MOVFitness

Cinnamon Apples & Yogurt

Desserts are very healthy for you as long as you couple them with fats.  Never eat carbs alone!  Try out this delicious dessert.

2 Apples - 100
1 Cup Plain Yogurt - 1.50
1/2 Cup Pecans - 001
1/4 Cup Honey - 100
1/4 Cup Olive Oil - 001
1 tsp Cinnamon –
Dash Nutmeg –
1 Tbsp Flax Seed 00.5

Directions:

Cork Apples & cut in quarters.  Mix olive oil & honey in bowl then pour into skillet.  Turn stovetop on warm setting - not too hot as we don’t want the honey to crystallize.  Sit apples with peels facing down in skillet.  Sprinkle nutmeg & cinnamon onto apples.  After 3 minutes, flip apples and sprinkle remaining nutmeg & cinnamon on other side. 

Toss nuts in skillet and coat with oil & honey mixture.  After everything is well coated in oils, place lid on skillet.  Let cook for 10 minutes and stir occassionally to prevent oils from building up.

After apples have browned, remove nuts and place in bottom of a dish.  Place apples on top of nuts and spread yogurt over the top of the apples.  Garnish with Milled Flax Seed and you have a healthy dessert sure to please anyone!

 Makes 4 servings

Budweiser Stew

Believe it or not, you can have a healthy stew in your slow cooker flavored by none other than a nice cold budweiser beer.  The alcohol is burnt off in the cooking process and leaves a nice flavor for your vegetables and meat.

2 Cups Brocolli
2 Cups Carrot
1 Cucumber
1/4 cup Onion
2 Garlic Cloves
1 12 oz Can of Budweiser
12 oz of water
1 Pound sirloin beef
2 Ears of Corn
4 Apples
1 1/2 Cups Mushrooms
2 large potatoes

Directions:

In a 5 quart crock pot, fill with water & beer & turn on High.  Rinse potatoes and cut into large chunks, then place in crock pot. 
Clean meat, cut remaining vegetables.  Shuck corn and break into 3 pieces each. 

Place corn around edges of crock pot with meat in the middle.  This should be the last ingredient that touches the beer.  Place remaining ingredients excluding the apples on top and cover pot.

Cook on high for at least 90 minutes.  If you desire a more tender meat, at this time switch over to medium temperature.  If not, leave as is for an additional 90 minutes. 

When stew is 75% cooked:
Peel apples & remove cork.  Cut into quarters & put in crock pot.

Serve after 4 hours when on High.   Serve after 6 hours when on Medium setting.

Makes 4 servings.

Corn Husked Chicken stuffed with Wild Rice

1 lb of Chicken Breast w/ bones - skin removed - 040
2 Husks Corn on the Cob - .300
2 Cups Wehani Whole Grain Rice - 100
1 Tomato - .300
1/4 Cup Grapeseed Oil - 001.5
10 Snow Peas - .300

Directions:

Preheat oven to 415 Degrees.
Bring Wehani wild rice to a boil & cook for 10 minutes
Spread aluminum foil over pan
Shuck 1 Corn Husk and lay husk flat on aluminum foil
Cut corn off the cob & mix in with wild rice
Dice tomato
Douse husk with grapeseed oil & disperse tomato over husk.
Clean Chicken and place on top of husk

After rice is finished cooking, stuff chicken with rice, corn, and snow peas.  Sprinkle the stuffing around the outside & on top of chicken as well. 
Finish off the top of the chicken with the second corn husk - dousing it in grapeseed oil & tomatoes as well.

 Wrap foil up around the sides of the chicken and over the top making sure corn husks completely cover the chicken and are soaked well in grapeseed oil.

Place pan in oven for 30 minutes.

Check on chicken & cook for up to an additional 15 minutes depending on desired texture. 
Makes 2 servings

Pecan Crusted Chicken

Here’s a lovely meal for you health nuts out there!

 Speaking of health nuts, pecans are a superfood in my book.  They have antioxidants, unsaturated fat, and a number of minerals.  Not to mention how tastey they are!

 Ok, so on to the meal.

You may substitute the vegetables to one of your liking, but please try not to stray from the ingredients used on the chicken.  This will change your exchange ratio & affect the exquisite flavor I worked so hard to master!

2 4oz Chicken Breasts - skin removed - 040
2 Tbsp Honey - 100
Dash of Garlic Powder
10 Crushed Pecans - 001
1 Tbsp Grapeseed Oil - 00.5
2 Tomatoes - .300
1 Cup Broccolli  .300
1 Cup Cauliflower .300
1/2 Cup Carrots .200
2 Slices of Lemon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 415 Degrees.
Sprinkle pecans over aluminum foil.
Squirt Lemon onto Chicken
Brush Grapeseed oil over chicken then brush honey into oil then toss on garlic powder
Wrap each chicken breast individually in aluminum foil
Place in oven for 22 minutes

Prep & wash your veggies white bringing 2 pots of water to a boil.  One is to hold the tomatoes.  The other is to steam the veggies, so be sure to use a lid.

12 minutes into cooking, boil tomatoes in water for 10 minutes.

18 minutes into the cooking, steam Broccolli, Cauliflower, and Carrots on the stovetop.

When finished, unwrap chicken and place on a plate, being sure not to drop any pecans.  Serve a nice mixture of vegetables on each plate & softly lay a tomato on the side.  That’s it!

