Bring Life Closer for the Holidays

Dear Terri,

I think this might be my most favorite ambassador smash to date! We miss you and your family dearly & I feel more connected than ever to you this holiday season (even though we are oceans apart)!

Merry Christmas to you and yours - Your Dutch "Hangop" yogurt recipe is DELICIOUS! I will never forget making it with the Prairie Farm Corps last Summer for the first time!

Enjoy this lovely Christmas Ambassador Smash video - It was crazy fun to put together!

Someday, we'll ride bikes side by side and go to your market together just like we went to mine last July. I simply cannot wait to greet your dear friends and experience your part of the world. Until then, let's keep bringing life closer, one recipe at a time!

Much love and Christmas cheers! To the mullies we GO.........

xoxoL

A December Ambassador Challenge

The holidays are challenging all right... My month started out with dirt and major light problems. 

I'm swinging into mid December to answer the #1 Food Revolution HQ's December Ambassador Challenge = Healthier, Happier Holidays! 

Here are some tips from Jamie on how to have a bit of a healthier one and here are the top four hitters in my holiday line up:

First batter UP:

With the new Star Wars movie coming out, we're watching every.single.one up to the big event this week. The kids LOVE helping me make popcorn from scratch and this encourages us to "use the force". Here's a great article on the WHY you should ditch the microwave pop action.

Shake and Bake Family Movie Night Popcorn
(Couldn't help to link to this super fun video we made 2 years ago... oh my babies are so BIG now!)

1. Heat up 2-3 T coconut oil in your biggest pan (with a clear lid if possible so you can see it all pop!) on medium-high heat.
2. Put 2-3 kernels in and heat with lid on until they pop.
3. Dump 3/4 cup in the oil, relid. Using oven mits, vent the lid and gently shake shake shake to coat all the kernels with oil. You'll know it's done when you only hear a few pops left (just like the microwave).
4. Shake some seat salt on top and EAT! Make it more holiday-ish by spreading the popcorn out on a cookie sheet, melt some dark chocolate in a double broiler, crunch up dye free peppermint sticks and drizzle it all over the top of the popcron. Oh yea... but you gotta wait till it dries unless you want goey chocolatey fingers all over your house (no thank you ma'am).


Second batter UP:

I recently made a simple whole grain swap to my pancake recipe! Loving this article on The Truth About Grains - Whole & Refined. I'm getting there... My kids actually prefer this recipe and it saves my more expensive flour blend for other baking and cooking projects.

You gotta try this home run recipe:

Simple Oaty Banana Pancakes 

1 cup of whole oats (I grind the oats into a fine flour with my nutribullet - It takes less than 30 sec!)

2 pastured eggs

1 mashed banana

1 T avocado oil 

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 c almond or cashew milk (or whatever milk you want)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

A few shakes of ground cinnamon

In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients well with a whisk. Pour silver dollar sized pancakes on an oiled skillet (I like to use ghee) and flippy floppy about 3-4 minutes on each side or until bubbles come to the surface.

I always feel pressed for time on school mornings, but these pancakes take less than 15 minutes to make now that I keep all the ingredients grouped for easy access in the morning. My kids love extra cut up bananas, strawberries or raspberries on top with a drizzle of grade B pure maple syrup!


Third batter UP:

We'll also be making my last year's NO BAKE collaboration with the 52 New Foods Cookbook! This year, I am going to soak my dates for 15 minutes before processing and I am also adding mini dark chocolate chips to my mint icecream! Let me know if you give these mamacitas a try with your kids this holiday season! Ho Ho Ho with Holiday G-Hoppers (Video Link HERE or below)!

Forth Batter UP = "cleaning UP"

Personally, I am trying to avoid all refined grains (with or without gluten) and attempting to keep my refined sugar to less than 32 grams a day (4 grams = 1 tsp). It's hard, but boy does it work.

Holiday Party Game plan = I am milking 2-3 drinks MAX a night (with a huge glass of water in between each drink). Gotta keep it classy - It's holiday party dress up time and I am in love with this camo skirt + anything plaid! 

Cheers to
Enjoying Star Wars popcorn nights
Making more pancake breakfasts
Cutting back on adding sugar (OOOF)
Dressing up with girlfriends
Savoring good food + drink at holiday parties
Learning how to meditate + slow it down

Note to self: PLEASE wrap the presents before Xmas eve this year and don't forget to suck in your core (at all times).

