Share the Love

With my experience this far in blogging I have realized that this is a special and unique culture with its own intimate and supportive community. 

Embodying this, I have decided to share with my followers a unique blogger that I personally have been following.  She is the creator of the admired food blog, "Foodie Tots."  I find her helpful to you being in the college setting because many of us are employed part-time as nannies or babysitters.

On her blog, Colleen Levine posts about yummy snacks and dinner ideas for her two kids whom she refers to as "tots."

I can't take credit for this amazing recipe she posted and after baking it I found it a must-do for all of my followers and also thought it would be helpful for those who do nanny to refer back to her blog for some of her other ideas.


Recipe: Pumpkin Granola Bars
Adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod
Makes 10-12 bars

Ingredients:

• 3 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup virgin coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8- by 8-inch baking pan with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together oats, sugar, spices and salt.

3. In a separate bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, coconut oil, honey and vanilla extract. Pour pumpkin mixture into dry ingredients and mix until well combined.

4. Pour batter into baking pan and press down with spatula. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned. Let cool completely, then cut into rectangles.

Ever made homemade granola bars? Here are a few other varieties from around the web:

• Crunchy Cinnamon Granola Bars from One Hungry Mama
• Granola Bars with Mango, Hazelnut and Ginger from Cookin’ Canuck
• Fig, Date and Almond Granola Bars from Brown Eyed Baker

This recipe is amazing! For more of her ideas go tofoodietots.com

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeets

My blog up to this point has been mostly directed toward eating health organic foods.  For this post I'm going to change things up a bit and talk about desserts! (organic desserts of course).

After thinking about some of my favorite recipes, I wanted to revamp them by switching out common ingredients for organic ingredients.

The first dessert that I think about when considering my favorites are Pizzales.  Pizzales are Italian sugar cookies that are served just about every time of the year, but I especially enjoy them during Christmas time!

Below I have referenced a site that provides a basic recipe for pizzales (because my granny's is secret) and I have modified the recipe in order to include organic ingredients.

Pizzale Recipe

In order to modify this recipie, swap out your eggs, flour, sugar, butter and flavor of your choice (vanilla extract, orange etc) FOR ORGANIC!!

It is important to note that this recipe requires a special cookie iron called a Pizzale Iron.  I recommend purchasing this product at an Italian deli.  My personal experience of trying to buy one of these irons at other cooking appliance stores has been unsuccessful and has resulted in iffy heat variations and inconsistent baking timers.  If you live in Colorado, I particularly recommend my uncle's deli: Carmine Lonardo's Italian Meat Deli.(see link below for directions and contact information)

http://www.yelp.com/biz/carmine-lonardos-Italian-meat-deli-lakewood


By making this switch you will be able to take pride in a home-baked cookie and be able to indulge without worry.

It's The Final Countdown

With finals week here bringing tons of paper writing, studying and zero sleeping, students tend to forget to fuel their bodies!  Me, being one of these students, mindlessly eats during finals or just simply does not put effort into making a well-balanced dinner or lunch and, let's be honest, coffee=breakfast.

In efforts to turn this around for myself this semester I have brainstormed a few of my own ideas as well as researched what experts think we should eat in order to keep us energized and attentive during some of the roughest days of the year. 

Even though it is a really bad habit, in the past I have frequently replaced my breakfast with coffee (justifying that my body can use the carbs and the sugar in the milk as a boost for the day).  This is not only unhealthy, it's wrong!  Because of my latest efforts to kick this habit, I developed some simple fixes to these problems. 

During what I call a "study-break" I will prepare my breakfast or dinners for the morning and the next night.  Not only does this give my mind a rest but it also helps me to eat well the next day.  One of the ideas I came up with are what I call "mini omelets." The how-to is listed below.

