Tag: Mindful Eating

  • A New View of Healthy Eating: Simple Steps to Make the Perfect Matcha Green Tea

    A New View of Healthy Eating: Simple Steps to Make the Perfect Matcha Green Tea

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

    I love, love, love matcha tea and was so excited this week to also enjoy dark chocolate with matcha! I’ve been drinking matcha tea since 2004, 13 years ago, when I started working in branding, marketing, and licensing with Dr. Andrew Weil / Weil Lifestyle. I knew Andy was an advocate of drinking green tea, but honestly, green tea was not (yet) part of my life. I thought it was bitter and I really did not know how to prepare it.

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    Fortunately, I had the great opportunity to attend the World Tea Expo four years and learned more and more about the beauty of tea, the history of tea, and the benefits of tea. 

    In my latest book, “New View of Healthy Eating,” includes a chapter on healthy hydration, including green tea.

    Excerpt from “A New View of Healthy Eating”: Matcha Tea

    Get Ready to Enjoy Green Tea

    I began drinking green tea over a decade ago in 2004 when I started working in marketing and licensing with best-selling author and integrative medicine pioneer, Dr. Andrew Weil, who has been a long-time advocate of drinking green tea.

    My green tea experience grew from bitter to mindful. When I first started drinking loose green tea, I found it to be very bitter tasting, but I kept experimenting with different teas and even attended The World Tea Expo for a few years. Importantly, I learned the proper way to brew green tea for an enjoyable, smooth taste. Today I love the smooth, grassy taste, along with the mindful experience of brewing and enjoying tea.

    Top 6 Reasons Why Green Tea is Good for You

    1. The antioxidant ECGC, in green tea, is an anti-inflammatory.
    2. Research has found that green tea benefits heart health and brain health, and helps prevent cancer.
    3. It is full of catechins and polyphenols, which help the brain relax and stimulate dopamine levels.
    4. Theanine in green tea helps improve mood and provides a sense of relaxation.
    5. Green tea has less caffeine than coffee.
    6. It tastes delicious, so enjoy a few cups every day.

    Matcha: Tea of the Japanese tea ceremony

    • High quality Japanese green tea is covered before picking to ac¬centuate its vibrant green color and to increase amino acids, as well as vitamins A and C.
    • The tea leaves are stone-ground, so we actually eat tea leaves when we drink matcha tea and receive the full benefits of green tea.
    • Intense grassy, green taste.

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    4 Simple Steps to Prepare Matcha Tea

    1. Place ¼ tsp matcha in matcha bowl.
    2. Add nearly boiled water.
    3. Whisk with a bamboo whisk.
    4. Enjoy the ritual and ceremony.

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    I invite you to experience matcha green tea. Enjoy the mindful process of preparing it and it’s delicious fresh, green taste. Post your photos of your matcha on  our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/NewViewHealthyEating

    If you are interested in purchasing “A New View of Healthy Eating”, you can buy it here and I’ll ship an autographed (if you wish) copy to you.

    Or, stop by one of my cooking classes or demos this month. Would be great to see you!

    • April 15, 2017, 9am, Downtown Phoenix Market: Demo Bamboo Steamer Spring Veggies, 721 N. Central Ave, Phoenix
    • April 19, 2017, 6-8pm, Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine, Tempe, AZ; Anti-inflammatory Cooking Class: Seasonal Veggie Stir-fry. 2125 E Broadway Road, Tempe, AZ Learn more. Call to register: 480.222.9620.
    • April 22, 2017, 10:30-11:30am, Old Town Scottsdale Farmers Market, Demo Cooking with the Aromatherapy of Fresh Herbs, 3806 N Brown Ave, Scottsdale
    • April 22, 2017, 5-8pm, Peoria Earth Day Planetpalooza Celebration, Westwing Park, 27100 Westwing Parkway, Demo Raw Kale Salad with Fresh Fruit
    • April 23, 2017, 11am-1pm, The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Intuitive Cooking Class: Farm-to-Table: 3 New Ways to Cook Local Spring Veggies. 32nd Street & Southern, Phoenix, Click to purchase tickets.
    • April 24, 2017, 4:30-5:30pm, Grandfamiles with Gregory’s Fresh Marketplace (private event)

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    Join our E-mail list and please let me know if you have any questions or would like to book a cooking event with your organization.

     

     

  • 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.

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    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

  • A New View of Healthy Eating: The Mindfulness of Tonight’s Private Cooking Class

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

    This evening I had the honor to guide a client in her first private cooking session. The experience was magical for her and for me. I am always in awe of the incredible dishes my students and clients create from real whole foods. And, I am inspired by my clients and students openness to experiment with intuitive cooking and to mindfully enjoy the cooking process while creating amazingly beautiful meals. My client was in awe of the enjoyment and mindfulness of cooking and eating our beautiful creations.

    Today we started with a few organic roots, veggies, and greens. The first veggie we cooked was a simple spaghetti squash, followed by a simple quinoa. Then we made one of my all-time favorite dishes, bamboo steamer carrots, along with lots of roasted veggies.

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    While guiding this cooking session tonight, I was reflecting on the concept that the way I share and teach people to cook is really a little like the way our grandparents were cooking. They were cooking with real whole foods, enjoying the process, and cooking mindfully.

    When we cook with fresh produce that’s beautiful and colorful, it becomes naturally mindful cooking. When we chop our food, it is very meditative and mindful.  When we plate our food beautifully it is mindful. And, when we pause, and slowly enjoy our food it is mindful.

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    I invite you to create a simple dish this weekend and notice the mindfulness of the experience. Come on over to our Facebook page, and share your experiences with us: www.facebook.com/NewViewHealthyEating