Tag Archives: detox

The Return of the Green Smoothie

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I’ve always loved my green smoothies, but then it all changed.a few years ago when Breville entered my life.

Soon enough, my morning green smoothie was replaced with my morning green juice.

Even though I still enjoyed my green smoothie from time-to-time, I found that whenever I made myself a smoothie I opted for more of the fruit & avocado based combos sans the leafy greens since I was already getting a great deal through my juices, not to mention the large amounts I was consuming in my daily salads.

But…things changed again, as they so often do, and over the past few months I’ve had a strong desire to reintroduce more of these glowing green smoothies into my daily repertoire. Not as a replacement to my green juice but more of an accompaniment.

Here’s one of my favourite recipes below. I enjoyed this earlier today as a delicious post-yoga snack. It hit the spot perfectly and was just what I wanted!

Glorious “Glowing” Green Smoothie (Mango-Style)
1/2 cup of frozen mango (if using fresh mango add some ice cubes)
1 banana
4-5 leafs of kale de-stemmed
1 cup of pure water or coconut water
Blend until smooth.

 

If you want your green smoothie to glow bright green as pictured above, be sure to use lighter coloured fruits like mango, apple, pear, banana,etc. If you don’t mind it looking a bit swampy than feel free to add in those dark and delicious berries.

Another tip is to swap the banana for 1/2 an avocado to give it a little more density and some added healthy fats to boot!  I love using avocados in my smoothies as it makes them super creamy tasting. If you’re using avocado just be sure to pair it with a sweeter tasting fruit or use a hint of natural sweetener.

Now go get your glow-on!

xo Elaine

All Dressed up and Nowhere to Go!

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Well, except for the pit of my tummy!

And I’m talking about salads here – not kitty cats! That would be just wrong. I thought the above picture was fitting for the blog title though:)

Let’s face it, the salad dressing can either make or break the salad. While the perfect dressing can turn even the most basic salad into a delicious masterpiece, the wrong dressing on the other hand can turn the most beautiful salad into a deal breaker. Boo-urns!

A good salad I must say really comes down to what you dress it up with. So many people claim to hate salads, and yes for some, salads are an acquired taste if they’re used to eating dead, over-cooked food all day long. However, I personally think the people who hate salads are the same people who are dousing their salad in store-bought salad dressing or who perhaps equate salad with iceberg lettuce and a few chunks of unripened tomato. I think it’s suffice to say that the majority of bottled salad dressings out there just don’t make the cut. All it takes is to flip that store-bought dressing over and check out the long list of ingredients that read like a science experiment. Yikes – no thank you!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the equation for making a really tasty salad dressing is really quite simple. Basically all bottled salad dressings are comprised of the three following tastes:

Acid + Fat + Sweet = Salad Dressing

If you’re buying store-bought there’s usually a number of additional additives in there as well, but if you’re making it at home you just need to make sure that you have these 3 key tastes covered. Next you can get creative with high quality sea salt, fresh herbs, garlic and spices to dream up any number of combinations.

Let me break it down:

Acid = Lemon or lime juice, apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, etc.

Fat = Extra Virgin Olive Oil or if you have a fatty ingredient in the salad such as an avocado you can forgo the oil all together as the avocado will act as the fat and give it a creamy consistency. Oil on top of avocado is really quite unnecessary especially for people who are trying to lose weight. Although these are both “healthy” fats, there is no need to double up where you don’t need to!

Sweet = Natural sweetener of your choice (stevia, raw honey, raw agave, etc). Just remember that these natural sweeteners with the exception of stevia are still “sugar” so they should be used in moderation. If you’re eating a lot of salad and making your own dressings, which let’s face it you should be, then all that sugar (albeit natural) can really add up. Stevia is great for people who are watching their sugar intake and is the only natural sweetener that doesn’t feed yeast. I know I go on about stevia a lot but honestly I have found it to be one of the best tools for eliminating sugar from the diet.

Oftentimes my clients tell me that they don’t add sweetener to their salad dressings. What these people often don’t realize though is that practically every single bottled dressing contains sugar in one form or another, even if it’s artificial. This is the reason why when they make the switch to an oil and vinegar prepared at home it’s not long before they start to feel like something is missing (the sweet component) and go reaching for the store-bought dressing again because they don’t truly enjoy their homemade version.

