Nourish Your Sweetie on V-Day...

Yep, the big commercial love day is fast approaching!
(For those of you a little out of the loop - it's tomorrow!)

Instead of buying your sweetie (or yourself) that junky chocolate, or those sickly sweet cinnamon hearts...
I implore you...do something a little different. Perhaps comething a little more traditional.

How 'bout a homemade card? Some poetry? A day out in nature?  A massage?

Or... one of my personal faves; a dynamite homecooked meal! (Yeah!)
Make a good effort to make what your sweetie's heart sings for...go on you can do it!

Bring on the vitamin 'L'...

Here is my list of inspirations (feel free to improvise!)

• For the Paleo lover...One-pan roasted (organic/free range) chicken with potatoes/onions and carrots in the same pot (so they get basted and the resulting liquid acts as an easy gravy. Mmmm...) *Of course it wouldn't hurt to sautee a little broccoli/chard/red cabbage on the side for added colour, nutrients & alkalinity.
• For the carb-loving Vegetarian love in your life...Wild Mushroom & Leek Risotto
• And for the ador-able Vegan...Grilled Tempeh with Orange/Maple Glaze... on a bed of thai red rice or quinoa

And don't forget that Valentine's Day should really be every day...so maybe make your sweetie (or yourself!) a fab breakfast or lunch more often...

• Smoked Salmon Eggs Benny w/ Sauteed Spinach
• Gluten-Free or Spelt Pancakes (* hint: use fresh-ground Buckwheat groats and quinoa as flour + eggs to bind) loaded with berries & topped with peaches and full fat greek yogourt (Made this last weekend for my sweetie and brought him on his knees!  - not literally, dirty bird!!)
• Wild Mushroom & Braised Greens Omellete (sounds way fancier than it is!)
• Sensational Smoothie with fresh-ground pumpkin seeds and walnuts, kale, coconut milk, - fresh/frozen/seasonal fruit (ie: apples, pears, berries) - topped with cinnamon.

Hope this post got your juices flowing...I know it did mine!

Keep on keeping it real...Lisa Marie xo

New year (new you) tip #4

Remove wheat from your diet.
I know this is controversial (what natural practice isn't these days?!).
I personally believe that wheat is no longer a natural healthy food for us (not even organic wheat, unfortunately). I won't go into all the details other than it has been so modified that our bodies no longer recognize it. Therefore, it stresses our digestive and immune systems (a little or a lot, depending on your system).
And who needs more internal stress!? Not me. And nor do you.

You may be saying to yourself right now, "but i don't react to wheat".
Wellllll, you likely don't know that you are because it isn't an instant reaction, nor does it only manifest in your tummy.
It can also take up to 4 days and it can occur in many forms; skin inflammation, headaches, weight gain (or difficulty in losing weight), any gastro-intestinal issues, acne, back pain (this is how my body reacts to wheat), low energy, inablity to absorb nutrients efficiently, heart burn/acid reflux, susceptibility to colds/viral infections, yeast issues, etc.

At least give it a try. A good old college effort. About 6-8 weeks is needed to really notice any difference. Some people notice an improvement in as little as a day or two.
Try and be as thorough as possible.
*FYI: wheat comes in many disguises, for example: cousous, semolina, durum, gluten (usually from wheat), farro, einkorn, orzo, bran, germ, etc.

If you are not very familiar with alternatives, here are a few:
Bread: Spelt, Kamut, rye (often mixed with wheat so look for pure rye), gluten-free varieties (look for whole grains ones and skip the starch-laden ones)

Pasta: brown rice, kamut, or quinoa are all really good and much healthier than wheat varieties.

Crackers: brown rice, rye, spelt, quinoa, nut thins.

Wraps: brown rice, sprouted corn, buckwheat

Enjoy your journey to better health...(it's easier than you think)...
Lisa Marie

New Years tip #3...

Eat a new vegetable this week.
Pick one. Eat it every day.

*The key is to have it in addition to the other veggies you are already eating so you are upping your veggie intake.
It is, afterall, unanimously agreed upon; we all need to eat more veggies.

Do it. It's easy.
->Turn off the story loop that keeps telling you that you're too busy, don't like veggies, life's too short to eat so many veggies, it's too hard...just do it. It's actually easy.

Remember every positive change you makes, makes a difference in your health.
So do small changes gradually and they will certainly add up.

My choice this past week has been sprouts.
I like the 'deli blend' you can get at the supermarket, or sometimes just alfalfa is all that will do.
I use them as a salad base, because leafy green are not where it is at at this winter-y time of year.

(Note: raw leafy's are hard to digest and not very nutrient dense nor seasonally appropriate. Skip them and eat sprouts instead. You'll like it :)  Wait 'til Spring and then go crazy on the leafies again. I will too.

Keep well my friends...
Lisa Marie

PS: So by now you have figured out that I don't post daily...or even weekly. I post when I'm moved to post (and when i have time to). Hopefully that will be more often this year (as i shut off my internal story loop that keeps me from doing what I really want to do). That is my goal. Stay tuned...and spread the food love...