How To Stock Your Kitchen

October 8, 2014 / ktbuchs87

For some of you, eating healthier is a whole new ball game. You’ve never done it before and now you’re wondering what to buy at the grocery store and what to keep on hand in your kitchen. You were used to shopping and eating one way and now that needs to change. You can’t continue buying junk food and expect to lose weight or be healthy. But what do you buy? What are things that “healthy” people fill their pantries and fridges with? I am going to share four simple things that I always keep around and are easy to incorporate into meals for healthy dishes.

Fruits and Vegetables

Let’s just start with the obvious one and get it out of the way. Yes, I always have fruits and vegetables in my kitchen. For the most part I buy what’s in season because it’s cheaper and tastes better, but I also buy carrots, bananas, frozen vegetables, and potatoes year round. If you want to eat better, start adding more of these foods into your meals. Your mother was right, eat your vegetables because they’re good for you!

Grains and Beans

At the moment I have a variety of beans, including chickpeas, pinto, black-eyed peas, and split peas, on my shelf. I also have two kinds of oatmeal, millet, quinoa, brown rice, pasta, popcorn, and polenta. All of these are great add ins to many meals as well as a food foundation to top with sauces, vegetables, meat, and more. Most of the grains that I keep on hand are very easy and quick to cook so they can be made for a tasty week night meal. I like the taste and texture of dried beans better than canned, but they do take longer to prepare because you have to soak them to cook them. If you don’t have the time to do that, there are plenty of good brands of canned beans. Just make sure to read the ingredient list and rinse them well before you use them. The other reason that I like having a plethora of beans and grains on hand is that they are cheap. I buy all of these things from the bulk bins at Whole Foods and most are less than $2 a pound. If you don’t have a store with a bulk section these foods are still cheap. You can get a one pound bag of lentils or brown rice for .99 cents! That is some good and cheap eats.

Canned Goods

I always have at least one can of tomato paste, tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes on my pantry shelf. These can be used for stews, soups, sauces, toppings for meatloaf, salsa, or anything else that you can think of for tomatoes. I buy the no sodium added kind and make sure that there is nothing but tomatoes on the ingredient list. These are also pretty cheap because I buy the store brand at Jewel. One other canned good that I usually have on hand is full fat coconut milk and pumpkin. Again these can be used in so many dishes, from sweet to savory and can be found for fairly cheap prices if you look around.

Herbs and Spices

I have a huge herb and spice collection and it is bound to get bigger. I love making my own blends, like taco seasoning, and trying out new flavors in dishes. Herbs and spices are a very important part of my cooking because they help take food to the next level. Many people complain that healthy food is bland and boring, but it doesn’t have to be if you have a handful of spices around. Try classics like oregano and basil, or branch out with spices like curry or garam masala or berbere or harissa. Experiment with different flavors and find ones that you like the best and kick up your meals a notch. I’m fortunate to live in Chicago near The Spice House and buy most of my seasonings there, but Whole Foods sells theirs in bulk as well and many grocery stores have a large and good selection. As with any food though make sure you read the labels because some companies add in chemicals to keep the spices from clumping in transit.

There you have it. Four staples of the Dawson household. I use these things on a daily basis to create healthy meals and they are a good starting point for stocking a healthy kitchen. Of course I have more than just this food in my house, but I would say that most meals that I make are based on or incorporate these foods. Don’t feel overwhelmed if you are just starting out. Build your healthy kitchen slowly and find things that you enjoy and will use regularly. There is no wrong way to create your own healthy stock of food!

Healthy Or Happy

October 6, 2014 / ktbuchs87

I have noticed that there is a popular sentiment that arises when people talk about being healthier: “I would be healthier, but I would rather be happy.” They might not necessarily say that exact phrase, but it’s close. I would eat better, but I don’t want to be miserable. I would work out more, but I don’t want to hate life. I would take care of myself, but I have other things going on. For some reason, there seems to be a disconnect between being healthy and being happy.

This idea pervades the health world all the time. Diets are associated with denying yourself what you really want to eat, what would make you happy, and eating foods that are boring and tasteless albeit good for you. Exercise is tied in with punishing yourself for eating poorly or torturing yourself to make your body look good. In order to be the best you health-wise, you have to deprive yourself of happiness.

