Experience Nutrition

Tag: Intuitive Cooking

  • A New View of Healthy Eating: Philosophies: Part 2: Shop Local, In Season, With Intuition

    by Melanie Albert, Food & nutrition author and speaker, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC, Phoenix, AZ

    A New View of Healthy Eating begins with the food we choose to eat, and extends to our shopping, cooking and eating experiences.

    The key philosophies are:

    • Eat real whole foods
    • Shop local and in season
    • Enjoy intuitive shopping
    • Cook with intuition
    • Eat mindfully
    • Enjoy life

    In this blog we are focusing on shopping, where and how to shop for real whole foods.

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    Shop local and in season. When we eat food that is grown by local farmers, community gardens or our home gardens, our food is fresher and more nutritious since it is more recently harvested has not traveled thousands of miles and many days to arrive at a grocery store and our table. When we eat food that is in season, we eat food that our bodies naturally need at that particular time of the year or location around the world. We also support our local farmers and local economy. And, we have the opportunity to experiment with new foods that we may not be familiar with.

    “I love to the opportunity to try new-to-me foods, especially when I shop at farmers markets. Sometimes I do not recognize a plant food, but I buy it anyway and experiment with it in my kitchen or classes.” Melanie Albert

    Enjoy Intuitive Shopping. Enjoy the Process of Intuitive Shopping. When we shop for our food, it’s important to first pause and listen to our body. What are we craving right now? When shopping, shop mindfully and pay attention to the foods, colors, textures, and even aromas we are intuitively drawn to. Sometimes we might be drawn to lots of greens, other times it may be citrus or tomatoes. This is especially fun when we shop at different farmers markets and notice our choices in food during different times of the year.

    “Intuitive shopping is fun. Listen to your cravings and shop with your senses.” Melanie Albert

    This week, visit a farmers’ market and shop with your intuition. Come over to our new page on Facebook, and share photos of your shopping experience: www.facebook.com/NewViewHealthyEating

    For daily motivation check out our new: “A New View of Healthy Eating, 55-Card Deck.” Available NOW www.EXPNutrition.com

  • A New View of Healthy Eating: A 55-Card Deck

    By Melanie Albert, Nutrition & Food Author & Speaker, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC, Phoenix, Arizona

    I’m very excited to announce the launch of my very first card deck, “A New View of Healthy Eating” A 55-Card Deck, as a companion to my Spring 2016 book. As some of you are aware I have been a little quiet during this Thanksgiving holiday to intently focus on creating this deck.

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    A New View of Healthy Eating Card Deck  Layout Ready to Print

    Order Today, November 29, 2015. I will be placing my initial order today, so if you are interested in receiving one of the very first decks, I will include your deck in my order. Expected arrival, December 9, 2015.

    Celebration Pot-Luck in Phoenix. For those of you who live in Arizona, purchase your Card Deck before December 31, 2015 and come to a special celebration pot-luck (with a new culinary experience) on January 9, 2016, 3-5pm at my home in Phoenix.

    The intention of the card deck’s daily motivational messages around food is to inspire you to approach the food you and your family eat, a little differently, that is, with a new view.

    A New View of Healthy Eating begins with the food we choose to eat, and extends to our shopping, cooking and eating experiences.

    A New View of Healthy Eating Philosophies

    • Eat real whole foods
    • Shop local & in season
    • Enjoy the process of intuitive shopping
    • Cook with culinary skills & your intuition
    • Eat mindfully

    55 Motivational Tips in Card Deck

    • Food Shopping
    • Simple Culinary Techniques
    • Whole Food Recipes
    • Nutrition
    • Mindful Eating

    When you receive your card deck, I invite you to intuitively choose a card every day and incorporate that one “new view of healthy eating” into your life.  And, share your experiences and food creations with us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Experience.Nutrition.Now

    The ultimate goal is to enjoy food & life!

  • A New View of Healthy Eating: Intuitive Cooking with Culinary & a Taste of Yoga

    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 am excited to share that I’m working on my new book, pulling together my new thoughts, approaches to cooking and eating over the last few years. I started teaching simple cooking with small groups in 2007 and in 2008 I began teaching former NFLplayers and their families, kids , seniors, and holistic practitioners (such as yoga teachers, life coaches). Since my early work, my work has evolved.

    I noticed that my way of teaching simple healthy cooking that works, is fun, and creative, blends several different methods or concepts:

    • Shopping. Cooking and eating intuitively.
    • Using simple professional culinary methods to prepare and cook food.
    • Using beautiful farmers market-fresh local, organic food, as much as possible and eating with the season.
    • Bringing mindfullness and intuitiveness to enjoying eating.

    I have now worked with 1,000s of people, guiding them to cook; Completed a Professional Plant-based Culinary Course with Rouxbe in early 2015; completed a 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training Certification with Southwest Institute of Healing Arts in 2015 and am now a 200 hour registered yoga teacher; and I have had the honor to teach Whole Food Cooking and Conscious Eating courses at the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts since March 2014 and have reached hundreds of students and their families.

    As a result of my new experiences , I have come to writing this new book with a new view, with such new knowledge, skills and awareness, that I want to share it with the world to guide and encourage others to really enjoy shopping, cooking and eating food with family and friends; and to add-in some self care, such as yoga each and every day. Combining the enjoyment of food and life.

    I am very excited and will share with you my ideas, writing, photos along the way in my writing process and look forward to your feedback and suggestions.

    Please visit us on Facebook and share your new ways of cooking and enjoying food.

    EXPERIENCE NUTRITION: Bamboo Steamer Organic Rainbow Carrots
    EXPERIENCE NUTRITION: Bamboo Steamer Organic Rainbow Carrots

  • 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.