"Liberty is the right to choose. Freedom is the result of the right choice." - Jules Renard

Happy Fourth of July!

May today be a day of celebration, love, and happiness between family and friends. Today, we acknowledge and appreciate the country in which we live. I enjoy holidays because it is as though the population is practicing awareness as one...and that is a beautiful thing.

Today is also a day of eating things that may not be the healthiest things for our bodies! I know, I know...splurging is needed sometimes. BUT, try not to let it get so out of control that you end up regretting it in a few hours. You don't want to back track on all the fabulous work you have put forth!

Try managing your portion size if you plan on indulging. There are also many alternatives to foods such as portabella mushrooms as a replacement for hamburger buns. There are many websites that give you insight on substitutions. Try "A Healthier You," for example.

Speaking of the red, white, and blue...Make sure you add some color to your plate today. How about something that looks a little like this:

I call this the power veggie scramble. The variety of veggies give it so much flavor and is incredibly filling. Want to make it at home? 

To recreate this scramble, you'll need these food items:

• 2 cups organic spinach (completely forgot to put that in the picture...hah!)
• 1/2 cup of yellow squash
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (you can sub with coconut oil)
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 10-15 mushrooms (add as many as you like!)
• 1/2 yellow onion
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 yam
• 1 beet
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp salt (do not need to add if you are watching sodium intake)
• 1 zucchini
• 1/4 cup water
• 2-4 egg whites (you can use whole eggs if you'd like)
• 1/2 cup baby tomatoes

Step 1

Bring some water to a boil. You are going to want to have the beet cooking while you are preparing everything else. It takes about 25-30 minutes for it to become soft so you'll want to get that out of the way.

Step 2

Go ahead and chop up your garlic, green & red bell peppers, mushrooms, and onion. Have your olive oil (or coconut oil) handy.

Step 3

Heat 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (or coconut oil) on medium heat. Give it a couple of minutes before adding your veggies.

Step 4

Add your mushrooms, garlic, onion, and peppers to the pan. Stir it up and let them sauté until soft. Look at all those patriotic colors of health :)

Step 5

Chop up the yam and prep the spinach, cumin, and paprika. Do this while your beet and other veggies are cooking.

Step 6

Add the yam, spinach, paprika, and cumin to the veggie mixture. Let everything cook for about 5-7 minutes or until the yam becomes soft.

Step 7

Did I mention that there's quite a bit of chopping for this recipe? Haha. Go ahead and take that beet out of the pot. It should be soft and ready to go! Peel off the exterior skin and chop it up. Your hands will get quite red. Then, chop up the squash and zucchini. Lastly, take your 1/2 cup of baby tomatoes and cut each of them in half.

Step 8

Take that last batch of veggies and add it to your mixture. Stir everything together, cover the pan, and let it cook for about 5-7 minutes.

Step 9

As your pan of veggies is cooking, grab those eggs and separate the whites in a bowl. You could always use the entire eggs if you'd like. If that is the case, take a fork and whip it up as if you are about to make some scrambled eggs for breakfast. Once you have your eggs, add them to the veggie mixture and stir it all up. Have the hot veggies cook your eggs for about 3-5 minutes.

Step 10

Grab a serving spoon and scoop that scramble onto a plate. You could always wrap it in a tortilla and make it into a burrito...or pair it with some brown rice. If you are a meat eater, perhaps you'd like to grill up some chicken or fish beside it.

Step 11

Enjoy your healthy Fourth of July meal! :)

This entire recipe serves 5-6 people so after factoring in serving sizes, 1 portion is equal to a whopping 150 calories per serving!!! That's incredible!