Yesterday I shared zinc deficiency and a very distinct symptom of it in my Instagram stories and my DMs blew up over night. Apparently so many of us are suffering from sensitivities to sound, light, or touch. I talked about how I track my cycle and have realized that in the second half of it I tend to be super sensitive to these things. Ever since I started supplementing zinc in the second half of my cycle, this has become much better. ⁣ With my clients I always take the food

Welcome to Day 11 of the Stress Less Holiday Advent Calendar. Today we are going to cook together to nourish your body from the inside out. I know this is a busy time and cooking nourishing food often gets neglected. The easiest thing you can do is to make the same or very similar meal every day for the meals that you do have at home using some prepped ingredients. This way you can throw together a nourishing bowl in less than 10 minutes. Watch the video and cook along. All y

So this has been an interesting week for us. Our power was cut again due to high winds and this presenting a huge fire danger. Honestly, I am a combination of really pissed off and annoyed, but also very very grateful that so far we have been spared from a real disaster. After 30 hours of no power we decided to pack up puppy Haigo, Baby Zand, and grandma who is currently visiting, and head down to South to Monterey for a few days. Fresh air, hot showers, and real internet hav

Cold days call for creamy, warming soups, and this mushroom bean one is definitely my favorite at the moment. I personally find white beans and mushrooms an amazing combination, super satisfying and delicious. I often use them in stir fries, salads, and dips together. The mushrooms really give this soup a deep umami flavor, the kind you get from frying up bacon - but without the bacon :-). I shouldn't have said that, because now you expect bacon and you might be disappointed

The first recipe of 2019 is here, and we are kicking off with a simple 5 minute deliciousness. You know when you want that extra oomph on your salad or lunch bowl, when you need a spread for your sandwich - something other than hummus? Then look no further! This miso white bean spread is delicious, super satisfying, and so versatile. Plus it keeps in the fridge for an entire week, so your food prepping goes a long way. It's a win-win all around! Miso paste is one of the great

After all the treats from various Halloween parties, let's nourish our body with a comforting, grounding bowl filled with goodness. And the best part: it only takes 15 minutes to throw together! Perfect for a busy evening when dinner needs to be on the table ASAP. In case you are new to the blog, welcome! As you will notice in many recipes, I never just cook a grain or a bean for one recipe. I prepare these in bigger batches for the week, so that then throwing together wholes

Last year I had a little survey, asking you to let me know what you wanted to see more of. So at the beginning of the year I vowed to bring you more super simple recipes that you can whip up in a few minutes, as well as giving you more ideas what to do with all those superfood powders stashed in your pantry. I've really been trying to walk that thin line between easy-to-find ingredients, but also giving you yummy ideas for those really yucky tasting powders. So far these seem

This soup is not going to win you any awards in presentation, but the taste is fresh and delicious. Chard can often be rough and bitter. By pairing it with slightly sweet coconut aminos and sour lemon juice, the chard suddenly gets turned into a super delicious vegetable you can't get enough of. The white beans give this soup substance, so you can use this as a whole dish without the need of preparing anything else in the kitchen. You can either use any kind of bean or legume

A super simple, very versatile recipe is here to end the month of February. It's still very cold and uncomfortable, which makes me crave a lot of warm, cooked foods. And while we know that leafy greens are the foundation of vibrant health, eating them in a raw salad is just not my kind of things right now. That is why I like to quickly stir fry them or add them to soups in the last few minutes of cooking. In this recipe I stir fry kale with onion and white beans. That's it! T

Burgers and BBQs are summer staples. As soon as you eat more plant-based though, you are kind of left out of the fun. I mean you can only eat so many corn on the cobs until they come out of your ears. And sometimes you just really want a juicy burger to bite into. Taadaa... my brown rice burger patties are the perfect substitute. Let me be frank, if you are a hardcore meat burger lover, you are probably not going to appreciate this patty. This is for those of you who have giv

Summer salads want to be light and refreshing, especially when paired with heavier BBQs or beer gardens :-) This salad is light, yet still filling because of the broad beans. They provide some filling substance other than just leafy greens. Feel free to improvise and use different kinds of lettuce, slice up some orange in case you don't have any grapefruit, and use French beans or sugar snap peas instead of broad beans. The dressing is a winner! I love it with most of my sala

This is my go to recipe at the moment, since it comes together so quickly and is super filling. Miso is a fermented paste, made out of soy beans, bacteria cultures, and often a grain like rice or barely. While I have touched upon the subject of regular soy and its health problems, eating fermented, organic soy in the form of miso is an excellent way to boost your friendly gut bacteria. Our digestion affects everything in our body In my nutrition coaching sessions I always tal

When living in Thailand I wasn’t a huge fan of Thai food a few months after moving there - probably because the smell of chili and garlic was at every corner, bombarding my nostrils day and night. Since leaving Thailand, I have become much more loving of the Thai flavors. The freshness and lightness of the food is something you don’t find often, especially in a world where everything tastes better with a lot of cheese. This green papaya salad makes for the perfect, light summ

This is my favorite way to serve green beans! You can either quickly boil them or steam them, whichever method you prefer. Add some toasted slivered almonds, fried garlic, lemon zest, and olive oil, and you have got the most delicious side dish. Preparation time: 10 minutes Makes 2 side servings: 20 string beans 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced 1 Tbsp slivered almonds 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil for cooking 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil for serving 1 tsp fresh lemon zest sea sa

This salad was first inspired last fall when one of my Alive Shanghai team member’s birthdays was just around the corner. I wanted a fruity salad (bring on the pomegranate) that was filling (bring on the beans) and fall inspired (candied walnuts with maple syrup anyone?). Feel free to substitute the beans for anything you may already have in the fridge. When it comes to pomegranate, my husband can’t get enough… while I hate taking them apart. So much peeling work for such lit

Summer doesn’t get better than grilled corn on the cob! Did you know, you can also eat corn raw? It works really well in this salad marinated in a spicy dressing. Alternatively, if you are not a fan of raw corn, you could also grill the corn first, then cut it off the cob, and add it to the salad. Prepare this salad in big batches for summer BBQs. The salad keeps well in the fridge for up to 2 days, so you can prepare it well in advance. Preparation time: 20 minutes Marinatin