Fullyraw Beet Juice

Hello everyone, I would like to thank you for reading my posts and following my blog. Please feel free to comment and share with your friends and family.

Today for breakfast, I made beet/greens/apple juice. It was delicious and sweet because I used red apples ;)

I am not going to lie, I do like my juices and smoothies sweet ;)

I used two beets, two apples, a bunch of parsley, a bunch of spinach, 1/2 lemon and 2 sticks of celery. 

Beets:

Beets are sweet vegetables that are energetically grounding because they are root vegetables.  Sweet vegetables are helpful in soothing the internal organs of the body and serve as mind energizer.  Adding in sweet vegetables may help satisfy your need for sugar , hence reducing the not so healthy sugary foods.  

Celery/Spinach/Parsley:

Many people fail to incorporate green vegetables in their lifestyle/diet.  Adding dark, leafy greens helps the body establish a strong immune system.  

Greens  strengthen the blood and respiratory system. Leafy green vegetables are also high-alkaline foods.   In Traditional Chinese medicine, green is related to the liver, emotional stability, and creativity. Greens are high in calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, phosphorus, zinc and vitamins A, C, E, and K.  They are loaded with fiber, folic acid, chlorophyll, and many other micronutrients and phytochemicals. 

Some of the benefits of adding dark greens to your daily food consumption are:
Blood purification, Cancer prevention ,  Improved circulation , Strengthened immune system , Promotion of healthy intestinal flora,  Promotion of subtle, light, and flexible energy ,  Improved liver, gall bladder, and kidney function , Cleared congestion, especially in lungs by reducing mucus.
Apples:
"One apple a day keeps the doctor away." Apples are high in antioxidants and fiber, hence many health benefits such as protecting against Parkinson's, reducing cholesterol, healthier heart, controlling weight, detoxifying liver, boosting the immune system and many more.
Lemons:
Lemons are highly alkaline, contain many antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.  They are good for hair care, skin care, boosting the immune system among others.

This juice is delicious and packed with goodness, isn't it better to consume that for breakfast and feel light, versus having a bagel and cream cheese and feeling so heavy at 8:00 AM in the morning.
Who wants to feel energized and ready to take on the day? I know I am ;)

Now it is your turn to tell me what you like to have for breakfast and why?

Thank you so much for reading my post, please feel free to comment and share with your friends and family. 

Please share with us what works for you and your family.  

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The owner of bzhealthymama.blogspot.com will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.

Plantbased stuffed zucchini

Hello everyone, I would like to thank you for reading my posts and following my blog. Please feel free to comment and share with your friends and family.

A fellow Instagramer asked me to make something with zucchini. 

Being Lebanese , I grew up with stuffed zucchini that I didn't like . I would always eat the stuffing  and leave the zucchini . Now I eat zucchini Woohoo 🎶🎶

These are not a version of Lebanese stuffed zucchini , this is just my version ;) 

Ingredients: 

3-4 zucchini cut in half and cored with a spoon ( leave the core) 

1 cup of peas 

1/2 cup of cooked quinoa

3-4 mushrooms diced 

One tomato diced

1/2 onion diced  

Ground flax meal (optional ) 

Salt, pepper to taste 

Oil of choice 

Method : 

Sautée onions in a little bit of oil until golden, add the rest of the veggies, the zucchini core , the cooked quinoa and continue sauteeing. Add salt and pepper, a little bit of water . Cook for about 5-10 minutes . 

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350. 

Add the stuffing to the cored zucchini and arrange on a baking tray . Sprinkle flax meal on some if you wish. 

Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes . I greased the tray with some Grapeseed oil but that's totally optional. 

Enjoy !!

Thank you so much for reading my post, please feel free to comment and share with your friends and family. 

Please share with us what works for you and your family.  

Follow me on Instagram , tmblr, and twitter: @bzhealthymama;http://www.instagram.com/bzhealthymama

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All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site.

The owner of bzhealthymama.blogspot.com will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.

The stress of being a mom

Hello everyone, I would like to thank you for reading my posts and following my blog. Please feel free to comment and share with your friends and family.

