Vegan Ricotta Cheese

Posted by Healthy Bitch Daily on Oct 29, 2012

This Italian staple gets a vegan makeover

Lasagna just hasn't been the same since you gave up cheese. 

Fear not, sweetcheeks. Making vegan ricotta is not impossible and it doesn't taste like crap--promise. Check out this simple recipe from The Healthy Voyager and eat your little heart out.

What You Need

2 cups of extra firm tofu, pressed and drained
 (about 16 ounces)
1/3 cup light miso
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup cashew nut butter or tahini (unsalted, raw)
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1/4 cup olive oil
5 to 7 large garlic cloves
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1 cup fresh basil
1/2 cup fresh oregano
Salt and pepper, to taste

How to Make It

Toss all of your ingredients in a food processor until well incorporated. If you like it a little chunky, pulse it but feel free to puree it if you want a more creamy texture. You may want to pulse it a few times to taste before moving forward as you may choose to add more herbs, seasoning or more of another ingredient to adjust to your taste before it’s too well blended.

Nature’s Candy: Healthy Halloween Treats

Posted by Kim Barnouin on Oct 31, 2012

With Halloween looming, do you feel temptation lurking? Uh huh. Thought so. All you sugar fiends know Halloween is the ultimate excuse to indulge your sweet tooth. But it ain’t worth it, dollface.

Here’s a clever way to get your candy fix this Halloween.

NatureBox consists of scrumptious healthy snacks such as California Dried Bing Cherries, Turkish Apricots, Mexicana Mango, and Sun-Ripened Peaches.  These are truly Nature’s Candy with no artificial ingredients or high fructose corn syrup!

This is an alternative to rebellious snacking (you know who you are). Experience no guilt and satiate temptation, tootsie. You know how you get ultra-bitchy when you’re craving a fix but watching your waistline? Fess up, we’ve all been there. NatureBox is the perfect opportunity to permanently replace junk food and change your snacking habits.

Here’s what’s even more tempting: NatureBox delivers to your doorstep monthly. It’s as easy as pie and perfect for the busy on-the-go babe. Each month, you’ll receive 4 to 5 full sized bags of NatureBox snacks, all of which have been taste tested and approved by a nutritionist.

Each month’s box is stylized into a unique theme, and the November Discovery box is right around the corner. You can learn more about NatureBox snack selections HERE!

What are you waiting for? Surprise the kiddies this Halloween with healthy treats that taste just as good as the bad stuff. One day they’ll understand. Get NatureBox snacking now!


Click here to check out the NatureBox blog for healthy tips and clever snacking ideas!

BITCHIN’ DISCOUNT 

All you healthy bitches get 25% OFF (that’s a $5 discount!) on your first month’s subscription on 6 and 12-month membership packages. Just use promo code HEALTHYHALLOWEEN at checkout. Hurry! This offer ends November 7th, 2012.

Kim Barnouin
After five years atop the Skinny Bitch phenomenon, author Kim Barnouin has grown as a cook, a nutritionist, and a mom. Now she delivers the “Ultimate” cookbook that will be for everyone looking for a healthier way to feed themselves, their families, and friends.  

Today’s post is proudly sponsored by

 

Karma

Karma is a word that most everyone has heard of, but few people

know the true meaning. It's often mistakenly thought of as a punishment

and reward system, and is used as a curse on those who do bad things.

"You'd better watch out for Karma!" as if it's a voodoo police force of the universe.

Karma is most importantly, understanding. It is neither good nor bad, just whole.

If a person does good deeds, helps others, and lives an honest life, they can still get whacked with "bad karma." If that person does all those things, but then judges others who they say are evil, then they will soon find themselves on the opposite side of that fence. By judging someone negatively, one is actually asking the Universe for the understanding that made that person behave that way. Common examples are in traits that are misunderstood. If a person says another is too controlling, then pretty soon, they will be accused of the same. They may not even notice, because to them, they were only being helpful, or looking out for someone, but most certainly not being controlling! Only after the karmic shoe is on the other foot do they gain the insight as to why the person they judged seemed to be acting in a controlling way.

If a person condemns another for anything, Karma is sure to be around the corner.

What should be the reaction then, when someone does something that appears to be devoid of any good whatsoever?

The reaction should be positive, and if positive is not possible, then neutral. For example, if a person hears about someone who has run out on their family, they may immediately judge him or her to be a terrible person. If you say, "How could anyone be so terrible?" then you are literally asking the universe to show you how. Things may take a turn in your life to where you are overwhelmed and feel like running off, too. Why wish that on yourself by condeming another person? A better reaction would be to believe that the person must have been truly overwhelmed, and made a weak choice by abandoning the family. Hope that the person finds their conscience, comes to their senses, returns, and owns up to their responsibilities.

In the second reaction, you are wishing for a better life for that person, which in turn would lead to a better life for anyone that person comes in contact with as long as they live...and by default, you are wishing the same for yourself.

Intuition

Intuition is your sixth sense. Unlike your other senses, you probably didn't get much training in intuition, unless one or both of your parents had as well. If you'd been trained in it at the same time you learned about your sense of hearing, taste, smell, and sight, you'd be much more comfortable with trusting it today.

