All posts tagged: paleo lifestyle

Nutrient-Dense Delicious Pho Recipe

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The only good things about winter are snowboarding, snow, hot chocolate and soup. In no particular order. Everything else is just meh. Ok, ok, those aren’t the only good things. Some people hate on winter (like the Starks a la Game of Thrones…I’m still weeping over Ned Stark. Oh, and Rob Stark. And Catelyn Stark…basically, all the Starks and the long list of characters which fell prey to the GOT bloodbath), but I actually love all the seasons. I’m a hippie at heart, and each season brings with it some amazing outdoor playtime. D.C. winters are pretty mild (now that I’ve written that, the weather gods are probably going to send a raging snowpocalypse on the DMV area), but my husband Samuel and I get our fill of winter, because we usually go skiing at least two or three times a month to some of the surrounding resorts in-between our trips to Colorado. We love the snow so much, we would build an igloo and camp out if we could. I’m probably going to be featuring non-stop …

Fiesta for Your Mouth: Smokey Chipotle Tomato Sauce

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I would just like to announce that I’ve stumbled across a culinary gem: chipotle tomato sauce. It is mind-blowing delicious, and it serious has changed my vegetarian food game. Because the flavors are such a delicious, smokey mix of savory, slightly sweet and spicy, this effortless sauce elevates even the most humble of spaghetti squash or gluten free pastas, and takes a could be blah dish and adds all the panache you could ever want. I can’t take credit for this recipe, because I learned it from a chef here in DC during one of my cooking classes. I feel like I should send her a thank you note or something, because I love.this.sauce. Here’s why: Effortless Inexpensive to make Makes everything taste better Free of the fructose corn syrup, sugar, and gross preservatives found in your tomato sauce on the shelf This recipe is sugar free, preservative free, and you have complete control over the ingredients. This is why I LOVE making everything from scratch. Honestly, homemade tomato sauce is so effortless to make, …

Vegan Pumpkin Spice Latte: Kiss Starbucks Goodbye

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Like many women, I pretty much lose my mind to obsession compulsive fall thoughts each year. I practically live in a virtual pumpkin patch, because if something is labeled “pumpkin” Imma gonna snatch it right on up! I consider it my life’s goal to incorporate as much spice into my life as possible, and I take this mission very seriously whilst wearing the classic Basic B*tch Uniform of fall: over-sized sweater, riding boots, and a scarf, of course.  Unlike most women, I loathe Starbucks, their “pumpkin” spice lattes, and their coffee in general. I know…I am such a bougie Wish I Were Euro snob when it comes to my coffee. Look, you have no idea how badly I wish I could go mainstream on my coffee…it would just make my life so much easier! But alas…I just can’t. I do however, love their baristas, all of whom I instantly want to be BFF’s with because they’re so darn delightful.I’m more of a chai drinker when I’m in the States, but I do drink coffee occasionally, and …

Eggs Over Probiotic Rainbow Hash

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One of the things I absolutely loved about dining out in Europe was the brilliant use of vegetables in dishes. Cooking with whole foods isn’t a novelty concept or a trend in the UK, it’s just the way food is prepared. I absolutely loved how easy it was to find healthy options. I became addicted to a delicious probiotic rainbow veggie mix while I was living there for the month of September. The vegetables were brined in a delicious, slightly sweet vinaigrette with sea salt, and I ate it by the gallons. Interestingly enough, while we’re usually vaguely aware that we don’t incorporate enough vegetables into our diet, we usually forget that we’re severely deficient on eating enough colors. Studies prove we fail to get enough red, purples, and yellow veggies. Brightly colored veggies contain phytochemicals, which are substances occur naturally only in plants and provide amazing health benefits. According to information from the Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH), phytochemicals act as antioxidants. They protect and regenerate essential nutrients, and/or work on a cellular level to …

Creamy, Delicious (Dairy Free) Potato Soup

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Oh my word! It’s been truly the most amazing September I think I’ve ever experienced! I just got back from a 3 week stay in London, and my husband and I had the most wonderful time. Albeit, we can’t get enough of traveling together, and Samuel is such a great wanderlust buddy so we always have a fabulous time whether we’re travel 3 hours away or across the ocean. London one of my favorite cities to visit, and each time I go, it just feels like home. We love it so much that we’re probably moving there within the year. One of the things I love most about the UK is the FOOD. It.Is.SO.GOOD. While abroad, I was able to indulge in all manner of decadent, amazing foods. It’s one of my favorite things about traveling! There are a wide variety of vegan and vegetarian options to choose from, because many delicious ethnic foods are plant based or meat can easily be left out of a recipe. I love soups to a degree that is almost …

