Aspire, Perspire, Nourish Yourself

7 Dinners for Healthy Eating

We intended to write this post on Saturday to give you time to shop in anticipation of this week’s menu. Unfortunately, life happened and we had no time for writing.

If your days are as crazy as ours, we know you need a dinner plan. There is nothing more frustrating than coming home after a long and busy day and asking yourself, “what are we having for dinner tonight?” It’s even more frustrating when your family expects you to answer that question!

Although we didn’t get this post out in time for tonight’s dinner, we hope this post gives you inspiration for the rest of the week.

Seven Easy and Delicious Dinners

The recipes are all from our blog. Feel free to browse for other options if you’re craving something different.

Dinner 1

Chicken Fingers

Chicken Fingers, Salad, and Quinoa with veggies. For the Salad, you can make a simple dressing with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. For the Quinoa with Veggies, cook the quinoa as directed and then add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, a bunch of diced vegetables, and season with salt, pepper, basil, thyme.

Dinner 2

Grilled Beef Skewers, Crockpot Brown Rice Risotto with added veggies. Okay, so you have a couple of choices with the added veggies:

Add extra veggies to the risotto as it only contains spinach. Add them half way through cooking, if you can, to keep the veggies tender-crisp.
Skewer some veggies like peppers, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, and baste with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, Italian seasoning, and grill (or bake) with the beef.

Dinner 3

Garden Fresh Tomato Sauce, Chicken & Beef Meatballs with choice of Pasta, and Salad. For the pasta, you can use soba noodles, gluten-free noodles, spaghetti squash, or substitute rice. For your salad, choose a Kale Salad or Mixed Lettuce with Simple Vinegar Dressing.

Dinner 4

Chicken Pot Pie with Steamed Broccoli. You can season the steamed broccoli with a squeeze of lemon, salt & pepper, and a 1/2 teaspoon of Dijon mustard.

Dinner 5

Haddock Fillets, and Oven Roasted Veggies. To roast veggies, toss a variety of veggies with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper and spices of choice, and bake at 400 degrees F for 30 to 45 minutes.

Dinner 6

Quinoa Stuffed Zucchini & Peppers, and Butternut Squash Soup. If you prefer, add whole grain bread to this meal.

Dinner 7

Fish Tacos with Fresh Veggies, and Steamed Brown Rice. Spice up the brown rice by adding onion and carrots or other veggies, finely diced.

Enjoy the rest of the week knowing that dinners are planned.

Let us know what you think of these meals. Take photos of the dishes you try, upload them on Instagram. Be sure to tag us at #AspirePerspireNourish.

Yoga For Kids: Great Benefits for Physical and Emotional Health

photo: dreamstime.com

Give your kids the gift of flexibility, focus, mindfulness, and overall health by making yoga part of their regular routine.

If you’ve practiced yoga, you know the awesome feeling of being centered, relaxed and one with your body and mind after your asanas. Kids of all ages can also benefit from this experience as their lives are busier than ever with demanding school work, a multitude of extracurricular activities, and over-scheduled social calendars. In particular, the physical stress of competitive sports can be taxing on growing children’s bodies. Yoga can increase a child’s flexibility and thereby reduce potential injuries.

Various studies and books have reported wide-ranging benefits of yoga for kids, including:

Development of gross motor skills along with strength, agility, endurance and cooperation (Ref – Tummers);
Improved mood and reduction of tension or anxiety (Ref – W0lters Kluwer);
Opportunity for self-discovery leading to more self-acceptance, which is especially important during adolescent period (Ref – Henningsen.; Ref – Henningsen);
“Improved on-task time and attention as well as reduced symptoms” for students in primary grades with ADHD (Ref – Henningsen);
“Increased long-term emotional balance, reduced fears and decreased feelings of helplessness and aggression.” (Ref – Stueck & Gloeckner)

Yoga Gone Mainstream

As research demonstrates the value of yoga for kids, and as adults witness the improvements, we find more venues for yoga practices for kids. We now have more studios offering classes exclusively for kids, more schools making yoga part of the core physical education curriculum, and more at-home products like DVDs and YouTube videos designed specifically for kids.

As described by Marsha Wenig in her article titled, “Yoga For Kids,” practicing yoga with kids can be a different experience. Wenig integrated music, storytelling, animal adaptations, drawing and other actions into kids’ yoga to captivate their attention and help them express their creativity.

Just like there are different styles of yoga that are practiced for different purposes, yoga for kids may be adapted based on the age group and needs of the kids. Most importantly, establish a regular yoga routine for kids as this ongoing commitment will yield the greatest long-term benefits.