Delicious & Healthy Fall Recipes

Greetings Dear Readers!

I am so happy today because its the perfect Fall weather. Its cool and crisp outside but the sun is shining and if you stand in just the right place it will still warm you outside and in.

This is by far my favorite season for cooking. I love to bake apple pie, roast seasonal squashes and root veggies, and of course, I love juicing apples!

Today I'm going to share with you some of my favorite simple recipes for Fall. Try them at home and let me know how it goes. I hope its delicious and FUN!

Roasted Butternut Squash
Ingredients
1 butternut squash
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup Organic Cold Pressed Olive Oil (you can use coconut oil as well)
Cinnamon to taste
Sea Salt

When I found out how simple it was to roast a squash I was blown away. You can certainly get more fancy with this recipe by cutting the squash into different size pieces or shaping them, but if your just chillin' at home and want something sweet and warm and delicious, try this:

Wash one small butternut squash and cut it in half or four.
Remove the seeds from the belly of the squash.
Place both halves (inside face up) on a baking tray.
Preheat the oven to 375 (or 400 depending on climate and your oven)
Chop 2 cloves of garlic fine and mix them into a 1/4 cup of oil. Mix well.
Drizzle or glaze the oil over the squash covering the entire exposed surface
Sprinkle cinnamon and sea salt over the squash to your desired amount
Bake in the oven for 25 minutes then check with a fork.

I like it really soft so I would probably leave my squash in another 15 minutes (40 total). If you like it kind of hard or raw still, you can take it out after 30 minutes. Cut it into pieces and serve! Delicious.

AGAVE APPLE PIE

Here's a healthy take on an apple pie recipe that I have been trying to perfect for a few years now. It includes the use of Agave nectar.

Agave nectar's glycemic index and glycemic load are comparable to fructose, which in turn has a much lower glycemic index and glycemic load than table sugar (sucrose).

INGREDIENTS

• 5 or 6 large apples
• 2 whole wheat grain pie crusts ( you can make your own or buy in a health food store)
• 1/4 cup Agave Nectar (I recommend using amber or light)
• 1/2 cup Organic Rolled Oats
• 1/4 cup wheat flour
• Cinnamon
• dash of Sea Salt

Place one of the whole grain pie crust in a round baking dish. Wash, peel, core and chop the apples into small chunks. In a large mixing bowl combine the apples, agave nectar, sea salt and cinnamon and stir until blended. Add the rolled oats and wheat flour to the mixture and stir until moist and blended. (you could add more apples or a dash more agave here to keep mixture moist).

Fill in pie dish and cover with the second pie crust. Poke holes in the top crust with a fork to allow it to breathe.

Bake at 350, for 25 minutes. Crust should turn golden brown. Keep your eye on it!

Enjoy! (don't be afraid to add a scoop of vanilla frozen yogurt to this dish!)

APPLE, WALNUT & ENDIVE SALAD
(got this recipe from Martha)

Serves 4

• 1/3 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 2 teaspoons grainy mustard
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 shallot, minced
• 3 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 2 red apples, quartered, cored, and each quarter cut into 8 wedges
• 3 ounces baby arugula, washed and dried (6 cups)
• 1 Belgian endive, leaves separated, washed and dried
• 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, coarsely chopped
• 2 ounces soft goat cheese, crumbled
  

1. In a small skillet over medium heat, toast walnuts, stirring frequently until crisp and fragrant, about 5 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the mustard, honey, shallot, and vinegar until well combined. Whisk in the oil until thick; season with salt and pepper.
3. Add apple and arugula; toss to coat. Arrange endive leaves on four serving plates, top with apple mixture and scatter mint, cheese, and walnuts over the top.

Read more at Wholeliving.com: Apple, Walnut, and Endive Salad

Guided Detox Cleanse and Yoga Week!

Join Us for an amazing Fall Detox Cleanse!

Rid your body of unwanted waste and stressful toxins. Check in with your body's state of natural balance through meditation and yoga. Learn how to cleanse physical, mental and emotional toxins.

GUIDED DETOXIFYING CLEANSE & YOGA WEEK
w/ Juice Truck Owner and Holistic Health Coach, Deborah C. Smith and Yoga with Ashtanga Goddess Lisa Kazmer

September 10th - 17th, 2010
Greenpoint, Brooklyn

"This cleanse experience is amazingly supportive and a true catharsis."

"I feel so much more energy then I did just a week ago"

"The cleanse helped me to understand what foods I need more of and less of in my everyday life. Deborah was a tremendous guide in getting through the week."

Guided Detox Cleanse and Yoga Intensive includes:

- Juicey Kick-off! Cleansing Plenary Session (group)
- Weekly menu plan
- Nutrition and Cleanse Educational Materials
- 2 Basics Detox-focused Yoga classes- 75 minutes (group)
- 30 minute private health coaching session (individual)
- Detox Tea Blends for the week

TOTAL CLEANSE PACKAGE - $100 per person.

** Fresh Squeezed Juice Delivery for the cleanse is a separate option which each individual may inquire about.

** Individual Private yoga sessions are available with Lisa

DISCOUNTS

Sign up before Labor Day and receive a $15 discount!

Register and pay securely with Paypal!

Registration Fees

Full Registration Fee $100.00 Earlybird Discount $85.00 Internship (1 per cleanse) $50.00

REFER A FRIEND
Most of my client base and group workshop attendees arrive in my world via word of mouth. In order to reward those of you who pass along this valuable info, I offer the following referral plan.

