Experience Nutrition

Tag: Plant-based Cooking

  • Honored to Announce the NEW Love Beautiful Food, in honor of my Mom & Dad

    Honored to Announce the NEW Love Beautiful Food, in honor of my Mom & Dad

    This week, I had an ah-ha. On May 3, 2024, my Mom has been gone from her very favorite spot on our Earth for a year. Late last night, I had an ah-ha that I would launch my new brand, Love Beautiful Food, today to honor her (and my Dad.)

    To share a little personal, all my life, my Mom would tell me, “Follow your passions, and the money will follow.” My Dad would balance this and always ask, “How much money did you make?”…whether it be after coming home from a waitress job during the summers when I was in college, or even as an entrepreneur many years later…after an event, he’d ask, “How many books did you sell.”

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    Here’s the news! Today, I am proud and excited to share with you that I am launching my new brand, LOVE BEAUTIFUL FOOD, in my parents’ honor! With LOVE BEAUTIFUL FOOD, we go from Farm to Kitchen to Table. That is from the beautiful food our local farmers grow to simple culinary techniques and intuitive cooking to creating beautiful, eye-catching appetizers, entrees, and desserts. If you love farmers markets and home cooking and are ready to elevate your dishes into incredible, beautiful food… Coming soon…more shopping tips, intuitive recipes, and opportunities to create beautiful food in Live Online Challenges, 3-day Live Online Virtual Events, and even incredible Retreats. From my heart and passion, I really do look forward to sharing my passion and skills with you and creating Beautiful Food together! Love Beautiful Food, Melanie PS And, finally, finally…my parents would say to me today…”Now go have fun!” So, I pass that to you, too. Enjoy, my friends!

  • Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market-to-Table Veggie Flatbread

    Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market-to-Table Veggie Flatbread

    It has been such an honor to lead cooking classes at the Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market for a few years and it’s such an honor to create the Farmers Market-to-Table Flatbread with our local Arizona Winter veggies.

    Thanks so much to our local farmers for all the passion and hard work to grow and harvest such beautiful food for our community.  – Melanie Albert

    Enjoy the video with a look at the fun shopping at the Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market and all of the cooking steps. Please come over to our Facebook Page to ask any questions and to share your flatbread creations with us: www.facebook.com/plantbasedfoodart and #plantbasedfoodart

    Shopping at the Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market

    Melanie Albert, Shopping at the Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market

    This week I had fun “shopping the market” intuitively choosing a variety of different color, shape and tasting veggies from our farmers. Thanks to Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market Manager Colin Dueker who so graciously captured this week’s shopping at the market.

    Shopping for carrots with Steadfast Farms.
    Look at the great winter veggies at Blue Sky Organic Farms.
    The beauty of our local Arizona farmers veggies!

    Farmers Market-to-Table Roasted Veggie Flatbread Recipe

    To create the Farmers Market-to-Table Flatbread, create three simple recipes to create a beautiful Food Art dish.

    • Cashew Cream
    • Quick Roast Veggies
    • Quick Yeast-Free Sprouted Spelt Flatbread

    CASHEW CREAM

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    • 1 cup raw cashews
    • 3 tpsp nutritional yeast
    • 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
    • Pinch sea salt
    • ¼ cup water, adjust for desired creaminess.

    SIMPLE STEPS

    • Pour all ingredients into a mini blender.
    • Blend to desired smoothness.

    SIMPLE ROASTED VEGGIES

    Choose a few of your favorite veggies, such as those from the Downtown Phoenix Farmer Market.

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    • 3 carrots, sliced (Steadfast Farms)
    • 1 golden beet, sliced (Blue Sky Organic Farms)
    • 8-10 small tomatoes (Steadfast Farms)
    • 3 slices cabbage, such as the Caraflex (Blue Sky Organic Farms)
    • 1 cup cauliflower, sliced (Blue Sky Organic Farms)
    • 1 cup broccoli, sliced (Blue Sky Organic Farms)
    • 5-6 Brussels sprouts, sliced (Crooked Sky Farms)
    • 1 cup waxed beans (Blue Sky Organic Farms)
    • 1 cup peas (Blue Sky Organic Farms)
    • 1 leek, white of leek in rounds (Blue Sky Organic Farms)
    • 2 green onions, sliced (Blue Sky Organic Farms)
    • 1 spring garlic, sliced (Al Hamka Family Farm)
    • 2-3 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil
    • Pinch sea salt
    Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market Farmers' Beautiful Veggies
    Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market Farmers’ Beautiful Veggies

    SIMPLE STEPS

    • Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F.
    • Slice veggies into bite-sized pieces.
    • Place veggies in roasting pan.
    • Drizzle with olive oil.
    • Sprinkle with sea salt.
    • Toss.
    • Roast 12 minutes.
    • Toss.
    • Roast another 12 minutes.
    • Use roasted veggies as flatbread toppings.
    Roast veggies for 25-30 minutes at 425 degrees F.

    EXPERIENCE NUTRITIONTM Yeast-Free Quick Flatbread Crust

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    • 1 ¼ cups sprouted spelt flour
    • 1 ½ tsp baking powder
    • ¼ tsp sea salt
    • 1 ½ tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil (dough)
    • ½ cup water
    • 1 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil (spread on dough prior to baking)

    SIMPLE STEPS

    •  Place pizza stone into oven.
    • Pre-heat oven at 390 degrees F. Pre-bake stone for about 5 minutes.
    • In large glass bowl, with a fork mix dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt.
    • Add 3/8 cup water and oil until dough forms a ball. Add additional water, as needed.
    • Knead for 3-4 minutes.
    • Flatten out the dough on floured parchment-paper.
    • With parchment paper on top of the dough, roll thinly with a rolling pin.
    • Carefully move flatbread to pre-heated pizza stone.
    • Spread 1 tbsp of olive oil onto the flatbread.
    • Bake flatbread for 5 minutes.
    • Remove stone from oven.
    Sprouted Spelt Flatbread Crust
    Sprouted Spelt Flatbread Crust

    FOOD ART

    To create the flatbread, spread the cashew cream and veggies onto the pre-baked crust, bake and enjoy!

    SIMPLE STEPS

    • Spread cashew cream on the top of the flatbread.
    • Add veggies to the top of the flatbread.
    • Cook for about 8 minutes.
    • Garnish with fresh herbs, such as dill (Blue Sky Organic Farms) and bok choy flowers (Maya’s Farm)
    • Slice.

    Enjoy!

    Let’s keep in touch!

    Interested in additional farm-to-table plant-based recipes, virtual cook-alongs, and future events for yourself or your organization, join our e-mail list.

