Avocado...don't mind if I do!

I generally start every day with a large glass of water and a smoothie. It's my effective wake up call. If I am doing an early morning workout I eat something small made up of carbs and protein before hand, and save my smoothie for post workout. Anyway, a few of my favorite smoothie add-in's are spinach (and other dark leafy greens), chia seeds, mangoes, and really whatever fresh or frozen fruits that I might have laying around. Out of all the varieties of successful smoothies I have made (and that's been A LOT, in fact right now my daughter and I are snacking by drinking a yummy blueberry, raspberry, & coconut milk smoothie) but this smoothie recipe I'm about to share is BY FAR my favorite! It's creamy texture goes down smooth and leaves you wanting to down the entire blender's worth! The secret ingredient: AVOCADO!

Ingredients:

1 c almond milk

1 banana

1/2 avocado

1-2 tsp of cinnamon

1/2 c spinach

5-6 ice cubes

a dash of raw honey if necessary but usually my banana is ripe enough that I omit this.

Blend & serve. Garnish with a dash o' cinnamon. Serves 2.

Now as perfect as this recipe is on it's own it's also super versatile. Again I added Chia seeds to the one above, you can add rolled oats to give it a little more substance, even add your favorite nut butter (peanut and almond are both stellar) to make a peanut butter banana combination. Whatever floats your boat! Smoothies in general are excellent way to jump start your health, promote healthy digestion, and gain clean continuous energy. The liquid broken down form makes it easy for your body to instantly put those nutrients and phytochemicals to work. Obviously, you're also getting the benefits from the raw living enzymes that I've talked about here. 

Lets get a little more specific though. If you're an avocado lover like myself you'll want to tune in! 

Avocados are actually an awesome fat burning food not a fat storing food. Some people get misinformed and think that avocados are bad due to their high level of calories and unsaturated fat, but in fact it has quite the opposite effect. It's such a perfect food loaded with so much goodness that you're body can effectively utilize it all, and the extremely high fiber content plays a big role in that fat burning process. Avocados are also sometimes called the ABC fruit because of it's high amounts of all the important vitamins (A,C,E,K, & B6). That's not all though, they are also rich in riboflavin, folate, niacin, and potassium. Consuming avocados with other foods can actually improve your nutrient absorption up to 400%. AWESOME SAUCE! The Vitamin E and folate play a large roll in a happy healthy heart and reduction in risks of diseases and cancers. Do you struggle with arthritis or aches and pains? The high antioxidant levels in this fruit significantly reduce inflammation. Lastly, eating avocados regularly can help reduce signs of aging, promote healthy eyes, and regulate blood sugar and cholesterol! So seriously, don't let the calories ward you off. Calories are not created equal, and these calories are worth every bit of it. If you're not convinced yet, just try the recipe above and you'll be sold!

Living large...in the healthiest way!

Hello again! I've been on a roll lately- be proud!

Last weekend some good friends of ours came down to good ole' Toquerville to visit us. We hit up a health and wellness festival for kids in St. George at the town square splash pad. Our kids had a great time playing in the splash pad, horse playing in bounce houses, taking pictures with spider man, running obstacle courses, jumping hurdles, getting balloons animals, and eating free fruit Popsicles! WIN! However, I think the biggest win (aside from getting to spend time with them) is the very, VERY, large present they brought us, freshly picked from her mothers garden!

Our present is as big as Miss Ry! And if you were wondering what the heck that is...it's a monster sized Summer Squash!

As excited as I was to get this I was at a loss as to what I could make with THAT MUCH SQUASH! I've made several butternut squash and sweet potato soups lately so I wasn't feeling soup. Prior to our friends visit we had planned on making eggplant "Parmesan" for dinner one night this week...well why not substitute a monster summer squash in place of the eggplant. DONE, DONE, AND DONE! I know I'm a genius! But wait... how do Vegans eat anything 'Parmesan'? I'm not really down with eating overly processed fake soy cheeses except on a rare occasion- so I left out any kind of cheese substitute all together and used nutritional yeast for that extra umphh! I was so excited that it actually worked. I didn't miss the cheese one bit- it rocked!

