The Right Way to Make Popcorn

A lot of people don't realize that popcorn is actually a whole grain, meaning it is unrefined and has all of the grain components, providing the most nutrients. If you make popcorn the "right way" then it is a great snack to have that's packed with whole grains.

Most people buy bagged popcorn that is full of butter and chemical additives. Instead, pop your own with plain old popping corn kernels, and a brown paper bag! It is so quick, easy, and way less expensive than the pre-bagged microwave popcorn, and it so much better for you. By popping your own, you can control how much butter, how much salt, and how many additives you put in it.






See all the added ingredients in this bag of microwave popcorn? If you pop your own the only ingredient is popping corn!

So here is how you pop your own popcorn...


Step 1: 

For about one serving, use 1-2 Tbsp. of popping corn kernels, and dump it in a brown paper bag.

Step 2:

Roll up the bag, make sure you leave room for the corn to pop!

Step 3:

Put the bag into the microwave, and microwave it for about 1 minute and 45 seconds, or until you hear it stop popping.

Step 4:

Take the bag out of the microwave, and pour it in a bowl.

Step 5:

Flavor your popcorn! I love spraying mine with a little cooking spray (olive oil, or coconut oil) and sprinkling on some cinnamon. Other topping suggestions are sea salt, chili powder, parmesan cheese, cocoa powder, honey, garlic and basil. Get creative, and see what kind of toppings you can think of!

Step 6: 

Enjoy your deliciously natural, one-ingredient popcorn! (I chose to enjoy mine by the fire, yummmmm!)

Mac and Cheese: Not From The Box

Notice a difference in the photos above? The mac and cheese on the left probably looks familiar to you, the Kraft mac and cheese, that can be made super quick and easy with a packet of "cheese" powder....but the one on the right is r e a l mac and cheese, with real ingredients that can be easily found in your home, identifiable ingredients that aren't made in a factory, or a chemistry lab. The real mac and cheese may not be as yellow as the Kraft one, but that is totally normal, because the homemade mac and cheese doesn't have dangerous food dyes in it.

If you're a parent I STRONGLY urge you to stop feeding packaged mac and cheese to your kids. Most boxed mac and cheese (Kraft in particular) has food dyes (Yellow #5 and #6) that can strongly effect your child's health, and may lead to hyperactivity, asthma, rashes,  migraines, or other learning disabilities. These dyes are banned in many different countries, but of course are allowed in America. So take a little extra time and use wholesome ingredients that aren't made in a chemistry lab, because in the end it will be worth it.

So is mac and cheese super healthy, and should you eat it everyday? No....but when you do eat it, take the time to make it right, take the little bit of extra energy to use REAL ingredients, instead of just pouring in a powdery substance that Kraft claims is cheese. I'm making it super easy for you to take this step in changing your health by giving you a simple homemade mac and cheese recipe that can be made in bulk to last you/your family through the week. 

The mac and cheese recipe can definitely be considered a base for many different meals...mix in some veggies for extra nutrients, add in some barbecue sauce for a flavor kick, make this mac and cheese your own, and experiment with different cheese, or add-ins!

Ingredients:

1 box of noodles (you can use whatever types of noodles you prefer-whole wheat, gluten free, spaghetti noodles) 

1/4 cup butter (or you can use a natural butter substitute like Earth Balance)

1/4 cup milk (could also use any type of milk substitute like unsweetened almond milk)

2-3 Tbsp. all purpose flour (could also use a gluten free substitute like garbanzo bean flour)

1 1/2 cups cheese of choice (if you have problems with dairy, you could try a cheese alternative, like daiya cheese)

Step One:

Boil your noodles until they are soft, then strain them.

Step Two:

 Use the same pot you cooked your noodles in and on low temperature add in your butter, milk, and flour to create a roux (a base for your cheese sauce) use a whisk to combine the ingredients together to form a smooth, creamy consistency. If you need to add more of any of these ingredients to get this consistency, definitely do! (butter and or milk will make it creamier, flour will make it thicker) You want your roux to look like the bottom right photo below, and be super creamy.

Step Three:

Add in your cheese and stir with a spoon until it's melted, or at least almost melted.

Step Four:

Add back in your noodles, and stir until it's all combined. If the cheese isn't sticking to the noodles very well, add in some more flour.

Step Five:

Enjoy your delicious, REAL mac and cheese!

My Favorite: Vegetables

So here is another favorites post, where I basically try really really hard to choose my top five favorites....this time it's vegetables.

Disclaimer: in my mind, sweet potatoes have a category of their own, so they aren't going to be included in this list. Also, I won't include greens in this either for the same reason.

     1. Carrots
I would definitely choose carrots as my top favorite vegetable, because of how it has such a great flavor. Carrots are one of the sweeter vegetables, which I think is especially brought out in roasting them. Also carrots and hummus....need I say more?

 

     2. Cauliflower

Cauliflower is my number two choice because of its versatility. Cauliflower is amazing steamed, made into cauliflower rice, roasted, and even cauliflower mashed potatoes. It has such a buildable flavor which I think is key part in making it a "perfect" vegetable.

     

     3. Peas

I hate to generalize peas, but due to my indecisiveness I am going to. Sugar snap peas, garden peas, snow peas they are so delicious! Super sweet and so great to snack on. I could (and have) eat an entire bag of sugar snap peas, I think its the crunch that is just so amazing. Also, garden peas (frozen, not canned....never canned) are great in salads and also just right out of the bag, out of the freezer. 

