Baked Cauliflower stuffed with Indian Paneer

Deliciousness! Made these with mamma today for dinner. Served with green chutney. Heaven

Fruit: Perfect Afternoon Snack!

Know that time between breakfast and lunch when you just want to indulge and snack on chips or cookies?

Don't! 

Fruit is a great substitute! 

Since it's summer, pineapples straight out of the fridge are delicious and refreshing and they totally fulfill my sweet tooth. Also, cherries and blueberries are my favorites! Among the myriad of benefits, cherries and blueberries help reduce belly fat and blueberries improve memory!

No Bake Healthy Granola Bars

Made these amazing "healthy granola bars"!

Mmm the taste of cocoa and pecans <3

Best part about this recipe is that there is no baking involved. Just blend and cut into pieces and freeze. and voila. Recipe here <3 xx

Bread Omelette

Perfect balanced breakfast and soooo yummy! I love my eggs and whole grain bread cooked in olive oil x

School Snack/Lunch ideas

I love to bring my own lunch/snacks to school so that I can avoid impulse buys at the vending machine and these are some healthy staples that I absolutely love to take to school everyday:

1. A Water bottle keeps me hydrated throughout the day.
2. Greek Yogurt. I love Chobani!
3. Grapes mmm
4. Zip Lock baggie full of nuts to keep me full: pecans, almonds, cashews, pistachios, and most importantly walnuts
5. Kind Bar (One of the few granola bars I like because of its natural ingredients)
6. Almond Butter on Whole Grain Bread

High schoolers spend about 6-8 hours a day at school, depending on classes. If they have after school activities, like I do, that can add up to about 2 more hours. I play Badminton and it is especially important for me to have food throughout the day so that I can stay energized! Thus the list above pretty much satisfies me from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm second semester when badminton season is on, like for the past 3 months :) xx

Turmeric Spiced Brown Rice

My go-to lunch:

Brown rice spiced with turmeric. I love to eat this with peas, beans, and green pepper. 

Healthy can definitely taste good xx

Almond Banana Bars Recipe + Health Benefits

This recipe is from Cambria's youtube channel breelovesbeauty. You can check out the video she posted by searching "cambria's kitchen, banana bars" on youtube, but I played with the recipe a little and talked about the health benefits so keep on reading! :)

I made these almond banana bars and I love them! Yall should definitely give these a try! They're not only delicious but guilt-free.  

They're made with all my favorite things thrown together: almond butter, eggs, bananas, coconut, dark chocolate..I mean, they're perfect!

Ingredients:

2 large bananas, or 4 small bananas

1 cup almond meal

3 whole eggs

1/2 cup almond butter (You can add whichever nut butter you like!)

1/4 cup melted coconut oil

3 tablespoons of unsweetened shredded coconut

1/4 cup of dark chocolate chips or a dark chocolate bar cut in small pieces*

about 1/3 tablespoon of baking soda

The recipe also asked for a pinch of sea salt but I omitted it, wasn't really feeling it haha.

*You can play with the amount of these, depending on how much you like chocolate!

I used 85% cocoa dark chocolate (scroll down to read its benefits) 

These were super easy to make:

- You just mash your bananas and throw in all the ingredients together in a bowl. 

- Then, stir, stir, and stir! After you've had the fun of stirring, go ahead and pour your batter into a pan.

- Bake at 350ºF for 15-20 minutes. 

- Then do the typical toothpick test! (just stick a toothpick in and check whether it comes out dry. If not, then you need to let your batter bake for a few more minutes)

 Ta da! Cut 'em into whatever shape you like and top with whatever you want! (Honey, almond butter...)

Before you suspect any of the ingredients, here are some of your speculated questions answered:

"Why coconut oil?! What about the evil saturated fats in it?"
- Yes, coconut oil does have saturated fats which we all know are harmful for our health. However, the saturated fat in coconut oil is actually benign because it contains lauric acid which has a myriad of benefits.  These include the ability to increase our good cholesterol (HDL) thus helping with cholesterol levels, regulating our blood sugar, and keeping our metabolism up, among others.

Almond butter is SO high in fat, aren't we trying to lose fat here? 
Fat is a macronutrient essential for our bodies to function, we should never go on a "low carb" or "low fat" diet because our body needs all macronutrients in order to properly function! Also, the fats are called monounsaturated fats, the good fats which reduce risk of heart disease. Moreover, almond butter is high in protein.

Bananas are high in sugar...
Naturally occurring sugars in fruit are not bad for you, considering the copious nutrients and health benefits that come with it!
- The fiber in a banana associated with the sugar slows digestion, thereby giving your body time to use it as fuel instead of storing it as fat.

"Chocolate??? How are these bars healthy?"
- If you're really trying to lose weight, have been working hard in the gym and don't wanna ruin your efforts, don't worry, if you buy dark chocolate that has at least 75% cocoa, you're actually helping your body! 
Dark chocolate alone is okay, but usually filled with some sort of sugar (be sure to check the ingredient list). 
By making sure you're buying at least 75% cocoa filled dark chocolate, you're giving your body multiple health benefits:
- The antioxidants present in it help control and lower blood sugar.
- It helps lower our blood pressure.
- Releases endorphins that improves our mood. We all need to care of our mental health!
I am not saying that dark chocolate that's not 75% cocoa or even white chocolate will hurt you, everything in moderation is great and we all deserve a treat, but if you feel like you don't want to hinder your progress by eating these for breakfast 2-3 times a week and feel guilty, then go for dark chocolate 75% cocoa. :) (Did I use these 2 words too much or what?!)


