A big, juicy steak may be delicious, but it’s hardly the best thing to eat right before bed. Red meat will kick your body’s natural processes into overtime and will make it incredibly difficult to get the type of deep sleep that you really need after a hard day at work.

2. Vegetables

Vegetables are inherently nutritious, so you may think that they’re the perfect thing to eat right before bed if you want to stay healthy. In reality, you’d be very wrong. Vegetables tend to have a large amount of fiber, which moves incredibly slowly through your digestive system. This is another late night snack that will only keep you awake longer than you need to be.

3. Processed Foods and Chips

One of the great things about snacks like chips is how convenient they are ­ you can just grab a bag, munch away and be done before you know it. The issue is that processed foods have high doses of monosodium glutamate, which will almost certainly lead to sleep-­related issues that you likely want to avoid.

4. Pasta

Pasta is one of the best foods to eat if you’re hungry because a little bit goes a long way. The issue with eating pasta late at night, however, is that it’s such a fatty food that it will almost certainly lead to weight gain while you sleep. The carbohydrates in pasta turn to fat pretty quickly, so if you’re trying to eat healthy at night you’ll definitely want to look elsewhere.

Source: Healthy Panda

The post 4 Late-Night FOODS To AVOID to Get a Good Night’s Sleep and WAKE UP ENERGIZED! appeared first on Top Morning Recommendations.

And here’s similar sheet to see when popular fruits are in-season (click on the image) …

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Source: Melissa Valliant

The post Best Months to Buy 31 Popular FRESH VEGETABLES appeared first on Top Morning Recommendations.

In fact it’s one of my secrets to staying lean and fit all my life.

Soups and stews and roasts are great ways to cook in bulk and have extra for the following week. I like to make a giant pot of this chicken soup, freeze half for next week and then enjoy it this week for lunches and even as dinner or side dish. Because it’s chock full of nothing but whole, healthy foods, it’s a recipe for not only comfort, but healthy living too!

Here’s the list of ingredients that she includes in this special soup (for 12 servings):
 
 

1 1/2 pounds raw boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onions, chopped
2 cloves of chopped garlic
1 leek, cleaned and sliced
3 stalks celery chopped
3 large carrots, peeled and cut into coins
1 turnip, peeled and chopped
2 parsnip, peeled and chopped
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and chopped, (optional)
2 (32oz) containers chicken broth
3 tablespoons each chopped fresh parsley and dill
1/2 pound of cooked pasta, or two cups of cooked rice
Salt, and pepper

Additional suggestions:
 
 

Serve the soup with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

Add different vegetables like tomatoes, escarole, cabbage, even beans.

Add the juice of one or two lemons and extra garlic.

Here are the steps to make this super-healthy Skinny Chicken Vegetable Soup:
 
 

1. Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and leeks and sauté for about 2-3 minutes, making sure to stir so the vegetables don’t burn, add the remainder of the vegetables, season with salt and pepper and continue to sauté for another 2-3 minutes.
2. Add the raw chicken to the pot, season once more with salt and pepper and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add the chicken stock, parsley and dill; allow soup to come to a boil. Once pot is boiling turn down to a low simmer and allow soup to cook for 1-2 hours or until the chicken and vegetables are tender.
3. If there is a lot of oil at the top of the soup just skim it off with a soup ladle and discard.
4. If adding pasta cook about 1⁄2 pound of pasta in separate pot of heavily salted water only till pasta is al dente’. The pasta will cook and expand more when added to the soup so don’t over cook pasta and don’t rinse the pasta. You can add the cooked pasta to the soup after it is cooked and off the heat.

If you need more liquid, add water and bullion or just extra chicken broth.

The soup will freeze well so be sure to make enough to freeze for the following week. Just thaw frozen soup in the fridge and heat in a pot or individual bowls in the microwave.

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Watch how Arlene puts this all together in the video:

Source: Arlene Cummings

The post Skinny Chick Vegetable Soup Recipe (Video) appeared first on Top Morning Recommendations.

When you don’t have time for a lot of cooking in the kitchen, here are some quick and easy tips from the Beach Body Nutrition Lab for healthy eating with a special focus on raw vegetables. Get maximum nutrition with every bite.


Here’s my favorite no-cooking recipe (4 servings):


Raw Kale and Brussels Sprout Salad

1 large bunch kale, washed, thoroughly dried, stems removed, finely chopped
(6 to 8 cups chopped)
8 brussel sprouts, finely shredded
1½ medium cucumbers, thinly sliced
1 medium red bell pepper, thinly sliced
½ tsp. Himalayan salt
3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp. raw cider vinegar
24 whole almonds, chopped

Instructions:

1. Combine kale, brussel sprouts, cucumbers, and bell pepper in a large serving bowl.


2. Season with salt.


3. Drizzle with oil, lemon juice, and vinegar; toss gently to blend.


4. Refrigerate, covered, for 15 minutes.


5. Sprinkle with almonds and enjoy!

Watch the video on the next page …

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The post [Video] Quick Nutrition With Raw Veggies appeared first on Top Morning Recommendations.

