Wholesome Media

There is a lot of misleading information regarding proper nutrition within the media, and major media journalists are using proper nutrition as their go to topic. It is great to see major media outlets, like the New York Times, have a blog dedicated to wellness. Their wellness blog focuses on the many things we can do to improve our overall health. Their blog offers up a decent amount of healthy recipes containing many nutritional ingredients. The New York Times and other major health-focused media outlets are great sources when trying to find good-clean recipes. These types of media outlets are typically focused on overall health which makes them a wonderful go-to health and nutrition source. These major media outlets do not look at nutrition as the forefront of media but they do recognize proper nutrition as an important and somewhat popular topic. When looking for proper guidance with nutrition make sure to research and read up on the foods that benefit our bodies.

Source:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/series/recipes_for_health/index.html

Healthy Donuts?!

Everyone loves a donut, even if they do not go out of their way for one everyday, but when presented with a box of fresh donuts anyone would oblige. I personally love donuts but I cannot tell you the last time I had one. I cut donuts out of my everyday diet way before I began trying to loose weight, I knew donuts were one of the worst things to put into our body's so it was best to cut them out completely. The other day I was at Target and I stumbled across a donut-baking tray, almost like a cupcake tray but for donuts. I did not even hesitate, once I saw it I knew I had to have it. Of course I had to make donuts as soon as I got the chance because I was curious to see if this tray would even work.

Recipe:
1 tbp of coconut oil
1 tbs of cinnamon
3 tbs of truvia
3/4 tsp of baking powder
3/4 tsp of baking soda
1/4 tsp of salt
1 tub of Greek yogurt
1 egg
1 cup of perfect fit (any protein powder will work)

You should get a fluffy constancy once you mixed all ingredients together.

Glaze:
1 tbs of honey
1/2 tbs of truvia
1/2 tbs of cinnamon
1 tsp of vanilla extract

These donuts are great for breakfast or a sweet afternoon pick-me-up. They have a bonus healthy factor by not being fried, so you do not have to feel guilty when reaching for seconds!

Healthy Thanksgiving Soup

I thought I would share some of my healthy thanksgiving recipes throughout this week just incase anyone wanted some healthy meal alternatives. Since the fall is here and winter is right around the corner, comfort food becomes essential during the cold months. A great comfort food for when it's cold is sweet potato and pumpkin soup. This soup is perfect because it is a blended soup, it is made with only vegetables and spices, and it's very nutritious. 

What you will need

• 1 Pie Pumpkin
• 1 Large Sweet Potato
• 1 Green Pepper
• Olive Oil
• 1 tbs of minced garlic
• 3 tsp of red pepper
• 2 tsp of pepper
• 1 tbs of ground coriander
• 3 tsp of oregano
• 1 pinch of salt

Start by setting your oven to 400 F degrees and begin washing and chopping up your pumpkin and sweet potato. 

Then you want to wrap the chunks in foil and drizzle on some olive oil and close the foil wrapping. Then place them in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, once they are tender you can remove them. While their baking start buy adding 1 table spoon of olive oil, 1 table spoon of minced garlic, 3 teaspoons of red pepper, 2 teaspoons of pepper, 1 table spoon of ground coriander, 3 teaspoons of oregano, and 1 pinch of salt to a medium sized soup pot. Let the spices simmer on low heat while you wait for the pumpkin and sweet potato.

You will then add your chopped green pepper and the chucks of pumpkin and sweet potatoes to a blender or food processor, blend till smooth. 

Once you have the soup pureed to your liking, you then want to add the puree to your soup pot that has been set to simmer.

Once you have added the puree you then want to mix the soup on low heat. If you prefer a creamier texture you can add in 1/2 cup of almond milk.

This is what the finished product should look like. It is a very tasty soup and it only took me a little over an hour to make. Be on the look out for more recipes this week!

Carrot Cake Pancakes

Being a girl, I am prone to spontaneous food cravings. When these cravings hit they are usually for something specific. I have a massive sweet tooth so if I get a craving it's typically for some type of dessert. This week I had a craving for carrot cake. I don't know why I had such a craving for it, because whenever I'm at a party and there is carrot cake for dessert I snub my nose to it. I found it quite odd that I had this craving, I thought maybe I was low on my vitamines A, E and K so I decided to get creative. Instead of buying an actual carrot cake I opted for the homemade protein pancake version. I talked about how I make my protein pancakes in an older post of mine. This recipe is basically the same but with carrot puree and carrot juice added.

