As many of you know I spent the first 2 weeks of the year focusing heavily on eating well, better than normal I suppose.  I cut out meat, dairy, refined sugars and alcohol - which was not nearly as hard as I thought it would be.  Many of you also know that I'm a meal planner, so I may or may not have had a printed calendar with all of my meals mapped out so that I didn't find an excuse to cheat!  Surprisingly, the hardest meals to plan for were breakfast. 

I usually bring breakfast to work with me everyday; however, find that sometimes (when I'm not prepared or have nothing in the house) I grab something that kind of resembles breakfast.  I came across this recipe in one of my cookbooks, and decided it would be perfect for keeping me on track. 

Jamie Oliver is a food genius.  It doesn't hurt that he's taken on school cafeterias across the country to ensure that our children have delicious and healthy foods to keep them energized throughout the day.  Why wouldn't you make one of this guy's recipes for breakfast then? 

If you're looking for an easy way to make sure you start your day off with a hearty and energizing breakfast, then look no further.  Pukkolla is a soaked oatmeal that you can keep in the fridge and eat for a week!  I adapted this version, using the foods I had on hand.  I also didn't measure (which is typical for me!)

Pukkolla
adapted from Jamie Oliver
5-6 c rolled oats
1 c bran flakes
2 apples, grated (squeeze out as much liquid as you can before adding to the mixture)
1/2 c chopped walnuts
1 c your favorite dried fruit (I used dates and dried cherries)
1 T cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
almond milk, enough to cover

Add all ingredients to a glass baking dish.  Mix well. 

Cover with enough milk (can use any kind of milk) so that everything is submerged in liquid.

Cover the dish and let it sit in the fridge overnight.  The next morning, mix it up a bit and top with honey.  I also warmed mine, but you could eat it cold.  If it's too dry, add a little more milk to loosen it up.

Do you have trouble eating breakfast in the morning?  What is your favorite go-to when you need a quick breakfast?

Enjoy!
XoXo,
Nicole

I swear, some days I think I've heard it all.

I don't have time to cook.
My kids will NEVER eat THAT.
I have a picky husband.
Organic food is too expensive.
Have you tried my cooking?  I'm not cut out for that.
It's too hard to cook for just one or two people.


My responses

You're not making time to cook.
They may not, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't see you eating it.
I'm certain we can find the food he likes and make healthier versions of it.
You don't have to replace everything in your pantry with organic food.  You need to budget for food just like you do anything else.  It is possible.
I firmly believe a refresher on the basics, Cooking 101 perhaps, can make a world of difference.  You don't have to know how to make EVERYTHING, just know how to do a few things really well. 
I've been cooking for one or two people my whole life.  The beauty of only cooking for a couple people is that you have more food leftover to do other fun things with.  Cook once, eat two or three times.


Eating healthy is not difficult.  We've created this complex and complicated method for understanding nutrition and health.  You don't need to know the difference between vitamins, or what a trace mineral is.  You don't need to know how your food is digested, or where it's stored for energy to be used later. 

You need to begin to listen to your body.  Are you really hungry?  Do you really need to eat that?  Are you chewing your food and actually tasting it?  Are you planning ahead and preparing, or going blindly into every meal and end up eating fast food or a handful of cookies and calling it dinner?  You don't need to be a nutritionist to answer these questions.  Quite frankly, no nutritionist can answer them for you.

The fact that you are reading this and following along is a step in the right direction.  Making small changes may be all you can do right now, and that is a perfect amount of change.  There is no wrong answer here.  There is no judgement or guilt that should be felt.  Each day, decide to eat one fruit or vegetable.  Each week, decide to try and cook at home one day.  Each month, decide to try something you've never tried before.

Don't let excuses define why you CAN'T, rather let them be the challenge you need to prove that you CAN and WILL.

XoXo,
Nicole

As many of you know on January 1st I eliminated some foods from my diet.  A common term that is often used is "cleansing"; however, the more I would talk to people about what I was doing I realized this is totally different than a cleanse.  I'd prefer to just tell you that I'm "eating healthy food", but that's not nearly as exciting.

As I suspected, I saw lots of ads for commercial cleanses and detox programs after the first of the year.  Without researching many of them, I can't tell you if they are healthy or not.  What I will tell you is that they will, no doubt, give you the results you are looking for. 

For a month or so anyways. 

Then you'll go back to your old way of living and wonder why you gained those 10 pounds back so fast.

The problem with many of these boxed-detox programs is that they don't teach you anything.  They don't teach you how to make a lifestyle change, rather they teach you that every couple of months - after eating whatever you felt like eating- you can go on a detox and feel better.   They teach you that veggies and fruit are good for you, but don't teach you how to incorporate more of them into your diet.  They don't give you healthy recipes, shopping lists or access to someone you can call or email with questions.

Before you get all bajiggity (pronounced bah-ji-gity...or something like that - my friend Amanda made it up and I use it all the time)...before you get all bajiggity on me, I do believe there are people that begin with these detoxes and do end up making a lifestyle change to keep the weight off, live healthier, etc.  However, and it's a big however, most don't. 

