Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Low Sodium Healthy Soup Recipes

Low sodium healthy soup is easy when you make your own!

I have 3 recipes below with carrots, mushrooms, and potatoes that you can make (with low sodium and sea salt if you like).

Before 2020, I never made my own soups. And today, I only keep a backup can in my pantry.

low sodium healthy soup recipes

And you can too!… if that’s what you aspire to even if you don’t know how JUST YET.

But with delicious plant-based ingredients, you can make soup broths that you easily turn into clam chowder with a potato soup base.

You impress yourself and everyone you make the soup for!

After you learn to make homemade soups in simple steps, you’ll probably not go back to store soup cans as these have delicious natural flavors without all the sodium!

And you’re doing your body healthy good. And probably saving a few dollars if that matters.

And these are the 3 easy healthy soup recipes I’m sharing below:

1. Mushroom soup (with old-fashioned but not-out-of-style oats)

2. Carrot soup (with digestive-wonder root, ginger)

3. Clam chowder (New England style that’s my personal favorite made from potato soup)

If you want to skip my introduction here (even though there’s good, healthy information that I’ve wittled down and most recipe sites are longwinded ,but this recipe article is not), you won’t hurt my feelings… and you can head straight down to the easy recipes at the end. 🧡

And if you want to learn a few healthy moves, such as Ayurvedic healthy balance acts, then here we go:

Let’s start with some soup ingredients that I’ve incorporated below, were not my faves as a child. And as I grew up, I decided I like ginger when that was not my way. I gave it another try and it stuck.

Like many kids, I like processed, sugary, and salty foods and that didn’t change as I grew into my adult Vata self.

And for any of us, we can modify our choices and influence our healthy change.

You can impact and change your health one flavor (and easy healthy soup) at a time.

Vatas especially (and some Kaphas) cuddle up to comfort food in the cooler months and the soups below will be warming and great for the transition seasons.

When we have a Vata imbalance that any of us can have, we love and crave our sweet and salty balance. One minute you want a sugar fix and the next a crisp snack with salt.

If you want to learn more about what’s going on with your body now (and tips to restore), take the body balance quiz.

Most recipes you see, say “salt to taste” or a pinch of salt. In baking, there’s always a pinch of salt and it really adds to the flavor. A ¼ teaspoon is about 5-6 pinches of salt.

If a recipe calls for 1 teaspoon, I usually use A LOT less. Why? Because health is in moderation.

And as a home baker… I rarely use butter unless it’s for celebrational traditional holiday bakes or Christmas cookies and special cakes that wouldn’t be the same without… but for everyday anti-inflammatory baking, I tweak a lot.

I use healthy oils and natural sweet ingredients that help with energy. ⚡️

You can make easy cocoa balls or no-bake chai balls

And if you want to crank up the warm oven, a ball of energy bites made from wholesome grits, oatmeal, chocolate chip, Greek yogurt, whole wheat flour, applesauce, and honey.

And they’re complete yum, and NO-GUILT enjoyment, hitting the spot if you have a sweet tooth (that I’m an expert about). 😋 energy bites

At this time, I’m involved in a beta chef’s cooking healthy eating group collaboration with RDs that provides culinary teaching and recipe input to a healthy strategy program.

I love food, and my background includes working with thousands of party planning events (and started my career in hotel catering that you already know if you’ve been reading some of my previous blog posts).

I’d hardly consider myself a chef-ette, but I have always had an adult culinary arts interest. 🧑‍🍳

…after hotels, I left the hospitality industry and went into more traditional Corporate America work, and then came back to the hospitality working world doing Mediterranean-cuisine (Lebanese, Spanish, and Italian) event planning for about a dozen foodie restaurants.

That’s really when my good food (gastronomy) tastes and senses were re-ignited and I had a chance to re-marry with my “food is medicine” approach to life.

…And if you come to my blog every week, you can plan on a lot of healthy inspiration in my upcoming blog posts (and get past those nasty winter blues).

And that’s especially good if you want to stay balanced from comfort stress eating that can get the best of us as we enter cooler months and warm holidays … and as we try to finish up stressful deadlines for the year!.

To bypass any winter mood funks and balance us, start the year with a healthy amount of a prime soup ingredient… salt.

Salt Talk For Your Low Sodium Healthy Soup Making

For soups, I avoid iodized salt. I don’t usually add table salt (like the ones in the packets) unless that’s all that’s available and the food isn’t already salted.

I alway buy “unsalted” ingredients when given an option.

If you eat out or eat prepared foods from groceries and restaurants, then you probably get enough salt. And probably more than enough salt in our highly processed foods.

On a DASH diet, lowering sodium is the recommendation.

