Nuts: A Delicious and Healthy Choice

 

Nuts are one of my favorite snacks, as they are a simple grab-and-go treat. Each type tastes great and has various health benefits as well. A small handful of nuts including peanuts, cashews, almonds, macadamia nuts, pistachios, and pecans are excellent sources of plant-based protein, and provides monounsaturated fat, a substance that helps lower "bad" (LDL) cholesterol while maintaining "good" (HDL) cholesterol. Eat only one or two Brazil nuts for health rewards.

 

Nuts are delicious and crunchy. The ones mentioned in this post contain ample plant-based protein, antioxidants, fiber, vitamins, and minerals too.

 

Brazil nuts are an good source of both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, vitamins, and minerals. Don’t eat more than one or two at a time, because this nut contains selenium, a mineral that is good for the body only in trace amounts.

 

Peanuts provide ample plant-based protein, fats, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Eat a spoonful to feel satiated, as part of a balanced eating plan. A serving or two each week may help reduce the risk of both heart disease and gallstones. However, being high in fat, this is a high-calorie food and should not be eaten in excess.

 

Walnuts are the only nuts with significantly high levels of omega-3 fatty acids. Their anti-inflammatory compounds may reduce the risk of heart disease.

 

Cashews provide 5g of protein, and 8-9g of carbohydrates a portion (1 0z. or about 18 pieces). They are nutrient-dense, particularly rich in copper (69% DV), magnesium (20% DV), manganese (20% DV), and phosphorus. Cashews promote heart health, blood sugar management, and immunity.They taste great in salads, stir fries, and eaten as a snack.

 

Almonds are nutrient-dense, being rich in healthy fats, fiber, protein, vitamin E, and minerals including magnesium. A small handful is a sweet  snack, or try it transformed into almond milk, almond flour, or almond butter. Check out this recipe from Jessica in the Kitchen for Vegan Almond Flour Brownies (One Bowl, Gluten Free & Fudgy)

Photo Credit and Link to Recipe is from Jessica in the Kitchen

 

Raw Pecans pack a 1-2-3 punch of protein, healthy fats, and fiber that can helps energize and satisfy. Pecans have numerous health benefits and taste delicious too.

Macadamia Nuts are rich in monounsaturated fats (specifically oleic acid). These nuts help reduce total LDL cholesterol, while maintaining HDL (good) cholesterol. They are linked to a lower risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease.

Pistachios are a colorful nut, with green flesh and a slightly sweet and earthy taste. For nutrition and health benefits see Love Pistachios-It's Healthy and Makes You Happy.

  

Here is a serving size guide for popular nuts:

Brazil nuts: 1 or 2

Walnuts: 14 halves

Pecans: 15-19 halves

Cashews: 16-18

Almonds: 23

Macadamia : 10-12 

Peanuts: 28

Pistachios: 49

Look Below for Tips to Help You 

Use Nuts in 

Meal Planning:

 

Blend nuts or nut butters into your fruit or green smoothies.

Mix nuts into oatmeal or other hot cereal, cold cereal, yogurt, or salad.

Incorporate nut butters into sauces, dressings, or spreads.

Add nuts to homemade baked goods.

Make a trail mix containing nuts, seeds, and dried fruits.

Snack on raw or dry-roasted nuts instead of more processed varieties.

Add to stir fries, stews, curries, or casseroles.

Eat nuts instead of cookies for a snack. Be sure to keep the portion small, as nuts are high in calories.

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Nuts are nutrient-dense powerhouses, brimming with healthy fats, protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals that promote heart and brain health. As a vegan eater, I try to consume raw or dry-roasted unsalted nuts up to 5 days a week, to replace less nutritious snacks like chips or sugary treats. What about you and your efforts to eat healthier foods?🥜

Do you eat nuts and which types do you enjoy? Please comment below in the space provided.

Can you offer tips about how to make nuts a healthy choice in menu planning? Please share that now.

Did you learn anything new about nuts from reading this post? I admit I didn't know much about Brazil nut safety, before I started to research this post. 

I realized I was eating too large a portion of Brazil nuts and have cut down on the amount I eat.

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 This post is offered for entertainment and educational purposes only, and is not intended as health or nutrition advice. Check with your health care providers for health issues.

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Ways to Beat that February Slump

 

Why not dedicate the month of February as a month for love? Make the choice to focus on Valentine's Day and self-love, as a prompt for improved self-care and heightened self-compassion.  

