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Orange Dream Juice

June 18, 2012
orange-dream-juice

I am taking a bit of a break this week.. a break from food, that is. Today I’m embarking on a three day juice cleanse. As today marks the first day into the program, I thought it would be fitting to share a juice recipe.

This juice tastes surprisingly like a Dreamsicle. Those frozen orange flavored ice-cream filled popsicles were a childhood favorite of mine. The juice is a better alternative because its fresh, healthy and totally delicious. Whats the secret ingredient is this juice? Sweet potato! It adds a delightful creaminess to the mixture.

This wonder elixir has many beneficial properties including detoxifying the liver and lowering inflammation. The mixture of carrot, orange, pear and sweet potato is chock full of phytonutrients, carontenoids and antioxidants, which pack a powerful punch of nutrition. Carrot juice has been demonstrated to rapidly alkalize the body and cleanse the liver and improve the quality of the blood. With 116% of the daily recommended amount of Vitamin C in just one orange, oranges are a great way of boosting the immune system.

Go ahead, treat yourself to this sweet and refreshing juice.

Orange Dream

Serves 1-2

Ingredients:

  • 2 carrots
  • 3-4 oranges, peeled
  • 2-3 pears
  • 1 medium sweet potato

Directions:

  1. Place everything in the juicer and juice away.

I’ll be posting more about my experiences as the cleanse goes on. Feel free to ask questions if you like. Have any of you ever done a juice feast or fast? If so, how did you feel?

(Photo Credit: my sister, Jenny Norris – jjnorris.com)

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Strawberry Spinach Salad

June 15, 2012
strawberry-spinach-salad

This is one of my favorite summer dishes. A bright, seasonal salad that is super simple to throw together and really refreshing. I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful spring produce which is now appearing in abundance at the grocery store and farmers’ market.

With strawberry season in full swing we’ve been gorging ourselves daily on the sweet, juicy berries and can’t quite get enough of them. Not only are they summery and delicious, they’re a bona fide superfood, too. Nutrient-rich and packed with antioxidants (like vitamin C), strawberries offer a wide range of health benefits, some of which may surprise you. For starters, strawberries are rich in fiber. Fiber enables digestion to work properly, which is essential for proper immune function. Strawberries are chockfull of antioxidants and other essential nutrients that can flavorfully help you reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease, inflammatory diseases, and birth defects as well as mouthwateringly manage your weight.

Spinach is one of the most nutrient-dense foods in existence. Spinach contains an impressive range of active substances which are indispensable to the body. One cup of the leafy green vegetable contains far more than your daily requirements of vitamin K and vitamin A, almost all the manganese and folate your body needs and nearly 40 percent of your magnesium requirement. It is an excellent source of more than 20 different nutrients, including dietary fiber, calcium and protein. This dark green leaf will protect your brain function from premature aging, promote cardiovascular health and neutralize free radicals in the body. A good rule of thumb: the darker the leaf, the better.

Now lets get back to this salad! This recipe may be perfect timing for the weekend. If you can get yourself to a strawberry patch or a local market for some summer berries, you can whip up this simple, refreshing salad.

strawberry-spinach-salad-orange-poppy-seed-dressing

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Orange Poppy Seed Dressing

Serves 1

Ingredients:

  • large bunch of fresh baby spinach
  • fresh strawberries
  • pecans, walnuts, almonds, or other nuts or seeds (optional)

Dressing:

  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 tsp. lemon juice
  • light drizzle of agave nectar or other liquid sweetener
  • hint of orange zest
  • 1 Tbsp. orange juice
  • 1 tsp. poppy seeds
  • pinch of sea salt

Directions:

  1. In a bowl combine all ingredients for the dressing. Mix well.
  2. Toss the washed and dried salad greens, and plate. Top with fresh strawberries, nuts, and any other add-ons. Drizzle a generous amount of dressing over salad. Serve.

What are some of your favorite things to eat in the summer? Please share them below! Hope you have a fun and exciting weekend. If you have lots of sun where you live, send a little this way as ours is hiding and we could always use a little more.

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Raw Cacao Shake

June 12, 2012
raw-cacao-shake

Chocolate: most people are used to calling it cocoa, cocoa beans, cocoa powder. But when it comes to raw food, why do people use the word cacao (ka-COW), which looks like a misspelling of the more familiar cocoa and sounds like the squawk of a large, tropical bird? Whatever you call it, cocoa or cacao, both refer to the main ingredient of chocolate, which is the seed of the cacao tree.

Not all chocolate is created equal. Many of the forms of chocolate we’ve come to love have ingredients like refined (white) sugar, milk fats, and hydrogenated oils that make the cocoa devoid of any natural health benefits. Cocoa goes through a process called “dutching” where the acidic flavor of the cocoa is neutralized, removing chocolate’s natural polyphenols. And lastly, to top it all off, it’s heated to temperatures over 100 °F, killing all of its antioxidant properties. This type of chocolate is high in calories, trans fats and contributes to a strong acidic environment in your body.

