As part of my new diet/lifestyle regimen, I am no-matter-what supposed to have a Caroline Dupont green smoothie in the morning. I’ve been doing it for a few mornings now, and it truly is a great, healthy way to start my mornings. INFINITY better than the Starbucks Grande Soy Tazo Chai Lattes I’ve been guzzling daily. So, I want to share it with you here, too.

INGREDIENTS:

Fruit: berries pear, apple, peaches, banana, soaked dried fruit like apricots – any combination;

A big handful (2 – 3 cups) organic baby spinach

Water or fruit juice (about 2 cups);

Green powders like spirulina or barley grass juice powder – you can find this at the – Health Food Store (1 tsp or so);

Natural Traditions sprouted chia and flax;

Possibly Vega Smoothie Infusion (Health Food Store).

I like to add about a half of teaspoon of natural vanilla to my smoothie. It gives it a little ZING and seems to mask some of the “green” taste.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Place all the ingredients in a blender, and puree until REALLY smooth. I sometimes puree for 3 minutes (because I don’t want to be crunching chia as I drink – no thank you!). ENJOY!

WARNING: Caroline calls it a green smoothie because it really is GREEN! Don’t let that scare you….

I’ve never taken spirulina before, and I’m really excited about it. It makes the smoothie SUPER GREEN. Imagine how many servings of vegetables and fruit there are in just that smoothie!?

So, try this out, and let us know how it CHANGES YOUR LIFE!

For more recipes and health info from Caroline, see her truly excellent book Enlightened Eating. Also, please visit her website for more resources, such as her new healthy eating DVD and meditation cds, Carolinedupont.com.

Hi Gorgeouses! I hope you’re enjoying the holidays!

As New Year’s approaches, I’m really thinking about my resolutions. Of course, most of them have to do with my diet. And, one of the resolutions I’ve made already — early! — is to have a healthy breakfast every day. NO MORE STARBUCKS CHAI TEA LATTES. HOLLAAHH!

So, for about 3 days now, I’ve been having a HEALTHY smoothie every morning. This means that, by morning, I’ve had at least 2 fruits and maybe a, erm, VEGETABLE! That’s a GREAT plan for making my quota of 5-10 fruits and veggies a day! I also like to sneak in some flax oil — maybe a 2-3 teaspoons — to ensure I get my omega 3 fatty acids (the vegan way). Omega 3 fatty acids are essential for everyone. So, if you’re not a fish eater, you might as well sneak some organic flax seed oil into your diet, and a smoothie’s an excellent place for that.

My morning smoothies are usually a mishmash of things. Here’s what I blended up today:

1 cup Fortified Rice Milk (this helps me get the nutrients I need as a non-milk drinker)
1/2 Frozen Banana
1 cup Frozen Blueberries
1 tbsp Flax Seed Oil
1/2 cup Frozen SPINACH
1 scoop of Hemp Protein Powder

I couldn’t even TASTE the spinach. It was fab.

I actually try to put pureed spinach in anything and everything…like these banana-chocolate-chip muffins I made yesterday:

You can see a TINGE of green. But, I assure you, the kids (and JOSH) tasted no spinach. They had no idea it was in there MWAHAHA! And, they’ve been devouring them! I’ll give you the recipe soon. I’m just obsessed with muffins — because they’re so easy to bake. And, this blog is turning into MUFFINS GALORE! In fact, I’m thinking I should rename it CHEATY MUFFINS. But, there’s something not quite right about that…. By the way, the pumpkin seeds? Purely aesthetic. They help diffuse the green….

So, there you have it. We’re drinking smoothies daily to start the day off right. No more Starbucks mornings. I’m so dunzo with that. We’ll see if I can manage to sit and read there with a mint tea…. Not as exciting, but, you know….

Do you have any dietary resolutions? Please share in the comments!

Love!
xo Haley-O

By now, you’ve probably figured out that I’m a big fan of THE MUFFIN. Muffins are just SO EASY and always YUMMY. If they’re made nutritiously, they’re like CAKE without the fat and calories.

The muffins I’m sharing with you are adapted from one of my foodie favourite books, Enlightened Eating, by Caroline Marie Dupont, a very talented energetic healer, and nutrition and meditation expert whom I’ve had the pleasure of working with — she did some energy work on me, and it was UNBELIEVABLE.

Anyway, I was in a bit of a hurry, but I REALLY wanted to make the kids something homemade and nutritious to munch on because, as you know, I’ve been feeling down about my cooking lately…. I opened the pantry for an easy organic muffin mix that I THOUGHT I bought. But, alas, there was none in the pantry. And, then I remembered I never actually bought it; I’d put it back on the shelf last minute, SWEARING that I’d bake muffins from SCRATCH. No copping out this time.