Ingredients:

40 oz marinara sauce (I used white linen collection all natural marinara from Costco, yumm)

1 very large summer squash, or a couple regular summer squash, or eggplant

2 Tbsp of Olive oil

2 c plain almond or soy milk

1 c wheat flour

1 c breadcrumbs

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp Italian seasoning

2 tbsp nutritional yeast plus more for topping

pepper to taste

Directions: 

• Cook 1 package whole wheat spaghetti according to the package. Peel and half the squash...scoop out the seeds, and slice up one half of squash about an inch thick. 
• Combine bread crumbs, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and pepper into a flat bottomed bowl or Tupperware container, pour wheat flour in a separate container, pour milk into a third container.
• Put oil in pan over medium heat. Dip a slice of squash in milk, then in flour, then back in the milk, then dowse in breadcrumb mixture, and place in pan. Continue this process until all squash are breaded. Cook side 1 for about 5 minutes then flip and cook the other side for another 5 minutes, then remove from heat and set aside.
• Drain noodles and place them in a glass baking dish. Toss about half of your jar of marinara sauce in with the noodles. Arrange your breaded squash on top like so.

• Add remainder of the sauce on top of the squash and then top with additional nutritional yeast to taste as seen below. The rest of my family demanded cheese, so my servings were on the left. 

Seriously though, I did not miss the cheese AT ALL.

• Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes. Serve and enjoy.

My serving!MMMM!

This recipe is not difficult but the breading part takes time. It takes about an hour from start to finish to make this dish, but oh man is it worth it. Again any vegetable can be used on top. Use your favorite sauce, add your favorite seasonings to your breadcrumbs, and you've got one flavorful gourmet meal. We got up at 5am and ran this morning so the carbs from last night sure helped fuel my run! 

Check out the health benefits of consuming squash in my previous post.

That squash is literally larger than life, I served 6 people and still only used half of that squash.
Any ideas of what to do with the other half?! I'd love to hear your favorite squash recipe!

Until next time...eat clean, train mean, live lean!

The chickpea.

Who likes chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans)?!

 If you don't then we can't be friends, sorry! JUST KIDDING... kind of.

Up until a couple months ago, the only thing I knew about chickpeas was they're used in hummus. Which was totally cool because I love me some hummus! My cousin posted a recipe online one time for sweet potato hummus- OHH EMM GEEE. Bake a sweet potato, blend with chickpeas, tahini, & add seasonings and viola. I'm salivating just thinking about it, and I happen to have a leftover sweet potato in my fridge from the other night, I see that in my future....Anyways I'm getting crazy distracted...back to the point. I'm learning the true versatility of chickpeas now that I'm experimenting with new vegan recipes. If you've never roasted chickpeas...it's a must try. Toss them in a little oil, salt, & pepper, or honey and cinnamon, whatever, and munch away. Awesome snack. I roasted the chickpeas for this upcoming recipe and my 2 year old wouldn't stop eating them, so I threw some in a bowl for her and let her go to town. Then I threw the rest in my salad recipe posted below for lunch and got my delicious dose of protein. 

Peach-mango chickpea salad

Ingredients:

3-4 c Romain lettuce- chopped

1 cucumber-seeded, diced

1/4 c banana peppers

1 red pepper- chopped

1 mango- diced

2 peaches

1/2 onion-chopped

3 Tbsp cilantro- chopped

2 cups chickpeas-drained & rinsed

a touch of oil, 1 clove minced garlic, salt, pepper, and chili powder

Directions:

Toss olive oil, salt, pepper, and chili powder evenly over chickpeas, and roast on a baking sheet for about 35-45 minutes, tossing every 10 minutes or so.

While your chickpeas are roasting, chop up all your remaining fruits and veggies (except peaches) and toss in bowl. De-seed the peaches, throw in a blender and puree. Once chickpeas are done, toss them in with the salad and evenly coat the salad with your peach puree. THAT'S IT!!! 

I added a little salt, pepper, and chili powder on top (my chili powder is a couple months old and losing it's boldness which is why I added a little more, roasting the chickpeas in a little Cayenne pepper would do the trick too). 

