Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Easy Desserts – Pumpkin Healthy For Holidays

Holiday time reminds me of comforting pumpkin that matches the fiery orange leaves of the season.

A couple pumpkin holiday easy desserts you can make are below…

These days, our culture is rediscovering pumpkin pie from the lens of healthy foods. And maybe you have an extra can of pumpkin in your pantry ready to be used?

Pumpkin pie is one of the healthiest desserts on the planet with antioxidants (Vitamins A and C) minus the buttery pie shell that you can easily turn into a pretty trifle.

Trifles are easy desserts to make with as little as 3 ingredients in one bowl.

Like this trifle parfait, where all you need is a can of pumpkin, Greek yogurt, and ricotta for starters!

…A parfait is btw my favorite sweet for year-round brunch (all day) because it has probiotics and protein.

And well, it’s kinda exciting! Like jumping into the pool… except your spoon is coming out full of tasty filling goodness onto your plate. 🍽️

Assembling a parfait trifle like this requires no baking skills.

But if you want to add a baked egg-filled sponge cake, that’ll make it super delicious and even more worth sharing.

Like a family style and sized one to share.

I worked in event planning in Mediterranean cuisine (Spanish, Italian, and Lebanese) restaurants where family-style sharing plates were always part of the dining experience, so that’s always on my mind. 💭

It even makes a pumpkin smile.

To make the trifle: bake your sponge cake (or you can use light tea cookies of your choice).

You can dip in coffee (like you would for tiramisu lady fingers) if you like, and leave overnight in the fridge so the flavors soak in.

This gives a nice brunch vibe.

Then when assembling, layer the canned pumpkin that you can douse with cinnamon and allspice for fall tasting vibes.

Add a layer of ricotta or mascarpone cheese (that’s more healthy than most cream cheeses).

Then add another layer of the canned pumpkin.

Add more sponge cake and melted chocolate for some dramatic color and taste.

Then top off with Greek yogurt… and make a fun swirly design with a knife. Dust with cocoa if you like!

And that’s it!… then you’re ready to share!

And if a trifle doesn’t excite you…

Another great dessert is a ricotta scone you can put together in one bowl with as little as 3 ingredients.

Add ricotta, a small amount of flour (about 2 parts ricotta to 1 part flour) and 1 egg for healthy. You can always add more flour for a more traditional scone.

Add any fruits, zest, and/or spices you would like. I added banana and dried cranberries (craisins) and cinnamon.

Form into a circle. The thickness will remain the same.

Cut or score the circle before you bake so there are less crumbs after you bake and cut.

Oh, and if you want a more traditional crumbly scone (that’s expected for your afternoon tea 🫖… and if you’re watching The Great British Baking Show)…ah, and is still healthy, you can try a low-sugar orange scone.

That was a mouthful… and you can get your sweet mouth-filled in minutes after you bake.

Bake on 350°F for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. And voila!

And finally… even easier for easy desserts, you can always make a chocolate pumpkin mousse that you don’t need to share! 😊

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Thanksgiving Quote For Happiness

Thanksgiving is a universal reminder time of thanks. One way that often takes a back seat is to love ourselves.

That way, we have more room to give love and pass on the abundance to family, neighbors, and others on our journey path.

Loving ourselves means forgiving ourselves and others, like God forgave us. We want to feel grateful.

If you’re stuck, maybe ask: what am I hung up on that I don’t have?

Because we have so much more to be grateful for than what we don’t have.

Our brains easily fool us into focusing on the wrong and negative things.

And part of what we don’t have that we think we want right now is going to be what gives us a better future.

Because life is rigged in our favor in our belief and faith.

This isn’t something we’re born with knowing, but over time and experience you grow wiser and the knowing inside you becomes more clear.

Daily thought choices determine our future view of ourselves, our lives, success, and happiness.

Thanksgiving quote:

“Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future.” – Deepak Chopra

Even though none of us know the future outcomes no matter what age we are.

But the answers are inside us waiting for the ripe-ready reveal time to birth.

That’s a spiritual way to look at it and how I see it from my reflecting back lens of life experiences. I didn’t see that back in my 30s (so don’t worry if you think you’re a late bloomer).

It’s a gradual shift like time.

And over time, you can realize nothing in your past was wasted. The hard things you went through made it easier for you now or in the future. And the dumb things done (we all have them!) made you smarter now.

It’s in our future where we get new revelations.

And most of our answers to our life’s purposes are already inside us.

We first have to grow up, learn to change our auto-responses, and heal from our past hurts that will help us.

…That’s how this one Life we get to live keeps getting better, and our perspectives change because we allow them to with our open curiosity.