When I’m cooking, I use sea salt (non-iodized) for everything and everyday use.

And then I use coarser natural sea salts like Celtic sea salt (or Himalayan or fleur de sel) for preparing meats to be baked in the oven, and for certain cooked vegetables.

Celtic sea salt is great for your rubs and on top as a garnish (not so much in mixing). The crystals are larger so they don’t blend as great as smaller salt granules. And I also Himalayan sea salt for additional healthy minerals.

And the gastronomic person in me, says coarser salt is absolutely necessary for the right flavor and texture on veggies like Brussel sprouts and edamame if you want a culinary meal experience (and not a bland one). Salt is as important as the veggie itself.

You can get away without using salt on certain veggies like broccoli or okra that hold their own tastes. If you add them to soups, the salt is usually already added.

So here are the 3 easy healthy soups that’ll help you with your salt cravings…

Easy Healthy Soup Recipes

Easy Low Sodium Healthy Soup #1: Mushroom Oat Soup

Cook mushrooms in a pot of covering water until soft, and add slow-cook oats. Mushrooms are immune-boosting and are alkaline. Cook until mushrooms are soft.

If you want, add a drizzle of cooking sherry, truffle oil, and saffron to get culinary fancy and balance umami tastes.

For more umami, add a dash of white pepper.

mushroom soup

Low Sodium Healthy Soup #2: Carrot Ginger Soup

Print Recipe

Carrot Ginger Soup

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

cooked carrots
ginger juice
ginger spice
ginger, chopped
sunflower seeds (optional)
dried parsley (optional)
cumin and Old Bay (optional)

Instructions

Cook carrots on medium heat. When soft, mash carrots. For smooth and easy-to-make soup, sdd to your Magic Bullet or blender and pulse a few times until it's to your smooth texture liking.
Add ginger spiced and chopped ginger bits (if you prefer for a more pungent bite good for Kapha). You can also use ginger juice for less chunks, and spices.
Zhugh with sunflower seeds and dried parsley if desired.

Cook carrots in water until soft, then mash and grate or squeeze ginger juices in the soup. You can finish off with alt-milk for a creamy-effect or just leave as is. That’s probably the way a.k.a. without ginger I would’ve preferred as a child 🧒🏻).

healthy soup recipes

Easy Potato Soup or New England Clam Chowder

This low sodium healthy soup is easier to make than you may think! You can make delicious chowder from a simple potato soup base.

Peel and cook common Russet potatoes in a pot with water. You would do the same step if you were making mashed potatoes.

Then decide if you want a creamy soup. And if you do, pour out some of the water and then mash potatoes in the same stovetop pot. Still with the stove heat on, add in your ready-to-eat clams (3 large potatoes to about 5 ounces of clams you can cook or use a can).

I like to zhugh up with aromatic herbs, either fresh or with ground herb spices like cilantro, parsley, oregano, and/or basil.

If you’re not sure if you should add any herbs into your soup (if you’re feeding others), then parsley and thyme spices are less strong (more universally likable) and can be added in of left to individual tastes.

potato healthy soup recipes — Potato base soup

If you’re looking for a few easy-to-make snack ideas to go along with your healthy soup recipes or just to eat on their own, you can try…

Baked kale chips…

Or, homemade baked crackers – zesty za’atar crackers…

Or, popcorn…

Another different twist and take on changing up tastes, is this idea… instead of adding salt, you could add a ‘lil vinegar to your potato snacks and soup.

I like to add ACV vinegar but you could also try malt, red, or white vinegar… they’re healthier and also give the food a bit of a tangy bite.

I like to also add my daily spices (turmeric, black or white pepper once in awhile). I skip needing any salt after all those changes 😉.

So hopefully you are soup-er excited to make your comfort homemade and easy healthy soup recipes, and maybe you even choose to change up a way that you snack.

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3 Ways For a Calm Happy Thanksgiving

In the past decade, I have spent 3 separate Thanksgiving holidays abroad or overseas that was everything but a calm Happy Thanksgiving. It was organized chaos in Mexico, Spain, and Morocco.

It’s all relative to each person’s life. For me, the trips were exciting and memorable times, and during more calm days when we traveled around freely. Some refer to as “the easier days.”

Those holidays, I was attending celebrational gatherings and occasions. But despite the freedom and travel adventure, I always felt something missing, being away.

…It’s the similar feeling that you get when you’ve arrived to your destination (place or accomplishments) and now you’re ready to go home or move on to what’s next…

Have you been there?

In those past Thanksgiving occasions, I knew that the something-missing was being in the country that I’m most grateful for, where I live and grew up celebrating Thanksgiving (along with all Americans) on the last Thursday in November. 🦃

Watching the Macy’s Day Parade is a calm Happy Thansgiving event I look forward to… and, hearing television football games played in the background, catching up with family and friends, getting the special dinner on the table in the afternoon, and forgetting calories to celebrate.

