Peach profiterole like this low-sugar one is one way to crush the day.
…And sometimes our pride is bruised, but not this peach bite that’s delicious, filled with Greek yogurt, and easy to make.
Along with a happy peach profiterole recipe below, I share some encouragement so you can crush life’s negative situations.
Life doesn’t have to be peachy. It can be filled with a joyful bowl of peaches.
…As life should get better as our perspectives get better if and when we grow.
When we were younger, we didn’t know what authentic joy meant. A joy ride had a different meaning (than today’s joy in life’s ride). And we didn’t know the magnitude of pride’s powerful grip.
Especially if things feel heavy today.
…Like the world is against us and we’re pushed up against a wall sometimes.
That’s part of the process in our growing, and gaining wisdom in our individual life journeys…
Wisdom is a choice and its growth is fed one choice at a time.
With wisdom we know we’re empowered and have much more of a say in what happens to us than our circumstances.
When we let go of some things, we are in more control.
We can speed up our growth by removing the inner rocks and blocks that stand in our way.
…But not these ‘lil peach profiterole bites!
Today, smoother sailing and small pebbles in those same areas can become our new normal if we allow in the better perspectives, attitudes, and higher thinking ways.
And we make new habits.
Often our ego pride protects us from believing that we could be holding ourselves back.
That’s when we can refer back to allowing in our loving and higher thinking ways.
When we create space in our minds, we can form new self-serving ways.
And maybe a distraction like making these cutesy peach profiterole bites are just what we need?
Low-Sugar Peach Profiterole 🍑
1 cup total flour (a mix of bread and all purpose flour are recommended)
1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup milk
1-2 eggs
1 ripe peach
thick plain yogurt or Greek yogurt
On stovetop, turn on medium heat. Add flour, butter and milk and make into a ball.
Let cool for about 10 minutes and add in egg.
Bake on 350°F/180°C for about 30-35 minutes.
Let cool and fill profiterole with peach and yogurt (a delightful pairing combination!).
This is a tasty profiterole bite that you can watch pop up in the oven, and then on a plate and in your mouth.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets
Ingredients
1cuptotal flour (a mix of bread and all purpose flour are recommended)
1tbspbutter
1/4cup milk
1ripe peach
1egg
thick plain yogurt or Greek yogurt for filling
Instructions
On stovetop, turn on medium heat. Add flour, butter and milk and make into a ball. This should take just a few short minutes.
Let cool for about 10 minutes and add in egg. Tip: if the batter looks liquid/runny and does not hold a soft shape for a profiterole, add an additional egg or a fraction of another egg.
Bake on 350°F/180°C for about 30-35 minutes until a warm brown.
Let cool and fill profiterole with peach and yogurt (a delightful pairing combination!).
Kapha tiredness is an accurate way to describe seasons when you’re feeling lazy and sleepy.
A morning coffee and walk in the park can be a good way to wake up tired Kapha energy.
These are some common life situations that make us tired…
✔️Taking care of everyone and their demands
✔️Getting up early for routine work
✔️Staying up late to get more done
✔️Allergy congestion and headaches
✔️Burden from a stressful or emotional situation
✔️Colder seasons
These all put our bodies on overdrive where more rest is needed. And if we’re not giving that to our bodies, then we’re outta balance. Our tired Ayurvedic Kapha runs the show (when Vata and Pitta are still in the background).
We all have Kapha tiredness traits in us and some of us are born Kapha dominant.
In those tired Kapha heavy seasons, whether we sleep 5 hours or 9 hours, we’re tired (and maybe walking around like human zombies).
Because overall we’re not getting enough sleep. And Kapha metabolism may slow down.
These are a few easy, but effective habits to help your body push through (and not cut corners when you’re called for more):
…Having cold brew coffee ready to go while the fresh warm coffee is brewing makes life easier. ☕️ There are many healthy caffeine sources for energy other than coffee.
