2 Heirloom tomatoes chopped into 1/2 inch cubes

1/4 cup fresh basil – finely chopped

1/4 cup aged balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp olive oil

1/3 cup nutritional yeast

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tbsp diced red onions

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

Steamy days of summer have hit & I’ve been craving icy cold treats. Rather than traditional ice cream, keeping my energy high and digestion healthy with these easy and affordable treats.

Blended until smooth

2 mangos (chilled or frozen)

1/2 cup raspberries

1 tbsp almond butter

vanilla

spring water

Strawberry season is just a few weeks away but today’s warn weather made me crave an old childhood favorite.
My simple but delicious solution took minutes to make and I can indulge guilt free and stay eating low glycemic.
In blender I added:
1. a cup of frozen (no sugar added) strawberries
2. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3. 2-3 tablespoons cashed butter
4. 1/2 cup of spring water
5. A few drops of stevia extract
Blend
Pour over 5 tablespoons of chia seeds & stir well.
Popped it into the fridge for a couple hours and was delighted when I came back to check on it.

Are all those hours working at your desk taking a toll on your posture? Check out your side profile… is your head pushed a bit forward or are your shoulders starting to curve inward? Posture is an important component of a healthy body. As we age, building and maintaining our foundation is vital to the way we feel and the way we see ourselves.

Working out and muscle tone are obviously very important. But just like any other system we must find balance – I’m not talking about standing on one leg type of balance or even the ‘don’t overdo it’ balance. What I want to address is the balance of each muscle, and the shoulder in particular today. On the shoulder we have muscles on the front and on the back. Many of the exercises we do and movements throughout the modern day are strength training by focusing on pushing and pulling weight forward. These are great for toning arms and the front deltoids but by strengthening of one side and ignoring the other creates this imbalance and ‘shoulder slump’. Over time it can also shorted the muscles of the neck, and I know you want that long lean neckline.

So lets get to the good stuff – what exercises beat the curve and help reverse that slump?
Let’s start by working the opposing muscles on the back side of the shoulders.

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This video shows a 4 easy exercises you can add into your day. Take a 3 minute break before lunch to do some Wall Slides & what he refers to as No Money’s (I prefer to think of them as Opening to Abundance)

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History of Thieves Young Living’s Thieves essential oil blend was created based on the historical account of four thieves in France who protected themselves from the Black Plague with cloves, rosemary, and other aromatics while robbing victims of the killer disease. When captured, they were offered a lighter sentence in exchange for their secret recipe. Young Living’s proprietary Thieves oil blend includes clove, cinnamon bark, rosemary, lemon, and Eucalyptus radiata and has been specially blended to offer the same kind of defense. Thieves has been university tested and found to be highly effective against airborne bacteria.1 Utilizing the power and protection of Thieves essential oil blend, Young Living created an extensive line of plant-based household products. From toothpaste and mouthwash to cleaning products, hand soaps, and even throat lozenges, the Thieves product line provides safe, effective alternatives for use in the home.   1. Sushil K. Shahi, A. C. Sukla, et al., “Broad Spectrum Herbal Therapy against Superficial Fungal Infections,” Skin Pharmacol Appl Skin Physiol. 2000; 13:60–64.     Order Now

2 tablespoons goji berries

1/3 cup orange juice

1/2 lime, juiced

4 oz kombucha (original flavor)

optional 1/2 teaspoon raw honey

• Soak berries in orange juice for 30 minutes

• Blend and strain through a nutmilk bag.

• Shake goji-orange juice, lime juice, honey and kombucha juice in a shaker with ice.

• Strain into a martini glass, garnish with a lime wedge on the rim, and serve.

Quick and easy way to make a delicious green smoothie.

Why would you want to make  a green smoothie? How many salads do you eat every day? Green smoothies offer a tasty way to get your greens without the oils in salad dressings.

Leafy greens are packed with antioxidants, nutrient dense vitamins, minerals, living enzymes, amino acids (protein), and phytonutrients.

As perfect as greens are, you would have to chew each bite for close to twenty minutes until they were the creamy consistency required for your body to take maximum advantage of all the nutrition contained within them.

Smoothies are perfect for an on the go meal, prep one for breakfast and take one with you for a low-fat snack. Plus with smoothies you can add in leafy greens you would normally pass by in the market, when was the last time you had kale or collard greens?

Southern favorites like these are often cooked down with oils til they are limp and lose their rich color. Remember, color in your produce is an surface clue to it’s nutrient value. As you cook them and the color changes so does the nutrient density.

So to get started, you will need a blender. I personally use the Vitamix, but I certainly didn’t start off with this. I was perfectly content using my $40 department store blender for many smoothie years. But I must admit the initial expense is well worth the value, there are many days that I use the Vitamix 3 times. It takes minutes off my blending time and cleaning is a breeze! I can be in and out of the kitchen, smoothie in hand in under 5 minutes.

Making smoothies at home saves time and money, lots of money! Just like any recipe, when you make it at home, you know exactly what is going into your body!

Food is fuel, lets up the octane!

Add into your blender:

1. 1 1/2 cups fresh water
2. 2 cups leafy greens, kale/spinach/ collard greens, you choose
3. BLEND until it is a smooth color consistency
4. add in your fruits. Bananas make it smooth and creamy. I love using frozen berries or mango.
5. add in some dried stevia leaf or honey if you need extra sweetener
6. Blend it all together

Get started with one of these combos, one for every day of the week:

1. Spinach, mango – simple and surprising!

2. Kale, pineapple, mango

3. Collard greens, pineapple, banana

4. Spinach, pears, apples and cinnamon spice

5. Banana, grapes and parsley

6. Kale, blueberries and bananas

7. Romaine, banana, orange juice & fresh ginger

What’s your favorite green smoothie recipe?

