Terrible things happen to good people.

Terrible things happen to good people. It is true. And we don’t like it. And don’t we ask “WHY?” in outrage? I have. It hurts.

In my darkest hours, some of them recent, I have pleaded with the Lord to release me from my own ‘bondage.’ My own tortured thoughts. My circle of mad obsessions. Answers to things I couldn’t make sense of. Violations that have happened to me. If you haven’t ever had to search the depths of your soul yet, in agony, don’t worry. Life will offer you that “opportunity.” Especially if you agree to work a 12 step program or coach with someone who puts honesty in your face.

I wanted to share something I’ve been ‘struggling’ with, and a few of my thoughts:

Terrible things DO happen to good people, not as punishment, but I believe to test faith and to teach humility and enduring. And….when endured well— to teach others. I “know” this in my core….So. Easy. To. Hear…when not in the ‘midst of a trial.’ Because, honestly- during the trial- it all FEELS like “punishment” as often we let our pain take control and victimhood lead our path.

In the MIDST of an intense struggle, the pain— IS often, SO DEEP. Grief can shake your whole core. Grief… is healing. That’s not where I stay. I move from grief into the pained “victim.”

Remaining a victim is completely disabling. And incredibly exhausting. Yet,  I find myself there more than I want to admit.

In my own lifetime, (and every day for the past 2 weeks) I have asked many, many times why was I subjected to the ravages of my father’s alcoholism?
It has definitely created more devastation than I ever understood for my first 39 years of life. And this year, my 40th year , my heart has screamed for answers of “WHY?” Why me? (Can you hear my “victim hood?”) I own it.

Things I say:

Why did I have to go through this?

When will it ever make sense?

Why, decades later am I still dealing with chaos?

When will “it” go away?
It goes on…. Trust me. It. Goes. On.

I want to share what I’ve learned through study and prayer this week, and working through my own “12 steps.”

#1. It’s not up to me to find the answers to my “WHY’s”? I am powerless over other people and certain situations that affected my life. I will most likely never get answers. In the process all I do is destroy the serenity and peace I could have if I :

1.Accept what IS (OHHHH that’s a biggie😁)

2. Let go of what “I wanted.” (even BIGGER😳)

3. Give my will over to God’s will. (But what about mine?😂)

(I had to throw some humor in there.)

I’m not saying ANY of those are easy and that I haven’t bucked like a bronco (still bucking), but it’s sinking deeper into my soul as I ponder my thoughts and am tired of my own self torture.

You know what? Behaviors resulting from addictions are often senseless (to others and themselves) The root of your own insanity ends when you let go of control and say yes to God. This isn’t a “God” story, but facts are facts. Insanity doesn’t cure itself. Nor do drugs cure a broken heart and mind. God restores peace to the tortured soul.

Sigh.  Addiction destroys emotional sanity. It’s effects lasts lifetimes, often in generations until the cycle is completely broken. (does that even happen?) Depending on the trauma and severity, recovery always requires WORK to maintain “sane” and the “good life.”

Am I happy about that reality? No. Is it my reality? Yes. Must I accept it to have a peaceful happy life and have I fought it? Unequivocally yes. Have I arrived yet? Nope.

I asked myself this week, why does this have to be so hard? (Oh my goodness, can you hear my inner victim screaming yet another “injustice!”) I’m being real here.
Things still make me angry.

I read something that put a lot into perspective for me so I want to share it with you. It may be my one “nugget” of sanity to cling on to while I admit to powerlessness:
“It’s fruitless for me or anyone else to blame God for the workings of this world.”

God did not make my dad an alcoholic. It was his choice, his free agency and he chose alcohol. Then became enslaved and powerless against his alcoholism. And we, (myself and my brothers) as young, helpless children, became victims of his addiction and abuse.  So…..

Does that leave me a victim? As a child, yes. As an adult, there’s a choice.
“Terrible things DO happen to good people.”  I get all that as I screamed my injustice to “God who isn’t giving me peace.”
I’m a “Good” “people”  But so often, I don’t “feel” good inside. “Why?! When am I going to feel good!?” I asked Him.

My answer was- “Keep letting go of what you cannot control.”

My inner soul work has been neglected.  I still want to impose “my will,” not “thy will.” Is my issue pride? Seems to be a big part.

So now what? I had to ask myself this again just last night. “I’m WORKING on it!” I yelled in my head to the Lord. I’m miserable again! What HAPPENED?!
And I started reading… And opened up my book to a random page with this MESSage:

I have “choices.”

I can allow despairing times and tragedy to consume me (at times I do) and to wallow in self pity. I can allow the chaos or confusion of “WHY!?” to continually destroy my serenity.

