healthy and beautiful

  Oh structure we missed you so. We are midway though our Foodtrainers’ September Squeeze fall reset weeks.   Week 1, led by lauren, concluded Sunday and week 2, my week, is off and running (shout out to our Squeeze achievers doing both weeks). We design a new program, with new recipes each time (why do less work when you can do more?) but we never really know how it will go until we have a group of all ages, living in all different places, going through it. Many of lauren’s week 1 squeezers told us it was our best squeeze yet…nice!   We asked our week 1 Squeeze grads to tell us how they felt: I feel back on track/more confident/able to say no/in control/clear-headed, rested and resolved to continue. This Squeeze is NO booze, grains, sugar, cheese or scale (yup a full week no weigh ins).   While it sounds like a lot of no’s we have a lot of yes’s too. We select special ingredients and what we call “secret weapons” to spice things up. My favorite this go around is ash...

There are only so many ways to reinvent breakfast. Smoothies, yogurts and toasts are great but I end up returning to eggs. We always have (omega 3) eggs in the house and they keep me satisfied. I’ve had Shakshuka a few times out for brunch but never made it at home. It seemed like it had to be more labor intensive than a scramble or omelet. Well, it isn’t. We used Mina’s hariss a in our super bowl #coocoo4cruditevideo . Some corrected my pronunciation telling me it was “hah-riss-ah” not “hah-ree-sah”. Mina emailed after she saw the video, I apologized for botching things and she said,  “ don’t listen to anyone… you’re absolutely saying it right! That is the way we pronounce it in Morocco. Ha-ris-sah, is the American way, which is OK, but keep saying it the way you are .” OK then. In the same email Mina mentioned their new Shakshuka sauce . She graciously sent a jar over. I was intimidated or assumed this wasn’t something I could make for a weekday breakfast…this time I was wrong. Y...

It's always funny to me when I first learn of something and then seem to see it everywhere. I'll explain. About a year (or more) ago, I ordered a jar of the beverage pictured above. It's called switchel and I believe it's from Vermont. Then I saw other switchels at the farmer's market and Well and Good asked how I felt switchel stacked up. I told Well and Good that I loved the idea of switchel. After all, it contains apple cider vinegar and ginger, two of my go-to ingredients. But it's sweet, 16 grams or 4 teaspoons per serving sweet in the brand above. So despite the Vermont angle (we spend a lot of time there) and the intriguing ingredients, the kombucha crowd that's present in my fridge at ALL times (the lengths poor Fresh Direct must take to deliver this bubbly drink) is safe from switchel. If you're sad about switchel, I did green light switchel as a drink mixer for cocktails, although I must say Be-Mixed is my number one for that. We also did a ...

  I love mayo. I love tuna salad and egg salad and of course lobster salad (but even borderline mayo folks like lobster salad). I know there are people who shun anything creamy or mushy  but I say 'bring it". Mayo is one of those foods I feel I shouldn’t love as much as I do but I can't help it.  Of course we have Hellman’s “real” mayo in our fridge but I can’t completely ignore mayo’s truth.  It contains EDTA (pretty much poison), soybean oil- soy is sort of GMO’s mvp and don’t get me started on Unileaver who owns Hellman’s.  Oy, not so "real" after all. So I’ve found a mayo substitute I really like (and usually I don’t like any sort of food substitute) Avocado Mayo (avocado oil, eggs, vinegar and salt). One of my favorite easy lunches is 2 hard-boiled eggs (I make these 6 at a time and usually have on hand) mashed with avocado mayo over greens. In this photo I used my boys’ fave pea shoots. The egg salad is satisfying and feels a little indulgent. And this is...

There are foods and food products I like and then those I love. When I love something there is no limit. Wakaya’s ginger and turmericteas and more recently their coarse sea salt (avocados love this) and dilo cream (natural sunscreen in it) are on my love list.   So I’m honored that Wakaya interviewed Carolyn and I and posted our new Double Golden Milk recipe. Check it out for our 5 favorite food trends and more. And here's the recipe Wakaya Double Golden Milk What you need (and if you don’t have all of these, it’ll be ok) 1/2 tsp. Wakaya turmeric 1/2 tsp. Wakaya ginger 1 cup water Pinch Wakaya sea salt  Pinch black pepper (pepper increases the effectiveness of turmeric) 1 cup almond milk ( homemade or brand with no carrageenan ) 1 tbs coconut oil (traditional recipes call for almond oil which I didn’t have) Few drops almond extract  Few drops Nu Stevia (optional) or Manuka honey *Add more sea salt or stevia as needed  What to do 1.      Put turme...

Simple is Healthy ~ Workouts Part 2 As promised, I am continuing my write about why I think “Simple is Healthy” and how I apply that to my life in all aspects.   Of course, it is such a HUGE factor for me, and knew that I could not fit all I had to say in one piece being the chatter bug that I am, so had to break it up in a series of Blogs. If you read the first of the series, I covered my food and how keeping it Simple makes for healthier foods…an apple vs. some packaged product with fake apple substance in it for example…YUCK.   I am dedicating this Blog to how I keep my workouts Simple and how that is absolutely HEALTHIER for me.   I am a down to earth, back to the basics, sticking to the foundation of exercise kind of gal.   I do not need anything fancy to create a healthy body, and in fact enjoy the simplicity of an all over body weight     program many times throughout the week.   Also…my time…it is so important…please do not think that I spend ...