SWAP! Coconut Brussels Sprouts

This month's SWAP! recipe comes from former LoveLife client, Ashley Falvey and it's one of those finger-licking, can't get enough varieties. We never thought of combining coconut milk with Brussels but this recipe proves they are a match made in foodie heaven. 


INGREDIENTS (organic where possible):

• Brussel sprouts (16 oz)
• 5 medium-size garlic cloves (un-peeled) *
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Himalayan or sea salt
• Cracked pepper
• Coconut milk

TOOLS: 

• 14 x 9 pyrex glass bakeware (or similar)
• Basting brush
• Small mixing bowl
• Aluminum foil
• Knife and cutting board

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 450
2. Place garlic cloves in aluminum foil, drizzle with olive oil and add a pinch of salt.  Seal up garlic in foil and place in the oven for ~20 min.
3. Cut brussel sprouts in half (length-wise) and place in glass bakeware
4. Drizzle Brussels sprouts with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
5. Place in oven for ~25 min (or until lightly browned on edges)
6. Remove garlic from the oven and let cool for about 5 min.  Squeeze garlic out of cloves into the small mixing bowl (you might want to use something to shield your fingers from the garlic because it can be very hot). Add olive oil to garlic and mix throughly.
7. Remove brussel sprouts from the oven and baste with the garlic and olive oil mix. Then drizzle with coconut milk and return the brussel sprouts to the oven for another 5-10 minutes.
8. Remove brussel sprouts, drizzle a bit more coconut milk and olive oil (if necessary), then return to oven for another 5-10 minutes (or until browned).

*Omit if you are avoiding garlic. 

Thank you Ashley! 

New program: Concierge Deluxe (June - August only)

As many of you may recall, in the first year of our programs, I showed up on your doorstep every morning with lunches, juices, snacks and shakes in hand; ready to saddle up at the kitchen counter or on the sofa to talk about you. 30 minutes of food empowerment mixed with 20 minutes of daily meditation created a greater sense of ease when making large dietary and lifestyle shifts. The level of attention was perfect for those of you juggling full-time careers, kids and busy social calendars. I often find myself missing these fun, intimate fireside visits. 

So for a limited time we’re rekindling the home visits and pairing them with the best from our food partners. I'm excited to announce  Concierge Deluxe! This program will be available for summer time only - June through August.

The Concierge Deluxe includes:

During the 7 Days of Phase 1:

• Daily delivery of 2 TLC Green Juices and 1 LLM compliant lunch
• Greenling Recipe Basket - delivered to your doorstep the night before you begin
• Variety of compliant snacks for the week
• 4 in-home or in-office visits (in Austin area only) by Kim Love including: In-person food tracking to guide you to your food bloom successfully; A Food Pantry Overhaul; Meditation: Optional 

And:

• 2 additional in-home visits during Phase 2 to keep your bloom blooming
• LoveLife Method Kit
• 7 weeks of daily e-coaching
• Personalized Discovery Tracker
• Program materials and our unique method guiding you to successly connect the dots with what you eat and how you feel

We also have similar options for those of you looking for a follow-up cleanse and reset. It includes food, in-home visits and 2 weeks of daily tracking.

For more info and pricing, please email me directly at kim@lovelifemethod.com.

SWAP! Steph's Tips for Success

This month’s client inspiration comes from Steph Lewis, a Hustler with Austin's flat track roller derby, The Texas Rollergirls. Currently on week 4 of her LoveLife Method Program, Steph's kitchen explorations have us doing our own grand slams and we’re excited to share Steph’s Tips with you!

A juicing aficionado, Steph (known as Scrape Myrtle on the track) already has some great habits. But she's missed her corn chips and Micheladas, a pastime she formerly enjoyed with her derby girls after intensive nights at the rink.

What’s motivating her to hold the brew? Her eye for clever replacements along with some early blooming motivation, including: colleagues stopping her in the hall to ask why she’s glowing? Oh my. Plus - improved sleep, decreased pain, a happier belly and de-puffing of some formerly puffy eyes.

Here are replacements for some of Steph’s favorites. 

