Friendly Reminder

Wassupp! So a few days ago this was the conversation my mom & I had...

Mom: "We should hike Timp Mountain sometime"
Me: "Lets do it tomorrow! 4AM!"
Mom: "Oh shoot really? ...Okay!!"

Hahahah it was DANG hard!! But so much fun!!

Moral of the story:
#1 - Think before you speak
#2 - Have fun and enjoy life!!
Ok I'll admit... I am pretty lucky to have a mom that is my twin. We both love exercising and having fun and laughing and traveling and eating salads and smoothies. So even though I accidentally pulled an all-nighter the night before, and even though we started on the wrong trail for an hour and had to come all the way back to the beginning to start all over again, and even though we got lost about 6.5 times during the hike, and even though I am wobbling around everywhere like a chicken, this was still such a blast. Took us 10 hours but we made it!! Aand I may or may not have cried when I saw the parking lot with our car sitting there after... I was dying. Worth it.

BTW anyone else think its the best when you pack a PB&J and it gets kinda squashed and yummy? For some reason I looove it. Chunky Peanut Butter & Grape Jelly.... Ahhhhh. And bonus: we totally got to eat it at the highest peak of Timpanogos Mountain! So fun!

Ran into some fun people too. We talked with a bunch of cool guys at the top, and we even had a "tour guide" for almost half of the hike. His name is Ben Woolsey and he's 75 and a CHAMP. He's hiked it almost 900 times and sometimes does it twice a day.. yeah that's insane. Don't even want to think about it. 75 years old, and he was creaming us. So money.

After our excursion, we were CHOCOLATE WASTED (translation: tired) and it was soo perfect because we treated ourselves to one of our FAVORITE hearty plates from @Cubbys. We both demolished the rice and kale salad and it was absolute bliss. Yum. Sure I can't really remember eating it because I'm almost positive my face was falling into my bowl I was so tired, but I know it was delish because of past experiences... hahah.

Thank you Cubby's! 🙏

BE ACTIVE
HAVE FUN
CHALLENGE YOURSELF
ENJOY LIFE
WORK IT

Peace out girl scout ✌

Gut-Healing Chicken Soup

My stomach was feeling all gurgly and bubbly the other day so I whipped up this soup and it turned out SO YUMMY. The garam masala gives it a little bit of a curry/indian flavor but trust me, it pairs deliciously with everything! I made it for my whole family and even my picky brother loved it!

If you're ever craving some soup, your tummy is hurting, or you just want to try this out, give it a go!!

Gut-Healing Chicken Soup

Serves 1-2

Ingredients

• 1 small sweet potato
• 1/2 c cooked shredded chicken
• 1/2 of a shallot (or 1/8c chopped onions)
• 1 t garlic
• 5 chopped mushrooms
• 5 chopped cherry tomatoes
• 2 c low-sodium vegetable broth
• Coconut Oil
• 1/2 c almond milk
• 1/2 t garam masala
• 1/2 t turmeric
• 1/4 t ginger
• 1/2 T garlic powder
• garlic salt
• salt and pepper to taste
• chopped cashews to garnish (optional but HIGHLY recommended!)

Directions

Chop the sweet potato, tomatoes, mushrooms and shallot

Heat veggie broth in a soup bowl on medium/high heat

Heat coconut oil on a pan and grill the sweet potatoes for about 3 minutes. At 2 and 1/2 minutes, sprinkle salt and turmeric on top

Add sweet potato to the soup bowl with veggie broth

Now grill the rest of the chopped ingredients along with the garlic. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder

Add 1/2 of the grilled veggies to a blender with 1/4 of the sweet potato and broth mixture

Blend and add it back into the soup bowl with everything inside

Add in some shredded chicken (You can crockpot cook the chicken in advance, or boil the chicken and shred it as well) 

Add the chicken to the soup bowl

Season with garam masala, salt n' pepper, garlic salt, and ginger

Add in the almond milk to make it creamy!

Mix everything and it's ready to eat! (After you throw on some chopped cashews!!)

Living in Cali!!

Hey!!

Wanna hear something awesome? For about a month during this summer I will be living with my grandparents in Northern California!! WOOT! Northern Cal is my ALL TIME FAV.

I thought this would be a perfecto opportunity to share some more tips on how to eat healthy and be healthy when on vacation/out of town.

Tip #1 - Exercise! 

Try to find time during the mornings or at night to go on a long walk or get a nice little jog in. 

My mom came to California to drop me off and spend a few days with me and her parents! So we’ve been motivating each other to exercise early each morning before the day starts. (Which TBH means we’ve been waking up at 9 or 10… #whoops)

But it's been so awesome because we’ve been able to do so many fun things like walk the beautiful levy out back, make up our own “high fitness playlist” and run our own mini cardio class, etc etc.

