Food Balance Your Body Type Archives - Page 42 of 47

Positive Thoughts To Start Your Healthy Day

Positive thoughts like “you got this” can make a positive impact in your day.

And starting your day with a heart healthy recipe (🍓 below) like this delicious quinoa bowl breakfast idea to get excited about.

strawberry quinoa cereal. — Easy strawberry quinoa cereal recipe below. 🍓

If you’re wanting a better day, you recognize the difference between positive thoughts and negative ones.

Thoughts all start in the divided minds we’re given, that’s either hurting or helping us. And if this is new territory for you, start there.

Maybe you recognize which bucket your negative or positive thoughts belongs in, but you don’t know how to toss out the draining ones.

They can show up anytime: when you wake up on the wrong side of the bed or when triggered by a memory, situation, or person.

And then the subconscious mind (ego) feeds off the nourishment of holding onto negative feelings or pain as a form of protection and masks its agenda from you. But now you know better.

Bypass the unnecessary time wasted in dramatic sorrow. Be proactive with positive affirmations, meditation, yoga, or healthy distractions that are great ideas to reset and get rid of thoughts that have no good business being with you in the first place.

Sounds like a plan, right?

But then going about your day or even seconds later, new thoughts occur from news headlines you read, someone offends or irritates you, a situation stirs an emotional chord, and then you’re right back to negative thoughts and moods. It’s daily and non-stop.

Your mind and the negative thoughts grow even if you think you’re living in a safe bubble.

The unhelpful thoughts never have a chance to go away until you decide the one thing you can change and have in common in every thought is YOU.

And so, I share in this detailed blog article what needs to change to get the happy and helpful thought life you want.

This is the second part of the article from last week on relaxing your mind for the best ideas.

Managing thoughts is essential for lifelong learners, and as a prerequisite to being your most productive self, unleashing your creative self, attracting people to your energy, and living your optimal life.

Years ago, I thought traveling to exciting, new places and feeling in woo would conquer negative thoughts, as they temporarily disappeared when senses were heightened (like when you’re newly in love or starting passion work). But those fickle feelings don’t last and things always change after the newness wears off.

So then I dipped my toe in collaborating and aligning myself with the Universe and how to manifest the best life (that’s woo woo to some).

For me, I was on the right path and things were looking up, but I still had to do the inner core work in my mind.

When all that eventually clicked together, then I could feel the woo hoo! And that’s what we all can celebrate in our lives if and when we get there.

It takes all the pieces–knowledge, process, and application. And if you’re feeling lost, it helps to have a guide.

These are a few guiding and starter points that helped me and hopefully can help you or anyone else who’s trying to figure out a better (thought) life.

The first part can be the hardest–knowing that it all starts in your mind and not someone or somewhere else.

This seems elementary after you learn this, but the ego wants to steer you in another direction like something else is the cause or problem.

So if you’re busy or not paying attention, that can happen and go on until you’ve had enough.

Another point is, don’t let nagging thoughts (or drama in your mind) that won’t leave you alone play out for longer than needed which is no more than a minute.

And in relationships, especially. It takes just one step to cross the invisible boundaries of another person with your words that originated from thoughts.

Walk away from your thoughts to give yourself more peace. Below I have some suggestions on what to do.

So, How to Change From Negative to Positive Thoughts…

Our thoughts are natural to us, and they cause us to take action that can appear inconsistent or as disconnects to others.

To change this, operating from awareness is imperative. Initially, this may feel like work and working harder (like walking uphill with heavy boots instead of sliding downhill). But it’s totally worth it.

You learn a life skill to purge those unwanted thoughts that pop up impromptu and when triggered.

I think there should be a required course on this that you learn early on (and would solve some of the world’s problems as people are the problem or solution).

But anyway… changing thoughts gets easier when you’ve learned the skill and it becomes more automatic.

The negative thoughts won’t disappear immediately, but much quicker than before in your thought choice, and you’ll be wise enough to know you don’t have to act out or say aloud negative thoughts.

Which btw, doesn’t change your personality. It makes you more attractive to the right people.

And that’s part of what separates our discerning brains from animals, young children, or when we were younger…

We all started out immature compared to who we’ve become today.

So here’s how you can reset and get your loving daily juice. To promote loving thoughts, witness your thoughts (I’m sure you’ve heard of this).

Practice being aware of what’s coming in. If it’s garbage, then reject or walk away.

If it’s something that you have feelings about and need to process or work through, then allow yourself that grace.

Again, you don’t have to air your thoughts to anyone, and not putting energy into negative thoughts is going to help you avoid wasted time.

Let them pass through and find the loving side of those thoughts (i.e. how can these thoughts help me?).

In the beginning, as you’re learning or practicing, you want to draw a line in the sand and separate thoughts as helpful or hurtful, good, or bad.

Make it easy on yourself and not leave thoughts in the confusing gray zone that’s part of the baggage carried around.

And let’s be clear, these are thoughts and not the actions that could follow. We want to nip them in the bud.

The good thoughts you accept and the bad ones you reject for your own good. If it hurts others, then you toss in the reject pile and you figure out a win-win or kinder way to confront if that’s needed.

Ask yourself daily and often: What just came out of my mouth and what’s going on in my head? Hit the archive button if it’s a worry thought until you can find answers, and hit the delete button if it’s a harmful thought to you or anyone else.

Know those thoughts will still be there if you need them, which you won’t, but your brain tries to convince you that they’re important to protect you when they’re not needed (for survival). You can blame the ego (yet again) on that.

