The Sunny Life

Health Through Indulgence

2011-10-15T11:19:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

This blog will soon be redirecting to my updated website: Health Through Indulgence.

It should shortly be changing over, but if you find yourself here and wondering why I haven't been Vegan MoFo posting too much these past few days, it's because I'm updating here.

As always, thank you for reading, and I hope that you love the new site as much as I do!

Lots of Love,
Marlena

Zucchini Puttanesca and Pumpkin Pie Brownies

2011-10-11T07:12:00.000-07:00

I've figured out my favorite new way to enjoy leftover pasta sauce:

Yesterday I picked up a zucchini (with the intention of using it as a base for salad dressing), black olives, and sun dried tomatoes.

Instead of a salad dressing, I created my new favorite tomato based sauce.

Zucchini Puttanesca
1 cup leftover pasta sauce
5 sun dried tomatoes, soaked and chopped
1 cup diced tomato
3 tsp capers
1/2 cup black olives, pitted, rinsed, and chopped
light sprinkling of crushed red pepper (optional)

Mix all of these ingredients together in a bowl and spoon on top of spiralized zucchini pasta, or whole grain pasta.

Usually I shy away from saltier ingredients such as sundried tomatoes, olives, and capers. Despite how much I love their flavors, they are just too salty for my liking, and despite my ultra hydrating diet, I am left thirsty after eating, which I loathe. Using the fresh tomato and zucchini pasta really kept this dish light and hydrating for me. I wasn't thirsty at all after eating.

Look at all of that sauce! This was a deeply satisfying meal.

Enrico and I also enjoyed an awesome new dessert: Pumpkin Pie Brownies!! I got this recipe directly from Post Punk Kitchen (the ladies behind Vegan MoFo), and it was delicious. I made a few modifications to make this recipe healthier and lighter. I'll share them with you:

I replaced white flour with equal parts quinoa and millet flour
I replaced white sugar with a lesser amount of unrefined sugar and vanilla stevia
I didn't use arrowroot or cornstach
I used coconut oil instead of canola oil

The pumpkin pie brownies were fantastic. The next time I make them, I plan on doubling the pumpkin mixture, and halving the brownie mixture. The brownies were this incredibly fudge-like chocolaty amazingness, but since I was more in the mood for pumpkin than chocolate, this recipe didn't quite satisfy my craving the way I thought it would.

My favorite all time brownies are my recipe for raw brownies. They are sweet, dense, chocolaty, and gooey. All of the lovely things that every brownie should be! It's been a while since I've made them, but I'll make sure to post them before the end of Vegan MoFo. :)

Have an awesome Tuesday!

Love,
Marlena

Cabbage and Carrot Collard Wraps with a Spicy, Tangy Avocado Spread

2011-10-06T12:50:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

I've been having so much fun with my vegetable creations. At the farmer's market on Tuesday I picked up some really beautiful collard leaves and decided I'd make some collard wraps.

The wraps came out great, and they featured this super yummy avocado spread:

Spicy, Tangy Avocado Spread

2 avocados

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

3 tbsp nama shoyu or soy sauce

1 tsp maple extract

a few little squirts of liquid stevia (optional)

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (more or less depending on how spicy you like it)

Blend all ingredients together until smooth. You'll be left with a delicious spread that also works great as a salad dressing!

Here is how I assembled my wraps:

Cut and discard the stem of the collard, you won't want to eat it! Spread desired amount of avocado spread on the top half of the leaf, and top with your desired raw vegetables. I topped mine with chopped cabbage, carrot, cilantro and basil.

The next step is to turn the collard/vegetable pile into a wrap. Take the base of the collard and fold it over the vegetable pile, and then roll the collard in from the side. They will look like this:

I used the remaining avocado spread as my salad dressing. It was perfect!

You could slice the top part of the collards off so that they look a bit neater, but I like eating them this way, so there is plenty of room for lots of veggies and avocado spread.

As I write this, I am realizing that my tutorial skills need improvement. I think I see a collard wrap video in the near future.

Sometimes I feel like playing with food comes so naturally to me, that I don't always pay attention to details like how I wrap my collards, or how long I bake my cookies.

I promise to work on it. ;)

Have you signed up for my latest freebie? If you're interested in learning about 5 ways to make raw foods work for you click here to register!

Lots of Love,

Marlena

Vegan Pumpkin Pie Spiced Oatmeal Cookies

2011-10-05T09:23:00.000-07:00

So, I baked.

I know I said to expect veggies, not cookies from me, but yesterday I felt like baking. The cool fall weather does this to me. I'm not complaining, I actually really, really love turning the oven on when there is a bit of a chill in the air.

There is something really special about enjoying a cookie warm, out of the oven. It can't be beat, and you can't experience that with any other type of food.

For the past couple of months, I have really enjoying baking with oats, so I used oats in this recipe. I also used my favorite sweetener in baked things: maple syrup, along with my favorite spice blend: pumpkin pie spice!

The end result of all of these favorites was a really awesome, easy to throw together quickly, whole grain, vegan cookie.

Vegan Pumpkin Pie Spiced Oatmeal Cookies (makes about 8-10 cookies)

3 tbsp coconut oil
1/8 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup unrefined sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp pure maple extract

1/4 cup whole spelt flour
3/4 cup oats, lightly pulsed in a blender (you don't want to turn it into complete flour)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 heaping tbsp pumpkin pie spice

Beat the wet ingredients with a hand mixer until it is creamy.
Stir this in with the dry ingredients.

Your mixture will look rather crumbly, like this:

But have no worries, when you press this dough together, it sticks nicely. The cookies will stay together rather well, even without any egg or egg substitute!

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10-12 minutes (yes, I actually timed these guys!). They will flatten a bit as they bake.

After 10-12 minutes, remove from the oven, and let them sit on the cookie sheet for about 3-5 minutes. Once you can move them without them falling apart, you'll know for sure that they are complete!

Please forgive my ipod photos, my camera will be making a reappearance today, for sure!

On a non-cookie note, I'm happy to mention that Casey and I are running a free teleclass on 5 ways to make the raw food diet work for you!

You can sign up here (make sure you scroll down to find this particular telelcass) to get in on the call or to register for free audio recording.

This call will provide you with a unique way to approach raw foods. Our approach is not all or nothing, it is a balanced, grounding, and uplifting way to bring your body back to wholeness with natural foods.

I'm really hoping you'll join us!

Lots of Love,
Marlena

Cheesy Dijon Turnip Mash

2011-10-03T05:28:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday!

I'm back with a new turnip mash for you. This was just as easy as my most recent Sweet Cinnamon Turnip Mash.

I just love turnips, and all root vegetables, really. They are comforting and grounding, which is exactly what I love to have as the weather cools downs. I also love that turnips are a lighter vegetable that digests easily.

For years, turnips seemed unappealing and overall dull to me, and now I've fallen head over heels for them. My words of wisdom for today: never turn your back on a vegetable, just be creative and figure out a delicious way to prepare them.

Now, for my first savory vegetable dessert: Cheesy Dijon Turnip Mash!

1 large turnip (washed, peeled, and chopped into smaller cubes)

1/4 cup nutritional yeast (approximately, you can add more or less)

3 tbsp dijon mustard (this can also be adjusted to taste)

a bit of turmeric

Place the chopped turnip in a pot and cover with just enough water so that the cubes are floating a bit. Bring this to a boil. Once the turnips can be pierced with a fork, remove from the heat and let them cool a bit.

Transfer the turnip to a food processor and add the dijon mustard and nutritional yeast. Process until the mixture is smooth. Add turmeric if you'd like to get a beautiful yellow color in this mash.

If you'd like, you could add a tablespoon of coconut oil to this for a little more density and mild flavor, but I found it wasn't necessary.

How is the Dessert Challenge going for you? What creations have you experimented with?

I hope you've enjoyed a turnip or two, sweet or savory, and I hope your week gets off to a good start.

Lots of Love,

Marlena

My Life as a Vegetarian

2011-10-02T11:37:00.000-07:00

My first stab at giving up animal food happened during my first semester at college. I had decided to give up red meat. To be perfectly honest, I don’t remember why, but I’m pretty sure it had something to do with my fear of gaining the freshman fifteen.

I never really was big on red meat. I certainly ate my fair share of meatballs and hamburgers, but it never really excited me the way that cookies, big bowls of pasta, or BBQ chicken did. Looking back, it seems that it was a natural and intuitive decision for me to give up red meat before any other animal foods.

Plus, I just love cows and think they’re so gorgeous. I can’t stand the thought of eating them.

About a year later, my family and I found out that my cat was sick and passed away within a few weeks. I had her since I was in third grade, and I was absolutely, totally devastated. It was like losing a best friend. I still get teary eyed when I see pictures of her (as unfriendly as she was to our house guests, she was a sweet pet to me!). This was the first time I really saw an animal in distress, and I just couldn’t bear it. It was absolutely heartbreaking to experience.

This is what piqued my interest in the well being of animals.

After my cat passed away, I gave up all animal foods except for dairy and eggs. Eventually I gave those up, too.

Don’t be fooled: giving up these animal foods did not make my diet healthy. In fact, it was incredibly unhealthy. I ate tons of processed non-organic soy, lots of cereal with soy milk, and refined grain products. The result of this was a lot of weight gain. While following this diet, I actually was at the highest weight I ever was in my entire life!

This showed me that eating nachos and eating bowls of pasta, cereal, and vegan cookies was not what I was looking for! I still felt conflicted, as I didn’t want to consume the flesh of animals anymore, it felt immoral to me. It also felt awful to be in a heavy, bloated body. What’s a girl to do?

I eventually found the world of macrobiotics and whole foods, and finally vegetable juicing and raw foods, which was my saving grace after experiencing horrible allergies and stomach pains once I reached the age of twenty two (which I attribute to lots of drinking, late nights, work I was beginning to loathe, and my overall mainstream American diet that I had consumed my whole life). While the whole foods approach helped to relieve my symptoms, raw green vegetable juices and fresh produce allowed my body to really heal.

Pure, organic, vegan foods have brought me great comfort, peace, and joy throughout the years. While I still consume things like raw goat’s cheese regularly, and organic eggs, wild fish, and cream - based desserts on occasion, I know that my vegetable based meals are the ultimate indulgence for me. I no longer prepare land animal foods in my home for my husband, either, as he is no longer interested in consuming the flesh of animals on a regular basis (Food, INC. really did it for him). Fresh produce is what provides us with the hydration, nutrition, and amazing taste that we need to be eat well and feel satisfied!

It feels right to participate in the Vegan Month of Food, as it’s been ten years since I first dabbled in vegetarianism, I love to cook so much, and I’m always excited to share new ways to prepare vegetables with my readers.

My intention with Vegan MoFo is to illustrate some inventive, fun, nourishing, and beautiful vegan dishes, high quality packaged vegan foods, and spotlight animal rights as much as I can. I have loved animals deeply my entire life and still cannot imagine going a day without their furry companionship. While I know that veganism may not be the answer to all of the world’s problems, I certainly know that more vegetables would do all living beings (human and non-human) a world of good.

I hope you enjoy what I have to share this month, and if you have any requests, recipe or otherwise, please send them my way!

Love and Salads,
Marlena

Vegan MoFo 2011!

2011-10-01T10:06:00.000-07:00

Happy Weekend Everyone!

Today I'm really excited to say that I am participating in the 2011 Vegan Month of Food!

What this means is that throughout October, I'll be blogging, a LOT, about vegan food. You can expect about five posts from me per week, on the topic of veganism (this will go quite nicely with the Just Vegetables Dessert Challenge!).

It's important for me to note here that I am not a vegan. My diet is definitely almost entirely vegan with my regular dinners that feature raw goat cheddar, and far less frequently organic eggs, wild fish, or a cream based dessert. However, the foundation of my diet is definitely vegetables!

During the Vegan Month of Food I plan on playing with my food a lot more than usual. My aim is to present you all with some beautiful, nourishing, hydrating, and simple ways to use vegetables. I am always hollering about how much variety there is in the world of plants, so I feel it's time that I show you all how to get creative with them, and make meals that please the palette and leave you thoroughly satiated while delivering the most incredible nourishment nature has to offer.

Don't expect too many baked things such as vegan pies, cakes, and cookies (although I'm sure I'll sneak in a few). I love baking for my husband and family, but this isn't a regular feature of my personal diet. Raw and cooked vegetables are where it's at for me as well as my readers, so that's what I'll be delivering.

I am thoroughly devoted to showing you all how delicious vegetables are, and I really hope that I can bring something to you all that you've never seen or thought of before, that will warm your hearts and satisfy your tummies. We can eat healthfully and indulgently - just wait and see what I've got in store for you! ;)

With Love,

Marlena

Sweet Cinnamon Turnip Mash

2011-09-29T10:13:00.000-07:00

Happy Thursday,

Today I'm sharing another "Just Vegetables Dessert" with you, and this one probably sounds weird, right?

I picked up a turnip at the farmer's market on Tuesday, mostly because it was the first time I saw them this season and I became excited. :) Given our present dessert challenge, I figured I'd try to make a treat out of said turnip.

Challenging as it may seem to make a turnip a fun and tasty treat, this was actually very, very easy.

The first thing I did was peel and chop my turnip. My turnip was pretty large, and came to about two cups when chopped.

Then I placed them in a small pot of boiling water. I boiled the turnips until they were able to be pierced with a fork.

Once they were finished, I removed them from the heat and let them cool a bit. Using a slotted spoon, I lifted my turnip chunks out of the water, and placed them in a food processor. I added 1 tsp of coconut oil to this mixture.

Once the mixture was smooth, I took a taste. Yummy. It tasted just like mashed potatoes.

I was very happy with this dessert just plain like this, but I added a packet of stevia, and a healthy sprinkling of cinnamon, and I had myself an amazing dessert.

Moving forward, I think I'm going to give a savory treat a try. I've never been one to choose savory over sweet, but I haven't been feeling as pulled towards the sweets as I usually do, and I love trying new things.

What about you? Any vegetable dessert masterpieces you're keeping to yourself?

Lastly, please check out my most recent post on MindBodyGreen by clicking here!

Love and Veg,
Marlena

My First Just Vegetables Dessert Recipe: Sweet Potato Pie!

2011-09-27T11:39:00.000-07:00

I’m so ready for fall weather that what I’m creating in the kitchen seems to be mirroring the celebratory dishes of my favorite season.

Every year I fall in love with the transition of summer into the fall over and over again. Now that I’m at the point where I no longer associate it with going back to school, I can actually enjoy it. :)

The main reason why I love fall because it's a season that's all about comfort: comfortable clothes, comfortable weather, and most importantly comfort food!

Yesterday, I found myself craving pumpkin pie. I didn’t have canned pumpkin, or a whole pumpkin, but I did have some sweet potatoes. Please note that I have never had sweet potato pie - EVER! My grandmother always baked pumpkin pies on Thanksgiving, but sweet potato pie never made an appearance at any holiday gathering from my memory.

I decided that sweet potatoes would be really genius in place of canned pumpkin because when my beloved sweet pots are baked, they become sweeter and almost caramelized. This is perfect for me, because even when I bake I always try to use the lowest amount of sugar possible. While I never use refined sugar, I still like to limit the amount of unrefined sugar, maple syrup, agave nectar, or honey in my recipes.

Sweet Potato Pie

4 sweet potatoes
2 cups water
2 tbsp agar agar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 tbsp vanilla stevia
3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp orange extract
1 tsp vanilla extract (as I am typing this, I'm realizing this probably wasn't necessary due to the vanilla stevia)
1/2 tsp maple extract

After preheating my oven to 350 degrees, I washed and scrubbed 4 regular sized sweet potatoes, poked holes in them, and let them bake for about an hour and a half. The insides were totally mushy at that point, which is exactly how I wanted them.

Please note that you should keep an eye on your sweet potatoes as you bake them. Simply poke a fork in the side of one to see if it gives. You’ll know they are done when they are easily pierced. If you over-bake them, they could dry out (no bueno).

Remove the sweet potatoes once they are done. You can cut them into halves, thirds, or quarters so they can cool faster.

In the meantime, boil 2 cups of water with 2 tablespoons of agar agar. Keep your eye on this, and stir it as the water stars to boil. Once the agar agar has dissolved into the water, remove it from heat and let it cool a bit.

I used my fancy blend-tec blender, but if you don’t have a particularly strong blender, simply use a hand mixer. Make sure to remove the potato skins if you are using a hand mixer.

In the blender I placed half of the cooled agar agar and water mixture, all of the sweet potatoes (yes -with skins! You'd never know the skins are in this thanks to the superwoman blender!), 1 tbsp of vanilla stevia, 1 tsp maple extract, ½ tsp vanilla extract, 3 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ginger, ½ tsp nutmeg, and ¼ cup of pure maple sryup.*

It’s very important that the sweet potato and water + agar agar mixture have cooled, otherwise the pressure from the heat in the covered blender will make your mixture explode all over kitchen (yes, I’ve don’t this before. Whoops!).

Once blended, whisk in the remaining agar agar mixture. Then pour the mixture into an 8 inch pie plate or cake pan, and place in the freezer for about 30 minutes. The agar agar gives this a gelatinous consistency that is familiar to mainstream pumpkin pie.

I have to tell you that I’m not sure the agar agar mixture improved this dessert. I was really going for my personal memory of pumpkin pie, which used canned, gelatinous pumpkin, and the agar agar accomplished this. To be perfectly honest, I enjoyed the mixture straight out of the blender even better than the finished product.

Needless to say, during the remainder of our “Just Vegetables Dessert Challenge” I will be giving this pie a few more tries as well as some variations. I forgot how much fun it is to bake pies…or, um, blend and freeze them, I should say! ;)

Have any of you been experimenting with vegetable based desserts? I must say, it’s more challenging than I anticipated, but definitely fun. I haven’t make a pie in years, so this was a fun first.

I also have a turnip in my fridge, first of the season at the farmer’s market, and I’m trying to think of how I can turn it into a dessert. Any ideas? Anyone?

I'll be waiting on your suggestions!

With Love,
Marlena

* For those of you with sugar sensitivities, I’m not entirely sure this ¼ cup of maple syrup was necessary. I’m definitely going to be giving this recipe a sugar free makeover and see how it goes! Stay posted!

The Just Vegetables Dessert Challenge!

2011-09-22T10:58:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

Do you ever feel like dessert is a part of your past? Does the thought of giving up on cleansing and raw foods cross your mind from time to time because you think it means you have to give up the satisfaction of hitting that sweet spot after a nourishing vegetable based dinner?

Please don't feel this way anymore! I promise you that there is always a way to enjoy the sweetness of Nature while still honoring your beautiful body - and I'm not talking about a walk in the park - I'm talking about the Just Vegetables Dessert Challenge!

As Casey and I kicked off the Total Body Tune Up Cleanse (you can still sign up by clicking here!) this morning, another idea on how to further lighten up and enhance cleansing on a day to day basis sprung upon us: Vegetable Based Desserts!

You might be thinking, "Do you really think that vegetable based desserts sound appealing to me?". I hear you. I've been there.

And I've been proven wrong!

Chocolate Pudding

Sweet Potato Mash

Pumpkin Pie in a Bowl

Creamy Strawberry Soup

Vegetables are so versatile that they can be transformed into anything sweet or savory. I'll admit that I have a sweet tooth that can compete with the best of them, and I'm sure you're all used to my Chocolate Cheesecake Crack-esque posts , or my even more indulgent rich and creamy desserts such as the Lemon-Honey Semifreddo. However, I am open to new experiences, and I know that I can make some killer desserts, both sweet and savory, using just vegetables. I imagine this is going to be a mind expanding and totally exhilarating thirty days! I cannot wait!

Below are the guidelines for the Just Vegetables Dessert Challenge.

From September 23rd, through October 23rd all desserts will be:

- Made almost entirely from raw or cooked vegetables
- they may include spices such as cinnamon, carob, or cocoa
- they may also include herbs
- they may also include small amounts of nut or seed milks
- stevia varieties, honey, and sea salt may be used
- they must be delicious! :)

So let's get creative and play with our food a bit! There's no need to take nutrition and eating so seriously when there is such variety in the vegetable kingdom with which we can nourish our bodies and please our taste buds.

Are you unsure about whether or not you want to join us for the fun? If this sounds too daunting or just overall not delicious enough, please remember that this is for FUN, and also glance at the above pictures, along with the following pictures of amazing vegetable based meals:

If our dinners can be this gorgeous and delicious, why can't our desserts? Eating healthy does NOT mean giving up dessert, and this challenge will show you that!

This challenge will also show you how to:

Get far more creative with your veggies

Eat more raw and cooked veggies

You’ll likely eat less fat, sugar, salt and refined carbs than you do now, depending on your current diet

You will lose some weight if you are currently eating heavier desserts

You will improve your digestion if you are currently eating heavier desserts or fruit after dinner (note: fruits except for “vegetable fruits” like cucumber, tomato, capsicum are not included in this dessert challenge as they will hinder digestion and cause excess gas and bloating if eaten after a meal as dessert)

Get more recipe ideas and get to share with others as a community

Have a lot of fun!

Follow along on the blog and my new facebook page, where I will be sharing daily updates along with photos of my vegetable dessert creations.

I may even get a head start tonight, just for fun. ;)

Before I wrap this up, I'd love to share with you a delicious enchilada recipe that I shared on Crazy Sexy Life. This is not a recipe you want to ignore! You can check it out by clicking here. It's definitely the healthiest, yummiest, simplest enchilada recipe you'll ever come across!