And it feels sooooo good because we know we’ve worked hard and can chill and enjoy the rest of the day even more! Plus we feel less guilty at night when we down TONS of HU chocolate bars, white chocolate covered gummy bears, and Trish’s Mini Donuts. #Pier39 #Sanfransisco

Whether you get up early to do a circuit workout, or walk from place to place at the pier, or take the stairs instead of the elevator, or sprint to get a chocolate bar - been there done that - it pays off to get your body active and moving!

FAVORITE CHOCOLATE BARS EVER!! @HUCHOCOLATE

Tip #2 - Look for good food options 
There are always good options!

Okay cmon… for reals how many times do we end up cooking our own meals on vacations? 

While sometimes it's fun and convenient to make a healthy egg white, spinach & feta omelette for lunch or breakfast, most of the time the fam ends up wanting to go out to eat to our fav spots!

My grandma, grandpa, uncle, mom, and I went to a steak house for dinner one night and in an attempt to eat a bit lighter, I ordered a suuuuper yummy salad and a tender steak with the butter on the side. YUM.

When eating out, *TRY TO BE IN CONTROL* Like trying to control your butter intake by ordering it on the side. Or asking for the dressing on the side to control how much you put on your salad. 

My mom and I went to this really good cafe on Pier 3 called The Plant Cafe Organic. I tried to 'be in control' by asking for fresh spinach on the side of my power bowl so that I could make my own little healthy salad! I also asked for the Kale Pesto and Hot Sauce on the side cuz the oil in the pesto would have WRECKED my stomach and while the hot sauce would have done the same thing, it also woulda seared my tongue… #teamnospicy

We also went to CRAB HOUSE for dinner last night!! (MY FAV!!) Healthy tips: try to avoid too much of the bread and butter before the meal, don't dip your crab meat in extra garlic butter (RESIST!) and just TRY to portion control... even though it's nearly impossible...

Tip #3 - Bring healthy snacks to munch on

California traffic… always unpredictable. My mom and I got stuck in traffic from 12-3 when we hadn’t eaten lunch and we were FAMISHED. But Kass to the rescue! I had packed some almonds in a bag and whipped em out right in the nick o' time! Because I had packed almonds, we didn’t get hangry and pull off to grab 5 bean burritos from Taco Bell, or dive for the first treat we could lay eyes on. 

Tip #4 - Portion control your sweets and desserts 

I know I know… This one’s hard. But it pays off in the end I promise. When I’m trying to eat healthier on vacay, I don’t want to completely restrict myself from desserts n' treats especially when everyone else is eating them! SO I allow myself to enjoy!… But not inhale them like I could.

When everyone is eating ice cream, I'd munch on my “healthy chocolate” or if dessert is ordered for everyone after dinner, I’ll take a few bites then call it good. I’ve noticed that when I do this, not only am I a better person because I'm not fighting my family for the most bites... but I feel SO much better compared to when I would demolish an entire dessert and have the biggest stomach ache the whole night (and even the next morning).

Caveat! I'm such a hypocrite cuz I know all of these things are legit^^ but heck no I don't keep to them 100% 24/7. Honestly though, when I don't follow these tips.. I regret it. I always wish I would have listened to my body when it was telling me I was full 5 hrs ago. So it's a "fun" process! Ha. I'm always pumped when I DO listen to my body and feel great and ready party hard the next day!

yuhm

Have you ever tried White Cherries? If not, please put it on your bucket list!

One last thing... I ♡ this place

THE BEST Healthy Banana Bread

Trust me on this one...

Serves about 6

Ingredients

• 2 ripe bananas
• 1/2 T baking soda
• 1 T vanilla
• 1/2 c egg whites (or 2 - 3 whole eggs)
• 1&1/2 - 2 c quick oats
• 2 T cinnamon
• 1/3 c pure maple syrup or honey
• A few squirts of Stevia extract (optional)
• Optional: dark chocolate chips

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 350* Fahrenheit
Mash the bananas in a large bowl
Add in all of the other ingredients and mix
Empty into a well greased bread tin (The mixture should be pretty sticky)
Bake for 35-45 minutes (Loaf should be light brown at the edges and should not have a wet center)
ENJOY!!!

*Tastes especially delish topped with maple almond butter, chunky peanut butter, spray butter, or just plain!

*Stores great in the fridge for up to 5 days!

ABOUT

Hi everyone!! 
My name is Kassidy and I'm in college studying Exercise and Wellness and I LOVE TO EAT (specifically healthy foods😄😄)

After receiving a bunch of requests from friends and fam asking for some healthy recipes and how to have a BLAST while being healthy, I have decided to use this as a resource for DELISH healthy recipes and just some tips and tricks! ENJOY!!