Think about it, they make more money if you fail.

Rather than drinking icky concoctions, or eating things that taste like sawdust, wouldn't you rather just

EAT FOOD? 

Wouldn't you rather make adjustments to what you're already doing, learn from prior mistakes and see long-term goals last?

I don't have a commercial.  I don't have a powdery drink to offer you.  I don't have a tagline.

I do have a passion for healthy living.  I do care about you and your children.  I do think you can do this and make it last.

If you are at all curious about what I do, or what services I can offer, I encourage you to reach out for a free consultation.  Head on over to the services page and get in touch with me.  In the meantime, here is a yummy recipe for your tastebuds.

Healthy Fried Rice
serves 6-8

2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 parsnips, peeled and diced
1 celery rib, diced
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
2 leeks, white and light green parts, sliced
olive oil
salt
cayanne pepper
1 cup cooked brown rice
2 eggs, preferably pastured

Heat some olive oil in your pan (you don't need a ton, just a couple tablespoons).  Add your veggies, season with salt and a dash of cayenne pepper. Depending on your tolerance for heat, you can determine how big a dash is.  I usually give it a couple shakes around the pan....

After the veggies have cooked about 5 -7 min, add the cooked brown rice.  Make a well in the center of your pan, crack two eggs and start to scramble them.

After everything is thoroughly mixed together, serve and eat. 

Easy enough, right?  Who said eating healthy had to be difficult? 

Enjoy!
XoXo,
Nicole

My newsfeed has been blowing up with people catching colds, coming down with the flu and just feeling under the weather in general.  My husband has had an upper respiratory head cold that has been lingering for over a week now.  During the winter months (especially in the midwest) it seems like everything can get a little dreary and icky feeling - and I truly believe that our mental wellbeing, as well as physical health, suffer the most at this time.

Each year, around November, I begin making batches of bone broth.  If you've ever made homemade stock, it's basically the same thing.  I get my soup bones from my butcher when I buy my cow and pork in bulk.  When I cook my chickens, I just save the carcass for the broth.  I prefer beef bones for my bone broth - I use pork and chicken for other stocks to cook with.

Obviously this recipe isn't going to help my vegetarian and vegan friends, but if you're a meat eater - or at the very -least will drink broth from an animal product - then you're in luck!  You can use any bones that you save from your regular meals.  I prefer to use the ones from the butcher because they are thicker and don't have any seasoning yet on them (if I had cooked a meal and then used the bones).  

Bone broth helps to calm our stomach/gut and strengthen the GI tract (makes it great for those with digestive issues and Crohns).  In addition to keeping us safe from germs, bones are loaded with minerals like magnesium, calcium and other trace minerals that our body absorbs when we drink the broth.  If you're looking to maintain your health during the winter months and detoxify your liver at the same time - then don't hesitate to make your first batch of bone broth and get drinking!

Bone Broth
fills 10-12 8oz mason jars

1 lb soup bones from butcher (or any leftover bones), preferably from grass fed animals
2 onions, quartered
5-6 carrots, whole
3 cloves garlic, whole
a handful or bunch of greens (any greens will do - spinach, kale, chard, stems from beets or other root vegetables)
splash of vinegar
enough water to  almost fill the pot (leave about 1-2 inches from the top)
*do not add salt, pepper or other seasonings*

Bring all of the ingredients to a boil, then lower the heat and let simmer (covered) for 6-8 hours.  The longer you let it simmer, the better it gets!  Note: If you don't let it simmer for at least 6 hours, you'll be left with a watery broth - which is not very tasty. When it's done, strain the broth  through a fat separator and pour into 8 oz single servings (I found mason jars work great).  Let it cool completely before you cover the mason jars. If you don't have a fat separator you will want to skim the top l Refrigerate for up to a couple of weeks. 

For best results, reheat and drink daily.

I'm telling you, bone broth will change your life(;  Why wait for another cold or flu bug to make themselves comfortable in your home?  Bone broth is recommended for kids and adults alike.  Let me know what you think!

Stay Healthy,
Nicole

Whew, that got your attention, didn't it? (:

I'm seriously giggling at how many pageviews this post might get because of the title.  If you know my friends, you know that 35 minutes into the new year I was being asked when I was going to have a baby.  Truth be told, I've been prepping my body for over a year now. 

As many of you know I was suffering from some digestive issues, as well as being diagnosed with adrenal fatigue earlier this past year.  When I began making changes to my diet and lifestyle it was twofold.  First, I obviously wanted to feel better, but I also knew that in the next couple years my husband and I would possibly want to start a family.  It was extremely important to me that I be the strongest, healthiest person I could be BEFORE getting pregnant.

