Mizfitonline recently talked about her torrid (and long standing) love affair with Chia seeds, and I hope you’ve listened to what she had to say and incorporated it into your diet. But if you haven’t yet gone out to pick up your stockpile of Chia….get ready to add one more thing to your shopping list.

As passionate as MizFit is about Chia…I am even more so about Hemp Hearts (also known as hemp seeds).

I guess you could say it’s a feverous love affair. Actually, it’s more than a love affair; I simply cannot live without it. There are a lot of foods out there that claim to be super foods, and for good reason. But in my opinion, Hemp Hearts are the greatest super food of them all.

Okay, so you may be asking yourself “what exactly are hemp hearts” or “are hemp hearts something like marijuana?” Well, let me tell you. Hemp hearts are the shelled seeds of the industrial hemp plant, which just happens to be an innocent cousin of the marijuana plant. Related to this “cousin”, but totally legal and oh so much better for you.

I thought I’d try to match MizFit’s Chia Seeds style and incorporate a little facetime into this post just like she did. Here I am giving you the low down on some great ways to use hemp seeds:

And what about the benefits? If I would have done a video on this one, it would have been more like a full length feature film. There’s no end to the goodness it provides for you.

The oh so many benefits of Hemp Hearts:

• More Energy, Exceptional source of protein, and Natural.
• Best source of protein, essential fats, vitamins and enzymes on the Earth.
• Do not contain significant amounts of sugar, starches or saturated fats.
• Contain more amino acids (proteins) than milk, meat or eggs.
• Contain more omega 3 essential fat than any fish.
• Is a complete protein source – much more balanced than & digestible than any soy product.
• Contain about 47% oil, 86% of which is omega 3, 6, 9.
• Contains all the essential omega 3 fats required for human health.
• Hemp Hearts are unmatched in Nature for their balance of all required proteins and all essential fats as well as most vitamins and enzymes.
• Is perfect for those troubled with constipation and for those avoiding carbohydrates.
• Provides more energy than energy bars — without their sugar, milk, nuts, and meat.
• Is suitable for those unable to eat gluten, sugar, milk nuts, or meat.
• The list really does go on and on.

You might not know me as well as you know Mizfitonline, but I really do hope I’ve got you convinced to integrate hemp seeds into your diet. They can be purchased at Whole Foods and many health food stores around the country. I’ve experimented with many brands and places to buy them, and I’d have to recommend Nutiva as the best organic shelled hemp seeds on the market. Here’s the link to purchase directly from them: Nutiva Hemp Hearts.

Have you discovered Hemp Hearts already? Let me hear what you have to say, and if you’re as feverously in love with them as I am.

Darryl runs a cycling lifestyle website called Loving the Bike, and has a passion for Family, Cycling, and Living a Healthy Life. Be sure to contact him if you have any questions about hemp hearts, cycling, or just want to say hi. You can find him on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or catch up with him on the bike on one of the backroads of Austin.

(ahhh nutritional powerhouse. we HEART ye.)

We’ve loved on the chia seed for ages at Casa MizFit.

For years.

It’s a love affair  which began back when Id never HEARD the word piriformis & the Tornado possessed a first half to her blog-moniker (Toddler).

I was smitten. 

I proselytized.

I yammered to anyone who would listen & *at*many who did not:

Lest you get any sort of impressed here’s pretty much how we consumed the seed:

Sure, I’d usually use a spoon and not my finger or that’s what Ill pretend on a public forum.

Yes, I’d also often sprinkle chia on salads, oatmeal & dump liberally in my shakes, but that was about the extent of it.

Recently, however, we’ve needed more fiber in our lives (you may thank me in the comments for not delving into specifics).

No longer was a finger-full a few times a day enough.  I needed a chia-conveying system which would get both of the other members of the household to consume a larger quantity.

First we tried ChiaJelly (we loved. we loved.):

Next we added it to our protein pancakes *right* before they finished ‘caking:

This was a HUGE hit in our house.  Both Ren Man & the Tornado gave it the thumbs up!

Me? Im still the odd misfit out around here (does that even make sense?).

I like to add water to mine, let it grow into GOO, & eat with a few berries on top.

(my snack mid-goo process)

Or, more frequently, cram a few spoonfuls into my CHIAhole immediately upon waking.

AND YOU?

Have you discovered the healthy fat’asticness which is the chia seed? Or do you still fear the goo?

How do you eat your chia? (blogged about it? link yourself in the comments!)

Do you spend endless hours flossing as a result of your chia-habit? Or is it only my teeth which tenaciously trap the seeds?

(We’re still GAGA over the green nut. Click a bag to remember why.)

My lone olive purchase siting happily on the checkout scanner.

Ever since this Ready Set Eat post olives have been a topic of discussion.

Here (tell me again why you dont like olives, mama?)

There (you’re a role model.  for craps goodness sake Carla eat the olive so she’ll keep eating the olives.)

And everywhere ( some Facebook discussions that had me in tears I laughed so hard.)

