UA-141369524-4

Category: Easy Recipes

Glycemic Index, Vitamins, and Minerals (Vs. Diets)

Glycemic index is an anti-inflammatory measurement good to find a variety of healthy foods.

low glycemic index chocolate cake
You can make these low-glycemic index gooey center chocolate cakes. Recipe below ⬇️

The first time I learned of the concept of a food’s glycemic index, I was intrigued by the idea of lowering blood sugar spikes as a healthy good food consumer, and a sugar lover at the time.

…And learning that dark chocolate (like that used in my baked dessert photo above) has a lower GI score than milk chocolate, puts a smile on my face. 😊

The opposite of… feeling hangry and light-headed energy with low blood sugar, that I’ve felt before too. And make GI talk relevant for so many.

Glycemic Index (GI) measures how food carbs affect blood sugar as a nutrition score indicator. It has been around for decades, but still isn’t a common household food tool used today.

But I DO think it will be a well-known future nutrition trend for 3 big reasons:

-Diabetes rates around the world are on the rise, and most cases we know are preventable through lifestyle changes (where food can have the biggest impact).

-Glycemic Index brings awareness to the order of foods you eat based on blood glucose spikes and glycemic response. And also how foods can impact inflammation.

-The growing mention of gut health in our modern news, and as we approach newfound scientific discoveries on gut-brain health. Progress being fueled by more data and scores.

There’s no shortage of healthy research progress that keeps us on our toes.

And yet, today the Glycemic Index is not even on the daily radar for most of us that consider ourselves health-conscious.

We’ll read the Nutrition Facts label and how many carbs are on a food package. Many of us pay attention to macros and calories. But we don’t consider the Glycemic Index score mostly because it’s not on the label, but is now on your map if it wasn’t before.📍

The tricky part is, GI scoring with accuracy is complicated.

Here are a few examples why…

If you eat unripened green bananas compared to the ripe, mushy ones that are preferred in a smoothie or banana bread recipe, the GI score improves.

Ah… and a banana has no Nutrition Facts label. A banana is a banana, and best to keep it simple.

Or if you eat a salad before the higher Glycemic Index ranked food item like a potato, then you can create a nice fibrous buffer cushion that your body likes. Then, if you eat the potato skin (cushion cover), even more so.

…But like with a bed pillow, people have different responses, so the scoring is different per individual. Each body keeps different scores.

But Glycemic Index info. (that let’s be clear is not available on a food package item today) would help us, consumers, to put relevance to the order in which we eat foods and what we choose to eat.

And bring awareness to us about what’s overall churning good in our gut from our internal healthy body’s perspective.

We’d make some better healthy food choices besides what our minds tell our taste buds we want.

And well… we would be better informed.

And that’s how progress works, as we’ve come a long way…

For me and those in my U.S. generation, the 4 basic food groups literally changed overnight to the Food Pyramid of 23 servings per day by the time we were young adults.

Without the internet, I learned this in school with many others. There was always some undesignated student who casually made big news announcements around the lockers during class breaks.

That was our modern social media news medium (post styrofoam cups with a string era). 😁

And that specific news was a massive dietary recommendation disruptor. The shock was the stark contrast, from basic eating to grazing on food all day like a cow chewing grass.

Adding convenience foods could be a solution just to fit in a serving about every 1.4 hours you were awake. You could eat 23 almonds as one serving… then you would have 22 servings left to go in other food categories. But then the other snag was, back then, nuts and all fats were put in the “eat sparingly” category. That was a ‘lil nuts. 🤪

So with all that stacked up against meeting new dietary goals, the health-conscious supplemented with vitamins. Organic foods weren’t popular yet, so food quality wasn’t as important as type of calories that are still important.

And diets existed back then, and they meant eating less and less fat to lose weight, that’s more or less like today.

And there were new (but different) diet fads coming out similar as today. Here today, gone tomorrow.

The Atkin’s Diet comes to mind as every year there’s a ridiculous hot dog eating contest, that’s anything but healthy.

Many diets in general for losing weight out there are health dangerous long term. They cut off calories and starve the body from essential vitamins needed to function.

And while they’ve changed, they haven’t solved the problem.

And makes you wonder…

Why haven’t diet plans gotten smarter?

The Diet Problem: Modern Diets Are Missed Opportunities

The word “diet” has two meanings regarding meal references in the English language. Going on most diets (eating less to lose weight) is often a missed opportunity for nutrients and healthy food calories. Elimination diets are ways to scale back that are meant for a season or a few weeks.

While eating a healthy diet is a positive way of looking at (enjoying) meals and energizing the body for life. So in one “diet” meaning, it subtracts (e.g. most food is bad); and in the other, it satisfies and sustains life.

The Solution: You can find a happy medium in eating less with a healthy diet and making healthy eating habits.

Because from our decade’s past diet lessons, we know yo-yo diets backfire as we eventually want the foods we tell ourselves we can’t have.

So, choosing one that isn’t long-term restrictive that works for your body and tastes is going to do you best. Like no-rules vitamin-rich antioxidant foods and meals that can be dressed up with anti-inflammatory flavors and spices.

Because even healthy restrictive diets don’t always translate or work well.

