Celebrating an all-natural lifestyle

Crushing

I have a confession to make: I have a girl crush on Laura Beck.

If you don’t know who Laura is, I suggest you get to know her NOW. She’s one of the masterminds behind Vegansaurus.com, San Fran’s totally awesome vegan lifestyle guide (New Yorkers, I think we need to get us one of these), the writer of her own random, opinionated, and shittaciously funny blog, and the webmistress over at VegWeb.com, which is just the largest vegan recipe database in the world. She’s also one of the coolest vegans I know: whip smart, hilarious, and passionate. Few vegans are more blunt, outspoken, or vocal about why veganism rocks, but Laura—like all cool vegans—also knows how to be compassionate, encouraging, and to lead by example (rather than with vitriol).

In short, she is my hero.

I’m not only saying this because Laura happens to have featured me in the latest VegWeb newsletter. Yes, I just gave you the link, but don’t be lazy: as this issue proves, the VegWeb newsletter is awesome, and you should all go sign up to receive it (at the top of the VegWeb homepage) now. After all, it’s free!

Laura and I have spoken at length about raw foodism: the myths, the stereotypes, and the realities. I’ve shared with her my rather unorthodox approach to eating raw (which you guys already know about: semi-raw, flexible, etc.), and she’s shared with me her theories about why many vegans are alienated or put off by raw foods. This theory is pretty simple, and pretty hilarious. To quote Laura in the newsletter:

“Raw food gets a bad rap. Sometimes you get slack for eating vegan, but what’s weirder than that? Eating raw. Some vegans even like to point the finger at raw foodists when people accuse them of being odd. Like, look over there! Those people are the real freaks!”

Ha! I’ll confess, this attitude isn’t one I’m too familiar with. Typically, the people who write to me are vegans who are intent on becoming raw—perhaps even too intent, too quickly! I often find myself explaining to people that, while raw foods offer us myriad benefits, “going raw” isn’t the logical extension of veganism, or some sort of special challenge for the hardcore among us. Still, I see Laura’s point: I think raw foodies are natural targets for certain unsupportive vegans who enjoy the idea of there being someone out there whose food choices are even less conventional than their own. But, as Laura points out,

“ . . . the stigma attached to raw foods is slowly being erased, bit by bit, by the fact that some of the most innovative food coming out of the kitchen isn’t even cooked! Adventerous and talented raw-food chefs like Sarma Melngailis, Ani Phyo, and Mathew Kenney are changing the way people think about raw food. Bloggers are helping forge the way, too. My personal favorite is Choosing Raw, a blog maintained by the delightful Gena Hamshaw, who also happens to be VegNews’ raw-food columnist! Not only is she a total foodie genius, she’s smart and sane, to boot.”

OK I didn’t really have to include that last bit to prove my point about how raw food is going more mainstream. But it’s not every day that I get such sweet, if undeserved, flattery. Thankfully, I get to thank Laura with a big vegan dinner in San Fran when I visit (two weeks!!). If not, I’ll just continue to tell her about my girl crush on her until she gets creeped out by me.

Laura asked me to pick a recipe from the VegWeb raw food library to feature in the newsletter. Can you guys take a guess as to what I picked?

Duh! Raw green soup. Blended salad, con avocado: simple, easy, fresh. Vintage Gena.

While we’re on the topic of girl crushes, I was super excited to see that Ms. Katie gave my tofu scramble a spin on her blog this week. It looks as though her batch came out nicely! I was also really touched to see that my former client and friend Elese commented to say that she’s been inspired by the pleasure I take in eating (Elese and I have eaten out together in Chicago). When you eat “healthy food”—and especially when you write about it—the assumption is usually that you have a joyless, functional relationship with what you eat. I have to bat down this misconception a lot; to this day, I don’t think my ex-boyfriend believes that I really enjoy eating kale (are the 184572 photos of kale salad on my blog not sufficient proof?!?). So I’m always happy when a friend notices the fact that I like food. A lot.

To tie up our themes nicely, my lunch today involved both a girl crush and a raw soup. I used gray, damp weather as an excuse to make my girl Kristen’s incredible Harvest Soup, which is hands down one of my favorite raw soups ever. With simple salad, avocado, and pureed, steamed butternut squash (yes, I was feeling autumnal), it was exactly what I craved:

Comfort food for a rainy day.