If a plate of food were set in front of you that looked and smelled like manure, you'd likely not take a taste. You trust that if it smells bad, it will taste bad. However, if you get a "gut feeling" that something is a bad deal but with no other clues, you may not trust that feeling. You may then try to ignore your sense of intuition and go forward anyway, only to later realize that your gut feeling was right. Not trusting your sense of intuition is like eating the manure, yet many of us do it every single day...er...not trust our intuition, that is.

When a group of people sit in the woods, if there is a sound of a cricket, frog, then coyote, and one person exclaims, "cricket, frog, coyote," the rest of the group does not look shocked, clap, and cheer. This is because everyone heard the same sounds and drew the same conclusions (except for the guy who was wearing headphones, listening to rock music). Yet when a psychic, one highly trained in intuition, picks up information and relays it to someone, they are in awe...sometimes moved to tears, sometimes shelling out lots of money to hear more.

We ALL have intuition. Some of us have better hearing than others, some can see better, some can smell a hotdog a mile away. Some people have a naturally very strong sense of intuition, and some do not. But even the ones who do not but who train themselves to improve their sense of intuition will be better off than the natural ones who do no training at all. It's just like someone who has great vision. If he or she does not use that to read, but the lady with the glasses reads daily, she will know a lot more than he about whatever it was she was reading.

Forgiveness

One of the surest ways to have a dark cloud looming over your head is

to hold a grudge against someone. Whether it be your parents, a former

(or current) boss, friends, or strangers. Holding on to past hurts is like

holding on to a giant boulder. The boulder holder feels more pain and

burden than the other will ever know.

However justified you may be, or however enormous the hurt, it is always possible to forgive.

Forgiving doesn't mean saying that the offending act or words were OK. It also doesn't mean keeping that person or people in your life, afterward. If you can't be sure the act won't be repeated, keeping that person around would be like keeping a wolf around your pet chickens. Even if you tell the wolf "No!" sternly, he's probably going to scarf a chicken as soon as you turn your back. You can forgive him, then gently escort him out of the henhouse.

If you have forgiven someone, you no longer feel the extreme pain, anger, or sadness when the topic of what they did is brought up. You've already made peace with it inside of yourself. You can still inform someone of it, but your tale will be devoid of those emotions, almost as if it happened to someone else.

Forgiving often requires compassion. If we can understand why someone acted a certain way, we can usually let our own anger dissolve. Not why we assume they acted that way, but why they actually did. Sometimes, it's not possible to know why someone acted a certain way. In those instances, the easiest way to let it dissolve is to know that "they just didn't know any better."

Very few people make it their life's mission to hurt other people, especially those who they care about. Most are either thinking of themselves, or not thinking at all, but not thinking of deliberately hurting another. When they do hurt someone deliberately, they've likely justified it in their mind as revenge or a defensive action. Two babies playing in a sandbox, one baby takes the other's shovel. The other slaps the thief baby, the thief baby hits the other with the shovel. Both start to cry. Fast forward 30, 40, 50 years and old babies all over the world continue this set of circumstances which ends up in a whole lot of sad old babies walking about.

The babies truly don't know any better. But as adults, we develop a rational, logical mind, which can separate perceived action from real action and side effects of that action. It's just up to us if we choose to use it.

Trust

There are only two times in your life when you need to let a person go from

your experience: when you no longer have the ability to appreciate each other,

or when you no longer trust each other. Trust is the foundation of every single

positive relationship in the world. Without it, the relationship will not be able to

be positive. If there's no trust on day one, don't count on there being any on day 1000.

A person may trust no one in their life, or they may trust only certain people. They may not even be aware of why all of their relationships seem so difficult, not ever realizing it's because of no trust.

When you do not trust, you never take people's statements at face value. Your mind immediately takes their statements and rearranges them into what it thinks they actually mean. This leads to accusations, drama, pain, and bad relationships.

So why would someone consciously or subconsciously decide not to trust?

They believe that by not trusting, they are somehow protecting themselves. They may have been fooled once by a person breaking their trust, and the pain was terrible. Instead of realizing that it was just that person, they allowed that experience to put up a wall, and affect the way they view the world.

If you are mistrusting, you will repel people who are trustworthy. No one likes to be accused of things they did not think or do, and no one likes to have to defend themselves when they did nothing wrong.

Trust does involve being vulnerable. Yes, if you again misplace your trust, someone could take advantage of it, and you could get hurt again. But if you choose to not trust anyone, though you'll never get fooled, you'll also live in a constant state of anxiety, paranoia, and cause pain to people because you were unable to move past a bad experience with trust. The pain from a lifelong experience like that far outweighs the pain of getting fooled a couple more times.

When we are young, we are all naive. Naive people get hurt by trusting. From there, they can choose to either become experienced, or bitter. No one can make that choice for them, but it's a choice that will impact all of their relationships for the rest of their lives. It's a stronger choice to trust again, and you will be fulfilled much more than you will be fooled by choosing it.

Appreciation

Appreciation is similar to gratitude, except that several letters are different.

Both words mean realizing the good in your life and being both aware of, and

thankful for it. Many people recognize the value of appreciation towards

themselves, but not always the value of their appreciation towards others. Many expect that others should "just know" that they appreciate them, or think they shouldn't have to tell them all the time. Truth is, everyone should be told as much as possible how much they are appreciated, and everyone should make an effort to tell others how much they appreciate them as much as possible.