Healthy Tips & Trix

I have noticed HUGE changes with my body, energy, cravings, etc. by sticking to these beautifully simple tips. I live by these things and they really do make the biggest difference if you A) Stick to them and B) Are patient and give them time.

Tips and Trix!! ~

1. Substitute! 

Check out my "Substitutions" page for a bunch of ideas on how to do this! IT GETS SO FUN!! Substituting is the best because I will go to a store or restaurant and realize that I can make food that tastes the exact same but with a THOUSAND times less calories (not a mathematically proven statistic).

EXAMPLE: I LOVE the upside-down honey oat bran muffins at "Mimi's Cafe". One day I tried to recreate it and absolutely NAILED IT!! (No joke) (Will post recipe soon!) Here's the thing: I substituted country crock for real butter; honey/maple syrup/coconut sugar for real sugar; wheat flour/coconut flour/almond flour for white flour... and more! REPLACE THOSE BAD CALS BABY!

2. Listen to your body

But forreals. If you are craving chocolate, eat it. If you have eaten a huge, delicious salad and are still hungry for a granola bar, eat it. HERE'S THE THING: Many of us eat when we are bored. (C'mon It's fun). This takes some serious practice so don't get frustrated or drill yourself when mess-ups happen, but often your mind will try to convince you that you are hungry when your BODY is actually not. Very often I have ended up consuming 50+lbs of dark chocolate at midnight along with a peanut butter and jelly, peanut butter toast, banana bread, a granola bar and occasionally some frozen fruit snacks too. So listen to your body... but REALLY listen to it.

3. Know what you are eating

I always try to know all of ingredients in the things I eat. Many processed foods (meaning frozen meals, eating out, microwave meals etc.) are what I try to limit. I'll admit, I don't know half of the listed ingredients on many the foods I have - BUT I know I am doing good things for my bod if I do recognize healthy, very simple, whole wheats, and "good for you" ingredients. 

EXAMPLE: I was given a "Pineapple Upside-down cake" LaraBar to try for my very first time and the ONLY ingredients were Dates, Almonds and Dried Pineapple... SO GOOD for you! 

4. Shop on the "outskirts" of the store (Paleo-based diet)

Try to base your diet on foods you would eat if you lived in Paleolithic times. Eat the delicious, fresh, "paleolithic", non-processed foods. Most of this food is found on the outskirts and refrigerated sections of the store i.e. fresh meats, fruits and veggies, milks, eggs etc. etc. 

5. Exercise when you can :)

Take the stairs, go on a fun walk, get a gym pass, park farther away... exedra! 

Whenever my family goes on a cruise, (all-you-can-eat food baby!!) we ALWAYS avoid the elevators. Even if we have to hike a few sets of stairs to get to our rooms, we try to keep our bodies moving and take the stairs no matter how tired we are after our fun excursions!!

Health Grocery List

Here is a list of things I almost always have in my pantry/fridge... These options are:

•  Healthy
• College-student-budget friendly
• Delicious 
• You can make so many different things out of them (sandwiches, salads, wraps, breakfast burritos, dinner burritos, omelettes, desserts, etc. etc.)

Refrigerated Section 

Spinach

Almond milk

Sandwich meat

OPI greek yogurt salad dressing

Thinly sliced provolone 

Fat free cheddar cheese

Eggs (sometimes I'll buy the egg white containers)

Veggies & fruits:

• Apples
• Bananas
• Zuchinni
• Butternut Squash
• Carrots
• Tomatoes
• Avocados
• Grapes (freeze them and they become addicting - I got my mom HOOKED 😉)

Hummus

Greek yogurt (non-fat)

Frozen Section

Pre-cooked grilled chicken

Frozen fruit (for smoothies)
Frozen fish (Salmon, Shrimp, Cod etc)

Not Refrigerated or Frozen Section

Spinach & herb wrap 
45-calorie wheat bread

Lightly salted Almonds 

Oats (not the pre-flavored kind) (trust me... just throw honey, cinnamon and chopped apples on and it becomes AMAZING - my fav comfort food**)

Honey

Peanut Butter

PB2 Powder

Stevia sweetener 

Cocoa Powder

Dark Chocolate Chips (a must)

Tuna Lite (In water)

Crackers (shoot for multi-grain, low-fat, lightly salted, low sodium etc.)

Chewy 25% reduced sugar granola bars

Kind Bars

Lightly salted rice cakes 

***I always look for the LIGHT versions (less sodium, low-fat, less calories, wheat, etc) (I very often look like a total nerd cuz I spend so much time comparing each different food label) 😆  

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

***Quick Caveat: Sometimes if food claims to be "low-sugar", "low-sodium", "low-fat" it is often neglecting other nutrients. For example a "low-sugar" food item could have a higher fat content than normal to compensate for the taste. It might seem complicated, but this is a process that will begin to make so much sense once you start paying attention! Promise!