Fresh orange juice is a popular, year-round favorite. In the winter, oranges are in season, so you can find an abundance of oranges.
That’s also when most people load up on Vitamin C that they associate with orange juice, and why orange juice grocery shelves can be full or running empty.
And summer is a popular time too as it’s served in vacation towns and resorts.
I share below how you can optimize an entire orange in homemade fresh orange juice squeezed by hand.
If you’re inspired by fresh juices, this is a smart idea to save money, be healthy, and enjoy conveniently at home.
And speaking of enjoyment, last week I had a nice surprise.
I won a gift card to a local smoothie place I’m inspired by. They are my inspiration for tropical smoothies.
One day I saw someone coming out of a yoga studio in my town who was carrying this mermaid blue color bowl that’s the size of a large yogurt container.
I had to find out what this healthy ingredient is!
I learned it comes from an ingredient called blue majik (that’s the magic in the blue bowl). 🥣
The South Block smoothie chain also uses ingredients like camu camu and maca root.
You feel like you’ve been invited to a new array of rainforest superfoods shipped from an exotic locale in the world and infused in your made-to-order bowl or smoothie.
It’s dreamy, no?
OK, I could go on and on excited!…
But, today I also wanted to share how you can optimize oranges in a house-made fresh orange juice.
I’ve become super sensitive to how much sugar I consume and that’s healthy motivation.
And that hopefully inspires you to think healthy food and drinks at least most of the time (as it does for me).
Next time you think about getting orange juice from the store, consider making your own fresh orange juice from whole oranges where there’s no added sugar.
Fresh Orange Juice
Look for heirloom, organic, or local farmers market produce as in season (free of pesticides, good for us and the environment)
And oranges are one of my favorite fruits as I love the smell of oranges. Here’s why…
They are good for calming anxiety, aromatherapy, and if you’re leaning into the Vata mind-body ways or wanting to restore any Vata imbalance.
If you can’t get the work life balance or life is stressful, keeping an orange near you to sniff and that’ll help calm you.
And making fresh orange juice will also in its healthy-balancing effects.
And if you feel it in your nervous digestive tract, you can try an orange elixir like this recipe:
5 Spice blend (Five spice is star anise, cloves, cinnamon, fennel, and black pepper) - (amount adjustable to liking)
water (dilute as needed)
Instructions
Zest and peel an orange. Keep all the parts. Tip: use navel, Cara Cara, blood, or heirloom oranges. They are good for the calming (and good for parasympathetic nervous system also affecting good digestion).
Squeeze the pulp into your orange juice container (or enjoy).
Add your zest and peels to the container.
Add five-spice blend.
Add apple cider vinegar
Fill up with water. Shake and refrigerate. Enjoy when you have an upset stomach.
There are so many orange varieties to choose from. I love the Cara Cara sweetheart orange variety (common around Christmas) that can be juicier and sweeter than a California navel orange that’s in season a little earlier.
Plus fresh orange juice makes me think of my second home, staying in nice hotels! Once upon a time I worked in hotel catering management where I got my first taste.
And you may have seen out and about those gigantic commercial machines that crank out fresh orange juice from whole oranges. That would be a fun job for a day!
You may have seen one of these at selective grocery stores if you live in a larger metro area.
Fresh orange juice definitely ruined me for any added sugar orange juice that comes from a carton (like I grew up drinking).
Concentrated is high sugar and harsh on the stomach, and especially along with a morning coffee routine that Americans commonly do. That’s double acidity.
👉 You can opt for making your own organic cold brew coffee and diluting orange juice with water.
So let’s begin and get your fresh orange juice-on!
For equipment, you can use a citrus squeezing tool, which is one of my favorite kitchen tools because it’s bright yellow so I have no choice but to be sunny with the brightening citrus when I use it 😉.
And a zester microplane tool that looks like a zester.
These are the parts of the orange.
Orange Zest (essence). Before I cut into the orange for orange juice, I go around the orange peel, grating, and capturing all the outside orange zest as essence for zhughing up other sweet morning smoothies, dishes, and garnishes (that’s where my former-catering mind goes and yours can go wild too!).
Orange Pith. Most people throw the spongy, slightly bitter part out, but consider keeping.
This would good in the orange digestif recipe mentioned already.
The orange pith is high in Vit C (as is the juicy pulp) and anti-inflammatory flavonoids. For those reasons alone, it’s worth considering mixing in foods and drinks/smoothies.
Plus leaving no traces of fruit is good for not attracting critters. 😉
Orange Juice and Pulp. Then cut the orange in half (perpendicular to the top or the stem or from left to right).
