Middle-Age Wisdom Recipes…I decided to search the internet for delicious chocolate recipes, but that are still on the healthy side. Many of these are vegan and/or gluten free. I hope you enjoy!
I first posted this article on February 13, 2020 in honor of Valentines day. I decided to repost it as today’s recipe article, due to my wellness tip of the day for my MAIN BLOG.
So, in honor of this wellness tip, I present these 10 “healthy” chocolate recipes!
Here’s the original article:
Normally, I’d be sharing insomnia recipes with you all today. However, since tomorrow is Valentines day, I decided to search the internet for delicious chocolate recipes, but that are still on the healthy side. Many of these are vegan and/or gluten free. I hope you enjoy!
(If you are sensitive to high fiber foods, this one is best avoided)
Closing thoughts…
As I always say, eating healthy doesn’t have to be boring. You just need to be a bit creative with the ingredients. I hope you enjoy time with your loved ones tomorrow.
Earlier today, on my main site, Purple Almond Wellness, I featured an article about managing blood sugar for diabetes. Here is a list of 6 super healthy diabetes friendly recipes to help do just that! Each recipe uses at least one of the foods on THIS LIST of diabetes friendly foods. In some cases, more than one food is in the recipe. ENJOY!
If you’ve wanted to try meal planning this post from The Wellness Mama is for you. In this article, she explains batch cooking and includes a 7-day meal plan. She also breaks down the cooking procedure into a step-by-step process. It couldn’t be easier!
For the main article and full meal plan, follow the link below.
As a continuation of my post earlier, “Healthy Snacking Habits while Working from Home“, I’m posting 10 quick and easy recipes to make while you work from home. Some of them will take planning or making ahead, which was one tip for healthy snacking. Try one of these or use them to inspire your own healthy creations. As always…
From: The Conscientious Eater – Okay, I haven’t tried this one yet. I know this one sounds weird, and I would tend to agree. However, if it tastes good, it would be a huge plus for smoothies. Beans are super healthy, high in protein and fiber. They would seem to be a perfect addition to smoothies. I’m definitely going to try this one.
From: Some the Wiser Here’s another smoothie with beans. With white beans, this one would be a bit more mild. Perhaps this would be better to introduce beans in smoothies with this recipe. I really do like the idea of beans in smoothies. (My better half and son think it sounds really weird and gross. 🤣)
My better half recently had a birthday. He requested angel food cake with my homemade frozen custard. I made him and my boys a “normal” cake with wheat flour. I’ll confess, it was from a box. He said he wanted to make things easy for me. 🤣
However, me, being gluten free, can’t eat that type of cake. I’ll share my frozen custard recipe in another post, but know that it requires 8 egg yolks. This means I had 8 egg whites left over. What do you do with them? Well, make gluten-free angel food cake of course!
I began by searching the web for an 8 egg white angel food cake recipe, which I found at Recipe Rascal. The recipe required the following ingredients:
8 egg whites
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
I used these ingredients, swapping the regular flour with an all purpose gluten free flour blend. What you use here is a matter of preference. Some suggestions would be Bob’s Red Mill or Pamela’s. I’ve had good success baking with both brands.
If you look in the background of this photo, you can see the box from the “normal” angel food cake I made for my husband and sons. 🤣
I sifted the flour and salt together 3 times (per recipe instructions) and set them aside in a small bowl.
Next, I added the egg whites to my stand mixer and blended until frothy, then added the cream of tarter. While the mixer was going, I gradually added the sugar and vanilla. I mixed this until the egg whites were stiff peaks.
How do you know if the whites are stiff enough? A good test is to hold the bowl upside down like I did here in this video:
Finally, I very carefully folded in the GF flour and poured the batter into an UNBUTTERED loaf pan (It’s VERY important that the pan is NOT greased). An angel food cake pan would work as well. I baked it at 325 for approximately 40 minutes.
When it’s removed from the oven, an angel food cake needs to be cooled properly or it will collapse. In my case, I set the loaf pan on its side. If an angel food cake pan is used, turn the pan upside down on a glass bottle, if the pan does not have “cooling feet”.
Closing thoughts
This cake was delicious and it really wasn’t that hard! My son said you couldn’t even tell it was gluten free. I will definitely be making it again. My husband also said he loved it and would have been fine with this as his birthday cake. Well, I guess I’ll know for next year. No more box angel food cakes for us!
Middle age wisdom: Camu Camu berries are known to have the highest vitamin C content in the world.
With the recent coronavirus health scare, we are all thinking of ways to keep ourselves healthy. Boosting your immune system with natural sources of vitamin C is one of the best ways to do just that. That’s why, today, I present you with smoothie recipes containing camu camu berry powder. Camu Camu berries are known to have the highest vitamin C content in the world.
