by bringmebliss | Mar 24, 2016 | Fun Food
Spice up Your Ham this Easter with a Unique and Easy Glaze!
I grew up eating ham and I love eating it on Easter Sunday; however, no one else in my immediate or extended family likes ham very much, so this year, we're sticking with the shish-ka-bob. If I was making a ham, I would use this recipe because I often use essential oils in cooking and it's so easy! You can't go wrong with this combination of honey, mustard and oils.
Ingredients:
1 cup honey
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 drop clove essential oil
1 drop orange essential oil
1 toothpick dip clove essential oil (literally dip it into the EO bottle and then dip it into the recipe…otherwise it could be too much with a whole drop!)
Instructions:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir well until mixed.
Drizzle the glaze over your ham 20 minutes before it is done cooking. Return your ham to the oven and cook uncovered for the remaining 20 minutes. If desired, reserve some of the glaze to drizzle over ham portions at the dinner table.
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by bringmebliss | Feb 11, 2016 | Fun Food
If you’re into clean eating, home-made salad dressings prove to be the better choice than store-bought dressings. I love to make salad dressings from scratch. Bottled dressings have too much sugar and preservatives for me, so home-made concoctions have been my go-to for a while now.
This must be my all-time favorite home-made salad dressing. I found it online (source below) and I made it exactly as the recipe was written. It goes great with mixed green combos.
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup champagne vinegar (you can’t really substitute anything else if you want this great flavor.)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons honey
3 dashes hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Just toss all in a blender and blend until smooth. Refrigerate.
Yum, yum, yum!
Source: www.epicurous.com
by bringmebliss | Jan 29, 2016 | Fun Food
If you like garlic and rosemary, you'll love this healthy, salad.
Mix chopped dinosaur kale with some chopped red onion, chopped avocado and shredded Parmesan cheese (optional, as cheese is not considered to be "clean") Mix the following for the dressing and toss:
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Juice of 1 lemon
2 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
Salt & Pepper to taste.
That's it…enjoy!
Share this recipe if it sounds good to you!
by bringmebliss | Jan 26, 2016 | Fun Food
Are you wondering what Clean Eating is all about?
Would you like to learn?
Are you interested in losing weight, having more energy, feeling better?
Change your diet; change your life!
Seriously, food is everything! It is supposed to nourish us, maintain our bodies for better health and give us the fuel we need to move throughout our lives. This is not a fad diet. You don't have to follow any prescribed meals or count calories. You just learn what healthy eating is so you can make adjustments in the way you feed and nourish your body.
Feel Better!
Lose Weight!
Reduce Stress on the Body!
Have more Energy!
Too many people are eating processed food which is making us sick. Too much sugar, too many preservatives, too much salt, too much weird stuff that is not supposed to be ingested or in our food!
If you want to learn how simple it is to adjust your diet so that you are satisfied yet eating for better health, look no further than Bring Me Bliss' 30 Days to Clean Eating!
This is a simple guide to changing how you eat in a way that's truly digestible. No pun intended!
30 Days to Clean Eating comes with a workbook that will help you take notes and keep track of your progress.
Here's what you'll learn with 30 Days to Clean Eating:
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The purpose for eating clean and what it means
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What's in your mind matters
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What to eat
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What to avoid
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Creative food ideas
This is the deal of the century!
Right now, this e-book is priced seriously low at $7.99.
by bringmebliss | Dec 10, 2015 | Fun Food
Stave off hunger during your workday! Bring healthy snacks to work.
One of the most difficult aspects of sticking to a balanced diet is keeping that balance when snacking at work. Long days at work often need to be broken up, and people snack to keep their energy levels up or often just to break up the day. While it can be quite easy to carefully plan the main meals of your day, planning your in between meal snacks can often prove challenging.
Let’s just commit, shall we?
With a little preparation and the right mind-set, you can ensure that those mid-morning or late afternoon snacks don’t ruin your healthy diet! Let’s take a look at a number of simple snacks that are easy to prepare and tasty to eat! I like to have a little protein in my snacks to keep the blood sugar level even, so if you have a carb, pair it up with a little protein.
1. Mixed Fruit
Fruit is an excellent source of vitamins and nutrients, and yet it’s something that most of us don’t eat enough. Bringing an apple or banana in to work involves no preparation, little cost, and is a tasty way of boosting your energy levels. For those looking for a little more variety, why not prepare a fruit salad. Chop up your favorite fruit or berries and you can have a delicious treat that won’t mess up your daily diet! Bring some almonds, walnuts or pecans and keep them in your desk. Pair up your fruit with a couple of nuts to stave off hunger. Or, keep some almond butter at your desk and apply some to your apple slices – yum!
2. Yogurt
Yogurt can be an excellent source of probiotics, vital for maintaining a healthy gut. Much like fruit, yogurts involve little to no preparation, and also offers a range of flavors for a varied experience from day to day. Similarly, by choosing healthy yogurts, you can ensure that your afternoon snack doesn’t ruin your appetite, nor your waist line! Add some flax seed, hemp hearts or chia for a little protein and added health benefits. You can add your own ingredients to plain yogurt. For example, add a little local honey and some lemon, lime or orange essential oil. This makes a sweet, low-fat and flavorful dip!
3. Smoothies
Smoothies can be a superb way of treating yourself during the working day. By preparing a smoothie to bring to work, you can ensure that you are getting enough fruit and veggies in your diet, and give yourself an excellent energy boost when the afternoon lag sets in! Smoothies also allow you to vary your snack from day to day, ensuring that every day feels like a new treat! They can also be stored in the fridge for a couple of days so bring enough to last you 2 days. Add some toasted sunflower seeds for protein and a little nutty taste.
