Treat Your Yogurt to Something Good

There is a plethora of packaged foods that fight for our attention on the grocery store shelves and granola, in particular, takes up quite a bit of shelf space on the cereal aisle. Granolas are tricky – they sound like they should be healthy, but most are packed with excessive (and unhealthy) types of fat,  sugar and processed ingredients, making them really nothing more than a dessert item pretending to be healthy.

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you already know that my focus and goal in food and nutrition is to eat clean, whole foods – foods as close to their natural source as possible.  Ingredients in many granolas are genetically modified, nutritionally deficient and processed way past how they looked coming from the ground.  When was the last time you saw whey inulin or caramel color on a farm? (psst – these two ingredients are also genetically modified.)

It doesn’t have to be that way.  Granola made at home allows you to control the quality of the ingredients, the type of and amount of sugar and fat and lets you personalize the flavor.

Here’s an easy recipe that you can make at home.

Easy Granola

6 cups gluten free oatmeal (I use Bob’s Red Mill)

¾  cup walnuts

¾ cup almonds (whole or sliced)

¼ cup sunflower seeds

1 ½ tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. mineral rich salt (I use Real Salt)

¾ cup 100% maple syrup

3 TBSP melted coconut oil

1 ¼ tsp pure vanilla extract

1-2 TBSP chia and/or flax seeds to mix in after baking

Heat oven to 325F. Put dry ingredients (except for chia/flax) in a large bowl.  In a measuring cup, combine the syrup, coconut oil and vanilla and mix until combined.  Then drizzle liquid over dry ingredients, mixing well with a spatula until evenly coated.  Spread mixture evenly between two parchment lined baking sheets.  Cook for 15 minutes, then gently stir mixture and continue to cook for 15 more minutes.  Granola can easily burn, so keep an eye on it and adjust the cooking time as needed.  Once it’s completely golden brown, remove from the oven and sprinkle on the chia and/or flax seeds while you wait for it to cool down.  Once cooled, store in air tight container for 2-3 weeks.

You can personalize this recipe with your favorite nuts and seeds and you can even add a tad bit of dried cranberries or chopped dried apricots (just take it easy since dried fruit adds a lot of sugar).

I will admit that there are times I don’t get around to making granola and when that happens, I do choose pre-made.  My ‘go-to’ brands are KIND and Bear Naked.  Both have real, recognizable ingredients and low sugar counts… plus they taste good, too. 

Don’t just save granola for topping yogurt. One of my favorite snacks is a chunk of banana, smeared with almond butter and rolled in granola… yum!

A Better You in 21 Days

Old habits are hard to break, isn’t that the truth?! I find it fascinating how some habits not only stick like a fast acting superglue, but they are so permanently a part of our lives that we aren’t even aware that we are doing them.  Then there are those we are aware of and don’t mind, and still others we struggle with as we try to break them.  It is said that it takes ‘three weeks to make or break a habit’, and I wanted to see if there was any truth in that. So while I started out on my own personal experiment in giving up gluten for three weeks, I did some research to see about the 21-day theory.

It seems there is quite a large body of research that backs the ‘three weeks to make or break a habit’ saying. And there is also evidence that says it can take longer.  I’m going to give you the nutshell version here, but if you want to know more, Google is more than happy to help. In one sense, habits are a part of us, woven into the fabric of our day-to-day lives in varying levels of deep-seated roots.  These are explained as “patterns of well-used synaptic pathways”.  When we repeat a behavior enough, the pathways are reinforced and the triggers and signals become automatic. (Automatic also infers that no thinking is involved, so of course it would be hard to break a habit that doesn’t even need a pause when it plays out.)

Habits are easier to make than they are to break and that’s good news and bad news all at once. Repeating a habit over and over creates new signals and pathways, but trying to break a habit only weakens the response; the pattern is always settled in somewhere in the depths of your brain.  Some of the most difficult of these types of deep-set patterns are drinking and smoking and people who break or try to break those habits spend years battling the triggers that bring back the old behaviors. Luckily, those are the extremes and most people find a great deal of success with the three week (or so) scenario. Just there is no one diet for everyone, what takes one person three weeks might take another five… but any new habit that is healthy and betters your life is worth the effort. Especially when it comes to eating and exercise!