I know it’s tempting to cut the orange any which way since it’s perfectly round, but cutting the right way lets you cut through each orange segment to maximize juice.
Otherwise you could get stuck on a pillowy-feeling orange segment.
Now you’re ready to squeeze each orange half or use a citrus squeezer tool, and squeeze away the juice into a tall glass.
Let go of all your stress squeezing oranges. Activating calming oranges around you is a relaxing sensory exercise.
Keep repeating until you have the amount of juice you want. Add back pulp as desired if you like high pulp juice.
You can also add some water to dilute some or stretch the juice out for more.
And enjoy!
No-Waste Eco-Friendly Ideas: Save the orange pulp if you prefer high-pulp OJ and add small orange pieces to your drink.
Save the seed to grow a plant. Save the pulp and zest for cooking and baking recipes. Save the pith that has the most nutrients for digestifs and foods. Save the orange sticker as a reminder for getting the Produce LookUp (PLU) item again. 😉
If you like fresh juices, you may want to give Fresh Peach Juice and Mango Juice other sunny yellow inspiring fruity juices a GO.
Healthiest cookie vibes are almost unheard of, as they often have too much high fructose corn syrup, other sugar, fat content, artificial flavoring… and did I mention sugar? 😊
This spiced cookie is one powerful bite, loaded with anti-inflammatory spices. Recipe below. ⬇️
But, I share a piece of good sweet news… today, you could look for the healthiest cookie that tastes good (and not like the box it came in), and then feel better for your reduced sugar choice.
Included below is a helpful sugar content list next time you’re out cookie grocery shopping.
If you were born with a sweet tooth (ahem…Vatas!), eliminating sugar from your diet, may be one of the worst food elimination news you could hear.
But wait!… before you give up on all sugar, know that your natural makeup and desires are there for a reason, so you don’t have to give up all your sweets if your body and health allow.
Instead, you could look for better, daily choices so you don’t have to give up entirely one day.
Cookies are one sweet type and if that’s not your go-to sweet, what are some of the other daily sweet delights? Ice cream, cakes, pies, candy, and donuts.
Sugar is sugar. But some sweets are better for you and they originate in nature and from plants.
If a piece of dark chocolate or a juicy piece of fruit will give you the same effect, learn to let your healthy taste bud rule over your eyes that plays tricks.
Because the truth is if you or I tell ourselves, no, we can’t have that sweet piece of joy, then we just want it more as we have an internal debate.
And once we get a taste of the tasty stuff, our brain’s pleasure center can easily tempt us to go overboard in a weak moment, even if we consider ourselves self-disciplined in every other way.
That’s why lose weight diets (a.k.a. yo-yo or fad diets) don’t work long-term or lifelong because we feel we are missing out on what our mind and body know is out there. Short-term diets are not natural to our bodies. We want real tasty foods that we crave.
But, if you want to fit into that special dress or get your bathing suit body ready for the summer season, you’re better off doing it naturally so that you can stay the same size year-round.
Thankfully our abundant society has wised up with better accessible plant-based and healthier ingredient options (from farm to store), than when we were kids.
Decades ago, I wrote a lifelong diet guide with recipes that included enjoying more or less one day “off” a week.
A few years before then I had gone on a diet of eating low-fat cookies that came from a dark green healthy-color box (that was anything but healthy or plant-based).
I don’t see those cookies on the grocery shelves anymore, but they were a terrible food substitute that led to weight gain and adding unhealthy processed ingredients to my body. I learned the hard way, but that saved me a lifetime of going down the wrong eating path, and from then on, I wised up.
And I try to save others from making the same mistakes I made.
I still very rarely eat red meat, dairy, or more than one or two bites of a sugary sweet, not because I don’t like those foods or can’t eat them (au contraire!), but because I choose to, now knowing what I know. And like Oprah says, “when you know better, you do better.”
And you can do the same with knowledge and a little discipline, which then becomes second nature where you don’t even want those foods anymore because you know they don’t make you a healthier being and that is more satisfying to you.
There’s no guilt, either way… it’s just a choice.
Plus, as you get older, the bad foods and sugar your body could tolerate in your 20s aren’t the processed same in your body so you’re better off wanting to change instead of having to or being forced to.
So that’s where cookie consciousness came into the picture for me.
My sweet weakness is cookies (and decadent cakes and cupcakes). It’s wired in my DNA.
But, I’ve learned to be discerning and find the best ones out there.