So, after you start to live life this deliberate-thinking way and focus on positive thoughts, you can see the difference in the quality of your life and the better air that’s there.

You’ll feel more peace, and that helps your stress level and health.

You allow room for ideas to come in, and you become more useful to the world with your abilities. You become part of the solution.

Find A Mantra for Positive Thoughts

Pre-social media days, we were not part of an aware culture like we are in today.

In those days along my journey, I came across these words: “Whatever the question, love is the answer.”

I don’t know who the author is that wrote that, but I knew back then that I wanted that. So I printed out and framed those wise words that are now ingrained in memory.

With intention, I used that as my mantra. And even though I didn’t know how to apply it in every difficult situation.

I knew that if I aspired to the meaning behind the words, it would one day catch up with me and my self-actualized desires.

So, if you have similar aspirations of a learner mindset, find a mantra or intention (or use the one I used) to go to if you’re trying to change to more positive thoughts and aspirations.

It can be used as a distraction from negative thoughts. And you eventually become your words and what you think of.

Use Your Internal Guide

As mentioned, it can be helpful to have a guide and for those ahead of us in certain areas and times in our lives.

But the best overall guide is your internal compass.

Sometimes our moods are body-mind imbalanced or off track for a season and we can restore them much quicker if we know what to do.

Our daily and busy lives can do this to us.

But we want to change them because sour moods can crowd out positive thoughts and exacerbate our need to judge, be critical of others or ourselves, and get easily irritated, which can cause our negative words or actions.

Being in healthy alignment with yourself is better because, in the end, you and your caretakers are the only ones that will be with you.

You’re the only one that’s with you (and your thoughts) always, wherever you move or travel to.

Sometimes, listening to your internal guide can be countercultural and a bit uncomfortable when you make decisions that aren’t popular or go with the flow.

And especially if you’re a harmonious or extroverted person who just wants to get along or people please.

That can make it difficult to live in integrity (doing, saying, and thinking the same thing).

Robots will have it easier than us in this way, but sadly the tin man is missing a heart. 🤖

As humans, when our thoughts don’t align that’s when we have a new chance to re-adjust.

Years ago, no one talked about mental health or wellness as part of the daily talk. Now we embrace “knowing better” in our lives.

We don’t have to just take our thoughts (or others at face value) that turn into actions that don’t always get good results and can even get us in trouble in a hyper-sensitive society.

Plus, we have more options to change the channels in every sense. And we’re more accountable.

We need this accountability. It makes us better as individual people and all together in our complex world.

So these are some accountable thoughts and maybe some personal growth homework (should you choose to accept the mission?) for turning sour cherry thoughts into sweet ones.

As a bonus, you’ll become a better person as a byproduct. I know because this is all stuff I went through. It takes one to know one, and we’re all here to figure out our best life and selves.

So, no judgment here (and actually that’s one of the assignments) 🧡 That’s a balanced Pitta way.

Pause on the gossiping:

Here’s the better way: if you wouldn’t share the news with others and the person you’re gossiping about in the room, then find a way to filter and say less.

If you’re not sure, ask.

More likely you’ll just zip your lip and that’s fine too. It’s really that simple. But even simpler is just not gossiping at all.

That becomes an automatic, better way.

When you find you can’t sit and talk in the same conversations with those who gossip, then you know you’ve changed that about yourself.

You end up productively filling your time with better ways that lead to better things.

Learn to not judge:

We never know the full picture of what’s going on with anyone else no matter how much we think we do.

Take the objective and loving-kind stance.

If you want to have an optimal life, the sooner you learn to let go (of judgment) and to stop controlling so much, the sooner that will start.

A prerequisite for this type of freedom (that it is), is to stop judging others at the first judgmental thought that enters and let the negative thoughts pass through.

Quit complaints:

If you say negative things, then you become a negative person when what you really want is happiness.

So if the first thought that enters your mind is to emphasize complaining, that hurts you.

Maybe you’re used to complaining to get your way (and learned the squeaky wheel gets the grease).

But also what’s happening in the process is you’ll be seen as a complainer.

People who don’t complain will stay away from you, so you’re in company with complainers or those who want you to complain for them or their causes, bringing more negativity in your life and less in theirs.

…If you can make these 3 life changes, you’ll be well on your way to a more peaceful life. It’s simple, but not always easy in the beginning.

It takes desire, self-control, and holding yourself accountable. Be patient and easy on yourself. The good news is these traits are changeable with practice.

And if you find people to support your efforts (and let go of the ones who aren’t), it’s easier.

Your supporters are your best allies.

Ultimately you decide what type of life you want to live. You get to decide what thoughts you keep. Copy that. 😉

Heart Healthy Strawberry Quinoa Cereal

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

Red quinoa
Organic fresh strawberries
Almond milk

Instructions

Cook quinoa to soft. You can use red or traditional quinoa.
Chop strawberries. Use organic and fresh strawberries. You can freeze what you don't use in a few days.
Add milk.

Healthy Chipotle Menu and Fast Food

Healthy Chipotle menu, healthy fast food, and healthy eating are all related. Chipotle makes healthy chips and chic beans in a pot. And they make it all so tasty good.

These are the same type of ingredients used and eaten that the longest living people on the planet today enjoy.

These folks are also some of the poorest which debunks the myth that you have to be wealthy to be healthy.