When it comes down to it, three weeks is a reasonable amount of time to at least give a new habit (or the breaking of an old one) a chance to take root. At the very least, it should help create momentum to keep going. But how you go about doing that has a big bearing on your success.  Here are some tips on how to make or break habits (or do both!) to improve your life. 

Here are a few tips:

• Break your goal down into manageable steps.  For example, if you don’t exercise at all, aim for 1 day a week and add a day every few weeks until you are up to 3-4 days a week. Or if you drink 5 sodas all day, replace two  of those sodas with water one week, three the next, etc.
• Start with one or two new behaviors to work on at the beginning, not four or five – ease into it.
• If your habit is hard to remember to do, then write it on a to-do list or a post-it note as a reminder… even if that means putting a post-it on the refrigerator door telling yourself to “eat the oranges” you just bought. There are also apps like “Lift” “StickK” and “Habit Streak” that use your iPhone or Android phone to help you stay on track. (I’m sure there are many others, too).
• Think Positive! You can do this! And give yourself credit for every little accomplishment you do make – doing something is better than doing nothing.
• Set a goal and a reward for yourself when you meet it.  Everyone will have his or her own ‘carrot’ to dangle. What is yours? Enlist a friend or family member to help keep you accountable.
• Give yourself a break.  If you fall short of your goal one day, then start up again the next, each day is a clean slate for making positive changes.

And above all, remember that in making healthy choices you are worth it, so take time to take care of you!

And about that wheat-free habit? I made it through with a few set-backs, but I felt sharper and less tired in the afternoon and I even have less joint pain in a troublesome shoulder. It is easier and easier to choose foods now that my kitchen is stocked with options and I’ve learned how to navigate eating out. Do I miss foods with wheat? Sometimes, yes, but feeling better helps me get past it quickly. 

Have you given up wheat? I’d love to hear your experience in the comments below. 

Some information taken from:

* HuffingtonPost.com

* NewLeafandCompany.com

Green Drinks... Proceed With Caution

Green drinks are all the rage right now.  Spinach, kale, romaine, cucumber and more, all the liquid squeezed out of them and poured into a cup or bottle for our consumption. They are popping up everywhere – you don’t have to look very hard – and that’s a good thing, right?  Well, kind of.  It really depends on what kind of green drink you are reaching for.  

I am a fan of green drinks and I’d love for more people to start adding them to their day. But not just any green drink will do.  The integrity of green juice is at stake when big food companies get involved and that means you have to be diligent and on your toes when choosing to add green juices to your day.  If you aren’t pressing or squeezing your own vegetables at home, then you should be asking questions and reading ingredients lists on those you are purchasing. 

I went on a little fact-finding mission recently to find out just what is in the most popular brands of ‘liquid green’.  Although this is one of my longer posts, it’s worth the read.  Here is what I learned:

Two of the most commonly available green juices, one by Naked, the other by Odwalla, have ingredients lists that read more like a sweet treat than a healthy elixir. 

Let’s start with Naked’s Green Machine (Boosted). The front of the label doesn’t give you any truly helpful information. It tells you it’s 100% juice, but not what kind and lets you know it looks weird, but tastes amazing. 

The side label gives you a clue about what’s going on inside the bottle.  Quantities of fruits in recognizable measurements, but when it comes to the green goodness, it’s been described in milligrams… kind of hard to picture just what 409 mg. of alfalfa  looks like. But they make it sound impressive, don’t they?

But the back label (in particular, the list of ingredients) is where you’ll really find out what you’re putting in your body:

This is where I get outraged.  The 15.2 oz. bottle is technically two servings, which means when you see how much sugar they’ve listed, 28 grams of sugar, that’s for only half a bottle. (And did you notice that it’s one of the only facts that isn’t converted for drinking the whole bottle?)  If you drink the whole thing – which most everyone does – you’re consuming 56 grams of sugar! That’s more than a can of coke and every bit as damaging to your health.  What about all those greens?  Take a look at the ingredients list, which by law is listed in order of quantity of ingredient in the product. The first five are fruits, squeezed in the middle is ‘natural flavors’, and it ends with some greens.  Not enough greens to give you the nutrient value you really should be getting out them, but more than enough sugar to send your blood sugar soaring, crashing and then causing you to reach for more sugar.

