5 Vegan Barbecue Family Favorites | Burgers, Mac N’ Cheese, Cornbread, Fries, Grilled Veggies

The thought of grilling gatherings used to give me the heebie jeebies! As a vegetarian / vegan / high raw / w.e., I try to stay away from the classic American foods.  These recipes are absolutely perfect for meat heads and vegan, gluten-free, even nut-free health nuts alike 😉 .  Last year I made my favorite Watermelon Mint Salad. Check out the recipe video honoring my Grampa here.

1. BBQ Black Bean Burger

This is my favorite black bean burger that I have made so far – adapted from Minimalist Baker’s Easy Grillable Veggie Burgers. My adapted version of the recipe is here.  I love it served with cucumber and avocado because the burger has so much flavor! The cooling veggies help to balance it out perfectly. These babies are:

1. Easy
2. Cheap
3. Quick
4. Healthy*

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cooked brown rice (I have learned in my nutrition classes that vitamins are lost when cooked in excess water or when water is drained off.  Thiamin, (aka vitamin B1) is lost as temperature or pH rises but it is more heat stable in acid, so it would be a good idea to cook rice with some lemon or lime juice, adding acidity to help retain nutrient content. Cook in amount of water that will be absorbed during cooking : 1 cup rice, use 2 cups of water.)
• 1 cup walnuts
• 1/2 Tbsp unrefined coconut oil or olive oil
• 1/2 white onion, finely diced
• 1/3 cup mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 1-2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tbsp each: chili powder, cumin, and paprika
• 1/2 tsp each: salt and black pepper
• 1 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1 1/2 cups cooked black beans, well rinsed, and drained
• 1/3 cup ground rolled oats (throw some oatmeal in the blender)
• 3-4 Tbsp vegan BBQ sauce*(Look for a BBQ sauce that is free of high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, >300mg sodium / serving. I used Annie’s Organic Original BBQ Sauce. I also really liked Sprout’s brand Pumpkin BBQ sauce that I got in the fall. Check out http://www.fooducate.com to compare BBQ sauce products to find a healthier option.)

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. (These also work well cooked on skillet or grill)
2. Heat a skillet over medium with 1/2 Tbsp oil, onion, garlic, and mushrooms. Saute for 3-4 minutes, until onions are translucent. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. To a high speed blender or food processor, add walnuts, chili powder,  cumin, paprika, salt, pepper, and blend until smooth, but not butter.
4. Either mash black beans with fork/mashed potato masher in a large mixing bowl or pulse them in blender or food processor.  It is nice to leave some whole beans for good texture
5. Add cooked rice, spice-walnut mixture, sauteed onion mushroom garlic mix, maple syrup, ground oats, BBQ sauce, and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon until moldable dough forms.  If too dry, add a tad more BBQ sauce, if too moist, add more ground oats.  Taste and adjust seasoning as you’d like.
6. For larger burgers, divide into 5 patties (~1/2 cup in size) or form 10 smaller burgers (~1/4 cup in size). To help form the patties, line your 1/2 or 1/4 measuing cup with plastic wrap and pack with burger mix. Press down to pack firmly, then lift out by the plastic wrap’s edge, and use hands to flatten slightly on the parchment paper, forming a 3/4 inch thick patty.
7. Bake for about 15-20 minutes on each side for a total of 30-40 minutes cooking time.
8. Serve over a toasted bun with all the fixin’s like thin cucumber, avocado, tomato, and red onion 😛

2. Creamy Macaroni and Peas

This is adapted from the star item special at my home base Organic Garden Cafe ❤ It is unbelievable. My sister, (the cheese hound who without shame scrolls through #macncheese on IG on the reg), asked me to make this for her the very day I got back from my 10 day road trip from grad school in Texas.  Yup it’s that good. And it happens to be gluten free, nut free, low fat, high fiber, cheap, and effortless!

