Curbing Cubicle Crash: 12 Healthy Snacks To Quell The Mid-Day ‘Hangry’ Attack

12 healthy snacks to quell the mid-day ‘hangry' attack

Do you struggle with the 3 pm energy slump?  Find yourself thinking, should I have another cup of coffee…?  Wondering if there’s any birthday cake left in the staff room or where the darn change for the vending machine snacks…?

Research shows that eating a combination of complex fibre with protein and healthy fats every three or four hours, helps to;

  • Maintain normal blood sugar level
  • Give you an energy boost
  • Conquer tummy rumbles

Here are some well-balanced snacks that are fun, portable and will keep you satisfied until your next meal.

Let’s Get Snacking!

  1. Energy Bars

Energy bars are everywhere these days.  They are quick, no bake, easy to make ahead and can be left at room temperature.  Most recipes call for a combination of;

  • Ground nuts and seeds
  • Mixed with peanut or almond butter
  • your choice of cranberries or raisins

However, my favorite recipe switches out the nut butter for ground pitted dates.

For anther great date recipe, click here for, “Salted Cashew Butter & Dark Chocolate Stuffed Dates”.

2. Avocados

Avocados are ‘good for you’ fats.  They are nutrient dense and fibre rich.  Try an avocado in the half shell stuffed with lightly salted or spicy sunflower and pumpkin seeds.

3. Hummas To The Rescue

Hummus doesn’t have to be bland and boring anymore.  Think Mediterranean!  Try various recipes like sundried tomato and basil hummus for a taste of pow!  Spread on multi-grain or high fibre crackers.

cucumber snacks
4. Kukoo For Cucumber

Try having thick slices of cucumber double as a sandwich with cheese, lean meat or peanut butter filling.

5. Who Loves Goat Cheese?

Goat cheese chunks rolled in ground nuts or granola are a perfect balance of creamy and crunchy.  Pop-in-the mouth kinda snack.

6.  I LOVE Goat Cheese!

Try rice crackers or thin wholegrain crisps, spread with goat cheese.  Then top it with raisins or better yet chopped dates.

7. Change It Up!

The traditional apple or banana slices with a nut butter always tastes great, but how about slices of fresh pear, pineapple chunks, or mango?

dates and nut butter
8. Take The Road Less Traveled

Pair up delicious dried fruits like chopped dates, figs, prunes or apricots with nut butter, or wait for it…hummus!

9. Go Greek

Top your low fat Greek yogurt with ground flax, hemp, or chia seeds.  Sprinkle with some gluten free oats or granola, and add berries of your choice.

10. Roasted Chick Peas

Another satisfying fibre and protein rich finger food is roasted chickpeas.  Add tons of flavour with some curry, paprika, garlic or chili powder…or for a touch of sweetness, while still warm toss with a half teaspoon of honey or pure maple syrup, and a dash of cinnamon.

11. Fresh Take On Veggies & Dip

Pair up various fresh cut veggie sticks, (or home baked veggie chips) with a protein dip made with light ricotta, basil, parsley, oregano and a touch of lemon juice.  Your taste buds will thank you!

12. Not Yer Granny’s Granola

Packed with healthy fats and loaded with nutrients, this is the perfect snack to power you through the rest of your day!

Yes, we’ve all been there.  Sometimes mornings are a rush, so don’t add more stress to your day.  Keep a stash of yummy, accessible snacks in your car, bag and desk.  That way you won’t be craving birthday cake at the office.

Plan for success.  Your daily energy requirements are important.

Favourite Healthy Recipes Volume 1

I love experimenting with new recipes, finding ideas and changing them to make them my own, and experiencing new flavours and palettes that are exciting and delicious.

The most important things to think about when you are preparing are:

  • Will this meal provide me with a broad range of vitamins, nutrients and minerals?
  • Am I eating a wide variety of colours?