Mini Omelets
6 egg whites
1 diced green bell pepper
1/2 cup diced onion
1/4 cup shredded cheese (any)
Tabasco, pepper, salt to taste

-In a big bowl, whisk the egg whites, add diced pepper, onion cheese and your favorite Tabasco and season the mixture to taste.
-Line a muffin pan with muffin sheets and start equally dividing the mixture throughout the pan until all of your mixture is gone.
-Bake in the oven on 350 for 10 minutes or until your eggs look done
-After letting all of the cups cool, take them out of the baking sheet and place them in a Ziploc baggie in your fridge.
-The next morning you can heat up one, or two of these if you'd like and you have breakfast ready in about 30 seconds.

Not only does this serve as a quick way to eat something in the morning, what you are putting in your body will help keep you nourished and focused well throughout the day. NOT TO MENTION IT IS EXTREMELY LOW IN CARBS!!




Personal Meatloaf (ITS NOT AS GROSS AS IT SOUNDS)
1/4lb ground turkey breast
1/2 cup onions
1 whole bell pepper
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup tomato paste (or ketchup)
pepper, salt to taste
1 tbs cheese



In a large bowl, mix your meat, onions, bread crumbs, cheese, tomato paste and salt and pepper to taste.
Once you have mixed your ingredients, cut out the stem and scoop out the seeds of your pepper. Make sure you rinse out the inside!

Next, stuff your pepper with all of your mixture.  You can put this pepper in the fridge overnight and the flavors will blend together really well.  The following day, preheat your oven to 450 and keep your pepper in there for 35 minutes.

When you take this out, you have a flavorful dinner made just for you and it took you no time at all!

For other good tips refer to the livestrong website below!
http://www.livestrong.com/article/436722-what-are-good-foods-to-eat-before-finals/

Half-Marathon?

My friendsAmber and Rhianne recently invited me to run the annual Colfax Half-Marathon with them!  While this is extreemly exciting, I am also courious about what type of diet is best for me as I start intense trainning and long-distance running excersizes.

For information on this, I turned to marathonrookie.com.  On their website, they offer strong advice for marathon trainers and even give you structured meal plans that replinish your body with necessary nutrients, while also promoting fat-loss. 

Because I am extreemly particular, I like to create my own meal plans.  I found that on this website I was able to take food items from specific food groups and develop meals that I liked based on what they offered. For example, of the two food groups below, I took out foods that I dont really like to eat when trying to clense (bagels, rice) and decided to substitute them for more of another carb listed on the the menu.  I did the same for protien.  In this case, I took out tofu and soy products and decided I would replace them with fish. 

Good Carbohydrates:

Potatoes, yams, beans, peas, wheat bread, bananas, macaroni, spaghetti, cereal, raisins, apples, bagels, syrup, brown rice, corn, apples, carrots, root vegetables

Good Protein:

Low fat milk, beans, green peas, lean beef, chicken, fish, eggs, cheese, yogurt, nuts, peanut butter, cottage cheese, tofu and soy products

What I found to be beneficial about this website was the fact that I had a resource to turn to for my dietary pre-marathon needs, while still maintaining my overall organic food lifestyle!

Check out these other sites if you too are a frequent runner, or just want to get into a exercise routine during this upcoming winter break!

fitnessmagazine.com
caloriecount.about.com

Baby it's Cold Outside...

If you live in Colorado today, it is no secret it is freezing outside!  In spite of the frigid temperatures I wanted to post a stand-by soup recipe that is easy on your wallet and most importantly...WARM!!
It may come as a shock, but soups can be high in fat and calories if you aren't choosing them cautiously, so it is important to always read the nutrition facts when buying some of your comfort foods (just because its organic, doesn't mean its healthy). 

Below I have posted my recipe for my favorite vegetable soup. Next to each ingredient I list, there will also be a price posted from a local supermarket nearest my location.  I have done this to inspire you to search for deals before you decide on which store to visit; especially if they offer the same goods!

There is the option to sub-out some of the ingredients I have listed if they are not your favorite or you just want to add more!  *option to add chicken or your favorite protein to the mix as well. 