Like a Paleo diet today doesn’t suit many of us like it did our ancestor’s generations. We can love a grandmother’s recipe, but their ingredients were processed differently than the same written ones today.

And earlier cavemen’s processes of cooking fresh quality meat over a fire from free-range sources is not the common feedlot mass production we have today.

Despite these lesser quality food process changes, food today is helping our generation’s lifespans because overall the nutrient-dense food options available to us help offset what our ancestors couldn’t get into their bodies.

They lacked sufficient vitamins that come from foods. And one good way to get daily needed vitamins is in complex carbs available comparatively abundantly to us these days.

So, cutting out minimally processed whole grains that come in a bag or box and that carry the most natural vitamins of grain options, is a healthy miss.

The point is, that many of the lose-weight diets today are trying to cut out most carbs.

Kinda like how nuts I mentioned above were once deemed as bad because they’re fat (and there was no healthy fat category), and now starchy carbs are marked as the bad calories.

When actually complex carbs give us energy and essential B vitamins we need for daily life and I think essentially undermentioned in today’s healthy conversations, along with the Glycemic Index ones that I started with.

Keeping foods like sprouted bread, quinoa, barley, tri-color pasta, and rice in the diet are good ideas. And some fit nicely in a pantry.

Plus, they’re good sources of fiber that’s helpful for any diet.

And provide often forgotten about minerals that work with vitamins to make you and I tick.

Vitamins and Minerals Smart Knowledge

If we only read the vitamin and minerals food label section on packages, we miss the opportunity to apply and reap food vitamin-mineral synergies that optimally keep the cylinder wheels turning in the body when they’re purposefully taken together.

If you’re curious about vitamins, minerals, and Glycemic Index and getting quick knowledge in those areas, they’re part of the Anti-Inflammatory Food Guide Lists (that I know you’ll love… and your body will too 🧡)…  The researched lists (that you can get your hands on today) come in handy and save you hours when figuring out what to eat or grocery shop buy without having to use too much brain power.

Who doesn’t or wouldn’t love that!?

And speaking of love, a sustainable, life-giving diet is a healthy approach to life (and to keep a consistent, year-round healthy weight if that’s another goal).

The best part is you get to choose from so many diverse and delicious healthy foods… AND they have anti-inflammatory protection benefits.

…So your relationship with food can’t be much better! I’m gonna pop some polyphenol-popcorn over that🍿

Plus, some common healthy foods are anti-inflammatory “super” foods that go beyond antioxidants and polyphenols.

They also have high protein, fiber, vitamins, and/or minerals that help the body function better in more than ways than just one.

To me and you (…maybe?) who is passionate about healthy eating, it’s a no-brainer choice to make anti-inflammatory meals.

And over the past couple of years, as I’ve been contributing to writing food articles for health and wellness publications, I can dig into new research and appreciate healthy food innovations on the horizon, which gives us more to look forward to in our future new world.

Look out for more super at 100 (Centenarian) secrets and evidence in our daily news.

Super Centenarians are living proof and our hope that it’s possible to live optimally in old age and not miss a beat with tasty-nutritional meals, so we can enjoy the moment.

They teach us how to spruce up their anti-inflammatory meals so they’re deliciously prepared and flavored with spices. They do more from their natural lands, with less.

All that’s inspiring food talk for me.

So… for next time, I’ll share some good tips on how to save grocery money with healthy eating, especially with all the grocery food prices and availability changes (yikes!) impacting us all.

I leave you this gooey-center chocolate cake recipe that are inspired by the ones we served at special occasion events in my decadent decade of event planning. You can make this easy version at home in minutes and enjoy for much longer! 😋

Print

Healthy Fall Chocolate Cake - Gluten-Free

This cake is all about timing. You don't want to bake too long so that you preserve the gooey goodness!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Equipment

  • muffin tin

Ingredients

  • 2 oz dark chocolate (70% cocoa for antioxidant-rich), melted
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1/8 cup monk fruit sugar (low glycemic index optional) or sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 tbsp almond flour
  • 2 tbsp butter

Instructions

  • Combine all ingredients together except gently fold in flour last. No leavening agents needed.
  • Bake at 350°F for about 12 minutes. Don't overbake for a gooey chocolate center!

This site is all about happy and healthy living and eating ways and inspiration. If this is your first time here, I encourage you to find out more about me and this healthy lifestyle blog.

Ayurveda to Unleash Creativity + Cherry Sherbet

Ayurveda is today’s topic. It’s part 2 of 2.

ayurveda - your mind body calm recipe to unleash creativity

This week, I’m breaking down the secrets of Ayurveda and how it can free you from feeling stuck. And how it restores calm, improves mind-body health, and allows for daily creativity which leads to your best life new opportunities, and passions.

…Plus, I’ll clear up the common confusion about Ayurveda if you’re wanting to learn more… and how you can apply simple, but completely effective Ayurveda ways to your lifestyle where you’re at… and with a special invitation offer below.

cherry sherbet ice cream.
Today is a good to celebrate with joyful cherry Sherbet. Recipe below. 🍒

Last time, in Part 1 of Ayurveda, I talked about why you want to care about the mind-body connection. If you missed that blog post or aren’t sure, you can go back and read that one too as it could make a game-changing difference in getting your best life today…

I also shared how change and permanence are part of the natural order in this life. They keep us going and growing.

