5 Things That Have Found Their Way Into My Kitchen

September 14, 2015September 14, 2015 / ktbuchs87

It might come as a shock to you, but sometimes I get stuck in food ruts. I usually make the same thing for dinner during the week so that I can keep Adam and I on track with healthy meals and I can keep our food costs down. But the other reason is that I can get lazy. Sometimes the idea of coming up with something new and delicious just makes me tired. So it’s easy to rely on the same old favorites in the kitchen and not venture into new territory.

While there is nothing wrong with preparing the same food that you know you like and you know is healthy and works for your body, it does get a little boring after awhile. Boredom, as least for me, only leads to bad things in the area of food. Soon I start eating more and more to feel satisfied because the meals I’m eating are the same old same old. When that happens I know it’s time to switch things up and throw some new tricks into my old routine.

Here are some things that I have added to my kitchen and pantry in hopes of shaking things up and keeping my meals healthy and fun!

P.A.N- Pre-cooked White Corn Meal

If you follow me on Instagram (which you should, I’m fun), then you have heard me rave about this. Actually you have heard me rave about arepas which are made from pre-cooked corn meal. I have seen arepas on other bloggers feeds and seen them on shows like Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. Every time I see them being made, I’m like, “Those look amazing, I need to try them myself.” So I finally got this flour to make my own arepas. Yes, you have to use pre-cooked corn meal not regular corn meal. This was the brand that was recommended everywhere I looked, and I found it on Amazon for like $2. Expect an arepa recipe soon because not only is it delicious, it is way easier to make than you would think.

Figs

This is another thing that I constantly see on social media and yet I have never tried them. Well, I have never tried fresh figs. I have had dried figs and fig newtons if you can count those as actual figs. But the fresh version was never on my radar. They have a very short season and I just happened to see them on sale at my Jewel so I picked some up on a whim. They are really good! I think I might have to try making some fig jam with them so I can enjoy them just a little bit longer.

Canned Coconut Milk

Ok, this isn’t a new one for me, but I had forgotten about it for awhile. I used to get a couple of cans of coconut milk a week and use them in soups and stews and oatmeal and baked goods. It’s really nice and creamy, so it works great as a substitute for things like heavy cream or whole milk. My favorite thing to do with it lately is make creamy herb dressings/sauces, which I used on my pasta salad recipe last week and which leads me to the next thing….

Fresh Herbs

Another one that isn’t new, but that I had put on the back burner. I usually pick up a bunch of cilantro each week, but one stand at my farmer’s market sells every fresh herb known to man. I have started getting fresh basil, dill, parsley, cilantro, and lemon grass and using them in all the things. Seriously, go get some fresh herbs and put them in your meals. They enhance the flavor and bring a wonderful freshness to boring old dishes. Throw some basil into a frittata or blend in some parsley with meat/lentil loaf. It will up your dinner game and everyone will think you’re a culinary whiz. You can also freeze, turn them into oil, or sauces to have them on hand for the winter months.

Trader Joes

We have a Trader Joes in our neighborhood, but I always forget about it because it isn’t in my usual rotation of grocery stores. That needs to change because I went there on Friday to find shaved brussels sprouts (another Instagram phenom) and remembered why I love Trader Joes. They have good food for a decent price. Plus I found these dark chocolate covered espresso beans for Adam that he has become obsessed with at work. Brussels sprouts and chocolate. Yup, good combo.

Long story short, don’t be afraid to branch out of your food comfort zone. It can get so easy to make the same things over and over and over… but even just a little change can add some pizzazz and flavor back into your meals. Plus there are plenty of healthy options out there to make dinnertime tasty and nutritious.

What are some things that have turned your kitchen game around?

Things I Learned This Weekend

August 24, 2015August 24, 2015 / ktbuchs87

Good Monday morning my friends! I hope that you had a great weekend and are ready for this week. I don’t know where you are in the world right now, but the weather here in Chicago today is AMAZING!! Fall is definitely in the air and while I am still clinging to my last few days of summer, I am just about ready for my absolute favorite season. And the food that comes with it. Mmmmm food….