Here's to the sweetness of health,
Marlena

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Vlog!

2011-09-19T06:13:00.000-07:00

Hey lovelies,

I hope you all had as restful a weekend (well, Sunday), as I had!

My intention was to post this video for you last Thursday but I had some difficulty with editing and getting the video up, but here it is!

Please note that as I describe the recipe and what I'm adding, I keep messing up the amounts. I say to add two cups of oat flour, when it's actually one and a half cups, and I also say one teaspoon of vanilla, when it's actually two! I tried to fix this up with my subtitles, but I still wanted to mention this in case you find in confusing. I think I was overwhelmed between recording myself and making the recipe (usually my husband records for me, but he was working a lot last week).

This video was made especially for the mothers out there who worry about feeding their kids well, but also do not want them to feel excluded from what their friends are eating.

What's more familiar than a chocolate chip cookie? This recipe is made with whole grain, unrefined sugar, and is also gluten free, so it will even work for any of you who have gluten allergies or have family members who have gluten allergies.

It's important to note that if you have a very severe gluten allergy, these cookies may still cause a reaction (however, if you have a severe gluten allergy, my guess is that you will already know that this could happen)!

On another note, if you're not interested in making vegan cookies, I have two more yummy whole grain cookie recipes from the past that you might enjoy. The first is for non-vegan chocolate chip (yes, we love chocolate chip cookies in this house), and the other recipe is perfect for those of us in the northern hemisphere, entering autumn, and that recipe is for sweet potato cookies.

I sprinkled some stevia on top for a nice powdered sugar effect! hah! ;)

In addition to this video, I'd like to share with you an article I wrote for Mind Body Green! It is titled "5 Tools to Stop Emotional Eating", and you can read it by clicking here.

This Friday our Total Body Tune Up Cleanse begins! Don't miss out if you're ready to shed the old as you transition into a new season! Click here for more information, and to register.

If you're a mama and worried about feeding your kids during a cleanse, I would make them some chocolate chip cookies. I think that will make them very happy. I'd also recommend making a big pot of vegetable soup as a go-to dinner for the week, and I'd also have some jars of high quality pasta sauce and whole grain pasta in the pantry, and you'll be totally set for a no fuss weekend of delicious and nutritious dinners for your family! :)

Here's to fresh beginnings and a wonderful week!

Love,
Marlena

P.S. - You bake the cookies for about 10-12 minutes-ish depending on how big you made the cookies. Keep your eye on them, and keep your eye open for my tip towards the end on how to keep cookies soft and chewy! (In case you can't tell, I never time anything I bake, I just check on it obsessively until it's finished to my liking)

5 Quick and Easy Ways to Add Pleasure to Your Days and Why it’s Crucial to Your Health

2011-09-13T10:51:00.000-07:00

Is it just me, or do people not like to talk about pleasure? I feel like there is a general sense in our culture that pleasure indicates laziness or overindulgence. We usually place pleasure last on our list of priorities and if we don’t get around to it for days, weeks, or even years at a time it’s no big deal. It’s almost like we get bragging rights for working ourselves to the bone and not nourishing ourselves! This is a starvation of the spirit!

Pleasure is 100% crucial to your health. I’m not talking about pleasure only in relation to food, I’m talking about incorporating pleasure into your day in every single way possible, whether that means taking the time to make yourself your favorite cup of herbal tea each morning rather than rushing out the door and grabbing whatever they have at the convenience store, or wearing your favorite silky pajamas so you feel beautiful and pampered. It really is up to you and what you desire.

In this post I will be focusing on health, of course, not silky pajamas. ;)

It is a common assumption that eating a vegetarian, vegan, or high - raw diet is restrictive. I promise you that there is no way I could eat this way if it restricted me! Abstaining from processed mainstream foods and destructive lifestyle habits it indulgent and health enhancing when you know how to do it right!

Below I have listed my 5 quickest and easiest ways to add pleasure to your days within a healthy diet and lifestyle.

Grilled Vegetable Lasagna: All time fav!

1. Keep Seasonings and Herbs Stocked- I can’t overemphasize this enough: any traditional meal from your past can be mocked as a vegetable based dish with the right herbs and seasonings. If you crave Italian get the fresh basil, oregano and thyme out with some red chili flakes. If you’re desiring Japanese go for some raw sushi. If you’re craving Mexican throw some avocado, red onion, cilantro and tomato on some baby lettuces, dress with lime juice and stevia and BAM! You have a meal. If you're craving Peruvian - oh wait, I still have to share some of my healthy Peruvian recipes! They're coming soon, and they're to die for. I promise. ;)

The point is that there need be no fuss or freaking out about how you messed up your diet and will start over tomorrow, yet again, when you are stocked with your favorite herbs, seasonings, and produce.

Raw Sushi: avocado, parsnip rice, and sweet pea shoots

2. Set the Mood - When you’re preparing and eating dinner, make sure it’s the atmosphere you really desire. For some of you, this may mean music and candles. For others, it may mean silence. Some of you may like to watch a movie with your partner while you eat your meal. For me, it’s always changing. (If you watch a movie while eating, just make sure you eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly; it’s easy to forget about these simple things when you’re wrapped up in a great story)!
Watching the news or action packed, violent shows and films is not a good idea for meal time. It’s a safe assumption that almost everyone reading this post has more stress in their life then they’d like to have, so why would we bring this into our meal? Our food should be consciously grown and/or purchased, created with love, and consumed with gratitude and pleasure. Please don’t underestimate the importance this has over your health and keep your surroundings peaceful while you eat.

3. Exercise Enjoyably - It doesn’t matter what you do, but make sure it feels right to you and leaves you feeling more free, happy, and confident in your own skin. Whether that is a 5 mile run or some simple stretches and dancing in your living room is entirely your choice. Making yourself run an extra mile to make up for last night’s dessert is not self - honoring and will only exacerbate a destructive yo-yo mentality.

If it doesn’t serve your health and your happiness - LEAVE IT ALONE.

4. Make Your Meals Beautiful - I love colorful, beautiful food. We eat with our eyes first. That’s not to say that I don’t sometimes eat a big bowl of steamed spinach, marinara sauce, and melted goat’s cheese that’s not artfully arranged (I do that often)! But I almost always garnish it with some fresh basil, I always put it in a beautiful dish, and I always layer the ingredients so I can see all colors. Human beings are wired for beauty. If we leave the beauty out of our meals we sometimes overcompensate for it by overeating, drinking too much, or overindulging in bad television, along with myriad other health destructive habits.

5. Take Time To Reflect- Meditate, write in a journal, pray, praise Mother Earth (insert your choice of relaxation and quieting the mind here) I most definitely am not telling you exactly how you do this, but I think it’s really important that each and every day, we take the time to be quiet, still and reflect. For me, this means I assess how I’m feeling, how I’ve spent my time so far throughout the day, and how I want to spend the rest of my day. I also do this for weeks, and months as well. It keeps me focused on what I value.

Time is an incredibly valuable resource that is easy to waste when we are not centered and focused on what is valuable to us. With our hectic modern lifestyle it is incredibly easy to forget what we value as individuals. I believe this issue exists because we are constantly being told what we should value by the media, our friends, families, bosses, and teachers. If we don't come back to ourselves, it's easy to forget who we are. My experience has proven that I very easily get wrapped up in the beliefs and needs of others. In other words, it so easy to forget what is of value to me, personally, that I consider a daily reflective and meditative practice crucial to live a life of personal meaning and clarity. If I don't take this time for myself, I have little to give to others.

If you have difficulty finding a quiet, peaceful space, guided meditation may work wonders for you. I find it to be very effective on days when I simply can't stop the mind chatter. For a truly amazing guided meditation check out Peggy Phoenix Dubro’s “The Spiral Sweep”. It takes you through the endocrine system and all of the chakras, it’s free, and it’s only 21 minutes long.

I really hope that you'll give these five tips a try. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of thinking that everything needs to be difficult and painful in order to achieve results.

If you’ve been taking the “no pain, no gain” approach for awhile, and it’s not really working out for you, try these pleasure tips and see if it brings you something you like.

Lots of Love,
Marlena

P.S. - If you don't think that cleansing can be a pleasure let us prove you wrong! :)

Oven Baked, BBQ Seasoned Carrot Fries

2011-09-08T10:18:00.000-07:00

People are typically surprised to hear that I used to eat junk food, and lots of it.

It surprises me that this surprises people.

I’ve realized that many people who are into a mostly raw food diet or a vegetarian diet were raised in households that were very health conscious and because of this, their interest in health and food was sparked at an early age.

As a kid I spent a lot of time with my very health conscious cousin Jen. We often did work out videos (does anyone remember abs of steel? haha) and baked eggplant together (still a favorite of mine), so maybe that’s where a lot of my health curiousness came from. My parents worked long days, so dinners were simple and easy: pasta, sausage and meatballs heated up from my dad’s Sunday batch was our most common, and delicious meal. Other meals were more grab and go: minute rice, canned green beans and meatloaf, hot dogs and hamburgers, and even fish sticks (I really love fish sticks as a kid !). We also often enjoyed homemade chicken noodle soup and beef stew in the colder months. Sometimes my Aunt Ange (who was more like a grandmother) would cook dinner for us on busy weekdays. She would make us things like stuffed peppers, and fried chicken. I definitely had my share of home cooked meals, but they were never vegetable based.

I also always struggled with my weight, and way before puberty. After age six or seven my body always felt like a burden to me. Now I understand completely why I felt so burdened, frustrated, and hopeless about my body: I was eating foods that were making me heavy, but I didn’t know any other way to eat! This is why whole foods, raw foods, and digestive health are the cornerstone of my healthy lifestyle, and I can’t imagine that will ever change. These things are the only things that have allowed me to feel free and happy in my body. Personalizing my healthy lifestyle has allowed me to indulge in life, rather than "indulging" in heavy, processed foods.

I do still sometimes get comments and looks of concern or pity from those who don’t embrace my lifestyle. I’ll hear things like, “Oh you can’t eat that, right?”, or “what are you able to eat?”, or when I have a scoop of ice cream or something more recognizable in mainstream dining people will say, “I love it when you eat this way!”. This confuses me. I don’t find eating processed foods indulgent or pleasurable, generally speaking. While I love some ice cream from time to time and I will enjoy some sprouted grain toast or buckwheat noodles - but these are not part of my mainstay. The reason why is not because I am restricting myself, but because I choose feeling well in my body as opposed to feeling symptomatic, heavy, and lethargic. I just don’t like living that way, and I don’t want to deal with the stress, illness, and premature aging that I've seen that type of lifestyle brings.

With all of that being said, I do miss flavors and meals from my past, sometimes. I love vegetables, herbs, and spices so much because they are so versatile. I literally can mock any dish from my past using vegetables and the right spices! I experience no deprivation through this way of eating, only pleasure.

One of my favorite old non vegetarian meals was barbeque chicken. I really loved it with corn on the cob in the summer. I will sometimes still pick up some barbeque sauce from the grocery store, but I don't do this often because even the natural and organic brands have things like cornstarch and corn syrup in them, along with more than their fair share of sugar. It's not that I won't consume these ingredients on occasion, I do! But, when I do consume things like sugar or corn syrup I make sure it is in a food that I feel can't be substituted, such as ice cream. :)

Although, I admit that if I lived in NYC, I would probably never have dairy ice cream with Pure Food and Wine's ice cream available (it really is so much more delicious).

Ok, back on track now. Ice cream always distracts me. ;)

This past Sunday I stumbled upon The Sandwich King, a new show on the Food Network. He was making sweet potato fries, and he seasoned them with paprika and garlic powder, “which is pretty much what is used to season barbeque potato chips”, he said.

“Oh my gosh!“, I said to my husband. “That sounds sooooo good!”. Enrico gave me a funny look. He grew up in Peru and doesn’t have a taste for much of the American food that I loved growing up!

I have made this wonderful little side dish two nights in a row and I loved it so much, so I really wanted to share it with you today. It’s incredibly easy, delicious, and familiar. Rainy weeks call for warm familiar meals for me. I’m not really sure why, but it’s so difficult for me to keep the oven off when rain or snow is falling.

Oven Baked Barbeque Seasoned Carrot Fries
7 carrots, peeled and cut into fries (I cut my carrots in two right down the middle, then slice each half into quarters)
1 tbsp organic coconut oil
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp garlic powder
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Pre - heat your oven to 400 degrees. Place the carrots, coconut oil, sea salt, paprika, and garlic powder in a large casserole dish and bake for about 20-30 minutes, or until the carrots are “fried” to your liking.

Remove them from the oven, stir them around in the dish to make sure the spices are evenly distributed, and enjoy!

The first night I had this, I used sweet potato, and they were starchy and sooo delicious. The BBQ flavor of these fries, however, had me desiring some of my favorite smoked goat cheddar (it’s been months since I’ve had this! I kind of forgot about it!), so the following night, I had a delicious goat cheese salad with a side of these bbq carrot fries.

It was pretty much a perfect meal.

What are your favorite things to cook or bake in rainy, cloudy weather? Do you always utilize your oven, like me, to warm you up inside? Post your comments below!

I hope you enjoy this fun and simple side dish!

On another note, we've had a great response to The Total Body Tune Up Cleanse! The cleanse starts September 22nd, so you only have a couple of weeks to sign up! You won't want to miss out on these exclusive recipes, tips, videos, and guidance from Casey and I. Cleansing is a such a transformational experience and we're totally psyched to guide you to the body, mind, and energy that you are desiring.

Contact me at: marlena.torres@gmail.com if you are interested in the cleanse but have questions or concerns.

Lots of Love,
Marlena

Probiotics and Antibiotics

2011-09-05T23:36:00.000-07:00

Hey there!

Have you ever been faced with a nasty infection that called for antibiotics, but then suffered the after effects of taking them (digestive ailments galore!)? If so, the guidance in this video will benefit you.

In this video I explain the necessity of antibiotics in some circumstances, and what you can do once you are finished taking the antibiotics to get your health back and strengthen your immunity so that you are much less likely to be faced with another infection. Given my inclination towards natural and holistic healing, some people are surprised with my advice in this particular situation.

If you are trying to strengthen your immunity, the Total Body Tune Up Cleanse that begins on September 22nd will be a wonderful opportunity for you to give your body an intense cleanse and serious boost of alkalinity! This type of jump start is exactly what many people need and love to get their new healthy lifestyle going for a new season.

What are your experiences with antibiotics, probiotics, and infections? Have you ever healed an infection or other ailment naturally? Post your comments below, and if you like this video, share it!

Have a great Tuesday,

Marlena

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pancakes With a Side of Total Body Tune Up!

2011-09-02T06:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday!

You may have noticed a new tab on the blog for The Total Body Tune Up Cleanse!

Casey and I are running a long weekend cleanse September 22- 26 that will totally rejuvenate every part of your life for the coming fall season.

A change in season is a great time for a cleanse. As Nature shifts, so do our bodies. I have had truly transformational experiences with short juice cleanses such as the Total Body Tune Up Cleanse, and I’m really excited to guide you this season!

There is a lot to be said for eating a plant - based diet (with special treats like Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Pancakes kept in the mix for fun and extra indulgence) with short term juice cleansing every few months to give your body time for digestive rest and therefore, cellular renewal.

I like to tell my clients to think of eating raw foods and vegetable-based meals as step 1 in digestive rest and cellular renewal, and a juice cleanse as step 2 to take things a little bit further. These two lifestyle practices together pack a serious punch against ill health, fatigue, and aging.

It’s a complete rejuvenation for the body at a cellular level to bring you into a new season as the best version of yourself.

With our juice cleanse you can expect:
- Increased mental clarity (for sure)
-weight loss
-increased energy
-glowing skin
-disappearance of symptoms
- better digestion (you’ll really experience this after the cleanse is over!)

That's just the abbreviated list. Visit this link to read about all of the benefits that this cleanse will provide your body.

All of this and much, much more is easily attainable when a cleanse is done correctly. It is easy to spin your wheels while cleansing if you are misinformed or follow a gimmick.

You can count on Casey and I to be gimmick free and proud to be! We have years of experience with this both personally and professionally, and we know what works and what doesn’t. This is a lifestyle practice for us, so we're totally psyched to teach you and guide you toward the best version of yourself physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally.

I know that sounds like a lot to achieve in a short term cleanse, but we think you’ll be surprised at how powerful our approach is!

Now what you've all been waiting for: the pancakes. ;)

Is there anyone in the whole wide world that doesn’t love pancakes?

I found myself with a serious chocolate chip pancake craving a few weeks ago. Not being one for indulging in grain based dishes, I wanted to make sure I used the highest quality ingredients possible to make some truly nourishing pancakes that were fluffy and delicious, but also seriously nutritious, and easy on the digestive system!

Using only 4 organic ingredients, I was able to put together these awesome pancakes:

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pancakes

3/4 cup oat flour
1/4 cup quinoa flour
1/4 cup butternut squash puree (I purchased canned organic - sweet potato or pumpkin would be fine, too)
1 cup pure water (or more if you'd like a thinner pancake)
chocolate chips

To make the oat flour, I pulsed 3/4 organic oats in my Blend-Tec. You could also do this in a food processor, although the oats probably won't grind down to as fine of a flour.

Mix all of the ingredients together except for the chocolate chips, in a large bowl.

I seriously need better kitchen lighting!

Heat your skillet or medium sized sauce pan over medium heat and melt a couple of teaspoons of coconut oil on the skillet. Pour the pancake batter onto the skillet and arrange the chocolate chips however you please. Personally, I like just enough chocolate chips to give you a nice taste of chocolate, but not so that it dominates the pancake. You could also substitute carob chips, or blueberries.

I used about ¼ cup of batter per pancake.

You’ll know your pancakes are ready to flip once you can easily get a rubber scraper underneath of the pancake and flip it. You’ll also see little air bubbles start to form on the top of the pancake (this is a great trick of the pancake making trade that changed my life back when I used to eat them very often!).

Once your pancakes are finished, arrange them on a plate and drizzle your desired amount of maple syrup on top of them.

Sounds easy enough, right?

with a cinnamon sprinkling because I sprinkle cinnamon on everything (hah!)

and with pure maple syrup aka heaven in liquid form

Mmmmm, isn’t it like a piece of heaven? Pancakes make a truly special meal, especially when Autumn is in the air!

I was inspired to use oat flour because I wanted to take two breakfast ideas (pancakes and oatmeal) and turn it into one super satisfying “breakfast for dinner” dish. It was a great idea, oats lend a wonderful flavor to pancakes!

Thanks so much for reading, and have a gorgeous weekend!

With Love,
Marlena

J-Bomb Burger and Fries, Salad Style

2011-08-25T11:50:00.000-07:00

Happy Thursday lovelies,

Today I am sharing a recipe with you that I have grown to ADORE with a capital A. It's inspired by one of my nearest and dearest friends, Miss Jennifer Bloom!

Jen and I frequently text and email each other pictures of, well everything. She's on the west coast in LA and I'm over here in Lancaster, so we're distance friends (Enrico would say girlfriends - hah!), and we've never actually even met in person! As much as I sometimes whine about technology, it has brought many very special friends into my life. It's honestly amazing to me how deeply you can connect with someone through phone calls and email. Do you feel the same?

At this point I must say it is hard for me to imagine life without Jen's texts and photos. We rarely go more than two days without texting a dinner photo to one another. This may seem weird, but when you love food, you want to photograph and share it with the friends you love, too. You especially want to share it with friends who appreciate the same type of meal.

You've probably figured out that today's recipe is inspired by Jen (I call her J-Bomb sometimes...although I can't remember why! HAH!) and her passion for burgers. She is always texting me pictures of her burgers she makes out of veggies, goat cheese, and napa cabbage. She goes all out with her burgers and includes pickles and ketchup, too. At first I thought this was hilarious! I couldn't figure out why was Jen so in love with the burger. Then, after I made juice pulp burgers myself, I realized the GENIUS behind the burger - salad experience.

juice pulp burger

I love the burger - salad experience for the same reason I love all of my dinner experiences: I can still experience the same flavors and even textures, with vegetables, that I did with the more mainstream meals of my past.

I must note here that I never really was a huge fan of beef burgers! Whenever I ate them, it was because it was normal at picnics and it was what was available (and I preferred them to their typical side-kick, the hot dog). I do, however, love big, juicy meals with goat cheese and ketchup that pack a lot of flavor! So this is why the juice pulp burger is a new favorite of mine, and why I decided to turn it into a salad.

So without further ado, I present to you the J-Bomb Burger and Fries Salad!

J-Bomb Burger and Fries Salad (serves 2 people, or 1 hungry person)

1 recipe Slightly Spicy Carrot - Salsa Burgers
1 recipe Tehilla's Spicy Carrot Fries
About 5 ounces of baby lettuces (such as spring mix, baby romaine, or mesclun greens)
Additional salsa, or pico de gallo if you prefer that to dress the salad
Additional raw goat's cheese to sprinkle over your salad (you'll also have have melted goat cheese slices on your burgers)
The juice of 1 lemon to dress the salad
Stevia to taste (optional)

Place the baby lettuces in a big salad dish, and arrange however many burger patties you'd like on top. Sprinkle the extra cheese on top as well, and pour extra salsa, or pico de gallo on top along with the fresh lemon juice.