It’s hard to eat a lot of colours if you have only meat and potatoes on your plate.  So this is why eating fruit and vegetables is essential to reaching all of your daily nutrient requirements.

Here are a few of my most favourite recipes that have been in my family’s meal rotation lately.

Breakfast

Breakfast is your first opportunity of the day to start consuming as many nutrients as you can, to jump start your day.  Ideally, the very first thing you should do to start your day is moving out the toxins that have accumulated overnight.  So try and drink a tall glass of water with lemon.  Then, enjoy this smoothie at least 20 minutes later.

Funky Monkey Smoothie

  • 1 frozen banana
  • 10 large frozen strawberries
  • 1 large handful of spinach
  • 1 tbsp peanut butter
  • 2-3 cups almond milk
  • 1 tbsp hemp seeds
  • 1 tbsp cocoa

Add all ingredients to a high speed blender.  Cover with almond milk, and blend until smooth.  Your children will love this smoothie and won’t even notice the greens hiding inside!  Love smoothies for breakfast??  Click here for our Breakfast On The Go – Mixed Berry Smoothie recipe.

Lunch

Lunch is best if it’s an easy salad or something that is pretty mobile.  I mean, who knows where life will take you by lunch time!!  So pack something that is easy to throw together and enjoy on the run.

Mango Salad

  • 1 ripe mango, diced
  • 1/2 head of romaine lettuce, washed and torn
  • 1/2 sweet onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced1 roma tomato, diced
  • 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds

Combine lettuce, vegetables and sunflower seeds.  Dice mango, being careful to save the juices.  Add the mango and juice from the mango to the salad and toss.  To learn more about why you should include mango’s in your diet click here for 10 Health Benefits of Mango’s.

Dinner

This is a great dinner option that you can enjoy at your home.  It replaces the empty nutrients in white or whole grain pasta with spaghetti squash!  Feel free to tweak the recipe with whatever vegetables you have on hand.  This recipe is also great as a left-over lunch option.

Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti

  • 1 spaghetti squash
  • 1 pound grass fed ground beef
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 green pepper, chopped
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 zucchini, chopped
  • 1 jar tomato sauce (check label for no added sugar) or use your favourite homemade spaghetti sauce recipe

Cut squash in half, scoop out seeds and place on a baking sheet face down.  Bake squash at 350 F until spaghetti-like consistency.  Scoop the flesh out of the skin with a fork.  Cook ground beef in a skillet until no longer pink.  Add garlic, green peppers, onion, zucchini and mushrooms and sauté until vegetables are tender.  Add tomato sauce and heat through. Cover spaghetti squash with sauce and enjoy!

The Amazing Health Benefits of Cooking with Turmeric

turmeric for inflammation

Whether you use turmeric root or turmeric powder.  Turmeric is touted as one of the healthiest foods on earth.  First of all it helps prevent and reverse most diseases.  Everything from depression to diabetes.  Even IBS.

Furthermore, its healing properties have been known for centuries. It’s been the subject to over 9,000 studies. As a result, this herb is one of the most researched medicinal herbs in history.

In addition, curcumin, its active ingredient, works better than most pain killers, anti-depressants, and anti-inflammatory drugs available today. Click here to read, “Curcumin Instead of Chemotherapy?”

What Are The Benefits Of Cooking With Turmeric Powder or Root?

Turmeric is widely used for its amazing health benefits. Thus a staple in many cuisines worldwide. This spice gives curry its yellow colour.  In addition turmeric powder can be also used as a natural dye. It contains powerful antioxidants that fight cancer and inflammation, such as;

Therefore,these compounds promote cellular health, lift your mood, and relieve pain.

Cooking with turmeric can improve your health on every level. This healing spice has been shown to;

  • Ease joint pain
  • Speed up wound healing
  • Fight depression
  • Lower cholesterol levels
  • Help prevent colds, flu, headaches, and even cancer

In addition, due to its high antioxidant content, it slows down aging and is protects your body from free radicals!

