From the category archives:

raw foods

Rawkos! A travel food.

Happy Labor Day weekend! It’s time to celebrate all the toil and sweat you’ve put into you’re year. 

Here’s a fantastic recipe that will keep you in the summer mode. This is a popular favorite from my Seasonal Cleanses (Join me in September for a healthy kick-start)–It’s great food to travel with and requires NO COOKING. Rejoice the Rawko!  It’s like a taco but it’s raw – not raw meat – raw foods (means no cooking, more enzymes, more energy). 

Wraps

  • Bunch of collard greens*, rinsed and de-stemmed – leaving 2 halves (depends on how many people are eating– figure 2-3 wraps per person)
  • Pat those dry
Sweet Cucumber Salsa
  • 1 apple – peeled, cored, diced
  • 1 cucumber – peeled, seeded, diced
  • 1 medium sweet yellow onion – diced
  • parsley and/or cilantro – washed and diced
  • a few pinches of Celtic sea salt (this is a high mineral salt- very good for you)
  • Fresh squeezed lemon
  • Add all ingredients together, then add in salt and lemon – make sure it really gets on that onion! Toss, let sit. 
Rawko “meat”
First, let me say, I am not anti-meat, I am pro sustainably-raised, grass-pastured meat*. I am pro health for our bodies, and health for the planet. So why the non-meat tacos – er- rawkos? Because they are delicious. Because raw foods pack an amazing amount of energy and vitality, and because everyone loves new and exciting foods that make them feel good with no negative repercussions.  So here you go:
  • 1 -2 cups of raw organic walnuts (again, depending on how many people you are feeding)
  • 2-6 TBS of gluten free tamari (go easy on this — it can get real salty quick)
  • Add to a high speed blender or food processor and blend it up
Making Rawkos
  • Lay  your collard wrap on a flat surface
  • Spread 1-2 tsp of the rawko “meat” onto the wrap length-wise
  • Add some salsa (this offsets the heavy flavor of the walnuts nicely)
  • Here, I added some sunflower sprouts for some more green and texture
  • Roll up and enjoy. 
You can pre-roll these and eat them on a car ride — or pack the ingredients separately and take to work, beach, or party. 
*When I travel I also make  an organic turkey and goat cheese wrap that you can eat in the car. Just add shaved onions and apple. Divine. 
Let me know what you think. Happy Labor Day Weekend. 

 

 

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Best picnic salad ever.

With all the picnics and outdoor bar-b-ques and joyful summer happenings abound, I thought I’d share this quick and tasty salad.

I made up the other day when meeting a friend for a picnic in Prospect Park (Brooklyn).

On a side note about BBQs and parties and keeping your summer figure, I employ a method I like to call:

“I’ma bring what I’m gonna eat. I’ll gladly share it with you.”

This way, I know if I show up and my only options are pulled pork, pig candy (please don’t ask), garlic bread, and a paltry salad, I’ve got myself covered with something that I know I want to eat, I know I enjoy, and I can share it with others. (You may recall my super bowl Sexy Pie post).

So here’s a refreshing summer salad for you to share with friends!

Oh! I almost forgot — the best part of this salad is that it is s u p e r quick to pull together. To recap, it’s the best becasue, it’s tasty, it’s easy to make, it appeals to many, and it’s good for your looks. I’m open to names for this one. Post below.

Best picnic salad. Ever.

Ingredients:

1 carrot

1 beet

1 cucumber

1/3 white onion (or bunch of scallions)

1 apple

1/2 -1 TBS Apple Cider Vinegar (raw)

1-2 tsps Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Celtic sea salt (most mineralizing salt) to tatse

Optional Fancy Stuff:

Chopped up fresh mint

Chopped up spinach

 

Directions:

1. Wash and peel all vegetables .

2. Grate all vegetables with cheese grater – use the larger holes

3. Also grate the onion. Don;t grate the green onions if that’s your onion source. Chop those.

4. Mix together.

5. Add vinegar, olive oil, and salt to taste.

6. Putt on a snazzy sun hat and waltz out the door.

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The Top 15 Benefits of Cleansing!

One of the biggest surprises I’ve had in my practice is the resoundingly huge interest in cleanses. I field lots of questions on this subject and thought a quick little post on the Top 15 Benefits of Cleansing would give you a clear idea of  what you can expect from a healthy and safe approach to cleansing and detoxifying naturally.