Camu camu is jam packed with vitamin C, with a whopping 2,145 mg/100 grams!!! It has roughly 30 to 50 times the vitamin c of an orange!!!
What is Camu Camu?
Camu Camu is grown in the dense Amazon Rainforest. It grows on bushes in mostly flooded areas of Peru. It’s a globe shaped fruit, about the size of a cherry, which tastes like cherry and lemon. So what does this little fruit do for you?
Health Benefits of Camu Camu
Stronger immunity
More energy
Better mood
Healthier gums, eyes and skin
Supports the liver, lungs, lymph and nervous system
Used to fight colds and flu
Anti-viral
Anti-inflammatory
Anti-depressant
Natural pain relief
anti-viral
anti-inflammtory
anti-oxidant
astringent
anti-depressant
Where to find Camu Camu Powder
Because vitamin C is so sensitive to heat, it’s important to get freeze dried powder. Here is a great one from Amazon.com.
By far the best way to use camu camu powder is in a smoothie. It can also be added to any juice or even water. You can also add it to any “no-bake” recipes. When searching for recipes using camu camu, make sure they aren’t baked or heated in anyway. This will destroy the vitamin C in the powder. Onto the recipes!!!
This smoothie is rather interesting with a few unusual ingredients. So, don’t worry if you can’t get them all, because it has so many good things! This one packs a wallop with aloe, bee pollen, spirulina, camu camu, maca, liquid marine phytoplankton, hemp, goji berries, and raw honey.
While this is being called “frozen yogurt”, I consider it a really thick smoothie. The mango is frozen prior to blending, which results in a thick, soft ice cream consistency.
Closing thoughts…
I’ll be posting more immune boosting recipes and tips next week. In the mean time boost your immunity through lots of laughter, love, sleep and meditation. What better way is there than that?
We know meal prep is a good idea. It helps us eat healthy food and avoid prepackaged, processed food or worse, fast food. However, if you’re like me, you procrastinate, or don’t do it at all. After all, who wants to spend a weekend day cooking? I mean I like to cook, but, weekends are my time with my better half. So, I’ve searched the internet and come up with some super easy and quick ways to meal prep. My personal favorite are the mason jar soup cups. I think this is a brilliant idea!
How to Meal Prep Smoothies
Here’s a smoothie formula along with a video highlighting 3 ways to prep smoothies.
Mason Jar Salads
Who needs to try an make a salad each morning or even the night before. Here’s an infographic for mason jar salads and one mason jar recipe video
The Overnight Oats Builder
Overnight oats are a great way to meal prep breakfast. Below, you’ll see an infographic for overnight oats, along with 2 videos with a total of 7 recipes.
Burrito Bowls
Everyone likes a good burrito bowl! Here is an infographic showing how to build your own, plus a recipe to get those creative juices flowing.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this idea! I think it’s brilliant. I created the infographic below based on the recipe video at the bottom of the page. Once the cups are made, store them in the fridge until needed. If you add protein eat it within 2-3 days. When you eat the cups, remove them from the fridge at least 10 minutes prior to consuming. This will prevent the cold jar from breaking when the water is added. When you’re ready, fill the jar with hot water and let it set until it’s heated through. At this point, eat it from the jar, or pour it into a bowl. I haven’t yet tried my own soup cups. However, I will absolutely try them, because my better half loves soup!
Closing thoughts
These ideas are super quick to put together. You could throw some burrito bowl ingredients in the oven. While that’s cooking, you can make a few soup cups, a couple of jars of overnight oats, and throw together some smoothie packs. Then, put the burrito bowls together when they’re cooked. I estimate this would take 1-2 hours tops. Then you have up to a week of lunches prepped.
Middle-Age Wisdom Recipes…I decided to search the internet for delicious chocolate recipes, but that are still on the healthy side. Many of these are vegan and/or gluten free. I hope you enjoy!
Normally, I’d be sharing insomnia recipes with you all today. However, since tomorrow is Valentines day, I decided to search the internet for delicious chocolate recipes, but that are still on the healthy side. Many of these are vegan and/or gluten free. I hope you enjoy!
(If you are sensitive to high fiber foods, this one is best avoided)
Closing thoughts…
As I always say, eating healthy doesn’t have to be boring. You just need to be a bit creative with the ingredients. I hope you enjoy time with your loved ones tomorrow.
Whether you’re a football lover or just watch for the commercials, chances are many of you will be watching the big game this Sunday. Maybe you’re hosting a big party or perhaps just settling down with the family. Whatever the case, you’ll want something to munch on while you watch. There’s no need to reach for unhealthy, fat, sugar and salt laden foods. You can “have your cake and eat it too” so to speak, with these 10 healthy snack recipes.
