3 Spring Cleaning Tips for Body and Mind

"You can clutch the past so tightly to your chest that it leaves your arms too full to embrace the present."  -Jan Glidewell

Spring Cleaning

People like “stuff”. We tend to hold onto it year after year. We save and stock up on things that we don’t know what to do with anymore. Maybe we keep things because they hold precious memories of days gone by, or they remind us of our parents, grandparents, past loves or childhood. To part with these precious possessions seems out of the question. There is a saying that goes, “You have to get rid of the old to make way for the new.” If you are feeling stuck or stagnant in your life, try spring-cleaning. Throw out some of that stuff, say goodbye to your past and welcome the new energy of your happy, healthy future.

Try these three ideas:

• For good mental and physical health, we actually have two “houses” that need to be spring-cleaned: our physical homes and our physical bodies. Just as we accumulate “stuff” in the form of outgrown clothes, magazines, rusty bicycles, tools and random keepsakes, so do our bodies accumulate old food residues and toxins that need to be cleaned out.

• To spring clean your body, give it a break from rich and complicated foods by either cleansing or fasting for a short period of time. 
  Cleansing means paring down your food to just simple fruits and vegetables, lots of water and perhaps whole grains. Fasting means limiting most foods and drinking lots of water, fresh vegetable and fruit juices, teas and soups. 
  Without much energy going toward digestion, more energy is available to the rest of your body and mind. Cleansing and fasting can sharpen your concentration, help you gain insight and promote spiritual awareness. It can also bring improved immune function and better digestion.  You don't have to invest in a crazy cleanse program with supplements and shakes.  Skip all of that.  Simply, start making a conscious effort to add more fruits, vegetables, water, teas and soups into your daily diet.

• While you’re cleaning out your body and home, don’t forget to spring-clean your heart. Throw away negative thoughts and habits you’ve been harboring that no longer serve you. A clean, open heart will allow you to receive all the good that awaits you each and every day. If your heart and mind are cluttered, there is no room for life’s gifts and surprises to enter.

Food Focus: Greens

Swiss Chard

Leafy greens are some of the easiest and most beneficial vegetables to incorporate into your daily routine. Densely packed with energy and nutrients, they grow upward to the sky, absorbing the sun’s light while producing oxygen. Members of this royal green family include kale, collard greens, Swiss chard, mustard greens, arugula, dandelion greens, broccoli rabe, watercress, beet greens, bok choy, napa cabbage, green cabbage, spinach and broccoli.

How do greens benefit our bodies? They are very high in calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, phosphorous and zinc, and are a powerhouse for vitamins A, C, E and K. They are crammed full of fiber, folic acid, chlorophyll and many other micronutrients and phytochemicals. Their color is associated with spring, which is a time to renew and refresh vital energy. In traditional Asian medicine, the color green is related to the liver, emotional stability and creativity. Greens aid in purifying the blood, strengthening the immune system, improving liver, gall bladder and kidney function, fighting depression, clearing congestion, improving circulation and keeping your skin clear and blemish free.

Leafy greens are the vegetables most missing from the American diet, and many of us never learned how to prepare them. Start with the very simple recipe below. Then each time you go to the market, pick up a new green to try. Soon you’ll find your favorite greens and wonder how you ever lived without them.


Recipe of the Month: Shiitake and Kale
Prep Time: 2 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:
1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms
1 tablespoon olive oil
1-2 cloves crushed garlic
1 bunch kale, chopped
pinch of salt

Directions:
1. Warm oil in pan on medium heat with minced garlic until aromas of garlic are released, about 2-3 minutes.
2. Add chopped shiitake mushrooms, stir-fry for 5 minutes.
3. Add chopped kale, stir-fry for a couple of minutes.
4. Add a splash of water and pinch of salt to pan, cover and let steam for 4 minutes.


Looking for more inspiring recipes?  Check out our Nourishing Spring Menu Plan!

Like what you see and want to learn more?  Please visit our website

Be well,

Janelle

5 Ingredient Vinaigrette

Spring is in the air and with it comes the promise of gorgeous and delicious spring and summer salads.  Many people eat salads with the best of intentions, but ruin their healthful creation by piling on gobs of unhealthy dressings.  Even those so called "lite" dressings, which may be low in calories, are chock-full of ingredients that are detrimental to your health.

store-bought processed dressing

Here is an example of a popular Italian dressing. First ingredient - canola oil! This is NOT a healthy oil. It causes low-level inflammation in the body, a precursor to disease.  Not to mention the other harmful ingredients such as monosodium glutamate (msg) and polysorbate-60.




