Summer Break

Summer is a great time for seasonal fruits and veggies! The prices drop on summer produce because it's in season and more available! I found this great article I wanted to share with you so you can keep your favorite fruits and vegetables all year long! Since this article is not mine I wanted to link it so you can look at and possibly refer back to this great website!

http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/preserving-tastes-summer?page=0,0

Make sure you check out the Cook link for some great summer recipes to try out!

I will try and post consistently but my world has flipped upside down with my husband being hospitalized for a week and now having to do care at home for a while, so I don't make any promises to consistent posts but I promise to try and post helpful and healthy info through out the summer months!

Remember to make healthy choices this summer and drink plenty of water!

Daniel 2:21

He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding;

Accountablilty

There is something to be said for having someone hold you accountable for your goals or lifestyle. I am sharing this video with you because I haven't been sleeping well at all with a lot of new things and changes happening I can't get my brain to shut down and I have been getting to sleep between 2am and 4am and waking up between 7am and 8am... so that isn't much sleep! I like to go to classes and personal trainers when possible because it's just easier or more motivational sometimes to have someone just tell you what to do when you are working out. I have a great friend who has a great friend who has become our personal trainer once a week. He kicks our butts and we love him for it because we really notice a difference when we leave (and for a few days after). I asked our personal trainer to take video of my workout yesterday because frankly I didn't want to be there... I wanted to sleep (as if that was possible after my almost 4 year old woke up) or just lay around BUT I had an appointment with my friend and the personal trainer so that got me there. Accountability=Action

I encourage you to watch this video and try out some of these awesome workouts and if you get nothing from that at least find one person that can hold you accountable and possibly workout with you to help you maintain that healthy, fitness lifestyle!

Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. -Proverbs 27:17 ESV

Ginger

So it's getting into the summer months and things are busier than ever! I have a new job (I'm a Princess, it's pretty awesome!) So forgive my last two weeks without a post but life happens and I just gotta roll with it! Also I have a personal trainer Friday Mornings so that takes up some of my Friday time! BUT HEY it's Food and Fitness Friday so it's all good!

I wanted to talk about one of the most amazing roots you can find an incorporate into your diet: Ginger! No, not that red head you know (my husband is a red head so I had to get cheesy). It's a great cleansing root.

Food Matters lays out 10 awesome benefits of Ginger:

1. Haven’t been feeling hungry? Eat fresh ginger just before lunch to stoke a dull appetite and fire up the digestive juices.

2. Ginger improves the absorption and assimilation of essential nutrients in the body.

3. Ginger clears the ‘microcirculatory channels’ of the body, including the pesky sinuses that tend to flare up from time to time.

4. Feeling airsick or nauseous? Chew on ginger, preferably tossed in a little honey.

5. Can’t stop the toot-a-thon? Gas—oops—guess what?! Ginger helps reduce flatulence!

6. Tummy moaning and groaning under cramps? Munch on ginger.

7. Reeling under joint pain? Ginger, with its anti-inflammatory properties—can bring relief. Float some ginger essential oil in your bath to help aching muscles and joints.

8. Just had surgery? Chewing ginger post-operation can help overcome nausea.

9. Stir up some ginger tea to get rid of throat and nose congestion. And when there’s a nip in the air, the warming benefits of this tasty tea are even greater!

10. Bedroom blues? Try adding a gingery punch to a bowl of soup. (Psst...the Ayurvedic texts credit ginger with aphrodisiac properties)

THEN they give us some practical ways to use it:

1. Ginger & Herb Rice

Cook basmati rice. When you take the lid off the pan, quickly stir in finely chopped garlic, ginger, green chilies and fresh cilantro leaves—the burst of flavor and fragrance will drive your senses crazy with desire!

2. Ginger In Your Juice

‘Grate’ idea: grate some ginger root and put it in your juicer, along with carrots and apples and a little lemon juice. Totally yummy and, of course, so good for you!