I didn’t start drinking coffee until I was over 35. Other caffeine sources can be black tea, green tea, and matcha tea.
And there are many other healthy energy sources besides beverages such as:
…Have savory leftovers to tie us over for an energy-giving meal. 🌯. Energy foods include prebiotic pickle juice that’s fermented, eggs with B-vitamins, and pasta.
…Do jumping jacks or running in place to get your heart beat up and blood flowing for instant brain energy.
You could add a spice kick like cloves or cinnamon, or punchy flavors like lime, onion, or cilantro to your meals.
I remember myths (we used to refer to as rumors) that you can’t catch up on sleep. But actually, you can!
And if your body gets a dose, your Kapha tiredness can grow. That’s a sign that you’re depleted.
And if you’re never tired, that can also be a waving flag to pay attention to…
Because this life is meant to have work burdens and unpredictability for our best life of meaning.
Short-term stressors give us growth and can wake us up temporaily. But if we’ve been tired over a season, then for our good we need to do something about it to prevent burnout.
One thing we can try first is to gain more appreciation for what we have so we change our perspective and outlook.
We can also try new things. Failing at many things means we’re trying, and trying is leading us to purpose.
Without purpose, that can lead us to more stuck tiredness and weariness.
If you’ve ever watched the animals in the wild either live or on film footage, every moment is a form of work for them. They sleep out of necessity, but they are always on guard if not hunting.
…Or just surviving the natural that’s getting harder with climate change.
Finding shade in hot temps and shelter in cold seasons is a challenge.
They live nomadic lives that are very different than the house cats and dogs around us, that still have those primitive instincts but to a much lesser degree.
Today’s household pets are kinda like us modern peeps compared to our hunter-gatherer ancestors. 🐯
And what we can learn from wild animals is that: they do it anyway.
They are motivated to stay alive and keep their young alive. They do it tired and for survival.
Laziness would be a luxury.
And in our daily human modern lives, it’s complex because we aren’t often faced with li-gers to deal with.
But our minds are and make it complex. Beneath our rational mind, if the ego intercepts at any moment, then we’re driven down a lesser path.
And for those who don’t even know that they’re being intercepted daily is the biggest danger of all. Those are the male lions of today and the pride in us.
Usually, it’s muddled in modern fear. In those moments for any of us, we all have a choice to either live in denial (stands for “Don’t Even kNow IAm Lying”)… or flip the switch back to healthy thinking.
I’ve written many articles and posts on healthy thinking. And that comes from learning from my own suffering from unhealthy thinking and ego attacks.
Similarly, anyone unaware that they’re under daily attack is the most dangerous to themselves and others especially without a plan
In my case, I moved away from the prideful environment I lived in and gained awareness. It was the same area that had tiring demands and a faster-paced life.
So, if you’re tired or busy, you’re more likely to be unaware.
Changing your environment (work, moving, etc.) could also be your remedy and just what you need too for Kapha tiredness.
When you’re younger you don’t have those choices, but now you do.
Like, when I was a child, they commonly used smelling salt to keep us on our toes and from fainting in body-shocking situations. It worked. As we got older and went through more experiences, our body systems learned to adapt better.
Getting more experiences keeps us growing and helps us from growing tired and the Kapha tiredness in you.
To grow less tired, find something that you can use your gift and talents with. At home, that could be dancing, singing, yoga, or gardening.
Or working on a project like muddling coffee beans or dips, decorating, or painting. It doesn’t have to require much, just change your tired feelings.
And from there, when you’re wrapped up in the moment, then you can think of other wake-up opportunities. Because when you’re alive, that impacts everything you do in the season.
So I have a quick question for you…
Do you remember the last time you were excited about possibilities? You know that feeling where you felt lit up and endorphins awakened your senses.
You probably had strong desires to pursue and stay up late because of the hope in possibilities.
…And if that was too long ago to remember, then you especially want to get going with something new…
Because one day, your biological age will catch up to you. And you’ll realize you aren’t the same age or person you were in your younger adult years (and even a decade ago).
