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3 Berry Recipes to Help You Take Advantage of Summer’s Superfood

SPONSORED POST: I’ve partnered with Milk & Eggs, an amazing farm direct grocery delivery service, to bring you guys some delicious, super seasonal, and always healthy recipes a few times a month.  I’m so excited to share some of my favorite dishes and health food products with you!

3 Berry Recipes |  The Organic Beauty Blog

Berries are my favorite part of spring and summer.  They’re everywhere, they’re delicious, and they are loaded with amazing health benefits.  One of my favorite summertime treats is opening up my grocery delivery box to find tons of fresh, organic berries that I get to enjoy all week long.

We all know (hopefully) that berries are loaded with antioxidants, which make them an amazing anti-aging and anti-cancer food, but perhaps we could use a little reminder about why these colorful little treats are so great?  Behold:

8 Awesome Health Benefits of Berries:

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Grain-Free Cherry Crisp (paleo, vegan)

Grain-Free Cherry Crisp | The Organic Beauty Blog

Ahhhhh cherries…. These little puppies are so good (and good for you!) that they don’t last long in our house (check out my recent post on all the amazing health benefits of berries here).  But after a few weeks of traveling and insanity, I found a bag of forgotten, nearly-past-their-prime cherries in a dark corner of my fridge, and knew I had to get them into our bellies right quick.

Enter: the trusty crisp!  Crisps and crumbles are such a quick, easy, and healthy dessert, but one I typically reserve for fall/winter… Apple crisps, pear crumbles, something about these humble desserts just elicit images of cozy evenings by the fire in the colder months.

But with summer upon us and berry season in full swing, I thought, why not make a summery version of this favorite, in a perfect size just for two?

I opted for a grain-free cherry crisp as opposed to a crumble since it’s easier to omit oats (which are more of a fall/winter grain) in favor of nut flour.  And instead of cinnamon (which is a warming, cold weather spice), I used cardamom (a cooling, digestion-boosting summer spice), which lends a different flavor profile to the dessert, and complements the cherries beautifully. The whole thing ends up being totally grain-free and the use of maple syrup as a sweetener makes it paleo as well.  It’s pretty much the perfect healthy dessert!

Enjoy!

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Spinach Fennel Salad with Blackberries

Spinach Fennel Salad with Blackberries | The Organic Beauty Blog

Adding berries (and fruit in general) to my salads is one of my favorite ways to punch up my dinners, take advantage of summer’s most potent and healthy foods, and reduce sugar cravings.  Check out all the amazing benefits of eating berries this time of year here.

Pretty much any salad can benefit from the addition of some yummy seasonal berries, and this one is no exception.  This salad is detoxifying, slimming, and loaded with powerful antioxidants and beautifying ingredients.  Plus, the delicious natural sweetness of the berries and the dressing mean you’re not going to be craving dessert!

Feel free to sub in any berry you love, though I think blackberries work best in this particular recipe.

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Lose winter weight and eliminate allergies this spring!

SPONSORED POST: I’ve partnered with Milk & Eggs, an amazing farm direct grocery delivery service, to bring you guys some delicious, super seasonal, and always healthy recipes a few times a month.  I’m so excited to share some of my favorite dishes and health food products with you!

Seasonal Spring Diet | The Organic Beauty

Imagine these two scenarios: in the first, you enjoy a lovely, happy spring with increased energy, a sunnier mood, and a leaner body.  You naturally shed that insulating winter weight, don’t experience so much as a sniffle, and feel like a confident goddess heading into bikini season.

In the second scenario, your seasonal allergies start acting up as soon as the weather starts to warm, and you get one (or more) of those horrible springtime colds.  You seem to always be sniffling and you just feel puffy.  Those pounds you put on over the winter don’t seem to be going anywhere, and, is it your imagination, or are you actually gaining weight? You’re tired and sluggish and dread the summer when you’ll have to pull that bathing suit out of the back of your drawer.

A pretty stark contrast, right?  Well guess what, the difference between the two isn’t a drastic juice cleanse or a crazy workout schedule.  It is simply a seasonal, springtime diet!

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How to Winterize Your Smoothies

Winterize Your Smoothies | The Organic Beauty

I love green smoothie. I’m not going to go so far as to say I moved all the way across the country to California so that I could have green smoothies for breakfast every day without any consequences — but that isn’t as far from the truth as you would think.  I really LOVE my morning green smoothies.  They are my absolute favorite breakfast, and I find them to be the most wonderful vehicle for getting insane amounts of nutrients and superfoods into my body in a very efficient fashion.

But as great as green smoothies are, drinking them in the colder months actually messes with your health, digestion, energy, and immunity.  Eating and drinking cold foods, especially during periods of cold weather, forces your body to work harder to warm it up and digest it.  Cold foods can throw off the delicate balance of your stomach lining, can increase phlegm, decrease immunity and cause or exacerbate digestive issues like constipation and diarrhea.  No fun.

In both Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda, eating and drinking warm foods is a big part of keeping one’s body running smoothly and optimizing digestion.  I get chastised about my smoothie habit by my acupuncturist every time I see her, and I am in a constant heated back and forth with the Ayurvedic practitioner inside me every time I opt for a smoothie or salad in the middle of December.

So what’s a smoothie and salad loving girl to do?

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Fall Smoothie and Green Juice!