Think back to when you were a baby...remember? Remember lying there in your crib, relaxing, food or love was only a couple of shrieks and a scream away. Why on earth would you ever leave this blissful state? If you needed to go anywhere, you were picked up by a warm being who smelled like flowers, and carried you everywhere you needed to go. Transporting you from crib to sofa, sofa to carriage (or stroller if you prefer), carriage to auto, where you were then chauffered around town.

The reason, the only reason, you ever learned to crawl and then walk (a virtual evolution over the course of just a few months), a miracle of nature, was because of appreciation. If you'd began to crawl and they said nothing, you may not have bothered again for a couple of years. If when you'd taken your first steps, they'd thumbed their noses, you'd hardly have made it across the room. We are hardwired to value appreciation so much that it is the basis for all of our learning. Sitting up, crawling, walking, speaking, eating certain foods (like peas), going to the potty...everything you don't remember learning but are vital to your success as an adult were done so on the mere basis of appreciation.

Now, do you see why it matters so much?

Think of someone you appreciate. Now, text, or email them a message in two lines or less, thanking them for something specific, or just for being a great friend, sister, brother, mom, dad, accountant...whatever the case may be.

Unless they think you're up to something, you are guaranteed two things: First, you'll receive an equally appreciative reply. They may even tell you that they needed to hear this today. Second, you will have made them feel great, even if only for a little while, based on a tiny effort on your part. Actually, one more thing...you will feel better, too. This is a great habit to start doing on a more regular basis, yes?

Love

Love is a tiny little word that has about as many interpretations as there are stars in the sky. Most often, it's confused with lust, ego attachment, or infatuation. Love has many definite characteristics. Meaning, without those characteristics, it's not really love.

Love is secure. Love is inclusive, kind, encouraging, honest, and is based on appreciation and trust over time. It's respectful and uses power to build up, not to tear down. It is a moment to moment strength of a bond between people that cannot be fully explained, but those who have experienced it, know it for life.

Most often, the first true love people feel is between themselves and their parents. The way their parents treat them and each other is the basis for our definitions of love. As adults, we show love by taking the role of one of our parents, or by acting similarly to how we did when we were children. This may not be the healthiest plan, as often our parents were not effectively able to act out of love to us or to each other.

Love can be hindered by insecurities, low self esteem, past pain that's not yet been forgiven, and many other factors. If one cannot say that they love themselves, then it's unfortunately true that they won't be able to love another person and show words and actions of true love to them.

We all have an immense capacity to love ourselves and others. True love is the most incredible gift to ourselves and others, yet most of the masses are not engaging in it much if at all. The biggest reason for this is the fear of getting hurt. But like trust, if you choose to just not love or trust anyone your whole life, then instead of being protected the entire time, you'll actually be hurting the entire time, and hurting others in the process.

Starting with you, learn to accept yourself 100%. Focus on your positive qualities, your physical features, your wit, your problem solving skills, you willingness to help others...think of the last 10 compliments you've been paid. Believe them. People mean them....rarely do folks just throw around random compliments.

Thoughts & Words

In the old days, people used to think that their thoughts were "just thoughts," and that

sticks and stones would break their bones, but words would never hurt them. Little did

they realize the true power of their thoughts and words.

We all can see motion of an object, say, a swing, rocking back and forth. We also can

appreciate radio waves with the use of a radio, or television programs with the use of a TV set.

When we use our microwaves, we can see that heat can also be produced by a higher frequency

of wave directed in a small area. While microwaves are for the most part contained within the

microwave, we know that radio waves are at all times all around us. We don't think it's magic

when someone puts on a radio, tunes it to a certain frequency, and sound comes through. If you were to pluck a person out of the year 1700 and show them these devices, they would not believe their eyes. They would think you were a witch or some kind of magician. Because we know these things to be true, we don't flip out every time we turn on the TV and pictures and sounds show up on the screen....we only flip out when this doesn't happen!

Your mind is not a contained system like a microwave. It is like a radio tower. The thoughts you think are not limited to your own mind. They are signals sent out to the Universe, just like radio waves. The radio is the device that can interpret radio waves. The subconscious mind is the device that can interpret thought waves. When you think certain thoughts, you are sending out these signals, and all of the subconscious minds of people who are tuned into the same frequency will pick them up.

This is why when you think of a friend you haven't spoken to in awhile, you'll likely hear from them "out of the blue" within a couple of days. You may even know who is calling before you check your caller ID. This isn't magic or a coincidence, it's just thought waves being transmitted and received.

This is also the basis for the now infamous "Law of Attraction." It's not "attraction" so much as it's just all that the subconscious of other people can pick up. Back to the radio analogy, if "happy" were on station 105.7, and "sad" were tuned into station 101.3, and you were sending out thought waves of 101.3, you would never be able to hear or get in tune with anyone on 105.7. You may have heard the phrase "get in tune" with your feelings. Thinking happy thoughts and being positive will literally get you in tune with more happy and positive people and the circumstances surrounding them.

Power

Often when we think of power, it comes with a negative association

of someone misusing power over someone else. Many world leaders

throughout history have abused power, resulting in worldwide destruction.

