Experience Nutrition

Tag: food blogger

  • A New View of Healthy Eating by Melanie Albert: Celebrating National Farmers’ Market Week!

    A New View of Healthy Eating by Melanie Albert: Celebrating National Farmers’ Market Week!

    by Melanie Albert, Intuitive Cooking Expert, Award-winning Author of  cookbook, “A New View of Healthy Eating:  Simple Intuitive Eating with Real Whole Foods”, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC, in Phoenix, Arizona

    Get inspired at your local farmers market.

    It’s National Farmers Market Week in the USA, and today, as almost always on Saturday, I visited one of my favorite farmers’ markets, the Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market. This market opened in 2005, just after I moved back to Phoenix and I have to say I’m so glad it did.

    A-phxmkt-IMG_5740

    A few reasons why I love this farmers’ market:

    • Organic Farmers. Three local organic certified small farmers sell their produce at this market. For me, this is key, as I focus on eating organic (no pesticides and no herbicides) and I personally know the farmers and have visited their farms around our Valley of the Sun.
    Hydrate All Day. Every Day.
    • Community. There’s such a sense of friendly community with the vendors and people who visit the market. People who attend the market are true friends with the farmers and are happy to catchup on life and food. Plus, it’s fun to see how much people who attend the market have so much fun meeting other like-minded people at the market. Personal note, today, I met 3 people who work with American Airlines, a pilot and two flight attendants, which was interesting as my Mom was an Airline Stewardess in the 1950’s with American. Small world.

    IMG_6341

    • Fun. Going to the farmers’ market is fun. A great place to be on Saturday morning. Once a month, I teach the Taste of the Market Cooking Demo, where I shop the market and then show our Phoenix community how to intuitively prepare fresh, healthy dishes. Plus, the market offers demos including gardening, composting, and today they hosted a Watermelon Eating Contest.

    For my Arizona friends, I’ll be leading the Taste of the Market on August 25, 2018, 10am. Hope to see you!

     

    Interested in learning simple culinary skills and intuitive cooking, purchase my cookbook, “A New View of Healthy Eating:  Simple Intuitive Cooking with Real Whole Foods.” I’ll gift wrap and mail a copy to you.

    A-IMG_5209

    Join my Simple Daily Plant-Based Eating Tips FB Group and get daily food and cooking tips.

    Interested in a cooking workshop, team building or corporate wellness event, would love to chat…

     

     

     

     

  • A New View of Healthy Eating: How to Get Unplugged by Melanie Albert, former Type A Marketing Professional and 23-year Successful Entrepreneur

    A New View of Healthy Eating: How to Get Unplugged by Melanie Albert, former Type A Marketing Professional and 23-year Successful Entrepreneur

    by Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, award-winning author, speaker, retreat host, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

    A week ago I was enjoying the Grand Canyon and Sedona, Arizona. When I returned home to Phoenix after my brief get-away, I had a huge ah-ha. As a former Type A Marketing Professional and now 23-year successful Entrepreneur, I learned first-hand how valuable it is to “Unplug.”

    Thanks. Before I share my insights, I want to take a moment to thank my friend, Cassie Hepler, founder of the travel and lifestyle blog, www.ExplorewithCassie.com for inviting me to be her “plus-one” on her media trip with Grand Canyon Adventures www.DoTheCanyon.com

    WP-111-explorewithcassie-1A-IMG_2763

    Thanks Grand Canyon Adventures for the enjoyable, memorable day at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

    Profound Mini-Trip. Little did I know that when Cassie invited me several weeks ago how profound this mini-trip would be for me.

    Anyway, I’m usually sharing my behind the scenes with cooking and intuitive cooking creations, but I decided to share with you the behind the scenes with my “Unplugged” adventure.

    It All Works Out. Several days prior to the trip to the Grand Canyon, I realized that I had doubled booked myself the night before our scheduled road trip to the canyon. I was booked with coaching clients at the same time we were planning on driving to Flagstaff the night before the Canyon Tour. I was concerned that I would not have reliable internet or phone service for my clients. My friend, Cassie, kept telling me it would work out. I trusted.

    And, of course, it worked out. I changed my plans; stayed in Phoenix to do 6 hours of coaching until 10:30pm that night.

    I packed my food magazines, documents to work on with my business expansion, journal, planner, and some snacks: home-made raw trail mix, local apples, and grapes. I got up at 3:30am, after sleeping for 4 hours and drove to Flagstaff.

    Thanks to Grand Canyon Adventures. Happily, at 7:30am the friendly folks at Grand Canyon Adventures greeted me with a smile.

    I had just begun my “unplugged” adventure.

    Grand Canon Adventures drove us to the Grand Canyon, with history lessons, geological lessons, and expansive beauty through 5 different eco-systems.