  • Experience Nutrition: Hummus 3 Ways. As seen in Natural Awakenings Magazine, Arizona

    Experience Nutrition: Hummus 3 Ways. As seen in Natural Awakenings Magazine, Arizona

    So honored to create plant-based recipe articles during the last several years for the Natural Awakenings Magazine, Phoenix and Northern Arizona. This month, May 2020, I am especially humbled to contribute to the magazine while we are all together during the Coronavirus stay-at-home. And, while so many people are experimenting more in the kitchen with families and kids.

    For this article, I decided to bring a touch of positivity to our world with “The Joy of Beautiful Food.” Experiment with the tips to add beauty to meals and have fun creating dishes with beautiful food and edible flowers. – Melanie Albert

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    Natural Awakenings, May 2020.

    Top 4 Ways to Add Beauty to Your Meals:

    1. Buy Beautiful Veggies from Our Local Farmers.
    2. Add Color and Texture to your Dishes.
    3. Add Natural Aromatherapy to Your Culinary Creations.
    4. Plate Mindfully.

    I hope you are inspired to add a little beauty and joy to life by creating some beautiful, mindful plant-based dishes. Share your creations with us on  www.facebook.com/ExperienceNutritionAZ and Instagram @experiencenutritionaz and tag us #experiencenutrition.

    Happy to share a few of my very favorite recipes in the Natural Awakenings article. Importantly, you can easily modify the recipes with local farmers’ seasonal produce, along with the fruit and veggies in your refrigerator. Enjoy!

    Three Beautiful, Simple Plant-Based Recipes

    Enjoy mindfully and intuitively creating these simple dishes. Take time to appreciate the beauty of the food, the mindfulness of the cooking process, and the final food art of your culinary creations.

    • Hummus. Three Ways. Classic. Turmeric. Beet.
    • Avocado Salsa. Intuitively create with the veggies, aromatics, and herbs in your kitchen.
    • Raw Carrot Cake. Simple, beautiful, tasty, aromatic dessert.
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    Hummus Three Ways: Beet. Turmeric. Classic.
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    Simple Avocado Salsa.
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    Raw Carrot Cake. Edible Flowers.

    Hummus Video. In the cooking video, come into my kitchen and see the steps to create the Three Hummus Recipes.

    RECIPE: Hummus. Three Ways. Classic, Turmeric, Beet.

    Use these recipes as a guide to create your own hummus. Once you’ve learned how to prepare the basic classic hummus, have fun experimenting and intuitively creating your own versions of it.

    Serves 4

    Classic Hummus. Turmeric. Beet.

    I’m excited to share with you the same recipe we made for the Super Bowl XLIV VIP Tailgate Party for the Super Bowl in Miami. Now you can make it, too. In addition to the Classic Hummus, traditionally made with tahini (ground sesame seeds), we can create different versions of hummus with turmeric or beet powder. Enjoy!

     Simple Ingredients

    • 2 cups cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
    • ⅓ cup chickpea water
    • 3 tbsp tahini (sesame seed paste)
    • 3 cloves garlic, minced
    • 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
    • ⅛ tsp cumin seeds, hand -round
    • ⅛ tsp coriander seeds, hand-ground (seeds from cilantro)
    • Pinch sea salt
    • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
    • Turmeric Hummus: 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, pinch black pepper
    • Beet Hummus: 2 tsp beet powder

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    Simple Steps

    • Place all ingredients, except olive oil, into a food processor.
    • Blend a few minutes, until smooth.
    • Stream in the olive oil and blend until creamy.
    • After the hummus has been blended, taste and add more of any of the ingredients to suit your taste.
    • Turmeric or Beet Hummus: After creating the Classic Hummus, add either the turmeric or beet powder to the food processor. Process until well combined.

    Simple Plating

    • Mindfully plate the three versions of hummus with fresh edible flowers, fresh herbs, or chopped veggies.

    Stay in touch with us on www.facebook.com/ExperienceNutritionAZ and Instagram @experiencenturitionaz and tag us #experiencenutrition on your plant-based culinary creations.

    Will also be sharing the Avocado Salsa and Raw Carrot Cake in videos and blog posts. Stay tuned.

    By Melanie Albert, Plant-Based Culinary Leader, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition in Phoenix, Arizona. Award-winning cookbook author, speaker, corporate wellness, team building, retreat leader, and caterer.

  • Experience Nutrition: Cook at Home Roasted Veggie Bowl with “Social Distancing.”  5 Tips to Roast Veggies Perfectly Every Time

    Experience Nutrition: Cook at Home Roasted Veggie Bowl with “Social Distancing.”  5 Tips to Roast Veggies Perfectly Every Time

    Now that we all all cooking more at home, it’s a great time to learn a few simple culinary (it’s cooking!) methods.

    With a plant-based way of eating, we do eat a lot of vegetables. With this in mind, it’s important to know several different simple culinary skills to prepare vegetables, such as roasting, steaming, sautéing, and raw.

    One of my favorite ways to cook veggies is roasting. With this method of roasting, we cook the veggies spread out “distancing” in the oven to brown the outside, while keeping the center a little soft. We can roast all kinds of veggies which gives us a nice variety of tastes, textures, and colors. – Melanie Albert

    Visit our new Experience Nutrition YouTube Channel for the video of the Roasted Veggie Bowl Recipe.

    Thank You Farmers and Farmers Markets

    Today’s roasted veggies were created with produce from local farmers: The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix, and Blue Sky Organic Farms, Litchfield Park, Arizona. All of the veggies were in CSA’s (Community Support Agriculture) offered by the farms during our Coronavirus stay-at-home.

    In Arizona, we are so fortunate that our farmers and farmers’ markets are considered essential grocery stores. Thus, we still have the opportunity to purchase beautiful food from our farmers,  and they can continue to harvest and sell to our community. Thank you!

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    The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona, April 2020

    Farm-to-Table Spring Roasted Veggie Bowl

    Enjoy this tasty roasted veggie culinary method and create a bowl with brown rice and beans for a perfect lunch. Use this recipe as a guide to roast crispy on the outside and soft on the inside veggies. Choose a few of your favorite vegetables from your local farmers that are right in your kitchen and enjoy roasting beautiful, tasty veggies at home.

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    Roasted Veggie Bowl: The Veggies, Olive Oil, Sea Salt

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    • Blue Sky Organic Farms
      • 1 fennel, root sliced
      • 1 spring green garlic, sliced
      • 1 leek, chopped
      • 3-4 celery stalks, sliced
      • 3-4 cauliflower florets
      • 3-4 broccoli florets
    • The Farm at South Mountain
      • 2 beets (golden and red), sliced
      • 1 radish (breakfast), sliced
      • 1 turnip ( scarlet) sliced
    • Grocery Store / My Pantry
      • 1 sweet potato, sliced
      • 2-3 TBSP organic extra virgin olive oil
      • Pinch sea salt
    • Extras
      • Plating: Brown rice, beans
      • Garnish: Edible flowers

    SIMPLE STEPS

    • Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
    • Chop all veggies into equal-sized pieces.
    • One-by-one, place veggies in a bowl.
    • Coat veggies with olive oil and sea salt.
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    Chopped veggies ready to be coated with olive oil and a pinch of sea salt.

