Meet Spaghetti Squash!

 

 Have you experienced Spaghetti Squash yet? 

A delightful grain free pairing for your favorite sauce and meatballs, Spaghetti Squash emulates the texture and shape of a noodle and carries a load of nutrients! 

This winter squash is high n Vitamin C and B6, loaded with Beta-Carotene (an anti-inflammatory), and a good supply of manganese (regulating blood sugar, and helping to maintain a healthy thyroid).  

An additional perk: extremely low in calories (40 cal/1 cup serving) and carbohydrates (10 g/1 cup) while providing high satiation (feeling of fullness).

Cut the squash in half, roast in the oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes  (peaking in the oven periodically to scrape off layers of the squash into spaghetti like strands with a fork).  After 30 minutes or so, take the squash out and scrape into strands.  Add some homemade sauce and voila! Bon appetite!

 

provides 41 calories, 0 g of fat, 1 g of protein, 10 g of carbohydrates, 2 g of dietary fiber and 28 mg of sodium. If cut while raw, spaghetti squash may be cubed and prepared like other types of winter squash. One cup, cubed, or 101 g provides 31 calories, 1 g of fat, 1 g of protein, 7 g of carbohydrates, 0 g of fiber and 17 mg of sodium.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/280008-spaghetti-squash-calories-nutrients/#ixzz2DGM9ziHj

, provides 41 calories, 0 g of fat, 1 g of protein, 10 g of carbohydrates, 2 g of dietary fiber and 28 mg of sodium. If cut while raw, spaghetti squash may be cubed and prepared like other types of winter squash. One cup, cubed, or 101 g provides 31 calories, 1 g of fat, 1 g of protein, 7 g of carbohydrates, 0 g of fiber and 17 mg of sodium.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/280008-spaghetti-squash-calories-nutrients/#ixzz2DGMo

provides 41 calories, 0 g of fat, 1 g of protein, 10 g of carbohydrates, 2 g of dietary fiber and 28 mg of sodium. If cut while raw, spaghetti squash may be cubed and prepared like other types of winter squash. One cup, cubed, or 101 g provides 31 calories, 1 g of fat, 1 g of protein, 7 g of carbohydrates, 0 g of fiber and 17 mg of sodium.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/280008-spaghetti-squash-calories-nutrients/#ixzz2DGM9ziHj

Exercise your way to Happy this Thanksgiving

In our daily lives, we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but the gratefulness that makes us happy. — Albert Clarke


One of the biggest falsehoods in this world is that we must pursue happiness.  As if it is something to obtain, something to work towards-to bottle up and store for a while. The truth is, happiness is within us, right now.  Happiness is our natural state.  Along the road of life, we get bombarded by external   influences, feel the pressure from these forces, form expectations for ourselves and begin to "define" happiness.  We start to believe we have to be a certain someone or have a special something just to be "happy."  Happiness is here for us right now.  Experiences don't determine happiness, our response to the experience is what invites or blocks the contentment into our lives.

Have you ever heard yourself navigating your way toward a "happy" place? "If I just had a better job... if only I could find my soulmate....if only I were ten pounds lighter....if only we had a bigger house." This daunting monologue plays out in our head (sometimes unconsciously) weighing us down and creating layers that block us from gratitude. Oh what a miserable (and meaningless) life this will be if we let circumstances define our state of being.  If we let those tangible things define our contentment, we are at their mercy.  So what happens when they fail us?

Even the "good things", we don't want to be at the mercy of. Because truth is, those things can be gone in an instant. Your house, gone. Your job, gone. Your health, gone. Your lover, gone.

My fiance's short life on earth brought this raw truth to my soul.  For a good three years after his passing my contentment with life was at the mercy of our love-leaving me unpleasant to be around, not as productive for God, and torturous for my own health.

When I worked through the layers of grief, extending gratitude for what was, I found a remarkable reality that yeah, happiness really is in ME. It is available to me at any point, I get to choose to access it.

Certainly the people in our lives and the material gifts we do have can encourage our happiness, can provide joy, but they don't make you happy.  They beautifully enhance your state of being when present, and they can shake you up a bit (okay A LOT) when leaving, but there is an opportunity to keep that contentment along the ride.

The key to finding that contentment along the ride: Gratitude. 

Gratitude. 
Maybe it's finding gratitude in loss, because it means you had the privilege to love. Finding gratitude in a job transfer, because God has bigger plans for you. Finding gratitude in the body you live in, and seeing the excess weight as a message to serve your body a little better.

Or my new fav I had opportunity to practice during a drugless bone marrow biopsy:  Gratitude for pain because it means you can feel.

This gratitude exercise is not always easy.  It's exercise. And as we know, some exercise classes kick your butt, leaving you deserted by your own breath, and other routines are more manageable. But this exercise has a guaranteed 100% success rate to bring out more happy.

This Thanksgiving, as you join your loved ones around the table (and honor those you bring to the table in spirit :) exercise your way to happy.  It's easy to find gratitude in the "good things." But that will fade tomorrow or next week when you aren't around the turkey and grandma's stuffing.  See if you can extend new found gratitude for even the sticky stuff this Thanksgiving.

And....be truly happy. 

Shopper's Guide to Organic

The Environmental Working Group 2012

‘Dirty Dozen' list of produce with the highest amount of pesticides...