You get to choose whether you want to do this life holding onto anxiety, fears, or worry, or letting them go daily for your emotional freedom and better moods.

…You can restore daily calm even with life chaos happening around you. That’s a healthy choice.

You can change how anxiety, overwhelm, irritations, and triggered situations stick to you when they don’t have to …but, interruptedly rear their ugly head into your system and you just want them to go away!

As humans, we experience these negative emotions to varying degrees. And everyone grows weary and tired at some point.

And, that’s when we want to be vigilant to snap out of those emotions after we purge, process, and know what’s behind them so we can take necessary action, and so that we don’t stay stuck in those places any longer than necessary.

…How?

You step out and sidestep into your daily calm and productivity with the strategy of partnering with your mind-body to soothe and get the most out of the situation and your life… with small effort and adding healthy enhancements.

At some point, you probably figure(d) out that Life is about being in the process. And filled with trying lessons.

Sometimes it can take several similar, but different scenarios to play out to catch onto the lesson and make changes for a better today, tomorrow, and life.

But, when you see your part and role in what happens next, your eyes are open and you can apply wisdom. That takes awareness in the moment or in reflection.

And if you have knowledge or know what to do, you can save yourself from unnecessary pain… and sometimes your life. Like if caught in a rip current wave, you survive by not panicking, calling for help that’s nearby, and swimming parallel to the shore if you can.

You also can survive your daily life situations and undesired moods weighing you down if you know what to do.

Getting through your non-life threatening situations can be challenging for a day or two, as moods can stick like mud, but don’t have to play out and grow into a season!…

And you don’t want them to, because health and stress are on the line, and your moods can worsen and influence you to make poor decisions and miss out on great opportunities.

[In physical health terms, moods are like inflammations… you want them out or on the way out within a few days, or else it could spread like poison ivy inside and become a bigger problem.]

But the really good news here is… you can nip-in-the-bud those less-than moods weighing you down as easily as they entered.

How?…

Co-create the right and comfortable environment that your mind-body wants, and therefore is what you also want!

Remember, you are not your mind-body. Your mind-body runs 24×7 and never shuts off when you’re asleep. Keeping your mind-body in mind (no pun intended), for your optimal life you want to do what will turn things around fastest for you.

That doesn’t mean you need to move or uproot your lifestyle, that just means a few healthy tweaks that your daily mind-body wants.

Ayurveda (the science of life) helps to restore and bring natural balance and order back into our lives despite constantly changing situations… and naturally, the way it’s intended.

In our work-life balance modern world there seems to be a gadget for everything to solve our daily problems and make life easier and help us live longer. But we don’t always use (and sometimes ignore) the most effective tool that’s already built inside us!

In Western world, our health is often seen through the lens of food, fitness, wellness, and self-care. In our healthy efforts, we don’t always get to the root cause and directly restore or heal what our mind-body needs. And that can lead to a long (sometimes painful) season.

…BUT be encouraged, it’s restorable and not your fault!

As you have free will to choose. You do what you feel like doing or think will help based on the (limited) knowledge you have at the time.

And also because…

Our Western Society… The Good and Bad

Conditioning that you and I have received since we were children, that goes like this… Oh, the doctor will fix that…

And as an adult, if you were sent home with a prescription for resting or exercising more, you’d be dissatisfied as most of us know that’s helpful but not what we want from our doctor. We expect a procedure, prescription, or two.

The problem is your body doesn’t want medicines if it can handle the foreign body disruptor on its own. But we don’t know what exactly our body needs because we can’t talk to our body or get inside for those knowing answers.

So, our common Western way is curing with medicines, “just in case,” and because we’re conditioned to expect those protocols.

But, too many antibiotics in the system damage gut health, and surrounding systems that alter your body. Good probiotics can only help so much to reverse effects.

So that’s the bad, but there’s a lot of good in medicine…

Like when used for a disease outbreak where massive chaos in the body has already erupted and medical intervention is needed. Your body needs help.

We can learn from Steve Jobs’ story in more than his genius Apple tech abilities. He passed away too young from cancer. Wisdom leaves clues.

Western medicine doesn’t usually prescribe natural herbs to cure cancer or other diseases.

Anything supernatural can happen in our favor at any time, but that’s not the common or wise protocol. God created doctors and gave us our brains to make good decisions to see doctors when needed.

…So then where does Ayurveda (science of life) fit in?

Ayurveda’s sweet spot is in health prevention, and helping change unwanted common everyday moods and annoying flare-ups.

It’s risky for most conditions that require medical attention. …and I wanted to clear up in case that wasn’t clear and obvious. So good, now you know what Ayurveda is good for…

Ayurveda works for what it’s meant for. But as a practice, not mentioned much in our society partly because prevention can’t be measured. And that’s not where medicine focuses attention.

So, it can get brushed aside or seen as a health fad.

…Even though Ayurveda has been around working as an Ancient healing system for thousands of years.

People smartly use it as part of their daily healthy lifestyle.

They can be part of the routines and habits we stack and track in our day.

