½ cup coconut butter/oil, warmed to soften
¾ cup coconut nectar
2 tsp vanilla extract
5 drops vanilla stevia
¼ tsp sea salt
1 cup dried shredded coconut
2¼ cups cocoa powder, preferably raw, sifted

Blend warmed coconut butter, coconut nectar, vanilla, and salt in high-speed
blender. (high-speed blender preferred)
Add shredded coconut ½ cup at time to blend until smooth.
Transfer the mixture to a bowl and stir in 2 cups of the cocoa powder until
combined.
Refrigerate for about 15 or more minutes.
Place remaining cocoa powder on plate.
Using a spoon take a heaping tbsp of the chocolate mixture and roll into
balls. Roll in the cocoa powder to cover.
Store the truffles in the refrigerator.
You can also use hemp seeds, coconut, or cocoa nibs for the outside coating.

Superfood Truffles recipe is an excerpt from Holli’s E-Recipe Book, click here to Download now..

http://nutritionalstyle.com/shop/cookbook/

6 ripe avocados, pitted
2 cups fresh corn kernels, cut from 2 ears (or use thawed frozen corn or simply omit)
2 large handfuls of cilantro leaves, finely chopped
4 tablespoons lime juice
1 jalapeno pepper, finely minced
2 teaspoons sea salt

In a medium bowl, mash the avocados well with a fork. Add the corn, cilantro, lime juice, jalapeno, and salt and stir well to combine. If not using immediately, cover the surface of the guacamole with plastic wrap and refrigerate. This will only keep well for about a day or so.

It can be even more challenging to begin a new eating style, as you struggle to resist heavy carbohydrates, and warm, fatty foods. You’re seeking comfort from the cold and dark months, and that mac and cheese tastes so darn good!

Your body’s programmed to slow down, as it listens to its inner wisdom that says, rest, and conserve energy. Your body recalls centuries of your ancestors needing to store fat to survive, and this can add an extra inch -to -pinch in today’s world.

So what do you do? You’re still recovering from an indulgent holiday season, and not feeling strong, lean and as glorious as possible after that January down-time.

Why does a Cleanse make sense?

Many cultures believe that cleansing 4 times a year, seasonally, is appropriate and ideal for your body. Learning to cleanse with the seasons can be liberating and balancing at the same time.

Cleansing in the Winter months releases stored toxins and extra fat from the holidays, and it can help to ground you, to enjoy the winter months. Cleansing in winter puts you in touch with the season and the rest your body is calling for. You have the desire, and need to sleep more, to tune in to the seasonal calendar, and to use the winter months to enhance your Winter cleanse.

Here are 3 gentle tips to enhance and help you enjoy a Winter Cleanse;

:: Add in seasonal root vegetables; beets, turnips, parsnips, carrots, sweet potatoes, are hearty and substantial foods for the winter months. Try roasting them, or making a vegetarian stew.

:: Use healthy fats to fulfill your bodies cravings. Splurge on an organic, high quality EVOO, (extra virgin olive oil) that’s the best you can find. Try mixing up some chocolate treats with coconut oil, a healthy alternative that actually helps promote weight loss.

::Invest in natural sweeteners to give you the “lift” you crave right now. Coconut sugar is sweet and delicious, yet low on the glycemic index and will not kick you into a sugar spiral. NuNaturals brand Stevia is not bitter, and a bright addition to your green smoothie.

I invite you to join me as we Cleanse with Style, this winter. It’s cold outside, join us on the line for support, and clarity, and a new you by Spring!
www.cleansewithstyle.com

Alice Waters has an aura; she’s graceful, elegant, and lovely, and she bantered in a fun way with D.C. rock-star chef, Jose Andres. They ate clementines from a large silver bowl that she serves at her restaurant, Chez Panisse, (I couldn’t help thinking Meryl Streep must play her in the movie version)

She often ignored Andres’s direct questions, which he jokingly accused her of, as she shared her sweeping, game-changing dreams for our country, and its’ food. It made me want to sign up and help, and she clearly has had a lifetime of people doing that.

Ms. Waters charmingly talked about her dream for America—“I want to feed every school child for free, and I want to get all the food for them locally. I want the cafeteria to be part of the school curriculum.”

Her dream is to do for food, what John F. Kennedy did for physical fitness in our nations school system. To integrate the “art of eating”, to make it mandatory, to make it important. She wants the children in our country to sit together and talk at lunch, to enjoy fresh local foods, and to understand where their food comes from.

(As the mother of a young child, I sadly thought of my son’s rushed lunch period. Eating without speaking on a classroom desk, and telling me he can’t bring homemade soup because he doesn’t have enough time to eat it.)

Alice Waters grew up in New Jersey, with a family “victory garden”, and fondly recalls living close to the seasons as a young girl in the 40’s. Her childhood was not unusual, but unlike most Americans, she didn’t move on to fast foods and frozen dinners when they became popular. Instead she moved to France, and immersed herself in the French style of eating; locally grown, seasonal and slow.

Returning to the States, and to Berkeley, she opened Chez Panisse, her restaurant that has become a national treasure, because “she wanted a place to eat with her friends”. Chez Panisse was the beginning, but her heart clearly belongs to The Edible Schoolyard, and everything it stands for.

The Edible Schoolyard began from an idle comment she made to a reporter about the food in our country’s schools. After hearing her comment on the news, she was invited to visit a local school principal. The Principal had acres attached to his school, and intrigued by Alice Waters and her dream, he offered it to her. Together they built a beautiful garden to feed his schoolchildren.

