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BOO-Nanners, a Healthy Halloween Treat
This clever treat for children (and their parents!) is a delicious, healthy, and fun alternative to big-bag Halloween treats.
Boo-Nanners
Servings: 2 per banana
Ingredients:
*peeled banana, cut in half
*orange juice
*dried shredded coconut
*currants or raisins
*popsicle sticks
Preparation:
1. Sprinkle banana with orange juice
2. Roll in coconut, you may find it a little easier and neater to use a zip top bag for this step if the little ones are making these
3. Gently press in currant eyes
4. Place on popsicle stick
These boo-nanners can be frozen to be served as a popsicle or eaten fresh. Either way, the kids will love it!
Shared from California Wellness Task Force, Fit for the Holidays newsletter.
Posted in Eat, Recipes | 
Tags: alternative treats, California Wellness Task Force, Eat, Halloween, healthy treats, recipes | 
No Comments »Holiday Survival: A Cooking and Eating Class
This is the cooking and eating class you’ve been waiting for! Back by popular demand, I am partnering with Wendy Van Wagner of In the Kitchen to present this special class–just in time for the holidays.
Do the holidays seem like a food-free-for-all? Around the family table at Thanksgiving, do you have to loosen your belt in between dinner and dessert? Do you stumble to the couch for a post-meal nap? Are you tempted by the endless supply of “goodies” that magically show up on December 1st–homemade cookies, fudge, caramel popcorn balls, veggies and rich dips, sweet and fruity punch (that you wouldn’t drink any other time of year), parties, parties, and more eating parties…?
The Holiday Survival Cooking and Eating Class will support your intention to maintain a nourishing balance in your life over the holidays. We’ll talk strategies for making sane–and still satisfying–choices at parties and family gatherings; how to shop for and cook healthy dishes for your own table and to take to parties; and how to bring a sense of balance by incorporating physical activity, positive affirmation, and the practice of quieting your mind.
All of this while we eat, drink, and be merry around the chop block table! Join in the fun on Thursday, November 11 at 6:00 PM, come away divinely satiated, and with confidence that you can Survive the Holidays! Space is limited, click here to register, scroll down to November 11th… See you there.
Posted in Calendar, Eat | Tags: calendar, cooking class, Eat, healthy cooking, holiday cooking, In the Kitchen, workshop | 8 Comments »10/26/10 Nevada Joint Union High School District
I am honored to be part of the amazing efforts of the High School District in Nevada County to support the health and well-being of their teachers and staff. In follow up to the annual health appraisal that is offered, I will be providing a workshop entitled, Know Your Numbers, at which we will review the results of the health appraisal and I will share strategies for healthful behaviors that will keep or bring their numbers within normal ranges. How wonderful it is that those that care for, nurture, and teach our children are in turn, cared for and nurtured by the District. Knowing their numbers is the first step towards engaging in daily choices that support optimal health and well-being. I’ll be providing a group workshop and several one-on-one sessions to participants on both High School campuses. Hooray for teachers and staff, Hooray for the District for their forward thinking!
Posted in Calendar, past | Tags: Bear River High School, calendar, Health Appraisal, Nevada Union High School | No Comments »10/22/10 Eat To Your Heart’s Content
In this ongoing seasonal cooking class series, Wendy Van Wagner of In the Kitchen, and I will be partnering up again to offer another informative, fun, and delicious heart-healthy cooking class. This class, which will focus on Fall Foods, has filled up quickly! I am thrilled with the enthusiastic response to what has become a series–we’ll offer these heart-healthy cooking classes four times a year (at least!) to take advantage of the variety of delightful and delicious foods that are available on a seasonal basis. Stay tuned for the winter class to be offered in January, 2011!
Posted in Calendar, Eat, past | Tags: calendar, Cooking classes, Eat, Fall Foods, In the Kitchen | No Comments »10/16/10 Soroptimist of Colfax, Women’s Health Fair
I am looking forward to my upcoming presentation at the Women’s Health Fair sponsored by the Colfax chapter of Soroptimist International. My one-hour workshop will afford the opportunity to share the concepts of optimal health management by discussing the benefits of eating well, eliciting the relaxation response, and engaging in regular physical activity. Most importantly, I will be sharing strategies to motivate the participants to incorporate new, healthful behaviors using pleasant, small-step daily goals to achieve optimal health and well-being.