The Top 15 Benefits of Cleansing

  1. Improve and even out energy levels
  2. Reset the body’s metabolism
  3. Get rid of toxins
  4. Reduce inflammation
  5. Lose excess weight and toxic fat
  6. Release cellulite
  7. Feel lighter & reduce bloating
  8. Improve digestion and Clear up the skin
  9. Eliminate cravings
  10. Give your body a chance to heal
  11. Alleviate food sensitivities and allergies
  12. Get the detox ‘glow’
  13. Break out of negative thinking and unhealthy patterns
  14. Reduce anxiety and “monkey brain”
  15. Reset your health and have a fresh start and healthier, happier, sassier lifestyle

Get ready for The Early Spring Cleanse!

In a few weeks I will be kicking of a BRAND NEW Early Spring Cleanse. This is a perfect cleanse for everyone because it goes for 4 weeks and it gets you totally primed and ready for Spring. It is whole foods based, it’s incredible and invigorating, and most importantly it GETS RESULTS.

I’ve been working on it for the last 6 weeks (following it myself) and the results are nothing short of spectacular. I feel lighter, trimmer, (and I look lighter and trimmer) my head is clear, my mood upbeat, and well… you just read the list, you get the idea.

Leave a comment below, post to FB and Tweet to get on the earlier bird discount list and qualify for an extra special bonus!

To your health!

~Nicole

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5 Simple Tools to Beat the Winter Blues

Many people are feeling the winter blues. We’ve had a cold and precipitous winter, but take heart! In 2 months it will be April. The flowers will be blooming, the spring shoots will be coming up.

NOW is the perfect time to start readying yourself physically, emotionally and spiritually for spring. The days are getting longer, it’s all very exciting. So let’s get our bodies into shape for the burst of energy and joy that happens when spring finally breaks!

Here are 5 tools you can use to beat the Winter Blues, enjoy the last of winter, and prepare your body for spring.

1. Eat dark, leafy greens.

And if you’re doing that already? Eat more. Dark leafy greens promote light, flexible energy. They are nutritionally dense powerhouses and packed with chlorophyll.  Chlorophyll is created by soaking up the sun’s bright energy.

Chlorophyll is to a plant as  blood is to a human. When you eat greens in abundance during the cold, bleak winter months, you are summoning the essence of spring and summer.

Just look at all the pictures in this post. Which does the Bok Choy Recipe picture (below) remind you more of?

Flushing your body with greens is one of the most rewarding things you can do.

2. Make at least 51% of your food raw.

Many of us gravitate to cooked foods during the winter months, but if you eat a little over half of your diet in raw veggies, you can start to release weight, reduce inflammation and lower cholesterol (to a name a few things). Raw foods contain incredible enzymes and nutrients that get lost once we cook our food past 108º. The way I like to eat raw veggies in the winter is to take them out of the fridge well before I consume them – this way they are room temp, and not cold! Use raw foods to start the slimdown down, reduce inflammation, and get ready for spring.

3. Capture more time.

Consider winter a retreat. Winter is the perfect time to go inward and s l o w down. It’s a good time to do a gentle food cleanse (winter cleanse coming soon).  Use this time to connect with your spiritual side, start new habits, reflect, stretch, create new projects. If you’ve got kids that are going bonkers – start a project like building a birdhouse and readying it for spring.

4. Take a liquid Vitamin D supplement.

I’m not too big on supplements but there a few I reccomend. Vitamin D3 is one of them. Almost everybody is low in this hormone (it is not a vitamin) and recent studies suggest that Vitamin D deficiency can contribute to infertility, cancer and other diseases. Simply put, I find when I up my Vit D, I’m just happier.

5. Eat seasonally.

As you match nature’s rhythms, you sync up with them. Winter doesn’t feel so miserable and spring feels much closer.  Focus on soups, beans, winter greens, squashes, sweet potatoes, and warming teas. And don’t forget to eat 51% raw.

Here’s a surprisingly delicious recipe for baby bok choy and mushrooms. It tastes like it’s cooked, but it is raw, fresh and full of enzymes and nutrients that will give you a lift.

Bok Choy and Mushroom Salad

Serves 1

This is easy and quick — experiment with other vegetables

Ingredients:

1 head of baby bok choy – keep leaves intact, chop stems

1 handful of shitake, cremini, or oyster mushrooms – clean and slice to desired thickness

Dressing:

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup wheat free tamari

2 cloves of garlic

Directions:

1. Wash, drain and prep bok choy and mushrooms

2. Add oil, tamari and garlic  to food processor or high speed blender and blend until smooth

3. marinate salad with half of the dressing (save the other half) and let sit for 15 minutes to a few hours. The longer the salad sits, the more wilted and cooked tasting it will become.

Let me know what you think!

How do you beat the winter blues?

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