Experience Nutrition

Tag: Experience Nutrition

  • Experience Nutrition: Super Simple Organic Hummus Recipe: Just like the hummus we served at the Super Bowl VIP Tailgate Party

    By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition Group, LLC, Phoenix, AZ. Nutrition and food expert, author and speaker. Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, Holistic Nutrition and Whole Food Cooking Instructor at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts.

    Make EXPERIENCE NUTRITION Super Simple Organic Hummus

    I’m excited to share with you the same hummus recipe we made a few years ago at the Super Bowl XLIV VIP Tailgate Party for the Super Bowl in Miami. Now, you can make it, too. Scroll down for a fun behind the scene photo from the VIP Tailgate Party.

    Super Simple Organic Hummus

    EXPERIENCE NUTRITION Organic Hummus Recipe
    EXPERIENCE NUTRITION Organic Hummus Recipe

    Step 1: Blend all ingredients in Vitamix or food processor, until smooth

    • 2 cups cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
      • 1 cup cooked garbanzo beans (soak beans overnight, cook for about 1.5 hours with 1/2 strip kombu seaweed for tenderizing. If you do not have time to cook your own garbanzo beans, use a can of beans, such as Eden Organic Garbanzo Beans that have been cooked with kombu
    • 1/3 cup chickpea water
    • 3 tablespoons tahini (sesame seed paste or sesame seeds)
    • 3 cloves garlic
    • 2 TBSP fresh lemon juice
    • 1/4 tsp black pepper
    • 1/8 tsp cumin (grind fresh cumin seeds)
    • 1/8 tsp coriander (grind the seeds from cilantro)

    Step 2: After the hummus has been blended, taste and add any more of the ingredients to your taste.

    Step 3: Add any of the following and blend again: Cilantro, dill, sautéed onions and garlic, sun-dried tomatoes or olives. Remember, you can make hummus with any kind of beans.

    Step 4: Experiment with your own hummus creations. Once you know how to make this basic hummus, try making it with black beans or navy beans or a combination of your favorite beans.

    Step 5: Practice Intuitive Cooking Experience and share your cooking experiences, including hummus, with us on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/experience.nutrition.now

    Melanie Albert’s book, Enjoy Food & Life, is available as an e-book on www.EXPNutrition.com and you can join her on Twitter @NutritionAuthor She is available for speaking engagements, cooking workshops and retreats.

    Melanie Albert at Super Bowl VIP Tailgate, Super Bowl 2008 in Miami.
    Melanie Albert at Super Bowl VIP Tailgate, Super Bowl 2008 in Miami.

  • Experience Nutrition: Intuitive Cooking & Eating for Self Care

    By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition Group, LLC, Phoenix, AZ. Nutrition and food expert, author and speaker. Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, Holistic Nutrition and Whole Food Cooking Instructor at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts.

    I love self care! And, I’ve been practicing and advocating self care for decades. Self care is vital for life. Self care experiences are activities we enjoy for our own pleasure. My personal self care menu includes:
    • Practicing yoga
    • Receiving a massage
    • Cooking with my niece
    • Going to an NFL football game or the Super Bowl
    • Walking on my golf course

    Within the last few years, I’ve added Intuitive Cooking & Eating to my self care menu. As part of this self care experience within my life, I begin by going to local Arizona farmers markets and farms to shop. I intuitively browse the market and enjoy seeing the foods that are in season; their beauty, colors and textures. And, I purchase fresh, vibrant produce that I’m most attracted to and excited about. To me self care is eating whole foods that are as close to their natural state as possible. Buying food from local farmers allows us to purchase fresh food that has not traveled across our country or from other parts of the world, which add to the carbon footprint of food.

    In addition to local farmers market fresh produce, and whole foods, eating organic is vital to my self care. I intuitively started eating organic 20 years ago, way before organic was trendy and in the news. I intuitively “knew” that I did not want to eat food grown with pesticides or herbicides, or genetically modified (GMO) food. When I eat local, organic foods I feel as though I am putting the highest quality food into my body.