When you have a healthy lifestyle and know how to use Ayurveda in your daily life, then you’re better off leaning into your balanced natural essence. There are no downsides to report.

And a decade later… in my opinion, it’s still the “best-kept secret.” And why I’m unpacking it here.

Your mind-body is a direct source that knows what it needs… and Ayurveda cracks that code.

Enter Eastern-Western Ayurveda Awareness

American society tends to lump natural, holistic, alternative medicines, and Ayurveda as mystical and woo-woo, when really what Ayurveda needs is rebranding.

Ayurveda is not just what you see as available products on the market.

Two things that could make people iffy  in the beginning about Ayurveda (I know I was!) are:

1.. Messy oils, strange elixirs, and take-time-out routines. They don’t always mesh well in a Western modern society that’s go-go-go where schedules are filled to the brim and even fitting in eating can be trying.

2.  Silent practices when you don’t have a door that stays closed or that can shut out the world around you. And without a list of to-do’s or worries for the day running in your head.

Those daily practices are more Eastern (slower-pace life) than Western techniques.

And what works in Ayurveda for Western-style living and restoring mind-body techniques, can be woven into your busy day with very little effort or inconvenience.

You can skip the Eastern-style practices and you won’t be missing a mood-improvement beat… I promise!

And some universal practices you may already be doing sometimes or regularly… like, yoga is a today-popular Western Ayurvedic general practice. Sometimes you have time to fit in, and sometimes you don’t, but it’s not the end-all-be-all to making moment-to-moment restoring changes because yoga reset to feel-good feelings lasts for a 90-minute class, a cup of tea, and maybe a relaxing spa visit, but then you’re back to your life, triggers and interruptions in your mind, and your work.

Even though I love yoga!… maybe you too?

In 2008, there were few studios when I had to search around so I’m glad it has taken root.

Another popular example is eating plant-based anti-inflammatory foods. Yup, that’s part of a healthy Ayurvedic lifestyle. Wherever you are, you have access to markets, online stores, farms, and gardens (…or you can start your own).

…So you may already have a ‘lil Ayurveda in you! 😉

…So, is an Ayurveda lifestyle right for you?

These are questions you can ask yourself and things to think about:

Are you interested in preventative health?

Are you interested in unleashing more daily creativity?

Are you a lifelong learner who is open to the deeper self?

And do you want to live sustainably healthier and longer?

…Like Blue Zone Centenarians who live healthy lifestyles that are part of their culture. They don’t live like most Americans (and not even the Adventist Health Blue Zone community in California).

Some live more simply, slower lives, eating from the land, and need less mood restoring without all the complicated high tech. 😉

And so many countries rank higher in longevity than the States, that’s ranked closer to the bottom. That’s a hard pill to swallow considering all the conveniences we have.

…Even though I can’t imagine my identity with any other culture.

So I added Ayurveda into my lifestyle to make up for the deficit.

And you can too. The thing is… you’re probably already habitually doing Ayurveda to some degree in your healthy every day routine. You’ve been using all your senses since you were born.

…But probably not for balancing moods consistently as you didn’t know what really works with your specific mind-body, type, and imbalance combinations you’re experiencing.  That’s really what it boils down to.

And when you do change your moods and imbalances, then you can get to your inner creative self more easily and consistently.

Creativity Inside Us

Sometimes there’s a creative block. And we don’t know what we don’t know could be, or are missing out on our greatest passions that give us joy.

I was creatively mind-blocked in my corporate management work life.

I couldn’t be fully creative beyond short spurts of free time where I delved into hobbies for creative outlets.

In those few moments, I experienced calm, joy, and felt weight off my shoulders. I could get into a creative flow where I lost track of time and those were usually well into the weekend or on a Sunday.

…Have you been there or can relate? 

Unleashing the creativity inside feels free-ing. And when I got longer stretches of time away from work, I realized I had creative hidden talents I didn’t even know I had, that were waiting inside me for the right-ready time.

…And you do too. Plus, ones that you haven’t uncovered because you have gotten there yet to take action.

After you remove the anxious, stressful, and overwhelming layers and feelings, you can get a direct path to your creative juices and energy.

That’s your ticket to your happiest and best life. When you feel lighter and good, you feel on top of the world.

You feel empowered at the very least, and maybe even superpowers to take on activities you didn’t know you could perform (like sing or dance… you get the point).

And that’s a time when you get the most out of your life and push the pedal forward and make breakthroughs.

It’s the opposite of these types of common feelings (that keep you uninspired and stagnant):

–Tired: where you don’t want to do much let alone work on a creative pursuit. You lack energy but with a good night’s rest you can be renewed and passion-filled again if you’re re-energized, aren’t triggered, feeling burnout, or are depressed.

–Anxious: where you’re trying to manage your anxiety symptoms to stay afloat… trying to stay relaxed while your body-mind takes over. That’s a bad time to make good decisions, let alone try and be creative.

–Irritated: where you’re trying to get over negative feelings and a critical-judgmental mind that permeate your system when energizing the wrong thoughts. Good creativity doesn’t emerge in non-loving attitudes.

But, you can change the channel or get your relaxed self back as quickly as you got in your tense state. Like in the shower, the ideas can come. Or in a joyful activity where you lose track of time.

