Healthy snacking

Hellouuu there ,

so I been slacking I know ...my life has been a little bit chaotic and is been really hard to keep my eating habits in check and my dollars in my pocket.

I thought this post would be helpful for those of you who struggle with both portion control and wanting to raid the fridge every 5 minutes and also with saving money.

I have a very sedentary job ( office 8-5 pm type )

I crave a lot of crunchy foods

so I always keep snacks available ,  first off we want to snack every 3 hours to keep our insulin at a stable level ( those with PCOS , like me, and diabetes ) and to help our metabolism ( more info here )

I thought that nuts would the trick ...but they really didn't work for me , I don't have the will power to eat just 1/4 cup of peanuts or almonds and feel satisfied plus they are freaking expensive.

so I walked around my local Kroger ( it can be walmart ) and looked for superfoods aka veggies that I could buy for a week and keep in the break room fridge

sometimes I get bored of snacking without any dressing so I will post the recipes for each dip I usually pair them with.

total comes for around $10/week sometimes even less if I get them at my local farmers market

Radishes

not a lot of people are a fan of these babies , but if you give them a chance I promise they wont disappoint you. Make sure to clean them with water and vinegar, I usually just cut the ends and store them in a Ziploc bag .
( pair with hummus, greek yogurt dressing or spicy red pepper dip )

Calories : around 20 per cup !!! ( unlimited munching on nom nom !!! )
Price:  $1.49 at Kroger

Peppers

These are packed with vitamins , crunchy, and you can also grilled them ( no oil ) for extra softness and smoky flavor
Calories : according to this website around 29 calories when sliced/cup

Price : it varies , sometimes you can get them on sale at Kroger 3 for $3.00 these are usually on the expensive side .

Cucumbers

I think hands down this is my favorite vegetable , is so light and it goes with everything , it doesn't make me sick or hungry, and it keeps me hydrated , PLUS I can always use them on my dark circles hehehe

( source)



Calories : 1 cucumber of around 8" is 47 calories ( I ate like 3 of these daily lol )

goes well with greek yogurt dip or some tajin

Price : 0.69 cents each at Kroger

Carrots

I usually buy mine organic from walmart ( around 2 bucks )

one pack usually lasts me a week

baby carrots are delish with some hummus , although watch the hummus you get not all of them are necessarily good or low in calories

(source)

Plusssss you can make carrot chips !!!

(source)

You can find my post about the natural dipping sauces I use right HERE

Please let me know what you think , and if you have any tips

vegan green peas masala recipe

this recipe was inspired by a massive amount of green peas i bought, my cravings for curry and this post right HERE 

You can always follow the original recipe , but if you want to try something new , low in calories and rich in nutrients then gather up the following ingredients: 

i don't really measure when i cook, but these are the most accurate measurements for the amount i used when cooking this stew, also you can modify the amount to you your liking

half a chopped onion
1 tbsp coconut oil
3 cardamon seeds

2 bay leaves
turmeric, 7 spices , salt to taste 
 masala sauce ( private selections 1 cup added slowly )
1 tsp chili or harissa paste for added spiciness

  

2 cups of green peas
1 cup of okra ( boil in water and lots of lemon for 7-10 minutes to remove the gooey residue)
1 cup of zucchini/yellow squash cut into squares
1 cup diced carrots 
1 cup chopped tomatoes 

In a large pot heat up coconut oil then add onions, stir until they are clear and soft :)

add 7 spices, bay leaves, cardamon seeds

add tomatoes, stir 

then add the rest of the ingredients

the key here is to check for taste, medium heat to not overcook the vegetables, the recipe is not really complex, and the results are delicious


Enjoy 

cosline tomato fresh pack mask review

got this as a birthday gift and i gotta say the main reason why i bought it is because I've read great reviews about it , so like i always i figure i should try it
it was bought at sasa.com and i think is where you can find it the cheapest , unless you live in  Asia

the package is really cute and it looks like something you would eat (DON'T LOL ) but it didn't come with a spatula and that means that you gotta use your fingers to get the product and this is not sanitary , i recommend to get small ice cream spoons and have them stored for when you receive products like this 

it says it contains lycophene and that's all i got from it but if you look on the sasa website it gives you some info that it might be useful if you don't read korean :

COSLINE Tomato Fresh Pack contains various extract of plant and extract of tomato (1700mg), which can deeply cleansing pore, cleansing dead cell, smaller pores and whitening skin. Claming sensitive acne skin and increase skin elasticity. Increasing brightness and smoothen after use. Especially suitable for acne skin.

the texture is really light and it feels more like a face pack than a mask , it smells really good but i don't see why people like it so much , after i applied this mask the only result i saw was my skin looked softer and my pores looked smaller but the brightening effect was temporary , so i really don't know what to say about this mask i don't like it