Serves about 6:

• 1 cauliflower, roughly chop into large florets
• 1 yellow onion, discard outer layer and chop into quarters
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
• 1-2 garlic cloves
• Juice of 1/4 lemon
• 12 oz dry elbow macaroni pasta (I like using brown rice pasta!)
• 2/3 cup frozen peas

1. Steam onion and cauliflower until super tender (about 30 minutes) and boil elbow macaroni to manufacturer’s instructions
2. Combine steamed vegetables with salt, pepper, olive oil, and nutritional yeast, garlic, and lemon juice in a food processor S blade or high speed blender and blend until creamy creamy baby
3. Pour sauce over macaroni and peas and mix well. Transfer to casserole dish for serving.
4. Garnish with paprika, parsley, and serve to the cheese lovers in your life!

In the photo above, I used 12oz bag bionaturae brand elbows for the gluten free pasta, I thought it was pretty good! I always try new brands, what is your favorite??

3. Blueberry Corn Bread

My mother adapted this recipe from the Post Punk Kitchen’s Sunny Corn Muffins and she usually serves it with chili as in the recipe here. My mom puts in less sugar and apple sauce instead of yogurt.

Yield: 24 mini muffins

• 1 C gluten free all purpose flour (I used a brown rice GF mix)
• 1 C corn flour
• 1 Tbl baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1/2 C oil
• 3/4 C non-dairy milk
• 2 Tbls apple sauce
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 C blueberries
• fine grated lemon zest of 1 lemon

1. Preheat oven to 400*F and grease 2 mini muffin tins with coconut oil
2. Combine dry ingredients (except blueberries) and wet ingredients in separate bowls and whisk separately.  Fold into dry and halfway through mixing, add in blueberries and distribute well.
3. Pour in 8 inch pan and sprinkle a little sugar on top.
4. Bake for ~18-20 minutes. Mmm sweet cornbread perfection

4. Sweet Potato Fries

The image above is one sweet potato and one purple potato.

• Cut into fries.
• Thrown in a bowl
• Tossed with 1-2 Tbsp olive oil and a few dashes of cinnamon
• Baked on parchment paper at 410* F for mm 30-40 mins?  Nope, didn’t even time it. Just make sure they’re soft to perfection.

It is that easy. I LOVE cinnamon on my sweet potatoes but you can certainly get creative and use paprika, or herbs.. spice it up to match your flavah. Ginger powder would have been bomb too.

5. Grilled Vegetables

I have never and will never operate an actual giant grill. These were made in the panini press at 375*F. (Thank you college life #necessity=invention). Just greased the press lightly with coconut oil, and threw on some sliced mushroom, eggplant, and peeled asparagus, and BOOM!  Nope, didn’t  put any spices.  Feel free to show me up and let me know what you did!  If you are capable of operating an actual grill, my favorite veggies on a skewer are onions, red bell pepper, and zucchini. Yumm. !

Well, there you have it! Let me know how your memorial day weekend festivities go. Feel free to comment below, follow me @reinesandshine on instagram / twitter, and contact me anytime at reinesandshine@gmail.com. Cheers to life in good health! Enjoy!

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Rainbow Ginger Citrus Zoodles | Raw, Vegan, Simple, Delicious.

The research I am doing for my graduate program is on plant foods and cancer- I am on cloud 8374378457 with all the EUREKA WHATT research that is out there!! Sulforaphane in broccoli, sweet potato protein, flavanols in cacao, cranberries, blueberries, tomatoes, the plant kingdom cures cancer!! Amazing! The best is to get organic and picked ripe because plants produce natural components called salvestrols to protect themselves from harm similarly to how the plant foods protect us.  It. Is. Unbelievable. Potent cancer killers without harming the body, truly healing it. Mind, body, spirit, immunity, vitality, sustainability ❤ Eat the rainbow, reap the success, love, beauty, and happiness *starstruck*

Rainbow Citrus Zoodles

The Noodles:

• 4 small zucchini, spiralized
• 2-3 medium carrots, spiralized
• 1 small red bell pepper, sliced thin
• 2 purple cabbage leaves, sliced thin

The Sauce:

• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
• 2 Tbsp fresh lemon or lime juice
• 1/3 cup raw cashews
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
• 1/2 cup fresh scallion
• a quarter sized chunk of ginger
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. tahini

1. Combine noodles in a large bowl
2. Blend sauce ingredients in a high speed blender until smooth
3. Drizzle over noodles, mix and devour with some people you love!