3. Gingery Dessert

Even a smidgen of grated ginger on your vanilla panna cotta or strawberry sorbet can wake up the flavor!

Personally I use it more often it tea. I shred it up into a mug, throw a tbsp of raw honey and a few shakes of cinnamon and run my Kureg and let it steep, then drink away. 

It has many more benefits than 10, such as help with weight loss, relieves tired muscles, helps your body absorb nutrients, helps with arthritis, inflammation and circulation. It does SO much more but I recommend making this apart of your regular diet especially if you are trying to loose weight.

Psalm 31:19

Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!

Hide the Veggies

I have been getting a lot of people asking how they can get their husbands and kids on board with the veggies and that is a great question!

Simple answer. Hide the crap out of them! They will never know vegetables are in their foods! Easiest foods to do this with are spaghetti sauce, smoothies, and meatloaf.

Puree peas, spinach and carrots into spaghetti sauce. Throw it in a pot while it's warming up and stir Wal-Ah!* Side note switch to Quinoa Noodles and your husband and kids will not be able to taste the difference AND they look like regular noodles!

Smoothies are easy, put a about 1/4 of a beet into the smoothie or juice it if you have a juicer. Throw in bright red berries and a handful of spinach, even broccoli again they will be none the wiser!

Meatloaf, chop up carrots, onion, bell peppers, spinach, kale, you name it (as long as it's finely chopped) and throw it in the meatloaf mix and bake as you normally would. (Make sure to use organic ketchup that is made without high fructose corn syrup, trust me they make it).

Fries! What kids doesn't love fries!?! Make homemade sweet potato and carrot fries! Cut like fries and drizzle with olive oil salt and possibly chili powder paprika and pepper depending on your kids tastes and bake. (Pinterest has lots of recipes and again make sure to use organic ketchup that is made without high fructose corn syrup).

Wilt and finely chop spinach up and mix into shredded cheese before grilling.

Another idea for your kids is start a garden and let them help. Studies show that kids that helped in a garden more than doubled their intake of vegetables.






Once you have hidden them successfully a few times tell them what they have been eating and MAYBE (at least your husband) will have a change of heart toward the veggies, or just keep hiding them and come up with more creative ideas as you go!

Genesis 2:8
And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.

Glazed Pecans and Summer Salad

I created a video blog for you today:




Pecan's are full of antioxidants that help prevent heart disease, More than 19 vitamins and minerals. The have proteins, fiber, no sodium and no cholesterol. They actually can help lower cholesterol and help with weight loss because they increase the metabolic rate in your body. They have heart healthy fats, so no transfat! Over all it is just an amazing nut and a great idea to consume a few handfuls daily. (http://www.seedguides.info/pecans/)

Also this is the brand I choose to buy for coconut sugar and they list out it's benefits on the website.

1 tiny thing I forgot to mention in the video is about the salad I make constantly, it goes great with crumbled goat cheese!

And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:11,12 ESV).

It's FRIDAY again!

It's Friday again... SO SOON!

This week I wanted to get in touch with the fitness side of Food and Fitness Friday. Tomorrow I am doing a Survivor Mud Run! Some people think I am crazy, but I love the challenge of an obstacle course! It's not boring! That is the biggest thing for me, it's FUN! I am competitive (if you know me you are so laughing right now and saying "psht that is putting it lightly") with others but mostly against myself. I strive to be better and live up to my standards. Switchfoot has a line in a song "This is your life, are you who you wanna be?" and that song speaks to me. AM I who I want to be? Are YOU who you want to be? If the answer in no then you need to find out what that person is for you. Once you find out what that person is (all aspects) you can start working on getting there.

