Anyone who knows me, knows that I love an excuse to host a party.  So when my married friends and I started a monthly dinner group, you can imagine how excited I was when it was my turn to host!

I want to share this dinner party as an example of how simple it can be to host a fabulous supper in style and stilettos ah!
The key is to plan ahead and decide on a menu that can be prepped days before and requires little hands on time during your party… for example a cheese, fruit and nut platter for an appetizer and slow cooked meat for your main…

I decided on a Provence theme because, well, I’m obsessed with the south of France! The food, wine, culture, language, men, style, architecture, cobble stones, surf, music, all of it!

• Offer your quests a glass of wine when they come in.  Simple say, “I just opened a bottle of wine, can I pour you a glass?”
• French music on Pandora
• Savorying Provence, cookbook on my coffee table
• Olive tree to add a little nature
• Little bowls of olives and rosemary marcona almonds

Nike touches down in SF on their Journey for a Better World… and guess who was asked to provide the vegan snacks?! That’s right, Sugar & Spice!

Athlete Jason Lester has embarked on a running and biking journey from COAST to COAST for a whopping 4,800 miles in 102 days! That’s 32 marathons and 3,800 miles biked!

A few years ago discovered quinoa crispy cereal.   Woah I know…exciting right?! It’s like rice crispy, only made from quiona.  1 ingredient: organic quinoa!  I love using it in homemade power bars and granola. Mix in chia seeds and hemp hearts for extra nutrients, vitamins, minerals and protein.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups old fashion rolled oats
1/2 cup quinoa crisps
1 cup pecan pieces
1/4 cup nut oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 t fresh ground salt (you can use less.  I just like the salty/sweet combo!)

Hemp heart and chia seeds to taste…

preheat 300
Line a sheet tray with parchment paper
combine, oats, pecans and salt
whisk oil and maple
pour over dry ingredients and mix well
spread oats evenly on baking tray
Bake 1 – 1.5 hours, stirring every 15 minutes

Mix in the seeds during the last 10 minutes.

Granola should be light brown and getting crispy
it will get crispier and hard as it cools…

I can’t have granola in my house…it’s like crack to me 🙂 so I make it and give it to friends in cute little jars.  Makes a good little gift with local yogurt and maple.

Today’s recipes:
Breakfast: Vanessa gave me dates and there’s not much better that a warm baked date.
Lunch: The Miso is too over powering for the salmon. I usually use cod here.  Miso is a great flora-enhancing food.
Dinner: I’m going out to dinner… I gotta put this week’s beautified-ness to use 🙂
So I’ll share a recipe that I recently made for clients and they “absolutely loved“.
And it just so happens to incorporate salmon, detoxifying cabbage,  cancer fighting spices, and lots of citrus (promotes production of bile, which carries toxins out of the body)

Breakfast:
Moroccan Oatmeal Baked Dates

Combine oats, almond milk and spices like cinnamon, allspice, cloves and nutmeg.  Bring to a simmer.
Stuff dates.  Fill oven proof dish with a little more almond milk.  Cover and bake for 25 minutes at 350.
4 stuffed dates = about 250 cals

Oil pan.  Cover with a cooked grain.  Combine 1 T miso paste with 2 t brown sugar.  Top the salmon with the paste combo. Add bok choy to the dish.  Top with a little Mirin (if you have it, asian cooking vinegar) or olive oil.  Bake at 400 for 15 minutes.

Remember how I said I ended up going out to dinner at 9:30pm with the Italians i met at MeetUp…? Well, I didn’t mention that EACH one of them ordered their OWN pizza!
Anyway, it struck me that every single person sitting at the table was fit and definitely not over weight.
How is this possible?
And that’s today’s healthy living tip…
How to eat like an Italian and not get fat!
It’s simple really and here’s how:

I thought “portion control” was the most important key to staying healthy.  But there is something more important than the number of calories you are putting into your body and that is the type of calories you are putting into your body…

My Italian friend, Vince, I met at meetup explained to me the true secret:

Italians eat WHOLE!
This is a foreign concept to most Americans but the way of life for most everyone else in the world.
You wont find a pantry in Italy full of sugary cereals, white wonder bread and diet coke.
Basically:
1) Try to avoid packaged foods with more that 5 ingredients on the label
2) If there is an ingredient on the label that you wouldn’t cook with or have in your pantry (maltodextrin, dextrose, hydrogenated oils, MSG, lactic acid: just a few of the many ingredients in Cheetos) don’t eat it.
3) Avoid fat free and low fat options..eat whole fat dairy and cheeses.

And as Gabliele points out, “Italians like their food simple.  For example, we eat a lot of pasta, but rarely with those dense creamy sauces so common here (Fettucini Alfredo? And who the hell is Alfredo by the way?”

