I don’t love celery. Actually, I dislike it. But for some reason, I love this celery salad. Weird because the salad is celery plus a little parsley and shallots. Call me crazy. But trust me, this salad is crunchy, refreshing, summery, and tasty.
healthy
Two Ingredient Pancake
OK. I’m jumping on the bandwagon. In recent weeks, I have seen a couple blog posts on “two ingredient pancakes.” I tried them, and you MUST give them a shot. They taste and look like pancakes, but they aren’t. Truly magical.
Ingredients:
BOOM. Two ingredients.
Green Bean Salad
All of my favorite recipes are originally made by my favorite chef, my mama. My mother is hands down the most inventive, creative, and talented chef in the kitchen (among many other traits and accomplishments). And this green bean salad has been in her repertoire for years, and as a result has become one of my go-to-salads. It is fresh, easy, healthy, and good in any season. Enjoy!
Aloha!
Aloha! Dried Green Juice! Aloha!
I am hooked on this dried green juice. Not only do I love the packaging (so modern and cool) but the product itself is a winner. At first, I was terrified of drinking it — 14 healthy, natural, organic ingredients — so healthy that even I was a little worried. BUT I WAS WRONG. This powder is GOLD (well, it’s green, but you know….). What’s in it?
Tuna Artichoke Salad
GP’s Lalo Cookies
Yep, another Gwyneth Paltrow recipe. I can’t help myself!!!! I love her recipes and ingredients so much!!! Plus if I eat like her, I will look like her, right? These cookies are the bomb (yep, used that word, say what 2003). They are dense, sweet, healthy, and hit-the-spot. They are more like a granola bar than a cookie. But healthy snack trumps oreos anyday.
Carrot Ginger Dressing
New York finally got a whiff of Spring yesterday! The birds sang, the sun glistened, it reached a whopping 43 degrees, and daffodils emerged (in bodegas, but still…..) Spring, colors, chirps, here we come! Goes hand in hand with a dollop of bright orange goodness to kick start your salad! Here is a recipe for the perfect Japanese carrot ginger dressing. Who knew a dressing could taste so delicious? Must try! (but be careful, it kinda looks like soup. It is not soup).
Earth Tu Face
As a dry Vata chick who lives in freezing cold (and therefore super dry) New York City, my body is constantly on the look out for moisturizing, hydrating, soothing, delicious lotion (that is 100% natural and free of chemicals). Sounds like a difficult task, right? Earth Tu Face to the rescue!
Dang Coconut Chips
Hope everyone had a nice weekend….I ended up getting the stomach flu on Friday….and let me tell you it was SO
UNFUN. Beyond unfun. Horrible. Horrific. Nightmare. Barf. Gross. Gulp. NEVER AGAIN. Oh My Goodness. Luckily, I had a devoted and loving husband; understanding and caring children; and wonderful, supportive friends. And I was better in no time at all!
I woke up to these beautiful flowers, which of course put a smile on my face.
Lentil Swiss Chard Soup
Lentil soup!
Ever since the holidays, I have found myself flipping through the Plenty and Jerusalem cookbooks and ooohhing and aaaahhhing over the beautiful, healthy recipes. Randomly, over the weekend, a friend made the most hearty, comforting, delicious soup from the same (brilliant) chef, Yotam Ottolenghi. I had to make a batch for myself. The soup is vegan, wholesome, rich, savory, and very Moroccan-esque. Definitely worth the effort in the kitchen.
Ayurvedic Apropos Pumpkin Cookies
The New Year is an opportunity to listen to your body and eat according to your dosha, your imbalances, the season, and the Ayurvedic composition. Currently in Vata season (and being a true Vata person), warm, homey, sturdy foods such as pumpkin and sweet potato provide balance and nourishment. So when I came across these pumpkin vegan cookies, I couldn’t wait to give them a shot.
HalfPops
Whole Foods Brooklyn
I have an obsession with grocery stores. I love maneuvering through big crowds, window shopping, watching them prepare foods, you name it. Call me a wacko, but I love it. And so does, Ali Berlin, Contributing Editor of the blog (obviously one reason we are friends is because we share interests in grocery stores.) Thanks, Ali, for spiriting this post. AMAZING!
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Dec 17, 2013 was a monumental day in Brooklyn because the first ever Whole Foods market opened in Gowanus, on the corner of 3rd and 3rd. It’s been ten years in the making and people are overjoyed that it finally happened.
Homemade Masala
One of the highlights of my Ayurveda Training was learning how to make different masalas. Masala is simply a spice mixture, and depending on the season and your dosha, certain masalas can help you become more balanced. Not only are the masalas delicious, but the act of creating, roasting, toasting, pounding, grinding, blending the spices is theraputic and rewarding. People over 5,000 years have been creating these simple blends in the same method — heating spices over hot fire, and pounding with a mortar and pestle. The aroma, the family bonding, the creation; it is all so great. Making masala is a metaphor for harvesting the spirit of ahimsa and maturing intelligence.