But power really only means concentrated energy.

Other people in history have had great power, and used it to better the world. They did this in one lifetime, due to

belief in people and belief that they could. Gandhi and Mother Theresa had great power and changed the lives of millions of people.

Everyone has power over themselves and others. Your words have the power to change even a stranger's mood. Your every interaction sets off other reactions with every person you interact with, and everyone they interact with. If you are in a great mood and compliment someone, they will more than likely appreciate the compliment, and continue that positive energy in a return to you or to someone else.

If you get the notion to right a wrong, or to improve a condition, taking that notion to more thought, then action, will affect others. You may wish to improve the condition of your neighborhood. Although everyone else in the neighborhood also sees the trash, patchy grass, and graffiti, they have accepted it as what is, as depressing as that may be. But if you use your energy to appeal to others to gather to clean up the neighborhood, the combined energy will increase. After your neighborhood has been cleaned, you may inspire others to do the same, or the group that participated in your neighborhood may have felt the job so rewarding that they wish to continue to improve things.

Often times, when we see a large problem, we can feel overwhelmed or angrily question why the government doesn't take care of it, or wish that a movie star would come and donate millions of dollars to fix it. That energy of feeling overwhelmed is power in an unusable form. Transforming it into action will not only relieve the anger, but it will also put that energy to good use.

Your thoughts have the power to initiate, your words, to form, and your body, to act. Real and lasting change does not occur in one enormous revelation, but in small, dedicated actions over time. Combined with one or two people, then more, then many, enormous changes can occur in much less time than one would think. Look around you in your surroundings. What is one thing that you would really love to see made better? Start with an action to improve it, no matter how tiny and insignificant it may seem. It may just be the seed to a giant oak.

Time

"Time waits for no man" is a pretty famous quote. Time waits for no woman or child,

either. The one thing we all have, yet none of us claim to have, is time.

Though we would ideally like to have enough for everything and everyone, that

usually isn't the case in an adult life. This is when we prioritize, whether consciously or not. Prioritizing according to where we feel most needed or obligated, instead of where we're most loved and appreciated, can result in spending too much time working or helping, and not enough time enjoying life.

Some people realize that years are going by quickly and they are not really living as they would like. This may cause them to make small changes, or if left too long, may cause them to have an entire overhaul of their life, or, as it's often called, a "midlife crisis."

If you don't make time for the ones who love you, eventually, you will grow apart. Too often, we make time for the ones who claim to need us: bosses, friends who are down on their luck, family members who are having some kind of drama... We tend to then put off those people who we love to spend time with but don't ever seem to "need" us, and they always understand when we cancel for something "urgent."

Eventually, "some other time," will not exist.

If you think of how you've spent the past year, look at where you have invested the most time. Think of good friends that you have not seen or even spoken to in awhile. While there is no true "making up for lost time," if, when looking back, you see that you've been neglecting any one person or people, be sure to make time for them from this day on.

When we're young, we usually have so much free time that we do not have to plan. As we get older, our lives and our friends lives get more complex, and planning and scheduling becomes more important.

Many successful couples have one night per week that they block off for only each other as a "date night," even when they have been together for many years. It may not seem like much, but it is a guaranteed 52 dates per year.

Connections between people to be kept strong must be attended to regularly, like a houseplant. It doesn't need constant attention, but it does need regular attention. If not, it will wither after awhile but can be revived. If neglected too long, then no matter how much water you put on it, it's just not coming back.

Faith

Faith is commonly associated with religion, but it is actually very separate.

To have faith, means to have no doubt. More than that, it means to have no

doubt, even though you may not have any concrete proof that what you believe

is true. You believe it as if there were concrete proof already. Because of this, faith is directly tied to trust.

To have faith in a religion, or in another form of spirituality, means to have faith in the world. Knowing that even when things seem to be on a downswing, that they will soon be back on the upswing again.

To have faith in another person, be it a friend, a spouse, or a boyfriend or girlfriend, means that you believe in that person. Faith is the greatest compliment one can give to another. It allows them to be themselves, enables them to feel and express joy and have success. If you watch any awards speech, you will see one thing every single time. The award winner receives applause from the crowd and is the focus of the attention, but he or she always is humbled. He or she always thanks one person...one person who stood by him or her when it was not certain what the outcome would be. One person who believed in him or her and was there to help erase any doubt they had about themselves. From Presidential Acceptance Speeches to Oscar Speeches, the champions always were lifted and humbled by the faith given to them by one person...be it their mother or their spouse.

Having faith in one's self is, then, the greatest gift you can give to yourself. If you know in your heart that the world is a good place, and that your best life is just a matter of navigating through seeming obstacles to get to where you want to go, to achieve what you want to achieve, then you will always be all right. Even if it seems like nothing is working, you will know that if you just keep going, just keep believing in yourself, everything will fall into place.

Walt Disney was fired from the Kansas City Newspaper he worked at for not being creative enough. Tyra Banks was turned down from modeling agencies. Donald Trump has filed bankruptcy four times. J.K. Rowlings couldn't get Harry Potter Published, and it went on to become the bestselling book of this generation besides the Bible. Abraham Lincoln could not seem to win an election no matter what he did. They all kept going. They all believed that they could achieve, and they all did. Even if not the first time, or the fifth, or the 100th,

If you don't believe in yourself, why should anyone else? Believe in yourself, keep going, and sooner or later, the miracles will happen.

