Life at its Best

I made this this today for our recipe night at work tomorrow night!! Here is the recipe! I added pumpkin seeds and left out the cayenne pepper because I am highly intolerant to cayenne-makes me sick! Quinoa is a great source of protein!! It is actually a seed, not a grain!

Zesty Lemon Quinoa

1 Cup Quinoa

1/2 Cup Toasted Pine Nuts or Pecans

1/4 Cup Olive Oil

1/4 Cup Lemon Juice

2 tsp Freshly Grated Lemon Zest

1 tsp Ground Cumin

1/4 tsp Cayenne

1/2 Cup Chopped Flat-Leaf Parsley

Sea Salt and Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Rinse quinoa in a fine strainer for a few seconds. Transfer to a medium saucepan, add 1 tsp sea salt and 1 1/4 cups water. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce to a simmer. Cook until all water is completely absorbed-18 to 20 minutes. Transfer quinoa to medium bowl along with nuts, lemon zest, cumin, cayenne, parsley, drizzle with lemon juice and olive oil. Season with sea salt and pepper; toss until well combined. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Copyright, 2012, Jackie Mart. For further information about this blog, or Optimum Wellness MN, contact Jackie Mart at 712.790.5883 or jackieamart@hotmail.com.

As a holistic nutrition and lifestyle coach, I will support you in taking steps to a healthier and happier you. My goal is to help you create an art of balance in your life. You will also learn how important balance between primary foods (relationships, physical activity, sleep, career and spirituality) and secondary foods (organic food and whole food) is. www.optimumwellnessmn.com

I had coffee the other day with a dear sweet friend of mine. She started talking about rewriting the "story of your life" instead of dwelling on the things you cannot change. When we are younger and graduate from high school and head off to college we typically have this set idea in our heads of how we think and want our life to look like for the next 50 or 60 years... The fact of the matter is that it rarely unravels the way we have planned. The plan usually is to graduate from college, get a job, get married, and start a family... We make all of these plans and goals in life and when things don't go the way we would like we get down and distraught. Alot of times we focus on what "didn't go right" and the bumps in the road take over our lives.

I recently changed my facebook profile page into my "Timeline." I thought alot about the meaning of Jackie Ann Mart's Timeline... What do I want my timeline to look like? I sure hope it's long!! What events do I want to appear within those years? I have alot of goals for my life and it is up to me to make sure they are prominent points on my timeline.

The image of a headstone at a cemetery also popped into my mind. The years on a headstone include your birth year and year of death with a "dash" in between. That "dash" is the timeline of your life!!

What do you want your dash to look like? Do you live each day as if you are going to die tomorrow? Do you tell your loved ones how much they mean to you daily? Maybe it's time you worked on writing the story of your life? Is it going to be a comedy? Tragedy? Romantic novel? Short story? I hope you make your "dash" as vibrant and meaningful as you can!! I know what I need to work on in 2012!! LIVING!!! :-D

Coconut Oil is amazing!! I have been using it for almost 4 years now. Wonderful for your skin, hair, and health! I love to make popcorn on the stove with coconut oil too! Here is some useful information on how to use it-

http://www.hybridrastamama.com/2012/01/160-uses-for-coconut-oil.html

My weaknesses have become my enemy, and they often become the focus of my life. Often I overlook my strengths. I tend to dwell on my failures and disregard my accomplishments. I am constantly beating myself up for the wrong choices I make, and for the negative patterns of behavior that I continually fall into. I place many unattainable pressures on myself, and feel a sense of disappointment when I fail at attaining them.

Sometimes I wonder if it is a female thing. Often as women we are constantly trying to be better... look better, do better, act better. There is even a cultural strain on us, from media and society telling us that we need to fit a certain standard. (see previous post about beauty)This standard, as it is presented by the media, is near perfection. I am pretty sure that no one fits that media standard!! Yet, I notice and see, in my life and many others as well, that we are constantly putting pressure on ourselves to meet this ideological standard of life.

I am far from perfect! I fail everyday. I make bad decisions, (speeding.. looking at my ex-husband's profile on facebook.. spending money I do not have...texting while riding my bike.. haha) and I am in constant awareness of how imperfect I am. I know I am not alone in feelings of shame and failure, many people -even the ones who appear perfect- have the same feelings.

The cliche statement is true, 'The grass is greener on the other side.' So, just remember when you see the woman that looks like she has everything put together, chances are she doesn't. I am learning to be kinder to myself. I am trying harder to give myself the much needed break that I deserve. I am starting to remind myself that I have accomplished so much in both the small day-to-day things, and the things that affect my life as a whole. We can all use a little more encouragement, especially from ourselves, because often we are the hardest on ourselves. Dwelling on the negative is counterproductive - and actually a time waster in my mind. Naturally when we think positively things tend to work out better. Why waste time thinking negatively and dwelling on the bad, it is a waste of time. Spending your time focusing on negative thought interferes with your ability to be productive, and is wasteful, instead that energy can be used elsewhere.

Have a little faith in yourself! Be your own team! I will also be rooting for you!! :-D

Copyright, 2012, Jackie Mart. For further information about this blog, or Optimum Wellness MN, contact Jackie Mart at 712.790.5883 or jackieamart@hotmail.com.

As a holistic nutrition and lifestyle coach, I will support you in taking steps to a healthier and happier you. My goal is to help you create an art of balance in your life. You will also learn how important balance between primary foods (relationships, physical activity, sleep, career and spirituality) and secondary foods (organic food and whole food) is. www.optimumwellnessmn.com

With 18 amino acids, nutritional yeast is a complete protein. It is up to 55% high quality protein and contains 15 minerals!!

Nutritional yeast is a rich source of vitamin B complex that helps in managing stress levels, maintaining a good metabolic rate, preventing cancer of the pancreas and ensuring healthy skin. Vitamin B12 (deficient in most vegetarian foods), is added in certain varieties of nutritional yeast. This vitamin is produced separately from bacteria and then added to nutritional yeast to increase its health benefits.

Other health benefits of nutritional yeast include:

-It maintains ideal intestinal ecology.
-It improves blood production.
-It helps in maintaining optimum cholesterol levels.
-It improves liver health and function.

Nutritional yeast flakes or powder, has a nutty, cheese-like flavor which makes it very popular. It is favored by many as a cheese substitute and can be found at any natural health food store. I buy it in the bulk section at The Wedge.

Here are some ways in which nutritional yeast can be included in the diet:

*Use it as a topping for popcorn, instead of butter and salt.
*Put in on your scrambled eggs! (One of my favorites!)
*Use nutritional yeast for its cheesy flavor in pizzas, pastas and casseroles.
*Add to soup to give it a creamy taste without adding milk.
*Can be used with gravies and sauces.
*Mix it with vinegar and oil and use as salad dressing.

Life at its Best

Zesty Lemon Quinoa!!

Timeline of your LIFE!

Coconut Oil- Use it for EVERYTHING!

Thoughts for the Day- Making Peace With Yourself

Nutritional Yeast- Yellow Flakes of Goodness!

Jackie Mart

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