Inspiration of the Day - 12/30/10 - 1/1/11

Happy New Year!!!

May this year bring you health , happiness and blessings in every aspect of your life!

-LK

Inspiration of the Day - 12/29/10

"Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help."

 - George Carlin

During this time of year we give and receive gifts that we cherish.  But how many of us cherish a gift we have everyday, which is our health.  We are alive and living and experiencing life.  There are many people that are bed or hospital ridden.  There are many people that have incureable ailments and diseases.  There are many people that have passed on because of health issues.  I know a few personaly this year that have passed because of this.  How many do you know?

So why take for granted what you have today.  A chance and opportunity to take control of your health and make it want you want it to be.  There are no excuses as to why you are not doing it.  Everyday is a new chance for you to do so, while for others it's been too late.  Why wait for a New Year, when you have a new morning everyday!  Every second is a new second given to you to change your life in whatever aspect it may be -- career, family, spiritual or health wise.  "Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help."

-LK

Inspiration of the Day - 12/28/10

Learn to hit a moving target.

You may be asking, "What do you mean by that?".Learning to hit a moving target is learning to adapt and make adjustments based off of changing conditions and circumstances. 

Yesterday I wrote about enjoying life and "splurging" once in awhile.  Like eating the traditional Holiday foods this time of year.  Or once a week enjoying a nice slice of pie or cake.  Whatever it is that you like.  But then I also wrote about being prepared for this.  Once you enjoy that nice ham, turkey or piece of pie, you are going to have to hit the gym extra hard to make up for the extra calories you've had.  You have to change your plans of running just a mile and plan on running a mile and a half for the week. 

And it might not just be the Holiday food.  You may have missed a gym date because of family issues or work.  There are a million reason why we may miss a chance to excercise in a day. The road to: losing 10 lbs. before summer or adding 5 lbs. of muscle or just maintaining a healthy lifestyle has changed.  And the way you hit a moving target is by keeping it in sight.  Following it wherever it may take you.  Keeping your aim steady and lined up.  Don't ever lose sight.

-LK

Inspiration of the Day - 12/27/10



I hope everyone had a good Holiday weekend.  I certainly enjoyed spending time with my family and also eating the traditional Holiday foods...and desserts.  And I do not feel guilty about doing it.

People take diets too far sometimes, when all we need to do is take a break and enjoy life once in awhile.  We can burn ourselves out with "watching our calories" or not partaking in the festivities, while others relish in the delight of turkey, ham, pie, cobbler and other delicious Holiday treats. 

The key is to plan ahead...Plan ahead and know that you are going to take a day to eat the foods your family members took so much time to make, but you are going to have to take a week of hitting the gym or the treadmill hard to compensate. 

Enjoy life.  Never miss out.   Never get too hard on yourself.  Learn to hit a moving target.

-LK

Inspiration of the Day - 12/24/10

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and your family!

-LK

Inspiration of the Day - 12/23/10

The human body has been designed to resist an infinite number of changes and attacks brought about by its environment. The secret of good health lies in successful adjustment to changing stresses on the body.
~Harry J. Johnson

You are made to be strong. You were designed to endure.  You are capable of extraordinary things. 

On a daily basis your body copes with:  temperature changes, attacks from foreign invaders whether they are bugs, viruses or bacteria trying to bring you down, humidity, dampness, dust and pollen, a bombardment of sights and sounds... and we take all of these things for granted.

You are strong. You endure everyday. You do extraordinary things all the time.

Recognize these things and appreciate your power and life force.  And when additional stresses head your way..."the secret of good health lies in successful adjustment to changing stresses on the body" and mind.

-LK 

Inspiration of the Day - 12/22/10

 

People who laugh actually live longer than those who don't laugh. Few persons realize that health actually varies according to the amount of laughter.
~James J. Walsh
 

Health is not only about training the body.  It's also about training the mind and the spirit. Laughter is not necessarily the key to a healthy life, but the mentality behind it and the spirit associated with it is.  A happy person lives longer...and that's a fact.  Stress kills. And we need to do everything possible to stop stressing, especially during this time of year.  The suicide rate goes up during the Holiday Season, not down.  The Holidays are supposed to be a time of joy and happiness and laughter, but that hides that true fact that many of us are not. 

