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Confidence Building For A New Year

Confidence building is underrated if you don’t want a repeat of last year in certain aspects of your life. We’re meant to grow and get better.

And this could be a good blog article for you to read to bring out your confidence building skills this year…

my confidence building Empowered Happiness book.
My personal growth book helps those who want to transform their internal ways and insecurities, and turn them to external confidence building and lasting happiness.

Let’s start from the beginning…

If you were born into a home where love was expressed daily, then you felt a sense of security and confidence that others did not (but could develop).

Whether that was your luck in life or not, you grew up and don’t know any different life outside your body. It’s all relative to you.

And if you didn’t grow up with developed inner confidence building (how my life story began), you can give that to yourself in empowered confidence (and self-love) that maybe through my ethos, transparency, and sharing in this article can help to encourage you along your journey.

And a little sweet treat never hurt either. I grew up with blueberry muffins (and graduated to a blueberry muffin healthy recipe below that can be made into snack energy balls 🫐)

Btw, as a grown adult looking back, neither upbringing situation is better or worse, it’s what you do with your life situations that makes the difference in your outcomes and happiness.

So, that’s the first conscious belief you can be reminded of to help you.

“What you think, so you will become.”

-Napoleon Hill

But, if you didn’t grow up with an assured sense of familial belonging or love, then you probably started out not expecting as much from others and had the desired sense for comfort and belonging because that was missing early on in your life.

But that’s different than insecurity which is an area that manifests and shows up in many different ways for anyone and isn’t always as easy to detect.

Insecurity can run along the crevices and cracks in a person, showing up at any given moment or when triggered. Just like emotions can.

In an interview with Oprah, Priyanka Chopra Jonas acknowledged that her parents never fought in front of her when she was young, and that gave her a sense of balance and confidence (but she also faced insecurities from the external world because she lived in two different cultures). I stay attuned on the yoga mat!

Balance Is Life’s Answer

And Priyanka got the concept right. Balance is a healthy recipe for children growing up. But not everyone has that story theme running as a backdrop.

And in that case, you can be more hungry for what you didn’t have if and when you get a taste of it and want more… and then the balance can swing the other way (off-balance) on the pendulum until there is a counterbalance back to balance.

…So early on, I was far from knowing how to restore my imbalances (or counterbalance), so in hunger, I’m making up for in lost time 😉

These days, I choose to live calm and happy with optimal living and work towards longevity goals, over instant gratification and unsustainable desires.

I believe it all works out in the end in your confidence of knowing what you want that’s healthy. And I believe your beliefs carry you.

But that didn’t take effect until years after tasting work-life balance for the first time in my late 20s. Everything before that felt like a hard test I couldn’t pass on my own, I think.

In those days, I came to the realization that work-life balance was more important than grinding myself to the bone to meet life goals which was the opposite belief I held before then.

I had the opportunity to drop more things I had been dragging around as baggage crumbs, previously hidden under the rug.

And as years passed and experiences were gained, I realized Life can evolve into something different anyway. That can help us grow and change.

The one constant I have held onto is: time is more valuable than money. Paper is manmade and can be regenerated (and time cannot).

When I freed up mind time (letting go and surrendering old beliefs) and I started to work on myself, who I was becoming that would determine outcomes, and I noticed insecurities showed up.

Before then, insecurity was like an invisible blanket where there was a transparent veil covering.

Then unmasked, those feelings were mostly made aware to me in triggered relationship-related thoughts I had, and in those magnified situations, then I could take the opportunity to make a thought change at that moment and tell my mind who’s boss. 😊

Oh – joy… and how satisfying!

If you’re in an awareness zone or reflective season in life, then you know what I’m talking about as you evaluate your life.

And you know your thought life is changeable! You may not be good at it yet, but you know it’s possible. Yay! 🎉

Being aware is easier if you’re not so busy (and finding a few moments to reflect even if that means waking up a few minutes early but then feeling much better in your day).