    Singh Farms, Scottsdale, Arizona
    Singh Farms, Scottsdale, Arizona

    Preparing and cooking meals has also become one of my favorite self care experiences. I enjoy choosing all of the ingredients for my culinary creations, again intuitively. By looking at the beauty of the food and mindfully paying attention to what I’m craving or desiring to eat, I begin meal preparation.

    It could be a fresh fruit smoothie with coconut water, hemp seeds, raw cacao and goji berries for breakfast. Or it may be a simple avocado wrap for lunch with local Arizona tomatoes, cucumbers, rainbow carrots, fresh garlic, and just picked Meyer lemons and fresh basil. Often the self care experience extends to the aroma of produce, such as the zesty lemons and sweet basil.

    Intuitive Super Food Smoothie
    Intuitive Super Food Smoothie

    The mindful chopping of the veggies, as I prepare my beautiful meals is an enjoyable part of my self care experience. I love taking the time to mindfully enjoy the calming, rhythm of cutting the beautiful veggies. And, as many of my students know, I love the ritual of mise en place, getting all of my ingredients in place, for easy organization, as I prepare to cook.

    For dinner, one of my very favorite self care cooking and eating experiences is a simple, beautiful veggie stir-fry with the fresh local Arizona produce from the farmers market. Will post this healthy organic recipe soon.

    I invite you to practice Intuitive Cooking Experience as part of your own self care and share your experiences with us on my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/experience.nutrition.now

    Melanie Albert’s book, Enjoy Food & Life, is available as an e-book on www.EXPNutrition.com and you can join her on Twitter @NutritionAuthor She is available for speaking engagements, cooking workshops and retreats.

  • Experience Nutrition: Organic Sprouted Spelt Flatbread Recipe

    By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition Group, LLC. Nutrition and food expert, author and speaker. Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, Holistic Nutrition and Whole Food Cooking Instructor at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts.

    A few years ago I discovered that I was sensitive to gluten (the protein in grains like wheat, barley and rye). By exploring different grain flours, I’ve found that I’m not sensitive (no hives, no bloating, no headaches) to the Organic Sprouted Spelt Flour by One Degree Organic Foods. During the last few months, I’ve traveled with this flour and have made organic flat bread with 15 pounds of it. Have fun making your own flatbread.

    Experience Nutrition: Organic Sprouted Spelt Flatbread: Ingredients & Mise en Place

    What You Need

    • ¾ cup hot (not boiling) water
    • 1 TBSP dry yeast
    • ½ TBSP honey
    • 2 TBSP organic olive oil
    • 2 cups organic spelt flour
    • ½ tsp sea salt

    EN Spelt Flatbread Flour

    Simple Steps: Make the Dough

    • Put 1 TBSP dry yeast into ¾ cup hot water, add ½ TBS honey and ½ TBSP olive oil. Let it sit for about 10 minutes
    • Put 2 cups sprouted spelt flour in bowl with ½ tsp sea salt
    • Add the water with yeast into the flour
    • Blend with a fork a few minutes, then knead with your hands another few minutes. Only knead for about 4-5 minutes total. Otherwise the flatbread will be tough. If the dough is sticky, add more flour. If it’s dry, add more water.

    EN-SpeltBread-Dough

    Simple Steps: Dough Rises & Into the Oven

    • Split the dough in half. Place 2 balls of dough into a bowl which has coated with organic olive oil, and cover for about 2 hours (to rise)
    • Again, split the dough into 2 sections and spread it onto a pizza brick with your hands

    Simple Steps: Bake & Enjoy!

    • Pre-heat oven at 500 degrees with pizza brick in oven
    • Bake for 5 minutes, check it, bake for another 3-5 minutes, as needed
    • Enjoy your flatbread with olive oil and/or balsamic vinegar, as a pizza, or just plain

    EN-SpeltBread-04-Enjoy-01-2015-0822

    Come over to Facebook www.facebook.com/experience.nutrition.now and post your photos or ask questions.