• Corn Chip Replacement: Jicama--cut like steak fries--dipped into guacamole.
• Simulated Corn Chips: Brussel Sprout leaves. Prepared like kale chips, the waxy leaves give a heartier "chip" when baked.
• Ice Cream treat: Hold the trash, you’ll never look at overripe bananas the same. Peel, slice, place in a plastic baggie and freeze. Once they are frozen, blitz them in the food processor with a dab of cinnamon or hemp milk. Voila.
• Juice Time Saver: Wanna juice but don’t have time? Prep your produce over the weekend--each ingredient chopped, cleaned and stored--pull them out ea/morning, juice is ready in 5 minutes flat.

THANKS STEPH! 

Snack of the Month: Lydia's Sunflower Seed 'Bread'

Have a hankering for bread, sans its effects? Lydias to the rescue. A delicious replica of homemade rye bread, Lydia's version is made up of dehydrated seeds and chock full of nutrients and protein. Slather on some avocado for a crunchy snack, or follow their directions for rehydration to make a sandwich for a serious mid-afternoon cravings buster!


Can be purchased online here.

Is a food causing your pain in the neck?

I was recently reminded of a serious pain in my neck and was grateful this is now an anomaly over which I have control. 

Over the years, we’ve seen countless connections with client pain issues and food. People who have learned to live with chronic pain, sometimes an entire lifetime of it, and have spent thousands of dollars to “manage” the symptoms, continue to discover their pain was actually due to - “XX.” Fill in the blank: dairy, chicken, eggs, soy, nuts, etc. 

You might be asking yourself, “A lifetime of pain could vanish overnight just from avoiding a particular food? Yeah, right.” We admit, it sounds outlandish, but read on…

I can empathize with our clients who find these pain related food discoveries. An intense neck pain used to rule my life and was the kind of pain that could, on occasion, leave me flat on my back for a full two days, a bed or couch being the only respite I could find from a head that felt like a bowling ball supported by a fragile twig. 

I blamed this pain on a car accident I was in when I lived in San Francisco. Granted, this was a fair assessment given I’d never experienced neck pain before the accident and was rear-ended by a car going 65 mph, while stopped on a freeway on Highway 1. That hurts, no denying it. 

But I spent years of visits to chiropractors, doctors, acupuncturists, physical therapy, not to mention lots of money - merely to manage symptoms. These symptoms miraculously disappeared when I changed my diet and began identifying intolerant foods. The pain vanished. What was it? Eggs.

Eggs are my kryptonite and I go to great lengths to avoid them. However, every once in a blue moon I choose to see if they are still my nemesis. A month ago, the allure of a flour-less chocolate torte created the perfect occasion. Two measly little bites on a Saturday afternoon and I was fine. Oh, let it be, maybe the intolerance has cleared, I hoped. But I woke up on Sunday morning to what felt like a terrible crick in my neck and initially thought, “I must have slept poorly.” However, by 10 am that morning, the crick merged with exhaustion, irritability, brain fog and increasing pain causing me to seek the relief of my pillow. In the throes of my agony, which lasted four long days, I kept reminding myself of how grateful I was to have found the root cause.

People sometimes ask - “Don’t you miss eggs and gluten?” And on occasion for a split second I do, until I’m reminded. These “reminders” usually last for a few years. We don’t know what we don’t know until we know. And after living pain-free for 10 years, I’d simply forgotten how bad it was. 

Once we experience our personal bloom - the areas that are improved by nourishing our body and by uncovering our inflammatory foods - we become addicted to feeling good. 

Is food always at the root of everything? Of course not. But it is commonly at the root of much more than we realize. Pain can be one of the most powerful motivators to help us connect the dots with what we eat and how we feel.

Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Raw "Queso" from Lisa

We love this recipe sent to us by LLM client, Lisa (originally printed in Edible Austin from Daily Juice's café). Not only is it downright delicious, it packs in the plant protein and is entirely raw. A far cry from the processed cheese version served up at TexMex places around the globe. 

