If there is a seasonal squash you should try during the fall, it is the kabocha squash. It looks like a squatty green pumpkin that has a bright orange flesh. Kabocha squash has a sweeter flavor, similar to butternut squash, and can absorb a variety of flavors. It goes great in soups and stews, but it is classically fried in tempura batter and served with a vegetable medley in Japanese cuisine. That’s not all it can do, though, as this recipe shows how you can transform the squash into crispy, spiced dehydrated chips. The chips deliver in the crispy category and have a robust flavor that keeps you coming back for more. And unlike packaged chips you buy in the store, you can eat these guilt-free.

Kabocha squash, much like sweet potatoes, is a great source of beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A. A 2/3 cup serving of kabocha squash provides the following nutrient content:

• Calories: 30
• Fat: 0 grams (g)
• Fiber: 1.2 g
• Carbohydrates: 8.2 g
• Protein: 1.1 g
• Vitamin C: 9 milligrams (mg)
• Beta-carotene: 1,782 micrograms (mcg)

In order to reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and promote optimal vision, the body needs vitamin A. Vitamin C may also help slow the progression of AMD, and people who consume a lot of vitamin C have a lower risk of cataracts. Some research indicates that beta-carotene, which is present in kabocha squash, may help prevent some cancers when consumed through food and not as a supplement. More studies are necessary in humans to confirm kabocha squash’s cancer-preventative properties. For now, enjoy the chips and you may benefit you eye health, immune function, and more.

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There is something so satisfying about replacing an item you buy in the store with an even better homemade version. French fries, a loaf of bread, and these root veggie chips are just some examples of things you can make better, and healthier, than the ones you find in stores. Not only does it feel good to make your own chips, but it also means that you get to enjoy more nutrients. Researchers note that root vegetables help to boost serotonin (the feel good hormone) levels. Top off that crunchy goodness with a satisfying and luxurious spiced tahini sauce and you are ready to snack.

The hardest thing about this recipe is making sure that the chips are evenly sliced. That is why we encourage you to use a mandolin slicer on the 1/16-inch setting. You just have to be careful when you start slicing, as the mandolin blade is very sharp. Some mandolins come with protective devices that shield your fingers. If you just have the simple one with that feature, just mind your fingertips when you get close to the end of the potatoes and beets.

Regarding the root vegetables, you can choose ones that you enjoy, if you do not like the yam, white sweet potato, and beets in this recipe. Other great options include Yukon Gold potatoes, rutabaga, turnips, radishes, parsnips, or celery root. As long as these root vegetables are sliced uniformly thin, they will cook evenly. Some root vegetables may have a higher water content then others, so feel free to pat them dry prior to baking them.

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We are back with yet another energy ball recipe, only this time it is for vegans because it has oats. The oats not only act as a binding agent, just like the dates, but they also help to fill you up. They are naturally rich in protein, fiber, healthy fats, iron, zinc, and other vitamins and minerals. Oats are one of the best sources of beta-glucans, a soluble fiber that may help lower cholesterol, especially bad LDL cholesterol. That soluble fiber also slows digestion, increases feelings of fullness, and may increase bile acid production. It may also help to reduce blood sugar and insulin after a carb-heavy meal.

This recipe is just another way to show you that snacking can be healthy. You just have to use the right ingredients that provide valuable nutrition and sustenance. The problem with many store bought snacks, such as chips, cookies, or other packaged goods, is that they do not fill you up. You can eat an entire bag of chips and still feel hungry, but that is also because they contain ingredients that keep you coming back for more. These raspberry energy balls are completely sugar- and gluten-free, making them a great snack to power you up between meals.

From this recipe, you should get about 20 balls, but it depends how big you make them. Ideally, roll them into about the size of a tablespoon or smaller. When you place them on a plate or baking sheet lined with parchment paper, make sure to space them out in order to prevent them from sticking together. After freezing them for about 30 minutes, remove them and roll in the desiccated coconut before placing them back in the freezer to harden. Enjoy when ready!