Michael Pollan just published a book called, Food Rules.  It is basically all the shit Italians already know, and live by… don’t eat processed, chemical filled, packaged foods.  SIMPLE!

You have to understand Portion Control too (here)  I can’t stress this enough! Yes, Italians eat a ton- but it is clean healthy food… not processed s*** like Big Macs and DiGiorno

More Italian lifestyle and eating tips:

Today’s menu is Italian inspiried as well.
Breakfast is always small and light.  Which I too believe in.
Lunch is the heaviest meal of the day: carbs and protein
Dinner is often late, therefore lighter.

Recipes:

Banana Bread Bars
Perfect example of breakfast you can make on Sunday and enjoy all week!
3 bananas, 6 cups oats, 1 cup honey, 1 cup chopped walnuts, 2 eggs
Combine and add spices like cinnamon
Line a sheet tray with parchment paper
Spread out
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
Cool completely before cutting
Makes a ton!

Pesto Pasta with Shrimp and Spinach

This was so simple to make…You just keep adding the ingredients to the same pot of cooking pasta.
So my gluten free pasta took 5 minutes to cook
Boiling shrimp takes 2 minutes
Wilting Spinach take 30 seconds.
Now DO THE MATH…

Add the pasta to boiling salted water
After 3 minutes add the shrimp
When you have about 30 seconds of cooking time left, add the spinach
Drain
Meanwhile, in the pot add the oil and pesto (I used the kale pesto) heat and add the pasta and shrimp back to the pot.
Serve with toasted pin nuts and fresh grated parmesan cheese

Today was a whorl wind and it’s only getting windier… I just got home from my client’s house at 9pm having to write this post (scratch that) wanting to write this post and my camera is acting up… Anyway, today was a perfect example of the inspiration for todays topic…

How to have healthy food in your fridge all the time, that you only have to prep on Sunday, or whatever day works for you.  Making it super easy for you to just grab and reheat a healthy breakfast, lunch or dinner.
So, I had 3 hours between coming home from teaching classes at the gym and going to Marin to cook for clients in their home, to create, cook and photograph the 3 meals.

Not to mention I’m on 4 hours of sleep!  That Italian meetup happy hour I went to last night was a blast!  After 3 hours and 3 glasses of wine my Italian was flowin like a native and I ended up at an Italian restaurant in North Beach with 8 bello Italian men 🙂 So far I’m  LOVIN meetup!

Here’s an example of something you can make on Sunday and they will keep 4 days in the fridge.
The Combination possibilities are endless.  My mom taught me how to make these crustless quiches, and she would make them in muffin tins.
Broccoli and eggs go really well together.  I did spinach and tomatoes because that’s what’s on hand.
So, chop up your veggies and place them in the dishes.  Beat eggs and pour it over veggies.  Bake and you now have crustless quiches all week long.
It takes 5 minutes to assemble and 15 minutes to bake at 350.

I love stuffing vegetables.  Acorn squash, eggplant and portobellos are my favorite.
They freeze really well and reheat really wonderfully.
I chose the acorn squash because they are amazing just by themselves.
Rice and chickpeas make a great combo, along with the pesto kale (that you’ve already made) and chopped nuts on top.
It is just as easy to make 1 acorn squash as it is to make 4 halves.  So why not just make 4. Why not make 12 crustless quiches.  It’s just as easy and it saves you time during the week.
They pack great and reheat really well at work.  Super filling and satisfying too.

These are A-mazing, I’m going to tute my own horn for a second here.  I made up the recipe and they are freakin fabulous.  So moist inside ad they have that crunch on the outside because I put them in gluten free bread crumbs before pan frying them and baking them.
So, really easy… black bean, steamed spinach and sweet potatoes and you already have your whole grain in the fridge. Cumin, grama masala and a little cayanne for a kick and some fresh squeezed lime.  Add 2 eggs, mix it all together and voila!
And now you have 8 patties.
Place on the slaw that you already have ready to go in the fridge.  Mix with a little lime juice too.
Cabbage does not get enough good credit.  It actually provides tons of Vitamin K and C, B6, folate and magnesium….just to name a few.  You can read up here.
Top with Tahini Sauce.  Typically Tahini sauce is made with lemon and water, but we’re using limes because we squeezed in the limes in the patties and slaw.  Plus sesame seeds.
So again, we are pairing the sweet potato in the burger with the sesame tahini because that’s the vitamin A and zinc combination that is really powerful for your body.

Again, today’s tip was inspired by the turn of events in my day.
Like many of you, I pack my day with meetings, appointments, lunches with friends, gym classes, laundry (mine’s in the mat down the street now!) work emails, etc. and often don’t have time to pack a healthy lunch or plan a healthy meal for when I get home.
Tip #1
Healthy Eating is Easy and Cheap!

