A Little Spice is Always Nice

Hello Foodies!
I know that I haven't been posting anything lately, but I promise I have not forgotten about you! I am in the throws of grad school, building my journalism brand and working on music with my sisters, but I still escape to my kitchen whenever my reality gets to be a little overwhelming. I love this blog and I appreciate all of you so much. I recognize that I have to do better!

With that being said, let's talk about the latest food trend:

The Fall Season is where chef pull out all the stops as it pertains to spices. The most recent trend is Pumpkin Spiced foods and beverages. They have pumpkin lasagna, pumpkin soup, pumpkin spiced cheesecake, coffee, cookies, ice cream etc. you name it, they have it! Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE a good pumpkin spiced latte every now and then but I think we are all a little pumpkin crazed lol.

As the weather gets colder though, I figure now is the perfect time to create some new recipes for November and December. Normally, I am not a big fan of popcorn, but I found a way to eat it that is really yummy to much on throughout the day and is super easy to make:

Ingredients:
1 bag of Skinny Popcorn
1/2 tsp of Cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp of McCormick garlic salt with parsley

Directions:
Pour the popcorn into an 8 oz cup
Add the Cayenne Pepper mix lightly
Next add the garlic-parsley salt in slowly
Mix together and enjoy!

I have few recipes up my sleeve and I will be sure to share them with you soon!

Healthier Me

Since the Lenten Season, I have been working on creating a healthier lifestyle for myself. I am eliminating white from my diet and eating more wheat. This has helped me to limit my intake on food in general and I have found that it  also makes me fuller faster

Here are some of my tricks of the trade

Like Snacks?

I have a really tasty recipe for you to try:

Hearty Trail Mix:

1 cup of dried cranberries
1 cup of cashews
1 cup of almonds
1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips

Mix everything together and enjoy!

Light Lunch Options:

Salads are the way to go! My favorites are:

1) Iceberg Berry Frenzy:

1/2 head of chopped iceberg lettuce
1 cup Sliced Strawberries
1 cup Blueberries
1/2 cup Pine nuts (could substitute with walnuts, pecans, or almonds)
1/2 cup of blue cheese crumbles
1/2 cup of raspberry vinaigrette


2) Spinach Red Onion and Black Bean Salad

1 cup of spinach
1/2 of a sliced red onion
1/2 cup of black beans
1/2 cup of raspberry vinaigrette

Try these recipes and let me know what you think!

Better Choices

This year for Lent I gave up all white starches. No white rice. No potato chips. No pasta. No French fries. No bread. At first the very idea of this was almost too much to bare, I thought to myself, "I am going to have to change my WHOLE diet!" Something that I wasn't sure I was really willing to do. What I decided to do instead is to change my diet from white to wheat. I want to be healthy and fit. I am determined to be comfortable in my own skin and I think that this is a great place to start. My curtailing what I cook and how I eat, I am finding that it is becoming easier to control my portion sizes and my appetite has changed. Lent is a 40 day commitment and it takes 21 days to form a habit. With the exception of the occasional French fry, and pasta, I am finding contentment in this new way of life. I hope that this new system is something that I stick to because the benefits that I am experiencing are amazing! I have more energy, I am more well rested, and I feel better internally. I think that with the combination of continuing on this wheat lifestyle and working out my end result will be successful.

Rocky Start To Going FLEX

I found a lot of great flexitarian recipes on Pinterest and I am excited to try them and share with you the ones that I like the best.

Today I had a fried egg sandwich with sautéed spinach and grilled onions on whole wheat toast. Sounds easy enough to make right? I think I may have used too much olive oil in my pan to cook the eggs because they tasted heavy and slimy... I think it's safe to say that I had a rocky start to going flex. Better luck next time I guess.

New Year, Better Ari

Happy New Year Friends!!!

2014 is here and I am excited about and expectant of an overflow of God's blessings in each one of our lives.
This year, I didn't make a New Year's resolution, but I am committed to being a better me. I have considered going on diets, I have worked out with friends and family, but those things never seemed to be long term. I went to the doctor's for my yearly physical this summer and after taking my temperature and checking my blood pressure the nurse asked me to step on the scale... that was my wake up call. I needed something to jolt me into taking more initiative as it pertained to living a healthier lifestyle and my recorded weight that day was just that. I knew I had to do something but I was unsure how to start. I prayed and sought the Lord for an answer and I came across something called Flexitarianism. For those of you, like me, who were not familiar with the term, a flexitarian is a "flexible" vegetarian. It is a more veggie based "diet" without all of the restrictions of being a full fledged vegetarian. To me the best part about this particular healthy living regiment is that meat is not completely out of the question. Fighting with the idea of NEVER being able to eat chicken again was something that haunted me in my sleep. LoL
Going FLEX just means that you eat less meat. Beginners start by having 2 meatless days and 26 oz of meat or poultry per week. The more advanced flexitarian has 3 or four meatless days and only 18 oz of meat or poultry per week. The expert flexitarian has 5 meatless days out of the week and eats 9 oz of meat or poultry per week. (http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/flexitarian-diet)

I am working on going Flex for the next 4-6 months. Which means that I'll have more recipes to cook, taste, and post!

This is my year of change and I am ready!!!