I encourage you to find what makes you truly happy and hold on to it...appreciate it and give in to it.  And again...don't get caught in the "Holiday Frenzy".  Get caught up in the Holiday Season.  Like the old saying says it's good to stop and smell the roses sometimes...it's good to just stop and laugh.  Put a smile on your face and enjoy life.  After all... Life is good!

-LK

Inspiration of the Day - 12/21/10

Time and health are two precious assets that we don't recognize and appreciate until they have been depleted.

~Denis Waitley

I read this quote and thought, "How true this is".  We tell ourselves, "Tomorrow is the day" or "I'll do it next year", when it comes taking care of ourselves and eating healthy.  But really, how many times have you said that, and tomorrow never came or the next year rolled in and you had not stayed committed to your resolution?

As far as time...there are never enough hours in a day. But what's really important? During this Holiday Season I would like to think family and loved ones.  Are we taking time to spend with them or are we letting ourselves get caught up in the Holiday Frenzy?  Remeber the reason for the season is Jesus, but also it's a time to reconnect with those we may have lost contact with. It's a time to slow our lives down and focus in on what matters most. God, family and friends... And take time for yourself.

-LK

Inspiration of the Day - 12/20/10

A bodily disease, which we look upon as whole and entire within itself, may, after all, be but a symptom of some ailment in the spiritual past.

~Nathaniel Hawthorne

Inspiration of the Day - 12/17/10

Look to your health; and if you have it, praise God and value it next to conscience; for health is the second blessing that we mortals are capable of, a blessing money can't buy.

~Izaak Walton

Inspiration of the Day - 12/16/10

Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live.

~Jim Rohn

Healthy Cookies for Healthier Baking!

Christmas can often be synonymous with sugar. Loads and loads of sugar. And, while I am not one to say that there isn’t a time and place for sweets and cookies and all things sugary and glittery, I do feel that we often turn to those simply because we don’t know the alternatives can be so good. This Christmas season, in the midst of the wine and cheese plates and sugar-laden cakes and cookies, I encourage you to try some healthier variations to share with your friends and families. Not only will they be a refreshing break from the sugar-highs and sugar-crashes you’re used to experiencing, I think you’ll find many healthier ideas incredibly delicious and inspirational in making you want to repeat them, not just because they’re “healthy” but because they taste so good!

Some tips to consider for Healthier Baking include:

* Use oatmeal whenever possible. It adds filling fiber and takes the place of regular white flour (empty calories).
* Substitute applesauce for butter. You can read up on the best ways to do this, but I’ve had great luck with it and actually prefer many of my recipes this way. * Try to include recipes with nuts. Protein and fiber boosts are great ways to curb extensive holiday eating.
* Toast your spices. You’ll need less of the sugar and fat when your spices have a fuller flavor from the toasting process.
* Use fruits to sweeten whenever possible. Bananas are practically dessert themselves, see where you can add them. Make your own fruit sweeteners.
* Use Yogurt! I adore yogurt, and the more recipes I can find to use it, the happier I am. It’s loaded with protein, its fat-free, and it gives an extremely moist texture to things like muffins and breads.

And now, here's a healthy cookie recipe that is perfect for adults. You'll love the flavors, and it goes well with your Christmas drinks or Hot chocolate, but the best part, you'll never know its Healthy! Just use your coffee makers with your favorite coffee flavor, and follow the recipe for a delicious treat.