  • Experience Nutrition: A New Yoga Journey, Beginning with the Tree in Sedona

    By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition Group, LLC. Nutrition and food expert, author and speaker. Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, Holistic Nutrition and Whole Food Cooking Instructor at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts.

    It’s important for all of us to reflect on where we’ve been and to celebrate our personal and business accomplishments. It’s also important to strategically plan and take action for our future.

    Most importantly, it’s vital for us to take time to live in the moment, to stand tall like a tree and to enjoy life.

    For the last 12 years, my yoga practice, beginning in Santa Fe and Florida, and continuing for a decade in Phoenix, has given me the place and space to be still in my mind and to live in the moment.

    I’m excited to share that I am now taking my yoga to a different place with a new yoga journey this summer. Beginning on June 8, 2015, I’ll become the student in the Yoga Teacher Training, YTT, 200 hour program for 4 full months at the Spirit of Yoga studio of the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts.

    As I begin my Yoga Teacher Training journey, I resonate with the tall tree, with deep roots, reaching high, and swaying with flexibility.

    This was evident a few weeks ago when I participated in a retreat in Sedona, where I guided an intuitive cooking experience with farmers’ market fresh whole foods, and the retreat guests created a beautiful, amazing, tasty meal. After we mindfully enjoyed our meal, we all traveled to the beautiful and powerful Cathedral Rock for a photo shoot and to enjoy nature. Immediately I went into Tree Pose within the trees at alongside Oak Creek at Cathedral Rock.

    “This is my time to be, to get rooted down, to lift up into the sky, and to enjoy and embrace the moment.” – Melanie Albert

    Melanie Albert: Tree Pose in Sedona, Arizona
    Melanie Albert: Tree Pose in Sedona, Arizona  PHOTO CREDIT: Melissa Corter Photography

  • Experience Nutrition: Organic Chia Seed Pudding

    By Melanie Albert, Nutrition & Wellness Expert, Author, Speaker, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition, Instructor Holistic Nutrition Conscious Eating and Whole Food S.O.U.L. Food at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts.

    Chia seeds are the rage today! But some of us remember when they were the green hair that grew on our Chia Pets when we were kids. Who knew that decades later we’d be eating them!

    Chia seeds come from a flowering plant in the mint family that’s native to Mexico and Guatemala, and history suggests it was a very important food crop for the Aztecs.

    Top 5 Benefits of Chia Seeds
    • Good fats. Chia seeds, like hemp seeds and flax seeds are a great ALA omega-3 healthy-fat rich seed, which is important for brain health and reduction of inflammation in the body.
    • High in protein. Great source of protein for vegetarians and vegans
    • Stabilize blood sugar. Important for diabetics
    • Improve heart health. According to the Cleveland Clinic, chia seeds have been shown to improve blood pressure in diabetics, and may also increase healthy cholesterol, whil lowering total, bad LDL and triglyceride cholesterol
    • Good source of calcium. 18% or the recommended daily intake for calcium.

    EXPERIENCE NUTRITION TM Organic Chia Pudding Recipe

    EXPERIENCE NUTRITION Organic Chia Seed Pudding
    EXPERIENCE NUTRITION Organic Chia Seed Pudding

    Ingredients
    • 1/3 cup chia seeds
    • 1 cup soy milk (or coconut water)
    • 2 chopped bananas
    • 1 tsp vanilla
    • 1-2 Medjool dates, if you desire more sweetness
    • Berries, nuts and seeds for toppings

    Simple Steps
    • Mix chia seeds, vanilla and dates into the soy milk or coconut water
    • Fold in the bananas
    • Refrigerate for at least 4 hours (or overnight)
    • Enjoy for breakfast, snack, or dessert with your favorite berries, nuts and seeds

    Share your Chia Pudding creations on our Facebook page:  www.facebook.com/experience.nutrition.now

  • Experience Nutrition: Inspired by Alice Waters & The Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley, California

    By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition. Nutrition and food expert, author and speaker. Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, Holistic Nutrition and Whole Food Cooking Instructor at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts.

