Tag: New Year’s Resolution

Food Trends to Watch For in 2018

Happy New Year, everyone!!! Fact: The closest I came to dieting in 2017 was when I deleted some of the food photos from my phone gallery. I’ll admit, when I’m talking about dieting here, I’m almost never talking about weight loss. What I am talking about is the way diet totally effects how we feel.  I’m here to tell you that skinny vegetarians can feel like crap too. Take it from me. I’m also here to tell you that big girls can be amazingly fit. Case in point: this fierce yogi. So, with less of an emphasis on weight, nutrition and health take center stage. This year, we can expect to see some super nutritious additions to last year’s growing list of healthy food trends. I don’t know about you, but I’m totally ready! Seriously, after a steady diet of cake, sweet, sugar, pastry, and cocktail since Halloween, I’m determined to start this new year off right. Let’s take a look!

2018 Food Trends

Whole Foods Predicts…

Whole Foods just released their annual report on food trends, giving us a clue as to what we’ll be seeing a lot of this year. Plant based products, floral flavors, mushrooms (anyone ready for a mushroom coffee?!), airy snacks like jicama crisps, root to stem recipes (zero food waste, hello!), and both Middle Eastern (mmm, Halloumi Burgers) and Filipino cuisine are all set to have a huge impact on 2018.

the dairy aisle gets some help from Sweden

Last year, while I was in Stockholm, I had one of the best lattes ever, y’all. I went to this coffee shop called Snickarbacken7 in the Norrmalm neighborhood. Anybody that knows me knows that me ordering a latte is always a production. Vanilla soy latte, one pump of vanilla and light on the foam. I’m trying to buy coffee, not air bubbles and simple syrup. Does that make me picky? Anyway, Snickarbacken7 didn’t have any soy milk, and I was so over almond milk and coconut milk lattes the second I tried them. The barista offered me an oat milk latte instead. YOOOOOOO!!! Oat milk is absolutely amazing. Creamy, subtly sweet, and easily my new favorite dairy alternative milk. Look for the Swedish company Oatly to hit US shelves in February.

Move over, matcha, Make Room for Moringa.

While matcha has made it’s rounds in everything from lattes to must-have beauty products over the last few years and while it doesn’t show signs of stopping, get ready to see a lot more moringa. Moringa is made from the leaves of the moringa tree, a plant native to Southeast Asia and parts of Africa. The leaves are dried and ground into a powder that has a deliciously earthy flavor, not so different from matcha, but with comparable anti-inflammatory properties to turmeric. This year, you’ll see moringa in smoothies, nourishment bowls, health bars, and even lattes. Moringa powder is readily available on amazon making it easy for a home cook to experiment with it’s unique flavor.

The next big thing after Instant Pot

In 2017, our Instagram feeds were flooded with delicious Instant Pot creations. That versatile little kitchen appliance combined the capabilities of a pressure cooker, steamer, slow cooker, and skillet into one convenient device. The Instant Pot gave us healthy meals in a fraction of the time, using a fraction of the energy. What it didn’t give us was fried food. Um. We need fried food. Enter the air fryer. What sets fried food apart is that familiar crunchy texture we all love. What makes it unhealthy is the loads of oil we have to use to get that tasty crunch. The air fryer remedies all of that by evenly circulating air around your temptation of choice, giving you that fried food comfort without all the guilt. These gadgets aren’t exactly new, but more and more companies are joining the trend and offering more affordable options. If you wanna go for broke because fried food is your happy place, you can opt for the pricier, latest version of the Phillips Air Fryer. A more frugal version is yours for under $100 here.

I’m so excited for this year! You guys! 2018! Can you believe it?

5 New Year’s Resolutions that Everyone Can Make

New Year

Happy New Year, everyone! I’m super happy that last year is over. I had a pretty crappy twelve months, and I’m so ready to usher in this new year with hope and happiness. Last year I got laid off, my home was burglarized, and I lost a good friend far too soon. Needless to say, I’m ready for new beginnings.

On top of all the other things going on in my life, the holiday season has left me feeling full and weighed down. I’ve been feeling totally tired and drained lately. I usually don’t make New Year’s Resolutions because I always set some super specific goal and then I tend to give up a week in. This time around, I’m setting some pretty general goals that I thought I should share with you. I think they’ll apply to all of us and we can totally support each other over the coming months.

New Year’s Goals

Relax

1 Stress Less

Take some time to relax. We all have hectic schedules and a host of things that demand our time and attention. Even if you can only squeeze in a few minutes here and there, slow down and relax. Breathe in and breathe out, have some tea, meditate, light a candle, or just listen to your favorite song. Anything that allows your mind to quiet down and be calm.

Don't Give up

2 Don’t Give Up

Change is constant. We make plans to reach our goals, and if these plans fall through we feel guilty and give up hope. We all have to allow for the occasional hiccup. Whatever personal goals you set, remember the bigger picture. If you fail to achieve your goal one day, remember that there are 364 more days for you to succeed. Tomorrow starts now.

Healthy Body

3 Healthier Body

Every year, I always promise myself that I’m going to get healthier. I make a plan to go to the gym, to completely overhaul my diet, to treat myself to frequent spa days, and to be asleep by 9pm. Who am I fooling? I’m really good about it for the first week. Sometimes I even make it a month, but seriously, I don’t know anyone who can keep that up. This year, I’ve decided not to set myself up for failure. My goals for a healthier body are more flexible this time around. There are a ton of little changes we can make that have huge payoffs in the long run.

Learn Something New

4 Healthier Mind

You guys, I spend a lot of time staring at my phone, watching TV, or surfing the web. I think if I added up the actual time, I’d be too ashamed of myself to even tell you. So, I’ve decided to unplug more often. We all need to take the time to learn something new, create something, or even just read a book the old fashioned way. Exercise our minds.

Home is Where Your Heart Is

5 Healthier Home

I’m always looking for ways to improve the space that I’m in. Whether it’s slapping on a fresh coat of paint, rearranging furniture, decorating for holidays, or just thoroughly de-cluttering, organizing, and cleaning a space, there are always projects to improve your physical environment, and in turn, your state of mind. After all, home is where your heart is. This year is all about seeing each and every space in my home through new and creative eyes.

 

It’s such an exciting time of year! A fresh start for all of us. Hopefully, we’ll get to know each other better and we’ll be able to support each other through this journey. I hope you’ll share some of your resolutions with me in the comments, and check in from time to time.

Here’s to new beginnings!