This was yesterdays amazing lunch, so fresh, and sweet, with a touch of spice. MMM. Yesterday was my husbands birthday and he requested fish tacos for dinner (obviously he hasn't caught on to the vegan lifestyle, but he's a good sport and doesn't complain when I make my vegan meals for dinner- mostly because there is nothing to complain about because they're delicious). So we made him his tacos and I had leftover chickpea salad on a whole wheat tortilla for dinner. It was just as good the second time around!!

Chickpea benefits:   1 cup of chickpeas contain 29% of recommended daily value of protein. They are one of the best sources of molybdenum, fiber, manganese, and folate. And don't forget the copper, zinc, phosphorus, and iron that they carry. That all sounds good but what does that mean? Their high fiber content aids in digestion, regulates insulin secretion and blood sugar levels, lowers cholesterol, and keeps you satisfied longer. Molybdenum is a trace mineral that is needed in chemical processes within the body like to detoxify sulfites (a common preservative), iron utilization, etc. Manganese, folate, iron, phosphorus, copper etc all work together to help keep our bones, muscles, and brain healthy and strong. 

Taste the real rainbow!

I love colors! More specifically, I love the colors of nature! I love the pinks and oranges during a beautiful sunset, I love green grass (and seeing as I live in the desert I have that much more appreciation for it), I love multi colored tulips in the spring, and I LOVE fruits and vegetables of allll varieties and colors. They are wonderfully beautiful. Not only are they so fun but they are oh so good for you. I'm sure (or at least I hope) you've all heard the importance of eating a colorful plate. Each different color of fruits and vegetables contains unique health components (in the form of antioxidants and other nutrients) that obviously are vital to our own health. By incorporating as many colors in your every day diet as possible, you are increasing the different types of nutrients you are getting, which ensures you are getting ALL the things your body needs to stay strong and healthy. 

Examples:

*Red fruits and veggies- contain large amounts of nutrients such as lycopene and ellagic acid which reduce risks of cancers, lowers blood pressure, and eases arthritis.

*Orange & yellow- get their color from rich amounts of beta carotene, flavanoids, vitamin C and other nutrients. These work at boosting that immunity, fighting off cancers and harmful free radicals, lowering both cholesterol and blood pressure, while builds healthy bones and joints.

*Green- contain chlorophyll, fiber, calcium, beta carotene, etc. which aid in digestion, promotes healthy eyes and vision, and boosts immune system activities.

*Blue & purple- contain lutein, vitamin C, fiber, ellagic acid, and more. These help improve calcium and nutrient absorption, wards off cancer growth especially in the digestive tract, lowers cholesterol, fight inflammation, and boosts immunity.

Am I the only one fascinated by the perfectness of this? Why take daily vitamins when everything you need is all right here...together they work in perfect harmony to provide your body with everything it needs to function happily. If I catch myself eating a lot of certain colors I'll make a point to switch it up a bit on my next grocery trip so that my family has that balance!

So my new favorite super colorful meal is.....wait for it....THAI CURRY! I love the versatility of this dish...seriously, vegetable wise, ANYTHING goes. This was my first time ever making my own curry, and it was absolutely a success. 

Ingredients:

1-2 Tbsp of coconut oil

1 zucchini-sliced

1 c carrots-sliced

1/4 an onion-sliced

1 red pepper-sliced

1 green pepper- sliced

1 c thin frozen green beans-broken up

1 tbsp garlic- minced

basil (to taste)

salt & pepper (to taste)

2 c So Delicious coconut milk beverage (canned coconut milk with some water would work too)

1/3 c almond butter

2.5 Tbsp of Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste (this gave it medium temperature, adjust to get the amount of spice you like)

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground tumeric

1 tsp ground mustard seed

2 tsp curry powder (or more to taste)

1 tsp lemon juice

2 c of cooked brown rice

Directions:

Cook your rice (I did this in the rice cooker).

 1) Toss the first set of ingredients (your coconut oil, veggies, herbs), into a pot over medium heat and cook for about 7 minutes. 

2)Add second set of ingredients and simmer for another 10 minutes until flavors are well blended- taste test to ensure you have as much or as little spice as you'd like.

