How to Eat to Stay Warm in an Arctic Blast and Thrive

Thrive Now Nutrition Tip: The cob of an ear of corn is a great source of natural sugar. Cut corn off cob cooking as it will release its sugars in soup while it cooks.

Many of us find ourselves in the throes of extremely cool temperatures today. Even with the heat on winter is, with or without snow, in high gear. Maintaining a balanced system that allows us to feel energetic, focused and warm on the inside is critical in this season and especially now, as our bodies are needing to adjust to arctic air which is demanding.

Cooler conditions call for warming measures, especially in the kitchen. Consuming more grains and root vegetables to push blood to the surface of the body to generate heat is the prescription for winterized nutrition. The inclusion of spices such as cinnamon, Chinese 5 Spice and pumpkin spice add heat to food and in turn up the body’s thermostat.

Try these simple and value-friendly warming winter dishes to keep the home fire burning and to fuel you optimally now and throughout this cooler season:

1.) Keep a big pot of SOUP on the stove that you can dip into all week and keep adding ingredients in order to keep it going. Cut up some onions, carrots and celery and toss them into a pot with some vegetable bouillon cubes or powder. I like Knorr’s. After a couple hours you have the base and you can add sliced mushrooms, kale or spinach, even frozen vegetables like edamame, packaged split lentils, dried beans (that have been soaked overnight.) In a pinch, canned beans you rinse can go in, along with a pinch of natural sweetener, salt, pepper and preferred spices. A trick I use to boost flavor is I toss in a small piece of corn-on-the-cob and use the actual cob (I cut the corn off and repurpose it.) Add a dash or two of cinnamon and BAM! –  more heat in your pot.

2.) Did you know that you can strengthen a vulnerable immune system by adjusting cooking styles when it’s cold out? So, along with that pot of soup, why not toss some sweet potatoes into the oven. Baking and roasting food adds added warmth to the body and right now, here in NY that’s an inviting prospect. And no need to remove skin on organic potatoes as they are nutrient-packed. Sweet potatoes are loaded with fiber and vitamins K and C and serve to balance blood sugar levels and mood too. They ease sugar cravings too which makes them an invaluable tool if easing up on sugar is a resolution this year.

Thrive Now Nutrition Tip: Bake a few potatoes ahead for the week or for the family so meals in minutes are at the ready.

If you take the time to bake potatoes you might bake some extra and cook them until slightly underdone so that they can be reheated. Either YAMS or my favorite Japanese Satsu-IMO POTATO. Learn more about this magic variety here https://ultimateyounow.wordpress.com/2010/11/11/imo-one-hot-potato/ .  And think about making a potato more of a meal with toppings including sautéed vegetables like spinach and onions with paprika or black beans, salsa and guacamole or other vegetables, legumes and favorite protein sources. Use your favorite dressings and sauces, nuts, nut butters and seeds, or just allow the beautiful flavors of these whole foods power up your spuds.

3.) And while you’re adding fuel to your inner fire, throw a pot of GRAINS on to cook. It will act like kindling in your body and while keeping the heat in. I batch-cooked this

Mango Quinoa Salad http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/mango-quinoa-salad and a  Hot Lap Bowl http://engine2diet.com/recipe/hot-lap-bowl/ to eat all week.

Mango Quinoa Salad

The key is taking a handful of nutrient-dense ingredients, cooking them in batches to save time (and money) and throwing durable ‘logs’ on the fire within.  This will just require adjusting your sail a bit and using cooking methods that add warmth to your food. Spring really is just around the corner. Heavy jackets are coming off and lighter, cooling fare is in the forecast. Eat warm and prosper.  

Peace + plants, 

 Ronna

I Can't Believe It's Not Meatloaf

 Lentil Apple Walnut Loaf, The Return (recipe below.)

Over the years I have come across meat-less ‘meatloaf’ recipes and passed over them with admitted skepticism. How I thought, could you take the meat out of meatloaf and be left with anything that remotely resembles the comfort food my mother raised me on. Her original version has changed with the times, as chopped sirloin has been replaced with leaner ground turkey. And while she knows I’m more plant-centered these days, she lovingly asks if I would like to take one home from her freezer when I visit.

While making my way in and out of a meat-free board on Pinterest, I came across an inviting picture which strongly resembled my mother’s meat loaf. Above the tasteful image it read, Lentil Walnut Apple Loaf. “Apples?”  I wondered, double-clicking onto the image. I was taken to a popular vegan website www.OhSheGlows.com  where blogger Angela Liden had given in to an urge to re-invent the meat-free vegetable-based loaf she had admired some years back after author Terry Walters  presented  her version of this legume, nut and fruit-inspired dish.

I took stock of Angela’s meat-free meatloaf makeover and scanned my cupboard. I had most of the ingredients her recipe called for with the exception of oat flour, flax seeds and bread crumbs so I subbed quinoa flour for oat flour and replaced traditional flax with my favorite Decadent Blend of Ground Chia and Flax Seed with Coconut and Cocoa from Spectrum Essentials®.  I believe the cocoa was a key to my recipe’s success. The other was the Graham Cracker crumbs I used instead of bread crumbs.  Earth Balance Roasted Garlic and Herb organic culinary spread was a last minute addition to this recipe revisited.