I enjoy the cookie if it tastes great and has low sugar content, or if I make my own in a controlled sugar baking environment.
And mostly bake my own cookies or biscuits like these biscotti that uses natural sugars (fructose) to sweeten. The nutrients also offset some of the sweet downfalls without compromising adult taste! 😋
Biscotti (Low Sugar) - Black and White Chocolate Biscotti
A healthy biscotti is great for dunking in your healthy beverage.
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets
Ingredients
2-1/2cup flour
3tspbaking powder
1-1/2tspaniseed, crushed
3/4tspsalt
1/4tspcinnamon
1/4tspnutmeg
1/2cupcoconut oil
1-1/4tspalmond extract
2eggs
1cupsblanched almonds
2tspmilk
finely choped dates, orange zest, dried fruits as sweet
Instructions
Make your dough with the ingredients. It should be cohesive and sticky enough to become a dough. You may need to add more oil or can substitute with yogurt or apple sauce.
Roll out one or two rectangular rounded loafs (for mini biscotti) about an inch thick for the classic biscotti shape.
Bake in 350°F oven for 25 minutes.
Let cool completely. Then use a serated knife to make even-cut biscotti pieces.
Flip over biscotti and bake for 10 more minutes (for "twice baked").
Let cool and dip in melted chocolate (optional).
Refrigerate and then dip in white chocolate for duo-chocolate.
Keeping it real to yourself is what it’s all about…
And also celebrating your efforts, leaves you happy, your mental health improves, and your body benefits, so you want to balance health and happiness (btw, my blog name is healthy and happy 😊). I mostly do this through modern Ayurveda that my blog is about.
I also like to balance rules because they keep life simple.
So looking at nutrition facts is one practice that I like to do (and seriously I do find fun in a mature, adult sorta way).
And I started out my career out as a catering manager at a DoubleTree Hotel where they’re famous for their c.c. cookies you can make healthy 🍪 but yeah the original ingredients in the official recipe is not listed on the fresh brown paper cookie bags.
I know because I sat next to them and used them as a pound of butter paper weights for my BEO contracts I had on my desk, taking a bite here and there to curb my breakfast appetite.
Gosh, those were the early days!
And, on that note…
Quick trivia question:
Which of these cookies was famously credited as the first?… is it the Fig Newton, Animal Cracker, or Chocolate Chip Cookie? (Keep reading, as the answer is below ⬇️).
Choosing the Healthiest Cookie
This is a healthy chocolate chip cookie without added butter, white sugar, and flour.
In choosing cookies, the first step is acknowledging that all cookies are not created equal. You know this without having to think about it twice.
But when you’re in the grocery aisle, do you make mostly sensible decisions… or sensory-driven decisions?
If you’re not sure or your answer is it can vary, then take a photo of your grocery cart at the check-out line and evaluate when you get home.
Do some grocery introspection.
Take a look at the Nutrition Facts on the back of the food packaging as though you’re looking for the healthiest cookie out there that you want.
When you look closer and compare, you may find an oatmeal cookie may not be lower in sugar count than a chocolate chip cookie. So you are now informed and can make a better decision next time.
In those pleasantly surprising fact discoveries, if nothing else you get what you want and are happier for your choice! And sometimes you’re shocked at what your old favorites tell you.
You can also compare cookies in the same brand like a Girl Scout Cookie.
One GSC can be lower in sugar and another one can be off the charts. They may be made from the same factory, but they have a different makeup.
You can continue reading below how they rank in sugar content as I’ve included in the list. Today, gratefully we have so many healthier choices and from the same brands.
If the food item looks similar to another, the ingredients could be completely different, change over time or the next time, so it’s best to keep doing your due diligence.
This can become a healthy habit and you may end up doing a food pantry audit that’s not a bad thing.
It actually helped me when I discovered it was bothering my skin later in eczema where sweets or over-sweets could exacerbate flare ups. And any inflammation is not a good sign.
If you love a crunchy-style cookie, the list below is meant to open your horizons in search of the tastiest and healthiest cookie (best value). And one day, you may want to switch to even healthier options like making your own savory, plant-based, healthy good recipes and low-sugar summer desserts.
The average cookie listed here has 2 grams or less of added sugar. That’s pretty darn good in cookie terms!
Keep in mind, if a sweet food item or cookie has no sugar or low sugar, it could contain sugar substitute ingredients.
Sugar for sweetness I believe is the safest bet out there (next to pure juices and zests that come from whole fruits, or unprocessed honey or agave).