With an aspired balanced lifestyle and evolved mind these days, I can work on myself, and confidence from the gains of this year and past year’s experiences. And finding Life happiness isn’t based on situations.

If balance or happiness are not natural or strong suits for you, then using a journal can be a good first step to purge thoughts and feelings.

As you reflect on this year’s end, you could make a list of all that you have accomplished including mindset shifts, attitudes, and beliefs. For starters, you probably are more patient, resilient, thankful, kind, valuing people, and less selfish (or maybe even a bit selfless).

Those traits will help you do and get more in your life!

Plus, add any tangible accomplishments. I’m sure there were A LOT more than you think in your mind at the (or this) moment.

After you’ve got them written and meditated on them, then let them go so your ego doesn’t get the better of you.

And those helpful actions will help bring healthy outcomes and changes in your life (that’ll pay dividends for the rest of your life).

And if you want to feel even better about yourself today, you could bring out your writing pad and pen or writing instrument and jot down a few extra thoughts about how you can use the changes you’ve made in the past year — for next year.

A little year-end goal-setting never hurts and can help because we know action provides clarity. You put one step in front and that provides a new experience and perspective.

And then openly see what comes up in new doors.

A good place to start is to think of an area you would like to grow in and expand by teaching or sharing with others what you know.

Whether you end up teaching or not is not the only endpoint.

It’s really just to get the action ball rolling and juices flowing. Because when you think of what you can teach, that requires you to have learned and processed what it is you want to teach.

And not knowing everything on that subject makes you better because you’re determined to learn and stay relevant.

And when you can teach others in a way they understand, then you know you’ve passed the test. You can also fine-tune and discover a deeper niche, or discover an area that you had previously dismissed (where the timing wasn’t right).

You keep pivoting and trying new things. No harm, no foul.  It’s all good. And keeps your fountain of youth. And as you persevere, you become more resilient.

And if you have moments where your feel down on yourself or your accomplishments, refer to your positive pep-self-talks (the ones in front of a mirror) and your past-year accomplishment written notes you hopefully made (or will make) from the above suggestion.

It’s easy to forget what you did this year and a few years ago as current and year-end thoughts and feelings can crowd in, so just a nudge to take those few extra minutes to take a pause.

And another note is to focus more on who you became (who you are today) and are becoming more of, and not so much on what the accomplishment means.

An example in my life is I wrote about lessons learned and ended up publishing a book that is easier to refer to than a bunch of micro-lessons. I didn’t set out to write a book but it made sense at the time.

Since then I’ve grown in other areas (that’s what growth mindset means) and I can’t go back and replace those exact thoughts in the same way, so the timing was (and is) everything.

I got the ball rolling, evolved, and am evolving…  and that’s my encouragement to you.

You did great things this year and in 2020 (a year none of us will forget) and the time leading up to then. And some are gained life skills. That can help in confidence building toward your future.

You can diversify where you use your transferrable skills in different multi-passionate areas.

…And since I’m on a multi-area roll here, another area I like to be reminded of is about making new friends online which we all can do.

We find our people out there that we wouldn’t be able to without the internet (and with or without a pandemic).

While socially distanced, it’s a healthy comforting bright spot to be in a like-minded community, and we help one another be better versions of ourselves in some ways.

It’s not the vanity photos and words that we want to show off, but the inspirations, and ideas that we want to pass on.

The contagious energy brings more love, encouragement, and support to your life and others.

…And couldn’t we all use some of that in our lives to keep us lifted up and to further optimize our aspired highest quality of living?

You matter. And in your empowerment, it’s really about you participating and sharing some bit of brightness in the world in your unique way. Your brightness shines.

And then you gain more confidence building to move forward as you’re showered back with love.

That’s one of the best gifts that you can give a stranger and they can give back as you meet more people and get to know them.

…And finally… Yes, I’m getting down to the wire…  it doesn’t hurt to take a few risks, and would probably serve you well.