…And remembering that Thanksgiving starts and sets the countdown to Christmas.🎄

Holiday time is also a time when holiday stress can creep in finishing work projects for the year, gift giving decisions, and sometimes compromising decisions on food and travel, and making winter and holiday plans.

…So, especially if that’s you, I wanted to help you to find a calm Happy Thanksgiving to kick-off your BEST holiday season.

I joyfully love to keep my holiday season as calm and simple as possible. And baking at home is one of those ways. That’s how I roll (and some time before this year ends I’ll be baking my first swiss roll and you can be the judge of how it turns out… so stay tuned).

And our staying calm is how I believe we can win in our life’s marathon. You don’t have to look far to find ways to not find R&R in this life. It’s your perception (mindset shift) that can change everything for you. I know this, because it did for me.

You can stay cool as a cucumber even when your situations get complicated and sometimes out of our hands.

You’re your biggest influence if you allow yourself that empowered choice.

We can go after the things that make us happy or feel calm.

One example is the Black Friday and Cyber Monday frenzies (you don’t need a reminder as they’re everywhere). Those are part of our newer culture traditions, but not what make a calm Happy Thanksgiving.

I mentioned I was overseas on three Thanksgiving occasions. One occasion was spent in Seville, Spain.

That year, I noticed they had similar shopping celebrations inside a mall I went into. I realized day after Thanksgiving big shopping sales don’t just happen in America in a shouting from the rooftops or fun confetti gun sorta way 🎉.

My turkey (while not the traditional kind) that year came from an express Carrefour grocery supermarket, and while not stuffed (the turkey or myself 😊), I felt grateful that I was healthy and able to travel before I started a new work chapter in my life.

… I felt I knew what I more deeply wanted in this Life… meaningful things that brought more peace, joy, and love that were missing from the previous season.

…That can sound like a Hallmark card or movie-ish, but that’s what everyone wants no matter what socioeconomic status. That never changes. And even if it’s never declared.

Having nice stuff is great, but getting in a habit of buying can swallow us up if we take the eye off the real joy and riches in this world.

And then those fickle feelings, thoughts, and moods can creep into the day. And we can easily feel dissatisfied at some point when our elated feelings draw to an end and the novelty wears off (…that’s this life).

We can then feel something missing when what we really want is to feel whole (and not missing anything). We want to feel healthy and healed.

So, from that lens, looking for the calm (and not the highs that can lead us to the lows) keeps us joyful, content, and in full gratitude (for our life). And in control of our feelings and lives. Simple to say but not easy to do if the mind muscles haven’t been stretched or we get super busy or proud.

I remember in my past, I would get invited to foodie restaurants where the bill would be similar to say getting the indulgent luxury spa works package.

I never felt guilty, but I never felt any better than if I didn’t go, when I looked back. There was a misalignment.

Deeper inside, I remember feeling I would have preferred to just stay at home and eat a nice bowl of delicious healthy homemade soup instead of getting all dolled-up to go out and splurge on a decadent 4-course dinner.

I didn’t need to feed my ego and outer wants. And my body would’ve thanked me for it too!

calm Happy Thanksgiving homemade yam soup — In case you get tired of pumpkin everything, and over Thanksgiving… here’s a delicious, calming Vata yam soup you can try! 😋

…It took me feeling that I wasn’t missing anything to get to that revelation. Does that make sense?

And maybe since I had worked in and out and behind-the-hotel catering and restaurant hospitality-scenes, my lens was altered and the happy going-out eating Disney-effect just wasn’t the same.

…but I really do think it was more just being misaligned with my purpose. At that time, I was still trying to figure out what category that could be as I used limited gifts and talents (and more management and planning skills) in corporate work.

Today, I know what keeps life calm and joyful (especially as we enter holiday weeks where it’s easy to get off healthy and happy balance)… and, that’s taking care of and growing yourself (mind-body-spirit).

We all have a chance to forge a new path or start a new pivot for the first or nth time in this or the next season. I know what that is like as much as anyone (and probably even more). It can be a little uncomfortable in uncertainty, but with taking risks come rewards.

You could be in a slow season or a fast-paced one that’s passing you. Neither I found were sustainable. They were for a season.

And whatever the case is for you today, it’s better to take charge of your destiny.

…Because you’ve probably noticed in your life, as soon as you get used to a way, then a new one is presented especially these days in our warp speed up and slow down world… and sometime it’s hurry up and wait (that will help you in your adaptability and flexibility… good skills to have!).

