Cacao nibs

Ever tried chocolate? ?? Who hasn't right!?!?!

I dont think it is actually possible to survive without the occasional bit of chocolate, especially when you hear about the antioxidants in dark chocolate (same reason we can justify red wine!!) ...I mean its practically good for you ;) .. so when choosing..pick the best quality, darkest chocolate you can handle. You will eat less and be more satisfied along with it being better for you.

In the mean time you can get that chocolate flavour and have it ACTUALLY BE GOOD FOR YOU.  This comes from the super food Cacao Nibs.

Cacao Nibs are actually the whole coca bean, roasted, removed from the husk and broken.. so you get that chocolate taste but without the sweetness.

You can grab and eat right from the bag..though a little on the bitter side, or you can add them to baking in place of chocolate chips, I love them in granola where there is already a natural sweetness from honey or maple syrup or something. Pretty much wherever you use chocolate pieces or cocoa you can substitute cacao nibs for a much healthier addition.

So..why eat them? Whats good about them? Why have they earned the title of super food? 

Well first and foremost..it tastes like chocolate and its good for you..thats super right there.

Fiber 1oz/9grams of nibs... thats way more then the big fat Zero you get eating a chocolate bar.

Magnesium one of THE BEST dietary sources of magnesium which is important for muscle and nerve functions
Iron essential in red blood cell production

Antioxidants - incredible amount of antioxidants especially if eaten raw.

PEA (phenylethylamine) - which is a chemical that our body makes and is also fo in in the cacao nibs. It makes your pulse quicken, alertness, focus and makes you happy!

Anandomide - this also has feel good properties with the molecular shape representing that if THC (my granola friends wont need to google this, but if you are unfamiliar with THC ..check out why this gives you a boost)

Theobromine - this is a nervous system stimulant that dilated the blood vessels (much like caffeine) . So if coffee affects you in a negative way, you may want to go easy on the nibs.

You can see now why this combination is so powerful and good for your health!

And did I mention they taste great?

Below is the wiki definition and explanation of cacao you can see the fruit, the raw seeds and the roasted.

Be educated, make good choices and stay healthy!
Xo
Kara

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocoa_bean

Im such a Granola Gal

I'm a hippie at heart. I cant help it..everything that you stereotypically think of as "hippie"... yep..this girl right here. From birkenstocks, to long hair, hiking and being outside, to loving Janice Joplin and Bob Dylan,  to tattoos, to making this earth green, to spreading love and happiness, and to eating healthy and organically... and definitely one of my favorite things to eat is granola.

Granola is so simple to make, uber healthy, easy to customize for your own preferences, wont include preservatives and copious amounts of sugar and tastes a million times better then the store bought variety.

I dont measure (you are used to this by now right? :)  ) the dry ingredients; I just put together what I have on hand from the pantry. . Items such as but not limited to by any means:

OATS- I use large flake (the + the better cost effectiveness)
NUTS- almonds, pecans, walnuts, pinenuts
DRIED FRUIT-apples, pears, dates, figs, prunes, mango, raisins, coconut
SEEDS-pumpkin, sesame, sunflower
SPICES-cinnamon, vanilla, ginger, cocoa
SUPERFOODS-cocao nibs, hemp hearts, flax, sprouted chia, protein powder

Mix these together and then add your liquid ingredients.

Honey, maple syrup, molasses, cocount oil, macademia nut oil, almonds butter
**all clean healthy fats and sugars

Boil the liquid ingredients, mix into dry making sure to coat all . (If not all dry mix seems coated drizzle on a little more liquid/oil/honey etc and mix again)

Spread on cookie sheet

Bake 325° for 30 min or so..depending on how crispy you like it.. stir a few times throughout.  Cool and store.

Making your own saves money, tastes better and honestly takes no time. You could whip up a huge batch in a commercial.

Enjoy granola straight up as is, with milk, on (or my and my daughters favourite snack) or mixed in with greek yoghurt as well as awesome sprinkled on anything from fruit (raw or stewed), to pancakes to fish. It is an excellent way of adding protein and fiber and complex carbs.

Eat up!
With love from your granola eating friend :) ♥ ★
Kara

if the world was consumed by hippies, if we took over the population, things would look much more green and beautiful.

Cooking "en masse"

It is alwaus a greay idea to cook a lot of food at one time.. especially things you can can change up through the week.

When you are prepping vegetables..what's one more of each?

Cook two chicken breasts or four?

These are huge timemsavers, make your weekday meals easier to put together, and helps you stay on track. Here are few tips andnideas like I like to incorporate into my week.

