Happy Holidays! Here are two of my new “holiday friendly” recipes - both stuffed veggies with creamy mixtures. One is a vegan appetizer (stuffed mushrooms) and the other is more of an entree using animal protein (stuffed squash). Both recipes are gluten-free, dairy-free, but delicious and balanced - containing tons of fiber, healthy fats and protein.
Read MoreHealthy Breakfast Recipe: A new twist to your usual egg-avo toast
Today I’m sharing a SUPER EASY, HEALTHY and FILLING breakfast that I love and highly recommend to anyone. It’s my extra-nutritious take on an egg toast (and a different option to the popular avocado toast). This recipe contains a slice of seed bread, vegan cheese, kale and eggs.
Read MoreBest Healing Postpartum Foods + 4 Favorite Recipes
I recently shared 10 tips that helped me recover after birthing my children, and now I want to delve a little deeper into the FOODS that have helped me during this “4th trimester” to nourish myself, heal, promote healthy digestion, and keep up my energy (despite sleepless nights).
I promise that what you eat makes all the difference in your recovery! A healthy nourishing postartum diet is important to:
Replenish nutrients depleted during pregnancy
Support a successful and speedy recovery from birth
Create a healthy supply of (and good quality) breastmilk
Support hormonal balance
Here are the key HEALING FOODS that I was eating daily in my first 40 days postpartum (and continue to enjoy almost daily during my “4th trimester”), and 4 of my go-to recovery RECIPES.
Read MoreHealthy dinner recipes - salmon with pesto, kale salad, and a quinoa-veggie salad
Today I’m sharing an entire 3-part menu (including four healthy recipes), which is perfect for a family lunch or dinner, or for hosting a few friends or another couple.
This menu is PACKED with omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and fiber, making it great for your digestion, for longevity, immunity, and for hormonal balance. It’s also very balanced in protein, healthy fats and healthy low-glycemic carbs, making it ideal for keeping blood sugar stable.
Menu (all gluten-free and dairy-free):
Kale, Fennel & Avocado Salad
Quinoa Bell Pepper Salad
Roasted Salmon with a Pumpkin & Hemp Seed Pesto
Watch the video to learn how to make these recipes easily, and get tons of cooking/prep tips! And check out my recipes below. Enjoy!
Read MoreHealthy Burgers - 4 ways (gluten free and low carb!)
One of the main ways I like to enjoy red meat is making homemade burgers.
Burgers can actually be very healthy, as long as you choose lean, grass-fed beef, make them at home, and use healthier alternatives to serve your burgers (vs. standard bread and french fries!).
I alternate making burgers with healthier, more nutrient-dense and lower-carb alternatives for bread, including:
grilled eggplant “bread”
roasted large portobello mushroom “bread”
roasted sweet potato “bread”
large plantain “tostones” as bread (air fried vs. deep fried)
Also, I ALWAYS serve my burgers with salad and/or extra veggies, and use organic ketchup with no sugar added, mayo with avocado oil (with NO highly processed vegetable oils!), and organic mustard.
Here is my go-to burger recipe, with 4 different replacements for bread (Note: the plantain “bread” is the least healthy / most carbs, so it’s the one I make more for my husband!)
Read MorePerfect Healthy Recipe For Your Next Family Dinner
Today I’m sharing one of my new favorite SUPER HEALTHY recipes (recipe in both ENGLISH and SPANISH) that is great to make for the entire family (and perfect for large gatherings). It’s suitable for anyone following a paleo or keto lifestyle (and is acceptable for most detox plans). It's a gluten-free, dairy-free, super nutritious lasagna with layers of zucchini, vegan cheese and turkey-tomato sauce. Try it and let me know what you think!
Read MoreFamily friendly recipe: Meatballs with Veggie Noodles Recipe
One of my main goals in life is to show you and everyone that HEALTHY EATING CAN BE (AND SHOULD BE) DELICIOUS). So i’m making it a goal to share more of my awesome, nutritious and super yummy (yet easy) recipes for you to enjoy.
Today I’m sharing my Meatballs and Veggie Noodles recipe - which is allowed on most detoxes (like my signature 10 day detox) and is both PALEO and KETO “approved”. (I always share this recipe in my Summer & Fall 10 day detox and my clients LOVE it, and for my Winter version where we omit nightshades, I offer it with a vegan cashew cream instead of tomato sauce).
Read MoreEasy, Delicious, Vegan, Superfood Kale & Sweet Potato Curry
Today I’m sharing my newest recipe - a result of playing around with my organic dark leafy greens, attempting to find the best added sweet flavors to neutralize the slight bitterness of the greens, and I came up with this amazingly flavorful, nutritious dish.
Kale and Sweet Potato are two of my favorite SUPERFOODS, and they pair perfectly together.
This recipe is:
Extremely healthy and gut-friendly, packed with fiber and wide variety of nutrients
Vegan, gluten-free, and refined sugar-free
Ideal to prevent cravings as it contains all the different flavors to satisfy your palate
Comforting, warming, and filling (even without the optional protein addition)
Super easy to make – can be done in 3o minutes and all in one pot
Great for meal prep lunches and dinners; leftovers taste even better (keeps well in fridge for 3 days, tops 4)
Check out my recipe and give it a shot!