    B-IMG_2787

    7 Wonder of the World. It has been decades since I visited the Grand Canyon. When I saw my first glimpse of the Grand Canyon, I was in awe. I paused.  The beauty. The magnificence. The magic. The power. Here I was with one of the 7 Wonders of the World!

    A-IMG_2957

    Grand Canyon with a Little Yoga. During our full-day tour with 4 different stops at the canyon, all I wanted was to soak in all the beauty of the canyon. At each stop along the canyon, I paused and practiced some yoga and enjoyed “my” tree pose everywhere. Thanks, Cassie for the beautiful photos.

    A-IMG_2839c

    A-IMG_2858c

    A-IMG_2916c

    Pause at the Canyon. I even found a beautiful quiet spot to reflect. Enjoy the Grand Canyon video.

     

     

    Cassie with the Grand Canyon. And, Cassie enjoyed her hiking and being grounded with our Earth.

    A-cassie-IMG_2843

    More Self-Care. For the last 3 miles of our day at the Canyon, Cassie and I quietly walked the South Rim capturing photos of us enjoying even more self-care with the beauty of the Grand Canyon. One final tree pose.

    AA-Mel-favorite-IMG_2962.JPG

    Thanks, Root Public House. When we arrived back in Flagstaff, we found a great place to eat, Root Public House, with a lovely outdoor patio breeze. I enjoyed a tasty creamy pea vegan risotto, made especially for me. And, I was feeling as though I was on vacation for days.

    B-risotto-IMG_E2979

    Sedona Airport Sunset. After dinner, Cassie headed back to Phoenix. I drove south to Sedona, where I just caught the end of the sunset at the Airport Vortex.

    A-IMG_2987

    My Favorite Place in the World. The next day, I spent the whole day at Oak Creek Crossing, at the base of Cathedral Rock, one of my very favorite places in the world.

    A video peek…

     

     

    A-IMG_3028

    I hiked, walked in Oak Creek, sat, listened to water, listened to birds. That was it.

    A-IMG_3146

     

    A-IMG_3084

    Pause and enjoy Oak Creek.

     

     

     

     

    Unplugged. Being “unplugged” was sinking in. I had no desire to look at the food magazines. No desire to “work” on my business. Only a little bit of journaling. This was huge for me.

    I was “Unplugged” from electronics and importantly “Unplugged” from working. I was away from business strategy and responsibilities, writing blogs, cooking, creating recipes, teaching classes, and hosting events.

    After a full day of being unplugged, I drove home to Phoenix.

    Unplug Ah-Ha. I know this may sound obvious. What I realized was that I (we) need time to really unplug from the phones, computer, work, magazines. Yes, we can do this with yoga or meditation. For me, it was extra special and powerful to unplug in the beauty of my beloved Arizona.

    For my few days at the Grand Canyon and Sedona I found that after being totally unplugged, I came back with even more creativity, energy, and passion.

    A-Mel_sedona-July-18-IMG_3180.JPG

    Unplug in Arizona Retreats. I really do believe that it’s incredibly important for our own life and joy to “unplug.” I’ve been planning Cooking and Self-Care Retreats in Sedona for 2019. My time at the Grand Canyon and Sedona made me realize how valuable these retreats will be for our guests to get away and “Unplug.”

    With the insights from my personal “Unplugged” experience, I have now added a Grand Canyon Adventure to the retreats, along with the Phoenix Urban Farm Cooking Experience and the intuitive cooking, hiking, yoga, and extreme self-care in Sedona.

    If you are interested in attending Unplug in Arizona Cooking & Self-Care Retreats or interested in creating a custom retreat for your organization, please let me know and I’ll keep in touch. Warmly, Melanie

     

     

    Interested in my book, “A New View of Healthy Eating:  Simple Intuitive Cooking with Real Whole Foods,” I’m happy to autograph and gift-wrap and ship to you.

    A-IMG_2888

  • A New View of Healthy Eating: Daily Healthy Recipes by Melanie Albert: Raw Turmeric Crackers

    by Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, speaker, retreat host, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

    Recently, I had the great opportunity to purchase beautiful fresh organic Hawaiian turmeric root from McClendon Select at the Wednesday morning Uptown Farmers’ Market in Phoenix, Arizona. I love the fresh green taste and aroma of the turmeric, plus, its anti-inflammatory health benefits. 

    I had quite a bit of turmeric, so I decided to experiment with the turmeric in a raw dehydrated cracker. And, I’m so glad I did. While dehydrating, the aromatherapy of the crackers was warming and refreshing, perfect for a rainy Arizona evening.  And, oh my, the crackers are so vibrant tasting, easy to prepare, and I’m excited to make raw crackers more often.

    First, I’ll share the step-by-step process to dehydrate raw crackers in my book, “A New View of Healthy Eating” and then the intuitive cracker recipe I created with the fresh turmeric root.

