Traveling While Eating Healthy

It’s the time of year that families are preparing for summer vacations, out of town trips for family parties, and even traveling for sports events. These are all fun events, but if you are anything like me, they are also a source of anxiety when it comes to maintaining a healthy diet while on the road. While it definitely takes some extra planning and isn't as “easy” as hitting up the nearest drive-through with golden arches, it is achievable!

I always remind myself of the saying “Failure to plan is planning to fail” anytime I get a little lax in my motivation to prepare foods. As we are preparing to go out of town this weekend I put together a quick and simple list to make ahead tonight and tomorrow to give us some healthy options. Here are just a few of the ideas that I have for my family this weekend…

1. Pre-made frozen pancakes. No, not the kind you get in a box at the store. Make some of your favorite gluten/grain free pancakes and put them into the freezer in a ziplock bag. They may thaw a bit in the cooler on the drive, but good news is they won’t go bad right away. We keep these on hand for the drive in case the little one gets hungry and for mornings at the hotel. (A great recipe coming soon made with plantains but we also love Pamela's Baking Mix... cook them in coconut oil and you will be amazed at good they are!)
2. Apple Chips. These are incredibly simple and always fun to snack on. Thinly slice a few apples and stick them in your dehydrator. There are also instructions you can find online for using your oven to dehydrate. Costco also carries a large bag of them! A picture is below.
3. Trail Mix. This old standby never lets us down. I get a big gallon sized bag and fill it with various nuts, Enjoy Life chocolate chips, raisins, and even Goji berries. It is easy to fill up on trail mix, but at least you won’t feel guilty about it!
4. Squeeze pouches make great travel food! You can buy organic squeeze pouches at the store. A few of the brands I like are Plum Organics, Peter Rabbit Organics, and Happy Family Organics. One great-but small-investment I made early on was refillable squeeze pouches from EZ Squeezees. These are very easy to use and wash out. The website has some great Paleo and Whole 30 recipes, too! I usually make a batch of food to fill the pouches and throw them in the freezer or fridge. The frozen ones get thrown in a cooler for the drive and the refrigerated ones stay in the car with us to eat along the way.
5. Chocolate Chip Cookies!! Eating healthier doesn’t always have to be boring-right?! I love this recipe from Zen Belly Blog. It really does taste like the chocolate chip cookies I loved before going grain free. Check them out! http://zenbellycatering.com/2013/01/05/chocolate-chip-cookies-like-you-remember-em/
6. When we need meals, rather than snack foods, we either allow enough time to go to an actual restaurant or search for a Panera or Jason’s Deli. Panera has a great “secret” menu and their new Broth Bowls are delicious!

I hope these recipes help make your trips a little easier and less stressful. Safe Travels!

Becca Potter

BeccaPotterNRT@gmail.com

To schedule online with Becca click the link below

https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/classic/home?studioid=213814 

Everyone loves JELLO!

I work hard to make sure our little guy (15 months) gets fresh, nutritious food at every meal. Unfortunately, that means I have to prepare all his meals for daycare and forego the provided meals. Sadly, the food that is provided does not match our family’s beliefs about healthy and nutritious food, but that is a whole different blog post that could get pretty long.

In his new classroom the kids sit down together at a table and eat every meal. By doing this they learn great social skills and develop skills to eat with utensils-all very important. This also means, though, that my little guy has become acutely aware even at his small age that he is eating different foods than his little friends. How do I compete with veggie pizza for lunch or breadsticks and marinara for afternoon snack? For snack, I have found a consistent winner-Jello! Not the artificially colored and flavored stuff, but incredibly easy and healthy homemade Jello. It takes maybe 10 minutes to put together and then you put it in the fridge. I just scoop from the bowl each night when putting his food together for the next day and he has a fun snack that is also nutritious. Orange has been his favorite flavor lately.

Ingredients

3 cups of juice (I have been juicing the fruits, but you can buy store bought as long as it is 100% juice with no additives. Whole Foods has a decent selection.)

½ cup cool water

½ cup hot water

2 TBS gelatin (I have used Great Lakes and Vital Proteins grass fed gelatin for the added health benefit)

It really doesn’t get much easier than this!

1. Pour your cool water into a small bowl and stir in the gelatin powder until thoroughly mixed.
2. Add the hot water and stir
3. Mix this into a larger bowl with the fruit juice and stir.
4. I usually leave this in a bowl and put into the fridge overnight to solidify, but you can also put into a 9x13 baking dish for smaller squares or even to cut into fun shapes!
5. Let sit in the fridge for at least 3 hours and ENJOY!

