February Coffee Date

Sometimes it’s nice to just chat, right? It’s the end of the month (SCREAM how did that happen) and I’m feeling a chat day. It’s our February coffee date!

I’m drinking a Royal Tea Latte that I did not make at home because no matter how many times I ask at Sencha, they won’t tell me how they make it, which means that I am destined to continue to going there day after day, spending my money on this creamy miracle of a drink.

What are you drinking? Coffee? Matcha? Hot chocolate? Or maybe that yummy turmeric ginger tea from Trader Joe’s? Have you tried that?

Alright, coffee date. So here’s what’s up.

Eyelash Extensions

Help! I got eyelash extensions for the first time ever and now I am about to lose all my money. They are amazing.

Before / After:

Downsides:

• The actual appointment took forever. It seems really awesome to lay on your back, totally still, with your eyes closed for 2+ hours… until you actually try to lay on your back, totally still, with your eyes closed for 2+ hours at which time you realize HELLO THIS IS ACTUALLY KINDA HARD.
• It is the equivalent of throwing your money out the window. They are so expensive! The first installation (can I call it that?) was $250 and – oh, bummer – you have to get them filled every 2-3 weeks?!? for another $75?!? I mean, I like them and everything, but I have a hard enough time paying $50 for a haircut once every six months.

Upsides:

• You look like a queen.
• Wake up and go.
• Low maintenance.
• You look like a queen. (x2)

Have you had extensions? Do you know of an affordable place to keep up this new habit in the Twin Cities? Please spill.

Yoga, Kinda

I’ve been doing yoga lately! Except it’s not *real* yoga, it’s technically called “yoga inspired fitness.”

For about two months I’ve been using an app called Asana Rebel and I really love it. I am working my way through the 7 Week Full Body Toner set, which, for me, is basically a live set for creating a How-You-Think-You-Look-While-Doing-Yoga and How-You-Actually-Look-While-Doing-Yoga meme. But still. I like it. It’s a nice calming workout where I can a) usually break a mini-sweat, and b) feel-good-sore the next day.

Highly recommend!

Do you guys use fitness apps?

Grocery Delivery

OMG! This is the future! Bjork and I have been using Instacart for almost a year now (both in personal life and also for the studio groceries), and I am not going to lie: it is one of my favorite things about my life right now.

We paid $100-ish for free delivery for one year. When I need groceries, I just put in an order on my phone, schedule delivery, and wait for it to arrive, usually in pajamas.

Things I’ve done with the time I saved by not going to the grocery store:

• Yoga
• Cleaned out fridge
• Laundry
• Walked Sage
• Worked
• Read a book
• Watched TV
• Painted my nails
• WHATEVER THE HECK I WANT

We tip our drivers, usually 10%, so in that sense, it costs more than if we didn’t do delivery. Also a bummer – shoppers seem to REALLY struggle with finding certain things such as orange sweet potatoes. Come on, guys. But, on the other hand, I’m not impulse-buying a few throw pillows during my grocery runs (thank you very much, Target) which means maybe we’re saving money in some weird way.

I still love to peruse the grocery store in person from time to time to get excited about food and recipes, but when I do, it’s not in a frenzy to get 101 groceries, and that feels really nice.

Grocery delivery – yay or nay?

Seasonal Sads

Here in Minnesota we are hitting that point in the year that really brings out the Seasonal Sads for a lot of people. Did you know this is actually a thing? Seasonal Affective Disorder. For me, motivation is low, anticipation of warm weather is high, and general feeling as we wait for the seasons to change is meh.

It’s funny, because I love Minnesota, and I love snow, but February is about the time where my winter love dries up. A person can only take so many cloudy, cold days before needing an actual warmth lamp blasting on their face. Wait, isn’t that a thing? I can’t remember what they’re called but… do I need one? Can someone talk to me about this?

I’d love your thoughts on this. What do you guys do to work your way out of those wintery sad feelings?

Speaking of Sad

The school shooting. It’s too much. I hesitated to even mention it because it’s so heavy. But I don’t think silence honors their lives.

I have vaguely followed the news, most specifically and importantly, the list of those who lost their lives in this tragedy. I am supporting Everytown for Gun Safety, because as a nation I feel strongly we need to see a move towards more common sense gun safety laws.

To the families and friends of the victims – I’m so, so sorry. Our hearts are with you.

As I’ve been processing this heartbreak, I found this article insightful (Brene’s whole book, actually, as it relates to agreeing and disagreeing on polarizing issues), and this one, too. But articles and books can only help so much when the loss is this significant.