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Do you feel a little regret or shame about wolfing down way too much food or drink at the holiday weekend party? Perhaps you devoured three hot dogs and an entire bag of chips while sipping on some cold ones by the pool. Whatever your indulgence was, there is no need to beat yourself up about the past. What happened, happened, and now it’s time to look toward a healthier future. 

A food binge happens when you eat past the point of satisfaction. In fact, binge eating can cause a person to eat large amounts of food, so much so, that they feel discomfort. It’s common for binge eaters to eat when they are not hungry, especially after they’ve already finished a filling meal. It’s possible to feel guilty, sick even, while scarfing down unnecessary calories, but it isn’t the end of the world. You can put the holiday binge eating behind you and get back on track. Continue reading to learn how you can recover after the holiday binge.

Start By Hydrating

If you drank a lot of alcohol and ate a lot of unhealthy food, the body is most likely dehydrated, especially if you did not drink water while binge eating. That’s why you should start the next day by drinking a lot of water to rehydrate the body. High-salt, high-sugar, and high-fat foods, as well as alcohol, can easily pull water from the body. Aim to consume half your body weight in ounces of water the following day. Not only does water help keep the body operational, but it also aids digestion, which is something you need after eating excessively. 

Stay Off The Scale

If you go on a food binge, even if it is just for a day, it is very possible that you’ll see a higher-than-usual number on the scale the next day. Do not go looking for information that doesn’t benefit you. When you go back to your normal eating routine, your weight will adjust accordingly. Give your body a few days to reset and remember that weight is not the only measurement of health. If you feel strong, sleep well, and have a little pep in your step, these are indicators that you are on the right track.

Do Not Purge

Do not do the unthinkable and take forcible action to undo a food binge. Don’t make yourself vomit, don’t use laxatives, and don’t exercise like crazy to balance out your caloric intake from the previous day. Those are not healthy solutions; in fact, they are common behaviors of eating disorders that can cause serious damage to the body. Some complications that stem from this binging and purging cycle include:

• Acid reflux
• Low blood pressure
• Arrhythmia, heart failure, and other heart issues
• Severe dehydration and constipation
• Osteoporosis and tooth problems
• Stopped menstrual cycles
• Gastrointestinal problems

Get Moving

Again, do not go run a marathon after a day of binge eating. You can help get all that junk out of your system if you get moving. Exercising is a natural way to promote bowel movements because the physical activity increases gut motility. That helps push out all of the extra junk, calories, fat, and sugars you ate during your binge. Additionally, movement triggers the brain to release serotonin and dopamine, two feel-good hormones that help boost your mood and overall mental health. Go for a walk, hop on an exercise bike, or head out for a swim to put your body in motion. You can even tackle some chores, such as vacuuming or mowing the lawn!

Try Mindful Eating

Mindful eating requires you to use all of your emotional and physical senses to experience and enjoy the foods you choose to eat. It is the opposite of mindless eating, or distracted eating, which commonly leads to overeating. Whenever you feel tempted by food and drink, acknowledge how you feel at that moment. Before you polish off a bag of chips and go for a second cheeseburger, consider whether you are really hungry or not. Are you going to get food just because it’s there and you are bored? If you are actually hungry, eat slowly because it takes about 15 minutes for the brain to register that the stomach is full.

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The unofficial start of summer is nearly here! Memorial Day is the first long weekend just before the summer solstice and people are ready to gather and celebrate. There’s no better weekend to socialize outside and make delicious food than Memorial Day Weekend. That’s why this article brings you seven amazing, healthy recipes that will surprise your taste buds with bold flavors. 

The sad reality is that most people will abandon their diets and wolf down all sorts of unhealthy foods over the weekend. According to statistics, there are roughly 800 hotdogs eaten every second on Memorial Day. That means that about 72 million hotdogs are eaten on this day alone. Perhaps this is because roughly 57% of people engage in barbecuing, but maybe it’s because Americans are inherently unhealthy. 

If you are looking to stay on track with your health goals, however, there are tasty recipes you can make that won’t cause a caloric overload. Make the following recipes this coming holiday weekend and let us know how you like them. 

