3 Date Recipes (perfect for pre-labor!)

Dates are packed with nutrition and provide lots of fiber and energy, plus are naturally very sweet, making them ideal for making healthy desserts.

Also, they’re said to be amazing for preparing your cervix for a natural birth, so with that “excuse” in mind, I’ve been making lots of easy, delicious date recipes to have in my last weeks of pregnancy.

Today I’m sharing 3 of my favorite date recipes– all of which are super nutritious, vegan, gluten-free, no added sugar and raw (no baking required!) - and don’t spike your blood sugar (as they’re packed with extra fiber, protein and healthy fats!).

Carob brownie energy balls

Almond & Peanut chocolate butter fudge

Balance with Mariana’s basic energy balls

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6 Healthy, Delicious, Vegan, Low-Carb Zucchini Recipes

Zucchini is one of my favorite vegetables as its delicious and has tons of health benefits as it’s low-carb yet packed with vitamins, minerals, fiber and even antioxidants.

I also love it because it’s so versatile (and a great way to make your favorite recipes more low-carb / low-glycemic)! I use it in my smoothie bowls almost daily, love it roasted in the oven, sauteed, thinly baked (or air-fried) as “chips”, use it instead of lasagna noodles for a gluten-free lasagna, as part of a dip, a soup, and of course, it’s amazing spiralized as a pasta substitute.

Today I’m sharing 6 of my favorite zucchini recipes - that are vegan, gluten-free and low carb, plus flavorful and easy to make!

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Favorite Healthy Snack / Dessert Recipe - Mariana's Energy Balls

Today I’m sharing one of my all-time favorite recipes (in both English and Spanish) - my super healthy, fiber-packed, gut-friendly Energy Balls. The recipe is super easy and I proved different options (including my favorite Chocolate energy ball version)! You can make them in 15 minutes, store them for weeks in the freezer, and you have the perfect healthy snack or dessert on hand - which is balanced, with healthy fats and plant-based protein that won’t spike your blood sugar.

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The Key to a Delicious Healthy Salad (+ 3 recipes)

Salads are amazing for our health, but salads can lack appeal and get boring. Or worse, they can be unhealthy if you’re not careful! The key lies in using a delicious, healthy, HOMEMADE salad dressing! So I'm sharing 3 of my favorite go-to salad dressings (dairy free, gluten free, preservative free, refined sugar free, and made only with good quality ingredients) that can make any salad delicious, satisfying and healthy.

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COCONUT – why I love it (+ 3 recipes)

As a huge lover of coconut (including coconut milk, coconut yogurt, coconut water, coconut oil, pure coconut meat, coconut flour and more!) today I’m sharing some BENEFITS OF COCONUTS and a few of my favorite super healthy and delicious detox-friendly COCONUT-BASED RECIPES.

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Let's Unite in Gratitude and Health this 2020 Thanksgiving Holiday

This year has been a rollercoaster for ALL of us; for each one of us in it's own way. More than ever, we are joined together (globally) in this feeling. Which is why we need to celebrate Thanksgiving with extra purpose, extra meaning, extra love, extra appreciation, extra HEALTH and extra UNITY.

Let’s make this 2020 Thanksgiving holiday extra healthy, fun and unique. Here are some tips and recipes to help you out!

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5 Easy & Healthy Butternut Squash Recipes

Butternut Squash is one of my favorite fall / winter vegetables (which I honestly eat year round) because it's not only sweet and delicious, it's extremely healthy - packed with vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants, and very versatile. I eat it mashed (and add to smoothies and desserts), spiralized, baked/roasted and blended into soups. I share some of my top recipes below.

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Chocolate Mousse – adaptable for detox+keto (English + Spanish recipe)

Cacao is one of my favorite superfoods that's comforting, delicious, great for hormonal balance, and packed with antioxidants, magnesium and fiber.

Today I’m sharing my amazing (and super healthy) VEGAN CHOCOLATE MOUSSE recipe - which is a family and client favorite. It’s delicious, creamy, super nutritious, and my latest version is adaptable so that its detox-friendly and keto-friendly.

READ MORE for my new (date-free) yummy chocolate mousse recipe in both English and Spanish. Honestly, you’ll love it and so will your body!

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Family 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).

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My Favorite Everyday Smoothie Recipes 2.0

By popular demand, and as a follow-up to my Beginners Smoothie Guide, today I'm sharing my go-to favorite green smoothie recipe that I make for myself almost every morning.

