White Bean Masala Smothered Sweet Potatoes

White Bean Masala Smothered Sweet Potatoes is a well-round vegan meal. It relies on a flavorful homemade masala paste. The paste can be made in an extra large batch and frozen for a few months making this recipe easy to throw together for a weeknight dinner.

PREP TIME 15 mins –  COOK TIME – 45 mins – TOTAL TIME 1 hr 

SERVINGS: 4 servings – CALORIES: 576 kcal

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White Bean Masala Smothered Sweet Potatoes

INGREDIENTS
Masala Paste
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons coriander seeds
2 inch piece of ginger peeled and minced
1/8 to 3 teaspoons red peper flakes see note
1 tablespoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons peanut oil or other nut oil
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/3 cup packed cilantro leaves

Sweet Potatoes
2 large sweet potatoes
1 teaspoon olive oil
White Bean Masala
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small yellow or white onion (150g) minced
1 clove garlic minced
1 cup crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup whole coconut milk
1/2 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
2 cups cannellini beans drained and rinsed if using canned
2 cups packed and shredded kale 2 ounces
Cilantro for serving

White Bean Masala Smothered Sweet Potatoes

INSTRUCTIONS
To make paste, toast cumin and coriander seeds in skillet until fragrant. Use a mortar and pestle (or a spice grinder) to grind spices.

In a small food processor, add ginger and pulse until broken into small pieces. Add red pepper flakes, smoked paprika, cumin, coriander, garam marsala, and salt. Pulse a couple more times to incorporate. Next, add nut oil, tomato paste, and cilantro leaves. Pulse until paste forms and everything is well incorporated. Measure ⅓ cup of the paste and save the rest for later use.

Preheat oven to 400˚F. Scrub the sweet potatoes and slice in half. Toss with olive oil and salt. Place cut-side down on a sheet tray covered with parchment paper and roast until tender, 30 to 40 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes

Heat a dutch oven over medium heat. Add the olive oil followed by the minced onion. Stir and cook until the onions are translucent, 5 or so minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for a minute more.

Stir in masala paste, cooking for a minute, then add crushed tomatoes, coconut milk, and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and add the beans. Cook for 5 minutes then add the shredded kale, cooking for another 5 minutes or so until the kale has wilted.

Once the sweet potatoes are done, spoon the white bean mixture over the sweet potatoes. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

Enjoy White Bean Masala Smothered Sweet Potatoes at your next meal.

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Reasons to Take a Nap

How to do sit ups:  Lie down.  Put your hands behind your head.  Realize it's a good position to take a nap.  Maybe just take a nap.  If you refuse to take a nap, that is resisting a rest.

Seriously, when was the last time you got seven to nine hours of good, deep sleep?  When was the last time you took a nap? Nap you say… Yes, there are Reasons to Take a Nap.

Scientific evidence suggests that naps are good for us and that we should make them a part of our daily routine. There are a cornucopia of benefits to napping.

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Reasons to Take a Nap

Napping provides more benefits in the afternoon than Coffee. When you hit the afternoon slump, most of us make our way to the coffeemaker or local coffee shop. We think that a jolt of caffeine will give you a much-needed boost.

However, according to a recent study, you’d be better off finding a quiet spot and put your head down for 10-15 minutes. Researchers found that naps enhanced the recall of words, while caffeine actually impaired motor learning.

Napping May Help You Lose Weight. It all comes back to our cortisol levels, which is very much effected by sleep.

Cortisol (the stress hormone) is produce naturally when life is throwing curve balls. Drinking coffee can create an excess of cortisol to speed around your body. Extra cortisol may lead to increased glucose intolerance, which plays a role in packing on pounds.

Reasons to Take a Nap

Napping May Help Reduce Mindless Food Cravings. The next time you get less than your normal amount of shuteye, keep tabs on how much you eat the following day. Many times lack of sleep is the culprit in creating an imbalance of the ghrelin and leptin (your hunger hormones). Ghrelin triggers appetite, while leptin signals your body that you have a sufficient amount of food energy to work with.

A Stanford study suggests that lack of sleep can lead ghrelin to increase and leptin to decrease. Which creates ideal conditions for overeating and over time, weight gain. Naps lasting 15-20 minutes can help to restore a balance of ghrelin and leptin.

Napping Can Be Important to a Healthy Lifestyle. For optimal health, the American Academy of Sleep Science and the Sleep Research Society recommend that adults get 7-8 hours of sleep a night seven days a week. It is also suggested to be on a routine of regular bed times and wake times.

Napping May Reduce Stress.
Research has indicated those who get 7-8 hours of sleep on a regular routine have decreased stress levels. It was also found that those who took naps when their sleep was below 7-8 hours had decreased pulse rates and blood pressure.

10 Minute Cat Naps Count. If a good 15-20 minute nap isn’t in the schedule, studies have shown that even 5-6 minutes of shut-eye is enough to enhance your memory.