So, I went through ALL my cookbooks, as I do EVERY time I go to bake muffins, and I found a surprisingly EASY one, with very few ingredients, AND VEGAN. Sweet!

You know, vegan muffins are not just good for vegans: no eggs = almost NO MESS. So, without further ado, I give you….

ENLIGHTENED APPLESAUCE MUFFINS!

INGREDIENTS
(Serves 12)

1/2 soy milk (I like the YU soymilk with omega 3s in it; you can substitute ANY kind of milk, including dairy for this, though)
1 cup applesauce
3 tbsp. olive oil or butter
1/3 cup maple syrup or honey
1 tbsp. ground flax seed (I used about 3 Tbs)*
2 cups whole wheat or spelt flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 – 2 tbsp lemon zest (I didn’t have lemons, so I left this out)
1 cup raisins or currants

*Always grind your flax seeds right before using them. I use a really small coffee grinder. So quick and easy.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly oil the muffin tin. Caroline suggests using coconut oil. I used an organic canola oil spray that I have — not the ideal choice, but I use so little….

2. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the wet ingredients and ground flax seeds.

3. In another larger bowl, mix the dry ingredients and then fold in the wet ingredients.

4. Add the raisins and stir until everything’s mixed and you get a nice moist batter (never over-stir when baking).

5. Spoon the batter into the muffin tin.

6. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the centre of the muffin comes out clean.

7. Let the muffins cool for 5-10 minutes, and remove them from the tin.

Muffins freeze really well. So, you can put some in an air-tight container to freeze. This will prevent you from eating them all at once, too……. ENJOY!

It’s time to get back to basics, Gorgeouses. I have been a bad BAD foodie. I’ve been JUST GETTING BY in the kitchen lately, and my children’s PICKY EATING is, I think, a reflection of my lack of passion about the food they eat. And, in turn, my lack of passion about food is a direct result of my utter EXHAUSTION lately. Which is, in turn, a direct result of bland diet which is, in turn, a direct result of my lack of passion about food.

OY! It’s a chicken-egg scenario. Only, of course, I don’t eat chicken. Or eggs. Or dairy. Or anything animal. Which makes PASSIONATE FOOD a bit of a challenge — both for myself and the kids.

SO, to end this DOWNWARD SPIRAL into doom and gloom and BLAND FOOD. I’m menu planning. At least for the kids. And, I’m getting out all my ammunition, as follows:

1. Better Food for Kids

2. The Eat-Clean Diet for Families & Kids

3. Wholesome Meals for Babies and Toddlers

4. Organic Baby & Toddler Cookbook

5. Brain Foods for Kids

That’s A LOT of kids’ and kid-friendly cookbooks. I have NO excuse for not getting edible food on the table.

And, I KNOW, I’m being hard on myself. Most kids are picky eaters. There’s not a WHOLE lot I can do. But, I want to try a little harder to APPEAL to their senses….

I’m not sure how much I’m going to take from the books, but there are tons of ideas in all of them. I’ll share recipes with you throughout the week. Anyway! Here goes. Weekday Menu Plan for THIS WEEK. CHECK IT!

BREAKFAST:

Will be easy this week. I’m going to make my — now famous, apparently — nutrient-packed VEGAN MUFFINS. When I run out of those, I have our favourite waffles….

LUNCH & DINNER:

Monday:

Lunch: Macaroni and cheese (a healthier version than Kraft). Sliced tomato and cucumber, and a fruit. I’m going to sneak in some PUREED butternut squash into the macaroni and cheese. The squash adds a richness to the colour, a subtle sweetness to the taste, and, of course nutrients and fiber.

Dinner: BAKED SALMON (recipe from Better Food for Kids to come). The monkeys LOVE salmon, and I never make it. Let’s give it a try…. I’ll bake some SWEET POTATO wedges, and steam some broccoli (sprinkled with almonds?) on the side. Recipes to come.

Tuesday:

Lunch: (Aka HELL DAY because I teach yoga at 1pm, which leaves me only HALF AN HOUR, after I pick Monkey up from preschool, to feed them). Leftover Mac and Cheese, sliced tomato and cucumber, and a fruit.

Dinner: Organic (Hallelujah brand) Chicken fingers and veggies (because I’m getting tired just LOOKING at this menu plan, AND Josh-O has dinner plans).

Wednesday:

Lunch: HUMMUS and vegetable wraps. Mmmm, something I can enjoy with them. VEGAN LUNCH. You should see my little Rascal eating a wrap. So fancy!

