“Parmesan” Topping

May 9, 2014 / ktbuchs87

Growing up, my sister and I topped many a meal with the green container of “shake-y cheese”. Thats what we called it in our house, because you could shake cheesy goodness on to anything. Clever I know. I also know that shake-y cheese isn’t really cheese at all, but that didn’t stop it from tasting delicious sprinkled on top of a big ol’ plate of spaghetti. There are a variety of different healthier and dairy free versions of this topping out there, but I think this one comes closest to the salty and slightly buttery taste of my beloved shake-y cheese. Plus it is really simple to make a bunch and then store it in a container in the fridge. Make this and get to shakin’!

“Parmesan” Topping

1 cup walnut pieces
3-4 tablespoons nutritional yeast, depending on how cheesy you want the flavor to be
2-3 tsp salt, depending on taste

1. Preheat oven to 250. In a blender or food processor, pulse the walnuts a few times until coarsely chopped. Add in nutritional yeast and salt and process everything until it has a fine breadcrumb like texture.

2. Line a large baking pan with parchment paper or a silpat. Spread the walnut mixture evenly over the pan and place in the oven. Bake for 30-40 minutes in 10 minute increments. After each 10 minutes move the mixture around so it doesn’t burn. It will be done when it has a nice golden brown color.

3. Let the topping cool and then transfer to a container. You can store this in your fridge for up to a month.

Simple and easy way to add flavor to any of your meals! This is great on vegetables, lasagna, spaghetti, casseroles, or anything else your little heart desires. Enjoy!

Health Reminders

May 5, 2014 / ktbuchs87

I think that we can all agree and say that no one is perfect, especially when it comes to health. Even celebrities and fitness trainers and those in the health world have their imperfect moments no matter how healthy they seem. As we move from winter into spring, I thought it would be a good idea to give a few tips and reminders about your health. You can call it spring cleaning if you’d like, but take just a few moments and assess your lifestyle and make sure you’re getting the most out of your healthy journey.

1. Water, water, WATER!!! This was the biggest reminder for me lately. I had been really good about drinking a lot of water heading into the winter months, but as it got colder and colder, water seemed less appealing to me. I pretty much stopped drinking any extra water January through February and boy could my body tell! I was tired, sluggish, and just had an overall lack of energy. I attributed it to the long, cold winter months but in all honesty, part of it was my lack of water consumption. Now I have a 1 liter water bottle that I keep with me and try to drink one if not more of those per day. I’m not going to tell you some specific amount of water that you have to drink in order to be healthy, just make sure to drink enough where you don’t feel water-logged or too thirsty. It really helps to keep a refillable bottle with you at all times and just sip throughout the day. Don’t like the taste of just plain water? Try adding lemon or lime for a little flavor!

2. Eat Seasonally. Many of us can get any fruit or vegetable that we want at any time of the year, whether it is in season or not. This isn’t a bad thing, believe me, I have my fair share of out of season food all the time (hello sweet potatoes!). I’m not saying you have to eat only foods that are in season, but it does make a difference. For example, I had been roasting up a whole butternut squash over the fall/winter months and using that in meals throughout the week. I started to notice though that around the end of January and into February, the butternut squash didn’t taste as good as it had before, the selection was getting smaller, and the price was getting higher. Take a look at the food you regularly prepare and see if there are any seasonal changes that you can make. Check out your local grocery store and see what produce they have on sale or look at a list of seasonal foods and pick something new to work with. Eating seasonally is a great way to keep your diet varied, eat the most nutrient dense food possible, and spend your money smartly.

3. Get Some Sun. Most of us stay squirreled away in our homes during the winter months, trying to stay as warm and cozy as possible. This past winter was a doozy, and if I could avoid it I stayed away from the great outdoors as much as possible. When I did have to venture out into the tundra, I was so bundled up that only a slit for my eyes was all that was exposed to the air. With the warmer weather, it’s time to get some outside time in! You don’t have to spend a ton of time outside, but even 10 minutes in the fresh air will do you wonders. Take a bike ride, go for a walk, read a book on a park bench, do your workout outside if you can, or play with your dog. It’s time to soak up some vitamin D, breath in the fresh air, and rejoice in the fact that you no longer have to wear 50 layers to walk the ten feet to your car!