     4. Brussel Sprouts

When cooked properly, brussel sprouts are to die for. They are sweet and hearty all at the same time. The key to brussel sprouts is to roast them, if you give me steamed brussel sprouts I won't touch them....but I can easily eat an entire pan of roasted brussel sprouts. They are packed with nutrition and always get so much hate from, as I'd like to call it, the "steamed brussel sprout" generation. But honestly, my discovery of roasted brussel sprouts definitely changed my life. yummmmm...

  

     5. Tomatoes 
Tomatoes are so sweet and juicy, and they are even better in the summer, and even better from my garden. I love just eating them like an apple, or slicing them up with some sea salt and black pepper, or even making a basil tomato sandwich with just a basil leaf in between two slices of tomato. Cherry tomatoes are also perfect because, like peas, they are great to just eat like candy.....right out of the carton.

 

So there it is...my top five favorite vegetables of all time. Hope you enjoyed!

Is Your Money Going Down The Toilet?

I really want to talk about this little thing called vitamin C. Everyone seems to always be pushing vitamin C because of its immune protection powers, as well as its overall health benefits. Many people take vitamin C supplements, or powders to try to get enough vitamin C.

For a while, I took Emergen-C which is a powder that you add to water and drink. It has 1000 mg of vitamin C which, according to the nutrition facts, is 1,667% of your Daily Value. Although it does have some other nutritional supplements added to it, it also has an enormous amount of vitamin C. (it also has non-nutritional additives such as "natural" orange flavorings and tapioca maltodextrin)

You can't have too much vitamin C, right....?

Wrong. Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin, meaning our bodies only absorb a certain amount at a time, and the leftovers just get peed out. This is much different from fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K) which their leftovers get stored in the body for later use.

Women need around 75 milligrams per day, while men need around 90 milligrams a day. Which as you can see, is well below the 1000 mg dosage in a packet of Emergen-C.

So what should you do if you don't think you're getting enough vitamin C in your diet?

Well, personally, I would try my best to get the most vitamin C from your diet, incorporating foods like oranges, kiwi, dark left greens like kale or spinach, peppers, broccoli, or peas. All of these will not only provide you with large amounts of vitamin C, but they also provide many other nutritional benefits (they are all low in calories as well).

But if you just can stand the taste of any of these foods, and still insist that a supplement is what you need to keep your immunity levels up then supplements are fine, just take them in SMALL doses. Taking small doses of vitamin C powders, or pills will keep you from wasting money. So if you enjoy Emergen-C, take only half a pack in the morning, and the other in the afternoon. Or buy vitamin C pills that have less than 100% of the Daily Value of vitamin C and take one pill in the morning and one at night.

But like I said before, save your money on supplements and EAT vitamin C from natural sources, because not only will you reap the vitamin C benefits, but also the benefits from all the other nutrients in the foods.

My Thoughts: Organic or Conventional?

     Organic is a term that gets thrown around all the time in the food industry. So many studies are done to investigate whether or not organic is better, healthier, more sustainable, etc. First of all, many people don't actually know what organic is, or what it means, or how it's different than conventional food.

     Organic foods are produced without chemicals, pesticides, irradiation, or additives. In other words, they are grown about the same way, but without any types of sprays or treatments. This means that farmers have to keep very specific conditions, and use specific organic pesticides to grown their produce. Being an organic garden is something that has to go through a certification process, and isn't something that a farmer can just claim. All companies must be certified to used the word "organic" whereas anyone and everyone can use the word "natural". So organic and "natural"....not the same thing at all. ( I will discuss my anger with the word "natural" in a later blog post)

 (wait, so these are "natural"....?)

     Many people assume that organic is better for you, more nutritious, and more beneficial to your health. This can be very overwhelming to someone that is trying to eat healthier, because organic foods are definitely more expensive, and not everyone can afford to buy organic. So does this mean you should just not buy produce at all if you can't afford organic? Of course not! Something doesn't have to be organic in order to be healthy and nutritious for you. Also, it has yet to be proven that organic foods are better for you, or healthier than conventionally grown produce.

     So what are my thoughts on this subject? I think organic produce can be too expensive to buy, and I have no problem at all with buying conventionally grown produce. I'd rather it be organic, or locally grown, to reduce the amounts of chemicals going into my body....but organic is something that just isn't on my list of priorities when going grocery shopping. Although I do make sure that I wash all my produce completely to get as much chemicals and pesticides off as I can. Organic is something that I think gets blown out of proportion, and although it is important, it isn't something to obsess over.

     There is a list known as "The Dirty Dozen" which is a list of foods that pesticides are used the most on. When I start making actual money, and can afford to spend a little more on food, I will start buying most of these foods organically, but until them all I can do is scrub, wash, rinse, repeat. Also, notice that most of these foods you eat the entire piece of food, meaning focus on buying organic (if you can) produce that you eat the skin, rather than buying organic banana or oranges, where you definitely are not going to be eating the skins.

     Although I don't eat meat, if I did I would definitely spend that extra money to buy organic meat, because I think organic (or hormone-free) meat is much safer. Mostly because non-organic raised animals are typically injected with hormones, which I wouldn't want to be putting in my body, so buying organic would prevent this. I also don't drink cow's milk, but if I did I would also aim for organic milk, again due to the hormones that are used in non-organic milk.

Well those are my thoughts on organic foods. Hope they did not offend you. What are your thoughts on organic? Do you spend that extra money for the organic label? Let me know in the comment section down below!