Eat your broccoli

Hi guys,
You parents knew what was up! Remember them telling you to eat your broccoli? 

Well they were right, once again!

  
These guys are a powerhouse of nutrients, they benefit digestion, cardiovascular system and immune system and also have anti inflammatory properties and may prevent certain cancers!

They are also low in sodium, fat free and low calories!

Nutritional profile:

– high in fiber, vitamin C, B6, A and potassium 

– packed with photochemicals (immune system protector) and antioxidants (cell protectors and cancer preventers)

– also contains magnesium, phosphorus,zinc and iron

  
Health benefits:

– cancer prevention 

– cholesterol reduction

– detoxification 

– heart health

– eye health

– digestion

– anti-inflammatory 
Facts:

– originated in Italy in around the sixth century BC

– name comes from broccolo, Italian for the flower on top of the cabbage, the word is derived from Latin brachium meaning branch or arm

– came to France in 1560 and was called Italian asparagus

– Thomas Jefferson loved it and imported it!

– George W bush was not a fan and Barack Obama confessed to loving it

– California produces 90 % of the broccoli grown in the United States 

– the average American only eats 4 lbs a year
Ciao for now, go eat broccolo

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fast and easy homemade turkey burgers

hi guys,

Homemade is always better then anything processed and available at the store!

You are not the cooking type? You don’t have time?
No problem here is how it’s done!

1/ buy ground turkey (organic is always a better choice 40 oz makes about 10 burgers) fresh cilantro( smallest amount) 2 eggs and blue cheese crumbles (or feta if you do not like blue)

2/ dice up the cilantro and open the turkey

3/  separate the white from the eggs

4/ mix all the ingredients together with the egg whites

5/ make burgers with your hands the size you like 

  

6/ cook in a pan with coconut oil at medium heat for about 10 minutes or until thoroughly cooked 

  
7/ freeze the rest if needed

8/ enjoy! 

  
Ciao for now!

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Homemade granola recipe

Hi guys,

First attempt at homemade granola was quite successful!

Ingredients:

4 cups of oats (use organic if possible)

1 cup of oat bran

1 cup of raw almonds

1 cup of dried cranberries

1/2 cup of buckwheat

1/3 cup of quinoa flakes

2 tablespoons of chia seeds

1 teaspoon of nutmeg

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 cup pf coconut oil

1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

1 tablespoon of almond extract

1/2 cup of cold black coffee

1 fresh squeezed lemon juice (no seeds please…)

4 tablespoons of honey

4 tablespoons of pancake syrup (all natural of course)

1.Heat the oven to 300 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Toss together all of the dry ingredients in a very large bowl.

2. Combine the oil, honey, and vanilla in a saucepan and warm over low heat, stirring, just until the mixture is fluid. Do not let it come to a simmer. Remove from the heat and stir into the dry ingredients. Mix until evenly coated.

3. Spread the granola mixture on the sheet pans in an even layer, leaving a donut hole in the center (for even baking) and bake on the middle and lower racks, without stirring, for 30 to 40 minutes or until golden, rotating the baking pans front to back and top to bottom halfway through. Remove from the heat and allow to cool before breaking up into clumps. Store in well sealed jars, bags or containers.

Delicious!

Mine did not clump to good but it is absolutely delicious and perfect for breakfast or snacking!

Ciao for now!

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What you REALLY need to know about labels!

Hi guys,

“all natural”, “whole grains”, “fat free” and more are labels that we see every day at the grocery stores but what does it really mean?

Be aware of what the manufacturers put on their box and read the labels before you buy, you will be surprised! They want to get your attention and get you to buy their products under very poorly regulated guidelines, here is what you really need to know!

“Natural”

The word “natural” is not regulated by the FDA and is very misleading. “natural” brings to mind thoughts of fresh, minimally processed and healthy foods, but it means nothing about a food’s nutritional content, ingredients, or health effects. Almost all packaged foods are processed in some way.

Natural potato chips will use real potatoes (instead of flakes) but like regular potato chips, they are still a high-fat food choice with little nutritional content.

Natural candy may be sweetened using cane juice (instead of white sugar), but it can still contribute  to weight gain when eaten in excess.

“Made with Real Fruit” and “Contains Real Fruit Juice”

You see “made with real fruits” on fruit snacks, cereals, and fruit drinks. There is no law that requires how much real fruit has to be in a food that uses this claim, the sugary treat could contain just one blueberry or one drop of fruit juice to be accurate.

