Real Health Tips

Just thinking of a couple health tips I agree with and decided to share!

Going Barefoot

Since I was a little girl I remember I loved being barefoot, at that time my parents were living in a house with wood floors so you could find me running around barefoot as much as i pleased even outside to my mom's dismay ( i was barefoot and uncontrollable). As i got older i always choose sandals or shoes i could slip on and off easily so that i could take my feet out of confinement ASAP. I never realized as a  child that going barefoot was so beneficial to the body and has some detoxifying benefits.  The reasoning behind this is our bodies are made up of 60% water which conducts electricity and the negative charge the earth gives us can detoxify, calm, and  balance your internal systems, power up circulation and great for overall balance. Next time you're in a grassy or sandy park or a beach or even your wood floors at home try going barefoot and let your feet breathe!

Drinking Lots of water

10 years ago and i can promise you i would not be writing this post on water, I was soda's best friend. I thought water was boring and unappealing. As time would tell that view changed and i always say my favorite accessory is a bottle of water. You all know that our bodies are made up of 60% water and it has many beneficial functions including maintaining body temperature, creation of saliva, digestion and aiding in skin hydration.  If you're like me and need to wean yourself off sugar drinks start slow limiting your intake and eventually cut it out completely, sugar is addictive and can be hard to cut out of your diet but after it's gone you won't even think about it. Also jazz up your water with fresh add-inst (lemon, berries, lime, mint, cucumber)

Eating the whole Egg

It seems everywhere i look everyone is misinformed when it comes to one of the most common and heart healthy breakfast staples. So in hopes of unbrainwashing let me explain why eating the whole egg is good for you. As i mentioned fat is something that's in many  foods ( real foods even) and it's not necessarily the enemy, eggs contain essential Omega-3 fatty acids along with many B vitamins that are helpful in protein production. Curious as to whether eggs will affect your cholesterol levels? Eggs contain HDL cholesterol ( good cholesterol) that aids in lowering your LDL (bad cholesterol). Basically if you're eating a couple egg's (2-3) daily you're ok. Also for all you egg yolk haters, when you only eat the white you're missing out on half of the nutrients and because of the low amount of (good) fat it will cause your hunger levels to spike which could then lead to bad decisions in the break room. So reconsider kindly next time you want to toss out the yolk

Non restrictive eating

Cutting carbs? Cutting fat? Cutting sugar? Cutting proteins?  Don't! All of these are part of a healthy balanced diet in moderation. The key thing to remember is to keep it balanced, eat mindfully & take into consideration what you're eating. When I'm eating I try to remember this PFC; Proteins( fish, lean meats, beans, eggs,) Fats ( olive oil, nuts, grass fed organic butter, avocado, real cheese, dairy) Carbs (whole grains & veggies). Keep the sugary and processed foods at a low.

Reading the ingredient list and nutrition information

Many packaged foods make really ridiculous health claims, from low fat to hi fiber. Don't believe any of the bells and whistles of their marketing team and turn to the back to check out the nutrition facts and ingredient list. When I look at the back of packages the first thing I look for is enemies for example, trans fat and saturated fat whether it's there or not and how much ( these are the fats to avoid).  Next I look for how much sodium and how much sugar is in the packaged product, use table to gage your daily intake and to decide whether it has too much sugar or salt. Last but certainly not least I look for the friends, good stuff like protein and fiber, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Also it's important to look at ingredient lists, typically they're hard to understand but if the first item on a package of pizza rolls is soy you probably want to reconsider buying them. Just keep in mind the shorter the ingredient list the better off you probably are and most good food doesn't need to have extensive ingredient lists or even make dietary boasts. Do the apples you ate this morning boast hi fiber and low fat? probably not, why because they don't have to! Below is a nutrition label for you to use as reference it's from a popular food item ( goldfish crackers). You'll see that it has very little protein and fiber per serving, tons of sodium and trans fat ( thumbs down!) Check out this crazy ingredient list! Not sure how many smiles this will induce but i can assure you if you put together a batch of baked cheese crackers you probably wouldn't have so many ingredients on it or trans fat or saturated fat! Keep it real folks!

