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How-to Make Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice
It’s pumpkin spice season and before we dive head first into all the fall baking and making, let’s get down to the basics. Homemade pumpkin pie spice takes but 5 minutes to make and while buying a pre-made blend is just as time effective, I often find the pre-made blends aren’t made to my liking. It’s also more cost effective to make your own, especially considering you probably have all of the ingredients in your pantry, already.
Other benefits of making your own: You can also make it in smaller batches, if you prefer, to keep it fresher, keeping it’s strong flavor, for longer. You can tweak the blend to make it to your liking. Adding even more cinnamon or nutmeg if you prefer, dropping the allspice if that’s not your thing, you can fully customize this spice blend to be your own.
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Stay Hydrated // How-to Make Infused Spa Water at Home
We all know how important it is to stay hydrated, yet somehow water is still THE most common nutritional deficiency in our culture. Good news is, it’s a super simple one to remedy! There are plenty of varying formulas from all different sources in regards to how much water to consume, but it’s best to know that whatever formula you subscribe to, just like the nutrition from food and the dietary guides that we each subscribe to, we are highly bio-individualistic beings and there is no one definitive firm answer out there. Listen to your body and pay attention to what works for you.
As a guideline, I recommend to my clients that they shoot for half your body weight in ounces every day. For example if you weight 150lbs, shoot for 75 ounces of water daily, taking into account the need to rehydrate additionally for the consumption of diuretics like coffee, tea, fruit juices, alcohol and sodas or excessive perspiration. I also subscribe to the idea that we don’t want to be consuming too much more than 100 ounces of water daily, as too much water can also have negative affects, like diluting/flushing our electrolytes and causing mineral imbalances.
The best practice to follow is to slowly and mindfully sip on high quality filtered water throughout the day, all day, every day. Drink water before you start feeling thirsty – as thirst is a sure sign you are already on your way to dehydration.
Did you know that every single cell in the human body needs water to function properly? Much like the plants in your garden, your cells, too, can perk up immediately upon watering. It’s that simple.
“Chronic cellular dehydration of the body is the primary etiology of painful degenerative disease.” – Dr F. Batmanghelidj, M.D.
What Roles Does Water Play in the Body?
Water Helps Your Body with the Following:
- Improves oxygen delivery to cells
- Transports nutrients
- Enables cellular hydration
- Moistens oxygen for easier breathing
- Cushions bones and joints
- Absorbing shocks to joints and organs
- Regulates body temperature
- Removes wastes
- Flushes toxins
- Prevents tissues from sticking
- Lubricates joints
- Improves cell-to-cell communications
- Maintains normal electrical properties of cells
- Empowers the body’s natural healing process
Excerpt from “Water the Ultimate Cure”
Tips for Drinking More Water:
- Drink a glass of water as soon as you wake up in the morning (I prefer mine warm with a little lemon).
- Carry a dedicated bottle or container with you are all times, at work, at home, even if you are just out running a few errands.
- Use an app on your mobile phone to track your water intake or simply set an alert on your phone to remind you.
- Choose water at restaurants instead of other beverages. not only will you save on calories while simultaneously hydrating yourself, but it also saves money.
- When you are hungry, start with a glass of water before you reach for the snack. sometimes feelings of hunger are actually your body telling you that it’s thirsty. it may just curb the cravings.
- Drink before you eat. 16 ounces 30 minutes before every meal can actually keep you from over indulging. make this a regular practice and you might even find yourself losing weight.
- Infuse and flavor your water.
BONUS: Add a pinch of high quality sea salt to your water, it adds trace minerals and helps to balance electrolytes
Today, I am sharing with you one of my very favorite ways to stay hydrated…
INFUSED SPA WATER!
Infused water is not only a tasty way to stay hydrated but it is nutritional, healthy, fresh and all-natural!
How-to Make Infused Spa Water at Home:
Read the rest of this entry » -
How-to Make French Vanilla Coffee Creamer (Dairy and Non-Dairy)
Since I have begun seeing clients as a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, I am so grateful for my longstanding experiences with and my love for food. I am constantly asked the question “If I shouldn’t eat this, then what can I have, instead?”. I love having answers to this question.
I firmly believe that changing diet and lifestyle has to come from a place of both education and confidence. If I meet with a new client and tell them to stop drinking several Cokes daily, but don’t explain why, I can’t really expect them to want to make this change. Why would they? They are both chemically and emotionally attached and possibly even addicted. If I can take the time to explain the effects that the high levels of sugar are doing to their insulin resistance, if I can talk through the reasons why high fructose corn syrup is terrifying and explain the affects this one drink can have on their blood sugar, digestion, mineral absorption and so on, I have a much better chance of getting them on board for the long haul.
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The Perfect Green Smoothie Formula
In an effort to simplify and demystify the ever-popular Green Smoothie, today I am sharing my simple formula to The Perfect Green Smoothie! This simple approach works every time. I promise. The nice thing about this formula is the long list of possible flavor combinations and the ability to completely customize your green smoothie to what you have on hand and what you like best.