When high fructose corn syrup and/or sugar are listed as the first ingredients, you know that the “real fruit” content of the product isn’t significant. This is sugary junk food that is trying to masquerade as healthy fruit drinks.

“Whole Grains”

This is one of the most popular marketing claims and definitely the most confusing. Today we see “whole grain” logos on almost all  products, including most sugary cereals.

In reality, refined and highly bleached white flour with a touch of whole wheat added in can be listed as “whole grain.”

Food manufacturers can by law use the term “whole grain” no matter how much whole wheat the product contains.

• “Made with Whole Grains”: All it needs is one tiny bit of whole grains to use this claim, which means nothing for your health benefits.
• “Wheat flour” or “100 percent wheat”: Again, this is a ploy that tries to fool consumers. You want to look for “whole wheat flour” not just the word “wheat.”
• “Multigrain”: This doesn’t explain if the grains are refined or whole, just that there is more than one type of grain. Multigrain has no proven health benefits, especially if all those grains are refined, and they probably are.
• “Whole grain”: This term is also misleading, because whole grains can contain various blends of grains that are refined. You want to avoid words like enriched and bleached on the ingredients label, only trust the term “100 percent whole grain” to be the healthier choice.

When it comes to grain-based foods, you can’t trust the words on the front of the package.

Look at the ingredients list every time, looking for keywords like “whole wheat flour” to be FIRST on the list.

Additives like sugar and CORN SYRUP shouldn’t appear in the top of the ingredients list of a so called healthy food.

Be aware that manufacturers won’t necessarily call their processed flours “refined” on the label. Anything that is listed as corn, rice, wheat, or oat flour IS processed and refined unless it specifically tells you that it is “whole”.

“Fat Free”

“Fat free” food labels may also make you  believe these are healthy selections. Sometimes this can be helpful  especially when choosing skim milk over higher fat varieties. But read the labels, when a meat label announces 90% fat free, it sounds like a healthy choice since only 5 percent of it is fat. But fat contains a lot of calories, so check out the nutrition facts label for the actual number of calories and fat grams per serving, especially if you are trying to lose weight!

“Zero Trans Fats”

Thanks to recent media attention, you surely know that trans fat are really bad for you!

Experts recommend that we avoid trans fats, which are created when oils are hydrogenated (combined with hydrogen) during food processing. But you can’t trust a product’s claim of zero trans fats, nor can you trust the nutrition facts label on this one.

If the words “partially hydrogenated” appear in it at all, then the food DOES contain trans fats. But thanks to labeling guidelines, any food that contains 0.5 grams or less of a nutrient can be listed as zero grams on the nutrition facts label…Just stay away!

I hope this helps you navigate your supermarket aisles better and gives you an idea of what the manufacturers are trying to accomplish by flashing these purely false labels in front of you!

Have a great day!

Ciao for now

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Happy Halloween! Let’s bake!

Good morning and Happy Halloween!

Find below two of my favorite pumpkin recipes; pumpkin/chocolate chips cookies and pumpkin bread, with a healthier twist to them.

We will be using unbleached/gluten free flour and coconut flour for the recipes. It’s time you stop using regular flour…why? Read this

Chocolate chips and pumpkin cookies

Prep 15 minutes

Cook 10 minutes

yields 36 cookies cookies:

ingredients:

• 3/4 cup butter softened
• 1 1/2 cup brown sugar (organic is always best)
• 15 oz canned pumpkin (1/2 can)
• 1 egg (cage free of course)
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1 cup of gluten free unbleached flour
• 1 cup of organic coconut flour
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 cup of organic miniature chocolate chips
• 2 teaspoons of chia seeds

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree
2. Beat butter and sugar together in a bowl until creamy. Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla extract; beat until smooth.
3. Mix flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl; stir into creamed butter until combined. Fold chocolate chips and chia seeds into batter. Drop 1 to 2 tablespoons batter for each cookie onto a baking sheet.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until the edges of each cookie are lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes.

Voila!

Pumpkin chocolate chips bread

Prep 5 minutes

Cook 60 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1¾ cup unbleached gluten free flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of pumpkin spice
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ can of pumpkin (the other half of the cookies recipes)
• ½ cup oil (I used coconut oil)
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• ¼ cup apple cider, no sugar added
• ½ cup of chocolate chip (the other half of the bag used for the cookies)

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9×5 inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, pumpkin spice and nutmeg. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and brown sugar together until it’s combined and lightens in color just slightly. Whisk in the pumpkin, oil, vanilla extract and apple cider. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently mix together using a rubber spatula. Fold in the chocolate chips.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake the bread for 60-70 minutes, making sure to loosely cover the top of the bread after 30 minutes to prevent the top from excessive browning. Insert a toothpick in the center to test is the bread is done, it should come out clean with only a few small moist crumbs.

