• 22nd March
    2013
  • 22
Comments
  • 22nd January
    2013
  • 22
Comments
  • 1st October
    2012
  • 01
STUFFED PUMPKINS  YIELD: 8 servingsPREPARATION TIME: 17 minutesCOOKING TIME: 60-90 minutes Details Impress your guests with the flavor and presentation of this dish from The Eat-Clean Diet® Cookbook. The savory mix of pumpkin, venison and wild rice will have them wanting more. Plus, they’ll be impressed when the dish is served in their very own pumpkin! Ingredients • 1 x 4-5 lb / 2 kg sugar pumpkin or 6 small sugar pumpkins• 2 tsp / 10 ml sea salt• 1 tsp / 5 ml dry mustard • 1 Tbsp / 15 ml extra virgin olive oil• 1½ lbs / 672 g lean ground venison or bison• 7 green onions, trimmed and chopped• 4 cloves garlic, passed through a garlic press• 1½ cups / 360 ml cooked wild rice• 4 egg whites + 1 yolk, beaten• 1 tsp / 5 ml dried sage, crumbled• ½ tsp / 2.5 ml freshly ground black pepper Preparation Preheat oven to 350°F / 177°C. Cut the top from pumpkin(s) and remove seeds and strings. Prick the inside flesh with a fork. In a small bowl, mix sea salt and dry mustard. Rub the interior of the pumpkin with this mixture. Set pumpkin aside. In a large skillet, heat olive oil. Add ground meat, onion and garlic. Saute over medium-high heat until meat is browned. Remove from heat. Drain excess oil. Add cooked wild rice, eggs, sage and pepper. Mix well with clean hands. Stuff each pumpkin with meat-rice mixture. Place pumpkin(s) in a shallow baking dish or lasagna pan. Add water until half of the baking dish is full. Bake until pumpkin is tender, 1 to 1½ hours. If using individual pumpkins, cooking time may be shorter. If using a large pumpkin, cooking time may be longer. When serving a large pumpkin, cut it into six wedges and serve. When serving individual pumpkins, place on individual serving plates. Nutritional Value Calories: 345Calories from Fat: 99Total Fat: 11 gSaturated Fat: 2 gTotal Carbs: 30 gFiber: 2 gProtein: 32 gSodium: 665 mgCholesterol: 26 mg [Source: The Eat-Clean Diet]

STUFFED PUMPKINS 

YIELD: 8 servings
PREPARATION TIME: 17 minutes
COOKING TIME: 60-90 minutes

Details

Impress your guests with the flavor and presentation of this dish from The Eat-Clean Diet® Cookbook. The savory mix of pumpkin, venison and wild rice will have them wanting more. Plus, they’ll be impressed when the dish is served in their very own pumpkin!

Ingredients

• 1 x 4-5 lb / 2 kg sugar pumpkin or 6 small sugar pumpkins
• 2 tsp / 10 ml sea salt
• 1 tsp / 5 ml dry mustard 
• 1 Tbsp / 15 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 1½ lbs / 672 g lean ground venison or bison
• 7 green onions, trimmed and chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, passed through a garlic press
• 1½ cups / 360 ml cooked wild rice
• 4 egg whites + 1 yolk, beaten
• 1 tsp / 5 ml dried sage, crumbled
• ½ tsp / 2.5 ml freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F / 177°C.
  2. Cut the top from pumpkin(s) and remove seeds and strings. Prick the inside flesh with a fork. In a small bowl, mix sea salt and dry mustard. Rub the interior of the pumpkin with this mixture. Set pumpkin aside.
  3. In a large skillet, heat olive oil. Add ground meat, onion and garlic. Saute over medium-high heat until meat is browned. Remove from heat. Drain excess oil. Add cooked wild rice, eggs, sage and pepper. Mix well with clean hands. Stuff each pumpkin with meat-rice mixture.
  4. Place pumpkin(s) in a shallow baking dish or lasagna pan. Add water until half of the baking dish is full.
  5. Bake until pumpkin is tender, 1 to 1½ hours. If using individual pumpkins, cooking time may be shorter. If using a large pumpkin, cooking time may be longer. When serving a large pumpkin, cut it into six wedges and serve. When serving individual pumpkins, place on individual serving plates.

