Sunday, January 20, 2008

Healthy Crackers and Nut Butters

For those of you who love the crisp sensation of crackers but don't eat them because most crackers are not very nutritious, well I have a few wonderful choices for you. In the raw food world there are many types of dehydrated crackers that you can eat as plane crackers, use as an open-faced sandwich or just spread something on them and enjoy.

Two of my favorite dehydrated crackers, or this company calls them "crisps", are made by Mauk Family Farms (www.maukfamilyfarms.com). They are called "Mineral Crisps" and "Breakfast Crisps". Check out the website for more details but the minerals crisps are made of dehydrated pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, flax seeds and more. The Breakfast Crisps are made of dehydrated buckwheat, flax and include raisens and gogi berries. Both crisps are extremely nutritious. My favorite way to eat the minerals crisps is to spread either pumpkin seed butter or tahini on them and enjoy every bite. My favorite way to eat the breakfast crisps is to spread them with almond butter or cashew/brazil nut butter. I get these crackers at My Organic Market.

When you are purchasing nut butters be sure they are truly raw organic nut butters. Some labels can say raw but not truly be raw. You can purchase truly raw nut butters from www.naturalzing.com or www.rejuvenative.com. Two good brands are artisana and rejuvenative foods. Whole Foods carries some of the rejuvenative nut butters. They are expensive but well worth the price. Remember, your health is priceless.

Another brand of crackers that I love are lydia's organics. They make not only fabulous crackers but also great raw granola and breakfast cereals. My favorite crackers are the sunflower seed bread, luna nori crackers and green crackers. I love spreading tahini and pumpkin seed butter on these too. You can sprinkle a little kelp on top for some added iodine. Check out www.lydiasorganics.com or www.naturalzing.com.

To make an open-faced sandwich on any of these crackers just take the cracker of choice and spread it with spread of choice (my favorite is tahini) and then layer on the fun stuff. My favorite layers are sprouts, sun-dried tomatoes, avocado and a sprinkle of kelp!!!

Here are my wellness rituals from yesterday:

woke around 6:30
warm water with lemon and msm powder
took my b-complex and D3 supplements
elliptical 30 minutes
2 oranges
cup of green tea: I've been drinking warm tea lately. I switch between green tea, yerba mate and yogi detox tea
9am yoga class: one and a half hours of vinyasa flow yoga- i love this class!!!! if i could do a full class of yoga every morning before i start my day i would.
12pm large energizing shake: raspberries, blueberries, gogi berries, my green juice (already prepared with kale, chard, cilantro, parsley, apple, lemon, carrots, E3 live, wheatgrass), coconut water, pure synergy green powder, maca powder, hemp protein powder, acai powder, bee pollen, mesquite powder and a date. This shake is such a nutritious treat.
supplements: dha, biotin, multi-pre/post natal
4:30 salad: mixture of greens, sprouts- alfalfla, arugala, clover, avocado, kelp with dressing of hemp oil and apple cider vinegar
5:30 mineral crisps with tahini spread
8-9 relaxed before going to sleep

Enjoy your crunchy new crackers!!! kelly

Sunday, January 6, 2008

What a Fabulous Day!!

It was the most beautiful day today (sunday jan 6th). I woke early 4:00 am just before Mason woke at 4:30. I got 30 minutes on my elliptical machine in before he woke. I always feel better when I get movement in first thing in the morning. Every saturday and sunday I do a yoga class and this morning's class was particularly great. One movement just flowed into the next and my breath effortlessly linked each movement. I felt strong and powerful. My afternoon was spent playing outside with Mason at the playground. We kicked the soccer ball around with all the other kids. We jumped in and out of the leaves many many many times. We ran after the dogs in the park. We went down and up the sliding board at least 20 times. I am grateful for every moment I share with him. I can't wait for spring when we can be outside like to today everyday. It is so important to spend time in nature. I do not like the cold so i tend to be in nature more in the fall, spring and summer. Today was very refreshing.

My wellness rituals today:

woke early
water, msm, b-complex, D3
elliptical 30 minutes
was going to make juice but mason woke early
ate 1 mango, 1 papaya, 2 oranges
1 1/2 hour vinyasa flow yoga class at Hot Yoga- no it is not Bikram- it is vinyasa flow yoga in a room heated to about 90 degrees.
grocery shopping
skin brushing, exfoliation, hot cold shower, tongue cleaning
shake: gogi berries, blue berries, strawberries, green powder, E-3 live, maca, mesquite, hemp protein, bee pollen, cacao
pre/post natal, dha
ate red peppers
ate nori rolls: sundried tomato pate (soaked sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds, sundried tomatos, olives, spinach, garlic, cilantro all blended up), avocado, sprouts (arugala, clover, alfalfa). I love these rolls!!

I feel refreshed and energized.

