6 Super Spices You Need in Your Diet

     Spices make food taste delicious. They can transform vegetables into curry or fajitas, depending on the combination! In short, spices are amazing and I wouldn't want to cook or eat without them! But spices aren't just tasty, they also are beneficial to your health!

Good-Bye Sugar- Why and How to Remove Sugar from Your Diet

     Most of us have a sweet tooth. We all love to enjoy a piece of cake, brownie sundae, chocolate bar...cupcake.... but these things are all jam packed full of SUGAR!!! Why don't we like sugar? Well, our taste buds love it, but the rest of our body could probably do pretty well without it!

Everyday Activities = Workouts!

   Sounds crazy right? I mean, who has the time or would even want to workout all day, right? Well, actually, everyday activities can be looked at as low-impact workouts! It kind of cool to see just how many calories you can burn, just doing what you always do!

 

    Let's start things off in the Kitchen! Can you believe that cooking burns about 200 calories an hour? So all that chopping, slicing, stirring, mixing, prepping and moving around the kitchen can really be effective, in more than putting dinner on the table! Another great excuse to get in the kitchen!
   I have a toddler brother, so this next one was exciting for me! You burn about 300-350 calories and hour when playing with kids. Jumping rope, playing ball, a game of tag, pillow fight... all of these things aren't just a fun thing to do with kids, but always a great workout!

     I'm not a huge fan of cleaning house, but when I saw the calorie burn for it, it made cleaning a little more bearable! You burn about 300 calories an hour when house cleaning! Dusting, sweeping, mopping, and so on, are all great ways to burn calories during the day!

     Gardening burns about 300 calories an hour, which is great! We don't have a garden right now, but come spring time I'll have another reason to start one!

       You might already know that walking your dog is great exercise, I mean its walking right? Well, walking a dog at a leisurely pace for an hour burns  about 300 calories! And it gets you outside in the fresh air!

   Take the stairs to burn some killer calories! In just 30 minutes of stair climbing, you can burn about 200-223 calories! Its just another great reason to skip the elevator and take the stairs!

   Go Bowling! You burn around 225 calories and hour when you go bowling! Another great reason to get out with your family or friends( or both!) and do something fun, and burn some calories too!


     So, these are just a few ways you can burn calories without even thinking about it! I know that a lot of people are super busy and have a hard time fitting in a workout, so I hope this post helps you out! I love to think that activities like house cleaning, gardening, and cooking burn a good amount of calories, and all while you are getting things done!

Please share this post and my blog with your friends and family to spread the love of healthy living! You can follow my blog via email, Google, Twitter @ SpinachisGood, and on Pinterest @ Hannah Plunkett.

New post every Friday!

Keep healthy and Safe!
H. Banana

Salud! Cooking School at Whole Foods: Part 4: Day 4

Day 4 was my favorite day of all. It was a delicious trip to India! I loved everything we made on this day, and I am planning to make these recipes very soon so my family can enjoy the amazing food as well!

We made a fresh cucumber salad, a delicious rice pilaf, vegetable curry, garlic naan, and a traditional dessert called Halva! Not everyone was a fan of the halva( I enjoyed a small portion at a time!) but everything else was a huge hit!

I only got a picture of everything already on the plate, so no individual pictures (sorry!).

Lets start with the cucumber salad. It was a fresh mix of veggies, seasonings and a light dressing. Delicious, fresh and a perfect addition to the meal!

Next, my personal favorite of the meal, a rice pilaf! We used onions, almonds and raisins to make this dish amazing! I loved it so much and I cannot wait to make it again! We actually cooked it in the oven and added peas when it came out of the oven!

Then we worked on our vegetable curry. We used a variety of veggies: potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, cauliflower and peppers. We cooked it in a coconut milk/curry sauce until the veggies were tender and soft. So amazing and so full of flavor! I loved this dish so much!