So I considered.  I pondered.

Could it be time for me to suck it up, taste the small weird smelling, wrinkly food-stuff I associated only with old jars and pimentos?

I listed the pros (I’d be practicing what I preached about trying everything once, I’d get me some FAB health benefits, liking olives  might indicate I liked martinis which would open a whole new world for me).

I listed the cons (I might throw up a little in my mouth, I’d lose that whole “LOOK AT ME! IM 42 & HAVE NEVER TASTED AN OLIVE!” thing I had going on.)

I headed to the grocery.

Judging by how they looked it seemed these were the ones you’d suggested.

oily. wrinkly. precisely what you’d told me to procure.

but I grew distracted by the ones which looked like something I loved already…

grapes! 

It was only later, in the Tornado-filmed snippet of video below (alert google reader peeps!), I realized Ive made a huge mistake.**

What did I do wrong (besides accidentally throwing the procured item on the floor prompting giggles from my 5  year old camera woman)?

Was it the olive? The method of mouth-meeting? Or are olives really more nasty less tasty than people insist?

*PLEASE* to hit me up in the comments below.

Olive you forever if you do.

**I know the grammar is horribly off there—but I love me some GOB too much to mess with his quote.

Hi chocolate pudding pies!

I’m Katie, of the blog: Chocolate-Covered Katie, where I spend my days giving naughty recipes a healthy makeover.

Healthy recipes, such as the Cake-Batter Milkshake.

Today, I want to share one of my blog’s most-popular recipes: Fudge Babies. They’re completely sugar-free, but you’d never know! True, I’m used to the taste of healthy foods, but hundreds of others who aren’t—vegans, omnivores, and even carnivores—have raved about the babies’ deliciousness.

Fudge Babies

• 1 c walnuts (120 grams)
• 1 and 1/3 cups pitted dates (230 grams) (I use SunMaid)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3-4 tablespoons cocoa powder, depending on how chocolatey you want the balls to be (I used 4T extra dark)
• Optional: chocolate chips

1. Chop/blend all the ingredients, using a food processor, Magic Bullet, etc. (No need to blend the dates first; I just blend everything all at once.)
2. Roll into cutey-pie little balls… or even shape into brownies!

Don’t stop with chocolate!

The possibilities are endless. See: Fudge Baby Flavors.

And a nut-free variation: Samoas Fudge Babies.

The healthy answer to girl-scout cookies! On my blog, I try to show that healthy food can taste amazing when it’s prepared the right way. One shouldn’t have to choose between good health and good taste; you can have your cake (preferably chocolate!) and eat it too.

Healthy is the new naughty!

Please do stop by sometime, at Chocolate-Covered Katie, and say hi. I love meeting new bloggie or reader friends!

(yes the pose was her idea. extra points if you can read what her hat says.)

The facts: We (the royal we. the researched we) consume less of foods which require work on our part to shove into our nut-hole consume.

The numbers: When pistachio-studied we (don yer crowns! again the royal we.) tend to eat FORTY ONE PERCENT fewer of the green nuts when we have to shell versus having them pre-shelled for us.

The snack: We (the entire MizFit household Im not dragging you into this one) love these.  There are 49 in a serving which is both a bountiful snack and a fab opportunity for the Tornado to practice her pre-school counting skillz.

The memories: Lets just say we (OK I) were addicted to these as a child as well. I gave not a shit care they stained my fingers bright red (remember that?!) except for the fact it made it more of a challenge to deny the fact I’d consumed the whole bag/less easy to blame aforementioned consumption on my sisters.

I rediscovered my green nut love at Blissdom:

(that’s my shell-debris & Joyce pretending the stuffed bunny is consuming nuts too. it was funny that day. you’ll have to take my word for it. we were tired.)

And it has been raging ever since.

Ive smuggled em into movies.

Ive toted em with me to playdates at the park.

Ive cooked with them (ok that’s a lie. Got any good pistachio recipes for me?)

Ive dragged Ren Man & the Tornado into my love as well (there’s been a little dissension in the ranks. They *adore* the salt & pepper green nuts.  Im a hardcore PLAIN misfit).

This post today is purely to share my smittennessment & remind you of a snack I’d somehow forgotten.

**This post is in no way shape or form sponsored by the aforementioned nut which is green, the green nut farmers or the distant’ older, much maligned cousin: the dyed red green nut.

Before you skip off to continue your friday I wanna know:

Am I alone in having not consumed these since they were produced wearing their random red coat?

Are you a Green Nut Lovah who has a recipe (for anything. Im easy that way) to bestow upon me as this is our ‘recipe’ thus far created by the Tornado:

(yes that is pb&j with green nut shoved inside)

Are you as excited as I am I discovered these single serving packs last weekend at COSTCO! (Im renown for lacking in nut-moderation):

Please to hit us all up in the comments below.

