Tag: healthy

The Secret to Developing & Maintaining a Healthy Morning Routine

A couple of days ago, I posted a photo on my Instagram account along with a caption about morning routines. My morning routine is so important to me— it sets the tone for my day. If I wake up late, my routine is destroyed, and I never seem to fully recover from it. Everything just feels off for the remainder of the day. BUT, if I wake up on time and get through my morning tasks, I feel accomplished and ready to take on the world.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about my morning habits. I’m not sure why I’m suddenly so intrigued by my own daily routines as well as the routines of others. Maybe I find it so interesting because we are all creatures of habit, and we do so many of the same tasks over and over.

Think about your own daily routine, and you’ll be shocked by how many of the same things you did yesterday. Given that there is so much repetition in our lives, doesn’t it make sense that the tasks that we repeat should bring us joy and health and a sense of accomplishment?

As you assess your own routine, ask yourself if you are happy with your habits. Do they reflect the actions of the person you want to be? If not, don’t worry. You can create new habits, starting with a morning routine that makes you feel proud and healthy. It’s not as difficult as you may think. I’ll teach you the secret to create a long-lasting, healthy morning routine.

Let’s start by taking a look at my own routine. Here is what I did this morning:

1. I opened my eyes at 5:45 am.

2. Brushed my teeth, washed my face, put my hair in a ponytail.

3. Put on exercise clothing.

4. Went to the kitchen and poured myself a glass of room temperature water and squeezed a lemon wedge into it.

5. Turned on a 30-minute exercise DVD at 6 am.

6. Lifted weights at 6:30 am.

7. At 7 am, I poured myself another glass of water and took my pre-breakfast supplements.

8. Packed a lunchbox for my son.

9. At 7:15 am, I went upstairs, woke the kids, and helped pick out my son’s clothes.

10. Headed back down to the kitchen and made pancakes with fruit for the kids.

11. Served the kids breakfast at 7:40 am.

12. While the kids ate, I steamed my kale, heated my vegetable soup, and dissolved my miso paste in a cup of water.

13. Sat down with the kids around 7:50 am to eat my own breakfast.

14. At 8:10 am, I measured all of my daughter’s medications and used the opportunity to take the rest of my supplements.

15. At 8:20 am, I sent my son off to school and told my daughter to bring her homeschooling books down to the dining room to work. As she did that, I went to my bedroom to get changed for the day.

Assessing the list
There are 15 items on today’s list. Guess how many items were on yesterday morning’s list? That’s right. 15. Sure, the kids’ breakfast might be a bit different from day to day, and the exercise DVD may change, but for the most part, I did the exact same things! Who knew I was such a creature of habit?

I found myself wondering why I do all of these things, and how I managed to convince myself to do all of these things each morning. The answer to the “why” portion of the question is quite simple. These tasks keep me feeling healthy, motivated and accomplished. And the answer to the “how” part of the question? Preparation. I cannot stress this enough. Preparation is the secret to creating such habits.

Preparation is the answer.
I cannot wake up in the morning and make pancakes (from scratch) for my kids and then also manage to make my steamed kale and a pot of fresh miso soup, too. It’s just not happening. But with a bit of preparation the night before, it’s possible.

Last night before going to bed, I mixed all of my dry pancake ingredients in one bowl and left it on my counter. I mixed all of my wet ingredients into another bowl and put that bowl into my fridge. This morning, I mixed the two bowls of ingredients together and had pancakes on the table in less than 10 minutes.

Without preparation, brown rice-flaxseed pancakes on a weekday morning would be impossible. WITH preparation, the pancakes are guaranteed. If you prepare the batter ahead of time, you will not fail to produce the pancakes. Do you see the beauty in that statement?

Preparation guarantees action, or at least increases the probability of success. This is why I take the time to make a big pot of vegetable soup on the weekends. I want to increase the probability that I will start my day with vegetables. It’s also why I wash and chop my greens as soon as I get home from the supermarket. I always have piles of kale or collards that are ready to be thrown into the steamer or into the blender for a smoothie.

You may already have a morning routine in place that you love! If so, keep on grooving. If not, start making a list of habits that you’d like to adopt. Keep in mind, your list is your own — you may have 15 items on it like mine, or perhaps seven or eight. Embrace your list and your routine, and start generating a plan for how you will make this wish list of habits a daily reality. By planning and preparing, you will greatly increase your probability of success. Good luck!

April 1, 2015
Make Ahead Breakfast: Easy Baked Frittata

I’m not a morning person. It’s hard enough for me to get up and ready and out the door, but squeezing in a healthy and nutritious breakfast is nearly impossible. However, you know what they say — breakfast is the most important meal of the day! So, over the next few weeks we are going to offer you some suggestions on healthy breakfasts that you can make ahead of time and, in some cases, ones that will stretch throughout the week.

