Swap {THIS} for {THAT}

Hey!

I wanted to give you all a few simple “swaps” that you can easily incorporate into your daily routine. By making these switches, you’re detoxing your current routine and moving towards a more healthful approach! Might I add, that these are all quite cost effective as well (save a $ here, spend it somewhere more useful!)

————————————————————————————————————–

Why would you want to make these switches, you ask? Read on to find out…

1. Ditch the “table salt” in favour of Himalayan Pink Sea Salt.

Why?

Sadly, table salt has been processed enough that it no longer contains all the wonderful minerals that salt should – pink salt is rich with 80+ minerals. Your table salt has been enriched with Iodine and often times sugar is added to it – check your labels!

2. Toss out your chemically-laden moisturizer in favour of coconut oil.

I’ve discussed this in a previous post which can be accessed here!

Once again, I can’t say enough good things about coconut oil. If you haven’t tried it yet, get yourself some next time you’re at the grocery store! It can be found in the health food section.

3. Make your own household cleaners!

Why?

Store-bought cleaners are full of chemicals. These chemicals are harmful to you, and everyone else who lives in or visits your house. These seemingly harmless products can cause skin irritation, allergies, respiratory irritation, hormone disruption… The list goes on and on and on.

You can read more about it on The Organic Consumers website here.

Solution?

D.I.Y – It’s beyond easy once you’ve invested in the supplies (and will save you $ in the long run!!). Get a squirt bottle; vinegar; baking soda; some essential oils… etc.

Living Well Spending Less blog gives you some great links to homemade cleaners for all areas of the house

5. Swap out store bought salad dressings for homemade dressings

Free of additives, preservatives, and nasty gunk – a homemade salad dressing tastes better and is more cost effective. You can keep it simple with this recipe from Vega, or go with something a little more complex!

This dressing is dee-lish, if you’re interested!

[Photo Source]

6. Ditch the St. Ives Apricot Scrub (guilty!) and make a DIY facial scrub (2 Tbsp. White Sugar + 1 Tbsp. Olive Oil; just be gentle with it)

David Suzuki has some great resources on homemade cosmetics.

Photo Source

 

The joy of BREAKFAST

Hey !

Three (3) quick, simple, nutritious and yummy breakfast ideas for you tonight (to make tomorrow a.m. perhaps !?)

1)

Quinoa Porridge

Made with white quinoa, chopped apples, lots of cinnamon, walnuts, blackberries, almond milk.

Other things that you could add to spice it up; chia seeds, almonds, maple syrup, banana, coconut pieces.

2)

Tropical Smoothie

In a blender; apple, grapefruit, orange, almond milk, water, coconut, walnuts, spinach, ice, tofu, cinnamon

Grapefruits are just so photogenic !

3)

Tofu + Egg breakky scramble.

Sautee your tofu in coconut oil, add in kale and kale stems as well as any other veggies that you’ve got on hand. Add in eggs, top with salt& pepper + cumin

5 Tips for your next Breakfast

1. If you don’t eat a good, hearty breakfast – chances are that you might overeat later in the day
2. Make sure that your breakfasts contain some protein and complex-carbs to keep you feeling full and energized longer. Carbs are not the enemy 🙂
3. Choose whole grains, and if you’re gluten sensitive avoid Barley/Rye/Some Oats/Wheat/Spelt
4. Make you’re breakfast a meal you enjoy, something that you’re happy about eating first thing in the a.m.
5. Wake up early enough to have time to enjoy your breakfast, along with a coffee or tea. Mornings can be enjoyable, if you’re not in a panic!

healthy homemade energy bars

What do you get for the people who have everything?

You make them a personalized gift – something that they will actually use…

How about some homemade snacks – healthy ones, of course! If there’s one way that I can promote healthy eating, it’s going to be by offering to let people TRY my healthy goodies, and show them that it’s easy enough for them to do it in their own kitchen!

I wasn’t sure how these bad boys would turn out, but I was very very VERY pleasantly surprised!

Good thing, since I didn’t have a back-up plan – and made a triple batch right off the bat (I know, not smart!)

Some ingredients that you’ll need to run out and grab before you make these;

First up, CAROB chips (1/4 cup).

What the heck are these? Wikipedia can answer that…

“Ceratonia siliqua, commonly known as the Carob tree and St John’s-bread,^[1] is a species of flowering evergreen shrub or tree in the pea family, Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated for its edible legumes, and as an ornamental tree in gardens. The seed pod may be crushed and used as ersatz chocolate.

It is native to the Mediterranean region including Southern Europe, Northern Africa, the larger Mediterranean islands; to the Levant and Middle-East of Western Asia into Iran; and to the Canary Islands and Macaronesia.^[2][3]”

Still confused… Ya, me too.

Basically it’s just a plant that grows in the tropics, which grows these “pea pod” type things. Inside each pod, there are beans that are naturally sweet and they are roasted and can be used as a chocolate substitute!

Cool, right? I can hear the groans – this definitely is not classified as “cool”…

Oh well, I enjoyed it!

Some unsalted peanuts (1/4 cup chopped)… Yes, I know – I talk about how they are a naturally moldy nut – but I wanted to keep the recipe in it’s original form.

Brown rice syrup (1/3 cup) and some rice puffs (1 and 1/4 cup)!

Other things you will need…

• 1 cup of Dates
• 1 cup of Oats
• 2 Tbsp. of Flaxseed (ground)
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of peanut butter

Okay, now you’re ready to stir it all up.

Woops, poor photo skills here!

Directions.

1. Line a tray with wax papers, set aside
2. Place the dates in the food processor and pulse until finely chopped (this was very difficult with my Mom’s old processor – so we added some water and did some of the chopping ourselves)
3. Combine the dates with the cereal, oats, peanuts, flax, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl
4. Combine the peanut butter and brown rice syrup in a saucepan over low heat, mix until combined, remove from heat
5. Mix dry and wet mixture together, add carob
6. Press onto a tray, and refrigerated for 1 hour

Chop them into squares, and wrap individually if you so desire!

Eat, enjoy, repeat!

Happy Holiday’s!