Go Buy Now: We The Eaters

My friend Ellen Gustafson released her first book last week, and it’s guaranteed to be a good one. Ellen is a sustainable food activist, food policy expert, social entrepreneur, and all around badass. I met Ellen a few years ago at a TEDx event, where she was giving one of her four TED talks, and she quickly became one of my inspirations.

In “We the Eaters,” Ellen lays out her manifesto - that by changing our dinner plates, we can change the broken food system, and really change the world. She explains:

"We the Eaters" weaves together the global stories of hunger and food insecurity that I saw so often in my work with FEED with the state of our domestic food system that leaves too many Americans unhealthy and overweight. There are concrete ideas about how every Eater, aka each of us, can make changes on our plates to improve the systems that bring us all food everyday.

I love concrete. I can't wait for my copy to arrive. Go buy yours here.

Guest Post: For the Love of Yoga

Friends, meet Krista, my guest blogger for today. Krista has worked with me at Invisible Children for the past year and a half, and we quickly adopted each other as sisters. She is one of the wittiest people I know, and shares a love for reading, cooking, writing, and yoga. Plus, she's a mom and an all-around badass. Enjoy & check out her blog at kristameetsworld.tumblr.com.

This isn't me. But it could be in 2 years time. Gotta have goals, people.

Namaste. Savasana. Pranayama. 

Gibberish, right? Yes. Unless you're a Yogi. Which I think I have become.

First things first, it's (apparently) a known fact that exercise positively contributes to your overall health and wellness. Well, I don't like to exercise. There was a time where I took up running, and there was also a time where I purchased a Jazzercise DVD and did it twice. I'll be honest and say I tend to not stick with things, and I would prefer the fat to just fall off my body while sitting on the couch. A bonus would be if I could just sweat out all my impurities while sitting in a lounge chair next to the pool instead of a hot yoga studio. 

Well dear reader, I am a changed woman. Because I now practice yoga. I bought a mat and everything.

Recommended by a friend (who has been at it for four months and has effectively transformed her body), I decided to try it. First class? I hated it. It was too hard, too hot, I thought I was dying, and I'm pretty sure I saw Jesus. Pick yourself up and try again, as my mother always says before I punch her in the face. So two days later I went back. Easier class (intro beginner amateur hour), little less hot, little more stamina. I started slow, and began trying all the different classes, sweating my way through my lovehandle reserve of beer, and carbs, and artificial sweetener. 

A co-worker of mine goes to Yoga for the purpose of centering herself, relaxing, and getting in touch with her heart & brain & feelings. While all of those are certainly valid reasons, that is not why I go to Yoga. I attend for the sole vain purpose of getting so in shape that people stop me on the street to ask me what the heck I've been doing to look so fantastic. That hasn't happened yet, but I really feel like it could happen soon (sidenote: I can usually be found walking near my work in Barrio Logan around noon M-F.)

Case in point: you should try Yoga. You never knew your legs could bend that way, or that you could sweat so much without passing out. You'll feel stronger, and more flexible, and you'll reduce your jiggles (you know the ones.) And just in case I haven't successfully swayed you to sign up for a free week, here is a shortened list of the benefits of Yoga:

Decreases: blood pressure, respiratory rate, and hostility.

Increases: energy levels, joint range of motion, and the chances your thin jeans will fit.

Improves: posture, concentration, and the chances your thin jeans will fit. 

   

My final push for you to do everything I do - Yoga is actually fun. After you leave the class and go outside and breath air that doesn't feel like it's coming out of a humidifier, you feel awesome. And thin. And liberated. 

Join me, won't you? I'll be the one grunting in the corner. 

Namaste,
Krista

Guest Post: A Lush Life

Friends, meet the lovely Lauranne. Lauranne helped design most of this blog, and she has been talking about LUSH for weeks, so I'm thrilled for her to share her knowledge with all of you! Enjoy, Tiff 

I’ve got to share with you that I’ve become a LUSH. Not in the way you might assume, either.

A few months ago, I’d been itching to find a more natural haircare routine. After many conversations with friends about the excessive sulfates and unfriendly ingredients found in most all of our brand-name shampoos and conditioners, I knew I wanted to be living more naturally and giving my hair some more love.

A friend and co-worker introduced me to LUSH, a fresh and handmade cosmetic company creating skin and haircare products from organic fruit and vegetables, essential oils and safe synthetics – with a personality. I was intrigued and excited by the vision and the story behind the LUSH brand. Everything created is made by hand in small batches with little preservatives by fun, happy, like-minded people. LUSH sources all of their ingredients ethically, with no animal cruelty, traveling worldwide to meet the faces behind their ingredients to ensure fair working conditions and sustainability – entrepreneurs in Ghana, Morocco, Costa Rica, Papua New Guinea, Vancouver, and the Colorado Rockies.

Regardless of where you are, experiment with what works best for your hair and find the brands that align with the values most important to you! Sometimes we can get in a tizzy with the plethora of choices at our fingertips but LUSH reminds us that it can and should be fun. Remembering that our skin is our largest organ and gradually transitioning to a more natural haircare routine has allowed my skin and hair to drink in better, fresher ingredients each week and given me confidence in the sourcing of what I’m purchasing. Knowing that the individuals behind my purchase are being taken care of and respected is important to me and that not only brings excitement back to a hair and skincare routine but aligns with my values.

If you’re looking to try products from LUSH, I'm currently loving: Godiva Solid Shampoo, BIG Shampoo, American Cream Conditioner, Honey I Washed the Kids soap, Ocean Salt scrub, Celestial Moisterizer, and the Aqua Mirabilis exfoliating bar.

P.S. Fun fact: if you're planning on purchasing a few items, check out their UK store. With the currency conversion, it can be cheaper (including shipping!) and will take a just a week or two!