OR, I can ACCEPT that I could not and cannot control or change other people. ACCEPT that I did not and do not have control over certain circumstances. ACCEPT I must work on healing my own soul and all that ails it for the rest of my living years. ADMIT that I will forever be powerless over the effects alcoholism created in my life, but I’m NOT helpless when it comes to changing me.

It’s truly one day at a time. Tomorrow, I might hit a ‘bump.’ Or fall into a crater. It might happen by the end of this post.
I don’t have all the answers. God does.

I know THIS. Living in despair is such a waste of precious life. For each day I wallow, I’m losing an opportunity to be more.

Why would I do that for something or someone that I will never make sense of? For someone else’s behavior that had an effect on me that I could not control? For judging my own reactions when I was only doing the best I could with what I had, at the time? For all of my failures, why would I keep nailing myself to the cross the Lord already bore for me?

All the judgements, guilt, shame, and need for control have to be released.

One day. At. A time.

The only alternative IN LIFE, is to ACCEPT that life isn’t always fair or even kind, and CHOOSE to live full and rich anyway.
Acceptance of what IS, while changing what you can, is the key to all peace. With God’s help.
“I didn’t come this far, to only come this far.”

💗❤️💗

Xo,

Dori

6 Steps to making lasting changes: Why do you do what you do?

“Why can’t I change?”

“I keep sabotaging myself.”

“I can’t because______”

Do you keep finding excuses, fault finding another person, blaming, rationalizing, and justifying that you can’t make lasting changes? 

There are 6 Steps you can take immediately to facilitate permanent change. None of them are “easy.” But neither is staying stuck in a web of self destructive patterns. Be INTENTIONAL about change: 

1. Come out of your own denial. 

2. Accept the truth about yourself. 

3. Focus on YOUR behavior, and learn the emotions that are driving it.

4.  Stop blaming other people or circumstances for your behavior. 

5. Let go of being the “victim.” 

6. Commit to changing as though your life depends on it. 

And for many, it DOES. 
When you spin in a muck of self defeating choices, it’s exhausting. 
Can we get honest and really raw for a minute? Let’s talk about YOU. And me. And. All of us. But mostly, YOU. (And probably me again, you know how I am  😁😉)

But seriously. I want you to understand something that I keep learning over and over and over and over…again. 
It’s THIS: 

You cannot keep looking outside of yourself for something that starts INSIDE. (I want you to repeat that.) 

Most of us have some demons to battle, would you agree? And maybe you have giant ones?

Know that others do too. ❤️ 

You are not alone. 
And yet, MANY people DO make lasting changes. 

So why do they, when others don’t? 

It’s because they are WILLING to do the personal work required to change. 
The work isn’t easy. It takes years of perseverance and willingness. But staying stuck in patterns that don’t serve you is suffocating, depressing, and for some, even deadly. 

Some examples: Did you know stress not managed can actually kill you? If you’ve ever suffered from severe fatigue, you’ve probably worn out your adrenal system by not actively managing your stress levels. 

 A food addiction will add 10-500 lbs of toxic fat to your body, until you develop all sorts of other diseases. We call them “comorbidities” in the medical world. It means, you added so much toxic fat on your body that now all systems are failing. 

If your challenge is finding a lasting partner in life and years and years go by without that, maybe you’re not committing to your relationships?  

See all the areas we stay “victimized” when reality is, it’s our own doing? 

You HAVE to draw a line in the sand and say “I will not tolerate my own excuses anymore” and get to the core of what creates your results- good or bad. 
Only so much of your life will go by with you constantly making excuses for what you “should be doing” or could’ve had, before you get really sick of your own excuses. HOPEFULLY that’s the case. 

And when you are ready to leave “denial” into acceptance that you have self sabotaging behaviors you must begin by asking yourself these questions: 
What are my patterns? (Self sabotage)

What are my excuses? (Denial/victim hood)

Why do I do what I do? (Admitting powerlessness) 

And ….

What do I refuse to see? (Denial/victim hood/Admitting) 

Friends, there isn’t one person alive that isn’t in denial of some behavior. We are human, and we will always walk imperfectly. 

I want you to look in the mirror today, ask those very questions with INTENT, and answer them with HONESTY. If you do it right, I’d expect some emotional detoxifying. 😢 

Understand that YOU are the only one who really knows why you do what you do. And- if you say you don’t know why, you don’t actually care, and  you’re still in denial. 

Let me try to explain something I’ve learned while working through my own pain, and self defeating behavior. 

Success in any area results from behavior. 

Behavior results from emotions.

 And most emotions and non serving patterns stem from traumatic events from child or adulthood. We have ALL had events that in one way or another, that created most of the feelings that drive us daily. 

