Experience Nutrition

Author: expnutrition

A New View of Healthy Eating: Vegan Dairy-free Butternut Squash Soup
By Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC
This week I was doing some recipe flow testing in preparation for some videos, and I had the pleasure to cook the vegan dairy-free butternut squash in my book. It had been awhile since cooking this soup and I’m so glad I did. It’s a beautiful bright orange sweet soup perfect for the Fall season, even here in Phoenix! Cooking this soup brought back memories of playing in the crisp fall leaves in our yard in Pennsylvania where I grew up and all the fun times carving pumpkins.

A few photos from the delicious soup I cooked this week, with Arizona honey as my sweetener.

Excerpt from A New View of Healthy Eating: Vegan Dairy-Free Butternut Squash Soup

Create your own easy-to-prepare sweet, creamy butternut squash soup. Garnish with pan-fried herbs and a drizzle of oil (walnut, pumpkin seed, or olive oil) for a beautiful presentation. When served warm in the fall, butternut squash soup is ideal for a chilly Thanksgiving. Served cold in the summer, it’s perfect for a picnic.

SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
- 1 ½ tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil
- 3 shallots, minced
- 2 ½ cups butternut squash, peeled and steamed until fork tender
- 3 ½ cups veggie stock
- 2 tbsp sweetener: maple syrup, molasses, or brown rice syrup
- ¾ tsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp olive, walnut, or pumpkin seed oil
- Pan-fried basil for garnish
SIMPLE STEPS
1. Gather your mise en place.
2. To prepare the soup, preheat a (6- to 8-quart) soup pot to medium.
3. Add olive oil to the pot.
4. Add shallots and sauté until golden and translucent.
5. Pour steamed butternut squash, veggie stock, sweetener, and sea salt into the pot.
6. Simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes.
7. Using a blender or hand-stick blender, blend until smooth.
8. Garnish with pan-fried basil and a drizzle of olive, walnut, or pumpkin seed oil.
After you’ve learned the simple soup cooking process with butternut squash, intuitively create your own soups with different winter squash, such as acorn or pumpkin, or even sweet potatoes. Experiment with various herbs and oils as a garnish.

If you’re looking for some simple, healthy recipes and the culinary methods to create the recipes, I invite you to take a look at my new book, A New View of Healthy Eating.
September 27, 2016
A New View of Healthy Eating: Kale Chips with Raw Cashew Cream & Nutritional Yeast
By Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC
In addition to simple dehydrated kale chips with olive oil, dried herbs, and sea salt we can also make kale chips with a cheesy-taste. Soaked raw cashews and nutrition yeast are the key ingredients in these kale chips. Nutritional yeast, a fungus grown on molasses, is a complete protein, rich in vitamin B12. It melts and has a mild Cheddar cheese flavor, and adds flavor to kale chips, sauces, and soups.

EXCERPT from A New View of Healthy Eating

Kale Chips: Dehydrated & Baked

Kale is such a popular food, eaten as a salad, chips, or a wrap. Here’s a very quick way to make delicious dehydrated kale chips. Once you have learned to make dehydrated kale chips, you can easily change the flavor with different spices and herbs, such as fresh ginger, basil, or oregano.

SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
- 2 large bunches kale, dinosaur or curly green, torn into pieces
- 1 cup raw cashews, pre-soaked in water 4-6 hours
- 1 fresh lemon, approximately 2 tbsp lemon juice
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ½-⅔ cup water
SIMPLE STEPS
- Soak cashews for 4-6 hours in water. Once soft, drain.
- Wash kale, remove the leaves from the stems, and tear leaves into big pieces.
- Place lemon juice, nutritional yeast, onion powder, and garlic powder into high-speed blender.
- Add about half of the water and blend.
- Continue to add more water, if needed, to create a thick, pourable dressing.
- To prepare the kale chips, place the kale pieces into a large bowl and pour dressing over the kale.
- Using your hands, thoroughly coat the kale leaves with the dressing.
- Place the kale leaves onto dehydrator trays, making sure that the leaves are in a single layer so that they dehydrate evenly.
- Dehydrate at 115°F for approximately 7 hours or until dehydrated and crisp.
Simple Steps to Bake Kale Chips
- Preheat oven to 275°F.
- Line 2 large, flat baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Place kale leaves on the baking sheet in a single layer.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, turning leaves halfway through cooking.
A New View of Healthy Eating is available NOW!
September 25, 2016
A New View of Healthy Eating: Fresh Organic Arugula Salad with 3 Ingredient Salad Dressing
By Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC
This week I was inspired by fresh organic arugula grown at Maya’s Farm, less than a mile from my home. Many people do not care for arugula because it tastes too bitter. With the simple “3 Ingredient Salad Dressing” made with high quality organic extra virgin olive oil, the bitterness of the arugula is totally reduced and the arugula is a refreshing salad.

When we create a salad with light greens, such as arugula, spinach, or spring greens, it is important to lightly toss the leaves in the dressing right before eating them. This is different from raw kale salads where we massage the kale with the dressing to break down the fibers in the kale.