We are starting with our Easy Baked Frittata. I make mine in a pie dish so it’s easier to divide and portion. Baking the frittata is so much easier than cooking it on the stovetop. You just pour the ingredients into a greased pie plate and pop it into the oven for approximately 20 minutes. I suggest making it on Sunday and slicing it throughout the week. Or, plan to make one when you know you will have leftovers to incorporate into the dish.

Our frittata has a few basic ingredients — eggs, milk, veggie/meat, cheese, salt and pepper. The picture you see to the right is made with leftover roasted vegetables and goat cheese. One of my favorite versions incorporates leftover roasted potatoes and onions and parmigiano-reggiano cheese. You can nix the cheese altogether and throw in more veggies. You can also add meat to the frittata. At the end of the day, you can really modify the frittata to your liking but the point is that you are making it in advance — and hopefully getting rid of leftovers in the process!

Additionally, a frittata is not only something you can enjoy for breakfast. It can be eaten for lunch or dinner alongside soup, such as our Roasted Potato Leek Soup, or alongside salad, such as our Shaved Fennel Salad.

Easy Baked Frittata
Yields 8 slices

8 large eggs
1/4 cup of milk
1/3 cup of cheese
1 cup of veggies (or meat)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In the meantime, grease a 9 inch pie plate. Beat eggs and milk until thoroughly combined. Add cheese, veggies and/or meat, salt and pepper. Mix until incorporated and pour into the prepared pie plate. Bake in the oven 15-20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Helpful hint: We used a ceramic pie plate. Cooking times may vary depending on what your pie plate is made out of — metal or glass may take more or less time.

September 12, 2014
Building a Healthy Pantry

A well-stocked pantry can help you stay on track with your healthy eating plan. With the right ingredients on hand, meal planning can become an intuitive and simple part of your life. Quick meals will come together with just a few fresh ingredients from the supermarket, and healthy snacks will always be available. As with any endeavor, preparation is key. Stock your pantry with healthy staples, and you are bound to make healthy choices in the kitchen.

Because the pantry is home to all of your long-shelf-life items, it has the potential to hold lots of unhealthy food choices that are chock full of preservatives and processed with unrecognizable ingredients. This week, start out by making room for healthy pantry staples.

Get rid of the junk food, the highly processed canned goods, the refined flour and sugar, anything with artificial sweeteners, hydrogenated oils, artificial dyes, or ingredients that you can’t pronounce. Once you purge all of the obvious items that will not serve you in your wellness journey, move on to re-stocking.

Be economical. Build your pantry slowly.
Before you get started, keep in mind that re-stocking a pantry takes time and money. Rather than spending a small fortune on your first trip to the market, plan on buying a few new items each time you shop. Don’t try to buy every type of organic bean that you find. Pick one or two varieties for now. Likewise, pick one or two grains to purchase. You can always add to your pantry staples over time.

Here are my suggestions to build a solid, healthy foundation for your pantry.

Whole grains
I like to keep several different types of whole grains in my pantry, but steel-cut oats and brown rice are two examples to get you started. Oats are a great way to start the day, and brown rice provides a great base for a quick vegetable stir fry.

Quinoa
It cooks like a whole grain, it looks like a whole grain, but technically speaking, it’s a seed. I always have quinoa on hand. It is packed with nutrition, and it cooks very quickly (15 minutes or less) in comparison to other whole grains like brown rice, which can take nearly an hour.

Beans
Beans are the perfect addition for soups, stews or salads. You can also puree beans to create hummus or a tasty spread for sandwiches. Keep a variety on hand—canned chickpeas, kidney beans and black beans are my favorites. Also, make sure to buy some dried beans, too. Dried lentils or split-peas have a long shelf life and are quick to cook.

Cold pressed oil
When shopping for oil, look for cold pressed oils like olive oil, or if you prefer oil without a distinctive flavor, try safflower oil. The goal is to avoid oils (such as canola) that are refined through solvent extraction, neutralization and bleaching.

Nut butter
Almond butter, cashew butter or peanut butter…take your pick! Nut butters are a great addition to smoothies (see our Apple Pie Smoothie recipe), and they make a quick snack or lunch for you and the kids. This is one pantry staple that you will not regret buying!

Vinegar
If you love making salads of any kind—vegetable salad, noodle salad, potato salad, rice salad, etc, you will want to have a variety of vinegars on hand. Vinegar adds lots of flavor, and it is a picnic-safe alternative to mayonnaise.