     

    • Place veggies flat side down on unbleached, natural parchment-paper- lined flat sheet pan.
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    Veggies “social distancing” on the parchment-lined sheet pans.
    • Cook for 12 minutes.
    • Flip.
    • Cook another 12-15 minutes.
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    Roasted veggies. Ready to be mindfully plated.
    • Enjoy as a veggie bowl.

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    TOP 5 TIPS TO ROAST VEGGIES PERFECTLY EVERY TIME

    1. Coat the chopped veggies thoroughly with oil.
    2. When placing on unbleached parchment paper, be sure the veggies do not touch each other.
    3. When placing veggies on parchment paper, place flat side down, so the side of the vegetable can brown.
    4. Flip veggies about half-way through the cooking process.
    5. Pay attention to veggies while they are cooking, as they cook at different speeds. More dense vegetables (like beets and sweet potatoes) take longer to cook than water-rich veggies, like onions.

    If you are enjoying our Experience Nutrition Blog, with simple plant-based recipes and lifestyle tips, please subscribe to the Blog, our www.facebook.com/ExperienceNutritionAZ , and new YouTube Channel.

    By Melanie Albert, Plant-Based Cooking Leader, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition in Phoenix, Arizona. Award-winning cookbook author, speaker, corporate wellness, team building, retreat leader, and caterer.

  • EXPERIENCE NUTRITION: Food & Lifestyle Tip of the Day: 5 Steps to Cook Intuitively During our Stay-at-Home. Avocado Salsa Recipe

    EXPERIENCE NUTRITION: Food & Lifestyle Tip of the Day: 5 Steps to Cook Intuitively During our Stay-at-Home. Avocado Salsa Recipe

    Now that nearly everyone around the world is staying at home to help flatten the Coronavirus Curve, I will be sharing simple Food & Lifestyle Tips of the Day. The intention of the tips is to give you ideas that you could incorporate easily into your day-by-day activities around living a healthy lifestyle while we are all at home. And, in the long run implement tips that resonate with you to positively affect your life. — Melanie Albert

    Some of the tips will be around plant-based food, cooking, and eating with recipes, culinary (cooking) techniques, and even food art. Other tips will focus on positivity, mindfulness, and self-care.

    Meet Melanie Albert

    As a little background for those of you who do not know me, a few highlights. I am the founder & CEO of Experience Nutrition in Phoenix, Arizona, and award-winning cookbook author.

    • My passion is plant-based farm-to-table culinary, and I’ve led hundreds of cooking experiences, courses and retreats. I’m trained with 610 hours of plant-based culinary training.
    • 2007 graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition / Certified International Health Coach
    • 9 years marketing, branding, and licensing consultant with Weil Lifestyle, LLC/Andrew Weil, MD
    • 5 years nutrition and cooking with former NFL players, catering and events at Super Bowls, and official Health & Wellness Partner of the NFL Alumni Association in 2011.
    • 200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher and nearly 20 years practicing yoga.
    • For decades, I’ve lived my passion around healthy lifestyle, cooking, and eating, and am happy to share ideas with you.
    • I’ve been a work-from-home entrepreneur for 25 years; thus I have decades of personal experience with being at home, and enjoying it.

    I hope you are inspired by some of the motivational food and lifestyle tips I share with you.

    Experience Nutrition: Food & Lifestyle Tip of the Day: Cook Intuitively…with what’s in Your Refrigerator.

    What is Intuitive Cooking?

    With Intuitive Cooking, we pay attention to food. We notice the shapes, colors, flavors, and aromatherapy. By listening to our heart or gut, we choose a few foods we wish to purchase (at local farmers markets, if possible). When it’s time to cook, we pay attention to our bodies. What are we craving. Which foods are we visually attracted to. Then we cook with those foods and enjoy our meals.

    During our stay-at-home, it is also important to cook with our intuition. We listen to our bodies and senses. And, we cook with what’s available in our kitchens during these days when our food options may be limited.

    5 Simple Steps to Get Started with Intuitive Cooking

    1. Learn basic culinary (or cooking) skills or techniques and then use those skills to intuitively create dishes and meals with ease and confidence.
    2. Cook with what’s in your kitchen.
    3. Use a recipe as a guide.
    4. Substitute ingredients in the recipe with what you have in your refrigerator.
    5. Have fun experimenting and enjoy your creation.

    Intuitive Cooking Avocado Salsa Recipe

    Today, with intuitive cooking in mind, I created a very simple Avocado Salsa with what was in my refrigerator and little edible garden. This is a quick and easy lunch or snack. You’ll need an avocado, an aromatic (any onion), garlic (if you have it), a small tomato, citrus (lemon or lime), a fresh herb (parsley, basil, cilantro, marjoram), and sea salt. Plus, include optional ingredients for plating (such as broccoli or cauliflower).

    Use this recipe as a guide for Avocado Salsa with whatever veggies are in your refrigerator. Some ideas: Green or red bell peppers, carrots, celery, cucumbers, olives.

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    Serves 1

    Simple Ingredients

    • 1 avocado
    • 2 tbsp onions
    • ½ tsp garlic cloves, minced
    • 1 small tomato or ½ cup mini tomatoes
    • ½ tsp lemon juice
    • ½ tsp lemon zest
    • 1 tbsp fresh herbs, such as basil, cilantro, or marjoram
    • Pinch sea salt
    • Optional: few broccoli stems

    Simple Steps

    • Chop ingredients.
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    Avocado Salsa: Ingredients Chopped & Ready
    • Toss all ingredients into a bowl.
    • Mix with a fork.
    • Mindfully plate.
    • Enjoy.

    Please share your Avocado Salsa creations with us on Instagram @nutritionauthor #experiencenutrition and let me know if you have any cooking questions.

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  • Natural Awakenings Arizona: Recipe 2: Arizona Spring Steamed Veggies. Arugula Hempseed Pesto

    Natural Awakenings Arizona: Recipe 2: Arizona Spring Steamed Veggies. Arugula Hempseed Pesto

    by Melanie Albert, Plant-Based Farm-to-Table Culinary Expert, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition, award-winning cookbook author, speaker,

    So honored to create “recipe articles” for the Natural Awakenings Arizona magazine, with our local farmers produce. For the March 2020 issue, the recipes include:

    Recipe: Arizona Spring Steamed Veggies. Arugula Hempseed Pesto

    Enjoy a simple lunch or side dish by gently steaming local Arizona Spring veggies in a bamboo steamer and enjoy with simple Arugula Hempseed Pesto.