Be sure to read the actual list of ingredients and pay attention to artificial ones. A general rule of thumb: the fewer ingredients the better (closer to natural vs. processed or store packaged with additives for better taste or preservatives).
In Search of the Healthiest Packaged Cookie (That Tastes Good!)
If you want to be healthier driven, here is a better grocery list with less than 2 grams per cookie (but you should always do your research as cookies change):
Annie’s Chocolate or Neopolitan organic cookies –7 grams of fat for 31 cookies. (Compare that to other store-bought cookie or a deceptively high sugar-filled fig newton)
-Stella D’oro Stella cookies – 8 grams per 3 cookies (I wish they’d bring back the one in the assortment with the fruit in the middle)
-Stacy’s Cinnamon pita chips – 5 grams of fat for 7 chips
-Honey Teddy Grahams- 8 grams per 47 pieces – (wins the sugar healthiest cookie award from this list)
-Dansk Danish cookies (royal blue round tin) – 8 grams per 4 cookies
-Loacker Quadratini wafer cookies – 9 grams for 8 cookies
-Mulino Bianca Batticuori – 1.8 gram per cookie (when in Italy, you may want to stock up on this one)
-Girl Scouts Savannah Smiles – 11 grams per 5 cookies
-GS Trefoils – 7 grams per 5 cookies (the original is the GSC’s healthiest cookie by sugar count… go figure!)
-GS Thin Mints – 10 grams per 4 cookies (my fave stored in the freezer!)
-Nabisco Animal Crackers – 7 grams per 14 crackers
Compared to Not the Healthiest Cookie (above 3 grams of sugar):
-Vienna Fingers: 10 grams per 2 cookies
-Oreo Cookie: 14 grams per 3 cookies
-Chips Ahoy: 11 grams per 3 cookies
-Tate’s Cookies 11-13 grams per 2 cookies
-Carr’s English Tea Cookies (Ginger Lemon Cremes) – 11 grams per 2 cookies
-Girl Scout Do Si Do (peanut butter) – 11 grams per 3 cookies
-GS Samoas – 11 grams per 2 cookies (..was a personal fave until I learned the truth!)
-GS Tagalongs (chocolate/peanut butter)– 8 grams per 2 cookies
-Pepperidge Farm Verona Thumbprint/Brussels/Milano – 11 grams per 3 cookies
-Pepperidge Farm Mint Milano – 9 grams per 2 cookies – (…glad I got this one out of my system as a kid!)
-Pepperidge Farm Milano Dark Chocolate – 7 grams per 2 cookies (…huh, dark chocolate is less? – ok..noted.)
-Keebler Sandies shortbread – 7 grams per 2 cookies
-Keebler Simple Made butter cookie – 6 grams per 2 cookies
-Biscoff shortbread cookie 12 grams per 4 cookies (…good to know as you’re often handed these on some European international flights that don’t include nutrition facts)
-Honey Maid graham – 8 grams for 4 squares (2 whole rectangular pieces)
-Stella D’Oro Swiss Fudge – 11 grams per 3 cookies
Changing Your Sweet Habits
…If your fave is on this higher added sugar list (as my childhood ones are), maybe there’s a lower-refined sugar one in the list above it you can learn to love… maybe?
Just remember, sometimes all you need is a ‘lil something sweet. If you reach for a few raisins or a small handful of low-sugar cereal, that could do the trick to satisfy your want (and add some fiber at the same time ;-). … or maybe all you need is a juicy apple to satisfy your sweet tooth?
Have you ever tried an apple with all-natural peanut or almond butter? I think it’s delicious. If you choose a Granny Smith apple then you get a sweet and sour symphony of tastes, that’s better than a green apple Jolly Rancher… and can be very pleasing to a Vata.
What I’m suggesting here is a lifelong and year-round approach for your health success, and not a list of don’t do’s.
When you start looking at Nutrition Facts sugar content, then you get sugar conscious. Not eating high sugar foods helps you stay healthy and fit, lose weight, and reduce body inflammations (that are no fun).
When you do your household shopping for products at Target or wherever you go, on your receipt printout, most individual items are under say $10, but all those little costs add up… it’s the same with your daily sugar. It adds up daily and your body keeps score. Keep that in the back of your health-conscious mind.
Here are a few additional sugar rules I’ve created for myself and maybe you want to adopt in your life…
1.Be picky about your sugar choices. Think of your dessert as a treat for the day or week. When I was younger, I could’ve had a sugar IV drip in my vein and be happy eating spoonfuls of white sugar.
Weaning yourself gradually to better sweets is a better strategy than eliminating, especially if you have a sweet tooth (remember, the fad diet example I gave above).