And that could lead to thoughts of regret if you didn’t pursue all that you wanted in those unrepeatable years.
The way to ensure that doesn’t happen is to make every day count.
I know when I worked in the “rat race” that was not how I felt. I did a job, went home, and then did the same work the next day. I was lucky I didn’t spend my time all in one place so I could grow quicker and have more stressor experiences.
Those times and experiences helped me to get to today, the only time that matters.
Tomorrow is the next most important.
And this is for everyone. Your experiences do the same for you (looking different in each of us)!
And especially if you feel stuck, one thing you can do almost immediately is volunteer or try a new activity.
Volunteer experiences were introduced to us as teenagers.
Everywhere on this planet there’s help needed… I was a volunteer candy striper in a local hospital.
And while I was not cut out for the work, I learned to be dedicated and give back my time.
We always have something we can offer even when we don’t have the gifts and talents.
And it’s always a learning opportunity that stimulates our minds as we’re growing and excited about new possibilities. This helps our Kapha tiredness and breaking out of a slump.
Most volunteer general tasks are easy enough to do that even most young teenagers can do. For adults, it can be a welcomed break to do something easy and can open up more doors.
The most valuable is when you do it for a cause or purpose outside of you, then you’re growing and making an impact that awakens our souls.
It’s healthy to think of volunteering not as work, but an opportunity to serve. It’s providing more than what we’re giving. But we won’t know what that “more” is until we raise our hand to participate. ✋
These days you can find volunteer opportunities online or in-person and this can be what sets you apart from the rest. And you gain gratitude for your good fortunes.
You always see friendly volunteer faces that are glad to see you. And that happiness is infectious. You’ll also develop more positive skills and learn sides of yourself that you didn’t know before.
…And that can help you get out of any tired season. 🤗
Onions are good for teeth as they’re antibacterial and spinach has teeth remineralizing properties, so chomping on a few leaves is a good thing! 🥬
Have you ever thought about the worse that could happen in a situation like dental worry, but it didn’t end up so bad?… Or end up at all?
…And that’s usually because your worry prevented a bad outcome. Some worry is healthy… it’s built into our DNA human-ness.
But in society, we tend to demonize all worry when it can help us to magnify an area we should focus more on, and then put the thoughts to rest.
Worry is healthy when it prevents growing problems. And worry is healthy when it helps us come up with better solutions.
When it falls healthy short and is outta balance, is when the scales need to tip back to peace and calm.
Don’t let your worry take over your Vata mind and from living life… because long-term stress is an inflammation cause in the mind-body connection that shows up in or on the body as a warning.
When you’re conscious knowing what you’re doing and thinking, you activate your subconscious to help you out in the back of your mind.
…EVEN when you can’t connect the dots.
Your subconscious mind is like your passenger seat helper who’s providing directions even when you’re focused on what’s in front of you.
…So, when I didn’t get to the dentist because of the pandemic and several moves later, I thought I would have a bad report.
A month before I could get into the busy dentist’s office, I did everything to keep my teeth and healthy smile at their maintained best… flossing with multiple flosser types, brushing, rinsing, and even scraping. And if you have teeth and dental worry about your teeth, then you may floss more often.
These days, it’s so much more easy… we have much better dental supplies from convenience stores than we did as kids… or imagine what they did back in the Stone Ages?
And those memories and dental worry kept me magnifying on healthy habits leading up to the Big D-Day…
At that dentist chair moment, time stood still and I was pleasantly surprised with the assessment. I had nothing to dental worry about.
It was a compliment when I heard the word “good” from my new dentist, and was even asked about how I take care of my teeth.
She asked me what I did. And my response was, “I do everything!”
I shared my routine and healthy daily teeth habits that make up for the food and coffee acid, and sugar buildup. Really the best tip is to brush more often softly or with an electric toothbrush. 🪥
…There’s nothing new under the sun. ☀️
But I also told the dentist about teeth healthy foods I ate to fortify the good and diminish the bad. We add back healthy for a more neutral effect.
