It’s a little weird, I know. You don’t normally associate carrot muffins with Valentine’s Day. BUT, there is a special ingredient in this healthy recipe that IS tied to this celebration of love.

I’ll give you one guess as to what this secret love ingredient is… It usually comes in a heart-shaped box at this time of year…

That’s right – chocolate!

Not only does dark chocolate have a whack of antioxidants and other health benefits, it also contains substances which affect our brain chemistry in a very good way:

• Releases feel-good endorphins, our natural opiates which reduce pain and decrease stress.
• Produces serotonin, neurotransmitters that act as our natural anti-depressants.
• Contains phenylethylamine which increases blood pressure and affects blood-sugar, causing excitement and alertness, similar to what we experience as love.
• Has anandamide, a chemical which works on our dopamine receptors leading to feelings of well-being. It resembles the active ingredient in marijuana (THC) and stimulates the feeling of euphoria.
• Includes theobromine, another chemical which mimics caffeine and stimulates the nervous system. It also has properties that can lead to mental and physical relaxation.

Chocolate Carrot Love Muffins

Makes: 12 muffins

Read the rest of this entry

»

It’s All Hallow’s Eve where the veil between this reality and the spirit world becomes thin (or so Celtic legend goes). Once you carve your scary pumpkin into a jack o’ lantern to stave off the evil spirits, save the seeds for a healthy Halloween treat!

Loaded with protein, fiber and essential vitamins (such as high quantities of manganese, magnesium, phosphorous, tryptophan, iron, copper, vitamin K and zinc), pumpkin seeds are as delicious as they are nutritious. (Click here for a nutrient analysis).

Although I usually go with the Cajun spice, this year I thought we might try something a little more smokey rather than spicy! Try out this roasted pumpkin seed recipe and let us know what you think:

Smokey Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Ingredients

1-2 cups pumpkin seeds from a fresh Halloween pumpkin
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp sea salt

Preparation

1. Rinse seeds and pick out any remaining pumpkin guts.
2. Soak seeds overnight. (If you have time, this makes the seeds crispier when roasted.)
3. Lay seeds out on wax paper to dry.
4. Preheat oven to 375ºF.
5. In a bowl, combine dry seeds and remaining ingredients. Toss until coated.
6. On a baking sheet, spread seeds out in one layer.
7. Bake for about 30 minutes, stirring once, until golden brown.
8. Enjoy!

Do you have any roasted pumpkin seed recipes to share? Leave them in the comments below. Happy Halloween!

Why are we calling this pesto recipe prophetic? Because it’s so good that you’ll be spouting prophesies for an hour after savouring this delicious, lip-smacking, garlic-infused, healthy green Italian sauce!

This sauce is virtually a complete meal between it’s protein, healthy oil and complex carbs. Spread it on a piece of rye bread to enjoy with a salad or use it in a whole wheat pasta dish. Created by my good friend Krista, this recipe will be sure to tantalize taste buds as well as nourish the body.

Krista’s Prophetic Pesto Sauce

Makes: approximately 1.5 cups

Ingredients

1/4 cup Almonds
2 stalks fresh Kale, destemmed
3 handfuls of fresh Spinach
1/4 of a medium Onion
5 cloves of Garlic
1 tsp. dried Basil or 1 tbsp. fresh
1/4 cup cold-pressed, extra virgin Olive Oil (or until desired consistency)
fresh ground Sea Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Directions

1. Chop almonds in blender.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth

TIP: Keep sauce in fridge for up to 2 days before consuming. You may find the garlic overwhelming and the sauce too spicy if you use it right away. We found that by letting it marinate in it’s own juices, the garlic mellows into a more palatable (and phophetic!) flavour.

Please enjoy and come back to let us know how much you loved this supremely healthy recipe!

This was such a HUGE hit at the holidays that I’ve made approximately 6 batches in the last 2 months!

It all started with the Chewy Eatmore Bar recipe I tried from ChristmasCookies.com. When I ran out of ingredients, my homemade Eatmore bar-loving friend and I started experimenting with the ingredients.

These were even better! They cried out, “Eat me! Eat me!” Hence, the name.