History in the Making: Dietitians of South Texas Tour Their New 100% Organic Grocery Store

In a city of McDonalds, Whataburger, Wal-Mart, obesity and diabetes, a world saving beacon of health and sustainability opens; fully equipped with the highest quality produce/products, demonstration kitchen, vitamins/herbs/supplements, beauty products, books, and, it’s love!

Natural Grocers 100% Organic Grocery Opens March 15, 2016

Today, I had the opportunity to get a tour of the store with the Corpus Christi Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics group lead by the wonderful dietitian there, Kelsey. I was extremely impressed by this tour. A grocery store tour to dietitians? Please, as if they could learn anything more, but we all did! Like how Kelsey pointed out that the hemp seeds, walnuts, and other unstable fats are kept in the refrigerated section (polyunsaturated fats become rancid very easily, creating free radicals, so they must be kept cool). I have learned this previously but I have never seen a grocery store actually put their nuts and seeds in the refrigerator!

The sign above us says, “100% organic produce,” yes, I am the obnoxious intern that made everybody get in front of the produce section and asked the cashier to take our picture 🙂

The Tour~

Kristen gave us all a LONG list of things that Natural Grocers will NOT carry.  Including ingredients that I am quite familiar with like GMOs (genetically modified organisms), hydrogenated oils (trans fats), bleached flours, parabens (mimic estrogen and cause reproductive disorders), dairy products from cows given rBGH (recombinant  Bovine Growth Hormone), artificial sweeteners (all of them), and artificial colors and flavors, as well as so many that I have seen before but even I (a nutrition nerd grad student studying nutrition) have seen but no clue what they are!

Ingredients like DBP (dibutyl phthalate) which is a fragrance ingredient, plasticizer, and solvent that is a reproductive and developmental toxin, endocrine disruptor, and a known human respiratory toxin.  Also, BHA and BHT (Butylated Hydroxyanisole) and (Butylated Hydroxytoluene) are preservatives that have been shown to be carcinogenic and cause allergic reactions in humans.  I could go on..This place doesn’t even carry chemical based sunscreens or antibacterial soaps! Amen!

A few more reasons why I’m in love with this place:

• No bags, you have to bring your own! (or they use a cardboard box)
• GF (gluten free) items are all marked clearly next to price on shelf
• Local is emphasized and marked clearly with a Texas flag on shelf
• Lots of cheap “Health Hotline” sale items
• Bulk specialty items from mulberries and goji berries to raw buckwheat groats
• WIDE variety of vegan items
• Reverse osmosis water filter, only $0.25 to refill a gallon
• Nutrition experts- these people know their stuff!
• To reduce waste and cut cost of items: no deli/freshly prepared items (ever wonder where all the fresh baked goods from Whole Foods goes at the end of the day? Yup, in the trash #wasteful. !
• No self serve bulk bins but still has large packages of items in bulk – reduces contamination and food waste
• Huge wall of shelves with high quality nutritional reference and cookbooks

They even have cool events like this Saturday they have a gluten free tasting expo and health fair! Aw chocolate avocado pie food demo, and “How to live an alkaline lifestyle” is on Monday April 11th. Check out their website for more info on events.

A little bit about my internship…

I can’t believe it, I completed my food service and community rotations last semester and am now half way through my clinical rotation! Eeek! As a snob from the Boston area who  works at a raw vegan cafe called “Organic Garden Cafe” back home, I was nervous that I wouldn’t get to learn new innovations of nutrition while working as an intern in a program that emphasizes the low income communities of South Texas.