3) Once your rice is done top it with your vegetable curry sauce and devour. 

Step 1
Isn't it beautiful?!

Step 2

Step 3
I garnished mine with a few green onions

Simple enough right?! 

Summer is quickly coming to a close, Parker is starting kindergarten and I'm beginning to panic.  I want to enjoy these last few moments of summer by eating healthy, and being active. WHO IS WITH ME?!?! Get outdoors, enjoy nature, and the beautiful colors that surround it. 

Simply-Healthy-Spaghetti

The other day I was driving home from the park with the kids, and as I was approaching our house, one of our neighbors had a sign up advertising free squash with large bucket filled with a variety of large squashes. Squash grows abundantly out here, so why not give away what you can't eat yourself. SO I slammed on my breaks, pulled over and grabbed two of these bad boys. 

I FELT LIKE I WON THE LOTTO! One of my all time favorite meals, that can easily be kept vegan, fresh from a local garden, for free... c'mon does it get better than that?? For those of you who might be unfamiliar with this type of squash, it is called spaghetti squash. Why is it called spaghetti squash? Well, because, once cooked it makes a very convincing (and very delicious) spaghetti replacement. 

I don't think I mentioned how simple of a meal spaghetti squash is, it's pretty hard to mess up. The hardest part comes first. So for starters you'll need the biggest baddest knife you have, and you'll need gun power as well, perhaps warm up with a few push ups ;) Take that beastly knife and your beastly biceps and carefully cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise (as pictured above). Once you finish that struggle the rest is a breeze. Scoop out seeds with spoon. Rub the inner flesh down with just a little olive oil (cooking spray works fine too), and place on an aluminum foil lined cookie sheet exterior skin up. 

Then proceed to place it in a 400 degree preheated oven. Set timer for 45 minutes. While the squash is in the oven start making your favorite spaghetti sauce. Since I was cooking 2 spaghetti squashes and feeding 6, I used the following ingredients to make my home run veggie sauce (if you're only feeding 4, usually 1 large squash will be enough and you might want to half my sauce recipe).

1 24oz can of chunky vegetable pasta sauce

1 15oz can of plain all natural tomato sauce

1 small onion-chopped

1 zucchini or yellow squash-chopped

1 bell pepper-chopped

1 tomato-chopped

1-2 tbsp of garlic-minced

1 tbsp of olive oil

dried basil, oregano, parsley, salt & pepper to taste.

Directions: Chop veggies of choice (mine as listed above but feel free to add carrots or make exchanges to suit your preferences), and toss them along with your oil and garlic into a pot and saute together over medium heat until onions are translucent. Add your cans of tomato & pasta sauce along with your dried seasonings, salt, and pepper. Let cook another 5-10 minutes over medium heat, stirring often, then allow it to simmer on low and flavors to blend until your squash is ready. Don't forget to check on your sauce and stir it occasionally while it simmers. Once your squash is ready take it out of the oven, flip them over. Take a fork and scoop out the insides onto plate. It will be stringy and look a little something like this:

Top with your sauce, and this is what you'll get!

So so good...and you can eat it without feeling in the least bit guilty but still satisfied, seeing as one cup of spaghetti squash is only about 42 calories but is rich in dietary fiber and complex carbs. They are super loaded with all the necessary vitamins and minerals. It's nutritional values are very comparable to that of summer squash so you can find out specifics on the benefits of squash here in one of previous blog posts.

Feel free to try diffrent sauces as well, pesto and grilled vegetables would be a delightful spaghetti squash topping as well!

One more bonus: KIDS LOVE IT TOO...easiest way to hide veggies is in spaghetti sauce! And when you trick them into thinking they're eating really cool noodles, but in reality it's even MORE veggies...it's hard to go wrong!

We all know what they say about beans!

Okay, so I've been back in the kitchen full swing this past week and I can't wait to share my many successes with you guys. I wish I could post them all in a single post, but I need you guys to keep coming back for more, right?! 