When you learn something new and put a stake in the game, then you reap rewards. Part of that is in your belief about risk-reward.

This past year, I joined 4 courses and memberships. Two I’m still processing and for the other two I’m seeing the fruit and more clarity already by taking action.

That’s a 50-50 reward.

But had I not joined any of them, I’d still be in a similar “stuck” place. We just never know what will stick and what will go by the wayside.

That’s this life.

I recently learned that the business fraternity chapter I belonged to in college which was a big part of my life at the time and a “lifelong membership,” is ending this year.

I thought the Greek Alphabet classes of new members would keep extending. I had attended school with the Founding class, as I was in the Delta class (the 4th letter in the Greek Alphabet) and now it’s almost over.

And while that’s news in my life from my younger self-life… in my more recent life where I’ve been mentoring in a professional group, I know that will end one day and will be replaced by another group.

That’s a great place for me now, but like most things, that will end in the perfect time.

And, that’s why it’s best to be proactive in seeking what you want your life to be about rather than just wait and see.

Look for the good things and mask out the ones you don’t want to repeat or that can weigh you down.

Better replaces good.

We know good will happen and better can happen with us. Or another unique or great opportunity replaces that lost good happening, and that can be a lucky surprise.

However, those good happenings land in your lap, and you can focus on more evidence in your life that goodness is out there for you.

And that bit of assured confidence building (rest assured) is helping to build confidence within you, little by little.

And little by little, you can gain confidence building in small things like these healthy blueberry muffins you can make.
blueberry muffin bites.
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Healthy Blueberry Breakfast Muffins (Or Blueberry Energy Balls Pictured)

Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

  • 2-1/2 cups grits or bran flour
  • 1 cup whole wheat or AP flour
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
  • 1/4 cup honey or monkfruit sugar
  • 1 cup Greek yogurt (or 7/8 cup or 7 oz)
  • 1-1/2 cup frozen blueberries, drained
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1/2 cup oil
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder (for muffins)
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda (for muffins)

Instructions

  • Combine ingredients. Bake on 350°F for 25-30 minutes for muffins (less minutes for energy balls).
  • For energy balls, you can eliminate yogurt, eggs, baking powder, and baking soda ingredients and can use less sugar/honey for a healthy version. Cinnamon can be the primary sweetness. Naturally, when you reduce sugar, you crave less sugar as your body tastes adjust when running optimally.
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Holiday Entertainment Shows + Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Recipe

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

5 baking yoga stretches: tree pose, pigeon pose, bow pose, bridge pose, and happy baby.

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

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

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

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

Some things we can think of is:

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

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

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

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

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

You could be fighting ego or affected without awareness.

Letting go isn’t always so easy

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

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

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

After from watching, you can feel good again. 📺

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

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

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

So I’m goin’ out on a limb here…

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

And you can take my Cliff Notes version:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Great British Baking Show

Biscuits week was in the Great British Baking Show holiday entertainment show.
The show is “The Great British Bake Off” in U.K. where cookies are biscuits. The Jammie Dodgers are a British classic that was one of the technical challenges. Btw, these are not here for temptation reasons. I have a healthy carrot cake or squares recipe below for your baking holiday entertainment should you accept the baking challenge. 🥕

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

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

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

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

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

Tent Sidekick Noel announcing the challenge 😄

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

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

So now you’re all caught up!

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

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

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

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

gluten-free carrot cake

Ingredients:

1 cup grated carrots

2 eggs (room temperature)

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

1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

2 tsp lemon juice

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

1/4 cup (60 grams)  oats

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

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

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

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

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

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

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

To Your Merry Happy Holidays! 🎄

 

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Journal Ideas For Personal Growth

Journal ideas are a great way to grow in personal development.

And personalized gifts like journals with specific themes or words inside are unforgettable gifts.

I have a friend who has the gift of giving memorable personalized gifts (where she would write something nice or attach a thoughtful card).