If you want to find your next calling or your purpose, one thing you can do is maintain better consistent sleep which I think is one of the telltale signs of your optimal mental health (and of course physical health).

If you have a new purpose to wake up for or purposefully trying to search for one, your mental health improves and that helps your sleep. And getting moving with physical exercise can be one of those easier ways to get this sleep party started (if that needs restoration).

As for finding your life’s purpose, if that’s the crossroad where you are, thinking outside of what’s around you and finding inspiration from those outside your circles (different from you) and the sources you usually would look at, can definitely spark new life and life-giving journeys…

For many seasons, looking back, I found I was thinking way too small at times (not dreaming big) and usually those were clouded thoughts. There wasn’t a sharp gut knowing that I had felt before in other seasons (from dreams or heart whispers). Like those feelings of when you know, you know, and when you don’t, you don’t.

When I got more air and space, I could believe for bigger things, and those ideas became my reality. Not usually right away, but sometimes they did “suddenly” in life’s mysterious and everything-happens-for-a-reason ways.

I consider myself a feet-firmly planted on the ground type of person… and maybe that’s how you operate.

On the ground, these days with all the resources we have available to us, we can go straight to the root, find resources, and decision maker sources, and bypass months of trying to find right answers, and get in the front door. The right ones open for you in your effort and staying calm.

And to help you stay calm, here are 3 simple ways to stay feeling balanced, joyful and in calm waiting (if you are waiting) over the Thanksgiving weekend and maybe (hopefully) beyond… Continue reading “3 Ways For a Calm Happy Thanksgiving”

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Tears of Joy and Breathing for Ayurvedic Living

When you get tears of joy (😂), your body is set in joy motion. You feel something and that can get you to move and take good action.

You get to experience freeing moments like you’re on top of the world, and your mind is joyfully elevated. This helps your mental health and outlook. And when your mind is happy, your body feels the connection. That’s Ayurveda in a nutshell.

Well… except it’s not that cut and dry (…I don’t think anything is these days). I wrote some personal notes below at the end of this post, from over a decade of intentional-balanced and healthy-minded living

I think it’s safe to say, we all have different body goals. One of mine is to stay looking young for as long as nature will let me. I can’t stop gray hairs from coming, but I can avoid the stressful grays that started in my mid-20s.

And our preferences are different, like in music…

For me and maybe for you, that can be in listening to a song that strikes a chord inside, like Adele’s emotional songs or the empowering words from a Lauren Daigle song.

Lyrics matter to me more now than they used to when I’d hum along to anything that had an upbeat vibe. It’s a good idea to be choosier about what we put in our minds (and body) if we want certain results.

And in modern Ayurvedic living, you choose as it’s not rules-based but certain practices work because the body is intuitive.

In other happy moments, seeing someone else happy can leave us smiling. Or when they have tears of joy, we do too.

And in another moment, that could be laughing out loud (does anyone even use LOL anymore…besides me? 😊).

And btw, I get a good laugh in watching The Great British Baking Show. I’ll spare you the witty, but clean jokes swirling in my head. But, that’s what sets it apart from every other baking competition. It’s standup (filmed) comedy or silly, tongue-in-cheek banter… oh, and beautiful bakes too.🍥

And it’s easy to love and relate to all the friendly contestants (and be glad you’re not under the pressure!). Read-dy?…Now Bake.

Just kidding. (I can’t say lol since I just called myself out on it).

But, anyway… in life, you’re usually witnessing your life from and with other people even if it’s through a computer or television. Even if we feel like we live in a bubble, our energy permeates through social media and our connections made. It doesn’t take a plane ride… it takes nanoseconds for our energy and atoms to travel.

And that’s the relational power we have in this life. Along with our connecting breath.

Next time you think about it, pair your tears of joy (or routinely adding daily eye drops) with a special breathing exercise called Pranayama, that’s a controlled way of breathing.

Here’s how you do Pranayama breath. Blow out all your air through your mouth. And then inhale breathe in a big gasp of air through your nose. Hold your breath for about 6-8 seconds. And then let out a big exhale through your mouth as you had started with. You can feel a burst of concentration/clarity in your mind. The mind fog is lifted (even if it’s temporary) and it can feel like you just had a shot of espresso or strong matcha tea.

In doing the breathing exercise, you’ve just relaxed and massaged your body from the diaphragm muscles to your vital nerves that impact your brain, breathing, and the body parts that regulate your stress. Sounds like a big deal… it is.

But we forget. And living in purpose is everything to intentional balanced living.

You get to feel alive! And that may be the that’s-what -I’m talkin’-about prescription you need, especially if you have constant stress in your life. You can try to find areas of life where you can shed tears of joy.