4. Clear the Clutter. I’m a weirdo who actually loves cleaning. I am very type A when it comes to my apartment and how clean it is. I hate clutter and junk lying around and I hate when something doesn’t have a place. With our impending move, I have gone into hyperdrive with clearing out the clutter. I already dislike packing, so there is no way that I am packing AND moving junk that I don’t even need or use. It has been shocking to me just how much “stuff” Adam and I have lying around that we don’t even actually use. It has been great to go through and get rid of all the superfluous stuff and pare down to the essentials. I’m going to bet that some of you might have a few things lying around that you could get rid of too. Take a few minutes and just go through one room and see if there is anything that you don’t need that you could donate/sell/toss. Trust me, you will feel a lot better when you’ve “cleared the air” and gotten rid of the extra stuff.

These are just a few of the things that I have reminded myself about lately. Hopefully one or two of them helped you out. Take a few moments and look at your life and see what little tweaks or changes you can make to get the most out of your healthy lifestyle. It’s always a good idea to reassess how things are going and make sure that everything is still making a positive impact on you. Have a great Monday and a fabulous week!

Dairy Free Lasagna

May 2, 2014February 19, 2015 / ktbuchs87 / 1 Comment

I don’t eat dairy anymore, and for the most part, I really haven’t missed it all that much. But every once in awhile, I get a hankering for something gooey, cheesy, and delicious. Those hankerings usually lead to creative and tasty recipes. This one is no different. You might be thinking to yourself, “There is no way that you can have a delicious lasagna without wonderfully yummy ricotta cheese.” And I say to you, nay nay. You can have a delicious lasagna without wonderfully yummy ricotta. Just ask my husband who has no problem with dairy and would love it if there were more of it in the house (there’s none). He loved this meal and devoured second helpings. I may have too…

Dairy Free Lasagna

1 batch of my tomato sauce, or store bought sauce (just make sure to read the ingredients!)
1 package of lasagna noodles (I used brown rice to keep it gluten free but whole wheat would work well too)
1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water overnight
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp rice vinegar
1 to 2 tsp italian seasoning
1 to 2 cloves garlic

*If you’re using my tomato sauce, you can prepare it ahead of time and store in the refrigerator. That way you can just assemble everything.

1. Cook noodles according to instructions on the package. Once cooked drain and set aside to cool a little bit. You might want to undercook your noodles just a little so they won’t turn to mush when you cook them in the oven.

2. While the noodles are cooling, drain soaked cashews and place into a blender or food processor. Add in water, lemon, salt, rice vinegar, italian seasoning, and garlic. Pulse to combine everything and then let it run to smooth everything out. You can leave it a little chunky or totally smooth, it’s your preference.

3. Preheat oven to 375 and get out a 9 x 13 casserole dish. Line up the tomato sauce, noodles, and cashew cheese for easy assembly. Pour a little tomato sauce on the bottom of the pan so the noodles don’t burn. Then put a layer of noodles down, then a layer of cheese, and finally a layer of tomato sauce. Keep layering everything until you run out of noodles. You might have a little cheese and sauce leftover, that’s fine You can use it to dress up another dish!

4. Cover lasagna with aluminum foil and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and take of the aluminum foil. Place back in the oven for another 5 minutes. Take lasagna out of the oven and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes (this helps it set so when you cut it, it doesn’t fall apart). Cut into squares and eat up!

This lasagna tastes even better the next day once the flavors have melded and really set. So make sure that you leave some leftovers for later!

Judging Or Too Accepting?

April 28, 2014 / ktbuchs87 / 2 Comments

Shocking to see me with a blog post on a Monday! It’s been awhile and life has been crazy, but I wanted to give you guys a regular post and not just a recipe this week.

Todays post will be more along the lines of me thinking out loud and asking for your opinion on a certain matter. Kind of a Monday musings if you will. Here is the question I have been wondering over the past few days: why do we feel more comfortable telling a skinny or thin person to go eat a cheeseburger than telling an overweight person that they need to eat less or go on a diet? I know that I am just as guilty of this as the next person. I am totally ok with telling someone (usually a friend or someone I know and in a joking manner) that they should go eat some food, but I would never dream of telling someone in that same way that they need to stop eating so much or go on a diet.

Let me clarify. In a totally professional realm where someone is coming to me to seek help and guidance about becoming healthier, I would have no problem steering them in the way of eating better and moving more. You know that I am a huge proponent of finding what works for you health wise and I am passionate about helping others find what that means to them. But to just walk up to someone who is overweight and tell them to go on a diet? No way. Not only would I think that’s rude, others would probably deem me as an awful or cruel person. But when you turn the tables and you’re telling someone they are too thin and need to eat more food? I feel like that is a whole different ball game. Suddenly, you are doing that person a favor. You are worried about their health and are only trying to help. Why does the size of the person make all the difference when it comes to what you say?