Self Worth

It's been said that people will only treat you the way you allow yourself to be

treated. If you're in a bad relationship, or if your friends rip on you all the time,

you must not like yourself very much. If you did, you wouldn't be in that

relationship, and you wouldn't have those friends.

Though you can't control how any certain individual treats you, you can control who you allow to be in your life. Those who are closest to you affect your world. Jack Canfield says that the 5 people closest to you ARE you. If you combine the qualities of all of them, you get you.

Think of who is closest to you...who you talk to every day. Are those people happy, successful, in loving relationships, positive about life? If not, why are they the closest to you?

Some people feel that it's more important to be needed than to be happy. They usually get treated poorly. They have the kind of friends who thrive on drama, or need money they never pay back, or favors they never return. You can tell a lot about a person by their friends.

This is not to say that the minute a friend of yours has a problem, you should never ever talk to them again. It's great to help people, but the drains should never be in your closest circle. You'll spend your whole life so worried about helping them be better, that you'll become more like them in the process. You won't have much positive to say. You'll lose focus of your own hopes, dreams, and goals, and you won't be much fun to be around. Then, when you need something, those people just won't be there. They're too used to you being the strong one, the provider, the shoulder to lean on. It may not even occur to them that you would ever truly need anything. Don't be an uneccessary martyr.

When you speak to someone on the phone, after you hang up, how do you feel? This is the easiest way to tell who is a drain and who should be in your closest circle. If you feel lifted, happy, make more time for that person. If you feel deflated, worried, or even a little depressed, allow some distance to develop between you and that person. You're not abandoning anyone, you're just letting them find their own strength, rather than being there to wipe their nose every time they sneeze.

Self-worth means that you would never allow anyone to treat you worse than you would treat them. Not even if you really really love them.

Happiness

Happiness is something we all supposedly want and strive for, but many of us do not achieve. We may have good days, or fun nights, but in the day to day moments, we get too caught up in emotions like worry, anger, annoyance, or disappointment to be happy.

We are happy by default. If we have our basic survival needs, food, water, shelter, a moderate temperature, enough sleep, and people around us who are good to us...we really should be happy.

The saying "money can't buy happiness" is repeated a lot, so many times that one would believe it to be true. Truth is, there are a lot of rich people who are miserable, a lot of poor people who are happy...and there are a lot of rich people who are happy, and poor people who are miserable. Money is not tied to happiness, unless a person decides it to be. Some shun money, others envy those who have it, and others still have it but are so afraid of losing it that they still are not ever really happy.

When you encounter in life a tragedy, a death, a major illness or accident, there is so much shock from the feeling of loss that it is not possible to just shake it off. It is then that a lot of people realize what they had before. They wish for yesterday to return, but if yesterday did return, they would not have appreciated it.

During times of major upset, one has to go through mourning and deal with grief.

Outside of times of major upset, happiness is really just a matter of choice. You really can just choose to be happy and be so. Other people and circumstances will arise that are not what you expected, or are obstacles, but whether you're happy or angry, most of the time, they will still be there. When you choose to maintain your positive outlook, you'll be more open to solutions than if you allow yourself to get really angry or really sad. If you focus on what you want...happiness....it will return shortly. If you shift your focus to what's "wrong" in that moment, then happiness will make a quick exit.

This may seem oversimplified, but it truly is that simple.

Pumpkin Foods this Fall

This Fall, Choose One of The Most Beautiful Foods–Pumpkin!

Head on over to the pumpkin patch for your beauty.

With the temperatures starting to drop and leaves beginning to change colors, it is evident that fall is in the air. Along with this change in season comes the two fattiest holidays of the year, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Instead of gaining all that extra weight from hibernating all season long, substitute it with this season’s most beautiful food…pumpkin!

Although many people associate pumpkin with pies and rolls which are packed with simple sugars, there are many other ways of using this superfood to increase your overall nutrition. This incredible food is loaded with vitamins, minerals, and other healthy nutrients that are sure to increase your health this fall. Here are just some of the many nutritional components of pumpkin that are sure to make you look and feel beautiful this coming season.

~ Carotenoids: If you’re a woman, you want plenty of carotenoids in your diet! This component It is what gives pumpkins that bright orange color and gives your skin that “glow” that all women are looking for. Carotenoids may also help reduce the appearance of premature aging,  and may decrease risk for cardiovascular disease and infections.
~ Essential Fatty Acids: Found in the seeds of the pumpkin, these fatty acids may provide your body protection against arthritis and high blood pressure. It also may improve your brain power and promote overall healthy skin.
~ Fiber: The high amounts of fiber that are found in the flesh have been shown to lower LDL cholesterol levels in the blood while also helping to regulate blood sugar levels. Fiber is also great for treating constipation and indigestion.
~ Protein: Pepitas, more commonly known as pumpkin seeds, are high in this muscle building and tissue repairing macronutrient.  In just one ounce of pumpkins seeds alone, you are filling your diet with roughly seven grams of protein. Your body will love that!
~ Vitamin A: Especially during cold and flu season, it is particularly important to consume enough of this vitamin in your diet. It may not only improve your vision, but it will also help to boost your immune system so that you can fight off nasty infections this winter.
There are many other wonderful characteristics to eating pumpkin all season long. Not only will it keep your skin hydrated and wrinkle-less, but it may also lower your risk of some cancers, reduce inflammation, and perhaps even decrease your risk for depression which is all too common during these cold and dreary months. There are many easy ways to incorporate pumpkin into your diet. For example, add canned pumpkin to a hummus recipe or banana nut loaf to make it taste more like a fall menu item. Even add it to your yogurt or oatmeal! Who would have thought that it would be that easy to look beautiful and feel great by just eating this great seasonal food item!