All my green smoothies are PACKED with antioxidants, anti-inflammatory nutrients, fiber, vegan protein and deliciousness. They make a filling and delicious breakfast that will keep your blood sugar stable, rev up your metabolism, and serve as a great tool for weight loss.

Read more for my delicious EVERYDAY GREEN CHIA SMOOTHIE BOWL recipe (+ 2 more of my favorite smoothie bowl recipes).

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My Favorite Superfood Smoothie Bowl

By now you probably know of my obsession with: smoothie bowls, sweet potato, dark chocolate/cacao and superfoods in general. So it’s probably no surprise that this recipe, which combines all of the above, is one of my favorites (that I make at least once a week).

See my delicious, vegan, protein and superfood-packed CACAO SMOOTHIE BOWL recipe below.

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Easy, 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!

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3 Easy Low-Glycemic Snacks to Satisfy your Sweet Tooth and Support Weight Loss

When we’re spending more time at home, suddenly we find ourselves in the kitchen grabbing for a snack that we don’t really need. We mindlessly grab a handful of the not-so-healthy stuff that is insight – the chips/crackers, kids’ cookies, those chocolate covered almonds, etc.

And we KNOW this habit is not supportive of our health goals.

That being said, a small snack once a day is not a terrible thing, and we can make peace with it. We can even use snacks in our favor so that we then have a slightly smaller meal for our next meal.

But in order for the snack to work in our favor, it needs to be eaten consciously, sitting down, and the snack needs to contain fiber, healthy fats and protein (and no processed junk) in order to keep our blood sugar balanced.

With that in mind, I wanted to offer today 3 EASY snacks to satisfy your mid-afternoon sweet craving. Snacks that are healthy yet satisfying and will keep your blood sugar balanced, which supports weight loss. They’re also HIGH-PROTEIN, VEGAN and relatively LOW-CARB. Lastly, they’re super easy (require minimal to no prep) and are totally family/kid-friendly.

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Create 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.

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Easy, 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.

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THE BEST HEALTHY, EASY & DELICIOUS BANANA BREAD RECIPE

Right now that we’re all spending more time at home, we need home activities that are fun, healthy and easy. Even better, something that can be done with the kids. And baking banana bread fits that description perfectly.

My Banana Bread is:

  • gluten-free (optional grain-free, too)

  • dairy-free (optional vegan, too)

  • no processed sugar

  • moist, flavorful and perfectly sweet

  • super easy and kid friendly (can be done with just 1 bowl)

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Your New Favorite Anti-Inflammatory Superfood Drink

If you haven’t tried golden milk yet, you’re missing out! It’s a creamy, hot, milky (yet dairy-free) drink that’s delicious and PACKED with nutrients. It’s like a “warm liquid sunshine in a cup.”

READ MORE for my super easy, delicious and nutritious recipe - which adds some superfoods to help boost digestion, balance hormones and relieve stress.

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Healthy Holiday Hummus

I’m a big fan of hummus for many reasons including it’s:

  • creamy delicious taste

  • ability to pair well with many foods & versatile nature

  • amazing nutritional benefits - especially it’s GUT friendly properties (I’ll go through these below)

And today I wanted to share a new, easy and super healthy version of my homemade hummus that I tried this week and am loving - and is perfect for your next family Holiday dinner/event .

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Healthy GATORADE replacement: A "water essence" recipe for you and the kids

It amazes me how many people - even those that live a healthy lifestyle - still drink Gatorade (and similar electrolyte drinks) despite all the chemicals and sugar they contain. So it dawned on me that most people don’t realize the amount of sugar and chemicals in these drinks, and the fact that it may be doing your body more harm than good.

So what is a better alternative? Read more for an easy homemade “electrolyte water essence” recipe that will quench your thirst and prevent dehydration (which is cheaper, way healthier and just as effective).

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The Secret Ingredient for a Creamy Low-Glycemic Smoothie

Green smoothies can be the ideal breakfast when prepared right.

One of the most common mistakes is adding way too much fruit , which can actually reverse many of the benefits of your smoothie. Too much fruit can spike your blood sugar, then lead to a blood sugar low two hours later, not to mention it will make your smoothie a calorie (and carb) bomb. So the key lies in keeping your smoothie LOW-GLYCEMIC while still making it delicious and filling.

HOW? There is one ingredient that I find can be a game changer to make your smoothie nice and thick and creamy without having to add all that fructose. And when you add a vanilla or chocolate flavored vegan protein powder, you won’t miss that banana at all!

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