Eating Family Dinner Together = Smarter, Happier Kids, and More!

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of learning some valuable lessons from Dr Lisa Damour! Author of Entangled, to be released in February, 2016!

The lasting impressions I got from her engaging presentation about resilience were:

*SLEEP is immensely important. She says that we should protect and prioritize our children's (and surely our own) hours of sleep each night because of the lengthy list of benefits of sleep wrapped into one pill would be a billion dollar drug with only beneficial side effects. I think so too!

*Family MEALS, at least 4 nights per week, powerfully results in significantly smarter kids with a better sense of well being, regardless of the pleasantness of the meals! Grandma was right!

*Meaningful friendships are important, and this is not too surprising. The surprise to me, is that it's best to just have ONE OR TWO CLOSE FRIENDS, rather than more. The reasoning made sense; we can get pulled in too many directions, unintentionally hurt feelings when spending time with one friend, rather than another, and maintaining too many relationships expends lots of energy.

*A growth mindset, rather than a fixed one, refers to the "If I WORK HARD enough, I can do anything!" way of thinking, resulting in much more SUCCESSFUL children and adults, than those who rely on how they were born / their "talents" / their genetics. She included various comparisons of how each mindset would act/feel in various situations, such as getting a disappointing grade, striking out, asking for help from a teacher, etc.

Joan Borysenko is another fabulous resource for RESILIENCE; here is a post I wrote after taking a class from her which provides methods of increasing our resilience.

Lisa also stressed the importance of children spending time with adults, and this matches advice I have been trying to follow from Amy McCready of Positive Parenting Solutions. At my house, we call it "Mommy and Me Time". Check out my post about Positive Parenting Solutions.

Also, here's a post with some other great parenting books!

Look for more posts soon - I have so much fun and exciting stuff to share :)

1-2-3 Smoothies and Breast Cancer Awareness

Greetings! Breast cancer awareness is always important, so please browse through the helpful infographic below. The group that is spreading the word are here :) Besides sharing their info here, the help I have to offer is FLAXSEED!

There is substantial evidence that ground flaxseed because of it's bountiful lignans is very helpful in cancer prevention, slowing, and improving survival rates! It's also beneficial to men, related to prostate cancer. So here you go!

You know how I love my videos, so here's one for you! In it, you can see potentially a 20-40% reduced risk of breast cancer with regular flaxseed intake :)

Three delicious combos that you can prepare in seconds! Blend either combination of ingredients and drink immediately!

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie Yum!
1 ripe banana
small handful peanuts (plain, or roasted)
3/4 c unsweetened almond milk or water (vanilla Silk is great!)
handful of ice
1 Tbsp ground flaxseed (I get a huge bag of organic from Costco!)

Chocolate-Covered Cherry Smoothie Yum!
handful frozen cherries (~3/4c but I just shake some in from the bag)
1 cup almond milk or water
1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1 Tbsp ground flaxseed

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie Yum!
1 or 2 pitted dates
1 tsp pumpkin spice (try my homemade version)
1 cup almond milk or water
handful of ice
1 Tbsp ground flaxseed
These are more like a creamy juice or milk than a smoothie; these drinks are not thick. They're tasty, quick, and most importantly, provide us with a powerful dose of those commanding lignans!

For more: A Dr Maize article (doctoroz.com), A Dr Greger article (links to great videos within article), and more ways to eat flaxseed from me (eggplant parm, banana bread, oatmeal, muffin tops, and more!).

BONUS TIP: Flaxseed oil is void of the majority of the lignans and all of the fiber that flaxseed offers, so stick with the dry, ground version :)

Top 10 Reasons to Chew Cinnamon Sticks, the New Red Hots!

Some reasons why I always want to have a cinnamon stick handy to nibble on (TEENY, TINY bits)!

1. Fresh breath
2. A healthy alternative to gum chewing AND Red Hot candies
3. Appetite suppressant (perhaps, read here for more; link also includes help with blood sugar control)
4. Keeps your mouth busy so you aren't eating out of boredom (also may help with smoking cessation by keeping mouth and hands busy)
5. Cleans teeth, gum and mouth health, cavity prevention

Some other benefits that have been associated with cinnamon, many for thousands of years!

6. Anti-microbial, (check out effectiveness against H. Pylori -- cause of ulcers), anti-fungal, antiviral, antioxidant
7. Flatulence, indigestion, bloating
8. Pain reducer
9. May help with cancer, cholesterol, blood pressure, arthritis, and inflammation

From Dr Michael Greger's Update on Cinnamon for Blood Sugar Control video on nutritionfacts.org

I delayed this post by a month because I became concerned about which type of cinnamon to recommend. There is more research showing benefits of cassia cinnamon on blood sugar control, but getting too much could be harmful to the liver. Ceylon cinnamon is considered the safer cinnamon. Sometimes the cinnamon you shake is a combination, and doesn't even say which kind(s). But looking back to the big picture, it's cinnamon! It tastes delicious (reason #10) and may be good for our health too! We shouldn't go too crazy with it, like everything, just like grandma used to say, everything in moderation :) Grab a stick today!