Now you can either toss in the carrot fries, or put them in a side dish and graze on them as you devour this ultra-indulgent juicy and flavorful salad!

What makes this meal so much fun is not only the flavors and textures, but also the endless ways you can change it up.

Raw salad with beet and carrot marinara

You could easily make this a regular burger with just some simple salt and pepper or herbamare, omitting the cumin, coriander, and cayenne. You can also make plain carrot fries by omitting the curry and cinnamon, and just sprinkle a bit of sea salt and pepper on them as well. Then you can plate the salad up with cherry tomatoes, instead of salsa, and serve it alongside some ketchup for your carrot fries, and some organic baby dill pickles (my favorite)!

This is just one example, but you can do any type of flavor variation you'd like. I also think that using some dried Italian seasoning in both the burger and fries, and serving it along with some piping hot smoky marinara, or raw beet and carrot marinara to dip the fries in would be to die for!

Let your imagination have free reign in the kitchen and discover how many fun burger - salad ideas you come up with!

Are you signed up to receive my newsletter? If not, please sign up! In September, I will be sending out info on a special offer that will only be available to my newsletter subscribers. You won't want to miss out on it!

If you're already subscribed, thank you! If you enjoy my recipes and tips, please share it with friends, on facebook, or however you please. :)

Have any of you noticed that it's usually not really the meat that tastes good, but the flavors that are given to meat dishes? Did you know that no other food group is as large and diverse as vegetables? I wonder why so many people still view a vegetarian or vegan diet as restrictive, when it really opens up doors to a whole new world full of nourishment, flavor, texture, variety, and delicious meals!

I feel that the J-Bomb Burger and Fries Salad perfectly exemplifies the versatility of vegetables and how with the right flavors and a little bit of fun and excitement, one can create a vegetable based recipe that is gorgeous, bright, fun, and ridiculously delicious!

What is a traditional favorite food of yours? Have you replaced it with healthier alternative? Post your ideas below.

Have a wonderful day (and to those of you in my neck of the woods, try to stay cozy and dry!)!

With Love and MUCHO thanks to J-Bomb for her inspiration,
Marlena

Lemon Honey Semifreddo

2011-08-17T11:40:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I had an extra rich dessert that was very surprisingly refreshing to the palette! I'm so excited to share it with you. I tried it thinking it would be an "ok" dessert. Mostly because it didn't include chocolate, or cinnamon (which I like to have in ALL of my desserts), but I felt surprise and delight at the very first bite!

Today I am introducing the Semifreddo to you. Semifreddo means "semi-frozen" in Italian, and this dessert is justly named. It's kind of like ice cream meets sorbet...semi-frozen. Yum! Does it get any better than that?

The good news is that you don't need an ice cream maker to make this, all you need is a hand mixer, a stove, a meat or candy thermometer, and a cake pan or loaf pan of some sort to semi-freeze this baby in.

I got this recipe from Food and Wine magazine, which I am madly in love with and hugely devoted to! The recipe called for orange marmalade and lady fingers, but I omitted them because of food combining purposes and because I felt the creamy mixture would be plenty indulgent all on it's own...why overwhelm my senses when things like organic cream, lemon, and honey are so perfect all on their own?

This dessert actually slices like a cake would, and is best if frozen in a loaf pan. I don't have a loaf pan though, so I used a cake pan, and it still came out very pretty. :)

And finally, the recipe:

Lemon-Honey Semifreddo (slightly modified by me)

3 large egg whites
1 cup chilled heavy cream
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup honey
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice, plus 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest

Line a 9x4x3 inch loaf pan, or an 8in cake pan with parchment paper, make sure some paper is hanging over the sides, because you will be folding the parchment paper on top of the semifreddo so that it is covered while freezing.

Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites at high speed until firm peaks form.

In another bowl, beat the heavy cream until it is firmly whipped, then refrigerate the cream and the egg whites.

In a large bowl set over some simmering water (I used a sauce pan over a pasta pot filled with about 2 inches of boiling water), beat the egg yolks with honey at medium speed until it is thickened and a candy thermometer reads 160 degrees. This should take about 6-8 minutes.

Remove the yolks and honey from the heat, then beat in the lemon juice and zest. Continue beating this until it is pretty cool, about 5 minutes.

Now fold all ingredients together. Folding can take a little bit of time and patience, but it's the only way that you'll get that nice, light, and fluffy texture.

Once all ingredients are well blended you'll have a beautiful yellow creamy concoction. Pour this into chosen cake pan, fold parchment paper over the semifreddo, and freeze for at least 4 hours, or even overnight.

I've been slacking with my photos...I keep resorting to my ipod!

I should note that I only froze ours for three and a half hours! It was soooooo delicious. It really reminded me a fresh ice cream. Totally perfect.

There are more semifreddo ideas in my brain right now...I'm thinking the next recipe will be for a vanilla chip semifreddo. I'm in love with vanilla beans, and I think it would work perfectly.

What do you think?

What are some desserts or meals that you've tried just because it seemed interesting, and it ended up being a favorite?

On another note, I have a beast of a salad coming at you next week! You're going to love it. :)

Have fab Wednesday!

Love,
Marlena

Fresh Corn and Celery Soup and 2 Ways to Make Whole Grain Brownies

2011-08-05T07:04:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

Did you try the OMG Baked Ziti? It's definitely a favorite of mine. The creamy tartness of chevre and the gooey melted goat cheddar have officially taken a place in my heart! I'm so in love. OMG Baked Ziti has made me look at my marinara and cheese meals in a whole new way. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!

Today I am presenting you with three new recipes. One is for a divine vegetable soup that I created the other day when I just wasn't really excited about anything in my kitchen, and was kind of lacking my usual soup ingredients.

My apologies for the bad lighting. These recipes were made during two successive days where there was barely any sunlight!

Fresh Corn and Celery Soup (Inspired by the ears of corn at Groff's Stand at Central Market. If you're in Lancaster, you must get some of their corn! It's like butter.)

4 ears of fresh corn, kernels sliced off (I use a big knife and a big bowl for this)
4 celery stalks, thinly sliced
1 sweet onion (such as vidalia or walla walla)
2 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp herbes de provence (adjust to taste)
sea salt to taste
1 tbsp organic butter or coconut oil

Saute the onion until translucent (about 7-10 minutes), then add the minced garlic and stir this around just until fragrant. You don't want the garlic to burn.

Then add the celery and corn along with the herbs and salt, and pour just enough water into the pot to cover the vegetables. Let the soup cook until the celery is soft.

When the vegetables are soft, then you can transfer a bit of the soup to your blender. Don't fill up the blender more than halfway, and make sure the soup isn't too hot, or the soup may explode all over your kitchen, burning you in the process. Blend a bit of the soup until smooth, and then add it back to the main pot.

You can certainly add more soup to the blender if you'd like, but I wanted this soup to be more meaty, and less of a smooth blend.

I made myself some zucchini pasta, and topped it with this soup and some avocado! It was perfect - light, comforting, full of flavor, and slightly sweet from the local corn.

The other two recipes I'm sharing are for brownies! One is a lower sugar and overall lighter recipe, and the other one is more of a whole grain, no refined ingredients recipe. I've been wanting to come up with a fudgey whole grain brownie recipe for a while now, but just haven't entered that territory because brownies done right are so great that I was intimidated at the idea of imitating them.

So I am presenting you with my finished creations! Using pure maple syrup instead of sugar and the steamed veggies (yes, steamed veggies!) keep these brownies SUPER moist. It might sound weird to use veggies in a dessert (even I felt that this was super weird), but it actually works perfectly.

Brownie Recipe Numero Uno (Inspired by Jessica Seinfeld)

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

I love Instagram!

1 cup baked acorn squash puree (I had baked an acorn squash a couple of nights before, and only ate half, so I used the remainder for this recipe. I just scooped the squash flesh out of the shell and made sure it was nice and smooth by pressing down on it in a bowl with a fork)
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tbsp organic butter
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 eggs
3/4 cup whole spelt flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Melt the chocolate chips and butter over very low heat while constantly stirring (you don't want this to burn! You could use a double boiler if you'd like). Remove from heat once it is smoothly melted and add the vanilla extract.

In a large bowl combine the flour, squash, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt

Combine your wet and and dry ingredients, and then finally whisk in the eggs.

Transfer the brownie batter into a buttered or oiled 8x8 inch glass dish. Bake for about, um, 20 minutes? I'm sorry, I'm SO bad at remembering how long it takes to bake and cook things. I never use a timer, so I pretty much check on things at 10 minute intervals, and then when it's close to getting done, I will check every 2-3 minutes. Of course, sometimes, I burn things.

I honestly think these brownies took about twenty minutes to take, but you'll know they're done when you stick a knife in them and it comes out clean. If you want them to be SUPER moist, take them out of the oven even if the knife has a little bit of brownie batter on it. The brownies will still bake as they sit in the hot dish.

Wait until your brownies are completely cool before you cut them into squares.

Brownie Variation Numero Dos (These have half the sugar of the previous recipe, higher quality grain, and vegan)

4 oz dark chocolate (I used a 60% cocoa content baking chocolate bar)

1 cup pureed carrot (I will never stop finding different ways to use this beloved root veg!)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 tsp NuNaturals vanilla stevia
1/2 cup oat flour (I basically put whole, organic oats in a blender and pulsed it until it created a flour. You could also do this in a food processor)
1/4 cup quinoa flour (you could really use any kind of flour you'd like. Quinoa flour is definitely more pricey but I've been wanting to experiment with it for over a year now so I took the plunge)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder

Make your carrot puree by steaming about 3 or 4 carrots until soft and blending with a bit of water. You can always simply purchase organic canned pumpkin or sweet potato and skip the carrot steaming step. The steamed carrots and canned pumpkin or potato will have the same consistency and suit the same purpose.

Melt the chocolate and coconut oil over low heat just like the previous recipe. Once it's melted, remove from heat and add vanilla extract.

In another bowl, mix the flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt with the carrot puree. Add in the chocolate mixture and whisk together until nice and smooth.

Transfer into an 8x8 glass baking dish and bake for "about um 20 minutes" again! Keep on it. Being present with your food is part of making the baking process so special. ;)

...and I'm finally ready to devour the finished project!

That's all for now, friends! Let me know if you try any of these recipes, and have a fantastic weekend!

Thanks for reading! ;)

Much Love,
Marlena

O.M.G Baked Ziti

2011-07-29T04:36:00.000-07:00

Food has been pretty repetitive for me these past couple of weeks. Sometimes I really like that, it is simple and reliable to eat, say, guacamole salads and nori wraps day after day with dark chocolate and a sweet potato.

Then again, sometimes I get a reminder of a food that I love from good friends. If you haven't noticed by now, most of my recipe inspiration comes from two things:

1. Turning mainstream favs into healthy fare

2. Delicious and easy food ideas from clever friends

A friend who sparked me out of my guacamole phase was Tehilla, who you may remember from my Spicy Carrot Fries post!!

Tehilla mentioned on the Detox the World community that she made a detox friendly version of her mom's baked ziti with steamed eggplant, marinara, and soft goat's cheese.

OMG was the first thing I thought! Silly me! I have countless times topped steamed eggplant (my favorite summer vegetable) with marinara and my grated raw goat cheddar, and I have countless times mixed my favorite goat chevre with my homemade marinara to make a rosa sauce (a rosa sauce is basically a tomato + cream + cheese sauce mixture that is absolutely DIVINE tasting), and pour it over zucchini noodles. Why on earth have I never combined all of this deliciousness into one great dish and called it baked ziti?!

So last night, this is what I created. I must thank Tehilla for the idea and inspiration for kitchen fun!

O.M.G. Baked Ziti
4 ounces soft goat cheese

2 cups marinara (I used my smoky marinara)

2 ounces grated raw goat cheddar

2 cups of steamed vegetables (I used spinach and eggplant)

2 cups of zucchini pasta

Spiralize your zucchini and set it aside.

Steam your vegetables in about half an inch of water until soft, or to your liking. Add the marinara and soft goat cheese into the pan and mix until the cheese is warm and melted, and the marinara and cheese are uniform to make a rosa sauce. Sprinkle your grated goat cheddar on top of the warm veggie pile and cover until slightly melted.

Shimmy the steamed vegetables onto your zucchini pasta, and top with some fresh basil. Voila! Enjoy your heavenly meal.

This simple and delicious meal will remind you that health and indulgence are not mutually exclusive!

On another note, is anybody else super sad that Borders is going out of business? I took what was probably my last trip there the other to day to repurchase a lost (and favorite) astrology book (the cover looks cheesy, but this book is magical...as is everything I've read by Linda Goodman!), and a couple of Lindt chocolate truffles. How would I have gotten through my college years without my book, latte and truffle breaks at Borders? I am sad to see it go. I always found it to be a cozier place to retreat than Barnes.

And last but definitely not least, Freedom From Emotional Eating starts on Monday! You can sign up here.

More coming from me soon!

Have a beautiful weekend,

Marlena

PS- To my email newsletter subscribers, forgive the horrible typo!!! I think I got too excited adding in links to the email that I forgot to finish my sentence. ;)

Coconut Milk Kefir and Free Teleclasses Delivered to Your Inbox!!!

2011-07-20T12:32:00.000-07:00

Hello beauties!

How many of you have heard of or experimented with kefir? Today I am going to share with you a new recipe for a coconut milk kefir that I've been enjoying almost every day. It's very simple and inexpensive to make, and incredibly healthy for you.

Why is kefir so healthy for you? Kefir supplies the body with probiotics, which are the good bacteria, or good flora. Making sure that our intestine is colonized with good healthy flora is important for many reasons, but mostly it is because it gives us:

- a healthy intestine
- optimal digestion
- high immunity

Many probiotics that are widely available today aren't effective, and those that are effective tend to be very pricey. This is where kefir can save the day!

I purchased the Body Ecology Kefir Starter kit to make my kefir, but you can use any kefir starter that you are comfortable using.

To make coconut milk, simply blend 1 part shredded, unsweetened, organic coconut with 4 parts of pure water (just like the Pumpkin Seed Chai from last week), then strain to remove all coconut solids. This is so easy, and super delicious - even if you don't use it to make kefir, it makes a mean hot cocoa!

Here is my coconut kefir along with some work-break reading materials :)

Once you're blended and strained your coconut milk you'll want to heat it to about 92 degrees. You can use a candy thermometer or meat thermometer, whichever you have. Make sure you don't heat it up more than that. Then mix the room-temperature culture starter in the with coconut milk until it is thoroughly dissolved.

Pour the mixture into glass bottles and keep it at a temperature of about 70-75 degrees for about 24-36 hours. You'll know it has begun to ferment because it will have a slightly sour smell (kind of like yogurt) and will probably have a slight effervescence.

Once this time has passed and the kefir has the slightly sour smell, shake it up really well and place it in the fridge. The kefir should not be clumpy! It should be pleasant to taste and not overly sour, if it is overly sour this means that it was left out to ferment for too long or the milk was heated to too high a temperature.

Your kefir is good to consume for it's probiotic benefit now! I usually have about one cup of this per day, but feel free to have as much as you'd like.

Your kefir will continue to ferment while refrigerated, but at a much slower rate.

I absolutely love using the coconut milk because it has a subtle sweetness that brings balance to the sour taste of the kefir. It really reminds me of a delicious yogurt. However, it is important to note that you can use any type of milk: raw goat, sheep, or cow milk, almond milk, and even organic coconut water! The type of coconut water purchased in tetra packs isn't advisable, but if you can get your hands on organic young coconuts, you can use the water to make a kefir and the flesh to make a pudding! Unfortunately I do not have a source for organic young coconuts where I am located, but can only imagine how delicious a young coconut yogurt-pudding-probiotic concoction would be!

The types of kefir that you buy prepackaged at the health food store are not ideal. Most of them are not organic, have artificial flavorings, and there is no telling how long the kefir has been sitting on the shelf.

Mmmm yummy. Immense intestinal health never tasted so good! hah! ;)

REMINDER: Freedom From Emotional Eating Starts August 1st! You do NOT want to miss out on a this opportunity to kick your negative lifestyle habits to the curb and cultivate a whole new nourishing lifestyle that works for YOU. The time to live the life of your dreams is NOW, but to get to the good stuff, you've got to process and release the bad. Click here for details.

Did you get in on the free teleclasses that Casey and I wrapped up last week?
If not, that's ok, you can still get in on all of the awesome advice, tips, and practices that we shared that have been so powerful for Casey and I as well as our clients.

BUT this last chance to get in on this free offer will be available only to my blog subscribers. So, if you aren't subscribed, but if you would like to be, simply type in your email address in the "Email Newsletter" box in the upper right hand of this blog, and you'll get your free teleclasses delivered to your inbox tomorrow!

Lots of Love,
Marlena

Pumpkin Seed Chai and Two FREE Offers for You

2011-07-12T01:50:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

How was your weekend? I hope you got to try the banana ice cream and tahini dressing recipes from last week's video! They are two of my favorite recipes for these hot months.

As much as I love it, whenever I do videos, or even blog for that matter, I feel a sense of unease. Sometimes it's a little anxiety or nervousness, sometimes it's just plain dread. For me, it feels difficult and scary to share myself with the public. As common as blogging and vlogging are today, it still feels like a daunting task to me. This video that Casey and I did, below, was especially daunting for me!

LOL look at my face!

Freedom From Emotional Eating, our online course that is starting up on August 1st, really helps us understand and confront feelings of inadequacy, low self confidence, and fear - all things that are common triggers and root causes behind emotional eating.

Despite what I just wrote, making videos and blogging have been very therapeutic for me, as it continually helps me to conquer my fears and really forces me (in a great way) to believe in myself and my message. The sense of strength that I have accumulated over time is a direct result of the practices that we teach in this course.

Do you feel like stress and fear dominate your life? Do you feel like food is a scary subject for you, or that you can't trust yourself around your favorite treats? Are a person who attacks their refrigerator after a long, hard day at work, or a fight with your partner? If so, I promise you that a little bit of work can go a long way to establish some healthy patterns in your life that move you away from a self-abusive and health deteriorating trajectory. Simple, effective lessons, tools, and strategies are exactly what you'll be getting with this life changing course!

It is very easy to turn to food when we are faced with some sort of unease, or a stressful situation in life. However, I feel that it is important to note that any stimulation whether it is television, movies, drinking, smoking, or codependency in relationship can be destructive when we don't look at the reasons behind the behavior and address them.

Basically what I'm saying is that even if you don't consider yourself an emotional eater, Freedom From Emotional Eating will have a wealth of knowledge and growth to offer you. It is not just about food, it's about LIFE, and fulfilling your potential and experiencing the love and happiness, everyday, that is your birthright. It's about finding your voice instead of silencing it with stimulation. It's about learning what you truly desire in your life, and how to acknowledge your pain and process your emotions without letting the stress of both modern day living and past trauma steer you in a direction that isn't reflective of what you hold in your heart.

No matter what your dreams are, they are always within reach. The thing about dreams is that once we start to silence them, it is easy to forget what they are, or to even remember that they exist! We sometimes don't remember our dreams because the stress and stimulation of modern living brings us so far away from that place where we feel centered and grounded. This centered, grounded feeling is where we KNOW ourselves: what feels good, what is unhealthy or stressful for us, what path we want to head down, and also when something is really wrong in our life. Having this center to return to also gives us the power to be able to perceive what is really wrong with our life (hint: it's not actually the scale, or your thighs...these can just be symptoms of something deeper!)

Feeling lost and alone in your own life is extremely disempowering and painful. This is a great loss that many of us feel, or have felt, every day at some point. It is very easy to fill that void with stimulation.

We're here to show you the way to freedom through simple, easy to implement steps. Freedom From Emotional Eating is a course that will guide you from start to finish. Casey and I are here to hold your hand every single step of the way. We take great pride in our ability to guide people over their hurtles!

If you'd like to learn more and get a taste of what we'll be offering, register for part 2 of our FREE teleclass series. You'll get to learn more about how you can stop emotional eating in it's tracks if you tune into our call tomorrow.

Last week we started our Anastasia Book Study Group, and WOW, the first call was so much fun! It's definitely important for me to know that, despite the serious tone of some aspects of natural healing, it really is invigorating, and incredibly fun to be involved in conversation that is stimulating (this is the good kind of stimulation!) and powerful. I know that I had some serious shifts in thinking during our first discussion.

As a gift to you, dearest reader, Casey and I are presenting you with the first call from the Anastasia group for FREE! Just click here to download and listen in. If you still want to join us, you are more than welcome. This Thursday will be our second of ten calls, so you will be able to catch right up to us!

And last but certainly not least, I am going to present you with my new favorite beverage recipe: Pumpkin Seed Chai.

Have you ever had a chai latte before? I still remember a good friend of mine from high school introducing me to the chai latte. You see, I was such a coffee lover, that I not only had a cup almost every day, I often treated myself to latte and cappuccino concoctions from Starbucks and local coffee shops several times a week! One of my favorite things to do when I had free time was to go to Barnes and Noble, get a coffee, some sort of baked treat (I can't tell you how many college dinners consisted of cafe au lait and a big giant fudgie brownie from The George Street Cafe), and leaf through some poetry and fiction. As much as I have loved words and stories my whole life, I have loved food. Sometimes, I have loved food much more!