Posted in Calendar, past | Tags: calendar, Colfax, health fair, optimal health, workshop | No Comments »Best Banana Muffins on the Planet…
This summer has brought a lot of kitchen time–fulfilling me with the joy of creativity and sensory stimulation from the smells, colors and textures of my creations. An addition to my business that I had not anticipated but am thoroughly enjoying is the opportunity of cooking for my clients. I have shared quinoa casseroles, grilled veggies, fruit cobblers, all sorts of greens in various combination and styles, soups, pastas and sauces…basically, the dinners I’ve been making each night have been doubled in size, with the leftovers being shared. I enjoy seeing my clients try new flavors, textures, and combinations of grains and greens to entice and familiarize them with eating REAL food. It’s working well!
One client, a very busy woman who commutes several days a week for work and whose work often comes home with her in the evening, has been challenged time management-wise to find kitchen time to create healthy, energy producing and sustaining meals for her long days away from home. We’ve shopped together so she became acquainted with pantry staples, created strategies for prep-ahead techniques, all with a focus on healthy, quick meals and snacks that could be eaten throughout the week.
Banana muffins, using this recipe, are a delicious, healthy mid-morning snack. With a smear of good quality peanut or almond butter, you’ve got protein, fat, and carbs that will last a few hours, giving you energy and stamina, as well as a smile on your face because they taste so heavenly. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
¾ C organic sweet-cream butter, softened
1 ½ C organic cane sugar
2 eggs, locally sourced
1 ½ C mashed very ripe bananas
1 tsp vanilla
2 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ C organic, whole-milk vanilla yogurt
½ C chopped nuts, optional
Directions:
1. Cream butter and sugar until it’s as smooth as it looks like it’s going to get. It will still seem a bit lumpy. No worries.
2. Mix in the eggs.
3. Add vanilla and bananas.
4. Sift together flour and baking soda into a separate bowl.
5. Alternately add the dry sifted mixture with the yogurt into the butter/sugar mixture.
6. Pour into 24 cupcake tins (with paper liners). Bake at 350 for 25 – 30 minutes, until they are a gorgeous golden color on top and a toothpick inserted into the center pulls back clean.
7. Once cool, I freeze most of the muffins in a giant zip lock baggie so I can pull them out one or two at a time. They thaw in a half-hour or in the microwave for 30 seconds. Smear with peanut or almond butter, and you’ve got a fabulous tasting and very healthy snack filled with protein, good fat, and energy-producing carbs! Yum.
After the Rain
Were there a way to capture the splendor of the forest after the rain…
An unexpected summer storm–cooling down the sizzle of August, dousing the dusty walking paths of my daily excursions, and bringing all of my senses alive–
Dressed in long leggings and a jacket (in August!), I ventured out with my sweetie and my sweet dog to savor the post-storm beauty on a walk through the woods. Immediately I was intoxicated by the smells! I am almost at a loss for words to describe the richness of the varied aromas permeating the cool, fresh air. Mountain misery, wet and sticky, released a pungent sage brush-like flavor; damp Madrone leaves, knocked to the ground by the wind, now gifted me with deliciousness; wet earth smelling so rich and fertile…
And the visuals, oh my, so dazzling. Water droplets clinging to Cedar boughs and catching the sunshine to create prisms of color; dull, brown bark of the Evergreens now vibrant as sepia, burnt sienna, and caramel; pristine white clouds, full and fluffy, against the deep blue summer sky; and the moss, the iridescent greens of which exist only in nature–so luscious and inviting, that I felt compelled to reach out to feel the texture, which was as soft and wet and yummy as it looked.
Speaking of touch, the tactile stimulation was spectacular. Fresh, clean air, cool to my skin, ruffling my hair with the gentle breeze; soft earth underfoot; my hand cupped warmly in my sweetheart’s hand; feeling love and sharing in this miracle of nature.
The sounds were just as delightful–birds singing from their hearts, seeming to celebrate the storm’s end; water droplets falling to the ground; tree limbs swaying in the breeze; dogs barking from afar; and Grace’s charging feet chasing her ball…
I felt as refreshed by our walk than did the forest seem–after the rain. Home again, heart filled with gratitude and a quiet joy for the simple beauty of life.
Posted in Balance, Mindfulness, Move | Tags: gratitude, Mindfulness, Move, nature, walk | No Comments »
