Written by Simone Usselman-Tod
We all know that we are what we eat. We have heard it many times before. I was thinking about this as we tested a new ‘healthy’ muffin recipe. We thought we would take our first shot at baking what our friend had called ‘Green Smoothie Muffins’.
The recipe didn’t read like a typical muffin recipe. It was much more complex as it listed all things healthy. Our friend had whispered to us with a quick wink of an eye that this muffin recipe was a great way to get their kids to eat spinach. Very clever, I thought. The ingredients included chia seeds, flax seeds, applesauce, a ripe banana, coconut oil and 2 big handfuls of fresh spinach. Yes, 2 big handfuls of fresh spinach!
I was a bit suspicious as to how edible these ‘healthy’ green smoothie muffins would be as we blended the 2 big handfuls of spinach, eggs, seeds, yogurt, apple and banana together. It was definitely green. Yes, we agreed, the sloppy blend looked just like a green smoothie! We mixed the dry ingredients which listed cocoa into the wet smoothie ingredients. Cocoa and spinach go together apparently. Who knew?
We completed the instruction by mixing the cocoa, the dry mix and the sloppy green smoothie ingredients, and somehow through the process, the sloppy green smoothie blend transformed into what looked like dark chocolate muffin batter. Interesting change in perception. We were now curious rather than skeptical.
Okay. We agreed. At least the batter was now looking tasty. We continued with the process and then filled the coconut oil greased muffin tins with the batter. After 25 minutes in the oven, we were presented with a dozen lovely looking, chocolate flavoured, ‘green smoothie’ muffins, that released the exquisite aroma of rich chocolate. They tasted marvellous and no one would have ever guessed that we had added any spinach at all.
Great recipe I thought! This got me thinking about a quote. “You are what you eat.” This familiar quote has been traced back to 1826 when Anthelme Brillat-Savarin referred to it in his book The Physiology of Taste.
What does this quote mean? Does it imply that you will be healthy if you eat healthily and you will be unhealthy if you eat unhealthily? Not quite.
It is the nutrients we receive from the foods that we eat that provides the foundation for our health. Often people think of only physical health when it comes to choosing what they eat.
What most people don’t realize is that it’s not only our physical health but our mental and emotional health that can is often impacted considerably by what we consume.
Let’s take it one step further. What we consume is not restricted to only what we eat, but also includes what we see, hear, say and do. Our environment and interactions, what we ‘take in’, and our behaviour impacts our health on all levels. Our health is an accumulation of how we live, what we consume and the environment we live in. mentally physically and emotionally.
I invite you to challenge yourself. How much value is in the food you eat, and the environment you surround yourself with? Notice how your experiences impact you physically, mentally and emotionally.
Awareness is the first step to making any change in our lives. Tracking our patterns, habit and behaviours is the first step in the process of taking action and making those initial changes that lead up to big changes.
Including spinach in baked goods is one small step I chose to add more nutritional value to what our family consumes. The green smoothie muffin experience has provided an opportunity not to only enjoy the muffins themselves but baking these muffins created some interesting conversations about the nutritional value of the other foods we eat. I noticed a shift as we discussed other ways to make recipes more healthy and nutrient-dense.
I must admit that the experience of eating a chocolate muffin filled with a green smoothie spinach concoction feels more positive and exciting than eating a regular chocolate muffin. I have noticed that just thinking about these oh so decadent nutritional packed muffins filled with spinach creates a more positive emotional state. As I imagine the chocolatey taste of these decadent green smoothie muffins I feel happiness, joy and a sense of gratitude and satisfaction knowing I am supporting the health of my body and my mind.
Simone teaches her clients how to harness the power of the mind to optimize their health, relationships, career, and finances. Simone integrates the knowledge and wisdom of both aspects of her conventional and holistic background into her customized Neuro Coaching and Practitioner Programs, providing stress management and mindset breakthrough sessions for clients. She believes there is great magic available at the intersection of EQ, IQ and BQ (Body Wisdom), and she blends practical psychology with neuroscience to deliver cutting-edge mindset resets that help her clients learn how to overcome self-doubt, master their inner game, resolve longstanding issues, make better decisions, and accomplish more than they ever imagined. https://simoneusselmantod.com