As we embark on week 2 of our 21-day wellness challenge, Your Healthiest Venture, meal prep is getting easier, we could easily win a trivia game of "spot the gluten free goodies" and the coffee withdrawals are but a distant memory at this point.  

But we're also looking for ways to make life a smidge easier, and if that means getting your kids on board with cleanse approved foods so you can do less dishes, we are down like a clown.

Here are a few of our faves—but we'll let the kids be the judge of that!

Gluten & dairy free chicken tenders

• 2 lbs chicken tenders
• Salt and pepper
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• Olive oil of coconut oil for frying
• 1 egg, beaten
• Coating:
• 4 tablespoons potato flour
• 4 teaspoons arrowroot or tapioca starch
• 1 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoons onion powder
• 1 tablespoons parsley
• 1 teaspoons dill

Mix together all of the ingredients of the coating and set aside.  Trim any excess fat off the chicken and cut into strips, dust with salt, pepper and parprika.  

Dip the strips in the beaten egg, then dip them in the coating, and place in a frying pan and cook until tender.  Place on a paper towel to absorb extra oil before serving.  

Gluten free meatballs and spaghetti

• 2 pounds ground sirloin
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
• 2 cloves of garlic garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 3/4 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon dried minced onions
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 6 cups of marinara sauce
• A few dashes of hot sauces (if you kids don't mind spicy)

In a large bowl, mix together the ground meat, eggs, seasonings and coconut flour until well combined.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Roll the meatballs into about 1.5 inch balls; the recipe should yield around 40 balls.  Yay for leftovers!

Bake for 30 minutes at 350 on a baking tray.  Pour the marinara sauce in a saucepan and warm up.  Place the cooked balls in the sauces and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes.  

Serve over brown rice pasta.  If you're going grain free make yourself some kelp or shirataki noodles.  

Gluten free pretzel dogs

• ½ cup of water
• ½ cup of Olive oil 
• ½ tsp of salt
• 2 tbs apple cider vinegar
• ½ cup of tapioca flour
• ½ teaspoon of baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup of coconut flour
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup of nuritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp of garlic salt
• 5 apple gate farms organic grassfed hot dogs

In a saucepan on medium, add the water, olive oil, salt, and vinegar and bring to a boil.  Remove the pan from the heat.  Whisk in teh tapioca flour and still for two minutes or until it forms a paste.  Add in the baking soda and powder and mix until it mixture begins to foam a bit.  Then add in the coconut flour, eggs, nutritional yeast and garlic.  Mix well until it forms into a dough.  Roll the dough out on wax paper and kneed for about a minute.  Cut into strips and wrap around the hotdogs.  Brush with olive oil and bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes.  Serve with a green salad or warmed veggies.  

Move over peanut butter cups, there's a new guy in town and he's perfect for fall!  If you're fiending for an unhealthy store-bought peanut butter cup then you must try this clean pumpkin flavored version,  They're super easy to make and I predict these quickly becoming a Thanksgiving crowd favorite!

Ingredients:

Pumpkin Filling:

• 1/2 cup organic pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 2 tablespoons organic coconut syrup
• 4 tablespoons organic coconut oil
• 1/4 teaspoon organic ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon organic ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons organic vanilla extract

Chocolate Layer

• 1 cup organic raw cacao powder
• 4 tablespoons organic coconut syrup
• 1 cup organic coconut oil

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients for the filling and set aside.  Combine all the ingredients for the chocolate and pour about one tablespoon into each mold or muffin liner.  Freeze for 15 minutes.  Pour one tablespoon of the pumpkin mix on top of the chocolate later and freeze for another 15 minutes.  Remove from the freezer and pour one one tablespoon of the chocolate on top of the pumpkin layer and freeze for another 15 minutes.  Enjoy!

To coincide with Your Healthiest Venture, and encourage #NovemberResolutions, we've decided to run a fun little campaign - whether you're able to sign up for the Program or not! 

I will be giving away TWO of my One-On-One Health Coaching Packages, valued at $350 each.  All you have to do to enter is follow @BusyHappyHealthy on Instagram and post an image of how you're working on your own #NovemberResolutions (CLICK HERE to learn more about what inspired the challenge). 

Your resolutions are yours, so feel free to post anything and get creative. Just be sure to include the hashtag and also tag @BusyHappyHealthy somewhere in the image and copy of your Insta so we don't miss any of your wonderful entries. Winner will be selected at random on November 22nd!

Super excited to help make this the happiest and healthiest holiday season you've ever had! 

