Final Blog

Overall, I really enjoyed my time blogging and using WordPress. For me, it was  a great way for me to express and share the things I enjoy with other people. I think blogging is a great way for me to focus my energy and to get my thoughts out.

I plan on continue blogging on this blog and eventually making a new one covering a different topic. I plan on updating it more often and do what I can to get more followers, as well as follow other people.

I have learned a lot from this FDOM course about blogging and putting myself out there when it comes to social media. Implementing things like Storify, YouTube, and Twitter was really interesting and a great way to share information with others.

 

Oh So Sweet Potato Fries

I absolutely love french fries and it’s one of those things that I crave super often! Luckily, there is an alternative…  sweet potato fries! I love sweet potatoes in the first place so sweet potato fries are amazing to me and they are fairly healthy (depending on what you put on them for flavor). This is what I do:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Peel sweet potato
• Cut in fine strips
• Coat the sweet potato strips in olive oil
• Sprinkle cinnamon and salt to taste

Place the fries in the oven and bake for about 25-30 minutes and flip occasionally. Watch this for a little help! 

Social Media Saves The Day

Whenever I find myself running out of ideas for meals, I look to Instagram! There are so many Instagram’s out there that are all about being healthy. One of my absolute favorite’s is @shredding_meals. Not only are there great recipes, but there are also some motivational pictures to get your mind on the right path.

Another one of my favorite Instagram profiles is @HealthyWaysHappyDays . Follow these pages for some great recipes, motivational pictures, and work out ideas 🙂

Storify

If you are ever looking for recipe ideas while still trying to eat healthy and stay within a budget, look to Twitter for help! I come across some of the best recipes ever on Twitter and they are fairly simple to make as well. Here are a few recipes, and also how to eat organic foods on a budget:

Snack Time!

I know I’m not the only one, but something I struggle majorly with is snacking! Regardless if I am truly hungry or not, if I am bored… I snack! So something I’ve been trying to do for myself is come up with healthier alternatives to the snacks I really crave. So far, this is what I have come up with:

• Yogurt instead of ice cream (I add dark chocolate chips)
• Pretzels instead of chips
• Turkey instead of a sandwich
• Turkey bacon instead of regular bacon

But one of my favorite at home snacks is cinnamon toast and an apple with peanut butter! I have such a huge sweet tooth so this really helps me a lot 🙂 This is what I do:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Butter one piece of toast
• Cover toast with cinnamon and sugar
• Put in the oven for about 7 minutes
• Slice apple
• Dish out peanut butter
• Enjoy!

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Snacks

It is hard to stay away from snacking, and especially just having a “few” chips or “just one” cookie. So how can you hefty snack and not feel super guilty? Healthy snacks! I am the Queen of snacking but over the past couple months I have become the Queen of Healthy snacking. Here are some of the things I like to snack on:

• Apples with peanut butter (protein!)
• Hard boiled eggs (random, but super good)
• Dark chocolate chips (cures that nagging sweet tooth)
• Greek yogurt with granola (also good for breakfast)
• Turkey meat from the deli (gives you the sense that you’re eating a sandwich but you aren’t eating the carbs!)
• Rice cakes (all different flavors but white cheddar is my favorite)
• And of course, any type of fruit or vegetable that you like. 

Some quick fruits and vegetables that you don’t even have to spend time cutting are:

• Carrots
• Grapes
• Cherry tomatoes
• Strawberries/blackberries/rasberries/blueberries
• Edamame 
• Cutie oranges (you just have to peel them)
• Bananas

There are many more but these are just a few. If you have some time, take about 30 minutes twice a week and cut up some of your favorite fruits so that way you have it ready whenever you want it. That way you chose healthier choices over things like chips and cookies. There are so many more ideas out there so keep your eye out!

CHOCOLATE

Chocolate Covered Banana

If there is one thing I love just as much as pizza, it is chocolate. Of course, chocolate isn’t the best thing for you so the way I get my cravings fixed is dark chocolate. Unlike milk chocolate, dark chocolate does have some health benefits:

• It can help lower your blood pressure (when eaten in moderation, of course).
• It increases blood flow to the brain and heart, which improves cognitive function.
• It is full of antioxidants which help free your body of free radicals which, cause oxidative damages to cells.
• It helps keeps your blood vessels healthy and your circulation impaired to protect against type 2 diabetes. 
• It contains theobromine, which has been shown to harden teeth enamel. So pretty much dark chocolate lowers your risk of getting cavities. 
• Dark chocolate also contains many vitamins like potassium, magnesium, and iron. 