A few weeks ago I decided to make a pumpkin seed milk. It wasn't because I was feeling ambitious, but because I had raw, organic pumpkin seeds in my fridge that I had purchased from the local health food store well over a year ago! I'm not much of a nut/seed eater, but I do love how versatile they are, and how well they can be used to mock dairy based dishes in raw cuisine. I've been making LOTS of my own coconut milk kefir (I think I've perfected it, so I'll be sharing that with you soon, too), and I've been absolutely loving it. So I figured, why not give pumpkin seed milk a shot, too?

I'm glad that I did. Pumpkin seed milk is delicious. It has a unique taste that reminds me of a latte (although it's been a long time for me - I'm not sure this will be a good replacement for all of you latte lovers out there), but combined with a little bit of honey and spice, it was warm and comforting. This drink is essentially the best way to indulge your tastebuds and relax! Warm beverages have always been so dear to me for their soothing and relaxing qualities.

All nut and seed based milks are easy to make. Simply blend 1 part of nut/seed with 4 parts water until the liquid is uniform, then strain through a sieve or nut milk bag to get a smooth, creamy beverage.

To make Pumpkin Seed Chai, place the following ingredients in a small pan on the stove over low heat:

1 cup of pumpkin seed milk
1 tbsp honey or stevia to taste

A very healthy sprinkling of cinnamon
A little less of a sprinkling of clove and nutmeg
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Whisk your beverage together on the stove, and heat to desired temperature. I like mine warm, not hot, and topped with an extra dash of cinnamon!

Kick back with your chai and enjoy! Maybe try it with a chocolate chip cookie, or two! Yum!

Have a wonderful Tuesday, and stay tuned for my next recipe video! ;)

Love,
Marlena

My Favorite Tahini Based Salad Dressing and Banana Ice Cream Video

2011-07-04T05:33:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday and Happy 4th!

Today I have a recipe video to share with you. I hope you all love it. These are two classic recipes I always find myself coming back to for their nourishing healthfulness and of course their deliciousness.

Don't forget to register for FREE teleclasses on emotional eating that Casey and I are doing. The first class is just two days away, on July 6th. Remember that even if you cannot get on the call live, there will be a playback available for you, so it's no reason not to sign up for some free guidance on a very important topic.

The Anastasia Book Study Group starts this Thursday! Casey and I are really excited about the group that has formed already, and we hope you will join us. Click here for more information, and to register!

With Love and banana ice cream,

Marlena ;)

Beet and Carrot Marinara

2011-06-29T07:57:00.000-07:00

Happy Hump Day!

Today I'm sharing with you a wonderful new marinara recipe. Unlike my original marinara and my smoky marinara, this recipe is raw. It is really delicious over vegetable pasta (this is the typical way that most raw foodies will use marinara), but it's also awesome as a salad dressing, or a dipping sauce.

The first few times I made this marinara I used it "traditionally", over zucchini pasta with some fresh basil. Then last night I decided that I wanted to enter new territory and make a delicious semi-cooked salad. I simply combined steamed spinach along with a couple of scrambled eggs with my spring mix and fresh, raw vegetables: heirloom tomatoes (YES! They're finally at the farmer's markets here), grated beet and carrot, and a bit of red onion.

There is some mild spice to this marinara, but what I really love so much about this is the sweetness of the beet and carrot along with the heartiness of the sundried tomatoes. Oh and of course the fresh, peppery basil...my favorite herb in the whole world. :)

Beet and Carrot Marinara

1 pint of cherry tomatoes
1 carrot, peeled and chopped (about 3/4 cup of chopped carrot)
1 small beet, peeled and chopped (about 1/4 cup of chopped beet)
9 sundried tomatoes (I like Mediterranean Organics...but use your favorite)
9 or 10 leaves of fresh basil
1 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp herbamare (I'm obsessed with this stuff, but it is optional as the sundried tomatoes will lend plenty of salt)
1 tsp Herbes de Provence
Small amount of water to facilitate blending.

Place everything in a blender, add a tiny bit of water and blend until smooth. You can always add more water if you like your sauce thinner.

The picture below displays the consistency I like it best.

Below is a picture of the marinara made a bit thicker, and on top of an incredibly huge pile of vegetables and topped with chopped avocado.

If you'd like, you can add a tablespoon of onion or a clove of garlic to your marinara. From time to time I'll do this, but I really just love the flavor of carrot, beet, tomato, and basil with that bit of rosemary from the dried herbs and the little bit of spice from the crushed red pepper flakes over my favorite vegetables.

I hope you try this, and love it!

On another note, have you registered for the free teleclasses that Casey and I are running, starting on July 6th? If not, you can do so by clicking here. We would love to have you on the call!

If you're not sure you want to get in on the teleclasses, click here to let Casey's video show you more of what we're all about. It is a bit of a preview to what we'll be discussing on the calls.

Lastly, for all of you lovely bookworms out there, don't forget about our Anastasia Book Study Group! It starts next Thursday, and Casey and I cannot wait to dive into this fascinating material with a group of kindreds. ;)

Have a wonderful week,
Marlena

Slightly Spicy Carrot - Salsa Burgers!

2011-06-23T09:50:00.000-07:00

Ok friends, this post is a MUST READ! The following recipe is juicy, fun, spicy, and festive.

For a long time, I have wanted to find a use for juice pulp. Every day, at least one and a half liters of fresh vegetable juice is consumed between Enrico and I, so this leaves us with quite a bit of pulp. I have played around with using juice pulp in salads, as I've seen other people do on their blogs, but I'm just not a fan. Juice pulp, generally speaking, grossed me out for a long time.

Then I realized that the juice pulp I was consuming was not the tastiest choice of juice pulp: kale, romaine, celery and cucumber are not very yummy once their nourishing juices are extracted from them, but carrot pulp...I could play with that!

I love carrots, SO MUCH. I really do. And you can read more about that here , but today I want to show you how I made these absolutely perfect Carrot - Salsa Burgers!

Carrot - Salsa Burgers

1 cup of carrot pulp (carrot/beet pulp would be good, too)

1 egg, beaten (this is what will bind the burger)

1 tbsp cumin

1 tsp coriander

1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne (Adjust to taste)

Mix all of these up together. Then form them into 2 or 3 burgers. I used my hands! It reminded me of making meatballs with my dad when I was little.

Melt 1tsp of coconut oil over medium low heat, then place the burger on the skillet. Cover the skillet and let it cook for about five minutes. Then flip the burgers over, place some sliced goat cheese on top, and then let the burgers cook for about 2-3 more minutes.

Now for the most fun part, place your burger on a napa cabbage leaf, top with a spoonful of salsa, and fold the cabbage over the burger so you have a little burger bun!

You could also use romaine or just regular cabbage as your burger bun, but napa cabbage is available locally for us right now, and I think it is the perfect vegetable burger bun. I wish I had gotten a picture of it neatly wrapped up in the cabbage, but these pictures will give you the general idea.

This meal was packed with flavor, juiciness, and fun. I LOVED it!

Next time, I'll be back with my newest marinara recipe. This marinara is a raw one. For whatever reason, I cannot get enough marinara. ;)

Lastly, don't forget about the FREE teleclasses with Casey and I on July 6th and 13th. You can register for this amazing free content by clicking here.

When it comes to dinner, what is your heart's desire? Please do share!

Love,
Marlena

Anastasia Book Study Group

2011-06-15T11:05:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon lovelies,

The weather in Lancaster has been so gorgeous this week. I cannot get enough fresh air. Yum!

Even my pets are lovin' it! In all honesty, these guys seem so much calmer with all of the fresh air flowing through the home. Unfortunately, between having an English bulldog (their smooshed - in noses don’t deal well with the heat), and a husband who does construction work during the day, our evenings and nights are usually spent cooped up in the AC, which I don’t particularly enjoy, but that’s the way it goes! Of course, I am oh so grateful for the AC when the heat waves hit us hard.

"Where's my napping buddy?"

Nanji keeping the sun out of Xavier's eyes! Ah! Cute overload!

Princess Peanut enjoys her solitude.

Nanji was so deep in sleep that he actually fell off of the couch during an evening nap yesterday.

Remember when I mentioned another surprise I had coming for you? Well, the surprise reached facebook and twitter before it reached my blog (of course!), but I want to write a bit about this new project that I’m doing with my gorgeous and dear friend Casey Lorraine Thomas!

Starting July 7th, we are starting a 10 Week Anastasia Book Study group! The Ringing Cedars Series (or the Anastasia Series, as some call it) is pretty popular in raw and health food circles. These books have proven to be the most powerful and enjoyable reads of my life, so I am truly ECSTATIC to be doing this book study group.

Anastasia is written by Vladimir Megre, a Russian entrepreneur who meets Anastasia, a “recluse” living in the Siberian Taiga (Anastasia teaches us that she is actually not a recluse and explains why modern man is more of a recluse than she, despite the fact that she lives in the forest). Anastasia guides him in writing this book, and predicted that it would be the best seller that it would become.

In this book, Anastasia challenges many of our modern norms and shows us how to approach life in a more harmonious way. These books have made me feel excited about our future because of Anastasia’s emphasis on the inherent power in human beings. Personally, I don’t find mainstream culture empowering, and I don’t feel that it honors the human soul. I actually find that it depresses the spirit of many (I would argue most, at least to some degree). However, Anastasia reminds us that we are strong and capable of living the beautiful lives that we desire.

Click here if you'd like to investigate Anastasia further on Amazon. Don’t buy it though! If you join, Casey and I will be sending you a hardcover copy!

Whether you've already read the book or never heard of it, this is a great opportunity to deeply explore the concepts presented, read a wonderful book that is "kinda like fiction" (hah!), and have discussion with a group of like minded, creative people who are looking to change their consciousness and live beautiful lives.

If you’d like to join the book study group, click here and we’ll get you all set up to go!

Also, don’t forget about our FREE teleclasses coming up shortly on emotional eating. You can register for them here.

I’ll be back soon with soon with some FOOD. ;) Until then, you might want to click here and check out our 7 Days of Fabulous Food challenge on Facebook!

Love,
Marlena

Raw Garden Vegetable Soup and Your Beauteous Bod

2011-06-05T11:54:00.000-07:00

Happy Sunday,

So, I had big plans for this week, but I got sick. I even had a bit of a fever (99.7).

I do NOT play a good sick person.

You know I’m sick when things like lemon juice, stevia, and chocolate are unappealing to me, and that’s where I found myself this past Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

All day I was sipping teas, water, and green vegetable juice.

As dinner time rolled around I wasn’t even excited. I really didn’t have an appetite, but since I know how crucial it is to flush out all of the toxins that the body wants to push out with a cold, I felt that a raw, blended soup would be the way to go.

Raw Garden Vegetable Soup

1 yellow summer squash, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 pint of grape tomatoes

2 cups baby spinach (optional, I wanted to get my greens in, but this soup is a really gorgeous color without the greens)

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

½ avocado

1 cup of water

Blend all ingredients together. Keep in mind that if you don't have a fever like I did, you probably won't be put off by herbs like basil, cilantro, or dill. They would all be great in this soup along with some garlic, lemon juice and a few drops of stevia to sweeten if that's your thing. Herbamare would also be a great option to give this soup added flavor.

At last I topped my soup with the remaining half of the avocado (cubed) and some chopped carrot.

At first taste, I was shocked. Seriously. I could not believe how INCREDIBLE the soup tasted without using any herbs, lemon, or stevia! My love affair with veggies definitely entered the stratosphere upon tasting this soup.

Of course, once my appetite was warmed up I had to polish off my meal with something sweet. Carrot macaroons did the trick.

If you try the soup, let me know how you like it!

Last night, my appetite was finally back. I wasn't feeling particularly creative, though, and after a crazy few weeks, it was nice to spend some time blog surfing. I came across some recipes by three of my favorite ladies and ended up making two fabulous dips to go along with my veggie based dinner last night.

The first dip was a cross between Casey's Raw Vegan Cheesy Carrot Sauce, and Gena's Cheesy Sauce which was light, slightly cheesy, and perfect as a dip for crudite and to drizzle over my salad.

The second dip was Rande's Smoky Raw Sweet Potato Hummus...wow! I'm not a raw hummus person, but this recipe really reminded me of the texture and taste of my hummus of yore (I used to be really obsessed with the stuff).

Smoky Sweet Potato Hummus

Cheesy Sauce...enjoyed as a pre-dinner snack , relaxing on the couch

...and the colorful dinner salad

Thank you Casey, Gena, and Rande, for lending your culinary brilliance. ;)

Speaking of the lovely Casey, she and I are going to be offering two FREE teleclasses in the first two weeks of July. The first one is titled “Getting Out of Your Monkey Mind and Back into Your Beauteous Bod”.

Details are forthcoming, but I think the title gives a good preview of what to expect! Stay posted on my facebook page for more details, and of course the blog so that you can sign up to get free guidance once the ball gets rolling.

Casey and I are really, really excited to be guiding a new group of you towards a more balanced relationship between your dinner plate and your mind, body, and spirit with these teleclasses, and our upcoming installment of "Freedom From Emotional Eating".

You can sign up for the free teleclasses by clicking here!

I also have one more surprise for you that I will have more information on in the coming weeks.

Love,

Marlena

Night Cheese

2011-05-19T16:57:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

For the past few months I've been blog-absent. One might think I didn't have anything going on, or I didn't have much to write about, but au contraire!!! I was actually quite busy and had a lot going on! However, not much of it was food related.

Often, when I have a busier than usual schedule, my meals are tried and true steadfast favorites. These are dishes that always satisfy me because they always leave me feeling nourished physically, emotionally, and sensually. Dinner is not something that I partake in to "get the job done" or even to get nutrients x, y, and z in. Dinner is a sensual experience for me. If my dinner isn't fresh, beautiful, colorful, and plentiful, I am not happy.

Liz Lemon loves her night cheese, too. Hah! ;)

So with all that being said (and with a nod to my homegirl and fellow cheese lover, Liz Lemon.), I would like to share with you one of my absolute most favorite meals ever. It's a simple meal that I'm sure I've featured on the blog before, but this is a special variation that I am sharing with you tonight.

A totally yummers sheep's cheese!!!

Lightly Steamed Zucchini Pasta with Pecorino Romano and Smoky Marinara

Zucchini Pasta

1 or 2 zucchini (you can either slice them into spaghetti strips with a mandoline, or use a spiralizer to make pasta)

a little bit of water in a skillet or large soup pot

Place zucchini in a colander over the steaming water just until the zucchini is warmed (not hot, we are just warming the zucchini a bit to make it more pasta-like).
Then sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of pecorino romano over the pasta (Note: Pecorino Romano is a salty sheep's cheese, but it has a sharp flavor that I love along with the smoothness of my regular cheddar style goat's cheese).

The Pecorino will melt slightly. Set aside.

Grate about 1 or 2 ounces of raw goat's cheese and set this aside as well.

You can use any marinara sauce you'd like, but this is my favorite marinara variation as of now.

Smoky Marinara Sauce:

1, 28 ounce can Muir Glen Fire Roasted Crushed Tomatoes

1, 28 ounce can Muir Glen Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes

1 onion, diced

Extra Virgin olive oil (just enough to coat the bottom of the pan)

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1-2 tbsp crushed red pepper (depending on how spicy you like your sauce)

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp oregano

herbamare or sea salt to taste

1 cup of packed fresh basil, chopped

Heat the oil over medium low heat, then add the diced onion. Sautee until translucent. Once the onions are translucent, add the garlic and stir around until the garlic is fragrant (make sure you don't let it burn).

Add the tomatoes and herbs and stir well. Let the sauce cook for about an hour over low heat, stir frequently (you don't want the sauce to boil).

This sauce keeps well in the fridge for about 5 days, and it also can be frozen for even later use.

I topped my zucchini pasta with some smoky marinara, grated goat cheddar, and some additional shaved pecorino romano. I enjoyed this after my raw vegetable salad and raw crudite.

More often than not, as I get dinner together, I play some music, munch on some crudite, maybe some olives, maybe sip some wine or herbal tea, and I always make sure to keep the kitchen organized and clean. This results in a dinner that is uplifting rather than something that weighs me down and leaves me feeling heavy, tired and depleted. It takes more than just live enzymes to make a meal a fantastic one, at least for this girl!

I have oodles of recipes such as this one that I've put together over the past few months: they are simple, comforting, nourishing, and they provide familiar flavors to mainstream meals such as pizza, lasagna, sweet potato bisques, mashed potatoes and pancakes.

These are the types of meals that are ideal for those who are looking to heal their relationship with their body, and with food. In my experience I have found that when too much focus is placed on nutritional minutiae, it is much more difficult to get past undesirable habits related to emotional eating. By taking the pressure off ourselves and putting the pleasure back into meal time, we can find ourselves with a more balanced outlook and approach to our meals and our bodies.

With that being said, Casey and I are going to be doing another segment of "Freedom From Emotional Eating" starting August 1st. We are really looking forward to working with some of you who are ready to become empowered about your food and lifestyle choices!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Workin' that Night Cheese,
Marlena

Movin' and Groovin'

2011-05-15T15:06:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

It feels great having something new and exciting to post! With "Freedom From Emotional Eating", Casey and I offered exclusive videos to the lovely participants, and I shared some of these videos with a few personal friends as well. We received really great feedback on them overall.

So, tonight I wanted to provide you with an non-intimidating, fun and nourishing video guide to some of my favorite stretches.

Learning how to respect and appreciate my body has required much more than just a mental adjustment. Stretching and basic yoga postures that I can turn to at any time, almost anywhere, have proved to be a wonderful tool for me on my journey to vital, joyful living.

I hope that you enjoy this video, and stay posted for more to come!

Love you!
Marlena

Dear Woman

2011-04-05T17:31:00.000-07:00

Good evening,

I hope you are all doing well! Tonight my mentor Natalia Rose posted the following video from the Hendricks Institute on her blog. It really warmed my heart so I wanted to share it with you.

Lots of Love always,

Marlena

Your Life, and Your Dinner Plate

2011-02-09T00:04:00.000-08:00

In high school I had a friend who was an amazing cook. She introduced me to acorn squash, couscous, homemade ravioli, and fire pit baked potatoes (omg).

As far as baking goes, she wasn’t all that skilled. She used to tell me that she always admired a person who could bake a good cookie, because this wasn’t her area of expertise (it was mine - oh the sweet tooth!).

Her husband said that the first time he took her out for a meal he loved that she ate everything on her plate. No apologies, no excuses.

Growing up we didn’t have real butter in the house, always margarine (from what I can remember). My first taste of real butter happened when I was sixteen and on vacation. My friend encouraged me to eat the real butter on the table that I was actually a bit frightened of. This turned out to be my first lesson in natural foods.

My friend warned me that poison needed to be used in order to create margarine. At this point in my life, the idea of poison in food was a strange concept. This made me think about the processes behind food production, and it also made me start to think about how real the food was that I was consuming. To be honest, it freaked me out a bit to think that it was OK for companies to sell something to the public that contained poison. Wow, was I ever naive!

So there I was, faced with wonder bread (ah!) and real butter. I hesitantly spread some of the butter on the wonder bread, and took a bite. Then I promptly died of happiness and went to foodie heaven.

Approximately six pieces of bread and butter later, I was in my personal bliss, and everyone at the table was getting a kick at how profoundly overjoyed I was to be eating something as simple as bread and butter.

The purpose behind this little anecdote is to present a piece of wisdom that my friend shared with me over ten years ago. While I always loved baking, cooking, and experiencing delicious foods, this particular friend helped me see food in a whole new light, mostly due to this particular pearl of wisdom.

She used to say, “The way you approach food is the way you approach life”.

happy salad, happy restaurant (Pure), happy Marlena

I feel like there is so much wisdom in this statement. Do you inhale your food in order to feel grounded? Do you restrict your consumption because you feel unworthy of pleasure? Are you scared of certain foods because you don't know how you'll feel after consuming them? Do you feel disempowered about your choices after a lifetime of putting your faith into useless diet programs and accepting government regulated food guidelines?

My friend’s approach to food has stuck with me years later even though we haven’t kept in touch. She had a great appetite for delicious food, and for life. She loved to dance, and go out to eat at the best restaurants. She was always laughing, reading, cooking, and she loved spending time outdoors. She was truly a soulful lady. She cooked, ate and lived, with all of her heart.

Point being, our relationship with ourselves, and our personal approach to life manifests in our dietary habits. So many people are suffering from disorderly eating and thinking that they are the issue, or that their food choices are the issue but the reality is that the food is only a mirror: it is showing our relationship with our self, and our life.

If you need to check in with yourself to figure out some unchecked emotion, you may find that you don’t have to look any further than your dinner plate. What is crowding it? Is it fatty, greasy food? Are you eating heaps of grain and sugar? Is it just impossible for you to eat dinner without downing a pint of ice cream afterwards?

Throughout my life food has been a huge source of distress for me. A few things that I have learned is that it is a gift, not a curse, to experience this distress because it points out that something in our life is very wrong and needs prompt adjustment. Our food habits, and all of our addictions, are sending us a clear message, we just have to be willing to listen.

Remember that all of this is OK, there is nothing wrong with you, and there is nothing to be ashamed of. Our food choices are actually a really useful way to analyze the current emotional and energetic space that we’re in, and make changes where necessary.

Until then, make sure you love your food. Try your best to make sure you consume foods that you truly enjoy and nourish you on every level.

You may be surprised to see that when you are at peace and centered, the foods you love the most are also the healthiest foods in your kitchen.

Here is to embracing foods that nourish our bodies, and experiences that nourish our lives!

