By Rachel Venokur-Clark •
September 29, 2009
Snacking is not a bad thing. In fact, if you find yourself craving “something” at 3 o’clock or after dinner, you should take the time to really figure out what that “something” is. You body is sending you signals all the time, and it’s your job to listen to them. Wanting or craving snacks is sometimes your body’s way of telling you that it is not completely satisfied or balanced. Maybe your lunch was too salty so you find yourself craving something sweet. Maybe you have been eating too many creamy foods, like yogurt and smoothies and your body and brain really wants something crunchy. Maybe your blood sugar has dropped because you skipped breakfast.
Snacking smartly can help diminish your cravings in a healthy way, help restore balance and help to simply put you in a good mood. By choosing a healthy snack that you actually enjoy you can help with your concentration, brain function and ward off that irritability that may be on its way. So when that next craving hits, ask yourself, “What am I really in the mood for”? Here are some healthy snack options ideas, broken down into categories, crunchy, sweat, salty and creamy, from The Institute of Integrative Nutrition.
As the dog days of summer come to an end, a 3 course, no cooking required meal sounds pretty good to me. Turn that stove off, shut down the oven, choose to go meatless this Monday and cool off with this appetizer, main course and dessert.
By Jamie Ervin •
July 31, 2009
Have a food dehydrator? Looking for a tasty snack that is Raw but no one will be the wiser?
Serve up this flat bread, hummus and veggie combo at your next luncheon and soak in the rave reviews.
If you are opting for half raw eating or don’t have a dehydrator, try this hummus out with traditional flat bread or crackers.
The hummus is made without chickpeas for a variation on taste. Instead, it is made with a combination of cashews and almonds for a new, creamy flavor.
By Becky Striepe •
July 16, 2009
It’s been hovering in the upper 90s here in Atlanta, and weather like this makes me crave ice cream like no other. This year, I’m on the hunt for my favorite vegan ice cream! The plan is to try new pints each week and share my findings right here. I know, it’s a tough life I’ve got.
In the spirit of eating less soy, I went for a pint this week with a coconut milk base. This one does have some soy ingredients, so if you’ve got an allergy you’ll want to beware. Some of their flavors are completely soy free, but the Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl contains soybean oil and soy lecithin. Enough with the allergy information already! Let’s get to this week’s frozen vegan treat!
By Becky Striepe •
July 9, 2009
It’s been hovering in the upper 90s here in Atlanta, and weather like this makes me crave ice cream like no other. This year, I’m on the hunt for my favorite vegan ice cream! The plan is to try new pints each week and share my findings right here. I know, it’s a tough life I’ve got.
This week, I tried out Ice Supreme. This is not just a dairy free ice cream treat; it’s almost completely raw and contains no soy at all. That’s handy, since it’s really easy when you’re cutting out dairy to go a little heavy on the soy. Moderation is key, right? What better place to start than with ice cream!
By Paige Donner •
June 14, 2009
Greening Hollywood, Paige Donner’s column, can be found on The Huffington Post at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paige-donner. Greening Hollywood is Donner’s media platform and green consulting business.
I first found the world of raw food when researching eco-foods for The Everything Green Wedding Book. Before then I wasn’t aware there was much more to raw than juices, veggie and fruit trays and salads. Boy was I wrong. There’s a whole world out there of food that is raw. At most it is slightly steamed or heated and preferably never frozen. This keeps the nutrients intact making the food vital and healthy.
Several of the books I read made raw food sound so complicated but the Winter 2009 edition of Purely Delicious offers easy and delicious ways to try raw.
By Tiffany Washko •
February 19, 2009
My kids and I are crazy about green smoothies. We make them a couple times daily usually. Never before has it been so easy to get my kids to eat plenty of those all important leafy greens! Just check out my daughter’s green smoothie moustache (left).
You may be wondering what a green smoothie is exactly. Or maybe not, they seem to be getting really popular in healthier living circles everywhere lately. A green smoothie does not refer to being “green” in the eco sense of the word. Although they can be that too. The green in a green smoothie refers to what is in the smoothie and usually the color as well. Quite simply, green smoothies are blended beverages that combine fresh or frozen fruit and leafy greens like Kale, collard, spinach, or wild edibles. Veggies like carrots may make a cameo appearance in green smoothies as well. The genius of a green smoothie is that they are jam packed with nutritional goodness, usually in its raw life living form, and they taste absolutely fantastic! When was the last time your kids begged you for fresh spinach? Well, mine ask me daily for some. 
By Tiffany Washko •
January 29, 2009
I am not a big fan of pasteurized milk, even organic. It just seems like milk flavored water with much of the nutrition and all of the enzymes being killed during the pasteurization process. For several years now we have opted to buy raw milk or make homemade almond milk instead. Both are much healthier and easier on the stomach. Conventional milk is not an option for me in fact as the moment I drink I get dehibilitating stomach aches. To me this means I just shouldn’t be drinking it.
Making almond milk is incredibly easy once you get your system down and my kids think it is incredibly delicious. They will drink it straight, add it to cereal, or use it to make chocolate milk or banana milk smoothies. Since I use raw organic almonds, I get to rest easy knowing that their milk, or “mylk” as many refer to it, is healthier for their little bodies and healthier for the planet. Nuts are an essential fuel for the body too. To make it I just follow these simple steps:
By Megan Prusynski •
January 9, 2009
This year, one of my new year’s resolutions was to eat more raw and living foods. I recently started attending a monthly raw food potluck and have been inspired by all the delicious recipes and information. I have learned that eating uncooked plant foods is healthy for several reasons: raw fruits and veggies contain lots of fiber, are packed with nutrients, and also retain many useful enzymes that cooking destroys. Having a plot in my local community garden has definitely helped me eat more raw fresh produce as well as eat more sustainably.
As I try to add more living foods to my diet, I’ve tried eating salad with just about every meal, eating raw snacks like trail mixes and fresh fruit, and making more food from scratch. One way of incorporating raw foods into my diet that has been really easy is making fresh juices and smoothies. With the help of gadgets like my Green Star juicer and Vitamix blender, I’ve made many a healthy and scrumptious snack.
One word of juicing wisdom that I’ve learned is that you don’t want to overdo it with fruit juices. Because of their high sugar content, fruit juices can raise blood sugar levels. It’s healthier to drink vegetable juices, or a blend of fruit and vegetable juices. Juices are best in moderation because they deliver many nutrients but since the pulp is removed, they don’t have much fiber. Smoothies, on the other hand, use the entire fruit or vegetable, so the fiber is included. Both juices and smoothies are a great way to get digestible nutrients and add more raw fruits and vegetables to your diet.
Snacking is not a bad thing. In fact, if you find yourself craving “something” at 3 o’clock or after dinner, you should take the time to really figure out what that “something” is. You body is sending you signals all the time, and it’s your job to listen to them. Wanting or craving snacks is sometimes your body’s way of telling you that it is not completely satisfied or balanced. Maybe your lunch was too salty so you find yourself craving something sweet. Maybe you have been eating too many creamy foods, like yogurt and smoothies and your body and brain really wants something crunchy. Maybe your blood sugar has dropped because you skipped breakfast.
One weight loss diet fad is the “morning banana diet”.
