Loaded Smoothie

Being a mom of two little children under five can be hectic some days. Okay who am I kidding most days. Then add in two parents who are entrepreneur’s and that takes it up a NOTCH. So one of my favourite things to do is create a “loaded” smoothie.

It means that you can be strategic about what you are choosing to eat and you can “load” up on some key ingredients to give your smoothie an extra nutritional punch! Instead of just a fruit smoothie make it a Super Energy Boosting Smoothie.

Now how does that sound? Just look at this amazing drink and the inspiration for this post. It is loaded with so much good stuff that you just feel great drinking it.

Ingredients: 2 Cups of Water, 1 scoop of raw vanilla protein powder, lecithin, mint greens, cacao nibs, 1 frozen banana, and raw cacao. Vegan DHA oil added at the end and topped with cacao nibs. Yummy.

One of the things that I learned many years ago is that you can take advantage of every opportunity that you have to fuel your body with amazing ingredients. To be honest if you make any kind of smoothie you should give yourself a HUGE PAT on the back, because that is awesome!

Here are some great things that you can consider adding to your smoothie to make it “LOADED”. You don’t need to add all of these at once but you can pick and choose and start to add in some of your favourites.

Here are some of my top options:

Raw/Vegan Protein Powder
Extra Green Powders ( wheat grass, spirulina, blue green algae, raw greens powders)
DHA Oil (I opt for a vegan source of DHA and EPA)
Lecithin (helps emulsify fats and contains some great nutrients for your brain)
Fiber (ground flax seeds and chia seeds are great)

The key is that you want to buy great ingredients with no fillers or artificial ingredients. The great thing is that once you get comfortable making smoothies these ingredients don’t have to mean “awful taste”, on the contrary they can blend really nicely and still taste amazing.

I would love to hear from you. What are some of your special ingredients that you use in your smoothie? I also wanted to let you know that I have been working on a special project-my new website. I have not make the full switch over there yet but it will be soon. So go check it out

Rich, Happy & Hot!

I was able to go to NYC on October 21st for a weekend of fun, inspiration and dancing. Yes lots of dancing. I attended the Marie Forleo's Rich Happy & Hot Live, otherwise know as RRHLive. For those of you that have been following me for a while you may have heard that I took an online business course in the spring called RHH B School and it rocked. This trip was the RHH Live event.

Kris Carr Speaking at RHH Live




This trip hit the amazing barometer on so many levels that it is hard to explain. Let me just say that I took a leap of faith, organized the kiddo's at home with my husband and a few great helpers and headed to the airport. I have never left my 2 children. Partially because life has been a little crazy and also with my son having special needs he needs some constant care. However the event and all the possibilities called to me.

Upon arriving in NYC I was fortunate enough to connect with a friend that I haven't seen in years who just happened to be there for 2 of the days that I was there. We went to a vegetarian restaurant and got fresh juice and smoothies at a local health food store.


The first night at RHHLive featured Josh Pais who shared Committed Impulse with us. We were all barefoot in yoga attire.

It was a beautifully grounded way to start the weekend. Body movement, being present, breathing and much more led to a very special intimate evening among 250+ amazing women and a few men. We were all dressed in yoga gear.

The next two days were jam packed with amazing speakers who came out to inspire, challenge, educate and share their stories with a room full of entrepreneurs.

The speakers totally rocked it and inspired us to live the dreams we want to, create the business that we have been striving for and to be authentic to our true selves. Yes of course they did much more than this, but in reality I have no way to articulate what it felt to be at this event. I remember another woman at the event calling it a business conference, matched with a dance party and a sleepover. A huge SISTERHOOD is what comes to my mind. Whatever way you describe it-it was pure magic. A gift that will keep on giving.

As I sat on the plane home looking through my Rich, Happy & Hot Journal, a handful of business cards from some amazing women and books to help me keep on learning-I just felt so grateful to be present and share in the combined energy of this event.

For those of you that are starting up your own business or are looking for some inspiration and fun, I have listed a lot of the sites below for you to check out. You can sign up for their free newsletters and learn so of the topics below and so much more.

Juicing and detoxing your body.
How to use twitter/FB and blogs effectively
Steps to build your business today
How to deal with fear
How to create online products
Finding what inspires you and so much more
How to dance and get your grove on
How to have fun and passion in your life

Here are a few links!!
Marie Forleo
Kris Carr
Danielle Laporte
Simon Sinek
Laura Roeder
Mama Gena's


Okay so these are not all of the speakers, but definitely enough to get you started and inspired.

I think one of the most amazing gifts of this weekend was connecting with so many beautiful, powerful, inspiring women at the event. Having lunch, going out for dinner and sharing in some karaoke!!!




I had the privilege of connecting with the women behind 2 amazing projects and I can say that they would love your support! So please go check out bodyheart inspiring women to love their bodies.

As well go stop by the Legacy Boutique and see what the lovely Karen is up to with her photography and inspiration.

Oh yes and the foodie stuff will come next post. Let's just say their were lots of vegan/raw options there!

Raw Detox

Detoxing is such a key part of being healthy. Year after year we put strains and stresses on our body in the form of food, environmental toxins, stress, cosmetics and much more. Detoxing allows your body to get rid of this toxic overload and it also gives your body a chance to repair. If your body does not have to work hard at digesting it can turn it's attention to repairing itself and getting rid of toxin.



This month I have been doing detoxing. Now I know there are numerous ways to detox out there. If you walk into any health food store you will see product after product on detoxing. For myself I prefer to focus on detox through my food choices as opposed to some of the herbal products on the market. However there are some great products out there that can help you if that is the route you choose to take.