Odwalla is another popular green drink, and while their label is a bit more honest on the front, calling it a premium fruit smoothie blend, they deceive you with the visual of green liquid, which you will see in a moment is the result of a few added grasses and algae, all at the end of the list instead of the beginning. (I also take issue with calling it the original superfood - original superfoods come from the ground, not a bottle, but that’s a whole other post.)

Once again, the back of the label is your true decoder to nutrition. And while I’ll give Odwalla credit for being honest that the 12 ounce bottle is truly one serving, they are still delivering 37 grams of sugar in those 12 ounces. 

The list of ingredients is mainly fruit, which should be no surprise since the front does call it a fruit smoothie, but the fact they’ve added soy lecithin (a GMO thickener) and vitamin C (ascorbic acid) that is commonly synthesized from corn syrup, another GMO product, clearly puts it in the processed foods and nutrient compromised category. The disclaimer is a joke… an alternative always exists to not use bioengineered ingredients.

A few more things to note about these two products: first, they are both pasteurized, which kills vital nutrients.  The best, most nutritious green drinks are fresh squeezed or cold pressed and not pasteurized. Next, and the big clincher as to why there is so little integrity in these two juices, is that they are owned by Pepsi (Naked) and Coke (Odwalla)…. Two companies whose biggest interest is their bottom line ($$) not your health.

So what’s a well intentioned, health focused person to do when they want to get the benefits of fresh green juice, but don’t have the time to juice them at home? My first suggestion is to find a good juice bar near you, ask them exactly what’s in their green juices (you should be able to watch them be made) and if their produce is organic.  Organic is the ideal, but if it’s not available, I’d still rather have you have fresh juiced greens over the above choices. 

The good news is that there are more and more companies with a conscious coming out with responsibly formulated and packaged green juices.  Because fresh greens have a limited shelf life (which they should!) you’ll need to investigate what juices are available in your region.  Here in Southern California, we have some great options.  Suja, Blue Print Cleanse and Evolution, just to name a few.  These companies cold press vegetables first (and fruit secondary) and are high pressure processed to preserve freshness.  Yes, they will cost a bit more, but you are paying for real, organic vegetables, no added fillers, no synthetic ingredients and no excessive sugars.  You will be filling your body with wholesome nutrients which lead to better health.

Here’s a look at one of the “good guys” of packaged juice: Evolution

Right from the get-go, the front label gives you great information. It tells you what’s inside, (vegetables and fruits - mostly veggies and only two fruits lime and cucumber), that it’s cold pressed and that it’s never heated (preserves nutrient values).

The side label explains how much of each ingredient was used to make the juice in easy to relate to terms: 8 stalks of celery, 3 spinach leaves, 49 blades of wheat grass, ¼ cucumber… all easy to visualize.

And the all-telling back label wins a gold star in this category.  The only ingredients are real foods, no fillers, thickeners or synthetic vitamins.  Drinking the whole bottle (2 servings) will give you only 70 calories, very little carbs and only 12 grams of sugar! You could drink two bottles of this and still consume less sugar than half of a bottle of Naked greens juice. It is possible to put a healthy green juice on the store shelf!

You always have a choice in what you put in your body.  Don’t get lazy and grab something that looks good without doing your homework.  You are worth the best quality foods and your body will thank you with good health.  If you are interested in even fresher, delivered to your door greens, check out my favorite cold pressed juice company, Ritual Wellness.  When I’m not pressing my own green combinations, I choose Ritual Wellness.  What will you choose when you reach for green?