How do you all process the news when it is so devastating?

That’s all. From the fluff to the hard things. This is what I would talk about if we were actually on a coffee date, so that’s what’s here. The real stuff.

Before we go, one more thing. You know what? You are doing a really good job. I know sometimes it feels hard. But you’re doing it, one day at a time. Keep it up. ♡

Sage would like to look deep into your eyes to let you know that she’s cheering you on.

The post February Coffee Date appeared first on Pinch of Yum.

from Pinch of Yum http://ift.tt/2GKzftn

Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie Soup

Firecracker Vegan Lettuce Wraps

Basic Soft Pretzels

Beer Cheese Soup with Soft Pretzels

Salted Caramel Brownies

Crunchwrap Supreme

Sugar Free January Recap

It’s February 1st! Meaning … that’s a wrap on Sugar Free January! WHAT WHAT WHATTTTT! We seriously did it.

I don’t know about you guys, but I actually really enjoyed stepping away from refined sugar for a month, and I’m totally being serious. Admittedly, there were moments, especially breakfast-related moments, where all I wanted was a fat stack of pancakes soaked in maple syrup… + fruit… + pastry… + mocha. But last night while Bjork and I were watching Netflix, I snacked on an orange and made myself a peppermint tea and I pinkie swear I was not missing an-y-thing. I mean, that’s basically HEALTH GOALS all-around, right?! I think what makes me so happy isn’t just that I was following all the sugar free rules, but that I was actually enjoying it.

Today I put together a few thoughts about what it was like for me to take a balanced and flexible approach to being sugar free for the month of January.

And of course, I would love to hear from you in the comments. OBVIOUSLY TELL ME EVERYTHING.

• Did you do sugar free January?
• Did you like it or hate it?
• Was it harder or easier than you thought?
• What changes did you notice?
• Which recipes were your favorite?
• What are you going to do moving forward?

Okay, I’ll go first.

What’s Been Good

There are three main things I’ve feel good about during sugar free January:

Saying no to pop aka soda (I live in Minnesota – we say pop – I know, I know).  I don’t normally drink a lot of pop, so it wasn’t like I was breaking a huge habit here. But I do like pop, under normal circumstances, and to be honest, the few sips I had mid-month during our Hawaii trip were just loads sweeter than I wanted them to be. It felt good to find my tastebuds not wanting something so sweet.

No coffee drinks. Pop wasn’t so hard. This one was hard. But now that I’ve been without a mocha or a royal tea latte for a month, I feel like I’m better able to calibrate for sugar in general. My tastes aren’t so adjusted to these super-sweet drinks. Usually it goes something like this: Ugh, I really want a mocha. // But I think I’ll just get a tea. // Wow, this tea is actually really good and I love it.

No mega-desserts. I feel REALLY good about this one. I almost always crave something sweet right after I eat, or maybe an hour or two after dinner when we’re watching TV in the evening. But other than splitting one dessert with Bjork in Hawaii, I really didn’t have any major desserts throughout the month of January and, um, not to get braggy, but that feels awesome. I feel like I proved to myself that a really good, fresh, juicy winter orange or a date smeared with peanut butter is just as enjoyable as a brownie. I KNOW! Who am I right now. But this is what happens to me when I give up sugar, and I like it. My tastebuds have readjusted themselves.

What’s Been Hard

My two problem areas were persistent throughout the month:

I craved refined grains. Like white rice, white bread, white flour, flour tortillas, etc. For example, I always found myself wanting battered and fried chicken over regular chicken, or a white bread sandwich over wheat. That is strange for me because normally I don’t mind the whole grains. But for whatever reason, I kept finding myself making more exceptions in this category than I had planned. Not a huge deal – just something I was aware of and found interesting.

I craved sweet breakfasts. There’s probably some science behind this, but even as a savory breakfast lover, I’d always wake up craving something sweet. Towards the end of the month, I started to get a little loose and giving myself a glass of orange juice in the morning, which was not necessarily in the plan, but I felt like it was a good in-between of savory breakfast and straight-up sugar cereal. I found that the most effective way to handle this breakfast mega-craving was to either have some kind of carb + fat combo (whole wheat english muffin with peanut butter, toast with butter, etc.) or wait an hour or two to eat until my savory cravings kicked in. Usually once I had been awake for a while, I was more excited about a quick hash with an egg on top, but dang, getting around that morning sugar craving was tough.

