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7 Ways to Show Your Joints Some Love

I remember the first time I sprained my ankle. I was 5-years-old and I was walking down the stairs to get my ice skates to go to my friend’s birthday party. I fell down the stairs and sprained my ankle. Rather than cry for my mom, I realized this would mean I couldn’t go to […]

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The Easiest Way to Make Eggs in just One Minute

I feel guilty calling this a recipe. Guilty because it’s like calling Easy Mac a recipe, except Easy Mac is terrible for you and eggs aren’t. But as far as difficulty level, these eggs and Easy Mac are on the same level.

My daughter loves to have eggs for breakfast. The problem is, I have 45 minutes in the morning to make her breakfast, do her hair, shower and get myself ready. That doesn’t leave a lot of time for an omelet. So when she wants eggs, this is my go-to. Why? Because this egg comes together in the microwave in just one minute.

In fact… this summer the kids spent four nights with my parents while my husband and I took a trip to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. One morning, my daughter asked for an egg. My mom got out her frying pan, buttered it and cooked a beautiful scrambled egg. My daughter looked at it and said, “This is not the way to make an egg.” My poor mom.

So now the process. Pay attention or you’ll miss it, because it’s fast and not very complicated.

Just beat the egg  with a little salt, pepper and milk in a small bowl.

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Pour this into a microwave safe mug greased with your favorite pan greaser (butter, coconut oil, cooking spray, etc.). This is very important. First off, if you don’t use a microwave safe mug, you’ll have an explosion. My husband learned this the hard way when he tried to make my daughter her egg one morning. He thought he covered his tracks, until I saw the egg explosion stuck to the top of the microwave. Don’t do that. Second off, if you don’t grease it, it will stick like crazy. If you do, it will just slide right out.

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Cook it in the microwave for 30 seconds and then stir it. Put it back in the microwave for another 30 seconds. If I make two eggs, I cook it in two sets of 45 second intervals.

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My daughter loves cheese on her eggs so after it’s cooked, I sprinkle some shredded cheese on top and let the heat from the egg melt it. By the time the cheese is melted, the egg is cool enough for her to eat.

Now I can make her a nutritious breakfast in just one minute and still have time to shower and possibly even shave my legs… maybe.

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7 Healthy Ways to Satisfy Your Chocolate Cravings

When you ask people what they crave the most, the majority of people will say, “chocolate.” When you switch to a clean-eating lifestyle, that doesn’t go away. Why? Chocolate is not only good, but it’s good for you! So go ahead! Eat chocolate! BUT (That’s right, you knew there was a “but”), do it the […]

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Two Teacher Gifts Teachers will Love

My kids love to give their teachers presents at the end of the year. I agree that it’s a fun way to say, “Thank you.” But I wanted to give them something useful. Here are two ideas that were fun for both my kids and their teachers.

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Healthy Curry Stir Fry

I have another stir fry recipe today. I love stir fry because it’s a great way to use up excess or about-to-expire vegetables and meat. Plus you can flavor the mixture to fit your mood. This day, I felt like curry. This isn’t surprising since I could eat curry every day.

As is the case with most my stir frys, this comes together quickly in one pan. This serves one very hungry person or two people who are just sort of hungry. I tend to fit in the category of a very hungry person, so this is a great lunch for me.

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Healthy Grain-Free Biscuits

I’m the youngest of three kids. The oldest is my brother. While he was a fabulous big brother (no really, he was) and is still one of my heroes, he was still a big brother and had to mock and tease me without remorse. In fact, now that we’re grown, he still feels it is his duty to mock me. It’s alright. I can take it.

So when I was a kid, whenever I did something I was particularly proud of and announced it to my family my brother would respond with, “Want a biscuit?” So now whenever anyone in our family tells us something they did, we respond with, “Want a biscuit?”

Hey speaking of biscuits; aren’t they delicious!? Yeah they are. A few nights ago we had soup for dinner and I thought “Yes. I DO want a biscuit!” But biscuits aren’t that fabulous for you. Because they are so dense, they are really loaded with processed, white flour which doesn’t provide any actual nutrients. I took the challenge to make a delicious, healthy biscuit and am happy to say, was very successful.

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Plus these come together quickly which is great since I usually decide I want bread 20 minutes before dinner.

My mom used to make biscuits by sifting the dry ingredients in a large metal sifter with a turn handle. I take the lazy way out and just whisk everything together.

Then add in some butter. Since the butter has to be cold, I cut it into small cubes before I add it. To cut it in you can use an actual pastry cutter, but I don’t have luck with pastry cutters. They seem more like medieval torture devices, so I just stick with smashing the butter in with two forks. For those of you who are wondering, “What in the world is she talking about with ‘cutting in?’ ” All this means is incorporating the butter into the dry ingredients. Rather than softening it and  beating it in like you do with cookies, you want to still see bits of butter. Your dough will look a bit like small pebbles when you finish this step.

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Traditional biscuits don’t always call for eggs, but since almond flour has no gluten, you really need the eggs to bind the biscuits together. As far as milk goes, I used almond milk but you can use coconut milk, cashew milk or regular milk or cream. Just use what you have and what works for you.

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You could roll these out and cut them into nice circles but that’s an extra step I’m not willing to take. That seems like far too much effort so I did these “drop biscuit” style. Sorry about the picture. I forgot to take one before I put them in the oven. Thank goodness I’d cleaned my oven earlier that week…

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After these cook, you definitely want to let them sit for a bit to cool. This helps them set a little better so they don’t crumble.

And now you can have bread with your soup without guilt.

Want a biscuit?

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10 Healthy Meals On-the-Go

Tuesdays are crazy in our house. We leave the house at 11:45 and don’t get home until about 5:30 p.m. While there are some good protein bars and jerky sticks we can pack to eat on-the-go, nothing beats real, whole food. Yet it’s not always easy to transport or eat healthy food to eat while […]

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Healthy Taco Seasoning

Last week, we bought half a cow. We now have enough steak, stew meat, roast and ground beef to last quite a while. Not to mention liver. I think I’m going to need to do more research before we tackle that one. My kids’ reactions were very different. My 8-year-old son was appalled. I guess there’s something different about buying a pound of ground beef at the grocery store. Getting a cooler full of beef made it more real for him. He was shocked that we would eat an adorable cow. My 5-year-old daughter on the other hand, took a different stance. She wanted to meet and pet the cow before it was sent to the butcher so she could see what she was eating. She also now wants to know what part of the cow she’s eating. I’m not sure what sparked the difference in reaction but one thing is for sure; they are their own people with their own views an opinions. They never cease to amaze me.

On a different note (well… kind of different anyway) we had beef tacos last week. I wanted to make my life easier by buying a taco seasoning packet. Then I read the ingredient list and decided that wasn’t going to happen. Every seasoning I could find had sugar (sometimes organic, but it’s still sugar) and modified corn starch. What exactly is modified about it? The point is, I wasn’t impressed. I once again realized, that eating healthy means spending more time and is often inconvenient. But it’s also worth it.

So I decided to put together my own taco seasoning and the entire family was pleased. Plus, I can make a bit batch of this and it’s like having packets when I need them. It’s also easy to customize. I left out the chili powder because my daughter is really sensitive to spicy food. Even if a sauce is labeled “mild,” she’s not sold on it.

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The amount listed below is enough seasoning for one pound of meat. If you opt to make a big batch, just use around 4T seasoning per pound of meat.

You can add this to meat alone or stir in some tomato sauce or tomato paste. This is also a great seasoning for chili or taco soup.

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