"Nicole! You're eating French fries?!" "Ice cream?? Wow, there's ice cream in your freezer!!" These are the kind of things I hear from people who are aware of my passion for healthy living and see me eating ______ (insert anything sugary, fried, fattening, etc.). People seem to find it surprising, but yes, I'll eat fries once in awhile. I indulge in dessert sometimes. I drink one too many glasses of wine here and there... and not because I'm diving off the deep end from my healthy diet, but because I embrace balanced eating and the 80/20 principle. {source} What is the 80/20 approach to diet? It's a pretty simple idea: 80% of the time, you fuel your body with healthy, nutrient-dense foods, and then the remaining 20% of the time, you can indulge in treats and less nutritious ... [Read More]
Archives for May 2016
Blueberry Chia Oatmeal Bars [vegan, gf]
Last year when I shared a recipe for cinnamon baked apple & peanut butter oatmeal, I proclaimed that it'd probably be the only hot oatmeal recipe that I ever post since I'm not a huge oatmeal bowl fan. However, what I've realized is that I love to use oats all the time in recipes. I love what a great source of fiber oats are, which definitely keeps my belly fuller for longer. When people come to me and ask how they can add more fiber into their diets, guess what one of the foods is that I always tell them to eat more of? OATS! They're a staple in my kitchen, and there have been countless recipes incorporating use of them on the blog - including PB & J oatmeal crumble bars, oatmeal walnut hemp energy bites and dark chocolate peanut butter banana oatmeal cookies, to name a few. And ... [Read More]
When You Shouldn’t Give It Your All {Weekend Recap}
Hello friends! I don't know about you guys, but a low-key weekend was much needed for me after my week last week. A couple of things with work and otherwise kind of bogged me down, and I totally needed a few days to mentally decompress a bit. Luckily, my hubby and I had only one thing on the agenda for the weekend: getting our carpets cleaned, because every time I did a pushup in recent months, I'd get a whiff of a certain someone who loves to snooze on my living room floor... While we waited for our carpets to dry, we killed time at the Del Mar dog beach. It was a beautiful day for a long walk there! There are certainly worse places to waste time. :) My weekend also included an at-home movie night, a long family walk along the coast Sunday morning, heading back to ... [Read More]
Reflecting on Our Complex Relationships with Food & My 600 lb Life
Hello, and Happy Friday! I didn't have a chance to publish my normal Friday morning post and I'm feeling analytical, so we're switching gears a bit this afternoon to dive into a discussion about using food as a coping mechanism... I've always been really interested in psychology and the way that people think, behave and interact. I've also always been passionate about food and healthy living, which is why getting my degree is communication studies and later on earning my health coaching certification both just made sense (Perhaps a Masters in psych is in my future as well, ya never know!). This is why I've always loved watching documentaries - particularly ones that relate to health (and also ones that relate to crime, but that's a topic for another day...). My less interested ... [Read More]
Chocolate Hazelnut Butter Brownies [vegan]
Who's in the mood for some dessert? If you have a sweet tooth like me, you read that and thought it was a trick question.. When could I not go for dessert?! I'm excited because today's post is in celebration of Izzy from She Likes Food. Izzy is expecting a baby boy, and some other blogging ladies and I are throwing her a virtual baby shower to celebrate! I'm "bringing" a chocolatey crowd pleaser to the party. I don't think I've ever met a soul who doesn't like brownies, and today's recipe takes a twist on classic brownies. It all started when my first Thrive Market order recently arrived. For anyone not familiar with them, Thrive Market is an online food delivery service that offers lots of organic, healthy products for cheaper than you typically see in stores. ... [Read More]
Black Bean Chalupas with Avocado Cream
It's Cinco de Mayo week! Let's celebrate with some Mexican food! Mexican themed dinners are probably the type of cuisine most often eaten in my house. It's so easy to throw together rice & beans, veggie & cheese quesadillas and burritos, Mexican salads... and the list goes on. Today's recipe uses some of my favorite Mexican dish ingredients: black beans, avocado, warm tortillas, shredded Monterey Jack cheese, sautéed peppers and more. Avocado is a definite staple in my house. My hubby likes to dice some up in his omelets, I enjoy mashing avocado with a sprinkle of sea salt & squeeze of fresh lemon on a slice of wheat toast, and I throw it into so many of my Mexican style dinners. A perk of living in San Diego is randomly passing produce stands that sell avocados grown just ... [Read More]