Nutritional Value

Calories: 345
Calories from Fat: 99
Total Fat: 11 g
Saturated Fat: 2 g
Total Carbs: 30 g
Fiber: 2 g
Protein: 32 g
Sodium: 665 mg
Cholesterol: 26 mg

[Source: The Eat-Clean Diet]

Comments
  • 17th September
    2012
  • 17
Comments
  • 14th September
    2012
  • 14
Comments
  • 14th September
    2012
  • 14
“TOSCA, WHY CAN’T I GET RID OF BELLY FAT?”: Tosca Reno sheds some light where our major problem area is concerned. By Tosca Reno; Photography Paul Buceta Tough Lessons from Tosca I was counseling a woman who was concerned about being “skinny fat.” She was frustrated because she watched everything she ate and exercised. With her clothes on, she looked great, but with them off, she said it was a different story. It turned out, she ate sugar in the form of desserts, crackers, pasta and bread, and couldn’t do without her nightly glass of red. Her sugar load was high, and her body was essentially inflamed from the deluge. I highlighting where sugar was flooding in to her diet, and helped her find a way to slowly rid her body of the toxic mess clinging to her middle. I had a surefire plan for her, but she needed to be impeccable about her compliance, otherwise the cellulite and bloat would stay with her. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.  I train six days a week for two hours a day and I’m still fat. Why can’t I get rid of this fluffy middle?” I’m not exaggerating; I have heard this complaint a thousand times. In long lineups at book expos, at the Arnold Fitness Expo, the Canfitpro, and even at the loo, women will whine about their unmanageable midsections. No joke: women have even reached over and hiked up my shirt to have a look at what is attached to my midsection. Every woman – even many slim women – has some degree of puff, unless her body-fat levels are in the single digits. Would it interest you to learn that some of this excess may not be fat? Suspicious extra middle fluff may be the result of a chemical mixture about as complicated as Marshmallow Fluff.  While I was studying to become a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, it was fascinating what I learned on the topic at a seminar I attended. For example, bits of what we breathe, eat and are exposed to in this polluted environment unfortunately do end up in each of us, and, depending on the level of exposure, can potentially pose problems for our bodies. Fat is the safe storage compartment for toxic waste in the body. So, if you think you are doing a good job of staying clear of toxins, ask yourself what kind of water you drank today. Tap water can contain fluoride, chlorine and a host of chemicals that aren’t kind to your insides. You drove your car to pick up this magazine, didn’t you? Chances are, you breathed in toxic exhaust fumes on your trip down the highway. Did you drink water from a plastic bottle, microwave your food, walk through airport security or smoke a cigarette? Then you, too, may be full of toxins like the rest of us. Even the fillings in your teeth could be releasing mercury into your body every time you swallow, chew or talk. And this chemical soup is stored in your middle. North Americans are eating about 150 pounds of sugar per person per year. This is a crisis of monstrous magnitude, creating bulging middles of aforesaid proportions. What sugar does to your insides is a lot like what a car wash does to the shiny new paint job on your BMW – scrapes the hell out of it. It can also cause inflammation in your body. Inflammation is a necessary immune response by the body, but if you are inflamed 24 hours of every day of every week, you will soon put your body in a state of crisis. The end result: that puffy middle. Out with the sugar and in with healthy fat. Yes, fat. It is something of a godsend to be able to feed your body delicious, saturated fat because it satisfies like sugar never can. My favorite is coconut oil. And don’t forget, with carbs comes sugar. For the last six months, I have eaten no bread, starchy carbs and very few grains other than quinoa, soaked oat groats and a few wheat berries. I have eaten three tablespoons of coconut oil every day (considered a therapeutic dose) and have discovered the flattest stomach this side of 50 years of age. But the body needs a little help moving fluids around. That’s where lymph nodes come in – those nodules you can feel on either side of the neck right in the pain zone when you have a sore throat. They’re found throughout the body, and their job is to run toxins out of dodge. The lymph system is sometimes described as “the river by which all junk is eliminated from the body.” The lymph is squeezed through vessels in your body, collecting trash at every turn and getting it out via the liver and colon. Your big, beautiful muscles are the pump that squeezes lymph through the body. But if you are not exercising, you are not squeezing anything, except maybe into your jeans. Skinny fat, puffy belly doesn’t have to be your reality. Do you have what it takes to vaporize it from your middle? Remember, I’m always listening. Tosca [Source: Oxygen Magazine online http://ht.ly/dHdON]

“TOSCA, WHY CAN’T I GET RID OF BELLY FAT?”:

Tosca Reno sheds some light where our major problem area is concerned.