But the good news is….. chocolate CAN be good! Some consider raw cacao a miracle superfood and if you look up all the nutritional information on raw cacao, you can see why. A 2 tbsp. serving offers 9g of fiber, 4g of protein, and 0g of sugar. Raw cacao contains high amounts of antioxidants, healthy fats and magnesium – an important mineral in which many people are chronically deficient. It works to support heart health by protecting the body from cellular degeneration and it contains polyphenols which helps to lower blood pressure. It stimulates endorphin production, giving you a feeling of pleasure and raw cacao also assists in the formation of serotonin, acting as an anti-depressant.

raw-cacao

Chocolate, in most forms, is generally stimulating since it contains caffeine. Based on the serious buzz I get from consuming raw cacao, I think the concentration of caffeine must also be much higher in raw cacao than the processed variety, though perhaps I am particularly sensitive. If you aren’t used to it and then eat it in any significant quantity, it can be as if you’ve never had coffee and then had three double espressos. Though raw cacao is a superfood and very healthful to us, I don’t recommend consuming it on a daily basis.

If you’re in the market for some raw cacao, only purchase certified organic raw cacao to ensure that you are getting the most nutrition for your money. It can be found at your local health food store. Look for brands that are Fair Trade as well.

There are many ways you can begin moving away from the processed, nutrient deficient chocolate to incorporating wholesome, healthier chocolate alternatives. The recipe I’m sharing today is for a raw cacao shake. I hope you enjoy!

raw-chocolate-shake-cacao

Raw Cacao Shake

Ingredients:

  • 2 frozen bananas
  • 1 cup almond milk
  • 2 heaping Tbsp. raw cacao powder
  • sweetener to taste – agave, stevia, xylitol, etc. (optional)
  • goji berries (optional)

Directions:

  1. Simply add everything together in a blender and blend until smooth. Viola!
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Quick Guide to Juicing

April 13, 2012
quick-guide-to-juicing

Starting your day with a fresh vegetable juice is one of the best ways to set you off on the right track for the rest of the day. Drinking fresh juice gives you a boost of enzymes, vitamins and minerals that is easily absorbed and digested by the body. What is wonderful about juicing is that your body needs to do almost nothing to digest the nutrients from juice and they are immediately available to your system. Since the fiber is removed during the juicing process, the body has direct access to the nutrients. Try eating the amount of vegetables that you fit into a juice and you’ll be chewing for quite some time!

Green juices are especially healthful and should be your juice of choice. They pack a punch of chlorophyll which is a plant’s energy produced directly from sunlight. Did you know that a chlorophyll molecule is almost exactly like a red blood cell? So, by ingesting it you are rebuilding your blood. Green juices are highly alkalizing and detoxifying as they give your liver a welcome helping hand. In addition, they are full of antioxidants and phytochemicals which boost the immune system.

The benefits are really endless and to see proper results it is best to drink them consistently either in the form of cleansing or at least drinking a juice each day. Some of the results people find are: balanced pH and sugar levels, clearer skin, weight loss, increased mental clarity, diminished aches and pains, blood and tissue cleansing, better sleep patterns and better liver function. And this is only the beginning – many diseases are attributed directly or indirectly to an unhealthy digestive system. Your immune system and health depend on healthy elimination of toxins from the body which is what juice cleansing allows to happen, as it gives the digestive system a proper and much-needed break from the work it has to do on a daily basis.

So many people are lacking proper nutrition these days, as a result of poor diet and lifestyle choices, as well as factors that are often out of their control. Juicing is a wonderful way to get the freshest and most direct sources of vitamins and minerals that our bodies require to keep them in a vital and healthy state.

green-lemonade-juicing

Green Lemonade

  • 1 cucumber
  • 2 med size apples
  • 1 bunch kale
  • a few large handfuls of spinach
  • 1 lemon

Run all ingredients through a juicer and enjoy!

Here are a few tips I can give you about my experience with making juices at home:

  • have your greens and herbs washed and properly stored in the refrigerator so they are ready to go.  If they’re not, you may not be as motivated to juice.
  • blend mostly vegetables with only a little fruit to make the juice not taste too bitter.  I prefer to use one apple — peel, seeds, everything.
  • if you want to juice low-liquid food, such as ginger or a clove of garlic, make sure you follow it with a high liquid vegetable such as carrot to flush it out of the juicer.
  • clean your juicer as soon as possible after using it. I don’t love cleaning my juicer, but I love it a whole lot less if it has been allowed to sit.  Those fine vegetable fibers are way harder to get out of there once they’ve dried.
  • the fresher the juice, the more nutrients it contains, but if you need to make your juice the night before, store it in a glass jar filled all the way up to the top so that there is a minimal amount of oxygen in contact with the juice.  Cover and refrigerate.

If you don’t have one already, go buy a juicer and make it your best friend.

Please add your comments or questions below. I get asked about this topic so often – your questions and experience will be helpful to others, no doubt. For those of you who are juicing, what are your favorite recipes? I love hearing from you!

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