Frozen Breakfast Bowl for happy bowels

Sorry I couldn't resist. Happy bowels make your day an life better, you know it, even if you won't admit it. This delicious breakfast bowl is filled with antioxidants and best of all it's super easy to make. All you need is frozen fruit, nuts, seeds, dried berries, green powder, and some coconut milk. 

On a trip to Miami in December my friend took me to this awesome juice bar concept called Jugofresh. Although I couldn't really appreciate it at the time - I was desperately hung over and in serious need of a greasy spoon type meal. Not a post workout green healthy type of morning. Any way this place was amazing. A wicked selection of cold pressed juices and elixirs in these super cute mini glass bottles. They also had some interesting sounding dishes that until you have them in front of you are a totally unimaginable. Like a kale and coconut ceviche, raw oatmeals, and the frozen fruit bowl I made today. 

Ingredients: All quantities are approximate

Frozen fruit - 1/3 c. mango, 1/3 c. blueberries, 3 chunks pineapple 

Powder - 1 tsp spirulina & chlorella 

Liquids - 1/3 cup coconut milk, splash cold water & 3 oz seabuckthorn liquid supplement 

Crunchy toppings - goji berries, raw macadamia nuts, pumpkin & sunflower seeds, bee pollen, black chia, and Danielle's coconut chips. 

Blend the fruit and liquid, until it forms a sorbet consistency- I use a Nutribullet. Then top with a sprinkling of crunchies. That easy. You can even make your fruit puree in advance an leave it in the freezer. 

Happy pooping peeps. 

The Dirty Dozen vs. The Clean Fifteen

Good evening friends, followers and whoever else stumbles upon this post. After much anticipation here it is - the post I've been promising for the last week.  In my quest to become a healthier human being and kill the evil beast that lives inside of me (which I'll tell you more about later) I've been turned on to this fabulous list. We all know eating totally organic is expensive and can be difficult depending on where you live. For the last few years I've preached local over organic, and I still believe It is very important to eat locally and seasonally as much as you can, but when you're health is in jeopardy you do what you gotta do. This list of the twelve fruits & veggies with the highest amount of pesticides vs. the fruits and veg with pesticide levels are much lower and safer for consumption. If your not sure why pesticides are bad ask yourself this "what do pesticides do?" Hmm... my simple minded logic tells me that "pest" refers to a bug and "icide" from the word suicide which means to kill yourself. From all that I think it's safe to say that pesticide must mean to to kill a pest. How would one kill a pest? Quite clearly the best possible answer would be to use poison - the cheapest most effective way to wipe out as many pests as possible in one shot. So if pesticides are bug poison and our fruits and veggies (while still growing) are  constantly being showered in this bug poison, aren't we to assume that some of this said bug poison has permeated throughout the fruits and veg that are supposedly safe to consume. I would bet that the majority of the poison doesn't wash away with soap & water. That's right we consume this bug poison with every single bite and if pesticides can kill bugs what are they really doing inside of our bodies. If you think that pesticides don't effect humans well then you are dead wrong! Pesticides in food can cause all sorts of problems for humans including skin ailments, stomach problems, hormone imbalances, difficulty with vision and cancer. I'm going to leave it at that and get back to the fact that this list is simple & easily allows you to make an informed decision when buying healthy produce for you and your family. There are only 12 things you absolutely must buy organic! The clean 15 are the safest and anything not listed sort of  falls in between. Another way to avoid pesticides is to buy greenhouse grown which we do a fair amount of in Canada, lucky us, I'm already enjoying beautiful tomatoes and cucumbers in April. 

For a more comprehensive list check out this link.

Stay healthy 'yall!

DIRTY:
1. blueberries
2. strawberries
3. apple
4. nectarine
5. peache
6. grapes
7. lettuce
8. collards
9. kale
10. celery
11. potato
12. bell peppers

CLEAN:
1. cabbage
2. asparagus
3. onion
4. sweet potato
5. mushroom
6. sweet peas
7. eggplant
8. avocado
9. kiwi
10. pineapple
11. mango
13. corn
14. citrus
15. melon

