Today’s guest blog post comes from Laura Taylor, Certified Personal Chef and Owner of Honest to Goodness. She and her team of cooking professionals help people with active lifestyles who want to eat healthy but don’t have the time to plan a menu, grocery shop, or cook. 

Honest to Goodness’ Top 10 Recipe Links for On-the-Go Breakfasts, Snacks, & Light Lunches:

Ensure a productive day with less stress by taking care to eat even small meals and snacks on a regular schedule. A car without gas doesn’t win any races. Likewise, a body without its own food fuel ends up weak and tired.

For more great advice on menu planning, grocery shopping, or to learn how working with a personal chef can support your active lifestyle, contact Laura at Honest to Goodness or like Honest to Goodness Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest pages. 

Cheers!

Health Kitchen is all about making it EASIER to eat healthy at home… and work. It is important that you have the supplies you need to make prepping your lunch easier. Below are 4 items that I always make sure to have on hand so that it streamlines getting you and our lunch out the door before work.

Its the end of the week and you have leftover vegetables in your fridge, no need to run to the store, instead make a healthy quinoa or brown fried rice. 

4+ Servings
Gluten Free and Dairy Free

Ingredients:
2 cups uncooked brown rice or quinoa
1 tablespoon olive oil
1.5 cups of veggies (onions, green onions, carrots, celery, mushrooms, bell peppers, soy beans, spinach, kale, zucchini, etc)
2 tablespoons soy sauce of tamari
1 tablespoon sesame seed oil
2 tablespoons sesame seeds (optional) 

Directions:

1. Prepare quinoa or brown rice according to package directions
2. Chop veggies
3. Sauté the veggies with olive oil over medium heat 
4. First sauté onions until soft
5. Add harder veggies and cook for a few minutes, before adding quick cooking vegetables like, kale, spinach, and zucchini
6. Once veggies are cooked lower heat to medium
7. Add cooked rice or quinoa to veggies and mix
8. Add soy sauce or tamari for a gluten free option, sesame seed oil, and sesame seeds
9. Fry for 5-8 more minutes until rice or quinoa becomes slightly crispy
10. Serve 1/2 cup per person

Please comment and ask questions below.  If you need more guidance making your goals specific reach out to HealthKitchen for suggestions and other coaching advice. On behalf of the HealthKitchen Team we wish all of you a healthy and happy New Year. Cheers to 2014!

~Mimi Johnson | Founder of HealthKitchen

The holidays are here!

As we all know this is the time of year for holiday work events, ugly sweater parties, and family get-togethers; the perfect storm for over indulgences. Since we can't avoid work, friends, and family it is important to find a healthy way to stay on track with our eating and other health behaviors. Here are a few tips to avoid overeating and drinking at all of your extracurriculars.

Wishing you a healthy holiday season,

Mimi Johnson
Founder of HealthKitchen

Vegetable stock is a great way to enhance a recipe. Many of HealthKitchen's recipes suggest vegetable or chicken stock in place of water. Making your own stock is very easy and uses the remains of vegetable parts that we typically throw away or compost. 

As you try HealthKitchen's recipes keep the remains of the vegetables that you would normally discard. Throw them into a large plastic tupperware or bag and place them in the freezer. Use the remains of celery, bell peppers, carrots, onions, onion peels, garlic peels, bok choy, broccoli, kale stems, green bean ends, etc for your stock.