Heyyyyyy everyone, happy Saturday yay!!! đ
I hope youâre all staying nice and warm, because itâs currently 32 degrees where I amâŚ
Also, ABC Family is already starting their âCountdown to 25 Days Of Christmasâ movie marathonâŚwhat?!
Let me have some coffee first!
(Image Credit)
Time to chat, and time to continue on with your usual Link-Love Saturday post here on A Dancerâs Live-It. Todayâs blog feature will show you that it is possible to adapt a healthier lifestyle in what ever way that may be. Our blogger, Melissa, is a vegan who is into eating and living as healthy as possible to set a good example for her two growing daughters. She also has a passion for creating homemade healthy versions of unhealthy snacks. Pretty cool right?
Please give a warm welcome to Melissa, of My Whole Food Life!!!
Similar to my goals, Melissa started her blog in hopes to inspire others to live a more healthy life. Iâm not sure how I stumbled upon her blog, but Iâm sure it was to find one of her delicious recipes. Melissaâs approach to healthy eating started with cutting out processed sugar. She says, âMy husband was taking 2 medications for asthma and using an inhaler on a daily basis. He was told by his doctor that if he couldnât get his cholesterol down, he would need to take meds for that as wellâ. So she set out to get rid of all our processed flours and sugars. That made a huge difference. She and her husband found themselves with more energy and also lost weight without even trying! Her husband lost 20 lbs and Melissa lost about 5-7 lbs. Melissa said, âFunny thing is, once we quit sugar and processed foods, we found no need to count calories or fat. When you eat whole foods, they will keep you full much longer than highly processed foodsâ. This is so true, and this is so inspiring! The more you eat the junky sugar, the more your body wants it.
So what do these âwhole foodâ recipes look like then? Check out her recipe page! Youâll find multiple categories like a HUGE list of desserts, entrees, salads, dips, and snack bars. She even has granola and baked oatmeal. Thatâs an A in my book! đ If youâre worried about food allergies, donât be because all of Melissaâs recipes are vegan and most of them are gluten-free as well. Iâm currently drooling over her Gluten-Free Mint Chocolate Chunk CookiesâŚ.mmm mint chocolate anything just reminds me of the holidays.
Another thing to note is her Advice tab. In the index, youâll find an awesome list of things like cooking/food ideas, getting back into the gym, whole food baking tips, a breakdown of sweeteners, and even 7 gross ingredients youâve probably eaten! Yuck, you wonât believe that youâve eaten these!
A favorite page of mine is Melissaâs statement about why she doesnât count calories anymore. She says, âWhen you eat a diet high in healthy fats, fiber and whole foods, you will stay full for much longer. So there will be no need to snack. Fat free and low fat foods usually contain added sugar and other additives to make them taste as good as the high fat foods. Processed sugar never leaves you satisfied. You keep craving more and more. Itâs an endless cycle. You are better off eating the food the way it was meant to be eaten. Fat and allâ. When I stopped counting calories, I noticed that I felt stronger and HAPPIER. My mind wasnât always juggling numbers and freaking out about what I was eating. As long as Iâm nourishing my body with the right foods, everything will be okay! đ
I think itâs safe to say that healthy food can be delicious. đ
Now for a recipe!
Since itâs Fall, how about a delicious Pumpkin Raspberry Oat Bar? YES PLEASE.
Pumpkin Raspberry Oat Bars
(By Melissa King)
Pumpkin Oat Crumb Bars with a layer of raspberry jam. Heavenly! A must try for pumpkin lovers!
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- In one bowl, mix the dry ingredients together.
- In another bowl, add the pumpkin, flax eggs, almond milk and oil. Mix well.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix just until combined. I did this by hand with a spatula.
- Line an 8Ă8 glass dish with parchment paper leaving enough coming out the sides.
- Press 1/2 the mixture into the bottom of the baking dish.
- Spread the jam layer on top.
- Lastly, add the remaining crumb mixture to the top.
- Bake for 25 minutes.
- Let the bars completely cool before removing them from the baking dish.
- I cut mine into bars with a pizza cutter.
Keep these bars stored in the fridge. They should last a couple weeks. Enjoy!
Well there you have it folks! Time to whip myself up some delicious protein pancakes to fuel me for a rehearsal!! Have a sweet Saturday!
Show Melissa some link love!