Enjoy the beauty of this simple, refreshing arugula berry pecan salad and have fun creating your own salad. Share your salad creations with us on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/NewViewHealthyEating

Gather your mise en place: Arugula salad with berries (blueberries, blackberries), nuts (pecans), and organic heirloom tomato.

Dressing: organic extra virgin olive oil, local Arizona lemon, sea salt, garlic.

Make 3 Ingredient Dressing and gently toss with the organic arugula.

Mindfully plate.

Enjoy your light, fresh berry and pecans arugula salad.

EXCERPT from A New View of Healthy Eating

Basic Salad Dressing: 3 Ingredients. That’s It

Three base ingredients for a salad dressing include a fat, an acid, and salt. Optional add-ins are aromatics (such as garlic and onions), fresh herbs (like basil and oregano), and sweeteners like local raw honey and fresh dates. To make your first dressing for a kale salad, start with fresh lemon, organic extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, and garlic. Once you’ve learned how to prepare a dressing with this technique, you can use this method to create your own unique salad dressings for a raw kale salad or other fresh salads.

SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
- 1 fresh lemon, squeezed, approximately ¼ cup
- Organic extra virgin olive oil, twice as much as the lemon juice, approximately ½ cup
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- 2-3 garlic cloves, minced (extra)
SIMPLE STEPS
- Squeeze a fresh organic lemon into a pint-size Mason jar.
- Pour in twice as much olive oil as the lemon.
- Sprinkle in sea salt and minced garlic.
- Shake the jar.
- Taste and notice if your dressing seems too oily or acid-tasting, or if it uses too little or too much salt. Taste testing salad dressing is a great way to mindfully use your cooking intuition. Add ingredients until the dressing tastes great.
6 Ways to Create Your Own Salad Dressing

Learn the simple salad dressing technique and then create your own with different fats, different acids, and various add-ins, such as freshly minced herbs or sweeteners. Use sweeteners to balance a dressing that seems too acid-tasting.
- Fats: Olive oil, grapeseed oil, nut oils such as walnut oil
- Acid: Citrus (lemons, limes, oranges); vinegar (balsamic, rice, red or white wine), or stone-ground mustard
- Salt: Your choice of sea salt or Himalayan salt
- Optional Sweeteners: Raw honey or dates
- Optional Aromatics: Garlic, green onions, shallots, red onions
- Optional Freshly Minced Herbs: Basil, cilantro, oregano, parsley
A New View of Healthy Eating Book is available for you, as gifts, or for your organization.

UPCOMING PUBLIC COOKING EVENTS

Intuitive Cooking Experience at The Farm at South Mountain

October 9, 2016, Sunday, 11:00am-1:00pm CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE YOUR TICKET PRICE: $45 per person

Want to learn how to cook with different farmer-fresh organic ingredients? Do you receive your produce from your CSA or the farmers’ market and are puzzled on how to cook with them?

During the experience you will learn culinary skills such as making simple lentil veggie soup, unique salad with what’s in season, a perfect herbal salad dressing, and a quick hummus to enjoy with farm fresh organic veggies. Once you intuitively create your dishes, you’ll enjoy mindfully eating your beautiful creations with community in the beauty of The Farm.

A New Look at Shopping & Cooking at the Phoenix Public Market, Fall 2016

October 15, 2016, Saturday, 9:00-11:00am CLICK TO REGISTER PRICE: $10 per person

Enjoy hands-on interactive cooking demonstrations with farmers’ market fresh produce. Learn what to look for while shopping at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market. Learn simple culinary skills, the intuitive cooking method, and enjoy dining on the food you prepared with friends and community.
September 24, 2016
A New View of Healthy Eating: Simple Steps to Make Your Own Kale Chips

By Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC
Right now kale is in season here in Arizona. In addition to massaging kale (yes! we massage kale!) and making all kinds of delicious raw kale salads with fresh berries, fruit, and figs, I decided to dehydrate a batch of kale. The simple way to dehydrate kale is to lightly massage (or coat) the kale leaves with organic extra virgin olive oil, add sea salt, and dried herbs, such as basil and oregano.

I am so fortune to live less than a mile from Maya’s Farm in South Mountain, Arizona, that I had the opportunity to visit the farm this week and see the organic kale growing.

SIMPLE STEPS TO MAKE YOUR OWN ORGANIC KALE CHIPS

Step 1: Gather mise en place: Organic kale, organic extra virgin olive oil, dried herbs (basil, oregano), sea salt. Keep kale leaves as large as possible, as they will shrink when dehydrated or baked in the oven.

Step 2: Gently massage (toss) organic kale leaves in the organic extra virgin olive oil, freshly ground herbs, and sea salt.

Step 3: Mindfully spread the kale leaves onto dehydrator trays, being careful that the leaves do not touch each other.

Step 4: Slide trays into the dehydrator. I’m so excited to dehydrate kale on all 9 trays of my dehydrator.

Step 5: Dehydrate at 115 degrees F for about 7 hours.

Step 6: Plate and enjoy the fresh, crispness of your home-dehydrated organic kale chips!

Step 7: Place extra organic kale chips in class containers for healthy ready-to-eat healthy snacks.

If you enjoy this simple recipe, I invite you to take a look at my new book, A New View of Healthy Eating, which is available now!