-at the beginning of the week cut up a healthy of celery and a bag of carrots and keep them in the fridge.

-make your healthy baked good. A couple dozen protein pancakes, coconut flour muffins, protein balls etc etc..

-boil a pot of quinoa..perfect for a quick base for stirfrys or salads or hot breakfast.

-saute a bunch of mixed veges. Keep simple and plain so that they can be thrown into an omelet, added to shrimp and made into a curry, or a quick hearty salad with feta and balsamic.

-cook 4ish chicken breasts.  Slick them and have ready for a quick sandwich, to grab for a lunch in a tortilla with salsa and greek yogurt and avocado... ot I will nibble on a few pieces when im craving a snack but not actually hungry. .a touch of siracha ..yummy

Cook in bulk and set yourself up for success the rest of the week :)

Xo
Eat clean and train dirty my friends :)
Kara

Cookies for Breakfast (nom nom nom)

Breakfast is very important but sometimes (or all the time depending on your morning routine) we just dont have time to sit and eat something that will start our metabolism off to a burning start.

Here are some healthy and yummy breakfast COOKIES that you can grab and go any time of day.  Spend 30minutes mixing these up (one bowl!!!) And be prepared all week long. They are not suoer sweet..just right actually, but you can also warm them up and drizzle with a little REAL maple syrup too!

They are flourless,  sugarless,  and contain healthy fats, fruit, nuts, and complex carbs.

4cups quick oats (I use large flake)
2eggs
4large bananas
1/2 c natural honey
1 1/2c coconut
1c coconut butter (oil)
1c ground flax seed
2c dried dates
1t sea salt
2tsp cinnamon
2c natural peanut butter

Mix and make big cookies! Bake 325° for about 20-25min . Still a touch soft :)

Enjoy!
Xo
Kara

**if you are not yet familiar with coconut butter, I have a couple pictures to show you how it looks in the jar and what happens when heated. I will do a pist about how awesome this healthy fat is.. but trust me, it is good for you and delicious!

Clean eating day 6

Happy day 6!

Eggs and siracha first (after my water og course :)

Vitamins and supps

Then I made a quinoa breakfast with bananas , and maple syrup

Lunch was a jacked up Arbonne Smoothie

Snack..orange and raw almonds

Supper was early and quick..half a smoked pork chop and quinoa veges mix.

And then a post workout evening "snack" from my girl Mercy who made delicious pork tenderloin and a risotto (that was easy on the cheese!)

XO
Kara

Clean eating day 5

Day 5 already! Time flys my friends whether you eat healthy and get moving or not!

Same start as usual... water! !!

Breakfast was a protein pancake, (leftover) then vitamins and supps

Snack..which was post workout.. Arbonne shake, this time done up with yummy things like greens ...mmmmm

Lunch was chicken soup (leftover) and a toasted avocado, tomato and bacon (yes bacon!) Sandwich.. SO DELICIOUS. 

Snack was an Apple with PButter (sorry forgot the pic)

Supper salmon with almonds on lentil puree with mixed vegetable bean and quinoa salad

Snack.. chai tea with some salad and pb on Melba toast

*** I also added pics of the salmon as I bought a whole wild salmon and then deboned it at home. Im left the skin on and Cooke it skin side down on foil. When you serve the skin stays attached to the foil and the meat comes clean! I'm personally like it better with a pecan topping but almonds worked! Gracie is helping take out some pin bones :)

Clean eating day 4

Whoops.. woke up a little late this morning and the kids and I were on the run.. my eating schedule got pushed back a bit but thats no problem.. just remember - you need to eat every 2-3 hours regardless of if your wake up time is 4am or 10am.

Water

Breakfast 8am 2 poached eggs on rye toast, half an orange (kept the other 4ish slices for later), glass of water

Out the door.. No time for a coffee..get to the gym!

Snack post workout on the run I brought some dehydrated apples (these are delicious!! And ingredient list is as follows: apples  . They are crunchy like a chip and oh so good) and I had two arbonne fit chews for protein.

Spent a couple hours with my sons class and brought them skating..fun fun.

Lunch.. more like a snack again as I had decor to put up and not really a ton of time. Yoghurt (typically prefer the greek unflavoured unsweetened but I was in a rush) , the other half of my orange and some leftover protein pancake from the other morning.

With my second liter of water I was not feeling much like another snack so just had a fit chew to keep my metabolism humming along.

Supper I roasted a whole chicken and I took off the skin before eating. Sweet potatoes crispy, veges ..water . I added a little siracha to my chicken. It was moist but I needed a kick. ** this is very close to what a pre figure competition meal would look like without the corn and add another green veg. 

