Tips for Eating Local and Organic

Hello friends,

As some of you know, I’ve been writing for Clean Plates, a healthy eating guide to restaurants in Manhattan and Brooklyn (Los Angeles and other cities coming soon). If you love dining out like I do, but are looking to eat healthier, the book and website are the perfect tools. From fine dining, to casual corner restaurants, you’ll find the right spot whether you’re a carnivore dining with a vegan, or an omnivore just looking to eat healthier or try someplace new.

We are very fortunate to have specialty food stores, gourmet ingredients, farmers markets, and organic/natural health food stores here in NYC. My friends and family often ask for recommendations on how to get local, fresh food, or how to find a CSA. So I’ve compiled  Tips for Farm-to-Table Eating on the Clean Plates blog. OH and the pic is by moi too.

Please feel free to add comments here and on the CP blog, and share to Facebook and Twitter. Let’s spread the word and get more people eating in a healthful way!

For farmer’s market newbies, I’ve also created a Beginner’s Guide to Farmer’s Markets. Remember, not everything at the farmer’s market is organic so if you’re not sure, ask.

Thanks as always for your support! I’m so proud to be working on something I believe in. You can buy the book here.

Pressed Juicery: Juiced to ImPRESS

It’s not news that I love juicing. Blue Print Cleanse has always been my cleanse of choice on the east coast. But in LA, it was hard to swallow (pun intended) the hefty delivery fees, or the limited pick-up days at Exhale. So, my search began for a local LA juice company to test out. And boy, did I find it.

Pressed Juicery is a tiny, hole in the wall, in Brentwood. Literally, it’s a closet with a cute barn door. There’s just enough room for a cash register, a person, two stand up coolers filled with juice, and a wall of supplements/elixirs. It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. Ok, the guy on the phone kind of ruins the rusticness of it, but you get the idea. Good things do come in small packages. And I love any place where I can bring my dog, and eat.

Pressed Juicery, Brentwood

True to their promise “designed for your everyday life”, their menu offers flexibility unlike any juice program I’ve tried. Want your juice delivered? They can do that. Prefer to pick-it up in Brentwood? You can do that too. Not ready for a full-on cleanse? No problem. You can buy juices individually so you can test out as many as you like.

Pressed boasts 17 signature juices like Almond Milk (my fave), Blueberry Coconut Pear, Greens, and Roots. They usually have specials like Watermelon Mint which is TO DIE FOR. Sampling is ideal, particularly if you’re new to juicing. It’s an easy way to test out the juices without committing to a full-on cleanse. All juices are $6.50 for sixteen ounces, except almond milk ($8.00), aloe vera ($3.00) and carrot ($5.00).

If you’re looking to cleanse, you can choose which level you want (Cleanse 1 for less experienced, Cleanse 2 is most popular, Cleanse 3 for experienced/hardcore). And within each level, you have options: Greens 1 (no apple & lemon) or Greens 2 (with apple & lemon), Roots 1 (with beet) or Roots 2 (no beet), and Detox 1 (lemon, cayenne, filtered water) or Detox 2 (pineapple, pear, ginger, mint). Each cleanse ends with Almond Milk, those familiar with Blue Print and other cleanses know how the nut milks are known for being the dessert they look forward to all day.

PJ’s (we’re friends now, I can call them that) juices are pressed daily at an offsite facility in Beverly Hills. They use premium, organic ingredients, which is evident in each juice.  I was taken aback by the creaminess of their Almond Milk and the Carrot Coconut. I swear I was drinking a dairy product. And look at the color of this juice! It’s startling how bright and orange it is.

Carrot Coconut Juice

The Watermelon Mint is divine. It tastes like you’re sucking juice out of a perfectly ripe watermelon. The mint balances out the sweetness so it’s refreshing and light. I threw this back in about 10 seconds.

Watermelon Mint Juice

Their Almond Milk is one of the best nut milks I’ve ever tasted. It’s creamy, sweet, rich, dotted with vanilla bean specks, and literally tastes like melted ice cream.

Almond Milk: almonds, dates, vanilla bean, sea salt, filtered water

If I had children, Pressed Juicery would be my go-to place for juice. If you’re going to have juice, you might as well have the purest ingredients, and reap the maximum nutritional benefits, right? So many packaged juices are full of chemicals, additives, artificial x-y- and z, added sugar, it’s horrifying. Plus, these taste amazing and won’t fool those young palates into thinking cherries are supposed to be fire engine red, dye your tongue, and taste like sugar.