By Tosca Reno; Photography Paul Buceta

Tough Lessons from Tosca

I was counseling a woman who was concerned about being “skinny fat.” She was frustrated because she watched everything she ate and exercised. With her clothes on, she looked great, but with them off, she said it was a different story. It turned out, she ate sugar in the form of desserts, crackers, pasta and bread, and couldn’t do without her nightly glass of red. Her sugar load was high, and her body was essentially inflamed from the deluge. I highlighting where sugar was flooding in to her diet, and helped her find a way to slowly rid her body of the toxic mess clinging to her middle. I had a surefire plan for her, but she needed to be impeccable about her compliance, otherwise the cellulite and bloat would stay with her.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me.  I train six days a week for two hours a day and I’m still fat. Why can’t I get rid of this fluffy middle?”

I’m not exaggerating; I have heard this complaint a thousand times. In long lineups at book expos, at the Arnold Fitness Expo, the Canfitpro, and even at the loo, women will whine about their unmanageable midsections. No joke: women have even reached over and hiked up my shirt to have a look at what is attached to my midsection.

Every woman – even many slim women – has some degree of puff, unless her body-fat levels are in the single digits. Would it interest you to learn that some of this excess may not be fat? Suspicious extra middle fluff may be the result of a chemical mixture about as complicated as Marshmallow Fluff. 

While I was studying to become a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, it was fascinating what I learned on the topic at a seminar I attended. For example, bits of what we breathe, eat and are exposed to in this polluted environment unfortunately do end up in each of us, and, depending on the level of exposure, can potentially pose problems for our bodies. Fat is the safe storage compartment for toxic waste in the body. So, if you think you are doing a good job of staying clear of toxins, ask yourself what kind of water you drank today. Tap water can contain fluoride, chlorine and a host of chemicals that aren’t kind to your insides. You drove your car to pick up this magazine, didn’t you? Chances are, you breathed in toxic exhaust fumes on your trip down the highway. Did you drink water from a plastic bottle, microwave your food, walk through airport security or smoke a cigarette? Then you, too, may be full of toxins like the rest of us. Even the fillings in your teeth could be releasing mercury into your body every time you swallow, chew or talk. And this chemical soup is stored in your middle.

North Americans are eating about 150 pounds of sugar per person per year. This is a crisis of monstrous magnitude, creating bulging middles of aforesaid proportions. What sugar does to your insides is a lot like what a car wash does to the shiny new paint job on your BMW – scrapes the hell out of it. It can also cause inflammation in your body.

Inflammation is a necessary immune response by the body, but if you are inflamed 24 hours of every day of every week, you will soon put your body in a state of crisis. The end result: that puffy middle.

Out with the sugar and in with healthy fat. Yes, fat. It is something of a godsend to be able to feed your body delicious, saturated fat because it satisfies like sugar never can. My favorite is coconut oil. And don’t forget, with carbs comes sugar. For the last six months, I have eaten no bread, starchy carbs and very few grains other than quinoa, soaked oat groats and a few wheat berries. I have eaten three tablespoons of coconut oil every day (considered a therapeutic dose) and have discovered the flattest stomach this side of 50 years of age.

But the body needs a little help moving fluids around. That’s where lymph nodes come in – those nodules you can feel on either side of the neck right in the pain zone when you have a sore throat. They’re found throughout the body, and their job is to run toxins out of dodge. The lymph system is sometimes described as “the river by which all junk is eliminated from the body.” The lymph is squeezed through vessels in your body, collecting trash at every turn and getting it out via the liver and colon. Your big, beautiful muscles are the pump that squeezes lymph through the body. But if you are not exercising, you are not squeezing anything, except maybe into your jeans.

Skinny fat, puffy belly doesn’t have to be your reality. Do you have what it takes to vaporize it from your middle?

Remember, I’m always listening.

Tosca

[Source: Oxygen Magazine online http://ht.ly/dHdON]
Comments
  • 12th September
    2012
  • 12
3 FLAT-BELLY RULES!!! I personally love a flat belly and I think you will find these Oxygen magazine tips useful! 1.) NOSH CARBS EARLY: I usually have the majority of my carbs before my last meal. 2.) CHOOSE YOUR FATS WISELY: My favourite healthy fats are nuts. For so long I stayed away from nuts and avocado because of the “fat” content but that’s because I didn’t know better. Your body needs these essential fats. 3.) GET SOME “VITAMIN I”: Performing HIIT workouts have made all the difference in changing my body and I find these workouts easier on the mind than doing an hour of monotonous cardio.

3 FLAT-BELLY RULES!!!

I personally love a flat belly and I think you will find these Oxygen magazine tips useful!

1.) NOSH CARBS EARLY: I usually have the majority of my carbs before my last meal.