2. If you don’t see the Nutrition Facts, ingredients, and the full-sugar content on the food packaging, skip the choice. If you order groceries online and the photos don’t show the written facts, keep going.
3. Eat candy sparingly, and maybe this is a good one to eliminate, as there’s no healthy nutritional value in candy. I think you can get a smile on your face another way. I know that one can be a downer as we all love candy (for the memories if nothing else).
When we were kids, our caretakers/role models could’ve helped us out if they informed us that candy is for kids. I’m serious. When you were a toddler, you were planning to get new adult teeth so cavities didn’t matter. That was the time to enjoy candy galore, not as an adult.
And If you love strawberry Twizzlers like I did and still do, you can stretch out your candy treat choice in moderation. It brings out the inner child happy in me. 👧🏻
You can be smart with your choices and find treats that have a longer shelf-life (e.g. keep in the freezer) so you’re not tempted to just consume more before your treat loses its freshness.
You could also buy a smaller quantity if the item is perishable. Remember telling yourself no, can backfire.
4. And finally, stay away from the gas station junk food aisle. I know that’s a no-brainer for healthy conscious thinking. You aren’t likely to find the healthiest cookie anywhere near those places, but reach for the healthy bar or nuts, or even a Hershey’s dark chocolate bar to fill you up if you get low blood sugar or feel you’re getting hangry with no other food source in sight.
Ok, so now you may know a little about sweet changes you could evaluate/make, and healthier cookies (and not-so-healthy cookies) out there.
Oh, and I didn’t forget…. here’s the Trivia Question Answer (from above):
Depends who you ask, but the Fig Newton made a debut in 1892 from Nabisco (The National Biscuit Company). Then Nabisco came up with the Animal Cracker in 1902. Chocolate chip cookies became famous in the 1930’s, credited to the (Nestle) Toll House Restaurant. You probably know which of these is lowest in sugar content… I’d choose the Animal Crackers.
And if you want a beautifully spiced cookie that’s usually a resurging trend around Christmas but you can enjoy year-round is a spiced cookie.
Women’s vitamins can have a positive effect on your physical and mental health like sunscreen, where you’re better covered. For Vitamin A, it’s retinol for skin cell turnover and also a fat-soluble carotenoid that is needed for essential daily organ and body functions.
In appreciating our bodies, we can keep them nourished as nature intended. And we can make it fun with our eat-from-the-rainbow food 🌈 where we get nutrients like women’s vitamins and minerals. See printable rainbow food chart below.
These days, deficiency in Vitamin D and iodine is common as we intake less cow’s milk and salt as we’re taught that they are harmful in large doses. Finding the right daily balance is not easy.
So then we learn the habits to cut out these foods and beverages.
And we end up with a deficiency that we can supplement. And it’s still complex to fine line balance as research findings are constantly evolving…
One day, one grocery item is on the good list. And the next, it has been replaced by another consumable item.
Women’s Vitamins Stay Constant
So then vitamins in powder, capsule, and gummies can be the supplement that fortifies and serve as a “just in case.” A multi-vitamin can be the catch all.
You may not think absorbed vitamins are helping as you don’t see immediate daily changes, but HOW I believe in them as a person that grew up with them, is as a backup to food nutrients that’s the primary source of vitamins.
I first learned about vitamin supplements when I was a child. We would take the generic brand Fred Flintstones candy vitamins that tasted like Pez candy. That’s similar to the gummy versions offered today.
Then when I was halfway through college, I took a semester off to learn more about high-absorption nutritional supplements through a health-conscious product company.
I volunteered for the American Cancer Society that was in my area backyard. “Eating Smart” promotional campaign posters were plastered around to get the word out about disease prevention.
Those experiences offered me the opportunity to learn deeper about health and free radicals (yeah, that was known for those interested in cutting-edge health trends and predictions)…
And so much so, I considered nutrition as a career major.
Back then the leading causes of death were heart disease and cancer (the same ones today). By taking antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E (ACE for short), you could prevent health issues down the road. Hey… not bad for pre-Millennial century knowledge.
Learning about the “good stuff” vitamins by default teaches you about placebo multivitamins having a low-to-no effect. They’re the inexpensive vitamins claiming A-Z still sitting on store shelves. They make us feel better about ourselves that improves mental health, but aren’t adding anything positive for our bodies.
So they are helping in some way no matter what.
You get to decide. And you are your best health advocate.