I knew she had the gifting gift from the first gift she gave me which was a blank hard-bound Hallmark journal with heavy ivory parchment pages (that’s thicker than resume paper).

It had this popular in the day vintage book pattern, but with a mint green color. I don’t think Martha Stewart would mind me showing off one of her cookbooks I’ve held onto.

Journal Pattern Personalized Gifts

I remember my friend even said she didn’t think I would like a diary with a locket.

Looking back, journal ideas would have been different when you know it wasn’t read by someone else.

Those were the old-fashioned letter and journal writing days for memories.

Today, journal ideas on paper are good for purging emotions and a form of meditation. They are productive way to release thoughts and feelings, gain revelations, and a quiet practice to slow down.

Journal Ideas for Personal Growth

If you’re feeling stuck in life, writing in a journal or composition book… or typing thoughtful words on a computer is a great exercise to help you gain clarity.

It’s an easy action step that can give you the next breakthrough.

And you feel accomplished and calmer when you address areas of your life you may not have if left in your brain.

Journaling can be a good means to an end and help process what you haven’t figured out just yet.

Written details bring out solutions.

Gratitude Journal Ideas (#1): So one area you can start with is appreciation.

You can write a gratitude journal that lists out what you’re grateful, small and big.

So if someone showed kindness, you could write that down. And your mind will blow that up.

After then after you process or noodle through your journal ideas, thoughts, and feelings, you don’t need those in-between or bridging memories anymore.

So you could toss them out in our growing paperless world, and that can be freeing like burning a piece of clothing that you no longer wear or an old identity you were holding onto.

You can use prompts like:

I am grateful for ___________ today.

I appreciate _____________ in my life.

Revelation Journal Ideas (#2):

Reviewing your old journal writing you wrote can be eye-opening and fun.

You can laugh at life and discover who you’re becoming.

We are meant to grow and change.

You’re no longer in the process of where you were when you wrote the journal entry.

Your habits have changed and you’re in a different season.

the sadness stings or hardships have changed and hopefully lifted.

Some things you wrote could even put a smile on your face. Some are worth repeating (like re-reading) for the laughs.

And some journal ideas could be reminders for a future dream you can pickup today.

Prayer, Quotes, and Hope Journal Ideas (#3):

Using Scripture, quotes, and heartfelt mantras can be super helpful for uplifting, encouragement, and reminders that we all need.

They can get us to our next moment when situations are tough.

We can lean on others’ ideas that helped them through similar troubles that got them through.

That adds a ray of hope. 🌅

And you can use your journaling for shadow work. Sometimes we didn’t get what we needed in our past.

So we can add reminders like:

I am loved. 

I am never alone.

S.W.O.T. Journal Ideas (#4): Using the SWOT Method In Your Journaling

S.W.O.T. stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

SWOT is a tool for strategic decision-making that I learned in my later college years.

We drew a lot of grids in business school and this one I’ve used for many areas of life to slow down and make decisions without regret.

I’m more practical than impulsive, but this is also great for those who are.

When applied to a writing tool, like in journaling, it can help you to process thoughts and evaluate from a more objective (higher) point of view.

You can count the pros and cons (and probably save time and money from hiring help) to make better decisions.

It can help you slow down (to ultimately speed up) and help you avoid making a wrong choice.

You can start by thinking of what your current strengths and focuses are today.

And then, what could hold you back (weaknesses and threats) from going all in?

Sometimes you discover it’s nothing or it something you can grow and change in you… that’s the best kind of SWOT journal ideas…

Then write what opportunities you have to move forward on.

Look for answers to know where you’re headed in your destiny and next steps.

If you want to transform your life, and you don’t have a chance or want to take a radical sabbatical now, you could meditate and journal for a few minutes a day in this season that can help propel you into the next one.

Happy journaling!

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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)

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 marry salt from two food worlds.

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

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carrot ginger soup recipe.
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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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