Dinner: IT’SGRANDMA’S COOKING.

Thursday:

Lunch: Peanut butter and jam on a bagel/toast. Milk/chocolate milk (for the monkey). Fruit.

Dinner: FRITTATA TIME! (recipe to come)

Friday:

Lunch: Hummus and pita, veggies, fruit.

Dinner: IT’SGRANDMA’S COOKING.

Who am I kidding. It’s such a lot of cooking and cleaning ALL THE TIME — this motherhood thing. Nobody tells you there’s going to be SO MUCH COOKING and cleaning ALL THE TIME. So, here I am telling you.

I also noticed that my kids wouldn’t eat MOST of the recipes from the above cookbooks. So much for my ammunition…. I’ve been flipping and re-flipping through them all and thinking MY KIDS WILL NEVER EAT THAT! Sigh….

So, you tell me, Gorgeouses! What are some of your favourite kids’ meals? (And, you don’t have to be a parent to answer this!)

Jessica Alba just a couple of weeks (if that) post baby, already looking fabulous….

Q: My baby is almost 4 months old…what do you recommend regarding exercise, losing weight and breastfeeding? I have read conflicting things and would like to know the best, safest way to lose the baby weight without it affecting my breastmilk.

Thank you!

–Michelle B.

A: This is a question that is near and dear to my heart since I am expecting my first baby at the end of August. I am someone who practiced what I preached. I kept a pretty strict diet and worked out pretty hard – I avoided wheat, dairy and most starches/sugar on a regular basis and weight lifted at least 2 times per week plus cardio 4-5 times per week. WOW did my world get turned upside down when I got pregnant. Needless to say that I have put on more then a couple pounds and had to slow down with the workouts. The result is that I feel fat! I know, I know…I’m pregnant but I thought I would be one of those people who only gained the appropriate 25 pounds. NOT SO!

When I got this question it sparked an urge to formulate a “Bring Sexy Back” plan for all of you moms who want their pre-baby body’s back.

From the research I have done, it is okay to work out pretty intensely assuming you exercised pre baby. It’s the calories you take in or lack thereof that mostly affects the amount of breast milk you will produce. As long as you are providing your body with the right amount of calories coming from good quality, ‘clean’ food there should be no reason you can’t lose the weight!

THE “BRINGING SEXY BACK” PLAN

*If you have never exercised before reduce the exercise portion by half the days and time and work up to 4-5 days per week.

Consult your physician before starting any exercise or diet plan.

Consistency is key!

Exercise:
Cardio: 4-5 times per week for at least 30 minutes (moderate to vigorous intensity)
• Walking/running on the treadmill, stationary bike, elliptical or stair climbing.
• Classes at a gym.
• Going for a brisk walk with a stroller.

Nutrition:
Breastfeeding moms need to make sure they are getting enough calories. For weight loss purposes it’s the type of calories that matter. Maximize your eating by consuming lots of low calorie foods like fruits and veggies!

Tips:
• Make sure you are eating every 3-4 hours
• Don’t let yourself get hungry – then the cravings are too strong to avoid
• Ensure you have cut up fruits and veggies on hand to snack on
• Spend some time cooking and freezing – helps to avoid ordering take out
• ALL MEALS SHOULD CONTAIN A LEAN PROTEIN AND GOOD QUALITY FAT
• Avoid starch at dinner
• Avoid empty calories – sugar is the enemy!
• Load up on fiber

Breakfast: HAVE IT!
• Make sure it contains protein and a complex (full of fiber) carb
• Slow cooking oats with egg whites or cottage cheese is a good choice

Snacks: Fruit with nuts or whole grain crackers with a nut butter

Lunch:
• ½ cup complex carb (quinoa, brown rice etc.)
• 4oz protein
• Veggies
• 1 tbsp fat

Snack: Veggies with hummus, cheese, or yoghurt

Dinner:
• 4 oz protein
• 2 cup veggies
• 2 tbsp fat

I plan to have a protein shake later on in the evening or throughout the night if I get hungry. [Haley's note: for a good protein shake recipe, try Lori's Shake To Go!]

Remember that everyone is different [Haley's note: If you want a more personalized plan, email Lori herself!]. I have had clients who couldn’t lose the weight until they stopped breastfeeding. Consuming organic, good quality food and avoiding processed simple sugars is a great place to start!

Good luck!

Lori

CHECK OUT LORI’S BIO HERE!

Got a nutrition question of your own, Gorgeouses? Ask LORI (click here to ask your question). LOVE!