Feel Good Guru

These fancy little seasonal beauties are a cinch to prepare and they’re so good for you there’s no need for a special occasion to indulge.

I have some left over from a dinner party and discovered they’re awesome as healthy breakfast balls. They’re very lightly sweetened so the goodness of the main ingredients comes through.

Cranberries are loaded in antioxidants and phyto-nutrients, especially needed at this time of year to keep the winter nasties at bay. Raw cocoa is also incredibly rich in nutrients, raw coconut butter is so creamy, delish and full of enzymes, vitamins and protein, and don’t worry about the fat content in raw cashews – 75% of the fat in cashews is the same heart-healthy fat as found in olive oil. (more…)

Some of us have already had the heat on once or twice as cozy season closes in. It’s time to bring out the extra blanket, time to gather our furry pets around us, and time to get our soups and autumn veggie stews a simmerin’. We’ll be posting some great warming recipes here so stay tuned.

Meantime, I just wanted to point out a few fall superfoods that are sitting right under our noses at the market, just waiting to be added to that rawesome ratatouille, real food ragout or cosmic concoction. You don’t need to import from China or shop at the exotic foods emporium to max out on high density goodness.

These simple market foods are available everywhere ~ and they’re super: (more…)

There is almost nothing better in the world than a ripe market fresh heirloom tomato and they’re out in their full splendor right now. If ever there’s a time to eat tomatoes, it’s in the next few weeks. We all know in January a tomato just doesn’t taste like a tomato. So get ‘em while you can!

Heirlooms are painstakingly grown by smaller scale farmers for their extra juicy flavor and sweetness. They’re bursting with intense goodness, containing more nutrition than your average everyday tomato.

Tomatoes are rich in Vitamin C, which increases as it ripens on the vine, and they help rid the body of toxins. Lycopene, the antioxidant media darling du jour, present in tomatoes, can help prevent heart disease and certain types of cancer. It seems to be better absorbed by the body when we cook the tomatoes with a little oil. Easy shmeasy! Let’s do it!

Here’s a beautiful Roasted Heirloom Tomato and Basil Soup recipe:

Roasted Heirloom Tomato & Basil Soup

roughly 2 lbs of ripe juicy heirloom tomatoes (or any ripe juicy market fresh organic tomatoes)
8 cloves of garlic, whole
2 tsp Celtic sea salt
1 Tbsp red wine or apple cider vinegar
1 small bunch of fresh basil, chopped
1 cup of water
2 Tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 450. Cut tomatoes into quarters and place face up in a lightly oiled roasting pan with garlic. Drizzle the whole thing with olive oil and roast for half an hour or until sizzling and caramelized.

Remove from the oven and blend all ingredients to your desired consistency. Taste and adjust.

Serve hot, garnished with fresh basil.

…and we’re not talkin’ abs! We’re talkin’ fun & fabulous, super, simple Crunchy Kale Chips the Feel Good Guru way.

Kale gets a bum rap. It’s an under-appreciated cruciferous that needs our help to elevate its status to the clean green lean superfood that it is. I think the reason people don’t like kale is because they’re trying to eat the rough leaves right off the stalk, raw, and that can be a little, er, too healthy-tasting. But there are easy ways to prepare kale to make it delish.

Kale is one of those superfoods available year round, and one that should not be ignored by healthy peeps. It’s incredibly versatile, extremely nutrient-rich and low in calories. Yes! Yes! Yes! Kale contains cancer-fighting phyto-nutrients, tons of vitamins A and C, calcium and iron, and compounds that actually signal our body to produce more detoxification enzymes. So why not use kale at every opportunity we can? Yes? (more…)