Do you start feeling frustrated and deprived when you’re trying to eat “cleaner”? This approach will help you eliminate those feelings, enjoy the process and keep you on track…easily! Check it out!
…and share the secrets with a friend.
Stawberry Banana Ice Cream
Simple. Pure yum. No guilt. Loaded with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber to boost immunity, lower blood pressure, fight inflammation, and improve brain function. Its creamy, deliciousness perfectly satisfies all ages and all stages along the journey to better eating and living!
Strawberry Banana Ice Cream
2 cups frozen strawberries
2 bananas
Combine all ingredients in high powered blender or food processor and blend until smooth, thick and creamy.
Makes 4-5 servings (1/2 cup)
Thanks, Sterling Regard Photography, for the fun and beautiful video!
4 Steps to Instant and Delicious Salads and Dressings
Instant Delicious Salad and Dressing Ideas – in 4 easy steps
Dressings make a salad! But who always has time to make dressing? Most of them use ingredients you can’t pronounce and don’t want in your body. Salad dressings typically contain lots of preservatives, sugars, and poor quality, less-than-healthy oils. Whether it’s sweet or savory you prefer, here are 4 steps for practically instant salad and dressing ideas, to make your greens delicious and something you look forward to!
Salad Ingredients
1- Gather and prep salad
- greens – spinach, romaine, green or red leaf, butter crunch, and/or cabbage (pre-washed greens make this instant!)
- veg toppings: tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onions, carrots, broccoli/cauliflower,
- fruit toppings: berries, pomegranate, apples, citrus
- protein: nuts, beans, lean meat or fish, organic cheese
- herbs and flavors: garlic, basil, oregano, sea salt, pepper or pepper flakes (honey or fruit juice if you like your dressing a touch sweeter)
Dressing
2- Find your favorite pairings of olive oil and vinegar
3- Splash onto salad (I prefer to serve dressing on the side to prevent soggy salads. Shake or pour on desired amounts of oil and vinegar on each salad. Or, in a small bowl or shaker jar, make a larger quantity.)
4- Toss and enjoy
Pairing — Salad Dressing Ideas
The right combination makes flavors pop. Be creative. You just might be amazed at what works and is delicious! Here are some ideas to get you started from a few of my favorite places:
Queen Creek Olive Mill – Queen Creek, AZ
- Rosemary olive oil and cranberry white balsamic
- Meyer lemon olive oil and pomegranate white balsamic
- Basil olive oil and strawberry white balsamic
- Garlic olive oil and balsamic
- Blood orange olive oil and prickly pear balsamic
- Chili olive oil and peach white balsamic
- Lime olive oil and white balsamic
Eighteenninety grille and marketplace – Granbury, TX: house favorite – lime olive oil and cranberry pear white balsamic
The Olive Tap’s – Perfect Pairings – extensive list
What’s the best ratio? It depends on your taste buds, but start with about 2-3 parts oil : 1 part vinegar
Here’s a quick, elegant and festive Pomegranate Salad and dressing idea to get you started:
Mixed greens (spinach and red romaine), pomegranate arils, onions, pecans, feta (sub avocado for dairy free)
OR try this Beets and Greens Salad to play with different oil and vinegar combos.
Now, share the goodness.
Perfect for everyday, holidays and parties, and gift ideas.
Beets & Feta with Greens
As delicious as beets are “solo,” they make a great addition to salads. Here’s one of my favorites…and it’s super easy to make!
Beets and Feta with Greens
Romaine, chopped
Sweet onions, chopped
Beets, cooked and chopped
Goat feta*
Fresh garlic, minced
Sea salt and pepper
Layer salad veggies in serving bowl(s). Top with crumbled feta and garlic.
Dress with lime juice and olive oil OR balsamic and olive oil and toss.
A bit of ginger also adds a nice touch.
*Goat or sheep feta is usually easier to digest OR make Dairy-Free replacing with avocado or even chopped macadamia nuts.