Here’s my adaptation of the Glazed Lentil Walnut Apple Loaves that came before me:

Lentil Walnut Apple Loaf, the Return

Yields:  4 moist mini-loaves.

1 cup of Trader Joe’s Steamed Lentils (pressed lightly with a fork to slightly mash)

1 cup of walnuts, toasted and finely chopped

3T Ground Chia & Flax Seed Blend with Coconut & Cocoa  Spectrum Essentials® + ½ cup of water (you can use classic ground flax and raw cocoa powder too.)

3 garlic cloves, minced

1+ 1/3 cups sweet yellow onion

1 cup diced celery

1 cup grated carrot

1/3 cup apple compote*, chopped

1/3 cup raisins

½ cup quinoa flour

¾ Graham Cracker Crumbs (I use Kinnikinnick Foods Graham-Style Crumbs - gluten and dairy-free and not vegan. You can blend up your own crumbs with graham crackers too.)

¾ tsp dried thyme, chopped fine

Salt and pepper, to taste. (I use less than a teaspoon of salt.)

Red Chili Pepper Flakes (a couple shakes of the jar)

2 tsp Earth Balance Roasted Garlic & Herb Organic Culinary Spread (plus extra to grease pan.)

1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil

Glaze for Lentil Walnut Apple Loaf:

1/4 cup organic ketchup

1T pure maple syrup

2T unsweetened apple sauce

2T balsamic vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 350 and toast walnut for 5 minutes. Cool.
2. To prepare apple compote*, peel, core and thinly slice 2 medium apples (Honeycrisps are ideal)and simmer in 1/8 cup of water with a handful of naturally sweet yellow raisins – I use organic Raw Hunza raisins. Cook for 7 minutes and cool.
3. Whisk flax/chia blend with water. Cover and set aside.
4. Heat olive oil over medium flame. Sauté onion and garlic for 3-4 minutes. Add 2 tsp Earth Balance Roasted Garlic and Herb Organic Culinary Spread and sauté another couple of minutes. Remove from heat.
5. In a large mixing bowl place all loaf ingredients.
6. Grease loaf pans and line with parchment paper for easy lifting once loaves are baked.
7. Whisk the ingredients in the glaze (or prepare the night before and chill.) Brush the glaze over the loaves. Leftover glaze is perfect for garnishing or dipping the loaves once cooked.
8. Spoon loaf mixture into pans. Press down lightly.
9. Bake mini-loaves for 30 minutes and check on them. If they don’t spring back when you poke them or seem too soft, cook another 5-8 minutes. Be careful not to overcook them
10. If you make one large loaf pan, bake for approx. 45 minutes.
11. Cool loaves for 10 minutes before lifting them (with parchment intact) onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

My finished loaves looked and smelled so delicious I had to try them in the cooling stage. The taste was incredibly hearty, sweet yet savory and dare I say ‘meaty’ in the most delightful vegan way. The texture was spot on.

This was served with sautéed bok choy and winter vegetable soup. I happened to have made extra apple compote (a great way to repurpose fall apples sitting in your crisper) which was batch-cooked into an Apple Oatmeal to eat all week.  A warming scoop of this morning grain replaced classic mashed potatoes. The contrast of textures and complimentary flavors was inviting.

Recreating a meat-free ‘meatloaf’ taught me some important lessons:                                               1) If you have not walked in someone else’s vegan shoes,  you have no idea what you’ve been missing.                                                                                                                                                                  2) Non-meat-eaters are hardly restricted by their eating choices, especially these days. In fact, getting creative in a plant-centered kitchen can open up a vast culinary world.

Wherever you are on the dietary spectrum, eating more plants is widely known to be an effective way to boost performance, increase energy and stamina and reach a healthy weight. Beyond the side salad and broccoli there lies a land of plant-inspired main dishes which are worth leaning into at any meal, on any day. So fill your life with more plants (whole grains, beans, legumes, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds), get energized and jazzed about eating cleaner. It’s a cause we can all get behind. For me, eating plant-strong and eating deliciously all the time is an embarrassment of riches. It propels me to share the wealth.

I brought a Lentil Walnut Apple Loaf over to my mother’s house for her freezer. She relished it and rather than freezing it, has decided to serve it for dinner tonight. Bet dad won’t believe it’s not meatloaf.

Peace and plants.

Ronna

One Smart Business-Minded Cookie

It’s easy, especially on-the-job, to surrender to a cookie craving. Such treats are an invited distraction in the workplace. They hinder work performance by not allowing the body to benefit from the phase of digestion after a meal that allows us to settle into clear thinking and allows the body digestive rest. We give into a hankering and there begins our mental resolve to keep it healthy the rest of the day, while the physical body dodges sugar bullets. Whether cookies come dressed in a printed package or are presented freshly baked, their visual presence expertly masks this sweet saboteur’s hidden agenda – to promote cravings and fat storage and to put a wrench in productivity.