The famous saying is that this (as in life) is not a dress rehearsal.

But for those of us who believe in Heaven, it is.

We’re here for experiences and growth.

And as we gather more experiences, we learn and grow. That’s the purpose of this life as I believe. And we do that by ourselves and with others.

And if you want to make this a new season different than past ones, then dig deeper in the well for your answers.

They’re there! 🎯

You only stay stuck when you box yourself in… I remember years ago where I spent a couple Thanksgivings abroad. It’s always a weird feeling because that special Thursday is only celebrated in America.

Initially I felt I was missing out. But then, it made me realize I could be thankful anywhere I was.

Thanksgiving holiday is not about the food… entirely (as I’m from the foodie world 🥘). But getting away from the holiday food traditions helped me to break out of the “this is how it is.”

And that breaking out allowed for embracing growth in future seasons. And not just for new situations, but also a new hopeful attitude.

I found early-on in my journey that my ego blocked these types of beliefs in my auto-thoughts. And I allowed it to because I didn’t know any better.

The brain would serve up the woes-me thoughts for what I didn’t have and wanted.

Part of the process and journey was learning this unhelpful built-in ego feature as a first step.

I wish it didn’t take me beyond 35 years to learn, but I’m glad it didn’t take another 35 years (or never) 😉

And breaking through, when I could tap into my deeper compassionate and feeling sides, that’s when I got more breakthroughs.

…I was less judgmental about myself and more forgiving that projected out to the world… to judge less and forgive more.

Imagine if that radiating energy caught on in most of us. It would be one big ball of massive fire in the world! ☄️ We could use that energy to help and grow our world filled with challenges.

But starting with ourselves is the first and most important place to begin, and keep daily renewing…

Breaking down self-judgment walls and bringing back self-love keeps us growing.

…It helps you and me see better.

Especially if you didn’t feel the love when you were younger or in your more recent situational past.

…When I felt the self-pity from setbacks in life, I bounced back by finding my gratitude and giving spirit (thanksgiving)

Giving can be sharing, donating time or money, providing, spending time, encouraging words, and sending positive loving vibes to the world. 💕

It can be as simple as recognizing that it’s not all about you or me.

It can be about paying forward gratitude for the blessed things I already have or experiences I had.

Getting sensitized and feeling again knocked me out of gray confusion clouds and into sunnier skies.

We are meant to keep growing forward in life so we don’t put ourselves back in the shoes of our former selves. Been there done that.

In today’s moments, we can acknowledge that we’re in a better place by finding examples from our past.

Comparing our new level today with our past level gets us to our next better level of tomorrow.

Proof of this is easy to find for all of us…

If you go waaayyy back to the past as kids (or young adults we were called) that none of us are anymore… back then, we were more impressionable as our younger selves.

We had to get everything okay’d before proceeding as how culture and life is setup.

As pre-adults, we didn’t have the means to do the things we can do today on our own.

And if we did do them then, we’d probably have gotten lost and would be ungrateful as we didn’t fully understand what we had in front of us.

We were still developing our adult minds.

Today as found former-lost baby sheep, we have wiser perspectives to draw from. 🐑

Congratulating our growth is one small step and happy way we can be thankful for this season in life even if it doesn’t look anything like we hoped for!

The focal point sign that we can dwell on is “you’re here”… and it’s years later and you no longer have the same problems you had back there.

So you could come up with a list of what you’ve arrived at today.

Imagine if you had the same challenges and choices you had as a young adult, you’d be so frustrated because you’re no longer with that same mindset. But you’re not there, so that’s one thing you can be thankful for.

And those little thanks help you to embrace where you imperfectly are.

We’re still and always will be dynamic works-in-progress.

Thankfully so because that means we’re alive! 🤸🏻

And collecting up all those fond past memories that you can re-live in present moment happiness helps to keep us rejuvenated.

Then in the tough times (the ones that so blind-shockingly happened), those help grow us into better people.

We become more deeply grateful for what we have… maybe not immediately, but we end up developing stronger character in survival and in the process to get to the other side. 🌈

Even wasted time we feel now was well spent because we learned the lesson to never go there again. And now we don’t have to painfully back track and re-learn the same lesson.

And all of us are walking examples of lessons learned.

We can keep going, getting inspired daily, and FEELing-thinking our way to our thanksgiving.

Holidays like Thanksgiving are welcomed reminders that give us reason to be thankful.

…And to say “thank you” more often.

Focus on “you.”

See yourself through others.

And practice old-fashioned manners and simple Thanksgiving sayings like please that never gets old and goes a long way.