And one of the plant-based healthiest meals that’s full of protein amino acids is the 3 Sisters dish traditionally with corn, tortilla, and beans.

When you’re not at home and making eating out food choices, eating whole grains and more plant-based is part of healthy eats, and the Chipotle menu is one menu to consider for a fast lunch.

I wish they were around when I was younger. For elementary school field trips, we were asked to bring a bag lunch to school (…you may have done the same).

Most schoolmates had white bread sandwiches (the magical Wonder Bread enriched white bread) and were less likely to stand out and be judged. For lunch hour, your pride and identity were wrapped up in 2 slices of bread, lol.

Today, bread shaming doesn’t cut it …but I know the feeling as my sandwiches were made of whole wheat. Back then, I guess that was better than the occasional super healthy alfalfa-stuffed and sprouting kind where apparently the parents were on a healthy agenda (and didn’t get the memo).

And once in a while we had Taco Tuesday lunches where they offered hard tacos. Some preferred soft tacos. It was kinda like white vs. other breads.

These days we’re open to anti-inflammatory variety, and being more planet and health-conscious. And that’s reflected in our visible fast-food options.

Besides just breakfast, lunch, and dinner, sugary dessert yogurts have been replaced by fruit smoothie energy-vit-enriched powders, as nice in-between options.

Growing up in the DC suburbs, we didn’t have healthy build-it-meal places like Cava, SweetGreen, or Chipotle, or fast food places that offer plant-based meals.

No fast food place offered salads or greens, or at least fresh ones you wanted to try. And that’s coming from an area considered a cultural mecca (and foodie hub). Many field trips were to the DC national museums where we only had time to eat what we brought.

And health-conscious calories and nutritional meal information weren’t anywhere to be found (heck, we didn’t have internet). We’ve made leaps and bounds to become a more health-conscious society.

Living past 90 and 100 is a higher probability than it once was. And from all the living longer information available to us, we know life expectancy and maintaining ideal body weight is mostly determined by personal lifestyle choices.

So thankfully our society and the food community are rallying to help this cause. Aligned to this, the Chipotle menu offers a line called Lifestyle Bowls for healthier eating habits (that end up as regular eating behaviors).

Our bodies are resilient, and we know we know we have some control and can restore our imbalances through the mind-body (or body-mind connection). We also know our thoughts turn to feelings and our feelings to thoughts that can help us most if we’re aware.

These concepts I’ve grown intimate with because I’ve learned they are keys to helping unlock happiness… why live a day here dissatisfied if you don’t have to? And what you store inside impacts your health, in the one body you’re given.

And today and every day is a new day that can be a fresh start in a healthy new year or new season. It can be a good time to welcome changes. Food is a great place to start. And I think we can learn a tip or two from the Chipotle menu whether we eat out or cook in…

At Chipotle, like most fast-food chains, you get consistency and know what to expect. Here are some Chipotle menu healthy ingredient inspirations (from building a lunch meal bottom-up):

You could start with a tortilla or with a bowl of rice, where you get to choose white or brown (kinda like the white or whole wheat bread kinds we’ve known since we were kids)… And in adult wisdom and healthy gratitude, we know choosing brown rice goes much further in the healthy zone! 🦷

Chipotle also offers beans (that are often found in Mexican dishes). They offer two types (black or pinto) for simplicity, but did you know there are over 16,000 types of beans (and 40,000 varieties if you Google it)? In a Western diet, you and I have probably only encountered or eaten closer to 16 kinds. 😊

And just looking around, our American diet isn’t a bean-focused society like other countries. Chili is the glorified bean meal we tie to social occasions and sporting events. But, on the Chipotle menu, you also get the choice to add beans as a rice topping, plus another protein choice that’s considered the actual meat or star protein.

The added beans on the Chipotle menu are subtle but may be your only bean source for the week or month if you don’t get them anywhere else. Just sayin’.

And if keep going down the build-it meal line, you can add guacamole that has tasty value. You don’t necessarily think of the Hass avocado source that’s the add-on’s main health benefit.

From there, you can build in green lettuce, a corn mix, and other daily made healthy toppings with herbs like cumin, oregano, and thyme. And all kinds of mild to hot peppers.

That’s as close as it gets to healthy fast-food eating out.

I compare that way to my restaurant event planning days where I was around exotically delicious food all day (Spanish, Lebanese, Italian, and North African cuisine), but not all of it was healthy. It was a mixed bag mostly from the fried methods or rich sauces.

In the Chipotle recipes, they make a point to use health-conscious sauces. Soffrito is a Spanish sauce and Chipotle has sofritas as a plant-based protein option.

And now they have a second-plant based protein: chorizo (plant-based inspired sausage). Seeing a trend emerging?

In my area, you don’t have to go far to go to places like Cava, where you’re getting fast-food metro- suburban Middle Eastern chickpea falafel. You can also go from bean to chickpea legumes on fluffy basmati rice that you can make at home. Or make cute and easy 2-step rice balls.

Or choose Sweet Greens, a salad, and green-grain bowl place that loves heirloom veggies (like in their Harvest Bowl). Ordering can feel like you’re picking from a California leafy green and veggie garden (and even close to the ground with their Shroomami or Curry Cauliflower bowls).

Then when you’re ready for something sweet, you can find smoothie places with tropical fruits and powder infusions. In city-metro areas, there are many to choose from, and you can add your chia, flax, and sunflower seeds. These are all mainstream now, but once upon a time they were exceptions.