Coffee Almond Gluten-Free Cookies
Recipe adapted from Healthy Green Kitchen

Ingredients
2 cups almonds or almond flour
1 Tb. freeze-dried regular or decaf organic coffee or use espresso powder
3/4 cup organic sugar
1/2 tsp. Himalayan or sea salt
4 large egg whites
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Method

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silpat. Process almonds, coffee, sugar, and salt in a high speed blender or food processor until fine. Transfer to a mixing bowl. If using almond flour, you can skip the blender/food processor and mix the ingredients right in your bowl.

Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites until stiff.

Fold nut mixture into the egg whites. Add the vanilla and cinnamon and mix just until blended.

Spoon the batter onto your cookie sheets. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

You'll love this simple recipe, which is fancy enough for your Holiday baking, yet takes care of your waist size! Thanks Tara, for sharing such great tips with us. Tara Alley is a freelance writer from Big Sky, MT, a passionate baker and a lover of all things coffee-related. She is now working for Coffee Home Direct in Orange County, CA. You can reach her at: tara@coffeehomedirect.com

For more Christmas Baking, check out these Christmas Recipes at Fun and Food Cafe.

Inspiration of the Day - 12/15/10

The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like and do what you'd druther not.

~Mark Twain

Inspiration of the Day - 12/14/10

They say "variety is the spice of life" and they are right. Especially when it comes to training and eating healthy, variety is an important factor. Not only is it good for you to mix up your exercise routines and the foods you eat for health reason, but it is good also to keep you interested in living a fit life. Doing the same work out routines and eating the same "plain Jane" health foods can burn a person out and eventually lead them to giving up on living a healthy lifestyle. 

The good thing is, that there are more fruits and vegetables at our grocery stores then most of us can sit down and name. Not even including our local farmer's markets.  And there are of number of different training regimens to fit your needs to keep you interested in exercising, especially when you see the results. So keep it fresh. Mix it up!

~LK

Inspiration of the Day - 12/13/10

Fitness is a lifestyle, not a fad. A lot of times, people get caught up in these fast 1 week or 30 day fitness programs or diets that promise results. When in reality you may see results, but they are only temporary. Looking good and feeling good all the time requires time and effort. It is always an uphill battle no matter what level you reach, because gravity and age will take their effects no matter how hard you work. There are no permanent results, only permanent work put into bettering and maintaining the results you have achieved.

So today, make a commitment to get caught up in living a healthy life style and not a fad for the holidays or a New Years resolution for next year. Make a resolution for life, to live healthy and stay fit.

~LK

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Inspiration of the Day - 12/12/10

On Health

"It is health that is our real wealth, and not pieces of gold and silver."

-Mahatma Gandhi

Baking Christmas Cookies For Santa

My mom was an amazing baker-extraordinaire, and most of my favorite childhood memories revolving around Christmas involve baking cookies. It never got old, and whether we were decorating melt-in-your mouth sugar cookies with piping of all colors and styles or gluing on the perfect accessories to our gingerbread men, I loved it. It formed a bond with my mom that we will both cherish forever. Even now, 20+ years later, when December hits, all I want to do is go home, turn the Christmas music up, the oven on, and bake cookies with mom.

Part of the intrigue after the piles and piles of cookies were baked and decorated to child-like perfection was the finale: when we got to create a plate for Santa. Of course, Santa can eat everything and multiples of it, so we always had a giant plate and we put at least two of everything we had made on that plate. I was very protective of those cookies. No one (especially not a sneaky brother) was going to touch any one of them. They were for Santa and Santa alone. And, first thing Christmas morning, it was a mad dash to make sure that Santa had eaten them all, drank his milk and left just the appropriate amount of crumbs behind. He never failed me.

This year, I encourage you to bake cookies with your children. What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than in your kitchen with flour flying and little fingers dipped in red sugar crystals? Play some of your favorite music and show your kids a new kind of Christmas magic. I guarantee that you won’t forget it and neither will they. And, after all, do you really think Santa prefers homemade cookies or those pre-packaged, cardboard cutouts? I’d venture to say he’d rather your child’s attempt at a cookie (regardless of what it tastes or looks like) than anything else.

