Baked apple cinnamon oatmeal

In a saucepan on medium heat, combine:
1/2 cup organic rolled oats (whole, not "quick")
1 cup milk (to make this vegan like Beyoncé, use almond milk)
1/2 or 1 chopped apple (I like Fuji)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of salt

Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until oats become soft and blended with the milk. Turn off the heat, cover, and leave on stove for 5 minutes. Serve with a tablespoon of maple syrup, or plain.

So delicious, healthy, full of protein from the milk and oats, carbs to give you energy from the apples and oats, and good fat to keep you full from the almond milk. Enjoy, my loves!

Out of town guest visit San Francisco

Local spots are best, not fancy spots...try Radius in SOMA, back patio, deviled eggs are a must...

Then find a farmers market and hit it hard.

Make a pretty spread and a delicious dinner, serve some local wine (unless you have an extra day to take them to Sonoma) and laugh it up to the sound of fog horns.

Perfect Snack: Egg salad

Hello perfect snack! Have you tried Suzie's Cakes? There are only 35 calories for 3, and I'm diggin the quinoa-corn version today, topped with my egg salad (mix 1 or 2 eggs with Greek yogurt, pickle juice, salt & pepper), the crispy piece of lettuce a pickle!

Kale & Spanish Tuna Salad

No matter how hungry you are, you will not save time by eating crap. No -- that spinach wrap from Starbucks is not healthy, and it will not really save you time, because you'll spend twice as much time working it off at the gym or stressing about it later. Why not just remove all crap from your life and decide to eat healthy, treat your body right, and learn how to make healthy food quickly!

Thats what my blog is all about, you guys, really. Once you are comfortable with your kitchen, your fridge, your pantry, your favorite skillet and your grocery list, you will be able to cook healthy food quickly, I promise.

Here's a classic 10 minute salad (15 minutes if you stop and take pictures along the way :)

Reach into your fridge, and grab something like kale (could be arugula, could be spinach, could even be iceberg but I think you can do better than iceberg). Pull everything out at once: carrots, cucumbers, celery, whatever looks ready to eat.  I have these Brussel sprout leaves from the other day when I made garlic Brussel sprouts. I always remove the outer leaves because otherwise they fall off while I'm grilling and they burn -- so I remove and save them for a salad. See! OK, so its easy: spray or drizzle some olive oil in your flat cast iron skillet, turn to low, and spread the sprout leaves around evenly, sprinkle with salt. 

Take your kale leaves off the veins and rip it into a bowl with organic olive oil. I used about 7 big stalks - lots of kale. Did you know you need to MASSAGE KALE??!?  well, my loves, you do.  You should massage kale with olive oil for a few minutes with your hands... that means kneading it like bread and squishing the leaves with your fingers to smooth out the fibers. It makes it taste better and makes it more digestible. 

Meanwhile I tossed my sprout leaves around in the pan a few times, so that they were over heat for about 5 minutes, then I took them off the heat. I took a carrot and my favorite mandolin slicer and sliced it into the bowl. Add some fresh herbs -- I have thyme in the fridge, but anything will be yummy -- oregano, basil, dill, parsley, cilantro, mint -- so just be brave and toss it in.

One of my new favorite things: Champagne vinegar -- add some, and some mustard, and keep tossing. The key to dressing is:

one base: olive oil, smashed avocado 

one acid: lemon, lime, balsamic vinegar, white wine vinegar, soy sauce

one or two curveballs: greek yogurt, pesto, mayo, mustard, honey

one or two herbs: any

salt & pepper

You want about 2 parts base to one part acid, and equal parts curveball to base. This is approximate. If you want to really learn, come over and do it with me. I've been making salad dressings since I was about 4 years old in my moms farm kitchen.

I added my favorite protein: Tonnino Oregano infused Spanish tuna, that I get from WFM for $6.99 for 8oz jar.  Tuna is a big fish, so its higher in mercury than other fish, like sardines, which are a healthier choice, but a few times a month I love tuna, salmon or other large fish. Toss everything together, add a few Mary's crackers and enjoy!

Roasted Sole with fingerling potatoes & garlic sprouts

Keep it simple and healthy in about 30 minutes of prep time, $20 for ingredients, all organic and fresh from Whole Foods (Sole was $13 for about 1.5 lbs) and an elegant presentation!

Sole: place in flat cast iron skillet with olive oil, squeeze of half a lemon & fresh thyme. Bake for 10 minutes at 350.

Purple fingerling potatoes: boil for about 15-20 minutes until they slide off a fork. Mix with olive oil, butter, salt, pepper and fresh basil & thyme.


Brussel sprouts: slice in half and sauté in olive oil and crushed garlic -- be patient so they brown nicely on each side. I use a cast iron skillet and cover them for 7 or 8 minutes on each side.


Order of operations:
Boil water, preheat oven to 350, add potatoes to water, slice sprouts, prepare fish in flat pan or oven dish, check potatoes, heat pan for spouts and keep on low heat while you sauté the garlic for a few minutes, add sprouts, check potatoes, cover sprouts, put fish in oven, set timer for 10 minutes, toss sprouts, check potatoes, drain them when they are done and mix with evoo & seasoning - set aside, salt sprouts and toss again, remove fish and plate it, add sprouts, potatoes, serve!

Folding laundry in the sun with Greens2

So I missed a juice at 2pm because it took forever to drink my nooner... And then I went for a long walk and talked to my mother and grandmother... So here I am at almost 4pm and I'm pretty ravenous. Greens2 doesn't have any ginger, thank god, and tastes like a salad.

12:30 real estate law & roots 3

This one has too much ginger in my opinion... But it's still delicious, and I know ginger is good for me!

Yoga and Roots 4

Yoga was good once I stopped feeling sorry for myself about being a little hungry, and actually my focus felt sharp, my balances came more easily, and I felt lighter in my handstands... After yoga I opened this, 10:30 am, and will head to Whole Foods to buy some delicious fish and veggies for tonight.

Juice tips 9am

So far here are two things to remember:

1. Stay warm. Juice is cold, so if you don't stay warm you will feel even colder, which makes it harder to stay focused and determined.

2. Drink lots of water. Basically, it should take you an hour to drink one juice because you're sipping it, sipping water, and doing other things. It's the opposite of eating a meal where you want to stay present during the entire meal -- with juicing it's almost passive. 

If you spread out your juices every 2 hours, and take 1 hour to drink each, you'll basically only have 1 hour of water. It's actually pretty easy to get through, and very enjoyable. You stay alert and focused because your bod isn't bogged down by digesting food. I like the feeling. 

Pressed Juicery 1-day cleanse: YOU can do this

So, as you may recall, I had a rather tough experience with my 3-day cleanse in the fall. Basically I was faint by the end of day 1, so I ate salmon and called it off. I decided that one-day cleanses are for me: manageable, delicious, and super helpful. A one-day cleanse really kickstarts your metabolism and changes your view of food. It shrinks your stomach, balances your blood and cleanses your body.

For this cleanse I am trying 6 juices from Pressed Juicery: Greens 2 & 3 and Roots 3 & 4. I'm doing 10 hours, 1 juice every 2 hours, and a simple protein dinner at 7pm. 

Here I am: starting my 8am juice with Downton Abbey. This seems like a manageable day, and I encourage you to try something similar. You don't have to go all crazy and extreme to make a change in your body (and how you view your body)... little changes can make big impacts on your determination, discipline and how you treat others.