name (An-da-loo-see-ah) just rolls off the tongue like interesting music notes.

Traditionally, a gazpacho is served with a spongy white, unsalted bread that doesn’t have much taste (like Wonder Bread you would feed the ducks with at a lake 😊). 

…This also reminds me of the bread served at Tuscan meals and with my favorite Ribollita soup served warm and great for wet and cool days (in early spring, late fall, or winter)… or if you’re feeling a bit over-Vata and need some comforting balance food.

You can also try a gazpacho inside a bread bowl.

Italian food dishes:

I started working in restaurants in my teens. The first one with servers was an upscale all-marble floor Italian restaurant chain. There I got in the habit of dipping bread in olive oil with cracked black pepper.

This was before that was common to do in restaurants.

The bread was served by a server who came around with black pepper mills who asked if you wanted to have fresh black pepper in your dipping olive oil and on your entree when it was served.

Serving butter with bread before and during the meal was still the American restaurant norm those days. Not olive oil.

The restaurant I worked in also had the first cappuccino machines in America (…those were exciting times!).

I wasn’t a coffee drinker then but I thought the machine was so cool and I was happy to make the drink! 

Funny how these little Mediterranean healthy foods and drink (olive oil and cappuccino) intros stuck… many American restaurants customarily serve bread with olive oil because of these Mediterranean-influenced restaurants.

And we know what happened with cappuccinos as they’re everywhere.

And it was that restaurant experience where I also came to love this salad plate 🥗 (and you may too!):

Tomato Mozzarella Basil Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette. It’s a work of food art with balsamic vinaigrette dotted around the plate for each bite (like a paint palette…  “a little dab will do you.”).

In summer, tomatoes on the vine are abundant and if you grow tomatoes, you may not know what to do with all of them.

Besides making a pasta sauce or gazpacho, a shrimp cocktail sauce is an idea. And salads of course! 

Plum or Roma tomatoes are great for most salad recipes. They don’t squirt everywhere and they have a strong taste, unlike tomatoes for burgers.

San Marzano tomatoes were common in Italian restaurants and are now the rage in home cooking…

And so are heirloom tomatoes (organic). The tri-color yellow, purple, with orange give a visual pop of color too!

Also green tomatoes that aren’t as common anymore.

And for a tomato mozzarella salad, all tomatoes will work.

Then ontop of the tomatoes, add some sliced buffalo mozzarella cheese that’s the star of this recipe.

Buffalo mozzarella (white color) on its own doesn’t have much of a flavor, but paired with these ingredients… is scrumptious and anything but mild.

Sometimes people who have dairy sensitivities can eat this kind of cheese from buffalo.

Ontop the cheese, don’t forget the fresh basil and it’ll look like an Italian flag.

And for the zhugh? Pine nuts were popular and people who have tree nut allergies can sometimes eat the nut that comes from pines.

If you toast them, be sure to watch them as they can burn quickly.

Today, you can also sub in walnuts or sunflower seeds if you like.

So that’s it for this week.  Good Eats, Buono Apetito, and Bon Appetit!

Hope you like that culinary healthy Mediterranean foods trio! 🥗

Cinnamon Roll – Low-Sugar Honey (and Foolproof!)

Cinnamon roll is how I roll! …You too?  C’mon buns (as in cinnamon buns).

Or cinnamon swirls that are whimsical. 🍥  You can bake and get these anytime you want from your oven!

They’re so swirly whimsical 🌀 and tasty comforting in the mouth (and inner child). 🍥

And hint: if you’re feeling adult anxious, a warm cinnamon roll and cinnamon tea any season of the year can comfort and hug you in a way like no other… ok, maybe a cozy blanket and a warm and fuzzy movie would go great too!

Those you can grab with your foolproof cinnamon roll.

FOOLPROOF because these decadent sweet bread rolls come out soft and airy light every time. 🥮 Or as long as I’ve been baking weekly since 2020.

I sacrificed… and bit into one with to show you the inner workings.😂

The air pocket, rise, and moist difference is in the flour type and yogurt add. Bread flour gives the rise and the yogurt helps the moist.

cinnamon roll with honey and coconut zhurgh

So often we’re confronted with which flour to use? And sometimes it’s a cake-bread or bready cake (…is that a type of dessert?).