18 Surprising Ways Journaling Makes You Healthier and Happier
Journaling. I really had no idea the role it can play in making us healthier and happier. Writing can be really powerful for healing, growth, and transformation!
I’m not a natural journaler, and I marvel at friends who have notebooks filled with thoughts, insights and even prayers. I’ve been through seasons where I’ve tried. Quite frankly, I’m really too impatient to spend time long-handing out my thoughts and often I really don’t care to see some of them in writing. But lately, I’ve been challenging myself to rethink my view of journaling and adapt it to a style that fits me. Here’s a few things I’m noticing about the benefits of writing:
1- Frees up mind space – Instead of spending more mental energy remembering my grocery or to do list (or even significant dreams I’ve had), once it’s written down, I can be free to creatively think, reflect on, or problem solve…even just let my thoughts be still. That’s a stress reducer!
2- Improves productivity – As I write down specific goals for the day (week or month), I’m realizing how much more I can accomplish. It gives me an outline and solidifies a specific plan, which helps guide and direct my days. Though it’s the same things turning in my mind, there is something to putting it down and seeing it written out on paper that helps with focus, not to mention determination and motivation!
3- Identifies patterns – Yeah! Those thoughts I didn’t care to see in writing? Nailed it. Those are the thoughts that needed to change. The ones I need to catch quickly, so that I can refocus and redirect my thoughts back to what is true and authentic, lovely, peaceful, pure, kind, gracious, and excellent.
4- Processes and records life – This has become very real, as I’m putting the final edits on my first book. While I’ve written in more detail about my own health journey, it’s brought the realization of how far I have come, how much I’ve learned, and how my life has been transformed. Writing about some really difficult seasons of my life has been very therapeutic. I’ve been able to not only record the story of the healing process, but also the lessons learned to help others. Putting all the pieces together has helped bring closer to this chapter of my life. The ending helps reframe and bring a new gratitude to painful situations. At the same time, it shines a new light of satisfaction and reward on perseverance …and the excitement of new beginnings.
Documented benefits for a healthier body and happier mind
Research also shows journaling helps you:
5- Sleep deeper and better
6- Heal faster (even wound healing!)
7- Slow your thoughts and bring clarity
8- Organize ideas, thoughts, and beliefs
9- Build self-awareness
…and this is just a short list! Be looking next week for more journaling benefits and 5 tips for Writing for a Healthier and Happier Life —secrets I’ve discovered to help convert non-journalers!
Chocolate…How I Love Thee
It’s the love affair that’s hooked us for life! This $7 billion per year US chocolate industry shows just how much we love our chocolate. In America, each of us eats about 10 pounds per year, but this is actually low compared to much of the world. The Swiss, renowned for their chocolates, eat nearly 20 pounds per person per year!
So as you’re savoring each mouth-watering, deliciously sweet, rich, creamy, dreamy bite, use these research-based “justifications” to keep on enjoying more of the yumminess!
Dark chocolate has some very important health benefits. Cocoa’s nutrient content might explain why it was used as a “treatment for many ailments” as far back as the 17th-19th centuries, and why it’s been such a focus of research. The Journal of the American College of Cardiology deemed the findings “to be one of the major advancements in cardiovascular research.” Cocoa is rich in polyphenols, or “phytonutrients.” Science continues to unravel these hidden, plant “miracle-workers,” that serve as potent antioxidants, protecting our cells from damage. The reviews of the findings of these studies show polyphenols in chocolate may help to:
—improve blood flow, keeping vessels healthy and “elastic”
—keep blood from becoming “too sticky”
—fight atherosclerosis by preventing plaque build-up on vessel walls
—raise HDL (good cholesterol) and lower LDL (bad cholesterol)
—lower blood pressure
—reduce risk of strokes
—improve insulin sensitivity and lower insulin resistance (fighting diabetes)
—reduce inflammation
—slow the aging process
—lower stress in pregnant moms (interestingly, babies of these chocolate-eating moms smiled more, had better temperaments and were more active than those of non-chocolate-eaters at 6 months)
—increase blood flow to the brain
—improve cognitive function (especially related to memory, alertness, multi-tasking and reaction times)
—supply a great source of iron (67% RDA in just a 100g bar) and other minerals
—release “feel-good” endorphins in the brain, similar to the “falling in love” feeing
—burn belly fat
—trigger relaxation, just from smelling it’s fabulous aroma
and women, for one final “justification”…
—improve appearance and health of the skin
Yes, no break-ups required! The chocolate love affair is here to stay! So, be sure to get your daily dose of love and antioxidants. For the most benefits, be sure to choose non-alkali (or non-dutched, as this processing destroys the antioxidants) and naturally sweetened varieties of cocoa, cocoa nibs and pure, dark chocolate.