Snacks you can make using dark chocolate while still staying on the healthier side are chocolate covered pretzels, strawberries, and bananas. 

Of course, you can’t eat a whole bar of dark chocolate a day and say “this is good for me” but, a small handful of dark chocolate chips a couple times a week can help your cravings and you won’t be putting a ton of bad things into your body. 

But I really want pizza…

So, I know I’m not the only person who loves pizza more than just about anything… so what is the best way to have my cake and eat it too? For me, it is homemade pizza!

It only takes about 10-15 minutes to make a home made pizza depending on what you  like on it. For some reason, I love BBQ pizza (Papa John’s is to die for) but it really isn’t that healthy. Also, I don’t have the money to be spending on Papa John’s, PizzaHut, Domino’s or whatever else it may be.

For a basic pepperoni pizza the only ingredients needed are:

• Whole wheat pre-made pizza crust (I get it from HEB next to the pasta sauce, they are about $2.50 for a pack of 3)
• Pasta sauce
• Cheese
• Turkey pepperoni 

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees, build your pizza, and bake for about 7 minutes and you’re done. Obviously, you can add as many ingredients as you would like but by making it yourself, rather than ordering a pizza or buying a frozen pizza, you can make healthier choices.

By using whole wheat crust, you are cutting down on a lot of calories, most pizza places put a ton of cheese on the pizza which isn’t totally necessary, and turkey pepperoni is healthier than regular pepperoni. By making these few substitutions, you can have a healthier option of one of your favorite meals. The best part is that all together, you can make 3 pizza’s for about $6.00!

Something I have been wanting to try is making my own cauliflower crust, I heard it is delicious! Here is a recipe that I found that I am planning on trying this weekend. Hope you enjoy 🙂

What is for dinner?

By the time I get home from class on a normal day, I am STARVING! All I can think about is food. My thought process in a nutshell:

• What am I going to eat?
• What am I craving?
• Do I have food at home to make?
• I WANT PIZZA!

It takes every bit of self control I have in me to not pick up something on my way home from school mainly because of whatever the craving is, but also because I want something fast.

So, what I always try to do is have something at least partially prepared. I don’t like left overs very much so I prepare the things that stay good refrigerated and then make the rest fresh (usually meats).

One of my favorite meals to make that is inexpensive, healthy-ish, and delicious is tacos! I usually always have pico de gallo already prepped so all I have to do is heat up the tortillas and make the meat, which takes 10 minutes tops. I try to make mine as healthy as possible so this is what I do:

• I buy lean ground turkey rather than regular ground beef (I can’t tell the difference in taste).
• I get either whole wheat tortillas or corn tortillas rather than flour tortillas.
• I use spinach rather than iceberg lettuce.

And the tastiest part is the pico de gallo! It is super easy and quick to make and you can make it to your liking. I make enough for about 4 days at a time. I use:

• 2 whole roma tomatoes
• A quarter of a white onion
• A small handful of cilantro
• Half of a fresh jalapeño
• Fresh juice from half of a lime
• And about a quarter of a teaspoon of garlic salt

All you have to do is chop everything up and mix it all together. Once I am finished with the pico, I cook up the ground turkey and add some normal taco seasoning and I’m ready to eat. With the pico already prepped, my meal is complete within 10 minutes. Here is another recipe for ground turkey tacos.

 

Eating Healthy In College – Intro

Shrimp Tacos

Hi there! My name is Mia, I’m 21 and a senior at Texas Sate University. I decided to make my blog about eating healthy while in college and on a budget for many reasons:

• First off, I love food!
• Secondly, it’s really hard for me to eat well and still maintain a college grocery budget.
• Thirdly, I am limited on time, like most students, so I can’t spend hours preparing meals.
• Finally, I love sweets more than anything, so it’s important for me to be able to eat the things I want, and not feel too guilty about it.

I hope to explore different type of food options that are inexpensive, tasty, healthy, and something easy enough for anyone to make.

I plan on including Twitter and Instagram accounts that you can check at the convenience of your smart phone, various YouTube videos that will teach you how to prepare some delicious recipes, and links to websites like Pinterest, that are always overflowing with great ideas.  Enjoy!