Tag Archives: Life Balance

Delicious Healthy Peanut Butter Cups

First of all, this is an absolutely delicious recipe for peanut butter cups that uses honey to sweeten them and is healthier for you. If you prefer not to use peanut butter, choose another nut butter. They will still be delicious!

Also, I have to get something off my chest, because lately I am seeing people unfollow on social media because someone posts a treat, or a funny food quote that isn’t “healthy”. I am here to tell you, Don’t let perfection be the enemy of the good! Life is about balance. When one area is out of balance, all the other areas can be affected. A sense of humor when approaching life, health and food are just as important as what you are eating.

We had a little exercise in nutrition school called The Circle of Life, and you looked at all the areas of wellness and balance on a color wheel. It helps see what is out of sync. The categories are:

~Joy

~Social Life

~Relationships

~Home Environment

~Home Cooking

~Physical Activity

~Health

~Education

~Career

~Finances

~Creativity

You can go take the quiz yourself right here: https://www.integrativenutrition.com/circle-of-life

I encourage you to take the quiz every three to four months to help you be aware of your life balance so you can make changes.

Now, for a absolutely delicious Peanut Butter Cup Recipe! There are some amazing benefits to eating chocolate! Like enhancing brain function, mood and it’s loaded with flavanols!

Delicious Healthy Peanut Butter Cups

Directions:

Line a mini muffin cup pan with twenty mini liners

Bottom Layer:

1/3 Cup of No Sugar Added Creamy Peanut Butter

2 Tablespoons of Runny Honey

2 Tablespoons of Coconut Oil (Melted)

2 Tablespoons of Cocoa Powder

1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

1/8 Teaspoon of Sea Salt

Whisk together all the ingredients with a fork until combined.

Spoon the mixture evenly into the bottom of your muffin liners.

Top Layer:

1/3 Cup of No Sugar Added Creamy Peanut Butter

2 Tablespoons of Runny Honey

2 Tablespoons of Melted Coconut Oil

1/2 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

1/8 Teaspoon of Sea Salt

Whisk together the ingredients until thoroughly combined and spoon over the bottom layer, dividing evenly. Rap the filled muffin tin onto the counter several times to flatten the peanut butter cups. Optional, sprinkle a little flaky sea salt on top like Fleur de Sel.

Place the peanut butter cups into the freezer to firm for 30 minutes. Store these in either the freezer or refrigerator in a sealed container depending on how firm you like them.

As always, I love to hear from you. Did you go take the Circle of Life quiz?

How I Bounce Back from the Holidays and What I’m Eating to Start the New Year and do a Reset!

New Year's Reset - What I'm Doing

The New Year is here, and I’m resetting my taste buds after enjoying the holiday and extra treats.

The number one rule I have when doing a food reset is Don’t Starve Yourself. That just messes up your metabolism and hormones, so don’t be tempted by that. It never works long term.

I am taking out extra sugars, which for me would be maple syrup and honey mostly, but still eating low sugar fruit like blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries, which are full of nutrition and fiber.

I am making sure I get plenty of low starch vegetables in like spinach, bok choy, artichokes, broccoli, zucchini, Swiss chard, kale, cucumbers, leafy green lettuces, mushrooms, asparagus, fennel (one of my favorites) onions, a little bit of fermented vegetables each day, and Brussels sprouts. I eat as many of these vegetables as I want.

I’m eating complex carbs from vegetables like butternut squash, beets, carrots, and winter squash. You can make “noodles” with butternut squash, beets and zucchini noodles using a spiralizer. (I have this one that suction cups to the counter top and cleans up like a breeze! It’s under $20. now. ) You need adequate protein for each meal like grass fed meat, pastured chicken and seafood such as salmon, and also healthy fats, especially whole food avocados.

I am also prioritizing sleep. Plenty of sleep helps avoid cravings and lowers cortisol levels. High cortisol can cause you to store belly fat and make you crave sweet things more than ever.

I’m drinking plenty of water and clear teas which are perfect hot for this deep freeze we are having in Maryland! My favorite teas are Dandelion Root, Rooibos, Chamomile and Milk Thistle with a piece of ginger root in it. I also have one cup of coffee a day with raw cacao powder, a scoop of collagen and a tablespoon of coconut milk.

I have a shoulder injury at the moment involving the lower trapezius muscle by my right shoulder blade, so weight bearing arm workouts are on hold for now. It’s an injury that occurred last June that healed, and then I re-injured it doing planks again. So, now I’m starting physical therapy to help heal and learning techniques to strengthen that muscle and restore the range of motion to prevent another re-injury. It’s a bummer for me, but you have to take care of your body. Currently my exercise routine looks like this, and I’ll add there is a point of exercise where you feel good and refreshed, and one where you overdo it and feel depleted. You want to avoid feeling depleted. If you can’t recover quickly, then it’s too much. For me what works is twenty minutes in the morning of some form of toning exercise like pilates, resistance bands, cardio step or an exercise ball, and then later in the day a 30 to 40 minute brisk walk, preferable outside, but on the treadmill if the weather isn’t good. I start out my walk with a square of 70% dark chocolate. I’ve been doing this for years, and it works very well for me as a motivator.

Happy, Healthy New Year to Everyone!

Sam