Be sure to pass on the chocolate love…
references available on request
How to Actually Succeed with your New Year’s Health Resolutions (and Goals)
Only about 9% actually achieve their January goals and New Year’s Health Resolutions.
It’s time for you to do something different so you can get the results you’re looking for.
Here’s the start of a series of super quick, practical tips and #sweetsecretsforsuccess to help you beat the odds and finally SUCCEED in your health goals.
source: 2018 New Year’s Resolution Statistics
“News” and Gifts for a Sweet December
How is it possibly almost mid-December…already?! We’ve quickly shifted our thinking from “Thanksgiving” and counting our blessings to full-on holiday mode. This year, I’m focusing on continuing the gratitude and starting early with reviewing my year – what worked, what didn’t…and what and where do I want to redirect and focus for 2019.
As this update is long overdue, I wanted to take time to reconnect with you and share where Innocent Indulgence has been and give you a sneak peek at what’s next. But more than that, in the “news” I want to share some of my year’s “life gems,” the amazing gifts I have experienced this year. As I share these “gifts,” I hope you too can take these ideas and be encouraged and motivated to enjoy them for yourself as we finish out 2018. Make this holiday season extra special and memorable and get ready for 2019—so it can be your best year yet!
1- Diversifying, Expanding and Refocusing
Though there is comfort in routine, I do much better with opportunities that allow creativity and diversity. Over the last several months I’ve added some incredible opportunities and experiences to share my passion for health and bring healing through nutrition. With them came a renewed interest and focus on education…and expanding into creative ways to guide people into experiencing better health, whether it be recovery, healing or prevention. 2018 included the following new adventures:
- Addiction recovery nutrition classes – though my life (and my family’s) has been touched by others’ addictions for many years, I had never actually considered the impact and importance of nutrition on recovery. The last 15 months allowed me to develop a repeating 10-week, hands-on nutrition program and work with some incredible people to bring hope, help, relief, recovery…and better health to those struggling with addictions! This is an area I never would have considered, but I thoroughly enjoyed this unique niche with the opportunity to use food as therapy and a creative healing modality. I look forward to sharing more to help individuals and families with this topic in the near future.
- Clinical nutrition with an internal medicine practice – Working with a medical team that emphasizes nutrition as an essential piece to health and well-being has been extremely rewarding. Seeing so many patients finally getting real results for long-time health challenges thrills my heart. Digestive concerns, moods (depression and anxiety), energy levels, high blood sugars/diabetes, high cholesterol, skin conditions, inflammation, aches and pains, allergies, and weight issues are improving significantly and, in many cases, even being resolved…through simple lifestyle changes. I get so excited each time I see such big results, usually quickly, coming from simple changes.
Note: Looking for an MD in the East Valley? Check out Maready Medical. You won’t just be a number. Their medical team will not only take time with you and listen to your concerns, but also work with you to help get them resolved. The whole office is incredibly compassionate, kind and caring. I highly recommend them…and they work with most every insurance company.
Want insurance coverage for nutrition guidance? The office offers appointments with me to their established patients.
