5 MUST SEE Educational Food Documentaries {Available on Netflix}

Knowing what you are putting into your body is so important! From the chemicals they treat your veggies with to the preservatives they put in the over-processed food that supermarkets label as healthy, there are hidden ingredients and underlying contaminates that you aren't aware of. I've been on a food documentary kick lately and today I'm sharing my favorite (and some of the most informative) food documentaries on Netflix.

First I'll start with one of my favorites, Forks over Knives. This documentary examines the idea behind a diet curing disease and illness, in depth. I love the knowledge that is shared in this documentary and if you are borderline pesca/vegetarian (like me), this movie may push you over the edge. I like this documentary because it's not obnoxious, just educational and helpful for those that may be unaware of how much our diet plays a role in our immune system and our natural healing capabilities.

Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead is another awesome educational movie. As you can imagine, this movie is about a man that is overweight, unhealthy, and honestly could pass at any moment due to his obesity. He embarks on a complete lifestyle change and the rest is history... or the movie. You can also catch Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead 2 on Netlfix as well.

GMO OMG is actually a movie I stumbled across while doing research for a speech I gave in class about the dangers of GMO's. I ate up every morsel of knowledge this movie shared and loved examining the facts they shared in this movie. I'll be honest with you, you'll be googling while watching this documentary because some of the knowledge they share will astound you.

Fed Up is another great documentary made to expose the food industry and how it plays a role in childhood obesity. While I'm all for a tasty treat, falsely advertising something unhealthy as something healthy and misleading consumers (especially children) is a huge no-no in my book, this movie exposes some big companies bad habits and shares the struggle young adults have as a whole with weight loss. I loved the people in this documentary and would recommend it to anyone.

Hungry For Change is another food industry bashing movie that you must-see. It's an eye-opener and will really change the way you look at processed foods. Exposing strategies and sharing industry secrets, this documentary will be one that you should definitely add to your queue right now so you can find out what's holding you back from the body you deserve.

The few movies they offer on Netflix are just a fraction of what's available to educate yourself on food. I'd love to know, have you seen any of these awesome documentaries or do you know of another food related movie that I must see? Tell me your thoughts in the comments below!

Let's Talk About Emotions with Inside Out Cupcakes

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #InsideOutEmotions #CollectiveBias

Stop for a moment and tell me, how are you feeling today? Are you full of joy? Feeling a little sadness? Possibly even a little red in the face from anger after a tough day? Maybe it's hard to translate how you are feeling at this very moment?

If you really think about it, we have some super complex emotions, so if you are having trouble I don't blame you. Some of us cry when we are happy, a lot of people smile a joyful grin when they are embarrassed, and some people even laugh when they are angry, translating those mixed signals into words is so very difficult at times.

Emotions are a difficult thing to discuss; when we are children we can't quite put our feelings into words and once we are older we are told to keep composure. While it's nice to keep your emotions at bay in some situations, here's some news for the adults holding it all in all the time and the kids learning to express themselves: all emotions are normal and it's healthy for us to express ourselves.

While I'm not an expert on the expression of emotions, I will be the first to admit I wear my heart on my sleeve. I am passionate and feel everything deeply so not sharing how I'm feeling is abnormal for me. 

After seeing Inside Out recently, I'm a huge fan of the movie and just have to share my joy! I love that the characters in the movie make relating our emotions to situations so incredibly easy. It's like a guide book for kids to learn to express themselves in an emotionally healthy way, while still having plenty of humor for adults to get a real chuckle.

In celebration of all the joy I'm feeling about Inside Out, I decided to make a rainbow of Inside Out cupcakes, sharing all of my emotions through baking! I made yellow cupcakes for Joy, blue cupcakes for Sadness, red cupcakes for Anger, purple cupcakes for Fear, and green cupcakes for Disgust! They all each had their own little twist but were made with the same delicious, cake batter recipe.