2.) CHOOSE YOUR FATS WISELY: My favourite healthy fats are nuts. For so long I stayed away from nuts and avocado because of the “fat” content but that’s because I didn’t know better. Your body needs these essential fats.

3.) GET SOME “VITAMIN I”: Performing HIIT workouts have made all the difference in changing my body and I find these workouts easier on the mind than doing an hour of monotonous cardio.

Comments
  • 11th September
    2012
  • 11
Comments
  • 10th September
    2012
  • 10
Comments
  • 10th September
    2012
  • 10
This message is the main reason why I do what I do. When I read this message, I could not stop crying. To think that someone has been reading my blog for one year and has been thinking about writing me for that long - wow, talk about feeling honoured! Just to know that my journey is helping someone believe that dreams can come true with hard work and dedication is the EXACT reason I put my life here publicly. I know what it is like to feel uncomfortable, insecure, lonely, hopeless, depressed, but I also know what it feels like to feel inspired and to achieve your dreams. Every one has a dream, some have reached theirs and some have not. But just know that you deserve to reach your dreams just as much as anyone else. Why not you? There’s no good answer why you can’t have what you want because you can BUT you have to make it your passion and chase it relentlessly. MANY of my dreams have come true this year but I have a list of dreams still calling my name that I will be working very hard to achieve this year and if I don’t reach them this year, it doesn’t mean I can’t have my dreams, it just means it’s not the right time yet so I will continue to work hard.  I understand the ‘fear of “missing out” on tasty treats and I think I can speak for most people and say you’re not alone. I have felt this way and sometimes I still do. This is why you have to live and practice a healthy lifestyle that won’t deprive you of tasty treats. There are so many ways to clean up your favourite treats and new recipes and food to try to expand your taste buds. I am really happy that you bought yourself an Oxygen magazine subscription (you can read my spread in the January issue!) and The Eat-Clean Diet books. Life is about to open a new chapter for you! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this amazing message! You have made my week!! Best wishes to you and write me any time! It won’t be an easy ride but it will be a worth while one! Inspire and be inspired. xo

This message is the main reason why I do what I do. When I read this message, I could not stop crying. To think that someone has been reading my blog for one year and has been thinking about writing me for that long - wow, talk about feeling honoured! Just to know that my journey is helping someone believe that dreams can come true with hard work and dedication is the EXACT reason I put my life here publicly. I know what it is like to feel uncomfortable, insecure, lonely, hopeless, depressed, but I also know what it feels like to feel inspired and to achieve your dreams. Every one has a dream, some have reached theirs and some have not. But just know that you deserve to reach your dreams just as much as anyone else. Why not you? There’s no good answer why you can’t have what you want because you can BUT you have to make it your passion and chase it relentlessly. MANY of my dreams have come true this year but I have a list of dreams still calling my name that I will be working very hard to achieve this year and if I don’t reach them this year, it doesn’t mean I can’t have my dreams, it just means it’s not the right time yet so I will continue to work hard. 

I understand the ‘fear of “missing out” on tasty treats and I think I can speak for most people and say you’re not alone. I have felt this way and sometimes I still do. This is why you have to live and practice a healthy lifestyle that won’t deprive you of tasty treats. There are so many ways to clean up your favourite treats and new recipes and food to try to expand your taste buds. I am really happy that you bought yourself an Oxygen magazine subscription (you can read my spread in the January issue!) and The Eat-Clean Diet books. Life is about to open a new chapter for you!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this amazing message! You have made my week!! Best wishes to you and write me any time! It won’t be an easy ride but it will be a worth while one!

Inspire and be inspired. xo

Comments
  • 9th September
    2012
  • 09
Sometimes you just need to touch base with someone if you are struggling with a craving. A friend of mine stayed late at work and the longer she was there, the louder the chocolate cries were getting so she left work without dipping into her craving. We all have cravings and sometimes it’s hard to stick to eating clean, especially if you feel stressed or are bored. If you are struggling, call someone, text, drink a tea, drink a glass of water, go for a walk, or eat a healthy snack first and see how you feel. What do you do to prevent a craving when you are trying to stick to a clean eating plan? What works for you? Drinking a green tea or a glass of water sometimes works for me.

Sometimes you just need to touch base with someone if you are struggling with a craving.

A friend of mine stayed late at work and the longer she was there, the louder the chocolate cries were getting so she left work without dipping into her craving.

We all have cravings and sometimes it’s hard to stick to eating clean, especially if you feel stressed or are bored. If you are struggling, call someone, text, drink a tea, drink a glass of water, go for a walk, or eat a healthy snack first and see how you feel.