    Lightly steaming veggies brings out the beautiful colors and natural flavor of vegetables, while maintaining their nutrients. Steam a mix of a few Spring veggies with different colors, shapes, and textures, such as golden and Cylindra beets, Daikon radishes, Tropical Black carrots, purple snow peas, sugar snap peas, and corn grown at The Soil & Seed Garden at the Farm at South Mountain.  Plus, steam beautiful, unique roots, such as those grown by farmer Billy Anthony of Tropizona – China Rose Radishes and Hinona Kabu and Hida Beni Red Turnips – to add brilliant red and purple to the dish. Enjoy the Spring steamed veggies with a drizzle of olive oil and sea salt, refreshing Arugula Hempseed Pesto, and Calendula flowers.

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    The Farm at South Mountain Spring Produce
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    Tropizona Radishes and Turnips

    Always be mindfully organized when cooking…

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    Arizona Spring Veggies Grown at The Farm at South Mountain & Tropizona

    Steamed Spring Veggies

    A bamboo steamer is key to simple plant-based cooking.  Learn to steam spring veggies with the mindful process of steaming.

    Simple Ingredients

    • 5-7 different Spring veggies, such as beets, carrots, purple snow peas, sugar snap peas, corn, radishes, turnips, sliced
    • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
    • Pinch of sea salt
    • Garnish: Edible flowers

     Simple Steps

    • To set up the bamboo steamer, fill a large (6- to 8-quart) soup pot with 3-4 inches of water, place over high heat, and bring to a boil.
    • Place sliced veggies into the bamboo steamer. Spread out the veggies so that they do not touch each other to allow the steam to rise and cook them. Sprinkle veggies with a pinch of sea salt.
    • Place bamboo steamer on top of the pot with steaming water. Cover with lid and let steam for about 5-7 minutes or until just cooked.
    • Test the veggies for doneness. When veggies easily come off a fork, they’re ready.
    • Once the veggies have finished cooking, pour them into a large bowl.
    • Drizzle with olive oil and a pinch of sea salt.
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    Veggies into the Bamboo Steamer
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    The fresh steamed veggies

    ARUGULA HEMPSEED LEMON PESTO

    Make simple Arugula, Hempseed Lemon Pesto to enjoy with steamed Arizona Spring veggies. With plant-based cooking, add extra flavor to vegetables with simple herb and seed pestos.

    Simple Ingredients

    • 2 cups arugula
    • 1/2 cup hempseeds
    • 5-7 stems chives
    • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
    • 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
    • 1 lemon zested
    • Pinch sea salt

    Simple Steps

    • Place all ingredients (except olive oil) into mini-processor or food processor and blend.
    • After processing, stream in ¼ cup of olive oil.
    • Adjust with oil, lemon, or salt to suit your taste.
    • Enjoy with steamed veggies.
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    Arugula Hempseed Pesto Mise en Place

    Mindful Plating

    • Mindfully plate the veggies and pesto, showcasing the color and shapes of the veggies.
    • Garnish with edible flowers.
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    Arizona Steamed Veggies: Ready to Plate

    Simple plating…to start…

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    And, next, a full bowl of steamed veggies and pesto…

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    Arizona Spring Steamed Veggies. Arugula Hempseed Pesto.

    2020 Sedona Plant-Based Cooking & Self Care Retreats

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    Getting started with our mindful chopping for our fresh Tomato Gazpacho and Avocado Tartare.
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    Beautiful Plant-Based Lunch Creation: Avocado Tartare
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    Yoga at one of my very favorite spots in the world: Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Arizona.

    2020 Authentic Farm-to-Table Plant-Based Cooking Experiences at The Farm with Lead Grower Billy Anthony and award-winning cookbook author, Melanie Albert.

    Classes held at The Farm at South Mountain, 6101 S. 32nd Street, Phoenix, Arizona

    To Purchase, click below on the class date:

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  • Natural Awakenings AZ Recipe Article: Top 5 Tips for Successful Local Plant-Based Cooking & Recipe 1

    Natural Awakenings AZ Recipe Article: Top 5 Tips for Successful Local Plant-Based Cooking & Recipe 1

    by Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition, Plant-Based Culinary Expert, Award-winning Cookbook Author

    It is my honor and pleasure to write “recipe articles” for the Natural Awakenings Arizona magazine. For each recipe over the last few years, I first meet with our local Arizona farmer, primarily, Billy Anthony, Lead Grocer at The Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix, to determine what is growing during the season. Then, I intuitively create a few recipes to be featured in the Natural Awakenings Magazine.

    I was so exited to learn that the March 2020 issue of Natural Awakenings focus was Plant-Based and loved offering a few tips to enjoy plant-based eating in Arizona and in creating the veggie-focused recipes.

    Enjoy creating these recipes with your local farmers produce and share your creations  with us on Instagram: @nutritionauthor @plantbasedexperiences

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    Natural Awakenings Arizona. Top 5 Tips for Successful Local Plant-Based Cooking, by Melanie Albert

    Top 5 Tips for Successful Local Plant-Based Cooking

    Spring in Arizona is an exciting season to enjoy cooking plant-based meals since our local farmers grow a wide range of produce this time of year. We see lots of greens, all kinds of vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers. If you are new to plant-based cooking and eating, visit a farmers’ market to get inspired by what our local farmers are growing and create simple, tasty, beautiful salads and veggies with different culinary techniques, including raw, steamed, and roasted.

    • Eat local. Buy produce, herbs, and edible flowers from our local Arizona farmers or grow your own for the freshest, most nutrient-rich food. Plant-based dishes start with beautiful fresh produce to create tasty, eye-catching meals. Shop at our local farms, farmers’ markets, commit to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), grow at a community garden, or grow your own.
    • Keep it Simple. With the plant-based way of eating, we focus on fresh veggies and fruit, nuts, and seeds, whole grains, and beans. With plant-based cooking, we use a few simple culinary techniques for flavor and color. The essential simple plant-based culinary techniques include raw, steaming, sauteing, and roasting. We cook the same vegetables with different culinary techniques to create different flavors, textures, and looks that add variety to our meals.
    • Cook Intuitively. Think about it: What grows together goes together. With plant-based cooking, mix and match the produce, herbs, nuts and seeds to create beautiful dishes. All veggies are different depending on the seeds, soil, weather, and geography. As a result, each dish we prepare is unique in a positive way with plant-based intuitive cooking. Be sure to taste while you are cooking and adjust your ingredients to suit your favorite personal taste preferences.
    • Mindfully Plate. We eat with our eyes first. Since plants are naturally beautiful, it makes sense to take time to mindfully plate your meals for visual beauty. Have fun experimenting with various plating styles with your version of “food art” using extras such as fresh herbs or edible flowers. Use your favorite bowls and dishes to add to the beauty of your meal.
    • Slow down and enjoy. Take a breath. Take time to enjoy the beauty of your local Arizona plant-based meal. Give gratitude to our local farmers for so passionately growing the incredible food and appreciation to yourself for taking the time to shop for and prepare your lovely plant-based meal. Enjoy mindful plant-based eating and the colors, textures, and flavors of your locally grown plant-based meal with your family and friends.