If you’re at a loss for where to start, try the sugar cookies above. It’s a very simple recipe that my mom and I are both in love with. It’s called a sugar cookie, but don’t let that fool you. It’s got sour cream that makes it to-die-for, and I’d describe it somewhere between shortbread and sugar cookie. Plus, while the mixing and baking is fun, there’s something about decorating cookies after that I believe absolutely every child should be a part of. P.S. Don’t forget the milk!

Here are some more Christmas Cookie recipes that Santa will love!

Perfect Shortbread Cookies
Peppermint & Vanilla Butter Cookies
Raspberry Blondies (Cookie Bars)
Chocolate Marshmallow Mud Cookies
Snowflake Sugar Cookies
Pink Meringue Cookies
Chocolate-Dipped Madeleines

This article is written by Tara Alley, who is a freelance writer from Big Sky, MT, a passionate baker and a lover of all things coffee-related. She is now living in the heart of Orange County, CA, working for Coffee Home Direct, promoting coffee makers and coffee accessories. You can reach her at: tara@coffeehomedirect.com.
Photo: iStockPhoto.com
Recipe: Allrecipes.com

Upside Down Apple Cake

Apple Cake is a very healthy and delicious way to gobble up some dessert without much guilt. Everyone knows the nutritious value of Apples, but when you get bored eating apple slices for your snack time, try this beautiful, low-fat, low-sugar Upside Down Apple Cake. A generous serving of Caramelized apples flavored with apple cider form the base of the cake, and the actual cake topping is equally delicious and fragrant, touched with apple pie spice, non-fat buttermilk, margarine instead of butter, a bit of whole grain pastry flour, and substituting Splenda for Sugar, makes this a healthier version, without compromising at all on the taste factor.

[Recipe adapted from Woman's Day Magazine to make a healthier version; photo by Mark Thomas]

So the next time you are browsing around for a healthy dessert recipe, give this Apple Cake a fair chance. I promise you you will be pleasantly surprised. Please note that some people have their misgivings about using Splenda - if you are one of those, just go for ripe and sweet red apples and use brown sugar, but less in quantity so you can still get a cake sweet enough for dessert. You can even use some Maple Syrup or Honey as they are sweeter than sugar, but lower in calories.

This cake is actually quite dense enough, considering the use of low-fat substitutes. I think the Caramelized apples are the gem of the recipe though. As the cake bakes, the juices separated from the apples trickle in and make it nice and moist, just the way a cake should be!

Healthy Upside Down Apple Cake

Ingredients

Caramelized Apple Topping
1/2 cup splenda
1/4 cup apple cider or juice
1 Tbsp each lemon juice and light stick butter
4 medium Cortland or Fuji apples (1 1/2 lb), peeled, cored and each cut into 8 wedges

For The Cake
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) light butter, softened (or margarine)
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp apple pie spice powder (or all-spice)
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup whole grain pastry flour (or use regular wheat flour)
2/3 cup nonfat buttermilk

Method
Heat oven to 350ºF. You'll need a 9 x 2-in. round cake pan coated with nonstick spray.

Mix sugar and apple cider in a large nonstick skillet; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil mixture 4 minutes or until light honey color. Add lemon juice and butter; reduce heat to medium. When butter is melted, boil mixture 1 minute, until light golden. Add apples, flat sides down; cook 8 minutes, turning apples with a fork after 4 minutes, until lightly caramelized and crisp-tender when pierced with a skewer. Remove from heat and cool in skillet for 5 minutes.

Pour the apple mixture from skillet into prepared cake pan; use a fork to arrange in concentric circles. Beat butter, sugar, baking powder, vanilla, baking soda, apple pie spice and salt with a mixer in a medium bowl 2 minutes. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until blended. Beat in flour and buttermilk alternately, in three additions, until batter is smooth. Pour batter over apples; spread to edge of pan. Bake 40 to 45 minutes, until a pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Invert onto a serving plate. Cool until cake is just warm, then serve. (This cake is also delicious at room temperature.)

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