Love and goat cheese salads,

Marlena

Creamy Strawberry Soup

2011-02-07T01:51:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!

I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend (superbowl or not - for me, it was not. As my BFF said "What is the superbowl?")!

Last week I posted on facebook that I had some yummy new recipes to share. My apologies for just getting the first of them up now, but I'm experiencing a technological video making learning curve. I hope that you enjoy my first recipe vlog, and please comment, rate, and subscribe to my Youtube channel!

Don't forget about my latest project with Casey, "Freedom From Emotional Eating". There are still a few hours left for a very special offer that we have put together for you. Please check out the link above to learn more and to register, if you'd like!

Love and green juice,

Marlena

Getting Over It

2011-02-01T03:36:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to February!

This blog post is titled, "Getting Over It" because today I am sharing a video with you, dearest Sunny Life readers. :)

Video + me = stress. To put it lightly, I am a bit horrified of posting this video, but as the blog post title implies, I am getting over it. It's really not a big deal.

In this video I discuss "Freedom From Emotional Eating".

I hope that you enjoy it! Have a wonderful day.

All Love and Sunshine,

Marlena

The Truth Behind a Struggle

2011-01-26T18:02:00.000-08:00

Happy Snow Day for the northeast US! I realize how outnumbered I am, but I love snow days. I think it makes winter magical ;). For those of you who have to drive in these conditions - please be very cautious!

Today I wanted to share a post that has been requested by quite a few clients and friends. These are people who have had a lot of struggles with their health, weight and body image. Even within this lifestyle, struggles can surface. Old habits can reappear and if we are not aware of what's going on beneath the surface, we can easily fall apart. It's about time I posted this because I really feel all of you.

It’s not uncommon for my clients to tell me that they feel really lonely because of their lifestyle choices. Too often, the people in our lives think that we take our health too seriously. Vegetable juice alone can seem extreme and weird to some - but add salad meals and colon cleansing into the picture, and your family and friends may really think you’ve gone off the deep end.

I really love the work that I do. Not because it’s easy, glamorous, or carefree, but because of the type of people it attracts. The most amazing people find their way into my office and I get the most heartfelt emails from people who are working hard to change their health. These people are taking a very deep personal responsibility for their lives. If you are embarking on a lifestyle that exceeds what the status quo deems “in good health“, pat yourself on the back right now. You are brave just for considering a path that is not mainstream.

Contrary to what a lot of people think, this path has not always been easy for me. I took this road because all other options were not at all appealing for me. It was too painful to eat crap food, feel like shit every day, and have that overwhelming feeling of dread dominate my daily experience. Like so many other things, the pendulum can swing from one extreme to another. Extreme sadness can lead to extreme joy and bliss. This is what was the case for me, but I’ve learned it’s not always easy finding that sweet spot. I’ve also learned that once we find it, we have to be diligent in order to maintain it.

A lot of people who find their way into my office have struggles within this work. I think that those of us who particularly resonate with this way of life are destined for it for our own unique reasons. If you cut out mainstream dairy, white flour, and food combine properly and feel great, lose weight and that's what you were looking for, that's wonderful! However, if you’ve been living your life feeling like an outcast, feeling depressed, and feeling confused about the way the world works, then there is a reason for that. This post is for you.

We have the choice to transform these negative feelings we've experienced throughout our entire lives into something amazing, and that is what deep tissue cleansing (clean eating and colonics) is all about!

Pain is a call for change. Without pain, I wouldn’t be on this road. I would be teaching 9th graders and patiently (impatiently?) waiting for retirement. At the time I was in pain, I just wanted it to go away. Now, I am so grateful for the pain that I experienced. That is what pushed me forward. My life is so different than it was before, and I have my pain to thank for that.

For those of you who are on this path and are feeling particularly lonely or frustrated with slower than you'd like progression (I promise you that I can seriously relate), I gently encourage these following things to help you stay the course:

1. Find a friend that supports, respects, and understands you and immerse yourself in activities that make you feel empowered. This requires ditching the aspects of your life that make you feel isolated and disempowered (what a laundry list this could entail!). This is why I am pretty discriminating about where I go and how I spend my time. It’s not just because I’m busy with work, but because I don’t want to expose myself to things that will make me feel depleted. We have to honor ourselves in order make this a priority. I also make it a priority to make time to talk with people each week who are integrated into this lifestyle and therefore understand it and respect it as well.

2. Stop judging yourself. Try to avoid labels. I know that different people have different viewpoints on this. In my experience, labels are often detrimental. They put undo pressure on us to never eat certain foods or else we are a failure. For the longest time I put undo pressure on myself to become a vegan for the sake of the animals, or I thought that my diet had to have a certain level of "cleanliness" to it because of the work that I do. This only made me overeat and then berate myself because what I really wanted was a spinach melt but instead I would over eat sweet potatoes or avocados. While labeling our diets may work for some, for many others, I find it to be a passive form of self judgement. If we stop labeling ourselves, we can accept this way of living as a way of life and a journey. We also can understand that we are always evolving and changing. So food and lifestyle choices that may have worked for us in the past may not work for us a week, a month, or a year later. So enjoy what you enjoy today, with consciousness, and understand that what you enjoy tomorrow may be entirely different. This requires deep self trust and understanding. Much of our loneliness stems from not being able to trust or appreciate ourselves, so this point is really important.

3. Reach out to people you trust. Support is important within this work. I am so lucky to have come across the people that I have, because they have provided me with immense amounts of support (see the end of #1). This blog is just one source of support for you, and it’s important that you take advantage of all that is available (see my resources tab for other wonderful web-based forms of support).

I know first - hand how hard it is to stay the course even when you know deep down that it is best for you. It’s so easy to give in to foods that don’t serve you, especially if it’s “so much better” than what everyone else is eating, or if it makes you feel part of a specific ritual that is dear to you (think of the holidays and all of the struggles that seem to accompany that time of year, food and otherwise!).

If you take one thing from this post, please remember that what is best for you may not necessarily be what your friends, family, teachers and doctors say is best for you. You have to know and feel this yourself.

Also remember that sensitivity to things: both foods and social situations, is a strength, not a weakness.

I think it’s worth mentioning that there is a very strong message in our culture that sensitivity is a weakness. Seeing that the feminine aspects of ourselves are overall more sensitive and intuitive than the masculine, we have been tricked into thinking that our intuitive, emotional aspects are the weak aspects of ourselves. This is anything but the truth. We have to remember how powerful these feminine qualities are. This allows us the possibility to move beyond the limitations that keep us embedded in our destructive patterns.

Most importantly, remember that you are here for a reason. You feel your pain for a reason. You are struggling for a reason. When you rise above your pain and limitations, you will elevate everyone and everything around you.

Most of all, do not underestimate the power in groups of like minded people who wish to support each other. That’s what I’m here for. Reach out when you need advice and support, but never forget that you have unlimited power within you, as well.

All Love and Sunshine,
Marlena

Stevia Winners!

2011-01-22T05:21:00.000-08:00

Happy Saturday lovelies,

Today I am announcing the NuNaturals stevia giveaway winners! We have four winners who will be receiving regular NuNaturals brand stevia and also vanilla NuNaturals stevia (this stuff is seriously to die for).

The winners are:

1. Courtney*

2. Maria Muniz

3. Rande McDaniel

4. Etoile Vineta

Please email me at Marlena.Torres@gmail.com to let me know where you would like your prize to be sent, and I'll let Ron over at NuNaturals know so you can get your super yummy stevia!

Do not forget about the amazing discount that NuNaturals is offering: FREE shipping to all orders over $35.00! This discount is available through February 28th of 2011. Simply enter this coupon code: BLG228 upon checkout to receive the discount.

I hate to post without pictures, so below are some photos of different ways I love to use stevia. As you can see, you can use it in everything (yes, macaroons, green juice, sweet potato mash, and salad are pretty much everything in my book)!

macaroons mmmmmm

green juice = love

carrot and sweet potato mash (omg!)

baked root vegetable and baby spinach salad with cinnamon and nutmeg - a dessert salad!

...and if you haven't already, please check out my newest collaboration with Casey Lorraine Thomas!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Hugs and macaroons,

Marlena

*I think I know which Courtney this is. You didn't leave your last name, but since you commented on the blog post I went ahead and added your name in! ;)

Freedom From Emotional Eating

2011-01-18T19:25:00.000-08:00

Hello dearest friends!

Tonight I am posting because I wanted to let you know all about a new collaboration between Casey Thomas and I. Casey and I have developed a new program called Freedom From Emotional Eating. We feel that that program will be immensely helpful for those of you are struggling with emotional eating.

Our experience has taught us that there is only so far you can go with detox and nutrition alone if you want to heal from more acute and debilitating issues be it emotional, physical, or psychological.

Without thoroughly addressing the emotional side of our destructive habits and the root cause of why we are suffering, it is very difficult to heal (or even just to lose those last ten pounds for good).

There is a huge emotional component that can trigger destructive consumption. This can hold us back in all areas of our lives: our relationships, our professional work, our creativity, and our overall capacity for joy. In short, emotional eating can really suck the life out of us if we don’t get a firm understanding on where it originates and how to break free of it's grip on us.

It is important to note that there is a physical component behind emotional eating: it often begins with addiction to processed, unnatural foods.

For this reason, basic diet information will be covered within Freedom From Emotional Eating so that your body is provided with true nourishment from pure, whole foods (both raw and cooked). However, the emphasis behind this program will be digging deep to figure out the roots behind a disorderly relationship with food and a resistance to processing emotions.

To be honest, this method we are providing in this ten week program is not for everyone. It takes a lot of strength and resolve to really tackle what lies behind our food and body image issues, but Casey and I feel that it is necessary to take this kind of approach in order to truly heal from the emotional eating that may be holding you back from living the joyful life that you truly desire.

Casey and I have developed this program because we know the need is there and we know that (despite how intimidated you may feel about this subject matter) you have the strength to do this.

Time and time again I have received emails from clients who have questions about where they can go to heal their emotional eating. It is very unfortunate that so many are suffering, and yet, there are so few centers that promote an approach to healing that actually nourishes the body at the cellular level!

While Casey and I do believe that diet is very individual (especially when we take disordered eating into consideration), we do feel that the majority of women and men who suffer from emotional eating are subconsciously desiring a diet that nourishes the body instead of the diet that they have been raised to view as normal. Intuition is strong even when we are not consciously aware of it. Deep down many of us have sensed that the modern approach to consumption is heinous and disordered. The daily consumption of cereals, white bread, mainstream dairy, and refined sugars is in no way conducive to vitality and strength! Casey and I feel that this is one of many reasons why an overwhelming amount of people are suffering from emotional eating patterns.

Throughout the ten weeks, Casey and I will be supporting you with educational phone calls, videos, email tips, and self-reflection assignments that will help you learn how to process your emotions in a way that will serve you and help you to reestablish and reconnect with your authentic self so that you don't have to turn to substances to numb your pain. You don’t have to hide your bright light behind a batch of cookies or pints of ice cream. You don’t need to restrict yourself in order to diminish the amazing power that you have to offer to the world.

We hope that we can guide you back to the balance that is your birthright. We are honored to serve you if this message resonates and you choose to take this path!

To learn more and to register, please click here to visit www.emotionaleatingfreedom.com.

With Love and gratitude,
Marlena

Parsnip Pesto and Some Sunday Baking Snapshots

2011-01-11T14:02:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year from Xavier and Nanji (meow)!

I hope you all had a great holiday. Mine was packed since Enrico has family forty minutes west of us (York) and I have family two hours east of us (NJ), but it was cozy - filled with sweet potatoes, wine, and even a couple of singing and dancing children on Christmas Eve, which I regret to inform I do not have pictures or video of. This is so sad because it was literally the cutest thing I have ever seen.

Today I wanted to check in with a couple of recipes, some photos, and some updates.

Let’s start with the updates!

1. The NuNaturals Stevia contest winners will be announced shortly (sometime next week for sure).

2. The Juicy Life, take 1 for 2011 is underway, but it’s not too late to sign up! It is a 16 day cleanse and you can certainly hop on board as it is only day 2 right now.

3. Discover Detox, take 1 for 2011 starts on February 17

4. Casey and I are working on a new collaboration together. It begins February 10 and you can learn more about it here: Escaping the Prison of Emotional Eating

5. My dear friend Michelle and I are co-hosting a Thai Yoga Massage for Couples workshop where you learn how to administer a 30 minute massage to your partner! Click here for details.

6. My new friend Barb will be coming to The Sunshine Center on Saturday January 22nd to talk to us about energetic and metaphysical healing. I will be providing a light lunch. Barb will even be offering private sessions. Click for here details.

7. I have updated my consultation packages and they are listed on The Sunshine Center website along with the new tab “Consultations” above.

This Sunday provided us with a little bit of leisure time (YAY!). Here are some pictures of the baking action I did for Enrico:

Yummers! This was my chocolate chip cookie recipe (made with spelt flour, coconut oil, and maple syrup), baked in a cupcake tray, and topped with my chocolate pudding (made nice and thick so it mocked frosting) with a little bit of added maple syrup for a deeper sweet flavor (Enrico really likes this). Just because I don’t personally enjoy grain doesn’t mean my love for baking on a snowy day has faded - it hasn’t, as you can see!

You want to make sure you let the cupcakes cool thoroughly, and keep the chocolate pudding refrigerated before frosting the cupcakes. You will probably want to wait until you are ready to consume the cupcakes to top them with the frosting.

They were a hit!!!

Now for the Parsnip Pesto. I loooove parsnips. Mostly, I just love baking them into chips. However, I was in the mood for a pesto, and I’m not sure why I never thought of using a parsnip base for a pesto. It was really delicious and (like pretty much all of my recipes) very easy to make.

Parsnip Pesto

1 cup of chopped parsnip, steamed in a little bit of water until soft
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 small clove of garlic
1 cup of fresh basil
Sea salt to taste

Put all ingredients in food processor and process until smooth. You may need to add some water to get a consistency you like.

This was sooo velvety and packed with peppery basil flavor. I was totally impressed with myself, especially since it's been a while since I played with a savory dish in the kitchen.

I didn’t know how to use it in my meal though. My meals are hopelessly boring (but still super yum!) these days. I ended up spooning it onto my avocado salad, and it totally jazzed up my typical avo/greens/carrot/tomato/beet mixture.

I hope you give the pesto a try, and I hope to be posting again soon! I miss blogging, but it’s been a BUSY few weeks!

Oh, and Miss Peanut wanted to send some Happy New Year love, too. She just doesn't like to cuddle with the boys. ;)

Love and juicy goddess green juice,

Marlena

Cabbage and Fennel Soup

2010-12-21T18:25:00.000-08:00

Hello all!

I hope you've all been enjoying December. It's been a busy month for so many of us. For me, this means that I'm enjoying many of my staple favorites such as Chinese 5 Spiced Kabocha Squash which is pictured above (seriously, I will never tire of this), Avocado Salads with raw root vegetables thinly sliced (I'm loving a simple combo of raw carrot and beet with fresh local minced garlic and lemon juice and a sprinkling of herbamare with a bit of stevia), and my favorite smoked cheddar style raw goat's cheese from the Misty Creek Goat Dairy in Leola (this amazing cheese is available at the Green Circle Organics stand at Central Market for all of you Lancastrians...although I take a 10 minute detour straight to the Misty Creek goat dairy once a week when I make one of my trips to Miller's for my juicing produce!), and lots of steamed spinach with my homemade marinara sauce.

Eggplant with Cheesy Cauliflower Mash (my favorite way to use marinara)

I'm really looking forward to Christmas this year because it looks like it's going to be a white one, and also because it means I get to experiment with some winter squash pies (I'm really excited for this). Seeing that I used to battle various family members for the last piece of my grandma's pumpkin pie pre-detox days, it should come as no surprise that I am determined to make a kick ass unprocessed variation.

A detox friendly holiday pie is totally possible, by the way. I'll make sure to post the results of my experimentation!

Depending on how the next couple of days go, I may have a pie recipe up in time for Christmas Eve, but if not, I'll get it up asap after the holiday. Pie is good any time of year, in my book.

So back to the point of this post: Cabbage and Fennel Soup. This soup is not particularly Christmasy, but it is a perfect winter/snowy day soup. It is also soothing for the digestive tract, which many will be desiring post--holiday feast.

Here is a picture of my Cabbage Soup:

It was delicious and oh so simple to make. Soups are probably my favorite thing to create in the kitchen because you just throw a bunch of stuff into a pot and season it until you love it. With that being said, here's the "recipe":

1 small head of cabbage, chopped

3 carrots, chopped

1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced

2 gloves fresh garlic, minced

1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped

2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped

2 or 3 sage leaves, chopped (optional, I just had all of these great autumn herbs in my fridge and I wanted to put them to good use)

1 tbsp-ish of herbamare

more herbamare or sea salt to taste

Over medium heat, place all ingredients into a pot and add enough water just to cover the vegetables. Once the water comes to a boil, lower the heat so the soup simmers. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Enjoy!

You can really add ANY seasonings or vegetables to this soup that you'd like such as broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, or greens. I decided to keep my soup simple and seasonal; I basically just used leftover vegetables from the week.

As far as updates and events go, there are a lot of things in the works. Very soon you can expect a post covering everything. I'm very excited for the new year and some changes that we have going on at The Sunshine Center and some new projects that Casey and I have been working on.

Don't forget about the NuNaturals Stevia discount and giveaway! It's not too late to enter the giveaway, and the 15% off online orders on the NuNaturals website by using coupon code BLG228 is available to you through February 28th!

With Love and support always,

Marlena

Even Sexier for the Season and a Stevia Giveaway!

2010-12-11T12:40:00.000-08:00

Happy December Sunshine friends!

Surprise! Today I wanted to let you all know that the lovely people over at NuNaturals are now offering a whopping 15% off of NuNaturals stevia to all of you (my lovely, bright, and beautiful readers!). In addition to that, they are offering FREE shipping to all orders over $35.00! This discount is available through February 28th of 2011. Simply enter this coupon code: BLG228 upon checkout to receive the discount.

NuNaturals has also been so kind to send me lots of stevia to try (pictured above) and they are also offering a giveaway to you all. NuNaturals will award four of The Sunny Life readers one box of NuStevia Packets, 50 ct. box, AND one bottle of NuNaturals Vanilla Stevia Liquid, 2 oz. bottle. The contest will be open to U.S. residents, only to avoid costly shipping & International customs regulations.

In order to enter the giveaway, simply comment below (or on The Sunshine Center facebook page if you have trouble posting comments on blogspot) with your favorite way to use stevia in a dish or beverage.
The contest runs from December 12-January 7th, so please enter now!

See, all of my stevia love letters on The Sunny Life have brought us great treasures!

Additionally, Casey and I had such great feedback from our first December juice cleanse that we are running another one starting Monday December 13-17th! This is five days of juicing and blended foods with phone calls, daily emails and videos, and unlimited email support throughout the cleanse. Why wait until January to start fresh? Get a head start and have an extra special year!

Love to you all!
Marlena

Some Juice Cleansing Action!

2010-11-30T18:09:00.000-08:00

Wow, it is really almost December already?

I just wanted to drop in quickly to mention to all of you Casey and I are guiding a 5 day juice cleanse starting Thursday, December 2nd.

To learn more and to register please click here to visit the Sexy for the Season website!

This cleanse is going to be incredibly rejuvenating and so much fun! Casey and I will be guiding you with informative phone calls, daily emails and videos, juice, smoothie, and raw soup recipes, along with a break-fast plan.

This really is a unique opportunity to give your cells time to release and contract during a time of year when we are usually cramming our bodies with toxicity in the form of unfit food and loads of stress! This can be the year that you say NO MORE to this madness!

Have a great night and I'll be back soon!

Looove you all!
Marlena

Dealing With Dinner Commentary During the Holidays

2010-11-23T17:33:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

I hope you’re all having a nice month and getting excited for some yummy holiday eats!

Weeks ago I received an email from a friend of mine who was perturbed by a co-worker commenting on her big lunch salad. His comment went along the lines of, “I’m a big guy and even I couldn’t eat that much salad!” (lies).

Just for the record, my salads are HUGE, and typically it takes me much longer to eat my meals than my friends and family. So fear not, you are in good company!

This sort of commentary can be incredibly frustrating. If you are recovering from some form of disordered eating and/or body dysmorphia, food commentary, along with body commentary, can bring up a lot of unresolved emotion, making meal time most unpleasant.

I know I’ve dealt with a great amount of attention from others regarding my dinner choices. I’m fortunate that my family and friends (the majority, at least), are accepting and supportive of my choices. This wasn’t always the case. Now that it is, I still feel a bit awkward pulling grated raw goat’s cheese, bags of organic greens, and lemons out of my purse at restaurants, but I always manage to create a salad concoction of raw and cooked vegetables that is "Oh so yum!" at these restaurants, so the focus goes from awkwardness to happiness quite quickly!

Back to my friend's rude co-worker. This person was simply trying to make my friend feel uncomfortable. Just for the record, a person who is eating a burger could easily eat large amounts of salad.
If you took a massive salad - let’s say an entire head of romaine lettuce, three huge tomatoes, two avocados, one cup of salsa, and the juice of two lemons, and dehydrated it, you’d be left with a very small amount of food. This is because this salad is FULL of water. It’s hydrating nature is what makes this meal quick to move through the body, easy to digest, and detox supportive.

