<3 Abigail 

“Did you know the World Health Organization deemed radiation from cellphones “potentially carcinogenic“?  So, despite your best efforts to stay away from BBQ and free radicals in general, it looks like all those oh so important biz calls you take on your cell phone could be feeding the cancer-causing radiation straight into you ol’ brain. What kind of deal is that?”

A crappy one indeed, Ms Telpner! Loving this contest idea, I’m on my phone all the time. It’s kind of a problem. Fingers and toesies crossed I win

Linkage: http://meghantelpnerblog.com/2012/06/07/ill-have-an-order-of-chitchat-hold-the-brain-cancer

Coconut Cashew Cream

1 cup cashews, soaked in water for at least two hours

1/4 cup full fat coconut milk

2 tbsp water

1/2 tsp vanilla

1-2 tbsp maple syrup, honey, brown rice syrup, or clear raw agave

Pinch of sea salt

Directions

1. Place soaked cashews in food processor or high-powered blender with coconut milk. Blend until smooth, adding water as needed.
2. Add in vanilla, sweetener, and salt to taste.

Use as a topping on fruit, pancakes, waffles, or to thicken smoothies and pudding… or be creative and use it anywhere you want

Strawberry Shortkale Smoothie 

(See what I did there? Like strawberry shortcake? But with kale?)

2 handfuls of frozen strawberries

1/2 frozen banana

1 large handful of spinach

2 stalks kale

1/2 cup almond milk

1/2 cup coconut water

1 tbsp hemp seeds

1 scoop vanilla Sunwarrior protein powder

Blend up all that sheeeit and driiiiiiink it!

And then I get in the kitchen and just fucking do it.

So here’s my take on vegan French toast. Enjoy.

Ingredients

¾ cup almond milk (or any non-dairy beverage)

2 tbsp brown rice flour or vanilla Sunwarrior protein powder

2 tbsp ground flax (or chia)

2 tbsp orange juice

1.5 tsp Xyla xylitol (or sucanat, coconut sugar)

Hearty dash of cinnamon

1 tbsp coconut oil

5 slices gluten-free bread (I used Food For Life brown rice slices)

Toppings: coconut butter, powdered stevia, cinnamon, maple syrup

Directions

1. Mix together all ingredients (except bread and oil) and let sit for 5ish minutes (to allow the flax to gelatinize and thicken the mixture).
2. Heat pan on medium level, add oil.
3. Soak each slice in cinnamon mixture and cook each side until golden brown.
4. Top with extra cinnamon, powdered stevia, coconut butter and maple.  Serve with a side of oranges and John Mayer.

Ingredients

2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and steamed

1/4 cup brown rice or quinoa flour (or even protein powder could work)

1 tbsp coconut oil, plus extra for greasing

1/4-1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp baking soda

Pinch sea salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a ramekin or small dish with coconut oil.
2. Steam sweet potatoes and mash by hand or toss ‘em in the food processor.
3. Add flour and mix or process with the sweet potato. Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix.
4. Scoop mixture into your ramekin and bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool and enjoy. Bonus: stick a square of dark chocolate into the middle of the cake when you pull it out and let it melt. Yummm. 

One of my favourites from HeyManifesto

What do you think about when you’re working out? Lunch? Chore list? Chances are, your mind wanders when you’re training. I find I can zone out when I’m doing cardio (especially when it’s not super-high intensity intervals, or when I’m outside). Considering how much time I spend getting jacked, I thought I’d take advantage of this time to increase my levels of awesomeness.

I found this great app called HeyManifesto. It’s got a ton of positive affirmations on brightly coloured pictures for all areas of your life. If my cardio takes place on a machine, I like to have something to focus on aside from the timer counting down the minutes.

The increased levels of feel-good chemicals and more blood pumping through your veins while you’re working out puts your brain in place for super-optimal information absorption. The neuro-linking that happens when you’re in a good mood is amazing! It’s one of the reasons Kelsey and I host The Awesomeness Advantage: whether people watch it for our giddiness and hilarity, or just to look at our pretty faces, it puts people in a good mood and sends home a great message. It associates positivity and feeling good with the ideas or messages you’re absorbing.

Positive mood + positive messages = increased absorption rate of said messages

You don’t need the app to try this technique out. Send yourself some positive affirmation pictures to your email (assuming you get email on your phone, of course) and flip through them while you’re on the bike/elliptical/stair machine/tread mill. If you’re looking for some good ones, check out my page on Facebook (there’s a link on the right side of this page).

Let me know if you try this! I love doing it, and I’d love to hear your experiences with it.

The Chocolatiest Breakfast Bowl Ever

1/2 cup chocolate almond milk

1/2 cup chocolate (or regular) coconut water

1 serving chocolate Sunwarrior Warrior Blend protein powder

1 serving chocolate Amazing Grass greens powder or 1 large handful of spinach

1/2 frozen banana

Optional optimizers: 1 tsp maca powder, 1 tbsp coconut oil

Optional toppings: 1 handful chocolate Kaia raw granola (or regular granola), goji berries, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds

Directions

Blend all ingredients (except toppings) and pour into a bowl. Top with your, erm, toppings, and enjoy! Smoothies in a bowl taste better. Especially ones of the chocolate variety. Happy weekend! XO

Okay, and it’s kind of hippie-ish.

Here’s what I do. I take a few crystals and let them sit in a big jug of water for about 24 hours. Tigers eye and opalite are my current picks, but you should choose whatever you vibe with. This alone will change how your water tastes (seriously, try it). Tons of research on water will show you the effects of positively and negatively influenced water cell structures (see picture below), and this is essentially what putting crystals in your water will do. It will infuse the water with the characteristics of the crystals. Add some trace mineral drops to take it to the next level (check out your local health food store, they’ll definitely have a product like ConcenTrace).

DISCLAIMER: Do your own research on crystals and their effects on the body before making elixirs. Some have less than desirable or even toxic effects.

If you’re so inclined, also try adding some crushed fruit and a few drops of stevia. Add lemon slices and strawberries for a pink lemonade flavour. Or orange slices with vanilla stevia for an orange crush flavour. The options are endless. Plus, it makes you want to drink more water! Water’s kind of a big deal when it comes to your overall well-being. Just look at a plant. As soon as you water it, you can visibly see it perk up and glow a little bit. Considering how we’re mainly made up of water, it would make sense that drinking more of it would have a similar effect on us.

With summer (and music festivals, and outdoor activities, and traveling) upon us, it’s key to start drinking more water than you normally would! It’s one of my top seven ways to instantly feel better (as featured on MindBodyGreen). Read the rest of those tips by clicking here!

Sweetheart Espresso Floats

1 cup of almond milk

5-6 drops of English toffee stevia

8 ounces of frozen heart-shaped Americano

Mix milk and stevia together and drop in the heart cubes. Allow the cubes to melt a little bit and sip away. Optional: warm the milk and stevia first make melting a bit easier.