Ch ch ch chia... a delicious gluten & dairy free supersnack

Hello friends. Yes I know I promised a special not to be missed post on the dirty dozen. The post is on it's way taking a little longer then expected. Last week #TheFoodingCompany was slammed with a bunch of passover orders. As I've been told by a bunch of happy well fed family and friends the holiday orders went over very well. We catered two full seders from start to finish including a number of parve desserts that actually came out pretty delicious. Who knew desserts without butter or flour could be so good. I hope everyone - Jews & Christians had a wonderful holiday weekend. Today I'm going to let you in on a wonderful (& healthy) dish i've become obsessed with. I eat for breakfast or after dinner for a sweet treat. If you've never heard about it chia seeds are the new posh health food item. I first bought it a few months ago having no clue what it was or how it was eaten. I saw it on a shelf at my go-to grocery store Lady York next to some sesame crisps snacks and fancy tamari almonds. The packaging looked cool and It seemed to have a good balance of fiber, protein and calcium. I first tried putting the chia seeds into a protein shake. It had a weird slimy texture - I wasn't into it at all. It actually took a few months and going through a detox to find out the best way to consume this super food to realize how much I really love it. I had seen this beautiful photo in Food & Wine magazine and when I was told by my Naturopath I would have to eliminate dairy & sugar from my diet for a while I decided it was the perfect time to try out the pudding.  What I have found is that fruits that are slimy just suit the texture of the pudding better, kiwi and mango are two of my favorites, however if you are watching your total sugar intake raspberries are great too. 

INGREDIENTS: CHIA SEED PUDDING - 4 servings

2 cups almond milk - original flavor has the least sugar 

1/2 cup black chopped chia seeds (I like these the best)

1/2 tsp or more stevia  or a few agave 

pinch of ground cardamom 

chopped walnuts

chopped mango 

PREP: Whisk chia, almond milk, stevia & cardamom. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or over night to set. 

SERVE: Chop up desired fruit and or nuts and enjoy.

The ultimate gluten free muffins - banana strawberry

Hello fellow foodies. Hope everyone had a delicious weekend. Today I'm posting a yummy recipe for all my gluten suggestively challenged readers out there. These muffins pack a double punch of fiber from the oats & coconut flour and are filled with low fat goodness. Coconut flour is gluten free and has a beautiful subtle sweetness. Take that "Eat yourself Skinny"! I tease, Erin is a super awesome calorie crunching blogger. One of the best things about making muffins is that all you really need is a fork in place of  a whisk, a bowl and obviously muffin pan. I love making these muffins and freezing them - they make an excellent breakfast or snack after a few mins in the oven or microwave. The key is using over ripe frozen bananas.  
INGREDIENTS: 
1 cup Gluten free oats (or regular oats if you aren't gluten sensitive) - divided
1/2 cup coconut flour 
1 tsp bp
1/2 tsp bs
1.2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla 
2 eggs - room temp 
2 over ripe bananas - mashed 
1tsp cinnamon or cardamom
1/2 cup 1% milk (or dairy free milk, you can also use 1/3 cup yogurt)
1 tbs high high oleic sunflower oil  
1/2 cup chopped frozen strawberries - save a few and thinly slice for the top of the muffins
baking spray - pam
PREP: Pre heat oven at 350 degrees. For the oats, I like to divide and grind (in Cuisinart or spice grinder) 1/2 of the portion, then use the other 1/2 whole. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl or glass measuring cup, mix. Whisk all wet ingredients. 
 BAKE: Spray muffin pan and fill each 3/4 full. Place thinly sliced strawberry on top. Bake for 20- 25 mins. Test with a toothpick after 20. 

Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead

If you follow me on twitter, you may have noticed that as of lately a bunch of my tweets have been talking about delicious fruit vegetable juices you can make at home. I guess I've been inspired by Jo.  Recently my friend Billy told me about this great documentary called "Fat sick and nearly dead". The film is about an over weight Australian named Jo who travels to America to go on a 60 day juice fast. I'm not going to say too much more except watch the trailer and if you intrigued as I was, give the movie a shot.  I'm not advocating a juice fast, but just simply trying to share some interesting information presented through an extremely entertaining format. Plus I've become obsessed with drinking fresh fruit and vegetable juice and highly recommend incorporating it in some way into your lifestyle. Beware though juicing my lead to obsessive compulsions to purchase an abundance of fruits and vegetables, and over juicing can cause extreme explosive diarrhea. Yes I speak from experience however I will spare you the ugly details. Cheers!

Sharing is caring - Cold weather Metabolism boosters

I know it can be difficult  to get your metabolism going when it's cold and cranky outside. I found this article and thought you would all appreciate it. There are some easy healthful things you can do to improve your ability to burn calories. Including: 

1. Eat a hot breakfast - Oatmeal is full of fiber and will keep you feeling satisfied until lunch. I like to grate 1/2 an apple into mine with a scoop of almond butter & a sprinkle of cinnamon. 

2. Get your Zzzzz's - listen to your body. Use your weekend to catch up on sleep, but try to get at least 7 hours a night. Not getting enough sleep will effect your ability to burn sugar. 