And truth: It takes a HELL of a lot of personal work to overcome self sabotaging behaviors, such as obesity, (food) addictions, commitment issues, and….honesty, ANY area of life where you consistently fail. I could write a book on self sabotaging behaviors alone. Personal work is not a series of jumping jacks and you overcome. It’s a one day at a time process, where you have to put in the work DAILY to overcome your own bulls*** stories you’ve been telling yourself for years. 

Truth is: Many people live as “victims,” and continue to create crap stories they perpetually feed themselves in order to stay the victim. 

I know. I am one of them. And my victim mentality rears its ugly head, still too often. That being said, I’m a better woman for admitting that. And you are a better person if you can admit that too. 

It’s progress. 

If you fly into defense mode when someone else is confronting your behavior, understand you’re assuming the “victim role.” 

Until you confront yourself on your own behavior, or you have someone honest (like me, or another coach) to confront you, you will not make permanent progress. ❤️❤️❤️
Understand this: We all require people to support and help us to make changes. And we absolutely require God. There are people who have overcome enough of their own crap to assist you. You will find them coaching, teaching, leading and sharing their stories. Realize though-that no one can reach you or help you when you’re stuck in denial, not doing enough of your personal work, and hanging on the nail of “victim hood.” 

You are NOT a victim. It’s just a story you created for yourself to stay addicted to your own pain and self sabotage. 

Understand that no one can be helped who’s determined to stay the VICTIM. 

If sustained change is really what you value, you require getting to the core of these questions: 

“Why do I do what I do, and what am I refusing to see?” 

Love you guys. ❤️

Xoxo. 

Dori  

 

GF, Sugar free, wheat free Banana Oat Chocolate chip Muffins

  
🎯These came out of the oven tonight and all I can say is I was pretty sure of three things:1. God made them 😜…

2. You don’t ever need a “cupcake” again. 

3. I had to share them immediately with you. 

These are 100% CLEAN, FAST, Gluten free, SIMPLE and totally gym rat approved- I swear. 

Go. Make. These. 

So much for freezing them, we are inhaling them. 

🔶GF, No sugar, wheat free, Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins🔶 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

🔲 4 medium ripe bananas 

🔲 1 cup oats -(grind one cup of whole oats- just  place them in the blender to make oat flour)

🔲 1/3 cup whole oats (left whole, not ground)

🔲 1/4 cup almond butter 

🔲 3 eggs (room temp)

🔲 1 tbsp raw local honey 

🔲 1 tsp cinnamon

🔲 1 tsp baking soda

🔲 1 tsp baking powder 

🔲 1 tsp vanilla 

🔲 2 pinches of salt 

🔲 1/3 cup of dark chocolate chips 

🔲 Handful of walnuts 

1. Mix everything EXCEPT for the 1/3 cup of WHOLE oats and 1/3 cup of chocolate chips together, until creamy. 

2. Stir in whole oats and chocolate chips. 

3. Fill muffin tins to 3/4 way full using ice cream scoop (my utensil of choice) 

4. Place a few chocolate chips and whole walnut on top. 

Note: If you choose liners (I did for decoration purposes only, spray them so they don’t stick as much to the paper.) You can also use muffin liners in silicone, or just silicone, metal, or use parchment paper(my personal fav but more time consuming.) *If you’re strict GF, use Bob’s Red Mill GF oats. 

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 15- 20 min’s. Place on cooling rack and drool 😝
These were a shot in the dark🎯, I made it up as I went, but YUM! Ur welcome 😁😘

FEEL FREE to substitute dark chocolate chips with blueberries, cranberries and an assortment of other things. This base can be used for adding a variety of things. It’s that good! 

———————————-

Second batch I used silicone and LOVED it! They take a bit longer to cook- 20+ minutes at 350 degrees until a knife comes out cleanish 😉   
 

Prescription drug use increases to 60-70% of Americans. (Ridiculous!)

  
A study published in the November 3, 2015, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that nearly 3 in 5 American adults used prescription medication. According to the study, this represents the highest level in U.S. history.

