I am not always committed to my health so I wanted to share a health update. I am trying to eat well and exercise regularly. I think that I am pretty healthy overall but life derails me from staying committed. It’s all a part of getting older. You wake up one day and realize you’re not as invincible. You may have read in my older posts that I registered to run a 10 km road race with friends a few months ago. I was not a runner nor consider myself a runner but I am working my way up to do this race. I couldn’t run more than a few minutes in November and now I am all the way up to 35 minutes straight. That is a big feat for me! I’m hoping to work on speed because I’m slow as hell.

Trying not to crash while selfie-ing my run

Eating is usually where I have more problems. When I am on the road or out I tend to neglect eating well. I am making baby steps like taking along healthy snacks.

I use this mason jar and Cuppow to hold things like carrots and almonds

I have been in Los Angeles and not travelling a lot so I have been able to cook a lot and really focus on healthy eating. I do enjoy a great meal out but I do love cooking too. I’m going to share a few healthy recipes with you that are in my current rotation.

I am loving soba noodles right now because they are tasty and have loads of protein. You can find them sometimes in the “Asian aisle” in grocery stores, at an Asian market, or even World Market. This salad can be made vegan too (I used honey in the dressing so it wasn’t but can you can sub in agave nectar or maple syrup to make it vegan-friendly). To balance out my meat days which is less and less these days, I eat a lot of vegan food.

I’m not good at measuring things so the best thing to do is taste-test. I try to use organic items as much as possible. This recipe is the kind where you can anything in there and it will be tasty. Feel free to throw in marinated protein like chicken breast or tofu. I copied this salad from a salad place Sweetgreen (they discontinued it).

Green salad with soba noodles and hot sauce

• spring mix or some sort of greens salad mix. There’s a kale, chard, and spinach salad mix at Trader that would be super awesome with this
• organic soba noodles – follow instructions and throw into the salad when cooled down
• grape/cherry tomatoes
• carrot shreds
• frozen corn (or not)
• cucumber – I love Persian cucumbers. Small and easy to chop
• red/yellow/orange pepper sliced
• chopped cilantro
• toasted sesame seeds
• avocado diced
• hot sauce – Sriracha (or homemade sriracha that is cleaner is better or even sambal) makes it amazing!

I sort of winged the dressing so it’s good to experiment till you can find what works for you.

• 2 tbsp of organic miso paste
• a drop of sesame oil
• a few teaspoons of water
• a few tbsp of grapeseed or canola oil (lighter tasting than olive. I also try to reduce fats so even 1 tbsp is good enough I’m sure)
• lime juice – half to whole depending on lime
• a squirt of honey or agave/maple syrup to make vegan
• dash of soy sauce

I throw all the ingredients in an old jar and shake it up, baby. I make enough for a few days because it can keep in the fridge and it’s tasty!

Wild Rice Salad

I make wild rice in my rice cooker but instead of just plain water, I use a vegan stock/broth to give it a bit more flavour. I let that cool that down or I make the rice a day ahead. When I’m ready to make the salad I add a few sprinkles of turmeric. It gives it a nice flavour. I’m sure curry would be good too.

I add:

• diced bell pepper (any colour would do. Green is boring. It’s the truth!)
• diced green/spring onion
• grape/cherry tomato
• Persian cucumbers
• finely chopped parsley

I spray a bit of olive oil from a Misto spray and then add the juice of one lemon. I salt and pepper the salad. Then let it sit overnight. Always taste and see what needs to be added in. You can add way more veg but that’s what I had in my fridge that day.

Cauliflower Rice

I’ve been seeing photos for cauliflower rice. I didn’t know what it was so I googled and then thought I’d try it out. It’s yummy!

Cauliflower rice

To make cauliflower rice I take a head of cauliflower or florets and chop them down. Then I stick it in a food processor till it gets super small as shown above. Then when I’m ready to chow down, I saute the cauliflower with some onions, minced garlic, and a tiny spray of olive oil. Yum. Or a sprinkle of turmeric before you saute the onions is awesome too.

Overnight Oats

I tried overnight oats after seeing so many posts about it. I’m not usually into sweet breakfast, but I like the fact that I can make this ahead of time and bring it with me if I have to head out the door. It doesn’t have to be sweet! It can be just a tad sweet. The best thing about overnight oats for me is how much protein is packed in this little jar.

• mash 1/3 of a banana in a jar
• add oats (I put in 1/4 cup)
• add fruit – I used frozen blueberries
• add Greek yogurt (or not if you want to make this vegan)
• add almond milk/milk/soy milk
• a sprinkle of cinnamon
• some unsweetened coconut shreds
• you can pretty much throw anything in here!

Now stir everything together and it’ll be ready by morning. In the morning, stir some more. Then you can eat out of the jar while on the road or throw in a bowl. I throw in a bowl and then I add some more toppings or a bit of honey or maple syrup for a hint of sweetness.

Steel Cut Oats

The blueberries are frozen but they thaw out real quick. I add after heating up oats.

I make Trader Joe’s Quick Steel Cut Oats in my rice cooker on the quick cooking option. It takes less than 15 minutes and I make enough for a week. Instead of water, I add unsweetened almond milk, cinnamon, and a dash of vanilla extract. I have also thrown in chia seeds and bits of fresh-cut apple before.

I then put it in a sealed container. Every morning, I scoop out a bit, add some unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and then reheat. Then I throw in some frozen blueberries to the heated oats. By the time I sit down, the blueberries are no longer frozen and add just a tiny touch of sweet.

Hummus

I am obsessed with hummus and rice crackers or carrots. I make my own so that it’s clean and healthy. It’s so easy and super yummy! Here is the recipe I use but I reduce oil amount even more.

Well, that is my health update along with some of my favourite healthy recipes! If you have any tips, questions, or recipes to share with me, please comment below.