Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Healthy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins!

Happy Thanksgiving BEAUTIFUL people :) Personally, my favorite holiday treats have those awesome holiday spices like pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, and more! I thought you would all enjoy this fun recipe for the holidays.  They are healthy, low-fat, and great for an on the go balanced snack! I modified a recipe I found to make it a healthy and tasty holiday treat.  Here is the recipe for scrumptious Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins:

INGREDIENTS:

  • 3/4 cups white sugar
  • 1/4 cup applesauce
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 3/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS:
  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Use paper liners in your muffin pan.
  2. Mix sugar, applesauce, and eggs.  Add pumpkin and water.  In separate bowl mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices, and salt.  Add wet mixture and stir in chocolate chips.
  3. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter.  Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.  Check to see if ready with a toothpick, if not, cook for 2-5 more minutes depending on your oven.
  4. Yields 12 muffins.
NOTES:
If chocolate chips aren't your thing, you can bake them without or you can add a cream cheesing frosting on top instead.  The original recipe called for oil but I used applesauce instead to reduce fat.  I also substituted half the amount of flour with whole wheat flour too add more fiber.  If you double the recipe, use a whole 15 oz. can of pumpkin and if you're like me and love that pumpkin flavor you can add a 1/4 teaspoon of pumpkin spice as well!
Happy Thanksgiving!...Enjoy ;)

L  

References for original recipe: www.allrecipes.com

Friday, November 19, 2010

HOLLYWOODLAND HIKE!

On Tuesday I hiked to the historic landmark nestled in the Hollywood Hills aka THE HOLLYWOOD SIGN with my homegirl Tina.  I can now scratch this off the good ol' bucket list, woo woo! The hike is roughly 40 minutes to the top of the sign and is all uphill.  Here is how to get to the trailhead:

From the intersection Franklin and Beachwood Dr. in Hollywood drive about 1.7 miles North on Beachwood Dr. towards the Hollywood sign.  Just stay on Beachwood Dr. and go all the way up the hill.  Pass a sign that reads  "Sunset Ranch" and then the dirt parking lot will be to your right.  The trailhead for the "Hollyridge Trail" is right there!

Once you start the hike, it's got a moderately challenging uphill climb and then you will eventually hit a paved road.  If you go left, this will take you under the sign so you can look up at it and take some good photos.  If you go right, you will climb a little further and be on top of the hill looking down at the backside of the sign.  There are fences and security at the top of the hill so unfortunately you can't get right next to the letters but you are pretty darn close!  Watch out for walking around restricted areas with "trespassing" signs.  The dudes from the towers at the top of the hill might intercom you and it's almost like the voice of Zeus telling you get down from Mt. Olympus...NBD.

We chose to do both paths so we could get some photos looking up at the sign and take some of the beautiful landscape views of West Hollywood.  If you wanna leave your mark on Hollywood, there is a sweet cactus that hikers carve their name into! We couldn't resist :)  I definitely recommend this hike, it is a lot of fun, beautiful views of LA, and it's a great workout too! I snapped some photos for your enjoyment :)

Cheers!

L

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Make PEACE with your Food

Hello beautiful people! I know it has been a while since my last blog...but this one is SO important and so easy to apply to your every day life and tell your friends about it too!  I want to tell you about INTUITIVE EATING.  We all have stress in our lives and as humans we are emotional beings.  Food should not be a means of coping with stress.  Manipulating your food, either restricting or over eating, is unhealthy and dangerous for your body.  Instead nourish your body and cherish it because your body is awesome! Here is the HOW TO on Intuitive Eating!

The purpose of intuitive eating is to "distinguish between physical and emotional feelings, and gain a sense of body wisdom".  Intuitive eating eliminates the fear behind certain foods and the constant worrying/guilt that one may feel after eating.  Making PEACE with your food is knowing that your self-worth as a person does not change because of what you eat.

The main concept behind Intuitive Eating is "Eat when your hungry, stop when you're full" which seems easy for some, however, for chronic dieters and or people with rigid/restrictive food choices this poses a difficult task.

Here are the TEN INTUITIVE EATING PRINCIPLES:

1. Ditch that Diet!
Diets do not work.  They might seem like a quick fix, but they fail long term.  They can be unhealthy and dangerous to your health and may lead to yo-yo dieting.  Toss out your diet books/mags and get pissed off at the diet that makes you feel like crap every time you break it.  Free yourself from diets, and embrace intuitive eating.

2.  Honor Your Hunger
Your body gets hungry every 3-4 hours.  Listen to your bodies hunger and feed it.  Food = energy which your body needs to sustain metabolic processes.  If you exercise rigorously, you need MORE energy and carbohydrates to fuel your body.  Otherwise, you can trigger your body to overeat.  Honor your hunger and rebuild trust with yourself and food.

3. Make Peace With Food
Don't tell yourself "Don't eat that, You shouldn't have that". Give yourself permission to eat.  The more you restrict, the more you want that particular food.  Restricting eventually results in overeating.

4. Challenge the Food Police
Scream a loud HELL NO to the voice in your head saying that food is "good" or that food is "bad".  News flash: there is no such thing as good or bad food.  Every food regardless of what kind it is has a nutrients in it and therefore has a nutritional value aka energy.  Block out negative thoughts about food and punch the Food Police in the face!

5. Respect Your Fullness
Listen to your body for signals when it says that you feel full.  Pause in the middle of your meal or ask yourself how your food tastes and your current fullness level.

6. Discover the Satisfaction Factor
Eating is an experience, it should be fun and comfortable! Eat in a pleasurable and comfortable environment and enjoy your meal.

7. Honor Your Feelings Without Using Food
Find different ways to cope without using food as a response to triggers of different emotions like anger, happiness, or sadness. Food won't fix your feelings.  It may make you feel better short term or numb you, but it won't solve the problem.  Instead, deal with the source of the emotion.

8. Respect Your Body
You are your own person.  Love and accept your genetic blueprint.  There is no one in the world that is the same as you.  You are beautiful, cherish and love the body you are in.

9. Exercise - Feel the Difference
Exercise for health.  Don't focus on calories being burned, focus on how it feels to move your body and the awesome energy that exercise gives you.  How does it make you feel? Great!

10. Honor Your Health
You don't have to eat perfect to be healthy.  There is no such thing as perfect anyway!  Make healthy nutritious choices but remember that you can indulge and have that ice cream or cookie too! Moderation, balance, and variety of foods is the key to being healthy. ALL FOODS CAN FIT!

Love your body, you are beautiful :)

your in health,

L


References:
Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD and Resch, Elyse MS, RD, FADA. Intuitive Eating. St. Martin's Press, September 2003.