We made garlic naan next. As you may know, I make naan at home often, but their method and recipe was a bit different from mine and it was cool to learn something new! We cooking it in the oven and then brushed it with a garlicky butter when it was done! Delicious and a perfect addition to this Indian meal!

For dessert we made halva. It is a sweet cookie-dough like dessert, that takes some getting used to. We cooked it over the stove and then let it cool in the fridge. We scooped it out and topped it with chocolate chips and crushed pistachios. It was very sweet and a little bit went a long way!

Well, that was Day 4 of our Cooking School at Whole Foods! Only one more day left! This day was by far my favorite day( expect for dessert. There I liked the Latin dessert best!)!

Please share this post with a friend and family member! Follow the blog via email, Google, Twitter @ SpinachisGood and on Pinterest @ Hannah Plunkett!

New post every Monday and Friday!

Keep healthy and safe!
H. Banana

Salud! Cooking School at Whole Foods: Part 3: Day 3

Day 3 of our Cooking School was a trip to Asia! We made a lot of traditional dishes from several different regions and we learned a few tips to making amazing Asian food!

We made Vietnamese Spring Rolls, Chicken Satay, Peanut Sauce, Vegetable Lo Mein, and Almond Cookies. Everything was delicious, and we learned how to use chop sticks! My sister and I were both really proud of ourselves when we finished our meal using only the chop sticks!

 

The first thing we made was the Chicken Satay. We made a quick marinade for the chicken with yogurt, curry powder, garlic and ginger! Then we threaded the chicken on to skewers and grilled them on a grill pan. They smelled amazing and tasted even better!

Then we made Vegetable Lo Mein in a wok. We learned the method of stir frying the right way( quick and hot is the key!) then we added noodles and a soy sauce and the dish was finished! It came together so quick it was almost unbelievable! It was delicious!

 

Then we learned to roll Spring Rolls. The filling was a veggie-pork mix that was made ahead of time. We rolled the filling into some wrappers and the instructors fried them for us. They we really yummy and a great addition to the meal!

 

 

To finish the meal we made some almond cookies. These are a traditional Chinese sweet and they were really yummy. A super simple recipe and method make these cookies a great treat for any time of the day and year!

Well, that was Day 3 of our Cooking School at Whole Foods! Stay tuned for Day 4 of this post-series!

Please share this post with a friend and family member! Follow the blog via email, Google, Twitter @ SpinachisGood and on Pinterest @ Hannah Plunkett.

New post every Monday and Friday

Keep healthy and Safe!
H. Banana

Salud! Cooking School at Whole Foods: Part 2: Day 2

  So, Day 2 of our cooking school at Whole Foods was Latin food! It was one of my favorite days for many reasons! 1, our family lives off of Mexican Food, 2, lots of fresh veggies and flavors, 3 GUACAMOLE!!!

The Menu
 We made a lot of delicious food on this day, and I loved all of it! We made some guacamole, steak tostados, bean and corn salsa, strawberry limeade, and Alfajores!

 

The guacamole was really yummy! We used something called a tomatillo in the recipe. I have never use one before, but I already knew I liked the taste! It was a great blend of chunky and smooth and spicy! I  make my own guacamole at home, and I was excited to add a new recipe to my stash!

 

The staff had made a marinade for the steak before we arrived, because it needed to sit for a few hours. They grilled it along with some tomato slices and onions! Let me tell you, the smells that filled the kitchen were out of this world!

The corn and bean salsa was really amazing! It was a mix of corn, beans, tomatoes, onions and cilantro! We also added balsamic vinegar to the mix and it really took this dish up a notch!

We made a Tostada Bar and everyone went through the line to make their own tostada. There was our salsas( I didn't get a picture of the tomatoes salsa!)  guacamole, grilled meat and veggies along with cheese, limes and sour cream!

I liked everything! Everything was delicious and I can't wait to recreate the dishes at home for my whole family to enjoy!