…How I like to set the two apart is between either using yeast OR baking soda and baking powder.

If yeast is used, then bread flour (or in some cases whole wheat flour) is my go-to and that’s for a mostly bread-like consistency… like a cinnamon roll.

And if it’s cake, then some all-purpose or cake flour will give the cake texture.

And if you mix-and-match these flours, then you’ll like get more of a cake bread as the gluten-level is somewhere in the middle. Makes sense… and you don’t have to be good at math.

And to keep the math even more simple, this recipe uses all bread flour. So it’s no-mistake bread. 💯

Bread flour (or a mix with whole wheat flour) does the best for cinnamon buns in my opinion, but you can definitely substitute with crumbly gluten-free “healthy” flours and add natural xantham gum or other natural binders.

The bread prep can be done in 10 minutes by hand mixing 4 ingredients: warm water, flour, instant yeast, and salt.

This is an enriched dough so you can let it rest for a few minutes and start baking if you’re in a hurry… but better if you let it proof for an hour or two.

The moist and healthy vibes come from a healthy fat (light EVOO) and yogurt.

And below are the easy recipe steps.

B-ready? 

Which btw, cinnamon rolls are delicious to pair with a cinnamon tea or if that’s too much cinnamon, an Earl Grey tea with raisins in tea (and on top of buns if you like)… a little zhugh I learned along the way that adds to A BUN DANCE (abundance on a plate 🍽️).

…So you can be anticipating your bake with your warm bevy in hand.

 

kitchen food pantry cinnamon bun ingredients.

Low-Sugar Delicious Cinnamon Roll

This is a low-sugar cinnamon roll and you don’t need refined white sugar for this refined cinn-roll 😊 bread recipe. That’s especially good if low-sugar only is one of your healthy goals. It’s always a plus!

For sweetness: this recipe uses raw honey and cinnamon for sweetness that are anti-inflammatory ingredients. And with many healthy seasons in, I’m usually light-handed with sweet…  BUT this sweet duo I douse on heavy-handed as healthy and tasty good.

…This gives the punchy cinnamon ooey-gooey vibes that combined are comforting and anti-inflammatory.

And I recommend adding honey in the dough and as a final glaze ontop. You can use honey directly ontop (of an egg wash if you choose) or make a simple syrup mixed with a little heated water.

Also, add a bunch of cinnamon spice in the dough for the sweet that’ll make your oven smell like an autumn bakery.

Because healthy fat is used, it will be a little different than a flaky butter finish like you’d get in a pastry… but still epic.

C’MON- Cinnamon Roll 

Ingredients (for 8 rolls in a rectangular pan) or in the recipe below 👇 you can use a round pan to make a flower 🌼 design:

8”x 4” (or 9”x5”) pan

1-1/2 cups total flour (you can mix bread flour, whole wheat, gluten-free bread)

1 tsp instant yeast

1/2 Tbsp sea salt or pinch of salt

1 Tbsp raw honey (or maple syrup)

1 Tbsp plain yogurt (Greek yogurt recommended)

1 generous Tbsp of cinnamon spice (Cassia or common cinnamon for baking)

¾ cup warm water (+ possibly more)

neutral oil for lining pan

Directions:

Knead flour, yeast, water, and salt ingredients with a dough hook in a mixing bowl on medium-high speed adding just enough warm water until all the flour is incorporated.

Some of the dough will be stringy (shaggy?) dough pieces or crumbs, and not a smooth dough (not like a baby’s bottom 👶)… yet.

Knead until a smooth consistency about 7-9 minutes. Add in the cinnamon, yogurt, and honey and turn on the mixing machine a few more times just to fully combine.

Common questions (to make this fully foolproof so you can’t mess this up!):

Dough too wet? If your dough seems to wet when you’ve been kneading a few minutes, add a little flour back. You can use any bench (e.g. all purpose or bread flour).

Dough too dry? If your dough seems shaggy dry, add a little more water 1 teaspoon at a time as needed until you get a smooth consistency that naturally slides off the dough hook.

What type of cinnamon? In stores, you’ll often find two types: Cassia and Ceylon cinnamon. Cassia cinnamon is the common kind you see that’s good for these rolls and baking in general with. Leave the Ceylon cinnamon for your tea or warm bevy.