Try to reduce your cravings with real food, craving goldfish crackers? have a piece of cheese. want some gummy bears? have some frozen grapes or sliced strawberries. Craving a cold soda? quench your thirst with some lemon soda water or berry infused water. Craving a piece of double chocolate cake? Eat it! I know we all get our cravings and junk food is ok in moderation but they're not  foods you should keep around the house and preferably make your favorite junk food from scratch ( you should know what you're eating).  Cheers to Health and Moderation!

Trish

Saturated Fat; Friend or Foe?

I know you all read my butter blog, and if you haven't read it go ahead and do me a favor and give it a whirl (Butter Blog) .

We lived past 1999 and there was no explosive computer apocalypse as was expected and now you're about to read that new research has surfaced that saturated fat isn't as bad as previously thought to be. So before you start going crazy buying chocolate and eating cheeseburgers, let me explain why and how the SAD ( standard american diet) is lacking in said fat and needs to rearrange itself for us to be healthy and balanced individuals. Here goes nothing; A common known but dated fact is that saturated fat is evil and leads to heart disease by raising LDL ( bad cholesterol) levels, but what we didn't know is that it also contains good cholesterol (HDL) and triglycerides which are both linked to lowering heart disease and in comparison to refined carbs which raise cholesterol (LDL) and lower triglycerides two really bad things that up your risk for heart disease, saturated fat from meat and dairy isn't so bad within reason.

Now i know what you're thinking, get her to the loony bin she's telling us that we should indulge in cheese and full fat dairy and meats? Yes and No. Unfortunately due to all the diet promises that come in those brightly colored packages, were eating more processed foods, more trans fats and less real foods (basically if it doesn't go bad toss it!). Due to all the misinformation were swapping out real meat, real cheese, real dairy for real fake low fat, trans fat filled processed packaged foods.

What's a trans fat?
 well to make it easy for you it's a really bad vegetable fat that is uber processed to add shelf life and give the food the "perfect" consistency, it sounds so great but really it has no health benefits tons of sodium and sugar to make up for lost flavor of real fat that's why you usually find it in packaged processed foods. Avoid Trans fats! avoid at all costs!  If you're already avoiding trans fats good job! and if you've just started trying to avoid trans fats it can be pretty tricky they're in a lot of foods. The worst part is big food companies are allowed to boast a 0% trans fat  promise on their packages/containers if there's less than 0.5 of a gram per serving. Terrible!

My best advice is ditch  the convenient packages and if you really want those cookies make them yourself! So to debunk the myth the answer is yes you can eat saturated fat if it means you're going to kick the french toast for eggs and bacon yes it's ok on occasion, i really like center cut it's lower in saturated fat and still delicious! Am i suggesting you coat your scrambled eggs in butter and eat bowls of cheese all day then No, as much as that sounds like tons of fun! ( i myself love tons of cheese)

As I've said over and over balance is key to a good diet and that balance includes eating different types of good fats from; organic butter, olive oil, raw nuts, unheated nut oils, avocados, eggs, palm oil and even *gasp* grass fed meat so don't be so hard on yourself when it comes to saturated fat.

To balance and moderation!
Trish


For further reading
The Truth about Saturated Fats

I can't believe it's not....Margarine

Away with the margarine I say!
Hey everyone! I'm so excited to introduce you all to my old best friend, I haven't hung with him in awhile since he was sorta shunned but now everything's smooth sailing and he's part of the cool kids club, so without further ado let me introduce to you BUTTER!

Yes! and with the food porn butter pic I bring good news! The good news is that butter is actually part of a heart healthy balanced diet. Yeah, no need to check your eyes, butter is not the enemy and heres some reasons why!

1. Butter has tons of fat soluble vitamins A, E and  most importantly K2 which is pretty rare in standard diets and it aids in bone healthy and regulating calcium in our body

2. Butter has friendly saturated fat, the kind that raise HDL or (good cholesterol) 

3. Butter can lower the risk of heart disease due to vitamin K2 intake

4. Butter contains an essential fatty acid (Butyrate) that protects the digestive system 

5. It's delicious! so go ahead and use butter, within moderation always but no need to fear it any longer!

My favorite Food Rules!

