Need a quick lunch that is equally quick, healthy, and delicious?
(from Jessica’s blog, @more_than_food)
Summer is right around the corner and this is the best time to refresh your body and build it up for the upcoming cold months. If we look at trends most people get sick in the winter and allergies in the Spring not because of the external environment but more commonly because of how they neglect the internal environment such as:
1) Less working out
2) Decrease sunlight meaning less vitamin D
3) Eating sugary foods from all the holidays
4)More emotional stress from the holidays and end of year
5)Staying indoors more based on colder weather
Even though we should ALWAYS be caring for our bodies, Summer must be an action oriented time to rebuild our health. Here are 3 important tips to maximize your Summer and accelerate your health.
1) Eat Greens Abundantly – During the summer months many of us will be outside for barbecues, hanging out by the pool, and heading to the beach to load up on Vitamin D, which is amazing! However some of us will overdo it and this creates extreme oxidative stress to the body and more free radicals for the system. Research is now showing that by eating greens that are rich in antioxidants can reduce sunburn and help your body absorb the levels of Vitamin D properly. My favorite is kale which should be bought organic as it is on the Dirty Dozen list. My favorite recipe for the summer is: 1 kale, 3 avocados, 1 red onion, and 1 red pepper all cut up put into a bowl and mixed together. Throw some Himalayan sea salt to taste and enjoy this antioxidant rich summer salad.
2) Sweat Once A Day – One of my favorite traditions that Lululemon is bringing to the market is to “Sweat Once A Day”. Many stores challenge their employees to be an inspiration to the community and get a sweat in at least once a day through physical activity. Sweating is a powerful tool to detoxify the body especially as most people are not sweating enough during the colder months so make sure to take extra yoga classes or go for a run outside this Summer.
3) Chemical Free Sunscreen – As many of us start looking for sunscreens and sunblocks to get I strongly encourage you to look out for a toxic chemical called “parabens”. Parabens are artificial preservatives that companies put in to the sunscreens to make them last longer. This is unfortunately sad because these chemicals are cancer “contributing” and have a severe negative impact on our health. According to cancer.gov, in 2004 a research study found an excess of parabens in 18 out of 20 breast cancer tumors. Parabens are also found in deodorants and soaps so be sure to look out for the following toxic ingredients: methylparaben, butylparaben, or propylparaben. You can get nontoxic chemical sunscreen on mercola.com or vitacost.com.
As I have heard from many you the most difficult meal to put together is breakfast. Many of you say you want a quick, easy, and healthy meal yet resort to bowls of cereal and oatmeal.
I want to share with you 4 of my favorite breakfast meals so you can keep you and your family healthy. These take less than 10 minutes to make and are super cheap.
Lastly, many of your friends, family, and co-workers are not on this e-mail list and are missing out on some vital information to their health. Please invite them to our quarterly Dinner With Doc at Eclipse Di Luna on May 20th at 7:00 PM. Click here to register.
Hard boil 4 eggs (Do not overdo them. Should not have a gray ring around yolk). Place eggs and avocado in a bowl and mash up using a fork. Some people like to slice the hard boiled vertically and put yolk in a bowl with the avocado. They will then mash up the yolk and avocado and place it back in the egg to make avocado deviled eggs. When I make these for guests I like to put some cayenne pepper on top of this.
I know this one is going to sound strange but one of my favorite breakfasts is hot dogs and onions. Don’t knock it til you try it! The beef is 100% grassfed and raised in beautiful pastures in the Ozark Mountains. They are treated humanely and are never fed a grain their entire life. The only ingredients are: beef, water, organic honey, sea salt, organic mustard, organic paprika, celery powder, organic coriander, organic garlic, and organic black pepper. They take 5 minutes to heat up on a stove top with coconut oil and make a fast, delicious breakfast. Recently, Sam has become a Certified Health Coach with Beyond Organic so talk to her about getting some hot dogs as they are currently running specials.
An all time favorite in the Cohen household is cutting up an apple or banana and putting it together with raw creamy almond butter from Trader Joes. The key is buying organic apples and making sure the almond butter is raw and unsalted. It is rare to find raw almond butter anymore especially at the $4 price at Trader Joes. Also, apples are highly sprayed fruit so make sure to buy them organic.
Recently I have found this company that makes grainless granola which is AMAZING. The only ingredients are: Organic Coconut, Almonds, Prunes (unsweetened, unsulfured), Carrots,Himalayan Sea Salt. We take this and mix it with almond milk as it is a super healthy bowl of cereal. Much different than the other crap you find in grocery stores where the box is probably better for you than the “food” inside.