Step 1: Order the Book

Step 2: Fill out the form and receive Top 5 Recipes & Culinary Tips

First & Last Name

Email

What is your top nutrition or cooking issue?
Thanks!

Δ

September 22, 2016
A New View of Healthy Eating: 3 Types of People who Dehydrate
By Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC
The last few days, I’ve been having fun dehydrating and tomorrow I will post a blog with the 9 trays of kale chips that are in the dehydrator right now. Meanwhile last night I dehydrated a few apples and realized how much I love the crunch, sweetness, and texture of dehydrated apples.

EXCERPT from A New View of Healthy Eating

What is Dehydrating?

Dehydrating is the process of removing the moisture from food by surrounding food with a warm circulation of air, not exceeding 118 degrees Fahrenheit. This process concentrates flavors and creates dry, crisp food.

Dehydrating is a simple, quick way to prepare food for different types of people and various culinary uses:
- Raw Diet. Raw foodists (who eat food that is not cooked above 118 degrees) dehydrate lots of fruit, vegetables, wraps, and crackers with nuts and seeds for everyday eating.
- Simple Fruit. Kids and adults of all ages enjoy dehydrated fruit (bananas, apples, persimmons) for everyday snacks.
- Culinary Delight. Chefs and culinary enthusiasts dehydrate to concentrate and intensify the flavor of food, such as tomatoes, sweet peppers, and beets.
If you’re interested in my new book, A New View of Healthy Eating, it’s available and I can ship it to you right away.

Step 1: Order the Book

Step 2: Fill out the form and receive Top 5 Recipes & Culinary Tips

First & Last Name

Email

What is your top nutrition or cooking issue?
Thanks!

Δ
September 21, 2016
A New View of Healthy Eating: Get to Know Goji Berries
By Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC
Lately, I have been hooked on goji berries, enjoying them with my morning smoothies and added them to some date balls I made for a client last week. I clearly remember when superfood, raw food expert David Wolfe mentioned goji berries when I was studying at the Institute for Integrative Medicine in New York in 2006. After learning about them, my friends and I literally ran to Whole Foods Market in Columbus Circle to buy goji berries and raw cacao. And, I’ve been enjoy them ever since.

Today’s smoothie, topped with three of my favorite superfoods, goji berries, hempseeds and raw cacao nibs, was so tasty and refreshing.

Superfood Smoothie topped with Goji Berries, Hempseeds, and Raw Cacao Nibs

Goji Berry Date Snacks

Excerpt from A New View of Healthy Eating

Get to Know Goji Berries (Wolfberries)

Antioxidant and protein-rich, with a strong, sweet, bitter taste. Enjoy a handful as a crunchy snack. Blend in smoothies or add as a topping. Cook in a veggie stir-fry. Enjoy as a sweet, earthy, warm tea.
- Used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years
- Traditionally known as a strength-building, longevity, and immune system superfood
- Grown in South America and the Himalayas
- High in protein, with 18 amino acids, including all eight essential amino acids
- Rich in antioxidants and more than 20 trace minerals, and full of fiber
Come over to our Facebook page and share a photo of you enjoying your favorite superfood: www.facebook.com/NewViewHealthyEating
September 20, 2016
A New View of Healthy Eating: Vegan Pesto Recipe for Spiralized Organic Veggies
By Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC
This past Saturday at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market, I had the opportunity to lead a fun, hands-on cooking class, SHOP+CHOP+COOK. During this class, I guided the participants to create their own veggie pasta. Often we think about making veggie pasta with zucchini, but during this class, we also spiralized a local organic butternut squash and a few sweet potatoes.

We also created a delicious vegan, dairy-free pesto with pre-soaked raw cashews, fresh organic basil from Maya’s Farm, a little lemon, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, and sea salt. This dish was so incredible that a local farmer friend of mine with “The Community Exchange” Table stopped by and enjoyed the left-overs.

The key takeaways from this class were that we can make a pesto without cheese and we and eat some veggies raw that we would generally think we’d need to cook.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

EXCERPT from A New View of Healthy Eating

Spiral Veggies with Nut-Based Creamy Dressing

Learn how to spiral colorful veggies and create a simple dressing with raw cashews and basil.

Basic Salad Dressing: Raw Cashews & Basil Pesto

A vegan, dairy-free, creamy dressing is the base for this colorful raw spiral veggie salad. With fresh basil and lots of garlic, this refreshing dressing is a perfect alternative to a cheese-based pesto.

SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
- ½ cup raw cashews, soaked 3-4 hours in water
- ½ cup fresh basil leaves
- 1 fluid ounce fresh-squeezed lemon juice
- 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbsp fresh-squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tsp sea salt
- ¼ cup organic extra virgin olive oil
SIMPLE STEPS
- Place all ingredients except organic extra virgin olive oil into food processor.
- Add olive oil little by little until smooth.
- Taste and add extra garlic, lemon juice, or basil leaves to create a taste that’s right for you.
Cashews are an excellent substitution for cheese in raw vegan dishes, as they are creamy and smooth in sauces and dressings.

A raw spiral veggie salad is a perfect way to introduce raw food to everyone, from young kids to adults. It’s simple, delicious, and fun to prepare.