You get a sign you’ve taken a “placebo” vitamin if you have dark urine as an indicator that the pills weren’t absorbed by your body. So the quality of vitamins does make a difference. And liquid gel capsules are more absorbable than horse pill tablets.
Back then, I was drinking powdered supplement shakes before smoothies became a thing. We took a reusable plastic water bottle (yes, those existed!) with some water and shook the contents, which still works. Most of the shakes had a strong chalky taste, but they started a healthy breakfast drink movement.
Back then, the large Baby Boomer generations were the influencers like Millennials and Gen Z today. Predictions were found in books like Ken Dychtwald’s Age Wave.
Then the young to mid-adults helped to push the healthy eating movements today similar to fueling the healthy food shopping, plant-based, sustainable, and organic food movements. You can check out this page of 200 anti-inflammatory A-Z list of healthy foods.
Antioxidants were a known concept, but polyphenols today have made many live longer headlines. We drink more tea, coffee, and red wine for their polyphenols good health effects.
The fitness zeitgeist beliefs were precursors to cardio fitness and getting your heart rate up. Fitness teachers like Denise Austin taught through aerobic class tapes, a lot like how we create and watch YouTube videos today. Btw, she has been on interviews more recently and looks the exact same if not better!
These days, I would say you have to be more careful about what fitness channels you follow as anyone can teach a class. You can hurt yourself at any age, and even by doing simple stretching. Videos online don’t always show you the protective ways. And there’s not much discussion about post-workout regimens.
Cooling down and replenishing your body’s nutrients after a workout is important for recovery even if you’re only working out 10 minutes at a time.
You don’t hear much talk about minerals, but below I list a few that are vitally critical in a daily routine, and you may not be getting enough of in your life and diet…
McDonald’s breakfast menu items is something many of us grew up with as it was fast and filling on-the-go. And decades later, it’s still a part of my Happy Meal youth memories.
With whatever opinion you have of McDonald’s, the golden arches is popular because it’s fast, inexpensive, and fills you up quick! The McDonald’s breakfast menu hasn’t changed much over the years and the 760-calorie Big Breakfast hasn’t changed much over the decades.
Everyone in America grew up seeing the golden arches. It’s also an American icon around the world and a convenient and consistent option if you’re on the road.
I haven’t had a need to drive-thru one in ages…
But, the fast-food franchise provides food value to millions each year. You wonder how they would cover the cost of ingredients with a McDonald’s breakfast dollar menu if they didn’t serve millions each year.
At home, you’re smart to make your healthy breakfast every morning, and they do have some great ones modeled after McDonald’s popular breakfast menu… yes, healthy options!
If you want to have a low-sugar breakfast, you pretty much have to come up with your own prepared menu meals where convenience is your fridge and pantry cupboards.
…And here’s how you can create your healthy-inspired McDonald’s breakfast without much effort. You can choose from the following high-fiber options…
Egg McMuffin – Sautee potatoes and scramble eggs and serve on sprouted Ezekiel bread (optional: add cheese). I think this version is so much more delish as it’s homemade and sprouted bread is wholeness… more nutrish than an English Muffin. And if you want to give a ‘Lil French gourmet taste, add a sprinkle of tarragon — that’s the secret ingredient that upscale restaurants use.
Hot Cake and Sausage – Make whole wheat or buckwheat-based pancakes and then add a drizzle of honey. Add bananas, blueberries, or dark chocolate chips with 70% or more cocoa. Skip the heavy sausage patty and make a high fiber black bean cake that can be so tasty and make you feel lighter (and keeping your morning routine bathroom life regular).
Sausage Burrito – Black beans and rice burrito is the same concept, and instead of a high-calorie corn tortilla filler, use a piece of whole wheat pita bread you can easily bake at home when you’re tired (or sprouted wheat) sprouted wheat toast to gain energy and fiber.
Strawberry Banana Smoothie – This is a newer item on the McDonald’s breakfast menu as smoothies didn’t become popular until after the 21st century began. It was all about the high calorie milk shake.
To a smoothie, add a frozen or fresh strawberries depending if they’re in season Add a banana that has fiber, and almond milk or oat milk. Or substitute the vanilla, strawberry, chocolate shakes with your favorite protein powder. In any of these options, the experience is like night and day to your body and the taste is not that different from a sugary smoothie.
Orange juice – OJ skip, O-K! The added concentrated sugar you and I grew up with doesn’t help your day. Combined sugar and acidity are hard on the stomach. Opt for a gentler to your gut option. Make your own fruit juices using a whole orange with water that only takes a few minutes. You can also make your own lemonade or limeade with whole fruit.