It's a Green Time of Year

In honor of March’s National Nutrition Month status, and St. Patrick’s Day, let’s talk about something green. One of my earliest posts talked about the importance of greens for nutrition, but today I’d like to share with you a little info about one green SuperFood in particular  - Spinach. I’ve included a recipe that’s easy to “make and take”, too. Yes, Popeye was right – this dark-green leaf really packs a nutritional punch, helps fight cancer, builds strong muscles, and much, much more! (Keep reading to learn more.)

SuperFood:Spinach

Food science studies continue to show that eating spinach helps improve health and reduce the risk of many health issues, from cancer to memory loss to strokes. Here’s just a short list of what makes Spinach a SuperFood!

• Reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease and strokes

• Protects against the occurrence of cancer, including colon, lung, skin, oral, stomach, ovarian, prostate, and breast cancer

• Helps regulate blood pressure

• Builds muscle and strong bones

• Helps prevent memory loss and cognitive decline

• Protects against skin problems such as eczema and psoriasis

• Acts as a natural diuretic and laxative

• Performs as an anti-inflammatory

• Reduces migraines

• Prevents cataracts and macular degeneration

What’s inSpinach?

One of the more exciting recent discoveries about what’s in spinach is the presence of glycoglycerolipids. You may not have heard glycoglycerolipids before because people are just starting to talk about them. Glycoglycerolipids are the key players in plant photosynthesis, and new research shows that they can prevent inflammation and damage in the digestive tract. What else are you getting in a cup of spinach? Here’s how it stacks up by percentage of Daily Values:

Vitamin K 987.2%

Vitamin A 628.8%

Manganese 84%

Folate 65.7%

Magnesium 39.1%

Iron 35.7%

Copper 34.4%

Vitamin B 232.3%

Vitamin B 625.8%

Calcium 24.4%

Potassium 23.9%

Vitamin C 23.5%

Fiber 17.2%

Vitamin B 114.1%

Vitamin B 35.5%

(Source: www.wholefoods.com)  

And here’s the recipe I promised… 

Spicy Chicken Salad (no mayo!)

Ingredients:

Two skinless chicken breasts, baked or poached and chopped.

¼ cup chopped red, yellow or orange pepper

¼ cup chopped celery

½ cup fresh chopped baby spinach leaves

1-2 very ripe avocados, cubed

1 clove fresh minced garlic

1 ½ tsp chipotle or chili powder

Pinch of pepper and sea salt

Directions:

Chop cooled chicken into small, bite-sized pieces and place in large bowl. Add chopped pepper, celery and spinach leaves and minced garlic; mix well with a large fork. Add the cubed avocado; mash the avocado into the chicken and vegetable mixture, stirring and mashing until you have a slightly smooth consistency. Add the chipotle or chili powder, the pepper and sea salt. Mix well. Serve on romaine lettuce leaves, unsalted brown rice cakes or toasted whole-wheat bread. (I lay a few whole spinach leaves on top when I eat it as a sandwich!)

Don’t save the green just for St. Patty’s day… make it an everyday part of your life, just like Popeye. Enjoy!

Wrap it Up

It’s been a busy few weeks and when I’m on the go day after day, I try to find healthy lunch ideas I can quickly make and take with me. 

This wrap is not only tasty, but gluten free and easy to roll, wrap in foil, and go.  The brown rice wrap (from Trader Joe’s) nicely holds the spinach, chopped tomatoes, carrot slivers, avocado and leftover shredded chicken tossed with tahini sauce.  Clean, whole foods all rolled up into a gluten free wrap that holds up while being transported – what’s not to like?

You can make this wrap with your favorites, too – turkey, leftover sliced or ground beef, even baked tofu. Add as many vegetables as you can fit in the wrap to boost your veggie and nutrient intake. The key to keeping it healthy is to use the tahini dressing instead of cream cheese, ranch or sour cream.

Tahini is made from sesame seeds and is rich in phosphorous, magnesium, potassium and iron.  Tahini is a great source of calcium and is high in B and E vitamins.  It helps maintain healthy cell growth, skin and muscle tone and gives you a boost of protein. The dressing is quick to make (I used my immersion blender) and you will have enough leftover to save for another day.