What most people don't realize is how SIMPLE and DELICIOUS making your own, healthful salad dressings can be!  Below is a recipe for a home made, simple, 5 ingredient  spring strawberry vinaigrette made with all fresh, real-food ingredients. So simple to make, takes no more than a few minutes with just a few basic ingredients.

Spring Strawberry Vinaigrette

- 6 organic strawberries (medium)
- 1 small shallot or 1/4 white onion
- 2 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon raw, local honey

Remove stems from strawberries and cut in half.  Place in a food processor or VitaMix.  Chop the shallot or onion and add to strawberries.  Next add the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and honey.  Mixture should look like this pre-mixed:

dressing ingredients pre-mixed

Blend.  Poor in mason jar.  Voila!  Delicious home made vinaigrette to be served on any salad or used as a dip for veggies.  Makes 4 oz.  Keeps for a week in the refrigerator.

strawberry vinaigrette dressing

Olive oil is an extremely healthy oil in its uncooked state, providing loads of healthy omega-3's.  It is also rich in polyphenols which has anti-inflammatory properties (the very opposite of canola). That said, olive oil is not suited for medium or high-heat cooking as olive oil has a very low smoke point. Save your olive oil for dressings and marinades like our nourishing spring strawberry vinaigrette.

For your strawberries, it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that you choose organic.  Strawberries are on the "dirty dozen" list of one of the foods most highly contaminated with pesticides.  There are 54 pesticide residues confirmed by the USDA found on conventional strawberries, many being known carcinogens and neurotoxins.  Pesticides cannot be washed off of foods.  They are found in the meat of the fruit or vegetable.

This simple Spring Strawberry Vinaigrette is one of the recipes found in my Seasonal   Nourishing Spring Menu Plan. All of the recipes found in these plans are just as simple and nutritious as this dressing.  Full details here.  Weekly shopping lists provided and delivered straight to your inbox!

Be well,

Janelle

Interested in learning more?  Please visit my website.

Love, Forgiveness, and The Art of Healing

There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love. 
- Bryant H. McGill


Love, Forgiveness, and The Art of Healing

Have you ever eaten an entire package of cookies, chips, or crackers?  Or eaten enough pizza and soda until you felt sick?  Perhaps had too many desserts not knowing when to stop?  I have been listening to many folks talk about this recently, and it makes me wonder - why?  Is this simply a distraction to a larger picture?

Sometimes we overeat to distract us from emotional pain.  Have you ever noticed yourself eating when you are not hungry at all?  Perhaps you are lonely.  Or angry.  Or sad.  Or maybe some emotion you are not even aware of yet.

Regardless, it is some sort of hurt that you are holding on to.  Think about it, identify it, isolate it, recognize it, and confront it.

Freedom comes with Forgiveness

Tap into the Power of Forgiveness

Rather than self-sabotage, wouldn't it be more effective to address your uncomfortable feelings?  The best, most thorough, most divine perfect way to do so is through forgiveness.

Forgiving is not easy, not even for the most enlightened among us.  If you have been allowing your present health to be negatively affected and controlled by your past hurt, I urge you try implementing forgiveness utilizing these suggested steps:

1. Talk to sympathetic friends and family about your desire to forgive.  Talking with others is extremely comforting.
2. Write a letter to the person you'd like to forgive, even if that person is yourself.  You can decide whether or not to send it.  
3. Look at the situation from the other person's perspective - your perspective just might change.
4. Don't forget to forgive yourself.  We can often be our harshest critic.
5. Fully understand that you and you alone are responsible for your own attitude.  Don't let holding a grudge keep you from feeling free, open, and powerful in your own life.

Forgive.  Then watch how much easier your relationship with eating becomes.

Be well,

Janelle

Interested in learning more?  Please visit my website.

Perfectly Nourished Recipes

I'm in the process of giving my website a "face lift", and one of those changes was to get rid of the existing recipe page that I found to be clunky and difficult to navigate.  Going forward any new recipes will have their own individual post with instruction on how to prepare.  That said, many of my previous recipes are now homeless!