The best part is you probably won’t even like sugary fruit juices after you make the switch. You re-train your tastes and that helps your health and your daily moods as you don’t have additional sugar sitting in your system.
If you’re debating whether to eat something for breakfast, and planning to have a beverage other than water or milk, it’s a good idea to cushion your stomach lining with food first.
A typical American drink breakfast with coffee and OJ together with a meal is bad news for your stomach.
Regular coffee has high acidity and espresso is a no-no for sensitive stomachs. Cold brew coffee is better because of the process leaving less acidic grinds. Your stomach also hasn’t had a meal in 8 or so hours, so a snack is usually in order.
If you’re in the habit to feeding sugar cravings for your breakfast morning, make yourself a quick smoothie or prepare no-added refined sugar granola to munch on so you get your sugary fix without all the sugars loaded in pastries.
And if you’re a Vata 🙋🏻♀️, then you’re likely to want to switch up your foods from time to time and daily. If you’re not sure if that’s you, you can better know by this preference alone as Kapha and Pittas don’t need to constantly change up preferences. It’s not an ADD disorder in case that’s a worry.
The Vata breed simply prefers to have variety. So you can have a few options available to feed your Vata preferences and don’t get in a rut.
To Dairy or Not?
You can find shelf-stable almond, oat, and coconut milk is a good staple to have in your pantry. I found that having non-shelf stable milk around (besides being an evolving dairy no-no) was stressful with an expiration date where he milk can go to waste.
Making a parfait with a Greek yogurt with probiotics (good bacteria) is also a good start.
Toasting the morning with yogurt parfaits.
It’s all a balance. And that’s with sugar too…
Low Sugar Breakfast Foods:
Create a yogurt parfait with lower sugar and granola– Chobani Complete or Fage are around 7 grams of sugar per cup compared to double that amount or more. Then add dry oatmeal. Or if you take a few extra minutes, you can toast Quaker Oats Old Fashioned in your oven with honey as the binder.
To make granola cereal clusters, simply bake one layer on a baking sheet in your low-heated oven and mix with your favorite dried fruits like raisins a few spoonfuls of honey, and a drizzle of vegetable or canola oil (less is more). This becomes healthy-ish compared to high sugar cereals.
Believe me, for a sweet tooth like me (…is that you too?), I could eat a baked good and feel sweet happiness, but then as the effect wore off I’d be feeling bad because of all the leftover empty calories and indulgent skin-crawling sensation. This awareness seems to happen more as you age.
Many of us experience this as part of sugar’s dire consequences, and we don’t always immediately associate it with the sugar in our lives. Eating sugar unaware, if we’re not careful, can become an unhealthy habit. The more we indulge, the more we want.
A small sugary taste can be all you need to satiate your sweet tooth, but skipping sugar is the better option.
Or you could bake orange scones with no-added sugar.
You can also remember to do a weekly healthy drink, like a green tea smoothie so you can add more plant-based and yes, veggies to breakfast. That’s one you won’t find on a McDonald’s breakfast menu.
Green tea has caffeine and polyphenols that are good for heart health. You can add a dash of lime juice and a handful of wild blueberries for a spritzer. Or enjoy a simple green smoothie with banana or yogurt to thicken in a few minutes. And that can prep you for your veggie start like this Easy Veggie Breakfast Frittata.
…where both your mind and body start the day happy (with your new breakfast happy meal)! 😊
Back to school healthy lunch ideas is always a good idea year-round. Like protein nuggets made with chicken (easy recipe below)… and that you can sub with chick peas for falafel nuggets like these:
And if you’re making lunches for an active agenda where you need lots of protein, chicken (nuggets) could be your efficient energy source. And included below are the steps… plus more ideas for healthy lunch ideas! Because lunch is still one of the most important meals of the day (so it shouldn’t be an afterthought).
When I was in highschool, I ate with the same Lunch Bunch (we called ourselves) everyday.
Until the school year ended… and then we hoped for the same lunch schedule the next school year. That didn’t always work out and brought in some anxiety the first week. You had to make new friends.
But lunch was comfort. It’s something I never skipped because I liked food (still do!) and needed the energy to get through the afternoon. Even though I didn’t have a prepared lunch, I had my menu choices in the school cafeteria.
School-bought lunches were for the most part served edible for younger tastes even if it was a cardboard-like cheese and sauce pizza or mystery meat chicken nuggets. And forgettable wimpy fries (…did those come from real potatoes?). This still blows my mind what is allowed to be fed in public schools.