SPONSORED POST: I’ve partnered with Milk & Eggs, an amazing farm direct grocery delivery service, to bring you guys some delicious, super seasonal, and always healthy recipes a few times a month.  I’m so excited to share some of my favorite dishes with you!

Seasonal Cooking with Milk & Eggs: Fall Smoothie and Juice | The Organic Beauty Blog

Fall is kind of a weird time of the year for our bodies.  From Halloween through New Year’s, we can get bombarded with all kinds of festive holiday foods that are higher in sugar and fat than we would normally eat.  Even though the weather might still be nice in the fall, this can be a shock to our systems (if we’re otherwise healthy eaters) that can lead to compromised immunity, sluggishness, and a bit of a strain on our livers and digestion (not to mention our waistlines).  Since I know the fall and impending holiday season is going to bring some “off” eating, I like to be extra on my healthy eating game in between holidays, to both give my organs a rest, and offset the effects of the holidays.  Naturally, there’s nothing like some beautiful fall smoothies and green juices to do the trick!

So this week, I changed my standing Milk & Eggs order to get the Organic Cleanse Fruit and Veggie Bag, which is loaded with beautiful, seasonal produce perfect for juices and smoothies.  In addition to the usual gorgeous greens, berries and beets that I get in my regular farm sampler bag, the Cleanse bag comes with a bunch of apples, lemons, and ginger that are amazing for seasonal cleansing.  At just $20, I can’t believe what an awesome value this Cleanse bag is! I easily pay at least twice that at my co-op or health food store for this much organic produce. And the great thing is, since the food is coming directly from local farmers, I can be sure that everything is in season, which makes it so much easier to digest and assimilate!

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Dinner Tonight: Hearty Vegetarian 3 Bean Chili

If you landed here from a Facebook ad about a drink for easy slim-down, that’s not my ad, and I have no idea why it’s linking to my blog! That said, I’m happy to support you with weight loss.. Check out The Last (and best) Diet You’ll Ever Need and Healthy Smoothies for Weight Loss.


 

It’s a whopping 50 degrees in LA today, which is a perfect excuse to whip up a batch of delicious, hearty, and warming chili. I think this may be as close as we get to winter in these parts (but who’s complaining?), so I’ll take what I can get.  

This chili is super fast and easy to make, so it’s a perfect weeknight meal.

You can make it with or without a fake meat — I usually go without, but was feeling extra punchy today, so I added some yummy veggie chorizo.

*Note: Since this recipe relies heavily on canned goods, make sure to look for organic, low-sodium, and BPA-free!! 

Vegan Three Bean Chili

Serves 4

GF, V

3 tbsp olive oil
1 white onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, minced
1 package vegan chorizo (optional)
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper
3 14 oz. cans organic beans (I used one can each cannelini, kidney, and pinto beans, but you can use whatever beans you have around!), rinsed and drained
1 24 oz. can crushed organic tomatoes
1 cup vegetable broth (add a little more if you want your chili on the soupier side)
Sea salt to taste

Heat olive oil in a large pot, add onions, garlic, and jalapeño. Sauté over medium heat until onions are soft. Add spices and stir. Add beans, tomatoes, and broth. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer until flavor are combined. Top with chopped parley or cilantro.  Enjoy!

Inspiration: Sustainable Summer Soiree!

We love a good party. And now that we live in beautiful and sunny Santa Monica, with tons of indoor and outdoor space to entertain, we were itching to throw a little housewarming party to take our space for a test ride.

In typical Organic Beauty style, we focused on elevated entertaining — using sustainable party accessories, fresh local produce, and an affinity for organic style.

Check out my inspiration board for a sustainable summer soiree, then peep some photos and recipes from our housewarming party where we put it into action!

 

Organic-Beauty-Eco-Friendly-Summer-Party2

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5 Ways to Deal with Winter Darkness

By: Natasha Uspensky, CHHC

5 Ways to Deal with Winter Darkness | The Organic Beauty Blog

The other day, I went to bed at 9:30.  Now if you know me, you know how totally crazy that is.  I used to be the world’s biggest night owl.  Even as that started to change, I’ve never voluntarily gone to bed before 11pm.  Bonkers.  Now, do I feel super lame and old? No! Was it because I had nothing better to do? Of course not!  Rather, this insanely early bedtime was a result of my listening to my body and taking steps to combat winter blues, lack of energy, and general malaise.  And guess what?  It worked!  I woke up before my alarm, to bright sunlight streaming through my window.  I had tons of time for myself in the morning to get outside with the pup and relax into my day.  I was super energized for an early yoga class (which I rocked, dare I say). And I was super productive and motivated all day long.  So what’s my secret?

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A Killer Juice That Bites Back!

By: Natasha Uspensky, CHHC

A Killer Juice That Bites Back! | The Organic Beauty Blog

Being a lover of all things raw, green and juicy, I tend to get a little sad when the warmer months come to an end, and I have to start replacing my daily green juices and smoothies with more warming foods.  Unfortunately, these amazing nutrient powerhouses are just too cooling for most bodies during the cold weather months (you may notice that you just feel colder in your hands and feet, or feel more spacey or anxious when you eat a lot of raw foods or drink green juices in the winter).  But the fall is still a lovely middle ground.  It’s starting to cool, and there is still tons of great seasonal produce to rock in some delicious green concoctions, as long as you add some warming ingredients that add a little bite!

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