    Three Arizona Plant-Based Farm-to-Table Recipes

    These simple, beautiful plant-based recipes were intuitively inspired by and created with produce grown by our local Arizona farmers, The Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix, and Blue Sky Organic Farms in Litchfield Park.

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      The Farm at South Mountain Spring Produce, Herbs, and Edible Flowers

    RECIPE: Farm-to-Table Spring Arizona Greens Salad

    Create a simple, beautiful salad with greens from our local farmers or your garden. Pair a few different light leafy greens and a simple-to-prepare light salad dressing with fresh herbs. This fresh salad, inspired by the local greens grown at the Soil & Seed Garden, also features cherry tomatoes grown at Blue Sky Organic Farms.  We start with a simple salad 3-ingredient salad dressing to toss with the fresh salad greens. And, add extra plant-based extras to create a beautiful salad.

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    Farm-to-Table Spring Arizona Greens Salad

    Basic Salad Dressing: 3 Ingredients. That’s It

    Create your own salad dressing. The key components of a 3-ingredient salad dressing include an acid, fat, and salt. Once these elements are balanced, we can add in extras, such as garlic, fresh herbs, mustard, and honey. Acids are citrus, such as lemons, limes, grapefruit, along with vinegar. Fats are oils, such as olive oil. And, salts could be Celtic sea salt or Himalayan salt.  Once you’ve learned how to prepare a dressing with this technique, you can use this method to create your own unique salad dressings for your fresh salads.

    Simple Ingredients

    • 1 fresh lemon, orange, or ½ grapefruit, squeezed, approximately ¼ cup
    • Organic extra virgin olive oil, twice as much as the citrus juice, approximately ½ cup
    • ¼ tsp sea salt
    • OPTIONAL: 2-3 garlic cloves, minced; Fresh dill, fennel frond, mustard, honey

    Simple Steps

    • Squeeze a fresh citrus juice into a Mason jar.
    • Pour in twice as much olive oil as the citrus.
    • Shake the jar.
    • Taste and notice if your dressing seems too oily or acid-tasting. Add more citrus or olive oil to suit your taste.
    • Sprinkle in sea salt.
    • Shake the jar. Taste.
    • OPTIONAL: Add in minced fresh herbs and garlic.
    • Shake the jar. Taste.
    • OPTIONAL: Add honey and/or mustard. Shake and taste.
    • Taste testing salad dressing is a great way to mindfully use your cooking intuition. Add ingredients until the dressing tastes great.

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    Farm-to-Table Spring Arizona Greens Salad

    For the base of the salad, choose a variety of Spring greens grown by our local Arizona farmers or growing in your garden. In addition to the salad greens and dressing, extra ingredients add texture, beauty, and taste to the salad. Some sweet. Some salty. Some crunchy. Choose a few of your favorite extras such as tomatoes, berries, nuts and seeds, raisins, capers, and olives.  When plating, add beauty to your salad with dehydrated Arizona citrus and edible flowers.

    Simple Ingredients

    • 4 cups Mixed Greens, such as lettuce, baby kale, arugula, spinach, mizuna, shungiku (chrysanthemum greens)
    • 1 cup tomatoes, sliced
    • ½ cup berries (eg. blackberries, raspberries)
    • ¼ cup cracked pecans, walnuts, or pumpkin seeds
    • ¼ cup golden raisins
    • ¼ cup Kalamata olives
    • 2 tbsp capers
    • Garnish: 3-5 sliced dehydrated citrus (oranges, blood oranges, grapefruit); Edible flowers, herbs (dill or fennel fronds)
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    Farm-to-Table Spring Arizona Greens Salad Mise en Place

    Simple Steps

    • Chop or tear Spring greens into bite-size pieces.
    • Pour dressing over the greens.
    • Lightly toss the greens to coat with the dressing.
    • Add half of the extras (tomatoes, berries, nuts or seeds, raisins, olives, capers) and gently toss.
    • Mindfully plate with the remainder of the extras, dehydrated citrus, herbs, and edible flowers.
    • Enjoy!
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    Create Your Spring Salad with your Favorite Greens and Tasty Extras
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    Farm-to-Table Spring Arizona Greens Salad

    Enjoy our local Arizona Spring veggies by cooking with a few simple plant-based culinary techniques – raw salad, steaming, and roasting . Mindfully enjoy your plant-based creations with your family and friends.

    2020 Sedona Plant-Based Cooking & Self Care Retreats

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    Getting started with our mindful chopping for our fresh Tomato Gazpacho and Avocado Tartare.
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    Beautiful Plant-Based Lunch Creation: Avocado Tartare
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    Yoga at one of my very favorite spots in the world: Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Arizona.

    2020 Authentic Farm-to-Table Plant-Based Cooking Experiences at The Farm with Lead Grower Billy Anthony and award-winning cookbook author, Melanie Albert.

    Classes held at The Farm at South Mountain, 6101 S. 32nd Street, Phoenix, Arizona

    To Purchase, click below on the class date:

     

     

     

     

     

  • Experience Nutrition Sedona Retreats: Glimpse of Hiking, Yoga, and Meditation

    Experience Nutrition Sedona Retreats: Glimpse of Hiking, Yoga, and Meditation

    Yoga, Hiking, and Meditation in the Beauty of Sedona

    In addition to lots of hands-on plant-based intuitive cooking at our Sedona retreats, we enjoy hiking, yoga, meditation, and self-care in the beauty of the Sedona red rocks and vortex energy. – Melanie Albert, Experience Nutrition

    During our September 2019 retreat, we explored three different magical areas in Sedona.

    • Cathedral Rock. One of my very favorite places in the world.
    • Seven Sacred Pools. Quiet magical, feminine energy.
    • Medicine Wheel and the Amitabha Stupa at Peace Park. Spiritual energy.
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    WOW! Yoga at Cathedral Rock. Dreams come true!

    During our September 2019, we enjoyed hiking at the Seven Sacred Pools, Ayurvedic yoga and meditation with Back to Earth Sedona Tours at one of my very favorite places in the world, Cathedral Rock. Finally, to close out our retreat, during a beautiful hail storm, Wendi and I enjoyed an incredible ceremony at the Medicine Wheel at Peace Park and the Amitabha Stupa.