And after you’re confident with your dough, let it rest as a ball for 1-2 hours covered in a pan full lined with neutral oil and covered with a tea towel (or clean T-shirt cover will work).

You can also leave overnight covered in the fridge. If leaving overnight, add enough oil or water to the dough so it doesn’t dry out.

When you’re ready to bring the dough out either same day or from the fridge overnight, lay it on top of a little bench flour (any baking flour will work. I like to stick with the same ones I’m using in the buns or whole wheat flour).

Roll out the dough (not too thin but to about 1/4-1/2″ thick) into a rectangle shape and then cut strips with a pizza wheel cutter or knife, saving the dough scrap ends.

Roll out the remaining dough and combine with the dough scraps, to make 8 total long pieces about the same size.

These strips will be your rolled up buns with spirals up. ꩜

Bake time will vary depending on flour choices, dough thickness, baking pan, and oven. As a guideline, bake until a little darker than golden brown as the outside is browner then the inside that can still be a little moist/unbaked.

Suggested time and temperature: bake at 350 °F/180°C for about 45 minutes or until dark golden brown on the bottoms.

You’ll be tempted to think that they’re done sooner or maybe around the 30-35 minute mark, but inside they will still likely be raw… but you’re almost there! So let your rolls bake a little longer than the outer appearance.

Around the 30 minute mark while you’re checking, you may also want to add a glaze. I recommend 1 egg white with a teaspoon or so of water.

Mix and brush on top. It will leave a milky opaque glaze that will be good on its own OR as a primer for your final shiny (honey) glaze.

Cinnamon roll with egg white wash

These are foolproof. 

Best to enjoy the buns while they’re warm out of the oven.. or you can keep out for a day or so, and/or refrigerate covered for a few more days.

OR you can freeze for another occasion and bring out a day or two before you want to re-heat.

For more zhugh pairings, you can also add sweet orange zest. Looks like a pain aux raisins, n’est-ce pas? 🧡

This one is surrounded by a bergamot (Earl Grey) tea bath. 🫖

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Easy Low-Sugar Honey Cinnamon Roll Buns

Cinnamon roll with low-sugar and honey glaze.
Course Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine American, swedish
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

  • 1-1/4 cups bread flour
  • 1 tsp instant yeast (if you use active yeast add to warm water to activate first)
  • 1/4 tbsp pinch of salt
  • 1 Tbsp raw honey
  • 1 Tbsp plain flavor yogurt
  • 1 Tbsp heaping spoon of Cassia cinnamon
  • 3/4 cup water

Instructions

  • Make bread by mixing flour, water, salt, yeast for at least 7 minutes or until it comes together and passes the slapping water stage to build up gluten.
  • Let proof for at least 1-2 hours at room temperature in a covered bowl lined with oil to keep the dough moist. TIP: use the same pan you will bake in and you'll have one less sticky dough item to clean up. Use a round cake pan for round cinnamon rolls and a square pan for squarish rolls.
  • Roll dough out then roll up into a log (or that looks like a sleeping bag).
  • Cut into even slices with cooking thread or dental floss. You can also use a serated knife to not smush down the buns that you want to rise.
  • Place rolls with swirls up in baking pan and bake on 350°F until deeper or dark golden brown for about 45 minutes so the bottoms and all is baked through. Optional shine: Add egg white wash when almost done baking (and/or glaze after baking and cooling). You can also add honey to tops after baked and cooled.

Notes

Dough too wet? If your dough seems to wet when you've been kneading a few minutes, add a little flour back. You can use any bench (e.g. all purpose or bread flour). 
Dough too dry? If your dough seems shaggy dry, add a little more water 1 teaspoon at a time as needed until you get a smooth consistency that slides off th dough hook.

Black Bean Smoothie with Coffee

Black bean smoothie from coffee beans is a 2X bean plant-based healthy beverage… and something to get excited about for your day! 🌅

Black beans coffee smoothie.

You naturally get a powerhouse of fiber PLUS plant-based protein to start your morning on the right foot…  and those steps 👣 keep you on a happy high for the rest of the day. 😊

ICYMI, beans are the rage in new food vitamins to take.

…PLUS A can of bean costs almost nothing when you compare to other high protein sources. AND the cans last for-ever (as food goes).