Happy Halloween!

Ciao for now!

Reduce belly fat!

Hi guys,

Who doesn’t want a nice looking flat belly?

If you are ready for that 6 pack, follow those tips to help reduce your belly to show off your abs.

•  5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, no matter what! You will feel fuller, longer!
• Reduce alcohol intake ( sorry…)
• Lessen the salt
• NO MORE FAST FOODS EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• NO MORE SODAS EVER

• Drink more water! 
• Eat slower and smaller meals!
• Eat 5 times a day (remember the smaller meals…)
• Cardio 5 times a week at least 20 minutes

• Do High Intensity training at least twice a week
• Strengthen your core with these exercises
• There is more to abs then crunches
• Whole body exercises so you do not isolate your abs only!
• Lessen the stress Read this
• Get out in the sun

• Sleep

• Good posture

• Read all the labels and nutrition facts (know what you put in your body)

Ciao for now!

Healthy chicken recipe for the whole family!

Hi guys,

Here is my version of fried chicken:

You will need:

4- 6 chicken cutlets sliced thin

Organic coconut oil

organic coconut flour (it’s time you ditch the old bleached flour you know!)

2 tbsp of liquid egg whites

1 scoop of whey protein (you may do without if you want)

Pour one tbsp of coconut oil in a pan and let it get hot

In the meantime, dip one chicken cutlet in the egg whites, both sides.

Now batter the cutlet in the mix of coconut flour and whey protein both sides.

Once the oil is hot, fry the chicken about 2-3 minutes both sides lowering to a medium to low heat so that it won’t get burnt.

Remove the chicken and place into a paper towel to absorb the excess oil.

Pour more coconut oil in the pan and start the same process with chicken cutlet number 2.

Super easy for you and the whole family will love them!

Enjoy!

Ciao for now!

Why you should NOT use bleached four!

Hi guys,

Make the switch today from bleached flour to organic coconut flour, you body will thank you.

Here is why: courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flour

Bleached flour

“Refined flour” has had the germ and bran removed and is typically referred to as “white flour”. “Bleached flour” is any refined flour with a whitening agent added.

Bleached flour is artificially aged using a bleaching agent, a maturing agent, or both. A bleaching agent would affect only the carotenoids in the flour; a maturing agent affects glutendevelopment. A maturing agent may either strengthen or weaken gluten development.

The four most common additives used as bleaching/maturing agents in the USA at this time are:

Potassiun bromate (will be listed as an ingredient/additive) – a maturing agent that strengthens gluten development. Does not bleach.

Benzoyl peroxide – bleaches. Does not act as a maturing agent – no effect on gluten

Ascorbic acid – (Will be listed as an ingredient/additive, but seeing it in the ingredient list may not be an indication that the flour was matured using ascorbic acid but instead has had a small amount added as a dough enhancer) – Maturing agent that strengthens gluten development. Does not bleach.

Chlorine gas – both a bleaching agent and a maturing agent, but one that weakens gluten development. Chlorination also oxidizes starches in the flour, making it easier for the flour to absorb water and swell, resulting in thicker batters and stiffer doughs. The retarded gluten formation is desirable in cakes, cookies, and biscuits as it would otherwise make them tougher and bread-like. The modification of starches in the flour allows the use of wetter doughs (making for a moister end product) without destroying the structure necessary for light fluffy cakes and biscuits. Chlorinated flour allows cakes and other baked goods to set faster, rise better, the fat to be distributed more evenly, with less vulnerability to collapse.

Cake flours in particular are nearly always chlorinated. There is at least one flour labeled “unbleached cake flour blend” (marketed by King Arthur) that is not bleached, but the protein content is much higher than typical cake flour at about 9.4% protein (cake flour is usually around 6% to 8%). According to King Arthur, this flour is a blend of a more finely milled unbleached wheat flour and cornstarch, which makes a better end result than unbleached wheat flour alone (cornstarch blended with all purpose flour commonly substituted for cake flour when the latter is unavailable). The end product, however, is denser than would result from lower-protein, chlorinated cake flour.

All bleaching and maturing agents (with the possible exception of ascorbic acid) have been banned in UK.