Spiral Veggies

SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
- 1 large zucchini
- 1 butternut squash, solid end, peeled
- 1 sweet potato
- 1 red beet
- 1 golden beet
SIMPLE STEPS
- Spiralize veggies into long, pasta-like shapes using a spiral vegetable slicer with a small blade. Be sure to spiralize the red beets last and separate them from the other vegetables to limit bleeding.
- After spiralizing each vegetable, slice to make the pieces shorter.
- Allow the vegetables to sit at room temperature to dry.
- Toss all spiralized vegetables together.
- Add pesto to the vegetables and toss.
- Serve and enjoy this fresh raw salad.
Spiralizing veggies is very mindful and meditative. I love creating the long, beautiful spirals with a rainbow of different colored vegetables.

Have fun experimenting with spiralizing different types of organic veggies and creating a vegan pesto. Share your dishes with us on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/NewViewHealthyEating

I’d like to take a moment to thank everyone who has already purchased my new book, A New View of Healthy Eating. It was a joy to share the book publically for the first time at the Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market this weekend.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.
September 19, 2016
A New View of Healthy Eating: 4 Steps to Bake an Organic Apple Crisp with Freshly Ground Spices
By Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC
After teaching a cooking class yesterday at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market, today I decided to give myself some self care time in the kitchen. I always love enjoying the aromatherapy of fresh herbs and spices, the mindfulness of chopping, and the natural aroma of desserts in my oven. I decided to cook, for the first time since the launch of my new book, A New View of Healthy Eating, one of my very favorite desserts.

Enjoy today’s step-by-step photos creating the Organic Apple Crisp. For your reference, the complete recipe from the book is here for you, as well.
- Start with hand-ground spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and cardamom. The incredible mindfulness of grinding the spices, along with the distinct aromatherapy of each brings back memories of baking with my Mom and Grandmother when I was a kid.
- Slice organic apples, like these fresh apples which grew in Wilcox, Arizona. If you live in an area where you can “pick-your-own” apples, have fun picking and then come home and enjoy preparing this apple crisp.
- Practice your mise en place: Get all of your ingredients together for the apple crisp filling and topping, for mindful cooking.
- Place filling ingredients into a sauce pan and cook for about 20 minutes. Apples, spices, sweetener (local Arizona honey today), grapeseed oil, lemon and orange zest and juice. Near the end of cooking, I added a few organic raspberries to the crisp.
- Mix the ingredients for the topping: oats, chopped nuts (walnuts today), sweetener (Arizona honey today), grapeseed oil, and the ground spices.
- Bake in pre-heated 350 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes.
- Enjoy!
EXCERPT from A New View of Healthy Eating: Aromatic Apple Crisp with Freshly Ground Spices

This apple crisp is one of my all-time favorites. From cooking with local organic apples to mindfully hand-grinding and enjoying the aromatherapy of freshly ground warming spices, from the aromatherapy of the apples sautéing in the spices to memories of eating pies when I was a child, this dessert (or breakfast) is outstanding. Enjoy the process of setting up your mise en place, cooking, and enjoying this dish with your family and friends.

SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

Topping
- 1 cup rolled oats
- ½ cup almonds, walnuts, or pecans, sliced
- ¼ cup maple sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon, fresh ground
- 1 tsp nutmeg, fresh ground
- 1 tsp cardamom seeds, fresh ground
- ½ cup grapeseed oil
Filling
- 8 apples, sliced
- 3 tbsp grapeseed oil
- 4 tbsp maple sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon, fresh ground
- 1 tsp nutmeg, fresh ground
- 1 tsp cardamom seeds, fresh ground
- ½ tsp cloves, fresh ground
- 1 orange, juiced and zested
- 1 lemon, juiced and zested
SIMPLE STEPS
1. Prepare your mise en place.
  - Hand-grind all spices in mortar and pestle.
  - Hand-squeeze and zest the orange and lemon.
1. Prepare topping.
- Mix all dry ingredients for topping until well combined.
- Pour in grapeseed oil and mix.
1. Cook the apple crisp.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Place sliced apples in a large sauté pan.
- Turn heat to medium and add remaining filling ingredients.
- Cook until apples slightly soften; stir occasionally.
- Pour cooked apples with sauce into 8-inch by 8-inch baking dish.
- Top with oats topping.
- Bake on middle oven rack for 20-30 minutes.
1. Enjoy!
If you are interested in more healthy dessert recipes, A New View of Healthy Eating is available now. Order today and I’ll ship tomorrow!

Step 1: Order the Book

Step 2: Join our e-newsletter and receive the Top 5 Recipes & Culinary Tips.

First & Last Name

Email

What is your top nutrition or cooking issue?
Thanks!

Δ
September 18, 2016
A New View of Healthy Eating: We Eat with our Eyes First

By Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

To celebrate the launch of my new book, A New View of Healthy Eating, last night I enjoyed an incredible, beautiful meal at the Quiessence Restaurant at The Farm at South Mountain, in Phoenix, with my yoga friend, Jody Loren. Since The Farm is only a mile from my home, over the last decade I have enjoyed the natural, quiet beauty of the farm; the just-harvested organic veggies, flowers, and fresh herbs at Maya’s Farm; and am honored to teach “farm to table” cooking classes in the Spring and Fall of 2016.