Here is the dressing recipe adapted from Power Foods cookbook:

Tahini Dressing

1 minced garlic clove

¼ cup tahini

juice of one large lemon

pinch of sea salt

dash of pepper

3-4 TBSP water

Using an immersion blender, blend first five ingredients adding water one tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached. 

This dressing is also good tossed in a kale salad and can be used as a veggie dip.

What is your favorite wrap combination?

Good Things Come in Small Packages

Our culture tends to subscribe to a “bigger is better” mentality, but that is not always the case, as some wonderful things come in small packages… things like babies and diamond rings (insert heartfelt “sigh”). I’m not so sure who gets credit for the phrase “good things come in small packages”, but this age-old proverb can mean so much more than something sparkly in a small box, although I must say; I’ll take that kind of small package any day (grin).

But since this blog focuses on whole foods and clean eating, I’m sure you have already figured out that I’m referring to food.  In this case, seeds.  Those who are followers of a paleo diet are big seed eaters and you might even know someone who has eaten seeds to help improve fertility.  These little seeds, some of which I’ll profile below, are often an afterthought when it comes to how they are used… a sprinkle here or there or a few dotted on a hamburger bun, but never much attention past that.  I want to share with you the powerful punch of goodness these small packages can deliver. These are just a few of the seeds you can easily incorporate into your day. How many of these do you eat on a regular basis?

Chia – one of my favorite super foods (and earlier post), these seeds give you fiber, omega 3’s and (just 2 tablespoons) give you as much calcium as ½ cup of milk. Add to your smoothies, morning yogurt or make a healthy pudding with them. You can even make raspberry chia seed jam.

Flax  - another way to boost fiber and help lower cholesterol through the ALA’s (alpha lipolic acid) they deliver.  One ounce of flax seeds has double the omega 3’s of salmon, but they must be ground to be efficiently used by the body. Great sprinkled on salad, in yogurt or mixed into oatmeal. I add them to smoothies any time of the day.

Hemp – don’t let the name scare you, this hemp is not going to give you a high, but it will give you a boost of protein (10 grams in 3 Tablespoons). Hemp is a great vegan source of protein (contains all essential amino acids) and is easily digestible. You can add hemp seeds a smoothie, toss them on a salad or use them in a homemade pesto in place of pine nuts. See below for a quick smoothie with hemp seeds.

Sesame – these tiny pale seeds that come in gold, white and black varieties are high in phytonutrients, a cholesterol lowering and blood pressure lowering compound. And as a bonus, they give you a bit of calcium, too.  Toast them and add them to chicken salad, stir fry’s and even try them as a fish coating.

Sunflower – I am past the age of needing to crack the outer shell and spit it out in order to get to the yummy middle, so I now buy my sunflower seeds raw and shelled. They provide a dose of vitamin E, keep brain cells healthy, and provide selenium, a mineral that provides cancer protection. I add them to salads and to my homemade trail mix.

There are dozens of ways to incorporate these small packages of goodness into your day, but in the meantime, here’s a recipe to get you started… enjoy!

Simple Hemp Seed Smoothie

Blend:

1 ½ cups almond milk 


3 TBSP hemp seeds


1 cup frozen blueberries

½ frozen banana

2 large kale leaves, de-stemmed

3 ice cubes (optional, to thicken, if desired)

What's in the Box?

Two days a month I get a special delivery… my CSA box.  What’s a CSA box? Community Supported Agriculture boxes are technically boxes of organic produce sent direct from the farm to your house, but I prefer to think of it as a healthy surprise delivered right to my doorstep. Fresh, in season, just picked, organic fruits and vegetables ripe and ready to eat.  The fun part is that I never know what I’m going to get and this week’s box did not disappoint!

Here are all the goodies that I unpacked:

 

Don’t you just love all those vibrant colors?!  Radishes, carrots, oranges, sweet smelling strawberries, kale and butter lettuce, apples…even shallots and a Eureka lemon. I am excited to start cooking and eating everything… with one exception. Did you see the unusual lime-green, twirly, spikey vegetable thing in the back, tucked in between the radish tops and lettuce? 