You can practice breathing purposeful daily wherever you are, so remember to do this regularly or when you next feel anxiety or a breather moment.

This can be another purposeful move where you step outside where you spend most of your day. Like when you’re out and see a work of art that moves your heart and stirs your soul. That can be from nature or something that is living and breathing like a baby-making cooing sounds or a dog with a wagging tail you see walking outside.

If you’re cooped up inside and have no errands to run (lucky you!), here are some outside ideas to get out of your nest: Continue reading “Tears of Joy and Breathing for Ayurvedic Living”

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Pitta 5 Love Languages to Restore Imbalance

Pitta is a heated situation where you want to get back to love and peace. And a cooling off like ice cream can do just that. Easy chocolate soft serve recipe below. 🍦🍫

soft serve ice cream chocolate recipe.

You may not be a Pitta type, but you may have others in your life who dominate in this dosha body (and mind-body) type. If they are unaware, they can be impatient, irritated, and annoyed. Or maybe that’s you. We’re all just one step away from a Vata, Pitta, or Kapha imbalance. Restoring the balance helps us operate optimally.

And btw, this avocado tree that started from a seed in the summer, is a calming addition. It’s looking a little like a Jack and the Beanstalk, but it’s healthy. And if a plant is healthy, then it’s happy.

…As humans we’re a ‘lil more complex and want it all (and have more areas that need TLC). Plus from others, we want our preferred 5 love languages met.

And if yours happens to be Gift, then I have a nice giant healthier (but just as tasty) oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe below that you can bake and gift to that Pitta someone (or yourself 😋)… and you can decorate with frosting words if you like. Remember the big cookies you could buy in the mall?

Finding ways to be kind like gifting a cookie, helps when we have someone dominant in our lives and relationships who has a Pitta imbalance. And they act less than, well… desirable or pleasant.

…and that’s because they’re probably stressed about something in their life. If things aren’t happening as they had hoped, this can be a source of sour cherry or bitter thorns that subtly weaves their way into other parts of life.

And chronic stress buildup we know is the silent ager and gateway to health inflammation. Feelings of stress can be masked inside the body. And whether anger is acted out, it’s more a personality trait (and violence is more a male species trait).

And, panicking and anxiety is a heavy Vata trait, so if you’ve been wondering why people naturally panic and others don’t, that’s the way they’re wired. And experiences along their journey can trigger their emotional or uncontrollable body reactions.

The tricky part is you can have a combination of body things going on. It’s better to nip in the bud so undesired tendencies don’t settle in, and you can live optimally free of inflammation and discomforts. (You can learn more about this by taking the Body Balance Quiz).

Today I wanted to talk specifically about Pitta as just about everyone has a dominant Pitta in their life whether it’s at home or work.

If another person’s Pitta imbalance is spilling over to you and causing angst in your life, then you should especially keep reading so you can be aware (and moving towards getting your life back).

Let’s start with…

What if you could silently help the Pitta person (a loved one, a housemate, a boss, a co-worker, or your Pitta self) or people in your life without saying a word? I mean, no one wants to poke (or provoke) the bear.

First of all, most people are unaware they are misbehaving or creating noticeable havoc affecting others if they haven’t already learn to control how they act, at least in front of people. They are naturally that way and you are naturally your way. And probably no one has stopped them (and maybe even encouraged them because they don’t have to encounter them regularly like you do).

Even if you have mentioned their behavior in passing, it may not register. What they are experiencing internally can be louder than your words. It’s their internal turmoil. And the oil spill is damage passes onto you.

Most dominant Pittas love (or should I say live for) productivity. Emotional drama is not going to embrace them and they may even avoid those situations. They’re not going to stick around for the gossip (and that’s not necessarily a bad thing as they have better things to do with their time).

How it can hurt is they may not have a plug-in cord with their heart and surface feelings. (Even though they may feel even deeper inside than those who wear their hearts on their sleeves). Whatever the case, we shouldn’t fault them for what they don’t have and they shouldn’t fault us for our lacks they perceive.

Pitta managers (think the managing directors) can act like a typical Type-A in Corporate America. The tradeoff is they’re not often good with focus on living balanced or taking daily joy time out every day unless there’s a definitive goal assigned to what they’re doing.

Working out, running, or bicycling can be a better work-life balance time-off activity in their focused eyes.

So, to a Pitta, starting a conversation with having a better work-life balance probably isn’t going to win them over, lol. Those of us who are Vatas can find that interesting as we love to enjoy and relax.

Having a happy life discussion may even enter a downward spiral if you’re looking for a promotion. Getting the right things done is more the language you want to use, and this could also be with a relationship partner.

