What I buy...and where I buy it...

I feel like I hear all the time that eating healthy is just too expensive, that people can't find good produce and that things just need to be more convenient to eat healthy most of the time. Well, I'm here to tell you that it doesn't have to be costly to eat right, that there is good produce to be found in the right places and that there are more options now than ever for healthy convenience food.

I go to three stores every week and then Costco every other week. I know that it sounds like a lot, but I know exactly what I'm going to get at each store for the most part. I also know which stores have the best produce and what meats to buys where and the best of the best healthy food that is quick! It's taken me a while, but I have it down to a science for my family and I and if I can save someone time and $$, then yay!!

Here are my go to foods at the best prices and the best stores at which to get them:

Aldi: If you haven't tried it...you are truly missing out.

• Greens of any kind...I love their organic selection
• Peppers
• Celery
• Snapeas
• Necterines
• Carrots
• Sweet potatoes
• White potatoes
• Onions
• Zucchini
• Bagged salad kits
• Eggs
• Almond Milk
• Bacon
• Full fat plain Greek yogurt
• All canned goods including tuna
• Oatmeal
• 100% pure maple syrup
• Rice cakes
• Guacamole
• Fresh salsa
• Hummus
• Chicken Sausage
• Fresh Chicken breast
• Pork tenderloin
• Pork shoulder
• Hamburger 
• Ground turkey
• Steam bags of frozen broccoli, California medley, Asian stir-fry
• Frozen berries
• Frozen quinoa meals (add some cauliflower rice to fill them out with more veggies)
• Apple Cider Vineager
• Coconut Oil
• Avocado Oil
• Coconut Sugar
• Gluten-free bread/snacks

Trader Joe's

• Spaghetti squash 
• Butternut squash (found already cubed if in a time crunch)
• Frozen cauliflower rice
• Frozen cauliflower fried rice
• Frozen brown rice (steam in bag)
• Jazz apples (if you haven't tried these...you're welcome for introducing you!)
• Frozen "Hodge Podge" veggie mix...good with anything!
• Natural peanut butter (just salt and peanuts)
• Dried, unsweetened mango
• 1/2 the salt roasted almonds
• Plantain chips
• Hummus
• Spices
• Dairy free chocolate chips 
• Dark chocolate
• Coffee
• Chomps Turkey sticks (no sugar!)
• Popcorn kernels
• RX Bars (always $1.99 each)
• Wine (my favorite Cab right now is Lazy Bones and it's $6.99!)

Sprouts

• Bars: Lara Bars, Quest Bars and Amrita (almost always less expensive here-sometimes RX bars are a dollar-what?!)
• Daiya dairy free cheese
• Mikey's grain free pizza crusts (frozen)
• Avocados...they are the best and they are really really inexpensive here
• Berries of all kinds
• Turkey breast...in the deli section...it's slices like you would do for Thanksgiving...amazing!)
• Rotisserie chicken (no added junk)

Costco

• Veggie tray-soooo convenient for those weeks that you don't want to cut up veggies
• Frozen wild caught Alaskan salmon
• Protein Powder 
• Collagen (it's the least pricey here...by sooooooo much!)
• Chicken sausage (frozen section)
• Kirkland Protein Bars (similar to quest but I think they're better)
• La Croix

5 Reasons to Drink Warm Lemon Water in the Morning

As soon as I get up, I always chug a big glass of water....it gets me that much closer to drinking half my body weight in oz of water a day. But lately, it's been so cold, I've started to drink the water warm and then as the coffee is brewing, I do a mug with some lemon juice. I've see all the stuff before about lemon water and it's benefits, but I kinda forgot about it until our next door neighbor shared his morning routine with me. I thought, "heck...if Jeff is doing this, I can do that!"

I did a little research because, let's be honest, how many of us have even 30 more seconds in our mornings to cut open a lemon and squeeze it into some warm water...not me, my friends. UNLESS it really does something good for my body.

Let me share what I found out about warm lemon water in the mornings:

• Helps hydrate the body after sleeping (which dehydrates the body)
• Warm water is more quickly absorbed into the system
• Warm water wakes up the digestion system (helps you pee and poop)
• Adding lemon is great because it gives us a boost of Vitamin C...who couldn't use more of that during cold and flu season? 
• Lemon also helps our liver with detoxification...get that bad stuff out of our system

 And now let me share what I have noticed from drinking warm lemon water personally:

• It totally aids in digestion
• I feel a bit more awake (probably because I'm hydrating myself)
• I have yet to get sick (now I probably will because I just wrote that)
• My kids do NOT like the taste, so they leave my mug alone-bonus! ⬇️

Worth it? Totally

Also...there are some interesting health rituals around drinking warm water first thing in the morning. Check out this interesting article for more info on drinking warm water.