When it comes to buying organic, some produce is more necessary than others. For the dirty dozen, you probably want to buy organic (apples being the #1).

The Dirty Dozen

1. Apples

2. Celery

3. Sweet Bell Peppers

4. Peaches

5. Strawberries

6. Nectarines – Imported

7. Grapes

8. Spinach

9. Lettuce

10. Cucumbers

11. Blueberries

12. Potatoes

This year, they added a "plus" category with Green Beans and Kale/Greens.

Here is the "Clean 15" list containing the lowest amount of pesticides. If you'd like to save money and not opt for organic, then this list is probably a good place to start. 

The Clean 15: 

1. Onions

2. Sweet corn

3. Pineapples

4. Avocado

5. Cabbage

6. Sweet Peas

7. Asparagus

8. Mangoes

9. Eggplant

10. Kiwi

11. Domestic Cantaloupe

12. Sweet Potatoes

13. Grapefruit

14. Watermelon

15. Mushrooms

Food for thought, everything we put in, our body has to filter and process. Food the way nature made is clean and wholesome; your body knows just what to do with it. :)

Surprising Snickerdoodles

 

This weekend I had a get together with some fabulous women from Mueva.  The theme of the evening was Mexican cuisine, therefore my volunteered dessert called for some Latin flare! I went to the cupboard to see what ingredients I had (considering I only had 30 minutes until show time).  I saw the cinnamon and was flooded with images of Snickerdoodles; mmmm. I found some almond flour and coconut oil and quickly looked up a recipe that would support the two ingredients.  I threw these decadent treats together in the matter of minutes and put them in the oven at 350 degrees on good faith that anything with cinnamon, maple syrup, coconut oil, and almonds has to end well. 


 I left the house without trying the final product, leaving them subject to the approval of any hungry partakers. The response was unanimous; delish!  These are Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, and just the right amount of sweetness! (Adapted from www.mygutsty.com).

I snicker when the recipes I whimsically throw together, end up being winners.  Try these doodles for your peeps, then share what is in them. I guarantee you will surprise them. 

Allergen Friendly Snickerdoodles:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix these dry ingredients together:
2 cups almond flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
Dash of cinnamon  

Mix these wet ingredients in a separate bowl:
1/4 cup maple syrup
5 TBS coconut oil (heated up over stove or in microwave, until liquid) 
1 1/2 TBS vanilla extract

Coating:
3 TBS cinnamon (and 1.5 TBS turbinado sugar in the raw if you choose)   

Mix the wet and dry ingredients together. Roll 2-inch size cookie dough balls into the bowl of cinnamon (or cinnamon/sugar combo) and put on cookie sheet (lined with parchment paper or super lightly greased w/ coconut oil). Once you put them on the cookie sheet (makes about 14) you can use a flat circle (bottom of a TBS scooper?) to flatten into 1/4 inch thickness.

Bake for 8 min only
Take out and let them cool on pan for ten min.

Remove cookies and place on plate. Enjoy!

They will be soft and chewy. If you want crunchier cookies bake for 9-10 min. The cookies do take a firmer mold an hr or two after baking, reaching the perfect texture!

  

What you focus on, you get more of.

The human brain is routinely inundated with self-imposed pressure, criticism, and doubt.  It is amazing how your mind can have you completely convinced of a shortcoming or an obstacle, without any real evidence for the claim.

Our minds have a creative way of convincing us of limitations by pairing them with “intelligent” pretexts.  “I will never be a runner, I just wasn’t built that way....Church is good for you, but it’s not good for me at this point in my life….I can’t speak in public,  I’m quiet…..I can’t do yoga, are you kidding me, I’m not flexible enough.” 

If you are human, there are things you have limited yourself to simply because it didn’t seem to fit on you. Out of 1,000 positive “I can's”  we all experience one “can’t, won’t, or probably never…” 

This week as I was recovering from an emergency surgery on my tummy, my mind tried engaging in that self-criticizing monologue.  “What! How long until I'll be able to get back to teaching yoga and pilates. Yikes, I’m going to lose the strength and stability in my core from this procedure, it hurts to tie my shoe.. blah blahty blah!"  Thankfully, a beautiful friend and kindred spirit reminded me of the beauty in adaptation and this monologue wasn't entertained for longer than a few breaths.

Leaving the business of self-loathing and embracing healing, I found some simple pleasure in sitting still. During this week, I pondered how persistent our mind can be. Man- the mind is powerful.  I reflected with great humor on a few things in my life where the initial line of thinking was "Psh! I can't do that." Witnessing the myth of these “never” statements was totally amusing.

A few of these erroneous thoughts were disproved at an unconscious level; others, I consciously focused on disproving, to spite the idealism in my head that tried saying  "it isn't for me.” 

We've all been there. The gift is now celebrating your transformations. I share these with a kind reminder that, your kindergarten teacher was right, "can't," really does not exist.           

I won't be able to headstand like the yogi in the corner.

 

I will never win the lotto. 

I don't fly alone.

Eh, I don't cook. 

Handstand, UNsupported? Yikes. 

I am not a runner.

^4 miles....7/25/12 

I can't survive.

 

much less, laugh again...

 

Own a business? Nah.

 

You must do the thing, you think you cannot do. :)