The interesting thing is that when you enter a detox you will find a lot of practices that you could actually add to your daily routine.

Most detoxes will have most of these components in them.

Increase your water consumption
Eliminate salt and sugars from your diet (including raw sweeteners and dried fruits)
Add exercise into your daily practices-Sweat baby sweat and get the toxins out.
Eat organic fresh fruits and vegetables
Take a break or naps when needed.
Remove oils and fats from your diet
Some include food combining principles
Baths, skin brushing and oil pulling
8 or more hours of sleep
Relaxing
No refined products

I don't know about you, but a lot of these things sounds great to add into your everyday practice such as organic food, 8 hours of sleep, relaxing and reduction or elimination of sugar. Even my daughter got involved in the raw detoxing and relaxing by being a great support.



I actually choose to take bits and pieces from a couple of detoxes and work that into my own plan. For me this was very important. I didn't want to cause stress to my body with the detox. So instead of being rigid with it I created my own plan to fit into my lifestyle. If you are still eating cooked food the Kris Carr detoxes is a great places to find some inspiration. Even if you are eating all raw food it offers some nice affirmations, ideas and structure. The Raw Diva's also has a great information on detoxing too.

I focused on green smoothies, water, fruits and raw meals. No sugar, cacao, dried food and minimal fats. Since I love my raw cacao and raw desserts I thought this would be a challenge for me. As well I do enjoy salt in my meals. However eliminating these was much easier than I thought.

Looking at the emotional detox I personally think is harder than leaving behind some of the food. So having a good emotional plan in place is great. Be prepared to journal, do some meditation and be gentle with yourself on your detox. Do yoga, breathe, take nature walks to nourish your soul.

If you are feeling sluggish, tired, rundown you may want to consider doing a detox in the near future. Have you ever done a detox? What were some of your triumphs and challenges? I would love to hear from you?

Time to Play

Someone told me this morning that I have been working too hard and that I should enjoy a day of play.

Hmmm. Let me think about that for a moment.




Check
and
Check

Can I just say. Check, CHECK, check, CHECKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!

Not really complaining! Life is good. I have been working on some great projects. I have a new website in the works, along with some raw food cooking classes and Health & Raw food coaching. As many of you know I have been studying nutrition and raw food for a while. I am so excited to be putting everything together in some fun ways.

Sometimes it is just important to take a BREAK. I think it is great to stop while you are in the midst of a project and just allow yourself to relax, play and have fun.

So today after dropping my daughter off to school and my son off to preschool for a few hours I took a trip to Chapter's. I had fun checking out the raw food and the vegan sections and also the nutrition area. I ended up picking up a new book and a journal for an upcoming trip.

Then into the kitchen to have some fun playing with food.

My husband and daughter made zucinni and squash noodles.



I used a tomato sauce. This one is from the book RAWvolution by Matt Amsden. This is one of my favourite raw books. I added some shitake mushrooms, fresh basil, black olives and a little bit of kale. Can't forget the kale.



Then I made a cashew/ macadamia nut cheese. I think this one is my best yet.

Cheese Recipe

I cup raw cashews
1/4 cup macadamia nuts
pinch of salt
lemon
paprika
onion
nutritional yeast
agave

Raw Play= Yum!!



So I am suggesting that you find some time for play, to relax and just have fun with whatever it is that you enjoy. For me it is often food related.

I would love to here what you are going to do to nourish your sense of play?

Make sure to join my FB page on the right so we can stay connected.

Raw Banana Coconut Cream Pie

I was craving something sweet today. I had cashews in the fridge that had already been soaked overnight and drained and just sitting there waiting for me to do something.




If you know me I am kind of crazy in the kitchen. I just get on these whims and throw some of this and that together and see if it works. For my family this worked great today. Either they have been lacking some sweet treats or this hit the spot.

When I ate cooked desserts I never really choose a banana cream pie. I was always and apple pie kind of girl, blueberry girl second. However I thought of this raw Banana Coconut Cream Pie.


Simple Yummy Crust:

2 cups of macadamia nuts
4 tbs of ground flax seed
10 Pitted dates

Put nuts in the food processor and grind until fine. Start adding dates and process until a ball starts to form. Add 2 tbs of ground flax seed and gently pulse into mixture. Scrape out the mixture and place in a spring form pan or tart tins. You can sprinkle the bottom if needed.





Press mixture into a pie crust formation. I use a bottle to help smooth it down. However you can also just use your hands. (see all my bottle marks-just smooth that out with your hands)



Pie Filling Ingredients:

I cup of processed raw cashews that have been soaked overnight
1 cup coconut water
2 Frozen or fresh bananas
2 tbs of agave
pinch of sea salt
2.5 tbs of extra virgin coconut oil
nutmeg to taste ( I went a bit heavier on the nutmeg)

Flavoured stevia is a nice addition to this recipe. I used a little bit of hazelnut Stevia in the crust. You can make any flavour combo that you want. Cacao banana would be great and you could do this by adding cacao powder to the crust layer.

Blend the cashews in the food processor and make sure to use 1 cup blended. Then add in the coconut water and oil. Proceed to add in the bananas. Then lastly add in salt, agave and nutmeg. Pour into pie crust.

Decorate with sliced bananas and grated nutmeg. Add sprinkle of cacao nibs for a nice crunch. Put in freezer for about an hour or until you are ready to serve. This is a light and fluffy texture so I enjoyed it not frozen and at room temperature.


This is my daughters which she devoured= happy mama




This is my husbands with more bananas, creams, and nibs! Let's just call it LAYERED





As always have fun in the kitchen and ENJOY your healthy treats! Make sure to jump on over and LIKE my facebook page.