Snack Attack!

In anticipation for learning about raw foods and super foods in school in the upcoming week, I nabbed these at Whole Foods as a snack. (They also sell them at Organic Avenue when I was there).  They’re 100% organic Spirulina Super Chips. With all organic ingredients of sesame seeds, bananas, coconut, dates and spirulina, they are pretty yummy. While raw diets don’t work for everyone, people who have success have noticed an increase in their energy levels, the disappearance of digestion issues and mood swings.

If you’ve tried this chips or others, let me know what you think!

Little Shop of Juices (Smoothies and Raw Foods)

Before Hurricane Irene hit, I made a trip up to NYC.  For a while I’ve had my eye on Organic Avenue,  a boutique which provides high quality juice cleanse programs, smoothies and raw foods.  They’re similar to Blue Print Cleanse, which I tried back in the spring and have to say I was not a fan.  Organic Avenue have five locations throughout NYC and I sauntered into the Upper East Side store.

The place was packed for a Friday.  They have so many varieties of juices and tonics that it was hard to choose what to test out first – Watermelon Juice, Blueberry Spirulina Smoothie, Mint Chip LOVE* Smoothie, and Green LOVE* were a few of the others I was considering.  With lunch 45 minutes and 6 blocks away I opted for the Green Lemonade to keep things light and refreshing.

It was great! -- 16oz in a cute (but seriously heavy) glass jar.  It contained: purified alkaline water, Lemon, Lime, Ginger, Agave, Himalayan Salt, Cucumber, Celery, Spinach.  Very delicious!

If you’re looking to do a cleanse they do ship to Philly and the juice containers will be plastic, not the cute glass ones. But the food they will not ship. Bummer!  Until they come to Philly, I’ll be adding a juicer to my Christmas list. And if you're ever in New York I suggest popping in to check them out!

Dairy-Free in OC

Frozen yogurt shops are popping up all over Philadelphia like chicken pox...Sweet Ending, Yogorino, Tutti Frutti and Old City Frozen Yogurt.  It's another food trend. All of which I steer clear of because yogurt = dairy = me not happy.

Yesterday, I grabbed lunch with my mom after a mid-morning lithe class, at the beautiful Old City studio in my soon to be new neighborhood (I'm moving in September).  The sun was shining, humidity was absent from the air and it was just a flat out beautiful day.  After lunch, I wanted to head over to Old City Frozen Yogurt because a friend told me they had a dairy-free flavor. In disbelief that they would cater to the dairy-free minority of Philadelphia, I needed to check this out for myself.

Well believe it my friends, they do have a dairy-free sorbet! And it's pretty good! Mango-tango is your only option though. But you no longer have to feel left out when your friends want to partake in the Frozen Yogurt trend of dessert.

You serve yourself and add as many toppings as you'd like (I added blueberries and coconut to mine) and then you pay by how much it all weighs.  And they're yogurt and sorbet doesn't contain any high fructose corn syrup - another plus! Located at 229 Market Street, they're across the street from another dairy-free friendly dessert spot, Franklin Fountain.

Green Love.

The first time I ever tried kale, I couldn’t get past it’s rough texture. It just tasted so raw. “But it’s so good for you,” I just kept telling myself.  Well good-for-you-food should taste good.  So, here is a recipe I’ve been hooked on that’s easy to make, disguises kales ‘raw’ taste, and is yummy!

What you’ll need:

4 tablespoons water, divided 

6 cups chopped kale, swiss chard or collard greens, tough stems removed 

(I hate measuring. Especially greens. So I just used a bunch of kale – the amount that comes in the twist tie at Whole Foods. I also don’t like chopping so I just rip the leaves from the stalk. Trust me it’s faster and no one cares about how lovely your kale is chopped!)

2 tablespoons tahini (Tahini is ground sesame seeds and has a great nutty flavor. Be sure to mix it really good before going for your tablespoons.)

2 tablespoons orange or lemon juice (I keep a bag of clementine’s in my fridge for recipes that call for a small amount of orange juice. The juice from one clementine worked here!)

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

Do:

Heat 2 tablespoons water in a large skillet over medium heat. 

Add greens to cook, tossing occasionally, until wilted/turn a bright green color, about 5 minutes. Drain well. Let cool. 

In a large bowl, whisk together tahini, orange juice, remaining 2 tablespoons water and garlic. Add greens, toss to coat and enjoy immediately.

Weekend Review.

I spent this weekend attending the Healthy Living Summit, a gathering for bloggers focused on healthy living, which was held right here in Philadelphia.  One of the best parts about it was spending solid time with my favorite person, Ali Shapiro! Also, gathering a group of people who have similar interests can be quite empowering.  Friday night was a cocktail party at Reading Terminal after hours.  I find that place to be quite stressful during the day so it was nice to see it transformed for a social gathering.  Saturday was a day full of break-out sessions and speakers. I certainly learned a lot (my head was spinning my Saturday night) and will be incorporating some of the topics discussed here, so stay tuned! You can find excepts from some of the sessions on my Twitter account, @JessicaPro.