Here is the healthier, very convenient, stove-top, low-mess, recipe for a fabulous homemade chocolate bar:

Chewy Eatme Bars

Makes: 2 dozen

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup honey
• 1 cup almond butter
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1-1/2 cups mini-marshmallows
• 1 & 1/2 cups Rice Krispies
• 1 & 1/2 cups granola cereal
• 3/4 cup slivered almonds

Directions

1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt together the honey and nut butter. Bring to a boil.
2. Stir in chocolate chips and marshmallows, stirring until smooth.
3. Add the cereal and nuts.
4. Blend well and remove from heat.
5. Pour into lightly greased (we use lecithin) 9 x 13 inch pan and pat firmly with a spatula.
6. Let cool and cut into bars before hardening.
7. Tip: If you use 1 and 1/2 cups of the marshmallows, serve at room temperature.

This recipe wins friends so I would suggest to start practicing before the holidays. 

It’s incredibly easy to place your health on the back burner for the holiday season. Enormous amounts of goodies and food fly at you from every direction to tempt you into submission – and what the hell, we tend to think, it’s the holidays!

But it’s SO easy to gain the weight and sludge up your body functioning within only a couple of weeks, leaving you lethargic come the New Year and often too tired to tackle the challenge of getting back on track. This is why I get all giddy when I find a recipe for tasty, healthy treats. Not only can you indulge worry-free with these yummies, but you can feel good about sharing them with friends and family.

I found this delicious brownie recipe when watching the Racheal Ray Show a couple of years ago and my peeps went balistic over it (as long as you don’t tell the guys what’s in it – they seem to have a huge diversion to healthy food). It’s so popular that I’ve had requests for it (and to share the recipe) every year since!

Try these high in fiber Hannah Keeley’s Black Bean Brownies for yourself – I dare you to tell me that traditional brownies taste better!

Winter is awesome. Not every day, mind you; tonight on my way home, for instance, when the harsh Arctic winds whipped my face and stung my skin. But then again, it makes coming home that much sweeter. Add a steamin’ cup of hot chocolate, and we got pure heaven!

This recipe is from the Witches’ Almanac, issue 28, Spring 2009 to Spring 2010. I love chocolate and spice but haven’t tried anything like this before. When I do end up trying it, I’ll come back and leave my opinion in the comments. I hope you do, too!

Spicy Hot Chocolate

Ingredients

6 cups of milk
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
15 whole cardamons, crushed
12 whole cloves
2 whole star anise
2 cinnamon sticks, halved
3/4 tsp whole coriander seeds
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp dried crushed red pepper
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 tsp vanilla extract

Preparation

In a heavy saucepan, combine milk, sugar and spices. Bring to a simmer but do not boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, cover, and steep for 20 minutes. Add cocoa and vanilla. Return to heat and bring to a simmer, whisking until blended and foamy. Strain into an 8-cup measuring cup; discard spices. Pour into 6 mugs.

It’s another glorious long weekend here in Canada, the last one of the summer. So why not mark the occasion with celebration!? (Some of us have double reason to party: congratulations to my friends Krista and Brandon who just got engaged last night!)

For those of you who like to party but want to groove to a health-conscious beat, try some of Live Lighter’s healthier-for-you cocktail recipes. Ah, but to properly prepare for a party, you need snacks to satisfy those munchies. So check out the healthier-for-you party mix my good friend, Kathy sent me to share:

Kathy’s Healthy Party Mix

Prep: 10 min.   Cook: 4 hrs
Read the rest of this entry

»

Everything in this world can be rated by quality. This includes fuels: some burn efficiently and are considered high performance fuels while others come up a little short. The same holds true for the fuel for our biological machines. Not all food is created equal and our bodies burn high quality food differently than its lower quality versions.

For instance, there’s been a lot of hype about the glycemic index of foods and the GI diet. Basically, the GI ranks carbohydrate-containing foods and measures their effects on the body’s blood sugar levels. Foods with a high GI (or sugar content) get digested and metabolized faster by the body.

Protein, on the other hand, tends to be a high performance fuel. It takes longer for the body to process it and so it also satisfies our hunger long after consuming it. So comparably, carbohydrates are a low-grade fuel used for immediate energy sources.

Read the rest of this entry

»

Every holiday season I bake goodies for my loved ones. They used to be just tasty but since I’ve changed my lifestyle, I’ve been searching and trying out healthy recipes (well, heathier recipes).

Now I’ve had some hits over the past few years – check out this testimonial:

“So far I’ve tasted those crunchy, gooey chocolate delights and they are deeeelicious! There were so many unexpected textures that my mouth was in bliss as the sweet and crispy tastes collided lovingly with each other!”

Emmanuel Lopez, Motivatorman.

Wow, eh? Now would anyone be interested in what this “crunchy, gooey chocolate delight” is named? Leave a comment and maybe, just maybe, I’ll share the recipe with you all, too.