The Dirty Dozen Vs. The Clean Fifteen

It can be overwhelming and expensive to buy organic.  Fortunately not all of our fruits and veggies need to be organically grown in order to be considered relatively safe.

Below is a list of the Clean Fifteen and the Dirty Dozen. The D12s need to be organic as they are the fruits and vegetables sprayed with the most pesticides. The Clean 15 are those you can get away with buying non-organic.

Sometimes the healthiest choice is not always the most economical, but if you can save some money on the one side and splurge on the other, you are doing the right thing for both your health and your wallet.

The Dirty Dozen: 

1- Peach

2- Apple

3- Bell Pepper

4- Celery

5- Nectarine

6- Strawberries

7- Cherries

8- Kale

9- Lettuce

10- Grapes 

11- Carrot

12- Pear

The Clean Fifteen: 

1- Onion 

2- Avocado 

3- Sweet Corn 

4- Pineapple

5- Mango 

6- Asparagus

7- Sweet Peas

8- Kiwi 

9- Cabbage 

10- Eggplant

11- Papaya

12- Watermelon 

13- Broccoli 

14- Tomato 

15- Sweet Potato 

For more information about this list, check with website: http://ww2.foodnews.org/

Commitment

"Successful people adhere to the 'no exceptions' rule when it comes to their daily disciplines. 

Once you make a 100% commitment to something, there are no exceptions. 

It's a done deal. 

Nonnegotiable. 

Case closed.

Over and out."

- Jack Canfield from The Success Principles 

Falafel Salad

Sometimes cooking dinner after a long day at work is the absolute last thing I want to do when I get home at night… I remember why I used to eat eggs so often when I was living on my own.

But the other night I decided to dig deep and pull out the old food processor to make a salad with a twist: The Falafel Salad. 
I have to say it was well worth the use of equipment, and actually very simple to do. Remarkably I had many of the ingredients already in my kitchen- which is uncommon and signals to me that my “Martha Stewart” skills are truly being developed. 

If you’re like me, seeing two separate recipes in a blog post usually makes me flip to the next… but please do not be dissuaded- the dressing is very easy and the food processor is already out, so you may as well just do it. As my British Mom would say, “in for a penny, in for a pound.” 

Here is what you need:

• 1 Large can of chickpeas (540 ml)
• 3 large garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup red onion, roughly chopped (save some for the salad)
• 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup packed fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup packed fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup ground flax
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs (I used gluten free crackers crumbled up instead of bread crumbs)
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, optional
• 1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt, or to taste

1. In a food processor, with the processor running, drop in 3 garlic cloves to mince and then add about 2 cups of chickpeas… (You need to leave some whole to stir in later). Add the onion, lemon juice, and herbs. Process until just combined, but so that it is still kind of chunky and with some texture.

2. Scoop the mixture into a large bowl. Stir in the ground flax, breadcrumbs, cumin, reserved chickpeas, and salt and pepper to taste. Shape into patties, about 1/4 cup each and really pack the dough in tightly so it holds together.

3. Make your salad: Mine was super simple and included chopped spinach, big chunks of tomato, a big chunks of cucumber, red onion and some a pre-cooked salmon fillet that I just cut into small pieces. 

4. Grease pre-heated skillet with olive oil and cook the patties on medium-high heat for about 5 minutes on each side, or until golden.

5. Drizzle with Lemon Tahini Dressing (Combine the below ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Makes just under 1 cup)

•  1/4 cup Tahini (This took forever for me to find in Choices… turns out it was in the Peanut butter aisle)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
• 1/4 cup Nutritional yeast or a bit more, to taste
• 2-4 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil, to taste
• 1 tsp kosher salt + freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
• 3 tbsp water, or as needed

Wednesday Workout!

Good Morning!
Today's class was a real doozy...

Here is what we did:

DRILL #1
3 Rounds @ 40 Seconds/Interval 
1 Round @ 60 Seconds/Interval 
1- Bosu jump ups- Sit on Bosu with feet hip distance apart, squeeze your abs, stand-up and jump.
2- Bosu Knee Drives- Come to a push-up position with your feet on the bosu, drive your right knee to right elbow and repeat on the left side.
3- Star Jumps- Keep your feet together and drop your hips so that your hands touch the floor, spring up and open your arms and legs into the shape of star.
4- High Knees

Tabata Interval:
20 seconds split jumps: 10 seconds High Knees x 8 Rounds

DRILL #2

3 Rounds @ 40 Seconds/Interval 

1 Round @ 60 Seconds/Interval 

1- 4 Ski Jumps: 1 Burpee- Move laterally side to side by jumping from one foot to the other. If possible bring your whole hand to touch the floor on every jump. On your 4th jump do a burpee.
2- Back Lunge and knee drive jump (3 left/3 right) Repeat.
3- Power Jacks- Deep squat as your feet come apart.
4- Frog Jumps- Start in a push up position, jump forward so that your feet come to the outside of your hands. Jump back.

Tabata Interval:
20 seconds floor touch and jump: 10 seconds Butt Kicks

Morning Habits

After burning over 700 calories in spin today breakfast tasted reallllly good.

As a creature of habit and routine, I generally eat one breakfast for months before switching and right now I am into a gluten-free version of “Overnight Oats”...

Every night before bed I mix the following:

-         ½ cup of buckwheat

-         1 tbs Chia Seed

-         1 tbs Hemp Hearts

-         1 tbs ground flax

-         ½ a handful of dried cranberries or raisins

-         1 dollop of peanut butter

-         1 cup of Rice milk

Overnight everything soaks up and mixes together and is so good the next day. With the combination of protein and fiber, this breakfast also keeps me full at least for a couple of hours. 

Completed with a green juice and an Americano I have to say my morning routine is pretty perfect. 

Core.

Feel unmotivated by your current abs routine? 

Repeat the following circuit 2-3 times, holding each exercise for 60 seconds to mix it up and blast those abs! 

1- Leg Drops

2- Side Jack-Knife (Make sure you do both sides) 

3- Jack-Knife

4- Bicycle 

5 Benefits of Flaxseed

1- Flaxseeds are a great source of fibre and act as a natural laxative. I like to think about it as an exfoliation of your intestines, but that might be an over-share :)

2- Contains Omega-3 Fat which your body does not produce on its own- benefits include reducing inflammation, preventing fatigue, and keeping nails and hair healthy and strong.

3- Ground flaxseed helps lower cholesterol and regulate insulin levels.

4- Flaxseeds are a good source of magnesium- benefits include keeping your blood circulating smoothly and building/strengthening bones.

5- High concentration of lignans which are found in plants and may help prevent against certain types of estrogen dependent cancers such as breast cancer.