It's 2013 and were all making our own resolutions for change, I myself love to eat and have a huge problem when it comes to sweets. A couple of years ago when I started making big changes in my eating habits I found a book called "Food Rules" by Michael Pollan a journalism professor at Berkeley. In his book which is super short and easy to read he lists some food rules along with accompanying explanations of each rule. Let me just say that after I read this book I became obsessed with it and I think everyone should read it,A great guide to eating simply and nutritiously. Below are the rules Mr.Pollan writes about, if you want to read the explanations I'll include a link at the end of the blog to a PDF of his book. Cheers towards A Happy and Healthy 2013!!


Food Rules

1. Eat food

2. Don’t eat anything your great‐grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food

3. Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry

4. Avoid food products that contain high‐fructose corn syrup

5. Avoid food products that have some form of sugar (or sweetener listed among) the top three ingredients

6. Avoid food products that have more than 5 ingredients

7. Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third‐grader cannot pronounce

8. Avoid food products that make health claims

9. Avoid food products with the wordoid “lite” or the terms “low fat” or “nonfat” in their names

10. Avoid foods that are pretending to be something they are not

11. Avoid foods you see advertised on television

12. Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle

13. Eat only foods that will eventually rot

14. Eat foods made from ingredients that you can picture in their raw state or growing in nature

15. Get out of the supermarket whenever you can

16. Buy your snacks at the farmers market

17. Eat only foods that have been cooked by humans

18. Don’t ingest foods made in places where everyone is required to wear a surgical cap

19. If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.

20. It’s not food if it arrived through the window of your car

21. It’s not food if it’s called by the same name in every language (Think Big Mac, Cheetos or Pringles)

22. Eat mostly plants, especially leaves

23. Treat meat as a flavoring or special occasion food

24. Eating what stands on one leg [mushrooms and plant foods] is better than eating what stands on two legs [fowl], which is better than eating what stands on four legs [cows, pigs and other mammals].

25. Eat your colors

26. Drink the spinach water

27. Eat animals that have themselves eaten well

28. If you have space, buy a freezer

29. Eat like an omnivore

30. Eat well‐grown food from healthy soil

31. Eat wild foods when you can

32. Don’t overlook the oily little fishes

33. Eat some foods that have been predigested by bacterial or fungi

34. Sweeten and salt your food yourself

35. Eat sweet foods as you find them in nature

36. Don’t eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk

37. The whiter the bread, the sooner you’ll be dead

38. Favor the kinds of oils and grains that have traditionally been stone‐ground

39. Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself

40. Be the kind of person who takes supplements – then skip the supplements

41. Eat more like the French. Or the Japanese. Or the Italians. Or the Greeks.

42. Regard nontraditional foods with skepticism

43. Have a glass of wine with dinner

44. Pay more, eat less

45. Eat less

46. Stop eating before you’re full

47. Eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored

48. Consult your gut

49. Eat slowly

50. The banquet is in the first bite

51. Spend as much time enjoying the meal as it took to prepare it

52. Buy smaller plates and glasses

53. Serve a proper portion and don’t go back for seconds

54. Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like pauper

55. Eat meals

56. Limit your snacks to unprocessed plant foods

57. Don’t get your fuel from the same place your car does

58. Do all your eating at a table

59. Try not to eat alone

60. Treat treats as treats

61. Leave something on your plate

62. Plant a vegetable garden if you have space, a window box if you don’t

63. Cook

64. Break the rules once in a while

To read the accompanying explanations click here Food Rules by Michael Pollan

S'more pie please!

With summer coming up I've been looking for different variations on s'mores. Cause who doesn't love melty chocolate, graham cracker & roasted marshmallows? Well then, for a birthday breakfast I decided to make this pie for the chocoholics & of course it was a hit! Lemme give you a teaser for a quick minute: crushed graham cracker buttery crust with a chocolate mousse creamy filling topped with a broiled marshmallow top. Howaboutit???! Super easy to make!