Moving on. This past weekend was my sister’s bachelorette party and despite some less than favorable circumstances, I think that everyone had a fairly good time. I’m not a great party planner, and as the MOH I’ve put together her shower and this party. I was really worried that I would throw the worst shower and bachelorette party ever and Jodie would fire me as her sister and MOH. I promise I’m not dramatic at all. But with the help of my mom, sister, and tons of other people, both parties have gone fairly smoothly.

So this weekend was spent with friends and bridesmaids doing things to honor and celebrate the bride-to-be and her upcoming wedding! Here are a few things that I learned this weekend:

Plans can and will change

I mentioned before that we had a few bumps in the road with planning and executing this party. Without going into extreme detail, my sister wasn’t feeling 100% this weekend but didn’t want to totally cancel her party because it was one of the only weekends before the wedding that we could do things. So in about the span of a few hours we worked to totally restructure the weekend to work a little better for her. While we might not have done what she originally wanted/planned, we still managed to have a good time. I was very surprised at my ability to remain fairly calm and collected while all this plan changing was going on because I am a big control freak. Maybe I’m finally maturing. Hahaha yeah right.

Chickens and how they reproduce

Bet you didn’t think that this would come up at a bachelorette party! But hey, we didn’t have a stripper so why not talk about chicken sex. We were playing a game and how chicken’s reproduce came up, don’t ask how. One of my sister’s bridesmaids explained it to the group and we were both intrigued and disgusted. There are some things that might be left to the imagination. If you really want to know, you can check out these charts, but I warn you. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it. Also, there is a dark and seedy underworld of black market chicken porn…. you had to be there.

I can do art…. sort of

Things I Learned This Weekend | Life Healthfully Lived

I made this!

One of the things that we did this weekend was a wine and art event. You’ve probably heard/seen of these things. Basically, you go to this art studio, bring along some wine, and then an art teacher will teach you how to paint a picture. We went to Bottle & Bottega in Evanston and it was really fun. I highly recommend if you’re looking for a fun activity to check it out. Some of the girls (me included) were a little worried because we aren’t the strongest artists. I regularly mess up stick figures, but we were assured that the instructor really helps you make a good painting. It was fun to do something different and we walked away with some pretty art that we had made with our own little hands… and a few glasses of wine.

P.S. There might have been a pterodactyl in one of the paintings….

There is a lot of love for my sister and her fiance

I have to say that my sister has some amazing friends. People never thought twice about having to change plans at the last second and were always putting my sister and her needs first this weekend. As her big sister, it really touched my heart to see these girls surround her with love and support. Not only do they love her, they really love Andy her fiance and can’t wait to see them get married and start their life together. Plus these ladies can make me laugh until my sides hurt and tears are streaming down my face. I can’t thank them enough for coming and celebrating with Jodie and making this the best bachelorette party I have ever put together (ok, ok it’s the only one I’ve put together!)

We love you Jodie and Andy and can’t wait for your wedding in October!!

5 Reasons I Don’t Miss Processed Food

August 17, 2015August 17, 2015 / ktbuchs87

When people hear the way I eat, they usually ask, “But don’t you miss such and such food?” Such and such food most often being some type of processed/junk/convenience food.

In the beginning, I would say yes. I did miss the ease of ready to go foods. I missed the taste of the sugar and salt and fat of those foods. I missed what I thought was the cheaper option of food at the grocery store. Overall, I missed the comfort of what had been my eating habits for the majority of my life.

Now, I don’t miss it at all. I don’t even think about the food I’m not eating because I’m too busy enjoying all the food I am eating. Here are the reasons that I don’t miss processed food anymore.

1. Real food tastes better

“But Katie, have you tasted a Reeses/Twinkie/Doritos/whatever lately? They are delicious!” To be honest I haven’t tasted any one of those things in a very long time, but that is a good thing. It has allowed my tastes buds to realize how good real food tastes. Processed food is chemically altered to make it tastes as appealing as possible, real food just grows that way. It doesn’t need anything added to make it better. I like that. It does take some time for your tastes to adjust, so if you have been living primarily on processed food you’re probably raising an eyebrow right now. There is no way that a piece of broccoli tastes better than a candy bar. Give your taste buds and your brain a chance to adjust and you’ll realize real food is pretty delicious!