And, if you’re feeling balanced and calm throughout the day as the normal way, that changes everything. You can switch to your creative self when you want without losing valuable time.

And those steps take you to your next move in life, passions, and pursuits.

And if that’s where you are ready to go and be your very best today, but maybe feeling off or not quite there yet, start with the body balance quiz that shows symptoms on the body as part of the mind-body connection.

And in creativity, I made this swirly dessert (nostalgic of Cherry Garcia and the tie die T-shirt era…). 🍥

cherry sherbet ice cream.
Print

Cherry Sherbet Ice Cream

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

  • maraschino cherries, chopped
  • natural food coloring (creatively select your favorites such as beet or cherry juice, Pandan, and matcha)
  • egg yolks
  • milk of choice (you can also add plain Greek yogurt if you want a thicker sherbet)
  • monk fruit sugar (optional)

Instructions

  • Whisk your egg yolks. And add sugar if you will be using.
  • Add milk, cherries, natural food coloring of choice.
  • Mix by hand or use an ice cream maker to set.
  • Freeze and enjoy!

100 Best Yoga Poses Celebrating 100th Blog Post

It’s celebrational Easter holy week. I’m also happy to announce (my and) this 100th  blog post lands this week. Double holy cow! I thought it’d be fun to celebrate by listing 100 best yoga poses 🎉

100 best yoga poses to celebrate 100 blog posts
Easter and 100 blog posts deserve confetti sprinkles 🧁

But before mentioning the 100 yoga poses, I just wanted to wish happy birthday to anyone who already had a birthday celebration this year. I try to find an excuse to send a cake whenever I can 🎂

Even if it’s just an emoji. But sentiment and kidding aside, these days, it’s easy to be reminded with showering confetti “Happy Birthday!” emoji messages that bring us a ‘lil joy.

I think of the ultimate birthday as those who have reached the 100-year-old mark, who I think deserve their own special confetti emoji. That milestone is definitely worth commemorating. You’ve got to admire Centenarians who have endured and thrived through life’s marathon.

Besides seeing and participating in what their friends and families (young and old) are doing, some of the longest-living people have been naturally active and practicing yoga all their lives.

In some cultures, they get up and off the floor (or out of their sitting position) on a daily mat in one fell swoop as they did in younger years. And that’s just another reason for them to get back up and go out and appreciate the day.

Some Centenarians can even still remember facts and figures that younger decade folks can’t. And they can retell stories of their youth like a historical tale.

They breathe purpose daily (…and have breathed about 1.4 million more breaths than a 30-year-old).

And whatever age you’re at, you can too with your purposeful breath and yoga moves.

Here’s a list of 10 yoga articles to inspire your specific moves and journey:

Yoga is amazing because of the benefits for the mind-body connection: where the mind and body “talk” to each other. If we’re lucky and focused we pick up on the cues as a witness to our mind-bodies.

This is an area that traditional Western doctors aren’t necessarily trained on. It originated from Ayurveda, an eastern life science perspective, that’s made its way slowly to the Western world (and I started practicing in 2008 when I became aware).

Over the past decade, we’ve learned that the prevention of chronic diseases and inflammation in the body is connected to better mental health and less stress we carry.

And we can often tell by our anxious, irritated, or lethargic moods.

Sometimes it’s hard to do yoga until we get in a balanced mood,  even though we know if we did yoga, we’d get there sooner. We can get in our way.

So, in case you need to overcome that or need a dose of moving or getting going inspiration, I’ve listed 100 best yoga poses that are timeless reminders, challenging, and fun (I think so anyway!).

I included some quick encouraging words for each pose that come to mind. They include thoughts of when to do the pose, reminders, or intentions that could be useful for you as they are for me. Some poses are better done when you have more energy.

And it helps if have a known purpose for doing the pose, to help be motivated. We can all use a good metaphor reminder in our daily lives.

So here we go…

Standing best yoga poses: 

1.      Sun salutations – reminder: life is constantly changing, and you keep moving. This is a good series of poses to start the day with, like just before you have your first glass of water for the day

2.      Warrior I – reminder: feel empowered to take on the day

3.      Warrior II – reminder: take up more space

4.      Warrior III – reminder: focus on moving forward

5.      Sun Warrior – reminder: don’t forget to look up and stay open

6.      Dancer pose – reminder: you’ve got this day with your calm and grace, and letting go of the past. Today is a new day 🌱

7.      Tree pose – reminder: you’re resilient and unshaken even in uncertain times

8.      Mountain pose – intention: peace and reaching higher

9.      Heart center hand – reminder: focus more on what’s in your heart and get out of your head if you’ve feeling stuck

10.   Chair – good for when you want to feel grounded

11.   Triangle looking up – good for seeing different perspectives

12.   Lunge – reminder: stay productive

13.   Humble Warrior – reminder: lessen ego and pride

14.   5-Pointed Star – do when you want to feel balanced

15.   Eagle – good for when you feel on top of the world

16.   Tree with hands straight in the air – reminder: you’re a unique tree

17.   Tree with hands at heart center – feel centered and connected

18.   Tree with hands in prayer pose behind your back – intention: feel more spiritual

19.   Half-moon – do this pose when you’re feeling daring (tip: you can do this against the wall so you have back support, and you can use a yoga block)