I went a little overboard with my information, but I hope you can now really be guilt free and devour these, glad I made these and got to share them on my blog, but I take no credit for the recipe!

You can check it out here <3
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-lVZv-qYfk&feature=c4-overview&list=UUU9rS1x5wMhdUoc9nWEFO5g

Tired of "healthy" (sugary) protein bars? Try These!

I was so tired of going to the grocery store and seeing companies call their protein/granola bars "healthy" and "low calorie". One look at the ingredient list told me that under the facade of "healthy" were artificial flavors and artificial sweeteners, which can cause sugary cravings and lead to unnecessary weight gain. 

So when I found the perfect bars made with all natural ingredients, I couldn't wait to share that on my blog! 

These two bars are the only two bars that I recommend and eat; they're a favorite school snack :D

Kind Bars: Available in a myriad of varieties, my favorite kind is definitely Peanut Butter and Dark Chocolate. 
Packs in the healthy fats and protein from the peanut butter and anti oxidants from dark chocolate. I also really like almond & coconut! Check them out! 

Lara Bars: Some of my favorites are Cashew Cookie, Chocolate Chip Cookie, and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip! What is great about these is that they're made of 2-5 ingredients that are familiar to all of us. You won't find a simpler bar than a Lara bar. 

So simple to carry on the go, just throw these in your bag and enjoy be it on a road trip, at school, or before a sports practice!

Heaven in my mouth.

Oh my goodness, Almond Butter on a slice of whole grain bread is probably the best thing ever.
So is a side of fruit, especially if that includes cherries and blueberries.
Enjoy this #instagramfiltered picture!

Blessed to be Indian!

You know those people who eat at an Indian restaurant occasionally? Well I'm lucky to have been blessed with that stuff everyday, thanks to my wonderful mom who is a great cook! 

Today's lunch consisted of Tofu spiced with turmeric, carrots, and beans with a side of indian "roti" bread. Also, I had some palak or spinach soup! So healthy and filling.

Some Favorite Oatmeal Breakfasts!

My life would be incomplete without these two combinations of healthy goodness. Number one is a breakfast made of cooked oats and almond milk and topped with cherries! So simple and delicious.

Second is cooked old oats in water and topped with nectarine and blueberries!

Yay for discovering food!

As a child, I was a really picky eater and rarely tried new things. I am so proud to have changed since then, and here are some of the things I incorporated into my diet last summer and I'm SO glad I did because these are now staples!

Fruit: pineapples, cherries, blueberries, and nectarines yumm
Nuts: walnuts and pecans
Nut butter: Almond butter (My favorite thing. ever. Thank you summer 2013..)
And...HUMMUS! asdfghjkl so delicious!

I did try a variety of green teas but didn't like them :( Moreover, carrots and my taste buds just don't like each other, so that's a bummer. And I have to flavor yogurt with fruit and granola because plain yogurt just makes me gag. Sigh. Hope I'm not the only one!

No Bake Almond Butter Cookies!

These nutritious cookies are made with instant oats,  almond butter, cocoa powder, and some almond milk! now i know a lot of you guys cringe at the sight of “banana” in the ingredients list but trust me i used to be like that but these taste delicious!! infact, even though my brother could, i honestly couldnt even taste the banana ..probably cuz i was too busy devouring the dark cocoa almond butter goodness in my mouth!

Moreover, one cookie is only about 127 calories!

Nutrition Info:

Protein 4.3 g

Carbs: 19.5 g

Dietary fiber: 3 g

Fat: 5.6 g

Sugar 6.9 g 

These cookies are packed with the good carbs and fats! The sugar comes from bananas and honey and that is totally okay!

Real credit goes to Sally! CHECK OUT THE ORIGINAL RECIPE HERE (and her wonderful food blog with more amazing recipes!) 

I used the same ingredients in the same amount/proportions except i subbed the peanut butter with almond butter and used vanilla unsweetened almond milk c:

Also, I did not add chocolate chips so the calorie count does not take them into account. However, I am sure you will not be adding too many calories if you add some chocolate chips. Plus they are full of antioxidants that are good for your body so don't hesitate to sprinkle some! :)

<3 

So excited to begin blogging about healthy eating!

I have been a proud vegetarian since birth but I have been treating my body nutritiously since the summer of going into sophomore year in high school. [About a year and a half!]
Keeping a food intake journal since then and cutting out the unnecessary junk from my diet has made me such a happy person.
I have had a Fitness blog on Tumblr where I post sporadically,  Fitblrs are a wonderful community that kept me motivated this past summer; I am so excited to now start blogging on this website and document my food journey online!
My posts will include my food intake, occasional feelings and rants about eating, all the recipes that I try, and new healthy food items I find at the store! :)