Healthy Food & Snacks

There is this misconception going around that eating healthy food means one has to eat raw, tasteless vegetables and fruits. Well, this article will throw that misconception out of the window and show you how healthy food can be absolutely delicious and so mouth-watering, you won’t even know that it’s health food.

In today’s world of fat-laden fast food and processed food, it is pretty easy to grab these to satisfy one’s hunger. However, that’s not a great thing for your body as it only serves to clog your arteries and add to your body fat. You certainly do not need to put in too much junk in your body. It’s like putting sand into the gas tank of your car. One day, your body will break down from all that junk.

Now, many people gave the excuse that they can’t stick to healthy food because it is boring, tasteless or even downright nasty. Well, this is not true. There are plenty of healthy recipes abound that are easy to prepare and yet are tasty and great for your body. Even if you don’t have the time to cook, there are plenty of crock pot recipes for you to simple dump in all the ingredients, set the pot and in several hours’ time, you have your food. Easy and simple.

If you are curious about what kind of healthy foods that are not boring and tasteless, an example would be very low fat brownie. Yes, you can even eat desserts as long as it’s prepared healthily and with less sugar and fats. If you have heard of quinoa, the super grain introduced by the Incas, these can also be cooked healthily and be a great addition to your diet!

So, it does not have to be salads all the time. There are plenty of great low fat, low sugar, low sodium and yet delicious recipes out there for you to try. Sure, you can indulge in sinfully high calorie desserts every once in a while but if you make it a habit to consume healthy food all the time, you will find that you have more energy and the pounds will slowly drop off too.

Brewing French press coffee at home is easy to do and will produce incredible results. Once you start using this method, you will be hooked on its simplicity of preparation and depth of flavor.

Step 1 – Buy coffee.

Because the French press method is inexpensive, you can afford to buy some quality beans. Find a great roaster near you – like JJ Bean in Vancouver or Phil and Sebastian in Calgary – to buy coffee in ½ pound or one pound bags.

I’ll assume that most people don’t have a coffee grinder, so ask them to grind it for a French press. The size of the ground coffee particles should look similar to sand or kosher salt. If you have a grinder (I highly recommend this one) you should grind the beans while you boil the water in step 3.

Step 2 – Measure the coffee.

If your press came with a scoop, perfect. If not, you can just use a regular tablespoon (not a gigantic soup spoon) to do the measurements. Here’s the ratio to use:

- two rounded tablespoons of coffee for 8 ounces of water.

That means if you are using a 3 cup press, you will use 3 rounded tablespoons of coffee, or about 8 for an 8 cup press. You can adjust the amount based on your personal taste, but this is a good guideline.

Scoop the appropriate amount of coffee into the bottom of a clean, dry French press.

Step 3 – Pour the water.

Use water that is just off the boil. Once it stops bubbling, it is ready to be poured into the press.

Pour reasonably quickly while moving in a swirling motion to ensure all the coffee becomes saturated. At this point, there may be some brown foam forming on top – that’s good. This foam is called bloom, and is simply emulsified coffee oils. Pour to within about an inch and a half from the top. read more »

With all the talk of healthy eating and losing weight nowadays, we really need to stop and give some thought to the fast food industry and processed ready-made foods. One really needs to be aware of the fat, calories and sodium that are lurking in these products.

As a parent, you are approached by your hungry child wanting food and NOW!! You also should be conscious of your own eating habits. If you are eating healthy you will also want your children to eat healthy. It is a “family” situation.

A package of cookies, or chips are a lot easier to put out when you are involved in an already busy schedule. But what are these items doing to the health of your children? Even if they do not have a weight problem, this is not healthy food fare. Good nutritious foods should be our first thought. Packaged foods that are readily accessible lack wholesome goodness. Here are a few suggestions for quick snacks:

* Apple wedges are tasty dipped in peanut or almond butter.
* Carrot sticks or cucumber slices are yummy dipped in a lite salad dressing.
* A whole wheat tortilla spread with a bit of peanut butter and small amount of natural fruit preserves and then rolled up will satisfy a hearty hunger.
* Keep frozen banana chunks, fruits and berries in the freezer. (Alton Brown on the Food Network recently shared a tip. Take the bananas out of the skin and put them in a plastic bag in your freezer. You will not end up with the dreadful black bananas) Put the fruit with juice, soy milk or skim milk in a blender and blend up a delicious fruit smoothie/shake. read more »