Maybe reflecting on your food journeys and looking around your neighborhood food options, you’re a bit more inspired to eat a little more healthy Chipotle menu-inspired.

That could be a healthy step forward in your home tortilla meal and bowls.

You can get inspired by the healthy Chipotle menu when you're at home with your own bean, veggie, and plant-based ingredients. — You can eat more beans, tortilla, and plant-based goodness that good for you and the planet.

Baked Corn Tortilla Salad Bowl

This is a healthy bowl with a corn tortilla.

Course lunch

Cuisine American, Mexican

Ingredients

tortilla (yellow corn tortilla is more healthy)
beans, veggies, salad, and egg
whole grain rice, cooked

Instructions

Bake tortilla at 200°F in bowl shaped baking pans or oven-safe bowls for about 60 minutes. Tip: since you will baking at low temps you don't have to go out to buy special pans if you don't have them. Many eating bowls have oven-safe labels at the bottom of the bowl.
Fill bottom of baked bowls with cooked rice.
Add beans and veggies. Enjoy!

Kitchen Food Pantry Checklist

Kitchen food pantry is a must whether it’s shelves or bins if you want to maintain a healthy eating lifestyle and not have to run out to the grocery store every time you need an ingredient 🤔

my kitchen food pantry in 2020. — The 2020 Pantry that started it all. It wasn’t all healthy, but then gradually as the world became more social healthy… so did my kitchen. 😊

It’s smart these days to have a running house kitchen food pantry, especially with all the grocery store shortages and shipping dilemmas.

What you store in your kitchen food pantry ends up being part of your diet (the same concept as: what you bring home from the grocery store or delivered ends up on your plate).

So, I started a household kitchen food pantry at the start of 2020 because I’m a planner and that makes food conveniently available in real-time.

Real food is a basic need, and no metaverse can change that (zero taste would never last on our planet 😊).

Plus, having a personal kitchen food pantry lets you bypass the panic buy waves that seem to run rampant.

And you can find yourself cooking and baking more, just in case you’re looking for homemade-cooking inspiration.

But even if you’re not a planner, the checklist ✅ below can help remind you of healthy pantry food items to stock up on when you’re running low.

One recent item I found interesting that made the trending grocery shortage list along with chicken is cinnamon buns.

Cinnamon I think I sweet, and no heat, but if you’re not used to it, can kinda feel that way.

Ceylon cinnamon is the kind you want to add to your healthy beverages. The regular or traditional cinnamon is Cassia cinnamon that’s often used in baking.

So, anyway… Here’s a kitchen food pantry idea list that can come in handy (from my pantry to yours maybe?):

✔️ Nuts, Seeds, and Dried Fruits (ex: raisins, craisins, dates, papaya, almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, flax seeds) come in handy as snack fillers between meals. You can make a trail mix or use them to bake with.

They’re dry ingredients so they water down baking, that’s working to dry what’s baking in the oven. If you have temperature-sensitive nuts like macadamia or Brazil nuts, you can keep them in the fridge to give them a longer life.

✔️ Canned Beans and Other Legumes (ex: white beans, black beans, peas, edamame, chickpea-garbanzo beans) you can use for every meal or straight out of the can.

You can run water inside the open cans to rinse out some of the preserving salts/sodium, or you can use the can liquid for soups and dips. You can even use the chickpea aquafaba liquid as an egg white substitute. There are no rules. But once cans are opened, it’s smart to refrigerate and use ’em within a few days.

✔️ Packaged Fruit (or what I call pantry shelf fruit, ex: unsweetened applesauce, cherries, pineapple) come in handy for baking.

Btw, I try to buy the unsweetened (or unsalted) versions if there’s a choice for all food goods ready-to-eat or for baking. ‘Cause then you can choose what sweets or salts to add back in, and control how much. And that’s part of the benefits making your own bakes and dishes.

✔️ Canned Proteins (ex: tuna, sardines, clams) make great snacks and lunch meat. You can add to almost any carb meal.

✔️ Shelf-ready Non-dairy milks (ex: almond milk) are good to keep around, plus a can of coconut milk and evaporated milk for easy baking or soups. Best expiration dates are usually over a year out.

✔️ Comfort Food Boxed Pasta make a pantry shelf look organized (that probably wasn’t your first thought, lol). There seems to be a new pasta shape out every year and in panic-buy shortages, the whole aisle empties fast (and ends up in pantries!).

So it’s good to have a couple of uniform boxes with different pasta shapes on hand. Larger pasta surfaces like shells will hold onto sauces better when you’re deciding what shapes and types to go with (ex: traditional spaghetti, macaroni, whole wheat).

Veggie pasta doesn’t need a fancy sauce and can taste light and elegant with the right EVOO.

✔️ Canned Tomatoes or Tomato Sauce go hand and hand in your pantry for a weekly Italian meal. But the cheese doesn’t belong there and I agree with the Italians that parmesan (America’s cheese) is not high quality once you get a taste of the better stuff.

You can opt to store nutritional yeast as a dry, cheesy alternative. It’s called “nutritional” because it’s full of nutrition (vitamins and minerals).

✔️ Slow Cooking or Old-Fashioned Oats and Grits. Good for breakfast but they can be substituted instead of flour for some bakes, and if you want to do gluten-free.

✔️ Other Whole Grains: (ex: brown rice, quinoa, barley, farro). Just look for “whole” in front of grains.

