Category: Recipe

This was a juice I made because I had some leftover veggies left around and I was going away on a short trip and wanted to make sure they didn’t go to waste. The juice that resulted was one of the more savory juices I’ve made. I’ll be honest, not my favorite concoction, but maybe if I tweak the combination, it’ll work out.

Still, just in case you’re interested, this is what went into this juice:

• 4 leaves kale
• tomato
• 4 ribs celery
• 2 cucumber

It wasn’t terrible, but it’s not my tastiest either so back to playing around with other juices for a bit… I’m hoping the next time I make something, I’ll be happily surprised instead.

Have you ever made a juice or smoothie that you didn’t think would work but ended up being tasty? I’d love to try new recipes if you want to share =)

Summer time means it’s time for lots of fresh produce in northern California. What follows is a loose take on a fiesta bowl and making it into a salad version without the rice.

• 2 tomatoes
• 1 avocado
• 1/2 cup corn kernels
• 1/2 cup peas
• sprinkle of cumin, salt, and pepper
• splash of avocado oil

Now, normally I make a tomato and cucumber salad but when I went to Sprouts to get groceries, the avocado was calling out to me more this time. Mm, mm, mm… Especially when I used tortilla chips to help spoon this salad into my mouth. So yummy!

I thought about adding some hemp seeds as a topping later but was already almost done by the time I thought about it. Next time!

What are your go-to summer salads? It’s nice to have variety of lighter foods when it’s sunny and hot out and you don’t want to turn on the oven or cook anything. This one was good in that it’s light and fresh, yet left me feeling satisfied due to the avocado adding some good fats in. I hope you enjoy!

Time for a new juice!

This is another easy green juice to get together in just a few minutes. Seriously hydrating, seriously yummy. Seriously tastier than the bottled versions in the store.

• green apple
• half bunch spinach
• 3 carrots

Now, a word about the amount of juice I’m getting. I’m in the habit of making single servings for myself because my mom, who we live with, doesn’t want to try the recipes, and my husband is often not home by the time I finish making my juice and there’s just none left for him. Because these are freshly made, it really is best to consume right away or within a few hours to minimize the oxidation of nutrients inside.

This juice is one where I bottled it for the next day because I had already made another juice just before and was trying to batch making juice. While it was still tasty, it definitely had already lost some of its ‘freshness’. Knowing how much came out of this recipe, I’ll probably double the batch for next time and just enjoy it that day.

Just my two cents. Do you have any favorite juices you make?

If you ask one of my students from the last couple years, they would probably let you know that most of the time, I bring lunch from home. And most of those times, it’s chia pudding.

Prepping this meal has become so second nature, I don’t have to think about it more than what extra I want to add each day, which also depends on what I have in my pantry on hand.

My basic recipe for this is:

• 3 Tb chia seeds
• 1 Tb sprouted quinoa
• 1/3 to 1/2 Tb cacao powder
• generous dash of cinnamon powder
• 2 Tb mixed berries (usually goji and then maybe dried cranberries or raisins)
• 2 Tb nuts or seeds (like sliced almonds or walnuts or pumpkin seeds)
• 2/3 cup almond milk

I put this all the dry ingredients in a hydroflask first, add the milk last, and then and stir for a couple minutes, trying to break up all the chia chunks that can sometimes form. Then it’s done. It just sits in my bag until lunch time and it’s all ready. Just a couple more stirs to make sure the cacao powder is thoroughly mixed into the pudding and then it’s time to dig in.

I’ve swapped almond milk for coconut milk, taken out the cacao powder for dried coconut. I’ve added fresh berries too for some added sweetness when I don’t want the chocolate taste. All so good!

What’s your favorite chia pudding recipe? I’m always looking for new ways to have this for my work lunch days.

I really need to work on my photography skills – maybe that can be my next hobby to start!

Anyway, yay!!! For my birthday, I received a new cold press juicer. I loved my Greenstar, it got me through the beginning of my juicing journey, but this new Nama J2 has been amazing and I don’t have any excuse now to NOT juice. Now, as I said, I’m here to help you on your whole journey, including health. One of the things I can recommend is juicing. I was a skeptic too at first when I heard about it, but after doing a couple of juice cleanses over the past couple years, I can’t even begin to tell you how much lighter I feel, how much more clearer headed I am, and how grounded I feel when I do that.

Now, I’m not doing any cleanse at all, but I am really wanting to make juicing a part of my daily routine. I’m hoping this habit lasts because truly, every time I’ve been consistent with juicing in the past, I just feel great. And what’s not to love about increasing your daily intake of fruits and veggies?

Anyway, here’s a basic recipe that keeps me full and usually fills my 32oz water bottle for the day:

• 2 green apples
• half bunch spinach
• 3 kale leaves
• 2-3 ribs celery
• 1 cucumber

Super easy, super basic, and not overwhelmingly “green-tasting” like other juices can be. Enjoy, and cheers to your health!

It’s finally kind of summer here in northern California. In the heat, that means it’s sometimes nice to have something a little lighter to munch on for dinner rather than prep and cook something hot.

One thing I’ve been trying to be more mindful of is purchasing produce that’s in season and locally grown. While I haven’t been able to make it a habit to visit my farmer’s market, I have been checking the tags more on my trips to Sprouts to see where my produce is from. For example, I love fresh tomatoes and I know they’re in season but after checking all the tags, who knew that the vast majority of tomatoes were shipped from Mexico?