So, grab a pillow, find a quiet corner and dream about all the ways you’ll benefit and Reasons to Take a Nap.

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Is This Energy-Drainer Keeping You Stuck?

 It’s all around you, but you probably don’t even notice. It is a stealth energy-drainer, and it may be sabotaging your fitness goals. It’s called clutter and each of us has it in our lives. This can be physical clutter or mental clutter.

The insidious nature of clutter is this: it establishes itself so gradually and entrenches itself so deeply, that we don’t even consciously know it is there. But it is there, sapping our creativity, our energy, and our productivity, and ultimately our health.

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Is This Energy-Drainer Keeping You Stuck?

Physical clutter is clutter in your physical environment. This can be in your car, your office, your kitchen, your bathroom, your closet, your garage etc. It can be unorganized, unkempt, or it can be organized and arranged: but it is stuff–and too much of it.

You have to move it, step over it, dust it or feel guilty for not dusting it. You have to look at it. It is there. It takes up space that could be used for other things or space that could simply be emptied and left serene and open.

A clear, focused mind needs a clear, focused environment. When you are living surrounded by clutter (whether you even notice the clutter consciously or not), it pulls on you and chokes your forward movement and your creativity. It always demands to be dealt with, and that is draining on you. So you have less energy for fitness and for health.
And you have less energy to live and to love.

Is This Energy-Drainer Keeping You Stuck?

Mental clutter is clutter in your patterns of thinking and reacting to yourself and others and everyday circumstances. Again, it operates under the radar most of the time, which makes it especially menacing.
Mental clutter can be self-defeating ways of thinking about yourself, entrenched patterns of behavior with certain people, habitual ways of reacting to certain situations or just a general approach to life that blindly runs on auto-pilot.

The trouble with living blindly is that you don’t really live: you can’t see options or alternatives. With creativity choked off, you stagnate. And your energy slowly drains away.
So how do you clear out clutter that you can’t see? Whether it is physical clutter on your bookcase or the mental clutter of responding the same way to that person who always manages to raise your blood pressure, you can get to work on it immediately.

Try these solutions…
Physical clutter:

1. Assess the different environments that you live and work in. Take one small space at a time and physically touch each object (otherwise you won’t see many of them, because you are so used to it being there).
2. Ask yourself—What is this? Why do I have it? What is its function? Does it enrich my life? Does it bless me? Would someone else be blessed by it? Is it trash? After I’ve gone, will someone else have to come in and get rid of it? Try to eliminate as much as you can.
3. Have a friend come in when you are finished and go through it again with her. You’ll have a fresh perspective, and she’ll have an objective one.
4. Think really hard before acquiring more stuff. And try to remove something from your environment each time you bring something additional in. Out with the old and in with the new.

Mental clutter:

1. Slow down. In order to identify your mental clutter, you must slow down and really pay attention.
2. Ask yourself this key question several times a day: “Do I have other options?” Whether it is when that ‘someone’ is beginning to push your buttons or whether you are rushing to get to work again, just stop for a moment and try to come up with one or two other scenarios.
3. Set a reminder several times a day to remind yourself to stop and take note of what you are doing when the reminder sounds. Are you eating? Checking Twitter for the 12th time? Having the same dead-end conversation with someone?
4. Take a look at your routines: bedtime, morning, lunch, late afternoon, etc. What are your habits? Are they productive? Destructive? Time wasters? How can you make them better?
5. What are you procrastinating? Leaving a dreaded task undone is a sure road to low energy and low productivity. Make a list of those tasks which you have been putting off and just do them. You’ll be amazed at your energy level afterwards!

Is This Energy-Drainer Keeping You Stuck? Being fit and healthy requires being intentional about your environment, your schedule and your relationships. Take it one day at a time and start moving toward deliberate living.

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Arthritis Information To Help You

You're not losing your grip on reality, it's just a little arthritis in your hands...

Unfortunately, arthritis is a condition that is familiar to people of all ages, races and backgrounds. However, there are many things about arthritis that people do not know, things that could make living with arthritis manageable.

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General arthritic joint pain can be relieved through the use of both hot and cold packs, all natural pain relief gels and creams and more. Alternating back and forth, between hot and cold, really provides the best relief.

Arthritis Information To Help You

Take on fitness and weight loss if these are issues in your life. Weight can be a major factor in arthritis pain. When you lose weight, you will lose some pain. Dropping your weight by a few pounds can bring relief to your aching, overburdened joints.

Know your individual risks for arthritis and prevent damage however you can. If you are at a higher risk of arthritis, you want to take extra care to follow prevention tips and maintain a better fitness level for stronger joints and less risk overall. Even if arthritis runs in your family, there are things you can do to prevent joint damage and pain, and you should be doing these things to lessen your risk.

Arthritis Information To Help You

Though it can be uncomfortable, exercising your joints consistently is an important part of managing your arthritis. Stiff joints that are not active will become painful and worsen arthritis symptoms. Do some flexibility exercises to increase your motion, this is a good idea for people with arthritis.