And now, the usual Sunday night catch up ensues. Before I go, tell me: do you have any blogger girl crushes? Or guy crushes? (Yes, Evan, Matt, and Ian, I am trying to embarrass you.) I would love to hear your personal blogging heroes are, and why.

xo

Interview at The Health and Happiness Club

Hey guys!

Are we all enjoying some tasty work lunches today?

I just wanted to let you all know that I’m interviewed today on my friend Kathleen’s awesome blog, the Health and Happiness Club. If you guys haven’t checked this one out yet, add it to your google readers: it’s an intelligent, fun, and diverse blog that’s full of different perspectives. I’m a fan! In the interview, I chat about:

• The best “first steps” for those who are new to veganism
• Overcoming disordered eating and IBS
• My best advice to budding bloggers

And, in honor of women’s week:

• Do I believe that feminism has lost steam?
• Who are my female role models?

Click here to read the whole interview if you have time!

xo

January Cleanse Details and an Interview with Hadley Seward of Spark! Wellness

Hey guys!

I continue to get really terrific responses to the Spark! Wellness + Choosing Raw January cleanse. While I can’t answer every question in detail, Hadley and Andrea and I have posted a sample day from each level of the cleanse on the Spark! website. This should give you a good sense of how the program will look at each level. Keep in mind, of course, that the meals and recipes provided will vary quite a bit from day to day. Check it out, and if you’re still wavering on which level to choose, please join our free conference call on January 6th (details TK)!

In the meantime I thought I’d give you all a chance to get to know the lady behind Level 1 a bit better. Hadley, who blogs at Hadley’s Holistics, is a Holistic Health Counselor who specializes in helping women to regain a sense of self-worth and to actualize their goals. In our own ways of eating, she and I differ somewhat (Hadley emphasizes moderation, and doesn’t exclude any food groups, while I fly the vegan flag), but we both agree that Pure Food and Wine rocks, that stuffed squash is a beautiful thing, and that vegetables are everybody’s best friend. Choosing Raw readers, meet Hadley!

1)   Many of us who work in nutrition are motivated to help others because of personal struggles we’ve faced, either health or food related. Does your passion for wellness emerge from personal struggle, and if so, can you share your story with us?

Growing up, I always equated ‘health’ with ‘thin’. In my late teens and early 20s, I didn’t focus on healthy eating as much as I did the latest fad diet that would keep me thin. About four years ago, all that changed. I was misdiagnosed with a pretty serious disease—and it took doctors about six weeks to realize the mistake—so during that time, I was faced with the prospect of a life filled with hospitals and drug regimens that had serious side effects. I was absolutely terrified and felt so stupid for not taking my health seriously beforehand.

As you can imagine, it was a very difficult period in my life, but it opened up so many new and exciting paths for me professionally and personally. As soon as I found out I was in the clear, I vowed that I would pay more attention to my overall health; however, I was absolutely terrified of the medical profession and couldn’t even go the dentist—much less a doctor’s office! I started working with a fabulous holistic health counselor named Melissa, who helped me regain balance in my life and taught me everything she knew about natural medicine. I was so inspired by the work that she did—and the impact that it made on my life—that I decided to become a health counselor myself.

2)   If you had to sum up your dietary perspective in a few sentences, what would you say? What’s your basic dietetic vantage point? What philosophies (ie, Ayurveda, macrobiotics, raw, vegan, blood type diet, McDougall, the list goes on) have influenced it?

So many things have influenced my dietary perspective! I’m very lucky because my school, the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, trained us in every dietary theory imaginable—everything from South Beach and Atkins to macrobiotics and Ayurveda. I use bits of many of them in my daily life, but try not to get hung up on any one theory. My overriding food philosophy is not to restrict entire categories of food from my diet. I spent the first twenty-four years of my life doing that and it just doesn’t work for me. Instead, I believe in guilt-free moderation. I eat healthfully most of time, so don’t feel bad when I indulge in foods that aren’t as healthy.

3)   In my experience, it doesn’t take long for a nutritionist or health counselor to find a strength that is uniquely their own. Oftentimes, this strength emerges as a particular kind of empathy or insight. For instance, I’ve found that much of my strongest work has been in helping women with eating disorder histories regain a love of eating and body image through whole, plant based foods. What would you say your unique talent is as a counselor, and how do you market it?