Trying to be more conscious of my carbon impact has started to influence how I buy my groceries. I’m still working on general consumer products, but that’s another story.

Anyway, here’s a quick dinner I “came up with” when I was at the grocery store. I just got a tub of Sprouts organic hummus to go along with some fresh radishes and asparagus. I cleaned the asparagus and cut them into 2 inch long pieces. The radishes were sliced and the greens kept aside to add to my next day’s green smoothie.

I kept the veggies raw and just dipped them in the hummus for dinner. Overall, simple, delicious, and a different taste profile than I normally eat. Obviously, this can be made with any veggie and any type of hummus you prefer. Who knew crudités were more than just a party snack?

Happy nomming!

Here’s a quick and easy recipe that’s also easy to keep more on the raw side for added nutritional benefits. And it’s super versatile so mix and match with whatever you have in your pantry or what you feel like eating.

– 5-6 cups cauliflower or broccoli, chopped to bite size pieces
– 1/3 cup berries (goji seen in the picture)
– 1/3 cup different berries (golden seen in the picture)
– 1/3 cup seeds (pumpkin seen in the picture)
– 1/3 cup frozen corn
– 1/3 cup frozen peas

Sauce
– 1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise
– 1-2 TB apple cider vinegar
– 1-2 tsp honey or maple syrup
– salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the sauce ingredients together and then mix together with the veggies. Mix well and let everything sit together in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and then eat.

Yummy! I’ve used different seeds or added chopped nuts to this. I go easy on the apple cider vinegar personally because it otherwise gets a little too tangy, depending on the types of berries you use (raisins or cranberries anyone?). Let me know what you think!

This recipe’s a good one for a quick meal when I have a lot of veggies that I need to finish before they go bad. Feel free to mix and match veggies as you desire. And when topped with the almond sauce – mm… soo good…

Stir fry
– bell pepper, chopped
– carrot, half cup, chopped
– snow peas, half cup
– zucchini, half cup, chopped
– asparagus, few stalks, chopped

Add your veggies to a skillet with oil of your choice (I used avocado oil, but you can also use coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil) and stir fry a few minutes until your veggies are to your desired crispness.

While the veggies are cooking, make the sauce.

Almond sauce
– 2 Tb coconut milk
– 2 Tb almond butter
– 1 Tb tamari
– 1 tsp maple syrup
– 1/8 ground ginger or 1 tsp freshly grated ginger

Mix the almond sauce ingredients together. Feel free to add some minced garlic or red pepper flakes if you’d like. Add some water if the sauce is too thick.

Top veggies with the almond sauce, serve with a side of brown rice, and eat. Enjoy!

Lately, I’ve been needing something more warm and comforting. The weather in the bay area has continued to fluctuate between hot and cold, which has me going back and forth between finding happiness in my green smoothies and wanting more comfort food.

This recipe is the latter.

I had some extra kimchi that I needed to finish and wanted to try to incorporate it into a meal rather than have it on its own. What started out as an experiment turned into a delicious meal that surpassed my expectations. And it was super easy.

For an easy meal for one, take one sweet potato and bake it at 400F for 45 minutes.

While that’s baking, assemble your filling – for me, I used 1/3 cup chopped raw white kimchi (which I get at my neighborhood Sprouts Market) with 1/4 cup cilantro sprouts. For my sauce, I mixed a bit of vegan mayonnaise with sweet red chili sauce.

Once the sweet potato is done and cooled, I split and filled it with the filling and sauce. I didn’t think about it until afterward but I know I could have also added a topping of edamame and sesame seeds as well.

And voila! Easy, delicious meal with minimal prep needed. Enjoy!

In 2017, I started working with a personal coach to deal with a variety of things in my life. One of the first things she suggested was to go gluten free and increase my veggie and fruit intake. I had some health things going on at the time and I decided it couldn’t hurt to try.

Here we are almost 6 years later, and I’ve pretty much stuck with that switch. My head is less foggy, my skin is more clear, and overall, I feel like I have more energy.

Now, I will be the first to say I am not a dietician in any shape or form, but I do say that everyone can benefit from more fruits and veggies in their diet so why not give it a try for yourself? It helps that I start with this smoothie recipe pretty much every work day:

– 1 cup water
– 2 cups lacinato kale
– 3 ribs celery
– 1 tsp spirulina
– 2 Tb seeds/nuts
– 1 Tb almond butter
– 1 banana
– 1/2 cup frozen wild blueberries
– 1/2 cup frozen fruit

Blend this all together in your blender of choice and voila, a tasty green smoothie to start your day!

Do I stick with this every day? No. Sometimes, I have spinach or other mixed greens instead of kale. For seeds and nuts, I switch from sesame and sunflower seeds to pumpkin and flaxseeds. Sometimes I opt out of the banana, or switch the almond butter with fresh avocado. For the second frozen fruit, sometimes I add more berries or mango or whatever else I have in the freezer. Sometimes I add cocoa powder to sweeten things up, and sometimes I add powdered ginger to warm it up. Sometimes, I even add leftover parsley or cilantro that’s hanging around (can’t share that with my husband though, he doesn’t like that taste). Basically, I use up whatever greens and fruits I have in my fridge and freezer that’s handy.

There’s no right or wrong way to do this, you can add or subtract and adjust however your taste buds want. This has definitely helped me keep up with my intake of greens and fruits and generally keeps me full and fueled through the rest of the morning until lunch.

Try it out and let me know what you think. Cheers to your health!