    This week during our Whole Food S.O.U.L. (Seasonal Organic Unprocessed Local) Cooking Class at the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts in Tempe, Arizona, I shared one of my favorite quotes which is totally in-sync with way I cook and teach intuitive cooking with real whole foods.

    Enjoy the quote from Alice Waters, organic food activist and writer and founder of the Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley, California, which is the model of edible education for youth gardening and cooking programs across the USA. Click here to learn more about The Edible Schoolyard Project.

    Inspired by Alice Waters
    Inspired by Alice Waters

    I am also very inspired by Alice Waters overall philosophy, which is showcased at The Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley.

    Alice Waters Philosophies
    Alice Waters Philosophies

    Last year I had the wonderful opportunity to spend a few months in Berkeley and enjoyed peaceful quiet time at the Edible Schoolyard at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School.

    If you have ever visited the Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley, or in other cities across the country, we invite you to post photos on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/experience.nutrition.now

    Edible Schoolyard Berkeley
    Edible Schoolyard Berkeley

    Enjoy Food & Life!

  • Experience Nutrition: 9 Ways 9 Days: Make Your Own Organic Almond Milk Blueberry Smoothie

    By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition. Nutrition and food expert, author and speaker. Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, Holistic Nutrition and Whole Food Cooking Instructor at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts

    So many people are now enjoying smoothies made with nut milks. You can make your own fresh organic nut milk with raw almonds, walnuts, cashews, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds or your own favorite nuts & seeds.

    Simple Steps to Make Your Own Nut Milk
    It is simple to make your own nut milks which are quick and easy to prepare, and only have a few ingredients. Pre-soak the nuts & seeds if you prefer smoother nut milk. It is not necessary to pre-soak the nuts and seeds.

    Experience Nutrition: 9 Ways 90 Days: Make Your Own Organic Almond Milk Blueberry Smoothie
    Experience Nutrition: 9 Ways 90 Days: Make Your Own Organic Almond Milk Blueberry Smoothie

    Nut Milk Ingredients

    • Handful of raw organic nuts &/or seeds
    • 1-1.5 cups coconut water
    • 1 Medjool date
    • Splash of vanilla
    • Fresh nutmeg & cinnamon

    Smoothie Ingredients

    • Handful of frozen blueberries
    • Frozen banana

    Simple Steps: Nut Milk

    • Put nut milk ingredients (except nutmeg and cinnamon) in high-speed blender
    • Blend, starting at low and increasing to high speed
    • Blend for about 2 minutes
    • Taste, add an additional date if you prefer a sweeter nut milk
    • Enjoy with fresh ground nutmeg or use the nut milk in your smoothie

    Simple Steps: Blueberry Smoothie

    • Pour nut milk into blender
    • Add frozen blueberries and bananas to blender
    • Blend for about 2 minutes
    • Enjoy!

    Share your nut milk and smoothie photos with us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/9Ways90Days

  • Experience Nutrition: 9 Ways 90 Days: Top 10 Super Bowl Healthy Recipes 10 Have Fun!

    by Melanie Albert, Nutrition & food expert, author, speaker; Integrative Nutrition Health Coach; Holistic Nutrition & Whole Food Cooking Instructor Southwest Institute of Healing Arts; Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition

    Our final #10 healthy recipe to enjoy Super Bowl 49 with the New England Patriots vs the Seattle Seahawks, is to HAVE FUN!

    Enjoy the game, have fun with your friend and family, and enjoy some great (healthy) food!

    Experience Nutrition: 9 Ways 90 Days: Top 10 Super Bowl Healthy Recipes 10 HAVE FUN!
    Experience Nutrition: 9 Ways 90 Days: Top 10 Super Bowl Healthy Recipes 10 HAVE FUN!