20.   Extended leg stretch – intention: feel energetic

21.   Bird of Paradise – intention: be more mindful for the best outcome

22.   Forward bend – intention: feel earthly

23.   Standing half-bend – reminder: pause, but keep going because you’re almost there

24.   Crescent lunge – reminder: be flexible

25.   Pyramid Pose – do when you need more structure (feeling scatter minded, i.e. Vata mind)

Seated poses:

26.      Boat – do when you want to feel less grounded

27.      Pigeon – intention: feel less stress stretching out common areas of tension (leg, back, shoulders)

28.      Seated spinal twist – reminder: the past is behind you

29.      Seated forward bend stretch – reminder: keep challenging yourself and you may just surprise yourself with how far you can go

30.      Seated side angle – reminder: try a different way

31.      Lotus – intention: peace, and serenity

32.      Baby Cradle – reminder: you’re in control of your body

33.      Cow Face – reminder: it’s possible even when it’s hidden

34.      Staff – reminder: sit up tall and be disciplined

35.   Thunderbolt – do when you have problems, and you can reverse engineer to come up with solutions

36.   Butterfly pose (Bound angle) – reminder: you’re evolving

37.   Seated knee hug – reminder: you are loved

38.   Staff – do when you want to straighten your back and remind yourself that your back is an important part for your body’s support. (reminder: build strong abs)

Side best yoga poses: 

39.      Side angle – do when you need a break or stretch

40.      Extended side angle – intention: stretch your mind

41.      Side crow – do when you feel adventurous; one side is probably easier than the other and that’s your strength

42.      Side plank – do when you feel strong

43.      Falling Star – tip: like half-moon is great to do against a wall when you’re first starting out so you can lean further. Intention: feel free and creative

Front face down best yoga poses: 

44.      Cobra – reminder: you’re making progress

45.      Sphinx – reminder: you can do anything you want

46.      Upward Dog – reminder: you’re almost there!

47.      Turtle – reminder: stay steady on the course

48.      Bow – reminder: your hands, head, and feet are all closely connected

Lay down poses (starting with back flat on the mat): 

49.      Bridge – tip: use a block on the small of your back and feel grounded

50.      Fish – reminder: relax and let go of heavy problems

51.      Lay down spinal twist to one side – when you do this on each side, you see a different part of the room or space you’re in and is a good reminder that you have different options from different perspectives

52.      Corpse – intention: be stress-free

53.      Knees to chest (knee hug) – reminder: of self-love

54.      Half locust with one leg slightly lifted: reminder -it can feel strange but still be helpful

55.      Through the hole stretch – do when you feel tight like from driving or sitting, or when you feel uptight

56.      Spider laying down – intention: holding onto your purpose but letting go of how you’ll get there

On all 4’s: 

57.      Inverted plane – reminder: great for bringing your shoulders back in mindfulness

58.      Downward dog – intention: feel the day in earthly roots

59.      Downward dog with one leg lifted – intention: enjoy the day by doing something new

60.     Cat – do when you’re feeling fearless

61.      Cow – good for feeling balanced

62.      Balanced cat reaching out one arm and opposite leg

Back challenge: you can arch backward relying on all 4s

63.      Backward Bend – do when you’re feeling energetic and youthful

64.      Wheel – and you go higher to see and feel new possibilities

Front challenge: you may never do a full handstand, but you can get both feet off the ground

65.      Crow – intention: strength (you’re stronger than you think)

66.      Crane – and you can stretch higher

67.      Peacock – reminder: you can get over the limitations you have

68.      Firefly – reminder: you can do something different to light up the world. You may feel like a kid again doing this one (one of my fave poses and I have happy memories of catching fireflies  )

Inversion best yoga poses: 

69.      Shoulder stand – do when you’re feeling moderately energized

70.      Half shoulder stand – do when you want to feel energized

71.      Plow – reminder: encouragement that you can take two steps back and come out ahead

72.      Legs up the wall – intention: feel supported by the environment around you 

Resting best yoga poses:

73.      Child’s Pose – reminder: you don’t have to be doing something every minute of the day. It’s not how busy you are (something I had to unlearn)

74.      Hare – intention: purposefully resting

Other inspirational best yoga poses:

75.      Inclined plane – when you’re feeling like you want to get off the ground or you’re excited to start a new project

76.      Plank – intention: building daily strength for any trials or difficulties you’re going through

77.      Camel – reminder: let go

78.      Dolphin – reminder: we’re born with natural abilities

79.      Splits – intention: flexibly grow daily and watch progress

80.      Happy Baby – do when you want to feel safe and carefree

81.      Swan – reminder: have daily grace for those areas you can’t change

82.      Hero – reminder: we can all be a hero in our ways in our lives serving and doing what we do

83.    Neck rolls – intention: calming and releasing mind tension

84.   Neck side to side – intention: take a moment to relax

85.   Shoulder shrug – intention: be less stressed (letting the weight fall off your shoulders)

86.   Frog – intention: feel youthful and free to spread out

87.   Garland – reminder: take a break;  good for when you’re feeling unsure or in between energetic and tired

88.   Locust – reminder: try something different or take on a new project

89.  Wild Thing – intention: let go of worries and enjoy more

90.   Goddess – intention: feel ready for the world

91.   Swan dive – intention: go with the flow

92.   Cactus arms – reminder: take time off

93.   Airplane – intention: feel free and in control at the same time

94.   Spider with feet and hands on floor – reminder: you’re a beautifully unique creature

And then these sounds and breathing pair well with yoga poses and intentions:

