Natural Chow

How to Deseed a Pomegranate {Tutorial}

January 31, 2015 by Margaret Anne 10 Comments

Learn how to deseed a pomegranate perfectly every time with this helpful visual step-by-step tutorial.

If you’ve never tried opening and deseeding a pomegranate before, odds are you’re a little cluelessas to what to do.

Ahhh, I remember my first time attempting to open a pomegranate. It was horrible.

11 years old. December 6th. A butterknife. That’s where it went terribly wrong.

Now, I’m guessing you’re going to be a heck of a lot smarter than a 11 year old anxious to eat some dang pomegranate seeds.

I started hacking away at the thing, stabbing it, ripping off shred after shred of the peel. I was getting nowhere fast. Once I finally broke into the thing, seeds went EVERYWHERE.

Falling all over the floor, getting ground into red stains on the floor, pith in my baby sister’s hair, stained fingers and faces. And this is how me and my siblings did it. Every. single. time.

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Spicy Sausage and Kale Baked Ziti

January 26, 2015 by Margaret Anne 5 Comments

A simple, healthy lunch or dinner ready in about 30 minutes. This healthier baked ziti is the perfect comfort food and is perfectly spicy.

I’ve only had traditional baked ziti once, and it was straight awful. Granted, I’ve never been a huge fan of tomatoes or the retched sauce they make from it, but still.

I haven’t been brave enough to try making it myself until my sister made some other kind of pasta dish the other day <without any tomato sauce>. And it actually tasted good. It was that moment when I knew I had to try to make my own version of baked ziti—without the sauce.

So I started tossing things together: sausage, noodles, kale, roasted garlic, etc. Well, actually that etc. is just cheese. Because what’s a pasta dish without cheese. A LIE, that’s what.

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15 Healthy Smoothie Recipes

January 24, 2015 by Margaret Anne 14 Comments

Sometimes, finding a healthy smoothie recipe that ACTUALLY tastes good can be a challenging task. So today I put together a list of healthy smoothie recipes from some of my favorite bloggers to give you the inspiration you need to crank up that blender.

For the longest time, I gave up on trying to make smoothies in the morning. I didn’t think they would give me any kind of energy, would take FOREVER to make, and would require to buy loads and loads of produce every week.

Boy, was I wrong.

Not only are smoothies quick and easy to make, they provide some of that much-needed energy in the mornings.

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Crispy Kale Chips

January 19, 2015 by Margaret Anne 7 Comments

Perfect, crispy kale chips ready in just 35 minutes! These great potato chip alternatives couldn’t be easier to make and are impossible to stop eating.

Me and kale have a LONG history.

I started out hating it. I mean really hating it. Shoving into my pants pockets at the dinner table so I didn’t have to eat it. Hiding the bag of kale in the back of the pantry (somehow I always got found out). Taking the kale out of my mom’s cart when she wasn’t looking.

But now that I’m older and my tastes have changed, my relationship with kale has blossomed. I add it to just about everything (except PB&J sandwiches) and I love it.

One of my favorite ways to prepare kale is to bake it until it’s nice and crispy. It’s a great way to get in some greens! I could snack on these guys all day long they’re so delicious.

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Coconut Pomegranate Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding

January 18, 2015 by Margaret Anne 37 Comments

Simple, healthy, easy-to-make chia seed pudding topped with pomegranate seeds, chopped chocolate, and shredded coconut. This chia seed pudding is healthy and has so much flavor!

Oh my gosh, you guys.

I did it. I went a WEEK without chocolate.

Not even a little nibble. Not even when I really wanted to shove loads of it into my face. I’m telling ya, my self-control was pushed to THE limit. So I decided to celebrate with this bright and super healthy chia seed pudding.

While I was doing this whole “7-Day Chocolate Free Challenge,” I really noticed a difference in my eating choices. Breakfast went from oatmeal with brown sugar on top to scrambled eggs with fresh blueberries. So I guess it helped me gain a little perspective on abstaining from what I usually eat on a regular basis.

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