✔️ Drinks: (ex: unsweetened cocoa for baking and hot cocoa and ground coffee.) Even if you don’t drink these often they come in handy for occasions. You can always make healthy cold brew coffee if you don’t have a coffee machine.

The best drink for your body (water) isn’t in the pantry.

✔️ High Bran/Whole Grain Cereal: Processed cereals (including fortified ones) have gotten a bad rap. Some you may have heard we grew up with are even linked to having traces of weedkiller.

But if you find the right fortified cereal, that can be a good daily fiber source and a possible better sweet substitute.

✔️ Chocolate chip morsels: You can always find some chocolaty-way to bake them in or enjoy in a no-bake trail mix.

I learned in my Doubletree catering management experience that chocolate chips will get you far… and chocolate chip cookies will get you even further! 🍪

This is the easy and healthy low sugar chocolate chip oatmeal cookie version and a cool-star cookie design chocolate oatmeal soft recipe.

And of course sugar is paired well with none other than salt…

✔️ Salts: (ex: kosher, coarser sea salt, regular sea salt). Kosher is good for some bakes while coarser salts are a great finishing touch for veggies (almost like a salt garnish).

They allow you to appreciate your foods better at the moment when they activate on your tongue ...remember the different taste regions on the tongue?

Coarse salt on Brussels sprouts can change your opinion of the healthy veg.

✔️ Vinegars/Condiments: (ex: apple cider vinegar, red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, Worcestershire, and soy sauces).

These are versatile ingredients you can use to dress up your dishes, dressings, and sauces.

✔️ EVOO: keep a medium and a lighter version for cooking vs. baking (if you like the scent and taste, chances are you’ll love it in your dishes).

✔️ Flours: all-purpose, whole wheat, bread, corn, gluten-free (ex: almond, coconut, and buckwheat can be used in baking). Gluten-free flours are better preserved in the fridge than in a pantry.

✔️ Baking agents: cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda-the orange box in your fridge not to be confused with slightly different baking powder in baking, yeast packets for breads, sugars sparingly used for baking (ex: powdered sugar, monkfruit sugar, and brown sugar). You can learn to add less sugar and crave less.

✔️ Soup: before 2020, I used to buy canned low-sodium soups, and learned to cut down the sodium even more by making soups adding your own amount of salt, and from fresh kitchen food pantry ingredients.

With fresh and root veggies, you can almost make any kind of warm soup you want. Same concept with fresh fruits where you can make no-added sugar juices and low-sugar orange juice.

✔️ Variety of anti-inflammatory herbs and spices: for every day you want to have a variety of spice such as: oregano, turmeric, cayenne, cumin, black pepper, cinnamon.

For Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, you want to take a look at your spice options, and add spices such as thyme, rosemary, nutmeg, anise, allspice, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger if those aren’t fresh.

✔️ Loose leaf and tea bags: from an herbal list, peppermint is always good to have on hand for aches.

Floral and fruity tea is also favorable. Black (ex: cinnamon, Earl Grey, chai), green, and red/rooibos are antioxidant wonders.

✔️ Breads: Where is the best place to preserve bread longer… pantry, fridge, or freezer?

It’s the freezer. The fridge hardens and dries out your bread, but a freezer will keep it from undesirable changing properties after 2-3 days at room temperature.

You’ll know when freezer bread has eventually turned stale as it has a freezer-burn, cardboard-like but that doesn’t usually happen for months or longer.

If you’re wanting to freeze bread, slice it up at room temperature first before freezing, so you can pull out the slices you need without de-thawing the entire loaf.

Pop frozen toast in your toaster, and it’s just as fresh.And with the list above you have your own pantry where you can make fresh home bakes and meals. That’s something to be happy about 😊

Healthy Foods Substituting Ingredients

Healthy foods can substitute processed and other ingredients that your body doesn’t use as nutrition.

The Great British Bake Off does substituting ingredients. But healthy substituting, I’m not so sure about 😊 because that’s not their point.

Getting to love healthy foods can take gradual changes.

And food variety and curiosity can create opportunities.

Eating healthy got me interested in cooking healthy foods and using healthier ingredients later in life post-catering management work days.

Those days, I rarely cooked as I was always around decadent foods from a hotel kitchen.

And then stepping away from party planning and then into the pandemic days, I started to home cook and bake daily.

One ingredient at a time, I exchanged filler and not so great ingredients for healthy ones.

It started with interest and fascination with exchanging a simple ingredient like yeast for eggs, gives you risen bread instead of pasta.

That’s the same sort of small ingredient change that you can make in daily meal planning (even if you don’t cook today), that can make a big difference in your health.

But first, you need to know what to do.

“When you know better, you do better.” -Maya Angelou

Btw, as of today, Maya Angelou is now appearing on minted quarters (so her legacy advice is even more valuable!).

But anyway… long before I learned to cook, I didn’t care so much about the quality of ingredients as I did the final product taste.

And for work, I planned catering events in hotels and restaurants, and I can’t think of a single instance where there was a request for a full-on healthy party menu (over good tasting meals).

That theme never came up in conversations. In throwing successful events, enjoyable and making happy memories in those situations means serving an unforgettable mouthful of delicious.

Once in a while, sprinkled in the mix, there would be a request for healthier alternatives because of food allergies, or for a raw vegetable crudite platter that was considered veg-forward, and to start the party off on a light note.

Or for conference event planning, where the catered food was the main daily food the guests were eating and the host planner wanted healthier energy and “brain food” served. But those were the exceptions.