A can of beans usually has an expiration date that’s a few years out. That’s longer than what you and I know with what the future holds… but you can count on your beans! 🫘

If you get the organic black bean cans, those are still pennies compared to other protein sources, and you’ll have less sodium.

And then instead of rinsing your open canned beans with running water, you can dump the beans, liquid, and all into your blender (…maybe all while your eyes are still opening).

…This is great too for when you’ve woken up on the wrong side of the morning and want your positive energy boost to bounce back.

…Or when you feel like your gut needs a detox from processed foods and need to add some plant-based food love to your gut.

…And to add balance from a weekend of eating and drinking enjoyment.

You can also soothe those bloating gut discomfort feelings or uncomfortable jabs in the gut that you’ve normalized from what you consume.

Those don’t need to be your new normal and weigh you down!

…You’d know, because you have a less than a satisfactory healthy bathroom life.

And if off kilter….

You can get back on smooth track with a smoothie cold beverage like this.

…Where you get gut unhindered and be ready to conquer the world after a little daily energy boost!

This is a love language your gut understands…

And a coffee black bean smoothie like this can healthy balance restore. It’s even smoother than an avocado smoothie with coffee great for fasts

…Or you can try both and alternate the blend in your life. 💭

For any coffee smoothie, you can add the brewed coffee you like…  but I like to add cold brew coffee for less acidity.

AND it’s already room temp coldish so you can drink and enjoy your finished smoothie sooner without adding ice cubes (that’s an option too). Btw, there’s a difference between cold brew and iced coffee.

And whatever coffee you choose, I recommend using an organic coffee (less toxins).

So, to make the coffee black bean smoothie:

Add your can of black beans and brewed coffee.  And let the blender grind (blend). 😀 Let your smoothie start out thicker.

Add more or less liquid depending on how thick you like your smoothie. And you can always thin out with a ‘lil water later.

So after blending the beans (the coffee and black kind), work on the flavoring that matters…

You can make this a sweet beverage option.

Sooo with healthy notes, you don’t want to blanket douse all the good you just did with table sugar…

You can keep it sweet, tasty and plant-based healthy with cacao (powder).

Both cocoa and cacao powder come from cocoa beans but cacao is not as processed like cocoa is. It’s not just an “a” and “o” spelling play in the words. They are different but the same.

Common cocoa powder also often has sugar hidden within so the consuming product is different in the end.

And to compliment your powder sweetness, you can add another sweet source that’ll make it smooth: raw honey that’s another healthy Vitamin B (as in bee -add  🐝).

I also like to add banana and cinnamon spice that are other B and C adds… but those are optional and if you have on-hand.

And an option is to add Greek yogurt (for thickness), but you can get this coffee smoothie doing the minimum with black beans, brewed coffee, and cacao powder (or cocoa if cacao is not available).black bean smoothie with organic beans and coffee.

…And in case you’re not a coffee drinker, you can substitute the coffee for milk or a plant-based milk like almond milk or yogurt whey. Think of it more like a protein chocolate drink, so it’s good for all growing ages.

…Especially those 30 and up!

And if you prefer a thicker smoothie, the yogurt solids will help you get that consistency too! Oh, and you add a dollop of yogurt to the top as your whipped 😉

(We’re now heading into parfait territory now.)

And to keep this a refreshing smoothie, I haven’t even gotten to the fun part yet (that would be the zhugh in desserts)…

Add mini chocolate chips to the smoothie drink and let some sink to the bottom.

You may have had cold java drinks like this that had the chips swirling around at the bottom and every now and again you get a nice pause in a chocolatey morsel bite.🧋

You can add 70% or more dark cacao chocolate morsels to your home smoothie that’s healthy delicious (and FUN to add).

You can also sweeten the vitamin-ness with wild blueberries too. How fun!

This is looking less and less like a beans drink and more like a delicious one!

black bean smoothie from canned black beans.

…Wait ’til you get a taste! 😋

And this is what your Monday and any early morning gut and mouth are calling for. 📣

I’ve added this to the Magic Bullet recipes and this could be a low-sugar summer dessert too.