95.   Om – making the sound clears nasal passages along with mind and body. Try a variation by using your mouth to create an ah-oh-mmm sound sequence. Intention: peace and living stress-free

In yoga, breathwork is super important and great for calming. If you get heart palpitations from anxiety, these are good breath exercises to refer to and do.

For all of us, staying mindful of breath gets us in a good reminder habit to be healthy-minded. And when you get a good breath of air you can send that energy through your mind and body, to help improve both mental and physical health.

Your nose acts as a natural filtration system. If you regularly breathe through your mouth when you sleep or if you have nasal congestion and obstructed nasal passages, you may want to look for solutions to help you breathe out of your nose regularly.

And these are the special breath exercises you can do with yoga:

96.   Sounding breath – this includes long and slow breaths while laying down, so is good to do when you’re getting in and out of bed. Reminder: you’re alive and able to take purposeful breaths

97.   Breath of fire – while sitting, exhale out short and quick breaths from your nose (like a fire-breathing dragon that doesn’t exist) until all your air from your diaphragm feels expelled. And then fill back up gradually like a balloon. Daily reminder: you’re a miracle with automatic breaths. You can control your breathing using your respiratory muscle, your diaphragm, that sits just below your two life-giving organs: your heart and lungs

98.   Bellows breath – do this one when you’re in standing mountain pose with hands at heart center (optional). Full inhale/exhale from the mouth. This is a good one to do in the morning when you’re first waking up

99.   Sufi Mother’s Breath – this is a simpler version than the Pranayama 4-7-8 version. Exhale through your nose, then inhale through your nose for a count of 7, and then exhale again for a count of 7. This is great and simple to do on a walk where you’re staying present and observing your surroundings

100.   Alternate Nostril Breath – take one hand and rest a middle finger on the forehead, thumb from the same hand rests on the closest nostril temporarily closing the airway, light ring, and baby finger on the opposite nostril. Then, inhaling through the open nostril. Intention: notice details about how each side feels as the air circulates more intently to one side of the body from your head to your feet. Reminder: how the air affects our body at and in this moment and how we affect others and the community around us with our breath

So there you go… those are my best yoga intentions and recommendations.

And one last thing that I wanted to mention…

Each week I bake and participate in an inspiring home baking challenge with a community of enthusiastic bakers.

And some could probably go on The Great British Baking Show.

As for me, I won’t be applying to be a contestant anytime soon, even though I’m pretty sure I’m one of their biggest fans in my area. 😊

But since watching the show, I’ve learned a thing or two.

Like this last season with German Week…

I’ve learned a sweet bun or two from The Great British Bakeoff show 🧡

And so, this week’s challenge is Hot Cross Buns, an egg-cellent choice for Easter. 🐇

I’ve never made the buns before, but I did make cinnamon buns for the first time this year. No matter how these hot buns turn out I’ll show you a photo in an upcoming blog post.

…And since I’m putting myself out there, maybe that’ll encourage you to stretch your mind-body and challenge yourself to a new yoga pose or two if baking isn’t your thing.

And if you need a ‘lil more gentle nudge, just send me a note (on the blog home page under “Contact”) letting me know what muscle pain or soreness or intentions you want to work on, and I’ll send back 5 yoga poses that would be good for you this season to bring back some fun. 🧘🏻‍♀️

Happy Easter! 🐣

Kitchen Food Pantry + Healthy Cinnamon Roll Recipe

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 🤔

And if you want to make a recipe like cinnamon rolls below, your ingredients are cupboard and pantry ready or can be subsituted.

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.

kitchen food pantry cinnamon bun ingredients.
Cinnamon bun recipe below 🍥 👇

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

They are easy to bake (I think) and I have a delicious and fast recipe bake below

🥮 that’s gonna keep you smiling and healthy. It all starts with having cinnamon spice on hand (and one of my #1 go-to sources for adding a little sweet to bakes, foods, and drinks). 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 experience that chocolate chips will get you far! You can see my easy one bowl chocolate chip oatmeal cookie and cool-star design chocolate oatmeal soft recipe

✔️ 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 from fresh and my 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 any no-added low-sugar cool juice you want.

✔️ 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 here is the  no-refined sugar but refined cinnamon buns 😊bread recipe:

 Jump to Recipe

low sugar delicious cinnamon rolls.
You can make these with no guilt and pantry ingredients!

Low-Sugar Delicious Cinnamon Rolls

For sweetness, I recommend adding honey in the dough and as a final glaze. Also, add a load of Ceylon cinnamon spice in-between for the sweet. Of course.

You can add sugar or monk fruit sugar if you wish and if you have a younger eating audience that’ll appreciate the sugar. Your older guests (and maybe you) can appreciate your sugar in moderation healthy baking gestures.