Liquid for your smoothies
Keep your pantry stocked with organic non-GMO soy milk, almond milk, rice milk or coconut water so that you have liquid to blend your smoothies. Smoothies make a great breakfast or snack. Yes, you can buy soy milk in the refrigerated section of your supermarket, but if you don’t use it regularly, pick up a box of shelf-stable soy milk, and leave it in your pantry until the urge for a smoothie arises.

Nuts
I know that I already listed nut butter on the pantry essentials list here, but nuts are also great to have on hand. This is a great portable snack to keep in your bag or desk drawer at work. Throw a handful of crushed nuts onto your oatmeal in the morning or into a salad for lunch to make your meal heartier.

Vegetable broth
In an ideal world, we would all have time to simmer our own big pot of vegetable stock. Fortunately for us, there are a few excellent, organic vegetable broth options right on the shelves of your supermarket. I like to always keep a minimum of two cartons of broth in my pantry. Use vegetable broth instead of water to cook couscous or to make soup, simmer vegetables, add flavor to sauces or stews, etc. The possibilities for vegetable broth are endless.

Canned tomatoes
Canned tomatoes can be used in soups, stews, bean salads, or marinara sauce. I like to keep a variety of tomatoes in my pantry: crushed, diced, pureed and whole. For a quick meal idea using canned tomatoes, see this week’s recipe for Weeknight Marinara.

May 16, 2014
Set a Daily Intention

How do you start your morning? What is the first thing you do? Do you groggily open your eyes, roll over in bed to reach for your phone, check your Facebook, Instagram and weather apps, stumble into the bathroom to wash up and then find yourself in the kitchen where you begin to pour yourself a large mug of caffeine?

If this is your typical morning, I am here to tell you that it can be SO much more. You can change the frenetic pace of your day and start off feeling organized and peaceful. Each morning does not have to be a sudden jolt out of Sleepyland into Caffeineville.

I’m going to avoid the word “meditation”, because that word has the tendency to freak people out. No, I’m not asking you to meditate. I’m asking you to take 5 minutes each morning to sit quietly, breathe, give thanks, and set a daily intention.

Start out by finding a peaceful, clean place to sit.
I recommend setting a 5-minute timer (especially if you prefer lying down during this exercise) so you don’t drift off and miss your train to work. You can either sit on the floor on your yoga mat, on a pillow or in a comfortable chair. Just find a place that is away from the daily noise of your life. No catalogs, bills, permission slips for school, chapstick, tissue boxes or other visual clutter. I prefer sitting near a window because I love how I feel when natural light is pouring into my house.

Express gratitude
Next, close your eyes and say a simple prayer of gratitude. Whether or not you believe in a higher power, it is an important exercise to acknowledge and give thanks for everything in your life. Does it really matter if it’s a blessing from above or a matter of good circumstance? No. You are fortunate, and by actively recognizing that each morning, you will start the day on the right foot.

Breathe deeply
Once you’ve expressed gratitude, move on to an easy breathing exercise. Here is my favorite breathing technique that I learned during my yoga teacher training: Inhale deeply through the nose for a count of eight, hold the breath in the lungs for a count of four, and then exhale through the nose for a count of eight. In my mind, I count like this: Inhale, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Hold, 2, 3, 4. Exhale, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Repeat this count over and over in your mind until you are breathing in this manner without having to count in your head at all.

When your 5-minute timer buzzes, slowly open your eyes, and set an intention for the day. It doesn’t have to be an elaborate plan—it can be as basic as, “Today, I will welcome each challenge as an opportunity to grow.”

Starting each morning with peace, gratitude and a positive statement can make all the difference in the trajectory of your day. Give it a try, and let us know how it goes.

May 6, 2014
How to Roast Veggies

If you think you are too busy to cook and prepare vegetables for yourself each day, I have the perfect solution for you. Embrace your cookie sheet. My cookie sheet allows me to prepare larger quantities of vegetables at one time. Instead of cooking for just one meal, I roast enough veggies for two or three meals. Unlike boiled or steamed vegetables, which may feel soggy and limp on day two or three, roasted vegetables maintain a delicious flavor and can be chopped into omelettes, pureed into soups or layered onto a sandwich with a balsamic glaze. Let me show you a basic technique.

I happen to be working with yams in this tutorial, but I highly recommend using this method for all sorts of vegetables. Broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and different types of squash are all good choices.

Step 1
Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees. If you are working with yams, buy organic so you can just scrub the skin and keep it on. Cut the yam in half lengthwise.

Step 2
Place each half, face down onto your cutting board. Slice each half into thirds, lengthwise.

Step 3
Now that each yam is cut in half and then into long strips, cut these strips into smaller bite-sized pieces (about ¼ inch or ½ inch thick).

