The Beauty Detox Solution just arrived in the mail!  I followed Kimberly Snyder via Youtube videos over a year ago and saw her again recently when she published her new book.  She currently works with many celebrities day-to-day and on-set and has created her signature Glowing Green Smoothie, or “GGS” by her faithful.  I have been interested in juicing and green smoothies, so I picked up her book to see what her philosophy and plan was all about.

In order to execute to the fullest, I HAD to order a Vitamix blender!  I have wanted one for awhile and finally pulled the trigger and it should be here in a week or so.  Since I am heading out to California at the end of this week, I did not want to jump 100% into her eating plan until I can devote myself to it.  But, I love trying new eating philosophies, as long as I feel they are healthy, so that I can experience it firsthand before recommending to anyone else.

I have been a big fan of how naturally beautiful and vibrant Kimberly is and you can tell by reading her book that she practices what she preaches.  Her whole food, vegetarian diet plays a big role in her energy and vibrancy.

Tonight, I made a couple of her recipes from her book and will half-ass the first week of her diet Monday-Thursday just to get the hang of some of the recipes and timing of meals.  I made the Sally’s Salsa (similar to a pico de gallo), Oil-free Red Pepper and Cilantro dressing (for my green salads), and the Delish Squash Bisque (which I will have for lunch with a salad).  Beware of the acorn squash in the squash bisque.  Those suckers are hard to peel and I almost cut half my finger off in the process!  Sidenote, if anyone has a good tip on peeling an acorn squash let me know!

I am most excited to try the Glowing Green Smoothie which will be breakfast in the 2nd part of the Beauty Detox diet.  Come onnnn, Vitamix!

I’ll be posting more about The Beauty Detox Solution in a week or so, but until then, here is a photo of the Sally’s Salsa to feast your eyes on:

Sally's Salsa in The Beauty Detox Solution

Restaurants

	Au Lac 16563 Brookhurst Street, Fountain Valley This cozy restaurant specializes in “Humanese” food – a term coined by Au Lac’s chef himself. Humanese is the belief that everyone is created equal and we must have respect for all animals, plants, and each other. Au Lac has a Humanese-friendly, vegan and raw menu.
	Green Temple 1700 South Catalina Avenue, Redondo Beach This vegetarian restaurant is just outside of Long Beach, in Redondo Beach, but it’s worth the drive out of town. The serene atmosphere and delicious, vegetarian menu makes for a delightful dining experience. Even if you aren’t vegetarian, we are willing to bet you’ll want to come back to Green Temple time and time again!
	Sharkey’s 51 The Paseo At Sharkey’s their mission is to eat healthy food, use fresh, natural, and organic ingredients, and have fun while doing it. We think they nailed all three! This healthy and fresh version of Mexican fast food is perfect for a quick lunch or a bite to eat after the conference!
	Roots Gourmet 6473 East Pacific Coast Highway This vegan restaurant is dedicated to selling healthy, homemade meals made with organic ingredients, as well as innovative coffee and tea, all of which is healthy but doesn’t compromise on flavor. The menu has Spanish, Cuban, Argentinian, Columbian, and Brazilian influence, and almost everything is gluten-free!
	Viento y Agua Coffeehouse 4007 East 4th Street This eccentric little coffee shop serves an array of organic, fair trade coffee, and tea. They also have delicious smoothies and baked goods, many of which are vegan. This is the perfect place to stop for breakfast and a quick pick-me-up on your way to the convention center!
	Steamed 801 East 3rd Street This organic, vegetarian restaurant may not look like much at first glance, but if you are vegetarian, this is definitely a spot that you do not want to miss! The Mexican-style menu has an array of delicious burritos, quesadillas, and salads, as well as some special items such “happy tuna” and nachos!
	Coffee Caliente 55 Alamitos Avenue Another great coffee shop, Coffee Caliente also serves fair-trade, organic coffee, and snacks. It’s a perfect stop on your way to or from the Mega Conference and only a few short blocks from the convention center!
	Zephyr Vegan Café 340 East 4th Street This small vegan café is definitely flying under the radar, with no website and a menu that is extremely hard to track down, but they certainly have a loyal following here in Long Beach! Located not far from the convention center in downtown Long Beach, Zephyr is worth a visit if you love vegan fare.

