Creamy Tomato Soup

December 6, 2013January 27, 2016 / ktbuchs87

Hello everyone! I know that I haven’t posted in awhile, but with the holiday season upon us, things get just a bit crazier. I also like to spend time with my friends and family, away from the computer and all other social media. It’s nice to unplug and enjoy the company of real humans! That being said, I do have a new recipe for you! One of my favorite meals as a kid was tomato soup and grilled cheese. I had a hankering for it the other day, but I wanted to make it in a healthier way (read: not from a can or with mounds of cheese). I used cashews to add the creaminess to the soup and I think that this meal was a winner in the Dawson house! Plus you can make it in the slow cooker, what’s better than that?

Creamy Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese

2 cups raw cashews
2 cups water
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, chopped
4 cups diced tomatoes (about 2 cans worth)
1 tbsp oregano
1 tsp dill weed
1 tsp basil
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp curry powder, optional (but it adds a really nice flavor)
1 tbsp fresh parsley

1. Place cashews and water in a bowl and soak for at least an hour or overnight if you have the time. Using an immersion blender, blender, or food processor, blend the cashews and water until they are smooth. Set aside

2. Saute all your vegetables except for the tomatoes, for about 7-10 minutes. Place everything in your slow cooker and mix well. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

3. If you would like a smooth soup, use your immersion blender to blend the soup to your desired consistency. You can also leave it chunkier, totally up to you!

For the grilled cheese, my husband Adam made me some gluten free bread and I used my “cheese” sauce from the taco casserole. I just omitted the chili powder. You can make your grilled cheese however you like it best, but this was actually REALLY good and totally filled my craving.

In the next few weeks, I will try to regularly post on the blog, but there may be some days when I don’t. Think of it as a winter vacation! Go and enjoy the Christmas spirit and this soup!

Not Your Typical Thanksgiving

November 25, 2013 / ktbuchs87

Thanksgiving. Not counting Halloween, this is pretty much the beginning of the holiday season. Soon you will be surrounded by friends, family, and of course food. This is also the time of year that everyone is offering their best “how to avoid holiday weight gain” tips and millions of different ways to make your favorite holiday meals healthy. I thought about writing a post like that, because you don’t have to enter the holiday season throwing all healthy habits to the wind, but I felt like what I had to say would be just repeating a lot of what you already know or will read in the coming days. Honestly, most of you know that eating fifteen pieces of pumpkin pie isn’t doing you or your health any good no matter how delicious it may be.

I know that a lot of you might be anxious about the upcoming smorgasbord that is Thanksgiving, especially if you just started to eat better or adopt healthier habits. Many of you might be worried about undoing all the hard work that you have put into your health journey and you’re thinking of how you are going to navigate your way through the sea of food that is about to come your way. I know exactly how you feel, I’ve been there too. I’ve stressed over how to eat well during the holidays. I’ve fretted about family asking questions about my weight and why I won’t eat this or that. I’ve felt hopeless and alone and not exactly sure how to deal with it all. It has taken me awhile to get to this realization: don’t let food control your life. Food has so much power over many of us so that we let it ruin or dictate our holidays. A time where we should be visiting friends, spending quality time with family, decking the halls and singing fa la la la la, we spend stressing over food.

Yes, food is important. It fuels us, nourishes us, and (sometimes) tastes amazing. Don’t get me wrong, I love food and I truly believe that it is a key factor in a healthy life. But it isn’t everything. I’ve wasted too many holiday gatherings focusing on food and missing out on all the other things that go on. The inside jokes between cousins or finding the best spot to hang my favorite ornament or the quality time that I get to spend with my mom talking about our lives while we make the ever famous pumpkin muffins (blue wrappers have nuts!). I’m sad to say I’ve probably missed some really great moments because I was worrying about what I would eat or that other people were worrying about what I would eat.

Don’t let food take over your life this holiday season. There are other things that are so much better than thinking about how many potatoes you can eat without feeling guilty. It will be difficult for some of you to totally let go of your food worry, me included, but by holding on to all that stress, you’re letting something silly like food take control of your life and happiness. So do me a favor this Thanksgiving. Take a deep breath, release all your anxiety over food, and throw yourself fully into all the other much more fun things about the day. Enjoy the parade, play a game of football in your backyard, give Grandma a big hug, and be thankful for all of the amazing things you have in your life. I promise you, that is a much better way to spend your holiday! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Government and Health

November 19, 2013 / ktbuchs87

If you haven’t heard, soon the FDA is going to place a ban on trans-fat in food products. My husband and I were talking about this over dinner the other night and it led to an interesting question. What role should the government play in our health?

At first I thought I had a fairly straight forward answer, but the more I thought about it I realized it was a little trickier. My first reaction was that the government shouldn’t necessarily tell me what I could and could not eat. I wasn’t a huge fan of Mayor Bloomberg and his attempt to ban soda in NYC. As an adult and an American I’m lucky enough to have the choice to decide what and how much I want to eat. I understand that there is an obesity and health epidemic and I understand that Bloomberg and others are not trying to maniacally control the population by banning certain foods. They genuinely want to fight a major problem in the United States. I just believe that the choice of what to put into my body should be mine and mine alone.

