Experience Nutrition

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  • A New View of Healthy Eating: 5 Simple Steps to Make Your Own Nut or Seed Milk

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

    Many people are not aware how easy it is to make a nut or seed milk. This morning I made a really quick smoothie to enjoy prior to teaching a cooking class. The base was a simple homemade sunflower seed milk, with frozen raspberries and a banana.

    Excerpt from A New View of Healthy Eating

    Make Your Own Nut or Seed Milk

    Nut milks are very popular, but often store-bought milks contain added sugars or preservatives. Use these simple steps to make your own nut milks, which are nutrient-dense, more affordable than store-bought milks, and taste so fresh. Enjoy your made-from-scratch nut milk as a beverage, in smoothies, or in recipes that call for milk.

    When making nut milk, it’s important to remember that various nuts and seeds have different flavor profiles, from neutral, to slightly sweet, to slightly bitter. Intuitively create your own favorite nut milk by experimenting with different nuts and seeds.

    • Neutral: Almonds, Brazil nuts
    • Slightly sweet: Cashews, macadamia, pecans
    • Slightly bitter, may need to balance with a sweetener: Seeds

    Nut-Based Milk. Generally, nut milk, such as almond, tends to be white and watery, with a thin texture and a mild, almost bland flavor. Use almond milk as a great plant-based replacement for milk or water in smoothies or with morning whole grains, such as steel-cut oats.

    Seed-Based Milk. Seed milk, such as hemp milk, is thick and creamy. Hemp milk made with dates and vanilla has a lot of depth and a flavorful, sweet, nutty, earthy taste. Drink hemp milk as a perfect healthy beverage.

     5 Simple Steps to Make Your Own Nut or Seed Milk

    1. Pour ⅓ cup raw nuts or seeds (almonds, cashews, sunflower seeds, or hemp seeds) into a high-speed blender.
    2. Add 1 cup water or coconut water.
    3. OPTIONAL: Add 1 organic date (pre-soak 1 hour to soften) for sweetness and/or ⅓ teaspoon vanilla extract for smoothness.
    4. Blend on low to start and increase speed to high for 2-3 minutes, to finely pulverize the nuts or seeds and create a smooth texture.
    5. OPTIONAL: Pour liquid through a cheesecloth-lined strainer or nut bag and hand squeeze the liquid through the cloth.
    6. Use nut milk as a base for smoothies, a liquid in whole grains, or a tasty beverage.

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    6 Nut and Seed Milk Tips

    1. 3:1 Ratio. Start with a ratio of 3 parts liquid to 1 part nuts or seeds. Use more or less liquid depending on your personal preference for smoothness.
    2. Make a Little at a Time. Nut and seed milk stays fresh in the refrigerator for a few days.
    3. To Strain or Not to Strain. It’s Up to You. Strain the blended nut milk in cheesecloth, a nut bag, or a fine-mesh strainer. Straining ensures a smooth, milky texture, and you can use this nut or seed pulp as a base for other creations. Do not strain cashews, hemp seeds, and sesame seeds due to their soft texture. If you do not strain the nut or seed milk, the nutrients and fiber from the nuts or seeds go right into your smoothie.
    4. Pulp for Breakfast. Add pulp from the nut milk to a whole grain breakfast.
    5. Dehydrate the Pulp. Dehydrate the pulp to use in crackers or crusts, or grind it into gluten-free flour. To dehydrate, spread the pulp onto dehydrator sheets and dehydrate until crisp, about 4-6 hours. Blend in a food processor and sift to make flour.
    6. To Soak or Not to Soak. It’s Up to You. Many raw foodists pre-soak nuts and seeds to neutralize enzyme inhibitors, make proteins more readily available for absorption, and make digestion easier. From a culinary view, pre-soaked nuts and seeds are easier to blend and result in creamier milk. If you have not pre-soaked the nuts and seeds, you can still make quick nut milk, which works well with morning smoothies. Blend the milk, add fruit, re-blend, and you have a quick smoothie.

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    I am humbled by the huge positive response to the book and thank those of you who have already purchased A New View of Healthy Eating.

    I’m happy to say, I only have one more copy of the first print run of the book available. If you’d like that copy or one from the next print run, you can order now.

