Made with shredded carrot, maple syrup, Greek yogurt, and almond butter, these healthy cookies are a soft & chewy snack or dessert! How many servings of veggies do you eat a day? I find that I always eat a veggie-packed dinner, but earlier in the day I tend to eat a lot of fruit and not that many veggies. I also incorporate a lot of avocado and tomato into breakfast, lunch, and snacks, which I tend to calculate as veggies, but since they're technically fruits, that doesn't help me in reaching my daily veggie quota. Being mindful of this as I try to provide my 1 year old with a healthy diet packed with nutritional goodness for her growing little body and developing brain, lately I've been working on sneaking more veggies into the mix earlier in the day - some spinach in our smoothies ... [Read More]
healthy snacks
5-Ingredient Healthy Strawberry Cashew Trail Mix
This healthy trail mix requires just 5 ingredients & makes for a tasty snack! A couple of months ago, I went strawberry picking at a local farm and not so surprisingly, became temporarily obsessed with whipping up strawberry recipes. I had so many fresh, locally grown strawberries that were going to go bad quickly, so I figured why not go berry crazy? I made healthy strawberry banana bread, strawberry oat pancakes, and strawberry crumble pie, to name a few things. Since I love smoothies, I also put some berries in the freezer (which disappeared so fast!), and I also pulled out my dehydrator to dry some strawberries. And then a funny thing happened... I ran out of strawberries in less than a week! Dehydrating strawberries - or any fruit or veggie for that matter - is not difficult, ... [Read More]
8 Of My Favorite Healthier Junk Food Alternatives
Who says that healthy eating has to be boring and bland? I'm a big believer that eating should be fun, and I look at healthy food as both nourishing and delicious. None of us have to sacrifice our love of food because we want to be fit and healthy from the inside out. A common mistake that people make when they're trying to adopt a healthier lifestyle is categorizing foods as "good" and "bad," and completely cutting out all of the bad. This simply doesn't work in the long run. In my experience, if you completely deprive yourself, you wind up fixating on it and eventually falling off the healthy eating bandwagon and pigging out. On the contrary, if you allow yourself moderate splurges to satisfy food cravings, you can have the best of both worlds and find balance in your healthy ... [Read More]
Raspberry Lemon Protein Muffins
Hi friends! Have you been experiencing a heatwave in your neck of the woods? It has been hot and also unusually humid here in the San Diego area, and while I know that many of you have no sympathy for Southern Californians complaining about weather since we have it so good overall, let me tell you... having no air conditioning is not fun when a heatwave rolls around! I wouldn't mind it being hot out if I had some coolness to retreat to inside. Yup, you heard me right! My house has no air conditioning. This concept is pretty foreign to most Americans, but living near the coast in San Diego usually equates to cool breezes and mild temperatures. I don't think anyone in my neighborhood has A/C, and it's pretty manageable except for the couple weeks out of the year when it's over 90 degrees - ... [Read More]
5 Favorite Protein-Rich Snacks that Satisfy My Sweet Tooth
Who else is a snack queen or king? I love me some yummy snacks! I definitely prefer to eat small meals and a few snacks throughout the day. I usually eat something every three hours or so, and when my sweet tooth hits, I have some go-to healthy snacks that satisfy it. I also make sure to have protein-packed snacks around to satiate me, especially since I lead such an active lifestyle. I usually workout six days a week, plus I take my dog for walks every day, and I also squeeze in early morning yoga sessions most days as well. All of that movement depletes my glycogen stores and breaks down my muscle fibers, so I'm mindful about consuming protein post-workout to rebuild my muscles and fuel my body right. Today I'm sharing five of my current favorite healthy, protein-rich snacks ... [Read More]
Healthy Strawberry Oat Banana Bread {vegan + gluten free}
This seriously moist & delicious banana bread features fresh strawberries & an oat flour! After I went strawberry picking a couple weeks ago, I had all of these strawberry recipe ideas swirling around in my head. And so, today we're talking about strawberry recipe #2 of this season! {Recipe #1 was these dairy free baked strawberry donuts with strawberry cream cheese frosting.} Since we had picked a big bucket of berries, I thought that they'd be around for awhile, and that I'd get to test out at least a couple of recipes. But that was not the case! Less than a week after my husband and I went strawberry picking, we had eaten the entire bucket. What can I say, we both are big strawberry fans (I mean who doesn't like strawberries?!). Luckily, I did have the ... [Read More]