If you were to take a turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread, a grilled chicken breast, or a cheeseburger, and dehydrated it, the portion size wouldn’t change too much. This is because these meal options are concentrated, dead and dense. They are not full of water, therefore they are not hydrating, and not detox supportive. This results in less food for satiety. Add the stimulating effects of these foods on the system (especially compared with a raw vegetable salad), and it's very plain to see why it takes (what appears to be) smaller amounts of food to be satisfied.

Now, I’m not going to recommend you get into this type of conversation with your co-workers or family who don’t really understand or want to understand your diet or lifestyle. My intention with this post is to reinforce the facts behind what you already know in your head and heart: that what you’re doing is best for you at a physical, emotional, and psychological level (provided you are embracing the truth and principles behind all of this and not using it as a way to practice restriction). It can be very difficult to stick to what rings true to you in the face of so many people who are trying to discount your efforts.

The holiday season can be incredibly challenging for everyone regardless of your diet/lifestyle choices. However, if you’re used to feeding your body high quality foods and you veer off course this time of year, it can be even more difficult to enjoy what the holiday season is all about: peace, unity, and love. When we’re stressed out, eating a Thanksgiving turkey or Christmas pig because a domineering family member is giving you “that look”, and eating desserts that you normally would substitute with some dark chocolate and/or sweet potato mash, you’re not going to feel very good physically, and you certainly are not going to feel joyous for the season!

Live this lifestyle the way that feels best in your heart, and be the example. Don’t waste your energy telling everyone you see this holiday season about the benefits of juicing, salad, and food combining, because you’ll likely be greeted with more mockery than it's worth.

Whenever I am having a meal with family, I always bring the essentials that I do not compromise: greens, lemon, stevia, raw goat’s cheese or avocado, and dark chocolate. Then I usualy make something that I know my family will enjoy whether it is spelt cookies, a home made chocolate souffle, cheesy cauliflower mashed potatoes, or a delicious root vegetable soup. If we go out to eat, I always offer bites of my salad, tastes of my cheese, or pieces of my chocolate. When I cook for my family, I always make sure it’s delicious and somewhat familiar, and they are always amazed at how delish it is. In other words, I’m not bringing nut loafs and pates for them to try! Vegetables prepared simply and with love will work wonders on skeptical family and friends.

Keep in mind that if someone is mocking your food choices chances are that your dedication to your highest good is more than likely calling their diet and lifestyle into question (whether or not they are aware of this is another subject), and they are trying to put you down so that they can silence that little voice inside that is saying that their current choices are damaging.

Most importantly, do not compromise yourself this holiday season or any other time of year. Practice self love and acceptance. Love and nourish your body with juices, salads, cooked vegetables, and any other foods that feel good to you just like you do every other time of year.

Eating junk and bogging down your system with toxins is not what the holiday season is all about. While a cleansing lifestyle may not be the norm right now, the more we commit to our highest good, the more the message will spread, and Kale Salad for Christmas (or any salad for Christmas) will become mainstream!

As far as Thanksgiving recipes go, my schedule has been quite overwhelming lately and I haven't gotten around to much kitchen experamentation. However, I would like to remind you of some of my old favorites:

Millet-Stuffed Winter Squash

Pumpkin Pudding (This is actually a picture of Pumpkin Pie in a Bowl but you get the idea!)

Carrot-Coconut Macaroons

Holiday Spiced Sesame Seed Milk

Wishing you a happy holiday,
Marlena

Easy Chocolate Pudding

2010-11-13T10:24:00.000-08:00

Happy Weekend :)

I'm always talking about how fantastic simple eating is for our taste buds, bodies, and wallets. The thing is, when I start talking about some of my favorite desserts with my friends, I get looks of disbelief.

It's easy to understand why: most just don't think of alternatives to their favorite treats and meals from the past. Most think that if you cannot eat mainstream chocolate pudding (made with cow's milk), you cannot eat chocolate pudding at all. This just isn't the case in my world!

Lately I've been sharing with a lot of friends how I make my Easy Chocolate Pudding, and they all keep requesting for me to share the recipe on The Sunny Life. I know that you all like exact measurements, but these are approximate because you may need more or less water depending on the size and creaminess of the avocado you use, and because some of you may like your pudding to be more chocolatey or sweeter than I like mine.

Keep in mind that you can use pure maple syrup or agave in place of the stevia if you'd like. Some people are not satisfied by only stevia sweetened desserts (although I think they probably haven't tried NuNaturals vanilla stevia!), so you can always lessen the amount of stevia and add a tablespoon of pure maple syrup or agave, or a date or two. If you decide to use dates, you'll want to soak them for about an hour so that they will be broken up in the food processer and create a creamy, delicious, and nourishing dessert.

Chocolate Pudding

1 ripe avocado
about 1/4-1/3 cup of pure water
1/2 tsp of NuNaturals vanilla stevia (I like it really sweet!)
2-3 tablespoons of cocoa powder (I love Green and Black or Rapunzel brand)

This is how I like to make this: Place avocado and water in the food processer and pulse until totally smooth. Then I add the stevia and cocoa powder and pulse until the mixture is uniform. I always adjust this to taste.

This recipe is creamy, sweet, and comforting. I sometimes dip carrot fries into this pudding, and sometimes I spoon it into baked acorn squash. Most often, I enjoy it plain.

Just writing this post is making me salivate. Thank goodness I have ripe avocados on my counter!

Have a wonderful weekend, and I'll be back later on in the week with another post.

Lots of Love,
Marlena

Cream of Carrot and Cauliflower Soup + November's Free Events

2010-11-04T02:22:00.000-07:00

Dearest Friends,

Good morning (good evening to my friends down under)! My goal of one post per week has faltered. I’m so sorry about that! Things have been uncharacteristically hectic for me. It makes me happy that things are busy, but at the same time, it makes me sad that I have been absent from blogging.

As you all know, I LOVE cooked vegetable soups (such as my Ribollita soup smothering some toasted mutli grain manna bread, pictured above). Well, a few weeks ago I promised you a new soup recipe. Today I am finally presenting it to you!

Winter soups are my favorite because they are so much fun and so easy to make. I love adding seasonings and spices to taste until I have a soup that completely satisfies what I'm desiring that particular evening.

I especially love this soup recipe because it is creamy and indulgent, but it doesn’t include any starchy vegetables like most creamy soups do. The base of this soup is cauliflower and carrot. This is awesome for myself and my food combining friends, because you can enjoy this soup as part of a starch based meal or a protein/flesh based meal.

Cream of Carrot and Cauliflower Soup

1 onion, diced

2 or 3 cloves minced garlic

1 tbsp butter or cold pressed oil (enough to coat the pan)

1 bunch of cauliflower, rinsed and chopped into florets

4 carrots, peeled and sliced

2 tsp salt (or to taste, I always add more to taste)

1 tbsp cumin

1 tbsp coriander

½ tsp turmeric (this gives the soup a nice, warm autumnal color!)

Fresh pepper to taste

In a large soup pan, saute the onion for about 10 minutes, or until the onion is translucent. Add the minced garlic on the bed of onion and push it around with a wooden spoon until the garlic is fragrant.

Add your bunch of chopped cauliflower and your carrots to the pot. Add enough water to cover the vegetables. Add the seasonings, and bring to a simmer. Once the vegetables are cooked through, turn the heat off, and let the soup cool a bit.

Once it’s cooled, add some of the soup mixture to the blender. You really want to make sure that the soup isn’t hot or even too warm when you do this, because you can easily burn your hand, so please do be careful! Blend the soup well.

Most likely, you will not be able to get all of the soup into your blender. It’s just too much soup! What I do is I get a good amount of broth, but also include most of the vegetable chunks so that I have a very creamy soup. However, I also like getting a piece of cauliflower or carrot in my soup as a fun surprise.

After you blend the mixture, add it back to the pot and stir until uniform.

Like I said, my schedule has gotten busier, so my dinners have been well after the sun goes down, which doesn’t make for the best foodie pictures.

Yes, I am aware that this photo quality is completely
unacceptable and boring!
But at least you can see the pretty color
and some spicy swirls of cumin and coriander!

I enjoyed this as - is after an avocado based salad the night that I made it. The next night, I steamed up some broccoli and added it to the leftover soup for a colorful new spin on a simple, warming, and nourishing dish.

If you or someone you love enjoys grain, this soup is great ladled over some brown rice, millet, or quinoa. It would also be delicious served up with some toasted and (organic) buttered sprouted grain bread with honey. Yum all over the place.

Remember, since this soup combines neutrally, you can enjoy it along with fish or your favorite high quality animal foods as well (such the raw goat’s cheese that’s so near and dear to my heart!).

On another note, I am thrilled to let you know about the free events being hosted at The Sunshine Center this month! Thursday, November 18th, one week before Thanksgiving we are having our first annual Vegan Harvest Potluck at 6 pm. Please come and bring your favorite vegan dish (starch - based for my Detox the World friends!).

Millet-Stuffed Winter Squash - Delicious and Gorgeous for a Thanksgiving Table!

On Saturday, November 27th, we are having another Digestive Health Seminar (back by popular demand!) pot luck style. In other words, we are inviting you to bring your favorite vegetable based dish to the seminar so you can try some delicious vegan foods while you learn all about digestion and holistic healing.

Please click here to visit the events page for more details.

Do you have any other warming recipe requests to keep you warm and toasty as the weather gets colder? A lot of people struggle in the colder months, but I’m happy to help you develop a repertoire that works best for you to stay warm, toasty, and high - vibing!

Sending you Love and peace as the holidays approach,

Marlena

More Cheesy Cauliflower Mash...with Eggplant!

2010-10-24T05:25:00.000-07:00

Happy weekend, friends!

Today I wanted to check in to leave you with a simple recipe idea that involves two of my favorite comfort recipes (see below) along with one of my all time favorite vegetables, the beautiful eggplant.

This recipe involves some sliced and grilled eggplant filled with my Cheesy Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes (I added some sundried tomatoes to this batch, for fun) and topped with my marinara sauce.

Simply heat a grill pan on medium heat, melt a little bit of organic butter or oil to prevent the eggplant slices from sticking, and grill your eggplant slices until grill marks appear.

If you are using regular dark eggplants, you'll want to slice them in half and sprinkle them with salt and let them sit for a few minutes. Once you see drops of moisture appear on top of the eggplant, simply dab at it with a paper towel. This will take a lot of the bitterness out of the eggplant.

However, if you have awesome hierloom variety baby eggplants like we do at Lancaster's farmer's market, you won't need to do that. These eggplants are not nearly as bitter.

Once the eggplants are done grilling, remove them to make a sort of eggplant quesadilla. Spoon some of the cauliflower mixture into half of the eggplant, then fold over the other half. Top this with marinara sauce. You can always add extra cheese if you'd like.

This reminds me of eggplant rollatini (sans piggie - thank goodness!), or my once beloved eggplant sandwiches on that ridiculously delicious home made foccaccia bread from Nino's (an amazing pizzeria right down the street from us that I used to frequent in my college dining days).

This is just another example of how easy it is to have delicious foods that remind you of your past with vegetable-centric cooking. It's all about the flavors, not the fried, the fat, the sugar, the processed nonsense. If you have real natural flavors, you have really good food.

I'll be back next week with a very creamy and extremely dreamy winter vegetable soup that is cauliflower and carrot based (mmmmmm). A recipe request from my friend Adrianne is what led to the creation of this concoction. Yum!

Last but not least - if you're in or around Lancaster, this Thursday, October 28th we are having a vegan potluck at The Sunshine Center at 6pm! Let me know if you'll be there.

Oh, and don't forget about Discover Detox starting on October 28th, as well! This is a wonderful opportunity to really get centered and feel amazing going into the holiday season so that you are not pulled off track by all of the stress and craziness that this time of year sometimes brings.

Have a great weekend!

Lots of Love,
Marlena

Black Futsu and Green Zebras

2010-10-13T02:28:00.000-07:00

Hello lovelies,

You all know about my love for everything seasonal. I don't know what I'd do without my two weekly trips to the farmer's market (Tuesday and Friday), or the organic stand about fifteen minutes from my office. They provide me with absolutely delicious feasts every night at low costs. No dinners feel as nourishing in my body as those that are seasonally grown.

Recently, I've fallen in love with another heirloom squash (like kabocha, also sometimes referred to as Japanese pumpkin...I do love my Asian squashes!). Last year I was all about the Chinese 5 Spiced Kabocha Squash, but since meeting the beautifully funky black futsu (pronounced fut - zoo), I've been hopelessly devoted to it. It has been my go-to starchy vegetable of the changing seasons.

Black futsus are also incredibly easy to prepare. Carefully slice them in half, seed them, and place them in a 350 oven for about 1 hour. I like to cook them with the flesh side down on a baking sheet for about 40 minutes, then flip them over to finish baking. You'll know that futsus are finished when they can be pierced with a fork.

The skin of the futsu will turn a darker brown, but that's OK. I eat the skin of these gorgeous squashes (as I do with acorn squash, which can be cooked in exactly the same way as the black futsu!).

They look like funky, wrinkly pumpkins. Like all winter squashes, they keep well on your counter for a long time, up to six months. Below is my current winter squash collection. I always have my favorites on hand!

Moving on to other heirlooms, one of my favorite salad ingredients: the tomato, is about to be done for the year. Meanwhile I'm scrounging up the last of them.

This summer I have been loving Green Zebra tomatoes. They are sweet, but not super sweet like most tomatoes. They are a bit tangy and incredibly refreshing - of course they are a beautiful addition to any dish! Below is a blurry picture of my dinner salad that was a mix of baby greens, green zebras, raw beets, turnips, carrots, lemon juice, dijon mustard, and stevia. The sun is starting to go down earlier, so if I don't get to snap the pictures before then, my picture quality is compromised.

I spent many years following recipes, spending lots of money on specialty items, and trying to mimic mainstream foods with healthier foods so that I could still feel "normal" dispite having a diet and lifestyle that many find extreme, difficult, and weird.

Interestingly enough, I don't feel that buying mostly local and organic produce is extreme or weird. If it is, that's fine with me, as I find the mainstream approach to life is extreme on the body in a negative sense (breakfast sandwiches, fruit after cooked food, mainstream hormone laden animal products, and packaged snacks with artificial additives and preservatives in them).

My meals are simple, delicious, and beautiful. They cost minimum dollars thanks to my regular trips to the farmer's market. It isn't a coincidence that what is good for the body is good for the planet and easy on the wallet, as well.

Meals like this feel like home to me.

Enjoy your day!

Love,

Marlena

P.S. - If you're interested in "listening" to me holler (sorry, I just get excited) about the importance of deep tissue cleansing, please go to my friend Lauren's site (well, one of her many sites), to read my guest post: Colonic FAQ part 1.

My Kind of Soul Food

2010-10-08T22:36:00.000-07:00

Remember in my last post when I said there would no longer be any recipes posted on The Sunny Life?

Well, disregard that, please!

Casey and I are taking a different route with our newest brainchild. Until we have navigated this, you can still expect to find the occasional featured recipe, here.

As a kid my favorite food was spaghetti and meatballs topped with my dad’s homemade sauce. Every weekend my dad would make homemade meatballs along with a big pot of what he calls gravy (tomato sauce). This would make the whole house smell AMAZING. My dad is the only person I know that is as early a riser as I am, so on Sunday mornings I would often wake up smelling this deliciousness which would result in my dreaming of dinner first thing in the morning (I often couldn't wait until dinner to sample what was cooking. I would spoon sauce into a bowl and enjoy it as a soup while it was simmering, or eat meatballs and/or sausage as well…I have always loved food, with great fervor, even in my much less health conscious days!).

Not much has changed. I still love a good, home - cooked - with - Love tomato sauce as much as I did as a kid. Now I just enjoy it without the meat, please!

It took me a long time - years, to come up with a sauce that I felt could hold a candle to my dad’s. My recipe is vegan (although it is no longer when I top my sauced veggies with goat’s cheese!), and therefore a bit less time consuming to make than more traditional sauces that use meat to add flavor. However, after much trial and error, and with a suggestion from none other than my dad, I came up with a sauce that is a little bit different, but still full of flavor and immensely satisfying. I have even managed to get the color and consistency down perfectly!

While my dad uses dried herbs (which works great for slow cooking sauces), I use fresh basil, but still dried thyme and oregano simply because I don’t always have these herbs fresh on hand. Fresh basil is like air to me so this is rarely a problem.

Marlena’s Marinara

FYI - I eyeball all of the seasonings in this recipes and adjust to taste. It's part of the fun!

1 can whole peeled tomateos (28 oz)

1 can crushed tomatoes (28 oz)…this is what I usually use, but today I used diced fire roasted for fun!

½ tbsp crushed red pepper flakes (adjust to taste)

1 tsp sea salt (adjust to taste)

HUGE handful of fresh basil (about 1-2 cups, packed)

3 or 4 carrots, peeled and chopped into 2 inch long chunks

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried thyme

1 medium sized yellow onion

3 gloves minced garlic

Just enough extra virgin olive oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan (it is best to use minimal amounts of cooked oil for health reasons)

Put the whole peeled tomatoes and fresh basil in a blender and blend until smooth. Set aside. Heat a big pasta pot over medium low heat and pour oil into pot. Dice the onion and throw into the oil. Cook about 10 minutes, or until the onion is translucent.

Add the minced garlic, dried oregano, and thyme. The onion will act as a bed for the garlic so that the garlic doesn’t burn (burnt garlic is very bitter and will ruin any dish). Push the onion and garlic around until you can smell the garlic. Mmmmmm

Add the crushed tomatoes and stir, followed by the blended tomato and basil mixture. Now add the crushed red pepper and sea salt. Stir. Keep the burner on medium/low heat.

Add the carrots.

Once it starts to simmer, put it on low heat. You want to leave it on low heat for at least 30 - 45 minutes.

At this point the herbs should have worked their magic and the sauce should be at a nice consistency and you can spoon it over some whole grain pasta (such as spelt, kamut, or quinoa pastas), some spiralized zucchini, beet, or butternut pasta, wild fish, or your favorite steamed vegetables. Topping my favorite steamed veggies with my marinara and raw goat’s cheese is my version of food heaven!

The myriad ways you can utilize a good homemade tomato sauce is exactly why so many refer to it as gravy, instead of sauce!

The carrots are my favorite part of this recipe. This was my dad’s suggestion to cut out some acidity from the tomatoes without adding sugar. The carrots also soak up all of the delicious flavor from the sauce and are a delicious side all on their own. However, another reason why I love the carrots so much is because when I add them as two inch chunks like this, they remind me of the meat I used to enjoy as my afternoon Sunday snack and along with so many of my home cooked dinners. My parents worked long hours and home cooked dinners usually happened in the form of leftovers from the weekend. The great thing about home cooked tomato sauces is that they only get better the longer they sit.

Although my dinner choices have changed QUITE a bit since that time, my love for delicious food has not changed at all. I still love my spaghetti sauce and treasure my memories of home cooked dinners in N.J.

What is my favorite dessert after this decadent meal, you ask? Um, Chocolate Cheesecake Crack a la Jen Bloom of course (1 sqaure of chocolate, 1 equally sized slice of raw goat cheese with 3 or 4 drops of vanilla stevia = heaven)!

Who said eating healthfully means giving up treasured traditions and tantalizing taste? Not me!

What are your favorite dinner memories from childhood? What is your kind of soul food?

Have a wonderful weekend, and prepare your food with some Love!

Lots of Love,
Marlena (and Nanji, who is sleeping and purring in my lap as I write this! Adorable!)

Surprise!

2010-10-02T02:47:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

I hope you like the new look of "The Sunny Life"! I figured it was finally time to get a special header designed, so here she is!

I have a few announcements to make (reminds me of my school teacher days!):

1. Potluck #1 at The Sunshine Center was a GREAT success! We had so much fun together. It was great conversation and lots of beautiful vegetable dishes that I unfortunately forgot to photograph. Next time around I'll be more camera ready, but last Tuesday I was more focused on conversation with awesome people that I don't get to see very often (and a few new friends!).

2. My friend Jamie and I are not only going to be hosting monthly potlucks together, but also FREE monthly classes at The Sunshine Center! Last month we had our digestive health seminar, which was wonderful (a woman actually told us it was the most worthwhile two and a half hours of her life!). This month, the class will be held on Thursday, October 21st at 6pm and will be called "Detox Your Life". This is a class about detoxification (clearly!). We'll be talking about EVERYTHING pertaining to detoxification. Bring your questions! We love to answer them.

3. Discover Detox starts up again on October 28th!!! You can register online today by clicking here. If you've purchased "2 Weeks 2 A New You" and are looking for more support, education, recipes, and meal ideas, then registering is probably a wonderful idea for you. Please email me at marlena.torres@gmail.com if you have questions.

4. "2 Weeks 2 A New You" is getting great feedback! Casey and I took all of the detox essentials and made it as simple and easy to apply as possible for you, while also providing delicious meal plans that support detoxification. The result is a lovely eBook that we are both very excited and honored to present to you. You can grab your copy for only $12.99!!!

5. If you have not joined my email newsletter list but would like to be a part of the exclusive special offers that I email my client base, please do not hesitate to sign up! My special offers are often applicable to my worldwide clients as well as local as I offer my eBooks, nutritional consults, and follow up consults at special prices as well.