Rather than deleting forever, I decided to create this post to be a comprehensive repository for those recipes.  Keep scrolling to find the recipe you linked on over to review!

Banana Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Grain-free, gluten-free chocolate chip cookies

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups almond flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/3 cup melted coconut oil
• 1/4 cup organic maple syrup (can replace with honey, but will not have golden brown color)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup coarsely chopped dark chocolate (at least 70% cacao content)
• 1-2 bananas (depending on how thick you'd like the mixture)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper (may need two).
• In a large bowl combine the almond flour and baking soda. Mix well. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, coconut oil, and maple syrup. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well. Coarsely chop the chocolate until it is in bite-sized chunks. Measure one cup. Slowly fold in the chocolate chunks to the batter. Chop your banana into small pieces. Fold carefully into the mixture. Drop the batter on to the prepared cookie sheet(s), careful to leave enough room in between.
• Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown. Make sure to not over-bake. Let cool for at least 20 minutes prior to serving.

Cinnamon-Apple Grain Free Muffins

Grain-Free, Gluten-Free Fall Muffins

Ingredients

• 2 cups almond flour
• 1/4 cup arrowroot powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/3 cup raw, local honey or maple syrup
• 1 large egg (pastured)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 organic apples peeled, cored, and diced.

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare muffin tin with 8 muffin liners.
• In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl whisk together the wet ingredients. Keep diced apples separate. Stir the wet ingredients into the almond flour mixture and make sure everything is thoroughly combined. Fold in the apples. Spoon the mixture into the muffin liners.
• Bake for 25 minutes. Be mindful of your oven, however. Almond flour has a tendency to cook quickly so you may need to slightly adjust the cooking time. Toothpick should come out clean. Let muffins cool, then serve!
• ** Note - when measuring your coconut oil, make sure it is in its liquid state and not solid. Measuring in the solid state will not yield the proper amount of oil.

Vegan Cinnamon Oat Muffins

Vegan Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 cup organic (non-sweetened) apple sauce
• 1 teaspoon coconut oil
• 1/3 cup coconut palm sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 cup oat flour
• 1/3 cup raw cacao powder (unsweetened cocoa powder will do in a pinch)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup organic dark chocolate chips (or bar chopped into chunks

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin tin with paper muffin cups. Combine applesauce, coconut oil, coconut palm sugar, vanilla extract, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl thoroughly combine the oat flour, raw cacao powder, baking powder and baking soda. Add oat mixture to applesauce mixture. Mix until blended. Fold in chocolate chips.
• Spoon batter into muffin cups. Bake 20-22 minutes rotating the pan 1/2 turn after 10 minutes (to ensure even cooking). Muffins are done when tops are firm to the touch.

Banana Blueberry Grain-Free Muffins

Paleo Muffins

Ingredients

• 3 cups almond flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 3 large eggs (pastured)
• 4-5 mashed ripe bananas
• 1-2 cups organic blueberries (adjust to your liking, I like a lot of blueberries)

Instructions

• preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12 (8) muffin cups with paper liners. In a large bowl combine almond flour and baking soda. In a medium bowl whisk together the coconut oil and the eggs. Stir the wet ingredients into the almond flour mixture until thoroughly combined.
• Stir the mashed bananas into the batter, then fold in the blueberries. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes.
• optional: for more of a dessert, add a 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips (70% cacao mass) to the recipe.

Avocado-Style Deviled Eggs

Avocado Deviled Eggs

Ingredients

• 3 Organic Free Range Eggs
• 1 Ripe Avocado
• 2 scallions (or 1/8th white onion)
• 1 tsp ground mustard powder (or 1/2 tsp dijon mustard - add more to taste)
• Sea Salt to taste
• Paprika

Instructions

• Boil the eggs for approximately 12 minutes. Remove from heat and cool in ice water bath. After sufficiently cooled, remove shells. Slice eggs lengthwise (horizontally). Remove yolk and place in separate bowl. (I recommend utilizing 2 of the yolks and not using the third. Full of fat-soluble vitamins and good cholesterol, you can save it later for a snack!)
• With fork, mash yolks. Slice the avocado and scoop the meat into the bowl. Mix together with yolks. Add in the scallions (or white onion) and the ground mustard powder. Once the consistency is creamy, add sea salt to taste. Scoop the mixture into the egg whites. Place on serving dish and sprinkle with paprika.

Enjoy!!!!  I hope you like the new website.

