Snack on This!

If you have a busy schedule like me, not only do you need power snacks for that energy kick but you need something you can carry around with you. Recently, I purchased this raw, organic and vegetarian trail mix called "Go Take a Hike!" by GoHunza. Doesn't it look beautiful? The ingredients are as follows: goji berries, mulberries, golden raisins, cacao nibs, cashews and pistachios. It is so tasty and delicious!

Not crazy about what's in this one? Check out their website for a one that suits your taste buds by clicking here.

You won't be disappointed.

A Breakfast Idea: Hummus and Veggie Sandwich

I have been experimenting with meals for the past few weeks. What I realized is that breakfast is the most important meal. A nutritious breakfast, I have noticed, is more veggie and fruity. My challenge was to eat a balanced breakfast consisting of fruit, vegetables and body-friendly carbohydrates that was not time consuming to make and yet delicious to eat. I started my day by eating fruit, usually either a banana, or a pear or an apple while preparing for my actual breakfast. Because my goal was to get as many nutrients as possible into my body, I made sandwiches. Here is one that I absolutely love to eat for breakfast:

Ingredients:
2 slices of either whole wheat or whole grain bread
1/4 yellow bell pepper
1/4 red bell pepper
1/4 orange bell pepper
1/2 avocado
Hummus

Preparation:
Spread hummus on the bread. Slice the peppers and the avocado to preference and layer your sandwich.

I am sure there are variations on this recipe all over the web because this is as simple as it gets and it does not take more than 10 minutes to make! Note that the bread can be replaced with a whole wheat or whole grain bagel. Use your imagination with the veggies.

I will post more meal ideas as I go along... The important idea to take from this post is that breakfast should be a burst of energy.

Enjoy!

Smart Apps for Smart Shoppers

Grocery shopping can be an overwhelming experience considering the vast presentation of products on the market, the ambiguity of ingredient lists that are suppose to be informative and the selection process of nutritious meals that doesn't require multiple trips to the store. To make things less stressful, I have been on the hunt for the most helpful smart phone apps on the market. Here are my favorite five you can download to your phone for free:

1. Organic Diet Buddy by Saagara. This application has a color coded safety guide for fruits and vegetables. It also has a Farmer's Market locator and a nutrition calculator. 

2. Fooducate. Fooducate lets you learn more about a product by scanning its bar code with your phone.

3. Whats On My Food. An app that warns you about pesticides.

4. Shop No GMO. Lists you products with no GMO content.

5. Whole Foods Recipes. Very easy to use with features such as a shopping list for the recipes you are making. 

Click on the names to find out more about an app or to download to your phone for free.

Kitchen Toolbox: Fruit and Veggie Scrubber

From time to time, I will include a post on my blog which I have decided to call "Kitchen Toolbox" to share necessary tools in the kitchen for smart cooking. This is the first one.

The reason I think every kitchen should invest in a fruit and veggie scrubber is because you will use it everyday. There are many things we tend to eat with its skin. Such things include apples, pears, apricots and bell peppers. Even things we (usually) do not eat with its skin such as carrots, potatoes and avocados benefit from being scrubbed before pealing to reduce contamination. The variety in texture of fruit and vegetables ranging from wrinkly indents to invisible-to-the-eye creases require more than just an old fashioned way of washing and cleaning your products by running them under tap water and rubbing them with your hands.

When we consider the economics of how our food arrives to the point where we wash them, we can easily see that it travels through many hands, eventually ending up at the selection process of consumers. To cut to the chase- washing and scrubbing your fruits and vegetables with a scrubber will eliminate or reduce surface bacteria, pesticides, insectisides and dirt.

Click here for a list of fruit and veggie scrubbers on Amazon. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, ranging from brushes to gloves.

What is "Organic Staples"?

The idea is simple: to have my body work with me, not against me by being conscious of what I eat. The several challenges I will be working on with this blog are:
1. Cooking for one or two people at the most.
2. Working with a budget.
3. Eating meat only once a week.
4. Having healthy meals with a busy schedule.
5. FINDING ORGANIC STAPLES FOR EVERYDAY COOKING.

Organic staples are food products that I will deem as the must-always-have-in-the-fridge. In other words, these will be ORGANIC food products that are a dominant part of my diet. With all the GMO products out there, it is hard to make smart purchases. Buying your groceries 100 percent organic each time can take a big chunk out of your paycheck. My intent is to find out what organic products are worth the splurge each and every time. Especially for those of us on a tight budget.

The reason I am doing this blog is to share my journey in finding simple and healthy recipes that don't take hours to make, the right amount of groceries to buy so not to be wasteful, the right products to use that are healthy and wise for the body, and most importantly, to create dietary habits that will lead to a more energized and balanced body.

I hope you will learn with me by following my journey through this blog.