Mango And Watermelon Radish Salsa

Refresh your palate and elevate your salsa game with this raw vegan dip made with mango, cucumber, watermelon radish, cilantro, and more. It is bright, zesty, and has summer vibes in every bite!

Click here to make the recipe.

Sweet Chili Jicama Sticks

New to jicama? Crisp sticks are tossed in a sweet chili sauce, making them a highly addictive and nutritious snack, which is not a common theme at Memorial Day gatherings.

Click here to make the recipe. 

Grilled Romaine Hearts With Balsamic Dressing

Elevate your grilling game this Memorial Day Weekend with this easy recipe that takes less than 10 minutes to make. Romaine hearts are great on the grill and the sweet tanginess of the balsamic goes great with those char marks.

Click here to make the recipe.

Grilled Portobello Mushrooms

Here’s another great grilling recipe for all you grill fanatics out there. Crank up the heat with these grilled portobello mushroom caps. Marinated in a tart, herbaceous balsamic marinade, these grilled portobellos make for a light and meaty entree or perfect side dish.

Click here to make the recipe.

Oil-Free Baked Vegetable Chips

Skip the hydrogenated oils and chemicals in processed potato chips and churn out a batch of crispy, vegetable chips this holiday weekend! Although this recipe calls for carrots, sweet potatoes, zucchini, beet roots, and turnips, you can whichever vegetables that you enjoy.

Click here to make the recipe.

Melon Ball Salad With A Minty Lime Dressing

Refresh your palate and hydrate the body when you enjoy this Instagram-worthy melon ball salad that has a zesty, minty dressing.

Click here to make the recipe. 

Pineapple Mango Agua Fresca

Perfect for hot summer days, this refreshing, tropical pineapple mango agua fresca is naturally sweetened with a subtle hint of tartness. It’ll put you in that perfect summer state of mind!

Click here to make the recipe. 

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Who doesn’t love a good snack? It’s so easy to open up a bag of chips and just start eating handful after handful. The same can be said for a bucket of popcorn. Unfortunately, we all know that these snacks are empty calories and only leave us wanting more. Plus, the sodium content is through the roof! The good news is that it’s possible to enjoy a crunchy snack in a healthy way.

That’s right, folks, we are talking about kale chips. These crunchy creations are not only addictively delicious, but also highly nutritious. Closely related to cabbage, broccoli, collard greens, and cauliflower, kale offers an assortment of nutrients, including vitamins, A, B6, C, & K, manganese, magnesium, riboflavin, folate, fiber, calcium, and other important plant compounds. The antioxidants in kale include quercetin and kaempferol, both of which are present in large amounts in kale. According to test-tube and animal studies, these compounds work to support heart health, reduce inflammation, slow the growth of cancer cells, and protect against chronic diseases.

What separates these kale chips from the next batch is that you dehydrate them after covering them in a creamy cashew cheese sauce. Because of that, the kale takes a lot longer to get crispy. You will need about 12 hours of dehydration in order to yield a crispy, cheesy kale chip. Before you sauce the kale in cashew cheese sauce, make sure to massage it with sea salt and lemon juice. Once the leaves are coated, you can toss them in the cashew sauce before placing them on dehydrator sheets. Don’t overlap the kale pieces or else they won’t get crispy.

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Are ready for a salsa that is so good that it’ll carry you all the way from spring through summer? Well, get your palate ready because you just clicked on that recipe! So zingy, zangy, zesty, and incredibly refreshing, this kiwi salsa will jazz up any night of the week. Say goodbye to any sluggishness that stems from colder weather when you enjoy this salsa bite after bite. It’s like sunshine for your taste buds!

You might be thinking, “How can I enjoy this salsa without chips if I am cleansing?” That’s a valid question, considering that you cannot have packaged chips during the cleansing process. You can, however, make your own dehydrated chips from root vegetables, such as sweet potatoes, zucchini, parsnip, and more. Use those vegetable chips as your dipping vessels to enjoy this addicting salsa. Alternatively, you can spoon this salsa into small lettuce cups and enjoy it that way.