Here are three super easy + delicious dressings that will make you fall in love with your salad;)

#1 Basic Dressing

* This is my “go-to” salad dressing of choice because it’s the quickest to prepare. I love this dressing on a salad topped with avocado or goat cheese. In either case I omit the oil.

Here’s the Basic Dressing in action topped on my favourite – Avocado Salad pictured below and Guacamole salad that I shared over on Joyous Health.

Ingredients

Juice of 1 lemon or approx 1/3 cup of Apple Cider Vinegar (depends on the size of your salad)

Stevia to taste (or natural sweetener of choice)

1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil (optional)

Feel free to add fresh herbs, garlic, sea salt, etc.

Mix it up and pour over your salad.

#2 Classic Creamy Tahini Dressing

* This recipe makes approx 1 cup. Feel free to add your choice of fresh herbs or spices (i.e. cayenne) to change-up the flavour. This is a great one for those who love cream-based dressings but want to avoid the dairy.

**If you want to keep your food combinations straight, this dressing is best paired with vegetable salad. Feel free to throw some additional raw nuts or seeds into the mix (you likely won’t need it though as this dressing is pretty filling on its own) or some dried organic fruit if you desire. No avocado or cheese though if you are food-combining!

Ingredients

½ cup of raw Tahini (sesame seed paste)

½ cup of lemon juice (approx 2 x lemons)

1 tbsp of Tamari ( or ¼ tsp of sea salt)

1 clove of minced garlic

¼ cup of pure water

Stevia to taste or ½ tsp of raw honey (optional)

Pinch of cumin (optional)

Whisk all ingredients in a bowl or mix in a blender for a smooth consistency.

This dressing is also great as a dip and can be used in place of hummus. It basically contains the same ingredients as hummus minus the dense chickpeas so makes for a lighter (well-combined) alternative.

Who doesn’t love raw veggies with a tasty and delicious dip? Betcha can’t eat just one!

#3 Honey Dijon Dressing

This dressing pairs really nicely with a goat cheese & roasted-beet salad as pictured below.

Ingredients

½ cup of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

1 heaping tbsp of Dijon mustard

1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil (optional)

1 clove of minced garlic

Sprinkle of sea salt

1 tsp of raw honey (or 4-5 drops of liquid stevia)

Mix well and serve over your salad.

For more salad love check out my earlier post here.

Here’s to dressing those salads to impress!

xo Elaine

Comforting Sweet Potato and Carrot Soup (Raw Recipe)

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I love this soup.

Brimming with vitality, this soup is chock-full of enzymes, vitamins and minerals in their most useable forms. It’s the perfect addition to a meal or enjoyed out of a mug for a light and energizing snack.

Despite the fact that it’s a raw (non-cooked) soup it is actually still quite comforting and perfect for cool autumn weather. The addition of ginger and cinnamon spice it up and give it a warming effect in the body.

Comforting Sweet Potato and Carrot Soup (Raw Recipe)

4 cups of fresh carrot juice

1 large sweet potato peeled and cut into chunks

1 small avocado (or half a large one)

½ tsp of grated ginger

½ tsp of cinnamon

Stevia to taste (4-5 drops) – optional

Blend all ingredients in a high-speed blender. Serve immediately or store in the fridge in an airtight container for later. Do not heat.

Note: This recipe was inspired and adapted from Natalia Rose’s Pumpkin Pie in a Bowl Recipe from her book Detox for Women.

Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do.

 

Love,

Elaine

Garlic Roasted Cauliflower (3 in 1 Recipe)

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Cauliflower.

Not the most popular of vegetables, and definitely not at the top of most grocery lists. People either seem to like it or they don’t. It’s never one of the first crudités to get gobbled up on the veggie tray at a party, nor does it often get packed in the school lunch among the carrot and celery sticks.