Here is a link to my other posts about cinnamon, including recipes!

Chocolate Brownie Muffin Top Cookies!

Chocolate Brownie Cookies



These butter-free, sugar-free, and guilt-free snacks are so delicious! They are a great sweet for school lunches, or a couple of these cookies are so healthy that they can serve as a quick on-the-go breakfast!

2 c pitted dates (40 pieces)
2 and 1/4 c hot water
1/4 c ground flaxseed
2 c whole wheat flour
3/4 c unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp baking powder

Heat oven to 375 convection (400 conventional). In a food processor, chop dates into a sticky ball. In mixing bowl, stir dates, water, and flax, until well mixed. In separate bowl, mix dry ingredients (flour, cocoa, baking powder, and baking soda). Mix wet and dry just until dry is wet. Put scoopfuls onto cookie sheet (I love silicon my bakeware). I get two sheets of 12-13 cookies per recipe. If you enjoy pecans, add a few on top before baking. So pretty! Bake about 20 minutes and enjoy!

If you choose to make cupcakes, recipe should make about one dozen.

For the last batch I made, I added 3 pecans per cookie, coming together in the middle in a "Y" shape, for a very pretty presentation. Plus, the pecans get toasted, really adding to the flavor :)

Other similar recipes include:

Banana Breakfast Cookies
Peanut Butter Banana Crunch Breakfast Cookies
Pumpkin Spice Cookies

Plant Powered Kitchen! Trans Fat Ban

Good evening!

I hope you enjoyed How to Peel a Mango in 15 Seconds! Now, you can watch another "how to" video as my way of showing you Plant Powered Kitchen, just introduced to me, that I am sure to be reading a lot!

EXCITING NEWS! In June 2015, the government banned artificial TRANS fats! It is a huge step toward a healthier food supply! One fear is that food manufacturers will create some other artificial fat to replace partially hydrogenated oils. Other unhealthy fats to look out for are PALM OIL and MONO- and DIGLYCERIDES. Remember also that there are trans fats in animal products.

"[This change] is expected to prevent 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths from heart disease every year", New York Times. On the other hand, Dr David Katz reminds us in the Huffington Post that choosing plant-based, whole foods is STILL the MOST IMPORTANT thing we can do for our health.

Check out the Washington Post's article/videos regarding the Trans Fat Ban in the US.

ALSO check out these awesome: Flourless Chai Sandwich Cookies! by MWFL Melissa (I adore her!).

I am working on my Pinterest Boards. It's a nice way to organize some things :)

Mango Peeling Made EASY!

Mangos are SO UNBELIEVABLY easy with this trick that we've eaten a dozen mangoes in a few days! Peeling slippery mangoes used to be our limiting factor in this mango-loving household! Here you can see my 4 year-old son do it for the FIRST time in less than a minute! I found this trick from No Meat Athlete who found it from Crazy Russian Hacker.

Mango Peeling Made EASY!

Step By Step How to Peel a Mango

• Cut off stem so you have a flat base.
• Cut off two large sides of the fruit, parallel cuts on each side of the flat, oval, disc pit.
• Hold a mango side piece, outside of mango resting in palm of your hand.
• Hook a bit of mango skin on outside of a beer glass.
• Pressing hard on glass, and slide mango down the side.
• Bite into your perfectly peeled mango piece or chop as you like. Yum, yum!

No Meat Athlete is awesome proof that you can be a healthy, successful athlete "without meat", and there are lots of ways to simplify whole food eating too!

Crazy Russian Hacker has lots of other cool tricks with kiwi, ice cream, watermelon, and more!

You're very welcome for all the extra beta carotene and phytochemicals you'll get now that you can eat fresh mango with such ease!

Chocolate Covered Strawberries Smoothie

A super-delicious smoothie that takes seconds to make! It is basically Happy Herbivore's Neapolitan Smoothie. She has an awesome website and services to offer with VERY simple recipes and menus that anyone can make! Please check her/it out! I can't wait to try so many of her recipes!!!

My version has more chocolate and less banana, comparatively, but I give all creativity credits to Lindsay Nixon of Happy Herbivore (this is an egg-less "egg salad" recipe I am anxious to try!)

Chocolate Covered Strawberries Smoothie

1 c unsweetened, vanilla almond milk

2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa

2 ripe bananas

2 c frozen strawberries

Fill blender in above order, blend (in my Blendtec this takes about 10 seconds!), and enjoy!

This makes about 30 ounces of smoothie to be served immediately!

We divided the batch into three 10-oz smoothies, and made more for the family twice today! 

You might also enjoy the 3-Ingredient Super-Smoothie!

Lots to share, so hopefully I'll post again soon! Be well :)