Then I started thinking more about the approaching ban on trans fat. I realized I was more supportive of that, but how is it really any different than the soda ban? Yes, trans fats are not healthy. In no way do they improve your quality of health or nourish your body, but neither does soda. If I believe that people should have the right to choose to eat or drink whatever they want, but also choose to support the trans fat ban, I would contradicting myself. I tried to figure out a legitimate reason that I was fine with the trans fat ban but not the soda ban, and I really couldn’t come up with a strong argument.

What I did figure out was that I fully support the government educating people about better health and nutrition. I truly believe that the more we can get the message out about better health practices and learning how to properly feed ourselves, the better off (and healthier) the American population will be. Let’s teach people how to shop in grocery stores, how to cook in their own kitchens, how to prepare healthy meals. and how to move more and sit less. Let’s make it easier for people to get access to good information and good food. That is an initiative the government can take that I can fully get behind.

While I might not have a solid stance on how much meddling the government should have with what we eat, I am glad that they are trying to figure out how to improve the health of the nation. Any little step forward is one step closer to everyone being able to live the healthiest life possible!

What role do you think the government should play in our health? I would love to hear your opinions! Have a great week everyone!

Healthy Brownie Bites

November 8, 2013January 27, 2016 / ktbuchs87

Sometimes, you just need some chocolate. Sometimes, that chocolate needs to come in the form of a brownie. We all know that brownies are not the healthiest of treats, but they are delicious. Have no worries though because the brownie bites will satisfy your chocolate/brownie craving without making all the not so good for you ingredients. Plus they are the perfect snacking size! With the holidays right around the corner, these are a quick and easy way to have tasty dessert on hand!

Healthy Brownie Bites

1 cup tahini, ground sesame seeds (you could also use almond butter, but the tahini really enhances the chocolate flavor)
3/4 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 egg or 1 flax egg (1 tbsp flax meal and 3 tbsp water mixed together)
1/3 cup honey or maple syrup
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt, optional
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp cocoa powder

1. Preheat oven to 350. Mix all the wet ingredients together and then whisk in the dry. Make sure your batter is smooth with no lumps.

2. In a mini muffin tin drop in about 1 tbsp of the batter. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the middle of the bites are set. Remove from oven and let cool before you pop them out of the tins.

See? Super quick and easy way to get a brownie in your belly! You could also make extra because these freeze really well. Just pull them out of the freezer a few minutes before you want to eat them. Eat, enjoy, and if you try them out let me know what you think!

Making and Meeting Goals

November 4, 2013 / ktbuchs87

This past week I celebrated my 26th birthday. I also thought of things that I had accomplished over my life as well as the things that I want to accomplish. Clearly I am still relatively young and I have a lot of living left to do. I know that I want to make the most of that time and for me, making goals to strive for really helps.

When I first decided to be healthier, I made big goals of losing a ton of weight and eating perfectly and exercising every day. While those are good goals, they are big picture goals. Those goals can also often seem unattainable, and if you’re like me, you want to feel like you’re actually accomplishing something. Over time I realized I had to make smaller and more realistic goals. Instead of losing a ton of weight, I focused on fitting better into my clothes. Instead of eating perfectly, I focused on choosing better options than what I had been previously eating. Instead of exercising every day, I focused on running a little farther each time I went out for a run. With these more manageable goals, I saw results and felt so proud of myself for accomplishing things. I kept up with making smaller goals to be met. I ran in a 5k race and then a 10k race. I started doing yoga and practicing more difficult poses. I immersed myself in learning how to cook with healthier ingredients and now can create my own meals and recipes to be shared with others. I stopped focusing on a number on the scale and feel comfortable and proud of the body I have and all that it can do.

It is important to have goals and it is also important to have big goals. All the little goals I made and met, helped to move me toward my ultimate goal of being as healthy as I possibly could. I am still working towards that, but I am knocking out the little steps all along the way. You can do that too. Maybe you want to be healthier, maybe you want a better job, or maybe you just want to get through the day with less stress. Set small and attainable goals for yourself that will help you reach that overall goal. Once you meet those little goals that you set, you’ll be more motivated to keep going and meet that ultimate goal.

With all of that being said, I wanted to set another large goal for me to accomplish. I have really developed a passion for health as well as a heart for helping others to enjoy the best health they can. I want to make this my everyday work and I feel that the best way for me to get my message across and help others is to become a health coach. I have been researching this for quite some time now, and I am ready to start taking steps to reach that goal. What am I going to do to help that? I have been looking into certifications, once I settle on one I can start classes. I will continue to write and maintain this blog, as well as continue to learn as much about health and nutrition as I can. I want to start looking for opportunities to reach more people with my knowledge and message, maybe reaching out to people and offering my help. As long as I am moving towards that ultimate goal of health coach I am open to anything.

Sure, it is a little scary to declare that you are going to do something. What if you fail? What if it’s impossible? What if others don’t believe in you? Yes, those things can happen. You could also succeed, prove others wrong, and become a better version of you. You won’t know until you try!