Even though I spend a lot of time at the farm, last night’s dinner at Quiessence totally exceeded my expectations with the mindfulness and beauty of the environment at The Farm, and the outstanding, unique beauty and simple, yet complex taste and textures of the delicious meal .

The meal at Quiessence reminded me of one of my favorite quotes:

“We eat with our eyes first.”

I invite you to enjoy this photo essay of my celebratory evening at The Farm, commit to go out and enjoy the beauty of your food.

The Simple Beauty of The Farm

The Food Art

Beautiful time with friends.

Good night at The Farm

I look forward to seeing photos of you enjoying your “food art” on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/NewViewHealthyEating

September 14, 2016
A New View of Healthy Eating: Simple Steps to Create Your Own Sorbet
By Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC
This evening I celebrated the launch of my book, with my dear yoga friend, Jody Loren, at the wonderful Quiessence Restaurant at The Farm at South Mountain, which is just a mile from my home. Tonight I’m sharing with you our dessert: incredibly beautiful and tasty fruit sorbet, topped with dehydrated fruit. My favorite flavors were the sweet and refreshing apple and pineapple. Our meal was so tasty and beautiful at the magical Farm at South Mountain, so stay tuned as I’ll be sharing more of the beautiful food, should I say food art.

The excerpt from A New View of Healthy Eating are the simple steps to make your own sorbet.

Fruit Sorbet

For most of my life I ate refreshing sorbet only at restaurants. Now with this simple sorbet process, I enjoy making it at home with local, seasonal fruit. I especially love sorbet with freshly harvested Arizona oranges. Intuitively create sorbet with fruits that are local and in season and experiment with different fruit, spices, and herbs to create sorbet year-round.

Simple Steps to Create Fruit Sorbet

SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
- 4 cups fresh fruit
- ½ cup fresh fruit juice, as needed
- Freshly ground spices or herbs
- Pinch sea salt
- 5 tbsp agave nectar or coconut sugar, as needed
SIMPLE STEPS
1. Blend fresh fruit, fresh fruit juice, ground spices or herbs, and a pinch of sea salt in high-speed blender.
2. Taste and add sweetener if needed.
3. Pour into frozen sorbet maker and process for about 15-20 minutes until thick, soft, and creamy.
4. For firmer sorbet, freeze in an air-tight container for about 2 hours and remove from freezer 15 minutes before serving.
5. Enjoy.
I invite you to have fun experimenting with making your own fruit sorbet. Come over to our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/NewViewHealthyEating and share photos of your sorbet with us.
September 13, 2016
A New View of Healthy Eating: Find the Right Chef’s Knife for You

By Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC
Today we were shooting some video segments and one of the segments was about Getting your Kitchen Ready for Success. For success in the kitchen, our kitchen tools, refrigerator , and pantry must be ready to cook. In my view, the number one most important kitchen tool is a Chef’s knife. While I also use a 4” paring knife, serrated tomato knife, and a large 8” Chef knife, my everyday knife is a 6” heavy steel German-made knife. It fits nicely in my hand, feels balanced, and is always sharp.

Learn more about knives and some of the other basic tools to successfully cook whole foods in this excerpt from A New View of Healthy Eating.

Knife. A knife that is “right for you” is the number-one most valuable kitchen tool. The key aspects of a knife are: fits comfortably in your hand, feels balanced, and is sharp. For me, a basic Chef’s knife, 6-inch or 8-inch, can be used for virtually all cutting in the kitchen. Before you purchase a knife, visit a kitchen store and experiment by holding and cutting with different knives to determine which works best for you.

Some people prefer stainless steel, relatively heavy German knives. Others prefer lighter, thin Japanese knives, while still others prefer lightweight, colored ceramic knives. The most important thing is to find a knife that feels comfortable in your hand and to know that the investment is worth it, as each of us tends to use our favorite knife every day, for years and even decades.

“When traveling for a week or more, I take my favorite Chef knife with me, as it is so much nicer to cook with ‘my’ knife that fits ‘just right’ in my hand; it cuts food smoothly.”

Bamboo Cutting Board. Cutting boards are essential in the kitchen to make cutting easier with a flat surface, protect your kitchen counters, and keep knives sharp. My favorite cutting boards are made of bamboo, as they are clean, sustainable, and naturally anti-bacterial and anti-microbial. Cutting boards last decades, so finding the right cutting board to invest in is important. A key to purchasing a cutting board is to be sure that it is large enough that your entire knife (blade and handle) stays within the board when you chop.

Wooden Spoons. A few wooden spoons are staples in the kitchen and are used to move food around in a sauté pan or to stir food in a pot. Personally, I prefer bamboo with a flat edge. Bamboo, a grass, grows at a fast rate, so it is eco-friendly and biodegradable. It’s strong and durable, and will not scratch cookware.

I’ll continue to share the key tools to get your kitchen ready for success. Come on over to our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/NewViewHealthyEating and share photos of your favorite kitchen tools.

