Chocolate dipping

Want to introduce a new health food into your family's diet?? Just dip it in chocolate, then reward yourself for all that hard dipping work you just did :) Use 70% cocoa content for best flavour and health benefits.

Oh but.... this one doesn't count

Happy living,
~Princess

I'm so excited, I got my new Clean Eating !!!!

No, I am not a normal 18 year old, but I never claimed to be!

The first thing I made was the Beefy zucchini rolls with fresh marinara and sweet potato wedges. It tasted so good! But it wasn't exactly...how do you say... nice to look at? I didn't cook the zucchini slices long enough for them to soften, so it was hard to roll them. I was too hungry to wait the extra five minutes! So I'll just show you the nice picture from the magazine, and pretend I made this one!

They did taste delicious though!

I truly love this magazine, this is a bit of a sneak peek inside it:

That last one is a healthy raspberry and brie flatbread! Who would have thought of that? Brilliant I say!

Happy living,
~Princess

You ask, I shall answer!!

Yay!! I have a question!
Perhaps it may be from someone I actually know personally...I may even be blood related to them. Heck, I may even share the same mother and father with them! But it's my question, and I'm going to own it!!!


Dear Princess,
First off, I love your blog! It always brightens my day to see you latest post. Second, I would like to seek your nutritional guidance. Rather than a sweet tooth, I have what I call a salt tooth. You won't find me craving cookies, but I'm weak in the face of tortilla chips! I know everything is alright in moderation, but do you have any suggestions for savoury snacks that pack a bigger nutritional punch?

Response:
A salt tooth can be a very powerful thing! No salty/savoury craving can be quelled by a crunchy apple or cooling cucumber. Nothing will do the job, other than a crunchy snack with a bit of pep! I love tortilla chips too, but sometimes you know that reaching for that seventh handful is not really in your body's best interest! Here are some alternative ideas to tame that craving:

Sweet Potato hummus from choosing raw , served with veggies

Sweet potato is exploding with vitamin C (a 200g serving has 769% of your daily value! No, that was not a typo!) and also vitamin A. Chickpeas pack in more protein and fibre.

Chili Lime popcorn from mahalo

Popcorn contains more polyphenols (antioxidants) than processed tortilla chips, Cumin is a source of iron, and chili powder and lime juice provide a splash of vitamin A

Whole wheat crackers with savory herb variation from hubpages

Whole wheat flour is a source of fibre, manganese, and selenium. Dill is a source of iron, onion provides a little vitamin C, and garlic... well I just like garlic.

Roasted pumpkin seeds from All recipes

Roasted pumpkin seeds are a source of protein, iron and healthy fats.

Sour cream and onion kale chips from Oh She Glows

Kale is a superfood!! Bursting with vitamin A, vitamin C, and loads of other micronutrients, but now in chip form!


Hopefully these ideas were able to get your imagination turning for more salty/savoury snack possibilities!

Happy living,
~Princess

lunch ideas

It's time for school!!

I've been at home with the fam, enjoying a week of spledid vacation time before I head back to Montreal to get ready for university. My younger sibs are getting ready to go back to school too, and my mom is gearing up to get back into the routine of making lunches every morning.

This post shows some ways to put a spin on the classic 'sandwich' lunch to add some spice to the lunch box.

Waffle sandwich

from alittleyumminess

Peanut butter and jam sushi

from bonappetit

Cookie cutter sandwich and fruit

lisastorms

Sandwich on a stick

Superhealthykids

And to separate those sandwiches from the snacks, reusable muffin cups are handy:

And don't forget a lunch box note! :) Avaiable here

Happy living,

~Princess

Time to revamp my recycling!
Here are some cool labels and signs that I found while searching the world wide web. Maybe some will end up taped onto your overflowing bins of empty pickle jars:

From hello friend

from Recycle Right

From jinjerup

 Happy living,
~Princess

breakfast swaps

Breakfast is good... oh so good!
But only if you absolutely love the way it tastes. Here are some easy swaps to make sure you never feel like you are sacrificing your favourite flavours during your morning meal:

Cinnamon buns

High in sugar. Comes with complimentary energy crash.