Healthy fat is used in this recipe. Keep in mind: if you use a healthy fat like light EVOO, it won’t be like the bakery and store-bought cinnamon buns you’re used to.

These cinnamon buns’ bite will be moist, and a little different than a flaky butter finish, but still uber-delicious.

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

But I like no-fuss or muss, so this bread prep can be done in 5 minutes by hand mixing 5 ingredients: warm water, flour, yeast, plain yogurt (or condensed milk if you want to use kitchen food pantry only ingredeints), and salt. Plus, honey for sweetness. And no proof waiting time.

The enriched dough rests for a few minutes, and then you can roll the buns and watch the magical oven work while pursuing other hobbies 😊 …that’s how I Cinna-roll in this delicious-on recipe.

Print Recipe

healthy cinnamon rolls.
Print

Healthy Cinnamon Rolls

Course Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine American, swedish
Servings 8 rolls
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

  • 2-1/2 cups total flour (you can mix bread flour, whole wheat, gluten-free bread)
  • 1/2 tsp instant yeast (if you use active yeast add to warm water to activate first)
  • 1/2 tbsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tbsp raw honey
  • 1/2 cup plain yogurt (Greek yogurt recommended) or a can of evaporated or condensed milk, or coconut cream
  • 3/4 cup warm water (+ more)
  • cinnamon spice (to taste)

Instructions

  • Make bread by mixing flour, water, salt, yeast.
  • Let proof for at least 1-2 hours.
  • Roll into a log.
  • Cut into even slices with cooking thread.
  • Set on baking tray and bake on 350°F until golden brown. Optional shine: Add egg wash when almost done baking (or glaze after baking and cooling).

Cinna(MON)-Roll Bread Buns

Ingredients (for 8 rolls):

8”x 4” (or 9”x5”) pan

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

1/2 tsp yeast (if active yeast add to warm water to activate first)

1/2 Tbsp sea salt

1/2 Tbsp raw honey

1/2 cup plain yogurt (Greek yogurt recommended)

¾ cup warm water + more

Directions:

Mix ingredients in a bowl adding just enough warm water until all the flour is incorporated. Some of the dough will be stringy dough pieces or crumbs, and not a smooth dough (not like a baby’s bottom 👶).

Let rest for a few minutes (or leave overnight covered in the fridge).

Bring the dough out and lay it on top of bench flour (any baking flour will work. I like to stick with the same ones I’m using in the buns or whole wheat flour). Roll out dough (not too thin to about 1/4-1/2″ thick) into a rectangle shape and then cut strips with a pizza wheel cutter (or knife), saving the dough scrap ends.

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

Healthy Version:

Then brush light EVOO (good for sweet baking) or ghee (clarified butter) on each strip. And then layer and fully cover a generous dusting of cinnamon spice (Ceylon cinnamon suggested and the amount based on your preference).

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

Suggested time and temperature: Bake at 350 °F for about 45 minutes. Pull out halfway and brush more EVOO. Then reduce oven heat to 200 F for another 10 minutes. That’s what these in the photos were baked in.

If you find the outside looks too dry, you may want to brush with EVOO again. You could also substitute with an egg wash (about half way through) for a ‘lil moist shine, but I prefer another way after cooled…

Cinna-roll looks pretty cool with the tea bath, huh?

Because the bread dough is pretty dense after cooled, I then add sweet orange zest, and raisins ontop, so it looks a little like a pain aux raisins. Then I pour brewed warm (but not hot) tea over the cinnamon bun, that softens and plumps up the raisins (like you may have heard to add to your Earl Grey tea and that mellows out the brisk taste). Well… the raisins and zest here add sweetness and the tea bath adds the mellow. The fruit-forwardness comes through.🧡

For the pouring tea, I suggest using a black tea: like cinnamon, chai, or Earl Grey. Then when you wanna enjoy it, you’ll have a sweet, warm, and lightly moist bread experience. Yes, please! 😋

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).

Healthy foods like grits can be used as the pie base.

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.

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.

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… baking and phyllo dough is as fun as pasta making along with the Great British Baking Show.
Print

Easy Phyllo Dough For Baklava

Make phyllo dough from scratch! It's not as difficult as it sounds... and dare I say fun!
Course Dessert
Cuisine lebanese
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup water
  • pinch of salt
  • honey
  • chopped nuts
  • dates, orange, and cinnamon (optional)

Instructions

  • Making phyllo is a lot like making homemade pasta, but much thinner.
  • Make a mound and a hole in the middlle where you can add the olive oil and slowly add water. Knead for about 5 minutes and then form a dough disc. Let rest.
  • Roll out as thin as possible and then you can slip into the pasta maker if you have one, adjusting until you get to the thinnest setting (e.g. 1). It will look opaque but the hope is that there will be no holes.
  • Cut into strips that you will use as layers for the baklava.
  • For the baklava, you can brush honey and top with chopped dates and nuts (walnuts or pistachios work well) on every other layer if you make 7 layers ending with the top layer with honey and nuts. Sprinkle each layer with cinnamon and orange zest if you like (good for Ayurvedic Vata balancing!).