Dry Brushing: worth it?

Ever heard of dry skin brushing, or dry brushing for short?

If not, you might think that the idea of rubbing completely dry skin with a natural bristle brush sounds super strange and a big ol' waste of time. I was totally with you....until this guy Joe who is helping me relieve some pain through Myofascial (torture) massage suggested I start (more on my experience with Joe later).

If you have heard of dry brushing, you may be aware of the vast amounts of claims that people make in support of the practice: reduces cellulite, rids the body of toxins, helps lymphatic flow, reduces stress, improves digestion, promotes circulation and exfoliates the skin. Now, if it truly did all of that, everyone with a hint of bumpy skin on their booty would be doing it. In fact, Dr. Andrew Weil has a fantastic article on dry brushing and is super up front about what it can't do (i.e. cure cellulite and detox the body). However, I have found since dry brushing my super dry winter skin that the exfoliation is the best way to cure my flaky, parched skin all over my body. Also, since you move in a specific way with the brush, it can help with circulation and promote lymph flow and drainage (basically the system that gets junk out of your body through various bodily functions). Plus, it feels good and I swear I have more energy after a session with my brush.

So is it worth it?

Totally. It takes about 2-5 minutes depending on how quickly you move. Here's a little "how to"

How to dry brush to get ride of dry skin, increase circulation and promote lymphatic flow:

1. Purchase a brush with natural bristles such as boar hair bristles (this is the one I got) 
2. Get naked and make sure you are completely dry
3. Begin with the feet and with the same motion that you would brush long hair (use your imagination if you need to), brush the skin in the direction of your heart. For example, you will brush your feet and legs upward and your chest and upper back downward...make sense? If this seems super confusing, google "how to dry brush" on youtube and go from there.
4. Shower
5. Moisturize with a natural moisturizer...coconut oil is my fav but I also use EveryOne Lotion.
6. Repeat a few times a week.

What's your experience with dry brushing??

Drink up for your health!

It’s getting hot outside…are you getting enough water? The body is about 60% water, therefore, it’s important to drink plenty H2O to keep your body properly hydrated. Our body loses a bit over 8 cups of water a day (64 oz) through various bodily processes, so it stands to reason that you need to drink at least 8 cups of water a day to make sure that you replace the lost water. Why is hydration so important for our overall health? Let’s look at the roles that water plays in the body:

• Water helps rid the body of toxins
• Water boosts your metabolism
• Water carries nutrients to your cells
• Water keeps you energized
• Water plays a key role in the function of every organ
• Water aids in digestion

When you don’t drink enough water, you are at risk to become dehydrated. Dehydration can cause minor to major problems including:  

• Slow Metabolism
• Low energy
• Kidney stones
• Poorly functioning organs
• Failing kidneys

If the thought of drinking so much plain ol’ water every day doesn’t appeal to you, try to stay away from water mix-ins. These popular fruity powders are full or sugar or worse, chemical sweeteners that have been linked to certain types of cancer and even obesity. Instead, try adding the following natural water enhancers:

• Lemon, Lime or Orange slices
• Crushed raspberries
• Sliced cucumbers
• Frozen orange juice “ice cubes”

No excuses; drink 1/2 your body weight in oz of water a day. (Example: if you weigh 150 lbs, drink 75 oz of water a day)

A note for those who exercise regularly:

If you loose a pound or two during a major sweat session, what you’ve lost is not fat, it’s 2 ½ CUPS of water per pound lost from your body-yikes! Dehydration sets in once you loose about 2% of body weight due to water loss (so a 175 lb man could lose only 3.5 lbs of water during a hard workout and succumb to dehydration…scary!)

Sweating is a good thing; it keeps our bodies cool, but it also causes us to loose water and so we must replace what has been lost. It’s super important to drink water before, during and after a good sweat session in normal conditions, but it’s actually a crucial requirement to do such when it’s hot out. Tips to staying hydrated:

• Remember to drink about two cups (16 oz) of water and hour or two before exercise
• Drink ½ cup (4 oz or about 2-3 gulps) every 15-20 minutes during exercise.
• Be sure to continue drinking water even after your workout is complete to ensure that you are properly hydrated.