INGREDIENT/QUANTITY                                        KING SOOPER$              
(1) Carrot                                                                                           0.79/lb= 0.21cents
(2) Celery Sticks                                                                                0.79/lb=  0.16cents
1/4 cup diced yellow onion                                                                .99/per = 074cents
(0.5lb) snow peas (chopped or opened)                                             3.99/lb= 2.00
1/2tbs thyme                                                                                       2.29/per package= 2.29
1/4tsp garlic                                                                      .                 .50ach= .50
32oz chicken broth (99% fat free, low sodium)                                 2.99/each= 2.99
                                                               TOTAL: $8.89

This soup mixture usually lasts me 4days if I'm eating it for lunch or dinner everyday. That's an average of 2.96 per meal!!! One can of hearty ORGANIC vegetable soup only carries 2 servings and costs $2.89.  With this recipe you get double the amount for almost the same price, and the best part is, you made it yourself!

How-To: Organic Margs!

Its the weekend before the week before finals...aka THE LAST CHANCE TO HAVE FUN FOR 2 WEEKS.  In the spirt of the season, I have posted a friendly how-to video on crafting organic margaritas.

During my visit to the store, I took some pictures on common purchases for margaritas with their prices below.  Not only do you save money buying organic ingredients for your margaritas, you save calories as well!  From my pictures, your local grocer sells margarita mix for $8.49.  Each bottle of this mixture will limit you to making only a certain amount of drinks. The ingredients I demonstrate here will provide you with a much greater drink supply as the lime juice and agave nectar are very strong, thus you only need little amounts.  This lets you make your drink according to your taste buds and you can save some money in the process. $8.49(plus tequila) vs $6.79(plus tequila)

While my video shows you the general guidelines on how to make your drink, please be creative and add your own flavors or fruits!  My margarita was primarily lemon and lime, but you can also buy other  Santa Cruz organic juices to use as your base.  I find it also yummy to squeeze in some fresh lime to add a kick and a zest to whichever flavor you choose.

Another interesting thing to look into is organic alcohol!! You will be surprised with the selection and delicious flavors!

Feel free to post about your favorite organic drink, alcoholic or virgin! (must be 21 or older).

The Basics

After thinking about how to set up this blog, I decided to structure it in a way that both newcomers and veterans of the organic food lifestyle were able to benefit from each post.  I have been growing and adapting to this lifestyle for the majority of the past two years and have noticed that at least once a week I am learning something new about organic foods and their impact on my body as well as my overall lifestyle.

While it is easy to just pick up the foods at your local supermarket labeled "organic," it is more beneficial to consider how that food, no matter the food group (meat, vegetable, grain or fruit) impacts your body.

This blog will constantly be revealing interesting facts and statistics about organic food as a movement and industry but as it is just beginning, I wanted to highlight what I like to call, the basics.

For me, cleanliness of where I buy my food is extremely important.  As a consumer, the potent smell of fish or meats in a deli or cold foods section should alarm you.  Fresh meats and fish do not emit a strong odor.  If your deli is smelly, don't put it in your belly! I just made that up but I think but I think its funny.

In continuing the idea of sanitation and cleanliness, I'm suggesting all of my followers to try this new trick I learned from my boyfriend's mom. As we all know, you should thoroughly rinse your vegetables and other produce prior to cooking and consumption.  As a college student, I don't like to spend my money on buying vegetable cleaner, Id rather spend the money on a magazine or lip gloss or simply just save it.  Recently, my boyfriends mom showed me a trick!  If you add one teaspoon of bleach to a common squirt bottle filled with normal tap water, it can promote the same benefits as pre-packaged produce cleaners!

How- To:
Get a squirt bottle
Fill it with water
Add one teaspoon of bleach to the bottle (maybe one and a half if your bottle is larger than a tissue box)
Shake the bottle well, and use!
*Be sure to rinse your produce thoroughly after using the spray.*

Though the idea of washing your produce seems simple it is often overlooked and ignored causing serious health issues! 

You don't have to use my method for cleaning, but for me, this offers a cheap way to keep me safe from pesticides and other bacteria at a price that actually makes sense.

Refer to this link as to why cleaning your veggies is important!
http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm114299 
(this organization has no affiliation to my blog and was not asked to participate)