Read MoreCreate Your Own Healthy Macro Bowl
A macro bowl (aka buddha bowl) is my daily go-to dinner, which I make using leftovers (or things I “batch cooked” earlier including grains/beans/veggies), some fresh greens, seeds and/or avocado, a healthy sauce, and I’m good to go.
I love these bowls because they are BALANCED, EASY TO MAKE, ADJUSTABLE/VARIABLE, FILLING and usually, totally Instagram worthy.
While there are tons of variations, I wanted to offer an easy GUIDE to help you make your own macro bowl for a quick, easy, healthy meal. Plus, I’ll share one of my favorite go-to recipes.
Read MoreEasy, Delicious Protein-Packed Vegan Burgers (perfect for freezing)
Having easy pre-made healthy options for a quick dinner (such as pre-cooked frozen healthy foods that I can heat up in a minute and serve with a salad) are key for me to stay healthy. Especially now, during these new stay-at-home times when we’re limiting our supermarket runs, batch-cooking and freezing healthy staples IS A LIFESAVER.
So i wanted to share one of the recipes that i commonly make in big batches and freeze. This recipe is:
Dairy-free
Gluten-free
Oil-free
Soy-free
Packed with fiber, protein, B-vitamins, iron and more
Super flavorful
EASY TO MAKE and freezes well
Check out my blog for my recipe - both in english and spanish.
Read MoreHealthy Recipes for Your Summer Picnic
If you’re trying to stay healthy this summer (maybe you’ve even committed to doing a detox, or are trying to do a low-carb eating plan like Keto or Paleo, or just cut back on gluten and refined sugar), then making your own compliant dishes is the easiest way to enjoy eating with friends while having food you can eat!
Plus, it’s a great opportunity to have fun in the kitchen, and impress your friends!
So I’ve put together some of my favorite “summer picnic” recipes, which are mostly detox-friendly, or adaptable, and free of processed sugar, gluten, grains and dairy. At the same time, they are crowd pleasers!
Chicken Zucchini Burgers
Kale & Avocado Pancakes
Simple Holiday Salad (great for ALL holidays and large meals!)
Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpea Salad
Sweet Potato Tater-Tots
Two-minute Guacamole
Crispy Roasted Chickpeas
Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Brownies
Did You Know...? Benefits of Hemp Seeds (+ Recipes!)
Did you know that Hemp Seeds are one of nature's most perfect and nutritious foods?
These tiny seeds have a concentrated balance of proteins, essential fats, vitamins and enzymes, combined with almost no sugar, sodium, starches nor saturated fats. They’re super easy to digest and contain about 13 grams of protein in just 3 tablespoons. Plus, like most other seeds, they can be used almost anywhere – from sprinkling on your smoothies/salads/soups to a key ingredient in many yummy plant-based recipes. And personally, I LOVE them!
READ MORE to learn nutritional benefits of hemp seeds, and 4 delicious recipes of mine using hemp seeds.
Read MoreA “Quinoa-like Superfood” You Should Add to Your Diet (and 4 recipes!)
Most everyone knows about the delicious superfood quinoa and its awesome health benefits. BUT if you’re getting bored of only using quinoa and occasionally rice, maybe it’s time you start exploring other delicious, nutritious, and naturally gluten-free grains. (And in fact, quinoa and all of these that I’m about to list, are technically NOT grains, but SEEDS that are high in protein and fiber. I call them “grain-like seeds”. Which is in part why they're easier on the gut!) Examples include:
- Buckwheat
- Sorghum
- Millet
- Amaranth
- Teff
Today I want to focus on BUCKWHEAT as its one of my favorites. I started eating it for its hormone-balancing properties, and now I eat it because I love it!
Here is why you should be adding buckwheat to your diet (and 4 delicious recipes!):
Read MoreA Quick, Delicious, Gut-Friendly Meal: Easy Vegetable Chickpea Curry
Do you come home tired from work without energy to cook (nor digest) a big meal? Do you crave a light, simple meal, yet comforting and soothing?
Maybe you’re still a bit stressed form work and your belly feels a bit bloated, so you know that you need something easy to digest.
This happens to me constantly. And while a sandwich or bowl of cereal is what I would do in the past, I now know that all that gluten and sugar at night is the WORST thing for my belly. So about a year ago, on one of these tired work days, I came home to go though my pantry and fridge to see what easy and belly-friendly meal I could make, and that’s when I first came up with my Easy Vegetable Chickpea Curry. And now, its become one of my go-to meals for these days.
On top of being simple and delicious, it’s awesome for your digestion. This dish is filled with all the different types of fiber to help you poop beautifully (yep I said it!) and the curry spices help you digest the food – which is especially important at dinner time.
And most importantly, this dish can be done in just half an hour (or even less).
Read MoreThree Easy & Delicious Seasonal Dishes to Enjoy this Summer!