    Our Experience Nutrition; 9 Ways  90 Days; Top 10 Super Bowl Healthy Recipes

    1. Avocado Salsa

    2. Organic Hummus

    3. Raw Kale Salad

    4. Grilled Wild Alaskan Salmon

    5. Hemp Seed Tabouli

    6. Kale Chips

    7. Vegan Chocolate Pudding

    8. Hemp Seed Energy Balls

    9. Organic Trail Mix

    10. Have Fun!

    Share your Super Bowl 49 Party photos with us at www.facebook.com/9Ways90Days The top 10 healthy recipe photos will receive e-book, “Enjoy Food & Life,” featuring nutrition tips and recipes by former NFL players and their familiies.

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

    by Melanie Albert, Nutrition & Food Expert, Author and Speaker, Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, Holistic Nutrition & Whole Food Cooking Instructor Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition

    Create your own Trail Mix full of nuts, seeds, dried fruit & berries. A perfect snack for Super Bowl day.

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

    We first started creating organic trail mix for the Super Bowl XLIII VIP Tailgate Party at the Super Bowl in Tampa.

    Over the years we’ve been honored to serve custom trail mix at numerous Super Bowl events & golf tournaments with NFL Alumni & NFL Hall of Fame Players.

    For custom trail mix for your events or golf tournaments, contact us, EN@9Ways90Days.com

  • Experience Nutrition: 9 Ways 90 Days: Top 10 Super Bowl Healthy Recipes: 8: Hemp Seed Energy Balls

    Try this simple, quick snack for an energy boost, full of protein and omega-3 rich nuts. Enjoy these during your Super Bowl party!
    Experience Nutrition: 9 Ways 90 Days: Top 10 Super Bowl Healthy Recipes: 8 Hemp Seed Energy Balls
    Experience Nutrition: 9 Ways 90 Days: Top 10 Super Bowl Healthy Recipes: 8 Hemp Seed Energy Balls

    Ingredients

    • 1 cup fresh or soaked dried organic Medjool dates
    • 1/2 cup almonds
    • ½ cup hemp seeds
    • 1/8 cup chia seeds
    • 3 TBS cocao powder

    Simple Steps

    • Take seeds out of dates
    • Place dates, hemp seeds, almonds and chia seeds in high speed blender
    • Mix on high for about a minute until the mixture becomes soft and warm
    • Roll the mixture into small balls
    • Roll the balls into hemp seeds
    • Roll a few of the balls into cocao powder and hand mix it into the balls

    Enjoy!

    Share your Hemp Seed Energy Balls on our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/9Ways90Days Top 10 photos this weekend will win a free e-book, “Enjoy Food & Life,” featuring nutrition tips and recipes by former NFL players.

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

    by Melanie Albert, Nutrition & food expert, author & speaker, Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, Holistic Nutrition and Whole Food Cooking Instructor Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition

    Surprise your family and friends with this super delicious dessert for your Super Bowl Party. This recipe may sound a little odd, but just try it. Everyone I know who has tasted this, even at some of my cooking classes, loves it.

    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: 7 Vegan Avocado Chocolate Pudding

    Ingredients
    • 1 ripe good-fat avocado
    • 4 Medjool dates
    – Energy for athletes
    – Great for sugar cravings
    – Full of fiber
    – Sweet, soft, rich, caramel taste
    • 1/2 tsp vanilla
    • 2 TBS cocao powder
    • ½ cup water

    Simple Steps
    • Blend on high
    • Refrigerate for a few hours
    • Enjoy

  • Experience Nutrition: 9 Ways 90 Days: Top 10 Super Bowl Healthy Recipes: 6 Kale Chips

    by Melanie Albert, Nutrition & Food Expert, Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, Holistic Nutrition & Whole Food Cooking Instructor Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition.
    Experience Nutrition: 9 Ways 90 Days: Top 10 Super Bowl Healthy Recipes: 6 Organic Kale Chips
    Experience Nutrition: 9 Ways 90 Days: Top 10 Super Bowl Healthy Recipes: 6 Organic Kale Chips

    Make your own simple, tasty kale chips in just a few minutes. Enjoy!

    Ingredients

    • 1-2 bunches of organic kale
    • 3-4 TBSP organic extra virgin olive oil
    • Sea salt

    Simple Steps

    • Pre-heat oven at 350 degrees
    • Wash and dry kale
    • Tear out the stems
    • Massage with olive oil
    • Drizzle sea salt
    • Spread thinly on baking sheet
    • Bake, checking every 5 minutes
    • Ready in about 15 minutes

    Enjoy!