I haven't written in a while; however, I have been posting on Instagram, Facebook, Tmblr and Twitter daily so please make sure you follow me there ;)

Writing is my way to vent, it is my therapy :) In the past few weeks I was under a lot of stress and I felt I couldn't get anything done. I leave the house M-F at 6:40 AM and I don't get back until at least 5ish. At 5, we have to finish homework, cook, fold laundry, pick up the house etc...
My son had three activities and my daughter one so we had activities daily except one day and I couldn't just cook on Monday for the rest of week. We like the food to be fresh not a week old !!
I could not focus at work which was getting busy, I didn't have time to schedule the payments and look at our accounts.
I knew I was taking on more than I needed to.  I was getting sick. 
At 8:00 PM , I would be so irritated that anything will throw me to the edge. I EAT HEALTHY, I am not supposed to be feeling this way.
I was dragging the household into a state of negativity , whining and irritability.
THIS HAD TO END !!
Why do I do all this? Who am I trying to impress?
Why am I comparing myself to others?
Here when social media can get to mommies! We see other moms " doing" it why can't we? She has her kids in 10, 000 activities and she still looks "happy."
She makes everything from scratch, her kids look "healthy and happy"
She just told me they barely could make ends meet and they are on vacation??? Come on, you know you were thinking it ;)
She this, she that etc...
I started my son in swimming when he was 12 months old , music and dance when he was 3 years old. Why? Because I wanted him to learn swimming when he was 1 just like those little videos.
I wanted him to be the next "so you think you can dance champion" or write his songs and win an Oscar.
Did he concentrate? Was he listening? Was he following directions? NOPE NOPE NOPE
After conversations with my husband and son, we decided to quit music. He wanted to keep hip hop and football. 
I feel so relieved even if it is only one activity. That is an extra day without one.
Fighting with my son to practice music and do homework is gone . Sitting through an hour of music class is gone so I am thrilled. Do I regret it?? NO way !! Will I ever? Not me.
I am not going to make this long but here are some of the tips to help overly stressed working and non working moms ;)

1- STOP comparing yourself to other moms: We don't know their journey and they don't know ours. Concentrate on your own journey, your own life, kids, etc....
2- LET IT GO: I was holding on to all the "my kid is gonna become ..." I was holding on to the idea "my kid will play music, swim, do sports, dance, etc..." And I forgot that my kid is only a child who also goes to school and has homework, reading, projects etc... I let go of the idea that I want my house spotless like my mother's  house. Did I get to where I want? NO WAY, it is a journey and I am work in progress.
3- COMMUNICATE: Talk to your kids and your spouse. I have seen kids in my son's football team who are not into the game at all but I am sure they do it coz their mom or dad want them to play.  I did the same to my son for 5 years with music. He was NOT into it and I used to tell him " you will quit school before you quit music." What the heck was I doing???
4- SELF CARE: Find ways to take care of yourself first. A dear friend of mine told me that before she transitions to a different activity, she takes few minutes to check in and center herself.
Self care can be in a form of deep breathing, hot bath, meditation, praying, taking a walk by yourself, etc... In the safety airplane videos, they tell parents to wear their oxygen masks before helping their kids. Same thing applies to life, if mommies don't care for themselves , they won't have the energy to care for their babies. 
5- SLOW DOWN: Life is busy and everything is on the go. We want everything done NOW that's why our kiddos are so impatient and cannot wait. My daughter says " mommy this is taking forever" I am sure she heard it from me. Now on our walks, if she stops to pick the flowers, I wait for her and we converse about flowers. They are the same freaking flowers she picks but she is happy and that's all that matters.  Slow down now before life makes you slow down due to illness or whatever that might come our way.

Thank you so much for reading my post, please feel free to comment and share with your friends and family.

Please share with us what works for you and your family. 

Follow me on Instagram , tmblr, and twitter: @bzhealthymama;http://www.instagram.com/bzhealthymama

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All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site.

The owner of bzhealthymama.blogspot.com will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.

 

Easy homemade hummus semi raw ;)

Hello everyone, I would like to thank you for reading my posts and following my blog. Please feel free to comment and share with your friends and family.

Growing up in Lebanon, I did not like hummus !!! I never ever tried when I was a kid . My parents didn't push me to try it or eat it :( We took it for granted. 

When Middle Eastern food became popular in the US and hearing all my friends ask about hummus, I felt the need to try it lol I did & it was delicious ... I was probably in my late 20s when I tried hummus for the first time !!! Oopsies 

We like to make it from scratch . 

