Raw Food on the Food Network

I am very happy to report that The Food Network aired a show about The Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center in Arizona and how raw foods can help cure diabetes. Gabriel Cousens MD is the founder of Tree of Life and has helped thousands of people heal and become well through the use of Raw Living Food Nutrition. I consulted with him when i was trying to optimize my fertility to get pregnant. He has many fabulous books out but his latest, "There is a Cure for Diabetes" is about how you can cure diabetes using lifestyle changes including raw living food nutrition.

Green Juices and Smoothies

i love eating/drinking green juices and smoothies. i eat/drink green juices and smoothies everyday. they are an amazing way to get loads of nutrients into your body. the biggest difference between a "juice" and a "smoothie" is when you juice you strain out the fiber. fiber is beneficial in many ways including it helps to keep the colon clean, removes cholesterol, fat and toxins and therefore, helps to keep the digestive system functioning optimally. When you juice you take out the fiber and the juice is just loaded with nutrients. You can consume more juice and therefore, more nutrients. so both are beneficial and both should be done as often as possible.

many days, such as today, i do a combo of both. i load up my vitamix blender with a variety of greens, sprouts, etc. Today i did:

celery
cucumber
romaine
bok choy
kale- curly
red chard
collards
pea sprouts
broccoli sprouts
cilantro
and apple

i blended all the greens which filled the vitamix blender. i strained (using my nut milk bag) half the fiber from the greens and got a huge bowl of green juice. Next i blended my apple with what was left in the blender and then added it all together. it creates a delicious and nutritious half juice/half smoothie. then i added a few tbsps of spirulina and took my DHA supplement.

Experiment with a combination of juice and smoothies.

Live green and eat your greens!!

Be Well, kelly

Spinach Spirulina Salad

Here is a delicious and nutritious summer salad i put together tonight:

1 handful spinach
2 handfuls of arugula and baby lettuces
1 handful alfalfa sprouts
1 handful pea sprouts
1 avocado- chopped into chunks
1 red pepper- diced
5 cherry tomatoes
1 tbsp spirulina
squirt of hemp oil
juice of one lemon
1/4 tsp tumeric
1/4 tsp cayenne
a few shakes of himalayan seasalt
a sprinkle of hemp seeds and pumpkin seeds

This salad was sooo nourishing to my mind and body. i ate it while having a picnic on my front lawn with owen and mason. as mason says every morning when he wakes up, "its a beautiful day"!!!!

ENJOY!!

Live each moment to its fullest, kelly

Raw Yoga

I love the combination of my raw food lifestyle and daily yoga practice. the combination of the two help me to cleanse the mind, body and spirit and take my movement practice to the next level. when i'm clean on the inside my yoga practice is sooo amazingly focused and intense. when i say intense i do not mean that i have to work so hard at it. it is actually just the opposite. i feel light, fluid and can breathe and focus easily. on the other hand if i had a heavy raw meal the night before (such as a raw salad filled with nuts, seeds, avocado and olives or a gourmet raw treat such as raw pizza) i feel that my body is still spending energy digesting these foods and can not move and function optimally. when the digestive system is empty the body and mind can focus its energy on other things such as breathing, asanas (postures), focused attention and more.
when i eat a very cleansing diet i feel connected to life and "on top of my game". i feel connected with the people around me and to nature and living life to its fullest. a cleansing diet for me includes a day filled with fruits and veggies in very digestible forms. for example i may do:

tea
blended melons
green juices
green smoothies
shots of wheatgrass and E-3 live
green soups
fresh fruit
fresh cleansing veggies such as cucumber and celery
fresh cleansing herbs such as cilantro and parsley



test out how you feel when you give your digestive system a rest compared to how you feel when you overload your digestive system. a key to feeling well and vibrant is having good digestion.

Be Present,

kelly

Daily Menu

good afternoon everyone. it is a beautiful summer day and i just returned from a fabulous day at the park with my boys. both boys are now napping and i'm sitting here listening to my classical music and writing.

i often get asked what i eat on a typical day. first of all it is always changing. i listen to my mind, body and spirit and change my daily rituals, nutrition intake etc. according to what they need. the key for me is mindfulness and planning ahead. i continue to do my wellness journal every night and that helps me assess the day and determine what i need to do (or not do)the next day.

Here is a sample of my food intake for a day. I eat everything ORGANIC!!

