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...

Since I’ve been up since 4:30, (I kind of like Euro jetlag) and it’s fresh in my mind, I thought I’d offer up my two cents on airplane travel with examples from my most recent trip to Amsterdam. Outbound 8pm flight I’ll admit, I felt virtuous as I prepped for this trip. With no kids to pack for, it was an opportunity for selfish self-care.   I planned to take Le Pain Quotidien’s frittatas (they boxed them up with sliced avocado) and cut veggies to consume pre flight.   Best-laid plans…while sitting in traffic on the way to JFK, I realized my Eat Play Rose’ bag with frittatas and crudité had stayed home. I called my (yes my babysitter, kids are away) babysitter and she popped it all in the freezer. I still bitched and moaned for the remaining hour to the airport. Marc finally snapped at me, “you’ll live” I wasn’t so sure. At the airport, I had to forage. Not only was I meal-less but the long-weekend traffic had delayed us. I ended up with a very red onion heavy tuna with capers...

Expo West is the capstone of natural food shows. Carolyn and I love a challenge and decided we could cover this massive event in one day. Before every one of these expos we make a pact not to oversample. Let’s just say that at 9am, when Carolyn found me, I had gluten free pizza in one hand and bone broth in the other. The treat train had left the station and mild reflux was already setting in. But how can I know whether to recommend something without tasting it? By midafternoon we had reached our threshold. At this point, we’d jerkey-ed, dark chocolated, posed for the embarrassing photo du jour and walked over 10 miles (20K steps).  A booth with props? We're always  in. We just wanted to be finished. It’s mile 25 of the marathon and the high five supply is exhausted. As we entered an area with newer products, we saw the Fire Cider booth. We know and love the original Fire Cider but as we shuffled by the booth we heard the word unsweetened. Original Fire Cider is sweetened and...

Most years, I have more interest in the food than the football on Super Bowl Sunday. But we love the Broncos; our dog is named Bronco so I’ll be watching. And according to statistics, so will most of you. This concerns me, I have heartburn just thinking about Super Bowl food where team healthy is the biggest underdog around. Instead of suggesting what to skip, Carolyn and I decided to make a crudité plate that could compete. No sad, wet baby carrots and a hummus container can do that. If you need some crudité coaching, check out our  #CooCoo4crudite video Crudite Starting Lineup Here is the recipe for the dip we mention in the video Super bowl Spicy Tahini ¼ cup Tahini 2 Tbs lemon juice 2 Tbs olive oil 1 Tbs Apple cider vinegar ¼ tsp. Sunny Bang probiotic hot sauce ¼ tsp. Wakaya turmeric Himalayan salt and pepper to taste. Complicated Instructions: mix/whisk together & amp up spice, salt & pepper if needed. *I’ve made with coconut oil but you need to increase the heat if yo...

  I’m going to start hump day with an apology. Yesterday our newsletter featured the daily rituals of top fitness and food experts. Sounds good, right? I think it was except somehow my friend Lianna Sugarman became Leanna Silverman. Even pre-caffeinated Foodtrainers know better than that. Lianna is the founder and  CBO “Chief Blending Officer” at Lulitonix and is always experimenting with cutting edge ingredients and flavors. We asked her a few questions: What is your #1 daily ritual? While there are a million rituals for life that I really love, and that I mean to implement every day [ At Foodtrainers, we call these “wish-uals ”] truly the only one I do EVERY day, and the only non-negotiable, is to make and drink a big, huge, green blend with avocado. How does this affect the rest of your day? Whatever else I do, eat, drink, or think, whether I sleep or not, am happy or sad, whether I oil pull, spin, meditate  (ha!) or just sit on my butt working in front of my compute...

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...