Fit Friday; Winter Fruit and Greens Salad & The Basics

Today's Winter Fruit and Greens Salad Recipe is a lovely combination of fruits and vegetables to keep you healthy and happy this winter! Our winter salad has mixed greens, apples, oranges, mangoes, chevre cheese, sunflower seeds, and a drizzle of olive oil. Oh and if you prefer an added flavor pop, then a little drizzle of balsamic vinegar will do the trick!   As always, our Fit Friday with Miss Nichole from Pure Clean Coaching is today! So happy that she comes every week to share her awesome fitness knowledge with us! If you want check out more of our Fit Friday posts then CLICK HERE! 

A healthy for you Winter Fruit and Greens Salad Recipe!

I love a crisp, flavorful salad! Our Winter Fruit and Greens Salad is topped with creamy chevre goats cheese and sunflower seeds. I'm not too hip on salad dressings as I usually prefer a good quality olive oil. I guess you could say that I like to keep it simple. :). Sometimes, I'll add a sweet balsamic vinegar for a bit of a flavor-pop. And don't forget to grab a fresh baguette to enjoy with your meal! 

Ingredients in our Winter Fruit and Greens Salad Recipe:

• Salad greens- contain Vitamin A, Vitamin C, beta-carotene, calcium, folate, fiber, and phytonutrients. Leafy vegetables are a good choice for a healthful diet because they do not contain cholesterol and are naturally low in calories and sodium.
• Citrus- are a source of potassium, and getting enough dietary potassium decreases dental inflammation, reduces hypertension, and prevents tooth loss. Protect your liver with clementines: Clementines contain choline, a B vitamin that aids in healthy liver function.
• Apples- Apples are rich in Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C Folate (folic acid). Good for diabetics and blood sugar regulation, aids Weight Loss, enables smoother digestion, helps relieve constipation, protecting bones, reduces cholesterol, boost brain power.
• Mangoes- contain high level of vitamin C, fibre and pectin making it a perfect fruit that helps in controlling high cholesterol level. Another benefit of eating mangoes is that it cleanses your skin from deep inside your body. It treats pores and gives a glow to your skin.
• Chevre Cheese- A serving of goat cheese delivers 6 grams of filling protein along with a powerful combination of calcium, phosphorus and copper — nutrients that are essential for healthy bones. Plus, goat cheese provides healthy fats, including medium-chain fatty acids, that can improve satiety and benefit weight loss.
• Sunflower seeds are rich in the B complex vitamins, which are essential for a healthy nervous system, and are a good source of phosphorus, magnesium, iron, calcium, potassium, protein and vitamin E.
• Olive Oil- is widely recognized as one of the world's healthiest oils. In fact, people tend to live longer and healthier lives in regions where olive oil is a staple part. It is rich in healthy monounsaturated fats, contains large amounts of antioxidants, strong anti-inflammatory properties, may help prevent strokes, protective against heart disease.
• Balsamic Vinegar- Balsamic vinegar contains powerful antioxidant called polyphenols which fight cell damage and boost our immune system. The antioxidant in balsamic have also the potential to protect against heart disease, cancer, and other inflammatory conditions. Balsamic can help prevent anemia, fatigue, and it's been suggested that balsamic vinegar can contribute to weight loss, low cholesterol, and even a glowing complexion

We hope you enjoy our Winter Fruit and Greens Salad Recipe and some of these, too! 

• Tropical Avocado Kale Salad
• Peach, Gorgonzola Cheese, and Chicken Salad
• Apple Cucumber Tossed Salad
• Roasted Mushroom, Avocado, and Ricotta Salad
• Blueberry, Almond, Chicken Salad with Honey Lemon Vinaigrette
• Pear, Blackberry, and Ricotta Spinach Salad
• Asian Pear, Avocado, and Blue Cheese Salad
• Salmon Avocado Salad 
• Red Wine Dijon Vinaigrette
• Lemon Honey Vinaigrette Recipe
• Apple Cinnamon Vinaigrette
• Raspberry Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette

Nichole's here for Fit Friday along with our Winter Fruit and Greens Salad Recipe!

  

Keep your family healthy and happy with our Winter Fruit and Greens Salad Recipe! :) 

Love Always, Nichole, Ruthie, & Madeliene     

 I am so excited to be back this week. Christmas and New Year gave us much needed breather, I am rejuvenated and ready to go. The New Year gives a lot of people the opportunity to get back on track with their health, in all the ways. I have found that seems to be the case even more so this year, many people seemed to forget about their health in one way or another early last year and getting back to it this January is even more important and for many this means they have made it even harder.

It doesn't have to be harder. 

Remember to start with the basics and where you are at now. 

For your mental health this may mean with starting to journal or start reading a book that gives you hope, insight, and/or motivation.

I am not a proponent of diets. I am a fan of getting to know your body and listening to it. The more you respect your body and respect what food does for your body the better it is. This DOES NOT mean that you need to recognize that sugar is like cancer and it destroys you, I have seen people make this jump way to often. It does mean that you recognize you are going for a run later and those cookies are not going to fuel it. I am not a hard core dieter, I am a healthy eater that enjoys my treats. This allows me to enjoy life and feel good while doing so. So, start with the basics and where you are, take some time to recognize how food fuels you, mentally and physically.

The third aspect of health I am going to hit is exercise. We all know it is important. I am not going to give you the run down and why you should exercise, instead I am going to remind you to get back to the basics with this awesome HIIT workout. Go for quality movements not quantity!

If squat hops or the lunge hops are not happening don't give up, instead take out the hop. Change the movement to squats and alternating lunges.

Respect where you are!

We love to hear about your magical cooking moments. If you get a chance to make our recipes then leave us a comment or tag us on Instagram @cookingwithruthie, pin us on Pinterest, or follow along with us on Facebook so we can share in the joy of cooking with you! Please reach out if you have questions or comments via our email: ruthie@cookingwithruthie.com. We’re excited to see you again soon!   One more thing before you go... We love creating recipes and sharing our adventures with you, so if you can do us a huge favor it’d really support us! It’s easier to stay motivated to share our best with you when we hear from you!! We adore our readers and it really makes our day to get comments, social tags/shares, or pins that you save for later to share with your family and friends! Our hearts sing when you do. We SEE you and we do our very best to respond to all the love! It also amps up our mo-jo so we get lots of awesome things done around here.   

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Thanks for sharing in the CWR blog-love!

Peace and Love

Ruthie, Madeline, and Nichole