My Healthy Top Tens

Over the past year my family has made some gradual changes towards a healthier lifestyle.  Jared was the main motivation, and I have kind of been dragging my feet, but I know that eating better makes me feel better, even though I will never go to his extremes of giving up all candy and sweets.  I love my chocolate too much and it makes me feel good (in moderation)!   I've learned a lot from and been encouraged by our good friend Nancy.
My 10 Guidelines for Healthier Eating
1. Replace Processed Foods with Whole Foods
  (Cold Cereal vs. Cracked Wheat, Oatmeal, Bob's Red Mill hot cereal, white flour vs. corn tortillas).
2. Replace Refined Sugar with Honey, Stevia or natural sugars from fruit.
3. Replace White Flour/Bread with Whole Wheat Flour/Bread.
4. Replace Vegetable Oil/Crisco with Coconut Oil or Butter.
5. Replace Starchy Pasta, Potatoes or Rice with Sauteed Cabbage or Quinoa.
6. Replace Fruit Juice with Water or whole fruits.
7. Pair carbohydrates with protein (apples + peanut butter, oatmeal + slivered almonds, wheat thins+mozzarella cheese stick)
8. Don't eat late at night.
9. Sugar is more of an enemy than fatty natural foods like butter, nuts and eggs.
10.  Shop the outskirts of the store - whiz past the ice cream and candy aisles.
 I don't follow all these rules with exactness.  I think mashed potatoes, white rolls, pasta, sugar and juice are just fine occasionally, even though I know the "real" food provides more "real" fuel for my body.  And I will never give up chocolate, although I know it is best in moderation!

My Top 10 Healthy Snacks
1. Berry Frozen Greek Yogurt/Smoothies
2. Cabbage Sauteed in Coconut Oil sprinkled with seasoned salt
3. Sliced Apples w/ Cinnamon cooked in the crockpot (applesauce)
4. Cuties (little oranges)
5. Microwaved String Cheese
6. Smoothie Popsicles
7. Pumpkin Coconut Muffins
8. Steamed Spinach with Parmesan
9. Popcorn
10.  Sweet Potato "Fries" baked with coconut oil & seasoned salt (inspired by this recipe for Yummy Yammy Tacos)

My Top Ten Healthy Meals
1. Veggies Sauteed in Coconut Oil paired with scrambled eggs +cheddar
2. Pumpkin Pancakes topped with yogurt and fruit
3. Oatmeal topped with a little milk, frozen blueberries/raspberries, honey
4.  Quinoa Topped with Crock Pot Cream Cheese Chicken + steamed broccoli
5.  "Tanner's Soup" Hamburger +Vegetables w/ Beef Broth Base
6.  Sauteed Cabbage topped with spaghetti sauce or slivered almonds
7.  Beef and Cheese Corn Enchiladas (w/ a little spinach)
8.  Tortilla Soup
9.  Black Bean Soup
10. Peanut Butter & Honey Banana Sandwich on Whole Wheat Bread

Berry Frozen Yogurt
Using nearly equal portions of liquid and solid I mix together in my Blendtech:
milk and or greek yogurt
a handful of spinach
different combos of frozen fruit (strawberries, blueberries, bananas, Costco Tropical mix of mango, pineapple, strawberry)
1 or 2 packets or drops of stevia (natural sugar replacement that doesn't spike blood sugar levels)
 Note: Before getting a powerful blender, I used a $20 Osterizer blender for about a year and it blended frozen blueberries and small chunks of banana up fine.  Larger chunks and frozen strawberries made a terrible noise and didn't blend well.  Eventually I burned up the motor after 1 year of making "ice cream" nearly 3 times a week.  I believe in the old adage, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without," so before getting the expensive blender my husband wanted, I decided to wear out my old one first!  But now that I own a blendtech I think it is one of the best purchases I've made.  My kids now know that the "healthy" smoothies taste so good, they are even begging to eat my brown colored concoctions that look like puke (due to the added spinach).