Remember to listen to your body when exercising in the heat. If you start to get dizzy, light headed or if you stop sweating when you’re working hard, it’s time to quit for the time being and drink some water.

Cheers to your health!

Food recovery for after the holidays

With all the diets and pills and powders out there promising all of our weight loss and health goals come true in the new year, what works and what doesn't? Well, in my opinion, one of the things that everyone can do that doesn't cost extra money or giving up our favorite foods is to eat a variety of whole, minimally processed foods. I don't mean that you need to shop at Whole Foods, the whole foods that I'm referring to are things that come from nature and are eaten in their whole form (i.e. an apple from a tree)

Basically whole foods are:

• fresh fruits and vegetables
• whole grains (quinoa, corn, brown rice, oats)
• unprocessed, natural meat, eggs
• natural dairy
• nuts, beans, potatoes

Why might a person want to eat mostly whole foods instead of processed foods? Oh, let me tell you...

• When you eat whole foods like an apple instead of drinking apple juice, you get all the vitamins and minerals working together to power your body the way they were made to do so…instead of extracting one part of the food.
• Whole foods are more nutritionally dense meaning that you get more nutrients that our bodies need per serving
• You automatically avoid harmful additives like antibiotics, hormones, added sugars, preservatives, etc
• More fiber…yay! Many processed foods, especially processed grains, have processed the fiber right out of the food. And we need fiber for proper digestion. 

A little trick that I use when I shop is to shop around the edges of the grocery store first where most of the produce, meat, dairy and frozen veggies and fruit live and then venture into the center isle for whole wheat pasta, brown rice, 100% whole wheat bread, nuts and beans.

So what might some whole foods meals look like? Well here is an entire weeknight dinner menu of super tasty and SUPER easy meals made of whole foods!

Monday: Slow cooker, super clean chili. This is one of my favorite things to prep the night before and then just pull it out of the fridge and into the slow cooker before I leave the house Monday morning.

Tuesday: Taco Tuesday. This super simple and yummy burrito bowl is a big hit in our house most Tuesdays. 

Wednesday: Salmon and Sides. This looks fancy, but takes less than 30 minutes!

Thursday: Chicken and angel hair "pasta" pesto. This is great with zucchini noodles, but even better with spaghetti squash. I double or even triple/quadruple the pesto recipe as it freezes really well for the next time!

Friday: Baked potatoes with leftover chili on top. Because, let's face it, sometimes at the end of the week it's hard to make yourself cook. 

So there you have it! Have fun adding more whole foods into your day...I bet you will feel and even look your best! :) 

Clean and simple egg casserole that is anything but just for breakfast!

Earlier this week, I made a breakfast casserole for a friend who just had a baby and eats mostly paleo. The recipe looked good, so I doubled it and made one for myself...and oh my it was GOOD! But true to form, I thought that I could definitely get some more veggies in and do less processed meat. So, here is what I came up with and it delivers. I made it a bit spicy so if that's not  your thing, use less pepper flakes :)

What you need:

• 1 tbsp avocado, coconut, olive oil, butter, ghee...your choice...I like avocado oil best :) 
• 1 lb ground turkey (I like the 93% lean)
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed (if you're lazy like me, Trader Joe's sells sweet potatoes already cubed)
• 1 package (3 cups) cooked cauliflower rice (I get it at Trader Joe's in the frozen section and microwave for 3 minutes)
• 3 cups fresh, shopped spinach
• 1/2 large yellow onion diced
• 12 eggs, beaten
• 3  tsp kosher salt, divided
• 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 3/4 tsp sage
• 3/4 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp marjoram

What you do:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees
2. Toss sweet potatoes in oil and place them on baking sheet. Bake for about 20-30 minutes or until soft
3. While sweet potatoes are roasting, brown the ground turkey with onions until finished (no pink)
4. Add pepper, 2 tsp salt, sage and thyme to meat and mix well
5. Add cooked cauliflower rice and sweet potatoes to meat mixture and combine
6. Whip the garlic powder and remaining salt into the eggs
7. Grease a 9x13 pan and pour all ingredients together, including eggs
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until eggs are set
9. This lasts for about a week in the fridge...enjoy!

Homemade bone broth...what?!