Kashi Cinnamon Harvest 
47g whole grain, low fat, high fibre, sodium free, organic. Perfect with some low fat milk and fruit.

Fruit loops  
High in sugar (not the natural kind) and 1g of each protein and fibre.

Fruit Smoothie 
Great bio availability of vitamins and antioxidants, hydrates you at the beginning of the day, easier to digest, and a great option for those who find it hard to tolerate solid foods first thing in the morning. 

Toaster waffles with syrup and butter 

 A sweet sticky stack of refined carbs and nutrient depleted fake maple syrup.

100% whole wheat toaster waffles with nut butter and berries 
Nutritious whole grains in the waffles, hunger squashing nut butter (which also provides some protein, healthy fat, magnesium and fibre), and nutrition superstar, berries!

Eggs Benedict

 A butter hollandaise sauce topping eggs and full fat ham over white English muffins.

Revamped Eggs Benedict
Yougurt-dijon hollandaise sauce over a tomato slice, 2 slices reduced sodium and fat ham, and poached egg on whole wheat English muffin, from diabetic living

Bagel with butter and jam 

Refined white flour bagel, butter, and jam with added sugar and low levels of nutrients.

Bagel with almond butter, banana, and cinnamon
A filling delicious breakfast. Whole grain bagel, potassium packed banana, and my favourite, almond butter :)

 Happy living,
~Princess

Sister of the Princess: Tropical Salsa

This is a little story from my lovely Hawaiian sister, who is too wonderful for words:

GUEST POST 
by the Sister of the Princess

"What is that?! you gasp.

It is the wasted remains of what was once a proud and delicious jar of Green Mountain Gringo salsa. You see, yesterday my neighbourhood natural foods store was having a sale, and I took this as a sign that I should buy all my favourite things. Unfortunately (fortunately?), I have a lot of favourite things, and it was a few too many things for my beach bag. This bag had accompanied me on cross-continent adventures but the two-block stroll to my house was too much when under the strain of four boxes of chickpea burgers. To make a long story short, my salsa is now mostly in the parking lot of my building.

It was almost 100 degrees out yesterday, so you'lI probably understand my I wasn't really eager to go back and buy another one. I was pretty bummed, but being bummed wasn't going to get me the delicious flavour combinations of my beloved salsa. Luckily a very wise person had recently reminded me that when you're sad, sometimes it's best to stop being sad and start being awesome. I said to myself, "Self, I think we can fix this situation". I could just make my own salsa! I had the ingredients! I had the creativity! I had the broken hunk of the jar with the ingredients printed on it!

I had a big pile of fruit on hand, so I decided to attempt making a tropical salsa. After looking through the kitchen these are the ingredients I decided to use:

2 plum tomatoes
2 ripe mangoes
1 sweet onion
2 jalapenos (seeds removed if you're not super into spicy)
3 green onions
1 lemon
6 limes
A few springs of cilantro
A few springs of fresh mint
Salt
Pepper
Splash of apple cider vinegar

Dice the tomatoes, mango, jalapeno, sweet onion into a big bowl. Add the torn mint and cilantro. Squeeze in the juice of the lemons and limes, then add salt and pepper to taste. Lastly, add just a little splash of the vinegar.. You can hardly even taste it in the finished salsa, but it helps cut the sweetness of the mango and give it some extra tang. Give everything a good mix, then garnish with chopped green onions.

This salsa is really fresh tasting and slightly sweet. It's not very spicy, but you can taste the jalapenos. We ate ours with Guiltless Gourmet tortilla chips, but I bet it would taste equally good with rice and beans or over a piece of grilled fish. My husband says he'd eat it over ice cream, but he's always been… original. It seemed to be a hit even without the ice cream though, because the leftovers didn't make it through the night!

Motivate with...

I need a little motivation today... you too?

 

And of course the ultimate motivator:

Because life is short, you  might as well be awake for it :)

Happy living,
Princess