I was overweight until I went to college, so I know what it’s like to feel like you’re at war with your body.  It’s so hard to overcome that feeling! My strongest work has been helping women call off the war with themselves. My goal for each client is to get her to the point of trusting her body, trusting herself around food, and trusting the choices she makes about food.

4)   What do you think are the most common pitfalls that keep your clients from achieving their goals? How can they work around them?

For most women, the biggest pitfall to achieving any goal is negative chatter. It’s like the TV in the background that you can’t turn off–even if you’re not focusing on it, it’s distracting. The most common culprit is the ‘as soon as…’ mentality.  We all create agreements with ourselves: “as soon as I lose weight, I’ll buy clothes that I love” or “I’ll start dating”; “as soon as I go to business school, I’ll feel worthy of respect”; “as soon as I get a new job, I’ll have time to eat more healthfully.” We all have our own version. This mentality creates excuses, drains us of energy, and ultimately creates barriers to success and happiness. Instead of making your goal conditional on something first, instead make it happen now! Buy clothes that you love, sign up for online dating, learn how to respect yourself, eat more healthfully . . . whatever it is, you can work on the goal now instead of waiting for something else to be fulfilled first.

5)   You talk a lot about emotional eating. How do you define emotional eating? Where does it emerge from?

Emotional eating is using food (or the act of eating) to fill a void. We all eat emotionally sometimes. It’s a primordial urge that stems from our earliest instincts to nurture ourselves by drinking our mothers’ milk. As we grow older, we repeat this pattern by turning to food for comfort, support, nourishment when we don’t get it elsewhere. We eat to fill a gap in our lives.

When a client comes to me to explore her emotional eating, I see it as an invitation to delve deeper into her life to see what’s really going on. Generally there are one or several elements that are consciously or unconsciously causing her distress. What’s missing from her life? Are there any uncomfortable feelings she’d rather not acknowledge? For example, the most common reason for sweet cravings is a lack of sweetness in your life—defined broadly, that can cover everything from a romantic connection to friendship to an adequate support system in you life.  Over time, I work with each client to balance her diet and her life so cravings aren’t as strong and the compulsion to eat emotionally decreases.

6)   This fall, you and fellow practitioner Andrea Moss opened a holistic healing center, Spark! Wellness. Tell us more about your vision for Spark! Wellness.

Spark! came out of an idea I had last year after reading The Four Hour Work Week, which is all about how to avoid duplicating services. I realized that I knew so many health practitioners who were doing the same thing for our clients—teleclasses, workshops, blogging, tweeting, etc. I thought it would be terrific if we could join forces and provide much more value for each client. We currently offer nutrition, acupuncture, personal fitness, pilates, yoga, and massage therapy.

Right now we’re a virtual wellness center—we don’t have a physical space, rather we see our clients all over the city. Every Spark! client gets access to monthly teleclasses, special in-house referral rates, and—starting January 2010—can participate in a health food store tour. Andrea and my nutrition clients also have access to an online community where they can ask questions and get additional support from their peers.

It’s been a great journey so far and we’re excited for the future. I’m particularly excited for a group cleanse we’re going to do in January.

7)   OK, Hadley, time to get honest: how do you feel about raw food?

I love raw foods, but don’t think I could be 100% raw year-round.  Though I love green juices, I do crave a steak every now and then. That being said, my favorite restaurant in New York City is Pure Food and Wine. Everything there is so good and amazingly satisfying. I especially love their raw ice cream sundae. Sometimes in the summer, I’ll make a meal out of it!

8  )   Any raw recipes you love to make?

I think the last raw recipe I made was your banana soft serve, which was delish! I made it for a friend who is lactose intolerant and she was in heaven. I also enjoy zucchini pasta with pesto. My goal in 2010 is to make the coconut macaroons from the Pure Food and Wine cookbook.

9)   A question I get asked very frequently is whether or not I recommend taking dietary supplements. I think that this question depends 100% on the health of the person who’s asking, but I do think that most vegans should consider a B-12 or D supplement, a calcium supplement if needed, Omega-3s if needed, and chill out about everything else. I’ve spoken to other counselors, though, who really recommend a multivitamin daily. What’s your take on this?