For this salsa, choose kiwis that are ripe, or else your salsa will have a sour flavor profile. If green kiwis are too tart for your palate, consider using golden kiwis, as they have a sweeter flavor. Unlike other salsas that you are familiar with, this one contains ginger, which pairs beautifully with kiwi. Instead of using red onion, we opted for shallots because they exhibit a sweet mildness that doesn’t overpower the other ingredients. The savoriness of cilantro plays well off the slightly tart kiwi and, well, you can’t have a salsa without fresh lime juice. That’s the ingredient that ties everything together!

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Nothing like a good bag of chips, right? The crunch is so amazing and you can keep reaching your hand in that bag until you reach the point of tilting the bag to funnel the crumbs into your mouth. Now, take a second to read the ingredient list on that bag of chips. You probably notice hydrogenated oils, dyes, artificial flavors, monosodium glutamate (MSG), different powders, and other things you cannot pronounce. Not only that, a bag of chips is devoid of nutrients, so you ingest empty calories, which is why you can eat an entire bag and still want more.

That’s far from the case for these dehydrated persimmon chips. Persimmons, unlike apples and pears, are not available year round. It is a highly sought after Asian fruit during the fall and winter months. Stock up and them and use them any way you can, as they exhibit a unique flavor and lots of nutrients, including vitamins A, C, E, K, & B6, fiber, potassium, copper, folate, and manganese. Persimmons also contain flavonoid compounds that help fight oxidative stress, which can contribute chronic illnesses, including cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and diabetes.

There are two primary persimmon varieties: Fuyu and Hachiya. Fuyu persimmons are great to dehydrate, as they tend to have a sweeter flavor profile. In order to get them perfectly crispy, use a mandoline slicer on the 3/16″ blade setting. Just remember that the thicker you slice them, the longer they take to crisp up in the dehydrator. Thin slices will dehydrate at a faster rate, but expect the process to take between eight to 10 hours.

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If you want to improve your diet, you should first take a look at the most unhealthy foods to eat. Once you identify these foods, you can learn how to replace them with healthier options. Viewing foods through a “good” or “bad” lens, though, can make decisions harder. If only it were that easy! People probably wouldn’t eat certain foods if they could just identify their level of health in an instant. 

The majority of the most addictive and unhealthy foods are tempting because they contain fat and carbs. They usually contain added sugars, salt, and other things that keep you coming back bite after bite. When it comes to the worst foods, though, it is better not to forbid things. Instead, dietitians encourage people to eat more of certain things and decrease or replace the consumption of unhealthy foods. Fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, legumes, whole grains, and lean proteins provide you with nutrients that make you not want to eat the other unhealthy stuff. 

When you understand how different foods impact your health, you can make healthier, informed food choices. Continue reading to learn more about the worst foods to eat, along with suggestions for healthier alternatives. 

Sodas

These sparkling, sugary beverages are hard to resist, and they can be a hard habit to break. Sodas and other sugary beverages increase the risk of tooth decay, type 2 diabetes, weight gain, and obesity. Rather than encouraging the switch from regular soda to diet soda, it is best to reduce your overall intake. You can also swap soda for water, seltzer water, or tea. Ideally, increase your water intake as much as possible, but don’t use those flavor packets!

French Fries

More often than not, French fries are usually fried in unhealthy oils, especially at fast-food restaurants. They are liberally seasoned with salt and are rich in saturated fats and calories. If you regularly consume fried foods, you can increase the risk of heart disease, obesity, and other chronic health conditions. You can still enjoy potatoes or sweet potatoes in fry form, but consider baking them or cooking them in an air fryer. Use olive oil or avocado oil on the potatoes to get them crispy. 