    Pre-order the book today and receive Top 5 Recipes and Culinary Tips.

    STEP 1: Pre-order Book

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

  • A New View of Healthy Eating: Sweet & Rich Roasted Roots

    by Melanie A. Albert, Intuitive Cooking Expert, Author, Speaker, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

    A few of my friends have been asking for some of the culinary techniques and recipes in my new book, A New View of Healthy Eating. I’m excited to share one of my very favorite simple techniques to enjoy all kinds of root vegetables. With these simple steps, you can create delicious roasted roots every time you cook them. Have fun with the roots that are in season at farmers’ markets in your area.

    Roasted roots are beautiful, flavorful, and sweet, as well as a rich, colorful complement to any meal. The roasting culinary technique is a dry heat cooking method that intensifies and concentrates the flavor of vegetables. When roasted properly, the natural sugars in the vegetables brown or caramelize to create a deep, rich flavor. When visiting your farmers’ market, buy a few roots even if you don’t recognize them, and roast them with this simple, quick culinary technique. Enjoy roasted roots as a side dish, to create soup, with hummus, or in a raw kale salad or veggie wrap.

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    • 10-12 of your favorite roots: carrots, sweet potatoes, parsnips, golden beets, red beets, and radishes
    • Approximately ¼ cup organic extra virgin olive oil
    • 3 tbsp dry herbs (Choose a few: basil, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, sage, or thyme)
    • ½ tsp sea salt

    SIMPLE STEPS

    1. Pre-heat oven to 475 degrees F.
    2. Scrub roots under running water to clean the outside.
    3. Let sit for about 10 minutes to dry.
    4. Slice roots into even, bite-size pieces.
    5. Mix olive oil, herbs, and sea salt in a bowl to make the dressing.
    6. Add root vegetables to the bowl and toss to evenly coat with the dressing.
    7. Carefully lay the roots on parchment paper in a heavy-duty flat baking sheet pan. Place roots flat side down in a single layer, making sure the vegetables do not touch.
    8. Place baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven.
    9. Roast roots in the oven for about 20 minutes, then turn vegetables.
    10. Cook another 15 minutes, until fork tender.
    11. Plate vegetables. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil.
    12. Enjoy!

     

     “In my public and private hands-on cooking classes, I encourage participants to experiment with different herbs and spices for roasted roots. A fun way to intuitively choose herbs is to close your eyes, smell different herbs, and intuitively decide which to use when flavoring the root vegetables. Have fun and be creative.”

    Roots are Good for Us!  Roots are nutrient-dense, grounding, and sweet. Enjoy experimenting with the many different types of roots, such as carrots, celery root, golden beets, red beets, parsnips, sweet potatoes, turnips, and radishes. Root vegetables are:

    • Nutrient-dense with calcium, iron, beta carotene, and vitamins A, C, and E.
    • Energetically grounding, as roots grow in the earth.
    • Naturally sweet when cooked, thus helping reduce sugar cravings.

    Roast a Radish. If you’ve never roasted a radish, try a few and notice the difference between a spicy raw radish and a sweet roasted radish.

    Simple Veggie Stir-fry….from A New View of Healthy Eating

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    ANewViewHealthEating-BookCoverShare your roasted roots photos with us on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/NewViewHealthyEating

  • A New View of Healthy Eating: Eat What You Love

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

    Our card today from my new “A New View of Healthy Eating, A 55-Card Deck”:

    Eat What You Love

    A-EatWhatYouLove-IMG_6802
    A New View of Healthy Eating, A 55-Card Deck: Eat What You Love

    I was very excited about his message today, as I have one of my favorite foods in my home right now, organic dark chocolate, which I will definitely enjoy.

    To me, the message around this card is to give ourselves permission to eat and enjoy foods that we may have deprived ourselves from eating in our past or even today.

