Good Mood Food Prep

Posted on March 18, 2014 by karenyoungyoga

I’ve researched the relationship between food and mood for 5 years now and here’s the summary of my findings: Eating great makes you feel great and eating outside the home usually packs us with unwanted fats, sugar and salt, which can bring us down. Home cooking is the way to go if you want to REALLY know what you’re putting in your body. I know you’re busy, me too. I make a bit of time to get in the kitchen, not in an apron wearing, humming, slowly stirring way like I used to- now I go so fast it could almost count as a cardio workout. Instead of preparing one meal at a time, I get several dishes prepped and only have to clean the kitchen once. This allows me to save money, eat healthier than I would at a restaurant and spend less time in the kitchen.

Here’s what I did in 1 hour:

Carrots and Celery, sticked for snacking with hummus or nut butters (some in ziplocs for grab and go), and sliced in food processor for soup. VEGGIES=HAPPY

Dessert sweet potatoes: mashed with coconut milk, pumpkin pie spice, a few drops of vanilla stevia and a pinch sea salt. YUMMY=HAPPY

Yeah, that’s Vanilla Stevia. Natural, tastes great, and won’t mess with your blood sugar. STABILIZED BLOOD SUGAR=HAPPY

That’s the prepped veggies getting soupified. I put 2 healthy bouillon cubes and 3 pounds of sliced organic chicken in there too. Then after it was cooked, I took half the chicken out and made chicken salad with it: vegan mayo and lemon juice. PROTEIN HELPS WITH BLOOD SUGAR STABLIZATION=HAPPY

Pot of the best mint tea in the world, for icing. Its waiting for me in the fridge-in case I feel my life is less than decadent, this is the anecdote. FEELING FANCY=HAPPY

Baby portabello mushrooms in the food processor, ready for sauteeing-Vitamin D blast! THE SUN SHINES EVEN WHEN IT DOESN’T=HAPPY

Whole brown rice, ready for eating as is or turned into a quick salad with chopped veggies, healthy fats like avocados and nuts and protein. CLEAN CARBS + HIGH QUALITY FATS=HAPPY

Jasmine rice for the kids, because I learned the hard way that there’s no way in bleep they will eat brown rice NO FIGHTING=HAPPY

Prepped several bunches of my beloved, kale. De-stemmed leaves left big for kale chips, shredded for sautéing and kale salad, stems reserved for juicing. EATING LOTS OF KALE & DEALING WITH THE BIG MESS ONCE INSTEAD OF THRICE=3 x HAPPY

If you’d like to read more about food and mood, check out The End of Overeating by David Kessler.

karenyoungyoga

Unite your body and mind for tranquility, strength and focus.

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