September 12, 2016
A New View of Healthy Eating: Mindful Mirepoix into Delicious Quinoa Red Lentil Dish
By Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC
Today was a very mindful, quiet, reflective day and for quiet self care,, I decided to create a new dish inspired by today’s version of mirepoix. Most of us know mirepoix as carrots, onions, and celery as a base to build the flavor profile of a dish. Today, in my intuitive mirepoix I used onions, leeks, garlic, carrots, bell peppers and a little sea salt. I added organic quinoa and red lentils to create a simple, nutritious meal with pseudograins and protein-rich lentils.

Excerpt from A New View of Healthy Eating

Experiment with Mirepoix

Mirepoix, the aromatic vegetables used at the beginning of the cooking process, builds the flavor profile of a dish. Different cuisines around the world typically begin their cooking with different combinations of vegetables. Experiment with various aromatic vegetables to create a wide variety of flavored dishes.

French: onions, celery, carrots

Italian: onions, celery, carrots, plus parsley, garlic, fennel

Mediterranean: onions, tomatoes, garlic, fennel

Spanish: onions, garlic, tomatoes

Asian: garlic, ginger, lemongrass

Cajun “Holy Trinity”: onions, celery, green pepper

German: carrots, celery root, leeks

Enjoy the process from mirepoix to the delicious quinoa lentil meal.
- Today’s intuitive mirepoix: Green onions, leeks, fresh garlic, carrots, and bell peppers.
- Cook: Add 1 cup quinoa, 1 cup red lentils, 1 cup homemade veggie stock, and about 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Simmer, covered with lid, for about 20 minutes.
- Mindfully enjoy. Be intuitive. Quinoa Lentil Side with dehydrated bell peppers.
- Enjoy Cold Quinoa Lentil Side with kalamata olives, capers, and a drizzle of organic olive oil.
Step 1: Buy the Book

Step 2: Join our e-mail list and receive top 5 recipes & culinary tips.

First & Last Name

Email

What is your top nutrition or cooking issue?
Thanks!

Δ
September 11, 2016
A New View of Healthy Eating: Quick Steel Cut Oats with Spice Aromatherapy
By Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC
Nine years ago when I was studying at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition I learned how to cook whole grains for myself and to share with my clients. What I found was that it is so easy, tasty, and healthy. Lately, I’ve been drinking a lot of smoothies for breakfast, so I decided to add a little variety to my breakfast with steel cut oats.

Simple Ingredients: Organic steel cut oats, sunflower seeds, a local Arizona organic apple, goji berries, and vanilla.

Spices: Enjoy the aromatherapy and taste of fresh-ground spices (cinnamon and nutmeg). Use a microplane grater to mindfully grind the spices.

Prep: After thoroughly rinsing the steel cut oats with water, place all ingredients into a pot. Add twice as much water as whole grain.

Cook: Cover the pot, bring to a boil, then simmer with pot covered for about 15-20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Excerpt from A New View of Healthy Eating

Steel-Cut Oats: Ireland

Steel-cut oats are sometimes called Irish or Scottish oats and grow in the cold, wet climates of northern Europe and North America. Oats are unique among popular grains, as the bran and germ are rarely removed in processing.

Why Oats
- The fiber, beta-glucan, in oats helps lower cholesterol, which reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke, and enhances the body’s immune system.
- Avenanthramide, a polyphenol antioxidant in oats, may have anti-inflammatory, heart-healthy, and anti-itch properties.
- Fiber helps us feel fuller longer, which controls weight.
- They have the highest protein content of popular cereals.
Eat Oats
- Available as steel-cut oats or oat groats (hulled grains).
- Do not eat instant quick-cooking oats. They are low in fiber because most of the bran is removed. In addition, sugars and preservatives are usually added to the package.
- The mild, smooth, sweet flavor makes oats a perfect breakfast grain to enjoy with nuts, seeds, and fruit.
- Oats are naturally gluten-free, but may be contaminated with gluten during growing and processing. Look for oats certified gluten-free if you are sensitive to gluten.
Share your whole grain breakfast meals with us on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/NewViewHealthyEating
September 10, 2016
A New View of Healthy Eating: Food & Life Tips from 98-year-old Yoga Master Tao Porchon-Lynch
By Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC
This week I had the incredible experience to enjoy some beautiful food and conversation with Tao Porchon-Lynch, 98-year old yoga master, Hollywood actress, model, dancer, activist and author of the beautiful, inspiring book, “Dancing Light.”

For Tao, her biographer Terri Kennedy, and myself our afternoon lunch together was so relaxing, full of self care, and very mindful. Over a few hours we enjoyed our meal; talked about food, yoga, kids, relationships, business, our books and just simply enjoyed our time together.

Enjoy a few photos of us enjoying our food. Yes, even a 98-year old has fun taking food photos!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Some of my favorite messages around food from Tao are:
- Never put on your plate more than you can eat.
- When you’re eating, enjoy it.
- Have faith in nature, it teaches us so many things.
On a larger scale inspiration and wisdom from Tao:
- Wake up every day and tell yourself: This is the best day of my life.
- It’s possible to do everything you decide to do.
- When I retire, I’m going to “dance my way to the next planet.”
And, one of my favorites, from Tao’s book, “Dancing Light: The Spiritual Side of Being Through the Eyes of a Modern Yoga Master.”