How To Cook With Turmeric

Turmeric boasts a subtle flavor that can complement most dishes. It goes well with both salty and sweet foods. Examples include;

  • Scrambled eggs
  • Frittatas
  • Roasted vegetables
  • Stews
  • Rice
  • Salad
  • Soups
  • Smoothies

Furthermore, you can also simmer turmeric with honey and milk to make tea. Click here for an amazing recipe for Lemon Chia Coconut Turmeric Muffin.

This spice has long been used in the Caribbean and Indian cuisines. You can add fresh turmeric root or ground turmeric to your favorite meals.  It’s all based on your personal preference.

Blend it into fruit juices.  Make curry at home.  Even add it to rice for a burst of taste and colour. Get creative!

Try using turmeric in;

  • Egg salad
  • Moroccan chicken
  • Chickpea curry
  • Chorizo
  • Quiche
  • Pumpkin muffins

Really, the possibilities are endless!

Do I Always Have to Buy Organic? Here’s What You NEED to Know!

organic

I hear this question all the time when discussing the fact that organic produce is so much more expensive than traditionally grown options.  I also hear questions like:

“Why do we need to buy organic anyway?  Is it really that much better?”

Well, you don’t HAVE to buy organic.  However, there are certain items that you should. While others aren’t completely as necessary.  Before outlining them, I want you to consider some of the hidden dangers that lurk in our produce.

pesticides

Pesticides!  What Are They & Why Are They Used?

Pesticides are used for the eradication of pests.  They are extremely toxic substances that are sprayed all over produce to kill any bugs on the food in that in addition pests that may be trying to eat the produce.

What Are Herbicides & Fungicides?

Herbicides are for the eradication of weeds and other plants that interfere with the growth of the crop.  Fungicides are used to eliminate the growth of fungus or diseases that attack the crops.

What Is The Problem With These Chemicals?

Pesticides have been linked to many human health conditions, such as:

  • Nausea
  • Headaches
  • Cancer
  • Reproductive issues
  • Eendocrine disorders

There are also dangers like:

  • Nerve, skin & eye damage
  • Dizziness
  • Systemic poisoning

However, these conditions are more likely to occur in those individuals applying the chemicals.

Most concernedly for the general population are the compounding effects due to long-term exposure or ingestion.

pesticide warning

Potential Dangers Of Pesticides

organic produce

Organic VS Non-Organic Produce, What To Buy!

So, how do you stretch your dollar while still protecting your health?  Listed are fruits and vegetables you should really buy organically and those you can get away without paying extra for organic.

The Dirty Dozen (in order of contamination as of 2019)

This list of The Dirty Dozen are the most heavily sprayed products and should be purchased organically if at all possible:

  • Strawberries
  • Spinach
  • Kale
  • Nectarines
  • Apples
  • Grapes
  • Peaches
  • Cherries
  • Pears
  • Tomatoes
  • Celery
  • Potatoes

The Clean 15 (in order of least contamination as of 2019)

This list of the Clean 15 can be purchased as conventionally grown produce, as the risk of toxic accumulation and contamination is significantly lower.

organic meat

Do I Need To Buy Meat Organically?

Meat should always be purchased organically whenever possible.  You should also try to source out meat that is free range (chicken), grass fed (beef), wild caught (fish) and everything grown antibiotic free.

This is because these animals, especially cattle and pigs, are so large, they have a much greater ability to accumulate higher degrees of toxins.  For example, they need to eat hundreds of pounds of feed to grow into adulthood.  If they are continually eating feed that has been coated in pesticides while it was growing, they are accumulating these toxins rather quickly.

Add to that the antibiotics and growth hormones in their feed, you are setting yourself up to ingest a toxic stew if you are purchasing meat that is not organic.  I always recommend that if you are going to eat meat, it should be organic!

Organic meat is very expensive at the grocery store, so buy right from the farmer!  Try to find a local farm that raises animals ethically and organically.  Click here to read, “What Meat Do You Eat?” for further information.