Eating seasonal foods is one of the best things you can do for your health. Seasonal produce is picked when it’s ripe (so plants get extra sun-time), and it generally has more antioxidants, more color and more flavor!
Where I am now, it's mid-summer, and I’m blessed to have a ton of fresh, locally-grown summer vegetables to enjoy. I encourage you to visit your local farmers market and stock up on seasonal produce; not only are you doing your body a favor, you’re supporting local farmers as well (and not paying the cost of transportation that you pay for out-of-season, non-local produce)!
Some of my favorite summer veggies include: arugula, avocados, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash, corn and green beans. Cucumber is another refreshing, healthy summer veggie. While I admit it isn't my favorite, I have found a recipe that I LOVE with cucumbers (and I bet you will, too!), which I will share with you today!
Read MoreThe Perfect Weekday Lunch – Macro Bowl
Macro Bowls are my favorite go-to lunch recipes. They're simple, easily customizeable, healthy yet filling enough to keep you energized throughout your afternoon.
Macro bowls are the definition of BALANCED meals; they’re called macro bowls because they include all major macro-nutrients: carbs, protein and fat. They usually consist of a base of whole grains, raw and/or cooked veggies, a protein of your choice and a healthy fat. The best thing is that you can really be creative with them and design to your liking.
There are so many varieties, but I’ll run you through the basic steps so that you can start making your favorite version.
Read MorePRE-WORKOUT NUTRITION & RECIPES
Giving your body adequate fuel & nutrition before and after every workout is key for staying energized, building lean muscle, burning calories and losing weight, and for promoting a healthy recovery of your tissues.
Pre-workout, you want to focus on getting healthy complex carbs (such as veggies, fruits and whole grains) and healthy fats (such as nuts, seeds and avocado). When we eat carbs, our bodies store them in the muscles as glycogen, and as we exercise, we begin to deplete this glycogen – particularly in the first hour. Our bodies also metabolize fats and protein for energy, particularly in longer workouts, so including a little bit of vegetarian fat and/or protein is recommended. However, it’s important to make your pre-workout meal very light so it doesn’t weigh you down, and eat it at least 30-45 mins before starting your exercise.
WHAT IF YOU'RE WORKING OUT FIRST THING IN THE MORNING - SHOULD YOU STILL EAT? Unless it's just a light exercise like walking or gentle yoga, then yes, ideally you should eat something small. Working out while hungry can place stress on your body, activating your sympathetic nervous system, and can even make you lose muscle mass as your body will draw protein from your muscles for fuel. Just a small portion of 1 of my suggested pre-workout meals can do the trick.
Read MoreHaving Friends Over? My Easy, Healthy “Go-To” Dish for Entertaining
I don’t know about you, but I love entertaining and wish I could do it more often. Why don't I? Because it’s time consuming and so much work! I host dinner parties sometimes with the help of someone (say for ex., my wonderful boyfriend who cooks up an awesome churrasco) which makes it so much fun, but it’s once in a blue moon.
But having friends over should be easy and fun. Plus, if I'm hosting, I know that I can keep it on the healthy side - a huge plus. So what becomes my solution? I invite people over for some wine and a few appetizers. And while it’s much easier to just buy some pre-made hummus and pita chips, it's more special (and healthy!) to make a dish or two of my own.
Read MoreCraving Pasta? Try These Healthy, Guilt-Free Alternatives
Everyone loves pasta, but sadly, it's not so good for our bodies. While a small portion of pasta is OK to have on occasion, it's one of those foods that unfortunately should be eliminated from your regular diet if you're aiming for sustained weight loss.
Why? Because pasta is made from wheat flour that scores very high in the glycemic-index, meaning it causes a spike in blood sugar and insulin levels, which ultimately leads to weigh gain. Also, wheat flour contains gluten, and it’s now well known that many people do better with no or limited amounts of gluten in their diet, myself being one of them. Gluten causes inflammation in the gut, which can lead to a whole host of more serious issues.
Therefore, I’ve discovered other pasta-like options that are not only gluten-free, but also higher in nutrition.
Here are some amazing and healthy alternatives to your regular wheat flour pasta, all of which are gluten-free:
- brown rice pasta
- quinoa pasta
- buckwheat pasta
- bean pasta (including black bean, adzuki or mung bean & edamame spaghetti)
- shirataki noodles
- zucchini noodles (a.k.a. zoodles)
- spaghetti squash - my favorite!
Low-Carb Swaps for Lasting Weight Loss
In my experience, the best way to lose weight and get the body you want is by making small step-by-step improvements in your diet. Super strict diets that require a complete overhaul of your diet are overwhelming and of course, hard to maintain.
While some effort is required, making healthier choices is easier than you may realize.
We all hate to give up our favorite not-so-healthy foods, and while there are some that are best avoiding all together, there are others that can easily be modified to make them lighter and healthier. With some easy swaps that I’m about to share with you over the next few weeks, you'll see that we can keep these foods (with a few adjustments) in our regular diet while staying healthy and not gaining weight.
Today I want to share my favorite swaps for SANDWICHES & WRAPS, as well as RICE, and I'll share 2 fabulous recipes that you can try this week!
Read More