By Julie Morris on March 2, 2010
Straight out of bed each morning, my stomach is talking to me, letting me know that it’s a priority. Indeed, I know what it wants, and we have an understanding. I’ll don my slippers and scuffle over to the kitchen. Most days will begin with some juice, a sweet fruit, and then a bit later I’ll whip up a thick smoothie for delicious easy energy. In turn, my stomach shuts up for several hours and I am free to go along my business. Carpe diem always starts with a solid breakfast . . . at least that’s what my stomach likes to say.
But the rainy season really puts a (pardon the pun) damper on the usual breakfast plan. With the air so damp and chilly, cold foods seem completely inhospitable. Counter-top ripened bananas are a maybe, and hot tea of course is nice, but I crave the heavier, denser, sweetly satisfying foods. I want something prepared that I don’t have to think about: grab-and-go style. I want . . . a breakfast bar.
Good-choice breakfast bars have a combination of instant energy-providing simple sugars, complex carbohydrates for more lasting energy, and a bit of healthy fat to further smooth over the morning hungries. They are also potentially the perfect canvas for a beautiful collection of natural ingredients. Of course, many store-bought breakfast bars are laden with refined white sugar, refined grains, and probably a little more white sugar to, I don’t know, be on the safe side I guess. That’s why I like to make my own. I make a big batch, cut and wrap them up, and then I’ve got my go-to breakfast all week. One hour spent for a whole week’s worth of easy goodness.
Try a batch of these crave-worthy soft squares — my Lemon Coconut Breakfast Bars — and tell me your morning doesn’t get going just a little bit better.
Posted in Freshly Made, Health On A Budget, Natural Lifestyle | Tagged agave, alkaline, Articles, bars, breakfast, chef, chia, chia seed, coconut, dates, easy recipe, essential fatty acids, facebook, food, fresh, gluten free, handmade, Healthy Lifestyle, healthy living, Julie Morris, la, lemon, local food, los angeles, medjool, natural, nutrition, oat flour, organic, plant-based diet, recipe developer, Recipes, slow food, socal, southern california, superfoods, sustainalbe, vegan, vegetarian, warm, Weight Loss |
By Julie Morris on November 6, 2009
Next to a gleaming pile of tomatoes, and far outdone by a collection of fuchsia-colored radishes and candy-striped beets, I studied the heap of dusty white turnips humbly sitting untouched. While the Santa Monica farmer’s market buzzed with Sunday morning action, the turnips seemed destined to simply watch quietly. Three or four to a bundle, each bundle just a dollar a piece, I began to feel a little bad for the turnip, the way you watch an acquaintance fidget awkwardly alone at a party.
As much as my experience with vegetables is extensive, the turnip and I surprisingly have never met in the kitchen. It has always seemed like an extraneous ingredient – something you have to get rid of in the garden, so you end up throwing it into a pot with – whatever – and hope that it just cooks away. The turnip is just not the star-quality food I normally seek when selecting ingredients, but as a seasonal, local, and I do believe a bit of a lonely crop, I was compelled to take a turnip bundle home with me.
“What do you do with these turnips?” I dubiously asked the woman managing the vegetable booth.
“Make a soup.” She answered, while collecting my money.
I was beginning to picture an image resembling the children’s story, Stone Soup. Things just get thrown in the pot, and eventually a long simmer just works everything out somehow into a good meal.
“What kind of soup?” I asked.
“Turnip Soup.” And she was onto helping the next customer as I was left standing alone with the responsibility of 4 bulbous turnips.
Later that evening as the wind howled outside, I tentatively chopped my turnips, determined to make the quiet tuber a star. I found it to be much like a potato, yet with a higher water content and slightly sweeter flavor. I solicited the help of a single yam to further enhance the sweetness, alongside a minimal complimentary ingredient list, which included the basics: onion, garlic, etc.
A half hour passed. The smell of savory swelled. And finally, there it was: Turnip Soup.
The spotlight turned on. The turnip stepped out.
It was absolutely delicious.