I could not be more pleasantly surprised and excited about my feelings towards this internship right now.  It brings me such joy and power to have worked with the people of this community. Diabetics who do not know what a carbohydrate is, teen mom’s going out for a cigarette, and people who are truly afraid to lose weight because they have (and their family and friends) have always been big, so if they lost weight, what would they think!? Many of these people do not want to change, and even if they did, where to even start? As my sister, the writer, put it, “You need to learn the script before you can re-write a new one.”

My clinical preceptor now, Shannon Aguilar, has helped me to not only be a much more confident clinical dietitian, but to take it a step further, too.  It is one thing to study nutrition, it is quite another to actually care enough to reflect on our own lives and practice what we preach.  My preceptor, Mrs. Aguilar, is more than a dietitian, she is also a health coach, and helped me to see how important it is to learn who our audience is before we try to help.

Seeing a grocery store like this open in Boston or Vermont would have been a, yawn. Another natural grocery? But, HERE! I get to see history in the making. These people having access to this kind of world saving expertise is dream come true for me.

There is something really cool about the idea of helping people who really need it AND want it. I could talk coconut oil and kale to the organic junkies back home all day every day, but that doesn’t reverse our obesity epidemic now does it? I may have thought that my second round match was a mistake, but actually, it was the best eye-opening and invigorating experience.  To be able to explain what a carbohydrate is to someone who has no clue? Check. Next: to reverse their disease through diet and lifestyle! No matter where I end up, I hope to make a positive impact and continue to be pleasantly surprised by all that I learn from the experience.

4 tips to avoid the freshman 15 & 10 ways to eat enough fruit and vegetables

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

Click here to watch 4 tips to avoid weight gain and just stay HEALTHY in college

Happy August!  The fall semester is coming up faster than you think.  Before I went to college, I was nervous about gaining weight and not being able to eat healthily.  Studies show that 60.9% of college students gain on average 7.5lbs their freshman year.

1. Exercise

• Get a group fitness schedule.  Group fitness classes offer all kinds of workouts from interval sculpt, to yoga, to Zumba and beyond.  It is also a great way to meet like minded people.
• Get it done in the morning.  By the end of the day, the workout is likely to not happen.  Let the workout energize you and get you ready and fresh to focus the rest of the day.
• Sneak it in.  Try a 2-minute wall-sit while brushing your teeth, walking an extra block or taking the stairs.

2. Eat Enough Fruits and Vegetables

An even scarier statistic than average college weight gain? 94% of undergraduate students don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables. 

Here’s 10 ways to get enough in!

1. Get a to-go blender so you can make green smoothies in your dorm room
2. Steal as much fruit as you can from the dining halls
3. Always have dried or fresh fruit in your backpack for a snack
4. Whenever you eat a bowl of cereal or oatmeal, put a little bit of fruit on top
5. Carrots, red bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, celery are great snacks to take on the go maybe with some hummus or peanut butter
6. When making sandwiches in the dining halls, make sure to stuff them with lots of vegetables
7. Try salad as a main dish, pile it high, and load it up!
8. When you go to to the pizza or pasta bar in the dining hall, ask for light on the meat and cheese and PLENTY of vegetables
9. Choose the vegetarian option at the hot bar
10. Include a green salad with your dinner every night

3. Late Night Decisions

• When we get stressed, we reach for high fat, high sugar, salty foods.  Avoid keeping a lot of junk food in the dorm room.
• Purchase portioned out peanut butter or nutella packets to avoid overeating it
• Keep healthier snacks like fat free granola, fat free popcorn, rice cakes
• Try a brownie cliff bar instead of a brownie
• Chocolate soy milk is a great dessert!
• Keep alcoholic beverages to a minimum: 1 drink for women and 2 drinks for men per day is recommended

4. Be Careful Who Your Friends Are

• Friends can pressure you to drink or eat more
• Friends can judge you for eating healthily
• Surround yourself with people who will encourage and support you to accomplish your goals

Click here to watch the video

5 Ways To Lower Cholesterol

Click here to watch my new video: 5 Ways to Lower Cholesterol 

Click here to watch!