GET REGULAR MASSAGES:

Massages are beneficial in so many ways. I used to go for a massage every other week however, since having Mason I go once a month. It is my time to relax and rejuvenate. I feel an hour and a half is a good amount of time for the practitioner to get to all the body parts well. While I'm getting a massage I practice deep breathing techniques to increase the benefits for my mind and body. I recommend that everyone get some form of massage on a regular basis. It also helps to think about the body part that the practitioner is working on. I benefit most from deep tissue massage. With all the exercise and activity I do it is great to have my muscles released with deep pressure. It is important to find a practitioner who you see regularly because he/she will get to know your body allowing you to benefit even more from the work.

My wellness rituals on 1/5/07:

Slept in and woke around 8 (my husband got up with Mason)- occassionally I sleep in to allow my body and mind some extra rest. Plus, my little one is sick and I felt like I may be getting something so I wanted to stay well-rested. I rarely miss my saturday morning yoga class but this saturday I decided sleep and rest were more important.
warm water with lemon, msm
supplements- B-complex, D3
drank detox tea- herbal medicinal brand
drank yerba mate tea
I was enjoying relaxing with my teas today.
Ate 2 mangos and 3 oranges
Massage!!!- This one was given to me as a gift by a client. One of the best gifts is a gift certificate to your favorite massage therapist. Thank You!!
Salad filled with a variety of greens and sprouts, avocado, kelp and olives. Dressing of flax oil, apple cider vinegar and lemon juice.
I ate very light today to allow my body to rest. When you eat too heavy the body uses all its energy on digestion and not healing.

I received an email asking about my water intake. I drink water throughout the day. I do not drink 1 hour before eating and 1 hour after eating as it disrupts the digestion of food. I vary my water: warm water with lemon, water with msm or cucumber water. Cucumber water is my favorite. It is so clean and refreshing. Always drink as pure filtered water as possible. I'm still experimenting with the best type of water in regards to reverse osmosis, distilled etc. I'll keep you updated with what I decide.


Namaste

Friday, January 4, 2008

Staying on Track with Goals

Are you staying on track with your new year's goals? The best way to be certain that you accomplish your most important goals is to create very specific actions steps for each goal. Create daily action steps that you can take that help you reach your long term goal. Also, revisit your goal book once a week to revise goals and to remind yourself of your goals. Be sure to get support from the people around you.


Here are my wellness rituals from yesterday (1/3/07)

woke
warm water, lemon, msm
supplements: B-complex, D3
elliptical 30 minutes with intervals
yoga, stretching, breathing
while making my juice i ate: 3 oranges, cherries with bee pollen sprinkled on them
approximately 1 liter of green juice: kale, chard, cilantro, parsley, pea sprouts, cucumber, celery, carrots, apples, lemons, ginger, wheatgrass, E-3 live
supplements: whole food pre/post natal, DHA
skin brush, exfoliate, tongue scrape
to the studio to see patients and clients
workout- pilates and gyrotonic at studio
2 more liters of green juice throughout the day with a variety of superfoods: spirulina, green powder, bee pollen
30 minutes meditation/breathing at studio
ate raw tomatoes and 2 red peppers while preparing dinner for mason and me
nori salad rolls: salad rolled in nori rolls- salad made of mixed greens, alfalfa sprouts, clover sprouts, cilantro, avocado, olives, kelp, dulse- dressing: hemp oil, apple cider vinegar, miso
3 italian flavored flax seed crackers
1 cup green juice
face mask of raw honey and leave in hair conditioner by sea chi organics
bedtime at 9

i will continue to write out some of my daily wellness rituals to give you motivation and ideas for your wellness rituals.

enjoy. have a wonderful day.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year Everyone!

I love starting a new year. I wrote all my goals for the next year and action steps for the most important ones. I love the feeling of starting new especially after I just got done doing a juicefeast detox. I feel energized and ready to focus on the things I want to accomplish this year. Remember, energy flows where attention goes. So put your attention on the things you want. Make one of your goals to have the best year ever.

My clients and patients are always inquiring about what I eat and what are my daily rituals. So this year I'm going to include some of this info in my blog. Here is what I ate today:

January 1, 2008

Woke 4:15- yes, i'm an early riser. I get up prior to my 14 month(mason) getting up so I can do my things and be ready to focus my attention on him when he wakes up.

Warm water, msm, b-complex, vit d-3

Elliptical machine 30 min

5:30 whole papaya

6:30 bowl of organic cherries

8:00 drank 1 liter greens juice: kale, swiss chard, dandelion greens, spinach, cilantro, parsley, celery, cucumber, carrot, apple, lemon, ginger, E-3 live, wheatgrass

10:00 Yoga sun salutations/Stretching/Breathwork

11:30 shake: strawberries, blueberries, cherries, gogi berries, cacao, maca, hemp protein, mesquite, bee pollen

DHA, pre/post natal vitamins

dry brushing, shower- hot/cold/hot/cold, tongue scraper

3:30 Drank ¾ liter of green juice (same as above)

5:30 raw organic tomatoes and red pepper

nori salad wrap: nori roll filled with salad made of: greens- mixed herb, cilantro and watercress, sprouts- clover and arugala, avocado, olives and kelp. Dressing: hemp oil, miso, apple cider vinegar.

6:15 ¼ liter green juice.

8pm- bedtime


Enjoy!! Namaste.