I’m Back!

2 Comments October 18, 2016 simplykateg

I am BACK! It has been over a year since I posted my last blog post.

Soooo… what has happened since I have been gone??  I graduated University and got a full time job.

Blogging had to take the back burner (sadly) as I had to put in a lot of work finishing off my final courses.  And while I was still in school I actually got hired at my job so it really left me with little time to focus on this.

I have now found my stride and have more of a schedule in place now so expect more posts and exciting things coming in the future!

4 Comments June 18, 2015 simplykateg

 Lets talk mindfulness. What is it? Mindfulness is essentially being aware of the NOW without judging it or trying to change it. Why is helpful to practice mindfulness? Increased levels of calm, increased self acceptance, less danger of stress and anxiety (to name a few)

Now..lets talk one of the ways that I like to practice mindfulness…grounding. Grounding is an exercise that is used to become more mindful and self aware. It lets you get in touch with your feelings, body and breath. I challenge everyone to practice grounding today! It only takes 5-10 minutes and can instantly turn around your dayHow to practice grounding:

Get comfortable and sit in a seated position. Place one hand on your chest, and one hand on your belly. Start to take deep belly breaths and focus on how your body feels. Focus on how your body feels as it makes contact with the floor and the chair. Focus on how your belly moves up and down with the breath, and be with the breath for the full duration. If your mind wanders away from the breathing, just bring your focus back to how your belly is moving up and down with the breaths. Don’t fight your thoughts, accept them for what they are, and then bring your attention back to your breathing and body. After about ten minutes, start to bring movement back into your body and get up.

After this mindfulness practice i PROMISE you will feel much more calm and grounded.

Mindfulness is something you can practice anywhere, anytime and the benefits should not be overlooked.

Homemade Lemonade

Leave a comment June 6, 2015 simplykateg

Hi everyone,

Ahhh lemonade the unofficial drink of summer. I love a glass of refreshing lemonade in the summer but do not love the sugar content that most lemonades pack. So, I made my own lemonade with zero refined sugar. Try this out at your next BBQ and nobody will know the difference.  All you will need 1 cup of lemon juice (freshly squeezed, you will need about 6-7 lemons for this), 1/2 cup of honey, 4 cups of water

Directions: Bring one cup of water + honey to a boil in a small saucepan. Once boiling, add to a pitcher. Add in the remaining four cups of water and set in fridge until cool.

Juice your lemons

Pumpkin pie smoothie

1 Comment June 1, 2015 simplykateg

I can’t be the only one who craves pumpkin pie year round…right?? I was at the store the other day and came across canned pumpkin and my mouth starting watering. I bought it and when I got home I immediately started googling recipes for vegan pumpkin desserts. Also,I feel as though I should clear up that I am NOT a vegan but when it comes to desserts, I find vegan the way to go. This is because they are 10x easier to make, healthier and (generally) free of refined sugar. I came across multiple pumpkin pie smoothie recipes and decided I needed to try it out. After reading the recipes I came up with my own variation based on what I had available. I am all about using what I have  (if you haven’t noticed) rather than going out and buying things JUST for a recipe. This recipe is perfect for breakfast and even an after dinner treat.. you must try it out!

I added a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg as well to give it more of a pumpkin pie taste but this is optional. Also, pumpkin pie spice was in the original recipe, but I didn’t have that!

We also neeeeeed to talk about this kombucha pictured above. I have a love hate relationship with kombucha because I love it’s health benefits but hate the taste. Then I came across this bad boy…IT IS SO YUMMY. Like the taste is actually NICE. I think this is a Canadian brand (I could be wrong) so if you are from Canada and see it in store, check it out.

Healthy Cookies

2 Comments May 27, 2015 simplykateg

Hi everyone,

Today I am sharing a recipe for HEALTHY chocolate cookies. The original recipe was found on http://ohsheglows.com/ but I made a couple of tweaks to it based on what I had available. The recipe originally called for the cookies to be put in the freezer for one hour, rather than placing them in the oven, but I was bringing them to a friends house and did not have time to wait an hour for them to freeze. If you are making these and have the time, I would suggest popping them into the freezer and not baking them. Nonetheless, they were still great baked! Also, in the original recipe it called for dairy free chocolate chips in order to make the recipe vegan. I only had dark chocolate on hand so that is what I used instead.