We’ve been conditioned since early childhood to take comfort in such indulgences. They’re a simple pleasure that rewards, consoles and falsely promises to take the edge off a particularly rough day, but at what cost? Packed with energy-draining and mood-compromising ingredients, they often contain a considerable sugar and fat load, are devoid of nutrients – the vital raw materials that fire up the body (and mind) to function at full throttle, and what’s with the ‘enriched’ wheat? Why would wheat need to be enriched unless it was stripped of vital nutrients in the first place?

So what’s a cookie-lover to do to keep stamina and cravings in check on the job? Sink your teeth into a cleaner cookie.

This delicious high performer is prepared without eggs, dairy or gluten, if using gluten-free oats. It’s vegetarian and vegan-friendly and kid-approved. The basic cookie dough is just three ingredients:  bananas, oats and nut butter.

Smart Cookies

Ingredients:
2 1/2 ripe bananas
2 cups rolled oats, blended into a coarse flour
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
Pinch of coarse salt
Chocolate chunks or chips

Optional: walnuts, pecans, cinnamon and/or splash of vanilla.

Directions:
Mash bananas in a bowl. Add oat ‘flour, nut butter and additional optional ingredients. Drop by large mounds onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Clean cookie tips:
1. Bananas should be super ripe!
2. Bigger cookies with 2-3 optional ingredients added are most interesting to eat.

Bake at 375 degrees for 18 minutes. Cool.
Store in freezer individually wrapped.
Nestle one in your briefcase as you head to work.

Reheating these cookies in the office microwave will revive their fresh-from-the-oven consistency. They’re delicious simply defrosted as well. Add more dried fruit, seeds and nuts and you’ve got a breakfast cookie that will run circles around those candy bars in the market masquerading as ‘energy’ bars.

It takes a smart cookie to bake one.

Ronna

Little Loaded Morning Bowls: True North of Nutritional Excellence

The idea of eating out of small bowls at breakfast, as is Asian tradition intrigues me.  It’s mindful and makes mealtime more of a nourishing ritual. It slows me down and fills me up on so many levels.

As a year old Nutritarian, eating for nutritional excellence is my daily goal. My diet is vegetable-based with an abundance of whole grains, beans, legumes, seeds, fruit and nuts and concentrating on eating foods with the greatest concentration of nutrients per calorie buck.  I have discovered a simple preparation in the morning which has overhauled my breakfast routine and helped me to shed 30 pounds over the last year, along with limited beliefs about how much or little to consume at the start of each day.

Little loaded bowls brimming with nourishing, nutrient loaded, plant-rich whole foods greet me many mornings. I take inspiration from the bigger noodle and grain bowls and super-sized salad bowls trending for lunch and dinner but the smaller bowls offer me variety and infuse the first meal of the day with an element of mindfulness that lingers long after the bowls are emptied.

BOWL #1                                                                                                                                                        While fruit added to yogurt is nothing new, the spin I put on it has become my guilty pleasure. I freeze fresh fruit, mainly raspberries, blueberries and cherries (you can substitute your own favorites) and toss’em into a bowl with a dollop of yogurt so the fruit to yogurt ratio is 3:1. The key is that the yogurt merely clings to the icy fruit (in the most inviting way.) For a second, you’ll think you mistakenly opened a pint of chunky ice cream … not. Sprouted nuts, seeds or a drizzle of maple syrup or local honey optional.

BOWL #2                                                                                                                                                                 Start with a hearty whole grain. Today it was oats for me. I prefer steel cut, rolled or oat groats, and to save time I’ll often prepare the longer cooking versions in batches and then reheat. I top with a spoonful of nut butter and let it meld into the warm grain for a minute or so. Raw cashew butter is a favorite, along with cinnamon or cocoa nibs, cashews and goji berries.

BOWL #3                                                                                                                                                               We all know the immune-boosting power of leafy greens which are easily incorporated into latter day salads, side dishes and fortifying main courses. I like to rev my engine early in the day with a colorful, nutrient-dense bowl of vegetable soup. I toss a handful of raw, sweet spinach into the bottom of the bowl and pour the warming ‘elixir’ on top which cooks the greens to a perfect consistency keeping the nutrient profile intact.

If your day requires a faster approach to packing in breakfast, grab a bento box and use a similar approach to filling it with fresh color and texture. But keep a pot of soup in the fridge all week so you can reheat it, even on the fly. Invest in a well insulated hot cup or small thermos and you’re on your way to a fortifying day before even heading out the door. That sort of morning intention has a huge payoff, of which sustained energy and clear thinking are just the beginning of your day. Good Morning.

Ronna

My Nutrient Dense Muse: The Japanese Sastsu-IMO Potato

‘Imo’ is Japanese for potato but the word also means uncool. I beg to differ. This is one hot potato.