2. I’ve learned to cook

I’ve known how to cook for awhile, but I really grew confident and adventurous in the kitchen when I stopped using processed food. Rather than boiling some pasta and throwing a store-bought jar of sauce on top, I now had all these ingredients that had to turn into a meal. There was a learning curve, but I got the hang of it and now I come up with my own meals and recipes and enjoy the whole cooking experience. I wonder how certain foods would taste together, or if one technique would work better in a certain dish, and I can test all those things out. I never did that with boxed or packaged food. I like the creativity real food lets me have.

3. I’ve become more aware

I never used to wonder what happened to create the package of food I bought in the store. It tasted fine and I didn’t need to worry about that. Now I am a firm believer in reading all labels and really understanding what is in the food you eat. There are certain ingredients that we don’t need to put in our bodies and the more we are aware of these things, the better off we’ll be.

4. I feel better

After I’m done eating, I don’t feel the need to take a nap (fact: I’m always ready for a nap). But seriously, food doesn’t make me feel like I need to slip into a coma after I’ve eaten it. I don’t feel sluggish, my stomach doesn’t hurt as much, my skin has gotten clearer, and I have more energy to do the things that I like doing. Now some of that is the result of living a healthier lifestyle overall, but a lot of it is the food I choose to eat. Food plays such an important part of your daily functioning and you should choose it with care.

5. I have never felt restricted

When I first started, I worried that there would be nothing left for me to eat but salads and celery. I would never really enjoy food again, it would just be something to fuel my body and move on. Nothing could be farther from the truth! I love food and savor every bite. I never feel like I’m missing out on something and I love finding a healthier way to enjoy old favorites. So much of our culture is centered around food and we forget to enjoy the experiences going on away from the table. It’s nice to place the emphasis on people and making memories rather than worrying about what I’m going to eat.

Do I think that all packaged and processed food is the devil? No. There are many things that I still buy myself and use in my kitchen. I’m just more conscious of my decisions and do my best to choose things that are as close to their natural state as possible. If you’re trying to step away from a highly processed diet, do it slowly. Take baby steps towards eliminating old foods and introducing new ones. You’ll start to see the positive effects in your life and you’ll wonder why you haven’t switched sooner!

3 Things I Did In The Past That Did NOT Better My Health

August 10, 2015August 10, 2015 / ktbuchs87

We all make mistakes. It’s part of the human experience and I am most definitely human so I make a lot of mistakes. Shocker, I know. People hear the word mistake and immediately associate it with something negative, I do it all the time. But I have started to look back at my mistakes and realize that they were important parts of my journey and helped move me in the direction that I needed to go, even if I resisted at first.

As a blogger, it is so tempting to only show you the good stuff. The happy stuff. The stuff that spreads my message beautifully. But it isn’t the only stuff that goes on in my life. There are messy parts, ugly parts, not so good parts that I am glad the whole world can’t see. It’s the combination of all these stuff and parts that make me who I am.

When it comes to health, I have made my fair share of mistakes. I have done things that did nothing to help me and if I had kept up with them would have ultimately hurt me. I want to share these with you so you can avoid the same problems or maybe realize you aren’t alone. Here are three things I did to try and be healthier but were all wrong.

1. Severely restricting my calories

This is usually some of the first advice you get when you want to lose weight and be healthier. Eat less, move more. It seems so simple and we want weight loss to be simple. On the surface calories in vs. calories out makes sense and it is true that if you eat more food than your body has a need for, you will gain weight. But there is so much more going on. We are learning more and more that calories aren’t all the same and we don’t use them in the way we previously thought. I know when I first started to be serious about losing weight, I demonized calories. Calories were the enemy. They were the things that were making me fat. They were the evil demons that I had to battle every day. The less the better was my mindset. Here’s the thing, calories are not the enemy. You need calories. They are the things that fuel your body. Literally every function of your body requires calories, from blinking, breathing, just being alive. I had to work to flip the switch in my brain that made calories bad and focus on finding the right food to fuel my body and allow me to accomplish my goals. Which leads me to my next mistake…