Donuts

When someone in the office brings a box of donuts, it is very difficult to resist the temptation. Everyone loves a good donut! The problem is that donuts do not offer a lot from a health standpoint. Donuts are deep fried in refined and processed oils and usually contain high levels of sugar, bleached white flour, and trans fats. The high sugar content can lead to a blood sugar spike that ends in an even bigger crash. If you are craving baked goods, a homemade muffin or scone is a better option. By baking your own treat, you can use better ingredients, such as whole grain flour, avocado oil, and reduce the sugar content, or replace it with applesauce, maple syrup, or dates. 

Processed Meats

Bacon, hot dogs, and cold cuts like bologna, ham, and turkey are rich in sodium, calories, and other processed ingredients. Consuming a lot of these foods can increase the risk of high blood pressure and high cholesterol, two risk factors for heart disease. Research indicates that processed meat has a more significant impact on the risk of heart disease than unprocessed red meat or chicken. Processed meats also contain cancer-causing chemicals, due to levels of carcinogens. Try to opt for lean protein sources, such as grilled chicken, wild caught fish, tempeh, or tofu, instead of processed meats. Those alternatives provide better protein without the harmful additives. 

White Bread

Some people may express concern about how much bread they eat, and occasionally make attempts to cut it out of their diets. White bread is good to avoid if you can because it is usually made with refined flour, which has been stripped of its fiber and nutrients during processing. That’s why eating white bread can lead to rapid spikes in blood sugar, and it may even lead to weight gain, insulin resistance, and other metabolic issues. Whole grain and multigrain breads are good alternatives because they usually contain more fiber, vitamins, minerals, and help stabilize blood sugar. 

Fast Food Burgers

If you regularly eat hamburgers from fast food establishments, you will have a difficult time overcoming health hurdles. These burgers are rich in saturated fat, salt, and added sugars. Over time, all of those ingredients can increase the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity. If you want to enjoy a burger, swap out regularly ground beef for ground turkey or use wild caught fish. Avoid fast food altogether and don’t think that vegan meats or certain veggie patties are healthier. They are also rich in processed ingredients and sodium. 

Chips

How addictive and amazing are potato chips? Well, potato chips are empty calories because they lack sufficient nutritional value. Chips are rich in fat and low in protein and fiber. Instead of snacking on potato chips, opt for snacks with higher nutritional values, such as roasted chickpeas, nuts and seeds, or seaweed crisps. There are more snack options than bags of potato chips. 

Alcohol

Alcohol is a tricky one because a lot of people can overdo it. Avoiding alcohol is also a constant struggle for people with addiction issues. Alcohol, much like potato chips, is empty calories and excessive alcohol intake can increase the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, cognitive decline, and stroke. Mocktails, sparkling water, or freshly made juices are healthier options for your body, not just your liver and pancreas.

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Are you ready to enjoy a homemade salsa that is every bit as spicy and delicious as it is chunky and smoky? Some people like smooth, pureed salsa, while others prefer the chunky salsas that you make in a molcajete. Is the salsa imperfect? Yes, but it’s also perfectly chunky, smoky, and full of flavor. Not everything that you make has to look like a work of art. Sometimes, foods or dishes that don’t satisfy everyone’s aesthetic appeal taste the best! That’s how we feel about this salsa.

A molcajete, in case you are unaware, is the Spanish word for mortar and pestle. The name comes from the Aztec words that translate to “seasoning” and “bowl.” A traditional molcajete varies slightly from your average mortar and pestle, though. It is made from volcanic rock and the hard, rough surface makes it easier to grind spices or mash different ingredients, for example, the pan-roasted ingredients for this salsa. Just make sure that you don’t add all of the ingredients to the molcajete at once. Start by mashing the onion and garlic, then follow that with the jalapeño.

Once you have a smooth paste of onion, garlic, and jalapeño, you can add the tomatoes, one or two at a time. Don’t overcrowd the molcajete, or you’ll have tomato juices flying all over the place. Add your chopped cilantro, cumin, sea salt, and black pepper and mix to combine. Serve with some sturdy chips that can support the weight of this homemade chunky salsa. It’s got a little kick, but not so much so that it overpowers the rest of the ingredients. If you like a spicier salsa, add two jalapeños!

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