I was introduced to a Satsuma-Imo by my dear friend Naoko who met me in a Whole Foods Market booth for lunch with a little brown bag. At the end of our soup and salad she opened the bag and out rolls a warm, deep red root vegetable. “Dessert?”, I thought. This toasty, sweet, creamy potato was sliced and handed to me with a grin. How I wondered, could a root vegetable, oven-baked and without a touch of added seasoning make such a sweet impression?  IMO’s, like good friends, have magical properties.

I happened to have brought along some of my favorite maple almond butter. A light smear on this new find was indescribable. Layer on the fact that this seasonal treat is loaded with vitamins, minerals and healing antioxidant properties. They are fiber and protein packed. And leave it to a dessert-like plant to ward off sugar cravings while balancing your blood sugar. Sweet.

A few tips for cultivating your Japanese potato, available right now at many Asian markets and Whole Foods Markets.

• Eat the skin (The antioxidant level in the skin is said to be triple of that in the flesh)
• Wash them well.
• Poke ‘em so they can take the heat
• Bake them for approximately 40 minutes,depending on size, on just a cookie sheet.
• Allow them to relax and rest before enjoying

Treat yourself to this jewel of a potato while the season’s supply lasts.

Ronna

Are You Eating Seasonally?

1. Try something new, in season. Prepare a vegetable that’s harvested right now. It provides an entirely different energy to the food you’ll eat the rest of the year.

2. Buy LOCAL produce. The average (American) meal travels 1500 miles from farm to table. When you support local farmers you tap into food with an incomparable  life force.  So you fuel, so shall yee reep!

3. Eating for FALL includes: Clementines. Cranberries. Dates. Figs. Grapefruit. Grapes. Imo. Kiwi. Mandarin Oranges. Melons. Oranges. Pears. Persimmons. Pomegranates. Raspberrries. Bok Choy. Brocolli. Broccoli Rabe. Brussel Sprouts. Cabbage. Carrots. Cauliflower. Celery Root. Collard Greens. Garlic. Jerusalem Artichokes. Kale. Leeks. Lettuce. Parsnips. Pumpkin. Rhubard. Rutabaga. Snow Peas. Spinach. Sweet Potato. Swiss Chard. Turnips. Watercress. Winter Squash. Apples.

4. Benefits of eating in-season:

• reduces the energy needed to grow and transport the food we eat
• avoids paying a premium price for food that is scarcer or has travelled a long way
•  supports the local economy while reconnecting  with nature’s cycles
• seasonal food sings a song with perfect pitch

Fall fast. Winter will be here all too soon.

Ronna

Stocking a Healthy Fridge: Placement Matters

The average family tosses out $400-$500 dollars worth of  fruit and vegetables a year that have turned the corner on freshness. This is simply due to the fact that things are either hiding in a crowded, stocked fridge or they are not optimally stored. For longer lasting, better tasting food, look at your refrigerator as a micro-climate. There are warm spots and much cooler spots, so get the most bang for your nutritional buck by strategically placing your groceries.

The door has a higher temperature overall. Heat rises to the top of it which begs the question, “Better to store butter – there?”  Wouldn’t a cooler spot in the interior of the fridge extend shelf-life? Try using the designated butter chiller for fresh, hearty herbs. For sensitive fish, meat or dairy, stick to the bottom interior of the refrigerator. Milk can go on the lower part of the door as well, but if you prefer it icy cold, keep it on a lower, interior shelf toward the back.

Leftovers have a perfect home in the center of the fridge, stored in see-through containers within view.

Depending upon the effectiveness of your lower fruit & vegetable crispers, consider the top interior shelf as an alternative prime location for thick-skinned fruit and apples. Be sure to keep apples sealed in a bag as they release a gas which causes everything around them to ripen faster.

Take a moment when stocking the fridge to wash and air dry leafy greens (kale, bok choy, lettuces and collards) and place them in separate plastic bags for easy grab-and-go healthy cooking. This will make it convenient to utilize greens at the height of their nutritional density and optimize shelf -life.

Setting up a grab-and-go fuel station the day you shop, ultimately lines your pockets because you minimize losses. And while you’re at it , slice a cucumber or lemon, Italian parsley or fresh mint – toss it into a pitcher of filtered water and keep chilled in the back interior of your fridge. Let it refresh you each time you return to your personal healthy eating station!

Ronna

These ar a Few of my Favorite (Sustainable) Things

Really good things are meant to be shared. Here are some recent finds!