    Enjoy a few favorite photos by my Brazilian photographer friend, Nathalia Rocha, and a few of my personal out-takes during the beautiful hail storm at the Medicine Wheel.

    Seven Sacred Pools

    The hike to the Seven Sacred Pools takes us through a beautiful, quiet winding path and the deep Devil’s Sinkhole. During the hike, we enjoy the beauty of nature and the feminine energy of the sacred pools, and simple quiet time with the red rocks.

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    What a magical spot on our Earth: The Seven Sacred Pools in Sedona, Arizona.

    Cathedral Rock, Sedona, Arizona

    One of my very favorite places on our Earth. Cathedral Rock is my go-to visit, even when I take a day trip from Phoenix to Sedona.

    In awe. Stunning beauty. Majestic.

    Calming and energizing. Grounding and uplifting.  Simply Beautiful.

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    Cathedral Rock. Sedona, Arizona. Bold & Beautiful.
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    Balancing our Bodies. Ayurvedic Yoga, with Patricia Fonseca of Back to Earth Sedona Tours.
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    One of my very favorite special places on Earth. More than excited to enjoy the water energy at Buddha Beach at Cathedral Rock.
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    Mediation. Breathwork. Awe….Omm…at Cathedral Rock. With Patricia Fonseca of Back to Earth Sedona Tours.

    Medicine Wheel and so much more at the Amitabha Stupa and Peace Park in Sedona, Arizona.

    The final morning of our retreat, Wendi and I enjoyed a magical experience at the Medicine Wheel at the Amitabha Stupa and Peace Park. The 14-acre Peace Park is juxtaposed between Chimney Rock and one of Sedona’s most massive mountains, Thunder Mountain.

    Thanks to the beautiful experience, guided by Patricia Fonseca and Sharon Day of Back to Earth Sedona Tours. Photos from Melanie’s Cell phone.

    Prayer Flags. Upon our first glimpse of the Stupa, we are greeted by prayer flags that hang from trees and are strung from the top of the Stupa, fluttering out in every direction.

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    Pause and enjoy the first glimpse of the Amitabha Stupa in Sedona, Arizona.

    Meditative Walk. The Stupa architecture is filled with hundreds of millions of prayers for peace, sacred relics, and ritual objects. Upon arrival, we experienced a beautiful meditative, grounding walk around the sacred Stupa three times offering our intentions for ourselves and others around the world.

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    Meditatively walk the Stupa three times, with intention.

    Then, we offered our prayers to the beautiful Buddha.

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    Prayers to the Buddha.

    Time for Cleansing. As soon as we arrived at the Medicine Wheel, we experienced magnificent cleansing (literally) with a hail and rainstorm. Wendi and I huddled under a Jupiter tree and Wendi’s wide rim hat in an attempt to stay dry. Enjoy the video…

    The Medicine Wheel. After the beautiful hail and rain storm, it was our time to walk the Medicine Wheel with indigenous teachings from each direction (North, East, South, West) and life in four segments of 25 years, while Patricia guided us with the beat of Sharon’s drumming. What fun!

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    Melanie Albert enjoying the Medicine Wheel ceremony!

    East & West. During the ceremony, I intuitively gravitated to the East, symbolizing for me, New Beginnings and Growth. Wendi gravitated to the West energy. Definitely looking forward to learning more wisdom from the Medicine Wheel.

    Tara Stupa. So much to experience at the Stupa including the first Stupa build in Arizona, a smaller one, dedicated to Tara, the mother of all Buddhas.

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    Stupa dedicated to Tara, the mother of all Buddhas.

    Spin the Prayer Wheels. As you leave Peace Park spin the prayer wheels that are filled with thousands of mantras, to amplify your experience at the Park.

    When you visit Sedona, or come to one of our Plant-Based Cooking Retreats, be sure to spend time at the Amitabha Stupa and Peace Park.

    I’ll continue to post additional blogs, photos, experiences, and recipes from our September 2019 Sedona Plant-Based Cooking & Self Care Retreat. Meanwhile, please reach out to me if you’re interested in our November 15-18, 2019 retreat or a custom retreat for your organization or group of friends in 2020. – Melanie Albert

    If you’re ready to reserve your spot for the November 15-18, 2019 Retreat, click here for the $500 initial deposit.

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  • Experience Nutrition Farm-to-Table Recipe: Quick Chopped Spring Salad featuring The Farm at South Mountain CSA

    Experience Nutrition Farm-to-Table Recipe: Quick Chopped Spring Salad featuring The Farm at South Mountain CSA

    By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition, Intuitive Cooking Expert, and Award-Winning Cookbook Author

    I am so honored and have so much fun intuitively creating dishes inspired by what’s growing seasonally by Lead Grower, Billy Anthony, at the Soil & Seed Garden at the Farm at South Mountain, a local urban farm in Phoenix, Arizona, just a few minutes from my home.

    Let’s take a look at The Farm at South Mountain this Spring and some of the beautiful flowers: Bachelor Buttons, Sunflowers, and Asters. Perfect spot to breathe in nature and enjoy a moment of self care. Yet, another reason to visit our local urban farms.

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    The Farm at South Mountain: Beautiful Bachelor Buttons

    Quick Arizona Farm-to-Table Chopped Spring Salad

    While Billy Anthony of the Soil & Seed Garden is still harvesting a few Arizona Winter root crops (beets, carrots, daikon), in early May,  Spring veggies (zucchini and celery) are also growing.  It’s a fun time to create a really simple salad combining the different colors, flavors, and textures of both seasons. Plus, so great to garnish with basil – Amethyst and Genovese from my first Elevated Edible Garden!

    Look closely…The beauty of the squash and it’s blossom…

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    The beauty of nature: Zucchini & Blossoms

    Simple Ingredients

    Chopped Salad

    • 3-4 carrots, cubed
    • 1 zucchini, cubed
    • 1 daikon radish, cubed
    • 3-5 celery stalks, rough chopped
    • 1 medium tomato or 8-10 mini-tomatoes
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    indfully set to prepare the Chopped Salad.
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    Spring Chopped Salad: Mise en Place

    Dressing

    • ½ fresh lemon juice, approximate ¼ cup
    • ½ cup olive oil, twice as much as the lemon juice
    • 2-3 stems fresh herbs, such as mint, basil, and onion chives, rough chopped
    • Pinch sea salt

     

    Simple Steps

    • Pour lemon juice, olive oil, fresh herbs, and sea salt into a small bowl.
    • Whisk until combined.
    • Adjust with lemon, olive oil, and salt to suit your taste.
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    Basil Mint Onion Chives Salad Dressing
    • Place all veggies into a bowl.
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    The Chopped Veggies are ready.
    • Pour dressing over the veggies.
    • Gently toss.
    • Garnish with fresh herbs and edible flowers, such as bachelor buttons.