And that’s partly because eating rich foods for a day or eating out for a few days doesn’t have the same consequences as it does for daily eating that become the routines and habits.

When you have an overall goal to stay healthy or be health-conscious, you care about the overall weekly diet and the ingredients.

And if you’re the one cooking and adding the ingredients, you get to decide how much of this or that you add to meals. That can very rewarding and I share a few tips below whether or not you cook today.

…You just never know what will be a good source of inspo to get you cookin’ and as I found on my journey.

I never say never, but if you live near a city especially, gardening isn’t usually the main source for full-on meals. But many of us cook regularly as we want to learn how to make new dishes and develop cooking skills confidence.

So that’s my first tip for anyone: to try and cook more often even if you don’t think you can boil an egg or make a box of pasta. We all start somewhere!

When you make, cook, or bake your food, you start to think about your foods more than when you’re just eating, heating, or ordering food in.

Then that brings more awareness to eating healthy foods if that’s a goal you have.

And in that case, making everyday recipes that have sticks of butter or shortening just won’t cut it.

At first, you can be feeling at odds following recipes that have a mix of healthy and not-so-healthy ingredients. That’s part of the journey.

I always start with the ingredients.

If I don’t like what’s in it, then I just skip the recipe or food. But when you’re starting out, following a recipe is easier and can be more fruitful… just in case you needed some cooking encouragement to keep trying.

Our olive oil EVOO society has also made it easier. That’s what I call it because EVOO (thank you to the Mediterranean diet) is often used in restaurants over butter, that used to be the standard.

Healthy fat foods and healthy monounsaturated fat like EVOO (as in EVeryday olive oil + extra virgin) used with a light hand drizzle is going to be a good substitute for your body health.

Just add a few drops and then spread it around the pan with a baton flick of the ninja cooking wrist 😊. Just sayin’ too much of a good thing is too much.

But a little bit benefits your cooking too. Besides food flavor and a glisten, this keeps your food and pans from cooking heat burns.

The biggest goes to body health of course. So, my second tip is to substitute butter with healthier ingredients like applesauce or yogurt for baking, and ghee or EVOO for cooking when you can.

Traditional Christmas Cookies are the sweet recipe exception I have found that isn’t the same without the buttery taste-texture.

But even in that context, I still think (and from my own baking experiments) know that butter can be substituted, and still be just as delicious and enjoyable.

You may just have to get a ‘lil more creative with the cookie decorating.

…I made these (above photo) bak-love-a layers with light EVOO (that’s great for sweet and savory baking). I only used butter to add on the top layer glaze to please my younger self.🤷🏻‍♀️

Just an example that balanced moderation can be effectively added into recipes where it doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

I find hard and fast rules can fall flat and in the category elimination diet that I tend to stay away from.

I think eating diverse, mostly plant-based, and moderation for most everything else is the way to go and the way I go. Especially if you have food allergies and sensitivities.

But, this is a healthy leap from when I started my baking journey using ingredients like shortening that you still see in Southern comfort cooking recipes.

Aah… but, when I knew better, I did better. And that could be your journey.

Like I learned butter is made from heavy cream and if you keep whipping, it easily turns to butter.

It’s lessons like this where you can get revelations like I did, that an ingredient’s makeup and consistency is (ex)changeable. And so, ingredients are not fixed as what we know them as. They can be substituted and swapped in recipes.

A good example would be substituting sugar with healthy foods like dried fruits, fruit zest, or honey (that can help allergies too).

These types of little changes make big difference to health, and how you feel in your day. And, maybe the bottom line… or the waistline (yay!).

Or, maybe you’re a natural Vata (or know of some)…that’s me too 🙋🏻‍♀️, where you may have inherited the thinner genes and higher metabolism. You still have to watch the fats.

If you’re a female adult, you wanna make sure you’re not “skinny fat” that’s a good healthy measurement.

You can do this by comparing your waist to hip ratio (where most women can aim for under 80%).

There are no shortcuts to good health as your body has a different opinion on what it needs that’s different than our tastes and wants.

Another healthy substitute is oats and grits for pie crusts, cookies, and brownies mixed with apple sauce or yogurt and honey. When you bake, then you can make these swaps pretty easily, both butter and gluten-free (without flour).

But when you shop from grocery shelves that’s a different story as pie shells look harmless, despite not-so healthy ingredients. And healthy foods don’t jump off the shelves either.

You can just as easily add Greek yogurt and jam or fresh fruit to your gritty pie shell.. that’ll hold up beautifully!

That’s how I started, not really paying attention to nutrition labels and ingredients.

Then along my healthful journey, I decided not to choose Mister Donut of any kind, fresh or not, because I knew and know what’s in them.

Besides taste, very little. And lots of sugar and fat. And I trained myself from awareness to look at them like that, and see the missing-ness through the hole in the middle.

But for others, and you, that could just as easily be another processed food item where the consequence is known and inevitable.

When a tradeoff is determined as individually undesirable, then you beneficially want to give it up (and don’t HAVE to give it up that can cause an internal conflict).

These btw (below) are healthy “donut hole” inspo w-hole bites and balls of energy that anyone can bake and substitute for high-sugar and fat.

Black bean “brownie-inspo” ball of energy bites

When you pause on the processed foods, you can gradually not desire to eat the super-sweet stuff anymore. It can work if you work it. And then you actually like the taste of healthy foods.