“Look deeply for the seeds that have been planted in you. Nurture them so they can fully take root. The thing that will feed your soul is right inside.”

I am also so honored to gift a copy of my new book to Tao, who loved the beauty of it.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Thanks so much to Tao Porchon-Lynch and Terri Kennedy for our beautiful, memorable afternoon enjoying food and life.

A New View of Healthy Eating: Simple Intuitive Cooking with Real Whole Foods is available NOW!

Step 1: Buy the Book

Step 2: Join our e-mail list and receive updates on events, and simple healthy recipes and culinary tips.

First & Last Name

Email

What is your top nutrition or cooking issue?
Thanks!

Δ
September 9, 2016
A New View of Healthy Eating: 5 Tips to Shop for and Enjoy Nuts and Seeds
By Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC
Since I just posted a blog on how to create nut milk with all kinds of nuts and seeds, I thought you’d be interested in shopping tips for nuts and seeds.

5 Tips to Shop for and Enjoy Nuts and Seeds
1. Eat raw, whole, unsalted nuts and seeds. They are whole foods and not processed.
2. No added oils. Be sure to read labels and buy nuts, seeds, and nut butters with no added pro-inflammatory omega-6-rich oils like cottonseed, peanut, safflower, and sunflower.
3. Keep cold. Store in the refrigerator, as nuts and seeds may go rancid due to their high fat content.
4. Eat fresh nuts and seeds. Do not eat nuts or seeds that smell and taste bad (like oil paint); they may be carcinogenic.
5. Be careful. Toasted, chopped, and ground nuts go rancid more quickly than whole raw nuts, so eat them as soon as they are prepped.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I am so humbled by the incredible, positive response to my new book, A New View of Healthy Eating: Simple Intuitive Cooking with Real Whole Foods.

Four more cases of the book arrived yesterday, and at this moment I only have 5 books available from that shipment. This morning I ordered 8 more cases of the book. So, if you, your friends, or organizations would like to be sure to receive a book from this next shipment, buy the book now and I will mail it to you as soon as they arrive.

Step 1: Buy the Book

Step 2: Join our e-mail list and receive updates on events, culinary techniques, and recipes.

First & Last Name

Email

What is your top nutrition or cooking issue?
Thanks!

Δ
September 7, 2016
A New View of Healthy Eating: Get Creative & Intuitive with Nut Milk
By Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC
A few weeks ago I posted a blog with the simple steps to make your own nut milk. Today, I decided to make nut milk with some “left-over” nuts and seeds from a cooking class. When you make your own nut milk, get creative. Try different combinations of nuts and seeds and notice which you prefer. Some may be sweeter, some may be creamer, some may even be a little bit crunchy. Enjoy!

Steps to Make Your Own Creative Nut & Seed Milk
- Gather your mise en place
- Blend the nuts & seeds and coconut water
- Taste your homemade nut and seed milk. This one with pumpkin seeds, almonds, sunflower seeds, and a few goji berries was sweet and smooth.
- Add a banana to thicken and raw cacao, if you are having a chocolate craving. And blend another few minutes.
- Mindfully enjoy!
Come on over and share your nut and seed milks with us on our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/NewViewHealthyEating
September 7, 2016
A New View of Healthy Eating: Dehydrate Bananas & Check out my 90-Year-old Dad’s Banana Crop!
By Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

I love, love, love dehydrated bananas and when I saw them a few days ago selling for $19.99 a pound, I decided to dehydrate a few. All you need are some bananas and a dehydrator. My 90-year-old Dad has been growing bananas almost year-round at my parents’ home in Cocoa Beach, Florida, so I thought you’d enjoy seeing some home-grown bananas.

A few of my Dad’s bananas. He literally grows hundreds at a time. My parents dehydrate or freeze them for snacks or smoothies. Also, it’s interesting that my Dad learned how to grow the bananas from “Google”!

Experience Nutrition: 9 Ways 90 Days: Top 10 Super Bowl Healthy Recipes: 7 Vegan Avocado Chocolate Pudding

Experience Nutrition: 9 Ways 90 Days: Top 10 Super Bowl Healthy Recipes: 9 Organic Trail Mix

Simple Steps to Dehydrate Bananas
- Cut the bananas into about 1/8 inch slices.
- Mindfully place the sliced bananas onto the flat dehydrating trays.
- Set your dehydrator at 135 degrees F and 6 hours of dehydrating.
- Slide the dehydrating trays into the dehydrator.
- Turn the bananas over after 6 hours.
- Dehydrate another 2-4 hours, checking for crispness every hour.
- These bananas took 10 hours to dehydrate.
- Mindfully enjoy eating the dehydrated bananas, which become very sweet and caramelized tasting.
EXCERPT from A New View of Healthy Eating

How to Shop for a High-Quality Dehydrator

A dehydrator, sometimes referred to as a “raw oven,” is an essential tool for the raw kitchen. When shopping for a dehydrator, look for one with the heating unit in the back, as it creates a constant circulation of air in the box, which allows for the evaporation of moisture from the food. Through the removal of moisture, the foods are properly preserved without spoilage and harmful bacterial growth. Excalibur and Sedona are two popular brands. Teflex sheets (or parchment paper) are used to dehydrate foods, such as fruit or vegetables, with higher moisture content.