Serve these virgin cocktails next time your girlfriends come over.

1/2 cup grapes

1/2 pear

1/2 cucumber

1 handful spinach

- optional fresh ginger  or dusted with nutmeg

This juice combo is so tasty, I like to serve it chilled in a martini glass with a grape on a toothpick where the olives used to be.
This is the new cocktail hour special.

For extra ‘zing‘ add some raw kombucha (found in the fridge section of your natural foods market or in higher end grocery stores) – for a kick that will fool anyone into thinking it’s a more traditional cocktail.

The start of the new year is always exciting. Twelve new months stand before us, filled with plenty of opportunity ripe for the taking. The best way to make the most out of the new year is to look back over the previous year and clean out all the clutter you’ve accumulated over the last year. After all, that awesome laptop you got for Christmas will look much better without the office clutter surrounding it. So, how do you go from cramped and cluttered to spacious and sparkling? Below are three tips you can put into action today to start demolishing the clutter mountain in your home.

1) Get Rid of the Obvious Clutter

So much of the “clutter” we see in our homes is nothing but trash and junk we haven’t thrown out yet. Often, there’s a sea of old receipts, fast food wrappers, and other junk that really doesn’t serve a purpose anymore in your home. It’s OK not to save every salsa jar or butter tub for re-use — throw them away and free up space in your home instead!

Many cities and towns even have specified times of the year when they relax the weight limits to allow citizens to throw away more than usual without an additional charge. the times vary, so make sure to check your city’s guidelines on the subject.

2) Sort Out The Essentials

We all have things we can’t live without that we use all the time. Why not separate those things out and get them organized? This time of year often leads to sales on shelves, containers, and sturdy boxes. A few storage bins and a couple of free hours can drastically change a room. Sorting out what’s essential will also lead to having a better idea of what’s really providing value to you, and what you simply assume is essential. Often, we purchase something, use it, and then buy something else that handles the task of the first product more efficiently or effectively. However, instead of throwing out the obsolete product, we tend to let it go off in storage. Repeat this process over the course of a year and that leads to quite a bit of clutter taking up space in the house!

3) Get Rid of the “Someday” Items

Have you ever held back from throwing something away because you might have a use for it “someday”? That’s what we mean by a “someday” item. It starts out innocent enough, but can grow into a real problem if not checked into on a regular basis. Most people hold onto things under the assumption they have to throw it away. However, this is not the case. If the item still has value, giving it to a friend  might be the answer. If your close friends don’t need anything, there are local groups that swap and give away free items. It’s called Freecycle, and is a great way to free up your space of unwanted items. You can also give the unwanted items to a charity group, which can even be tax-deductible. If you aren’t into giving the items away, perhaps you can create an eBay listing — there are plenty of shoppers looking for a bargain and people all over the world have benefited from the auction service. There is a small fee for listing the item, as well as a percentage-based fee if the item sells. For those that want to sell their items for free, there is a free online classified service called Craigslist that does not charge users to list their items for sale. This is a great time of year to donate as well, don’t hold off til spring to clean out your closets. Look through everything you had out for summer, is there something you didn’t wear last year but are still storing it? This year is about a progression forward. And if you are holding onto something because you are determined to fit in it again this year, get rid of it now and reward yourself with something new when you reach goals! Just one more way to keep your mindset thinking of the present and out of the past.

Overall, the feeling of a clean space is one that’s hard to beat. There’s nothing that says all of these tips have to be implemented at once. In fact, to avoid becoming overwhelmed and giving up, you should take it slowly instead of rushing through. If you go at a pace that’s comfortable for you and use these tips, you’ll have no trouble getting the clean, organized space you’ve always wanted!

Over the past few months there has been a bit of an underground rumbling shaking up some raw foodies beliefs. I for one began eating raw close to 4 years ago, because I was seeking to be more healthy and balanced physically. Only 6 months before my journey began, my friend was on the ’30-day detox’ and I believed that it was impossible to live on uncooked fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds alone. Always seeking and trying new adventures in my own life, I jumped on when raw crossed my path the following Spring. Was I looking for an ultimate answer, of course, aren’t we all?

Along the path the way I eat continues to evolve, as I listen to the way both my mind and body digest. Yes, I did have blood taken and the doctor used the term superhuman. At the time I was thrilled, but from my current perspective I wonder… is blood the ultimate test, thoughts are things and there was obviously a reason for the test to begin with. So often we know something is not right, but the doctor or our family, or whatever guide us to believe that it is all just fine.

So back in 2006 I picked up the only 2 available at Barnes and Noble, Carol Alt’s Eating In the Raw & Sarma’s Raw Food Real World. The later of which did not correlate with my version of the real world at the time, and almost every recipe called for something that I would have to mail away to get.

Recently I have been researching deeper into the Ayurvedic doshas and balancing diets. In the past I have ignored most of this, mostly because I am a Vata and the one main guideline in vata diet is to stay away from raw foods. So when I first read this I thought immediately that this way of though must be completely ridiculous, how could what I know as optimum nutrient dense food be the wrong way for my body? Then I started reading more into it. Not surprising the foods that it suggests for me were the ones I was drawn to and used to eat automatically before I began focusing on raw foods. What I have come to know as my own truth is that the information in each book is helpful in teaching me a new way to listen to my own body. And what worked for me 2 years ago may work for someone else right now but I have grown beyond that, during your health journey continue to grow, experiment and accept new ideas. Although a year ago I wanted to throw out all my pots and pans, never to eat cooked food again, this year I added some healthy cooked foods in during the winter months. And I loved it, I remember the first bite and the energy in my body screaming ‘yes!’. Of course it wasn’t a huge heavy dinner and every bite was taken with love, intent and without guilt.

Listen. Experiment. & Keep it fresh.