Read More....

Next week during the Nourish Your Soul Retreat in Tulum, Mexico, we’ll be healing our bodies with delicious, wholesome meals, so that we’ll be ready to take on all that 2016 has in store. Even if you're miles away from Mexico, join us on this cleansing, restorative journey by whipping up a Mac Attack Smoothie, a Dijon Kale Salad, and Chocomole in your own kitchen! 

Read More....

Read More....

Whenever I post pictures of my smoothie bowls, I always get comments from people asking how I make them. Well, I’ve broken down my secrets to making the most divinely nourishing smoothie bowls right here! Check it out!

Read More....

Several weeks ago, I chatted with Elyse Wagner of My Kitchen Shrink to discuss how to make simple but significant changes in your life by adding superfoods to your diet. Elyse is a Certified Nutritionist as well as a positive psychology professional and coach, and she has made it her mission to help others achieve healthy perspectives on food and their bodies by developing positive attitudes and behaviors around diet, nutrition and wellbeing.

Read more...

Read More....

With the approaching season change from Summer to Autumn, it's especially important to physically, emotionally and spiritually shed the skin of the past few months and move into a new phase. A wonderful way to facilitate this change is to do a Philosophie cleanse. 

What can I expect during a Philosophie cleanse?

During the cleanse duration (either 5 days or 14 days) you can expect to experience a challenging first 2-3 days. Most of our Philosophie cleansers get headaches between days 1-3. Some only experience them for 1 day and then it goes away. Others may feel it in their body or feel overly lethargic as the toxins are moving out of the system. I call Day 3 the *Magic Day* because this is when you really feel an energetic and physical shift. You feel more energy, more excitement, more focus and notice your skin is glowing and your body feels overall much lighter. Clothes feel looser. If you can get past day 3, you will fly to through the rest.

What if I get hungry in between the meals and snacks on the cleanse menu?

No problem! This cleanse is NOT a fast. It's not a deprivation but instead, a SATURATION of nutrients. It's much more important to snack on foods from the cleanse (have another helping of soup/smoothie/salad or have an additional smoothie) rather than feel hungry. That's not the point. We encourage you to eat as much as you want to feel satisfied and to allow the body to recalibrate. By the 3rd day your body will be regulated and only crave what it's truly hungry for nutritionally. 

A few extra tips for the Philosophie Cleanse:

• try and plan your cleanse when you don't have evening plans (i.e. dinner plans, social events)
• if you do have social events, eat your Philosophie cleanse food/meal BEFORE going and BRING your snack of juice, smoothie or trail mix in your bag so you a can nosh while you're there. If there's a veggie platter or fresh fruit, you can snack on that, too!
• Make sure you get EXTRA sleep. Go back to sleep in the morning if you have the ability to. Call in sick to work. Take a vacation day if you need it. Take a nap. Your body will be working extremely hard to cleanse the system, so be sure to nurture yourself. 
• drink half your body weight in ounces EVERY day. This helps accelerate the cleansing process and speeds up the painful first few days ;) 
• find a friend and do the cleanse together. If you live with someone else, have them do it too or give up something that's difficult for you to watch or be around. If your husband/girlfriend/mom won't do the cleanse with you, have them give up coffee and processed food and sugar for the duration of your cleanse. If you gather 3 friends to do the cleanse with you (co-workers, friends, family, neighbors) you not only get a really amazing discount but you can cook together, have get togethers, support each other!  
•  
• join the facebook Philosophie Cleanse group! email us for the invite. 
• Journal. Stream of consciousness. Do art. anything to let whats going on inside come out. Although eating food appears to mostly be a physical act, it's actually very tied in to our emotional and psychology. Work through what's going on within your heart and mind. Let go of what isn't serving you to allow space for what WILL work. 

I've had several requests to share what I feed my sweet boy(s). Leo is now 6 months old and I've started to slowly experiment with food for him. So far he's had raw zucchini and cucumber, banana (he loves!) and oatmeal with a little breastmilk and GREEN DREAM! I'm so excited to continue to explore and experiment for new Philosophie products with my sweet boys.