(One large banana, half a bar of dark chocolate (85 percent or higher to keep sugar content low, half cup of rolled oats, 1 tbsp of pure vanilla, 1 tbsp of cacao)

(Add in ideas: chia seeds, hemp hearts, walnuts, almonds, chocolate chips, honey)

In a bowl combine banana and melted dark chocolate. Add in the cacao powder, oats, vanilla and stir

Form into small cookies and place on baking sheet. If you are going with the freezer option of making these, place them in the freezer directly after forming the cookies.

If you are going with the bake option, place cookies in the oven for no more than ten minutes at 350 degrees. Flipping once halfway through.

The finished product! Yum!

Lemon, Cucumber and Basil Infused Water

5 Comments May 26, 2015 simplykateg

Hi everyone,

I love water but sometimes it can be a  bit boring. Infused waters are a great way to stay hydrated while also adding a bit of fun to water. This infused water is great because it is refreshing and also detoxes your system. Try this out at your summer BBQ in a large jug or make a solo one in a mason jar. All you need is one lemon, some fresh basil and half a cucumber.  Slice up all the ingredients, chuck into a large jug or mason jar and ENJOY!

2 Comments May 21, 2015 simplykateg

Hi everyone,

Today I am sharing with you my most loved green smoothie. This smoothie is so refreshing and healthy and always leaves me feeling energized.

I have hard time with green juices and green smoothies because I can not stomach the taste of them (generally) because they have no sweetness. I understand that green juices and smoothies are very healthy, but no matter how hard I try i can’t have them! So, I love this smoothie because I am still getting my greens in (spinach) but still ENJOYING the taste of what I am drinking. The mango makes this smoothie so creamy and delicious.

Place all ingredients in blender (with some ice and water- but the ice is not needed if you are using frozen mango) and blend!

ENJOY

8 Comments May 9, 2015 simplykateg

Hi again,

Last week, I hit one hundred subscribers/followers on Simplykateg. THANK YOU!! Thank you to everyone who is subscribed, I love this little community that is starting to form and I very much appreciate all of you.

Now on another note…there is not going to be a health/fitness/food related post from me this week because I took a mid-week hiatus to my cottage with a friend of mine. We had a lot of fun relaxing and doing nothing (in the best way possible)

Here are some photos from the couple days at the cottage:

Homemade Coffee Scrub

4 Comments April 27, 2015 simplykateg

Have you ever considered making your own body scrub? If not, you really should. Not only are store bought body scrubs overly expensive, they also have some nasty chemicals in them. I have found that some of the body scrubs that I have spent ALOT of money on in the past, have actually left me with breakouts/rashes on my skin. Try out making this scrub  and you will never go back! – (or check out my other blog post for  brown sugar body scrub) http://simplykateg.com/2014/11/14/diy-body-scrub/

All you are going to need for this super easy and inexpensive scrub is:

Leave a comment April 23, 2015 simplykateg

Hi again,

Today, I made mint chocolate chip ice cream..but not your average mint chocolate ice cream, this one has spinach in it.  That might scare you. Ice cream and spinach are two things that should never go together, am I right?

But, after browsing online, I came across a couple of recipes for healthy mint “chocolate chip” ice cream. The key item in most recipes was spinach because it gives the ice cream the green colour- but all claim that you can not taste the spinach. So, I decided I needed to give this a go and see if it really did resemble my most loved ice cream flavour. NOTE-  All the recipes that I read online said to add chocolate chips, however, I decided to make a raw chocolate sauce to pour over the ice cream. If you want to, just skip the chocolate sauce step and add chocolate chips.

Four frozen bananas, 1/4 Frozen spinach, 2 tsp almond milk, 2-3 drops pure peppermint extract

For the raw chocolate sauce you will need:

1/4 cup water

1/4 cacao powder

1 tbsp Maple syrup (or more if you like things really sweet)

Directions for raw chocolate sauce 

* I suggest to make the chocolate sauce about 15-20 minutes before the ice cream because it can sit in the fridge to thicken*

1) Put all ingredients into a blender

2) Blend

3) Set in fridge (if you want it to thicken, if you like it runny, just set it aside)

Directions (for ice cream):

1) PUT ALL ingredients in food processor or high powered blender

2) BLEND

FINAL STEP: Scoop ice cream into bowl and then pour desired amount of chocolate sauce over top. ENJOY!

You really honestly can not taste the spinach and the peppermint in the ice cream is so fresh tasting. Make it and see for yourself!