    Excerpt from “A New View of Healthy Eating”: Dehydrated Raw Flaxseed Crackers

    Flax seeds, chia seeds, and buckwheat groats are perfect for a flatbread batter because they form a natural mucilaginous gel when combined with water. Once dried, it’s a great binder for crackers, flatbread, and raw tortillas or wraps.

    5 Ingredients for Dehydrated Flatbread or Crackers

    The basic ingredients to create the base for dehydrated flatbread or crisp crackers are very simple. Have fun using your intuition to create your own versions of crackers with this raw dehydrating process.

    1. Soaked flax seeds, chia seeds, or buckwheat groats
    2. Fresh vegetables (peppers, tomatoes, beets, carrots) or fruit (apples, pears)
    3. Nuts or seeds (almonds, cashews, pecans, sunflower seeds)
    4. Herbs and spices (basil, oregano, ginger, turmeric)
    5. Dehydrator: to dry for 8-12 hours

    Sweet Pepper Almond Flax Crisp

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    • 1/2 cup golden flax seeds, ground, then soaked in 1 ½ cups water
    • ¾ cup raw almonds, soaked in water for 2-3 hours, drained
    • 1 ¼ cup yellow bell pepper, minced
    • 1 shallot, minced
    • ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked and drained
    • 1 ½ tsp chili powder
    • 1 ½ tsp onion granules
    • 1 tsp sea salt

    SIMPLE STEPS

    1. Gather mise en place.

    2. Blend ingredients.

    • Add soaked flax meal (ground flaxseeds and water) and almonds to food processor and blend until smooth.
    • Remove and place in mixing bowl.
    • Blend yellow pepper, shallot, and sun-dried tomatoes with a touch of water.
    • Add chili powder, onion granules, and sea salt to food processor with the pepper, shallot, and sun-dried tomatoes until smooth.
    • Add vegetable mixture to the bowl with flax meal and almonds and fold together until thoroughly combined.

    3. Dehydrate.

    • Set dehydrator at 115 degrees F.
    • Spoon mixture onto dehydrator tray. Spread mixture evenly to ¼-inch thickness on non-stick dehydrator sheets with an off-set spatula.
    • Dehydrate 1-2 hours. Once partially dried, score batter to desired size and shape.
    • Dehydrate an additional 1-3 hours. Flip the crackers off the non-stick dehydrator sheets and onto the dehydrator screens so that the crackers dry properly.
    • Dehydrate an additional 1-2 hours or until crackers are crisp.
    • Dehydrating time depends on how thick the paste is to begin and how crisp you want the crackers.

    4. Options.

    • Soft taco shells: Once flipped onto the dehydrator screen, dehydrate for 1-2 hours or until batter is not wet and is pliable.
    • If crisps dry too much, sprinkle water to restore pliability.
    • Enjoy as a cracker snack, dip in hummus, or top with a pâté.

     F-01-Turmeric-IMG_5489

    Intuitive Raw Turmeric Crackers

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    • 3/4 cup raw almonds, soaked 8-10 hours
    • ½ cup golden and brown flaxseeds, ground
    • 1 orange bell pepper, diced
    • ¼ cup dehydrated tomatoes, soaked 30 minutes
    • 2-3 tbsp soaking water from dehydrated tomatoes
    • 1 shallot, minced
    • Pinch sea salt
    • 1” fresh turmeric root, minced

    A-03-RawCracker-miuse-IMG_5256

    SIMPLE STEPS

    • Soak almonds 8-10 hours in room temperature water.
    • Grind flaxseeds in blender.
    • Soak ground flaxseeds with ½ cup room temperature water for 30 minutes.
    • Process almonds and flaxseed mixture in food processor until combined. Pour mixture into bowl.
    • In food processor, process pepper, shallot, and dehydrated tomatoes, sea salt, and a few tablespoons of the tomato soaking water until smooth.
    • Fold in liquid mixture (pepper, shallot, dehydrated tomatoes) to the almond flaxseed mixture.
    • Fold in turmeric root.
    • Spread batter about ¼” thick with off-set spatula on dehydrator sheet.
    • Dehydrate at 115 degrees Fahrenheit for 1-2 hours.
    • Score to your desired shape.
    • Dehydrate another 1-2 hours. Flip crackers to mesh dehydrator sheet.
    • Dehydrate 2-4 additional hours to your desired crispness.
    • Enjoy!

    D-01-crackers-IMG_5378

    As always, I invite you to share your raw cracker creations with us on Facebook, www.facebook.com/NewViewHealthyEating.

    And, if you’re interested in learning additional culinary techniques as a foundation for intuitive cooking, I’m happy to mail a copy of my book, “A New View of Healthy Eating” to you.