Here are some foods that Kai (2 1/2 years old) LOVES.

1. Green Dream Smoothie- depends on the day but usually I do the classic recipe with almond butter, cinnamon, spinach/kale and banana. Lately I've been doing a fun tropical one with mango, pineapple, kale, coconut oil and Berry Bliss.
2. Cacao Magic Smoothie- (just not too close to bedtime!) i always add leafy greens to this smoothie... so easy to sneak a lot in because it tastes soooo good!
3. Goji Berries, Pumpkin seeds and Sunflower seeds as a trail mix. Great for a snack on the go. If your child is younger and doesn't have a lot of teeth, you could process in a food processor until powdery and mix with coconut oil, Berry Bliss and dates to make into a bar by pressing it into a pan and freezing.
4. Coconut Butter, Cashew Butter and almond butter- straight from the jar! We both love sharing it that way and it makes it more fun! My favorite brand is Artisana for the butters or Garden of Life for coconut oil. These are "good fats" so don't be afraid of them! SO IMPORTANT for your growing child!
5. Frozen lima beans, corn, peas and/or edamame- SO EASY. I just heat up on the stove top and add a little coconut oil or earth balance "butter" with a pinch of sea salt. Frozen veggies get a bad rap but according to the research I've done, most of the time organic veggies are flash frozen at their most ripe stage, preserving most nutrients. "fresh" produce, may have spend days in transit or at the store, so it isn't necessarily better for you.
6. Fresh berries-Especially strawberries and blueberries. I just take the entire box of blueberries with us on a walk and let him hold it in the stroller... he LOVES IT. SO much fun to have it all to himself!
7. Raw "ice cream"- I blend frozen banana with green dream powder and whatever fruit I'm in the mood for. Sometimes we do a strawberry banana with Berry Bliss powder which is great because it adds protein, most times I do a chocolate one with Cacao Magic. DEEEE-LISH!
8. Fresh Coconut Water- he could drink 10 of these if we had them. I am going to start getting them by the case from the Thai Market in Thai Town because it's just ridiculous how many we buy one by one throughout the week.
9. Seaweed Nori strips- sometimes we buy the unsalted large sheets, other times we do the small sheets roasted and lightly salted that come in a container. He's happy with either!
10. Superfood Protein Truffles- recipe here! So easy, raw, vegan, gluten-free and simple to take in the car and on the go. We all gobble them up so quickly! Next time I'm going to make triple the amount and freeze them so they last longer!
11. GREEN DREAM POPSICLES! this was a guest post/recipe from a wonderful, inspiring friend. My soul sister on the other coast! Here's the post if you want the recipe!

I'm SO excited because I finally got the courage to ask the principal to Kai's preschool if I could bring in fresh fruit and veggies and Green Dream and give them a smoothie recipe for all the kids. He eats so beautifully at home and at school it's not "bad" but definitely not superfood rich! So I'll bring some Green Dream in Monday morning and they will blend it up! I'm thrilled.

For more specific tips on sneaking healthy foods into your kids meals, see this post.

What do your kids love that you love?  What's super healthy but they beg for it and it makes you secretly smile? Please share below in the comments!

Love,

Sophie, Kai and Leo! <3

In a past entry, I wrote about enzymes and broke down the details to their benefits and the differences between them. The bottom line: as we get older, all of us loose our ability to produce concentrated digestive enzymes. That's where raw food comes in! Raw foods are rich in enzymes. Enzymes are needed for the digestive system to work. They are necessary to break down food particles so they can be utilized for energy. The human body makes approximately 22 different digestive enzymes which are capable of digesting carbohydrates, protein and fats. Raw vegetables and raw fruit are rich sources of enzymes.

While all raw foods contain enzymes, the most powerful enzyme-rich food is sprouted seeds, grains, and legumes. Sprouting increases the enzyme content in these foods enormously.

A diet rich in enzymes can increase energy and stamina, as well as support weight loss, healthy skin, and overall good health.

Here is a delicious recipe for a raw, vegan smoothie that's especially full of enzyme rich foods to aid in digestion.

