Is chocolate healthy or not healthy? Well, that all depends on your definition of healthy… this is why nutrition can be so confusing. Processed chocolate, like all processed food, does not contain the nutrients that made the original ingredients so health benefitting, or healthy, and it often has some questionable additives like refined sugar and sketchy GMO oils. Many different processing techniques that are required by law to make a food stable enough to sit on the shelf for a long period of time greatly diminish the amount and quality of nutrients once present, and chemicals, flavorings and refined food items are added in to make a desirable color, taste and texture. Raw cacao however, the very base of chocolate, has some pretty potent antioxidants and a decent share of vitamins and minerals, making it beneficial to the body and therefore healthy. Continue Reading →
Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal
Baked oatmeal is a cozy option for a nourishing breakfast cereal, it is both trendy and versatile, and is definitely worth trying if you have 20 minutes to leave it in the oven. This amount is for one person but it can be multiplied and cooked in individual bowls or in one large, shallow casserole dish. Oats are an inexpensive and widely available whole grain rich in fiber. They are very satiating, especially when combined with some fruit and nuts for extra nutrients like protein and healthy fats, and provide sustained energy to keep you going strong all morning. Continue Reading →
Piña Colada Energy Balls
Energy balls are compact sweet treats made from nutrient dense ingredients that are easily portable and provide a good dose of energy. Piña colada, or pineapple and coconut, is a delicious combination that can actually be pretty healthy and makes for slightly sweet and tropical tasting energy balls. Continue Reading →
Pecan Date Bites
These are so easy they do not require a recipe at all but I wanted to share them because they are a really great pre- or post-workout snack or sweet craving buster. Simply cut open a date, take out the pit and insert a pecan. They taste kind of like pecan pie and since both ingredients store well, an airtight container of these can be kept in your gym bag, desk, pantry or car for quick snacks and emergency hunger pangs. Continue Reading →
Chocolate Banana Oat Muffins
I’ve been experimenting a lot in the past few months with different gluten-free baking techniques. Coconut flour and gluten-free blends are some widely used options but I have found that the end product when using large quantities is usually really crumbly or slightly rubbery. Combining rolled oats and nut flour however, produces muffins and loaves that are dense, cohesive and moist. Continue Reading →
Tropical Granola Parfait
Layering a thick smoothie with granola and yogurt is the ultimate in healthy brunch decadence and it’s good enough to eat for dessert. You can use any smoothie and granola you like, here I kept the flavors tropical for a bit of a pick me up from the dreary winter weather. Smoothies are a really great item to incorporate into a healthy diet because they are flexible to your individual preferences and since the food is completely blended they are less work for your digestive system to break down. Continue Reading →
PB&J Bites
One of the easiest ways to make food more nourishing is to bypass as much processing as possible. Nutritional advice will often dictate to eat the whole fruit rather than their juice or the whole seeds rather than their oil. Several nutrients in fruits and vegetables start to decrease in amount and potency the moment that the food they are in is removed from the plant, this loss is further sped up through different processing techniques like cooking and drying. Moreover, all the nutrients work together- for example the fiber in fruits lessens the impact that the sugars they contain have on the body, slowing down the digestion process and keeping blood sugar levels more stable. Continue Reading →
Ginger Spiced Almond Cookies
Almond flour is a good substitute for refined white flour in creating dense and chewy cookies with a lightly crispy crust. Almonds provide a significant source of vitamin E, along with several B vitamins and the minerals manganese, magnesium and phosphorus. They are high in fats, but they are primarily monounsaturated, one of the types of unsaturated fats we should choose more regularly than saturated fats (as found more concentrated in palm oils, red meat and dairy). Research has shown that eating almonds alongside simple carbohydrates, such as fruit, sugars and syrups reduces the overall glycemic index (GI) of the meal, meaning that it causes less of a rise in blood sugar than the simple carbohydrates would have on their own… making them an ideal ingredient for healthy desserts. Continue Reading →
Cranberry Walnut Granola
Granola is one of the easiest things to make and just a little bit goes a long way to dress up a bowl of oatmeal or plain yogurt. Artisan granola is quite expensive but if you buy the ingredients in bulk it can be a very cost effective homemade endeavor. The stars of this particular granola are walnuts and cranberries. Continue Reading →
Candied Almonds on Roasted Pears
Making a dessert healthy doesn’t mean making it completely sugar and fat free, instead using fresh and nutrient dense ingredients guarantees that your body will benefit from it. I really like to make baked pears or apples and top them with granola or candied nuts and finish it off with some full fat plain Greek yogurt (it is so thick and creamy that it looks like ice cream in the photos). Here I roasted some pears in the oven and toasted almonds on the stove with a mixture of honey, butter , spices and palm sugar (it is lower GI than most sugars and a deep brown color with lots of flavor), which come together to taste like rich caramel sauce. Continue Reading →