Legumes

You’ve all heard of them and probably had them on your plate at one point or another. Legumes are packed with protein, vitamins, minerals and fiber with no added fat or cholesterol! They also account towards your daily vegetable serving! Legume family includes: Kidney beans, peas, soybeans, peanuts, green beans, lentils, chickpeas and alfalfa.

So why should you introduce legumes into your daily diet??

1. High in Protein

Legumes are a great source of plant-based protein. For example a cup of Chickpeas contain up to 15 grams of protein and white beans contain 19 grams!! If your goal is weight loss, eating enough protein can also encourage satiety and keep you feeling full while increasing your metabolism and the amount of calories you burn after a meal!

2. Boost Your Heart Health

Legumes have been shown to decrease cholesterol, blood pressure and inflammation.

3. Stabilizes your blood sugar

The high amount of fibre in legumes works to slow the absorption of sugar in the bloodstream and maintain blood sugar levels.

Don’t like the taste or idea of eating legumes? Well here is a delicious recipe that uses legumes in a sneaky way!!

Chickpea Protein Bars

Ingredients
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
½ cup packed, very soft dates (about 6-8)
¼ cup peanut butter (or any nut/seed butter, e.g. almond, sunflower seed, tahini)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
⅔ vanilla protein powder
⅓ cup pepitas (green pumpkin seeds), toasted
⅓ cup dried cranberries

Method
1. Line a 9x5-inch loaf pan with baking paper

2. In a large food processor, process the chickpeas, dates, peanut butter, vanilla and salt until smooth, stopping and scraping the sides of processor bowl.

3. Add the protein powder, pepitas and cranberries. Pulse until very well combined and mixture looks like a dough ball (if not, add a bit more protein powder).

4. Press mixture evenly into prepared pan.

5. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or freeze 1 hour until firm. Remove from tin and cut into bars, Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks (or freeze for up to 2 months). ENJOY!!

Sweet Cinnamon

Cinnamon is sometimes referred to as one of the healthiest spices in the world.

This superfood may already be sitting in the pantry – and a tiny sprinkle goes a very long way! It’s antioxidants abilities are what makes it especially beneficial to include into your diet. Just as little as 1/2 a teaspoon of cinnamon added your diet daily can have positive effects on your blood sugar levels, digestion, immunity plus heaps more! Adding a higher dosage of cinnamon can be extremely beneficial as it can help towards improving heart disease risk and even cutting your chances of diabetes, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases! AMAZING!!

Just to give you a little bit more on the contents of cinnamon. One single tablespoon of ground cinnamon contains:

0 grams of fat, sugar, or protein
4 grams of fibre
68 percent daily value manganese
8 percent daily value calcium
4 percent daily value iron
3 percent daily value vitamin K

Cinnamon can be included into your diet whether it be breakfast, lunch or dinner! For example your morning coffee! Most of us are adding either creamer, milk (whole or skim) sugar, or butter to your coffee to improve its taste at some point. If you're looking for something different, though, try a new twist with a dash of cinnamon. This sweet, sharp spice can do so much more than improve coffee's taste! Adding cinnamon to your morning coffee can prove to be very beneficial. According to a research conducted, the simple act of smelling cinnamon can help to improve your processing capabilities and ingesting the spice is even more beneficial. The study participants were better able to complete tasks when eating cinnamon, and improved their attention overall. This is due to cinnamons ability to improve your brain's cognitive processing, spur brain function altogether, and help you master your visual and motor responses! Hopefully this makes you think twice before adding sugar to your coffee!

To help you start introducing more cinnamon into your diet, below are my fav cinnamon inspired recipe!

Golden Cinnamon Sweet Potato

INGREDIENTS
1 Medium sized sweet potato, diced
1 - 2 tablespoons of cinnamon
Drizzle of olive oil or coconut oil
Pinch of sea salt

METHOD
Pre-heat oven to 400 Degrees F. Toss the sweet potato in the cinnamon ensuring all the sweet potato pieces are evenly covered, place on a baking tray in the oven until golden brown. Serve with a fresh salad, add to your omelette or by itself for a healthy snack!