The Recipe:

• 2 cups of egg whites
• 3 carrots (juiced or pureed) *you can use a blender for pureeing*
• 1 cup of oats
• 3/4 cup of muesli
• 1 scoop of protein powder of choice
• 1 tablespoon of cinnamon
• 1/2 tablespoon of vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon of truvia sweetener

After your carrots are pureed, combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. I did not want to blend-up any of the ingredients because I like that carrot cake has a texture to it and I wanted these pancakes to have a simular texture. I then took a tablespoon of coconut oil and pan-fried the batter into pancakes. You do not have to use coconut oil and you also do not have to pan-fry like me, because these recipes are just here to encourage all the possibilities when it comes to healthy cooking. I also made so copy-cat healthy "frosting" for the pancakes because I just could not see syrup going well with these. I made the frosting with some plain greek yogurt and mixed in some cinnamon, truvia and almond extract. It was delicious and guilt-free so of course it made the meal exceptional.

These pancakes were great and took care on my unwanted craving for carrot cake. Like I have said before, all of these recipes can be tweaked. These recipes are here to show the ratio of proper ingredients and how to incorporate the beneficial food and ingredients into our daily meals. This coming week I will be share some deliciously healthy thanksgiving dishes so be on the lookout.

Turkey, not just a holiday meal.

Any time I see turkey being prepared it is always around the fall holidays. I find that somewhat odd because turkey is a great meat source of protein. Just like chicken, turkey serves an import part in diet as well. I typically buy the ground turkey breast meat because the meat from the breast is white meat and we all know white meat is the best meat to put into our bodies. I buy the ground meat because I find it easier to cook and integrate into other recipes other than a whole turkey breast. Like I said, turkey is very simple so I encourage everyone of you to try a non-holiday dish incorporating some turkey.

The turkey dish I decided to make was a sautéed ground turkey with veggies. It was very filling and the recipe made enough for two plates. I thought it turned out delicious and now turkey is my meat of choice.

The recipe:

1/2 lb of ground turkey breast
1/2 of a small pumpkin (skinned and cubed)
1 cup of kale leaves
1 cup of mushrooms
1/2 cup of broccoli and cauliflower
1/2 cup of celery
Onion powder (to taste)
Cayenne peper (to taste)
Topped with pine nuts

Hope you all enjoy this recipe and try incorporating some turkey in your non-festive meals till the holidays.

Pros and Cons: When cooking without oil.

Cooking without using any oils sounds nearly impossible, but using no oil tends to be much easier than your standard cooking methods with oil. Using other ingredients that will substitute for the oil opens numerous healthy-cuisine possibilities.

First let's cover the pros when cooking without oil. There are numerous cooking oils out there, but not all are good for our bodies. Oils can clog our arteries, can cause cravings, usually leads to feeling sluggish, and it can pack on some serious pounds. So an advantage for cooking without oil is an providing overall health change for your body. Like I said above; cooking without oils opens your eyes to the numerous recipes when using oil-free ingredients. Let's move on to the cons. First con is for anyone trying oil-free recipes for the first time, more than likely it is not going to be what you expect. Anyone switching from 100% oil usage to no oil is going to experience a bitter taste and the food won't taste or feel as smooth. This happens because our bodies get accustomed to what you put into them daily. Greasy foods alter your taste buds to like sugars and fats, thus leading you to ungodly cravings throughout the day. The best way to ease into oil-free cooking is by using vegetable or chicken broth, the food will be rich with flavor so it would be hard to taste a significant difference without the oil. The next con of cooking without oil is not getting enough healthy fats. Yes oil is terrible but there are a few oils that are very beneficial to our bodies. Extra virgin olive oil is one of the healthy oils to use while cooking because it is a healthy fat. Now a little goes a long way, so don't over do it. Try sticking to 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon, but do not exceed a tablespoon. The is one of those health topics where people can lean towards either side because both sides are good and bad. The trick to maintaining healthy oil consumption is balancing by balancing out your usage and learning what your body needs verses what it wants.

Now onto the interesting part of this post, the oil substitutes. These food items can be used in various way when cooking oil free dishes. These ingredients are typically very moist which is what makes oil-free cooking possible.

• Bananas
• Tofu
• Greek Yogurt
• Pumpkin Puree (basically any fruit or vegetable puree)
• Applesauce
• Vegetable/Chicken Broth
• Coconut Oil
• Water
• Olive Oil (in moderation)
• Milk (of any kind)
  

These are the typical ingredients used for oil-free cooking, let me know if you try a recipe with any of these substitutes or if you know of any other substitutes for oil-free recipes.