If you are new to dehydrating you may want to try a less expensive dehydrator to get started. Keep in mind that round dehydrators with fans on the top or bottom do not dry food as evenly and require manual shifting of the trays to optimize drying consistency.

Have fun dehydrating and share your goodies with us on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/NewViewHealthyEating
September 5, 2016
A New View of Healthy Eating: Mung Bean Heirloom Tomato Salad & How to Easily Slice Tomatoes
By Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC
The home-grown sprouted mung beans that were ready to eat yesterday , along with a beautiful organic heirloom tomato inspired this simple, fresh summer salad.

I am always so excited to have fresh sprouts to play with in my meals and love eating them raw or even in a quick stir-fry. Enjoy this beautiful salad and have fun creating your own salad with your home-grown sprouts. Remember, it only takes 7 days to sprout mung beans.

Today’s salad is a practice in mindfulness and I offer you a culinary tip to make slicing tomatoes very easy.

Choose your veggies mindfully. When you choose your ingredients for a salad, pause and choose a variety of colors and textures, such as this beautiful heirloom tomato, little local Arizona sweet pepper, yellow carrot, the mung beans, and a few extras, such as olives and capers.

Pause and enjoy the beauty of food. I intentionally purchased this beautiful organic heirloom tomato and am still in awe of its natural palette of color.

Excerpt from A NewView of Healthy Eating

Serrated Tomato Knife. To easily cut tomatoes, use a small serrated knife with an up-and-down cutting motion. Years ago I did not at all enjoy cutting tomatoes, but now with my little 5-inch serrated knife, I cut them quickly and smoothly, without the juice of the tomato squirting out.

Pause Again. While you are preparing your salad, pause and enjoy the moment. Enjoy the mindfulness of the beautiful colors, textures, and beauty of food.

Enjoy. Mindfully plate your salad and simply enjoy. Today I plated the salad on a large collard green and then added one of my favorite extras, goat cheese. Yumm…

I invite you to come on over to our Facebook page and share your creations inspired by home-grown sprouts. www.facebook.com/NewViewHealthyEating

For easy reference, here are the links to learn how to sprout your own mung beans
- 7 Simple Steps to Sprout Mung Beans
- How to Sprout Mung Beans in 7 Days
September 4, 2016
A New View of Healthy Eating: How to Sprout Mung Beans in 7 Days!
By Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC
I’ve been having fun with sprouting mung beans the last few days and wanted to share with you some photos, so you could see how quickly and much they grow in a few days.

Day 1: August 28, 2016
- Rinse 1/4 cup of mung beans and soak in water overnight.
Day 2: August 29, 2016, 6pm: Beans are already beginning to open.
- Drain water from beans.
- Put jar with mesh top on a slant.
- Rinse beans with cold water 2-4 times a day.
Day 3: August 30, 2016, 8:30am: Already starting to see a few little mung bean tails.

Day 4: August 31, 2016: Sorry, missed taking photos on Day 4.

Day 5: September 1, 2016: The sprouts are just about ready to eat.

Day 6: September 2, 2016: The jar is almost full.

Day 7: September 3, 2016: Time to enjoy the sprouts.

Get the 7 Simple Steps to Sprout Mung Beans Blog

Tomorrow I’ll blog a beautiful organic heirloom tomato and mung bean salad that I intuitively created with these home sprouted mung beans.

The second print run of A New View of Healthy Eating is expected to arrive in Phoenix on September 6, 2016. Order now to be sure you get a copy.

Order the book today and receive Top 5 Recipes and Culinary Tips.

STEP 1: Order Book

STEP 2: Fill out this form and receive the Top 5 Recipes & Culinary Tips.

First & Last Name

Email

What is your top nutrition or cooking issue?
Thanks!

Δ
September 3, 2016
A New View of Healthy Eating: Simple Steps to Make Your Own Raw Organic Almond Butter
By Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC
Today I was working on some recipe development and testing for a new healthy snack. For one of the recipes, I decided to use almond butter, which is so easy to make. And, when we make it, almond butter is so fresh.

My lesson with making almond butter is patience. Once you add the almonds to the food process, it does take some time for the almonds to become almond butter. So be patient. That’s it.

Excerpt from A New View of Healthy Eating

Quick and Easy Steps to Make Your Own Nut Butter

Once you make your own almond butter at home, you’ll want to make it all the time. It’s easy, less expensive than store-bought jars, and tastes great. It’s so mindful to see almonds transform into almond butter.
1. Pour about a cup of raw organic almonds into a high-speed blender or food processor.
2. Turn on blender, moving from low to high.
3. Check almonds every 4-5 minutes for consistency.
4. Push the almonds down into the blade as needed.
5. Blend until smooth and you will see the oil from the almonds.
6. Enjoy with a fresh organic apple.
“I absolutely love almond butter and love even more homemade almond butter. Making nut butter is one of those simple techniques that I’m so glad I learned. It’s so mindful to see almonds transform into almond butter. And homemade nut butter is so tasty.”
September 2, 2016