2. Putting food into a “good” or “bad” category

Ok so I figured out that calories aren’t the devil. But there were definitely good food and “bad” food. I had to avoid the “bad” food at all costs or my body would revolt and instantly fall into a pit of unhealthy shame. Dramatic? Yes. What I whole-heartedly believed? Totally. Food is food. There are better choices but in the end bad food won’t completely end you. A healthy diet is what you consistently eat, not what you treat yourself to once in awhile. Eat the chocolate and move on. Don’t dwell on it, don’t feel guilty about it, and keep eating the real food that makes up the majority of your diet. I still struggle with this every now and then, but it is getting better.

3. Thinking my weight was the end all be all to health

I used to weigh myself every single morning and I sadly let the number on the scale dictate my rule and mood. If it was what I believed was acceptable then the day was a good one and I was happy. Anything higher than what I wanted was grounds for a horrible mood, more food restriction, and feeling guilty. It took me a REALLY long time to get over this one, but I can say that I have not weighed myself for over a year and have no clue my number is. And you know what? The world hasn’t ended. I haven’t gained 50 pounds (I literally worried that would happen when I retired my scale) and my self-worth has not gone down. What you way is in no way the best measure of your health or the entirety of who you are. If you weigh yourself all the time, try taking a break and see how you feel. Go about your day and see if not knowing what you weigh affects you in a negative way. I bet it won’t. Your family will still love you, your co-workers won’t ignore you, and life will not stop because you don’t know your weight.

These are three of the bigger mistakes when it came to my health, but once I started working through them it got better. I realized that good health isn’t static and changes from day to day. There are times when I’m less than perfect and that is ok. I’ll learn and move on.

If you’re just starting out with your health journey, don’t be afraid to make mistakes. You will learn more about yourself and be able to adjust your habits to find the best health possible!

DIY Wednesday: Pickles

July 1, 2015July 1, 2015 / ktbuchs87

Let’s talk about pickles for a second. Is there anything more satisfying than the briny crunch of a good dill pickle? Put a pickle on anything and it’s instantly elevated. Sandwiches are good but add a pickle and they become phenomenal. Need a little zip on your burger? Slap on a pickle. You can even make soup out of pickles. It’s better than you would think, trust me. Pickles also come in so many different types. Spicy, sweet, dill, bread and butter, gherkins, kosher…. The list is endless.

I’m sure you know that you can make your own pickles. It’s not that difficult of a process, but for some reason pickling anything causes some people to back away slowly. It seems like a complicated process that can be messed up very easily. It isn’t, but I get it. For the longest time, I shied away from making my own pickles and just bought mine at the store. Unfortunately when I started to read labels, I had the hardest time finding any that didn’t have added sugar, preservatives, or weird ingredients. There were a few out there, but they were few and far between.

So I decided to try and make my own. I looked at a few recipes and came up with my own brine and got to pickling. It was really easy and I was left with some tasty pickles. I’ll share how I made my own brine, but I’m also going to share a little secret. You don’t have to make your own brine to make homemade pickles, you can use a little shortcut. If you have a brand of pickles you usually buy and the ingredients are good, you can just re-use that for your own pickles. All you have to do is cut up your cucumber and add it to the jar. Voila! You have pickles. Easy-peasy!

DIY Pickles

1-2 cucumbers, sliced into spears
3-4 cloves garlic
1 cup vinegar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp dried dill or small bunch of fresh dill
1 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric

Find a large jar that has a tight seal. Place the cucumber spears and cloves of garlic into the jar and pour in the vinegar.
Add in all the seasonings. Close the jar and then shake to disperse the seasonings throughout. Place the jar into the fridge for about a week to fully pickle the cucumbers.

Isn’t that simple? And it’s even easier if you’re just reusing a store bought jar. You can play with the seasonings and adjust them to your taste. If you want to have a spicy pickle try adding in cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes. If you want to try something a little sweeter add in a little honey, maple syrup, or coconut sugar. You can also change up which vegetables you use. Try carrots, beets, cauliflower, parsnips, or zucchini. This is a great way to preserve the vegetables you get at the market and it makes for a quick healthy snack.