In this study, researchers reviewed prescription drug use data for nearly 38,000 adults ages 20 and older. They concluded that the percentage of American adults using prescription medications rose from 51% in 1999, to 59% by 2012. Additionally, the percentage of Americans using 5 or more medications almost doubled, rising from 8% to 15% in that same time frame.The researchers considered and ruled out the aging population as a reason for the increased drug usage. Elizabeth D. Kantor, PhD., formerly of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, now at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, could not identify a clear factor for the increase, stating in a Reuters interview, “For example, we know that older adults tend to take more medications than younger adults, and so we’d expect prescription drug use to increase as the U.S. population ages. She continued, “…something beyond the aging of the U.S. population appears to be driving the increase in prescription drug use.”
The numbers of people taking prescription drugs may not be totally accurate. In a prior study published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings in July of 2013, it was estimated that 68.1 percent of the population were using prescription medications.
One possible explanation is that only the United States and New Zealand allow direct to consumer advertising of prescription drugs. In 2000, the drug companies spent $2.5 billion on direct to consumer advertising of prescription drugs. By 2014, that figure rose to $4.53 billion dollars.
Much of the increase in prescription usage is for treating conditions such as depression, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, and several other conditions that can be related to lifestyle choices.
In a November 4, 2015, CBS News story on this issue, Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center, noted that living a healthy lifestyle would prevent most of the problems for which these drugs are being used. He pointed out the contradiction by saying, “Consider the irony. Here in the U.S., we aggressively peddle foods that propagate illness, and drugs to treat the illness that ensues. ‘Big Food’ and ‘Big Pharma’ are the winners — we and our families, the losers.”

The truth about cancer… From this Hopsice nurse

There are two ways to be fooled: to believe what isn’t true and to refuse to believe the truth. 

Unfortunately when it comes to cancer and chronic disease, most would rather feel angry and search for the cure rather than to seek the cause and fix the root. 

We are all victims of a rich country who feasts on the poorest of foods, yet we cry outrage when someone we love gets cancer. And of course we do, it devastates nearly half our population, and there’s NO one immune to its effects on families. Yet. We FAIL to fix the roots. We all KNOW food either contributes to health or disease. 

So, you aren’t the only one fighting some type of poor food addiction. I do. We ALL do. I am no better than my neighbor I stand next to. 

It hurts my heart as a nurse to see where health has deteriorated to. How we donate to cancer cures and pat ourselves on the back instead of taking a little time to educate and prepare foods that fuel our families health. We neglect the root and scream outrage instead. 

I will FOREVER be fighting against what I didn’t fuel my body with for the first 35 years of my life. I will FOREVER be fighting FOR mine, and my children’s health and teaching them better habits, and I will ALWAYS walk the line imperfectly -as I do BOTH. 

It’s not okay to stay blind to truth, or to not seek it out, or to close your mind to what may seem “extreme,” simply because you’ve been taught another way. I promise you this: God expects you to take care of your body and how you treat it is a direct respect for HIM. 

He gave you LIFE. You experience everything through your mortal body.

I don’t mean to get all “preachy and religious” but when we talk about pink pancakes, more chemical cures, and even endorse obesity as acceptable, we shame ourselves. Strong words I know. You know me. Again, I fight the same things we ALL do. But as I MINISTER to dying people on a daily basis, I can’t NOT speak truth, share what I’ve learned, do more to teach health and to be healthy. 

I will not shut up or lay down my fight, or my thoughts. My HOPE is, something I say will help promote a change or awareness in you. And if that is all, I have contributed positively. 

Truth hurts when we want to stay blind. 

 I HIGHLY encourage you to turn off main stream TV and media shows and tune into your body, the earth, God, and this:
http://thetruthaboutcancer.com
We can fight our way back to a healthier people. First: there must be honesty and desire.

Xo!

Dori 

My life story: Learn how to ask for HELP. Part 1: My own life of codependency and Al-anon (addiction recovery)

Pics on left: late 20’s; Pics on right: Yesterday at age 40. 

I asked myself tonight- what is a clean eating food blog going to be like as I add all sorts of codependency and addiction recovery tidbits about my life to it? 

Then I decided…. a darn good one. Confusing? Nah, not after you understand how mistreating our bodies with unhealthy addictions such as crappy food is abusive. We ALL have addictions. Most people visiting any of my “work,” musings and sometimes rants about health 😁 will see in themselves what we all are. Human beings who want to DO better, but are struggling with their inner selves. 

You can never be at a peaceful place when we you warring against yourself.  

So, let me jump in and share my thoughts tonight for most of my Facebook and Insta friends. I’ve decided I’ll add more about my story right here on my clean eating food blog. I mean, Why not? 
So, my thoughts tonight as I work through my own “mess” and attend Al-anon is this: 

Eventually everyone reaches a place in life where they say “I need help—will you HELP me?”  

