Today I want to share a delicious immune boosting recipe with you that my 6 yr old daughter and I made last week. There’s so many bad colds going around right now so its the perfect time to ramp up your immune system with awesome recipes like this one.

Before that though, I’d like to share a few tips about how busy folks like you who get stressed out at the thought of cooking can make it more fun.

Making Cooking & Meal Prep Fun

Once a week, make a date with yourself, and possibly a friend or family member, to prepare a meal together.
Why will this be good for you, you might be wondering?
2 reasons:
1) We’re all so busy with work, family, errands, social life. Cooking together  is multitasking at its finest! It’s a great way to connect with each other, relieve some stress, have fun, and turn food prep–which many of us find boring–into a teamwork experience.
2) I know I’m not alone here: cooking can feel like a chore. But when you prepare a meal with someone, you share the workload. This is especially nice for parents who work all day and don’t want to have to make dinner–they want to relax and spend some quality time with their kids and spouse. If you’re cooking with your kids, give them simple things to help with and then talk about something they find fun or interesting. Make it so they’ll want to cook with you. It’s a win-win. They learn great life skills (knowing how to prepare yummy healthy food is awesome!), they also learn the importance of contributing, and you get to hang out and talk as you work together to put dinner on the table.

Meatball time!

This recipe is a great immune booster because its loaded with fresh Italian parsley, basil and garlic. These ingredients pack quite an immune boosting punch so if you are getting sick or recovering from getting sick, this recipe is:

• Full of antioxidants which help you fight colds and other infections.
• Garlic is anti-bacterial and anti-viral.
• The fresh herbs and marinara sauce are loaded with vitamin C, a classic immune boosting vitamin.
• Basil can also be helpful for both coughs and fevers.

These meatballs go well with a side salad or eggplant parmesan for extra vitamins and minerals (we ate them with eggplant parmesan last week, which was super yummy).

Ingredients for meatballs:

• 2 lbs ground turkey thigh
• 1.5 cups ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 1 cup finely chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 3/4 Tablespoon sea salt

*Use organic ingredients whenever possible.

Ingredients for marinara sauce:

• 1 large can organic crushed tomatoes (28 oz.)
• 4-5 cloves of finely chopped or minced garlic (set aside for about 10 minutes before cooking so all the good immune boosting components get activated).
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp thyme
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

How to:

1. Get 2 cookie sheets and coat them with coconut oil so the meatballs don’t stick.
2. Preheat your oven to 425.
3. Get a big bowl and mix up all ingredients thoroughly.
4.  Roll into meatballs about 1.5-2 tablespoons big in size.
5. When your baking trays are full, stick them in the oven for 30-45 minutes (smaller meatballs cook faster).
6. While they’re baking, put all the sauce ingredients into a medium-sized pot and heat on low-med heat.
7. When the meatballs are done, toss them into the sauce. You can eat it right away or let them cook together for 10 minutes or so to blend the flavors. We served them with eggplant parmesan which was SO good!

Eggplant Parmesan Ingredients

• 1 large eggplant
• 1 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp salt and pepper (ea)
• 1 egg (beaten)
• olive oil (for baking sheet)

How to:

1. Coat baking sheet with olive oil (and preheat oven to 350.
2. Slice eggplant into 1/4 inch thick slices.
3. Beat egg and leave in bowl.
4. On large plate, mix up almond flour, cheese and all spices and mix well.
5. Dip slices of eggplant one at a time in egg, then coat in flour/spice mixture, and then place on baking sheet.
6. Bake for 30 mins and broil for 2-3 mins until golden brown. Serve with meatballs.

SOOOO good! And so good for you!

If you’re loving recipes like this one, email me and let me know. And while you’re at it, I’d love to hear about what health successes you’ve had lately or where you may be feeling stuck with your health progress so that I can provide tips or recipes that can help you out.

Wishing you health and happiness!
~Rebecca

Vitamin L is a vital nutrient that improves blood vessel function and increases blood flow and may prevent heart disease, reduces pain, reduces physical tension and relaxes muscles, boosts your immune system, strengthens the deep muscles of your belly, and can instantly reduce feelings of stress and anxiety.

Where do you get Vitamin L?

Laugh, laugh, and laugh some more! Laughing is a great example of how boosting your health can be easy and awesome.
When’s the last time you laughed so hard you snorted? Like the laughter burst out of you so quickly that you made a weird sound and that only made you laugh harder.

Feel free to send me your comments (including silly jokes)!

~Rebecca

Last week you discovered the 2nd key to better health & happiness so you can look and feel awesome. Click here if you missed it.

Today, you’re going to learn about the 3rd and final key called act.
Let’s quickly recap and put it all together so you can move forward with confidence and excitement!
Key 1 is reflect. This is where you took a moment to look at your habits from the outside and see which tools you currently use. Key 2 is define. This is where you got clear on what you deeply desire for yourself & and your health.
Now, you’ll layer in the act key. This allows you to transfer your current habits and what you want into smart action.

Be grateful: you’ve essentially created a pathway to your health goals with blinking arrows next to them, so that if followed, will lead you toward what you ultimately desire for yourself.
Here’s how you take smart action: you apply any current habits you can to your why (you can also call your why your goal). Any habits that push you further from what you desire most from your health must be upgraded and replaced. You can do this slowly over time or go for the “cold turkey” approach. The point is to take some smart action every day, one day at a time.

Additional guidance

If you are still unsure where to start, here’s a useful exercise. Make 2 lists (they don’t need to be long). The first list is your responses to the questions~when you were healthiest, what did you love about your life? What were you able to do that is hard or feels impossible for you now? What were you doing then to support that great healthy feeling (what were you eating, how were you moving your body, what support did you have)?
For list two, answer the questions~If your health isn’t where you’d like it to be, what is continually more challenging (for example: playing with your family or friends, focusing and being productive at work, sex life)? How are you suffering or struggling because of the action you’re currently taking?
The answers that you’ll come up with will tell you exactly where action needs to happen AND reinforce why taking action is important to you.
Here’s an example: One of my clients came to me because she wanted to lose 15 pounds because the excess body fat was taxing to her joints, she felt tired a lot which made her less productive at work and anti-social with her friends, and didn’t encourage intimacy in her relationship. She remembered how much better she felt when she was taking walks most days, not skipping meals or reaching for processed foods/drinks (and eating quality, whole foods), and taking some time for herself to recharge. Somewhere along the way, these had fallen by the wayside and she’d forgotten that they’d ever been a habit. She’d also forgotten why they’d been important to her in the first place. Stress had caused her to lose focus and put her self-care on the back burner…and then it felt impossible to get back to where she’d been.
Going through the 3 keys reflect, define and act served as a way for her to re-commit wholeheartedly. Now she’s dropped that 15 pounds, has more energy and creativity at work, wants to connect socially, and has more desire in her romantic relationship. In other words, she got what she focused on and put action toward. That is truly what it comes down to. Now, sometimes the stress in our lives causes deeper shifts to occur (hormone imbalance, nutrient deficiencies, etc) and it isn’t as simple as returning to what worked for us before. If this sounds like you, I want to hear from you. Email me at rebecca@choosinghealthnow.com.
Getting what you deeply desire for your health may simply be the return to doing what worked best for you before. Start there. And then let your imagination ponder…what gifts will emerge for you?

Sending you health and wealth,
~Rebecca