Taking a McDonald’s field trip for a Happy Meal would’ve been healthier (and a tastier treat!).
I know in high school, I often opted for a soft, warm pretzel with yellow mustard for lunch over a “real meal.” It was at least warm (where sometimes the cafeteria food were served still a bit frozen).
In my teenage mind, a pretzel was a step up in gourmet junk food. And adding mustard was my “vegetable” to tie me over until dinner.
Back then, cafeteria lunch was not to Jamie Oliver’s standards.
School lunches weren’t consistent.
And today they’re still not…
…Maybe that’s why I chose a career in hotel catering management and restaurant food planning after my schooling. 💭
And that’s when I experientially learned there were much better food options. Now I know better.
And you know better.
So preparing your own back to school healthy lunch options is the better plan.
For growing and active individuals, carbs such as pasta early in the day helps provide that needed energy.
That way for dinner you can tone down on the carbs, or serve lesser complex carbs like rice or light bread that’s easier to digest later in the day. They’re okay on a BRAT (bread, rice, apple, toast) or a low FODMAP diet.
And then not be hungry to enjoy a plant-based dinner. That may have been missed earlier in the day.
And when you make your own lunches, you know exactly what you’re getting. These are some ideas of what you could make:
Back to School Healthy Lunch Ideas and Sides (Snacks):
Chickpeas, rice (good with slivered almonds), and cumin
Chicken, curry, and cucumbers
Chickpea, red lentil, spinach, veggie or whole-grain pasta
Tofu or chickpeas, spinach, and quinoa
Baked potato with tomato salsa
Sprouted Bread Gourmet Sandwich:
Salmon, avocado, and cayenne pepper
Smoky tuna melt with a slice of cheese, and turmeric
Prosciutto and brie
Tomato, mozzarella, basil with a drizzle of balsamic
Instead of accompanying lunch with fries or chips, how about a healthy side?…
Hummus.
Olives – green and black.
Pickles (or cornichons if you want to get fancy!)
Edamame.
Almonds.
Apples. Choose a variety.
Bell peppers.
Carrots.
Cheese and crackers.
Cherry Tomatoes.
Cucumbers.
Currants or raisins.
Beverage Ideas:
Lemon juice water (lemonade without sugar)
Sun or homemade iced tea
Sparkling water (check sugar content as they range)
A fun way to zhugh up a drink is to add some orange, lemon, or lime zest. You can make a batch, store in a cup with a lid in your refrigerator, and that way you have some available when you need to add a final touch.
And those beverages go well with chicken nuggets for back to school healthy lunch ideas.
Easy Chicken Nuggets Recipe
If you’re at home, rinse off a few raw chicken breasts with cool water. Pat dry. Add a little EVOO, salt, and pepper ontop the chicken. Add Panko bread crumbs ontop if you want to make breaded chicken nuggets.
Then bake your chicken breasts on 350°F/180°C oven for no less than 50-55 minutes in a glass baking pan (I’d suggest). Make sure you cook the chicken all the way through (no pink inside) to a safe 165°F/75°C.
After cooled, cut up chicken into strips or cube chunks. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, and then when it’s time for a meal, heat up (medium heat) a portion on a stove-top with a skillet. Sautee or brown the chicken to your liking. Great with a salad, rice, or pasta.
Delish and simple… and then you have several meals for you and those you feed!
Easy Baked Protein Nuggets - Chicken or Chick peas Healthy Lunch
This is a versatile protein meal that you can make with chick peas or chicken. It's an easy to make meal that just needs baking time but very little preparation.
Course lunch
Cuisine American
Prep Time 5 minutesminutes
Cook Time 5 hourshours55 minutesminutes
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets
Instructions
Prepare the chicken: Rinse off a few raw chicken breasts with cool water. Pat dry. Add a little drizzle of EVOO, salt, and pepper ontop the chicken. Or for breaded protein nuggets, lightly coat with olive oil.
Add Panko bread crumbs ontop if you want to make breaded chicken nuggets. The Panko will stick to the olive oil.
Then bake your chicken breasts on 350°F/180°C oven for no less than 50-55 minutes in a glass baking pan or similar so the chicken doesn't dry out too much. Make sure you cook the chicken all the way through (no pink inside) to a safe consumption measurement that's 165°F/75°C. If you're substituting chick peas (instead of chicken), you can cook chick peas or mash canned/already cooked chick peas and make round nugget shapes, and bake for about 15-20 minutes.
After cooled, cut up chicken into strips or cube chunks. Tip: Adults cook the chicken and the kids make the nuggets after cooked.