Leaders of the health realm play into this idea, to some extent. How many times have you heard a new fad diet claim that you can still eat the foods you love and lose weight, somehow implying that food that is good for you is food that you don’t love? How many new fitness trends focus on the no pain no gain motto? Or advertise that their workouts are really intense, but if you only devote yourself to twenty minutes of torture you can look like a fitness model? I know that not every diet or fitness trend out there does this, but I feel that on some level they still make the association that being healthy takes a little bit of being miserable.

This is so far from the truth, and it is one of the obstacles that stand in the way when people think about being healthier. No person wants to give up being happy or submit themselves to deprivation and torture to be in a better state of health. For awhile, I thought that if I wasn’t denying myself some type of happiness when it came to my health, I wasn’t really getting healthier. If I didn’t feel totally worn out after a workout or say no to an extra helping, I wasn’t doing it right. Inevitably I would give up on my diet and working out because I didn’t like feeling miserable. Sound familiar?

I want to help perpetuate the idea that healthy and happy go hand in hand. Eating well doesn’t have to be a battle of temptation. You can find food that is delicious AND good for you. You might have to experiment a little to find out what you like and you might have to let your tastes adjust to less processed food, but you can eat good for you food and still feel the joy of eating good food. Exercising doesn’t have to be a tool of torture. There are so many ways to work your body that I am sure you can find something that you enjoy doing. Again, you will have to try different things and see what you like the best and what your body can handle, but you can find pleasure in working out regularly. Instead of viewing being healthier as something that is going to take happiness away from your life, view it as a way to add your happiness. You’re taking steps to add years and energy to your life, you’re taking control of your health, and you’re taking pride in yourself. These are all healthy things that can make you happy.

Carrot Fennel Soup

October 3, 2014 / ktbuchs87

With the weather getting chillier, I start craving warm and hearty meals. I also break out my trusty slow cooker to make those warm and hearty meals. Soup is a great fall meal and is is really simple to make. I would love to say that this recipe was meticulously thought out and planned and prepared, but…. I pretty much found what I had in my fridge/pantry, put it in my slow cooker, and hoped for the best. And I got super lucky, because this was an awesome meal and will be made again! Plus it makes a lot of leftovers so you can start freezing a few batches and building up your freezer stock.

Carrot Fennel Soup

1 pound of carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
1 bulb of fresh fennel, diced
1 large onion, diced
4 stalks celery, washed and sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 in. knob of fresh ginger, minced
5 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water, extra if needed
3 tsp dill
salt and pepper

1. Heat a little olive oil in a pan over medium high heat and saute the carrots and celery. Once they have a little brown on them put them in the slow cooker. In the same pan, saute the onion, fennel, ginger, and garlic. Once the onion is soft and translucent add to the slow cooker.

2. Pour the vegetable broth over the vegetables and add enough water to cover all the vegetables. Add in the dill and salt and pepper to taste.

3. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until you have a smooth puree. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can puree your soup in a blender in batches.

The fennel in this soup is surprising and delicious addition. You should be able to find fresh fennel at most grocery stores, I found mine at Trader Joes. Enjoy this soup on it’s own, topped with sour cream, or with a nice slice of bread. Happy October!

How To Rest

October 1, 2014 / ktbuchs87

How many of you feel like you are constantly on the go? From work to deadlines to extracurricular activities to whatever else you have going on in your life, it can sometimes feel like you never stop. All that action without pause can tire you out and start to wear down your body as well as your health. In the fitness realm, rest days are just as important as working out. Rest days allow the muscles you’ve worked to heal and recover so that you can become stronger and better. I think that is a great concept that needs to carry over into regular life. If you never take time to stop and recover, you won’t have as much energy to give to other aspects of your day. It can be tough to slow down if you’re always used to moving fast, so here are a few ways that you can help yourself rest.

Unplug

This is one of the biggest, and toughest, ways to rest. If you’re anything like me, you are constantly plugged into your phone/computer/tablet/whatever electronic at all times. Your email is only a click away, people know they can call you whenever because your phone is always nearby, you’re constantly updating your status/tweets/photo, you even have gotten rid of your alarm clock because it’s all on your phone. While it’s great that you can do all these things from the palm of your hand, it can be draining to always be on. I know we can’t totally give up social media, we can try to lessen time spent on it. I’ve started to limit my phone/computer use on the weekends. At first it was a little tough, but after a few weekends without always being on my iphone, I realized how recharged I felt. Try giving yourself a one hour break from all social media/electronic devices. Enjoy some face to face time with your friends or read a book (a real one, with pages and everything). Your emails, tweets, and Instagram will all be there when you get back.