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Orange Coffee You Can Make at Home

Orange coffee as in orange juice in the coffee is a powerful tasting combo. You may be scratching your head wondering how that odd combo is… that works unlike other citrus.

Below I share a couple orange photo inspiration as to what brought this on me…

And I understand if you need a ‘lil nudge because we’re used to separate cups and glasses for the two drinks.

Part of a popular American breakfast has both OJ and coffee.

But you gotta admit adding orange juice to your coffee sounds convenient (one less cup). ☕️

If you’re at a breakfast buffet, it’s one last cup you have to carry.

I’d say… also a smart idea that makes sense for boosting the immune system during holiday travel season… and calming anxious moods that oranges do. It’s good to carry one on ya!

Plus, orange 🍊 adds a nice flavor to your black coffee. Think of it like orange and chocolate or cocoa… another drink idea. 💭

Oranges brighten up your cup o’ joe choices.

And if you’re a Vata, you love the variety and oranges!

In a cup of coffee ☕️, the orange flavor comes through nicely… half orange (or at least 1/3) to half coffee makes it a brightened, pleasant taste…

The best way is with liquid orange juice you can freshly squeeze or mix with prepared juice. You can also use orange zest if you don’t mind the solid textures.

Those are the best ways for the zesty flavor punch to come through.

And the home healthiest way is with fresh orange juice and cold brew coffee.

…Cold brew coffee has less acidity than regular brewed coffee ways. And fresh orange juice has less acidity than concentrated juices you would buy at the grocery stores.

If acidity is a concern, you can add spices like cinnamon and ginger to help tone down and counteract effects.

The caffeine in coffee btw is loaded with antioxidants that are good for not only quick cognitive reasons, but also improving heart health.

We all love that! ❤️‍🔥

And when you use fresh whole oranges, you bypass sugar added to processed orange juice from concentrate.

You get the Vitamin C and A antioxidants plus minerals and fiber.

Orange juice sales ramp up in the cooler winter months when people are thinking about ramping up on Vitamin C for cold and flu season.

And as helpful nature would have it, oranges are winter fruits.

That’s a great way to start the morning!

They support happy hormones and reducing stress hormones. Gotta love that too! 😀

Your choice of orange is based on your preference and where you are.

For a sweeter orange, you could select a blood orange, navel orange, or a Cara Cara orange.

You can also sometimes find oranges year-round depending on if there’s a good sunshine season.. That’s why Florida and California are the abundant king and queen orange states. ☀️

A Florida orange has thinner skin than California navel, and are more like Valencia oranges that are the most common kind internationally and around the world.

You can tell where you are located just by the oranges in the stores and trees. 🍊

…Like these Spanish ohh-ahh orange trees I saw. Can you imagine these fresh ones for breakfast?

I had my first Sevilla orange for the first time years ago and it was coffee life changing. That was one of the years I spent Thanksgiving overseas.

And then back home n the States, had Sevilla orange coffee that was inspired by my fun visit to Spain.

…As fun as these peppermint arches in Cordoba. 🎪

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Spices – 10 Holiday Taste Ideas

Spices and herbs are my favorite accoutrement for cooked-in flavor… plus more for zhugh. Spices are usually an after thought though. 💭

It’s good to sniff your spices once in a while to see if they are still fresh and usable. You can test them with a popcorn tasting party.

…Anything tastings btw make me perk up 🤩 and are up-my-alley probably because I spent a decade de ma vie as an event menu and planner professional working with tasty dishes and party planner hosts.

…And hosting your home popcorn tasting, instead of just a shake of salt, you can add a spice blend. You can also add EVOO for some healthy points or keep your dry snack, dry without any fat (that’s good for weight loss missions or a Kapha imbalance).

A small dash of salt (that’s a pinch or a teaspoon) daily is healthy for most people. 🧂

…But most of us get enough salt from the foods we eat without needing to add more… unless you cook all your foods and then you know exactly how much of this-or-that you’ve added.

And for more truth, there’s a myth that sea salts are healthier. All salt has sodium at the core, and salt from the sea has about the same as table salt.

I like to have a mixture of coarse salt, Celtic and Himalayan sea salts, and table salt for different cooking and baking reasons.

Coarser salts make good zhugh like food bling. 💍 Its crunch is also baked salty-good in fall pizzas.

And like salt, spices can add flavor in and on foods.

Herbs are often better on (or at least visible), and brown spices better as invisible flavor. But some spice seeds are zhugh exceptional like coriander, saffron threads, and fiery crushed red pepper flakes. 🔥

Herbs come from the greener parts (stems and leaves) of the plants and spices come from the seeds, roots, bark, and flowers… so they’re often ground to pinhead size or a powder.