For Further reading on ways to live and eat clean, click here to read, “Clean Living – How To Detoxify Your Life!”

With Sources from:

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/queen-of-green/faqs/food/what-are-the-dirty-dozen-and-the-clean-fifteen/
http://www.toxicsaction.org/problems-and-solutions/pesticides

Are You Still Consuming Dairy Products? Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Be!

dairy milk

Are you a big fan of dairy milk?  Did you know that humans are the only species that drink milk past infancy?  Also, we are the only species to drink the milk of another animal – that grows to be 1500 pounds!!

If you are still drinking cow’s milk, it’s time to ask yourself two question.  Firstly, are you a calf?  Secondly, are you aiming to grow to 1500 pounds?

Dairy milk is specifically designed to nourish a baby cow.  It contains all of the nutrients necessary to grow a calf into a healthy, 1500 pound adult cow.  The same is true for human breast milk.  It is perfectly designed to nourish a developing infant.

Dairy milk contains proteins that are much larger than those in human breast milk.  As such, it is very difficult for humans to break it down effectively.  Because of this, our body identifies dairy milk as an invader in our system.  So in response, our bodies go into defensive mode.  Dairy sensitivities and allergies can then develop which can wreak havoc on your immune system long term.

Common Dairy Misconception: But If I Don’t Drink Milk, Where Will I Get My Calcium?

The dairy industry has done an excellent job marketing milk to “protect your bones”.  Assigning it as the go-to substance to fulfill your daily requirements for calcium.  Studies have reported higher contents of calcium circulating in the blood stream after drinking milk.  However, what these studies fail to illustrate is the source of where the calcium came from.

Milk creates a very acidic residue inside the body.  In order to maintain a healthy pH internally, it must be buffered immediately by an alkaline balance.  Your body’s response to this acidic effect (caused by ingesting milk) is to release calcium stored inside your bones.  This will buffer the acidic levels and bring them back to a safe reading.

So, yes.  After drinking milk, there is more calcium in your bloodstream.  However, this is only because your body had to release it from its own storage inside your bones.  For more information on bone health,  click here to read, “Calcium without Vitamin K2 is a Heart Breaker”.

So Where Will I Get My Calcium?

Where do cows get their calcium?  Greens!  It is much easier for your body to break down and assimilate nutrients from fruit and vegetables.  Especially compared to breaking down dense, heavy foods like meat and dairy products.  Include the following in your diet for great sources of calcium that your body can easily use.

broccoli
Broccoli
Bok Choy
Bok Choy
kale
Kale
lettuce
Lettuce
almonds
Almonds
hazelnuts
Hazelnuts
Figs
Figs

For some great ‘green’ recipes, click here to read, “Happy St. Patrick’s Day Recipes”.

Important Tip:

Focus on magnesium if you are worried about your bone health and calcium levels.  The majority of adults are deficient in magnesium.  As a result, serious health issues may develop.  Having excessive amounts of calcium in the body, while having a deficiency in magnesium, can lead to the following according to Dr. Mercola:

  • Heart disease
  • Problems with your heart muscle spasming
  • Sudden heart attack

Be sure you are getting enough magnesium.  Eat your green leafy veggies, beans, nuts, seeds, and avocados.

Further Reading

According to Harvard Medical School;

“You need magnesium for many tasks. It’s involved in more than 300 chemical reactions in the body. Muscles need this mineral to contract; nerves need it to send and receive messages. It keeps your heart beating steadily and your immune system strong.”

For the full article, click here to read, “What you should know about magnesium”.

References:

http://www.dairymoos.com/how-much-do-cows-weight/
https://www.iofbonehealth.org/osteoporosis-musculoskeletal-disorders/osteoporosis/prevention/calcium/calcium-content-common-foods
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/03/03/magnesium-drinking-water.aspx
https://draxe.com/is-milk-hurting-or-helping-your-bones/