If you can present spreadsheets, logical conclusions, and rationale, this will go over better than anecdotal evidence. You may even want to get to the bottom line first and then explain the backup story.

Strong Pittas make great finishers and competitors. Professional athletes are usually high Pittas because they can stay calm under pressure, so they continue to score when others could crumble.

For a Pitta relationship, you may want to suggest joint leisure physical activities or yoga. Emphasizing more active yoga poses like Warrior or Mountain standing poses where hands and arms are in movement.

A lying down Knee Hug or Happy Baby Pose won’t do much for a Pitta. But a stretch in hamstrings will remind them of working out and not having sore leg muscles the next day (healthy productivity).

A quiet practice like eyes-closed meditation can be good for a Pitta since there is a clear beginning and end when the eyes close and open. And if there’s a clear goal like helping to reduce stress, then they can be all in. “Being more intentional in life” can be a little too obscure.

Whoever your Pittas are in your life, here are 5 ways you can bring in more love for each of the 5 love languages (from Gary Chapman’s book).

5 Love Languages for the Pittas in your Life:

Quality Time:

For a Pitta co-worker, if you can’t physically spend time with them, silent prayer for them is a proactive way that would help. No one ever refuses a prayer no matter what beliefs they hold or don’t hold.

For a romantic partner, working out together (mentioned above), or an engaging activity like cooking a meal together, ice skating, or playing a game could be fun. If an activity is mentioned, even if it’s not favorable to you, think about what would be a benefit in taking a few hours.

We can spend that much time, cleaning and piddling around doing nothing or watching television where the time just disappears. Or in feeling guilt for not agreeing.

What if you did something that meant a lot to the other person? It’s time you put into the relationship and quality to them. Think of it as an act of service (love).

Acts of Service:

Maybe your Pitta friend or spouse needs a vacation, but they can’t take one just yet. You could change the situation around you. This works for babies. O how a fussy baby can be quietly silenced, being held in the air, or with a ‘lil playful drops of water trickling down their heads that you release from a straw.

For an adult, that won’t work (and will probably get you in hot water!) but the same strategy works.

You can similarly change their immediate atmosphere. And create ambiance (that’s what we would say in a restaurant).

You can play Kenny G or jazzy tone music around them. Music has a profound calming effect. You can explore a bunch of music play suggestions.

You can light up or gift them with a lavender or musky scented gift. This could bath be salts, a candle, or tea. This can help soothe them back to relax mode.

This can be coupled with quality time activities but also when they’re most stressed out, like when they first get home from work or had chaotic travel.

You know when they’re relaxed because they won’t be acting irritated by what was or wasn’t done.

Gifts and Physical Touch:

Maybe make a homemade or thoughtful gift like an avocado smoothie or a photo memory displayed that may go over very well. You may need to dig a ‘lil deeper to find a gift to evoke feeling from a memory vs. giving a thoughtful gift, like…

Bake a carrot cake, prepare a Middle Eastern meal (lotsa astringent tastes that will help balance them) or order one in.

…Or you can make waffles or pancakes.

…Or this irresistible and versatile healthy oatmeal chocolate chip cookie (that can also be a breakfast idea). The printable recipe is found here 🍴.

oatmeal chocolate chip cookie Pitta love food. — Who wouldn’t love this cookie and if you hand frosted writing something nice?

2/3 cup oats

1/2+ cup whole wheat flour for a standard cake pan (this can vary depending on the size of your baking pan. Be sure you can cover the entire bottom of the pan for a whole cookie.)

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 Tbsp maple syrup (for low-sugar)

1 Tbsp yogurt

1/4 cup almond milk

2 Tbsp chocolate chips (add on top like in my photo above if you don’t want a lumpy cookie. Then you can slightly heat the cookie up in the oven recommended for warm but intact chocolate chips when you’re ready to enjoy).

1 tsp cocoa powder

1 egg

Mix ingredients. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 25 minutes. I like to let the edges brown just a tad (for the crunchy bite). No muss, no fuss… just simple smiles.

Movin’ on…

Chocolate Soft Serve Ice Cream (Egg Yolk Method)

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

6 egg yolks
3 cups milk
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup fine sugar (monk fruit sugar alternative)

Instructions

Add milk and cocoa powder to a pot, and heat until you see a light boil (a few small boil bubbles). Then turn the heat off.
Take the pot off the heat and let cool for a few minutes.
Add your egg yolks to a separate mixing bowl and beat with sugar to emulsify until pale or lighter yellow color.
Add slightly cooled mixture to egg yolks and constantly stir with quick motions (prevent curdling).
When combined, set in refrigerator to cool down for about 15 minutes or longer.
Prepare ice cream maker machine and bowl if you will be using one to set the soft serve ice cream. Take bowl out of freezer for about 30 minutes if it has been in the back of the freezer. Freezer temps vary but you want the bowl cold enough but e.g. not with frozen icicles on the sides but not water condensation. Tip: for the balance, have the bowl a little less cold because you can always freeze the ice cream back up in the freezer. And soft serve is more creamy, watery, and soft than ice cream.
Alternatively, if you are not using an ice cream maker/bowl, be sure to stir the ice cream every half hour or so to remove any forming icicles.