Many of you know part of my story: 
I was born and raised under a very abusive yet religious alcoholic home. For most of my life, I concealed those wounds and forged on with my life. I dropped out of high school, got married at barely 18, and was a mother to two beautiful girls by 18. My daughters were the LIFE I never had early on. They were the love I didn’t feel in my childhood. They were the “balm” to my pain. With encouragement from my very special ex- Inlaws, I soon went on to nursing school in my 20’s, graduating at the top of my class with honors. I’m proud of that because I barely had a high school education at all. I was a fixer, yet very very broken. I worked hard. I stayed anxious, tired, and depressed even though my girls were my world. I ate, I gained over 35 lbs of fat, and I often felt very empty. I have DEEP wounds. It took 2 divorces, 5 children later, at the age of 39, to realize I was still hurting, and I needed to say to someone “I need help.” Truth IS- we ALL need help. Mentorship, friendship, honesty, transparency, and love. We all need THAT. Opening deep wounds seems futile and pointless for many, because often it makes things worse before they get better. But understand this: You have to reveal before you heal. I had to reopen what I had concealed and allow my whole gut to FEEL those horrible feelings from my past instead of just letting my brain take me hostage for the duration of my life. FEELING what we “stuff” allows us to HEAL. (It’s the same with food addiction) I had to be honest. I began to talk about things that are awful to share, the abuse, the abandonment I felt as a child AND adult. I allowed myself to feel deeply about them, and I now am able to ask the Lord to help me to heal them. It took a LONG time for me to make progress. It took asking for help. It took commitment and emotionally thick times. I still have those. But now when I talk about my journey, many people listen and I’m not alone anymore in my head. I understand my crazy and all the triggers that create chaos for me, overeating or a desire to drown my pain in a vice. I was never truly obese, but I have a very small frame, and so for me, I was at the tipping point. I’ve never been an alcoholic, but I certainly could be with all of my emotionally addictive behaviors. My triggers are still there. I learned through addiction recovery books and programs that when you ignore things, they don’t just quietly go away. They simmer. Sometimes they boil. But when you talk about your feelings, your actions and reactions, you begin to learn YOU. You begin to love deeper, trust yourself more, and understand your worthiness to be loved and deserve the goodness in life.

 If you ever feel you haven’t had the opportunity like others have to change and to grow, realize it’s only you holding you back, and more importantly it’s because you won’t say “please help me,” and commit to your own process. You are blessed to have change makers all around you. Reach out and ask for help and BE WILLING to commit to your own process. ❤️ You are worth THAT. 
Xoxo, 
Dori 

GF Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

They’re. KILLER GOOD !!

Don’t these tease “fall”? I’m ready for scarves, boots and skinny jeans. You can be too.

So. I’ve decided. This isn’t going to be your regular food blog. I’m a Cardiac nurse, not really a food blogger.Sure, I’m both, but really I’m a teacher. I think food is beautiful too. And- I’m skilled in the art of food prep and finding/making healthy recipes. But, let’s be clear— you eat to live not live to eat. That’s why I became skilled.

Once upon a time children weren’t suffering from Type II diabetes, obesity, asthma, autism, and autoimmune diseases. And worse, cancer is a child’s number one killer. Once upon a time, cardiovascular disease wasn’t the number one killer of women (which IS completely reversible through lifestyle changes), and obesity didn’t affect the majority of our country. People weren’t having their stomachs cut open to have them sutured, stapled, sleeved and tied to prevent their bodies from addressing what their minds refused to. Gastric bypass just makes you susceptible to further obesity and chronic disease even more so, because it doesn’t address the core issues AND it creates total malnutrition.I actually don’t know how those surgeons sleep at night. The real issues that span chronic obesity are emotional, mental, lack of knowledge and preparation, and worse- lack of nutrition. Most chronically obese folks show malnutrition. More on that later. The battle isn’t between the fork and the mouth. It’s between the ears. The brain. Cutting the stomach- doesn’t fix the brain. If you’re struggling, you’ve become addicted to that, and food is a crutch. I term it best as “emotional stuffing.”  I understand it, because I’ve done it. And under my oath of nursing, I’m here to say- you have to be honest with why you are where you are when you lead a life of struggle. That’s step one. Admitting powerlessness over a food addiction- any addiction. I will help you, BUT I’m honest. You have to be too.

It used to be, that people took more responsibility for what they consumed and weren’t sheep led by a very deceptive food and drug market. BUT, here we all are, MANY hooked on anti-depressants and food. Depressing? Certainly. Reality? Absolutely. But, sucky statistics and all, and I’m here to say, with education and proactive responsibility, we can change it. Now, to the ones who don’t care, I can’t help you. To the ones who just don’t know where to start, or have started, I’m your resource. SO, let’s talk sugar for just a few. Your body requires glucose for normal cellular function. So, not ALL sugar is bad. However, the food (and especially sugar) industry, along with the drug industry, I would say, is the most deceptive of all.