Enzyme Rich Tummy Tamer

• 2 C coconut water

• 1/2 C fresh or frozen papaya

• 1/2 C fresh or frozen pineapple

• Juice from 1/2 lemon

• few fresh leaves of mint

Raw Food Diet: Eliminate the Damaging Foods

The number one benefit for eating a (mostly) Raw Food Diet is that you are (mostly) eliminating all the processed foods that are DAMAGING to the body. For people eating the 'Standard American Diet' (SAD), this is a hard transition to make, but a worthy one. The most important thing is to get MORE raw, natural, unprocessed foods into your daily habits and hoepefully take out some of the cooked, unnatural, processed ones. (which cause food addiction)

Eating enzyme-rich raw foods is not the main reason why people heal and regenerate their bodies. They heal because they are leaving out all the damaging foods. Now don't get me wrong… these enzymes and raw foods are GREAT and they do nourish the body, especially if you are consuming them as vegetable juices and smoothies. When you cook food it changes in its molecular composition, which in turn makes foods more damaging to the body.

Most important take-home message: You can eat enzyme-rich raw foods until you are blue in the face, and you are not going to heal unless you also eliminate these processed foods from your intake.

Check out this new recipe to BLAST your energy levels without coffee or a redbull!

--------> click here for VIDEO RECIPE!!! <----------

This is good for ANYONE and EVERYONE... moms, dads, nanny's, and just about any person trying to get more energy and feel good...in a natural way! If you aren't getting the sleep you wish you were, this is for you! Lots of superfoods and healing herbs will  deeply satisfy your system so that you don't need anything else. Give it a try and let me know how it goes!!!

make an epic Superfood Smoothie! Recipe:

1 tsp Tumeric (healing, antibacterial, anticancer)
1 tsp Holy Basil (stress relief, immune stimulator, powerful antioxidants/vitamins)
1 cup Kale (powerful superfood vegetable full of chlorophyll and nutrients!)
1 tsp Spirulina (protein, cleansing, B vitamins, happy food!)
1 Banana (frozen preferably, add more for sweetness)
1 tablespoon Hemp Protein (excellent source of vegetarian/vegan protein)
8 oz Coconut Milk (or almond/rice) (good source of healthy fats!)
Agave to taste
Ice to temp!

Now that it’s autumn, root vegetables are in season.

Here’s a yummy smoothie recipe using carrots and sweet potatoes, both of which are in season right now!

Autumn Smoothie Recipe

• 4 oz carrot juice (buy it organic pre-juiced or juice it at home if you have a juicer)
• 4 oz almond milk
• 3-5 pitted dates, depending on size
• ½ sweet potato, cut into cubes
• ½ avocado
• 1 tbsp coconut butter or ½ tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
• handful of ice
• optional extra agave or stevia if more sweetness is desired :)

You can use this creamy, grounding smoothie as a meal replacement or as a hearty snack. It’s filling and fulfilling- because of all the nutrients.

Carrots have tons of vitamin A, which is great for the eyes (to adjust to light), skin and is a cancer preventative. Intake of foods such as carrots that are rich in carotenoids may be beneficial to blood sugar regulation. Research has suggested that physiological levels, as well as dietary intake, of carotenoids may be inversely associated with insulin resistance and high blood sugar levels.

Sweet potatoes are a rawkstar vegetable-amazing dietary fiber, vitamin A and C, iron and calcium! The numbers for the nutritional sweet potato speak for themselves: almost twice the recommended daily allowance of vitamin A, 42 percent of the recommendation for vitamin C, four times the RDA for beta carotene, and, when eaten with the skin, sweet potatoes have more fiber than oatmeal. All these benefits with only about 130 to 160 calories! Among root vegetables, sweet potatoes offer the lowest glycemic index rating. That's because the sweet potato digests slowly, causing a gradual rise in blood sugar so you feel satisfied longer. It's time to move sweet potatoes to the "good" carb list!!

[caption id="attachment_1480" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Heather and I visiting Boston in the Fall! "][/caption]