How to Weekend + Travel Proof Your Health Game

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Current situation: living across the pond in London proper for most of the month of September. Health game: Staying mooooostly on point, despite the massive attack (musical pun for you fellow fans out there!) on clean eating by way of incredible dining and wining in one of my favorite cities.  Let’s face it, weekends and vacations do a number on our health, and it can be incredibly difficult to reel ourselves back to reality. Many people, myself included, can testify that the “occasional indulgence” or exception accidentally become the norm. It’s so much harder to get back on track than to stay mostly consistent with our lifestyle. I’m speaking from personal experience of course; in all honesty my will power waffles and wavers entirely for a fancy pants meal, bottomless brunching, and/or an amazing bottle of wine. What’s a girl to do? Never dine out? Skip traveling? Forget it! That sounds like zero amounts of fun. I have major wanderlust and frequently travel both nationally and internationally. When I’m home, I’m fortunate to have a lovely network of friends …

Surprising Foods That Sabotage Your Weight Goals

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We can run a million miles a day, do cross fit like an original Spartan soldier, and compete in the Olympics, but if we don’t recognize that about 80% of our fitness success starts in the kitchen, it will be almost impossible to reach our goals. Not only do our food choices contribute to our weight goals, but they make us healthy on from the inside-out. Think of how many skinny-minny people you know with limp hair, dull skin, and lack luster energy levels. Skinny does not equal healthy or strong, and I cannot emphasize that enough. Likewise, being addicted to working out is just as unhealthy as extreme portion control. In fact, relentless working is incredibly harmful for your body, causing adrenal fatigue and even injury. A lack of balance in our eating or workout routine is a symptom of poor mental health. Remember, health isn’t just physical. It’s very much a mental thing. Some of the unhealthiest, unhappiest people I know have gym bodies to die for, but I wouldn’t want to spend …

Breakfast Tacos with Sun Dried Tomatoes

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Working peeps, I don’t know about you but I need a six month holiday, twice a year. I don’t think that’s an unresonable request, quite frankly. In the meantime: FOOD. Or, more specifically, the breakfast of champions: Texan champs that is! My ICU work schedule has me even more excited about our upcoming London vacation. We’ll be living in London proper for a month while I do yoga training with Kino MacGregor and her husband Tim Fieldman. Since life is happy but hectic right now, my meal plans are easy. And nothing is as effortless than breakfast tacos (well, ok, cereal is prob a tad easier), so that’s what’s on the menu this weekend. It turns out, eggs + tacos are such a happy match. I first fell in love with breakfast tacos when I moved to Dallas, Texas which has perfected that art form of tacos in all their splendor. After long, crazy night shifts in the ICU, my nursing friends and I  would go out for breakfast tacos and mimosas. It was the …

Delicious + Healthy Sweet Potato Tots

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Gimme some tots! My love for sweet potatoes extends far back to the days when I was a wee lass and my mom could fool me into thinking a sweet potatoes weren’t healthy; in fact, they’re so ridiculously good for you, that sweet potatoes deserve a farmer’s market medal of excellence. I’m pretty sure this doesn’t exist, but I think we should make this a legitimate thing. DC Farmer’s Markets: Imma coming at ya, faux medal in hand! Just what makes sweet potatoes such a winner in the health halls of fame? Well, as you might have seen in my spicy rosemary sweet potato fries recipe, sweet potatoes are an excellent source of vitamin A (in the form of beta-carotene). They’re also an amazing source of vitamin C, manganese, copper, pantothenic acid, and vitamin B6. Additionally, they are a good source of potassium, dietary fiber, niacin, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, and phosphorus. This is one vegetable you do want to splurge on and get organic, because many of the important nutrients are found in the skin. Organic …

Chili-Lime Shrimp Tacos + Mango Salsa

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I’m starting to panic, because mango season is coming to a close. Therefore, I am virtually living on mangoes so I can cherish each and every last second with one of my favorite foods. If someone asked me if I wanted to eat ice cream or a mango, I would say, “Um, duh! A mango!” and then I’d probably eat both, because I have a bit of a problem with gluttony. Since I’m on basically an Atkins diet, only the meat is replaced with mangoes, it goes without saying that I’ve been finding all kinds of ways to sneak them into my weekly menu. One way you can never go wrong is in a freakishly delicious salsa. I do eat vegetarian/vegan oh, say 97% of the time, but this week Tex-Mex Tuesday did feature some goddamn deliciously seasoned chili-lime shrimp for my husband and guests; I piled greens and salsa on mine and chowed down! The spice rub on the shrimp played so well with the sweet mango, that it was basically an Olympic dream …