Halloween is a fun, playful and energetic extravaganza, no doubt about it. And not to go all Debbie Downer but, for many of us, October 31st also marks the official start date for a health and wellness hiatus each year. There's nothing wrong with "cheat days", or an occasional splurge (we're only human, after all). That being said, why let your hard work go to waste, backtrack on your physical journey, and succumb to the overplayed proclamation that everything's cool so long as you get you get your act together come January 1st?

Before I go any further I would like to reiterate that bhh isn't about pressure or judgment but, rather, encouragement. The majority of New Year's resolutions made are related to food, fitness and self-improvement. There's a reason for that! We go into the holiday season feeling all holly jolly, but in adopting unhealthy habits that drastically stray from our typical routines, our minds and bodies get thrown off, taking a toll on our overall state of wellbeing. 

Studies show that approximately 80% of New Year's resolutions fail which, let's face it, isn't a super fun statistic. It also got us thinking...maybe we should mix things up and avoid the post-holiday guilt by kicking off the month on a high-note! 

Here are a few reasons why we've decided not to wait 'til next year to become our best selves, and make #NovemberResolutions instead:

1. Putting too much pressure on yourself and setting unrealistic goals is a surefire recipe for failure. That's why we're taking a cue from Queen Bey and saying "middle fingers up, put them hands high" to the fad of turning your life around at the most hectic time of the year, just because everybody else is doing it. You aren't a follower, you are a leader - mix things up a bit! 
2. Signing up for a gym membership, or making your grand reentrance, the first week of January is not only a bit cliché, but it's also incredibly annoying! You will be stampeded by others looking to do the same. Who wants to wait an hour for a turn on the eliptical or have the classes you used to be a regular at booked up or overcrowded? Most likely you will leave feeling more stressed out than you were walking in, and that pretty much defeats the purpose of going in the first place. 
3. You know that feeling of returning to work on January 2nd? It's basically the worst. Why add to that stress by having to simultaneously start a whole new health and fitness plan? For most of us busy people, Q4 is when workload is at it's lightest. This allows more time to focus on YOU, instead of stress at the office. 
4. If you dedicate this month to clean eating and commit to a reasonable fitness plan, come Thanksgiving you won't even want to go overboard. Your mind and body will be at their best, you'll have full control over your cravings, and indulging in a minimal way will be more than enough to satisfy. Plus you'll avoid the L-Tryptophan induced turkey coma, and be the last one standing! 
5. You'll look damn good at your holiday parties and won't have to worry about being the drunk one in the room. You know you want to impress in that little black dress, or stand out in your custom tailored suit. By focusing on your health and wellbeing this month, you'll feel great about your body and in cutting down on alcohol, a drink or two will do the trick! We aren't saying don't partake in the festivities, just keep it classy and be able to laugh at all your friends who acted a fool the next day. 

We've kicked off our first group challenge, Your Healthiest Venture. It's a 21-day live coaching experience and group cleanse, which started TODAY! You can still SIGN UP HERE, but Tuesday, November 1st is the final day to do so because our first group health coaching session is on Wednesday, which you won't want to miss out on. 

Finally, for the organic cherry to top it all off, be sure to enter participate in our #NovemberResolutions campaign for a chance to get free One-On-One Coaching (valued at $350). CLICK HERE for the deets!

Happy healthy holidays to you all! Let's do this.

We’ve been there: you’re sipping on your favorite flavor of Kombucha and your girlfriend asks: what exactly is that you’re drinking? Our off the cuff answer (rattled quickly) is that it’s a fermented tea which is great for the gut… but what does that really mean?

Kombucha is a fermented drink of black or green tea and sugar that contains a colony of bacteria and yeast. You know you learned it in middle school science, but as a little refresher, fermentation is the chemical breakdown of a substance by bacteria, yeasts, or other microorganisms. A good buzzword to know? Scoby: symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (the floaty stuff).  Scoby is what ferments the tea and protects your beverage from bacteria trying to get in from the outside.

Kombucha is definitely an acquired taste… but if you’re into it, you’ll love it for it’s flavor and the fact that it’s an elixir of good bacteria with some serious health benefits. The antioxidants in this power tea counteract free radicals in your system and aid in the digestive process through the power of probiotics. The jury is still out its full benefits, but we’re all about the mid-afternoon energy it provides us with. It’s the perfect diet soda replacement to add some bubbly action to your life (and one of our favorite ways to get pep in our steps come late afternoon)!

Before you hit your local Whole Foods or health food store to try a few brews, be careful-- not all are created equal. We opt for the flavors that have no more than 4 sugars per 16 oz. The ever-reliable Synergy Original, Gingerade, and Trilogy are some faves, along with Health Ade’s Ginger Lemon and Cayenne Cleanse varieties (that come in a super chic bottle, too). 

Happy sipping!