Markets

	Old McDonald’s Farmers Market 5000 East Spring Street This famers market, located just outside of the Long Beach airport, might be a good stop on your way to the conference if you need to load up on locally grown, California produce or artisan goods.
	Long Beach Whole Foods 6550 East Pacific Coast Highway The Long Beach Whole Foods carries all of the health brands, produce, and meat that you know and love. Located in the Marina, it’s just a short drive from the convention center!
	Beach Greens This outstanding CSA delivers organic, locally grown produce right to your doorstep! Check their website for membership information.
	Healthway Foods 535 East Bixby Road This small, local health food store carries all of your favorite healthy brands as well as organic produce and meat. It’s the perfect place to stock up on healthy snacks before the conference!

Parks and Recreation

	Santa Catalina Island This beautiful island is just a quick ferry ride from Long Beach. Here, you can enjoy hiking camping and beautiful views of the California coastline. Catalina Island is a must see if you plan to spend a few extra days in Long Beach!
	ShoreLine Aquatic Park This small park is right on the water and often has outstanding views of the giant cruise ships and boats that dock in the Long Beach Port. There is plenty of green space to have a picnic and soak up the California sunshine!

See you at the Mega Conference!!

I found this Veggie Tumeric Quinoa on Kimberly Snyder’s blog which I recommend checking out.  I made it over the weekend and really like it.  I doubled the recipe so that I would have a lot for the week (I tend to eat the same thing for lunch for the week).  I also added cinnamon because I LOVE it and like the flavor more.  Today I also squeezed some fresh lemon on top!  Play around with it and find the flavors you like.

Quinoa is very high in protein and the tumeric helps with inflamation.  So, you are getting healthy carbs, protein, and veggies!  Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1-2 Tbs. coconut oil

• 1 medium onion, diced

• 1 red bell pepper

• 2 cups broccoli or cauliflower, cut into little pieces

• High quality sea salt (adjust to personal taste)

• 1 Tbs. curry

• ½ tsp. turmeric

• Cayenne pepper to taste

• 3/4 cup dry quinoa

Directions:

Pre- Prep: Be sure to soak the quinoa overnight in water.

1. In a saucepan place 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and add the quinoa to the hot water, and simmer until the water is absorbed and the grains become translucent soft (about 10-15 minutes). Pour through a strainer and set to the side in a bowl.

2. Heat the coconut oil in a skillet pan. Add the diced onions, and lightly sauté for a few minutes, adding the Celtic sea salt, curry, turmeric, and black pepper.

3. Add the other vegetables and lightly sauté for 5-6 minutes, until they become softened (but not overcooked).

4. Add the cooked quinoa and stir everything together. Adjust flavoring as needed to how you love it. Some like it hotter than others!

*Recipe pulled from www.kimberlysnyder.net

Yesterday, I visited the Dekalb Farmer’s Market where I love to get all of my organic fruits and veggies when the small farmer’s markets are not yet open for Spring.  I thought I would highlight a few of the things I picked up…many of them new to me!

I wanted to add more greens to my diet so I got 2 bunches of kale, red leaf lettuce, mustard greens, and watercress.  A coworker said he loved mustard greens so I plan to saute them with lemon and garlic as he recommended or throw them in my salads.  The kale I will saute or make kale chips.  I washed a chopped my lettuce and put in a bowl with the watercress. Why watercress?  Watercress boosts our detoxifying capabilities. It is also a great source of vitamins B1, B2, B6, C, E, manganese, carotenes, calcium, fiber, iron and copper.  Everyone needs a little more green in their diet and I thought this would be a neat one to try!  (I’ll let you know how it goes!)

I picked up a big bag of lemons to add to my water.  Lemons help rejuvenate the liver which is our biggest fat-burning organ!

You know that delicious chocolate you love?  Cacao nibs are partially ground cacao beans and do not have the added sugar and fat that are in processed bars.  Cacao nibs are a bit bitter so they are great to add to smoothies and other recipes.  If you love super dark chocolate, like me, you may like them as a snack.  Cacao has the highest amount of flavonoids of any superfood and up to four times the amount of antioxidants of green tea!  Yes, chocolate IS good for you!

I purchased the coconut flour as something fun to have to make a treat. Not sure what I will do just yet!