Let me go back in time for a minute. In the 1970’s, high fructose corn syrup was added to the American diet. It’s cheap, doesn’t make you sick to eat it, but acts as toxic as alcohol is to your liver. Only, you don’t get sick immediately like you do with drinking. Well, OH, but you DO get chronic disease sickness. High fructose corn syrup, along with hydrogenated oils is the main cause of all cardiac diseases, as well as fatty liver, high cholesterol, elevated triglycerides, obesity, and diabetes. It elevates blood triglycerides and stores as either body or organ fat. That’s why 3 year old’s are walking around with high cholesterol, fatty livers and severe vitamin deficiencies with a diagnosis of ADHD. Understand, HFCS is in over 85% of ALL processed foods, and our food chain is 95% processed. How sad. It’s a choice to eat that crap. That doesn’t have to be YOUR reality. Making your food in batch preparation and completing a weekly food prep will prevent this in YOUR home, as it does mine.Yes, it takes learning, commitment, and a little bit of time. But I promise you, it will SAVE you time, money, and assist you to keep YOUR commitment to getting healthier.

To learn how to begin food prepping, view my “Getting started” food prep webinar. 

Back to the sugar. What sugars are good, and what’s bad? Well, the sugar industry changes the names of them constantly to fool you and I, so you must READ LABELS. Stick with what’s truly natural. I’m not going to break every sweetener down here, because honestly, the information is already out there and they change the names of sweeteners a kajillion times.

I will say- one of the BIGGEST irritations I have is when I see healthy food bloggers using agave, truvia, sucralose, and powdered stevia. I would rate agave at having fooled most people as a healthy sweetener. Agave goes through more chemical processes than HFCS. Friends, cactus isn’t sweet. Synthesized chemical sweeteners are NOT healthy. Read this, The 4 best and 3 worst sweeteners to have in your kitchen, and message me with questions.

I will add that chemical sweeteners I DO NOT CONSUME are: Sucralose, Aspartame, Xylitol, Erythritol, Agave, High fructose corn syrup, or powdered Stevia.

What I WILL CONSUME is: Maple syrup (most often my go to), liquid Stevia, Honey, Coconut sugar, Turbinado organic cane sugar, and that’s about it. You don’t require more than those. Honestly. Read the article link I have posted. It’s good stuff.

Now, as for these gorgeous, almost “fallish” looking cookies, I used a coconut sugar, and actually, they were so sweet, I may cut back the amount on the next batch. Again, not all sugar is evil. Here’s hope:

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cup Whole oats

2/3 cup organic coconut sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup organic coconut oil- melted

1 organic egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

1/4 cup of organic dried cranberries

Course crushed sea salt flakes

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grind whole oats in blender to make a fine oat flour (SO EASY!)

Combine oat flour, baking soda and sea salt, into a mixing bowl.

In separate bowl, cream egg, coconut sugar and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Add dry oat mixture until well blended. Stir in chocolate chip and dried cranberries.

Immediately roll into balls and place on baking sheet (this is NOT a dough you want to refrigerate. It gets as hard as a brick;) Bake for 9-11 minutes until done. Lastly, sprinkle with course small sea salt chunks, and place on cooling rack.

Enjoy!! (These have such a delightful heartiness and richness- you don’t require many to satisfy, and the oatmeal combined with the fat– satiates !)

Feel free to add a bit of shredded organic unsweetened coconut or nuts as well. Go raw for your nuts!

I love feedback, so let me know if you loved these as much as I do!

Eat clean.

Prep your food!

Stop eating crap.

Xo!!! Dori

Fabulous Fried Rice! MSG FREE and QUICK!

You have to make this one. Food prep staple and PERFECT Friday night “take out” at home.

What’s for dinner!? THIS. Can we just start with MSG FREE and fabulously healthy? NO need to order take out. Who doesn’t love fried rice!? One of the first things I teach in my coaching program is to stay away from what myself and Deedee Shaw (You will hear me refer to her often, as we team coach together) claim as “The FATAL Five” That’s fatal toxins commonly found in most foods on the shelves and in restaurants. They are toxic loads to your liver and are:

1.*MSG*  2.*High fructose corn syrup* 3.Nitrates and Nitrites* 4.*Artificial colors and sweeteners* and 5.*Hydrogenated oils.

So, let’s talk MSG for a minute. It makes things very tasty and is extremely toxic to the liver. What these toxins (and many more) do over time is they create a toxic load on the liver, so much so, that it creates health effects such as fatty liver disease, high cholesterol, difficulty releasing weight, and really, a plethora of other health ailments. MSG also triggers migraines, and is found in most Asian dishes as well as ranch dressings. Friends, let’s talk liver for a minute. Did you know your liver is the FAT BURNING FURNACE of your body? If I can encourage you to do ONE thing for your health, it’s to focus on what makes the liver function better because MANY health results will ensue from focusing on THAT. I will help you. Whether your goal is overall better health, or weight release, it MUST be about the liver. Let me give you an example – you could focus everything you have on working out and “diet”, yet completely missing the boat when it comes to results. Why? If your liver or endocrine system isn’t functioning right, weight release won’t happen, and health issues won’t resolve. READ LABELS. Don’t eat out at restaurants, or do so in a limited fashion, exercise, detox and eat RIGHT.