You might be super excited about this post or, like me, the name "bone broth" makes you gag a little. HOWEVER, I'm telling you, this stuff is legit! It helps with stomach problems, skin woes, immunity and joint pain (click here for more bone broth amazingness here). Plus, it's basically the easiest thing I've every done. Okay, maybe not the easiest, but I'll tell you what, it takes me no longer than 2 minutes to prep for this and another 2 minutes to finish it up. Plus, instead of spending $10 for 4 servings of frozen broth, I get like 10 servings of fresh broth for like a $1. I know y'all are super pumped now and ready to pull out your stock pots and crock pots, but let's go over what bone broth really is.

Bone broth is broth (shocker) that's made from bones (no!!) of chickens, turkeys or cows. It differs from normal broth or stock in that you really only need the bones and not meat and it's done over a long period of time. This process makes it so you get all the amazing properties of the bones an connective tissues like collagen and such. Learn lots more about bone broth and it''s amazingness here.

Okay, now that you have bought in, or looking for a less expensive and fresher way to add bone broth into your day, here's the super simple way to do it...and just in time for those turkey bones after Thanksgiving!

What you need:

• stock pot or crockpot
• bones from a chicken, turkey or cow (I just use the bones and whatever is left on them from leftover  rotisserie chicken, turkey, bone-in steak, etc. or you can also beg bones from your local butcher)
• couple stalks of celery, washed 
• couple carrots, washed but not peeled
• 1 white onion, peeled and cut into quarters
• minced or whole garlic cloves (like 4 cloves or tbsp minced)
• 2 tbsp organic, unfiltered, raw apple cider vinegar
• salt to taste
• water

What you do:

1. Dump everything into a crockpot
2. Fill crockpot with water (to the top)
3. Set on low and leave it alone for 24-36 hours
4. Strain (I use cheese cloth) broth into a large bowl and toss everything else
5. Store the broth in the fridge for up to a week or freeze it! (there will most likely be a layer of fat on top...just skim it off after it cools.

So what do you do with it after you make it? Heat it up on the stove and drink a cup (or two) a day. I've been able to stop taking the vitamins I take for my knees and I feel great! Also, you can use it as you would any broth...making soup, using it instead of water for rice or quinoa...get creative!

Enjoy!

My new favorite mixed drink-for health

Drinking water is wonderful, amazing and super duper important for...well...you know...living. However, after drinking my gallon to a gallon and a half day in and day out, sometimes some other beverage starts sounding pretty good. Im definitely not advocating drinking anything but plain, still water for your daily water needs, but if you need a little treat now an then this might just do it for you (it does it for me!) 

My new favorite health-cocktail (sans alcohol...but you could totally add some I suppose...just don't drive with it) is a sparkling water with two tablespoons lemon juice and 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (ACV). You all know my obsession with "the cleanse shot" but for something a bit different and fun, this is the way to go. The lemon juice does all sorts of great things like helps to cleanse the body of toxins and the ACV helps curb appetite along with a million other things. With pineapple flavor sparkling water it's a refreshing boost of energy as well as a craving blaster of late afternoon mock-tail.

 What's your favorite flavor of sparkling water? 

ChopChop Whole Food Cleanse: DAY 3...the finale!

  

So I made it! Day Three of the amazing ChopChop Whole Food Cleanse COMPLETE! Can you see my excitement drinking my decaffeinated iced green tea? So day three was actually the easiest. I woke up feeling great, my skin was practically glowing and I was down 10 lbs...okay those last two are a lie...BUT I do feel really good and have no cravings at all!

What I ate:

The last two days I was feeling really tired and lethargic and cranky, so today I thought I'd switch it up and eat before my normal fast-until-time of noon. I lightly sauteed my breakfast chicken skillet with a bit of the bone broth (just until the spinach started to wilt) added some fresh cracked pepper and it was DELICIOUS and surprisingly filling. I had some hard workouts early in the morning so I chose to eat two carrots and a half an apple extra today...still clean...still on the "approved" list :) The sweet and sour salad for lunch was the best thing I've eaten in a long time...it was soooo good. I'm going to try to recreate it in my own little kitchen. Snacks were a protein bar and almond butter with an apple (did I lick the almond butter container? Yes.)

How I felt:

I feel GREAT today. I woke up with lots of energy, no cravings, my workouts rocked and really I feel like I just look healthier. I mean, I get that it's only been three days..but I'm going with it.

What I liked:

I LOVED day three. Favorite day by far...now if I could  have had those delicious raisins today too, oh man, it would have been just too much of some very yummy things. 

What I had a hard time with:

Nothing really. I used some extra fruit/veggie like is allowed on the cleanse and it did my body good!