Xoxo

L

ps

Coming soon... A brand new Holiday Ambassador Smash with my soffritto sister Terri. Here is a little sneak peak on her Instagram page!

Cooking & Talking UP the Real Food Revolution in Lake County

In early November I had the honor of speaking at the Lake County Health Department's Semi-Annual Registered Dietician and Nutritionist Seminar on gluten intolerance. It was an incredible afternoon with Kathleen Parry, MPH, RDN, LDN, Coordinator of the Nutrition Services at the Lake County Health Department and Community Health Center + Demetrius Willis MS, MBA, RDN, LDN, Sr. Dietitian and Nutrition Education Coordinator of the Lake County WIC (Women Infants and Children) Program. I have to say, speaking to them and their team of nutritionists was the highlight of the month for me.

We all left feeling more educated + empowered as the seminar included three presentations. It began with an excellent presentation by two nutritionists on the differences between gluten intolerance, gluten allergy and celiac disease. Eric Carlberg, the Prairie Farm Corps Director and Educator at Liberty Prairie Foundation followed with a presentation about current agricultural and farming practices. I concluded the afternoon with my food change story, current research trends on the microbiome/gut-brain connection and a food demonstration of my oaty 3-way pancakes & the Prairie Farm Corps sautéed greens. Yum!

Go BULLDOGS! About a week afterwards, I returned to Mrs Lori Pary's Wauconda High School Wellness classes. She has a fantastic curriculum and I absolutely LOVE coming into her classroom to talk about making small changes towards more real food. I look forward to coming back next semester!

In other news, I'm asking for this new cookbook by the daddio of the Food Rev from Santa this year... In the meantime, I'm pimping up my holiday meal planning with these lovelies: Jamie's Everyday Super Food Recipes

I haven't done a cooking video in a long time, but I tell you what, every song on Jess Glynne's new album makes me want to turn up the volume and share the real world craziness that goes on in my kitchen and family table. I can't help my silly goober self! How perfect are these lyrics when thinking about making a food change work? So, here's her song + lyrics for all of you peeps in the trenches trying to navigate buying, cooking and eating more real food for your family. The song is playing in my earbuds as I type this... I'm seriously feeling a new video coming on:) HA!!! 

So, now you'll know what I'm playing in my kitchen this month when I need a pick me up to get cooking... it seriously works every time...

"Take it from me, no rights, no wrongs..." just more real food and less added sugar kiddos.

To the Mullies we go... 

No Rights No Wrongs

Going through hell, while looking at heaven 
Found an answer looking for a question 
Not enough words to make a sentence 

It’s not easy to find a way
How much water to kill a fire?
How many lows can take you higher?
The only road to your desire
It won’t be easy to find a way

I don’t know what I believe
I won’t let my eyes be deceived
The winds whispering through the trees
That is not gonna be, not gonna be easy

And oh, no rights, no wrongs, take it from me
Cause the answers are living indefinitely
It’s time to face it, cause you can’t change it
No rights, no wrongs, take it from me
And no (Na, na, na)
Take it from me (Oh, oh, oh)
Won’t you just take it from me (Na, na, na)
Oh, na, na, na, na
No rights, no wrongs take it from me

How many laughs to make me happy?
I’m counting stars, they make me lucky
How many turns ‘til I find me?
It’s not easy to find a way
How many lies, ‘til a confession
How many prayers, lead to a blessing
How many burns, to learn a lesson
Now, it’s not easy to find a way

I don’t know what I believe
I won’t let my eyes be deceived
The winds whispering through the trees
That is not gonna be, not gonna be easy

And oh, no rights, no wrongs, take it from me
Cause the answers are living indefinitely
It’s time to face it, cause you can’t change it
No rights, no wrongs, take it from me
And no (Na, na, na)
Take it from me (Oh, oh, oh)
Won’t you just take it from me (Na, na, na)
Oh, na, na, na, na
No rights, no wrongs take it from me

Talk to a stranger and take wrong turns
Cause in this moment we will make it work
Dance with devils, and taste the burn
Cause in this moment we will make it work
Oh, oh, no, no, yea, yea
Oh, no, no, no, no

And oh, no rights, no wrongs, take it from me
Cause the answers are living indefinitely
It’s time to face it, cause you can’t change it
No rights, no wrongs, take it from me
And no (Na, na, na)
Take it from me (Oh, oh, oh)
Won’t you just take it from me (Na, na, na)
Oh, na, na, na, na
No rights, no wrongs take it from me

Super WIDE high fives to THAT!!

xoxo