PS. On the right hand side of the blog here, I've added a link if you would like to be added to my Health Coaching Newsletter.  They'll be sent out in moderation so I won't be flooding you inbox. xoxo Jess

A Great Grain.

One of the topics this week in school is about carbohydrates, the effects of high-carb vs. no-carb diets and carb pros and cons.  I’ve been experimenting with some recipes and new grains and found the characteristics of millet particularly interesting.

Millet is quite old, dating back thousands of years and is an extremely nutritious and hardy crop that grows well under harsh or dry conditions. This sparked my interest since food has energy, which is transferred to the human or animal upon consumption and digestion.  Therefore, I thought this would be a perfect grain to try out since I’ve been lithing quite a lot putting my body under more then normal strenuous activity.  Millet is also gluten-free and is soothing especially for indigestion or morning sickness. It’s also great to eat in rainy weather.  With the monsoons we’ve been having, this is perfect timing.

I made this recipe prior to teaching a class at 8:15pm. I’ll often get home after a late class and be hungry for another meal but this kept me satiated and full of energy until 9am the next morning, something that rarely happens for me since I get hungry every two hours these days. That is another great characteristic of whole grains.  They are absorbed slowly by the body providing sustainable and high-quality energy. 

Curried Millet

You’ll need:

1 cup millet (rinsed) – you can find this in the bulk aisle

½ cup crushed cashews

3 tablespoons pumpkin seeds

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 teaspoon grated ginger

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 cups water

Do:

Boil the water in a pot

Place remaining ingredients in the pot, bring to boil 

Cover and reduce heat to low, and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed

Fluff with a fork and enjoy warm

Image via pinterest

A Real Cut Above.

Watermelon has always been my favorite food.  If you leave me alone in a room with a watermelon, I will eat the whole thing.  It’s sweet, juiciness is extra special on a warm summer day.  A perfect cooling, hydrating treat!

The only issue is getting a knife through some of these suckers. Trying to cut up a watermelon can sometimes feel like a Hulk Hogan wrestling match. It’s a battle. Besides, who likes to work for their food? I don’t.

So invest in this weapon: kuhn rikon watermelon knife. It’s light as a feather and makes cutting through the toughest largest melon effortless! It has little melon seed holes on the blade that prevent the fruit from sticking as you cut. So now you can grab a great melon from the farmers market and get cutting. Only a few more weeks left of summer! Others have told me about their success with this knife on other melons such as cantaloupe, honeydew and even some winter squash as the weather turns. It's also available for purchase on Amazon and Williams and Sonoma. 

Images via Pinterest

Crunchy.

I love granola. I had been making my own for quite some time but find that it never tastes as good as when it comes right out of the oven, hot and crunchy.  And certain store bought kinds make my stomach start talking and blood sugar spike, only to crash later on, leaving me reaching for more in merely an hour.

Meet Purely Elizabeth, “a line of all-natural and organic foods using nutritious alternative grains and superfood seeds, free of sugar, dairy, wheat and gluten.” The owner, Elizabeth, graduated from the school I am currently attending back in 2007.  Her granola can be found at Essene Market (I only know Whole Foods on South Street sells her baking products. I have yet to see her granola). You can also order online directly from her website and it get’s to you relatively quickly since they’re located in NYC.

Her granola comes in three flavors: cranberry pecan, original and pumpkin fig. All yummy! And they’re made with organic ingredients, gluten free oats, and low-glycemic sweeteners that won’t send you for a roller coaster ride.  Or make you feel guilty if you indulge with it just a bit. Purely Elizabeth granola also has quinoa (hello protein!) and chia seeds (omega-3 fatty acids, you need them)– something you don’t find very often in granola.

I enjoy having some in the morning with some plain coconut milk yogurt and berries from the farmers market or sprinkled on top of my salad for an extra crunch. 

Images from PurelyElizabeth.com

Come on, puddin'!

As a kid, I would always eat those chocolate pudding snack packs. Even Adam Sandler was eating them in Billy Madison. I was never a fan of yogurt but was always jealous of people who would peel off the foil tops on their yogurts and lick them like it was whipped goodness. Well, I one-upped them by whipping out my puddin' cup and licking the chocolate covered foil cover on that. Ha! Oh middle school lunch table wars...sorry, I digress.

Since then I have stopped licking foil and haven't had a cup of chocolate flavored vegetable oil, milk, and sugar  in quite some time. But I still love anything smooth, creamy and sweet! Especially this pudding recipe. It's another one that I'll eat directly out of the vitamix because it's just too good to wait for it to hit a bowl.

Avocado Banana Pudding
2 bananas, peeled (best to use really ripe ones since they're sweeter)
1/2 avocado
2 or 3 pitted dates


Combine bananas, avocado and dates in vitamix or food processor and puree until smooth.  If you'd like a topping, strawberries or blueberries taste great. It's a perfect (easy!) after dinner treat. Enjoy!

If you're going to save some for later, cover with plastic wrap but press it down directly on top of the pudding to keep it from turning really brown.

Images from Pinterest