Bromination of flour in the USA has fallen out of favor and while it is not yet actually banned anywhere, few retail flours available to the home baker are bromated anymore.

Many flours packaged specifically for commercial bakeries are still bromated. Retail bleached flours marketed to the home baker are now treated mostly with either peroxidation or chlorine gas. Current information from Pillsbury is that their bleached flours are treated both with benzoyl peroxide and chlorine gas. Gold Medal states that their bleached flour is treated either with benzoyl peroxide or chlorine gas, but there is no way to tell which process has been used when buying the flour at the grocery store.

Some other chemicals used as flour treatment agents  to modify color and baking properties include:

• chlorine dioxide (unstable to be transported in the U.S.)
• calcium peroxide
• azodicarbonamide or azobisformamide (synthetic)

• Atmospheric oxygen causes natural bleaching.

KEEP THAT STUFF FOR YOUR POOL NOT YOUR FAMILY!

So if you don’t want to eat your pool and much worse, make the switch today!

Coconut flour is low carb and gluten free so you can’t go wrong there!

Coconut flour is a little trickier to use because it doesn’t rise so you might have to only substitute half of what the recipe calls with the coconut flour but make sure to use gluten free unbleached organic flours…almond, brown rice…

Have a great day!

Ciao for now

Coconut flour banana bread

Good morning,

Here is an easy recipe for a super moist, awesome tasting healthier banana bread:

You will need:

1/2 cup butter

1 cup organic brown sugar

2 organic eggs

1 cup of unbleached gluten free flour

1 cup of organic coconut flour

1 teaspoon of baking powder

4 super ripe bananas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a large bowl cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the eggs one a the time beating well after each egg. Stir in the mashed bananas.

In another bowl, stir together the flours and the baking powder. Blend the banana mixture into the flour mixture stirring just to combine.

Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center of the bread comes out clean.

Let cool and enjoy!

Ciao for now and happy Sunday!

Carbs or fats for fuel?

Hi guys,

Let’s talk about carbohydrates and healthy fats, their role in our daily life and how our bodies use them on a daily basis.

I have always been a big fan of fueling my body with carbs (only the good ones of course, nothing processed and high in sugar) and starting the recovery process of post exercise with proteins, I admit it.

I am a fitness instructor so I workout about 2 to 3 hours a day 6 days a week for work and about 1 hour of personal workouts 3-5 days a week.

Exercise, performance, recovery, fuel, energy is a big part of my life and I always want to educate myself on how our bodies work and process the foods that we eat on a regular basis.

I consider myself a very healthy and body conscious individual but  about a year ago, I started feeling like crap-…meaning super bloated with a lot of digestion issues, foggy, very forgetful and tired.

I have been on a super healthy diet for years and years now so I knew it wasn’t because of my food or was it??

I thought I would go gluten free, I have to go gluten free just because gluten is not good for you and after reading on it, my symptoms kind of matched.

I felt like a million bucks the very first day I stopped eating gluten and then within 2 weeks my symptoms came back but on a more manageable note.

But then over time I realized that this was obviously not the issue so I thought hmmmm it must be the fats as I thought that my symptoms were worse after I ate fats.

I also by that time scheduled an appointment to see a gerontologist to figure things out and after several good results tests, he thought it was my gallbladder wrecking havoc on my body (especially with the facts of not digesting fats correctly).

Then I thought to myself, I only the healthiest of fats (olive oil, coconut oil, avocados) when I do eat fats and I very very very rarely eat fried stuff or unhealthy fats so could something else be the cause of my discomfort?

Than I finally realized that my symptoms were the worst after fruit intakes…wait a minute, fruit is so good for you, it can’t be it!

I stopped looking at fruits life yummy healthy treats and snacks and started looking at the fact that they were part of the carbs family and after some research, I found that one can become carb intolerant just like one can become gluten intolerant.

Can this be the key to my issues????? Eating too much oatmeal, brown rice, fruits etc is actually making me sick?

I have been so obsessed with counting calories and thinking that fats are bad for you that I admit I might not eat enough fats and it might be hurting me!

I will let you know soon as I removed all carbs from my diet yesterday and I will keep it this way for the next 2 weeks (yikes)

Read these super interesting articles:

Carbs evil or essential?

Condition your body to burn fat

I am now conditioning my body to burn more fat so I am eating more fats to burn more fats…This is so new to me, I am a little scared but very excited!

Stay tuned for progress updates.

Ciao for now!