I think multi-vitamins can’t hurt and for most people they can definitely help. Studies have shown than 92% of Americans are deficient in a vitamin or mineral. Our bodies are finely tuned machines, so any imbalances can slow down the thousands of chemical reactions that happen every second. So unless you’re eating 100% local and organic, living a stress-free life, drinking 100% purified water and breathing 100% unpolluted air, a multi-vitamin will probably benefit you. If you’re going to take one, make sure it’s high quality. My favorite brands are Metagenic’s Multigenics or Trader Joe’s Women’s High Potency.

Another essential supplement is fish oil (or, if you’re vegetarian, flax oil). I don’t eat fish, so I take 3,000 mgs a day. I’ve also been taking D3 since daylight savings time (to help with seasonal depression) and ashwaganda, an Ayurvedic adaptogenic herb that helps with low-level stress.

10) What are some of your favorite recipes to share with your clients, Hadley? Could you share one with us? My clients would love, I’m sure, to see some cool, non-raw recipes.

I love to cook but rarely follow recipes. I usually use them as inspiration and then improvise as I go along. I recently made a terrific roasted winter squash filled with a tempeh-mushroom stuffing. It’s perfect for a cold winter night!

STUFFED WINTER SQUASH

1 winter squash of your choice

2 c mushrooms, roughly chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 red onion, chopped

6 oz tempeh (half a block), cut into 1/4-1/2 in cubes

olive oil

salt and pepper

dried rosemary

1/4 c white wine (optional

1/8 c Roquefort cheese (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 345 degrees. Cut squash in half and remove any seeds. Rub lightly with olive oil, salt and pepper, and bake cut side down for 40-45 minutes. (This will vary on the size and type of your squash–Keep checking it to see when the flesh is very tender).

While this is baking, in a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and saute until soft. Add garlic, saute 1 minute. Add mushrooms and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add wine, if desired, and cook down for approx. 3 more minutes. Add a bit of salt, pepper, and dried rosemary and cook 1 more minute. Put into bowl and set aside.

Add more olive oil to pan and saute tempeh until crispy and browned. (The smaller the pieces, the crispier they’ll get).

Once squash is very tender, remove from oven, add stuffing to the middle and serve immediately. Sprinkle the roquefort cheese if desired.

Serves at least 2, depending on the type of squash. This stuffing will be a generous serving for 2-3 people.

Wow! What a terrific interview. I love Hadley’s description of a woman being “at war” with her own body: this, I’m sure, hits home for so many of you. I also love that Hadley encourages her clients to focus on the “now” mentality—begin change today, not tomorrow! It’s a very good dictum, and one that we all need to take to heart once in a while.

And as a special gift for Choosing Raw readers, Hadley is offering $25 off of her January “realize your resolution” two-part program. Details of the program can be found here, and you can also email Hadley at Hadley@sparkyourwellness.com  if you’re interested in more information, or if you’d like to join.

Have a great Thursday!

xo

Interview with Jessica Apple, Founder of A Sweet Life

Hi all!

Hope that your transition back into the work week has been relatively painless.

It seems that everywhere we turn these days, we’re reminded of mounting health epidemics: cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, HIV/AIDS. Very few of us can say that our lives have not been touched in some way or another by one of these afflictions. Most of us have also brushed paths with an equally life-altering disease: diabetes. Nearly 200 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes. It’s becoming increasingly rampant worldwide, and a number of troubling recent studies suggest that is is becoming particularly prevalent among children and teens.

Much of the literature, cookbooks, and information geared towards diabetes sufferers focuses on substitution and replacement. Naturally, sugars have to be watched assiduously in a diabetic diet, and so many recipes for diabetics feature artificial sweeteners. While these may prove less immediately harmful than regular sweeteners, they pose their own problems; artificial sweeteners are,by varying degrees, toxic, and they’re not ideal unless no other option is present.

For this reason, a number of enlightened educators and spokespeople are offering diabetes sufferers more natural and organic options than your typical oatmeal cookies baked with Splenda. Among them is Jessica Apple, founder of A Sweet Life (www.asweetlife.org).

A Sweet Life is a blog devoted to healthy living with diabetes. Jessica and her husband, Mike, live with Type 1 diabetes. Mike was diagnosed in 2002, four years after their marriage and just 18 months after the birth of the couple’s first son. Last year, while pregnant with their third son, Jessica was also diagnosed with Type 1.