What’s the number one cause of death in America? According to the CDC, it’s heart disease. The preventable, unnecessary, easily avoidable, heart disease.  Half of men >65 years old are prescribed expensive statin medications that cause obnoxious side effects like muscle pain. Here’s 5 tips to decrease cholesterol naturally.

1. Minimize Dietary Cholesterol and Saturated Fat

Cholesterol and saturated fat stick to our blood vessels and cause them to narrow, leading to erectile dysfunction and heart disease

Cholesterol is only found in animal foods like meat, dairy, eggs, butter, and mayonnaise, and products containing animal foods like pastries, ice cream, cakes, and cookies.  Our livers make cholesterol to help fat travel in the blood.  Cholesterol is not a nutrient and it is not necessary to eat it.

Meat consumption is associated with a 25% greater risk of coronary heart disease

Saturated fat is fat that is solid at room temperature.  Most animal fats are saturated (fish being the exception).  Be sure to avoid processed  and red meats and high fat animal products like cheeses and creams.

A few years after experiencing erectile dysfunction, one is likely to have a heart attack.

2. Portion Control Healthy Fats

There are lots of benefits to a little bit of healthy fat but be sure to remember the two key words here, LITTLE BIT! Healthy fats would be the fats from plant sources or ones that are liquid at room temperature, like avocado, olives, almonds, sunflower seeds, and olive oil.  The general rule is 1-2 tablespoons of healthy fat is enough per meal.  Think of it as a garnish, not a main event.  Try these 10 tips to help decrease fat intake:

1. Steam, boil, or bake food instead of frying it.  Be sure to use parchment paper instead of spraying pans with oil. It is super quick clean up and very effective non-stick.
2. Sautee in water, it tastes the same!
3. Buy a nonstick pan, I have made perfect pancakes without any oil
4. Replace some of the oil in recipes with apple sauce
5. Instead of eggs try making a “flax/chia egg”: 1 to 3 ratio- 1 tablespoon of ground flax or chia to 3 tablespoons of water, combine and let sit for about 10 minutes to let it form a gel.  Or, a mashed banana also works as a great egg alternative.
6. Choose low fat plant based alternatives when it comes to meat, cheese, cream cheese, mayonnaise, milk
7. Incorporate more products that are already naturally fat free like salsa, fat free marinara, jelly and jam
8. Instead of snacking on fatty snack foods like chips, try pretzels, fat free organic popcorn, fat free granola, or rice cakes
9. Be sure to read ingredients labels and look out for any added fats and oils, especially “hydrogenated oils” because those are trans fats!
10. When you go out to eat, ask for dressing on the side so you can control how much fat you are eating and let them know you are sensitive to oil so they won’t sprinkle any extra on top of your food.

3. Eat Plenty of Plant Foods

The American Heart Association did not hold back when recommending plant foods like grains, vegetables, and fruits. 4-5 servings of fruit a day! That could be 5 bananas!

Plant foods like grains, beans, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds are all sources of fiber.  Soluble fiber has been shown to help lower cholesterol levels.

4. Exercise!

The American Council of Exercise says most adults could gain substantial health benefits from 2 1/2 hours of weekly moderate intensity exercise, such as brisk walking or gardening.  That’s only 30 minutes a day 5 days a week! Our hearts are muscles too- gotta work those out!

5. Make Stress Your Friend

Health psychologist Kelly McGonigal has a great talk about recent research showing if we believe that the stress response is a good thing, the negative effects decrease.  Definitely watch her talk and remember: our stress is good! It makes us perform better, and there is nothing that we can’t handle.

Click here to watch my new video: 5 Ways to Lower Cholesterol 

Weekly Vegan Meal Prep: Chia Pudding and Overnight Oats Recipes

Here’s two easy recipes to help save time during the busy workweek.  