Step 4
Toss the bite-sized yam pieces into a bowl with olive oil. My rule of thumb is to use about 1 tablespoon of oil for each yam in my recipe. The yams should not be dripping with oil but have a slight sheen. Season with salt and pepper.

Step 5
Spread the oil-coated vegetables in a single layer onto a cookie sheet. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

Use this method to prepare all of your vegetables when you are short on time! Enjoy your roasted yams/vegetables as a side dish or as an ingredient in a completely new dish!

April 6, 2014
Double Chocolate Chip Pancake Surprise

This recipe is regularly on the menu in my house. My kids get so excited when they see chocolate pancakes on the table. They have no idea that mama put a nice collard green-blueberry surprise into the batter. Don’t worry—you won’t notice either, and it’s a great way to use up all of those hard collard green stems that usually end up in the trash.

Last week, I walked you through my daily routine of preparing greens. In that article, I mention that you should save all of the hard collard stems in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. Hopefully, you have those stems ready to use!

(This delicious recipe was inspired by Missy Chase Lapine – aka the Sneaky Chef.)

Ingredients
10 stems from a bunch of organic collard greens
1 cup frozen wild blueberries
2 tablespoons water
1 cup brown rice flour (or any flour of your choice)
½ cup wheat germ
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup soy/almond/rice milk
2 eggs
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
mini chocolate chips (optional)

Step 1
Boil or steam 10 collard stems for 4-5 minutes. Blend the cooked stems, 1 cup of frozen wild blueberries, and 2 tablespoons of water in your blender. This should make about 1 cup of puree. You will only need half of this puree. Freeze or refrigerate the other half of the puree for another day. (Or throw the extra into your next smoothie)

Step 2
Mix all of your dry ingredients into a bowl: 1 cup of brown rice flour, ½ cup wheat germ, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon of salt, and 4 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder.

Step 3
Mix all of your wet ingredients in a bowl: ½ cup of blueberry-collard stem puree, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, ½ cup of soy milk, 2 eggs and 3 tablespoons of pure maple syrup.

Step 4
Combine wet ingredients and dry ingredients into one bowl, and mix well.

Step 5
Drop heaping tablespoons of batter onto your griddle. Cook over low heat to avoid burning. Add 3-4 mini chocolate chips to the top of each pancake. Peek at the underside of the pancakes to determine when it’s time to flip them. Serve pancakes with pure maple syrup. Please do yourself a favor and spend the extra money for real maple syrup, and avoid pancake syrups, which are a mix of corn syrup, artificial colors and artificial flavors.

Makes about 16 pancakes.

Tip: Refrigerate any leftover pancakes. They make a great portable snack. When you are hungry, just wrap them up and take them with you. They are thick and sturdy like cookies!

You know I’m always trying to get more greens and veggies into my family’s diet! If you are too, you might want to check out Missy Chase Lapine’s cookbook, The Sneaky Chef.

March 9, 2014
Banana-Oat Muffins

Let me tell you why I love these banana-oat muffins:

They are quick and easy to make.
You don’t need to drag your electric mixer out of the cabinet for this recipe. You just need a big bowl, a whisk, and a good masher—like what you’d use to smash your potatoes. Making the batter is quick, and 18 minutes in the oven is all it takes to have piping hot muffins on your table.

They are minimally processed.
Forget your highly processed pantry items! No need for white sugar, brown sugar, white flour or flour of any kind. These muffins are sweetened with just bananas.

They make use of old brown bananas.
I can’t handle seeing old brown bananas on my counter top, and there are only so many brown bananas that I can save in my freezer for smoothies. I love that this recipe makes great use of bananas that are no longer edible.

They are gluten-free.
This recipe is gluten-free, so it’s perfect to share with all of your friends. These days, we all know somebody with allergies, so it’s nice to have a few recipes for baked goods that work for everyone. If you have a gluten allergy/sensitivity, please make sure you are using gluten-free baking powder. Your oats should also be labeled as “gluten-free”. Although oats do not naturally contain gluten, they could have traces of gluten if the oats have been grown next to a wheat field or processed in mill that also processes wheat.

They are guilt-free.
All natural ingredients and no added sugar or flour? I would definitely say that this qualifies as a guilt-free recipe.

And, they are kid-approved.
My kids will actually eat these muffins. I usually sprinkle a few mini chocolate chips on the top of a few of the muffin tins before baking. It adds a little sweetness and feels like more of a treat. Feel free to add your own toppings like blueberries or coconut!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups old fashioned oats
2 eggs
3 brown bananas, mashed
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda

Mix all ingredients together, and divide into 12 muffin tins. Bake for 18 minutes.

February 5, 2014