Exercising can help you manage your arthritis symptoms by helping you to lose weight. Weight loss can help your joints function more efficiently and help keep those symptoms under control. Talk with a fitness coach about setting up an exercise plan that you can do safely on a routine basis.

Get in the water. Water aerobics is a great low impact exercise for arthritis sufferers, because not only does it put minimal strain on joints, it also provides resistance for strengthening. If you are uncomfortable with doing these in large groups, learn a few moves and take to the pool. You will quickly become more comfortable.

In conclusion, arthritis is a condition that effects people of all kinds. The more you know about arthritis, the more you may find that it is a manageable condition. Use this Arthritis Information To Help You make your life an arthritis pain free one.

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Portioned and Healthy Chicken Pot Pies

I'm like the Macguver of cooking - bring me a piece of bread, cabbage, coconut, mustard greens, pigs feet, pine cones...and a woodpecker, and I'll make you a good chicken pot pie.

Seriously, Portioned and Healthy Chicken Pot Pies is perfect for staying on track with healthy eating and having that great comfort food.

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Portioned and Healthy Chicken Pot Pies

Ingredients
2 bone-in skinless chicken breasts (about 1 3/4 pounds)
4 cups chicken broth, low-sodium canned or homemade
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 large carrots, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds, (1 1/2 cups)
8 button mushrooms, quartered
2 ribs celery, sliced into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup halved baby or small turnips, or quartered if large
Kosher salt
1 cup frozen pearl onions, thawed
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon minced parsley
2 teaspoons minced fresh dill
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Freshly ground black pepper
3 sheets phyllo dough
Olive oil spray
Paprika

Portioned and Healthy Chicken Pot Pies

Spray 4 (8-ounce) ramekins with the olive oil spray and set aside.
Put the chicken breasts in a medium saucepan, add the broth (it should just cover the chicken), and bring to a boil. Cover, turn the heat very low, and cook the chicken very gently until just firm to the touch, about 15 minutes. Remove chicken from the broth reserving the broth. When the cool enough to handle, shred or dice the chicken into large bite-size pieces, discarding the bones. (If some of the pieces are still a bit pink, don’t fret, it finishes cooking in the pie.)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Heat the oil in a heavy non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, mushrooms, celery, turnips, season with salt, to taste, and cook until the vegetables are light brown, about 8 minutes. Add the onions and cook about 1 minute more. Stir the flour into the vegetables and cook for 1 minute. Pour in the reserved chicken broth and whisk until it comes to a boil. Reduce the heat slightly and simmer, uncovered, until thick, about 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in the chicken parsley, dill, lemon zest, and pepper and remove from the heat.

Layer 3 sheets of phyllo dough on the workspace, spraying with olive oil spray in between each layer. On the last layer, sprinkle with more salt and pepper, and the paprika. Cut sheets in half, crosswise, and stack to make 6 layers. Cut 4 rounds out of the phyllo with scissors or a paring knife that fit snugly into the opening of each ramekin. Divide chicken filling evenly among the ramekins and place the phyllo rounds on top. Bake until bubbly, chicken is cooked through and crust is crispy and golden brown, about 10 to 12 minutes.

Enjoy!

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Chiropractic Care and Fitness

For a long time now, chiropractic care has been available to the masses, yet a lot of times this service goes unused. Many people just chalk up back pain to stress or work. Too many people are unaware of how simply their aches and pains can be relieved through Chiropractic Care.

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Chiropractic Care and Fitness

There are many good reasons why you should go to a chiropractor. If you have problems with your neck or your back every day you can find relief with Chiropractic Care. Also, if you see a chiropractor on a regular basis, it can help you deal with problems that are neurologically bases. Your body will not run correctly if your skeletal system is misaligned.

Sometimes the pains can return after a few days. This is common at first. You usually get a chiropractic surge of energy following an adjustment. Your body will feel great, but that may wear off after a few days as your body is not ready to adapt to the care. This is why multiple treatments are often needed to get your body back in the shape it needs to be. Over time, your body will feel better and better.

When looking for a chiropractor, try asking a friend or family member for a recommendation. You should try focusing on asking the people that share similar needs and views on health with you. Try finding out what you can from them.

Chiropractic Care and Fitness

Even if you visit a chiropractor regularly, know that it’s a two way street. In other words, don’t expect your chiropractor to do all the work. He or she is likely to assign you a home exercise regimen, make nutritional recommendations and possibly even start you on a heat/ice routine. Do your part.

Stick to chiropractors that use treatment methods that are consistent with those used by physical therapists. These include neurological stimulation and manual manipulation, but also extend to stretching tight joints and muscles, ice packs, heat and ultrasound. They also feature mixing home exercise with treatment in the office. These treatment plans generally bring improvement quickly.

Back pain should not have to be a way of life for you. You should feel comfortable about seeing someone about if you are having issues. Maintain a proactive stance when it comes to your body and you will always come out on top with Chiropractic Care and Fitness.

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