Click Here to watch

Chia Pudding

• 1/4 cup chia seeds
• 1 cup plant milk

Overnight Oats

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1 Tbsp chia seeds
• 1/2 cup plant milk

Optional Fixin’s

• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 Tbsp dried or frozen fruit
• 1 chopped fruit, like banana or apple
• 1 Tbsp seeds or chopped nuts
• 1 tsp maple syrup
• dash of cinnamon

Steps

1. On a Sunday night, combine each recipe’s ingredients in 5 separate to-go containers like jars or tupperware and mix well
2. Keep in the refrigerator and take one per day for a great breakfast, craving curbing snack, or nutritious dessert
3. Enjoy often in good health! ❤

So This Is Growing Up

Responsibility: Response. Ability.

Mary, Me, Gracie, Mama, and Dad in front of the Beering fountain after graduation

Congratulations Graduate!?

I was never fond of sitting down and homeworking.. graduating has been the most epic milestone of my life for sure. What started as the craziest crowd surfing, football cheering, themed party-going all year slumber party ended as a isolated, library loving, caffeine craving, exam odyssey.  To all the nights I felt alive and to all the nights I wanted to die.. Looking back, I am glad I took on the adventure, I learned more than I ever thought I would.

You’re Ready.

Hyundai Elantra ❤

Two words, lingering. They should make me ecstatic, but instead leave me feeling overwhelmed and wary.  My dad hands me the keys to my new mode of transportation: a gorgeous, sleek, smooth Hyundai elantra.  I know I should be jumping for joy, but all of a sudden, the responsibility of life is real, and my father thinks I am ready for it.

How Does It Feel?

Excited AND scared. People keep asking me “so, how does it feel?!” And, I don’t really know. I feel strange. Excited for new beginnings, yet sad about the closure with the wonderful life and friends I had at Purdue. I already had a nightmare that I forgot to study for an exam… glad THAT’S over!! If you ask me how I feel, don’t expect a straight answer, I could start crying (happens every time when I listen to Tay Swift’s “Never Grow Up”) or I could smile with excitement. I feel both.

Now What?

Y’all, I am headin’ to Texas! I am going to the combined Masters and Dietetic Internship program at Texas A&M University.  It will be another rigorous adventure!  I hope to pass the RD exam, go to Dr. T Colin Campbell’s Plant Based Nutrition Course, maybe even get to see California and go to Living Light Culinary School, who knows! I hope to get a camera and get more recipes up with videos too! Let me know what you think you see me doing in the future- I have no idea really, as long as I don’t have to take life TOO seriously ;-).  Teaching yoga and food-demoing? Of course! I’d love to be able to help as many people as I can.  ❤

Thank you all for the support. Do keep in touch!

xoxo Reines

10 Perks of Dating a Health Conscious Guy

Guys: If you have trouble making healthy choices, chances are you are struggling with the ladies, too.  Check out this list, and think twice about that fried double bacon beef burger crap (that actually leads to impaired blood flow) they call “man food”.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/ac/90/3c/ac903c65ce1dba8cfbed2943ae826e25.jpg

1. They look good naked. Obviously, health conscious guys like to take care of themselves, but they don’t just do the whole buff brick-head lifting thing. They are aware of the benefits of endurance training as well, and let’s just say ladies: I hope you can handle it.

2. They are confident: The crap his friends give him for bringing a kale smoothie to class doesn’t faze this guy. He doesn’t need the approval of others to dictate his actions.

3. They know how to have fun. You can be confident that going with him to the bars won’t be embarrassing for either of you. You will not have to worry about taking care of him after a night out and he will be a fun date to try new things with and go on your own fun adventurous with throughout the day.

For the full article, click here.

Enjoy and Control Your Health: Introducing My Mindful Eating Video!

….Whoever said you needed to give up ____ to be healthy, never heard of mindful eating.  Whether trying to lose weight, combat cravings, or simply enjoy food even more, the benefits to mindful eating are endless.