PressedJuicery.com is loaded with information about what to do before, during, and after the cleanse, and general F&Qs about cleansing. Like this one:

What is the difference between a “hydraulic press” and a regular juicer? At Pressed, all of our juices are produced on the highest quality juice press that exists. As opposed to a normal “centrifugal” juicer which takes a whole fruit or vegetable and squeezes out the juice, a hydraulic press actually grinds the entire thing into a fine pulp, after which it applies thousands of pounds of pressure to this pulp, extracting every ounce of juice that the fruit or vegetable can possibly yield. The results are smooth-tasting juices that contain the maximum amount of nutrition contained in each item. The gentle pressing action allows for little to no air to be introduced into the juice, and because of this each bottle can be kept in sealed, refrigerated containers for up to 3 days with little loss of taste, nutrients, or color.

Wish I could buy a hydraulic press but for now, my Breville Elite will have to do.

After sampling practically every juice they make, I’ve embarked on a 3-day cleanse. More on that when I finish it.

Don’t miss this amazing hidden gem. You can order online (they now deliver nationwide), pick-up in Brentwood, or swing by their mobile truck in Malibu. I’m dying to check out their truck because I heard they do remixes like combining Detox 2 + coconut + almond. Um, YUM. I’m imPRESSED.

Pressed Juicery

310-477-7171

Store Locations

New Fruit Mixes from Peeled Snacks

As I’ve mentioned before, I love Peeled Snacks.   {Pause}   Sorry, I had to take a breather from typing because I needed both hands to open a bag. I had the pleasure of trying the new Peeled Fruit Mixes at the NYC Vegetarian Food Festival. Now you can get THREE amazing dried fruits in one bag!! Available in the following organic Fruit Mixes: Farmer’s Market Trio (apple, cherry & raisin), Go Figure (fig, date, & apricot), and my personal favorite, Paradise Found (mango, banana & pineapple).

Paradise Found

The resealable pouches are perfect for keeping at your desk for that 3pm snack, or for sharing between family members. I love them when I’m traveling, or if I need a little energy before a workout. The fruit is fibrous so it satisfies without weighing you down and leaving you stuffed between meals. Sometimes I throw a handful of fruit and a few almonds in a snack bag, and I’m good to go. They’re also enough to satisfy that after dinner sweet tooth and are definitely a better alternative to a cookie or piece of cake. Of course, they can become addictive so I always watch my portions and love their single serve pouches. I adore Peeled for constantly coming up with organic, healthy, fresh, and simply delectable snack ideas. What are they going to think of next?

How do you take your Peeled Snacks? Straight up? Do you create your own mix? Are they your child’s favorite snack? Please share!

Shop for the new Fruit Mixes and many other delicious varieties at PeeledSnacks.com!

Farmer's Market Trio

Go Figure

Paradise Found

Vegan, gluten-free, yummy, on-the-go snacks

Day 4 – Vegan on-the-go!

Ok so I’m not going to lie, I’m tired today. Been tired all day, still tired now. I did another double session of Bar Method and Soul-Cycle so maybe my body is angry and fighting back. Either way, I was running around all day on a couple coffees, but no food. Not good for me or my metabolism. Being vegan does pose a few challenges like grabbing a bite when you’re out and about, which is why it’s always good to have goodies stashed in your purse for emergencies. Thank you Larabars for surviving the beat down of being jostled around in my overstuffed purse.

No, I don’t get paid to promote these brands, but I would happily do it; they are life-savers! I have been eating them for years, way before I began this vegan journey. I first got them as on-the-go snacks for my husband and I. We wanted something easy and low-calorie for pre or post-workouts, and occasionally in between meals. For a while we tried Balance bars, but didn’t like that they are full of ingredients you cannot pronounce. It’s like translating the periodic table. So I searched for a natural, good tasting bar. The search was over when I tried Larabars and Go Raw bars. They are now my go-to healthy snacks. They are gluten-free, wheat-free, and vegan. The Go Raw products are even nut-free and organic, and flavors like Banana Bread are only 120 calories. I recommend keeping Go Raw in the refrigerator since the ingredients are “live” and are susceptible to going bad (although I’ve never seen that happen).

Here are a few of my favorite flavors:

Larabars: Peanut butter cookie, Coconut cream pie, Peanut butter & jelly, Cherry pie and Apple pie.

Go Raw: Real Live Flax Seed Bar, Spirulina Energy Bar, Banana “bread” Flax Bar,  Spirulina* “super chips” and Ginger Snaps.

*Spirulina is a blue algae and complete protein containing all essential amino acids.  It’s also a rich source of potassium which is why I love it post-workout!

Happy Snacking!

Available at Whole Foods. Go Raw brand sometimes available at Bed, Bath & Beyond.