Dubbed "Casheso" around our test-kitchen, it was eaten up by adults and kids alike. Serve with a variety of fresh veggies or your favorite corn chips (we especially love Garden of Eatin's Blue Corn chips). We used the tiny bit of leftovers as a spread on sprouted tortillas the next day and imagine it would be crazy good as a topper for our snack of the month, Lydia's Sunflower Seed 'Bread'. 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup raw cashews
• 2 red bell peppers, seeded and roughly chopped 2 cloves garlic
• 1/8 c lime juice
• 1 TBSP raw apple cider vinegar
• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• purified water if/as needed to

INSTRUCTIONS:
Soak cashews in water for at least 2 hours, drain. Place everything in Vitamix, beginning on low and increasing speed as mixture comes together. Look for a smooth queso-like consistency.

Hint from Lisa: "I leave it on high until it becomes slightly warm, mimicking a warm cooked dish."

No Vitamix? No worries. This dip comes easily comes together in a blender or food processor. Eat at room temperature or stir in a small amount of hot water to lightly warm before serving.

Thanks Lisa! 

Compliant meals now at Mamu Fau's!

Hey LoveLifers, we are so excited to announce a brand new Phase 1 and Phase 2 food partner: MamaFu’s Asian House! 

MamaFu’s Asian House is now offering a delicious Phase 1 compliant meal: a mix of piping hot veggies, a spinach salad and a shredded cabbage salad, all topped with a daikon radish and carrot dressing. Early feedback has been great. And as you make your way through Phase 2, MamaFu’s is there for you, integrating chicken, citrus, nightshades and an increasingly sassy palette as you add more foods to the mix. Best news? They deliver! 

You don’t have to be in the program to take advantage of this offering. Wanna reset? Let MamaFu’s and our other foods partners, help you get back on track.

For those of you who have visited MamaFu’s, you’ve already experienced their magic sauce: snapping fresh produce; a delicious medley of dishes ranging from seared ahi tuna to wonton salads to vegetable shrimp steam bowls; a cozy, ambient dining experience or opt for their delivery and saddle up on your sofa at home.

MamaFu’s Triangle location only.
Phone: (512) 637-6773
Ask for James.

Product Review: Body Deli Creme de la Rose

"Body Deli" aptly captures the deliciousness of this organic superfood laden skin-care line, so pure you can eat it. Do you hear pure and think ‘ineffective’? Au contraire. Raw superfoods like kale, fruit acids, and pomegranate pair with ionic microcluster water for superior hydration and visible results. We could serenade many of their products, but we’ll start with our favorite of the bunch: Creme-de-la-Rose. 

A cult favorite revered for it’s spectacular line up of face smoothing ingredients: Bulgarian Rose, COQ10 and Vitamin-A are used for cell regenerating properties and exquisite healing aroma. Goji Berry extract is used for its amino acids and Vitamin C content. Formulated to help accelerate cellular turnover, feed epidermal cells, restore elasticity and diminish the depth and intensity of wrinkles, their Bulgarian Rose is the real deal and retails for over $4,000 a pound! 

Every time I put this on, my beau remarks on how good I smell! Ladies, it’s a ‘natural parfum’ meets wrinkle buster with glow enhancing results.

Purchase it online here. 

The Tale of Two Juicers

Any of you who've been through our programs knows the value of juicing fresh alkalizing vegetables - increased energy, better skin, reduced cravings and clearer thoughts. 

Unencumbered by fiber or the need to go through the digestive system, invaluable micronutrients and phytochemicals are mainlined straight to the bloodstream for quick absorption. Hence the reason we recommend avoiding fruits such as apple or minimizing sweeter veggies like carrots and beets. Without the fiber to slow absorption the fruit sugars create a spike in blood sugar. However, vegetables such as celery, cucumber, leafy greens, parsley, cilantro paired with just a hint of carrot or coconut water offer a medicinally potent toddy that your body will appreciate. 

We encourage everyone to get into the habit of juicing. Think that to make a good juice, you have to spend 30 minutes cleaning the juicer? Advances in juicing technology have made toiling prep and clean up a thing of the past.