    Enjoy your fresh salad.

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    Join us at our Plant-Based Cooking & Self Care Retreat in Sedona, Arizona, September 13-16, 2019.  Would love to share more with you and answer any questions. Melanie Albert

    Click here, to see the highlights.

     

     

  • Experience Nutrition Farm-to-Table Recipes: Roasted Purple Cauliflower, Romanesco, and Carrots. Hemp Seed Tabouli

    Experience Nutrition Farm-to-Table Recipes: Roasted Purple Cauliflower, Romanesco, and Carrots. Hemp Seed Tabouli

    By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition, Intuitive Cooking Expert, and Award-Winning Cookbook Author

    It’s been such a beautiful Spring in Arizona, that this weekend I took time to enjoy self care, soaking in the beauty of our Arizona sky and visiting the Gilbert Farmers’ Market in Gilbert, Arizona, about 15 miles from my home.

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    In the Phoenix area we have many different farmers markets throughout the Valley of the Sun and it’s fun to explore the different markets. At the Gilbert market I saw a few friends and “walked my talk” by shopping for my produce with intuition. With this way of shopping, we purchase veggies that we get excited about or are attracted to…the colors, the textures, or the beauty.

    Enjoy the Community at Farmers Markets.

    It was so much fun to chat with some of my friends at the market…

    Crooked Sky Farms. Fun to catch up with Farmer Frank, who I first met when I auditioned for Master Chef about 6 years ago. Farmer Frank, long-time farmer with Crooked Sky Farms, has been farming since 1999. Frank has farms in Phoenix and Duncan, Arizona, with different climates and different growing seasons.

    Blue Sky Organic Farms. So happy to have the opportunity to meet in person for the first time, one of my plant-based culinary teachers, Don Maloney who is now having fun working with Blue Sky Organic Farms, in Litchfield Park, Arizona. Blue Sky has been farming in Arizona since 1995, and is well-known for their salad mix. Don is now “growing  his own.”

    Steadfast Organic Farm. I absolutely love the carrots grown by farmer, Erich Schultz of Blue Sky Organic Farms, a two acre bio-intensive farm in Mesa, Arizona. I love Erich’s dedication to always continuing to learn and to share his farming knowledge with other urban farmers.

    Genuine Fresche. So happy to see my long-time entrepreneur friend, Marcy Olsen and her Genuine Fresche Food Truck. Fresche offers delicious, healthy Acai Bowls (which I enjoyed for breakfast at the market) and freshly blended smoothies. I love Marcy’s passion for healthy eating!

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    Farm-to-Table Recipe:  Roasted Cauliflower, Romanesco, and Carrots

    Simple roasted veggies culinary method to prepare and enjoy fresh local cauliflower and carrots. Roast the veggies with onions, sweet peppers, and garlic for a flavorful side dish.

    Simple Ingredients

    • 6-8 Romanesco florets (Blue Sky Organic Farms)
    • 6-8 Purple Cauliflower florets (Blue Sky Organic Farms)
    • 2 Green Onions (Blue Sky Organic Farms)
    • 8-10 Carrots, sliced (Steadfast Farms)
    • 1 Purple sweet potato, sliced
    • 3 Lunchbox yellow, orange, or red sweet peppers
    • 2 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil
    • Pinch sea salt

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    Simple Steps

    • Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F.
    • Slice veggies.

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    • Place veggies in baking pan (enamel or stainless steel).

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    • Drizzle with olive oil and sea salt.
    • Toss veggies to coat with the oil and salt.
    • Roast for 10 minutes.
    • Toss veggies.
    • Roast for 10 minutes.

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    • Enjoy with Hemp Seed Tabouli and Edible Flowers.

    Recipe: Hemp Seed Tabouli

    Inspired by the fresh parsley, this easy-to-prepare gluten-free tabouli pairs nicely with the richness of roasted veggies.

    Simple Ingredients

    • ½ cup fresh parsley, rough chopped (Blue Sky Organic Farm)
    • 1 tomato, rough chopped
    • ¼ cup hemp seeds
    • 1 lime, juiced
    • 1 clove garlic, minced
    • 2-3 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil
    • Pinch sea salt

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    Simple Steps

    • Chop parsley, tomato, onion, and garlic.

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    • With a fork, mix veggies, hemp seeds, lime juice, olive oil, and sea salt.

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    • Add lime juice, olive oil, or sea salt to suit your taste.

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    Plate and Enjoy

    • Plate the Roasted Veggies with the Parsley Tabouli and Edible Flowers and enjoy.

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    A few fun plates, starting with dramatic.

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    Enjoy roasted veggies in the pansy garden.

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    Fun Roasted Veggie Bowl…

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    Interested in learning simple, easy plant-based cooking techniques and enjoy self-care in Fall 2019 in the beauty of Sedona? Click to learn more.

    To learn more, feel free to call 602.615.2486 or e-mail Mel@MelanieAlbert.com 

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  • Experience Nutrition: My First Arizona Spring Home Garden. Steps and Tips to Grow your own Edible Veggies, Herbs, and Flowers.

    Experience Nutrition: My First Arizona Spring Home Garden. Steps and Tips to Grow your own Edible Veggies, Herbs, and Flowers.

    By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition, Intuitive Cooking Expert, and Award-Winning Cookbook Author

    I’m very excited to share that this first weekend of Spring 2019, I planted my first “real” edible backyard garden in Phoenix, Arizona. And, I’m happy to share my learning with you.

    Honestly, while I feel really confident with guiding people to cook beautiful, tasty farm-to-table plant-based food, I am going out on a limb with sharing my new gardening adventure with you.

    When I was a kid, my parents always had a garden and fruit growing in our yard in Dallas, Pennsylvania. I especially remember the asparagus, carrots, cucumbers, and sweet peppers. Plus, we enjoyed all kinds of berries, my favorites being raspberries and strawberries. Today, my 92-year old Dad still gardens in Cocoa Beach, Florida, primarily with his banana and onion crops.

    I’ve never grown a ‘real garden’ in Phoenix. Until now.

    Melanie’s Personal Goals with the New Edible Garden

    Sharing my personals goals with you, which might motivate you to plant your own garden!

    • Get out of my comfort zone. Do something new, while learning.
    • Enjoy edible gardening as self care. Time away from the computer. Time out with nature.
    • Garden-to-Table. Ultimately, enjoy my garden bounty with my culinary creations.

    Three Steps to Get Started with an Edible Garden

    Since gardening in Arizona is different than the East Coast of the US, I reached out to an expert in the farming and gardening in Phoenix, my friend, Billy Anthony, who is the Garden Operations Manager at The Farm at South Mountain. Billy has been growing at the beautiful The Farm, which is about half-mile from my home for a few years. I admire his passion, knowledge, and hard work ethic and knew that he’d be a talented guide for my small edible garden project.