The Gift of “New and Fresh”: Sometimes you need to break routine and step into something new. It’s different. It’s uncomfortable (usually). It’s unknown. But, you just might end up with something new you absolutely love. Also, if we’re not careful, the routine can become monotonous and lull us to sleep, so that we miss the opportunities and possibilities in front of us. Sometimes just a slight change can be as simple as driving a different route or switching around your schedule to give you fresh eyes and a renewed perspective to look at and love life in a whole new light. What’s more?! Life’s too short to spend in a job that doesn’t fit you. Finding your passions and strengths and directing your efforts and attention in that area is worth the effort and is so much more fulfilling. (Think, “they actually pay me to do this!”)
How can you break your routine to find a renewed perspective today?
2- Building memories and relationships (family time)
I’ve loved spending some extra quality time with my incredible family! We had the privilege of a wonderful weekend reunion with one side of the family in beautiful Northern Arizona and then welcoming a new family member on the other side in a lovely Colorado June Wedding. This summer brought some sweet memories and times of seeing many dear ones that I haven’t seen in years.
Besides special occasions and travel, nothing brings everyone closer than a DIY House Remodeling Project. Ha! We’re talking Entirely. Stripped. Down. It tests your patience, stretches your endurance, makes hilarious moments…and finally, brings beautiful results! After a very long time, things are coming into order and looking amazing. It’s been a most rewarding project, and I’ve learned SO much about life through this process (more on this to come), and I’ve discovered some new hobbies and interests I’ll get to enjoy for a lifetime. I might even consider flipping houses in the future?? 😊
The Gift of Family: Enjoy the time you have with family. Make memories. Plan special moments. Laugh together. Play. Do life’s “dailies” and even special projects together. Switch up the routine to make opportunities and invest in spending time. It’s worth it and the memories and life-enrichment are priceless. And yes, families aren’t perfect and for many, “family” can be quite a painful subject. But let me encourage you, make the investment in having the difficult conversations to overcome obstacles (It just might turn out better than you think!) And, when family is far away (in location or heart connection), invest in those dear ones around you who have become your “family.” Family can be defined in more ways than just by blood. Connections and relationships help us thrive…physically, emotionally and spiritually.
How can you make a special memory today, by taking time to focus on your significant relationships?
3- Resting and Relaxing, intentionally!
I’ve been known to speed and press through life. I love being active and productive. If I see a vision for the future, I’m ready to experience it…now. Before, I would usually make that happen at any cost. But, this summer, I consciously chose to slow down, take a slower pace, rest, relax, finish some personal projects (including remodeling) and also be refreshed, especially after taking on an emotionally and spiritually challenging job. I’m hooked. It’s been amazing to live and appreciate the benefits of rest, enjoy the moment … and also to get reorganized and dream on the new ideas that are just ahead. I’m just returning from my first trip to Hawaii. What an amazing time of refreshing…and experiencing such beauty. Beauty heals. More on that soon too.
I’m becoming more and more convinced our fast-paced lives and cultural pressures and “norms” are becoming major hinderances to our health and keeping us from really enjoying life. Again, more on this topic coming soon.
The Gift of Refreshing: Rest. Relax. Recharge. Be restored. It’s essential for not only enjoying everyday life but also for experiencing health. For some of us (Type A’s) this can require real effort, learning to say “No” to actually make this happen and ending the “people pleasing” cycles. It lets us become who we really are, letting go of the things that are no longer serving us, and being OK with just being still, being quiet, and “un-productive.” It’s a mindset shift to be ok with knowing physically, our bodies needs rest; emotionally, we must recharge, and that we can be sharper and more productive after we’ve had extended rest periods; and spiritually, we can be much more receptive when we clear out the “clutter” in our hearts. Then, we can be refreshed as our beliefs and priorities align and come into order.
In what area(s) do you need to pull back and get refreshed – physically, emotionally, spiritually? What one thing will you do today to get that rest? How about during this holiday season?
As the holidays are quickly approaching, it isn’t too late to make this your most memorable season. Take these gifts and “unwrap” them…then share them with those around you:
- Start planning now how you can make special moments with those you love.
- Make a special effort to let those dear ones know just how special they are and how much you appreciate them.
- Decide now that this will be a refreshing holiday season.
- Choose to cut out those activities that aren’t essential that simply zap your time and energy.