Now I understand that this feeling doesn’t apply to everyone. Maybe you are someone who has no problem telling anyone that they need to eat more or less. Maybe you feel like one isn’t taboo while the other is totally acceptable. Maybe I am making a much bigger deal out of this than I need to.

I think my biggest issue with this is that I know that comments like this can hurt the self esteem of the person in question, small, big, or medium size. Rather than telling someone what they need to do more or less of, we should be trying to find the best way to help or support them. We shouldn’t be judging people on their size any way, we have no idea where they are coming from. We don’t know if they have already lost 100 pounds and are in the middle of their weight loss journey. We don’t know if they are training for a competition and despite their small size could pick you up and throw you over their shoulder and carry you 200 feet. We can’t tell those things by just looking at someone. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover, right?

A more controversial part of me thinks that perhaps we are too accepting of bad health and that’s why we feel more comfortable telling someone to eat more rather than less. There is no question that Americans are dealing with obesity and all the diseases and symptoms that come along with that. We are very good at treating the problems and issues that occur along with being unhealthy or overweight, but we for some reason can’t get to the root of the problem and stop it before it becomes a major issue. Maybe that’s because we all feel it isn’t ok to try and address people directly. I’m not talking about in a cruel, derogatory, or rude manner, but coming from a place of truly wanting to help someone live healthier and approaching them in a loving and compassionate way. I am in no way advocating that we just start walking up to random people and telling them they need to get healthier. I do advocate trying to get the message out that it is possible for everyone to be the healthiest version of themselves. I also advocate that we don’t all need to be the same size or shape to be healthy and we should celebrate the fact that we are all different and unique in our own ways.

I know that society dictates a lot of how we feel or think about certain things. Unfortunately as much as I try to avoid that and form my own opinions and feelings on certain issues, I am just as susceptible to the popular opinion. Fortunately, as I grow older and learn more and more about myself and what it means to be healthy, I am finding that I really want to try and help change the views of society when it comes to issues like this. Will I be able to do it all on my own? No. But one voice in the crowd is better than no voice at all.

Let’s hear from you guys. What are your thoughts and musings on this issue? Do you think it is as big a problem or do you feel I am making a mountain out of mole hill? I would love to hear from you on this one!

Have a great Monday everyone!

Dawson Update

April 8, 2014 / ktbuchs87 / 1 Comment

Sorry for the lack of regular posts here on the blog. It has been a busy past few weeks and the blog has been pushed to the side for the time being. But don’t worry, once the craziness of our move and Adam’s new job has died down I will have plenty of time to devote to writing posts and giving you guys recipes!

I thought that I would drop in today and give you a quick update on what’s going on here in the Dawson house. If you recall my husband, Adam, was offered a job at Aon Benfield in Chicago. Once we found out and talked about it, we decided to make the move to Chicago and thus begun our search for a new apartment. Luckily it didn’t take that long and we found a great place in the Lakeview area of Chicago. We both fell in love with the area and the variety of things that are available to us there. It’s also a short commute for Adam which is pretty much one of the main reasons we were moving. We signed the lease and will be moving towards the end of May.

Now, I’m not sure how familiar many of you are with downtown living, but it tends to be a little bit of a smaller space. Our new apartment is a 1 bedroom, 1 bath, with a living room/dining room and kitchen. While it is not super tiny, it is a lot smaller than our 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, home here in Sycamore. So we have been slowly going through our things and downsizing to only the essentials. At times, I look around and start to panic and think, “There is no way that we will be able to fit into this new space!” But I know that once we actually make the move and get everything organized, it will all work just fine. It’s also nice to get down to the bare essentials, sometimes we get so bogged down with “stuff” that we think we need but we really don’t. While I may hate moving, it does help to keep us from becoming pack rats because who wants to move a bunch of useless things? Not I.

Stuff we really don’t need…

I have also been feeling my way into the health and nutrition arena of the world to see where I can fit in and start my own career. There are numerous programs to become certified in a variety of things, so I’m not worried about finding the right fit. I am finding that I am most passionate about the food/nutrition side of things and have been leaning towards continuing my education in that sense. While I have nothing definite yet, it is exciting to plan my own future and think about what I really want to do. After the move I will be able to devote 100% of my time to pursuing that and I can’t wait!

That’s pretty much all the excitement that is going on in my little corner of the world. Thankfully it seems that the weather is slowly turning to spring here in the midwest and it has been a little warmer. I really do love this time of year when I go outside and can actually smell things like trees and grass and flowers. It’s also nice to not have to put on 6 thousand layers just to walk to the car and not freeze to death. Hopefully it stays this way and we can finally enjoy spring! I hope that you all have a great week and I will talk to you soon!