I’ll share my bits here as these are some of my favorite year-round and holiday cooking spices and herbs in their own anti-inflammatory league:

1.Saffron (bitter, sweet pungent):

Saffron is delicious on most seafood like a seafood paella or saffron shrimp egg white omelette.

The thin red strands are unique and tasty on ooey-gooey desserts or a glazed lemon coconut cookie. And not only does saffron lift flavor: did you know saffron is a mood lifter? …so if you have an imbalanced Kapha mood that’s part of seasonal winter months, this is an amazing addition.

It also believed to help with worried and anxious feelings that are obvious Vata signs.

2.Cayenne pepper (pungent):

If you add the heated cayenne spice in your salty dishes like mac-n-cheese, then you have a different tasting dish altogether. Fresh cayenne can be caliente hot so don’t let the muted color-appearance fool you.

Did you know cayenne is used in many Cajun dishes?

If you want to stick with a mild dish, you could use the safer mild paprika (found also in Creole dishes like gumbo).

Adding cayenne on top of avocado sprouted bread toast is a personal favorite snack that’s good so you don’t add too much hot spice as you can see the contrast in colors.

The initial burning sensation you get on your tongue is what makes the plant-based capsaicin compound anti-inflammatory.

3.Turmeric (smokey/astringent):

In case you’re wondering what does turmeric tastes like? …it gives any salty dish a smoky taste.

Tumeric is a super-anti-inflammatory curcumin spice that gets more healthy potent with black pepper.

It’s smoky and extremely dry to the mouth. The bright orange flaming color would never prepare you for that.

Consider adding turmeric spice to potatoes, fish, or eggs.

On popcorn, I like it with a ‘lil EVOO since turmeric is astringent (drying in the mouth) and popcorn is naturally dry. 🍿

This is a healthy way over adding salt and butter, and one you can do watching movies in your home comfort.

Tip: use a stainless steel bowl as turmeric leaves an orange stain like fiery-orange leaves. 🍂

4.Ginger (pungent):

Add fresh ginger root to your hot tea and water to aid digestion from your big meal and to start your day.

It’s exceptionally beneficial in the morning when you’re revving up your stomach engine for the day ahead with its gingerol anti-inflammatory effects.

An easier way to cut the irregular shaped root and remove the skin is to soak the ginger in water overnight, and then it’s softer so you can cut the skin off. 🫚

Dry ginger is a staple powdery spice ingredient for holiday gingerbread bakes… my fave way to bring in sweet spice blends.

5.Cumin (cool):

And on the other temperature extreme, cumin is one-of-a-kind. That says it all!

It’s one of the primary Ayurvedic spices. If you’re a competitive Pitta or have a Pitta imbalance where you’re feeling angry or irritated, you’ll naturally prefer this spice during those hotter mood seasons.

It’s a cooling spice that will cool down and help inflammation.

If you combine with paprika or cayenne heat, it’ll help balance the spice temperatures that’s good for when you feel hot on the outside and cool temps on the inside, or vice versa. …You know those days, when both a cold and warm shower feel good. 🚿

Cumin is deliciously found in many plant-based and Middle Eastern dishes like falafel or hummus. Or in Mediterranean dishes and salads with feta and red onions.

I added some to falafel waffles and a potato Greek yogurt dip (like a tzatziki without cucumbers) I made over this past weekend.

💡You can always test spice on a popcorn snack or rice first to see if you will like it!

6.Curry (sweet):

…Ok, there are 3 savory spices I used to detest when I was younger… and guess what they are?…They are all on this list! I disliked ginger, rosemary, and this spice… curry.

Today, I am a fan of all of these spices. Why? Because your tastes change and learning to pair tastes changes tastes.

Tastings as I mentioned was part of my job. And when I could taste the notes in the spice with a complementary food pairing, it became a different and newly enhanced experience.

Curry in a mustard potato salad is one example that changed my mind.

And then I learned about the anti-inflammatory effects. Since curry is a seasoning blend with turmeric and chili pepper already mentioned as healthy tastes, you can see why it’s a no-brainer add. 👍

Plus, the lemony coriander vibe in the curry blend is like the cherry on top. 🍋🍒

7.Rosemary (astringent)

Rosemary is a unique herb. Add to cooked eggs and you’ll have a nice hiking, woodsy, and evergreen pine-like experience in your mouth.🌲

Add to roasted potatoes and root veggies and it’s a total flavor winner.