- Determine what’s really most important to you, so this season may be one of reflection, rest and refreshment.
Finally, I challenge you…where can you break routine and get some fresh perspective to more fully enjoy your amazing life? How can you finish 2018 strong, making the most of your time, yet so you’ll be ready for your best 2019 ahead?!
Need some fresh, innocent and delicious Christmas brunch ideas? Here are two of my favorites:
Reset for Radiant Living – free class
Stressed? Exhausted? Sick? Want to hit “Reset”?
Join me at this free class to look at a different perspective on re-nourishing your body and mind for a healthier year ahead. We’ll examine the causes of stress, explore the (often surprising) effects of stress on our physical bodies and health, and discover some simple ways you can get refreshed and best be nourished for energy, healing and balance for 2018.
Refresh – Rejuvenate – Revive
Natural Grocers – Saturday, February 10 at 1pm-2
New Year – New You
1625 E Williams Field Rd
Gilbert, AZ 85295
Writing for a Healthier and Happier Life
4-weeks in to my journaling challenge, it’s getting easier. Sometimes I’m amazed that I’m writing more, actually beginning to enjoy it, and surprised by the new thoughts that are coming as I write. Beyond the few perks, I’ve already mentioned in part 1, here are more of my discoveries about writing for a healthier and happier life:
10- Increases clarity – Just seeing thoughts, to-do’s, goals, and dreams in writing puts things in perspective. It helps organize thoughts, steps in a process or what to do next on the path towards a goal.
11- Solidifies vision – This really helps with long-term goals, whether it’s personal, relational, business or health goals. When you’re in the middle of a long journey, re-reading the original vision refreshes and renews the passion and dreams that can get weary or rusty in the process. More specifically, it helps us tune in and stay focused. Often our vision is too vague, but the more detailed and clear we can get, the more we can see it. This will help bring that dream to life, making it real and keeping us motivated, especially when things aren’t easy.
12- Improves learning and memory – Again, I’m seeing when I slow down to capture my thoughts, it helps me remember and solidify new information and concepts. I always think, “I can remember this.” But, that’s really not the case and i quickly forget. But more than that, writing the thoughts down makes them much easier to review…and continue pondering for deeper meaning.
13- Sets us up for a new stream of considerations – I’m noticing journaling slows my thoughts and allows me to tune in to and reflect on a fresh flow. It helps me tap into a new stream of ideas, inspirations and concepts that had I not slowed for, I would have missed entirely. I’ve especially been able to capture more insights from dreams as I write and see the happenings of the dream in word form. Really fascinating!
More Research to Encourage Writing for Health
14- Expresses and releases toxic, painful emotions
15- Helps shift mental focus and perceptions
16- Reduces anxiety and depression
17- Improves symptoms of IBS, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, and state of mind in those dealing with Parkinson’s and cancer
18- Aids recovery from childhood sexual abuse, postpartum depression and post-traumatic stress disorder
I invite you, my other non-journaling friends, to join me on this challenge. These ideas have really helped me get going:
- Use a journal or notebook that fits you–colorful to make you smile, classy to capture your life, small so you can keep it handy, etc.
- Find pen(s) you love–color keeps me more engaged and makes me happy
- Jot down some bullet points
- Things you’re thankful for
- Meaningful (or rough) moments during the day
- Feelings
- Goals
- Dreams
- Prayers
- Inspirational thoughts
- Insights
- and so much more…
- Don’t get overwhelmed by pressures of traditional journaling to write full, complete, punctuated sentences. Just start getting your thoughts out there. You might just be surprised that sometimes full sentences just start coming…rather easily.
- Any form of documenting and written expression helps! I love my Notes app on my phone, but I’m discovering “they” are right. Writing by hand is especially helpful for learning, as it sends signals between the hands and brain to build motor memory. Don’t worry, I’m not giving up my app just yet! So, if it helps you get started, go for it!
Are you an expert journaler? I’d love to hear your stories!
…and please do share the helpful, healthful tips with friends and family.