Naturally, 
Lauranne

Cooking Class

{My mom & I}

I had the best time assisting my mom with the cooking class on Saturday. I would say co-leading, but my mom had it on lock down. I've learned pretty much all I know from her, so it was really fun to see her pass along her passion for good food and cooking to others. 

For the class, we wanted to focus recipes that were healthy, simple, and affordable, since it can be challenging to find go-to recipes that encompass all three. With almost 20 of us, it was quite the feast. This was the six course menu:

• Crostini with White Bean & Prosciutto Puree
• Arugula Salad with Tomatoes, Red Onion & Pepperonici
• Roasted Carrots
• Black Bean Soup
• Penne Pasta with Homemade Tomato Sauce
• Honey Vanilla Poundcake with Berries & Chantilly Cream

Everything was incredible, but the crowd favorite was the roasted carrots. Roasting brings out the sugars so they were naturally and surprisingly sweet. I already blogged about the black bean recipe here and I'll continue sharing these recipes in upcoming posts. In the meantime, here are some pics from my iPhone & Lauranne's iPhone (the more stunning photos are Lauranne's).

{Directing the troops}

{Roasted carrots & preparing herbs}

{Assembling the crostini} 

{Arugula salad prep}

{White bean & prosciutto crostini}

{Assembled salad}

{Dessert!}

The Dirty Dozen: When to Buy Organic

Happy Wednesday! This is one of my first photoshop masterpieces above. Impressive, right?  Okay, its not perfect but I'm still learning.

I have lots to share today about when to buy organic produce, but I'm trying to keep it concise. I talked a couple weeks ago about how variety in your produce is so important. But if you are trying to introduce more fruits and veggies, it can be expensive - especially if you want to buy them organic.

Organic is a funny term, because the term itself is new but the method is old. It's how agriculture has been done for thousands of years. But for the sake of clarity, organic means that the food is grown without the use of synthetic pesticides, chemical fertilizers or growth hormones, and organic is better because our bodies aren't meant to ingest hundreds of chemicals each day.

The term gets confusing because organic farming has now become industrialized, and small farms practicing the best farming methods cannot always afford to obtain the USDA organic label. So, as a consumer, it's incredibly confusing to navigate if organic asparagus from Peru is better than non-organic asparagus from a local farm.

Personally, I try to buy local and organic whenever possible. I'll have to write a later post on why small farms are the best to support, but for now, suffice it to say that farmers markets and CSAs are my best friend (CSA stands for "community supported agriculture" - a weekly box of produce from a local farm). With a CSA or co-op, you get a lot of bang for your buck - mine is $15 a week for a TON of food. CSAs also force you to eat seasonally and introduce variety into your diet. You can find ones in your area by going to http://www.localharvest.org/. I know, I should be a CSA salesperson.

But back to the point of knowing when to buy organic. The good news is that you don't have to splurge on everything. There is a spectrum of what produce is most important to buy organic and what you can get away with buying conventional.

Let me introduce you to the dirty dozen and the clean dozen. (coined by my adorable mom)

The Dirty Dozen are the items you should ONLY buy organic, because they are the most compromised by pesticides. These are:

Apples                              Celery                             Strawberries            Spinach
Peaches                           Nectarines                        Lettuce                   Potatoes               

Sweet Bell Peppers            Grapes (Imported)            Cherries                  Grapes

For example, the wax on an apple seals in all of the pesticides, so you can't wash those off. And according to the Environmental Working Group, celery tested positive for 57 pesticides. Fifty seven.

The Clean Dozen are the LEAST important to buy organic because they are the least comprised by pesticides. These are:

Onions                              Pineapples                         Asparagus                     Cabbage

Avocados                          Mangoes                           Kiwi Fruit                        Broccoli

Sweet Corn(frozen)            Sweet Peas (frozen)            Bananas                        Eggplant

You'll notice that most of these fruits and veggies have a protective peel or outer layer that protects the produce inside. These are the items are where you can save your money and safely buy conventionally grown. (These lists are taken from the book Anti-Cancer, but you can find a slightly different, more comprehensive list at www.foodnews.org.) 

Lastly, I do want to make a one more case for spending a little more money on local and organic food. I believe that the types of food we eat directly impact our health, and that the investments we make in our health now can save us money in the long run. According to Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food, in 1960, we spent 17.5% of our monthly budget on food and only 5.2% on healthcare. Since then the numbers have flipped, and we spend 9.9% of our monthly budget on food and 16% on healthcare. So my motto is either pay the farmer now, or the doctor later. No offense, medical community. I still love you.

So whether you want to invest a little more in your food budget or not, I hope the dirty dozen helps you shop a little smarter - to save when you can and spend more where it really counts. Just remember to avoid anything on the dirty list unless its organic. Now go enjoy those fruits and veggies, friends. xo.

Blog Launch!

Welcome to Tiffany, Naturally! This blog has been a dream of mine for over two years, so I'm beyond excited to be launching it today. 

I wanted to start this blog to communicate all the things that I find fascinating about food, nutrition and health.  The more I learn and the more I’ve changed my lifestyle, the better I’ve felt. Because of that, I have developed a love for nutrition and a love for sharing it with people. As gracious as my husband and friends have been in listening to me ramble on, it might be a bit more productive to channel it into a blog.

It has been a journey and a process to live more naturally, and as I’ve shared it with my friends, I’ve found that most of us want to live a healthier life. It can just be really confusing to know how.

So my goal is to share tips & tricks, easy recipes, restaurant reviews, inspiration and useful information through this blog. I want it to be practical because unless you have a major health issue, I don't think that it's reasonable to overhaul your diet overnight. For most of us, it's about making simple choices that will boost our immune system, give us more energy, and prevent disease later in life. 

Thanks for reading & enjoy!