So often we forget that foods act as secondary toothbrushes when we can’t get to our toothbrush.
You don’t need to dental worry if you brush after eating sugary foods.
And with acidic sources… you can soften the blow. For ACV, use an eyedropper or a straw where you drop the liquid to the back of your throat.
And certain foods are teeth helpers that have Vitamin D, calcium, and other minerals that re-mineralize natural teeth enamel.
That’s double bonus points for bones and teeth. 🎯
Stronger teeth enamel helps prevent common inflammation or an infection spreading inflammation.
Because inflammation or worsened infections in the mouth can cause problems just like inflammation in other parts of the body.
To counteract, they say that flossing can add 4 years and so can eating beans. (They these days are healthy social media sources that’s common knowledge). But at worst, you won’t lose 4 years, so it’s worth the effort gamble. 😉
Healthy habits matter today big time for results tomorrow. And we can get a good dose of influence from the Blue Zones (discovered by Dan Buettner), where their habits feel like worlds apart from our modern, Western world.
But we can adopt their healthy ways. And I share a few of mine below along my journey including a healthy potato habit I have. 🥔
As for healthy habits, I’ve been eating whole-wheat bread and foods since I was young. I don’t think I ever had a slice of white sandwich bread. It was wheat, rye, or pumpernickel… but never white.
Whole wheat cherry glace pancakes with frozen Greek yogurt for Sunday brunch! 🥞
I’m so glad I didn’t let those past years of dissatisfied field trip bag lunches hold me back. Those and other healthy habits are happy keepers.
Below you’ll learn about some Sunday brunch inspo that came from healthy habits and endings too.
And what you create as eating healthy habits today becomes your tomorrow’s habits. And can be part of happy memories.
Some of them stick around from when you were younger, and still work. They need no replacement.
When I was younger, working smart was en vogue. Why?… je ne sais quoi.
…Maybe we were trying to learn how to cut corners? But working hard never went outta-style. Work was (and is) what made the world go round but talking about grunt work especially would be like going rogue.
And today, in a sharing society, we learned that there are no shortcuts. The good stuff is in the work and comes from the working hard process. So glad we kept the healthy habits. 🌱
And even the tough work proved useful for growth and experience.
Especially when we’re young, we need all the experience we can get…
In those years, I walked everywhere. I had no wheels. I walked to the bus, to the dentist, to school, on the paper route, and to my friends’ houses.
And when my high school friend got a new set of wheels, a brand spanking new red Cabriolet convertible for her 16th birthday, she offered to pick me up in the mornings to take me to school. It surprised me when I turned down that exciting offer.
My young mind told me that I shouldn’t count on that routine. Our young intellects were at work even when we weren’t fully conscious. 😉
And in a higher gear, I knew I made the right choice.
At that moment I solidified the habit of counting on myself… and not taking shortcuts that breed laziness.
No lazy (Kapha) mind is a better mantra…
And a good way to break out of that mold is to exercise even when we don’t feel like doing it. You always feel better after the burn.
An easier way is to step outside. Because there you don’t feel the sting. You don’t count calories burned. Your wristband does it automatically for you.
And you breathe in new air and let your senses do the rest.
And when you naturally go up and down steps, you’re doing exercise without having to convince your brain to work. It’s automatic to your mind and legs.
Simply, if you want to get to where you’re going, you need to take steps… or even better, the stairs. Fair, right?
Too often we automatically think of exercise as cardio and keeping up our heart rates. That’s just one type.
And the kind that makes a difference will be the exercises and moves you do.
Another habit area is consistently showing up.
Your presence becomes known. And you’re seen as someone who’s accountable and takes the time to be available. We all like to know people like this.
It’s a form of welcomed dependability.
And there are ways we all can be consistent whether it’s online or in-person. And where we can be part of our community.