 

After this delicious feast, we had some alfajores cookies. These are a traditional Latin sweet, and one bite is enough for you to fall in love!

These cookies are two almond shortbread cookies sandwiched between some Dulce de Leche sauce! They are so amazing!!!!! The perfect balance of buttery, crunching, dry cookie and creamy, smooth, rich and delicious caramel sauce! We took some home for the family to try, and they loved them as well!


Well, that was Day 2 of our cooking experience at the Whole Food's Cooking School! Stay tuned for Day 3 in this post-series!

If you liked this post, please share it with a friend and family member! You can follow the blog via email, Google, Twitter @ SpinachisGood and Pinterest @ Hannah Plunkettt.

New post every Monday and Friday!

Keep healthy and safe!
H. Banana

Salud! Cooking School at Whole Foods: Part 1: Day 1

   This past week my sister, Emma, and I attended a cooking school at the Whole Foods Market near us. The cooking school is called Salud!  and this class focused on different cuisines from around the world. We learned a lot about different cultures, ways to prepare food, and we ate a lot of tasty food! I want to share with you the food we made, the things we learned and how much we enjoyed the class!

The School
Salud Cooking School is the cooking school inside Whole Foods. There are several other Whole Foods that have this same school, so check the one near you. I know the one close to us didn't have one, so we drove to a Whole Foods that did have one. The instructors and staff at the store and school are all very helpful, cheerful and nice! They have classes on all different topics and all different age groups! I encourage you to look into the Whole Foods near you and see what classes their school offers!

Day 1
The first day of class I forgot to bring a camera, so I don't have any pictures (Sorry!) but we did make some delicious food that is worth talking about! This day was Italian Food day, so we traveled to Italy to make some of their classic dishes!

We made homemade pizza dough and topped it with a homemade marinara sauce and cheese. Then we made lasagna with some more of the marinara sauce and a ricotta cheese filling. Next we made a amazing kale Caprese salad with tomatoes and mozzarella cheese!  For dessert we made a teacup tiramisu. Their recipe was a bit different from ours( we use coffee and Kahlua in our recipe and they used chocolate milk---more kid friendly I guess!) but it was still really yummy!


I loved the pizza! It tasted just like the pizza you can buy in the Whole Foods deli(big surprise there!) The crust was a simple dough that we let rest and rise, then we stretched it into personal-sized pizzas. The we topped it with some marinara sauce we had made and then some cheese!

Next was the lasagna. Now, I'm not a huge fan of lasagna, but my sister, Emma, is and she assured me it was delicious! The method was simple enough, we made a ricotta cheese filling and spread it between some lasagna noodles. Then we rolled them up and topped them with the marinara sauce and cheese!

The salad was my favorite dish of the day! It was light and flavorful all at once! We used kale( Quick Tip for working with kale. After you tear it off the stem and into bite sized pieces, massage it for a few minutes with your hands. This softens the leaves up and makes for a better bite! Just make sure you have clean hands!) tomatoes, mozzarella cheese balls,  and pine nuts! Then we made a spicy vinaigrette to dress it with!

Finally, for dessert we made a kid-friendly version of a tiramisu. We made a mascarpone cheese mixture(classic to a tiramisu) and used eggs to make it into a pudding. We chilled that to help it set. Then we soaked lady finger cookies in chocolate milk and placed them in teacups. We topped the cookies with our pudding mix and shaved chocolate on top! I have to say, I like our recipe better, but their take on a tiramisu was interesting and yummy too!

So that was Day 1 of our Cooking School experience! My sister and I had so much fun the first day, that we couldn't wait to go back the next day! Be on the look out for Part 2: Day 2!

If you liked this post, please share it with a friend and family member! You can follow the blog via email and Google, Twitter @ SpinachisGood and on Pinterest @ Hannah Plunkett.

I post every Monday and Friday, so follow the blog to stay up to date on all things healthy living!

Keep Healthy and Safe!
H. Banana