1. Lunchskins ® -   these eco-chic reusable lunch bags made of a food safe, dishwasher-proof, durable fabric are saving kids from a 67 lb per year plastic sandwich bag habit. That’s a landfill of opportunity to be kind to the planet. Visit www.3greenmoms.com
2. Gardein TM – in my own pursuit of leaning into a meat-reduced existence I chanced upon Gardein, protein from the garden, you bet! Slightly skeptical, I charged ahead in hot pursuit of a meat-free product that tasted like chicken but was rooted in greener pastures. So far I have loved all the varieties I have tried including Chick’n Scallopini (I add fresh sautéed Spring onions, Earth Butter and white wine),  Tuscan Breasts in a tomato and basil sauce (I melt some fresh mozzarella or dairy-free cheese – a better chicken parmigiana I don’t recall.) Don’t miss the Beefless Tips or the crispy meat-free Tenders either. Find them in either the refrigerated or frozen vegan section of your green grocer.  Run!
3. ZEROWATER ® The only filtered water that meets FDA definition for purified bottled water. It comes with an independent laboratory-calibrated water tester. Seeing was believing when I tested the pitcher and faucet filter I have been using. I found mine at Target.
4. Good read: The Engine 2 Diet.  Here is a clip of the author, marathoner and Texas firefighter Rip Esselstyn talking about his ‘plant strong lifestyle’ on the TODAY Show.       YouTube – “Engine 2 Diet” author Rip Esselstyn on The Today Show 
5.  Cocoa Bliss from Artisana ® – 100% organic, raw chocolate coconut butter. This     sugar cane-free, rich, creamy, chocolaty coconut spreadable nectar is guilt-free indulgence. By the spoonful, in a smoothie or spread on your favorite fruit, cracker, energy bar or freshly baked bread, this vegan treat lives up to its’ title. Dig in! www.premierorganics.org  Westerley’s in NYC is my source.

An admitted, healthy food product junkie, I share more on my 'Favorite Healthy Things' Pinterest Board https://www.pinterest.com/ronnacorlin/ and on Instagram (Wholefoodieronna) http://instagram.com/wholefoodieronna

To your best health, starting now

Ronna

Raising the Sustainable Energy Bar

Entering the nutritional bar section of green grocers these days can be a confusing task. What started as a niche market targeted to give athletes and physically active individuals a quick energy boost has grown into a billion dollar industry that has been accused of rolling out nothing more than candy bars disguised as dietary supplements.

A handful of bar producers keeping it real and their ingredients list tight, deliver a meal replacement option that presents a host of health and wellness benefits. For the traveler, these meal replacements offer a convenient source of fuel and comfort after leaving fortified home cooking behind for a time.

If you choose wisely energy bars can save you from the temptation to indulge in over-processed convenience foods loaded with refined sugar, sodium, compromising fats and concentrated calories. They all beckon you in airports, rest stop vending machines and convenience stores along your travel route.

The portability and pack-ability of these bars make them an inviting travel companion. Their extended shelf-life and unquestioned presence at security checkpoints is a plus.

Just be aware that energy bar manufacturers are not required to offer consumers full-disclosure of their nutritional deficit on packaging. In fact, by definition, an ‘energy’ bar is merely a food that ‘contains calories’.  Years after the Center for Science in the Public Interest (publisher of Nutrition Action) petitioned the FDA to require disclosure the agency hasn’t lifted a finger to divulge this energy secret to customers, so I will.

Clearly energy bars are not an equal replacement for whole foods on a regular basis but some of them ARE real food. And in combination with other healthy food and beverage choices on a trip, some bars offer a great safety valve for the discerning green traveler in search of a sure thing. And if you make mini-meals or snacks combining a portion of a one of these bars with organic nut butters, fresh nuts, seeds, dried fruit, green tea, smoothies and portable produce, you can raise the (sustainable) bar on your energy with great affect. The key while traveling is to simply keep your blood sugar on an even keel and not wait until hunger strikes to feed yourself.

Real energy bars can support a balanced diet. They go the distance, unlike convenience foods and in-flight meals, loaded with chemicalized junk food that try and succeed at draining your ‘life force’. Those little bags of airline peanuts they serve on the beverage cart are processed, over-salted and will dehydrate you while fueling only hunger.

In the interest of amping up your sustainable travels, here are some personal favorites that offer more bang for your nutritional buck and offer natural ingredients that are completely recognizable (this is no small feat.) Calories are in check but most importantly they taste really good.

1.Cashew Almond Boomi Bar (www.boomibar.com) this bar won the coveted title of winner of the Natural Products Expo Taste Award. It’s a hand-rolled gluten-free energy bar loaded generously with nuts, a touch of natural sweetness and puffed grain.

 2. Mayan Spice WildBar (www.wildbar.info), the ultimate raw, superfood meal in a bar, rich in antioxidants, B12 and Omega 3’s, high in fiber and one nutrient-rich superfood, so rare and so wild that it can only be harvested a few short weeks per year. This warming bar blends raw chocolate with macadamia nuts and is spiced with whole vanilla, orange rind, cinnamon and a touch of cayenne. It’s organic, gluten-free and vegan.

3. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip  Macrobar (www.gomacro.com)  This vegan, macrobiotic, high protein (16g) bar has lots of peanut butter and grain-sweetened chocolate. It’s made with organic brown rice syrup by a company dedicated to biodiversity and sustainable practices. Also Tahini Date, an exotic snack containing sesame butter, raisins and dates is easy on the palate.

4. Cocoa Crunch Bar by Lydia’s Organics (www.lydiasorganics.com)  is a raw 100% organic, vegan bar made without gluten and packed with sprouted buckwheat, quinoa, sunflowers, cocoa powder, agave nectar, cinnamon and sesame seeds.