 

If our energy, motivation, and mood dip during the winter, and gloomy weather, heavy workloads, shorter days, and Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) lead us down a path to overwhelm and burnout, now is the time to alter our perception.

Look Below For Ways to Beat that 

February Slump

1. Develop cozy rituals that encourage us to connect with loved ones. Make dates and chat with friends or family, or go to a concert, museum, play, or other beautiful cultural event with them. Sharing joy and pleasurable experiences with others makes it multiply. 

2. Start or end the day by writing out a gratitude list. An attitude of gratitude goes a long way in helping us accept where we're at, see and count our blessings, and find ways to love ourselves through a bad mood or rough patch. 

3. Practice slow living and reserve time and space to look inward instead of outward for comfort. Winter is a great time to retreat, restore, and reboot our spirit through prayer, reflection, rest, and contemplation.

4. Meditate (even for 2 minutes), practice deep breathing, or simply watch clouds roll by to relax and soothe jagged nerves.

5. Unplug from technological devices to recharge. Identify specific distractions, whether they’re notifications on phones or a cluttered workspace. Establish a distraction-free zone by turning off your phone during work hours and keeping work area organized and clutter-free.

6. Contact a friend or acquaintance you sense might need encouragement. When we reach out to help someone smooth out the rough edges, it momentarily gets our minds off ourselves, and makes us feel useful.

7. Learn something new by taking a short online course, watch a TED Talk, or attend an in-person course at a cooking or music school. When we tap into a creative outlet, our change of pace activity may make us feel inspired and more alive.

8. Assemble a Vision Board to visualize people, places, and things we want to draw into our lives in the future. Positive thinking and positive wishing are powerful tools for change.

9. Set achievable daily goals, and acknowledge progress, including "baby steps."

10. Affirm our goodness, lovability, and value as a human being and compose a few affirmations to honor ourselves. When we truly believe we are enough, it fosters increased self-contentment and self-esteem. 

11. Treat ourselves with self-compassion by being kind, loving, and caring (tender loving care). One study indicates loving ourselves unconditionally helps us feel emotionally safe and secure within ourselves. This sense of security helps us be our true, authentic self, with little fear of judgment or backlash from others.

12. Enjoy winter activities and embrace the beauty of the season by engaging in outdoor activities including ice skating, skiing, or simply making a giant snowman.

13. Look forward to the coming season by sketching out possible goals. Envision those positive things you can do to boost mood and motivation as the seasons evolve.

14. Prioritize sleep and treat rest as a key element for good health, not as a luxury. Stick to a consistent sleep schedule (7-9 hours). Create a cool, dark, quiet, and clutter-free bedroom, and establish relaxing bedtime routines like avoiding screens, caffeine, and heavy meals before bed. Here's a Gentle Self-loving Sleep Meditation by Julie Peters, one example of a relaxing way to prepare for a gentle night's sleep. 

Pick and choose activities and self-care practices that resonate for you. Want to spice up living? Perhaps you'll embark on a self-discovery adventure and try on a few self-care techniques that are new to you.

Some of the best ways to beat an emotional, physical, spiritual, or mental slump is to focus on small, actionable steps to reduce stress including body movement (walk, stretch, build a snowman), change of scenery (get outside or go to a movie), practice gratitude, and connect with a friend. Simple functions including showering, listening to or playing music, or doing a 5-minute de-clutter task can boost endorphins and shift our perspectives.

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Which self-care practices have you neglected over the holiday season and beyond? Does that serve you well? How can you be more consistent about doing them now? 

When I have a self-care lapse, I like to remind myself that I can start my day over any time I decide to do that. 

What helps you change your attitude or behavior, when you've started the day on the wrong foot? Please explain.

What things help you beat the blues, no matter what season it is? Please share.

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How to Prepare the Perfect Oven-Baked Vegan Baked Potato

 

Russet potatoes are the gold standard for oven-baked potatoes, due to their high starch and low moisture content, tempting texture, and delicious taste.

Yukon Gold potatoes are another choice, but that variety yields a creamier—rather than a fluffy middle and thinner skin. 

Perfect vegan baked potatoes do best baked in a preheated gas or electric oven, at a temperature of 425 degrees Fahrenheit or 218 Celsius. Cook time will vary depending on the size of the potato and at what altitude your home/ oven is located.  Cook for approximately 45 minutes to an hour or hour and a half. 

