Clean Eating Tips

Clean Eating Creative Kitchen Tips

• Step Out Of The Trance.  What a long strange trip it's been, stuck in the land of fake and processed foods with ingredients like food additives, colorings, thickening agents and hidden gluten that affect your body in a bad way. Recognize that there is more to supermarkets then just the processed sections.  

• Flaunt your SMART and Read Labels. Be that smart person you know you are and educate yourself. Learn about sugar content, calorie content, healthy fat content. Know what Trans Fat is, and why it's forbidden. Learn to know what the labels on your foods actually mean. Know that food additives cause illness and inflammation. Choose wisely. Be your biggest fan.  

• Ran out of peanut butter?  Use another! Try Almond, Cashew, Tahini, Sunflower seed, Walnut.  Nut and seed butters are awesome!

• Say Goodbye To Processed.  Stick with ingredient lists that you can read, that have names you understand. Less ingredients means more whole food. More ingredients means more processed.

• Spice it UP!! Cooking spices and herbs are a NUMBER 1 must have for the creative kitchen.

• Always use a form of sea salt. Sea Salt has better flavor, harder, crunchy texture.

• Switch out your dairy milk. Try other alternatives like Rice Milk, Hemp Milk, Coconut Milk, Cashew Milk, Almond Milk, Sunflower Seed Milk, Quinoa Milk. Need a DIY project? make your own. Most of the milks listed above come in Chocolate and Vanilla versions, and they are still dairy free. The chocolate flavor comes from 100 percent chocolate straight from the cocoa bean, no dairy there.

• Experiment with the Coconut: Coconut Butter/Coconut Milk/Coconut Oil/Coconut Sugar. Coconut anything is not as fattening as you think. Coconut butter, oil, milk, water is loaded with tons of healthy fats-which our bodies actually need.

• Try Superfoods!! Each superfood has potent wonderful properties! Try dried Dragon Fruit, Goji Berries, Maca Powder, Chia Seeds, Flax Seeds, Aloe Vera Gel, Raw Cacao Powder, Raw Cacao, Dried Apricot Kernels, Camu Camu Powder, Hemp Seeds, Golden Berries.

• Try Something New.  Every week try a new veggie or a new fruit or both. See what's out there that you like that you haven't tried before.

• Remember most fruits and veggies are friends.  And most likely can be cooked, baked, roasted, sauteed, juiced and blended together.

• Get a Little Nutty. Nuts are underestimated and are a fabulous source of healthy fats and protein! Try Raw Cashew Nuts, Raw Almonds, Pistachios, Macadamias…If you are allergic, no problem…

• Try SEEDS. Sunflower Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds, Hemp Seeds, Chia Seeds.  Another underestimated snack!  

• Use Natural Sweeteners.  Green Apple, Liquid Stevia and Dates. As for Liquid Stevia…

• Liquid Stevia is a natural sweetener that is different from those stevia packets you buy at the market.  Liquid Stevia is 100 percent from the Stevia leaf with zero additives. Stevia packets are cut with Dextrose and sometimes other additives-additives that are processed. There is only a fraction of the Stevia Leaf in those packets.

• Have fun with condiments.  Go crazy! Just make sure they are gluten-free. There can always be hidden gluten in these products. Go natural or organic with these brands, again less ingredients the better.

• Remember your Classics. Although I love a creative kitchen, a creative kitchen is nothing without its CLASSICS.

• Visit your local Farmer's Market or Co-op for local in season fresh produce.  The prices are cheaper, and the crops are better!!

• Choose wisely.  

• Make Mistakes. Remember it's OK to make mistakes. Even the greatest superstars in our lifetime have made mistakes-Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin, Rihanna-the list goes on. The idea is to turn your mistakes into ultimate amazing victories.

• Taste the difference between Organic, Local Harvest and regular. 

• Taste The Rainbow.  Our bodies thrive on antioxidants, vitamins and nutrients.  Get those from your fresh fruit and produce and boost up your immune system!! Tasting the rainbow is like feeling as ALIVE as you possibly can. An Apple a day does keep the doctor away.

• Whole Food/Whole Body.  Most of us are quick to jump into a diet in hopes of fast weight loss.  However and more importantly it's more about whole foods and eating what your body needs then what your cravings tell you, your mind needs.

• Experiment. 

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The Top 12 Reasons To Buy ORGANIC: 

• Say hello to glowing beautiful skin!  As the inflammation leaves your body so does your acne and skin rashes.

• Spend LESS time if any time at the Doctor's office.  That means less co pays, less antibiotics, less time wasted and more time for yourself and your family.

• Say goodbye to chronic sickness, stomach viruses and infections.

• Reduce the duration of your colds and flu's!

• Reduce your allergies and get off allergy meds!

• Feel Better-How about AMAZING and VIBRANT?!!  Feel the goodness.

• Pesticides-Organic produce and meat do not use Pesticides!! Pesticides are poison, designed to kill living organisms. Each time you eat something with Pesticides, you are allowing inflammation and illness to enter into your body. Especially our Intestines. And what happens? You get sick, sick and some more SICK!

• Reduce inflammation-drastically, and create a healthier version of YOU. 

• Support a Farmer-Some Farmer's Markets give you a bang for your buck.  Spend less and support small farms.

• Taste the Rainbow-Organic produce and meat just tastes better, cleaner, richer.

• Save energy-Most energy is used now to produce synthetic fertilizers then to cultivate and harvest all the crops in the U.S.

• Water-Pesticides pollute over half the U.S. primary source of drinking water.  

• GMO's-GMO's are genetically modified fruits, veggies and meats that look like the real thing, but are farthest from.  When you buy organic-you are risk free of GMO's.

The Skinny on ORGANIC.

• Buying organic can get expensive. If you cannot fund your healthy lifestyle, then I suggest a compromise. Buy some Organic so you can start flushing out the Pesticides.  
• Follow the simple rules of The Dirty Dozen™ and The Clean 15™ listed below.
• Shop sales, sites and join a co-op so you can get your produce cheaper and make friends in the process.
• Buy in bulk.
• Work with a Health Coach to get support and get savvy in miraculously changing your health for the better!
• Freeze what you don't use. Cucumbers, peeled bananas, berries, herbs, veggies, meat can all be frozen away (after washing) in zip lock bags for later use (up to six months).
• Freeze your breads to keep them longer.  

Dirty Dozen Plus ™ refers to fruits and veggies that are Most Contaminated:

1. Apples
2. Celery
3. Strawberries
4. Peaches
5. Spinach
6. Nectarines (imported)
7. Grapes (imported)
8. Sweet Bell Peppers
9. Potatoes
10. Blueberries (domestic)
11. Lettuce
12. Kale/Collard Greens
13. Cucumber
14. Zucchini 
15. Cherry Tomatoes

The Clean 15 ™ refers to the fruits and veggies that are Least Contaminated.

1. Onions
2. Corn
3. Pineapples
4. Avocado
5. Asparagus
6. Sweet Peas (frozen)
7. Mangoes
8. Cantaloupe (domestic)
9. Eggplant
10. Kiwi
11. Cabbage
12. Sweet Potatoes
13. Grapefruit
14. Mushrooms
15. Papayas