Learn to Stop Mindless Eating

As a senior studying dietetics who has learned the hard way that taking the stress out on my food never helps the way I want it to, I am beyond excited to share this short video that I put together for my Nutrition Communications class so you can start achieving your life-long health goals with mindful eating.

Anna (left) and Katie ((me!) right) dive deep into statistics and research

Find Out: What Is Mindful Eating?

Pause, take a deep breath, and flex your savor muscle.  Just like any skill, it takes practice to get good at it.  It is asking yourself, what does the food look like?  Where did it come from? Why am I eating it? What does it smell like…sound like…feel like? Do I like it?  What do I like about it?  How does it feel when I chew it?  Is it crunchy? Moist? Hot?

Get Advice From An Expert

Registered Dietitian Rachel Clark of Purdue University discusses what mindful eating is, how it has benefitted her clients, and how to get started eating more mindfully.

I incorporated knowledge from the professor who initially taught me about mindful eating, Rachel Clark, MS, RD, CSST into the video.  She taught me how mindful eating is about eating without distractions or negative judgement, and enjoying the foods you like with acceptance.

Will it be effective for you?

Learn how to recognize triggers for eating. Just taking a second to take a deep breath and rationalize emotions can help to take just one candy bar and savor it- instead of 5 and still wanting more.

Would you believe that people actually make healthier choices and have effortless weight loss when they eat whatever they want whenever they want, mindfully?

At least once a day, practice mindful eating.

This means stop, and do nothing, but eat.  Yes, turn off the t.v., close the laptop, and take even just 5 minutes to enjoy it.  Pay attention and appreciate its taste and texture, and be grateful for the food and where it came from.

To Watch The Video: Click HERE

Black Bean Brownies (Not Gross)

Want a dessert that truly loves you back?  These are delectably decadent and as moist as brownies can be.  Seriously delicious, and a great source of potassium, fiber, folate and natural sugars for sustainable energy- all of these ingredients provide beautiful benefits.  Save money, stuff your face, feel amazing, change the world, repeat. Adapted From Chef AJ’s Brownies Ingredients:

• 1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
• 3/4 cup quick oats
• 1 1/2 cup dates, pitted (maybe soak about 20 mins in warm water to soften)
• 1/2 cup cacao or carob powder
• 2 Tbs flax ground + 6 Tbsp water
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 Tbs vanilla
• topping: 1/4 cup vegan chocolate chips and/or chopped nuts

Steps:

1. Line 8×8 inch pan with parchment paper and preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Add ingredients (except topping) to a food processor (S blade) and blend until completely smooth
3. Spread batter evenly over parchment paper in the pan and sprinkle with topping evenly
4. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 18-20 minutes, until desired ooeyness. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes.

Black Bean Brownies Portions: 20 Total Calories 92 Calories Nutrients Amount Per Portion Protein 3 g Carbohydrate 17 g Dietary Fiber 4 g Total Sugars 8 g Added Sugars 1 g Total Fat 3 g Saturated Fat 1 g Monounsaturated Fat 1 g Polyunsaturated Fat 1 g Linoleic Acid 1 g α-Linolenic Acid 0.4 g Omega 3 – EPA 0 mg Omega 3 – DHA 0 mg Cholesterol 0 mg Minerals Amount Per Portion Calcium 34 mg Potassium 203 mg Sodium 87 mg Copper 206 µg Iron 1 mg Magnesium 36 mg Phosphorus 77 mg Selenium 2 µg Zinc 1 mg Vitamins Amount Per Portion Vitamin A 0 µg RAE Vitamin B6 0.0 mg Vitamin B12 0.0 µg Vitamin C 1 mg Vitamin D 0 µg Vitamin E 0 mg AT Vitamin K 1 µg Folate 19 µg DFE Thiamin 0.1 mg Riboflavin 0.0 mg Niacin 0 mg Choline 9 mg www.SuperTracker.usda.gov