How to waste less and eat more! 

Hello beautiful Happy Babe!
Lauren Bragg here! I've been working on a couple of things in my kitchen: reducing food waste, saving money and becoming more efficient with my meals!  From this, I've designed Project Leftover and outlined my BEST tips and tricks.   

• Cook Once, Eat Twice 
  • When you’re cooking dinner, make sure to cook enough for that night AND another meal. 
  • Re-design the meat you cooked in salads, as wraps or chopped up in a skillet with fresh veggies. 
  • Thinking this way will add a bit more to your grocery list, but you’ll end up with delicious food for every meal! 

 

• Know How Long Food Lasts
  • Cooked meats and seafood -3 days. 
  • Cooked veggies, soups, and casseroles – 4 days. 
  • Hardboiled eggs- 7 days. 
  • Raw veggies- 7 days. 
  • Un-refrigerated fruits- 3 days (except apples, they last longer!). 
  • General rule of thumb: use your nose! 

 

• Chillen Out
  • Refrigerate or freeze within 2 hours if the food isn’t hot. 
  • Cool hot foods down uncovered before you store and refrigerate.
  • Make sure your fridge is at lest 40 degrees (F).  
  • The freezer is your friend- try storing broth or berries in ice cube trays. 

 

• Storage
  • Shallow containers are best for leftovers. 
  • Eliminate air and water from whatever storage container you’re using. 
  • Glass over plastic, ALWAYS. 

 

• Reheating 
  • Reheat thoroughly, stovetop is best, avoid microwaving if possible. It’s less convenient but the nutrients/molecules in your food will stay intact. 
  • Add fat to the pan (EVOO, coconut oil, almond oil, ghee, duck fat, rendered pork lard).
  • Rule of thumb: reheat to at least 160 degrees (F).

 

• Over-Ripened Fruit 
  • Make a smoothie and add some greens. 
  • Mash it up and make it into a coulis. 
  • Turn them into a salsa with fresh cilantro, lime and hot peppers (mmmm, pineapple salsa!). 
  • Make something baked- think breads, granola/protein bars. 

 

• Leftover Meats and Fish 
  • Slice and dice, excellent with a dash of salt and pepper on their own.  
  • Use them in frittatas, omelets, on top of salads, turn into a casserole, soup or shepherds pie (I love me some leftover meat and kale soup!). 
  • Freeze for later in a Ziplock (remove all the air). 
  • Turn leftover fish into pan fried fish cakes.

 

• Leftover Veggies
  • Do a simply re-heat on the stove and add some sliced or diced meat for a yummy skillet. 
  • Leftover veggies are amazing in frittatas! 
  • Make a soup and add the cooked veggies toward the end. 
  • If you have leftover raw veggies- PICKLE THEM. 
  • Mashed cauliflower makes an excellent topping for a shepherds pie. 
  • Cauliflower rice can be repurposed as Spanish rice, pilaf or in a veggie and meat skillet. 

 

• Other Leftover Items 
  • Turn leftover mashed sweet potatoes into potato pancakes with green onion.
  • Make deviled eggs from leftover hard boiled eggs. 
  • Leftover spaghetti sauce is awesome as a stuffed bell pepper topping. 

 

• Spice It Up!​
  • Add fresh herbs, oregano and tarragon are my favorites. 
  • Use little fresh ground pepper and sea salt. 
  • Add some broth to create more moisture. 
  • Use your favorite hot sauce or add fresh jalapeños.

There you have it, I hope you enjoyed this post and please leave questions or comments below! 

One of the 4 pillars of living a happy life is NOURISH.  Nourish your body with healthy, delicious food (with a concentration of as much organic as possible).  Not only does eating clean make you FEEL great, it for sure impacts your mood towards others and gives you the audacity to get out there and do all the things that make you HAPPY!
Now I know that indulging is sometimes necessary, and it doesn't have to be bad!  This is only 1 of so many healthy alternatives to bad for you sweet treats.  
I am pretty proud of this recipe, and it is SO EASY!.  
I actually think that I have just about perfected these amazing little nuggets.  I mean, you can actually feel GREAT about eating these, they are so healthy :) 

Spring has sprung and who doesn't love a spring / summer getaway? With those getaways sometimes it's easy to forget to sweat. I know sometimes I do!  But don't let that be the reason why you don't get up, sweat, and try something new.  Like most families, we stay true to our traditions and as a family we have made it a part of our tradition to be active in some shape or form while adventuring on vacation. Here are a few helpful hints on how to break a sweat even vacation time. ​

​I started doing yoga with my now husband in 2009, when we decided to go on a surf/yoga retreat for our honeymoon in Nosara Costa Rica.  I was always pretty athletic my whole life, but super stiff and not flexible at all.  I couldn't even touch my toes!  I didn't know much about the benefits or spiritual side of yoga at the time, and I just had a feeling that it was something we would enjoy doing together.  Well, let me tell you that from the instant I landed on my mat in 2009, I felt a shift in my body, mind, spirit, mood, I mean you name it.  It was so crazy how the feeling of the earth supporting your body + shifting your focus to your breathing can have such an immediate impact on your mood.  It's that simple,  Those 2 things and boom... ​

​Hi Y’All!  I’m Janice, co-founder of The Happiness Retreat, Mama to Dylan and fur baby Maya, and wife to my soul mate JP!  I'm really excited to dive into essential oils with you today in this blog post.  Essential oils have really supported me in my emotions throughout my pregnancy and since Dylan has come into the world. This is one of the biggest reasons as to why I took the jump and committed to using oils every single day. ​

Hello Happiness Warriors!! 

This week we thought we would share a VERY effective way for you to identify what's out of balance and how to create new habits.  ​