Here are two of our favorite (and easy to clean) juicers:

Breville: Juice Fountain Plus
PRICE: $150-$200 
Who is this for? The person that says, “Give me the juice, if and only if, it’s quick and easy.”

The Breville is a centrifuge juicer with a special design that makes the juicing process fast. No need to chop your produce: Throw in whole carrots, entire cucumbers and in seconds you have liquid goodness. This is the quickest, most efficient juicer on the market. And the price tag isn’t bad either.

The Downside? Though the quality of the juice is decent, it certainly isn’t winning any awards. The pulp comes out wet, which would cause any juicing aficionado to flinch knowing how much more goodness is contained in that pulp. The Breville does a fine job with most produce, however, it's extremely inefficient when it comes to greens. An entire head of kale yielded only a drizzle of juice. In fairness, greens are notoriously difficult for most juicers but there are machines on the market better suited, Breville’s Juice Fountain Plus just isn’t one of them.

All in all, this juicer is a good buy for the money and for time efficiency. 

Hurom Slow Juicer
PRICE: $350-$400
Who is this for? The person that says, “Give me the high quality juice and I’ll spend a little more time.”

The new Hurom is a major upgrade in juicing technology. Masticating Juicers such as the Omega and GreenMachine have previously been some of the best bet for greens and high quality juices. And of course, The Norwalk Juicer, the standard by which all other juicers are measures, is at the holy grail of juicers producing liquid gold which can be refrigerated for days without eroding. However, the $2K price tag of the Norwalk is understandably prohibitive. And while the masticating juicers such as the Omega and GreenMachine fall more within reach at $250-$500, they are the size of a small automobile and the juicing prep and clean-up is much more laborious, with 25-30 minutes easily racking up for a single juice. 

Enter the Hurom:
Equal in size to the petite Breville, fairly easy to assemble and clean, it’s “slow juicing” technology uses a pressing and extraction process similar to the process of the Norwalk. The yield of juices is phenomenal as evidenced by the bone dry pulp. And the best news - it extracts every drop available from greens! This is a robust nutrient dense juice which is noticeably richer than juice produced by the Breville. The time commitment is about 3-5 minutes longer than the Breville, but the quality is light years ahead.

The Downside? Produce needs to be chopped into pieces no larger than 2”, which increases prep time. The Hurom produces a “pulpy” juice, which can be unpleasant for some palettes. Though some of the nutrients reside in the pulp, these can easily be filtered out with a fine sieve strainer or with cheesecloth. 
  

Let's Fava!

Spring is in full effect and with it comes a bevy of beautiful green filling our gardens and groceries. Fava beans are an all too often overlooked springtime delight and right now is the time to buy them fresh! In long, strange pods that make them ideal for tossing on the grill, these fuddy duddy beans get a fresh update. Add a few other ingredients and you have an impressive salad or snack straight from the pod, like giant edamame.

FOR THE GRILL

• 1 pound of fresh fava beans, in pods
• 1-2 TB Olive Oil
• Himalayan Salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

While grill is heating, toss bean pods with olive oil and salt.  

Grill pods until outsides start to blacken and blister, turning once. 

Allow to cool just a bit (they taste great warm) and sprinkle with a bit more salt. Serve as is for people to extract their own beans or remove all the beans for recipe below.

WATERCRESS & FAVA BEAN SALAD
Between the fresh tartness of the watercress and the creaminess of both the avocado and fava beans, this salad hits the right texture notes while the dressing elevates it to a whole 'nother level.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 TB apple cider vinegar
• 1 TB grated sweet onion 
• 1/4 cup finely grated, peeled green apple
• 2 tsp coconut aminos or soy sauce
• 2-3 TB olive oil
• 6 cups watercress (thin stems and leaves only; from 1 large bunch)
• 1 firm-ripe avocado, diced
• 1 cup of fresh fava beans

Combine vinegar, grated onion, apple, aminos/soy sauce and olive oil in small bowl. Gently mix 2 TB of dressing with diced avocado and toss remainder with watercress and fava beans. Serve avo mixture on top of each plate of salad or alongside as watercress is a more delicate green and can be weighed down by the avocado.