Be well,

Janelle

Decadent Chocolate Recipe

Home made Raw Chocolate

It is  no surprise that I love chocolate.  This is for sure my food weakness.  With Valentine's Day that just passed, chocolate was in an endless supply.  That said, chocolate itself is NOT the enemy, it is all of the processed sugars, oils, artificial colors and flavorings, and soy lechiten (used as an emulsifier and is a dangerous endocrine disruptor) that is. Once I discovered this, my relationship with chocolate took on a whole new level.  It went from unhealthy to healthy in just a matter of a few ingredients!

I've modified this recipe from one of my favorite raw food chefs, Ani Phyo.  Ani uses cacao butter as the base for her chocolate with raw cacao powder as the additive, however I find that using coconut oil works just as well (and is a more readily available ingredient in most grocery stores).  Raw cacao is a superfood, as described in detail in a previous post. Coconut oil, although a saturated fat, contains essential lauric acid which has been proven to speed up weight loss, reduces the risk of heart disease and high blood pressure, and stimulates thyroid function.  If you'd like to learn more about the benefit of coconut oil, here is a link to a fantastic article that speaks more to this perfect food.

Raw Chocolate made with Coconut Oil

Easy Raw Chocolate Recipe:

1. Melt 1 cup unrefined coconut oil over low heat
2. Mix in 1/2 cup of cacao powder
3. Add in 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
4. Whisk and remove from heat

That's it!!

There are so many options you can do with this raw, superfood chocolate.  You can spread it in a pan and make raw chocolate bark with raisins and nuts.  You can put it in little molds and make solid raw chocolates. Add a little coconut cream in the middle and you have a delicious coconut truffle!  Or you can dip with fruit and make chocolate covered strawberries, bananas, and the like. Whatever you decide, make sure you place your delicious chocolate concoction in the refrigerator to set, for at least one hour.

Voila - a delicious treat that not only avoids all of the chemicals, sugars, and preservatives, but is actually nourishing for your body.  The best part?  I can honestly say that after months of eating good quality chocolate, the cheap and processed stuff doesn't taste appealing any longer.  Win win!!

Raw Chocolate Bark

How do you think you will use this recipe?

Be well,

Janelle

Interested in learning more?  Please visit my website.

Soul Food

Let yourself be silently drawn by the silent pull of what you really love.
- Rumi


Soul Food

Think for a moment of a food from your past, of one that makes you feel great when you eat it for no specific reason. Maybe it is macaroni and cheese, slow-simmered tomato sauce, ice cream cones, or pancakes. For me it is my Mom's Parisien-stuffing served at Thanksgiving (read: not healthy!).  Eating comfort foods (every now and then) can be incredibly healing, even though your rational brain may not find it highly nutritious.   

Food has the power to impact us on a level deeper than just our physical well-being. What we eat can re-connect us to precious memories, like childhood play times, first dates, holidays, our grandmother's cooking, or of our country of ancestry. Our bodies remember food from the past on an emotional and cellular level. Eating this food connects us to our roots and has youth-ening and nurturing effects that go far beyond the food's biochemical make-up.

Acknowledging what different foods mean to us is an important part of cultivating a good relationship with food. This month, when we celebrate loves and relationships, it's important to notice that we each have a relationship with food - and that this relationship is often far from loving. Many of us restrict food attempting to control our weight. We treat food as the enemy. We often abuse food, substituting it for emotional well-being. Others ignore food, swallowing it whole before even tasting it. 

What would your life be like if you treated food and your body as you would treat your beloved - with gentleness, playfulness, communication, honesty, respect, and love? The next time you eat your soul food, do so with awareness and without guilt. Enjoy all the healing and nourishment it brings you.​

Food Focus: Beans

Beans

Beans, or legumes, including peas and lentils, are an excellent source of plant-based protein. Beans are found in most traditional cultures as a staple food, offering grounding and strengthening properties that promote endurance. They offer a highly usable, highly absorbable, source of calcium for the body. A very inexpensive source of high nutrition, beans can be rich, delicious, and satisfying.

Lack of sexual energy is often due to overtaxed adrenal glands and kidneys. Beans are known for strengthening these organs (ever notice the shape of a bean?) and can help restore vital energy as well as sexual energy.