Curtis and the kids fully enjoyed the crispy chicken skin :/ .

After supper COFFEE ! Ya.. I had been looking forward to it all day :)

Snack.. I had made soup from the chicken carcass and leftover veg. So I had a small bowl for a snack and right before bed I also had a tea.

Happy ( clean) Eating!
Xo
Kara

Clean eating day 3

Happy Wednesday! 

Today was a bit different as I was busy setting up some decor for this weekend and well... I forgot to talk pictures of my snacks but here is a list with as many pics as I have :)

WATER

Started with breakfast of a protein pancake. I ate half.. other half still in the fridge for another day. (Oatmeal, protein powder, fiber boost, mashed banana, flax, 2 eggs.mix and cook..so yummy! Serve with REAL maple syrup) black coffee

Milk and vitamins

Snack was post workout shake with water

Arbonne fizz tab in my 2nd liter of water after the gym

Packed bag in the morning with lunch and healthy snacks to keep me on track!

Lunch was at a hall I was taking down decorating from.. i put aside a few meatballs from when I was making supper and had some leftover veges cooked up so add a little low sodium soy sauce and it makes for a great lunch! Prepping extra of things makes it easier the rest of the week.

Snack (only pic is of me setting up holding my snack???) Tim Hortons black dark roast coffee and an orange (frig they are juicy and good right now)

Supper was at my sister in laws. I started at home with a glass of the Arbonne full control which is a fiber based drink that gells in your tummy making you feel full (While giving you vitamins, antioxidants,  and minerals too.) It is excellent to help control portion size. Tastes like watermelon, and also adds to your daily liquid count.

Supper at Lornas pork tenderloin, wild rice,  carrots, salad, and roasted leeks. Yum.

Snack I had two protein balls and a cup of tea. I was up late and needed soemthing around 11:30 so I ate two celery with peanut butter.

Healthy choices!
Kara

Clean Eating day 2

Day #2 started much the same.. :)

Up at 715ish and I had a big glass of water and ate the leftover thai curry from supper the night before.. about a 2c serving.

I was very full from this right through snack so I had a mango and coffee.

Lunch (11:45)was two pieces of rye toast with a mashed avocado, pink salt and pepper..SO yummy! !!! I also had a protein ball and then headed to the gym.

Post workout was at 2:30 (and after my second liter of water) and I had an Arbonne shake (protein powder and fiber boost) with just water, some raw almonds and a banana.

While making supper I had a green tea.

Supper was meatballs made from extra lean ground beef, eggs, fiber boost powder, and oatmeal flour (grind up oats till powder..taaadaaa! ) . I made a french onion soup as a "sauce" (easy on the cheese) and served with mashed cauliflower and peas and garlic bread (which I didnt have) .

Evening snack was an orange, two Arbonne fit chews (protein and fruit bites that hit the spot when wanting something
Sweet!), and at 9:30 a Chai tea "latte" which is basically a chai tea bag steeped in hot milk..delicious, no sweetener needed and is really filling.

Feed your body!
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Kara

Clean eating day 1

So..as per my previous blog.post I said i would show you all my week of typical eating..I now realize this will be a lot of pictures so I will post each day or two so I can give you some recipies too!

If you are unfamiliar with the term "clean eating" definitely check out my other posts on the subject as this is SO important in creating meals that give you a lean, and healthy body.

Ok so here goes:

Wake up 7am drink a full glass of water

Breakfast 1/2c of unsweetened natural greek yoghurt mixed with 1/2c wild blueberries (pickle out of my back yard this summer..can sub frozen farmed if necessary), 1 scoop Arbonne protein powder, 1/4c sliced almonds.. mix it all up muesli style...delish . Also another glass of water and a black coffee.

Vitamins with small glass of milk (post on vitamins coming soon!) But basically I take a multivitamin, multimineral,  super.green, probiotic,  digestive, joint support, omega 3, bcaa,  and creatine (just started) ****VERY important to have good qulaity vitamins son you body is getting everything it needs to function properly. You know mine are amazing.. thank you again Arbonne.

Snack 9am - pre-workout 2 hardboiled eggs, some cherries, and water wAter wAter

1 liter of water drank through out workout

Lunch 12:00pm Arbonne shake with mangos, peaches, banana, spinach, Arbonne Protein powder full serving, Arbonne greens balance suppliment,  ground flax seed, milk.. filling and delish and perfect for post workout/lunch.

