Tag Archives: healthy fat

  1. Creative Ways to Use Canned Salmon

    Canned salmon doesn’t have to just mean sandwiches. This high-quality protein is loaded up with healthy omega-3 fatty acids and it makes for an incredible pantry staple that is ready whenever you need it. Here are just a few of my favorite Creative Ways to Use Canned Salmon.

    Creative Ways to Use Canned Salmon

    To some canned fish, as the leading star of the meal may be an act of desperation or last-minuteness, and while the latter may be true quite often for me – I think regardless, canned salmon and other canned fish, are really easy, grab-and-go, delicious, super nutrient-rich proteins that are perfect pantry staples for any health-minded kitchen. A great thing on hand for those busy times when you just aren’t sure what to make.

    Besides your standard sandwich, canned salmon and tuna can be used interchangeably in a variety of different recipes. Canned salmon and tuna both make for wonderful and easy healthy fat-loaded proteins to complete any meal. Add to just about any plate, over top a big green salad, in a wrap, serve over top rice or cauliflower rice, pasta, zucchini noodles, over potatoes or squash. For me, I find that canned salmon is a quality, staple pantry protein, for those busy weeknights when I forget to thaw something out or don’t have the time to fuss with much but I still want a well-rounded nutrient-dense meal. Canned salmon is fantastic source of protein, and it’s also loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D3, B-complex vitamins, and trace minerals.

    I find that with quality, properly sourced canned fish, less is more. When it comes to Alaska Gold’s Line-Caught Ivory King Canned Salmon, simply toss in some green or red onions and celery, maybe a little mayo and enjoy on a cracker for an easy snack. It truly doesn’t need much more, the flavor is just perfect.

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  2. Benefits of MCT Oil – Why I Use It, How it Differs from Coconut Oil, Liquid MCT Oil vs Powder + More

    The list of health benefits of MCT Oil or medium-chain triglycerides, a type of fat, includes fat loss, appetite suppression, increased energy, improved cognition, improved athletic performance, to name a few. Read on to see why I use it, how it differs from coconut oil, how to take it and more!

    Benefits of MCT Oil

    A balanced, nutrient-dense diet rich in healthy fats is essential to us being our very best! Every single cell in our body needs fat to function, most especially our brain cells. Our brain is actually the fattiest organ in our body at over 60% fat.  You already know my feelings on the importance of healthy fats in a well-balanced, nutrient-dense whole foods diet, but you can read more about the Benefits of Healthy Fats.

    At this point I have to imagine you’ve heard the buzz surrounding MCT Oil. One of the quickest sources of clean fuel for both the body and the brain, MCT oil is hands down one of the best ways to power up your performance or kick start a nutrition program.

    What is MCT Oil?

    “MCTs” are medium-chain triglycerides, a form of saturated fatty acid that has many health benefits, ranging from improved cognitive function to better weight management. MCTs are a type of fat that can be readily used for energy by your body and do not have to be broken down before use. They are precursors to ketones and help your body burn fat instead of burning carbs. Ketones are one of the brain’s two primary fuel sources, and also a vital source of ATP energy for the body.  ATP energy is what allows every single muscle in your body to move. While ketones from fat, rather than glycogen from carbohydrates, are the primary source of fuel for those on a ketogenic diet, but you don’t have to fully go keto to benefit from MCT oil and ketones.

    MCTs get their name because of the length of their chemical structure. All types of fatty acids are made up of strings of connected carbon and hydrogen. Fats are categorized by how many carbons they have: short-chain fats (like butyric acid) have fewer than six carbons, medium-chain fats have between 6–12 carbons and long-chain fats (like omega-3s) have between 13–21.

    Most fats consumed are taken into your body then must be mixed with bile released from your gallbladder and acted on by pancreatic enzymes to break it down in your digestive system. Medium-chain fats are digested easily and once they reach your intestine they are sent via the bloodstream directly to your liver, where they have a thermogenic effect and the ability to positively alter your metabolism. MCTs even pass the blood-brain barrier to supply your brain with an instant boost of energy.  MCTs are absorbed more quickly than longer chain fats, as there is less work for the body to do, in breaking down the carbon bonds, meaning they can be used quicker as fuel, rather than being stored as fat.

    Medium-chain Fatty Acids May Help With:

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  3. Grain-free No Bake Chocolate Chip Protein Bars

    Grain-free No Bake Chocolate Chip Protein Bars

    Grain-free No Bake Chocolate Chip Protein Bars

    As I go deeper into learning about nutrition and food, while in school to become a Nutritional Therapist, at times feeding my husband reminds me a lot of what my friends who are mothers, go through with their children. Don’t get me wrong, my husband is no man-child, he can take care of himself, he’ll cook when I am not around, he eats his veggies and he can grill like it’s no one’s business – clearly my hubby is > a toddler. But, the man loves his sweets. If he had it his way he would eat a doughnut or a slice of cake for breakfast every single day, he will however on the average day simply settle for toast with jelly or a bowl of cereal.  Of course, no matter what is selected this would all be accompanied by the largest cup of coffee. Ever. Sigh.

    Recently I have been working with him not to change his diet in some drastic way, I don’t need him resenting me and my schooling, but more to understand how starting his day in this manner definitely contributes to, if not exclusively causes, those mid-day crashes he was constantly struggling with and not only that, how it also leads to additional cravings and the need and urge for more sugar and carbs to be satiated. The vicious, never-ending, sugar-burning cycle.

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  4. Spicy Garlic Roasted Broccoli

    Spicy Garlic Roasted Broccoli

    Spicy Garlic Roasted Broccoli

    What is most interesting to me about cooking and food, is it’s role as a common thread to connect us. Food is something that we all experience on a daily basis (at least I hope so), we can all connect over this need to eat for sustenance and also the collective memories we have created over this nourishment, on our own or together. Food knows no boundaries, it sees no limits. We all need to eat. Where you go with your choices for food and your personal approach to eating, that’s up to you. But we can all bond over the nourishment, the community and the beautiful moments and memories food can elicit, too.

    Spicy Garlic Roasted Broccoli

    When I created this website way back nearly 6 years ago, simply a hobby at the time, I had hoped to create a space where you, the readers, would always feel encouraged and inspired to get into the kitchen. Too often I find that cooking and recipes can become elitest and overcomplicated, so much so that it becomes less accessible to people with for-real busy lives and in some cases it can actually intimidate people from ever stepping into the kitchen first place. Then it’s back to the fast foods, the take out, the packaged foods and the meals of convenience. This idea is absolutely devastating, soul-crushing and heart-breaking, to me.

    Spicy Garlic Roasted Broccoli

    I always want to elicit excitement around cooking and creating in the kitchen. Some days I feel like this is my true life’s mission. There is so much joy that can come from constructing beautiful, nourishing meals, made with love. That said, I also think about cooking the way I do about most other things in my life: Less is more, keep it simple, don’t overcomplicate things and focus on what you love. These simple ideas have never failed me in life and they have also never failed me in the kitchen, either.

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