I know it’s only March and we are a mere 3 months removed from our New Year’s Resolutions…I want to help those of you out who had “Health” as one of the things you wanted to focus on in 2018. Other than my “Soupy Saturdays”, I rarely devote posts to this type of thing, but it is a big part of my life as I try to make the best choices for my family…and I really love “real” & “practical” life posts from the blog communities I connect with.
Many of you have asked me over the last year about the physical transformation you have seen in my daughter Rylie, and nutrition was 80% of that change. I will tell you like I told her, if you are in doubt, you can DO THIS and you are WORTH IT. I will dedicate some future posts to specifics if you are interested…so leave a comment and let me know! By the way, I love your comments – I want to hear back from you 🙂
Real food is key.
Eliminate as much processed food from your life as you can. I know this is not always easy and takes more time and planning, but once again…you are worth it. I thought I would share with you a recent shopping trip to my favorite grocery, Trader Joe’s, for some of my tried and true family favorites.
Asian Stir Fry Veggies – Perfect to sauté stove top with some grilled chicken breast and brown rice
Spaghetti Squash – Incredible healthy alternative for pasta noodles
Feta Cheese – Love this in salads, omelettes, makes everything taste better
Cherry Tomatoes – Great for snacking or in salads
Strawberries – I can’t keep strawberries in my house. They are everyones favorite and don’t last long!
Small Cucumbers – Great for snacking and for school lunches
Dried Pineapple Rings – OMG…so good. Chewy and better for you than sour patch kids 🙂
Peanut Butter Protein Granola – Tribe favorite…so good on top of a yogurt and fruit parfait, smoothie, or alone
Apple Bars – So yummy. The kids love these and they are a good alternative to sugary granola bars.
Seasoned Brussel Sprouts – Ready to cook these are super easy and so good for you
Vegetable Fried Rice – need I say more? Perfect for a side dish with your stir fry and its super quick & easy
Chicken Cilantro Mini Wontons – OMG, literally so incredible
Edamame – One of our favorite appetizers, side dishes, snacks
Coconut Shrimp – Easy as 1-2-3 and delicious
Fresh Hard-Cooked Boiled Eggs – these save my life…perfect for snacking, breakfast, easy protein
Roasted Tomatillo Salsa – I got hooked on “green sauce” when we lived in California…its so good and this is one of my faves
Chicken Breakfast Sausage – I don’t like Turkey Sausage so this is very good and so good for you
Lemon Elderflower Soda – I love weird tasting things, but these are so good and refreshing
Parmesan Romano & Asiago Cheese – Great on top of salads, spaghetti squash, you name it
Bamba Peanut Snacks – literally a peanut butter alternative to cheese curls, and we love peanut butter
Cilantro Dressing – one of my favorite dressings, I will warn you it is very garlic-ey so be choosy about when you eat it 🙂
Chili Spiced Mango – dried mango with a kick
Cinnamon Roll Bread – need I say more? Pop in the toaster and voila!
Queso Cheese – Best snack when you are craving something with some substance – I will tell you how to make this below for a great game day snack
Organic Vegetarian Chili – SOOOO GOOD!
Fat-Free Cottage Cheese- Hearty snack with veggies or fruit
Strawberry Smoothies – Bellas favorite, and they have live cultures so helps provide probiotic for good digestion
Rhubarb & Strawberry Sodas – Told you I like weird things, no one else likes these and honestly I’m glad haha…more for me
Gyoza Dipping Sauce – perfect with the Cilantro Wontons!
This is Rylie’s Food – She is Vegan so she has some personal favorites
Sriracha Hummus – Spicy and so good…she loves to dip the small cucumbers in this
Vegetable Spring Rolls – Easy to make and really yummy
Veggie Burger – She loves these…fry in a little coconut oil on the stove-top
Carrot & Pea Vegetable Patties – This was our first time buying these…never again haha!
Absolute Black Dark Chocolate – for her sweet tooth
Cookie Butter – OMG AMAZING
Green Dragon Hot Sauce– This is definitely spicy but tastes so good
Sriracha Baked Tofu – Rylie loves this!
Soy Chorizo – We are big chorizo fans so her finding this was great!
Game-day Snack
Just mix these two together and microwave for about 3 minutes…scoop with some tortilla chips and you’re good to go!
Spices/Seasonings
Chili Lime – MY ALL TIME FAVORITE! I use this on cucumbers, raw veggies, I even sprinkle it on Frozen Fruit Bars!
Pumpkin Pie Spice – this is great on anything for added sweetness and if you are a pumpkin fan…you’ll love it. Especially good in smoothies 🙂
Onion Salt – good and a little goes a long way
Seasoning Salt – Staple and good on anything
Everything but the bagel – Incredible stuff…so good on chicken, in scrambled eggs, literally makes everything better!
11 Comments
Sharayah Franklin
March 15, 2018 at 3:18 pmI love this!! I joined weight watchers a few weeks ago, but sometimes these kinds of things just feel so restrictive, and I believe that my metabolism must hate me haha! I’d love to see more specifics on this kind of thing!
Stephanie Harrison
March 15, 2018 at 5:37 pmThank you soooo much for commenting and letting me know this content was helpful! I would definitely like to include more of these types of posts…and you can do this! You are worth taking care of your health!
Candice Casey
March 15, 2018 at 3:51 pmLove this, Steph! These are all great options and are much more like the Selections you’d see in my own grocery haul now, after losing 60lbs. I never thought I’d care about health, but after losing so many people I love far too soon, I knew this was an area in my life I needed to focus on.
I’m so glad I have you and my chic tribe “Unbecoming Unhealthy Habits” with me!
Stephanie Harrison
March 15, 2018 at 5:38 pmI’m so proud of you! What’s incredible is that your children don’t even know it, but watching you make the changes you have in your life will teach them healthy habits. I love you dearly and thank you for commenting!
Valerie Roller
March 15, 2018 at 8:08 pmSteph, thank you for sharing this! Although I never thought that I would ever find interest in anything that looked, smelled or acted healthy, my life and mind has totally changed and now I actually read nutrition labels and actually CHOOSE healthy alternatives, who knew. I plan to adopt some of your choices into my regular menu, again thanks for this. I look foward to seeing more blogs like this.
Stephanie Harrison
March 16, 2018 at 8:53 amValerie,
It’s so wonderful to hear from you! Thanks so much for taking the time to express how this helped you. I am so happy to hear that you are making healthy choices for YOU! I will definitely include some more of this type of content in the near future!
Judy
March 15, 2018 at 9:24 pmLove this! So informative and the pics and comments are very helpful! Our closest TJ IS 20 miles away but will make it worth my time! I always pray for God to take the desire of things away from me that is not good spiritually or physically! You just have to put the time into it! I love you more; you’re amazing😘😘
Stephanie Harrison
March 16, 2018 at 8:55 amThank you so much! I love you too…even if you don’t have a Trader Joe’s close to you…alot of these options can be found at Kroger in the Simple Truth or Organic Sections. Or make a list and just go once a month to your TJ. I know you and you can definitely make it happen 🙂
Angie
March 17, 2018 at 1:25 amAmazing advice!! Love it!!
Gwin Minter
March 19, 2018 at 8:43 amPastor Steph! I really loved this post! So informative and helpful. Your daughter looks amazing and what an example for those of us who need to be more healthy! This was great! Im saving this post. Great job. Thank You.
Luv ya
Stephanie Harrison
March 19, 2018 at 2:41 pmThank you Gwin! I love and appreciate you. I told her that this will be one of those “forever encouragements” to her that as she put in the hard work and discipline it took, she will never encounter something she thinks is impossible!