    Share your Kale Chip photos on our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/9Ways90Days Top 10 photos this weekend will win a free e-book, “Enjoy Food & Life,” featuring nutrition tips and recipes by former NFL players and their wives.

  • Experience Nutrition: 9 Ways 90 Days: Top 10 Super Bowl Healthy Recipes: 5 Hemp Seed Tabouli

    by Melanie Albert, Nutrition & Food Expert, Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, Holistic Nutrition & Whole Food Cooking Instructor Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition.

    Gluten-free tabouli. For those of us who are sensitive to gluten or have Celiac disease, hemp seeds are a great alternative to the typical bulgur wheat in tabouli.

    Experience Nutrition: 9 Ways 90 Days: Top 10 Super Bowl Healthy Recipes: 5: Hemp Seed Tabouli
    Experience Nutrition: 9 Ways 90 Days: Top 10 Super Bowl Healthy Recipes: 5: Hemp Seed Tabouli

    Ingredients
    2 bunches of parsley
    ¼ cup fresh mint
    ½ cup hemp seeds
    1 large tomato, diced
    ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
    2 TBSP organic extra virgin olive oil
    2 TBSP onions, chopped
    1 tsp sea salt
    Simple Steps
    Place parsley and mint in food processor and pulse several times until well chopped
    Transfer to a mixing bowl and add the hemp seeds, tomato, lemon juice, olive oil, onion, and salt
    Toss and serve
    Enjoy!

    Post your Hemp Seed Tabouli recipes on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/9Ways90Days Top 10 photos will win free e-book, “Enjoy Food & Life,” featuring nutrition tips and recipes by former NFL players.

  • Experience Nutrition: 9 Ways 90 Days: Top 10 Super Bowl Healthy Recipes: 4 Wild Salmon on the Grill

    by Melanie Albert, Nutrition & Food Expert, Author, Speaker; Integrative Nutrition Health Coach; Instructor Holistic Nutrition & Whole Food Cooking, Southwest Institute of Healing Arts

    Our 4th healthy Super Bowl Recipe is wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon on the grill. Full of the good-fat, omega-3 fatty acids, we served this at several Super Bowl XLV weekend events in Dallas with the NFL Alumni Association. This salmon is so delicious, it will melt in your mouth.

    Experience Nutrition: 9 Ways 90 Days: 4 Grilled Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon
    Experience Nutrition: 9 Ways 90 Days: 4 Grilled Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon

    Ingredients
    • 4 Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon filets (4-6 ounces per person)
    • 1/4 cup organic extra virgin olive oil
    • 3 tablespoons salmon marinade, made with garlic granules, onion granules, dried dill, lemon peel, fennel, black pepper and sea salt

    For the best salmon (after Super Bowl Week), try the salmon from our friends at Vital Choice Seafood.

    Simple Steps
    1. Defrost salmon filets in refrigerator for a few hours or under cold running water
    2. Make salmon marinate by mixing olive oil and salmon marinade
    3. Pre-heat grill on medium high for 15 minutes before you are ready to grill your salmon
    4. Place filets on grill
    5. Cook each side about 5 minutes
    6. Take off grill right before salmon is completely cooked, as it will continue to cook when taken off grill
    7. Let salmon sit for about 5 minutes
    8. Enjoy with steamed veggies or a raw kale salad, with a whole grain, such as quinoa

    Post photos of your grilled salmon on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/9Ways90Days. Top 10 photos will win a free e-book, “Enjoy Food & Life,”featuring nutrition tips and recipes by former NFL players and their wives.

  • 9 Ways 90 Days Recipe: Raw Dehydrated Flax Seed & Almond Crackers

    by Melanie Albert, Nutrition & Food Expert, Author, Speaker, Integrative Nutrition Health Coach

    I’ve been enrolled in a Professional Plant-based Culinary Certification Course with Rouxbe. This week, one of my creations was Raw Crackers which are so incredibly tasty and beautiful that I’m sharing the recipe, and step-by-step raw food process with you. Once you make these crackers, I have a feeling that you’ll never want to eat processed crackers again. Enjoy!