(if you’re dropping by through a reader there’s a short video below:)

And then eat them:

• 1/3 cup AllWhites®**
• 6ish ounces (any kind) vanilla yogurt
• whatever fruits are in the domicile
• whatever veggies you can successfully cram in and not taste (spinach?)
• 2 tablespoonish ground flaxseed
• a few ice cubes
• 2 tablespoonsish natural peanut butter
• (if you’re me:) a dash of DaVinci syrup

Plop the above in a blender, blend & enjoy!

**DIZclaimer: The above exercise routine & morning smoothie concoction is in NO WAY sponsored or endorsed by AllWhites There’s a good chance, in fact, they are pretty damn horrified.

I have a recipe for you.

If by *I* you mean Cindy …which I do.

(now take a moment & please to check out Cindy’s abs in the link above. We can wait.  holy crapballs. I know. I’m thinking if this recipe gits us her abs of washboard-steel this misfit may actually cook.)

Cindy’s Thanksgiving Leftover Casserole

5 c. mashed potatoes
3 c. leftover stuffing
2 c. turkey light meat, skinless, cooked and cubed
10-¾ oz. Low-fat cream of mushroom soup
1 ¼ c. water

Preheat oven to 350’. Prepare a 2-quart casserole dish with cooking spray. Spread potatoes into bottom of prepared pan. Top with stuffing. In a mixing bowl, combine turkey, soup, and water. Mix well. Pour over stuffing. Bake, covered for 20 minutes or until heated through.

Serving size: 1 cup
Calories: 336
Fat: 5g

MizFit note: While the turkey is baking perhaps use the time to join me in the National Day of Listening.  Whether you record, take notes, share, or are just PRESENT & really hear it’s a fantastic experience & gift to future generations of family.

Part nutrition, part exercise, Cindy Whitmarsh is a nutrition consultant, personal trainer and group fitness instructor. The star of several leading fitness videos, Cindy teaches and runs her own nutrition consulting business (Ultra-fit Nutrition Systems) in Southern California.

This is part three in a three part HOW THE HECK DID YOU GET TO THE AFTER?! series.  You may feel free to commence celebrating the series is over or hit me up with “I had hoped you were going to answer XXX” questions in the comments.

We all know how easy it is to pull the “starting Monday I shall” or “on the first of the month I will…” & yet we all are painfully aware (in our hearts. where it counts.) this whole journey really is all about starting right.this.moment.

And look at that.

How fortuitous is IS a Monday to boot.

In that spirit I give you what I did.

What I still do today.

When I finally decided the time had come to shed my freshwoman forty I followed six steps & they’re pretty much the same kind of thing I still do on a daily basis.

When I finally decided the time had come to shed my freshwoman forty I had no acronym with which to remember it all.

I give you an acronym (good lord I love me some acronyms).

To use.

STARTING TODAY.

Mini-meals. Im a believer in spreading the calories through out the day. For the most part none of my meals are bigger than any other ( I do often eat more at breakfast out of hunger. Intuitively.)  Beyond the fact I think this helps me stay lean—-it definitely helps my blood sugar levels stay even, I have far more energy, & Im overall less bitchy more cheerful.

Intuitive eating.  I know we’ve talked a lot about this here as of late–but it bears repeating.  Start this one today. Slowly. Listen to what your body is saying. Pay attention to how you feel after eating certain foods.  JOURNAL.  For me this isnt journaling *caloric intake* but feelings.  Noting how, when I crave sweets, it’s mainly AFTER Ive had a high processed carbohydrate meal.

That sort of thing.  Perhaps you begin by not even CHANGING your foods—just logging your body’s reaction to them.

Zero HARD & FAST RULES.    Again, this is just what has always work for me. Im a rebel. Make a rule that I can not have or do something & it is immediately the ONLY THING I THINK ABOUT.

Fiber, Fiber, Fiber. At this point I think we all know why (want more info? still unclear? desire a list of fibery foodstuffs? please to let me know in the comments.)—be sure you both KNOW and are acting on it.

Invest in YOU.  For me this takes the form of spending lots of money on quality foods & less money on (quality) clothing.  I love me some sushi grade tuna. Im happy with clothing from Goodwill-type places.

For some this may be an investment in a personal trainer.  For others in a gym membership. I have more than a few non-wealthy friends who invested in cooking lessons in their homes so that they could learn a handful of easy healthy meals.

Which leads me to…

Tried & trues. Always have a few meals which you know you enjoy, which are healthy, &  which are easily prepared in your arsenal. I tend to have the T & T’s already prepared and waiting in the fridge for those moments Im too tired to cook. Other people prefer just to have ingredients on hand.

Whatever *you* decide Im a firm believer in the fact that these T & T’s help to set us up for food success.

That’s me, People.

What I did starting out and what I do today.

When Im feeling completely scattered, out of my element and CRAZED I know if I can stick to these six things Ill re-find my groove in no time.

(yada yada yada DIZCLAIMER HERE. This is what works for me. Finds MY groove. Please to find what works best for you through old fashioned trial & error)

Now you.

What would you tell my myriad emailers who ask:

What’s the one thing I can do, starting today, to clean up/change my eating habits?