OH. A word about eggs: They do NOT lead to heart disease. Please friends, as a cardiac nurse, I’m here to tell you, that is garbage. The yolk contains half of the nutrients found in the egg and is healthy. What leads to heart disease is elevated triglycerides and cholesterol primarily CAUSED by high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils intake. HFCS elevates blood triglycerides, causes fatty liver disease, and creates inflammation in the coronary walls which leads to plaque accumulation from inflammation. Hydrogenated oils cause the liver to secrete more cholesterol on top of that. The moral of the story is to learn what to stay away from, learn how to READ LABELS, and food prep healthy food for the week so you will be prepared.

“Take the time it takes, and it will take less time.”

I will teach you how to food prep for success.

Here’s a little secret: Coconut oil makes EVERYTHING taste good. I SWEAR! It’s health benefits are giving to the body. Make it your addiction. It’s a good one.

I added to this skillet:

2 tbsp Coconut oil

2 c Snow peas

1 c English peas

1 C carrots – chopped

—–Saute until just softened—-

“Scoot” veggies over to the side and add:

4 Organic farm raised eggs. Cook sunny side up:)

Add 4 heaping (ice cream) scoops of organic cooked brown Basmati rice

After the eggs have cooked, add rice and stir all together until egg yolks cook slightly over the mixture. ENJOY. MSG and other horrible preservatives FREE!

*Feel free to replace sugar snaps with oven roasted broccoli and add more rice if you like. Store in a mason jar to enjoy all week long.

Double Chocolate Power Protein Bars

  Sooooo these are totally kid approved and a complete “experiment”  that turned out YUMMY! My boys ate a whole pan of these over 2 days. I was a little surprised because they aren’t completely sweet like some other treats I’ve made them. But then again, I don’t make very much anymore with processed sugar, usually it’s maple syrup, honey, or coconut sugar and added protein, and these are no different. A word about protein. It is to weight control what black is to fashion. Simply, if you’re goal is to maintain a healthy weight or release weight, you must be putting in MORE protein daily. Take your weight and half it, that should be you’re daily intake goal, and higher if you’re weight training.  A couple things to understand about why making sure you’re getting enough is this: Protein satiates your appetite. It helps to normalize and regulate blood glucose levels, and when they bounce around and dip, make you feel like a hunger monster. Especially those suffering from adrenal fatigue (commonly have associated blood glucose dips), and O blood types, require more protein and less carbs. O blood types tend to pack on pounds more easily than the other blood types and crave carbs more than most. Now, a word about carbs. You REQUIRE them. This low to no carb nonsense–IS nonsense. Low to no carb diets lead to one thing- CRASHED METABOLISM. Unfortunately, the danger of dieting is completely screwing up your body. And that’s what diets do. If you WANT to rebound in weight gain. go no to low carb. Your body requires healthy whole carbs for energy and to also put the hunger hormones at bay. Starve it of carbs, and as soon as you go back to eating them, you will pack on the pounds and more. Aim for more protein, and personally I LOVE the 40/30/30 (Protein/carb/fat) ratio when it comes to macro’s. BUT, just a word about macro’s. If you’re eating the RIGHT types of foods, moderately exercising, and learn how to portion and eat WELL,  no one should be counting macro’s all day. You don’t require weighing food, counting calories, and low fat, low carb to release weight. Move more, eat RIGHT, and detox. Those are the KEYS to a lifetime of weight release and a body that will love you. OH. And a word about peanut butter and protein powder. First, if you’re suffering from inflammation issues, peanut butter isn’t your best choice. It’s highly inflammatory and another nut butter would be better for you. What is SUPER important is with peanuts you DO want to make sure your peanut butter is organic. They contain a lot of pesticides other wise. Second, I use only Zija’s XMProtein powder. Not all protein powders are alike and at some point I’ll write more on them. Mine contains only 6 pure ingredients. Most of the ones on the market contain so many synthetics, a ridiculous amount of nonabsorbable protein, and laxatives to push what isn’t absorbed through your gut. NOT healthy. Research your ingredients, be a label reader, and purchase from a trusted source.

