Here are some tips to those thinking of bringing more plant-based foods into their diet. Or perhaps you want to eliminate animal foods altogether and not quite sure how to begin:

•  Baby steps can help ease this transition for you. If you feel overwhelmed, do the best you can do and don’t beat yourself up in the process. Eating should be enjoyable!

• Start your day with a nutritious green juice or smoothie. Squeeze some lemon to cut the bitter greens and add some berries (low sugar).  Add fresh nut milk, spinach, kale or other greens, carrot, lemon, berries, chia or ground flax seeds. Add 1 T raw cacao powder if you need a kick in the morning. Banana or dates will add sweetness if you need this initially. This one change to your diet will bring some raw green nutrition to your day regardless of what happens the rest of the day.
• Stay away from processed vegan foods. Processed foods may be the number 1 killer of diets today with all the chemicals in them.
• Learning how to prepare delicious plant-based foods can be very easy: buy a recipe book, take a class and/or get on the internet for delicious, easy recipes.  You will quickly love being in the kitchen.
• Think you need animal protein? Think again.  Plant protein is not only more bio-available to your body; it is easier to digest and won’t slow you down.  Cooked animal protein, on the other hand, is not only difficult to digest, it creates inflammation in the tissues and is rough on the kidneys. Some of the best plant protein sources are: almonds, bee pollen, Brewer’s yeast, chlorella, green-leafy vegetables, hemp seeds, olives, pumpkin seeds, sprouts, and vegetables powders.
• Think you need calcium from dairy? Think again. If you introduce lots of green leafy vegetables into your diet, calcium is no longer a worry. A 12-year study at Harvard with 78,000 women showed that those drinking cow’s milk are more likely to have brittle bones and osteoporosis. For more information, this was published in “The American journal of Public Health” in 1997 titled “Milk, Dietary Calcium and Bone Fractures in Women: A 12-Year Prospective Study.”
• For inspiration, find some food-related documentaries on netflix or online.  There are many more but here are some to check out: “Food Inc.,” “Forks Over Knives,” “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead,” “Eating.”
• Eating out is easier than you might think. Find some vegan friendly restaurants like: Green, Pomegranate’s, 24 Carrots just to name a few. If you can’t pick the restaurant, look on the menu at the “sides” for some grilled vegetables, rice, beans, etc. and let your wait staff know you are meat, dairy and egg-free. They will talk to the chef if need-be and create an amazing meal for you.
• When making a meal, make enough for leftovers. Make a big pot of rice or other grain for meals during the week. Grains can really “beef” up a salad or soup.
• Things to have in the fridge every week: hummus and cut up vegetables, nuts/seeds and fruit trail mix for on-the-go calories, a week’s worth of homemade salad dressing, cut up onions, peppers, and vegetables for a quick soup or stir-fry.
• Learn one new recipe each week and have fun with it. Get the family involved.
• Grow a plant AND visit a farmers market each week. Local produce is way healthier than store bought and almost always organically grown. You will start to try vegetables you never knew could grow in the desert.

Whether you want more connection to nature, want to lose those unnecessary pounds, or want to move 100% into the plant-based diet, know that you are not alone and there are people to help you. Get inspired and find your love of real food once again in your own kitchen and garden. Hope to see you in class soon!

- your inspirational plant-based chef, Linda Curry

• Visit a local farmers market for your produce.  It has traveled much less to get to your dinner plate and is loaded with nutrition.  Produce that travels a long way is often picked early before it has all the nutritional value.
• Choose poultry or eggs without hormones or antibiotics.  Factory-farmed chickens rarely see the light of day and are loaded with antibiotics due to the filthy lifestyles of factory farms.  Hormones are used to plump up the chickens faster as well as YOU!
• If you eat cows, ensure you are buying grass-fed.  According to Organic Consumers Association, scientists are agreeing that grazing cows can reverse global warming.  Health-wise, grain-fed cows have an abundance of omega 6 which is not a healthy balance of omega3/omega6 which is linked to cancer.  Let cows eat what they are meant to eat and we all win.
• Refuse to eat genetically modified foods (GMO).  GMO’s are found in most processed foods unless they are marked organic or non-GMO.  Scientists fear we have some serious issues with consumption of GMO foods and may be mostly seen in next generations. Watch out for ingredients with corn, soy, canola, sugar beets.
• Plant a vegetable garden.  It’s a great time to plant zucchini, squash, melons, chard among others for summer harvest. If you don’t have a garden, just try planting one plant and see how it goes.  Baby steps.
• Go for a hike and connect with nature on a spiritual level.  Appreciate the beauty and the essence of the plant world.