3. Something about dropping a gym work out for an out door activity - I will not give this one any insight since I hate all winter sports unless they involve discount shopping. The point is more to switch up your workouts so they don't get boring. 

4. Increase your water intake. Since it's more dry in the winter our bodies require more water to keep moist literally! Your skin will be less likely to crack and chap if you add an extra glass a day. 

5. Lay off the booze - a direct link from drinking more water. This is kinda of a no brainer since alcohol dehydrates you. If you didn't know that before, well now you do! If you love to drink have one glass of water in between each alcoholic beverage to prevent dehydrating - I'm a former lush so I know how to trick the system. 

6. Make your own kale chips - something I tried Saturday night after feeling like crapola all day from a cold. Kale is a wonder food filled with enough fiber to keep you pooping regularly (yes I said poop!), tons of vitamin C which is supposedly a necessary nutrient to keep your metabolism going strong. As well it contains calcium and a bunch of other stuff that's god for you. Kale chips are ridiculously simple. Tear washed (and dried) leaves into bite size pieces, toss with olive oil s & p then bake on tray at 350 for about 10 mins. That's it!

7. Eat rye (not drink rye).  Aside from the fiber content there is no real science behind this one but a bunch of Swedish people swear when they eat dark rye bread they feel less hungry then eating light wheat bread. I just like the taste and texture of rye bread. 

8. Take fish oil supplement. Eating fish is just a healthy protein to eat. For those of you who don't like fish take an Alaskan fish oil pill. These are packed with omega 3's known for their mood boosting power. Maybe if you are in a better mood you'll be more likely to follow the rest of these tips. Who knows. I actually started taking this supplement as it's also supposed to be good for skin problems and I suffer from psoriasis. 

9. Do a spin class. This one can be called do any work out where you sweat your ass off, but do it! You don't have to spin. Some people say that it hurts their man/lady parts. You can buy a pair of padded shorts if you like, but the point of this really is to just do an intense work out. When you work out you don't just burn calories while you are working out. You continue to burn well after you are fast asleep that night. #Bonus. 

10. Eat starchy stuff like beans, grains and potatoes. That goes out to all the carbaphobes. Your body needs these things to feel full, which is probably because these things are filled with fiber and help to rev your body into fat burning mode. 

Hope you enjoyed my cheat notes now I'm off to the gym - go me!

Detoxing for the food obsessed

Yesterday on twitter there was much talk about the best way to do a cleanse.  My advice straight from my fabulous doctor - Dr. Marla Shapiro recommends simply staying away from heavy dairy, eliminating yeast or fermented products, increasing water, fiber from whole grains, fruits and veg obviously and limiting your intake of fatty meat such as beef, lamb and going for lean protein like fish, chicken and turkey. Nuts and seeds are great too and an excellent source of healthy fat. I remember years ago I did a master cleanse - you wouldn't believe what I put myself through for six weeks. Just to give you an idea it involved eating only seeds, nuts and veggies, and drinking clay, psyllium husk and castor oil three times a day. To say the experience was hell is a complete understatement.  Giving your body a  cleanse is a great idea, but it needs to be assessable and somewhat satisfying. Leave it to Bon Appetit online to publish an amazing two week planned cleanse to make things easy. Remember to stock up on the thing on your safe list, and designate time on weekends and after work to prep so you don't find your self in the take out line at McDonald's if you forget your healthy snacks. Check out the wicked Food Lovers Cleanse and start the new year off right. * With any cleanse or new regime your body will react in some way. Expect to feel low energy or tired at first, you're body is detoxing from processed foods, or sugar so don't push yourself. You may also get headaches at first. You'll find by the end of the week to have more energy and begin to feel great!

'cause I eats me Spinach!

You've heard your mother say it before "eat your spinach" and sometimes it is true... mother knows best! Spinach is one of those miracle foods. High in everything good for you. Calcium, vitamin A, B, C, D, E, F... you name it. Spinach not only fiber rich it also has folic acid, magnesium and even posses cancer controlling nutrients. It can also protect against heart disease. Fresh or frozen everyone can benefit from eating spinach. Believe it or not slightly cooked spinach has the most nutrients and best of all it takes seconds to cook this wonder veg. One of my favorite ways to get spinach into my diet is to simply add it to any tomato sauce, chili or soup since it so easily melts in. Even back in my university days where everything I cooked came out of a microwave, spinach was a part my routine. A great lunch idea if you do have a microwave at work/ school is bring a micro-proof tupperware filled with your favorite soup then toss in  few nuggets of frozen spinach. Everything will heat together and become instantly healthier.