The Effects

Here are some of the effects I experienced going sugar free for a month:

Food just tasted better! Things that were supposed to be sweet actually tasted sweet – imagine that. This made me really happy because that was the big goal for me in going sugar free for a month. There were a few times I ate a piece of fruit and was just blown away by the natural flavor and sweetness. Yay for food!

I trained (or started training) my brain to find alternatives to a sweet craving. Thought 1: I want cake. Thought 2: A piece of fruit with a little wedge of cheese also sounds pretty good. Sometimes all it takes is paving a new path. Once you find alternatives that you can confidently say are just as good as the thing you’re missing, it becomes so much easier.

I felt just generally more stable and balanced. Truthfully, I didn’t have a huge energy boost, and I actually slept worse in January for reasons probably unrelated to sugar. Go figure. But on a day-to-day level, I did feel more grounded. As a person that is highly sensitive to all-around stimuli (caffeine, noise, weather, etc.), what I am realizing is that sugar may have contributed to my pre-sugar-free-January ups and downs more than I realized. So, I guess it’s not all that surprising that January felt much better. I was making better decisions and not feeling so much overwhelm.

What Happens Next

My plan moving forward is to stay “Sugar Aware” and try to keep refined sugar to special occasions (vacation, birthdays, a weekend treat). Here are some practical ways I have done this in the past:

• Saving wine, cocktails, soda, and/or desserts for weekends.
• Ordering coffee drinks “half-sweet” or with half the amount of syrup…. OR just reminded myself that I actually do enjoy an unsweetened decaf Americano with cream, or an unsweetened orangey-cinnamony hot tea.
• Drinking sparkling water with a few berries or a wedge of lime while I make dinner so I don’t miss the glass of wine.
• Drinking hot tea in the evening. New routine!
• Using dates or bananas instead of refined sugar in recipes.
• Adding an additional pinch of salt to bring out the sweetness in a recipe (for example, these homemade almond butter cups).
• Mastering savory breakfasts. I really do feel like having the right breakfast helped set the tone for the day when I was able to start with eggs, toast, avocado, cheese, greens, roasted vegetables, etc. instead of sugary foods. Even oatmeal or chia pudding with a natural sweetener didn’t leave me feeling as balanced as something with some protein, healthy fat, carbs, and maybe even a hit of spice. Maybe I need to investigate some savory meal prep options. If anyone has suggestions, feel free to drop a comment.
• Really savoring the sweet things. If I’m having dinner with my friends and someone makes dessert, I want to really, fully commit to that. I want to be aware of every delicious, warm, gooey, melty, ice-creamy bite. What I don’t want is to absentmindedly eat the leftover dessert the next day while scrolling through Instagram before lunch. If and when I opt in to sugar, I want to really be present to that. I want to fully enjoy it.

Favorite Recipes

Okay, my favorite recipe from Sugar Free January is… OMG, I could never pick. I legitimately adore them all and worked really hard to make sure I was only posting recipes I truly loved. But if I had to pick?

I think I would say, for me, at the moment, it’s the Kale Caesar Salad with Sweet Potato Fries. It’s just everything I want from a veg lunch. The flavor of the dressing is just right – definitely punchy and bold without being overbearing, and because it’s an avocado-based dressing, I actually feel okay about smothering my kale in it. The side of sweet potato fries adds warmth, crunch, carb-ature, and a little sweetness… gah. It’s just my perfect combo.

YOUR favorite recipes this month? Here are some recipe wins:

• Top Rated: Spicy Peanut Soup with Sweet Potato and Kale
• Most Comments: Red Pepper Cashew Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower
• Top Shared on Social Media: Yummy Salmon Burgers with Slaw
• Most Pics on Instagram: Buffalo Cauliflower Tacos
• Most Pics on Instagram (Runner Up): Almond Butter Cups

Hey You – Good Work!

Congratulations to everyone who did Sugar Free January with us! Whether you went all-out in removing sugar from your diet or just casually tried to be aware of your sugar intake, I am so, so happy for you! You’ve taken a manageable, practical, and friendly step in the direction of food enjoyment and food health. I have LOVED creating these recipes and you guys have just (literally) eaten them up. The amount of screenshots of your recipes in my camera roll is just… it’s scary. Scary awesome.

I’m so thankful for your energy this month, and I can’t wait to share more really tasty sugar-aware food with you!

In case no one has told you today: you’re awesome. And that’s unrelated to sugar. You’re just awesome.

Now – tell me about it! How did it go for you?

The post Sugar Free January Recap appeared first on Pinch of Yum.

from Pinch of Yum http://ift.tt/2rY7evx