Refer 1 client: Receive a FREE 30 minute Health Coaching session
Refer 2 clients: Receive a FREE 45 minute massage OR FREE private yoga lesson
Refer 3 clients: Receive BOTH a 45 minute massage AND private yoga lesson
************************************************************************************
ABOUT DEBORAH

For the past 5 years I have been cleansing regularly throughout the seasons and guiding groups and individuals in successful cleansing experiences. As a graduate of the renown Institute for Integrative Nutrition, I am trained to work with individuals from all walks of life in addressing their body's nutritional needs, but I received most of my real knowledge about the process by working with my own body and listening intently to the questions and concerns of my clients. I am highly experienced to offer a Guided Juice Cleanse plan that is unique to each individual that I work with.

As a certified Holistic Health Coach, I have been the nutritional guide for hundreds of busy New Yorkers seeking a healthier lifestyle. Many of my clients have reported that even several years later they are still applying the knowledge and education they received from my program to help them make the healthiest choices and live a more fulfilling and happier life.

Cooking Healthy for One

Some days I just want to swing by the health food store and pick a package of that India space food that you just plop in boiling water and its ready to eat in 3 minutes, like some gushy curry lentils or creamy spinach. Yeah.... but today I realized it was time for me to practice the art of cooking for one. I am horrible at this. I love to cook gigantic spreads that can feed 20 people or a plated gourmet 3 course sit down orgasmic organic delicious meal for 4! But when it's just me eating.... I tend to drop the ball, reach for those already cooked easy to prepare foods or just snack on fruit throughout the day. Today I wanted a meal that would be fantastic and delicious and healthy just for me! So with Indian space food in mind I foraged through my own kitchen for all the ingredients it would take to reach nirvana and 20 minutes later I was smiling widely.










Let's call it Spinach Curry Quinoa with Chickpeas (not so fancy). Ok how about Vegetarian Bliss! I have to admit I impressed even myself. The recipe was simple:

16 oz can chickpeas
3/4 cup quinoa
1/2 golden delicious apple
handful organic spinach
1 small onion (peeled and chopped)
3 cloves of garlic (peeled & chopped)
2 Tbs Yellow Curry
1 tsp organic olive oil
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp sea salt
dash cayenne pepper

Directions:

Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil over a low heat to caramelize the onion. After 2 or 3 minutes add entire can of chickpeas (including the liquid). Stir in the curry, turmeric, sea salt and cayenne pepper and allow all ingredients to simmer and soften the chickpeas.

Combine quinoa with 1 1/2 cups of filtered water and bring to a boil. Then reduce to low heat and cover with tight lid. Let it cook 12 minutes or until all the water has evaporated and grains are fully cooked.

Wash and dry handful of spinach and shred it into smaller bite size pieces. Slice half the apple into small cubes. Combine apple and spinach and then cover with two heaping tablespoons of the quinoa and fill the bowl with the curry chickpeas. Stir it all up together and let it cool a bit before savoring every bite!

Enjoy! I sat quietly and read a chapter from my favorite book, Jitterbug Perfume, by Tom Robbins. If you have never read it, its a juicy cosmic adventure to eternity and beyond, try it.

Spring Feast on the Equinox!

Planning a healthy meal is simply more fun and makes most sense when done in conjunction with the changing cycles of nature. It's time to celebrate Spring and our bodies with delicious and healthy recipes that honor this great time of balance and rebirth.
Why not plan a Spring feast?



The spring (or vernal) equinox is one of the four great solar festivals of the year. Day and night are equal, poised and balanced, but about to tip over on the side of light. The spring equinox is sacred to dawn, youth, the morning star and the east. The Saxon goddess, Eostre (from whose name we get the direction East and the holiday Easter) is a dawn goddess, like Aurora and Eos. Just as the dawn is the time of new light, so the vernal equinox is the time of new life.

It is a day for all to celebrate longer daylight hours,
returning warmth and the start of planting.

So, what's on the menu for your Spring Feast?

Here's some food for thought. A Spring feast typically incorporates foods associated with birth or new life, including eggs (the promise of new animal life), seeds (the promise of new plant life) fresh greens finally growing again after a long winter, sprouts, fresh vegetables and fruits with lots of seeds.



How about a giant fresh greens salad with spinach and dandelion greens, sprouts and strawberries, sunflower seeds and some goat cheese?


You can dress it with a mixture of olive oil, vinegar, mustard, lemon, and sea salt.


Wonderful Spring veggies include asparagus (also an afrodisiac!), squashes, tomatoes, Spring onions and lettuces. Some people also include a roots soup (potatoes, carrots, beets and other roots that keep well throughout the winter) to pay respects and bid farewell to the winter veggies that keep well in the cold.




Deviled eggs are always a big hit at an Equinox feast, but you can also hard boil your eggs and decorate them to dress up your table and then add them to your salad later.

Fresh milk, cheese and butter are often present at a Spring feast to represent that young goat and cattle are being born and these foods are more readily available. If you're serving meat, lamb and fish are the traditional Spring feast choices.

Sprouts of any kind and grasses such as wheatgrass and barley grass are perfect symbolic foods and packed with nutrients and phytochemicals that ignite your immune system. You can juice them and serve them with dinner or add them on top of your salad.

Don't forget seeds! Sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, caraway seeds, pumpkin seeds! They are delicious raw or roasted and can make a great snack as well as represent new life.


Ritual and Celebration


Have fun with creating your Spring feast.

- Decorate your table with candles, greens and fresh flowers.
- Ask your guests to each bring a food that reminds them of Spring.
- Invite each guest to plant a seed of an idea for what they hope to cultivate or create for themselves in the coming season.
- Try to balance and egg on its end!
- Teach your children the importance of adding meaning to your nourishment.

Most importantly, give thanks to mother Earth for providing all that we have and for continuing to grow new plant and animal life to sustain us.

Happy Spring Equinox! Have a great feast!

Deborah