Recipe: Holiday Muddy Buddies

Homemade Holiday Muddy Buddies

This is such a sweet treat for my family during the holidays.  My recipe deviates from the original Betty Crocker/Chex Mix recipe, but it is highly coveted at all parties and family functions!

Ingredients

• 9 cups Rice Chex
• 12oz bag semisweet chocolate chips (I recommend Guittard)
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup butter (I recommend taking butter out of fridge to let soften before making these - approx 1-2 hours prior)
• 1-2 tsp vanilla
• 2-3 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

1. Into a 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag, measure cereal and set aside.
2. In 1-quart microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter uncovered on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla. 
3. Pour mixture over cereal in resealable food-storage bag and seal bag, shaking until evenly coated. 
4. Add 2 cups powdered sugar and shake until well coated.  If not evenly coated, add more powdered sugar until evenly blended.
5. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container until ready to serve.

Recipe: Homemade Healthy Granola

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup honey or agave nectar
• 1/3 cup coconut oil
• 1-2 tsp vanilla
• 1 and 1/2 cup rolled oats (I prefer Bob's Red Mill Rolled Oats)
• 1 cups of nuts of choice (I prefer a mix of walnuts and pecans)
• 3/4 cup shredded coconut chips (I prefer shredded but you can use whole coconut chips)
• optional: dried fruit or nut of choice (up to ½ cup)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt coconut oil, honey/agave and vanilla (if used) in a saucepan until starting to bubble and simmer.
3. In a large bowl, mix the rolled oats, nuts, coconut chips and any optional ingredients if using.
4. Pour saucepan mixture over the dry ingredients and mix well. Add more honey and coconut oil mixture if needed to lightly coat over dry ingredients.
5. Spread on a parchment paper lined baking dish.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until starting to brown.
7. Remove and let cool, approximately one hour.
8. Store in an air tight jar and use within two-four weeks.

About Me: Journey To New Beginnings

I frequently look around at the people in my life - specifically my friends, family and local community and see what I perceive as a daily wellness and healthy lifestyle struggle. For some people, I am sure that perception is misplaced, but for a majority of people, I think that I am on-target. There are those in my life for whom I know my perception is right and I hope that through sharing a glimpse into my current wellness journey, that others can gain strength in their own.

The formation of my struggle goes a little something like this. Throughout my childhood and early teenage (formative years) I was an an physically fit child, always outside and finding surefire ways to stay active and healthy. Growing up in my childhood, we did not enforce and stress healthy and dietary habits as much as we should have. When I was somewhere around ten to twelve years old, we had a family crisis that completely changed my life and I turned to food to cope with these issues, rather than addressing them head on. Needless to say, I did not spend any time worrying about the food that was going into my body. These times were filled with eating out and tons of fast food. junk food...I think I possibly consumed almost 1/2 gallon of ice cream over the course of one summer afternoon. I basically ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted it, with no disregard towards my health or what I was putting into my body.

During this time, I gained weight. Lots of it. Since I no longer felt the need to be active and thought food was a way to escape some inner struggles, the weight stayed there...for years and years.

Fast forward to approximately 3-4 years ago, not long after I starting working in the insurance industry, specifically in health and wellness programs. I knew I had to make a change. I was advising people on their own health and wellness benefits, urging them to make changes and realize how they could change their lifestyle goals and live an active, healthier life, but was not willing to make those changes myself.

I felt like a hypocrite. Why was I advising people on how they should lose weight, stay active, stay healthy and make different lifestyle choices, but in the same breath, I thought my three times weekly run to Chik-Fil-A was the norm.

Not long after I started consciously realizing that my decisions and my love for fried foods were negatively impacting my life and body, I took a major step in my wellness journey. I received an company wide email from our health and wellness management that they were starting a new online and video based wellness program for employees, and they needed focus group members to pilot this program.

I had debated whether or not to sign up, not too keen on my employer potential having access to private health information, but resigned myself to joining for the fact that I wanted to better manage my health and identify my triggers and setbacks on my wellness journey.

During the course of this pilot program, I learned quite a bit about myself, both in relation to wellness triggers and ways to better manage my health. I learned various eating habit changes that I still follow to this day. I stopped drinking soda in my daily "diet", alternating from drinking to 2-3 Dr. Peppers per day (a total of around 24-32oz) and replacing it with water or healthier drink options. I started infusing water with different flavors to add a twist, such as orange, berries, cucumbers, basil, etc. I stopped eating food after 8pm, and regulated my sleep schedule as well. The end result was that I dropped 15 pounds over the course of program (12 weeks) based on tweaking some basic dietary habits.

Since that time, I have been focused on better managing my health, seeing how small changes can positively impact your daily lifestyle. I still have my ups and downs, with those bad eating habits occasionally sneaking up on me.

My goal was and continues to be finding a balance between dietary habits, inclusion of exercise and making lifestyle changes to prevent learned triggers from negatively impacting my wellness journey. I am excited to share that with blog readers and hope that my story and lifestyle changes can also help someone else who is struggling.