I apologize for not posting as regularly. Things have been a bit busy over here especially now that we're making Sunshine Juices (at least) twice a week! We are so happy to be providing this service, but it is time consuming, so it's taken a lot of my focus away from the blog world.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! What have you all been eating lately? What do you want to eat this weekend? Let me know! This week I have allotted some kitchen play time that will for sure be featured on our new brainchild. :)

Love and green juice,
Marlena

2 Week Cleanse E-book Now Available!

2010-09-23T03:03:00.000-07:00

Hi friends!

I just wanted to let you all know that my new ebook co-authored with Casey Thomas is now available for purchase! Some of you already know about this, and for some this is news! Either way, I hope you enjoy it.

This two week cleanse focuses on on raw juices, salads, and cooked vegetable dishes that are delicious and satisfying but highly cleansing for the body. The recipes are simple yet succulent - perfect for the busy modern day lifestyle.

Whether you are totally new to cleansing or an experienced detoxer, our ebook will be of service to you. It is not just recipes but also plenty of information on detoxification and how the body is always attempting to rejuvenate itself on a daily basis (and how a cleanse such as the one laid out in this book helps the body do just that), and also plenty of recipes that are so unbelievably good, you will want to use them long after the cleanse is over.

This ebook is available for $12.99, however, if you are a client, keep your eye open for a special offer in your inboxes. I want you all to have a special rate!

It is important to note that this cleanse does not utilize any creams, herbs you have to put under your tongue, or oils on your eyeballs. This cleanse will CLEANSE your body when utilized as we suggest in the book. Cleansing is not ethereal. You will feel it! While (mostly superficial and inefficient methods of) cleansing, detoxing, and juice fasting seem to have become the new fad diets among the mainstream (often times to simply cover up what actually is restrictive eating, binge eating, or a desire for "quick and easy" weight loss), this is not that type of cleanse. This is a cleanse that will deliver results that will last, and myriad of inexpensive and lush recipes to savor beyond the cleansing time.

If you are interested in my guidance as a nutritional counselor along with doing this cleanse, please contact me at marlena.torres@gmail.com for a discounted rate (I do consults in-person and over the phone). I'm thrilled to be of service to you all.

Thank you all for your reading, interest, and support!

So much Love to you all,

Marlena

Happy September

2010-09-11T04:28:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

Whoa - longest blogging hiatus ever! My apologies for my absence. I’ve been otherwise occupied (and totally overwhelmed with work projects, etcetera) reading books such as this one:

enjoying delicious organic salads such as this one:

And eating delicious chocolates from my lovely friend Tiffany at Oasis. If you haven’t had her dark decadence bar, you must try it. Her chocolate is beyond delicious, and quite special.

I have a lot of things going on right now that I'm really excited about. Check out my “Detox Online!“ tab on my website and also the events tab on this blog and my website. We are marking the start of a free monthly class (among other events) at The Sunshine Center. As I'm sure you all know by now, The Juicy Life starts on Monday. Contact Casey or myself ASAP to register!

Please email me if you’d like to be added to my email list so I can keep you in the loop as to what’s going on out our way!

Summer into autumn is my favorite time of year. There's been more chill in the air than usual for this time of year in Lancaster, but I’m not complaining. I quite enjoy weather that leaves me comfortable is a sweatshirt, sweatpants and socks with all windows open and fresh air flowing in!

I hope that you all had wonderful summers. Mine surely was wonderful. When trying to think of what to write up as my first blog post in about a month, I was at a loss. Finally I figured why not count what I’m grateful for? Here’s a quick re-cap on what brought a smile to my face this summer:

1. Of course I’ve got to start with the food. If there are food-stuffs out there that can rival a Lancaster organic heirloom tomato, bring it to me! I’ll have my doubts! In these past months I have professed my love for Lancaster more times than I can count. I am so grateful to have access to such inexpensive, local and organic produce. Those of us in this area are sooo incredibly fortunate. If you buy a tomato from a mainstream grocery store this time of year, or even from a health food store for that matter…don’t even talk to me! (Just kidding, send me your address and we’ll see if we can ship you some of this amazing heirlooms I’ve been getting from a produce stand about 15 minutes away from my office at $1 per pound. No kidding.)

The tree in our back yard (which provided me great shade for deck rebounding in the blazing summer sun)

2. My Mother Land. Ok, maybe it’s not my REAL mother land in NJ, but my home and the land surrounding our house. This land has been special to me for the past 4+ years I have lived here, but this summer - something has made it extra special. It just feels safe and cozy to me, and it’s nice to have a home away from home after many years of college apartment misery (with some exceptions!).

My friends at the Millersville pond (who I see on my usual walk-route)! Adorable!

3. Raw goat’s cheese. Yup I said it! I don’t know what I’d do without this stuff. I would otherwise have a difficult time with this whole raw food/cleansing lifestyle without my raw cheddar style from Shiloh Farms and Misty Creek Goat Dairy, among others (Lancaster is also in the know regarding raw goat cheeses of all kinds). I love it plain, sliced in cabbage wraps, with chocolate for dessert, grated on my salads and sprinkled on my steamed vegetables. It’s one of those things that, although it is an animal food, reminds me of the importance of conscious indulgence in one’s life. I love my avocados with ferocity (what salad lover doesn’t?), but raw goat cheddar holds a special place in my heart, too.

4. My family! This includes everyone from Enrrico to my parents, to my brother, to my friends who ARE family to me (you know exactly who you are!) to my cousins, to my pets.

My new favorite of the two boys. Do you you think it's cute overload worthy?

First off- Enrrico and I are self-proclaimed pet dorks. I love my pets like they are human babies, and I see nothing wrong with this. They remind me of what unconditional love is (Don Miguel Ruiz actually uses the love of a dog to illustrate unconditional love in his book “The Mastery of Love”), and what it’s like to be wild and free (albeit in an unnatural environment). They remind me to soak up the sun, breath in the fresh air, play, cuddle, and eat with enthusiasm and gusto. They never forget that they are first and foremost natural creatures, and therefore are proving to be great teachers for me at this time in my life.

Miss Peanut, who turned 7 on September 6th. See, pet dork! :)

My family goes without saying, without their support and belief in me, I wouldn’t be blogging or doing this work. I’d be thoroughly convinced I have absolutely nothing important to say. A couple of very pretty ladies have a lot to do with that, too. Again, I’m sure you know exactly who you are. You need to get your own blogs to speak your brilliant thoughts and so I can link your blogs to these sentences (hee-hee).

5. All of you. I’ve corresponded with many of you despite my lack of blogging and that always makes me happy. Trust that I count myself fortunate for finding so many wonderful and inspiring friends through the internet. I’ve kept up with reading and commenting on many other blogs,too, as I really was more of a reader than writer these past few months and have just been trying to keep my days as peaceful as possible amidst the flurry of work, clients, Norwalk-juicing, and spending time with my family. Few things feel more unnatural to me than forced writing, so I just couldn’t bring myself to push it.

I guess forced anything is pretty unnatural, right?

On another note…my friend Lauren DeYenno has started an amazing new website: The Cancer Squad! Plain and simple, Lauren is sick and tired of people suffering from cancer! Many people suffer due to ignorance, and Lauren is doing everything in her power to make sure that people need not be ignorant anymore. You must check it out, and keep your eyes peeled for new posts (by yours truly among others such as my good Aussie friend you already know all about!)). Rest assured I’ll be alerting you via my facebook page (...so please "like" to stay updated) whenever something new is posted.

I think we’ve all been affected by cancer in one way or another. Cancer is simply mirroring toxic modern living to us. The “cure” for cancer has been found, it’s called living as close to nature as possible. The sooner we move towards a way of living that honors life (a brilliant idea, don’t you think?), the sooner cancer will become something that people experienced once upon a time, not present day.

I believe in a future where LIFE is the priority for the majority, not money, destruction, and production. A future where humans honor life and not power/money is really the only kind of future that is even possible for us. I don’t hope for this, I don’t dream about this in vain, I’m working as hard as I can to do everything I can to make it a reality. I hope you’ll join me at the level that feels right to you in your heart so that we can regain health, life, and love for human beings and this planet.

With Love and Life,

Marlena

Binge Eating and Oppression

2010-08-20T01:35:00.000-07:00

Following is an article on the roots of binge eating by my good friend, Denise Seyler. Denise has offered me so many amazing thoughts and brilliant guidance that I would never have been exposed to had I never met her, and I am truly grateful to be exposed to her knowledge.

I hope that what she has written here resonates with you. My opinion is that what is behind binge eating, restrictive eating, and pretty much all modern habits, norms and standards of eating run very deep. This can be a dark and difficult road to navigate…we do need to start somewhere in order to gain a sense of what exactly is going on in our minds and in our hearts when we engage in self-destructive eating patterns, and all other forms of self-destructive patterns.

Denise gets to the heart of it here, I think. Read, enjoy, and let me know what you think! - Marlena

I think the most important thing to remember when it comes to binge eating is that we have to be compassionate with ourselves. Most people do suffer from some kind of disordered eating due to the way we’ve been trained to view food, our environment and the way we’ve been taught to systematically numb our emotions through the use of food, alcohol, drugs, and constant stimulation. We weren’t taught to listen to our bodies and to question authority figures. We were taught how to best serve an oppressive system, where becoming the norm is your job, your duty, your function and productivity is the number one goal. It’s no wonder that as a society we engage in such self-sabotaging behaviors since, in the short term, they feel like an escape, entertainment, a way to let loose and have fun. All addictive and harmful behavior that we partake in is, in my opinion, connected to a desire to destroy – to destroy the ugliness (the oppression) that we experience. What I believe happens along the way is that we start to feel an uneasiness, we start to feel anger, and we start to realize that something is not quite right. Something inside of us starts screaming and demanding for the truth because at some level we know that what we are being told about life just can’t be so. I think we start to get to a point where we recognize that we are compromising…compromising our vitality, our relationships, our whole existence. We know that something needs to change, we need to change, transform, create and feel life, become life. This is an extremely painful experience to go through.

What I have discovered with my own binge eating (which I do fall prey to from time to time) is that it provides me with a false sense of control because it is a behavior that I can always change, modify and turn into whatever I want. Although I may feel out of control while bingeing, another part of me feels satisfied because I am not feeling exposed, raw, or on the verge of breaking down. At the very least, it keeps me from dealing with the bigger societal issues that affect all of us such as racism, sexism, classism and all the other isims. Although I am continually trying to discover what feels right for me, to face the darkness and come out even stronger than before, sometimes it just feels too overwhelming and this is definitely a trigger for me. I am learning to recognize it for what it is.

I think what is most important is for us to realize that we are not the problem, we are not inadequate or inferior. Yes, we are responsible for our actions and fully capable of changing our reality, but we need to be patient with ourselves because we have suffered years of abuse from living in an oppressive system. We need to love ourselves and know that we are powerful beyond our dreams – that we can go within, face our fears, our pain, our utter desperation and fight – fight for ourselves and all of humanity.

Exercising Independently

2010-08-11T13:03:00.000-07:00

If I’ve learned one thing, it is that not thinking for ourselves is the perfect way to imprison our minds and spirits. It recently dawned on me that if I cannot even rely on my own mind to decide how I should move my body, then I must be pretty dumb.

The truth is, I’m not dumb, but I am kind of programmed to think that others know what is best for me. Especially in my younger years, I was the kind of person who would ask everybody their opinion about something before I would make my decision (always hesitantly). Still, I usually play around with other people’s ideas to see how they work for me. The difference between then and now is that eventually I always go back to what I know is actually in my best interest and feels best to me.
Growing up I always thought that workouts need to be unpleasant in order to be effective. The truth is, I never saw much change in my body from my workouts, no matter how easy or tough they were. For me, my food choices have always been the only thing that would bring me change in weight: not working out and focus on the burn.

With that being said, from what I’ve learned and studied (and just based on personal experience) I know that exercise (for me, daily exercise) is not optional. This doesn’t mean that I work out in a structured manner every day. I’m human. I get busy, and very often my workouts get pushed aside in lieu of making sure I have my green juice, my gorgeous, organic green salads, and a healthy meal for my husband (and pets) as well. Some days things get so hectic with work and managing my other priorities that I don’t manage to work out, but that does not happen often.

The reason why is simple. Working out for me is BLISSFUL.

I used to run for catharsis. Feeling my feet pound on the pavement and running uphill were great forms of release for me. Now when I run, it is never on the pavement (always on Mother Earth, she loves my bones, joints, and organs far more than pavement I am convinced!), and I usually experience moments of pure euphoria during my jogs.

My jogs of yester-year and my jogs of now are two completely different experiences (and yes, euphoria is different than a “runner‘s high“…I experience a lightness and a joy that I never felt in my previous years of jogging). Another huge difference is that when I break to walk, I don’t beat myself up about it. I walk when it feels right, and I jog when it feels right. More often than not, walk/jogs, as opposed to just walking, or just jogging, feel really perfect to me.

I haven’t entered a gym in years. I would sooner eat a cookie than enter a gym, that’s how acidic I consider them. No offense to those of you who love gyms, (as this post is all about figuring out what works best for each of us individually) it is just that there is nothing about them that resonates with me anymore.

A few years ago, however, I could be found on the elliptical and in the tanning beds…so trust me, there is no judgment here! I am just reflecting on how my approach to exercise has changed.

The only indoor exercise I currently do is rebounding in my home during the winter (when it’s warm enough out I roll her out onto my deck so I can breath in the fresh air during my jumps), and yoga at my local vinyasa studio, Evolution Power Yoga (I love this place!).

I acknowledge that fresh air is an imperative piece of my personal workout puzzle. Yes, I do feel it if my main form of exercise that week has been indoor yoga rather than rebounding on my deck, walk/jogging, or alternatively, doing yoga on my deck under my beloved backyard tree (LOVE LOVE LOVE that tree !). The benefit of fresh air in these lungs is never underestimated!

Heated yoga implies recycled air which is not ideal. However, I really love the energy of Evolution Power Yoga, I learn a great deal from and am very inspired by the amazing teachers and the students who attend. I feel such a great energy every time I step into the studio, even if I‘m just delivering juices to them, (rather than attending class)! So, I go to Evolution two or three times a week for a vinyasa class, and I love every single second of it.

I also love every single second of my personal workout schedule. Whether it is yoga at Evolution or on my deck, rebounding, pilates (I also do this without a dvd, but I used videos/dvds for years), walking, jogging, or playing tennis (I enjoy hitting tennis balls against the wall at MU’s tennis court occasionally), I am enjoying how I move my body, and I am empowered by making my own choices regarding how I move my body.

I’m not suggesting that you cannot follow other people’s suggestions…I’m just saying, take it for what it is…a SUGGESTION. There is no rule that says to be buff we need to have a gym membership, or if we want to be a good raw foodist we need to do yoga and rebound every day. I move my body because without movement, I don’t feel as good, and when I’m really tuned into what my body needs, exercise turns into a completely mood altering and life enhancing practice that is no less sacred to me than my green juice.

Being in a place where I can write this post makes me very happy. I remember a time, early in my days with raw foods and juicing, that I didn’t work out at all. I felt so much better just from eating cleaner, but now, my body needs movement like it needs her greens. Years before that, I worked out because I was scared of becoming fat and didn't really enjoy the process. I kept myself pent up in gyms, but now would never do this to my body because it makes me so unhappy.

I think this is all wonderful.

So what are your thoughts about exercise? Do you have any personal stories or questions about exercise? So many people take a self-punishing approach to it, and this approach is often taken unconciously. I don’t think that exercise as catharsis is a bad thing, just something we could be conscious of. When I was working out for these reasons, it would have served me better to analyze what all of that pent up negative energy was about. Then I could have found a way to change things so that my exercise could have been more about building up great energy and supplying a great flow of life force, as opposed to pummeling out negativity by punishing my body.

My workouts from last week: (In case anyone cares! This is all by memory...completely related to how I felt that day)

Monday- Rebounding (for those who do not know what “rebounding“ is, it is jumping on a mini trampoline), 30 - ish minutes (I time this by the songs I listen to on my ipod)

Tuesday - Rebounding, 20ish minutes and some yoga at home (sun salutations and other favorite poses which include, crow into headstand…which I’m getting really good at, and half pigeon)

Wednesday - Cleaned my house like a banshee (is that a word?)….but didn’t get into any “official” exercise

Thursday - Yoga at my office for about 20ish minutes…mostly sun salutations and headstands

Friday - 2 yoga classes! It was great, the 60 minute 7 am class really was harder than the more vigorous 90 minute 9:15 class because it had been a week since I’d been to class. Love Love Love.

Saturday- 30 minutes on the rebounder while listening/watching to Lady Gaga on Youtube and wondering if anyone else is thinking “Is she purposefully trying to look/dress/dance so much like Madonna?" Alejandro is catchy though, not gonna lie!

On another note, if you have read my blog more than once, chances are you’ve heard of a beautiful thing called NuNaturals Stevia! If you are like me, you stock up on this stuff and make sure you never run out. I honestly feel nothing but love and gratitude for this amazing stuff every day because it makes my life that much more sweet and delicious (sigh).

Some of my favorite stevia - sweetened desserts!

I mention this because my friend Lauren is doing a NuNaturals Stevia giveaway! You must enter this! FREE STEVIA! Who doesn’t want extra sweetness in their life?

You’ll also want to check out Lauren's blog, Diary of a Nutritionist for her awesome recipes and extremely well written and researched articles!

Happy Wednesday Sunshine Friends... and Happy 24th Birthday to my brother!

Marlena

All About My New Ebook

2010-07-31T03:46:00.000-07:00

Hey friends! I hope that some of you have plans on trying cauliflower mashed "potatoes" this weekend.

So now, all about my first ebook:

This is a great ebook with awesome workouts from Bex that will benefit everyone. However, it is important for me to note that this diet is not a low sugar/yeast starving diet! I want to mention this because I know that many women who read my blog are dealing with specific health issues in which there is a yeast overgrowth in the system that needs to be eradicated.

This doesn't mean that the ebook will not serve you, I would simply omit most fruits in the meal plan and replace it with extra green juice sweetened with stevia (check out my facebook page update from Wednesday to see my current favorite stevia-sweetened greens with lemon and ginger juice), and after dinner have some other sugar free or low sugar dessert such as dark chocolate.

On the other hand, Casey Thomas and I are working on a two week cleanse ebook that is specific for weight loss issues that are related to yeast. This is a really great cleanse and approach, but not too extreme. We provide tons of sugar free and low sugar meal ideas and desserts, and think you'll find it a great addition to your standard repertiore, whatever that may be.

Only through the end of today, my 7-Day Jumpstart Ebook will be available for only $7.99. Trust me, this is a steal for the content offered! The ebook includes 7 days of EXCLUSIVE workouts by Bex and 7 days of planned out meals (and plenty of new recipes along with some old favorites) by me.

You can purchase the ebook through this blog (see "Ebooks" tab or the Paypal icon to the right), and The Sunshine Center website.

After today the ebook will be available for regular price, which is $9.99.

I hope you give our 7 Day Jumpstart a try. I think you'll be happy with what we put together for you!

Happy Weekend!
Marlena

Spotlight on Discover Detox and Cheesy Mashed “Potatoes”

2010-07-28T18:16:00.000-07:00

Hey lovelies! So sorry for the blog hiatus! I hope you are all having an enjoyable July. It’s been a sizzling hot one in Lancaster.

I have a double whammy planned for you today since it has been nearly two weeks since my last post. Today I’m going to write a bit about the program Discover Detox that Casey Thomas and I developed together, and after that, I’m going to share with my favorite new steamed vegetable recipe.

I really wanted to take the time to write about Discover Detox because this is truly a unique and special program in many ways.

Casey and I have both spent a lot of time throughout our lives dieting and learning the hard (and lonely) way how to eat well and feel good in our own skin. Through Discover Detox, we basically are providing allotted time throughout the year for a group of individuals who are sincerely interested in transitioning to a diet that works WITH their body, not against it. Here is what makes Discover Detox so unique:

Discover Detox tailors to individual needs - This is not a quick-fix program and there is no gimmicks or extremes involved promising dramatic results. This is not a raw food, vegan, or vegetarian regime. We provide two separate levels so that your general needs and guidelines are established and are available for support throughout the program so that you are getting exactly what you need to progress. We even have an option available for those of you who would like a private counseling session with either Casey or I during the three week program. Your success is of the highest importance to us.

Discover Detox provides personal contact (daily) - Through daily emails we provide personal contact with all Discover Detox members to ensure that everyone is supported, encouraged, and motivated to take the next step towards a better life experience. We realize that so much of eating better is simply changing ones attitude and approach to food. Having support and guidance every day from two ladies who have been there has proven to be incredibly helpful for those who have participated in this program in the past.

Discover Detox provides plenty of living foods and enzymes while also providing extensive information regarding the necessity of cooked vegetables and cleansing modalities to ensure a true cleanse (not a potential cleanse, which is entirely different) - Unlike many raw and vegan/vegetarian plans and diets, we do not adhere to a set of rules or dogmatic principles to achieve success. There are many people who simply will not respond well to a vegan diet…their bodies will swell and have a difficult time releasing weight. We take this into account with our plans. The path to health is clean cells and this path is never the same for everyone. So we provide the best guidance we can through the incorporation of Nature’s highest form of absorbable nutrition and plenty of leafy green salads and raw vegetables, along with cooked vegetables and plenty of education regarding cleansing and detoxification so that the process is approached and implemented intelligently.

When cleansing is approached this way, it is a truly life-changing experience!