Your habits then become your choices.

If you’ve ever fasted, then you probably know the feeling… because after a while you can stop caring or obsessing about eating (like I did in fasting experiences). I’m not a good faster but I’ve attempted fasting sweets.

After a day or so, you can stop craving whatever you’re fasting from because you, your mind, and your body are in agreement that you don’t need those foods (at least not now).

So, then you’re satisfied.

And that’s all you need to care about when it comes to eating enjoyment. Being content to be happy.

…I remember the days when I got teased by friends for eating healthy and selecting healthy food choices. I felt bad they didn’t know what I knew in nutrition, and sadly, that adds aging stress on the body.

Our bodies are tricky and complex and has a different daily systematic agenda that doesn’t necessarily like our unhealthy choices after swallowed or initial taste bud food changes that we choose (that can be unhealthy or healthy foods).

I knew back then (even if it was subconscious) that I wanted to live without eating regrets or damaging the one body we’re given, so I followed my instincts and those became habits.

When you don’t take for granted your body’s resiliency, that can help you to want to be healthier.

Plus, we have so much more food sources and healthy information available to us now that allows us to buy ingredients in person, online, and from global sources.

When your body is used to you eating healthy, another healthy food strategy (and final tip) is to switch up the healthy foods and ingredients regularly. Switching up foods is fun.

It’s an enjoyable game you can play that you’ll never get sick of and is what your body wants for you as it craves good taste and healthy variety.

Plus, if a food is labeled bad or good and that evolves or changes, like nuts used to be deemed bad and now are great healthy fats, then you haven’t put all your eggs in one basket 🥚🥚… you know what I mean, Jelly Bean 😉.

And you can make your own baklava that’s good on a Mediterranean diet.

Holiday Entertainment Shows + Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Recipe

Holiday entertainment is not a mere plus during the holidays. It’s a must to get through the holidays… full of bittersweet happy and sad moments… filled with illuminating reflections on the past year… finding your way through stressful calendar-marked deadlines ticking like a time bomb.

And before holiday has come and gone, you can enjoy this one-bowl comfort dessert with no guilt as it’s healthy and wildly tasty! It could be your new year dessert. 🎉

It’s gluten-free, carrot vitamin-rich and orange calming for nerves… and great for entertaining mixed emotions.

Healthy Carrot Cake great for holiday entertainment and life. — Gluten-free healthy orange carrot cake (recipe below)

Ahhh.. but light-hearted holiday entertainment shows (like GBBO for this modified healthy baker) and sappy rom-com tearjerker movies can help us lighten our load if we feel stressed.

On that note, I have 3-holiday entertainment mentions below worth checking out

That can be exciting and worth sticking around until the end of the blog article and staying up past midnight on Dec. 31. 😊

…And somewhere in between is December 25 where we can easily forget when we started our holiday. In America, that’s usually Thanksgiving in November where we celebrate gratitude for the things we have in our lives.

In the happy holiday spirit, December and Christmas are opportunities for each of us to grow, dig deep in our shadow, be reflective about our past, and find more appreciation for our joy and happiness’ sake as better humans than before.

Christmas is always an invitation to find hope and peace now. And welcome in happy and healthy intentions for the future. And that can include skipping, baking, and inspiring yoga moves! Why not?

I plan to be in the kitchen (…and maybe you too with your planned festivities whether quiet or action-filled?).

Here’s my illustrative yoga guide for those who will be busy holiday joy baking and wanting to unwind like a pretzel in front of the tube or streaming media 😊:

There’s a big buildup to Christmas celebrations that probably started way earlier in the year …like Christmas in July promotions?

This year is probably no different where you’re not hit by deer lights… that’s a certain predictable point to be grateful for. We know it’s coming!

And we can lean into holiday entertainment, decorations, and warm & fuzzy feelings to get us in the mood.

We don’t have to lean into the bitter self-pity. We can feel contentment for what we have in our accumulated wisdom.

Some things we can think of is:

We’re grateful we’re not who we once were. We’re a better version, and getting better every day. It may be two steps forward and one step back, but we’re still improving.

And some places we’re completely transformed and others we completely forgot where we were once hurting in another way.

We’re happy as is because we know it won’t stay this way. We’re wired to have the best life.

Besides things could be worse, but thankfully they’re not. Those (and your) beliefs can help shape your optimistic outlook.

Getting rid of the moods that can hang over like heavy, gray clouds (that can lead to Kapha depression) is freeing. And also changing the anxious-worried symptoms common in active Vata minds.

You could be fighting ego or affected without awareness.

Letting go isn’t always so easy…

In awareness, it can feel like an uphill battle to try and win over an internal fight.

I find that when I have a moment where I feel a little emotional turmoil, laughter never grows old as one of the best medicines.

Healthy cleansing tears from humorous holiday entertainment or heart-felt movies, series, or shows can be just what the doctor ordered.

After from watching, you can feel good again. 📺

What we feel from recently watched holiday entertainment shows can show up in our refreshed thought life.

These are 3 of my holiday entertainment picks (and maybe they’re good for you also)… which btw, I’ve yet to meet a close friend who likes the same quirky shows I do.

I’m not talkin’ about Friends and the popular America’s Got Talent shows that everyone has glimpsed.

So I’m goin’ out on a limb here…

The first one I wanted to mention is actually not a show, but an old classic movie, The Sound of Music. And if that’s not your bread and jam, then think of a show or movie you watched as a kid that you enjoyed and impacted you.