Mortar and pestle.
Mu Mu Muesli
As a sucker for all granola, I am also obsessed with muesli. Although very similar, they are not the same thing. Both granola and muesli contain oats, fruits and nuts, but muesli is raw, whereas granola is baked. People enjoy muesli like they do granola (served with milk, sprinkled over yogurt, drowned in kefir) or they soak it overnight (in milk or yogurt) to create a cool, porridge-like consistency. Both of my parents (foreign born) eat muesli almost every morning (except for Saturdays when Papa Proskurowski makes his famous omelet) so I have been around different forms of muesli all my life. And Mu Mu Muesli, my friends, is one of the best. The best.
Broccoli Slaw
THIS IS SO GOOD OMG SO GOOD OMG YOU HAVE TO MAKE IT NOW! Do you hear my enthusiasm? Yeppers — so good that you will HAVE A NEW LOVE IN YOUR LIFE! BROCCOLI ! So awesome. This recipe is from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook (buy it NOW. Make this broccoli dish first, and then BUY THIS BOOK!)
Ingredients:
Italian Tuna Salad
Italian Tuna Salad! Incredibly tasty, zesty, and protein-packed. Great as a sandwich or on top of some lettuce for a salad, and so easy to make. Win-win!
Ingredients:
White Bean Kale Soup
Out of nowhere, New York is suddenly cold. Slightly depressed about the long, dark, cold, dreary winter ahead of us, I found refuge in cooking a big pot of soup. Nothing better than a healthy, scrumptious, hot bowl of soup (vegan, but packed with protein) to make me feel warm and homey!
Ingredients:
Yoga Guru Mandy Ingber
You know when you have one of those sleepless weekends? Raging with a 4 year-old-who-doesn’t-sleep? Welcome to my world. Thank you, Ali (Contributing Editor for this blog!), for saving my not-working-sleep-deprived-brain and writing today’s post.
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Mandy Ingber is one of the most sought after yoga and fitness instructors in Los Angeles. Her philosophies draw people into her world, offering a plan for “healthier bodies and happier minds”. That’s right in my wheelhouse. A good-looking shell that’s undernourished spiritually and emotionally is not all that sexy.
“Having the body you want begins with loving the body you have.”
–Mandy Ingber
3 Chia Products
Currently obsessed with chia seeds. Because, hey, why not? But really, they have a lot of good things from them (like their omega 3 oils!), which make you healthier, right??? That simple! Eat em, and you will be long, lean, healthy, and beautiful! So here are my favorite chia products. On trend!
Chia! DELICIOUS treats that turn you into a health nut.
Fitness Guru Shaun Jenkins
ABS!
Um, yes, HELLO! Look at that body!!! The definition! The tone! The HOLY CRAP HOW DO I LOOK LIKE THAT ASAP? Why hello, Shaun Jenkins. Shaun is (total cheese but oh-so-true) hands down, the most kick-ass, tough-loving, sweet-but-stern, beat-you-down, inspiring and motivating trainer and group fitness instructor at Equinox in NYC. If you ever want to feel good about your workout (and also want to barf at the end of it), then Shaun is your man. He is THE man. Continue Reading
Dave’s Killer Bread
Yes, I am on an Oregon kick, but as it’s my home state, I can’t help but NOT be. Recently, there have been so many wonderful products that have emerged from Oregon, and one of the best is Dave’s Killer Bread. Not only is the story of Dave’s Killer Bread fascinating, but the bread itself is a winner. The organic bread has more protein, fewer carbohydrates and a little less sodium than most of its commercial counterparts.
Peach Crisp
Fruit crisps might not be the most photogenic dessert, but they sure are delicious. Even if they look gloopy and mushy (which they are), they still remind me of easy, relaxing, summer nights. This recipe for Peach Crisps was adapted from Alice Waters’ The Art of Simple Food and can be used for any fruit crisp (raspberry, apple, blueberry, rhubarb, the sky is the limit!)
Ingredients:
Juice Press
There are a handful of items that I miss from NYC when I am out west for the summer. Obviously, I miss my husband, my friends, and my gym classes. But the only other thing I really, deeply, truly miss is my raw oatmeal from Juice Press.
Oatmeal Pancakes
What to do with leftover oatmeal? OATMEAL PANCAKES! All you need is your previous day’s oatmeal and some maple syrup and VOILA, another meal. This recipe was created by my ever-so-resourceful-brilliant-mother who has an amazing ability to manipulate leftovers into a whole new delicious meal.
Ingredients:
Ingredients,