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    Step 1: The Elevated Garden.

    A few months ago I started researching elevated gardens online and purchased a simple rectangle 22”x 66” wooden garden that is right outside my back patio, on the West side of my home facing the golf course. The first step, was, of course, building the elevated garden. Thanks to Phoenix urban farmer Billy Anthony for assembling it for me and in choosing the right location for the garden, where it will get full sunlight during most of the day.

    Step 2: The Right Soil.

    Billy guided me to purchase the “right” soil for our Arizona climate. I used two 2cu feet of Kellogg Garden Organics – Organic Plus for the bottom layer of the garden.  For the top layer, at Plant Stand, a garden supply store in my neighborhood, purchased two 1.5 cu feet of Fox Farm Ocean Forest Potting Soil, made from earthworm castings and bat guano.

    Step 3: What to Plant in the Spring (in Phoenix, Arizona)

    In the Arizona desert, right now our local urban farmers are doing their Spring planting, so I took their lead and visited Billy at The Farm at South Mountain to be sure to plant the “correct” veggies, herbs, and edible flowers for this time of year.

    Picked up a few Spring goodies from my urban farmer friend Billy Anthony who has been such an inspiration around growing beautiful food.

     

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    • Herbs: Oregano, Genovese Basil and Amethyst Basil, French Lavender, Flatleaf Italian Parsley
    • Edible flowers: Viola, Calendula, Snapdragon
    • Greens: Dandelion
    • Melon: Sugar Baby Watermelon
    • Cucumbers: Gherkins
    • Tomatoes: Blush Tomato
    • Berry: Pinchuberry

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    5 Tips on Planting Layout from Phoenix Urban Farmer, Billy Anthony

    Since I wanted to get it “right,” Billy gave me a few tips on where to plant the different plants in the garden. A few tips:

    1. Watermelon near the edge of the garden, so it could grow down the side towards the Earth.
    2. Basil plants at the end of the planter, as they will become quite large.
    3. Lavender in the middle surrounded by the edible flowers.
    4. Dandelion greens next to the violas (hope I got that right) to give them a little shade.
    5. Plant larger plants (pichuberry, tomato) in pots to give them room to grow.

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    Let’s take a closer look at a few of the Plants…

    Spring Arizona Garden Day 1: The plants planted into the Elevated Garden, according to the Plan.

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    And, pausing to enjoy our Arizona sunset with the new Spring Garden. Self care!

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    Top 5 Basic Edible Gardening Tips from Phoenix urban farmer, Billy Anthony

    As a final thought in today’s new Phoenix Backyard Gardening Blog, simple advise from Billy to me, to you…

    • The right soil.
    • The right plants at the right time.
    • Sunshine.
    • Water.
    • And, I’ll add, have fun!

    My final reflection on Day 1 of my Spring 2019 garden.

    • Enjoyed the process of learning the steps and planning to plant my little garden.
    • Loved being outside in my backyard, with a purpose, and enjoying the self care sunset with my new garden.
    • Felt a sense of new accomplishment.

    I’ll keep you posted as my gardening adventure evolves.

    I’ll be using the #ediblegardentotable so we can easily find the edible garden progress.

    If you are in the Phoenix area and would like to meet Billy Anthony, we are co-hosting a Spring Farm-to-Table Cooking Class at The Farm at South Mountain, April 7, 2019, 11am-1pm.

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    Purchase Tickets for Raw Farm-to-Table Plant-Based Intuitive Cooking with Melanie Albert and Soil & Seed Garden Farmer Billy Anthony. The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona, Sunday, April 7, 2019, 11am-1pm

    INTERESTED IN PLANT-BASED COOKING RETREAT IN SEDONA, September 13-16, 2019. CLICK TO LEARN MORE

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    Purchase Melanie Albert’s award-winning cookbook, “A New View of Healthy Eating:  Simple Intuitive Cooking with Real Whole Foods”

     

     

     

  • Experience Nutrition: Welcome to the NEW Experience Nutrition with Melanie Albert

    Experience Nutrition: Welcome to the NEW Experience Nutrition with Melanie Albert

    By Melanie Albert, Intuitive Cooking Expert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition, Award-Winning Cookbook Author, Speaker

    Today, I’m excited to share with you the update of my website, www.ExperienceNutrition.com, With the website launch, I thought I’d take a moment to briefly share my initial motivation for healthy eating and living, along with my philosophies about plant-based eating.

    The Power of Food: Mom’s Breast Cancer 23 Years Ago

    23 years ago my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, and the conventional doctors gave her six months to live. At that point, I left my corporate marketing career in Kansas City to be with Mom and my Dad in Cocoa Beach, Florida. At night I read the few nutrition books that were available. I had already stopped eating meat and was eating organic food.

    This was when I first learned that food and positive mindset were key to health.

    I’m happy to say, as I write this today, that my Mom celebrated her 89th birthday this month. And, my Dad is now 92 years old. And, they are both enjoying life every day with their positivity and beautiful Cocoa Beach backyard.

    Melanie Albert with Mom & Dad in Cocoa Beach, Florida

    I’ll continue to share more of my journey with food and cooking in my blog posts so you can get to know me and my motivation for being here with you.

    Top 6 Philosophies of Plant-Based Eating from Melanie’s cookbook, “A New View of Healthy Eating”

    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:

    1. Eat real whole foods.
    2. Shop local and in season.
    3. Enjoy intuitive shopping.
    4. Cook with intuition.
    5. Eat mindfully.
    6. Enjoy food and life.
     Eat Real Whole Foods.

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

    Real whole foods include vegetables, fruit, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds. 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, M.D., the Mediterranean way of eating, and the Blue Zones as researched by National Geographic, Dan Buettner, and his team. The foods and recipes are all gluten-free and dairy-free.

    A New View of Healthy Eating Book, by Melanie Albert

    Farm-to-Table Cooking Classes at The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix, Arizona

    Farm-to-Table Intuitive Cooking Classes at The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona

    I’m honored to teach hands-on interactive cooking classes at the beautiful The Farm at South Mountain for the three years. Hope our local Arizona friends can join us this Fall.

    November 18, 2018, 11am-1pm: Farm-to-Table Plant-Based Thanksgiving CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKET

    December 9. 2018, 11am-1pm: Plant-Based Holiday Desserts CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKET

    Join our Plant-Based Community Come on over to our Simple Daily Plant-Based Facebook Group, where I share daily tips around shopping, cooking, and eating beautiful, delicious food. CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE GROUP

    Join our e-newsletter for cooking ideas, recipes, and events. And, please let me know if you are interested in any nutrition cooking programs for your organization.