Healthy Holiday Tips
November is the intro into the holiday season. And while for some the holidays are synonymous to stress, we at the Good Vibes Fam, are here to keep you happy and healthy during this time. We have compiled a list of tricks and tips to help you navigate this crazy hectic time, while keeping you on track toward your health and wellness goals.
Healthy Holiday Tips
Hydrate with water
Don’t skip meals
Bring a healthy dish
Enjoy seasonal treats!
Eat until you’re happily satisfied, not stuffed
Do not feel guilty
Add more veggies to your plate
Opt for homemade food instead of processed
Don’t forgo exercise during this time
Make time for yourself!
And the most important tip of them all: bring a bag of lil bucks and clusterbucks wherever you go!
Buckwheat and Oat Pancakes
Holiday season is upon us and what better way to spend some quality time with your favorite peeps than with a cozy and delicious recipe? This pancake recipe will make you SWOON. The perfect compliment to a slow wintery morning.

I mean c’mon just look at how amazing that stack looks?! Breakfast will forever and always be my favorite meal of the day. Thank you @cacaoforcoconuts_ for this lovely recipe!


Buckwheat and Oat Pancakes
Nothing looks and sounds more scrumptious than Buckwheat and Oat Pancakes, am I right?! Just take a look at that tall stack right there. I'm drooling. Seriously.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup oats
- 1/2 cup original lil bucks
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice)
- 1/4 cup pecans
- 1 cup nut milk (I used maple pecan milk)
Instructions
- Blend buckwheat and oats to a flour.
- Add in other ingredients and blend.
- Heat a pan over medium heat with some oil.
- Make pancakes!
Notes
Makes 2 servings
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Blueberry Strawberry Swirl Bowl
Just. Look. At. That. Swirl. Like are we kidding?! Danielle has officially outdone herself. And I swear I say that every time she comes out with a new recipe for us. I don’t know whether to frame a picture of this or to eat it… probably going to do both to be honest!

With all these magical veggies- spinach, cauliflower, zucchini- not to mention dates, strawberries and blueberries…. you’ll practically leap out of bed to devour this bad boy. No bad mornings over here.

Blueberry Strawberry Swirl Bowl
Berries, berries, berries and MORE berries! Honestly I think berries are easily some of the most underrated pieces of fruit. Seriously! And let me tell you, this recipe is an ode to the beautiful and delicious berries out there.
Ingredients
- * Spinach
- * seed mix
- * 1/2 cup frozen riced cauliflower
- * 1/2 cup frozen steamed zucchini
- * 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
- * 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
- * Protein
- * Cinnamon
- * 2 dates
- * Water (3/4 - 1 cup)
- * Some fresh cucumber
Instructions
Blend and top with coconut yogurt, Nut butter, Granola, banana and matcha lil bucks
Notes
Makes 1 serving.
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Holistic Happy Hour with Kristin Ryan
Such an enjoyable time speaking with the lovely Holistic Happy Hour host Kristin Ryan about regenerative farming, to how we define what it means to be a superfood, and more! Check out our full discussion in the link below.

From The Ground Up with Danielle Berg
Such a fun experience speaking with From the Ground Up Podcast host Danielle Berg about how we got started, to how we have been adapting our business during quarantine and everything else in between! Check out our full discussion in the link below.

Peanut Butta Crunchy Snowballs
Hello, super easy holiday recipe, packed with REAL food! This takes about 10 minutes to make, then just freeze and enjoy. We tested these on a Thanksgiving crowd and THEY WERE A HIT.

Obviously the snowballs aren’t perfect but they really symbolize how it’s hardly ever a White Christmas anyways. You can always see some of the ground underneath, yeah? We don’t mind the peanut butter being exposed. We in fact want that. Yum!!


Crunchy Peanut Butter Snowballs
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup of date syrup (can sub maple syrup)
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 2 tbsp coconut flour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 bag Cacao Lil Bucks
- 1 cup white chocolate chips, melted
- Optional: Edible Gold Stars
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix together the PB, date syrup, coconut flour, 3/4 cups of the Lil Bucks and vanilla extract until a sticky, but moldable dough forms.
- Let the dough sit for a couple minutes to become nice and moldable. In the meantime you can melt the chocolate being sure not to burn it.
- Roll the dough into 1 inch balls. This will make 18-24 balls depending on the size you roll them.
- Drizzle the white chocolate on top. You can dip the balls in the chocolate too using a spoon-whatever floats your boat.
- Sprinkle the remaining Cacao Lil Bucks on top for an extra crunch. This is when you can also add nice edible gold stars for a sparkle!
- Pop in the freezer for 30 minutes, and enjoy!
Notes
Store in freezer.
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Prevention: 35 Best Wellness Gifts for the Health Enthusiast
Unbelievably honored that Prevention Mag writer Michelle Malia included us in her roundup of the 35 Best Wellness Gifts for Health Enthusiasts. What better gift to give your favorite peeps than a bag of Lil Bucks?! Check out her full article in the link below.

Eat This Not That: The Healthiest New Food Products of 2020
Eat This Not That writer Cheyenne Buckingham teams up with three other dietitians to give us their take on the must have food products of 2020. Such a cool honor to be listed alongside some awesome brands like Banza and Oatly. Thank you Cheyennne for the lovely mention and go out and grab yourself a bag of our cinnabucks!

