Smoothie Time!

I love smoothies. More specifically, I love my smoothies. Jamba Juice and Smoothie King are okay, but I think mine are much better. Probably because I use all fruit and no yogurt, sherbet, or weird filler stuff.

This particular smoothie has frozen organic strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries, in addition to almond milk*, and organic baby spinach. I swap the fruit out according to what is in my freezer. Frozen peaches, mangoes, and bananas are delicious too.

*I like to use almond, coconut, or soy milk, but use whatever works for you. Rice or dairy milk will be great too if that’s what you like. If you want to be really decadent, you could use chocolate almond or soy milk with frozen bananas or berries. It’s like the most delicious milkshake on earth. And much less guilt inducing than a real milkshake.

I use an immersion blender like this:

Fill up the measuring cup with spinach and fruit…

Pour in some milk…

Blend, blend, blend…

And there it is!

What are your favorite smoothie combinations?

xo,
Elle

Elle’s All Natural Cold and Flu Remedy Routine

I’m a big proponent of naturally healing your body (when possible and within reason). To me, there is nothing more destructive to your body and our health as a society than running to the doctor for a Z-Pak every time you have a sniffle. The last time I took antibiotics was twice in 2008 for pneumonia. Since then I have been sick numerous times (tonsillitis, bronchitis, upper respiratory stuff, et cetera) and have always used the regimen I describe below to deal with it and speed up my body’s natural healing process. It works and there are almost no side effects. You can’t say that about antibiotics!

Water. TONS of water. You want to flush the infection out.

Olive Leaf Extract. It’s a natural antibiotic/antiviral. I take one dropperful in an ounce of water twice a day. Makes me a bit tired but knocks the sickness out of you fast!

Vitamin C, twice a day. As we all know, C totally boosts our immune systems. I try to get it via fruit (or juice) if possible, but if I’m sick and on the go I’ll take a pill or powder.

Vitamin B Complex (with Riboflavinoids). B vitamins have antiviral properties. Twice a day. It will make your pee a weird color. Don’t freak out.

Green tea. Full of antioxidants. You need them. Drink it.

Ginger tea. Homemade, not from a bag. Take a knob of ginger, peel it, slice it, boil in water till it’s spicy and looks like the photo above). Add lemon juice and honey. This is amazing for coughs and throat issues. Drink tons, hot or cold. (You can actually double up and throw a green tea bag in here.)

Singer’s Saving Grace Throat Spray. Tastes a little funky, but coats your throat and makes it feel amazing.

Slippery elm lozenges. Ditto what I said about the throat spray above, but in a lozenge.

Rest. And sleep. For as long as possible, whenever possible.

Chime’s Ginger Chews (Trader Joe’s has their own version too) are the best natural cough lozenge. Just suck on them. Don’t chew.
That’s it! Feel better!

xo,
Elle

PS, This entire post is my personal opinion. I have no medical training other than watching Discovery Health Channel and ER, and reading articles on WebMD and Wikipedia. While I feel that this gives me the equivalent of an MD, I am in no way qualified to give you any sort of medical advice.

Senegalese Peanut Stew

My mom found this recipe, made some changes, and it is one of my favorites! The original version wasn’t veggie-ish enough for us, so that is where most of the change lies. We love us insane amounts of veggies.

I encourage you to use organic veggies for this recipe (and others) if possible. In addition to being better for you and the earth, they just taste better. Everyone wins!

Start out by sautéing the onion and pepper in a little olive oil.

When softened, add the carrots and sweet potatoes. Let them cook for about five minutes.

Add the ginger, cloves, salt, and pepper. Let this cook for about a minute, then add 4 cups of broth. Once that comes up to a simmer, stir in the peanut butter. Let this cook uncovered on low until the sweet potatoes are soft (about 45 minutes). If it starts to get too thick, add more broth. I wind up using about 6 cups.

STOP! SPINACH TIME! Oh, oh oh oh… MC Hammer? Anyone? Is this thing on?

This recipe happens to be not only vegetarian but also vegan and gluten free, so all on special diets can feel free to enjoy!

xo,
Elle

I believe it’s pronounced ahn-deeve…

Take endive and grapes…

Sauté (or grill) with red onions and olive oil. Add red wine vinegar. Eat.

xo,
Elle

Albacore Tuna with Soy, Ginger, and Lemon

I love tuna in any form. Raw, cooked to any degree of doneness, as a tartare starter, in a salad. Just give it to me and I’ll eat it.

Today I made some Albacore tuna steaks in an incredibly unoriginal marinade. Unoriginal, but completely delicious. Here’s what it entailed.

Albacore Tuna in Soy, Lemon, and Ginger Marinade (serves 2- increase quantities as needed)

2 Albacore tuna steaks (God bless Trader Joe’s for their fab frozen fish section)
Soy sauce
Ponzu sauce
Zest of half a lemon
Three cloves of garlic, chopped or grated
A hefty pinch of dried ginger (don’t judge me, I’m out of fresh)
(In an ideal world, you may want to throw some toasted sesame oil in the marinade.)

You just need enough soy and ponzu sauce to cover the fish. Don’t bother measuring. Just used half of each. Mix it all up, toss in a ziplock bag and marinate for about an hour. I wouldn’t do any longer than that. Fish is super porous and reacts in weird ways. You don’t want to make accidental tuna ceviche.

Sear the fish in a bit of olive oil in a super hot pan to desired doneness. My fish was frozen, so I cooked it until done all the way through. If it was fresh though, I definitely would’ve left it very rare.

Here’s what it looked like!

What did you have for dinner tonight?

Hugs and kisses,

Elle

Salad + Crepe

Take lettuce. Add to crepe. Voila! Salad Crepe! I am a culinary genius! M

Simplicity (otherwise known as Potatoes and Eggs)

Here is a meal that my grandmother made for me time and again during my childhood. Potatoes and eggs with a handful of frozen peas thrown in. Three simple ingredients that are always around the house become just the perfect …