Becca Potter

BeccaPotterNRT@gmail.com

To schedule online with Becca click the link below

https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/classic/home?studioid=213814 

Chicken Zucchini Bites

This is one of my favorites lately- Super quick to make and really tasty!  You can dip them in salsa or guac to taste really really good.  They make for good finger food too!  (Great for Candida Clear, Whole30, 21 Sugar Detox- plus everyone else!)

All you need is
1 pound ground chicken breast
2 cups grated zucchini, no need to peel it (Around 1.5 to 2 medium sized zucchinis)
2-3 green onions, sliced
3 to 4 TBS cilantro, minced (I didn't measure this out but threw in a handful of it)
1 clove garlic
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Grate zucchini and mix together with the other ingredients listed above.  You DO NOT need to dry out the zucchini or get out the excess water.  You can but don't need to.  The mixture will be wet but that is okay.

While mixing the ingredients start warming up a skillet over medium heat with 1 TBS or more coconut oil.

Then scoop the mixture onto the skillet (about meatball sized).  Cook on each side for around 5 minutes and then flip.  They will cook all the way through and get a little brown and crispy.  Make sure to keep adding coconut oil each time you throw on a new batch.  It is what helps make them more crispy.   

(You can also bake them at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.  If you want to at the end turn on the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes to get them more brown on the top.)  

Enjoy!

Recipe from:  http://www.onelovelylife.com/chicken-zucchini-poppers-gf-df/

Dinner! 

Hit at Wall between 1 and 3pm?

Do you hit a wall between 1 and 3 pm?  Most people feel like they either need a nap, something sugary or caffeine.  If you are one of those people continue reading...

When you hit this wall or feel like you need sugary foods or caffeine in these hours it means your adrenal glands are tired.  These glands are considered your 'stress glands.'  They pump out hormones to keep you going day in and day out.  They fire up with both good and bad stress and each time there is a stressor it is like asking them to run a marathon.  Then another stressor comes and they have to run again.  And another and another.  If you really had to do this you eventually couldn't go anymore... and eventually they get so tired that they are barely running.  (And how you know they are just getting by is when you hit that wall between 1 and 3 pm AND/OR when someone gives you one more thing to do you want to cry, run away or yell.  That is stereotypical adrenal exhaustion symptoms- AKA most people in America.)

What can you do? 
Try to avoid stress! Ha! That is what most people say but how realistic is it?  Likely not very realistic but you can choose to minimize it.  Do not say yes to everything and everyone- you will wear yourself down.  On to other ideas :)

-Eat an avocado a day (great hormones and fuel for the adrenals)
-If you hit a dip in the afternoon drink hot tea with 1 tbs of coconut oil (keeps your blood sugar levels stable and doesn't spike them which stresses the adrenal glands even more)
-Keep your protein intake up (Make sure to get 30 grams of protein in for breakfast.  I do through a smoothie or eat turkey, chicken sausage, etc. with eggs for breakfast).  You want to have a protein source at each meal.
-Snack on nuts and seeds
-If you are craving sugar- eat some protein first and wait 15 minutes before indulging.  If you have to indulge try natural sugars like honey and maple syrup (but in moderation).

Great supplements we commonly use in the office. (These are just a few of the many many ones we use.  The adrenal glands are part of the endocrine system- so we have to look at everything and not just single out the adrenals!)

• Adrenal Support by Nature Sunshine
• Great to take a bottle when big stressors come up or life throws you a curve ball
• Nervous Fatigue TCM by Nature Sunshine
• Great for maintenance and protection of the adrenals
• Mineral Chi Tonic by Nature Sunshine
• Minerals are fuel for adrenals and this also has other great herbs for them too.  Its is a liquid which is easy to mix or take straight (not the best tasting thing but you can do it :))
• Adrenal Desiccated by Standard Process
• For very severe cases
• Drenamin by Standard Process
• Whole food based supplement for the adrenals
• Min Tran by Standard Process
• Relaxing minerals to relax the body and adrenals

Again there are SO SO many other supplements we use but this is just a quick overview.  If the symptoms above sound like you... give us a call and we can help out.  You don't have to live run down or in a constant state of feeling overwhelmed. 

For order instructions on Nature Sunshine click here and for Standard Process visit the office or call 615-656-3558.

This is after one of his long, hard days at the office.  It is hard life getting belly rubs all day.