"And they all lived happily ever after..."

Monday, October 29, 2012

If you read as many princess stories as I did growing up, then you may have wondered when your great glass slipper moment would arrive. After one divorce and a few futile attempts at finding love, I figured I'd spend this life in hiking boots and try for glass slippers next time around.

Then, it happened.

Mr Happily Ever After appeared. He'd been there for over 5 years, I just hadn't seen him. He says and does and is all the things I dreamed he would be. And even more.

Why Am I Telling You This?

Because believing in my ability to make love work, in spite of previous "failed" attempts takes guts.

Tusting that this time will be different, no matter what happened before, no matter what friends tell me, no matter what statistics say the odds are, feels like a bold and beautiful thing to do.

I am not chained to a history of previous experiences or failures or false starts in love any more than you are chained to your last double cheeseburger and late night  tortilla chip-eating experience.

We are as alive and as passionate and as purpose-filled as we decide to be in THIS moment.

You can dare to believe in love and you can dare to aspire for perfect health. You can dare to think positive in spite of headlines and you can dare to get excited, enthusiastic, hopeful and

And the only person who can ever stop you from doing so, is YOU!

So in the name of glass slippers and great new adventures, if there's some goal, some hope you've had your heart set on, but might not have been reaching for because you felt chained to a story about that past, then let it go.

Wipe your spiritual slate clean and extend an open-armed invitation for the best in life, love, learning, health, hearts and healing to come billowing into your world.

Because if there's anyone out in this great galaxy of good things who deserves to bask in the beauty and celebration of all Life has to offer, it's you!

Happily Ever After,

Trick AND Treat:

How to Have a Hormone-Healthy Halloween

Have a Healthy Halloween: Trick AND Treat

October 29th, 2012

Halloween is a time when sugar and candy are running rampant, overshadowing the real lure and mischief of the holiday. If you find yourself being drawn to the sweet treats, you might be lacking in the trickery and mischief.
All the “being good” pressure that we put on ourselves is enough to make anyone rebel – and understandably so! When you don’t allow yourself to break the rules or playfully be “bad,” your mischievousness can emerge in a self-sabatoging way. Which is why the “treat” tends to overshadow the “trick” during Halloween.

Have a Heathy Halloween!

On your path to hormonal balance, it’s not about being perfect with what you eat and how you care for your female body. It’s about making informed decisions for your body, while honoring your feelings and emotions. If your “badness” is coming out in the form of poor food choices that are affecting your health, it’s time to make some shifts! 

Wouldn’t it be more fun and satisfying to find other outlets of mischief that don’t leave you feeling gross or guilty or sad?
Halloween is the perfect time to concoct ways to create fun, harmless mischief in your everyday life. 
Here are some ideas you can try:

• call out sick to work to spend a day in bed
• don’t wear underwear for a day (or longer)
• whistle back at the construction workers

And if you want to indulge in a sweet treat or two, make healthy choices and enjoy every minute of it
Try:

• high quality dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa content)
• baked apples with cinnamon and ginger
• natural sweeteners like agave, stevia, and coconut sugar

In other words, choose to trick AND treat!
Share your favorite recipes for tricking and treating in the comment box below – and have a happy, healthy Halloween

Halloween is a time when sugar and candy are running rampant, overshadowing the real lure and mischief of the holiday. If you find yourself being drawn to the sweet treats, you might be lacking in the trickery and mischief.All the "being good" pressure that we put on ourselves is enough to make anyone rebel - and understandably so! When you don't allow yourself to break the rules or playfully be "bad," your mischievousness can emerge in a self-sabatoging way. Which is why the "treat" tends to overshadow the "trick" during Halloween.

On your path to hormonal balance, it's not about being perfect with what you eat and how you care for your female body. It's about making informed decisions for your body, while honoring your feelings and emotions. If your "badness" is coming out in the form of poor food choices that are affecting your health, it's time to make some shifts! 

Jam & Cream Sponge Cake

Happy Halloween!!!

Honoring the natural cycle of death and transformation allows us to relax into dying to our own out-dated patterns.

Is there something you cling to that has out-lived its ‘inspiration’ which is now a source of ‘energy drain’?

Do not hesitate to ‘shed the old’ and empty yourself—each ‘death’ signals the birth of something new.

Learning to trust our ‘emptiness’ is part of keeping our ‘juiciness’ alive.

October 30, 2012

THE FEARLESSNESS OF YOGA

In the practice of yoga and also within the martial

arts, one’s strength or power comes from the development of a balanced state of mind. One is going back or returning to the origin of the strength that exists within oneself. This kind of strength is known as strength in its own right, the strength of fearlessness. To be without fear is to have great strength.