5. And from a small, local Midwest producer, the best local, seasonal, sustainable granola bars ever from Eat Green Foods (www.eatgreenfoods.com.) These delicious hand-cut bars have a baked-from-scratch goodness and a wholesome ingredient list sourced from local mills and orchardists. I couldn’t get enough of the Peanut Butter and Chocolate but they’re all really good.  

6. The mother of all real food bars -LARABAR, the original whole food, real energy bar  www.larabar.com Eat them out of their convenient package or put your chef's hat on and whip up a homemade version. I make a DIY Lemon version with fresh medjool dates, raw cashews, lemon juice and zest. Real food for real energy.

With bars like these, there is no reason to skip a meal or snack and allow your energy to drain. Your eating plan will inevitably be challenged in travel whether from jet lag, dehydration or less than sound sleep. Your best shot at an energy boost will begin by making healthy choices.

Wherever your travels take you, rest assured that if you pack a stash of sustainable energy bars, while the porters are carrying your luggage, these healthy snacks will undoubtedly carry you!

Ronna

Detoxing From Detoxes: Just Keeping it Real

People are abuzz this New Year’s Day talking about chosen detoxifying regimes which will hopefully clear interior pathways and redeem past over-indulgences. Some of these programs are endorsed by celebrated television stars, well known authors and established health advocates. Social media is ‘atwitter’ with news of different camps espousing quick-start cleanses to kick off the first day of the rest of our lives.

I just watched Dr. Oz tell his television audience to skip any kind of extreme cleanse in favor of drinking more water and eating more fiber. He notes that this has worked for mankind with great effect throughout our history.

Didn’t Michael Pollan masterfully put a stop to the insanity of trying to defy nature’s brilliance when he reminded us in Omnivore’s Dilemma, In Defense of Food and now Food Rules that eating and cooking real food seasonally is nothing short of nutritional kryptonite?

Today I woke up wanting to somehow mark this first day of a new decade as a clean start, so I made steel cut oatmeal, added goji berries and organic sprouted granola. I seeped a pot of green tea. I later loaded up my blender for a superfood smoothie with almond milk, raw cacoa powder and maca root powder for extra zip. Before me sits a tall glass of filtered water splashed with high potassium coconut water and 2 drops of  high vibration marine phytoplankton (real food) to clear my runway for flight.  And to further solidify my intentions, homemade Miso soup is gaining a life force of its own on the stovetop. It’s  quite easy to prepare. I’m not a trained cook, just eager to become self-reliant about fueling myself. The life force in sea vegetables and the healing properties of fresh greens and miso are understood immediately by the body, mind and spirit, down to the last drop.

I heated up some leftovers too:  sweet brown rice purchased from a bulk bin at the green grocer and enjoyed it with some Swiss chard tossed in a frying pan with fresh, minced garlic, extra-virgin olive oil and a juicy chopped tomato. I felt like something sweet so I went into my freezer to retrieve a small square (three bites worth) of a crispy almond butter treat from Alicia Silverstone’s The Kind Diet book. And no, it’s really not a diet in the traditional sense, but more a deliciously energizing lifestyle. The name sells books and this one is a keeper.

Why wait until tomorrow when you can eat a happy meal today. Pure and simple. And never do a packaged detox your grandmother wouldn’t recognize.

Ronna

What's HOT in Health and Wellness?

In 2 days we will ring in a new year and a new decade fueled with possibility for making personal health goals a lasting reality.

What cuisines and special ingredients will finesse your existing eating regime inching you closer to where you want to be in the coming year? What products, mantras and health trends will support these efforts and keep you on track?

 I see delicious possibilities. Here are some favorites:

1. Raw chocolate – unprocessed, organic, and naturally energizing, this bar is sweetened with raw forms of sugar like maple syrup to spare you the sugar rush, ‘crash’ and cravings.
2. Spicing up health- research suggests Ginger may ease sore muscles, Oregano might limit bacterial growth and Cinnamon balance blood sugar levels. The spice rack is a proverbial medicine cabinet. Turmeric is a powerhouse.
3.  ‘Sprouted’ products.
4. Quantum nutrition – Raw, organic super foods are the food and medicine of the future. Add them into your day and watch the needle move on mood, energy, memory, stamina and libido.
5. Increase in Veganism – even if you’re not ready or interested in eliminating dairy or meat from your routine or committing strictly to a an all plant-based diet, experiment with this lifestyle for glowing skin, weight loss, more energy and irresistible eating options.  
6. Celebrities turned ‘green’ foodies are the newest cookbook authors carrying the torch for the sustainable, homemade, comfort food movement. Check out Alicia Silverstone’s bestselling The Kind Diet and Mariel Hemingway’s about to be released, Mariel’s Kitchen. 
7.  Listening to your body- an old mantra gaining renewed respect and top billing on the Integrative Medicine and Nutrition global stage. 
8.  “No-cow” ice creams. Hemp and soy milk-based, these non-dairy options are easy to digest, won’t spike your blood sugar or your guilt. 
9. Eating an immune system-boosting diet. Fortifying the body’s eco-systems (immune, nervous, digestive and adrenal) with functional food is on the rise. 
10. Natural food detoxing vs. using supplements, ‘kits’ or procedures which may do more harm than good.
11.  Unpasteurized, raw milk cheese. For the dairy enthusiast, raw dairy is more easily digested for some. Your body will let you know either way.
12. The relaxation beverage market is exploding. Whether or not melatonin or valerian-infused soda or a liquid shot can chill you out without knocking you out will warrant watching this mellow trend.
13. Anti-inflammatory foods vs. pro-inflammatory foods can make all the difference in your sur-thrival.
14. Not dieting to lose weight. “Eat food, mostly plants, not too much.” – Michael Pollan
15. Packaged foods with short ingredient lists touting real ingredients are on the rise.
16. Packaged foods with health claims are on the rise too. Avoid them at all cost! Real food doesn’t need to claim anything. Nature is as good as it gets.
17. Farm to table cuisine in restaurants and as a cooking trend has more people cooking ‘clean’, seasonal, simple food at home and on the road. 
18. Whole Foods stroll. Sitting in a Starbuck’s is being trumped by the open market experience. Check it out.
19. Eating foods harvested closer to home, supporting local agriculture and ensuring the life force in your food isn’t drained from long cross-country delivery truck excursions has crossed over from foodie fad for the financially fit to a global lifestyle initiative. The average meal travels 1500 miles from farm to table.
20. Real ‘energy’ products from eco-friendly manufacturers offering natural, focused fuel will continue to multiply and compete with energy imposters offering no more than scattered stimulation and a false lift. Buyer beware!
21. The smoke will clear on all the nutrition bar confusion. With a rise in ingredient label reading and an awareness of truly fueling ourselves with recognizable ingredients that suit us personally, this billion dollar industry will continue to produce real winners in the category. Seek them out with abandon.

Wishing you an energizing new year filled with real opportunities to fuel your day and your life. Everyday, every balanced meal, every healthy choice in favor of authentically fortifying ourselves leads us to the promised land- our best day ever.

 To the Ultimate You, (starting) Now!

Ronna

Sifting Through the Cake Sale Ban

The idea that the current child obesity epidemic in this country is cause for the banning of a hallowed and time-honored tradition, the school bake sale, in the New York City schools and others around the country is a half-baked strategy at best. 

When kids come together for a bake sale, they learn to achieve a collective goal through teamwork. Instead of banning these effective fundraising efforts, why not simply re-think them. If school bake sales historically have proven to be a profit center for kids to raise some ‘dough’, isn’t this an opportunity to challenge the children (and their adult supervision) to raise the bar on the quality of what they bring to the bakery table?

Instead of banning bake sales, why not build a better machine? Instead of discouraging children from supporting a sugar habit of epidemic proportions, allow them to raise needed funds for school gear and travels by promoting healthier choices. Parents (with their kids) can prepare anti-oxidant rich cranberry and pumpkin breads, carrot, apple and zucchini muffins and cookies loaded with natural ingredients. The shelves are lined with healthy alternatives to traditional white flours and white sugar that is contributing to obesity, poor concentration and lack of productivity at an alarming rate. Oat, spelt and bean-inspired flours to name a few, have arrived on local grocery store shelves. Unprocessed, raw sugar alternatives which don’t spike blood sugar are widely available as well.

Notable authors have shared the secrets for sneaking real food into traditional desserts and it’s time now to teach the kids to bake healthier and equally delicious replicas of their own favorites.

And for those families that prefer to shop for contributions to the school bake sale, remarkably delicious gluten-free cakes, fruit sweetened cookies, flourless muffins and waist-friendly treats are in abundance at retail. 

Why not give students a chance to make good on their knowledge of the negative effects of empty-calorie ingredients and make this a teachable moment. There is a missed lesson for children when bake sales are banned.

 Let them eat cake and THRIVE.

Ronna

Getting Grounded for Winter Travel

Remember when just-picked corn-on-the-cob and juicy, sweet peaches the size of soft balls were a distinctive summer treat? Fresh-pressed apple cider and the selection of the family pumpkin were sure signs of the fall harvest, while ‘chestnuts roasting’ marked the kickoff of the winter season, and citrus deliveries from warmer regions arrived in time to fend off the cold season.

Fresh fruits and vegetables harvested seasonally used to take center stage. These days most varieties of produce are made available year round, through natural and organic grocers either in the produce aisle or in the flash frozen food section. The concept of eating for the seasons, a practice which is part of our ancestry has become a lost art. This fall season, wherever your travels take you – overseas, out-of-state, across town or down the street, rediscover how eating local, seasonal fruits and vegetables can better adapt you to your surroundings and the community in which you find yourself.

As the temperature begins to drop in certain climates and it starts to get darker earlier in the day, we may  feel fatigued and low in mood. The immune system gets tested in the transition and our resistance is lowered. This makes us more vulnerable to illness and stress. By eating foods nature is now providing in abundance, you will get grounded and more focused after a hike, a drive or a flight.