Make sure you soak the chickpeas for couple of days, change their water and  rinse them . 

Here is what happened with my husband and I . We soaked them for a couple of days. We wanted to make hummus but we just didn't. So we put them in the fridge covered with water. Couple of weeks later we forgot if we cooked them or not so we decided to make hummus . That's why I am calling this semi raw because the chickpeas are raw but not the tahini.

So here is the recipe ;) 

Let's get started ! 

Ingredients:

3 cups chickpeas ( cooked) or in my case soaked for couple of weeks lol 

3/4 tahini

1/2 cup water 

Juice of 4 small lemons

1 tsp salt add more if you like it more salty 

2 garlic 

Adjust any of the above to your liking ;)

Method : 

Process in food processor until purée

Enjoy !

Thank you so much for reading my post, please feel free to comment and share with your friends and family.

Follow me on Instagram , tmblr, and twitter: @bzhealthymama;http://www.instagram.com/bzhealthymama

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All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site.

The owner of bzhealthymama.blogspot.com will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.

Our children, our responsibility ! Please pack their school lunches

Hello everyone, I would like to thank you for reading my posts and following my blog. Please feel free to comment and share with your friends and family.

Our kids are our responsibility. What we feed them can either make them healthy or unhealthy adults. 

I am not sure if you have seen or read the ingredients of the food they consume at school during breakfast and lunch.  I have been packing my son and daughter’s lunches because what they put in their bodies is my priority. I understand we are all busy working; however, prioritizing is important.  Before I try to convince you to make packing healthy lunches for your kids a priority, let me tell you why it is mine. 

1- The food in the school’s cafeteria is not fresh. They do offer fruits and veggies; however, most of the fruits are packaged and drenched in high fructose corn syrup. When the kids are given hot dogs, chicken nuggets etc... they are rarely likely to eat the veggies offered in the salad bar. 

2- The packaged food such as bagels, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, pizza, etc... is made with genetically modified organisms (GMO) and contains many unnecessary and unhealthy chemicals ( yes they are those ingredients that are too long and cannot be pronounced by adults.)

3- A sugar packed doughnuts for breakfast are considered whole grains?? A cup of brown rice, quinoa, millet, buckwheat is whole grains not doughnuts!!! Maybe the doughnuts were originally started with whole grains that were processed, fried and dipped in sugar! So it’s not whole grains anymore and parents should not accept that as an alternative to whole grains. 

4- For breakfast, they are served plenty of sugar such as pancakes and syrup, sausage and syrup, doughnuts and syrup and let me tell you the syrup is NOT organic 100% Maple Syrup.  So what happens to the children when they eat tons of sugar in the morning? They crash in the afternoon; hence the misbehaviors in the classroom. 

I hope I was able to make it clear. Wouldn't you want your kids brains and bodies not be depleted from all the vitamins and minerals?  Wouldn't you want to raise healthy adults who will change the world one day?

Here are some simple ideas for breakfasts and lunches for your kids.

For breakfast :

Make it simple; pack fruits. Fuel them with real energy that their brain needs: A cup of blueberries, an apple and a banana, two bananas, bananas and dates,  strawberries and blueberries, oranges, a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, watermelon, smoothies, etc… Make sure you give them enough fruits so they don't get hungry and reach for chips or cookies.

For Lunch:

Hummus with celery or cucumber
Organic almond butter on Ezekiel or whole grain bread ( the real organic kind with real ingredients)
Salad with homemade dressing
Organic Non GMO cheese( if they can eat dairy) slices with veggies
Almond butter ( if they're not allergic) and veggies such as celery

The options are endless.  Just make sure you pack them fruits and encourage them to eat them first for better digestion, veggies and carbs or protein whatever you wish. Make sure you pack them enough good calories that contain vitamins and minerals so they don't feel hungry.  Count colors ( eat and feed your kids the rainbow) not calories. I usually write what I am going to pack my son and daughter for lunch on Sunday for the whole week.  Sometimes, my kids do not eat everything and sometimes they do. I never give up and I continue to pack them foods that are nourishing to their bodies.

"Everytime you eat or drink, you are either feeding disease or fighting it."

Our little ones bodies work so hard to keep them healthy and keep all their organs functioning properly, they also help them fight the colds and flus they encounter environmentally. Let's feed them food that will help them win every battle against environmental toxins, not work against them.  