    Raw Dehydrated Organic Flax Seed & Almond Crackers
    Raw Dehydrated Organic Flax Seed & Almond Crackers

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    Simple Ingredients MIse en Place
    Simple Ingredients MIse en Place
    • ¾ cup golden flax seeds, ground, then soaked in 1.5 cups of water
    • ¾ cup raw almonds, soaked for 2 to 3 hours, until soft, drained
    • 1 ¼ cup yellow bell pepper
    • 2-3 green onions, chopped
    • ¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked and drained (use my own dehydrated Roma tomatoes)
    • 1 ½ TBSP onion granules
    • 1 tsp sea salt
    • SIMPLE STEPS: Make the Batter
    • Blend flax seeds and almonds in food processor until smooth
    • Blend all remaining ingredients (separate from flax seeds and almonds) in food processor until smooth
    • Add the vegetable ingredients to the flax seed/almond mixture, and fold to thoroughly combine

    Fold Batter Spread onto Parchment Paper

    SIMPLE STEPS: Dehydrate the Crackers

    • Set dehydrator at 115 degrees (I use an Excalibur, which I love!)
    • Evenly spread mixture, less than ¼ inch thick, on a non-stick dehydrator sheet (or parchment paper)
    • Dry in dehydrator for 2 to 3 hours, then score into crackers
    • Dry for another 2 to 3 hours, then flip crackers onto dehydrator trays (without the parchment paper or non-stick dehydrator sheet)
    • Dry for an additional 6 hours or until crisp
    • Remove from trays and store in sealed container
    • Enjoy your home-made raw crackers
    Into the Dehydrator Score & Dehydrate
    Into the Dehydrator Score & Dehydrate

    Action
    Make your own Raw Crackers and share your creations with us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/9Ways90Days

  • 9 Ways 90 Days: Favorite Food Quotes: Alice Waters

    Love this quote from author, restauranteer, and activist Alice Waters, who has been a “healthy food” leader and innovator for decades. Her perpective captures the concept of Intutive Eating & Cooking…
    9 Ways 90 Days Favorite Food Quote
    9 Ways 90 Days Favorite Food Quote

    Enjoy your Intuitive shopping, cooking and mindful eating today!

    Click here to learn more about how to intuitively shop, cook & eat to reach your 2015 Goals.

  • A New Way to Reach your 2015 New Year Eating & Weight Goals with Intuitive Eating

    Top 4 Tips to Eat & Cook Intuitively to Reach Your 2015 New Year Eating & Weight Goals

    by Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition

    Every year half of Americans make New Year Resolutions, with weight loss at the top of the list. This year in 2015, rather than going on a diet, eat and cook intuitively to naturally achieve your weight loss goals.

    Intuitive Cooking Experience
    Intuitive Cooking Experience: Shop at a Farmers Market

    1. Shop at a farmers’ market and eat with the season. Eat based on what our Arizona farmers are growing. When you shop, use your intuition. Choose foods based on their beauty, colors and textures. You’ll be shopping mindfully, eating fresher food, and supporting our local farmers and economy.

    2. Listen to your Body. Pay attention to when your body is hungry and when it’s full. Before you eat, pause and notice whether you’re feeling physical hunger, or eating based on emotions such as boredom, eating because it’s a certain time of day, or eating to be social. On the other side, pay attention to your body while eating and stop eating when you’re satisfied. Don’t wait until you’re stuffed to stop eating.

    3. Cook Intuitively. Learn a few basic healthy recipes and cooking techniques (such as roasted, stir-fried, or steamed veggies) to enjoy preparing your meals. In the winter you may roast warming root vegetables with quinoa; and in the summer you may prefer refreshing steamed veggies and a salad.