Pencil It In

Actually schedule some rest time into your day. Maybe you have a few extra minutes in the morning that you can spend alone preparing for your day. Or take some time right before bed to relax and unwind. It doesn’t have to be hours and hours of time, even a 10 minute chunk of time can be enough to help you feel rested. If you make the effort to really schedule some down time into your day, you are more likely to stick to it.

Do What You Like

When you do have a little time to rest, do things that you enjoy and find relaxing. Not everyone wants to sit down and read a good book for a half an hour. You might like to light candles and do yoga while others find it calming to go for a walk around their neighborhood. There is no wrong way to take a break as long as you actually take a break. Try different things like bubble baths, meditation, listening to music, or just sitting by yourself. Find what works for you and helps you to feel recharged.

Don’t Feel Guilty

This was and still is a tough one for me. I always felt guilty whenever I would take a little break. I felt like I needed to be doing something productive or else I was just wasting time and being lazy. I would rather run around all day checking off my to do list than take some me time for just five minutes. Then I started to think of taking a break as being productive rather than lazy. If I took just a little time each day to recharge then I was more able to tackle my to do list. Don’t feel bad for having a little bit of me time each day. In the end it is better to take a little rest than run yourself ragged.

If you find yourself exhausted and ready to drop by the end of each day, try taking just a few minutes to rest. I know it may seem silly and like a waste of time, but trust me, it’s worth it. Giving your body and mind a short break can help your overall health and that is always a good thing!

The Numbers Game

September 30, 2014 / ktbuchs87

The number of pounds you weigh. The number of calories you’ve eaten. The number of miles you’ve run. The number of hours you’ve spent working out. The number of inches around your waist. It appears that numbers and your health go hand in hand. Many times it can seem like being healthier is a big numbers game. Add more numbers here while subtracting some there and multiplying it all together and you get a better you, right?

Not necessarily. While it is important to know some numbers about your health, like your cholesterol, sometimes we put too much focus on them. So often we get caught up in hitting a certain number on the scale or eating a certain number of calories per meal that we lose sight of what it means to be truly healthy. For most of my teenage and young adult years, I was a slave to numbers. For me the big numbers were what I weighed and how many calories I consumed everyday.

In my mind, if I could control these numbers everything would click and I would finally get the body that I wanted and finally be happy. Make the numbers go down and everything would be alright. I would hop on the scale each morning and see if my calculations had worked for me or against me. If the number on the scale was what I thought it should be, I was happy. But even one number off of what I desired and immediately my mood would change. That’s when I realized I had a problem. If a simple number on the scale could dictate what my attitude was going to be that day, I was in trouble. Over time, I learned that the amount you weigh isn’t everything when it comes to being healthier. I started to weigh myself less and less and tried to not fixate on my weight. It was tough to let go, because it was a comfort to see the number move the way I wanted and feel like what I was doing worked. But I wasn’t totally free of the numbers. Now I turned my attention to the number of miles I ran/walked each week or how many minutes I worked out each day. I even started to take measurements once a week just to make sure I was doing everything right.

That was my biggest motivation for sticking with numbers, it made me feel like I was doing this whole healthy thing right. It gave me validation for all my hard work and proved that I was successful. It was nice to see that I could run more miles this month than compared to two months ago. It felt good that my waist size stayed the same week after week. While my addiction to these “new” set of numbers didn’t play with my emotions as much as the old ones, it was still an unhealthy relationship. And my whole goal was to be healthier, not just physically but mentally as well. My reliance on numbers was holding me back from being wholly healthy.

I am not going to say that I have totally done away with numbers, I still track how many miles I run, but I try not to let those numbers define or validate me. I don’t think that tracking numbers, in whatever form, is necessarily a bad thing. If you’re just starting out, numbers can be a helpful way to keep you on track or show progress. I just caution you to make sure that those numbers don’t become your whole world. When you spend all your time focusing on numbers you miss out on other important aspects of your health. As cheesy as it may sound, YOU are not a number. You and your health are so much more. You are a person who has so many other things that define who you are than a number on a scale or number of calories you eat. Think of it this way, when you introduce yourself do you say, “Hi. My name is Katie, I run 40 miles a week, eat 1500 calories a day, and do yoga at least 20 minutes a day.” No, because that is kind of ridiculous and I’m pretty sure most people aren’t really interested in any of those numbers. Don’t put all your worth into an arbitrary number. Work to feel good about yourself as a whole and remember that health is not just a numbers game.