 Looks like this:

 

It’s called a Romanesco Cauliflower.  (Luckily my  box comes with a packing list and a newsletter explaining unusual additions). I have never been served nor cooked nor eaten this vegetable before and my curiosity is peaked. What would this odd looking vegetable offer in the nutrition department? And more importantly, how would it taste?

Here’s what the Farm’s newsletter shared about Romanesco Cauliflower, “It has a high level of carotenoids, iron, vitamin C and folate.  The spiraled florets, when broken off, contain a replica of itself, which contains a replica of itself, and so on, like a hall of mirrors.  It has the same texture as white cauliflower, but the flavor has a slightly nutty flavor, a bit closer to the taste of broccoli.”  Hmmm, sounds pretty good to me, and I’m always up for trying something new (just like the delicata squash a few months ago). 

Two recipes were also included as to how to prepare it  (1) simply roasted with extra virgin olive oil, Pecorino Romano cheese, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes (optional) or (2) sautéed with shallots, evoo and white wine then tossed with hot pasta, shredded mozzarella, fresh basil and olive oil, a little salt and pepper, too. Both sound delicious! 

I guess I know what I’ll be making for dinner tonight! How about you? If you have cooked with this vegetable before, I’d love to hear your favorite way to prepare it. Here’s to trying something new (and strange looking)!

*If you live in the southern California area and are interested in getting a “Farm Fresh to You” box, you can get $10 off your first box.  Simply go online to www.farmfreshtoyou.com and enter promo code 6164.  Share my first and last name, Carla Matthews, too, and I will get a one-time discount as well.  You can have a box delivered at different intervals and in several sizes… check it out and see all the options.  It’s a great way to have “eat clean and live green” brought right to you.

Are You Getting All Your Vitamins?

©shutterstock.com

Do you get enough of this underrated and often forgotten supplement?

If you don’t, you might have poor concentration.

If you don’t, you might have poor skin quality.

If you don’t, you might have sugar cravings.

If you don’t, you might be cranky or irritable.

If you don’t, you might be gaining weight

If you don’t, you might have a poor immune system and are often sick.

And lack of it could be contributing to heart disease and diabetes.

Do you know what supplement is lacking in all of those situations?

Sleep.

That’s probably not news to most of you, but that doesn’t mean it is any less important.  Sleep deprivation is a chronic problem in our country.  The vast majority of people don’t take the need for sleep seriously. Technology has brought us to a place where we can be connected any hour of the day and many get sucked into this false sense of productivity.  The irony of this is that staying up late to get things done does nothing to improve performance and in fact decreases performance and leads to the conditions I listed above.  Sleep deprived drivers can be more dangerous than drunk drivers and just recently a tired railroad engineer contributed to the December train derailment in New York.

Don’t underestimate the need or the power of sleep.

“The process of sleep, if given adequate time and the proper environment, provides tremendous power. It restores, rejuvenates, and energizes the body and brain. The third of your life that you should spend sleeping has profound effects on the other two thirds of your life, in terms of alertness, energy, mood, body weight, perception, memory, thinking, reaction time, productivity, performance, communication skills, creativity, safety, and good health.” (from the book Power Sleep by Dr. James B. Maas)

Consider these statistics from the US National Library of Health:

• One night of good sleep can improve your ability to learn new motor skills by 20%
• Eight hours of quality sleep increases your ability to problem solve by 50%

Sleep is also a key factor in a healthy immune system and interrupted or shortened sleep robs the body of the chance to repair itself. Sleep can also help regulate our appetite through balancing our “hunger“ hormones leptin and ghrelin. When we are sleep deprived we may feel the need to eat more which can lead to weight gain.

What can you do if you are a victim of sleepless nights?  Here are helpful tips to help improve your sleep… and your health.