Welcome to day 2!
How do you feel?  I already know of some friends who have cut out refined sugar or alcohol or tried yoga for the first time today… Great Job you guys!
Well, my “no refined sugar” for a week goal didn’t go as planned…
I reached for a bowl of complimentary chocolates at a store this afternoon with out even realizing it!
Ooooops! But it’s ok, shit happens like we learned yesterday.  Tomorrow I will try harder.
Have you come up with a goal yet?  Don’t forget to write it down!

Todays menu is so pure and cleansing…you will love it!
And today’s healthy living tip is even better!

Tip #1
Live in the Present and be Happy with Today!
I feel like this advice could not come at a more perfect moment.  During the New Year I always become a bit, well, day dreamy.  And I’m sure you do too.  The New Year is a time for reflection.  It’s a time when we often find ourselves thinking about our past and wishing for the perfect future.  I know we’re all guilty of it.
Well, how about we LIVE TODAY!
Be happy knowing that someone loves you, Today!  Love your body, Today!  Be grateful that you have a job, Today!  Know that 50% of the world’s population did not have access to a computer, Today {I just made that up…but it sounds good 🙂 }!  And know that you were given an opportunity to be great, Today!
I loose sight of living in the moment too! Every so often I dream about my past when I lived in Milan, Italy.  And, to no surprise, it’s usually around a time like the New Year when I begin to day dream.  I so badly wish to go back and live my Italian life again.  Soaking up the Italian culture, speaking a beautiful language, riding my bike down the cobble stone streets, meeting my amazing Milanese friends for lunch on a weekday where pasta and wine are enjoyed for hours, grocery shopping at the (CHEAP) street markets daily and serving cocktails at a bar which is smack in the middle of Corso Como (the fashion street… where models and professional soccer players were my bar’s cliental).
Clearly I am not living in Milan anymore (at least, for Today I am not).
On a stroll through Crissy Fields Sunday I explained my dilemma to Sarah and she simple said to me, “why don’t you bring your Italian life to SF”
Brilliant! Why hadn’t I thought of that!?
So that’s what I did today.  I know what it is about Italy makes me happy and I brought that here today.

The Power of choice and happiness is in your hands, everyday!

How I brought Italian life to me today:
I got dressed super fashionable (yes, just to go to a kid’s park and hang with a 2 year old).  You do not see Italian women wearing workout clothes… lulu lemon is for the gym, that’s it!
I Enjoyed a long lunch, outdoors, with sparkling water.
Afternoon bike ride on my adorable beach cruise (with a basket) that just looking at bring me back to Europe!
Enjoyed an afternoon glass of wine at Lashfully where I got beautified (because Italian women definitely put time into their appearance)
I joined an Italian group on Meetup! and am meeting for Happy Hour tomorrow!
And lastly, I am feeling so happy today, in this very moment , even though I’m not in Italy 🙂
What can you do to appreciate today!?

Do What You Love (no excuses!) (here): Why Are We Happy (here): 7 Rules For making More Happiness (here)

Breakfast:

Quinoa and Black Rice (you’ve already have it made in the fridge) avocado. 

I cooked the egg with a little sesame oil and sprinkled black sesame seeds on top (SO great for digestion!)

Lunch: 

I met Kate and Milo at the Park and packed a picnic in this adorable carrier I picked up in Chang Mai, Thailand

Miso Cabbage salad

Mix cabbage and carrots with rice wine vinegar, miso paste and coconut sugar (1 T of each)

Ginger Lime Shrimp

Always keep frozen Shrimp on hand (defrost in running cool water)

Toss with Olive oil, lime zest and grated ginger

Broil for 2 minutes on each side

Soy-Honey Glazed Sweet Potatoes

Slice Sweet potatoes and roast at 400 for 10 minutes on each side

Mix equal pasts soy sauce and honey, drizzle over

Slice Grapefruit and Kiwi

Sprinkle with raw coconut

Dinner:

Sweet Potato and Kale with Tahini Honey Sauce 

bake sweet potato.  Steam kale and mix with a bit of your grain.

Mix 1 T tahini with 1 t honey and 1 t water

I have been trying to refrain from boring you with the nutritional benefits of each meal… but this you should know:

Sweet Potatoes are packed with vitamin A.  But your body needs zinc in order to distribute the A through out your body.  Sesame seeds (tahini) are packed with zinc.  Therefore, this makes a perfect A + zinc combo 🙂

At the park with Kate and Milo

Milo and Me

Proof that happiness can be as simple as an empty box

Ok, backing up to the basics…
I have been getting some feedback in regards to the menu I posted on, Day 1 To a New You.
My apologies for not helping you properly stock your fridge/pantry for the week…

It is so simple to eat clean  All you have to do is stock your kitchen with these 20 ingredients…most I’m sure you already have on hand.  Everything I listed below I chose for a specific reason.  Every ingredient serves an important roll in cleansing your body and supporting your digestive system.