It’s no wonder that the popularity of organic food in the US has grown significantly in recent years. Based on the USDA findings, these are the dozen non-organic fruits and vegetables that the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has found to be contaminated most often with pesticide residues that you do not want to consume:
 
 

Highlights of Dirty Dozen 2015

EWG singles out produce with the highest pesticide loads for its Dirty Dozen list. This year, it is comprised of apples, peaches, nectarines, strawberries, grapes, celery, spinach, sweet bell peppers, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, imported snap peas and potatoes.
 
Each of these foods tested positive a number of different pesticide residues and showed higher concentrations of pesticides than other produce items.
 
Key findings:

• 99 percent of apple samples, 98 percent of peaches, and 97 percent of nectarines tested positive for at least one pesticide residue.
• The average potato had more pesticides by weight than any other produce.
• A single grape sample and a sweet bell pepper sample contained 15 pesticides.
• Single samples of cherry tomatoes, nectarines, peaches, imported snap peas and strawberries showed 13 different pesticides apiece.

It’s also good to know about the surprising EWG findings with respect to baby food:
 
 
 

Pesticides in baby food

 
The USDA’s most recent pesticide monitoring data included hundreds of samples of applesauce, carrots, peaches and peas packaged as baby food (USDA 2014a, USDA2014b). Because cooking reduces levels of pesticides and baby food is cooked before packaging, it tends to contain fewer pesticide residues than comparable raw produce.
 
The European Commission has set an across-the-board limit of no more than 0.01 parts per million of any pesticide in baby food, assuming that infants are more vulnerable than adults and older children damage by to harmful chemicals (European Commission 2006). Some samples of American baby food, particularly applesauce and peaches in baby food tested in 2012 and green beans tested in previous years, exceed the European limit. In contrast to the EU’s position, the U.S. has no special rules for pesticide residues in baby food.
 
The USDA detected 10 different pesticides on at least five percent of 777 samples of peach baby food sold in the U.S (USDA 2014a). Nearly a third of the peach baby food samples would violate the European guideline for pesticides in baby food because they contain one or several pesticides at concentrations of 0.01 part per million or higher.
 
The USDA tested 379 baby food applesauce samples for five pesticides (USDA 2014b). Some 23 percent of the samples contained acetamiprid, a neonicotinoid pesticide that European regulators singled out for additional toxicity testing because it might disrupt the developing nervous system (EFSA 2013). Another 10 percent of the samples contained carbendiazim, a fungicide.
 
The USDA found six pesticides in apple juice, a staple of many children’s diets (USDA 2014b). About 17 percent of the apple juice samples contained diphenylamine, a pesticide banned in Europe in 2012. Grape juice samples tested positive for six pesticides, most common was carbaryl, a potent insecticide not allowed in Europe but found in about 25 percent of the 176 U.S. grape juices tested (USDA 2014b).
 
USDA tests have not detected significant pesticide residues on carrots and peas packaged as baby food.

Source: EWG

The post An Updated List of 12 Fruits & Vegetables to Avoid appeared first on Top Morning Recommendations.

The post [Video] The Best Juice Recipe to Lose Weight appeared first on Top Morning Recommendations.

1/2 tin tomatoes

1/2 tin kidney beans

3 chestnut mushrooms

1/2 red onion

1/2 red chilli

1 small courgette

2 small carrots

1 garlic clove

Fresh Basil (to decorate)

Optional – 2 tbsp Nutritional Yeast

The preparation instructions are on Page 2 …

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The post Healthy Italian Vegetable Stew Recipe appeared first on Top Morning Recommendations.

Watch this short video to learn the best and most affordable sources of micronutrients and fiber. Simon explains that — as a general rule-of-thumb — you need to choose frozen veggies rather than fresh produce to get the best value for money as well as the most nutrients.


He explains that the best (frozen) vegetables to buy include broccoli, brussel sprouts, green beans, peas, stir fry packages and mixed vegetable packages.


He continues with the best fruit options and good sources of fiber in this short video:

The post [Video] The Best Sources of Healthy Micronutrients and Fiber appeared first on Top Morning Recommendations.

1. Eat more cruciferous vegetables

Why everyone should eat more: Vegetables always bring nutrients along, and the deeper the color, the better they are. Everyone needs to bulk up on antioxidants to fight the toxins in our air, our food, and our water, and broccoli and kale especially fill this need. Antioxidants support the immune system and fight cancer.

Women, in particular, should eat lots of cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, kale, cauliflower and cabbage since they contain

a special compound called indole-3-carbinol, which reduces estrogen in the body, i.e. fights build-up of synthetic estrogen that all women take in from our environment.

2. Consume more chicken stock

Properly prepared chicken stock has gelatin to boost your immune system, aid digestion, increase protein efficiency (i.e., you can eat less meat and have the same benefits), and pump up bone density. You won’t believe how many diseases chicken stock can help!

Glucosamine in the stock rebuilds connective tissue damage that helps cause cellulite. The collagen from the bones may also help the cellulite deal.

Continue on to the next page to see more important foods for strengthening your body’s immunity system …

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The post Top 5 Foods to Eat Regularly to Boost Immunity and Stay Healthy appeared first on Top Morning Recommendations.