Healthy food – This is where it starts

Meals for a small fridge aka hotel living

January 19, 2023January 18, 2023 Earthy Views

Many times in my life we are away from home, jobs, conferences and pleasure. We are forced to use tiny hotel fridges to store our meals.

The cooler I bring full for 4 days away.

Being someone with food challenges, I need to bring food with me. This is quite the task. Lugging a huge cooler with me is something that gets me through. Writing this I can’t imagine going abroad.

Hard boiled eggs keep very well as long as you don’t break the shell. I do mine in the instapot. It holds 9 eggs. Not ostrich eggs (rolling my eyes). I cook them on high pressure for 7 mins then get them right into cold water after they are done.

I brought Teff flour wraps, mixed greens, whole tomatoes, 2 avocados and dressing spreadables in a small glass mason jar. Tip to keeping your avocados very fresh after they are ripe. Put them in an air tight container (uncut, don’t do this after cutting they will hold the bacteria) of water and fully covering them, they will last very nicely a week out of the fridge. As a bonus they will not get bruised in travel.

Hardy muffins will last nicely for three days or so, so I brought banana ones. They are better than banana bread, once the bread is cut it can become dry.

I can make pizza. I make a ground flax seed crust and let it cool, cold is not as nice as hot but when you have no way to heat it, it is nutritious.

Quesadillas on rice, corn or teff wraps or whatever grains you enjoy.

A tub of cottage cheese can be part of three meals. I added that with my canned fish.

Cheese and crackers are wonderful. There are some lovely non-dairy cheeses out there.

You can bring a trail mix or nut free granola. Oatmeal in packets. The hotels have coffee pots, run one batch of water through then toss that water, use the next batch. Less likely to have coffee residual taste.

I get fruit smoothies from Costco. They are about 16 dollars for 12. They fit well in the small fridges and your cooler.

Fruit cups and fresh fruits and veggies are a good thing for shacks.

I always bring my favorite teas.

If you have things you enjoy bringing when you are going away I would like to read what you bring and how you preserve what you bring. Hope your week is bringing you many good moments!

Healthy food for hot days

July 28, 2022July 27, 2022 Earthy Views

If you are like many of us, eating a heavy meal on a super hot day is just not what you want to do to your gut. We don’t digest as well on really hot days. The thought of using the oven or even the stove makes many want to wither on an already hot day. When it is above 30 degrees Celsius, 86 Fahrenheit it is lower than natural human body temperature but it starts to get a bit sluggish.

Guacamole and cut veggies, gives you good fats from avocados and good nutrients from the veggies. That is what we had for two days when It was 33 degrees Celsius. We make it in a food processor. It keeps well in the fridge so take some time in the cooler part of the day and cut up vegetables. I store them in a glass lock container for about a week. Who am I kidding, cut veggies never last that long here.

Hummus and veggies or crackers

Greek salad and store roasted chicken You can make Greek salad vegan just leave out the feta and don’t have chicken. I make my own Salad and dressing so much better than store bought and much cheaper.

Fruit salad or cut fruits. How to make a veggie tray

Watermelon salad, we buy huge watermelons and they last a few days. Tips on cutting watermelon

Cucumber salad, I grew cucumbers in my garden to enjoy before we need to leave our sold house. We cut one the other day, it was so tasty. Vegan Paleo cucumber salad

This cucumber was grown in my garden photo take by me.

Chef salad, you can use hard boil eggs, cheese, fresh berries or cut fruit. We bought pre cooked chicken packs served in 100 gram servings. They were great in so many ways including in or cool packs for lunch working outside in the extreme heat.

Tex – mex salad is good because it has beans. I make mine with cooked chickpeas. It is so filling. I change it up a bit due to allergies.(My family might fall off their chairs if I stuck to the exact recipe, I think they are convinced I can’t read with how many recipes are inspired by the original)

We are making so many easy low cooking meals this summer. It is a bit of a challenge with not wanting to buy food before moving to a new town. We packed up the barbecue months ago and are starting to pack more of the kitchen. (YOU know the “we will be out before summer So lets pack summer stuff..” Well we will be out in late summer.)

The multi cooker AKA Instant Pot has been a great tool in the heat

When I make things like hard boiled eggs and chickpeas, I do the steam release outside so all that hot steam is not left in the house. Opening the door is the gross part, it is cooler in our place so to open the door to the outdoor oven is just not a happy thought.

The heat of the summer can make you creative in the kitchen. Hope you’re staying healthy and cool. Next week’s blog will be about health conditions and the heat.

Holiday self-care

December 3, 2020December 5, 2020 Earthy Views

Holidays can be very hard at the best of times. This will be the hardest year many of us have had. Remember we all come from different backgrounds, traditions and upbringing. Some had loving memories of time spent with people they cared about. Others struggled with negative memories. Stress and anxiety may not play kindly.

Whether you are relieved to spend time alone or you are missing people. Taking care of your physical and mental health is very important. You are important! If you are someone that takes vitamins please know the best mix for the changing seasons. If you don’t maybe talk to your doctor or alternative practitioner about what might benefit you. I switched my vitamins last month to help fight the blahs of longer, darker days.

Setting a water goal can help. Clean water helps our bodies run better. Like an engine needs oil our brains and bodies need water to function. My friend and I were using the little Genies on the cell phone emojis that would be our “Water genies.” There is a blue one and a red one if I had hot water I would use the red one with how much water I drank. She did the same. We did better with keeping track.

I have made myself and my family stress reduction boxes. You can use whatever works to keep your things in. You want it to be portable so you can grab something on the go to aid in feeling better. A care box is something you build to help when you feel stressed, blah, sad or angry. If we need to distract, defuse or change our pattern of thinking. This box can be a blessing.

Things you can put in a shoebox, backpack, basket, really anything that is easy to pull out the things to aid you in feeling calmer and work towards healing. Non-alcoholic drinks like tea or a juice box, sparkling water. You can put a small craft in or game, gum, bubbles to blow ( they help with deep breathing and opening our lungs) writing pad, drawing pens a stress ball, a kaleidoscope, essential oils, any small things that help you feel better. I found a plastic smiling poo in a dollar store for a box I made for someone, I called it when poop hits the fan box. They ready liked it. Handwarmer and a healthy snack can be great things to add.

Eating at regular times can help balance you mood by keeping blood sugars regulated. People in the health field suggest small meals or snacks ever four hours. Healthy foods prompt wellness and give you better immune support.

Make a list of things that help you feel better. Maybe soak your feet, have a shower a bath while watching a funny show. You can add people to contact that promote your feeling better. Get into the fresh air, loving a pet or nature. Hang out in a cozy spot and read. Remember it is ok to take time for you.

Humor when we are having a hard go, sometimes it is hard to find humor. Laughter has health benefits and is very healing. Comedians I enjoy is Gabriel Iglesias and Michael McIntyre Tonight when I was finishing up the post, I had some of my own stress, my 16 year old dog was having a hard health night after making sure he was stable and calling to make a vet appointment for him I watch the above videos! I feel a bit better.

If you are on medication please remember this is part of keeping you healthy. Please follow the instructions from your practitioner.

If you need help please contact a support line.

Take time to smile and be thankful.

The bath tub photo is by Photo by Taryn Elliott