1-    Keep a regular sleep/wake schedule (go to bed before 11:00pm) 6 to 8 hours per night is ideal

2-    Avoid alcohol or caffeine six hours before bed

3-    Avoid heavy meals before bed

4-    Exercise regularly and early in the day

5-    Minimize light (including screens) a minimum of 30 minutes before bedtime (this may include needing to turn down the brightness on your clock)

• Install F.lux  (it is free) on all computers and devices to reduce blue light and improve sleep

6-    Make sure your room isn’t too warm (70 or below is best)

7-    Try eating these foods before bedtime that have shown to help with sleep:

• Bananas – rich in potassium and a good source of vitamin B6, which is needed to make melatonin (a sleep hormone
• Tart Cherry Juice or Fresh Cherries – naturally high in melatonin.

8-    Take a hot bath before bed… add a cup of Epsom salt for increased magnesium (an anti-stress mineral)

If you did have a late night or know you have long night ahead of you, the National Sleep Foundation promotes the idea of a 20-minute nap.  It’s long enough to give you a reprieve and improve short-term alertness, but not too long to interfere with your nighttime sleep. 

If you could do just one thing to increase your brainpower, build muscle, lose fat, look better, and live longer – would you do it? It’s as simple as getting a good night’s sleep.  Think of it as Vitamin S.  Make this supplement a priority and see how much better you feel and perform. 

* note: some people have disturbed or unrestful sleep because of an underlying medical issue, such as sleep apnea.  If you continue to struggle, consider seeking a medical evaluation.

A Guilt-Free Valentine's Treat

Although Valentine’s Day isn’t my favorite holiday, I do love the idea of showering gifts on my loved ones.  Whether you celebrate on the 14th or before hand, as we do, the big day is coming up soon.  So, in honor of all things yummy and sweet, I thought I’d share a guilt-free treat for you to make for your sweetheart (or even yourself). Flowers, balloons and candy are the usual gifts on the “sweetest” day of the year, and I’m sure for some, the sweets take over and you may see your new year’s healthy goals sabotaged.  But being healthy doesn’t mean you have to give up sweets entirely, it just means you need to choose them wisely. 

The philosophy of Eating Clean incorporates the use of seasonal, local produce as well as foods that are minimally processed.  Hmm… how to combine those two things and still have a yummy treat?  Here’s one way to answer that question: Dark Chocolate Dipped Pears. I know strawberries are the old standby for dipping in chocolate, but pears deserve some time in the spotlight, too.

And this is the season for pears… Bosc, Asian, Red and Green Anjou, Comice and Bartlett, just to name a few. Pears are a good source of fiber and contain vitamins B2, C, E and potassium. They help lower cholesterol and give you a dose of antioxidants. And there is nothing quite so good as bite of a fresh, ripe pear.  Especially when dipped in dark chocolate!

It’s probably not news to you that dark chocolate can be good for your heart (how appropriate for Valentine’s Day), but not just any old chocolate bar qualifies.  High quality and carefully picked ingredients are key to a healthier bar.  Good quality dark chocolate contains potassium, copper, magnesium and iron as well as flavanoids, which help lower blood pressure. The method used to process the raw cacao affects the flavonoids.  You do not want to choose one that says processed with alkali (also called “dutching”).  This process breaks down the antioxidants and reduces the flavanoids and nutritional benefit. The higher the percentage of cacao, the greater the flavonoids - and the more bittersweet it gets.  Higher than 80% may be too bitter for some.

What to look for? 70% or more cacao content, fair trade, 100% organic and “not processed with alkali”. Brands like Green&Blacks, Lindt, and Endangered Species are good to put in your grocery cart (Hershey’s, Dove, Nestle and Cadbury don’t make the grade – pass on these).

Once you’ve selected your pears and your chocolate, the rest is easy. I used 2 red Anjou pears for this recipe, but you can use your favorite (note: a firmer variety will hold up better in the warm chocolate). I also used one 3.5 oz. bar of Green&Blacks Organic Dark Chocolate (70% cacao content).

Chocolate Dipped Pears

2 ripe pears

1 3.5 oz. bar of 70% dark chocolate

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pot of boiling water. Stir occasionally as it melts and then remove from heat to cool slightly. Wash and slice your pears then dip one end of each slice into the warm chocolate.  Set dipped slices onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and refrigerate for 15 minutes to set the chocolate.  That’s all – they are ready to serve!