Posted in Freshly Made, Health On A Budget, Natural Lifestyle | Tagged Add new tag, Articles, autumn food, budget, cheap eats, diet, easy recipe, fall food, farmer's market, food, gluten free, gluten free recipe, health, healthy desserts, Healthy Lifestyle, healthy living, Julie Morris, local food, low fat soup, natural food, organic, plant-based diet, pureed turnip, raw food, Recipes, santa monica, seasonal eating, superfoods, turnip soup, turnips, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian, Weight Loss |
By Julie Morris on October 8, 2009
The best inventions in the world are the ones which almost tug at your heartstrings by seeming so blatantly obvious, they evoke feelings of borderline embarrassment for not coming to the conclusion first. Where’s that elusive million-dollar idea when you need it? A recent trip to Montreal exposed me to one such invention, the Bixi Bikeshare System. Which brings to mind three little words: but of course.
Bixi (bike + taxi) is a public bicycle system which allows urbanites to rent a bike from an automatically-run station for a nominal fee, use it for any length of time, and return it to a bixi station of choice (conveniently dispersed throughout a city). Says Bixi’s website, “This allows people to have all the benefits of a bicycle, without having to purchase one, store one or bring one into town.” Cheaper than a taxi, more fun than a bus, and quicker than walking, bikes are undoubtedly one of the best ways to tool around a city, and public bike systems make all the benefits of biking inexpensive and easy.
Bike sharing is not a new idea. Around since the 50’s and popularized in Europe in the 90’s, self-service bike rentals have received mixed results. Earlier this year, the BBC reported one bike share company who, after a wildly successful launch in Paris, found themselves facing a massive problem when the bikes continually were stolen and vandalized.
Bixi has learned from other company’s mistakes, responding to these concerns by enlisting the help of top designers to quite literally reinvent the wheel. The new bikes are almost futuristic-looking in their durable design, and have embedded tracking systems that allow all bikes to be accounted for at any given time on back-end control systems. So far, the results are good, and in Montreal, the systems have flourished. With this success, the rest of North America is finally catching on to the idea.
“Boston, New York, Miami Beach, Montreal, Toronto, Minneapolis, Portland, and Vancouver are just some of the cities that have expressed an interest in or are actually setting up public bike systems. Not to mention a host of college and university campuses,” Bixi gushes. Time Magazine named Bixi one of the Best 50 Inventions of 2008, and even music icon David Byrne recently took to his blog to detail his positive experience using the public bikes. Byrne muses, “There are chain guards so you don’t get grease all over your nice white pants or dress, and the gear switching mechanism is inside the axle, so no grease there either. . . . You don’t HAVE to dress like a messenger unless you want to.”
A logical solution to a multitude of problems, installing a simple bike share system should be an obvious addition to every city’s public transit web. With such endless benefits, it’s clearly time for someone to knock on city council’s door with a new request to green the city.
*Image from www.Bixisystem.com
Posted in Green Tips, Health On A Budget, Natural Lifestyle, Uncategorized | Tagged Articles, bike, bikeshar, biking, bixi, cycling, david byrne, depression, environment, exercise, green, green transportation, Healthy Lifestyle, healthy living, Julie Morris, los angeles, montreal, public transit, system, walking, Weight Loss |
By Julie Morris on August 28, 2009
Just like the garden I’ve been in for the last week, it’s been quiet up here on the blog front. I had thought that upon visiting my dad in Eastern Washington last week, I’d be able to take advantage of the beautiful rural settings – carving out some time to read, write, and think. I assumed that my time there would be quiet – the perfect environment for inspiring creativity.
Quiet, yes. But quiet it made me in exchange. The laptop stayed unusually closed, and my mind remained comfortably still as I soaked up the simple complexity of nature around me. I basked in the broad, lazy pastures with resting hay barrels and excited crickets; the frontier-like houses with dirt driveways that crackle deeply from passing cars; the families of cows resting under the shade of lanky pine trees; and then, of course, the gardens. Every house in that pristine setting had a food garden. And as ’tis the season, each garden was absolutely brimming with vegetables, berries, tubers, flowers and all the best bounty that good soil, plentiful sunshine, and a summertime season can offer.
To me, there is something so innately joyous about being able to harvest and gather one’s own food. It’s one of those instinctual “this feels right” type of tasks – you know, like the opposite of walking into a Walmart. And with my dad’s all-organic garden absolutely flourishing this year, frequent harvesting was exactly what I did. Carrots, artichokes, onions, tomatoes, broccoli, squash, greens . . . who knew I was a borderline locust.