I like to think of my green smoothies as a chance to add some extra nourishing goodies into my day. Nutrients, vitamins and minerals, fiber, healthy fats or protein – the Green Smoothie is a great vehicle. The wonderful thing about any smoothie is, depending on the ingredients you choose, you can create a quick and simple on-the-go snack or if you choose to add more protein and healthy fats, you can create a more complete meal.
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Infused Waters to Keep You Hydrated this Summer
We all know how important it is to stay hydrated, year round, but this is especially important in the summer. When the weather is hot and you are spending much of the day outside being active, it is extra important to drink more fluids than usual and most especially that you are doing so before you start feeling thirsty – as that is a sure sign you are on your way to dehydration.
Did you know that every single cell in the human body needs water to function properly? Much like the plants in your garden, your cells, too, can perk up immediately upon watering. It’s that simple.
What Does Water Do in My Body?
Water Helps Your Body with the Following:
- Getting rid of waste through urination, perspiration, and bowel movements.
- Keeping it’s temperature normal.
- Lubricating and cushioning your joints.
- Protecting your spinal cord and other sensitive tissues.
Tips for Drinking More Water:
- Drink a glass of water as soon as you wake up in the morning (I prefer mine warm with a little lemon).
- Carry a dedicated bottle or container with you are all times, at work, at home, even if you are just out running a few errands.
- Use an app on your mobile phone to track your water intake or simply set an alert on your phone to remind you.
- Choose water at restaurants instead of other beverages. not only will you save on calories while simultaneously hydrating yourself, but it also saves money.
- When you are hungry, start with a glass of water before you reach for the snack. sometimes feelings of hunger are actually your body telling you that it’s thirsty. it may just curb the cravings.
- Drink before you eat. 16 ounces 30 minutes before every meal can actually keep you from over indulging. make this a regular practice and you might even find yourself losing weight.
- Infuse and flavor your own water.
Today, I am sharing with you one of my very favorite ways to stay hydrated during the summer months…
INFUSED WATER!
Infused water is not only a tasty way to stay hydrated but it is nutritional, healthy, fresh and all-natural!
How-to Make Infused Water:
Read the rest of this entry » -
Cucumber Ribbon Salad with Garlic Tahini Dressing
As always, I am late to the party on this one, but I finally got a Spiralizer last month and I have been obsessed with it, ever since it showed up. I have been having so much fun making salads, veggie noodles, curly cut sweet potato fries and all that good stuff. So, be on the lookout for many more recipes very soon.
For now, I have this super simple cucumber ribbon salad for you guys, that I have been living off of, with the beautiful cucumbers we’ve been getting in our CSA boxes. This garlicky tahini dressing is just so amazing, it is simple to throw together and full of so much great flavor. I’ve been making my own tahini* lately and that, in my opinion, really sets it over the top.
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How-to Make Homemade Nut Butters
How-to Make Homemade Nut Butters
I am so excited about this next post in the Tutorial Tuesday series. It has been quite the undertaking sampling, soaking, dehydrating and playing with different flavors but it is so easy and so totally worth it to make your own homemade nut butters. OK, so I may have gone a little overboard, but hopefully all of your nut butter questions have now been answered.
Besides the simple how-to instructions, I wanted to include some insight as to why I recommend soaking your nuts and seeds, how to also dehydrate them after you have soaked them and all of the various times for doing so. Plus, you will find some various flavor combinations that I love and even a nut-free sunflower seed butter recipe. Hope you guys enjoy.
What Nuts?
Basically if it’s a nut (and even many seeds) and you like it, you can make a butter out of it. I have sampled so many different types of nut butters and the sky is the limit. I wish I could afford to buy enough of each of the nuts pictured to sample making nut butters with all of them for you guys, but that is certainly out of the budget when buying organic. So for this tutorial, I just went with a couple of my personal favorites. Almond, cashew, pecan, hazelnut (in a homemade nutella) and I even made a nut-free sunflower seed butter for you.
To Soak or Not To Soak.
Why I Choose to Soak: Most nuts, seeds, grains and beans are covered in natural chemicals – enzyme inhibitors and toxins – that protect them while growing, both from sprouting prematurely and also from predators. These nutritional inhibitors and toxic substances are enzyme inhibitors, phytates (phytic acid), polyphenols (tannins), and goitrogens. Once harvested, those same chemicals, the major one being phytic acid – are indigestible to the human body and must be broken down before consumption. When food containing phytic acid is consumed, the acid combines with important minerals like calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and especially zinc in the intestinal tract and blocks their absorption which inhibits our digestive systems’ ability to break the nut down properly.
The very simple process of soaking releases these chemicals, helping you to absorb your food’s essential minerals and nutrients. Additionally, by soaking the nuts with the removal of these nutritional inhibitors and toxic substances, the flavor and taste is much more ideal and appealing.
To summarize: Soaking nuts and seeds makes them easier to digest and improves their flavor. Read the rest of this entry »