    4. Eat Mindfully. Take time to really enjoy eating. Plate your food beautifully. Notice the aromas, textures and colors of your meal. Sit at your dining room table to eat. Slow down and really taste the food you are eating.

    Take Action Share your Intuitive Eating & Cooking photos with us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/9Ways90Days

  • 9 Ways 90 Days Quote: Eat real whole foods…

    Eat Real Whole Foods
    Eat Real Whole Foods

  • 9 Ways 90 Days Recipe: Raw Veggie Pasta with Cashew Basil Pesto

    By Melanie Albert, Nutrition & Food Expert, Author and Speaker, Certified Health Coach

    WOW! If you’ve been afraid of the “raw way of eating”, try this simple, beautiful, colorful, fun-to-prepare side dish. Enjoy fresh, local organic veggies with a creamy nutty pesto.

    9 Ways 90 Days Veggie Pasta with Cashew Basil Pesto

    Ingredients: Veggies
    • 2-3 golden beets
    • 2-3 carrots
    • 2-3 zucchini
    • 1 sweet potato

    Ingredients: Cashew Basil Pesto
    • ½ cup fresh basil leaves
    • 4 oz raw cashews, soaked
    • 1/8 cup fresh lemon juice
    • 1 tbsp garlic, minced
    • 1/4 tsp sea salt
    • ½ cup organic extra virgin olive oil

    Simple Steps
    • Cut the veggies with a spiral slicer or mandolin.
    • Place all ingredients for the cashew basil pesto, except olive oil in the food processor.
    • Puree.
    • Add the olive oil until smooth.
    • Toss the veggies with about ½ cup of the pesto and serve.
    • Enjoy the taste, the textures and the colors!

    SHARE
    Come on over to our Facebook page, and post your raw veggie pasta creations: www.facebook.com/9Ways90Days

  • 9 Ways 90 Days Recipe: Organic Collard Greens with Reed Avocados & Lemon Cucumbers

    By Melanie Albert, Nutrition & Food Expert, Author and Speaker, Certified Health Coach

    Kale is the rage with raw salads, kale chips and smoothies. But, what about collard greens? I’m taking a Professional Plant-based Culinary Certification Course with Rouxbe, where we experimented with different ways to prepare kale. As an option, I decided to use some of the same techniques with collard greens.

    On top of that, Reed avocados were available at Whole Foods Market this week, so I decided to try one. About 90% of the avocados are grown in California and about 90% of those are Hass avocados. The Reed avocado variety generally grows later in the season, are larger and rounder than Hass avocados, have a thick skin, and contain more monounsaturated fat and thus are creamier than Hass avocados.

    Scroll down for the 9 Ways 90 Days Recipe: Organic Collard Greens with Reed Avocados & Lemon Cucumbers

    9 Ways 90 Days Recipe: Organic Collard Greens, Reed Avocados & Lemon Cucumbers
    9 Ways 90 Days Recipe: Organic Collard Greens, Reed Avocados & Lemon Cucumbers

    Organic Collard Greens with Reed Avocados & Lemon Cucumbers Recipe
    This recipe was inspired by the lemon cucumbers from this week’s farmers market in Ahwatukee Arizona, the Reed avocado and collard greens.

    Ingredients
    • 3-4 large collard greens leaves, chopped
    • 1 Reed avocado
    • 1 lemon cucumber
    • 4 small heirloom tomatoes
    • ½ red pepper
    • 3-4 green onions
    • 1 TBSP fresh lemon juice
    • 1 garlic clove, finely minced
    • Fresh lemon basil, to taste
    • Fresh lemon thyme, to taste
    • Sea salt

    Simple Steps
    • Chop all the vegetables
    • Squeeze the avocado into a bowl
    • Add collard greens, lemon juice and sea salt to the avocado
    • Massage the collard greens for about 3 minutes
    • Add the fresh garlic, lemon cucumber, red pepper, green onions and gently toss
    • Add the fresh lemon basil and lemon thyme and gently toss
    • Enjoy this delicious & refreshing salad

    Come on over to our Facebook page, and post your avocado & collard greens creations: www.facebook.com/9Ways90Days