DHERBS.COM

Get prepared for the winter season and the holiday eating by stocking up on immune boosting and digestive formulas for adults and children while we offer you 25% off the entire site. Enter HARVEST at checkout.  Don't forget the Enzyme Formula, Colon & Digestive, Bowel Motion, Digestion Aid, and Alkaline Formula. Don't Miss Out!

Shop dherbs.com for a new you!

The Juice on Suja

Posted by Healthy Bitch Daily on Oct 30, 2012

Talkin' with the creator of Suja, a fresh and delish veggie/fruit juice company

Today's post is courtesy of Lauryn Evarts. Check out her blog, The Skinny Confidential, for more great fitness, diet and beauty tips!

Quite frankly, I’m leaving my man because I am in love with Suja.

Since discovering the product, I’ve been chugging them on the reg. And for all of you who are annoyed with the idea of a juice cleanse because you don’t have the time or patience (like me) to actually buy the ingredients and then juice them at home? Fab news: Suja does a pre-made, 3-day juice cleanse that is insane! In fact, it’s so amaze that I’ll be completing it after the holidays. Who’s with me?!

Ok, so let me introduce you to the goddess of organic juice, Annie Lawless…

Give us all the deets on Suja. 

The word Suja means “long, beautiful life” in ancient Hindu, and Suja juices facilitate a lifestyle that encompass that meaning. Our raw, organic, local, and cold-pressed juices are available à la carte, as a cleanse, or as a monthly home delivery package. They are extremely nutritious and promote looking, feeling, and performing your best!

Why is it different from other juices on the market?

Suja juices are 100% organic, never heated (raw), non-GMO and cold-pressed. Our processes preserve all of the vital enzymes, vitamins and minerals, making Suja the most nutrient dense beverage available.

Let’s talk cold-pressing…why is it better than using regular juicers?

Cold-pressing is a two-step process that grinds the produce and presses it with a hydraulic press. This is done at a very low temperature, preventing nutrient loss through heat & oxidation. This method also yields more juice from the produce we use.

Aren’t you supposed to drink juice immediately after it’s made?

Yes, you are. Nutrient loss begins as soon as the juice is exposed to oxygen and light. That’s why we immediately bring our juice to a very cold temperature and employ a method called HPP, or high pressure pascalization. This method applies large amounts of pressure to the bottles with zero heat, pushing all oxygen out of the bottles while killing any pathogenic activity that may be inside. This effectively "pasteurizes" the product while keeping it raw and preserving all of the vital nutrition. It also extends the shelf life, so you can buy Suja juice and consume it up to three weeks after press while receiving the same amount of nutrition as if it were just juiced.

Do I have to drink only juice on a cleanse?

Definitely not! We recommend consuming enough nutrition to support your lifestyle and make your "cleanse" sustainable. The purpose of a cleanse is to give your body a break, eliminate toxins and reset bad habits you may have fallen into. You can do all of this while still consuming food. When you do a Suja cleanse, we offer recommendations like raw fruits/vegetables, avocado and a steamed sweet potato that will sustain you while still helping you reach your goals.

Benefits to including juice in your daily life when you’re not cleansing?

Where do I start? Drinking fresh, raw, organic juices can help support a number of processes in the body while providing a concentrated source of many nutrients. This manifests in more energy, increased concentration, better moods and less inflammation, to name a few things. Juices are extremely hydrating to the hair, skin and nails, leaving you feeling lighter and brighter with every sip!

How did Suja start?

Suja started from a shared lifelong passion for health, wellness and nutrition. Eric and I met in San Diego last year at a yoga studio over a conversation about our love for the cold-press. We had both been interested in the correlation between nutrition and health since childhood. I dealt with a skin disorder (eczema) for years and saw it clear up when I altered my diet and lifestyle. Eric had a background as a natural and raw foods chef. We quickly realized we needed to collaborate and share this passion with others. Before we knew it, people were going crazy for our delicious blends!

Where is Suja made, and where the heck can we find it?!

All of our juices are made locally in San Diego using Southern California-grown produce. Suja is currently sold in Whole Foods Markets and Jimbo’s stores throughout Southern California, as well as online for home delivery.

Tips for detoxing quickly after an indulgent weekend?

We all have them, so my first tip is to avoid toxic thinking and being hard on yourself. Appreciate the good time you had being less vigilant about your regimen, and focus on making the next decision a healthy one. I like to wake up and get a good gym session or beach run in! This gets my blood pumping and makes me feel alert. Then, I like to hop in an infrared sauna and sweat out the gunk. Throughout the next couple days, I focus on hydrating, hydrating, hydrating! I consume ample amounts of green juices and green veggies. I try to stay away from heavier foods like animal proteins, dairy and grains while focusing on fruits, salads, avocados, coconut and sprouted nuts/seeds. Before I know it, I am back in my groove and feeling fantastic.

Go-to healthy eats?

My favorite meal of all time is kale salad with a whole avocado, cherry tomatoes, red onion and dulse. I consume this at least five times a week! I also love dark chocolate for its antioxidants and its pleasure factor, and yerba mate tea for its kick! Oh, did I mention Suja juices? I like to have 2-3 per day first thing in the morning and between meals to curb my hunger and keep me hydrated.