Root vegetables are nutritional powerhouses this time of year. Harvested from deep in the ground and providing a hearty, sustainable energy, root vegetables will keep your body warmer, (especially your hands and feet!) They will serve to ‘root’ you and make you feel more centered and relaxed.

Seasonal favorites include sweet potatoes, yams, carrots (which are available all year but most flavorful in the summer and fall months), parsnips, daikon radish, beets, turnip, burdock, gingerroot and rutabagas.

And as it gets cooler in certain climates members of the squash family including varieties like acorn, butternut and pumpkin will warm and balance the body from the inside out.

Another way to support the body is to adjust cooking methods for this time of year. Consider the preparation of foods you are eating or ordering away from home. Roasted and baked foods are healing to the body by adding warmth to it which is in stark contrast to the quick grilling and raw foods of the summer season which are more cooling. Hearty, slow cooking soups will nourish you while pushing blood out towards the outer surface of the body to chase the cold away.

To maintain optimal wellness, make a conscious decision to experiment with and to eat seasonally harvested foods and you will stay ‘rooted’ on the road. Vacations may take you to exciting locales filled with delicious possibilities. Check local farmer’s markets, organic grocers and restaurants with chefs that feature the best that nature has to offer. Discover what’s fresh and abundant this season, the foods naturally designed to allow us to live in harmony with our bodies, even if we’re not sleeping in our own beds!

Stay warm!

Ronna

Food Changes Everything

Could one conversation change your life? Want to transition from the Standard American Diet (SAD) to a living, whole foods plan? Get off the diet roller coaster for good and lose weight effortlessly?
Do you desire to eliminate sugar or caffeine cravings, experience through the roof energy and emerge the Ultimate You, Now?

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                                                           Fueling the Business of Life with Real Food

No one diet works for everyone. Familiar with all the major dietary theories I will help you discover what approach works best for you at this point in your life. But it’s really not about the diet. That’s just the sideshow. And who wants to count calories or experience anything that even remotely resembles deprivation anyway? While many diet authorities dwell on calories, carbs, fats, proteins, restrictions and lists of good and bad foods, I will help you to escape that matrix. 

There is so much confusing and conflicting nutritional information out there on what supports optimal health. Is it okay to indulge an affinity for espresso? Is dairy a good thing? What about wheat-free chocolate chip cookies made with ‘natural’ sugar? Is quinoa the new brown rice?

When we truly listen to the feedback we are regularly receiving from our bodies (not just reflected by numbers on the scale but by how energized we feel when our professional plates are overflowing and personal obligations are wearing us thin) and choose to fuel ourselves with food that is loaded with life force energy does the unthinkable happen – we are transformed!

To see if qualify for a free  thrive strategy session, contact me at ronnacorlin1@gmail.com

FOOD CHANGES EVERYTHING!

Peace + Plants,

Ronna

Hello World!

Welcome to my blog!

We’re all running so fast in pursuit of building our dreams. It is so easy for stress and fatigue to compromise our decisions and influence how we will (or won’t) take care of our selves in a given day, let alone the present moment.

Somewhere in between good intentions and reality, personal or professional obligations can pull us away from feeling and performing at our personal best. This blog is dedicated to redirecting our energies and channeling the side of us that’s alive and determined to thrive, right now.

A seasoned foodie, holistic nutrition zealot and self-care advocate, I will be sharing nourishing tips, nutritional bytes, (sustainable) food for thought, impressions (mine and others) on the expanding landscape of Integrative health and self-care, along with my favorite healthy things.

Whatever is on your plate, food-wise or metaphorically speaking in life, there are opportunities all day long to refuel and energize for the tasks that lie ahead. Of course we are all busy and quite often we barely have to time to rev the engine or to reset our course if we get up on the wrong side of the bed. This blog is designed to provide inspiration for living well this very minute.

Every small positive step begins to manifest your optimal, ultimate self-expression.

Every nutrient-dense meal, each nourishing deep breath, smile, water break, unsolicited call to a friend, kind word to your kids when you would rather scream, each effort to be less of a perfectionist and instead be your own greatest supporter resets in motion a force to be reckoned with, which will change your mood, the tone of your day and the likelihood that in spite of it all, you might defeat the odds and experience the best day ever.

How about a cup of green tea and a few bites of a luxury dark chocolate to celebrate the idea that being our ultimate selves is merely a series of smart choices. Indulge in one, now!

One minute mini-relaxation. Everyone has a minute! Place your hand on your navel so you can feel the gentle rise and fall of your belly as you breathe. Breathe in slowly. Pause for a count of 3. Breathe out. Pause for a count of 3. Do this for a minute. Or, sit at computer. Take a few slow deep breaths… Breathe in and think “I am” and “at peace” as you breathe out.  Repeat 2-3 times and feel your entire body relax into your chair.

Are you thriving now? Why wait!

Yours in well being, 

Ronna