Thank you so much for reading my post, please feel free to comment and share with your friends and family.

Follow me on Instagram , tmblr, and twitter: @bzhealthymama;http://www.instagram.com/bzhealthymama

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All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site.

The owner of bzhealthymama.blogspot.com will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.

Easy homemade granola

Hello everyone, I would like to thank you for reading my posts and following my blog. Please feel free to comment and share with your friends and family.

I never really liked granola! However, recently my love for cooking and experimenting for sweet goodness has increased. I thought to myself to give it a try.
I wanted to give some of my colleagues homemade granola for Christmas so as I was working late night on them , I BURNT them :(
I tried again and they were so delicious... Here is a picture

Last week, I was craving granola so I made some and accidentally they turned out SUPER yummy so I made them again until I ran out of oats LOL

It is so important for me to keep my kids' snacks healthy and all  natural. If they are gonna eat sweets, I prefer they eat the ones I make. I know I am making them with tons of love and clean organic and non gmo ingredients. Here is the recipe. 

Let's get started!

Ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats ( all my ingredients were organic ; however, you can use the non organic.)

1/2 cup chia seeds

1/2 cup hemp seeds

1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup ( I added a little bit more , coz we like it sweet) brown rice syrup

1/2 cup coconut oil ( melted)

1tsp cinnamon powder

1tsp maca powder (optional )

1tsp raw cacao ( optional)

Method:

Preheat oven to 300 ( if you don't want it crispy, you can do 250 but we like it crispy) 

First, mix all dry ingredients together

Add the melted coconut oil and the brown rice syrup, mix really well until all coated with oil and syrup.

Then spread evenly ( thin layer) on a flat baking tray. You may need two trays like me ;)

Bake for 13-15 minutes, check on them , stir the mixture a little and bake for another 10-15 minutes. 

I was checking on them often to make sure I don't burn them.  I left them in the oven after I turned it off because like I said we like them crispy.  

Enjoy ! 

Deliciously healthy :)

Thank you so much for reading my post, please feel free to comment and share with your friends and family.

Follow me on Instagram , tmblr, and twitter: @bzhealthymama;http://www.instagram.com/bzhealthymama

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All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site.

The owner of bzhealthymama.blogspot.com will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.

Easy dinner/lunch idea: Vegetable soup

Hello everyone, I would like to thank you for reading my posts and following my blog. Please feel free to comment and share with your friends and family.

Since it is a little cold, I have been loving homemade vegetable soups. Some turn out yummy and some not so great ;)

Here is the recipe for a yummy one. Please feel to add, remove or replace any ingredient you don't like.

Let's get started !

Ingredients:

Ingredients

2-3 ribs  of celery diced ( I just looked it up lol A stalk is the whole bunch you buy at the store, a rib is the individual one ;)
2 tomatoes diced
2-3 carrots diced ( you can definitely use more)
one small box of oyster mushrooms diced
1/4 of an onion or 1/2 whatever you like finely diced
3-5 small yellow potatoes diced in cubes
1/4 cup of green lentils






Herbs de Provence
All Spice ground
Thyme
Mustard Seeds
Sage 
Dried parsley
Celtic Sea Salt 
Please note I didn't write measurements for the spices because it all depends on your taste. Spices are herbs are very good for digestion and taste so play around with them and see what you like or don't like.

 Method:
Dice all the veggies
Heat a little bit of olive oil in the pot
Then add the veggies ( I start with the onions , then add the rest. The olive oil will be hot, and the onions are cooling as they release their water). Sautee the veggies for 5-10 minutes
Add the spices and salt, sautee for few more minutes
Then add the water or broth whatever you prefer.  I added approximately three cups of water ( you can always adjust the water level as the veggies are cooking) 
Then add the lentils
Bring to boil on medium heat
Then simmer and cover until all veggies are cooked and water is reduced . It will take about 45 minutes. 
After 30 minutes I would check on it and adjust what needs adjustment! Maybe it needs more salt or more broth or water, it depends on your taste. 

Final Product

Thank you so much for reading my post, please feel free to comment and share with your friends and family.

Follow me on Instagram , tmblr, and twitter: @bzhealthymama;http://www.instagram.com/bzhealthymama

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All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site.

The owner of bzhealthymama.blogspot.com will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.