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Passion Purpose in Life Tips + Orange Star Chocolate Oat Cookie

Passion purpose is a sign you’re on the way to your life’s work. My passion led me to these cookies I baked, and started out as a catering manager for a DoubleTree Hotel, as full circle. 🍪🍪

Star design chocolate chip oatmeal cookie recipe below. 🍪

But I believe…

We all have a second act in us for a passion purpose in life. And that’s how I felt when I started to question the culture we live in and our individual purpose.

The longer you live and explore the full possibilities, you get to see and decide if you’ve been looking out from the wrong lens in some areas of your life, like a passion purpose in life. ✨

You can use this star cookie (recipe below) as a guide or inspiration. 🍪

star design chocolate chip cookie to inspire your passion purpose that could be baking. — Star Pattern Cookie recipe below 🧡⭐️

You can walk into your passion purpose if you take strategic steps (and that’s what this blog post is all about).

I’ll start with my humble adult story.

I got married later in life (at least I thought). I didn’t enter marriage in my twenties (something I recommend waiting on). Like most, I went through big changes from 25-30. That’s pretty typical of getting your feet off the ground as a newer adult.

By 28, I kept getting the same answer back that I was changing and trading in my caterpillar feet for wings. I didn’t know what I didn’t know and my 180-degree career switch in high-tech data (from the hospitality business) was a metaphor.

I knew that if I wanted any semblance of a life outside work like my business college friends had, I needed to jump ship into different waters.

I had no idea how and had no real job connections other than the internet. There was no LinkedIn, lol. But I knew that if I took the risk, then a new door could open. I believed whatever direction I was headed in would happen without yet knowing why. And it did.

I experienced what work-life balance was for the first time. I also got married.

And I had time for relationships and self-care. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I still had a past that I hadn’t addressed but was affecting the way I thought and acted, especially in my marriage.

At that time, I didn’t know childhood wounds existed into adulthood as PTSD.

I didn’t connect the dots to how events from decades ago could show up in my marriage. The brain is messy and complex like that.

It’s easy to stay unaware about the lens from which you see out into your life (and even these days in a more open and knowledge-aware society). And that affects your daily thought life and outcomes.

It’s a lot easier to be critical of others and notice how they behave that’s different than you.

And if you’re married, you’ve probably been tested, as marriage like no other relationship will make you go into deeper places you’ve never explored. You’ll meet each other’s ego.

Intimate bonding will highlight those insecure dormant spaces that need addressing like a UV blacklight spotlights stains.

A marriage relationship can make the partners want to fix everything that’s not how each would have done as a single person.

Marriage can be a tough bootcamp and why it’s such a great training ground for personal growth (and I’m all for it!). And so is building a business from a passion purpose in life. Even though not everyone likes that kind of testing ground to move up.

And that described what I experienced. Then years later, I lost my work-balance job from a massive corporate layoff.

And my marriage came to a peaceful screeching-halt end suddenly. And the business foundations I started, crumbled.

I relocated back to where I grew up and started over with a more mature lens. These events eventually helped me to find my individual purpose.

It started with a blogging journey back in 2009 and then put aside for about a decade. That was my passion purpose in life then.

And one day, I started writing a funny lesson learned story from a hot tea kettle burn on my finger. I submitted for publication and have never stopped writing since.

Long story short, writing never left my veins. And in the messy middle (by design), I found the path leading to a passion purpose in life.

And this leads me to 3 ways I can share (from my journey) how you can walk into your passion purpose this season.

1. Start Over (Finding Your Passion Purpose In Life Could Depend On It)

Don’t be afraid to start over. Be okay with the unknown as all of life if you think about it is uncertain. Taking gut and heartfelt risks is worth the chance!

If the timing is right, be brave, and don’t look back (at least not at your decision right away). You’re wisely guided internally.

It’s easy for any of us to wrap our identity in jobs and titles and rationalize why we can’t leave (they’re handcuffs whether they’re golden or not).

In my case, I grew up and worked in the most politically powerful and driven metro mover-and-shaker Washington DC culture, where people will run circles around you if you don’t pull over or speed up.

And I’m convinced it’s the area where the corporate rat race phrase came from 😂.