Upon nightfall, we’d make grand simple meals of the freshest of fresh vegetables. Here’s what went into our summertime garden salad bowl, which we consumed just about every night. Delicious. When I wasn’t eating it, I was thinking about eating it. Brought to you by nature and what’s perfectly in season . . .
Life Is Good Salad:
INGREDIENTS
2 heads of red leaf lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
3 cups shredded carrots
1 bunch chives, coarsely chopped
5-6 sweet Persian (miniature) cucumbers, sliced
3 large hierloom tomatoes, chopped
1 large Hass avocado, chopped
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
DIRECTIONS
Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl. I dressed mine simply with oil, lemon juice, sea salt and black pepper.
Ah.
Yes.
Perfection.
Posted in Freshly Made, Health On A Budget, Natural Lifestyle, Organic Farming | Tagged Add new tag, alkaline, antioxidants, Articles, avocado, budget, carrots, cheap eats, chives, easy recipe, environment, food, fresh, fresh herbs, garden, gardening, gathering, gluten free, green, harvest, Healthy Lifestyle, healthy living, hierloom, Julie Morris, lettuce, living, local food, nature, nutrition, organic, pastures, plant-based diet, quick, raw food, Recipes, seeds, sunflower, tomatoes, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian, Weight Loss |
By Julie Morris on August 6, 2009
It’s no secret that a rockin’ food pyramid includes some serious salad action. And when I say salad, I mean the big, bulky, butt-kickin’ kind . . . the kind just overflowing with flavorful fresh goodness. When I make a salad, I’m making a treasure hunt for the fork: a edible voyage packed with new awesome bits of yummy, propelling my feeding inertia as I chomp through the veggie pile. Yeah, I’m pretty much obsessed with salads.
Why so much salad love? Well, of course, veggie salads are good for you . . . blah blah blah. You know that. But! The other great part about salads is they’re really easy. REALLY easy. You can’t burn a salad, you don’t have to dust off every pot in the kitchen — all you need is 5 minutes and a knife, and you’ve got a masterpiece. Inventor of salad, you are a genius!
A winning combo which features classic Asian flavors is my recipe for a Chinese Chop Salad. A simple, flavorful, gingerey dressing rounds out the crisp vegetables and crunchy nuts. Forget your idea of an appetizer, this salad is nothing short of a meal. Protein, greens, antioxidants, yum factor, and overall bigness – that’s basically the food pyramid, right?
Get the recipe for the Chinese Chop Salad>
Oh, and as for those pathetic little restaurant salads with their flavorless lettuce and mysteriously pale tomato wedge . . . please.
Posted in Freshly Made, Health On A Budget | Tagged Articles, cheap eats, diet, easy recipe, environment, food, gluten free, health, Healthy Lifestyle, healthy living, Julie Morris, los angeles, nutrition, raw food, superfoods, vegetables, vegetarian, Weight Loss |
By Julie Morris on June 26, 2009
Oh summer and your peak-season produce. You make it terribly easy to eat extraordinarily well using your ripe bounty.
I’ve come to the conclusion that Mother Nature has a stash of aprons hanging out somewhere, because one of the enormous benefits of eating seasonal, local, fresh and simple produce is everything just seems to “go” together. Take some just-off-the vine tomatoes, trim down the thriving basil, shuck an ear of corn, and toss with oil, sea salt and black pepper . . . and there’s heaven. It really doesn’t take Martha Stewart to be inspired or Gordon Ramsay to cook well. And it certainly doesn’t take a cabinet of vitamin pills to be healthy.
Right now two of my favorite foods are in peak season – beets and avocados. And what better way to celebrate the season than with an absolutely luscious Chilled Cream Of Beet Soup. So here’s to you, Nature — you’re good, I mean really good. Get this simple soup recipe here.
Posted in Freshly Made, Health On A Budget, Natural Lifestyle, Organic Farming | Tagged alkaline, Articles, avocado, beets, budget, cheap eats, chilled soup, cold soup, diet, easy recipe, environment, essential fatty acids, farm fresh, farmer's market, food, gluten free, gordon ramsay, health, healthy living, hemp, hemp foods, hemp nuts, hemp seeds, hemp soup, iron, Julie Morris, local food, martha stewar, organic, plant-based diet, raw food, santa monica, seasonal food, seasonal recipe, soup, southern california, superfoods, vegan, vegan soup, vegetarian, Weight Loss |
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