Does this sound familiar?

You’re going along in life, maybe trying to be healthier maybe not, and you read an article on a blog/FB/Instagram/Snapchat/whatever social media you crazy kids are using these days that is about a recent study claiming doing this will either give you the best health ever or ruin it entirely and you think, “Hmmm…. Maybe I should try/eliminate whatever this article is talking about?”  

If you said yes to any of the above, trust me, you’re not alone.  Information these days is so fast and it’s EVERYWHERE.  While that can be an awesome thing, it can also be a not so awesome thing.  Especially when it comes to your health.

I read A LOT of articles, studies, blogs, and whatnot on health/nutrition/fitness and I know that I was letting a lot of those things affect the way I lived.  Obviously, if there is a study about something, it has to be true right?  It should fix whatever problem I have, right?

Not always. 

I think we tend to let information, particularly about our health, influence the way we feel.  Take gluten for example.  You might never have had a problem with gluten but then suddenly you start reading all these articles about how gluten is horrible and ruining your health and wheat is evil and stay away from gluten which, come to find out, is IN EVERYTHING. So you avoid gluten and you never really had to in the first place so nothing about your health changes and eating all the processed gluten-free foods available in stores actually makes things worse.

Of course, there are people who need to avoid gluten like the plague and there are people who should limit their intake.  But just because there is a study that says one thing is good or bad doesn’t mean it’s necessarily true for you.  Absolutely, experiment with ways of eating and moving and see how they make you feel.  If you find something that makes you feel healthy and awesome, great!  Stick with it and don’t be afraid to try new things if what you’re doing stops working.  But only change if you know something isn’t right with you, not because an article says you should.

Alright, that’s my piece of advice for this Monday and now I thought I would share my favorite slow cooker recipes.  Because it’s winter.  And it’s cold.  And you want someone else to make your dinner for you.  Which is kind of what a slow cooker does.  Throw things in it, go to work, come home, and eat a delicious meal.

It’s almost like having a personal chef.  Almost.

My Favorite Slow Cooker Recipes 

• Squash Apple Butter– Perfect topping for toast or oatmeal
• Caramelized Onions– Perfect topping for, well, anything!
• Tomato Artichoke Soup– Love this combo!
• Minestrone Soup– Seriously one of my all-time favorite recipes on the blog
• Butternut Peanut Stew– Sounds weird, tastes amazing
• Cauliflower Pesto Mac N’ Cheese– If you don’t do pasta, this is a good substitute
• Eggplant Garlic Bake– AWFUL picture, but a simple and delicious meal
• Lazy Cabbage Rolls– Come on, lazy is built into the name.  You have to try it!
• Butternut Mushroom Risotto– Instead of stirring forever make risotto in your slow cooker!