Los Angeles Ultimate Women's Expo

Saturday October 27th and Sunday October 28th

Los Angeles Convention Center

10am-5pm

Drop into your local Starbucks to get free tickets or check out the web to be apart of the exhibit.

"Studies have shown that when consumers can touch, taste, see, feel and try your product or service, they will become your customer for life."

Soy V Dairy

The soy v dairy debate has been going on for quite some time now, yet I still find many people (as well as myself to feel so conflicted by the topic).  You see more and more other alternatives for dairy options but are those options really any better, specifically for people who don't have a harsh lactose intolerance...

It is widely believed that everyone is lactose intolerant it just depends on what effects each person can physically feel.  Mammals typically shouldn't consume lactose after the age of 5, due to weening from the mother's milk.

"Most mammals normally become lactose intolerant after weaning, but some human populations have developed lactase persistence, in which lactase production continues into adulthood. It is estimated that 75% of adults worldwide show some decrease in lactase activity during adulthood.^[5] The frequency of decreased lactase activity ranges from 5% in northern Europe through 71% for Sicily to more than 90% in some African and Asian countries.^[6] This distribution is now thought to have been caused by recent natural selection favouring lactase persistent individuals in cultures that rely on dairy products.^[7] While it was first thought that this would mean that populations in Europe, India, and Africa had high frequencies of lactase persistence because of a particular mutation, it has now been shown that lactase persistence is caused by several independently occurring mutations.<sup>[8]"

SO even if you have physically feelings from lactose or want to steer away from dairy completely, is soy a good options?  Places like Starbucks and restaurants only serve a soy option as their nondairy option...but is this better?  I would say no.  You are better off not having either or the dairy actually.  At home you can control your options like making your own mylk, like I discussed in previous posts or buying almond milk or other nut milk alternatives.  WHen you are out and the only option to a nondairy source is soy...stay away.  Here is why...

http://www.optimumchoices.com/Soy.htm
http://www.foodrenegade.com/dangers-of-soy/
http://www.healthxchange.com.sg/healthyliving/DietandNutrition/Pages/Soy-Vs-Dairy.aspx</sup>

Blissmo Box

In a previous post I talked about how important it is to have healthy snacks on hand and featured a company you can hire to do this for you...I would like to feature another one of those companies today. What is better about this company is that there is a deal for it going on through Gather Green.  

Go to gather green and get a great deal on a 2 month subscription to heathy eco friendly products to your doorstep from Blissmo.  Each delivery you can to pick a topic from samples like: snacks, bathroom, kitchen, etc.  What you pick doesn't necessarily have to be food related, the commonality is that each option is eco friendly.  Blissmo also sells their own daily deals too of products and companies they are proud to support.

For example today's deal features a clock that is powered by water.

First head to Gather Green to purchase your coupon.

Then register at Blissmo and pick your box!

Bush Heads

Remember those obnoxious infomercials talking about growing your own Chia Pet, Chia Head or Chia whatever the next ridiculous thing they wanted to come up with to grow!?!?  Well, did you know that those seeds from the Chia plant are actually super nutritious for you and you should have them as a staple in your diet...like yesterday!?

Do these look familiar?

You might have seen overly priced juiced bottled up with seeds in them at health food stores.  Well those seeds are chia seeds and you can make your own chia drinks and chia (fill in the blank) for fractions of the cost and sugar as those drinks!

Before we get into some fun ways to use Chia seeds, read here on the health benefits of Chia Seeds!

-Bulk up a recipe without the saturated fats by using Chia Seeds.  Take 1 TBS of Chia Seeds soak them 1/4 cup water for a couple hours (I put in frig overnight) and the Chia Seeds soak up all of the water creating low calorie density for a recipe.
-Put them into your water for a new spin on plan water.  Try adding a splash of lemon, or mint, or cucumber to go along with it
-Make your own jam!  Take 1 cup frozen berries (dethawed).  Add 1 TBS Chia Seeds plus 2 TBS water, soak overnight.  Instant Jam.
-Add them to your smoothies, add them to your oats, sprinkle them on salads....the options are endless.

Sorry if I now have the Cha Cha Cha song stuck in your head...well, maybe I do now :-)

PS You can buy Chia seeds at health good stores and many different options online...just type in Chia Seeds in google.

Health-ifying Recipes

Baked Good can often seem less caloric than they actually are...