Beans have a reputation for causing digestive distress, but that is typically because they have been undercooked or not properly prepared. To help reduce gas-causing properties, soak beans overnight prior to cooking, increase cooking time, add spices like bay leaf, oregano or cumin, or add kombu (a sea vegetable) when cooking.   

Recipe of the Month: Easy Beans and Greens

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes

Yield: 2 - 3 servings

Ingredients:
1 can black beans (or pinto, red kidney - your choice)
1 bunch collard greens (or kale, spinach - your choice)
Your favorite toppings such as salsa, avocado, or guacamole and sour cream

 Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, heat drained beans.
2. Fill a separate medium saucepan with with 1-2 inches of water and bring to a boil.
3. Wash and chop greens (you can use the stem too) and add to boiling water.
4. Cook for 2-3 minutes until greens are bright green and tender. Drain water.
5. On a plate, arrange a portion of the greens, top with a portion of the beans and finish with a portion of the toppings of your choice.

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What is your Soul Food???

Be well,

Janelle

Interested in learning more?  Please visit my website.

True life is lived when tiny changes occur. 
- Leo Tolstoy

New Life New Hope

New Year, New You!

A lot of people begin the New Year by making resolutions. We've all been there. We take a vow to lose weight, exercise more, or spend more time with our family. We start the year with great intentions, but then we quickly relapse into old habits. Why is it so hard to stick to those New Year's resolutions?   

Here are some ways you can make your resolutions a reality this year.  First, focus on intentions:

1. Write down your intentions and keep them in a visible place, like taped to your bedroom mirror or the dashboard of your car.
2. Get to the source of whatever is keeping you in a rut. Are you in a stressful relationship that causes you to overeat? Are you stressed at your job and feel too tired to exercise after work? If you don't tackle the root of the behavior, it will be much more difficult to accomplish your goal.
3. Be clear about what your life will look like once you achieve your goal. If you resolve to go to the gym more, how will this benefit you? Get connected to the result of your action, and you will be more likely to stick to your plan.
4. Share your intentions with friends and family. Hold each other accountable for achieving your goals. If you want to go to the gym more, have a friend call you two or three times a week to check on you or invite them to join you.
5. Reward yourself with every little accomplishment. If your intention is to lose weight and you lose 1 pound per week, pamper yourself with a massage. (do not reward yourself with food)

Big changes do not require big leaps. Permanent change is more likely to happen gradually than through one big restrictive plan. Allow yourself to climb the ladder one rung at a time.  This is the premise of my teachings.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!​

Food Focus: Sea Vegetables

In traditional Chinese healing, sea vegetables correspond with the winter season and to the kidneys, adrenal glands, bladder, and reproductive organs. The balancing and cleansing properties of sea vegetables are known to help these organs as well as the hair, nails, and skin. Sea vegetables (or seaweed) provide a variety of minerals and vitamins, including calcium, iron, and iodine, and can help balance hormones and thyroid levels in the body. Eating too many processed foods or foods grown in mineral-depleted soil can result in lack of minerals in the body, leading to cravings for salty or sugary foods. Adding sea vegetables to your diet can help balance your energy levels and alleviate cravings.  

Recipe of the Month: Mighty Miso Soup

Prep time: 5 - 10 minutes
Cook time: 10 - 15 minutes

Yield: 4 - 5 servings

Ingredients:
4 - 5 cups spring water
1 - 2 inch strip wakame, rinsed and soaked 5 minutes in 1 cup of water until softened

1 - 2 cups thinly sliced vegetables of your choice (I recommend onions, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, and kale)
2 - 3 teaspoons barley miso
2 scallions, finely chopped

 Directions:

1. Chop soaked wakame.
2. Discard soaking water or use on houseplants for a boost of minerals.
3. Place water and wakame in a soup pot and bring to a boil.
4. Add root vegetables first and simmer gently for 5 minutes or until tender.
5. Add leafy vegetables and simmer for 2 - 3 minutes.
6. Remove about 1/2 cup of liquid from pot and dissolve miso in it.  Return it to the pot.
7. Reduce heat to very low; do not boil or simmer miso broth.
8. Allow soup to cook for 2 -3 minutes.
9. Garnish with scallions and serve.

TIP:  For an added twist, try adding cooked brown rice or quinoa at the start of making the soup.  

What are some of your intentions for the New Year?  If you need accountability, I'd be honored to offer you that support.

Be well,

Janelle

Interested in learning more?  Please visit my website.

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