Rosemary is also one of the most anti-inflammatory herbs and is part of the mint family.

Mint is one of my favorite teas and herbs, so you can see why this one became a favorable one even though it took time to grow on me 😉.

And that’s one lesson that can help you to grow: Never give up on healthy foods you didn’t like before!

8.Oregano (astringent):

Oregano can come as a close second to rosemary if you’re deciding on healthiest. But why choose between the two when you can have both?

Add both herbs to a holiday turkey for the more traditional tastes where you can’t go wrong.

Oregano is like adding salt on pastas and Italian tomato-based dishes.

Thanksgiving spices don't have to be traditional like this za'atar rub.

9.Coriander:

Coriander is a lemony-tasting spice and one the subtle yellow brightens up any dish. The best kind to buy is coriander seeds that you can finger crush into your cooking pots and pans or directly into your food bowl.

…I wonder if Fido would like that too? 💭

That adds a spice flavor burst when you get one that leaves a nice, lingering after taste, after your spoonful bite is long gone.

Coriander is also an antioxidant that’s good for preventing free-radicals and oxidative stress (that helps to protect against certain cancers).

10.Sumac (bitter):

And finally, I saved the best for last. It’s one of the lesser known spices but is a super antioxidant good for cold and flu season and around the holidays.

Add sumac to your potatoes for a slightly bitter tangy taste, and casseroles. The small specks of dark purplish red color, stand out from the crowd of spices in your rack.

It’s a key ingredient in a za’atar spice blend, that commonly has sesame seeds, sumac, and thyme. You can easily bake za’atar into healthy za’atar crackers.

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Cranberry Juice to Tea

Cranberry juice is one powerful antioxidant drink that’s good to keep in your food-as-medicine kitchen cabinet. It’s a festive, easy drink to serve up to your dry and under age guests that wins health points for all.

Cranberries have stood the test of time over centuries like many healthy, plant-based foods. That helped people survive.

The fruits were originally named crane-berry because it was a popular food for cranes, as in birds. Machines 🏗️ aren’t drinking or eating yet.

…Also, wouldn’t it be fun to name fruits because many are still being discovered in our New World? 💭 I remember when elderberries came on the scene as good for cold immunity… I feel like an elder berry. 😊

These days, we share these same foraged foods with other small wildlife creatures like squirrels, deers, and other birds. 🐿️🦌

And humans turn this cranberry fruit (that’s not a berry) into a drink for good reason.

For one, cranberry juice is known to be good for preventing urinary tract infections, even though it hasn’t been made fact.

But preventing infections mean less antibiotics in your body that always helps gut health. The rise of antibiotic resistance and contaminated meat is costing over $2 billion annual in the U.S., so it’s worth believing cranberry as preventative medicine.

Pure 100% juice version is the one to source and buy. 💯 without added sugars like the common cranberry cocktail version you find in convenience stores. Buy it when you’re inconveniently in the big grocery stores with a cart and the juice will last long after opened.

It’s one healthy holiday tradition that you can stand by…

And on-travel, ordering a cran-apple juice on the airplane can be a good next-to-water hydrating drink with vitamins and minerals.

At home, besides as a glass of cranberry juice, you can make a cranberry tea… either iced for warmer months or warmed tea for colder or transitional months.

And the way to keep this a low-sugar, healthy beverage is to change the taste. 100% cranberry juice is tart, so adding other natural flavors will enhance the tartness and make it exciting. ♥️

For warm tea, use dried fruits, flowers, and spices to naturally spice-up the tea, like these pairings:

-Hibiscus & rose hips

-Elderflower

-Raspberry

-Apple

-Orange Peels

-Ginger

-Cinnamon

Use a strainer for the dried bits, and if they’re finely ground, you can use a paper coffee filter that you can cut down to the right size for your strainer.

I actually like when a few tea leaves seep through as it keeps the tea homemade and rustic feeling. Turn on the moody jams and you have an enjoyable break. 🎶

But that’s a nice choice you get to make in the moment…

And at the end, zhughing with some ruby red fruits like cranberries and pomegranates sinking to the bottom make it a bottomless tea party!

In my drinks, you can even find some shredded coconut streamers or rosemary spikes, and a ‘pick of cranberries for tasty interest.

Those details come naturally from my event and party planner days where it’s all about the special zhugh. This one is good for the heart.🫀

For an iced tea version, use fresh fruits, flowers, lemon… and omit the spices.

You can also use your cranberry juice tea to make other wild fresh drinks or mocktails…

You can add cranberry seltzer water to make a big fizzy punch that’s a pink champagne color and bring up happy spirits! 🎉

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