Instead of letting diabetes depress them, Mike and Jessica took charge of their health as best they could. And as they worked together and saw how well they managed as a team, they decided to create A Sweet Life in order to reach others in the diabetic community. The website features articles, interviews, Q&As with experts, and a tally of diabetes in the news. Jessica’s panel of experts includes diabetes sufferers, MDs, RDs, and — to answer questions on raw foods and all natural eating — yours truly!

For, as a part of her interest in a natural, unprocessed diet, Jessica is a big fan of raw foods. In fact, she chooses to incorporate something raw into each and every meal or snack.

Today, I welcome Jessica to Choosing Raw to discuss her experience with raw foods, her thoughts on living with diabetes, and more about A Sweet Life.

What was your motivation to begin publishing A Sweet Life?

The idea for A Sweet Life came to me almost a year ago.  I was pregnant, exhausted, and a newly diagnosed type 1 diabetic. My husband, Mike, has been a type 1 for about eight years. Because of Mike, I already knew pretty much everything about living with type 1, still, having it in my own body made it different. Mike’s compassion and real understanding of what I was going through was more helpful than any doctor’s instructions or advice. Feeling that, and seeing the way Mike and I worked together as a team made me want to reach out to others in the diabetic community.

How do you feel that A Sweet Life differs from other online resources for diabetics—specifically, how do you feel your dietetic perspective may be different from others?

A Sweet Life is different from other online resources because we aren’t looking for a way around our diabetes. We’re living a healthy life with it. We think it’s wrong to try to replace regular cookies with artificially sweetened cookies. Our idea is about getting used to a new way of living—a way that is so much healthier. That’s why we appreciate raw food so much. It’s just plain old good for you! At A Sweet Life we believe in a natural diet, and we use only natural sweeteners that are diabetes-friendly, like Stevia and agave syrup.

Could you say a few words about your own journey as a Type 1 diabetic? I know that your husband has the condition as well, so feel free to share some of his experiences, too.

My journey as a type 1 is just beginning. Next month will be a year since my diagnosis. I was diagnosed while pregnant. Fortunately, I didn’t suffer any severe symptoms before diagnosis. Mike, however, was not as lucky. He was really sick for months before we knew what was wrong. By the time he was diagnosed he’d lost about 25 pounds, his feet were numb, and his vision was blurred.

This may feel rudimentary to you, but many people (at one point in time, this included me) don’t quite grasp the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Could you give us a quick primer?

Type 1 and type 2 are very different diseases with the same consequence—high blood sugar. In each disease, insulin plays a key role. Type 1 is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system destroys the insulin producing beta cells in the pancreas.  Without insulin, the hormone that enables sugar to enter individual cells, the cells do not receive their ‘fuel’ and ultimately, they starve. In order to survive, type 1’s must inject themselves with insulin.

In type 2 diabetes, the pancreas produces insulin (even over-produces it sometimes) but the individual cells are unable to use it; they are insulin resistant. In later stages of type 2, the pancreas sometimes burns out from overwork and insulin secretion decreases. For more on this, check out the information on A Sweet Life.

You call your blog “The Natural Diabetic.” This is a provocative term – and it’s of particular interest to me, since so much of what I try to share at Choosing Raw is natural, unprocessed relationship to the things on our plate. Tell me more about the language you chose, and why you chose it.

The first reason I call my blog The Natural Diabetic is because I try to eat a natural diet that’s rich in vegetables, nuts, and some fruit. The name is also a play on words; given that my husband was a diabetic first, and I knew so much about it, diabetes came pretty naturally to me.

So Jessica, Let’s get to the real question. What are your thoughts on the raw diet with regards to managing diabetes?

I have a huge appreciation for raw foodists. I don’t have any statistics to quote you regarding raw food and diabetes, but I know that when Mike and I eat raw food, our blood sugar remains quite stable (though I don’t think this would be true if we ate large quantities of fruit). That’s one of the reasons we are so happy having raw recipes on ASweetLife.

How do you personally feel about raw food? Have you incorporated any raw foods into your life, and how? We want to hear all about your baby steps!

Personally, I think eating raw is healthy and admirable. I wish I could do it 100%, but I’m nowhere near ready to give up my morning cappuccino! My rule is that I aim to never eat anything, not even a snack, unless it has a raw component. Keeping to this rule ensures that I snack on fruit, veggies, and nuts. And my meals almost always include raw salads.

What are some of your very favorite raw recipes?

