green beans & giveaways

This salad is amazing.  It is great hot & cold.  It is so easy to make with just 5 ingredients.

The whole trimming of the green beans take some time but I recommend using scissors and doing a couple at a time.

Green Bean Salad

1 lb fresh green beans, washed, trimmed & cut into bite sized pieces (this is just my preference)

2 leeks, washed, cut into half moons

1/2 cup (packed) fresh dill

1/2 cup toasted almonds, coarsely chopped

2 T high quality extra virgin olive oil

Fill a sauce pan with water and bring to a boil. (This is to blanch the beans). While waiting for water to boil prepare green beans.  Once the water is boiling, place green beans in the water for one minute, with a slotted spoon or similar tool, transfer beans to a bowl of ice water to stop cooking, for a couple of minutes, then drain them in a colander.  Set aside while you prepare the rest.

In a medium sized skillet warm your choice oil/butter. I used 2 teaspoons of extra virgin coconut oil.  Add chopped leeks & a pinch of sea salt. Saute, uncovered for about 5 minutes, occasionally stirring.  Once the leeks have softened a bit, cover and let cook for about 10 minutes, stirring once or twice. While the leeks are cooking coarsely chop almonds and dill and add them to serving bowl~ If you have a toaster, lightly toast the almonds or quickly do it in a saute pan after the leeks are done.

Leeks should be super soft & buttery.  Add beans to serving bowl and toss with leeks, dill, almonds and olive oil.

( you could also steam the leeks for about the same amount of time and get a very similar outcome)

*********

On to the giveaway…

 I am offering up some of my best lifestyle tips & healthy resources PLUS recipes, exercises and photos for

Be Well, an inspiration campaign.  It starts on January 1, 2013.

This is a great way to start the year off with some seriously healthy influence…

7 days, 7 topics to make you smile, think & be inspired!

It is totally free!!! Sign up at here

Spread the news, the more the merrier!

Tea & Toast

The third post in the -Tea &-  series ends here with a look at toast.

I might be toast’s biggest fan.  Bread & butter are a classic favorite in my family (and probably yours). I grew up on Roma and Columbus bakery bread. We ripped it, sliced it and my favorite.  toasted slathered with tons of butter.

These days I joke that toast is just a vehicle to get butter in to my body, but I really love its texture and warmness too. Last year, while I was pregnant, I made all & every excuse to eat good quality fats. This year I still am a big fan, since I am breast feeding and know better.  Good fats are a whole other post and some day I will go there because they are such an important addition to your daily diet.  Today though is about toast (and tea).

Gluten has been getting a bad wrap for the last couple of years. Especially with the release of William Davis’s ‘Wheat Belly’.  There are gluten free (GF) products all over the place. For some, this is great option. I have numerous dear friends who can cannot eat wheat without discomfort. When we go out to eat I am so glad there are GF options for them. I have noticed though there are a lot of junky GF options out there. I am skeptical of food/diet trends, they need to be researched before you hop on the train.

Some people can digest wheat and other can not. It is true that more and more people cannot these days due to the quality of gluten out there (as mentioned in Wheat Belly). It is important to know this about yourself before reaching for gluten free alternatives. These GF products often act similarly in the body, or are made of even more refined ingredients and SUGARS.  Good quality , properly stored, organic wheat, rye and barley products can be very nutritious. They provide protein, B-vitamins, various minerals and fiber to our diet.  I make my own flours in my blender and store them in the refrigerator.

I am grateful that I can digest wheat with out lethargy, bloating or discomfort. I do not eat mainstream wheat. I actually pretty much only eat fresh sour dough breads and the occasional pasta dish. The sourdough starter offers the bread a digestibility that is not found in yeast leavened breads.  Can you eat wheat or do you suspect you have an intolerance?

As for the tea part, this time around I enjoyed some Yogi detox tea in my favorite cup lined with sumo expressions.

Sumo emotions =a real smile generator.

 

++++++++++

A little bonus to this post is….

I am running a (free) Inspiration Campaign starting January first!

Be Well is:  7 days, exploring 7 topics that we encounter often in our lives. Such as stress, love and cleaning. Each morning you will get an email with photos, recipes, links and so much more to get you thinking and ultimately INSPIRED!

Join us?  <<< brings you over to Seed to Health’s website for super easy sign up…

 

now serving up…… the Personal Chef advantage!

This month marks the one year anniversary of Seed to Health! I could not be happier. My birthday was a week ago and I heard from friends & family via cards, posts and phone calls. I just love the flow of love that birthdays bring! One thing that I read more than once was that I was an inspiration. Yes, I really have turned my life around these past two years.. I did it ONE for my daughter and TWO because I love what I do, so starting my own business just seemed sensible.. Talk about a leaf of faith though!

I love love love to share ways to enrich this experience we call life.  Being healthy, wholesome & happy sure helps that enrichment process. Seed to Health offers daily tid bits online, super suggestions in health coaching programs AND now personal chef services!  Nutrient dense food for your palate’s desire and your immune system’s benefit is what this service is all about.  I can go deeper & offer top notch healing foods and allergen free meals.  Ah, the glories of nutritional studies!

adventures in cleansing

Cleansing is a personal yearly spring ritual. I am currently on day 6 of a super tasty 2 week cleanse protocol that will be available on April 29th to all who are interested.

Modern life, city living and poor food choices throughout the year encourage the build up of toxins in the body. By cleaning up the diet & eating whole foods that are easy to digest for a week plus, the body and its organs get a chance to work at optimal function. Spring cleaning is the result, the ultimate self care ritual! Eating this way is an incredible ally to boosting energy, staying hydrated and feeling great. It is a worthwhile challenge and I sure was put to the ultimate test this weekend.

I went to an annual ladies getaway out on Mt. Hood. Where coming together for meals was priority second only to skiing & snowboarding. There was so much good food day in & day out. Normally I love planning, cooking and sitting down to eat with everyone. But this time I had a tid bit of anxiety about the weekend’s festivities, all those chips, wine & cheesy pasta dishes. Forecasting the challenges made me plan ahead to make sure I had a water bottle, lemons & fresh veggie snacks like, celery! (Celery is the best snack food, filing, hydrating and dippable!) So I prepared all of my good, clean food at home, packed it up and toted to the mountain

I found that I was actually hungary at different times than the other ladies, so as much as Iove eating as a group, I ate when I was hungry. So when the smells of savory pasta dishes, sausage & maple syrup filled the air I was nice & full. Coincidently there was another women up there who was doing a similar cleanse, so it was helpful to chat with her about the experience and we both shared a pot of ginger tea, while the rest of the ladies where enjoying wine, beer & cocktails.

Upon reflection these following notions got me through:

*Sharing with people what I was up to & why was helpful.
*I also kept my hands busy and was always chatting with someone, to stay engaged.
*Since I was already 4 days into the cleanse my mantra was: I am committed & have already done so much work.
*I was so clear headed that the thought of drinking was not appealing.

Getting through the weekend finds me here, very proud of myself & wanting to inspire those of you interested in cleansing. The connection between the body & mind during times of cleansing is stronger than ever. There are so many powerful psychological connections we all have to food regarding how & when we eat it. I have found that cleansing is only as limiting if you allow it to be. With a little extra preparation & a great mind set any thing can happen!