Discover Detox addresses the emotional and psychological aspects of cleansing -

Again, since we’ve been there, we know what it feels like to go to a party and be the only person who won’t be drinking margaritas and eating hamburgers, ice cream, and pizza. We realize that as we remove stimulating foods from the diet, we may begin to feel more vulnerable or stressed out in social situations. While we make every attempt to avoid these situations through approaching cleansing intelligently on the physiological plane, we realize that emotional and psychological issues still may arise during the three week period. We utilize our avenues of communication through buddy systems and contact with both Casey and myself along with journaling and self reflection in order to make sure this is tended to.

Discover Detox acknowledges the importance of transition and maintenance for long-term success- We include plenty of detoxification education and lots of recipes that you can carry with you throughout your long-term journey for long term success. We do this because we acknowledge that without a plan that is sustainable past three weeks, lasting change is slim to none.

These five reasons that make our worldwide program so unique is why this program is ideal for literally everyone from the die-hard cell cleanser, to someone who is eating burgers and cookies for lunch. Due to the non-dogmatic and intelligently implemented cleansing principles, we can make sure that anyone who participates will experience pleasurable changes that they would feel no reason or desire to abandon after the cleanse is over.

We also have recently implemented an annual membership for this program. This means that you pay one fee of $209 US dollars or $246 Australian dollars in order to participate in all four live groups throughout the year. This is such a great deal for those of you who truly desire lasting change and freedom within your body. It is possible and it IS within reach! It just takes incentive and the acknowledgement that your health is worth setting aside this time once every three months in order to check in with yourself and make sure that you are making yourself a priority.

Remember that our bodies are our temples. If we do not watch over what we consume and are exposed to, it will break down rather rapidly. When using Discover Detox to set aside time to honor your body, we promise that you will be far better off for it.

If you have any questions about Discover Detox, please contact me by email (marlena.torres@gmail.com) or phone (60-634-3768), whichever is more convenient for you.

On the other hand, here is a creamy dreamy Discover Detox-worthy recipe that I am dying to share with you!

Cheesy Mashed “Potatoes”

Half of a head of cauliflower

1/3 cup grated raw goat cheese (I really like Shiloh Farm's Sharp Cheddar style with this particular recipe)

1tsp Italian herbamare

Place cauliflower in boiling water and cook until it can be pierced with a fork. Remove the cauliflower from the pot with a slotted spoon and place in the food processor. Sprinkle the cheese and herbamare on top of the cauliflower, and process until smooth like mashed potatoes.

I placed mine on top of some roasted peppers one night, and steamed spinach another night (some grated beets from my salad got mixed in, turning them pink!). Each night I enjoyed it alongside a raw goat’s cheese and greens salad with my favorite summer veggies: lemon cucumber, heirloom tomato, fresh garlic, and grated beet.

I REALLY hope that you try the cheesy mashed “potatoes”. I made some for my parents the other night and even my Dad was sold on them!

I am just loving all kinds of new steamed vegetable variations these days. What are your favorite ways to enjoy steamed veggies? Let me know so I can get cookin'!

Have a great weekend everyone.

Love and steamed veg,

Marlena :)

Vegetable - Based Dressings to Share

2010-07-17T11:34:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone's weekend is off to a good start!

My day started off with some conov with a fantastic client of mine, and some yoga afterwards. Then I went to Central Market, and got some local organic heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, bi-color corn, golden beets, jalapenos, and salad greens. Needless, to say, I cannot wait for dinner today! I love making special things on the weekends. I'll probably make a hot sauce with the jalapenos and truly decadent salads for Enrrico and I. I also have half of a GORGEOUS heirloom zucchini in the fridge that I will probably steam with some garlic, organic butter, and sea salt for dinner.

Enough about my day...on to the recipes! One of my promises to clients and friends is that I will be delivering more vegetable-based dressings on this blog. So here is my start.

The first dressing came as a result of my desiring cheese and avocado in one dinner (a food combining no-no). I RARELY use nutritional yeast (it never quells a true hankering for cheese for me), but in this case I figured I'd put some of it to use.

Cheesy Zucchini Dressing

2 cups zucchini, cubed (you can peel it if you'd like, but I liked the light green color the peel provided the dressing

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 tsp Italian Herbamare

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

Blend!

Here it is on top of my avocado and tomato salad. It was delicious!

This next dressing is quite unseasonal. I've been yearning for fall, I cannot lie. As much as I love embracing each season and what it offers us, these past few weeks (and by weeks, I guess I mean MONTH) have been so oppressively hot that I find myself day dreaming of fall. So I picked up a butternut squash at the health food store. I thought I would end up baking it, but the idea of baked anything (with the exception of my macaroons!) is totally unappealing in this heat. So raw butternut squash dressing was born.

Raw Butternut Squash Dressing

2 cups cubed butternut squash (I peel my butternut squash with a vegetable peeler, I think it is easier than using a knife)

1 garlic clove

1/2 lemon, juiced

2/3 cup water

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp sea salt

stevia to taste (optional)

Blend all ingredients together. The truth is, if you want this dressing to be super creamy, try steaming or baking the squash. I really loved it as is, but cooking the squash is an option of course. Cooking the squash would actually be ideal if you do not have a Blend-Tec or Vitamix blender.

I used this dressing to top a salad of greens, avocado, tomato, and butternut squash pasta. Simple and YUM!

The seasonings in both of these dressings can be adjusted to suit your taste. These dressings are mild, meant to accent really decadent, meal-worthy salads, but who's to say that they cannot be spicier or cheesier, if that is your desire?

Any other recipe requests? I'm happy to appease your palettes! Let me know what you want to see on here, Sunshine friends!!!

XO,

Marlena

Some Updates and Recipes Coming Soon!

2010-07-16T17:29:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

Wow, it has been way too long since I've blogged. Its not that I don't care about you all, I've just been a bit overwhelmed lately. But now I have a few updates I'd like to share!

First off, I want to remind you all of the FREE Telelass that Casey and I are hosting this coming Thursday the 22nd. If you cannot listen in on the call live, you can still listen to a recording. Please email me with the word "Teleclass" in the subject heading if you are interesting in tuning in or being sent the link to listen to the recorded call at a later time.

Our next installment of Discover Detox starts on August 5th! I'm incredibly excited for this group. If you have ANY questions, do not hesitate to email or call me. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. If you are interested in this program, I encourage you to listen in to the free teleclass so you can learn more about our approach to cleansing.

We are also now offering an annual membership for the Discover Detox program, just like we are with The Juicy Life program. This is a WONDERFUL opportunity for those of you who really desire a healthy, high-raw, whole foods diet, but feel as though you need support throughout the year to keep you on track. Casey and I are always adding new things and naturally our perspective and understanding of the cleansing process changes as we go along on our own personal paths, so each and every installment of this program changes and becomes more special each time. Again, please contact me if you are interested in this but have questions!

My ebook with Rebekah of Bexlife.com will be available for purchase on my website and this blog on June 21st for only $9.99! This is quite a steal for what we are offering. With this ebook you will have 7 days of meal plans and recipes by me and workout videos by Bex.

If you are in Lancaster, you can now buy fresh pressed enzyme and nutrient rich vegetable juices at my most favorite yoga studio in the world, Evolution Power Yoga! Enrrico and I are absolutely THRILLED to be offering our juices at this studio that is so near and dear to my heart. The juices offered at Evolution are 8 ounces, and are being sold for $5. As of now we are offering two blends:

The Sunshine Elixir- Carrot, Romaine, Spinach, Kale, and Parsley
Sunshine Lemonade - Cucumber, Celery, Romaine, Spinach, Kale, Parsley, Apple, and Lemon

Today I handed out samples of the Elixir after Kim's 9:15 class and everyone loved it! We sold out of our first batch of juices already, so Enrrico and I are going to be up bright and early tomorrow making our second batch of juices. Tomorrow, if you are in Lancaster, I hope to see you at the 9:15 class. I will be speaking briefly about the juices prior to class and then handing out samples of Sunshine Lemonade afterwards!

I cannot imagine a greater start to your weekend than a sweaty vinyasa followed by fresh, organic living juice! This is my favorite way to start EVERY day, so we are so excited to be able to offer these juices to you so you can replenish (especially in this heat) after a challenging yoga class.

The Sunshine Center will also be sending out a monthly newsletter. Please email me if you'd like to be added to our contact list if you are not already a client, or simply type in your email in the box on the right of this blog.

If you haven't "liked" The Sunshine Center on facebook, please click here to do so! I will be posting about an organic gardening seminar that will be held on August 14, and a Digestive Health Seminar that will also be held in August that I will be co-hosting with my intelligent and compassionate friend, colon hydrotherapist and detox specialist in training, Jamie Leedom.

On top of all of this, my dear, dear friend Casey and I have LOTS of projects that we are working on that we cannot wait to unveil to all of you. Stay tuned friends!!!

Oh...and I have two delicious and so simple to throw together vegetable based dressing recipes that I'll be sharing with you tomorrow, so stay tuned for that, too!

Have a gorgeous weekend, and come to Evolution tomorrow morning!!!

Love and Sunshine Juice,
Marlena

Discover Detox in 5 Steps - Please Join Casey and I for a FREE Teleclass!

2010-07-08T13:25:00.000-07:00

Happy Thursday evening!

Today I want to let you know about a teleclass that Casey and I are doing together on July 22nd titled "Discover Detox in 5 Steps". You can check it out on Facebook and RSVP here.

We have had such great groups and wonderful feedback regarding our programs Discover Detox, and The Juicy Life, that we wanted to offer this free call to all of you so you can hear all about the most simplified ways to cleanse the body and experience relief from symptoms at no charge!!!

As you all know from reading our blogs (and as you especially know if you are one of the many who have participated in our programs!), Casey and I are incredibly passionate about this lifestyle and the amazing rewards it offers. Most people think that in order to maintain a level of superior health, socializing, dining out, and enjoying delicious flavors that you've enjoyed throughout your life need to be forgotten. This simply isn't so! If it was, it is doubtful I would be able to maintain this way of living.

If you are keen to learn more about these 5 steps, and hear our personal stories of how they have worked for us and transformed our lives, then you can sign up for the free teleclass by emailing me (marlena.torres@gmail.com). Please put "Teleclass Signup" in the Subject heading of your email.

The details of the teleclass are:

Date: Thursday July 22, 2010

Time: 7am US EST, 7pm AWST, 9pm AEST, 12 noon GBT

Duration: 60-90 minutes

Dial in details: The teleclass will require you to dial a US based number. If you are outside of the US or if you do not have a free US Nationwide calling plan, we recommend you purchase a phone card to ensure the call cost is very low.

Please note that the teleclass will be recorded so if you can not make the call at the scheduled time, you can still sign up to listen to the recording in your own time.

To sign up, please email me with "Telclass Signup" in the subject heading of your email.

You will be contacted by email with the teleclass dial in number and passcode closer to the time.

We look forward to sharing our 5 steps with you so that you experience even greater health and vitality!

Have a great end to your week and a relaxing weekend!

XO,

Marlena

Independence Day

2010-07-03T17:29:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July weekend, everyone!

I don’t have any new recipes for you today, but I did want to remind you of some previously posted recipes that would work great for a picnic.

There is of course guacamole, which can be served as a salad, with crudite, romaine and cabbage leaves, and some Guiltless Gourmet Blue Corn Chips:

Gazpacho, the most perfect summer soup. Ever.

Olive and Sun-dried Tomato Tapenade:

Simple Goat Cheese Salads:

Grilled Veggie and Goat Cheese Salad with Dijon Mustard Vinaigrette

The Pizza Salad

Or a simple fresh fruit plate, which is always good on a hot day.

Picnics and gatherings in general are always a much discussed topic amongst the health-conscious. Independence Day is no exception. However, rather than looking at this as another stressful and awkward social situation where you will be forced to nibble on crudites from a veggie tray picked up in haste, be a real patriot and embrace your culinary independence this year!

If someone makes a comment about a dish you bring to a picnic, or asks you why you aren’t digging into the hot dogs and hamburgers, try not to shy away from explaining yourself. Of course, you don’t have to go into a speech about vegetarianism, raw foods, or detoxification, but just simply (and enthusiastically) say “I love salad! Nothing is more refreshing than fresh, juicy, seasonal raw vegetables on a hot day like today." The more comfortable, confident, and enthusiastic you are about your food choices, the more likely it is that family and friends will respect your choices.

I am no longer surprised when people are open and receptive to my vegetable - centric fare. The truth is that when most people think of vegetables, they think of plain celery sticks and carrots. They don’t think of guacamole salads with heirloom tomatoes, lemon cucumbers, bell pepper, jalapeno, raw corn, red onion, and heaps of cilantro, lime juice, and sea salt smothering sweet baby lettuces.They also don't think of zucchini pasta dressed with olives and dressings with fresh parsley and lemon, either. So a salad made with lots of Love and enthusiasm is most likely a new experience for them, and they will probably love it! If you are embracing a healthy diet to experience great health and balance in your body, I think you have a responsibility to share your new found secret with those you care about.

Celebrate your right to eat what is best for your body this July 4th!

Cheers!
Marlena

Simple Seasonal Sides

2010-07-02T18:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday!

One of my very favorite (nightshade) veggies is in season...the eggplant (yum yum yum). I picked one up at the market today and made a fantastic eggplant side dish.

After I washed the eggplant, I sliced it in half and then salted it and let it sit for about 20 minutes. Then I patted the eggplant down with a paper towel, sliced it thinly, and grilled it with a grill pan on my stove over medium-low heat until the eggplant had grill marks. Pretty!

Theeeen I had to top it with some of my homemade marinara sauce, grated raw goat cheese (duh), and a little bit of steamed broccoli. Prettier!

I had this alongside a raw goat cheese, beet, tomato, cucumber, and baby lettuces salad. This salad is pretty typical for me this time of year so I wasn't particularly inspired to photograph it.

That's all for today. I just wanted to post a picture of one of my favorite seasonal veggie dishes. I. Love. Summer.

Have a great weekend, and a happy 4th!

Love,
Marlena

Don't Overdo the Fruit

2010-07-01T06:04:00.000-07:00

It’s summer time here, (although it is actually fall for my Aussie friends!) and everyone loves to eat lighter when the weather heats up. This often means eating more fruit than usual. And let’s be honest…summer time fruits are so freakin’ delicious! They are always a welcome treat for my palette.

My favorite summer fruits are berries, I’ve been eating raspberries several times a week and now local blueberries are at the farmer’s market too. Berries = happiness.

Fruit is incredible, the healthiest food for humans. However, fruit is also the most cleansing food on the planet. This sounds great, right?

When we switch over to a diet high in raw foods, this is a drastic shift for the body. Instead of spending loads of time digesting processed non-human foods, the body spends minimal time on digestion (when you’re doing the raw diet the right way), and more time on spitting toxins out of the cells. This is wonderful. The body contracts as it releases toxicity (it becomes smaller…usually very quickly at first and then the weight loss will either slow up or sometimes people will gain a little bit of weight back once the body comes back into more balance), and the toxins are released into the bloodstream to be released via elimination organs (colon and skin being the two main organs through which waste is eliminated).

There is a phenomenon called “autointoxication”. By following a diet too well, or by eating too many cleansing foods, you can overwhelm your system. Instead of releasing the awakened waste matter via colon or skin, the toxicity gets reabsorbed back into the blood stream, and results in yucky symptoms such as breakouts, rashes, bloating, constipation, headaches, nausea, aches, pains, and extreme fatigue.

Fruit is a very big contributor to autointoxication because it is incredibly cleansing. I always tell my clients to think of raw vegetables as neutral alkalizers, and fruits as powerful cleansers. Think of what happens when you put hydrogen peroxide on a dirty cut. Now, can you imagine what happens when you take something as clean and oxygenating as watermelon or grapes and put them in a digestive tract that has years of impacted waste matter? Remember: if you grew up eating hot dogs, pop tarts, white bread, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and bologna, that stuff didn’t leave the body completely. The fruit will hit this and kick up a lot of gas. This is the simple reason why fruit can prove irritating to many people.

When you eat fruit, how do you feel? Are you becoming bloated? Are you becoming constipated? In the beginning, some people will not experience drawbacks from fruit. This is usually because the body is so thrilled to be eating foods that are easier to digest that it just starts throwing down dormant waste that‘s not quite as deep and dehydrated as the waste from many years gone by. It’s once you get beyond those initial layers of dormant waste in the digestive tract…once we get into deeper layers of accumulation, that fruit often can prove to be troublesome and may result in a lot of symptoms. When you add the fact that as we eat better, our system will become more sensitive, the idea of eating an entire watermelon and then sitting with the effects of that can be very undesirable.

Remember, you are only cleansing or detoxing if tons of waste is leaving the body via colon or skin (a concept we have really been discussing at great length with "The Juicy Life". If you are eating loads of fruit and not releasing loads of waste matter, this is not a detox. If you’re doing a “cleanse” and not eliminating tons of waste matter on your own or with colonics/enemas, I promise you, you’re not cleansing. You may contract (lose weight or drop a pants size or two) if you are eating significantly less food, but don’t be fooled into thinking this is a cleanse.

If you are eating a lot of fruit because you think it is good for you and it is energizing, and you are finding that you are becoming bloated, headache-y, tired, constipated, and cranky…stop eating the fruit. These symptoms mean that the fruit is not good for you and that it is awakening too much waste matter for the body to keep up with. Always use your body as a compass - just because you have heard and read that fruit is healthy doesn’t mean it is going to work best for your body right now.

This can be frustrating for many because ideally with a raw food diet, fresh fruit is the ideal breakfast. Remember that the idea of raw foods isn’t to eat as much raw foods as possible, but to eat simply, and to allow the body time for digestive rest so Nature can do the healing (yes, I said Nature, not gojimacacocoasuperfuits). By eating raw foods, we are allowing digestive rest…that’s what it’s all about. It’s not about super foods, micro or macro nutrients, protein, calcium, folate, riboflavin, etc. It’s about digestive rest and giving the body time to heal.

If fruit consumption is leaving you feeling less than your best, here are some other fantastic breakfast suggestions:

- 32 + ounces of fresh vegetable juice (this is always your best bet!)

- Avocado and tomato salad with sea salt or stevia and lime juice, or sprouted grain toast topped with avocado and tomato (yes I know, not raw, but still extremely high quality)

- Low sugar fruits (these are not as cleansing and are relatively benign for almost everyone): all berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries), green apples, and grapefruit

- Nut or seed milks, shakes with avocado (for added creaminess), cocoa powder, and stevia

- Coconut Shakes

- Raw soups and salads (of course!)

- organic, free range eggs over your favorite baby greens with lemon and stevia (yeah I know, not raw, but remember, this isn't about being raw, it's about tuning into what your body needs so it can heal)

Remember, use your brain and intuition. Just because it is raw does not mean it is best for your body at this particular point in time.

Here's to honoring your beautiful body - all of your limitations, and strengths!

Marlena

My First E-Book and Easy Chocolate Milkshake

2010-06-27T16:07:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

Well, I am especially excited to be posting today! It's official: my first e-book (a collaborative effort with Rebekah of Bexlife.com) will be available for purchase on July 15 - not even three weeks from today!

Rebekah and I decided to get together and put together meals along with workout plans in order to deliver to all of you the perfect combination of diet and exercise to get you looking great and feeling more energized and vibrant in a week. I've been a fan Rebekah's free workout videos for quite some time now, so I'm really excited to be collaborating with her! I hope you'll all enjoy the end result. We are having a great time getting it together! I just LOVE working with people!

The book will include workouts by Rebekah and meals by me. Many of the recipes have been featured here on "The Sunny Life", but there are some new recipes as well, along with tips, shopping lists, and (obviously) a 7 day regimen, including breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner. It is mostly raw, vegan and completely whole foods (of course!).

I have more projects in the works, but the details for that will coming soon (not just yet)! :)

I hope you all had a great weekend and enjoyed some delicious treats. Yesterday Enrrico had a hankering for a Banana Mint Whip, but I had no fresh mint in the house. So instead I threw together this ridiculously delicious, deeply satisfying Chocolate "Milkshake" (dairy free).

Chocolate Milkshake

3 frozen bananas

3 tbsp cocoa powder

2-3 packets of stevia

1 tsp vanilla extract

water to facilitate blending

Place all ingredients in the blender. Blend until smooth. This makes an incredibly creamy beverage that looks, tastes, and has a texture exactly like a milkshake. Desserts like this make me wonder why anybody would opt for a milkshake, when you can have something so natural, hydrating, and satisfying.

ON FREEZING BANANAS

It has recently come to my attention that a lot of people don't know how to most efficiently freeze their bananas. Simply wait until the bananas are very ripe (there should be no green on the peel), peel them, discard the peels, break the bananas into smaller pieces, put them in a ziploc bag, and then place them in the freezer for at least 3-5 hours before use. If you have them in the freezer for days or weeks before use, you may want to remove them for a few minutes prior to using them so they can thaw a bit and you can break them apart before blending or placing in your food processer. This is the easiest way to utilize frozen bananas.

Oh, and the Chocolate Milkshake can be enjoyed as a breakfast, too. It's not JUST dessert. That's the great thing about natural foods. You can have them anytime. They're always good for you, and never weigh you down.

I noticed as I was putting together the meals and recipes for the "7 Day Jumpstart" how much I love chocolate.

So, if you love chocolate, and you also love feeling and looking great, you may want to check out my first ebook, YAY!

Have a fab week,

Marlena