Pie crust

1 cup of crushed graham crackers
1/2 cup of sugar
1 stick of butter

Chocolate filling
1 1/4 cup of chocolate chips ( I used semi sweet)
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2 eggs
Teaspoon of vanilla
Pinch of salt

Mini marshmallows to top with

1. In a bowl mix graham cracker crumbs and sugar till combined.
2. Add the melted butter and mix till crumbly but pastey
3. Line pie pan with graham cracker mixture & bake for 10 min. Let cool for 10 min
4. Heat your heavy cream until boiling and add chocolate chips. Whisk until smooth.
5. In a separate bowl mix eggs, vanilla and salt.
6. Pour egg mixture into chocolate mixture and stir gently till combined.
7. Pour your chocolate mixture into your graham cracker crust & bake 20-25 min until the middle is set.
8. Let your pie cool for 10 minutes and preheat your broiler to Hi.
9. Sprinkle pie with marshmallows & broil for 1-2 minutes.
10. Let cool & serve . Refrigerate when done

Irish You a Happy St.Patrick's Day (chocolate Guinness cupcakes)

So while everyone has there own way to celebrate St.Patrick's Day; eating corned beef and cabbage, going to a pub with friends or having a party at home. What better way to celebrate than with Guinness but not only Guinness by itself...oh no this is big. While browsing for recipes i stumbled upon this one and thought what's the perfect thing to bring to a St.Patty's day potluck but these Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes with cream cheese frosting! (Baking tip- to make these giant cupcakes fill the cupcake liners full with batter!) Happy Eating!

Guinness Chococolate Cake 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup stout or porter beer, such as Guinness
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 1/2 cups superfine sugar
• 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

METHOD

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line cupcake pan with 12 paper liners

2 In a large saucepan place the beer and butter. Cook over medium-high heat until the butter has melted. Add the cocoa powder and sugars and whisk together. Take off heat and allow to come to room temperature.

3 In another bowl beat together the sour cream, eggs, and vanilla extract until very, very well combined. Add to the butter-beer mixture and whisk together.

4 In another bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the beer-butter mixture and whisk together until it just comes together. Pour into the prepared pan and give the pan a few short drops onto the countertop to shake the air pockets in the batter to the surface and out of the cake. Bake for 35-40 minutes and to prevent from overcooking let cool in cupcake pan and take out after and let cool on a rack or cookie sheet 

5 Spread frosting on the cooled cupcakes and serve.

Cream Cheese Frosting 

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), room temperature
• 8 oz of Philly cream cheese (1 package), room temperature
• 2 - 3 cups of powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

METHOD

1 With an electric mixer, mix the butter and cream cheese together, about 3 minutes on medium speed until very smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure even mixing.

2 Add the vanilla extract and mix. Slowly add the powdered sugar. Keep adding until you get to desired sweetness and thickness.

3  spoon into a piping bag to decorate your cupcakes.

Milk and Cookies

So most of you folks know that i loveeeee chocolate, as in i'm pretty sure i eat it everyday at least a little. With that said i decided to take on some double chocolate cookies, you know the kind that you take a bite and you need to scramble for a glass of milk?  the ones that are super chocolatey and rich but you can't settle with one bite. Reader meet Giant Double chocolate cookies, Giant chocolate cookies meet reader! Enjoy

Giant Double Chocolate Cookies

Yield: 12 very large cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter, cubed
1¼ cup sugar
2 large eggs
½ cup dark cocoa powder
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. coarse salt
1 tsp. baking powder
2½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar.  Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.  Blend in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed.  Mix in the cocoa powder until well blended.  Add the flour, salt and baking powder to the bowl and mix on low speed just until incorporated.  Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula.  Transfer the dough to a work surface and knead briefly by hand to be sure the ingredients are well combined.

Divide the dough into 4 ounce portions (or divide into 12 equal pieces).  Roll each portion of dough into a ball and flatten just slightly into a disc.  Place on the prepared baking sheets, a few inches apart.  Bake 16-20 minutes.  Let cool on the baking sheets 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.