Note: Contact info@sujajuice.com about shipping rates outside of San Diego and Orange County before placing orders.

RAW MOM CLUB....{REPOST}

Dear multi-tasking goddess, Do you know why I love winter? A lot of it has to do with citrus season :-) I love a freshly squeezed glass of orange juice, which by the way is a great raw food for kids! It fills them up with nutrition and pleases their taste buds too. Win-win! You can even stir a little bit of superfood in it, like flax oil, for added omega 3s, or even some soaked chia seeds. People often think that squeezing oranges takes a lot time, but it's really not true, it won't take you more than 10 minutes if you squeeze enough for 4 people and then clean the citrus juicer! Another reason why I love winter is... The end of the year! I love taking good resolutions (and following through!) and creating a blank slate for myself. Who cares about the past year and the many things I didn't do? A new year is coming, and it's a new opportunity to do things right. One thing I love doing is getting my house all shiny and organized so that things flow better. It's true, The Cleanliness and Organization of Your Home is a Direct Reflection of Your Life, Your Health, Your Well-Being and Your Thoughts! A few days ago, I took the plunge. I signed up for the BE Clean program. Would you like to join me? I will create a BE Cleansection in the Raw Mom Club forum, and we can all discuss the daily e-mails we get and how we applied them to our own lives! This will be so much FUN!! :-) If you're like me, you've been wanting to hit the “reset” button on your messy drawers and disorganized bathrooms for a while. So, let's all do this together, because doing things alone is sooo much harder. You can sign up HERE. Love and disappearing dust bunnies, Raw Mom Joanna.

sandwich making time!

TODAY'S TIP

Morning, Firecracker!

While I may appear to be mild mannered, cheerful and generally positive, dear monica, there are a few subjects that get my inner redhead rumbling and one of them is the "you are what you eat" mentality that keeps way too many otherwise potent and powerful and positive people tied up in knots worrying about the size of their thighs and the bulge of their butts and the nutritional value of their midnight snacks.

Weight "Watching" Won't Work

"Life" is humongous.

It is cosmic in proportion and infinite in her endurance and perseverance. Any organization or person who tries to tell you that you "are" what you eat, how you look, how much you weigh, how "moody" you feel or any other preposterous proposition needs to be left alone in a forest for a few hours overnight to make peace with the Powers That Be.

You can step on scales, count calories and pinch inches until the end of your days and it will NEVER EVER EVER make you a more alive, engaged, inspired person. In fact, chances are pretty good it won't even help you improve the physical condition of your body for longer than a quick rebound and roller coaster!

When you, an infinitely powerful, outrageously brilliant, gorgeously engaged being starts putting a whole bunch of life-giving attention onto something as trivial as the width of your hips, then Life gets smaller, stuck in rut and starts to suffer.

So What's Life All About?

Life isn't about pinched inches and a low-calorie lifestyle. It's about the degree to which YOU (as the cosmic rockstar you are) make things happen--how you love and live passionately in the pursuit of the things that are important to you. It's about how you pick yourself up when you're down and how you overcome obstacles that stand in your path to achieving great things for yourself.

It's how you believe in hope, love and the pursuit of happiness in spite of what the headlines tell you is "true" out there. As far as I'm concerned, what's "true" is what's true for YOU!

From where you stand at the centre of an infinite number of possibilities life can look pretty fan-freakin'-tastic! But to see it, you've got to be willing step off the scale and step away from the obsessive pursuit of an "ideal" body size and physical appearance. The beautiful truth is that doing so is actually and factually the very best way to improve your physical health and appearance in the first place.

The thing that makes you a magnet, a head-turning hottie pants is WHO you are and HOW you light up with Life inside you! When you are lit up and passionate about who you are, what you do and how you live, then making great choices about what to eat and how to move happens effortlessly.

That's Why I Did Something About It

That's why I created Body Enlightenment. I wanted to prove that by decluttering your home and creating a space you love and that inspires you, you'll start eating better and feeling better and taking better care of yourself.

I wanted to prove that by investing a bit of time in your natural beauty routine, you'll start to feel more loved and be more loveable and the worry-wrinkles and excess weight you've been holding on to will melt away.

And, as predicted, I was right. Thousands of inspired and healthy and happy women are living proof that my theory worked!

You don't need to lose weight to feel great. THAT is the lie that needs to be busted in order for you to get your life back and start feeling like the cosmic rockstar you really are. You need to feel great to lose weight.

On November 4th we'll be kicking off a 30-Day Clean & Green Your Home program designed to help you create an oasis in your own home--a place you thrive and feel inspired to live in. Doing so, will have tremendous ripple effects into every aspect of your life and well-being. Registrations will be closing soon, so if you're interested in joining us, please take a look and see if this program might be the thing you've been looking for.

In the meantime, leave the inch rulers to the carpenter, the scales to the fish and the calorie counting to those who can't see stars, sunsets, smiling faces and other life-giving things worth taking inventory on instead.

May your path be paved with pleasurable moments of living the life you love. You're certainly deserving of nothing less than everything you've ever dreamed possible for yourself. So, now would be a great time to start living it.

Yours in admiration,