summer
I believe in the food chain. I see birds eating worms, and cats eating birds, and I think, yeah, ok. This is how it works.
However, during my detox we eliminate animal products. Not under the premise that they are “bad”. Not at all! Meat is simply at the top of the food chain. So when you eat beef, you are eating all the toxins from everything that cow has ever eaten or experienced in its environment. By eating lower on the food chain, you automatically consume fewer toxins.
Makes sense for a detox. It’s good to get a break. And we’re doing it again this fall. (Click here to pre-register)
But guess what, kiddos. Detox is over for now! And I feel really good about the grass-fed ground beef I get from my local farm. I feel good about being part of the food chain, the Universe’s natural order and whatnot.
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April 29th, 2013 | gluten free, paleo, recipe, spring, summer | No Comments »
First, let’s get one thing out of the way: I eat meat. Yes. And I grew up with an Italian mama who made delicious, homemade meatballs all the time. So what’s up with a meat-eating Italian talking about meatless meatballs? Heresy!
Trust me, I thought these were going to suck.
But this is Week 2 of my 21 Day Detox and I have a group of nearly 60 people kicking butt with clean, plant-based food. When my friend Persephone gave me this recipe to share, I had my doubts but gave it a whirl. Hey, recipe testing is a tough job but someone’s got to do it!
Here are some reasons I know my detoxers (and YOU) are going to love this recipe as much as I did:
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April 14th, 2013 | detoxify, gluten free, recipe, spring, Spring 2013 detox recipes, summer, vegan, vegetarian | 3 Comments »
Hello, warm weather. We’re so pleased to see you.
And right on cue, grilling season begins. You know what that looks like, right? Piles of hotdogs and hamburgers, those soft squishy buns, and colorful bottles of ketchup, mustard, relish, beer.
Grilling is awesome. But I’m not a fan of those buns, or the cheap meats, or the lack of vegetables. It’s so American. As in, Standard American Diet (SAD).
So let’s step up our game this season, shall we? Because everyone likes to have fun, but it’s no fun waking up the next day with a hotdog bun hangover. Read on for a recipe for my Grilled Honey Lime Chicken, Black Bean and Jicama Salad, plus 6 tips for a healthy grill season.
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April 8th, 2013 | recipe, spring, summer | 1 Comment »
Beets in the CSA box again. Bags and bags of tomatoes. Corn on the cob. Oh my, it must be summer in a serious way. You’d never know it by looking at me though – I’ve been holed up inside all day with a cold. Lame! Who gets a cold at the end of July?
My son, that’s who. And now, me.
We are moving in 2 days. To the house next door. Yup, we got a great deal on more space and we jumped at the chance. But even a next door move requires packing. So with me in bed all day, my husband simultaneously took care of the baby and packed 80% of the house.
He’s capable of doing everything at once. Or nothing at all. I’m capable of like, 1 box a day. A slow and steady kind of gal. If one of us had to be sick 2 days before moving…well, I’m glad it was me.
Anyway, it was the least I could do to hobble downstairs and make dinner. So trust me, this was easy because I’m not feeling up to any grand cooking. Also trust me on the fact that it was delicious. How could it not be, with this lineup of seasonal veggies?
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July 29th, 2012 | quick and easy, recipe, summer | 4 Comments »
Last week there was a crazy powerful storm that knocked out power all over the D.C. area. We were in the dark (and heat) for 36 hours, but many in the area were without power for an additional couple of days.
The first thing I noticed was fear. What are we going to do? I have $200 worth of meat in the freezer, will it spoil? Are we going to be able to sleep? And what on earth are we going to do without internet? Cell towers were without power too, so we were phone-less as well as internet-less.
First world problems, huh?
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July 12th, 2012 | quick and easy, recipe, summer, vegetarian | 4 Comments »
We’re kicking off summer this Memorial Day weekend, so it’s no surprise that questions have been floating my way about sunscreen. Apparently the word is out – what you put on your skin is as important to your health as what you put in your mouth!
So, what’s the safest sunscreen out there? In the past I’ve had to gulp and blush a little, admitting to not having a solid answer.
See, I don’t wear much sunscreen. I have dark skin and can count the sunburns I’ve ever had on one hand.
Gasp! Boo! Hiss! Bad answer, right?
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May 25th, 2012 | skincare, summer | 5 Comments »
Welcome to 21 Days of Detoxing with clean, whole, real food – boy do I have some good stuff in store for you! From now until May 13th you can find a new recipe here each day. You can wait until the next time I run this program live, or get yourself the DIY version available here.
Confession: I’ve never grilled anything in my life until this summer. I mean, I’ve prepared stuff for the grill. I’ve handed food to the person grilling, served grilled food, certainly eaten grilled food.
But stand over the grill myself? Intimidating! I generally rule the kitchen and let my husband handle the outdoor stuff. Divide and conquer? Or just stupid gender roles?
While I still have no idea how you do it with charcoal, I’m proud of myself for figuring out this gas grill we have on the patio. Ha – I bet you’re laughing at me. That’s ok. I’m kinda laughing at me too.
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May 9th, 2012 | recipe, Spring 2012 detox recipes, summer, vegan, vegetarian | 4 Comments »
A little deck action? Some grillin’ and chillin’? I hear ya. We are loving our patio and grill along with near-perfect weather. Now I’m no Martha Stewart, but I do like having friends over for yummy food and drinks. Just expect that maybe your napkin will be a folded up paper towel and I ran out of dishes so one of us is eating out of a bowl, ok?
I prioritize the food, not the presentation. Hope you won’t mind.
Inspiration for this recipe hit while I was making a quick grocery run. We were having some friends over in…oh, about an hour. I grabbed some chicken and asparagus for the grill. A bag of arugula for an easy salad. A bag of Terra Chips because, y’know, if they’re gonna be chips they might as well have some nutritional value. And then I spotted the endive.
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April 17th, 2012 | quick and easy, recipe, spring, summer, vegetarian | 3 Comments »
About 3 years ago I tried an all raw food diet, earning me weird looks from co-workers and a completely tuned-up, revamped digestive system. I had lots of energy and thought it was super cool to sprout, chop and dehydrate living foods into delicious meals. (Feel free to go back and browse some of the raw food posts that came out of that time, like this recipe.)
But ever since that raw food experiment, my husband has refused to eat zucchini or yellow squash. Chalk it up to a much too garlicky raw “fettucine alfredo” that used vegetable peeler strips of squash as noodles. He hated it. I didn’t love that particular dish either. But the man refuses to eat zucchini or yellow squash to this day.
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August 9th, 2011 | quick and easy, raw foods, recipe, summer, vegan, vegetarian | 9 Comments »
It’s that awesome time of the summer when we are inundated with tomatoes and corn – and by “we” I mean people who have a summer CSA. I’m psyched about ours. Every other week I carry Danny in the baby carrier thingamajig to the yoga studio on our corner, pick up our 2 big bags of veggies, fruit and eggs… and pretty much look like a pack mule walking back down the street.
But hey, the food is great.
And if your produce comes from the supermarket, surely you’ve noticed tomatoes and corn on sale! Let’s hear it for seasonal veggies, huh?
So, I was gazing out the kitchen window the other day, thinking about how when we first moved here, pre-baby, I *thought* we’d be hosting BBQs in our backyard all summer. With our new entourage of friends that we’d somehow meet in this new city? While we kicked back and drank beers and grilled burgers, not a naptime care in the world?
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August 4th, 2011 | Farmers Market, quick and easy, recipe, summer | 9 Comments »