Strangely enough, when I was a kid it was one of my favourite veggies. And it wasn’t because I knew it came from the family of cancer-fighting cruciferous veggies, or that it was rich in Vitamins C & K, Folic Acid, Potassium and phytonutrients such as indole-3-carbinol and quercetin among others. If only I knew then what I know now I may have convinced all my little kiddo friends to reevaluate their feelings about cauliflower and give it the chance it truly deserved.

Although cauliflower can be enjoyed raw, especially when paired with a really delicious dip such as hummus, I find most people are won over by its taste when they try it in one of its many cooked forms.

Here’s a classic recipe that is super-duper easy to prepare. It can be eaten in its basic form or taken a step further in a few different directions to create two additional tasty dishes that can be added to your weekly arsenal of recipes!

Garlic Roasted Cauliflower

1 head of cauliflower

1 ½ tbsps of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2-3 cloves of garlic minced

*Pecorino Romano grated (optional)

(*A hard cheese made from sheep’s milk that is often used interchangeably with parmesan)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 F

Cut the cauliflower into florets and toss it with the olive oil and minced garlic in a casserole dish.

Place in oven for approx 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and top with grated Pecorino Romano (approx 2 tbsps)

Place back in oven under broiler for 3-5 minutes so cheese melts.

Serve up!

Garlic Roasted Cauliflower

Or…take the recipe one step further and create a delicious and healthier substitute for mashed potatoes (same same but different…and better!!!)

Garlic Roasted Cauliflower Mash

Repeat the same steps as above but place the final product into a blender omitting the Pecorino Romano.

Add ¼ cup liquid of your choice for a creamy texture. For a really creamy texture reminiscent of mashed potatoes I suggest adding 100% pure organic cream, or you can add your own dairy substitute of choice.

Add 1 tbsp of chopped chives or thyme.

Blend all ingredients in a high-speed blender or food processor until it is the consistency of mashed potatoes.

Serve and enjoy!

Or, if you’re craving a warming bowl of soup…

Garlic Roasted Cauliflower Soup

Make the original recipe but omit the second step where you top with grated cheese.

Put the final product in the blender (as with the “mash” recipe) with the addition of 3-4 cups of veggie broth (more or less depending on the consistency of soup you desire).

Blend until smooth.

Pour into serving bowls and top with grated Pecorino Romano and/or chopped herbs of choice (both optional).

Here’s to cancer-fighting cauliflower in all its delicious forms!

Elaine

Green Juicing it, Baby!

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Imagine injecting yourself with a liquid so abundant in vitality that it goes to work immediately, nourishing every single cell, tissue, gland and organ of your body. Brimming with live enzymes, vitamins and minerals, chlorophyll and deep organic hydration, green juice is a refreshing way to begin your day.

In order to obtain all these wonderful benefits, the juice must be fresh (not store-bought) with raw veggies and a little fruit (if desired), including a nice helping of alkalinizing leafy greens. Virtually all store-bought juices are heated through pasteurization rendering it lifeless. This is why food manufacturers have to add back in a handful of synthetic vitamins and minerals to make their label claims. Heating and processing also destroys the enzymes, so fresh juices are a great way to ensure you are taking in lots of live enzymes needed for digestion and other metabolic functions. Our bodies do produce enzymes naturally, but with age our enzyme stores become depleted, and the more cooked and processed food we eat, the more enzymes our bodies need to produce to breakdown the devitalized food. When you drink fresh juices (and eat raw, unprocessed food) essentially you are making a deposit into your body’s enzyme bank for future use!

The Gold is in the Green

All fresh fruits and veggies carry the sun’s energy, but it’s the leafy greens that are most abundant in this synthesized sunlight, otherwise known as chlorophyll. Imagine guzzling down a glass of liquid sunshine! Chlorophyll is considered the “life blood” of the plant, and it’s no surprise that it also happens to be a powerful blood builder, delivering oxygen to all our cells and tissues.

Greens are also highly alkalinizing, a welcoming change to the acidic nature of the modern western diet. The pH of our body is slightly alkaline, the natural state our bodies fight to maintain, even if it means leaching alkaline minerals from our own bones to neutralize the acidity of the food taken in. This is one of the many reasons why diets that are primarily plant-based are so healing. However, you don’t have to be a vegan or vegetarian to incorporate more of the good stuff into your daily mix!