The Edible Schoolyard is the result, and it’s provided a prototype and dream for the rest of the country. Middle School age children devote time to tending the garden, and take pride in their food, and as Waters said, like in France, “they see food as part of a rich and meaningful life”.

She talked about most school cafeterias in the U.S., and how the smell makes you not want to enter..
“Would it kill them to add garlic to the broccoli?” she commented, and I had to agree.

Alice Water’s beautiful photographic portrait, by Dave Woody, depicts her in the Edible Schoolyard. It is installed in the permanent collection at the National Portrait Gallery, in Washington, DC.

Ingredients:

4 cups organic sugar free almond milk
4 cinnamon sticks or 1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons green cardamom pods or 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon whole cloves
1/8 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1/4 cup sliced ginger
4 tbsp organic palm sugar or sweeten to taste with raw honey or stevia.

Preparation:

Place all of the ingredients except sweetener in a blender and blend. Strain in a fine strainer, and press pulp to release all milk.

Whisk in your choice of sweetener. Serve slightly warm or chilled, your preference.

The Campaign’s sponsors, including the Organic Trade Association, United Natural Foods, Organic Valley, and Earthbound Farm, filed a petition with the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) last month urging mandatory labeling of all GE (genetically engineered foods)

The Campaign is seeking 1,000,000. signatures, more than any campaign in FDA history, and is hosting an event to help them achieve their goal.
Interested in helping?

Listen in to conference call on Thursday, January 10, at 2pm ET to find out how.
Tel number :: 1-650-429-3300
Access code:: 311 670 911

I vowed to laugh more, to find something funny.. to be impulsive and silly and recognize the humor in things.. to get carried away with laughter for the pure delight of it. I needed me some FUN.

How’d I do? I had a ball.

I had to rearrange some things, rely on a little help to get stuff done, but I managed to break for laughter.

Zooming up town for “coffee talk”, pulling over to laugh at something ridiculous, getting out of the office to do dinner with neighbors, meet the ladies for a quick lunch, laugh at my husband’s jokes, plop down on the sofa for Modern Family.

(Sophia Vergara is hilarious. )

Laughter’s a bonus :: it stimulates weight loss, boosts your immunity, helps you sleep better and it fights depression. It also stretches muscles, exercises your ab’s, and improves your life.. bigtime.

Laughter raises your metabolism by 20%, it sends endorphins rushing, and it makes you feel good.. so good you want to laugh again and again. Laughter burns calories. Many say it improves sleep patterns, and helps you relax.
It’s contagious, and it’s easy to share.

It’s my new “diet”.. The Laughing Diet.

Get on board…. Get silly..
“Like” it below, share it with all your social networking friends.

It’s totally free, and fun. LOL today..

The added lemon is detoxifying and alkalizing, perfect for post-holiday body-system clean-up.

Ginger Detox Tea

Ingredients

1 piece fresh ginger, about 2 inches
2 organic lemons, peeled
cayenne pepper
liquid stevia (NuNaturals brand is my favorite– the lemon flavor is perfect for this tea)

Add ginger and lemons to your high speed blender and blend.
Use about 6 tsp of this mixture and hot water to a large mug, with a few drops stevia.
A shake of cayenne is optional.

Waters is an icon in the organic foods arena, one of the leaders in the Slow Food Movement in America, and owner at Chez Panisse, her restaurant in Berkeley, CA. She is also founder of the Edible Schoolyard, as well as the School Lunch Initiative; organizations dedicated to improving food in our nations schools.

The evening will begin at 6 p.m. with a conversation between Waters and José Andrés,
chef and owner of ThinkFoodGroup, a group of restaurants featuring unique and creative dining concepts in Washington, DC.

At 7 p.m. a reception will feature light fare from chefs of Washington, D.C., area chefs and restaurants that serve locally grown organic food. Restaurants being highlighted are José Andrés, Chef, Owner, ThinkFoodGroup » Cathal Armstrong, Chef, Restaurant Eve » Adam Bernbach, Mixologist, Proof and Estadio » Mike Isabella, Chef and Owner, Graffiato » Todd Gray, Chef and Founder, Equinox Restaurant » Haidar Karoum, Chef, Proof » Nora Pouillon, Chef and Owner, Restaurant Nora » Adam Smith, representing owners Sue Conley and Peggy Smith, Artisan and Farmstead Cheeses, Cowgirl Creamery » Susan Gage, Founder, Susan Gage Caterers

Ticket prices start at $100 for the reception and $200 for the reception and conversation. Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.npg.si.edu Contact npgevents@si.edu with questions.

The portrait of Waters is a photographic portrait created by Dave Woody, and shows Waters standing beneath a mulberry tree at the Edible Schoolyard.

1. REfuse:: to do any more parties, dates or moments, until you’re ready — just say no

2. REst:: sleep, nap, daydream at will

3. REcover:: eat well, smile a lot, listen to your body

4. REview:: look back at what worked and what didn’t– make lists if you have to

5. REflect:: learn from mistakes, vow to avoid negative choices and people

6. RElax:: trust your guidance and honor your inner GPS

7. REstore:: drink green juice, drink green smoothies, power up your nutrients, nourish your soul

8. REjuvenate:: take epsom salt baths, long winter walks, talk silently in prayer and whispers

9. REnew:: seek healthy minded friends and business, desire joy in all areas

10. REjoice:: for what’s here and now–love with a full heart, kiss with meaning, hug with sincerity, practice gratitude daily