So far my vegan experience has been wonderful. Because I have fully committed, without any marginal room for errors, it makes it a whole lot easier to resist processed foods and desserts (seeing as most pastries, ice creams, frozen yogurts, cookies, etc contain both dairy milk, and eggs). That's not to say that you can't make your own tasty & healthy vegan desserts. My calorie count has naturally declined by excluding those rare high fat, high caloric desserts, that I'd very occasionally indulge in. I have also cut out cheese which was another food that I commonly threw in my salads and dishes that very quickly jumped up my calorie & fat counts. BUT with resisting all these foods and cutting out all meat I am super surprised to say that I have not missed any of this..at all. I have yet to feel hungry, tired, or have any crazy unbearable craving for any of the foods that I have cut out.

 How can that be possible?

Well, I believe this is the case because with cutting that stuff out, I have upped my emphases on making sure I am getting enough of the things my body really needs and replaced those unnecessary calories with vital ones. Example: by cutting out even more processed foods has left me with no choice but to incorporated more fresh produce (as if I wasn't eating a lot already), so my body is very efficiently being fueled because of the body's natural ability to break down and utilize plant based foods. So as "extreme" as veganism sounds, it is actually very compatible and natural for the human body. And as I briefly mentioned in my previous post, getting enough plant based protein is high priority, since I do a lot of running and weight training. A no-brainer way to get your protein punch and a mouthful of flavor is beans and rice. Beans and Rice in unison makes a complete protein. So I threw together a concoction that is definitely a keeper. My kids cleaned their plates, and then kept asking for seconds and thirds as the night progressed. The Olympics had kept us all up past our bed time and as 10 o' clock was approaching we were heading downstairs to finally get the kids to bed and both kids start asking for their 3rd helping of rice. This might have been a tactic to try to stay up later, but either way they scarfed it down time and time again.  It has a touch of heat to it but if my kids can handle it over and over, so can you!

Spicy black beans and rice

Ingredients: 

2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 tbsp garlic, minced

dried bay leaves (chopped or whole)- optional

1 tbsp ground cumin

2 c. brown rice (I used part brown, part wild)

2 (14 oz) cans of black beans (I used a Cuban variety) -drained and rinsed

1 or 2 (14 oz) cans of Rotelle diced tomatoes with green chile's-drained

3 c. vegetable broth

1 c. water

1/4 c. apple cider vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Place oil, garlic, pepper, bay leaves, and cumin in large pot over medium-high heat and cook for about 8 minutes. (use 2 cans of rotelle for more spice, or stick to 1 for mild spice)

Stir in rice, black beans, rotelle, broth, water, vinegar, salt, & pepper. Bring to a boil, then cover with lid and reduce the heat to low. Let it cook, stirring occasionally, for about 40 minutes or until rice is tender. Eat it up! 

You can replace the vegetable broth with all water, but the veggie broth just adds a little extra umph. To make my veggie broths I usually use "Better than bouillon organic vegetable base" found in a little 8 oz jar, and you just add 1 tsp of the base per 1 c. of water. It's delicious. I pretty much cook all my rice in this broth no matter what I'm making.

Stay tuned for more smoothie, spaghetti squash, chick pea salad, and snack recipes that I have experimented with this week!

Simply. Healthy. Nikki signing out.

Summer extravaganza!

I know, I know, I disappeared yet again. Ooof, life, tis' a whirl wind. I have actually been hesitant to post because, well, I've been reading a new book called "The China Study" which has actually majorly altered a lot of my nutritional values. It's like thinking the world is flat your entire life and then finding out that it's actually round. Yeah, that major. I'll explain.

When I was 16 I went vegetarian, partially because of animal rights, partially because of the health benefits that I had researched, and partially because, well I wanted to be different. It didn't last terribly long however, because I wasn't fully invested, and I really didn't know what I was talking about. My scarce research wasn't enough to sustain my erratic naive decision. Twinkies are a vegetarian food, but that doesn't make them good for you...I was too uneducated. When I did decide to start eating meat again, I made a choice to only eat lean meats, aka chicken and turkey. And that decision stayed with me, up until now. BUT NOW, oh man, I'm switching it all up. Doing something I've never done, because I've learned something that I never knew, and most of America doesn't know. I'm going Vegan.