For the INGREDIENTS I combined 😉

2 c Organic whole oats

1/2 c XMprotein powder in Dutch chocolate

1/2 c organic unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 c organic peanut butter

1/2 c ground flax (always store ground flax in the freezer)

1/2 c maple syrup or honey

1/2 c unsweetened almond milk

1/3 c dark chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli’s)

1 tbsp Chia seed

Line 13×9 baking dish with parchment paper (makes removal and nice bar slices easy) Mix ingredients and press contents into pan, these were fairly thin pieces as I made bite sizes for my boys. If you prefer thicker use an 8×8 pan and adjust your cooking time. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until edges are slightly brown. Pull out by parchment paper and let cool. Slice into bars or mini pieces. You can freeze, refrigerate or place mini bites into a jar. Enjoy!

Mini bites for my mini people:)

Summer Greek Goddess Salad

Does anyone else think that greek food is the best EVER? Mmmmm. SO. FRESH!

Food for thought: We live in the richest country, yet we eat the poorest and most processed foods. Remember this. Real is rich. Processed is poor. Choose real. (Same with people;)

So, let me get real and raw for a minute. This is my first official “blog post” where I’m actually writing more than a recipe. I LIVE to share my passion about health and clean food prep with others and to see them grow in understanding, that they too, can do it.  I’ll share my story in another post, but first this is on my heart today:

Here we are in August, when we can get an abundance of veggies at the farmers market. I just want you to GO this coming weekend. Go CREATE a farmers market experience, get some real food, and let me help you food prep it! Make the decision today to stop eating crap and to eat REAL FOOD. I’ll help you. It won’t be perfect. You’ll relapse from time to time. Baby step upon baby step, I’ll help you master food prep, so that it’s no longer an excuse not to eat well and together we will all be perfectly imperfect, and STRIVING to live in an abundance of health.

First, let me ask you a question, because it’s really the root to most problems: Do you believe that your body deserves and is worthy of health, weight control and energy? Let me answer that- yes it does and is. But you don’t and won’t get what you deserve, respect, love, or desire. You don’t get what you feel entitled to or what someone else has. You get what YOU are COMMITTED to and feel worthy of. Truth.

That means you have to get honest and real with yourself if you aren’t in a state of health or in a body that serves you well. It’s because of one reason- You aren’t committed to that. Or, you haven’t been in the past and it caught up with you. I live in that reality and honesty, and no longer in my own denial. As a nurse, I see REVERSIBLE chronic disease and obesity daily. It’s because of what we are eating, but more importantly, what we are NOT eating. And even MORE importantly, it’s because of what we are thinking and feeling that leads to how we treat our bodies.

Let me say something boldly, as I have no other way of being when it comes to health: If you aren’t eating well, exercising and putting your health FIRST, understand this: It’s a selfish and not self LESS act and you are neglecting yourself because you don’t feel worthy of it. Think about this: When your health fails, others will have to care for you. That’s a hard truth for most to chew on.

Your body is the tool you experience everything through! So, you have get real and raw with yourself and your food when it comes to change, and you require help from someone who knows what they are talking about. I’ve seen a lot of sickness. And SO I made the study of HEALTH my passion. There’s HOPE if you are willing to face yourself in the mirror, come out of denial, and change your habits, starting with emotional and mental habits, one day at a time. Our society is SO screwed up in a victim and martyr mentality often thinking, “OH there’s no time for me, no time to eat healthy, no time to work out”. BS! MAKE, SCHEDULE, CREATE your time for you. That is such a victim answer! I call crap on that! No one can build muscle for you. No one can shove good nutrition down your throat. The REAL issue is you do not think that your WORTHY of a great body, mind, and food. IF you did, it would be your priority. It’s the inner crap thinking that gets you in trouble. Remember, the inner head game reflects your outer actions. Go buy some REAL FOOD, and prep it. I’m here to help with honesty some like. And. Some. Don’t. I’m here to give you the tools to master food prep, so that you can be well on your way to an amazing life of health- because your body is TRULY your wealth.

In the meantime layer this GORGEOUS salad in a mason jar like THIS, and enjoy throughout the week (I do not have a pic of it layered in a jar: use a quart wide mouth):

Ingredients BOTTOM to TOP:

Salad dressing (ALWAYS) goes on the bottom of the jar.

Next layer:

7 Kalamata olives

1/4 Red Onion

1/2 Green pepper

1 Tomato

1/2 Cucumber

2 tbsp feta

Torn Romaine

Greek Goddess Vinaigrette:

1/2 c olive oil

1/4 c red wine vinegar

2 garlic cloves- minced

1 tsp dried or fresh oregano

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp dijon mustard

Shake and enjoy (My boys love this made with a pomegranate vinegar on just cukes and tomatoes- I’ll see if I can attach the website to order it here)