Five Health Benefits of Turmeric

November is here Good Vibes Fam!! Fall is in its utmost prime here in the Windy City– shout out to the beautiful fall leaves for giving us the perfect wardrobe color scheme for the next month. And not to mention palate inspo as well! As we all know, the moment PSL’s make their way onto the Starbucks menu, it’s time to break out all things orange in the kitchen: pumpkin, squash, sweet potatoes… But most importantly TURMERIC.
Yes, yes turmeric! This fragrant, timeless spice has been benefiting the human race for thousands of years, with its first recorded use in South India. Turmeric is a major part of Ayurveda, Siddha medicine, and traditional Chinese medicine. The potent root made its way into China, Indonesia, Africa and Jamaica, and finally to the melting pot that is the U.S.A. .
I’ll admit it–the first time I consciously enjoyed turmeric (of course it’s been used in Indian cuisine I’d enjoy at restaurants) was in a gold mylk latte–AKA Haldi Doodh, a turmeric elixir common in households across India. Seriously, turmeric is a MOVE. If you haven’t tried this spice in your cooking or drinks (or, um Turmeric Lemon Myrtle Clusterbucks), we hope this page will convince you otherwise. 😉
What gives turmeric its beautiful orange coloring, and not to mention its superfood powers you may have heard about, is a key ingredient called curcumin. Thanks to curcumin, here are 5 reasons why you should incorporate turmeric into your diet:
1. Powerful antioxidant
Antioxidants help protect your body against damage caused by free radicals that can come from environmental pollutants like cigarette smoke and industrial chemicals. Curcumin is able to hunt down these different types of free radicals, control the enzymes that neutralize free radicals, and prevent certain enzymes from creating more free radicals.
2. Natural anti-inflammatory
In fact according to a past study, curcumin may be a more effective anti-inflammatory treatment than the more common over the counter inflammation-fighting medications such as ​aspirin. SAY WHAT!
3. Anti-cancer effects
Curcumin has also been attributed to slowing the spread of tumor cells and may even potentially prevent some tumors from forming in the first place. It can do this by disrupting the formation of cancerous cells at various stages in the cell cycle and even terminating those cancerous cells.
4. Can lower risk of diabetes
Meanwhile, curcumin may help prevent diabetes through its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, and improve many of the factors that contribute to diabetes, including ​insulin resistance​, high blood sugar
5. Brain Food
Yes, brain food. Cognitive functions are important and what better way to slow the aging process than with food? Turmeric has been linked to preventing degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. It does this by raising levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein found in the brain and spinal cord that plays a critical role in keeping nerve cells healthy, as well as managing communication between nerve cells, which is especially important for learning and memory. Much like Alzheimer’s, depression is also linked to low levels of BDNF. Turmeric’s ability to boost levels of BDNF makes it an effective ​antidepressant​ as well!

And the best part about adding turmeric to our clusterbucks is the fact that we partner with this cool SF spice brand Diaspora co! ​Before even trying Diaspora’s turmeric, it was love at first sight. I was obsessed with the vibrant brand the founder Sana created, and felt it vibed with Lil Bucks straight away. Sana’s company is disrupting the Indian spice trade, decolonizing an outdated spice trading system, putting more money and equity into the actual spice farmers’ hands. Sana goes to India for months out of the year to directly source the turmeric and other spices. Every aspect of their business was absolutely blowing me away, making it a no brainer to support this women and minority led business. ​Truly no words can do enough justice for how much I admire this brand and how thankful I am that we get to partner with them.
If you’re looking for a simple and easy way to incorporate turmeric into your diet, look no further than our turmeric lemon myrtle clusterbucks! They are a perfect addition to any meal and even taste great on their own. And better yet, you know it’s ethically sourced.
SOURCES:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/top-10-evidence-based-health-benefits-of-turmeric
https://www.webmd.com/diet/ss/slideshow-turmeric
https://www.nuffieldhealth.com/article/the-health-benefits-of-turmeric

Chocolate Protein Oats with Lil Bucks Crunch
Nothing beats a warm bowl of oats to cozy up with on a cool fall morning. This recipe is jam packed with comfort and nutrition- the perfect duo to start your day off on the right foot.

Danielle always come in clutch with her protein bowls and this one can definitely be added to her collection of BOMB recipes.The fruits, veggies, oats, cinnamon and protein (not to mention cacao bucks!) easily make homemade brunch the new remedy to my covid blues! I’ll be nommin’ on this all winter long!

Chocolate Protein Oats with Lil Buck crunch
Chocolate protein anything is to die for. Chocolate was made to be consumed at every meal. Thank you Danielle for giving me another excuse to consume chocolate..... before 11am!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup oats
- 1/2 cup riced cauliflower
- 1/2 cup shredded Zucchini
- 1 cup water
- Cinnamon
- 1 scoop chocolate protein
- Toppings: pear, cinnamon lil bucks, chia pudding and nut butter
Instructions
1. Add oats, cauliflower and water to pot.
2. Bring to a boil.
3. While water boils, shred zucchini (I use a cheese grater)
4. Reduce heat, add in zucchini, chocolate protein and cinnamon.
5. Transfer to bowl and top!
Notes
Makes 1 serving.
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