What about the Fibre? (Juicing vs. Blending)

During the juicing process, the vital liquid of the plant is extracted from the indigestible fibre. Without any fibre to break-down, the juice is absorbed and assimilated by your body in a matter of minutes.  This means that the juice can go straight to work nourishing and revitalizing every cell in your body, bypassing the digestive process. This is the difference between juicing and blending because blended juices and smoothies still contain the fibre so are unable to revitalize our cells in the same way as fresh juices can. Now before you go dumping your kale smoothie down the drain, I’m not by any means saying you don’t need fibre.  Fibre is a vital intestinal broom and very much needed by our bodies.  This is why in addition to fresh-pressed juices, whole veggies and fruits should still be an integral part of your daily food-intake. Think fresh salads, blended smoothies and soups, green wraps, and sautéd, steamed and baked veggies. The sky’s the limit! 

Perfect Timing

The best time to drink your fresh juice is on an empty stomach, ideally before you have your first meal of the day. This allows for optimal absorption and assimilation because once you throw food into the mix your digestive system has to work harder. You can enjoy your green juice anytime of the day though as long as it’s on an empty stomach. It’s also great as a late afternoon snack about 3 hours or so after your last meal or an hour or so before dinner. Try swapping your 3pm coffee for an emerald-green juice!

Optimally, juice is best taken in immediately after it’s prepared because once it’s exposed to oxygen and light the enzymatic integrity is compromised. With that said though, you’ll still benefit greatly from drinking the juice even hours after it’s made just as long as you store it in an airtight container and keep it cold in the refrigerator. A day old green juice is WAY better than no green juice at all. For some people, making the juice the night before works better with their schedule. I say whatever makes it easier for you to incorporate these elixirs into your daily routine is the best way to go!

Tips on juicing

1. Frequenting juice bars can weigh heavy on the wallet so I wholeheartedly recommend buying a juicer. It’s a small price to pay when you think of it as an investment in your health. Breville has a great line of juicers that range from lower end prices to higher end. I payed in the $150-$180 range for my Breville and I really do love it. I actually just saw the same model on sale a few weeks ago for $135 (at the Bay) – a steal!

My Breville!

2. Use organic produce (and in-season) as often as possible. If you must use non-organic, make sure to peel the skin from your lemons, cucumbers and apples to avoid pesticides and waxes.

3. You want your juices to be green but not overly green. Dark greens can taste quite medicinal and that’s definitely not the goal. Lighter greens such as cucumber and celery have a high water content so you get a lot of bang for your buck. Make these lighter greens the bulk of your juice with the addition of a big handful of leafy greens.

4. If you desire a little added sweetness throw in 1-2 apples. I especially recommend this for beginners because it will truly make the green juice delicious. The kiddos will love it too! Keep in mind though that citrus fruits such as lemons and limes cut the taste of bitter greens really nicely without the added sugars (in case you’re avoiding fruit sugars for any reason). Carrots and beets will also sweeten things up nicely as well.

5. Herbs such as parsley, mint, and cilantro are great additions for a little additional zip.

6. For a touch of heat try a small slice of jalapeño pepper or ginger but remember a little goes a long way!

7. If you’re still enjoying your cup of coffee in the morning just be sure to drink your green juice at least 30 minutes on either side of it because coffee is acidic in the body.

Here are two of my favorite detoxifying green juice recipes:

Green Citrus Elixir
5-6 leave of kale, swiss chard or collard greens
½ head of celery
1 lemon
Slice of ginger (optional)

 

Green Refresher
Spinach
1 cucumber
A few sprigs of mint
1 lemon
1 apple (optional)

An inaugural green juice! I brought Michelle to Kale Organic Eatery for her very first green juice experience. I think she was sold!

On a final note, I’d just like to say that my daily green juice has become a sacred part of my morning routine, and on the days when I’m rushed and don’t make time for it, my body truly misses it. If you’re at all interested in deep tissue cleansing, fresh-pressed green juices are a mandatory.

Here’s to green juicing it all the way to the bank – the enzyme bank that is!

Elaine