Snack 3pm 2 protein balls and cup of black coffee and water

6pm supper Thai red curry sauce (curry past, coconut milk, cilantro, basil, olive oil, ginger) with mixed vegetable (peppers, onions,  mushrooms) shrimp and served over brown rice. Very quick, easy, filling and satisfying!

After supper snack 8pm celery sticks with hummus.  Look at the ingredient list on packaged items!!! Water

9:30pm I was feeling a little peckish.. not hungry..just like I was "needing" something to eat! This is where diets can really go off the rails. I made a cup of ginger tea..yep just like it sounds,  a few pieces of ginger in a cup of boiling water..steep, remove piece and enjoy. It did the trick! 

Here's to day 2 :)

★ Kara

A Weekly Food Journal

I have been inspired by something on Pinterest :

"Anyone can work out for an hour a day, what you decide tonyou on your plate for the remaining 23 is the hard part"

Wow.. light bulb right!?!?! Becasue it is 1000000000% TRUE. Your body is 70% what you put in your mouth, 10% genes and 20% exercise and any qualified trainer will tell you that.. some will even bring that number closer to 80 or 90%

Sure, there are many many things that affect what we eat.. work, lifestyle,  schedules, etc etc but all of them can be overcome with proper planning.  So..I will show you what I eat for this entire week. Not only will this help to give you an idea of some clean options and portion sizes but it will also keep me on track as I need to start dialing in my diet if April will be my competition date.

First thing first.. plan it out! Im an old fashioned girl when it comes to that so paper and pencil it is. Close to competition the diet gets quite restricted and a little boring.. yes.. those pictures of row upon row of Tupperware is competition dieting (can you say fish for breakfast ???? ) but that is by far not the norm of my yearly food consumption. Good food is pleasure and giving up sugar and refined carbs does not mean you have to give up flavour.

In all honesty I much prefer going to the grocery store, seeing what is fresh and inspiring and plan in my menu from there. .and I have no issue going every day. I rarely make the same thing twice in 6months and leftovers are for breakfast or lunch..never supper again. I get just as bored with food as I do workouts! 

I will.plan on baking a treat and a healthy snack each week and the rest is made from what I have in the pantry and the fridge.  Here is what im looking at for the week but it could certainly change once I get to the store!

Snacks: protein balls, shakes, raw almonds and pecans, sliced fruit and veges with clean "dips" almond butter, peanut butter, hummus, salsa etc, boiled egg, popcorn

Breakfast: protein pancakes, oatmeal & fruit, greek yoghurt, eggs poached/boiled/scrambled, baked oatmeal/quinoa, guacamole on toast

Lunch: leftovers from clean supper, tortilla wraps with veg and lean meat, salads with protein (chicken/tuna/beans), home.made soup

Supper: shrimp curry, chicken in salsa, roasted salmon and veg, turkey breast mashed cauliflower,  lean meatballs and brown rice,  bbq steak and leeks

Drink: WATER, herbal teas, ginger tea, arbonne fizz tabs, coffee (black)

I will post the weekly pics all together on Sunday night. I hope it helps to inspire you to take a close look at your diet and see if you can make small changes to eat more frequently,  to drink more water, and to choose healthy options when it consents fill in your.plate.

food is fuel.

Xo
KARA

PB

Peanut Butter.

With dark chocolate,  with jam, with honey, on toast, on apples, on celery, on a spoon..

One of the best clean eating foods going and I often add it to smoothies,  and always to my protein ball recipie, PB is the bomb!

I have attached some pictures becasue it is so easy to make at home, tastes so much better and you can control what (if anything! ) you put into it.

Have you ever actually looked at a Peanut butter label? Nope.. not just nuts. Soy, sugar, preservatives, emulsifiers, corn or soy oil,  corn syrup, sodium and often many things I can't even pronounce. Should peanut butter not just be mashed up peanuts? ? I certainly think so!

If you have a food processor it couldn't be easier.. throw in the nuts and whirl it up till its smooth.. the natural oils will.come out and make ut extra creamy if ti u at patient enough.  I have a hand blender amd like my PB chunky and thick so I just mash it up and throw it in a TupperwAre and into the fridge. Easy peasy, cheap and tastes SO much better! 

If you are no where close to being Betty Crocker..  sure.. go out and buy some natural peanut butter. You need to mix the oils (no crap to keep it emulsified! Ya!!) And keep it in the fridge.. but honestly.. give making your own a go.. its worth it and fun for kids too :)

Any nuts will work too..  almonds, hazelnuts. . You pick!  Oh.. I should talk a little about why peanut butter is so good right? :/ protein, iron, vitamins b, d, zinc, filling, delicious.....the list goes on :)  enjoy!

♥ Kara