Health tips and recipes!

Wow, I can't believe its Thursday already, love short work weeks!  I had lunch with a friend today and its amazing how some girl chat can really perk up your day. I love friends that you can say exactly what's on your mind and they just get you. I feel very lucky to have friends like this in my life and I hope you do too. I have a Lululemon poster posted in my office and one of the quotes is "friends are more important than money". Amen!

The rest of the week has been comfortably busy I'd have to say. Lots of workouts, working, cleaning, eating (my favourite) and trying to pick a resort for our wedding. We had originally hoped for somewhere in the Caribbean but holy sh*t is it pricey. WAY more than I anticipated and rates I would definitely not feel comfortable asking our guests. So Mexico is looking like the place. As long as the weather is great and we have our families and friends there, we really can't go wrong. I'll keep you posted on where we decide :)

With all the cooking we did last weekend, its been awesome coming home from work and just re-heating what we have in our fridge. Pretty sure I could eat that beef stew every day. It's funny because I never used to be a red meat eater. I used to have it probably once a month but I found out that I have very low iron (anemia) actually so grass fed red meat is now part of my regular meal plan. For those that don't know, Iron-deficiency anemia (according to webmd.com) occurs because of a lack of the mineral iron in the body. Bone marrow in the centre of the bone needs iron to make hemoglobin, the part of the red blood cell that transports oxygen to the body's organs. Without adequate iron, the body cannot produce enough hemoglobin for red blood cells. The result is iron-deficiency anemia. This type of anemia can be caused by:

• An iron-poor diet, especially in infants, children, teens, vegans, and vegetarians
• The metabolic demands of pregnancy and breastfeeding that deplete a woman's iron stores
• Menstruation
• Frequent blood donation
• Endurance training
• Digestive conditions such as Crohn's disease or surgical removal of part of the stomach or small intestine
• Certain drugs, foods, and caffeinated drinks

I'm pretty much a perfect case to be affected by this so I have to supplement accordingly. I take a liquid iron supplement (OK I sometimes forget, like quite often) but it really does help, eat a ton of Kale which has about double the amount of iron than spinach (sorry Popeye), incorporate red meat, and try and keep my stress to a minimum. I can always tell when my iron is low because I never truly feel rested even if I've slept for 10 hours. If you've ever felt like this, I definitely recommend getting some blood work done by your doctor. There are so many things we ignore but can easily be fixed with the right knowledge.  A good tip for Kale is to add it to your protein shakes in the morning. Blend a handful in and it adds just a sweet taste of green to your shake, delish.

A quick recipe I wanted to share with you is Meatloaf. I know I know, meatloaf sounds like something your mother punished you with when we were younger but honestly its really good and so easy and healthy to make. Just try it!

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Place 2lbs of ground beef (grass fed if possible) into a large bowl.
In another bowl, add two eggs whisked, 1 clove of chopped garlic, 1/2 large minced onion, lots of Mrs. Dash seasoning, parsley and basil.
Mix together and pour over meat.
Then add 1/2 cup of coconut or almond flour and knead all of the ingredients together with your hands.
Form into a loaf shape as best as you can and place into a loaf or meatloaf pan (these are usually glass) and a bit little smaller than the size of the pan.
Usually over meatloaf there is some sort of sauce; I used some organic creamy garden tomato soup and poured a generous amount on top. It will leak into the meatloaf and be delicious! (Be careful pouring so it doesn't spill everywhere which happened to me).
Bake for about 80-90 minutes. I like things over cooked so mine was in for a good 90 but depends how you like it.
Cool for 15 minutes and you have yourself some Mmmeat loaf!

Now you'll need some dessert right?! Dessert is usually reserved for the weekends or a cheat meal but I believe healthy desserts can be eaten almost every night. This way you never feel deprived..its a win win. I'm going to leave you today with a healthy muffin recipe. These can be eaten for breakfast, dessert or a snack throughout the day. THEY ARE AWESOME.

Chocolate Chip Avocado Pumpkin Gluten-free muffins.

I borrowed the pumpkin chocolate chip part of the recipe from PaleOMG http://paleomg.com/pumpkin-chocolate-chip-muffins. She has some really awesome ideas, but changed it around a bit. I then added avocado and almond butter to make my own version :)

Ingredients:

1 cup pumpkin puree (canned pumpkin will do just fine)

1/3 cup 100% real maple syrup

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

3 eggs, whisked

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 cup almond flour

1/2 cup almond butter

1/2 of a large avocado

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

1/2 to 1 cup of Dark Chocolate Chips (depending how chocolaty you like things)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix together wet ingredients in a bowl: pumpkin puree, maple syrup, coconut oil, eggs,  almond butter, vanilla extract and avocado.
3. In another bowl, whisk together coconut and almond flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
4. Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix well.
5. Fold in chocolate chips.
6. Line a muffin tin with paper liners. Use an ice cream scoop (or large spoon) to one scoop of batter per muffin. Makes about 10-12 full muffins.
7. Bake for 35-40 minutes.
8. Cool and enjoy!

 

 

Have a great night everyone, sending you blessings and love!

Sam :)