Makes 2 servings

The Aura and Physical Health

     The word “aura” has been around for a long, long time and predates our computerized, scientific information age. Most have heard the word and may associate it with mystics, sages and new-age mantras;  few may know exactly what the aura is but with the ability of modern science to detect and photograph the aura (through Kirlian photography, etc) it’s existence and value is now being scientifically validated and confirmed. Plainly speaking the aura is an energy field that surrounds the physical body, providing the universal life force needed for the  body to do what it already knows how to do: heal. It is unneccessary for one to instruct the skin to make a scab when you get a papercut; the body already knows what and exactly how to do it effectively. If the aura is clean and bright the cut heals fast and we don’t give it a second thought, but if through stress or trauma, the aura is congested or depleted, then the wound can take days and sometimes weeks for it to heal properly. Because the aura is always changing and in a sense “breathing”, it is possible and in our best interest to keep it clean and bright. Long term malfunciton of the aura and it’s other components results in physical decompensation of all sorts. The longer the malfunction the more intense the decompensation.

So how do you keep the aura clean, strong and bright?  1) Exercise is one of the most effective ways to brighten the aura. The bodily function of sweating, actually makes a portion of the aura called the “energetic health rays”, (through which it disposes of used chi, much like the exhaling of carbon dioxide) straighter and cleaner. With all of the congested energy escaping the body of one who has just exercised the result is a feeling of lightness of being….and of course, mood enhancement from released endorphins. 2) Taking regular salt water baths disintegrates the congested energy we may pick up from the daily workplace or other stressed environments common to many. In a warm bath (temperature doesn’t matter) add 2-3 lbs of fine or rock salt, not epsom salt. Epsom salt is good for other physical reasons, but does not have a cleansing effect on the aura. To intensify the cleansing, add 15-20 drops of essential oil of lavender. Soak for no more than 30 minutes, then shower. You’ll feel light and very relaxed. Some of my clients say that the only way they can get their minds to turn off is to take their salt baths. Especially if you have a stressful day or work in the customer service field, this can be very healthful for your body. If you surf or take dips in the ocean, it’s the same thing.  3) Besides picking up congestion from the external enviornment, our own negative thoughts that afflict us throughout the day may dirty the aura and leave the physical body feeling weighed down and exhausted. So exercising patience, forgiveness and loving-kindness with ourselves and all those we interact with goes a long way towards maintaning the health of the aura and thus the physical body.

If you’re a bit skeptical about the whole bit….or even if you’re not and want to know how to harness greater power here is an energetic technique that works wonders to calm and soothe those who may be angry or upset with you. It’s called the ”Pink Light” technique. Sit quietly and think for a moment of something that makes you feel super grateful or really good (Only when you feel really good inside, move to the next step). Then imagine the person who is angry with you or you with them and visualize them being surrounded by pink light…(they kind that the fairy godmother drops from her wand) swathing around the person you’re visualizing. It is uneccessary to use words…only that you personally are feeling very happy and grateful.  I have seen this work miracles with many of my clients and hope you have fun with it as they have.

Chinese Energy Master Choa Kok Sui once said “If everyone only knew,,,,that everything is energy..”  As the modern day founder of Pranic Healing, he devoted his life to teaching valuable healing energy techniques to hundreds of thousands all over the world. Santa Barbara is lucky to have some of his direct students practicing and teaching here in town. For more information visit www.pranichealing.com or contact, Lani Reagan (805) 338-5745.

The Secret to Hard Boiling

So you think I’m joking, right?  How hard can it be to boil some eggs.  Put them on the stove, wait until they’re cooked, and voila!

 Well, when you’re eating a dozen eggs a day, you become a master at this. 

There are a few tips you should take to make the perfect hard boiled eggs in as little time as possible.  When you are in a rush, the last thing you want to do is worry about waiting on these suckers to boil.

So, early morning, put your eggs in a pan of water about 2mm above the highest egg.  Put your stove on medium setting & let them cook.  For soft eggs, take them out as soon as the pot boils.  Medium eggs, let them boil for 1-3 minutes.  Hard eggs, let them boil 4-5 minutes.

 Ok, so here’s the interesting information:

You can prevent the yolk from turning green a few different ways.  With the nifty little machine I have pictured here, it comes with a needle that pokes a hole in the egg.  This lets the sulfur out & no more green yolks!  These machines are nice since they take all the guesswork out for you. 

 If you don’t want to poke a hole in your egg or don’t have one of these machines, you can simply run cold water over the eggs immediately after taking them off the stove.  This will keep the yolk nice & yellow, but more importantly it will help separate the membrane

 The Membrane:

The hardest part about stupid eggs is getting that shell off!  The fresher the egg, the stronger the cellular structure is going to be.  So follow these steps:

Let’s assume you’re going to have 2 eggs every morning. That an average of about a dozen a week.  So let’s buy 2 dozen eggs & sit them in the fridge until they’re about a week from “expiring”.  The older the egg, the easier it will be to separate the membrane from the egg white.

Now that the egg is aged, go ahead and boil it as mentioned above & dump out the hot water & replace with ice cold water.

Next, let’s hold one egg over a trash can or your sink and give it a good whack on the bigger/bottom side of the shell with one knuckle.  If you’re a wimp, use a spoon to give it a good whack.  This will easily crack the shell right around the area where you’ll find a nice air pocket to get your fingers in. 

Slowly pry the shell down towards the rest of the shell in the opening you made.  If done correctly, the entire shell should come off in one or 2 pieces.

This will save you from crunching on little bits of shell.  Now discard that yolk & enjoy!