-Wake with the boys around 6:15ish. Mason is usually my alarm clock. Owen is a sleeper so he sleeps another hour or two.
-Take my supplements with water: probiotic, digestive enzyme (some days), pre/post natal vitamin, D3, B-12/complex. i take all whole food supplements. i take a liquid B.
-Make and drink my tea. I LOVE having my tea in the morning. i vary the teas: Green, yerbe mate, red raspberry, pau d'arco and rooibos are my regular ones. most of the time it is green and yerbe mate. i grate in fresh ginger and juice of a lemon. the daily ritual of just making my tea is so gratifying. i sip on this for the early morning.
-Yoga (9:30ish)- i do a daily yoga class at a local yoga studio. i just don't feel the same when i don't do my yoga. it centers my mind, body and spirit. this time allows me to set my intentions for the day and to become aware of the state i'm in that day.
-blended melon. lately i've been loving blended cantaloupe. i also regularly do watermelon, honeydew and papaya. they are soo yummy and delicious!!
-green juice plain or sometimes with spirulina and/or chlorella and always with my DHA supplement. i do a daily green juice and vary my greens everyday. here is what i did today: celery, cucumber, romaine, dinosaur kale, red kale, red chard, collards, cilantro (i love cilantro and it is soooo cleasing too), green leaf lettuce, beet green and apple. i make approximately 50 oz and drink it in 2 servings. i may drink half as just the juice and the other half with spirulina and or chlorella for protein, iron, CA and more!!
-out to the playground, hiking or some outdoor activity with the boys
-today i had romaine wraps with celery, variety of sea veggies (wakame, sea lettuc, kelp and more), tahini, sprinkle of himalayan sea salt. i love this wrap!! then i made an additional sea veggie salad with all the same sea veggies and just put tahini and himalayan sea salt on it, mixed it all together and ate it with a fork.
-later i may have a little raw fermented sauerkraut, avocado and nori.


i feel best when i eat light. i have the most energy and function optimally when the digestion system is working less.

i'm currently breast feeding owen and plan to for about 2 years so i have to think about both of our needs. i often add in protein smoothies made with hemp protein and almond or nut and seed milks and superfoods like bee pollen, goji berries, marine phytoplankton and more.

a sample of one of owen's little meals is a mixture of avocado, banana, udo's choice oil (fabulous blend of omega 3s, 6s and 9s with DHA) and goji juice. he eats it all up!!!

i make mason daily shakes or ice creams that include: almond milk or coconut water, fresh or organic frozen fruit, some protein (sproutein, hemp etc), some fat (avocado, nuts/seeds, udo's choice oil, hemp/flax oil etc), other superfoods (bee pollen, spirulina, chlorella, mesquite, acai, goji berries and more). he loves them- and so do i!!

Stay tuned for more blog updates on my daily menu and the fabulous foods i feed owen and mason.

ENJOY!!

Eat Smart, Move Well and Live Green

kelly

Cacao Crazy

i am not a cacao person- i go for the carob if i want a "chocolate" taste. but in my last order to natural zing they sent me two samples of righteously raw cacao bars. today after i was done eating my banana, mango and strawberry "raw ice cream" (which is really just frozen fruit blended in my vita-mix) i decided to "just try a bite of each". well- i ate both bars and enjoyed and savored every bite!!! WOW!!! i ate them while i was listening to classical music, nursing owen and while mason was napping (so it was unusually quite). it was quite peaceful and amazing. i tried the maca bar and the caramel bar. the caramel bar was the best out of the two. but i suggest these bars to anyone who needs a cacao fix. you can get these bars at www.naturalzing.com. you can also go to my website to the "store-natural zing" and connect via my site. i will not make a habit out of eating cacao because it just does not make me feel optimal. i often feel foggy and out of balance. but they were yummy to eat and great for people who love cacao!!