Maybe it's because I'm older and have had an opportunity to watch so many friends and family members have babies, but this is huge.  Someday, God-willing, I will be someone's home for 9 months.  My body will do what it was designed to do, to nuture a life and allow it the opportunity to grow into a beautiful baby.  Right now, even though, we're (my husband and I) aren't quite *there* yet - I'm constantly keeping this in my mind as I make decisions around what I eat.

I truly believe that "food is thy medicine"

I know I have work to do still.  In addition to cleaning up my diet I started seeing a chiropractor and naturopath.  I was put on a number of different hormones to help with my imbalance, and while at first I felt great, I soon started to feel very fatigued and out of sorts.  I just didn't feel like myself.

After starting acupuncture I decided to take myself off of the hormones and just stick to Chinese herbs and acupuncture (in addition to chiropractic care).  It has been about 2 months now, and I feel better already.  I don't feel perfect, but I feel better and more grounded than I have in a long time.  I have had some side effects - which I'm working on, sans medicine.  I have noticed that my skin is much drier than normal (despite the fact I drink a TON of water every day) and my skin isn't the greatest.  To say I look like a preteen going through puberty is an understatement. 

It's embarassing.  But it's worth talking about.  It's real life.

Our bodies are meant to do so much, and for most of us, our bodies do their jobs rather well.  I decided to go back to cleaning up my diet (even more than I have been).  I started a detox/cleanse, etc., call it what you will.  Since January 1st I have had no dairy (with the exception of eggs in one meal - for protein...the first 2 days were rough), no meat, no processed sugar and no alcohol.  I am not following any specific plan, but rather have created one for myself.

I have a calendar pre-set with all of my meals for the next 14 days.  I'm testing this out to see how I feel.  Typically it takes us about 21 days to really begin to see effects from these types of changes.  I decided to start with 14 to see how I felt, and really, to see if I could even do it.

Four days into it and I feel good.  I'm a little hungry, I'm not going to lie.  It's hard to find new sources of protein.  I'm also not someone who snacks very often, so eating in between meals has been difficult for me to plan for (even though I have tons of healthy snacks on hand, I'm not finding that I'm actually eating them).  I am definitely detoxing though....I miss sugar.  I miss alcohol.  I don't miss dairy or meat.  Weird.

The reason for this post is to be honest.  To be real.  To let you know that, certified health coach or not, we all have problems with our health and diet.  We all have areas that need improvement. I could use less stress, more sleep and a better attitude (couldn't we all?). I am constantly learning.  Learning how to listen to my body.  Learning what works best for my body and lifestyle.  Learning how to better myself. 

It is so humbling to get your emails, your posts and your messages.  Your words of encouragement and stories of how this blog is helping you make my heart smile.  This is it, folks.  This is your life.  This is the body you were given. 

Show it some love. 

Join me.  Share with me.  Learn with me.

What are your reasons for bettering yourself?  What is important to you right now or in your future?

Until next time...
XoXo,
Nicole

Whew, it's been awhile, friends.  It sure was a busy holiday season for us.  We had quite the Christmas this year as we hosted Christmas Eve for the first time.  In addition to that, we had many gatherings, family visits and even a wedding!  Here is a recap of our holiday:

One of my favorite gifts I gave this year were these baskets full of homemade goodies.  I've gotten lots of requests for the granola recipe.  While it can be used on fruit or yogurt, I love to just eat it as cereal with a little almond milk. 

Granola Cereal
adapted from 100 Days of Real Food, original recipe from Anson Mills

3 1/2 c rolled oats
1 c chopped raw almonds
1 c chopped raw cashews
1 c shredded coconut
1/2 c sunflower seeds
1/2 c pumpkin seeds
4 t cinnamon
2 t grated ginger
1 t nutmeg
5 T coconut oil or butter
1/2 c honey
3 t vanilla extract
1/3 c dried cherries
1/4 c dried blueberries

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.  Mix oats, coconut, nuts and spices in a large mixing bowl.  In a saucepan, over medium heat, melt the coconut oil and honey.  When melted, add vanilla.  Pour honey mixture over the oat mix and stir until everything is evenly combined.  Place some parchment paper on a  cookie sheet, and spread oats out evenly.  Bake at 250 for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Let the granola cool for at least 20 minutes before adding in the dried fruit.  Package in an air tight container (I used big mason jars).  The cereal should keep for a few weeks if stored in a dry, cool space.

We welcomed 2013 in with dinner and a movie.  My husband has been battling a head cold, so we thought we would take it easy.  As well, I am testing out a detox/cleanse program that I hope to roll out to all of you soon.  Day 1 has been successful, although I am rethinking some of my options around protein.  I definitely don't know how vegetarians/vegans do it every day!  It will be a challenge for me, but my goal is to come up with tasty dishes that don't require a lot of effort and can be prepared ahead of time to help keep meals available for breakfast and lunch each day. 

This will be a growing year for MBP Health & Wellness LLC, but I know that by helping just one person I'll be making the difference I set out to do! 

Wishing you all a healthy, joyful and delicious 2013!
XoXo,
Nicole