In my corporate work, I quickly learned that everyone working for someone is replaceable. And lessons learned yearsss later, that letting go of the fear of losing a job is so freeing and liberating. And not something to be scared of. It’s the ticket to your personal happiness and success.

When I was laid off after six years of success at a corporate job, I was literally in shock. I mean, one day your job existence is there, and then POOF!… the next day you wake up and it’s gone.

If you purposefully stay in the mindset of choosing to design your quality life, then you’re always nimble and heading towards your north star pointing passion purpose in life.

The uncertain journey isn’t prescriptive, all roses, or without doubt, but your creative purpose is in there and you can eventually do what you love and love doing (or else why pursue?) even if you’re not creative.

We all have a passion purpose in life. In This One Life.

Plus, in control of your own destiny, you will never be bored! Getting there may take some years, wrong turns, and grit (almost an inevitable formula for the best things in life!), but it’s so rewarding and worth the effort.

If you’re starting over, that’s a sign of growth into your purpose. New starts can be a deliberate choice, but often you’re blindsided with a job or relationship loss or change, health scare, or an unexpected move.

Anything can happen suddenly, even though it could be years in the making. You could become a 10-year overnight success (or land your dream job) with a new starting point or unintended re-route.

When there’s a fresh new beginning, your senses are heightened and you soak up more like a sponge. You feel life (and alive)!

The alternative is staying on the comfortable course. When life is busy, in the messy middle, that is when you can grow comfortable… until you’re not. Life doesn’t work the way it should. You feel stuck. And maybe discouraged.

Those are times you look deeper inside yourself and into what else you got in your bag o’ tricks. And you’ve got so much more than you know today! You just have to start digging for your today passion purpose in life that can change tomorrow.

It’s actually more methodical (than scary) and sensible if you think about it… you only get this one life to do what you want with it. Look at those on America’s Got Talent.

They’ve worked so hard for decades on their talent that they started from nothing but an idea and a dream. And they’ve failed forward plenty. But they didn’t give up.

…And they know each fall and fail is one step closer to success. And when they end up on the AGT stage, they never look back. And their big break success takes off.

Starting over may be just what you need to go to the next level in your unique part of this life.

After you meditate, think, or pray about it, and you get a form of A-ha confirmation that excites you and makes sense to you for that next step, then you and the shining Galactic Universe celebrate with a burst of fanfare (a new kind of Big Bang theory 🎉).

And when you go all in, they and all your support fans in your life will go to town to help you in your belief. You figure out your unique unstoppable path. And what you were destined to do.

So these are the steps I would recommend (and I did to find my self-taught writing passion):

2. Discover Your Hidden Talent(s)

Maybe you have started an interest years ago that you never fully saw into fruition, and now is your ripe time. Or you want to know what your hidden talent is if you have uncovered it… you DO have one (and probably more than one).

That I’m certain of!

If you want to know what that is, then I encourage you to keep looking and more deeply as it’s there on the tea leaves and in between your yoga poses if that’s your jam.

You can also find it in your hobbies, interests, and activities you’ve dabbled in that excited you for a day or a season. Those outlets and past times made you feel good, and maybe even felt a sigh-of-relief from life’s busyness and stressors.

We all find time to do the things we want and love, even if we’re SUPER busy. It doesn’t have to be just one interest, as it can be a category especially if you’re a Vata and like to multi-task…

Such as, when I was in corporate work, I’ve always had a side interest in scrapbooking, painting art, and creating (anything) where I got lost in my project…

The Great British Bakeoff is a great representation of passion purpose bakers. — This is my graphical representation of the show 🍰

And that’s what The Great British Bake-Off (or The Great British Baking Show in the U.S.) past and present contestants do. They have day jobs and baking is their side gig or hobby, so they are on the show happy to be there. It’s another outlet for them.

OK, I have to pause the serious reel here for just a minute ⏳… I was laughing so hard over the baking show comedy last week in the current episode series. Are you familiar with the show?

…If not, I’m gonna give you a 30-second program interrupt and let you in. 😊

The comedy is there in every episode (it’s not hard to find like your hidden talent can be, haha.) Gut there’s a funny sound bite clip from one show episode that I’m reminded of where the contestants are tasked with making baklava and phyllo dough during Pastry Week.

One of my favorite contestants from the season episodes, is Giuseppe who mentioned he had never made either before because it’s a hassle and easier to just go out and buy.

It’s funny on two levels because 1) with his lovely and classic Italian accent, it sounded like another English word to Matt (one of the tent sidekicks) he was talking to, and 2) because the challenge was for him to make the painfully hassle-filled baklava under 3 hours, and cut in a star design. 😅 Continue reading “Passion Purpose in Life Tips + Orange Star Chocolate Oat Cookie”

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