Tomorrow I am going to face the race with the challenge of the obstacles one at a time! I will commit to doing my best on each obstacle and continue to give it my all on each obstacle. I have done a few of these and I always feel awesome after! I have come so far in my journey of health and to actually complete a 5k obstacle is rewarding! I try to not stop running even if that means I run super slow, the point is to not quit! Remember I am challenging myself, competing with myself. When I do that, I always do better and more. The whole mindset around it gets and keeps you going. Negative thoughts have no room when I am challenging myself!

So you think I am crazy for doing this, but I plan on doing the "Wipe Out" run called ROC (Ridiculous Obstacle Course) in September! I really don't like running that much, even though I am not bad at it so these obstacle courses are great because I get so much workout with cardio! This is also a test of my body strength; for all the past months I have been working out and lifting weights! I can't wait to see how I do!

This Friday I really want to encourage you to ask yourself if you are who you want to be physically and mentally. I want you to make a plan and list all the fitness activities you want to try and find what motivates you and what challenges you to challenge yourself. What do you want to be AWESOME at? Now go make it happen and stop putting it off because 3 months from now you will still be the same or worse if you don't start at all.

(I am the one on the left at last years Rugged Maniac)

Philippians 4:13

English Standard Version (ESV)

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

The "Gross"-ery Store

Hello All,

I am back from my vacation visiting my best friend in Omaha, NE, which is why last Friday you also saw no post. While there I discovered a few things I hadn't thought of too much while living here in California. Now, if you know me you know I am not a fan of California for the most part but it has been brought to my attention that it has at least one positive thing going for it and that is the availability of fresh produce and other food items, and lots of health food stores and farmers markets that last most of the year. I wanted to touch on that today, as I know many of my readers live in Wyoming and other states that get cold winters and have small towns. Your grocery stores... you know the chain grocery stores by Kroger and such suck... flat out. I went shopping in two different stores in Omaha and was mortified! I had forgotten just how bad regular grocery stores are. I went to a Bakers and Fareway and I couldn't find hardly anything that was healthy, non-gmo, or pesticide free. They both had the smallest organic sections I had ever seen and I spent a fortune on the measly stuff I did find that was actually food! I asked the meat department if they had any cage free or vegetarian fed chicken, and with almost a laugh the man working said "um, no". I felt gross just shopping there! Seriously I thought about the millions and millions of people in the United States eating food like products, and not food. I looked around at the people shopping there and it occurred to me that almost all of them were overweight and I see why! I don't mean to judge people because if you want to buy that stuff then you have every right to do so, but I am truly ashamed at our lack of knowledge and responsibility in this country!

So what can you do? Well my friend had no idea what a health food store was or where one was so of course I hopped on the computer and found farmers markets (that didn't open until May or June because it's Nebraska and cold so farming things has a season) and a Natural Grocers Store the had organic produce! Not just a tiny selection of half rotting fruits or veggies! The spices were according to my friend amazing and she fell in love with this store and guess what!?! It probably cost less because they didn't have the waste factor, because people actually buy it! There is a difference between a health food store and a grocery store so google "Health food stores in________" and fill in the blank with your city or town.

There are also things called bountiful baskets and other programs for people that don't have as much selection as other states. http://www.bountifulbaskets.org click and see if it's in your neighborhood. Another place to look is http://www.localharvest.org, that site gives you food co-ops, csa's, farmers markets, stores and other helpful links to healthy food in your area. Check out amazon, and other online sites that will mail or deliver you healthier options and stop caving to the grocery stores and big industry selling you hardly food items that harm you, cost them very little to make and give them big gains (which I would have no problem with if they didn't spend tons of time and marketing to lie to us about the "food" we consume).
www.znaturalfoods.com

www.livesuperfoods.com

www.mynaturalmarket.com

www.longevitywarehouse.com

www.sacredchocolate.com

I have learned to LOVE grocery shopping, but not at the chain grocery stores. Learn to love shopping, save money on the good stuff and don't end up paying for cheap food now and having prescriptions and hospital bills out the wazoo later. Feed your body don't deprive it with junk "food".

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2).