Hint: The key to making a good baked potato is getting really crispy skin, therefore the high cook temperature. If you wrap the potatoes in foil, the potato skins will shrivel and soften in the oven. Also, aluminum can be absorbed into the potato and that isn’t healthy.  For best results, leave the potatoes unwrapped. If you oil the skin before baking, it makes the skin soften and that’s not what we're aiming for.

Tip: For best results and to ensure your potatoes cook evenly, choose ones similar in size. This will help them bake uniformly and achieve that perfect consistency.

 

 Ingredients:

 

4 Organic Russet Potatoes about ½ pound each

Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Optional toppings (choose one or more): extra virgin olive oil, steamed broccoli, sautéed broccolini, asparagus, sautéed zucchini, spinach, Tex-Mex combo (beans, vegan cheese, vegan sour cream, salsa, and guacamole and seasoning), red pepper, carrots, butternut squash, marinara sauce, roasted mashed  garlic, Vegan Pesto, Vegan Pizza Style toppings, or Asian style topping including grated ginger and garlic, tamari sauce, and chopped bok choy, etc.

One variety I made was sautéed zucchini, tomato sauce, onion, garlic, Italian seasoning, and chopped carrot on pieces of oven baked potatoes

 

What to do:

1.   Buy organic Russet potatoes that feel firm, and seem heavy for their size. Look for those with a smooth surface and even complexion. Potatoes with eyes, dark spots, or a greenish hue should not be used.

 

2.   Preheat oven to 425 degrees F or 218 degrees C.

 

3.   Wash potatoes with cold water, then use a vegetable scrub brush to get off the rest of the dirt and debris

 

4.   Use a clean dish towel to pat dry each potato and place on a piece of unbleached parchment paper covered sheet pan. If you don’t have parchment paper place directly on sheet pan (using parchment paper cuts down on clean up).

 

5.   Prick each potato with a sharp knife 2 or 3 times near the center top part of each potato. This will allow steam to escape while cooking and prevent potato from exploding. It also helps potato cook more evenly.

 

6.   Cook potatoes until crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Test each one at 45 minutes by taking it out of the oven and piercing the center with a fork. If the fork easily goes through, it's done. Just remember, the bake time will be longer for larger potatoes and shorter for small ones. 

7. When potatoes are cooked, make a slit in the top, going across the length from end to end (keep sides attached on the bottom). Then make a smaller slit crosswise in the center top. Scoop out about 1/2 of the flesh. Sprinkle seasoning inside of baked potatoes  (use salt and pepper). Mash the potato you scooped out with a fork, and put it back into the potatoes. Then, it's as simple as adding a drop of olive oil as a topping or using a topping from those outlined above. 

I also made vegan baked potato with salt and pepper, sautéed chopped broccolini, onion, garlic, and a drop of olive oil

This recipe serves four people. Place potatoes on a serving dish or on individual plates to eat at lunch or dinner. A perfect baked potato goes great with a bowl of soup, salad, sandwich, or combo of all.  🥔

Tip: For a scrumptious way to embellish my oven-baked potato recipe, add an easy to make cheese sauce for it. 

The idea and recipe comes from fellow blogger and cookbook author, Connie Edwards McGaughy @ thecarrotunderground.com. Here's her whole food plant-based recipe for Easy Vegan Cheese Sauce. This sauce is great on baked potatoes, and as a flavorful choice for mac and cheese, tacos, and nachos.

Oven-baked potato with easy vegan cheese sauce

 from Connie Edwards McGaughy at The Carrot Underground

Why not feed oven-baked potatoes to a big group of people? Feature baked potatoes on a "Potato Bar" with "Homemade Vegan  Chili." Guests can help themselves to what they like. Offer fixings such as tofu or tempeh chunks, guacamole, salsa, black beans, garbanzo beans, corn chips, cannellini beans, corn kernels, olives, or any combo of colorful veggies you enjoy. 

Please take a moment to comment below. How do you make a perfect baked potato? Please share about it in the comments section below.

What's your favorite baked potato topping? Do you have an easy recipe for making it? Please explain.

Did you know baked potatoes provide many vitamins and minerals including vitamin C, vitamin B6, and potassium? They are a good source of folate, niacin, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, and manganese. Get the most out of your potato by eating the skin as well as the flesh, as some micronutrients are more concentrated in the skin.

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