Category: In the Kitchen

Tweak #4 – Eliminating Toxins in your home

by amandaleonard, posted in Health, In the Kitchen, Inspiration, Uncategorized

Everyday we are bombarded with so many toxins.  Once we step outside our home it’s near impossible to avoid the 200,000 of ways we are affected. We can however make a few tweaks inside our home, which pay huge dividends.

The list of do’s and don’t are endless, but here are a few do’s to get you started:

  1. Keep two different plant types in your home
  2. Invest in a quality air purification system  (REME unit and Molecule)
  3. Place porcelain air diffusers in bedrooms and kitchen
  4. Replace old sheets, pillows and mattresses with organic
  5. Toss the toxic cleaning supplies and replace with natural, eco-friendly cleaning products

Tweak #3 – Eating with intention

Featured by amandaleonard, posted in Health, In the Kitchen, Uncategorized

One easy tweak we can make in everyday life are our food choices and habits.  While our bodies adapt to our everyday choices, there are certain foods and food combinations that will boost our energy and digestions and ultimately our health!

Although there is a lot of information on this topic, I will keep this short so it can be an easy tweak!

  1. Keep starches and proteins separate.  A starch is a complex carbohydrate made up of small chain sugar molecules.  These foods are beans, pastas, peas, corn, rice and grains.  Proteins are composed of amino acids and are the building blocks of our bodies.  These foods are beef, tofu, dairy, fish, eggs, pork, beans etc. (yes, beans are both carbs and protein).  To keep it simple, eat Starch meals with veggies and protein meals with veggies, but try not to combine.  
  2. Eat fruit alone.  This means do not slice banana on your cereal or mix fruit with milk in your smoothies.
  3. Chew your food well and slow down while you eat. This aids in better digestion.
  4. Eat your raw food first (salad before cooked meal)
  5. Sip water during meals but consume most of your hydration between meals

Remember 70% of our immune system is in our gut.  All of these tips directly relate to digestion and gut health and keeping our immune system strong and ready to fight for our body!

Happy eating!

tweak #2

by amandaleonard, posted in Health, In the Kitchen

6 toxic foods to avoid:

For most of us, three times a day we are making the decision of what to eat.  But food is not only meant to keep us alive, it is intended to nourish our body.  We know that fruits and vegetables with phytonutrients and antioxidants are essential and healthy, but what are some of the toxic foods we should avoid as much as possible.


foods to avoid:

  1. genetically modified foods (GMO) – this means it has been injected with some sort of growth hormone or other substance to make it bigger or grow faster.
  2. non-organic foods – they have most likely been sprayed with herbicides and pesticides that you are now ingesting
  3. white flour
  4. table salt
  5. MSG – monosodium glutamate
  6. microwaved foods

Aim to eat as much live food as possible vs. dead, processed food. What a blessing we have so much choice!

Tweak #1 – Soak your rice!

by amandaleonard, posted in In the Kitchen

Ideally you would soak your rice overnight each time before cooking it. Let’s be honest though, most of us don’t even know what we are cooking for dinner until that morning or a few hours before.

As soon as you know you are cooking rice for dinner, measure the amount you want to make (I cook 3 cups of rice for my family of 6), pour into a mixing bowl, fill with filtered water and let soak. Usually my rice soaks 3-4 hours, but sometimes all I get in is 30 minutes. Any amount is helpful and you’ll even taste the difference.

Rice has many health benefits: b vitamins, Folate (folic acid – which helps your body form new cells), iron and magnesium to name a few. It’s a great source of fiber. In addition, it’s gluten free, low in calories and contains no trans fat or cholesterol.

The kicker though is soaking it first and here is why:

  1. Rice has tricky hard to digest proteins and soaking it makes them easier to digest
  2. Soaking it neutralizes the phytic acid, which is a small molecule found in rice. Phytic acid prevents the absorption of the healthy nutrients so you want to neutralize this for maximum absorption of the good stuff!
  3. All rice has a certain amount of arsenic in it and to some extent it can be washed off. Note: try to buy organic rice grown in California, India or Pakistan

One last note: brown rice is healthier than white rice. Brown rice has all three parts of the grain kernel, whereas in white rice, two of the three parts have been removed.

Happy cooking!