For example take something labeled Zucchini Bread, because of the vegetable in the title it seems like it could be nutritious for the body.  Well what if I told you a normal recipe for Zucchini Bread looked something like this...(source)  What blows my mind the most is that it is from the food network channel.  Just because things are shoved in our faces (in media) does not mean it is good for you and you should do it...just saying :-)

• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Look at how much SUGAR AND OIL are in this recipe!!!

If you take some of the pointers I mentioned in the post before this about, healthy swaps and protein replacements, we can make this recipe a whole lot healthier without missing any of the flavor.

This recipe can also be labeled as dairy free, gluten free, grain free and heck lets say meat free too ;-)

I want to first go over the swaps and then at the end I will list the recipe (incase there is confusion during the swap explanation).  

1. First we have all purpose flour...If its white, get it out of your LIFE!  A better substitution is almond flour, garbanzo bean flour, or if you are into the grain thing than oat flour works well (try and stick to gluten free).

2. The salt can be reduced...no need for all the extra sodium

3. Baking Soda...KEEP...we need this sucker to rise!

4. Cinnamon KEEP!  I put cinnamon in EVERYTHING!!!!

5. 3 cups sugar...OMG...lets all have diabetes just from this bread alone.  Some great swaps for this is to use Truvia (it is stevia but has the texture of sugar so it can help in the construction of the cake).  Other nice swaps are honey, agave or banana or a combination of whichever

6. 1 cup oil!!!!!!!  How about we reduce that to tablespoons...no need for all that oil to clog the arteries.  Plus to keep the moisture in the bread some nice swap moisture ideas are banana, unsweetened applesauce, or cottage cheese if you are okay with dairy.

7. 4 eggs....we like eggs, even the egg yoke!  Lets keep those but reduce the number, no need for extra calories....moderation people

8. Water...as silly as this sounds...even though this provides no calories to the bread it isn't even necessary.  If there is ever anything that needs an extra liquid to get things moving, I will pour in some unsweetened almond milk.  Adds a little flavor without adding too many calories.

9. 2 cups zucchini...YES KEEEP!!!!  WE LOVE VEGETABLES!

10. Lemon Juice...optional

11. 1 cup nuts is a little excessive.  I will list this as optional...but lets reduce the amount to maybe a 1/4 cup

Healthy Zucchini Bread

1 1/2 cups almond flour (or 1 cup almond flour and 1/2 cup unflavored protein powder)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup grated zucchini, water squeezed out (you can simple use a cheese grater)

2 eggs plus 2 egg whites

3 Tablespoons Truvia, Agave or Honey

1 banana, mashed

1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

-Coconut Oil spray two mini bread loaf pans or muffin tins

-Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl and set aside

-Combine wet ingredients (not zucchini) and beat with hand or hand mixer for a couple minute

-Add zucchini and mix until combined

-Pour dry ingredients into wet and mix (I like to pour a little, then stir, then alternate pour and stirring until bowl is empty)

-Pour batter into pans

-Bake for 32-35 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. (muffins will take a shorter amount of time: try 15-20min)

-Remove from oven and cool

***If you would like to make this recipe chocolate then add 2 TBS Cacao Powder and replace the unflavored protein with chocolate protein)

Protein Tease

Hi all!

I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend!  I'm sure we all enjoyed some fun, friends, laughter and good food!  Maybe a little too much 'good' food! :-)  Life is meant to be enjoyed, so if that means you enjoy and indulge a little hear and there on good food, don't sweat it...just make sure you back on track and sweat, literally!!!

Speaking of indulging on 'good' food...did you know that you can enjoy those delicious tasting foods and cut the calories without cutting the taste.  Later this week I'm going to share some recipes that I have come across that truly are delicious, if not better than the original.  From breads, to muffins, to ice cream, to parfaits, etc.

In the mean time, try experimenting yourself.

Replace Milk with unsweetened vanilla or chocolate almond milk
Instead of oil, try applesauce
Replace Eggs with Soaked Chia Seeds
Instead of Butter try coconut oil
Replace Cream Cheese with Greek Yogurt or Cottage Cheese
Instead of Wheat Flour try Coconut Flour or Almond Flour or even Protein Powder!

There are so many options and all of these options will lower the calories and bump up the protein!

Don't allow Labor Day to be the last hooray of bathing suit season.  Every day should feel like bathing suit season.  Feel good about your body and keep up the great work!  No winter hibernation!