What other ideas do you have for Earth Day?  Please comment.

Peanut Butter is so last year… You can substitute peanut butter but I like using sunflower butter for this one. It’s a good alternative as many people are sensitive to the fungus in peanuts. Add seeds instead of nuts for a lower fat/calorie recipe. Coconut nectar as a choice of sweetener is low glycemic. Or skip the sweetener all together. Lots of room for creativity on this recipe.

Group1:

• ¼ cup sunflower butter or other nut/seed butter (w/ sea salt)
• ¼ cup coconut nectar, or other sweetener (honey, pure maple syrup, etc)
• 2 T coconut oil or coconut butter

Group 2:

• 2 t cinnamon
• 1 t vanilla
• 1/8 t sea salt

Group 3:

• 1 ½ cups rolled oats (if gluten sensitive, use gluten-free oats)
• ½ cup seeds/nuts of your choice (sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, flax, almonds, walnuts, etc.)
• Other ideas: raisins, chocolate chips, dried fruit, goji berries, carob chips, etc.

1. Warm Group 1 on stove until melted
2. Remove from heat and stir in Group 2
3. Stir in Group 3 until coated with mixture (may not need all oats)
4. Form mixture into a rectangle on center of baking sheet or dehydrator sheet
5. Either bake at 300 degrees for 25min or dehydrate at 115 degrees for 24hrs (for a raw treat)
6. Cool then break into clusters. Enjoy!

Shelf life? No worries. The granola will be gone before you know it.

By now we’ve all heard about probiotics and how we need “good” bacteria in the gut for proper digestion.  But now everyone seems to be talking about digestive enzymes.  Let’s explore…

Raw plant foods naturally have digestive enzymes within them so they can be properly broken down during digestion for optimal absorption of nutrients.  However, when we cook foods above 118 degrees, the digestive enzymes are destroyed.  So how are we digesting the cooked foods we eat?  Well, your pancreas creates some of these digestive enzymes for you.  But it can’t do all the work.  In fact, besides cooking foods, stress, fear, worry, anger, prescription drugs, toxins, and pathogens all affect our digestion.  In addition, carbonation neutralizes your stomach acid and prevents proper breakdown of your food.  This means it is very important to not have carbonated drinks with meals.  Vinegar will also affect digestive enzymes EXCEPT for apple cider and coconut vinegar.

A diet that includes a significant portion of raw plant foods is optimal for proper breakdown of your food.  Juicing green foods is an excellent way to support your level of digestive enzymes and nutrients.  Supplementation is also an option if you feel it is necessary.  If you care to supplement, ensure your digestive enzymes contain at least lipose, protease, and amylase.  These enzymes help to digest fat, protein and starches which are essential enzymes for digestion.

Happy digesting…

If you are feeling challenged by work, home life, or your health for instance, it may be time to stop the resistance to it and allow life to unfold around you with grace.  So many times we try to control things outside of ourselves and it only causes the opposite force to push back on us.  We simply cannot change these things no matter how hard we try.

Accepting things around you exactly as they are can bring peace of mind.  But we may also not want certain vibrations to exist in our space any longer.  This is where choices come in.  We cannot change things outside ourselves, but we can make different choices.

In 2013, I invite you to gently make different choices where you feel challenged.  Choose to walk away from a negative environment, choose to take a different route to work, choose to let go of trying to please another or choose to be joyful instead of sad.  It is time to focus on bringing more joy and peace to our lives by letting go and making new choices.  I am looking forward to flowing with life and observing how my surroundings change with this new vibration.

What are you doing in 2013?