Here’s one of my favorite smoothies:
Chocolate Cherry Smoothie Favorite
handful of spinach or kale or other greens
handful of frozen dark, pitted cherries
1 Tablespoon raw cacao powder
3-4 pitted madjool dates
1 drop liquid Stevia (optional)
1 Tablespoon hemp seed
1 cup water
handful ice
Blend until smooth.
4. Salad Ingredients
Salads don’t have to be grand, extravagant affairs. Rather than making a “salad”, consider bringing a few items that you might put in a salad and have them on hand for snacking during the day. A simple salad can consist of a hard-boiled egg and just a few of your favorite vegetables. The preparation time for a salad snack is minimal, but the benefits are huge. Tasty and healthy, salads are one of the most under-utilized workplace snacks. Keep in a container some of the following: Grape tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, snap peas, thin, sliced carrots and celery. Pair with some small slices of cheddar or low-fat swiss cheese.
If you are a sweet eater, bring some dark chocolate (70% or higher cacao) and have a small piece when you feel like eating cookies and cake! Dark chocolate is actually good for you and can help reduce your cravings for high processed sugar snacks.
When planning your week of meals for you and your family, consider your day and how snacking can be of assistance with your energy. Then plan to include that in your shopping so you’ll be ready to easily pull out those items for your work day.
Keep an eye out for the 30 Day Clean Eating Challenge coming soon!
by bringmebliss | Dec 7, 2015 | Fun Food
Do you know why food/eating experts promote eating seasonal foods? It’s because it makes sense from several different standpoints. Many restaurant menus offer “seasonal” dishes which usually refer to the types of vegetables that are in season. Supermarkets offer fruits and veggies in season because they are in abundance at that particular time of year. Local, seasonal foods are all around us, yet we often remain ignorant about why we should eat them.
There are 3 reasons to eat local, seasonal food. Let’s look at those reasons so we feel more empowered to make good shopping choices.
1 – It is generally cheaper.
Seasonal foods are cheaper in season versus out of season for the simple reason that they are in abundance. When supply is plenty and demand is moderate, prices are reasonable and affordable. Contrast this with a food that is out of season, where supply is low. For example, strawberries are mostly in season in the Spring. This is why you see loads of strawberries and shortcakes promoted heavily that time of year. (For health reasons, I recommend staying away from the shortcakes!) Prices are low in the Spring and Summer, but as we move into Fall, the prices rise.
In the Fall, a variety of squash make it into the store in droves. This is because we harvest that type of vegetable in the Fall. Since we have an abundance of squash, prices will reflect the supply.
The cost of seasonal produce is almost always cheaper than foods that are produced out of season. This is one of the biggest reasons why people should consider shopping seasonally. There are huge savings to be had by simply being aware of what is scarce and what is in great supply.
2 – Food tastes better in season.
Plants have life cycles and they peak at a certain point in that life cycle. This goes for fruits and vegetable plants as well as flowers, trees, shrubs and bushes. At some stage in the development of the plant, there will be the most nutritional benefit and this is when the fruit or vegetable should be harvested and eaten.
If you buy produce locally, you are more likely to get really fresh produce. Fresh food tastes better than food that has had to travel, losing its freshness on the way to the supermarket. Also, food that is in season (such as watermelon in the summer) is going to taste best when you eat it shortly after it has been picked. I recently picked up a half watermelon at the grocery store (it’s December as of this writing). I had some for breakfast and was not surprised when it just didn’t have it’s full mouth-watering, sweet flavor. It was total proof that buying out of season can have disappointing results.
Food tastes its best when it is freshest, and it will undoubtedly be at its freshest when it’s in season! There is also the very real consideration that many in-season foods can generally be sourced locally. “Farm to Table” is a phrase that was coined to describe local foods being served fresh and directly from the source with no middleman (such as a wholesaler, distributor or supermarket).
Start noticing all the Fall and Winter vegetables and consider making some new soups or dishes with these veggies.
3 – Food is healthier in season.
The body needs different kinds of fuel at different times of the year. We eat more fats in the winter to build a thermal blanket in our systems which help to keep us warm. And we tend to make a lot of hot, healthy soups and chilis in the winter because the heat helps to regulate our body temperature. Consider making roasted butternut squash soup in the Fall and notice how flavorful this fresh squash vegetable can be with a few added ingredients.
Just to help you out here:
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
Cubed butternut squash
1 onion, sliced
3-5 whole, peeled garlic cloves
S & P
Extra virgin olive oil
Cayenne pepper (optional)
Directions
In a bowl, combine squash, onion, garlic, olive oil (enough to coat vegetables), S & P to taste and cayenne pepper (a few shakes). Lay out on a lined, foiled baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes at 350; stir around and bake another 15-20 minutes.
Scoop a portion of the mixture into a blender, add a little water and blend. Poor into another pot and scoop the remaining portion of the mixture into blender, repeating the previous step. Once soup is all combined, keep warm until ready to serve. Top with toasted pepitas (optional).
We already know that a balanced diet consists of fresh, unrefined foods that haven’t been processed(food additives, etc). Local, seasonal foods are farmed up the road and entirely unprocessed. Local, seasonal foods give you the best chance to get the best nutritional value out of your food. And the brilliant thing about eating seasonally is that your diet changes throughout the year! As a result, seasonal eaters get a huge variety in their diet further enhancing the health benefits of seasonal eating.
Eating local, seasonal foods 1) is more affordable, 2) tastes better and 3) is healthier for you. When you consider these benefits, it simply makes sense to get with the seasonal program and enjoy the variety that comes with changing your food selections throughout the year.
Keep an eye out for the 30 Day Clean Eating Challenge coming soon!
In the meantime, let’s connect on facebook! Click the logo below.