    I invite you, right now, to grab a piece of paper and pencil and do the following exercise:

    • Step 1: Write down all of the foods that you absolutely love. Be creative. Write down all of the foods, even from spices, to olive oil, to fruits, to veggies, to snacks, to beverages.
    • Step 2: Now, draw a circle around 5 of those foods that you generally deprive yourself of. That is, you love the food, but you do not eat that food.
    • Step 3: Draw another circle around one of those 5 foods that you commit to eat this week. Choose your food that you will, right now, give yourself unconditional permission to eat. Unconditional permission to eat with joy!
    • Step 4: Say out loud with passion: “I love my life and I give myself unconditional permission to eat_________________” (fill in your food)
    • Step 5: Go out and purchase your food or go out to a restaurant and enjoy your food with a friend.
    • Step 6: Share your experiences with us on Facebook. Would love to see your photos of you enjoying your “eat what you love food” and how this experience was for you.

    Often when we do this “eat what you love” exercise in classes and workshops, people give themselves permission to eat chocolate cake. Pizza is always on the top of the list. Many love ice cream. Do you relate?

    Have fun and really enjoy your food this week!

     

  • A New View of Healthy Eating: Try a New Food

    by Melanie Albert, Author, Nutrition & food expert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

    Now that my new “A New View of Healthy Eating, A 55-Card Deck” is in my hands, I will be sharing a few cards with you each week. It is my intention to motivate you to take action around food in a positive way, with new ways to shop, new culinary skills, trying a new recipe, eating mindfully, or adding a little self care in your life.

    Today, our card is:  Try a New Food. Not all radishes are red.

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    A New View of Healthy Eating: Try a New Food

    In November, while shopping at a local Phoenix farmers market for a catering event for the non-profit, Mankind USA, there were many different colored radishes available, so I actually purchased all of them, from bright red, to white, to purple, to watermelon radish. I knew we would be roasting roots for the event, so I bought the rainbow of radishes. We also used the radishes raw for dipping in the amazing hummus. When eaten raw, radishes are often a little spicy and when roasted they become naturally sweet.

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    Not all Radishes are Red

    A farmers’ market is the perfect place to experiment with new foods, you have never tried before. Look for a food you do not recognize, ask the farmer about it, and they may also give you ideas on how to prepare it.

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    Look at the beautiful purple radish!

    I invite you to visit a farmers’ market or natural market, and buy one, just one, new-to-you fresh veggie. Come over to Facebook (www.Facebook.com/NewViewHealthyEating) and share a photo of your new veggie with us and how you prepare it. We can give you suggestions on how to prepare it.

    Most important, have fun and enjoy new, interesting food this week.

    The first printing of the new “A New View of Healthy Eating, A 55-Card Deck” is now available to purchase on our website: www.EXPNutrition.com

  • 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: Philosophies: Part 1: Eat Real Whole Foods

    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
    _67A3047
    A New View of Healthy Eating: Eat real whole foods.

    Eat real whole foods. Eat foods that are in their natural form, as nature created them. Focus on plants, local, in-season foods. Focus on organic. When we eat real whole foods, we get more nutrition from the foods, we get all of the fiber from the foods, and we receive the energy from the Earth. When we focus on organic we choose to eat food that is “clean”, without pesticides or herbicides, and that are not genetically modified (not GMO).

    Real whole foods include: vegetables, fruit, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds, and wild salmon. It’s quite simple. The recommended foods in A New View of  Healthy Eating are primarily in alignment with an Anti-inflammatory way of eating as advocated by Andrew Weil, MD, the Mediterranean way of eating, and the Blue Zones, as researched by National Geographic, Dan Beuttner and his team.

    “Real whole foods are real. Think actual fruit, vegetables, fruits, grains in their whole from, like brown rice, beans such as garbanzo or lentils, nuts & seeds, and wild cold-water fish, like wild salmon.”  – Melanie Albert

    Your reflection: I invite you to think about the food you have been eating during in the past few days and share with us where you are with whole food eating at this point in time with your life. Come over to our new Facebook page www.facebook.com/newviewhealthyeating 

    BRAND NEW: AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE NOW: First edition of our new “A New View of Healthy Eating: A-55 Card Deck” with daily motivational tips, culinary techniques, recipes, shopping suggestions and self care.

  • 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: 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: Enjoy the rainbow!

    “To enjoy the rainbow, first enjoy the rain.” – Paulo Coelho

    Enjoying the Rainbow in Sedona
    Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO of EXPERIENCE NUTRITION, Enjoying the Rainbow at Cathedral Rock in Sedona.

    PHOTO CREDIT: Melissa Corter Photography