Hope your Valentine’s Day is sweet and full of (dark) chocolate surprises!

Green Goddess Salad

Anyone who knows me well knows I don’t particularly like sandwiches.  It’s not that I won’t eat them, but if given the choice of a sandwich or something else, I will usually choose something else… which means I have to be creative sometimes. Do you ever have those days where you are hungry and don’t know what you feel like eating?  That was me one day last week.  I stood staring into the open refrigerator, feeling hungry, but not exactly sure what I was looking for.  What I did see were lot of “parts”. I pulled them out one by one… green leaf lettuce, spinach, ½  of a leftover avocado, sprouted sunflower seeds, cucumber, a ripe pear and some Manchego cheese.  Hmm… looked like a great salad was about to come together.

I recently Instagramed a picture of this thrown together salad I nicknamed the Green Goddess Salad and I received a lot of requests for the recipe.  There isn’t an exact recipe, but salads are forgiving that way.  Cut up what you have, toss in a bowl with some ‘clean’ dressing and you’ve got lunch.  Maybe you have some pomegranate seeds or red peppers to add? Or leftover roasted vegetables to add to the mix? Focus on adding in produce and keep the cheese and nuts to a minimum.  And you probably noticed I didn’t use croutons… it’s best to get your crunch from the nuts or veggies, like celery or jicama.  The next time you’re staring in your fridge trying to decide what to eat, pull out your veggies and fruits and throw a salad together.  I’d love to hear what your final creation has in it.  Enjoy!

The ingredients and their nutritional ‘umph’ from my Green Goddess Salad are listed below. 

Salad Ingredients (60% lettuces, 40% add-in ingredients)

Spinach

Green Leaf Lettuce

Cucumber

Pear

Avocado

Sprouted Sunflower Seeds (or substitute with raw sunflower seeds)

Manchego cheese (small amount)

The Dressing -  Apple Cider Vinaigrette

(whisk the ingredients in a small container – all amounts are approximate - adjust amounts to your personal taste.  Leftover dressing keeps well in a small canning jar)

3 TBSP Apple Cider Vinegar

¼ Cup  Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 tsp.  Dijon Mustard

pinch  Celtic Sea Salt

pinch   Fresh Ground Pepper

Goodness Listing:

Spinach – packed with vitamins and minerals: vitamins A, C, K, folate, calcium, magnesium, iron, B6, potassium

Green Leaf Lettuce – hydrating and offers vitamin A, C, K, manganese

Cucumber – hydrating, helps flush toxins and stabilize blood pressure

Pears – Help control blood pressure, good source of fiber and vitamin C. High in phytonutrients, which help prevent disease.

Avocado – healthy source of protein, fat, fiber, vitamins B, C, E, K.  Helps reduce inflammation in the body.

Sprouted Sunflower Seeds- sprouting increases the nutritional content of nuts and seeds anywhere from 300-1000%.  Sunflower seed are good source of magnesium (good for bones, nerves and muscles) and vitamin E, and provide ani-inflammatory benefits.  Eat in small amounts (2 TSBP) due to high calorie content and high phosphorous content for large portions. (or you can also substitute raw sunflower seeds)

Manchego Cheese - a sheep’s milk based cheese that gives you a bit of protein and calcium without the lactose of cow’s milk cheese.

Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar – Bragg’s produces an apple cider vinegar (ACV) that is fermented and unfiltered. Only use raw organic ACV that has the ‘mother’ of the vinegar. The ‘mother’ has enzymes of living nutrients and good bacteria. Clear vinegar is processed and doesn’t have any of the benefits that raw ACV has. There are different brands out there but I use Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar.  ACV also helps alkalize the body and regulate blood pressure.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil – healthy fat base for the dressing that has good flavor, too.

Dijon Mustard – for some added zing. Make sure you buy one without fillers

Celtic Sea Salt – an unprocessed, whole salt full of naturally occurring essential minerals. Not all sea salt has a high mineral content, Celtic and REAL Salt brands, do.

Fresh Ground Pepper - great flavor enhancer