For some years, I was part of organizing a regular brunch group. It fit what I was doing. I was helping others plan their hosted events, so why not host my own? It was volunteer mixed with fun healthy habits.
What made the group special was that we (I had a co-lead with me) opened the event to everyone. There were always newcomers to the group and the DC metro area. And the restaurant of choice had to set up several tables.
It was fun to try out new local restaurants including swanky Michelin Blue Duck Tavern places, historic National Press Room restaurants, and mod-deco fare ones on the Potomac River. Many celebrated Cherry Blossoms 🌸 like this one (speaking of en vogue):
And we met restaurateurs like this distinguished chef who put foodie restaurants on the maps in the 90s before Jose Andres.
Restaurant lunch time for brunch isn’t usually busy like dinner so that was a good fit for all. And being plugged in that way became part of healthy habits that season.
And during those years, as a theme, I was also inviting my own bunch to the restaurants where I ran the group events.
Similarly, if you take a look at your healthy habits, you’ll notice some repeats. Your regular habits that stick become what sticks out in your life tomorrow and years later.
Taking inventory of your healthy habits will help show you the gaps so you can have a fulfilling life.
You can consider:
Where are you spending most of your time?
What do you wish you were doing more of?
Are you plugged into your local community in some way?
How are you helping the world?
Just some food for thought as you go about your week.
This used to be one of my favorite lunch meals when they had a loaded potato fixins' bar at my work. The skins are often tossed out and are loaded with fiber and vitamins that can be cooked, baked and enjoyed in our daily meal healthy habits!
Coconut carrot cake flavors make a super moist dessert with the healthy and gluten-free ingredients below.
It’s a spring and Easter celebration must to add to your food table.
This moist carrot cake is delicious and made with coconut oil, that’ll make it super moist. And you can keep the taste with coconut, theme by using coconut flour. Or use almond flour that’s also a gluten-free flour good for cakes and desserts.
And if coconut or almond tastes are your vibes, you can use the matching milk tastes. You can make your own coconut milk so easily.
And in one fell swoop, combine batter in a bowl that you hand mix to make this deliciously moist coconut carrot cake. Add currants, nuts, or coconut into batter as desired.
Also, instead of adding sweet to the batter of this cake, the sweetness can be added at the end in this recipe. That way it can be made to individual sweet tastes, and kept low-sugar.
For a food table, you could make a special milk glaze, or serve your individual carrot cakes or slices with maple syrup. Add to a cup or gravy boat, and let each person glaze their own cake.
That would make for a great brunch party experience. 🍽️
If you make more carrot cakes, they will take the same amount of time so you can make several individual carrot cakes or one large carrot cake at a time.🥕🥮
When in the oven, sometimes the beige cake exterior looks baked and the inside is still moist. But the fully baked carrot cake will come out clean, with a simple toothpick test.
Let it cool and then add a light glaze to give it a finished look. You could add mandarin oranges or shredded coconut to cake top if desired. That’s so spring and pretty for bunny season. 🐇
This recipe is for an individual carrot cake, but for a one pan/layer cake multiply by 3, and for a two layer cake, multiply by 6.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets
Ingredients
2/3cupmilk (coconut or almond recommended)
1tspcoconut oil
1/3cupshredded carrots
1largeegg
1/3cupgluten-free coconut flour (or almond flour)
1/4tspbaking powder
1/4tspbaking soda
honey or syrup for sweet glaze
1/4tspalmond extract (optional)
Instructions
Mix dry and wet ingredients. The coconut flour will absorb the milk more than a gluten flour. You will end up with a batter that looks like creamy mashed potatoes (instead of a more liquid batter).
Bake at 350°F/180°C for at least 45 minutes depending on size of your baking vessel and amount of liquid. This recipe could be baked in a variety of baking pans: e.g. deep dish glass pan, oven-safe ceramic pan, or a bundt pan. When a toothpick comes out clean, then the cake is baked done.
Add a glaze. Zhugh with nuts and mandarin oranges (optional).