Let's Talk About: PINEAPPLES

* Pineapple boosts immunity and improves blood circulations.

* Can help treat arthritis! Pineapple contains a relatively rare enzyme called bromelain that helps with the complex breakdown of proteins and has major anti-inflammatory effects! Hence helping to  reduce inflammation of joints and muscles

* Aids with digestion - being rich in dietary fibre, pineapple is like a helping hand to which keep you regular and your intestines healthy.

* Helps heal wounds and protect against infection.

* Reduces risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease

Why not add pineapple to your next smoothie or with yogurt to add a extra tang!

Spotlight on the Amazing Sponsors for my up and coming Lifestyle Camp!

There is about a week and a half until My October Lifestyle Camp and we are getting very excited not only about the experience but the amazing goodie bags that all the ladies will be receiving! They are jam packed with awesome stuff from our sponsors. A huge thank you goes out to all the sponsors for very kindly gifting us with great products to give you all!!

I want to give a shout out to all the sponsors of the Lifestyle Camp, but in particular Menehune Soaps who create all natural, hand made soaps that are scented with essential oils, that truely make your skin feel like silk. Visit their Facebook Page HERE

Thank you to Shapes Sarasota who will be giving a physical card as a guest pass to put in the goodie bags and the first month is free if they decide to join. Check out their website HERE

Thank you to Fuji Sports who are my long time sponsors who look after me in every way are providing some special goodies. 

Juice Plus+ who are the most thoroughly researched brand name nutritional product on the market today will be providing the best multi vitamins to keep us healthy & energised! Find out more HERE

Finding Samata - Jasmine Bienvenue's business , she will be taking us through beautiful sunrise yoga classes!

And last but not least thank you to Fortitude and Wellbeing, Tina West will be teaching the Empowerment workshops and meditations. 

Another huge thank you to all the sponsors, we greatly appreciate it! Can't wait to see everyone's smiling faces on October 9th!!

Kings of Kitchen

 A kitchen stocked with plenty of fresh, healthy produce not only allows you to easily throw together quick, healthy meals & snacks but helps in eliminating any temptations! Firstly you need to ultimately “cut the crap”! Get rid of foods that are dragging your energy level down and increasing your fat levels! This includes all processed pre made meals, refined sugar, soft drinks and sugary snacks! Once you’ve cleared out your pantry, fridge and don’t forget about the freezer, it’s time to stock your kitchen with ingredients that are going to fuel your body to not only burn fat but get you lean and full of energy!

Here are the foods which I believe are the Kings of the Kitchen and are an essential in any household!

• Eggs – the home of healthy fats and good any time of day.
• Coconut oil – a natural saturated fat, perfect for cooking.
• Avocado – the green goddess packed with heart-healthy monounsaturated fat.
• Sweet potatoes – are high in vitamin A, vitamin B5, B6, thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, and, due to their orange color, are high in carotenoids! Need I say more...
• Blueberries – Perfect for a quick snack or add to your smoothie!
• Chillies – dried or fresh, they bring spice to your life.
• Spinach – add to your smoothie, salad or omelette, this King will give your a hit of protein as well helping to suppress your appetite
• Nuts & Seeds - Ultimate on the go snack! Stick with almonds, walnuts, and sunflower seeds.
• Low Fat Greek Yogurt - Packed with protein, enzymes and probiotics!
• Canned veggies or fish - Fresh is always best, but keeping a few cans of tuna, corn and beans are super convenient and quick for when you are on the go!
• Herbs and spices – turmeric, paprika, cinnamon

You can find easy, simple & delicious recipes using the Kitchen Kings in My Spring into Summer 7 Day Meal Plan! Click here to purchase your copy!