And you can take my Cliff Notes version:

If you’ve never seen or forgotten what this classic movie is about, it starts out with actress Julie Andrews as a young lady in an abbey prepping to be a nun. She soon discovers she’s too independent thinking and not cut out for the job.

Sound a ‘lil familiar? I know it does for me having taken a hairpin turn or two early on. None of the nunnery kind though. 😊

The movie plot is a metaphor for our lives that can change in an instant, a.k.a. a life pivot.

A better plan is out there for us if we’re willing to stay open and hang in there.

Those thoughts can help us get through any bitter holiday moments.

Julie Andrews’ character is sent as a governess to 7 children for a former widowed Captain and Austrian naval officer.

Fr. Maria, she’s called, brings singing and love into the family and the odd-pairing couple ends up marrying (aww… a love story and musical). I hope I didn’t ruin the happy ending.

So now you’re either caught up or possibly curious to watch the movie (again).

Fun fact: the movie is filmed in Austria and Los Angeles of all places, so maybe that’s one of the reasons why it’s still a Hollywood boom.

In our lives, the parallel is that there’s a lot to look forward to getting to the other side, crossing the hills, and any mountains along our path. We can stop to appreciate the flowers like Edelweiss or roses that remind us of our resilience from our life situations.

Then after you get your fill of that movie, whether you fast-forward to the part where your heart is filled or watch the full movie, afterward you can pause to fill your warm drinking mug, and get ready to laugh (…maybe even belly laugh some) with this next recommend…

Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee

This modern American Netflix show of several seasons is a good metaphor for not taking life too seriously. Stand-up comedians don’t.

And Actor and Comedian Jerry Seinfeld makes that clear as he takes his guests out for coffee in coffee venues (think Diners, Drive Ins, and Dive places, plus some hole in the walls).

He chauffeurs his guests around with different classic cars to match the comedic intent and their barrel of laughs to come in coffee conversation 🐒.

Once in a while, they’re driving in lemons like an Oh sorry, Ferrari that dies on the road. That’s comical drama we call comedy.

The show is peppered with what you’d expect from comedians… impromptu funny lines about their lives and the world we live in.

Having worked in restaurants, I can find a chuckle or two with the (literally) off-the-wall menu special posters or off-color restaurant jokes…

Like when Jerry orders and asks for 2 eggs and nothing else on a plate, and the server quickly asks if he wants it on the side? The server (or waitress) made an inside funny without knowing it. Good stuff there. 😅

You’ll have to find your own humor points if you end up watching some of the episodes. …and so that brings me to a recent holiday entertainment show…

The Great British Baking Show

The Great British Baking Show has got to be the funniest baking show out there. It’s also interesting to watch the baker techniques and their foibles.

By now in the show’s (just-finishing up their 9^th season), as you’d expect the contestants know what to expect.

If they didn’t, that would be like going under the pressure cooker show as a contestant without baking practice.

.. And that would be like going on the Shark Tank show and not rehearsing… where they’d get eaten alive!

The GBBO contestants (more fitting than calling them competitors because they help each other out in the tent)… want to be sure to make the show fun and take time out to make good bakes while playing along with the tent show elves and laughing at their side jokes.

Tent Sidekick Noel announcing the challenge 😄

As part of the audience, you can feel the contestants are more mellow, less tense, and less serious about winning… and more motivated with staying in the baking tent (sometimes baking hot tent 🎪) for as long as they can.

In case you missed season 9 which is one of my faves (I say that for all of the newest ones), the cherry-on-top Star Baker title went to Giuseppe for his traditional Italian bakes passed down from his family’s baking lineage.

So now you’re all caught up!

The Great British Baking Show also has holiday versions. You can especially enjoy it if you like holiday baking inspiration and while eating sweets…

Healthy Carrot Cake — Gluten-free healthy carrot cake (recipe below)

And on that final note, I have a deliciously, seriously healthy, SWEET gluten-free carrot cake recipe below (that I’ve played around with the ingredients, whipped up, and tested all the crumbs!)… And you can just as easily prepare and enjoy in a square, round or any shape pan you like that you can bring to your screen with whatever holiday entertainment shows you end up watching. 🧡

Healthy (Easy-No Mixer Needed) Gluten-Free Carrot Cake (Bread or Squares) in One Bowl

Ingredients:

1 cup grated carrots

2 eggs (room temperature)

1 Tbsp coconut oil (or light EVOO or baking oil)

1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

2 tsp lemon juice

1/2 cup (120 grams) almond flour (or other gluten-free flour)

1/4 cup (60 grams) oats

1/2 cup (120 grams) chopped walnuts and raisins combined

Orange zest from a medium-size orange (or add maple syrup to taste, 1-2 tsp suggested for low sugar)

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

You can mix all the ingredients in one bowl. Add dry ingredients first, then add the liquids (that way you can use some of the same measuring spoons and cups without the dry sticking to the wet in my planner-at-heart mind 😉).

Pour into an 8″ round pan or 4″ x 8″ baking pan.

Bake at 325°F/165°C for 35-40 minutes.

After cooled, “frost” with Greek Yogurt (2% fat or reduced fat suggested) and healthily enjoy. Or you can blend with a low-fat cheese (like neufchatel cream cheese or ricotta cheese) if you prefer or will be serving to others who don’t prefer full-on healthy … but would love to try what you happily sweetly baked.

To Your Merry Happy Holidays! 🎄