What do you do to prevent a craving when you are trying to stick to a clean eating plan? What works for you? Drinking a green tea or a glass of water sometimes works for me.

Comments
  • 3rd September
    2012
  • 03
STRIKE SUGAR and try this Chocolate Almond Cake YIELD: 12 servings PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes COOKING TIME: 40 minutes Details This smooth chocolate cake, infused with the rich, sweet taste of almond butter, will have your guests begging for seconds! This no-fuss cake from The Eat-Clean Diet® Cookbook 2 is ready in under an hour, which leaves you time to enjoy dinner rather than worrying about dessert. Ingredients • Eat-Clean Cooking Spray • 1 cup / 240 ml + 1 Tbsp / 15 ml whole wheat flour • ½ cup / 120 ml cocoa powder • ½ cup / 120 ml unrefined turbinado sugar • 2 Tbsp / 30 ml ground golden roasted flaxseed • 1 tsp / 5 ml baking powder • 1 tsp / 5 ml baking soda • ½ tsp / 2.5 ml sea salt • 2 egg whites • ½ cup / 120 ml unsweetened applesauce • ½ cup / 120 ml low-fat buttermilk • ¼ cup / 60 ml natural unsalted almond butter • ½ tsp / 2.5 ml real almond extract • 1 cup / 240 ml freshly brewed very hot coffee • 3 Tbsp / 45 ml sliced toasted almonds Preparation Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C. Coat a 9-inch round baking pan with Eat-Clean Cooking Spray and 1 Tbsp / 15 ml whole wheat flour, discarding excess flour. Whisk together 1 cup / 240 ml flour, cocoa powder, sugar, flaxseed, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Stir in egg whites, applesauce, buttermilk, almond butter and almond extract. Carefully whisk in hot coffee until thoroughly combined. Batter will be thin. Pour batter into sprayed and floured pan and bake in oven until a toothpick inserted in center comes out almost completely clean, about 40 minutes. Cool 10 minutes and remove from pan to a wire rack. Top with toasted almonds and cut into slices. Nutritional Value per Serving: Calories: 149 Calories from Fat: 47 Total Fat: 6 g Saturated Fat: 1 g Total Carbs: 23 g Fiber: 3 g Protein: 5 g Sodium: 221 mg Cholesterol: 1 mg

STRIKE SUGAR and try this Chocolate Almond Cake

YIELD: 12 servings
PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes
COOKING TIME: 40 minutes

Details

This smooth chocolate cake, infused with the rich, sweet taste of almond butter, will have your guests begging for seconds! This no-fuss cake from The Eat-Clean Diet® Cookbook 2 is ready in under an hour, which leaves you time to enjoy dinner rather than worrying about dessert.

Ingredients

• Eat-Clean Cooking Spray
• 1 cup / 240 ml + 1 Tbsp / 15 ml whole wheat flour
• ½ cup / 120 ml cocoa powder
• ½ cup / 120 ml unrefined turbinado sugar
• 2 Tbsp / 30 ml ground golden roasted flaxseed
• 1 tsp / 5 ml baking powder
• 1 tsp / 5 ml baking soda
• ½ tsp / 2.5 ml sea salt
• 2 egg whites
• ½ cup / 120 ml unsweetened applesauce
• ½ cup / 120 ml low-fat buttermilk
• ¼ cup / 60 ml natural unsalted almond butter
• ½ tsp / 2.5 ml real almond extract
• 1 cup / 240 ml freshly brewed very hot coffee
• 3 Tbsp / 45 ml sliced toasted almonds

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C. Coat a 9-inch round baking pan with Eat-Clean Cooking Spray and 1 Tbsp / 15 ml whole wheat flour, discarding excess flour.
  2. Whisk together 1 cup / 240 ml flour, cocoa powder, sugar, flaxseed, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Stir in egg whites, applesauce, buttermilk, almond butter and almond extract. Carefully whisk in hot coffee until thoroughly combined. Batter will be thin.
  3. Pour batter into sprayed and floured pan and bake in oven until a toothpick inserted in center comes out almost completely clean, about 40 minutes. Cool 10 minutes and remove from pan to a wire rack. Top with toasted almonds and cut into slices.

Nutritional Value per Serving:

Calories: 149

Calories from Fat: 47

Total Fat: 6 g

Saturated Fat: 1 g

Total Carbs: 23 g

Fiber: 3 g

Protein: 5 g

Sodium: 221 mg

Cholesterol: 1 mg

Comments
  • 1st September
    2012
  • 01
Comments
  • 10th August
    2012
  • 10
Comments
  • 8th August
    2012
  • 08
Comments