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup oil (vegetable, canola or extra light olive oil)

1/2 cup almond milk with a pinch of lemon juice added (or buttermilk)

Gel food coloring in yellow, blue, red, purple, and green

Frosting:

1 stick of butter
1 tbsp vanilla

3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

1 tbsp of almond milk

 *This recipe yields about 12 cupcakes, I made two batches so I could make plenty of each color.*

Directions-

You'll want to begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Stir together with whisk, and set aside.

In a separate bowl, add eggs and beat with mixer for about 10 seconds.  Add sugar and continue to beat on medium speed about 40 seconds, now add the vanilla and oil, beat for an additional 10 seconds or so.

Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add about a fourth of the flour mixture.  Add about a fourth of the milk, then add another fourth of the flour and another fourth of the milk and so on.  Beat until just combined.

Pour batter into 5 bowls and add desired amount of food coloring. I added a pinch of coconut and lime to the disgust cupcakes, 1 tbsp of cocoa to the anger cupcakes, 1 tsp of lemon extract to the joy cupcakes, and left the fear and sadness cupcakes just plain ol' vanilla for those that like that type of thing. These additions are totally optional but add some fun flavor varities to the cupcakes.

Then pour into a muffin pan prepared with silicone liners or directly into a silicone baking pan.  Fill approximately 2/3 full.

Place in oven and bake for 12-14 minutes. We ate some Inside Out fruit snacks while we waited for our cupcakes... Remove all the cupcakes from the oven once you can stick a toothpick (or fork) into the center and it comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for a minute or two, then remove cupcakes from pan and finish cooling on a wire rack.

While your cupcakes are cooling, you can start on your frosting prep! Combine the butter, vanilla, confectioners sugar, and almond milk in a large mixing bowl and mix on high for about a minute or until the frosting is smooth in consistency. Separate the frosting into five bowls again and add desired amount of food coloring and flavors, if you desire.

Once your cupcakes are completely cooled, cut each one in half and add a thick spoonful of frosting to each "top" of the cupcake and place the bottom on top. You want the inside of your cupcake to be the outside, hence their name "Inside Out" cupcakes! 

Add Sprinkles, if you wish and these little emotional cupcakes are ready to serve!

Enjoy!

These Inside Out Cupcakes are like little cupcake sandwiches and are absolutely delicious. The perfect colorful addition to a conversation about emotions or a very happy celebration of any sort! 

Now that I've shared my delicious (and emotional) Inside Out cupcake recipe, I'd love to hear which cupcake you think best represents how you feel on a daily basis...? I'd also love to hear if you've seen Inside Out or if you plan to see this adorable movie? If you want to celebrate seeing the movie in style with all the fun emotions, you can find all kinds of cute plush animals, toys, and more at Walmart!

The Movie I'm Most Excited to See in 2015: The Age of Adaline

I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for Lionsgate. I received a promotional item to thank me for my participation.

You know that moment when you see a preview for a movie that is coming out soon and it makes you SO excited that you have to see the movie as soon as possible? I'm talking about the type of movie that makes you add a note to your phone's calendar and text your best friend that she HAS to come with you to see the movie on opening night. Well, The Age of Adaline is one of those movies.

In only two minutes, I already know I'll love everything about this movie. With twists and turns that you wouldn't expect, The Age of Adaline captures the gorgeous Blake Lively as a young woman, named Adaline Bowman, trapped in a body that doesn't age after an accident.

While that may sound like an ideal life, the downfall is that everyone else will continue to age. Our society considers maintaining our youth to be a fantasy, but as you'll find out in The Age of Adaline the reality of eternal youth isn't all it's chalked up to be. True love, family devotion, and a suspenseful story-line... what more could you ask for in a movie?

A photo posted by Age Of Adaline (@ageofadaline) on Mar 11, 2015 at 1:52pm PDT

Watching Lively play Adaline is a real treat. Her beautiful face is truly timeless, which is proven as she adjust her looks to blend with each and every decade through out the years. While her acting is amazing, the supporting actors in the movie also do a great job of making the story line come together.