Think EARTH!
If it came from the earth, you are free to indulge!

The Fruits and Veggies that we will be seeing a lot this week:
Cabbage and Carrots (buy already shredded to save you time)
Sweet Potatoes and yams
Avocado
Apples, Bananas, Pears, Mangos, berries, Citrus fruits (really any fruit)
Squash (already peeled and chopped saves you a workout- it’s a toughie to peel)
Dark Leafy Greens (spinach, kale, bok choy)
Asparagus and Broccoli

Fridge:
Whole Plain Yogurt
Eggs
Shrimp and Fish (specifically salmon)
Miso Paste

Pantry:
Quinoa
Black Rice
Honey
Coconut (in extra virgin oil form too for cooking)
Black Sesame Seeds
Sesame Oil
Seaweed
Dry Roasted Nuts
Oats
Beans
Fresh Herbs
Spices

Make a Quinoa and Black Rice Combo
(cook separately, combine, can keep in the fridge all week! You’ll be having this all week)
Cut lemons, fruit and veggies to help save you time and keep you inclined to eat them.
Buy Pre Shredded carrots and cabbage.  We will be eating a lot of these this week because the are so powerful in aiding with digestions.
Make Green Power Sauce:  This will be used on salmon, in salads, as a marinade and on soup… it delivers healthy fats from nuts, tons of vitamins and minerals, not to mention great flavor.
Green Power Sauce: Blend a kale, walnuts, miso and a little oil until smooth!

SOON YOU WILL BEGIN TO ENJOY THE TASTE OF FOODS IN THEIR NATURAL FORM AND NOT FEEL THE NEED TO SALT AND SAUCE IT UP!
Steamed green beans, yes please.  Green bean casserole, sure, once a year on Thanksgiving.

Hello There!
So… today did not start off exactly the way I expected.  But that’s ok, bumps in the road are part of life.
Today’s bump was the inspiration behind my first healthy living tip…

Tip #1
Shit happens, don’t beat yourself up, move on.


My alarm was set to go off at 6am to teach classes at the gym.
Well, somehow my alarm never went off.  I still don’t know why.
Anyway, I woke by the sun shinning into my room at 8am feeling complete anxious and terrible for all people who got out of bed this morning and made there way to the gym.
So, shit happens.  It doesn’t mean I do not feel TERRIBLE for all my friends I stood up at the gym, it just means that I can’t let this mistake ruin my day.
I wrote everyone at the gym an apology letter. I have grown so close with a lot of my clients and felt terrible knowing that I ruined some of their mornings.
At 9 I went for a 5 mile run in Crissy Fields to clear my mind.
On the way home I stopped at Cole Hardware (my favorite place) to buy a backup alarm clock!
And Then I reminded myself:

Tip #2:
Make a realistic goal for the week.
Mine is to not have any refined sugar.  I don’t keep treats and packaged foods in my home, so that should be easy around here.  The goal will be to say “no thank you” when I’m out and the dessert menu comes 🙂
Some goal ideas for you:
Get your heart rate up for 30 minutes a day
Only drink filtered water and tea (ok, fine, ONE cup of coffee)
Eat at the table with all media and distractions turned off.
Everyday do something caring for your body: bubble bath, deep breathing exercises, an after dinner stroll, give and receive hand massages.
Try something new everyday like yoga or Thai food
Write it down and…

Menu Day One:

Well, today is a new day, a new year actually, and it’s never too late to start fresh.
December is over, that pie was eaten and those runs were skipped, but January is here and looking fresher than ever!
We all have our own special ways in which we find balance and reenergize ourselves.  For the next week focus on filling your life with what works best for you, whether it’s through hiking, yoga, massages, manicures, reading, bubble baths or spending time with the people you love (media off), do something that makes you FEEL WONDERFUL EVERYDAY!
I recently discovered acupuncture and have fallen completely in love with the practice and how wonderful it makes me feel.  Some days I go into my appointment so anxious and stressed, not able to breath at all, and leave feeling refreshed like a new born baby!
I have been seeing Daniel, an amazing acupuncturist, twice a week during the holidays in an attempt to get my body’s YIN back in full flow.
Daniel gave me a large list of warming foods, from the book Healing with Whole Foods, to help my poor little off balanced body get back on track… I’m so excited to get cooking and share the recipes!  (Crazy Sexy Diet is also on my list of must reads this January)

As a result from my stressful catering months, my body is officially not YIN-ing properly 🙂