RIGHT?!?!?!? NIKKI ARE YOU LOSING YOUR MIND??? I ask myself this frequently, however, I feel very confident in my educated decision. At least you can understand why I've been reluctant to blog. This is new to even myself, how do I continue to blog on nutrition when what I was taught about healthy eating is now being proven to be a major part of the growing cancer rates in our society. "The China Study" is one of the most comprehensive & thorough nutritional research studies done to date, an entire 27 year long research project headed up by Dr. Campbell. Ironically enough, it has some of the most provocative results. To get real solutions, you need real research, using reasonable statistics, funded by un-biased sources, and time. That's exactly what was done. It has been shown repetitively that 'case-in', the protein that is predominantly found in animal products, has the ability to literally turn on and off the growth of cancer. We aren't talking about consuming astronomical amounts of case-in, we are talking about just consuming 20% of  your caloric intake from animal products can create the on switch for extreme cancer growth. Did you know that Americans are easily consuming more that 20% daily? And when they tested high amounts of plant based protein they have NO cancer growth. I'm just barely scraping the surface of what the book entails, and the type of research that has been done. I highly advise reading it if you want more thorough answers. He left no rock unturned in my eyes, but feel free to read it for yourself and come to your own conclusions. Dr. Campbell was raised on an animal farm, consuming high amounts of fresh animal by-products daily, and grew up with the same understanding that I had, that animal protein is complete and necessary for proper growth and nutrition. If what I am saying is true, and everything we have learned about drinking our milk and eating our meat is fallacy, wouldn't you want to know the facts? You can find out more about The China Study here.

Whew, anyways..now that you guys are all ready to send me hate mail and unsubscribe, let me prove to you that Vegan food can be scrumptious and still simple. Even if you have no intention of ever going vegan there are still recipes on here for you (perhaps just making a meatless Monday, to reduce your carbon footprint and amount of casein consumed, would work for you), and I will show you ways of getting adequate amounts of plant based and complete protein. This blog will still be loaded with fun applicable nutritional facts, motivation, and exercises!

 We just got back from a little summer vacation to the grand canyon. OHH, EMMM, GEEEEE, was it INCREDIBLE! My little darlings LOVED camping, and I LOVED hiking and exploring such an enormous and flawless geographical landmark. I don't think I ever fully understood the term "breathtaking" until now.

 I mean who wouldn't LOVE to run along the rim while the sun is rising, or a yoga session in the woods completely surrounded by natures goodness (deer and elk were everywhere, they walked right up to our campsites- so cool)!

While camping I indulged in vegan hot dogs over the open fire, vegan oatmeal bake in the dutch oven (almond milk, vanilla, honey, bananas, blueberries, and oats), vegan approved homemade granola for our hikes, and lots of fruits and PB & J! Life was good...I didn't ever want to leave. But reality must return. Needless to say this vacation really got me in the summer mood. What better way to celebrate summer than with a summer squash pasta dish?! Plus, I had a box of quinoa based pasta I was dying to try.

Summer Squash Pasta

Ingredients:

4 summer squash, sliced thin

1/2 medium onion, sliced

2 TBSP of minced garlic

2 tomatoes, diced

3 TBSP olive oil

1 8 oz box of pasta of choice (I used the Quinoa Rotelle pasta as pictured above)

Parsley, basil, oregano, salt, & pepper to taste

Directions:

Boil pasta according to package. 

Saute squash, onions, and garlic in oil, in pan over medium heat for about 5 minutes, then add tomatoes, and seasonings, and cook for an additional 5 minutes or so until tomatoes are heated and soft, and squash and onions are translucent. Toss in drained cooked pasta, add additional oil and seasonings to taste if needed.

Simple enough, right? Enjoy!

Fun facts about summer squash: 1 cup of squash is only about 30 calories, contains relatively no fat or cholesterol, but is rich in protein, beta-carotene, and vitamin C. It also contains magnesium, fiber, vitamin A, iron, copper, riboflavin, folate, and phosphorus. What does that mean? It means it promotes a healthy heart, healthy eyes, strong bones, and strong immunity. Oh and it's particularly rich in potassium too which keeps your fluid levels balanced and provides energy to muscles. 

How are you processing all of this? Let me know what you think! Feedback always welcome!