ENJOY!!! kelly

My Daily Wellness Update

Ok- so i have many updates and so many things i want to share. First my two little boys are thriving. Mason is the most energetic, strong-minded and creative child i know- but of course i'm going to say that because he is mine and i love everything (almost everything) he does. i love all his little stories he tells me. he loves to fly high in the sky in his little airplane. Then there is my little owen. he is just the perfect baby. he knows how much i value my sleep and has been sleeping through the night most nights for a long time now. he is just happy and content and smiles at everyone. he loves to cuddle and i love cuddling and massaging him.

i spend as much time with the boys as i can. my job is to open their eyes to everything the world has to offer and then they can choose what they want to learn more about. my time with the boys is often spent outside in nature, at parks, reading books, coloring, painting, in the kitchen creating healthy fun meals and snacks, at the library, on playdates, etc. this area has sooo much to offer kids. i want to raise boys that are happy and that find what truly makes them happy. i don't want them to just go along with the typical mainstream things. i want them to be true to themselves.

i continue to journal daily about life, food, wellness etc. journaling helps me reflect on the day and set my intentions for the next day.

one key to my own daily wellness is staying present and mindful about everything i do. i try to eliminate anything that does not mean something to me or is a waste of time. my time is so precious and i want to enjoy and savor every moment. i make sure that each thing i choose to do really has a purpose in my life. Previously i would occasionally relax by watching a show at the end of the day. now i spend that time journaling more, getting more sleep, reading, meditating etc. Lately i've been listening to the Raw Mom Summit on-line and it is so inspiring. it is all about eating raw living foods, raising a raw family, living the best life ever and more.

remember, if you are interested in something inundate yourself with it and learn as much as you can about it.

i also love my spa time. my spa time includes getting massages, doing home facials, exfoliating and more. the home facial treatment i do regularly is a blend of manuka honey and avocado and you just spread it on your face and let it on for 30 minutes. your skin is silky smooth after this. i also love conditioning my hair with jojoba oil. i put this in in the morning and then wash it out that night. a daily treatment everyone should do is body brushing. this helps get the lymphatic system moving and exfoliates the skin.

Yoga is still my sacred space. it is what connects me mind, body and spirit. i do a yoga class almost everyday. days i do not do my yoga class i practice at home. but i love the energy in a class setting. i've been biking more lately and i love it!! i love getting out in nature alone with all that time to just move and think.

i'm usually at the studio and/or working tuesday-thursdays and home with the boys friday-monday. this schedule is perfect for me at this time in my life. it gives me a balance of being mommy and doing the work i love. it is hard for me to say no to work because i truly love the work i do. i love helping people transform their life and become healthy, achieve wellness and love the life they live. i love teaching people how to love healthy food and create daily rituals that they thrive on. but right now it is the kids that need me most.

does everyone know about the fabulous new farmer's market in bethesda. its called the central bethesda market. i love it!! anything that brings fresh local produce to bethesda i love. check it out!!!

What have i been eating lately? i always get this question. here are some typical meals i've been doing:

my daily green juice: celery, cucumber, romaine, kale, chard (green, rainbow, red), kale, collards, bok choy, napa cabbage, and a variety of other greens. i vary the greens each day. i juice some and keep the fiber in some. next i blend 3 fuji apples in with the greens that i kept the fiber with it and then i mix it all together. i make 50-60 oz per day. i drink it after my morning yoga or exercise till early-mid afternoon. in half of it i mix spirulina, chlorella, bee pollen or other green powders. the other half i just drink as is. i love my green juices!!!! i can't go a day without them.

i've been loving a sauerkraut salad i do: i mix my raw fermented sauerkraut with cilantro, variety of sprouts, tomatoes, carrots and avocado. next i put it in sheets of nori and eat it like a wrap. i love these lately. my body is craving the sauerkraut and avocado!!! i sprinkle kelp and other sea veggies on it too.

i've also been loving some raw ice creams i do. my favorite right now is just plain old banana ice cream. freeze bananas and blend. sooo simple. this is mason's favorite too. sometimes i add carob, mesquite and lacuma which is totally yummy too.

tonight i did a great ice cream/pudding combo. i did frozen bananas, strawberries and mango, coconut water, hemp protein powder, acai powder, mesquite powder and flax seed. i blended it all up and it was sooo smooth and creamy. i then sprinkled more mesquite and ground flax on top and it was fabulous!!!

i have been breastfeeding owen and he is now also eating banana, avocado, apples and pears. he loves his bananas and avocado!!!

i love the summer because you can be outside all the time. i love all the fabulous produce too- fresh berries and melons. i love the melons. Lately i blend them up and they are soooo creamy. the best are blended papaya or blended cantaloupe. try it!!!

ok- that's it for now.

be well and enjoy the summer!!!

kelly