For more smoothie inspo and ideas, check out this healthy smoothie guide challenge I put together for you with all kinds of fiber-delicious blends (to give you your better than regular healthy LIFE back!) 🎉

coffee smoothie with black beans.
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Anti-Inflammatory Black Bean Coffee Chocolate Smoothie

This makes a nice cup or glass plus more for later.
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

  • 1 can organic black beans
  • 1/2 cup cold brew coffee
  • 2 tbsp cacao
  • 1 tbsp raw honey
  • 1 tbsp mini dark chocolate chips
  • 1 banana (optional)
  • 1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
  • 1 tsp frozen wild blueberries (optional)
  • shredded coconut (zhugh optional)

Instructions

  • Blend ingredients until smooth. Refrigerate.
  • Add chocolate chip morsels and zhugh with more, blueberries, and/or coconut. Enjoy!

Notes

This makes an 8 ounce cup to enjoy plus more. If you add more liquid, you can make a larger batch for later.
If you want a thick smoothie base, choose a creamy thick yogurt like Icelandic yogurt or Fage Greek yogurt.

Donut – Chocolate Glazed (Healthy Baked)

Donut with a chocolate glaze is one dessert that can be made delicious and healthy when baked without butter. Like this variety chocolate glazed donut plate, where some are jammed… as in raspberry jam.

Baked chocolate glazed donut plate with no-butter in the recipe.

Chocolate and raspberry are a decadent pairing and can be made healthy (with dark cacao and low-sugar). Raw cacao and organic raspberries are loaded with polyphenols that are anti-inflammatory good. And baked in with no butter in this recipe, you can stick with the healthy theme.

Chocolate pairs well with almost any flavor like coconut, and many of them are healthy like nuts, fruits, and spices.

And in our flavor choices… once upon a time, I ate my last Boston cream filling donut (…well, that was not healthy)…

And the donut showed up on my arm the next day. 😀

I don’t think I’ve had a store-bought Boston cream donut since. Even though I love how shiny cute they look and glossy glazed. And don’t get me started about the fresh bakery scent trail it leaves. 🍩

…But kidding aside, I found other store-bought ways to get the sweet taste without the fried-ness in traditional donuts. …because like high sugar, fried foods are addictive.

You can’t have JUST ONE and be satisfied. If you’re like, you fight willpower.

…So if you eat smaller bites and healthy sweets, then there’s no guilt.. and there’s NO “eat now, pay later” after-effect.

Those are all heathy moves.

And when there’s an emergency donut sugar craving 😊… (for a sweet tooth, that’s often)… low-sugar snacks like this healthy baked dark chocolate glazed donut do the trick.

Oh, and there’s no butter in this recipe. Healthy fat foods like a little coconut oil (that’s minimal) is a good alternative. You can also use a light olive oil that has minimal savory tastes.

And if you’re someone who likes variety, you can zhugh and flavor each baked donut with different looks and tastes.

Like rose and rosewater, pistachio, unsweetened shredded coconut and other plant-based foods. 🌹🥥🌱Glazed donut and zhugh variety plate.

They’re good healthy food substitutes. And if you’re looking for a good sweet food substitute, give this baked coconut donut a GO-GO! 🥥

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Baked Chocolate Glazed Donut - Healthy Donut Alternative

A healthier donut baked with gluten-free flour with a shiny chocolate glaze top and healthy toppings.
Course Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 4 donuts
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

  • 1 cup coconut flour (or gluten-free flour)
  • 3/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 2 tsp coconut oil (or neutral oil)
  • 1 tsp yeast
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 cup milk of choice
  • pistachio bits and shredded coconut (zhugh)
  • 1/4 cup dark chocolate, melted (zhugh)
  • low-sugar raspberry jam (optional)

Instructions

  • Combine donut cake ingredients by hand. Use enough milk to get the consistency closest to a cake batter (not too liquid and not too dense). Grease your pan with coconut oil and pour batter into the pan. Bake on 350°F/180°C until top looks baked and a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool. Cut out with round cookie cutter (easier to do before completely cooled).
  • After cooled, to add (oozing) raspberry jam to centers, poke a food skewer through the middle side of the donut to make a hollow tunnel in the donut. Use a food syringe or a squeezable jam bottle to insert jam into the tunnel.
  • Make melted chocolate glaze and dip donut top side in glaze.
  • Zhugh with coconuts and pistachio bits while glaze is still wet.
  • Keep the donuts out in a cool spot for 2 days or for longer lasting, refrigerate in a covered container.