No leaves in my salad please!

No leaves in my salad please!

You know those days when you look in your fridge and see so many great ingredients, but no clue what to do with them? I realized that all you have to do is toss them in a bowl together and drizzle them with dressing. Cool, eh? Lately I’ve been into super simple “chunky salads”. These salads are fully forkable, with no leaves in sight (I’ve preferred to drink my spinach and kale leaves these days).

Creamy Citrus Chunky Summer Salad

Serves one, multiply to your hearts content!

Ingredients

½ avocado

½ cucumber

½-1 orange

Small handful of parsley

¼ lemon

1 tbsp oil

pinch sea salt

¼ tsp dill

Directions

1. Chop up the ‘cado, cuc, orange and parsley into chunks.
2. Whisk together the dressing ingredients and pour over the salad. Toss and serve.

Cool Black Bean Cucumber Chunk Salad

Serves one, multiply to your hearts content!

Ingredients

½ cup black beans (Eden Organic canned and washed, or homemade)

1/3 cucumber

½ pear

1 tsp honey

1 tsp dijon mustard

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Pinch sea salt

Directions

1. Chop up cucumber and pear and toss in a bowl with black beans
2. Whisk together ingredients and pour over the salad. Toss and serve.

Living, and Eating, In the Moment

I was happy to discover that the Maple Leaf Lounge has some healthy options

Traveling does a funny thing to me: I tend to “allow” myself to eat foods I don’t normally consume (keep in mind, I am an avid flexitarian, and I set flexible guidelines for my dietary choices based on how my body feels). During my trip to Toronto, I woke up one morning to some freshly, made-with-love whole wheat bread. Normally I forgo wheat, since it doesn’t get along with my body all that well.  But hey, it was still warm from the oven, what was I gonna say? No, I don’t want your beautiful bread topped with local Ontario honey, almond butter and banana? Sorry, I’d rather stare at it longingly wishing that “I ate wheat”?

I could also make the argument that the dialogue would be more like “Sorry, I don’t want to cripple my guts by eating gluten”.  I get that.

Instead I decided to live in the moment.  In that moment, my eyes widened and my stomach growled and my legs lurched me forward towards the kitchen where I carefully sliced two pieces of bread for Kelsey and I.

And you know what? I felt great.  The mindset you have while eating impacts your body that much. It’s not something I eat all the time, and the circumstance – made with love, fresh, and my body literally pulling me towards it – called for it. I didn’t think “Damn I’m going to have the worst stomach cramps after this,” I thought “Oh my gosh, this is freaking delicious” and savored every crumb.

So what’s the difference between eating and living in the moment, and letting your food “exceptions” get out of control? Well the first way to tell the difference is by checking in.  You already know which foods you usually avoid and why.  If you find yourself craving them or being drawn to them, stop and ask yourself why that is. Is it because you don’t have any other choice, or is it because you had a crappy day and it’s your comfort food? Change your mindset: If you’re travelling and really don’t have any other food choice, reframe your thinking. Try, “Wow, I’m so grateful to have this food! My body loves and can handle eating this right now because it’s nourishing me.” If you simply crave the food, not because you’re hungry (and are probably quite emotional at the same time), try thinking “I am safe to be in control of my emotions.  I fill myself only with the clean food that my body enjoys and absorbs. I eat only foods that make my mind, body and spirit feel good.” Breathe. Pause. Repeat.

I love traveling. I love the excitement of the plane taking off, and exploring new cities.  The places I will travel to might not always be able to accommodate my food choices. The friends I have don’t all subscribe to the same dietary guidelines as me. Living in the moment keeps me grounded, and eating in the moment keeps my body and mind happy. Don’t take life so seriously, you’ll miss out on Kodak moments and freshly baked bread.

Sometimes it helps to have someone hear you out on your food cravings, and help you sort out why you’re drawn to certain foods. Sometimes, that someone is me abigail@abigailchristens.com.

I was in Cabo, here are my Top 5 Inner Vacation Tips!

Hello! So this is what I’m currently I was doing less than 24 hours ago:

So I’ll keep this short.  Here are my top 5 tips to take an inner vacation:

1) Slow down.  Vacations are great, you don’t feel rushed to get anywhere (unless you’re with my dad, where everything is going to be a disaster if you don’t walk at least 4.5 miles per hour).  So slow down.  Wake up 15 minutes early to get your day ready and everything else should fall into place.

2) Eat good food.  Your insides need a rest too!  Eat REAL food that your body knows how to breakdown – i.e., food that has come directly from the earth.  Slow down when you’re eating and don’t consume [too much] alcohol.

"That's how people grab you!"

3) Pamper yourself.  Whether it’s a pedicure to get your toes ready for spring or allowing yourself 30 minutes each day to read something that has nothing to do with work/school/real life.  Give your mind a break from all that stress!

4) Meditate.  Be-gone those visions of ohm-ing monks in Thailand and just sit with your thoughts for a little while.  Try a guided meditation (like this one) if you’re new to this practice.  Look INSIDE for peace and comfort.  Ideally, 30 minutes in the morning is great, but if you can only do 5, then do 5.

5) Laugh.  If nothing else, it’ll lighten the fact that you’re probably not on the beach like I am was.  Laughing tightens your abs, releases happy-hormones, and is awfully contagious.  Stop being so darn negative and see the humour in things.  Don’t take yourself so seriously.  If you’re really stuck for reasons to laugh, try watching Modern Family.  It gets me every time.

Happy Monday Friday!  I wrote this post to be automatically posted while I was away.  Fail.