What's next?

So I thought I ate pretty clean, but now, I wonder if I could cut back a little bit more on the processed protein bars and my chocolate addiction for sure :) I will definitely do this cleanse again-it was just want it said...it was a Re-start! Also, I will totally include bone broth and more raw kale in my diet...who knew?

ChopChop Whole Food Cleanse: DAY 2

You can't totally tell, but I'm super excited to eat these raisins and nuts! 

So day two...it went fine..I was kinda crabby, but again, not being able to breathe (allergies!!!) and such doesn't make for a happy camper so I can't totally blame it on the cleanse. So here's the skinny:

What I ate:

Yummy salmon skillet

Same deal as yesterday only the salads were a bit different as were the snacks. Bone broth and a smoked salmon "scramble" for breakfast...which I totally ate as a mid-afternoon snack with a tiny drizzle of last night's dressing on it for a bit more flavor. The salmon salad for lunch was yummy and citrus-y. The snacks were some raisins and raw, unsalted nuts and two protein balls. Both were weirdly delicious. The raisins were my favorite...they were so sweet and seemed like a real treat! That sounds kinda sad, I know, but when you have like 26 sweet teeth in your mouth, I'll take what I can get. Then there was a Mediterranean salad for dinner.

How I felt:

I was feeling super tired...like sleepy tired...but that's okay. I think I eat pretty clean, but I do have this chocolate addiction and I love wine, sooooo it could totally be part of cleansing. I also worked out for about 4 hours (deal of my job) and so that could have added to my lethargic-ness. 

What I liked: 

As mentioned before...the raisins and really everything else was pretty yummy...except for....

What I had a hard time with:

The dinner salad dressing. I have loved all of the dressings until this one. I poured half of it on my salad and mixed it all up. Oh man, I wish I hadn't done that. It had something in it that was so bitter that I actually didn't finish the salad and had a small apple and a carrot instead. Sad face for real. 

Overall, still think it's really good. Also, I'm super glad that I am doing it along side a bunch of awesome women so we can encourage each other, give each other ideas, etc. 

The salad that I had to leave behind-wah wahhhh

ChopChop Whole Foods Cleanse: DAY 1

Breakfast Chicken Scramble

Today was my first day of the ChopChop Whole Food Cleanse...and it was great! Paleofit , a local Kansas City company, offers lots of yummy Paleo food and now they have a whole food cleanse. I decided to try out the three day cleanse: they also offer a 7 and 10 day version. It's pretty sweet because they provide and deliver ALL of your food for the cleanse. You don't have to prepare at all really in regards to shopping and such. Plus, if you eat with your family or friends, you can still eat something-which is a major benefit in my house.

What I ate:

For day one I was given a bone broth and scramble (which is basically another salad) for breakfast, an apple and almond butter for morning snack, a yummy chicken salad deal with kale and mushrooms and such for lunch, a protein bar for afternoon snack and a delicious green salad with a nice piece of salmon for dinner. Since I practice intermitant fasting...yay! I didn't start my eating until noon. I began with my lunch salad...which was really really yummy...then basically ate through the rest of the day ending with dinner at 6. Everything was super yummy.

How I felt:

I felt great...but have to be honest...I was a bit hungry...BUT that is no big deal...it's okay to be hungry. I've done many cleanses that don't even let you chew anything at all..so day one of this cleanse was a cakewalk!

What I liked:

Apple and almond butter

The food was great..the packaging was super easy to store and labeled by day so there wasn't any confusion on what I was supposed to eat. I also received an e-mail from Paleofit telling with encouragements for the start of the cleanse and some tips. They also provide an approved food list just in case you are about to eat your arm off (arms are not on the approved list) or if you are super active and need a few more calories to keep conscious.

What I had a hard time with:

Everything was so yummy...espeically the dressings (which were given in a huge amount)...however, the breakfast "scramble" was served dry. Soooo....I think I'll add some of my extra dressing from day 2's salads to it tomorrow. Also, you aren't supposed to have caffeine or alcohol...ahhhhh...I know, right? Soooo...I totally drank black coffee so I wouldn't die of a migraine. I was able to refrain from alcohol, but not super excited about it :) 

How I felt:

I felt actually really good...a bit tired...but that could have been from the long and busy weekend and/or my stupid allergies. I feel like I'm getting my body all of the vitamins and minerals it needs without all the crap...so that's awesome!

Until tomorrow....