Millet is a gluten-free seed, not grain, that is high in protein and a lot of nutrients like magnesium, calcium, and manganese.  It provides serotonin to help calm your mood and hydrates your colon and feeds your microflora in your intestines.  Millet is an alkaline forming food (I will do another post about acidic vs alkaline for those unfamiliar).

That is an overview of some of the new products I picked up.  Would it be helpful to share what I do with them in a follow-up post?

Have a great week!

Amy

Stacking cinder blocks into the wheel barrow to build the new raised beds

In researching local food and urban gardens in Atlanta, I came across a group called Crop Mob – Atlanta who organizes volunteer events at local farms in the Atlanta area.  The purpose of Crop Mob is to allow wanna-be farmers get experience working on local farms and learning more about how food is produced and also create a ‘mob’ of volunteers to help our local farmers.

I have wanted to learn more about urban gardening, organic farming, and gardening in general.  I think it is so important that we know what we are putting in our bodies as fuel and, the majority of the time, I don’t think we even consider how our food got to where it is when we eat.  After reading a lot about industrial agriculture, GMOs, factory farms, and the like, I know I want to learn more about sustainable agriculture and local, organic farming and help educate others on what they are putting into their body.

This Saturday, I went to Patchwork City Farms where I met founders and farmers Jamila and Ceci.  Patchwork City Farms is on a plot of land next to Brown Middle School in the Westend area.  Jamila and Ceci have a commercial business and also have an area for the middle school students to learn and grow produce.  They were so welcoming and helpful in guiding us to build 4 raised beds for the Spring crops.  Although rain was impending, it turned out to be a perfect day and a lot of hard work!  We started out putting down a layer of mulch to kill the grass where we were building our beds.  After the layer of mulch, we started pulling up the cinder blocks from the raised beds from last year.  And, what did we find!?

BLACK WIDOWS!!!

The red is characteristic of the black widow. They were everywhere!

Luckily I am not afraid of spiders and we were all just cautious we watched where we stuck our hands before flipping around the cinder blocks.  We wheeled the cinder blocks to the mulch and built our beds and then filled them with dirt.  All of that took several hours and was quite the workout!

After a bit of weeding the garlic patch (and chewing on some wheatgrass), Ceci and Jamila provided a GREAT spread of food for lunch.  A fresh salad with fruit and homemade dressing, rice and lentils, and a tuna pasta salad.  It was a perfect end to the hard work!

I enjoyed meeting the other Crop Mobbers and loved spending time with Ceci, Jamila, and her family.  We received some advice on buying organic seed and Ceci was kind enough to throw out some ideas on building a garden on my balcony.

If this sounds interesting to you, I would recommend checking out Crop Mob – Atlanta and make a visit to Ceci and Jamila’s Patchwork City Farm.  They have a CSA which is accepting members now and will be attending farmers markets this spring.

Enroll at Integrative Nutrition to launch a new and exciting career,
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You will transform your life, to a new and healthier you,
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If the feeling is right, then the time is now
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To honor the spirit of love this Valentine’s Day,
We are offering a special scholarship, so act right away!

Enroll at Integrative Nutrition between February 13^th and February 16^th, and we’ll give you a $500 scholarship.

If you pay in full at that time, we’ll take an additional $500 off the cost of the program. Just email Coach Julia and mention the “Feel the Love” Scholarship*. She’ll schedule a call between you and an Admissions Advisor so that you can begin your personal IIN journey.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Amy

The course is one year long and began in January.  Ever since I began, my creative juices been flowing with ideas on how I can make a difference to help people live a healthy, happy life!  I have gone through ups and downs with my eating, workouts, stress, relationships, and more and now have realized what a big role they play in my choices.

I will begin posting interesting things I learn in my studying with IIN along with a variety of other projects and hobbies I have going on.  One exciting event coming up is the IIN Mega Conference in Long Beach, CA in March.  I plan to blog and tweet from the event for those who can’t attend or who are interested.  Speakers like David Wolfe, Mark Sissan (Mark’s Daily Apple), and Geneen Roth will be present.  I am psyched!

For anyone interested in learning more about IIN, here is a link:

I am excited to share with you as I progress with IIN and in my personal life.  Feel free to click on the Contact tab at the top of my site to reach out to me!