I love your recipe for zucchini hummus! Since I have a very busy household (I have three sons, 9, 6, and 7 months) I don’t have a lot of time to fuss over raw recipes. For me it’s usually just grabbing some nuts, a carrot, an apple…Lately I’ve been eating a lot of cucumbers. Also a lot of almond butter…I put a drop of agave in it and spread it on a thin slice of whole grain bread (not raw). My favorite juice these days is celery, zucchini, parsley, with a little bit of carrot.

In the popular DVD, Simply Raw, a number of Type 2 diabetes sufferers reverse their symptoms with raw diets (while a number of them abandon the diet in frustration). What are your thoughts on diabetics’ capacity to reverse that form of the disease? Do you think that DVDs like Simply Raw are inspiring, or do they put undo pressure on those who are afflicted? As you know, I welcome all perspectives on this site, so speak your mind.

I haven’t seen Simply Raw, but I have heard of diabetics who’ve had great blood glucose control while eating raw. I think, for most people, in order to succeed with any kind of diet there has to be genuine desire and drive behind it. Eating 100% raw really is difficult, and it requires a lot of time and thought. Not everyone can do it, and if you don’t really want to, it will never work. And to be honest…cooked food can be pretty great, so I understand why people wouldn’t want to give it up. Managing diabetes is kind of a full time job in itself, so it’s difficult to imagine anyone who works and has an active household being able to go completely raw. In my opinion, diabetics should aim to incorporate raw food into their diets as often as possible. But eating steamed or roasted vegetables is great too. And for those who enjoy chicken, fish, eggs, and cheeses, they can all be a big part of a healthy diabetic diet.

I strongly believe in staying away from packaged processed foods. Simple, natural eating is the best way to go.

In your mission statement, you say that life with diabetes can be sweet. I love your positive attitude! Many women who have suffered from disordered eating feel that the affliction, in spite of its misery and danger, did grant them a capacity to appreciate their bodies and nutrition more consciously than others do. I can’t help but see a parallel with your own statement. Do you feel that your condition has given you a heightened appreciation of health, and how?

I’m not someone who takes good health for granted. My mother had a very debilitating case of MS, and I grew up watching her deteriorate. Not a single day goes by where I don’t appreciate what my body can do. I’m still struggling with the issue of having an autoimmune disease, and the truth is that I probably haven’t completely come to terms with it yet, and there may be a rude awakening for me in the future.  For now, I am driven to make my diabetic life sweet. Diabetes might limit my diet, but that’s where it stops. I am not going to feel sorry for myself because I can’t eat pizza and cookies. No way!

As a tribute to Jessica and Mike–who are working to show us all that life with diabetes can still be sweet–I’m sharing a dessert recipe that has won my heart over this week. It’s an alternative to my chocomole recipe, which I know many of you have tried and loved. It’s slightly more labor intensive (it requires cracking open four young coconuts), but the result is slightly closer to authentic chocolate pudding, and it’s a great raw option for those of you who just can’t get down with using avocado as a dessert base. I’ve sweetened it with a combination of agave and Stevia, but the proportions can be altered for any diet (so if you shouldn’t or can’t touch sugar, use more Stevia and omit the agave altogether; if you’re fine in the sugar department, use all agave, or add some dates).

I used carob in this recipe, rather than chocolate. Raw cacao would be absolutely fine here, too, but I happen to love the taste of carob and admire its health properties (rich source of iron, among other things). Use whichever flavoring suits you.

The result is a smooth, creamy, rich treat that tastes way too good to be 100% raw and body-friendly. Enjoy!

Raw Chocolate Pudding (serves 4)

Ingredients:

Meat of four young coconuts
1/3 cup raw carob powder
2 tbsp coconut water
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 packet Stevia

Blend the ingredients on a low setting in your Vitamix. Continue to increase the speed very slowly, until the mix is quite creamy; then, turn the speed to high and let the mixture blend for a minute or more. See how long you can wait to devour it!

NB: if you don’t have a Vitamix, you can work with a food processor or conventional blender. You may need to be patient and add a bit more liquid to the mix, but you’ll get results.

Enjoy!

And a huge thank you to Jessica for her site and for sharing her story. Please support Mike and Jessica by visiting A Sweet Life and sharing it with anyone you know who battles diabetes — or simply with anyone who is health conscious.

Have a great night, guys.

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