Trail Mix

Effortlessly keep your metabolism strong by eating frequent snacks and small meals throughout your day! With organic nuts and a bit of organic dried fruit (and don't forget a hint of dark chocolate), trail mix is one of the staple snacks everyone should have available to enjoy whenever they need a quick snack.

2 cups organic raw walnuts
1 cup organic raw almonds
1/2 cup organic dried cranberries
1/4 cup organic dried raisins
1/4 cup organic dark chocolate chips

Mix all the ingredients together. Keep in a sealed jar and always available to grab a handful as a quick and necessary snack. Enjoy!

Spinach and Quinoa Salad with Avocado and Grapefruit

• 
  
  
  I actually do not like the grapefruit on this salad. I included it because the dressing is very good. I do highly recommend spinach, quinoa, avocado and walnuts together! An incredible combination of taste and nutrients. (You can eat the grapefruit on the side!) If you cook up a batch of quinoa and keep in a sealed container in the fridge it is always available to mix into a salad. To the quinoa you can add spinach, walnuts, avocados and any other vegetable and mix it with your favorite dressing. The dressing below is a good one. You can eat this for lunch or a snack more then once throughout the week! Just keep all ingredients separate until you are ready to toss together. This recipe makes one salad.
  
  Ingredients:
  organic baby spinach (about 4 ounces, but I just toss in a few handfuls)
  1 organic ruby red grapefruit, peeled and fruit separated, reserving 3 slices
  1/2 organic haas avocado, diced
  1/2 cup cooked quinoa (cook up 1/3 cup dry quinoa and you'll make 1 cup of cooked quinoa, you'll have enough to save for a second salad :))
  1/4 cup chopped walnuts
  For the Citrus Vinaigrette:
  3/4 tablespoon olive oil
  3/4 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  1 tablespoon chopped shallot
  salt and pepper to taste
  grapefruit juice from 3 reserved slices of grapefruit (if not using grapefruit you can use 3/4 tablespoon lemon juice instead)
  
  Directions:
  
  Rinse quinoa well under cold water. Place 1/3 cup dry qunioa into 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil. Turn down heat to simmer. Simmer 20 minutes. Lay out on a plate to cool. Peel the skin and white membrane off the grapefruit and separate the pieces. Reserve three grapefruit slices for the vinaigrette and squeeze the juice; set aside. Cut the remaining grapefruit into small pieces for the salad. In a medium bowl whisk the olive oil, grapefruit juice (from 3 slices of grapefruit), vinegar, chopped shallots, salt and pepper. In a large bowl toss spinach, quinoa, avocado, grapefruit and vinaigrette. Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Sandwich Bread

This is the best gluten-free sandwich bread recipe I have come across. It has a great flavor and texture. This recipe calls for both potato starch and tapioca starch. I am not a big fan of potato starch or tapioca starch. They are refined and removed from there "whole food". However, in small amounts these two starches help make a gluten-free bread turn out most like "real bread". I keep a small jar of both starches in our pantry and we use them sparingly. If you are on a gluten-free diet you would thoroughly enjoy this sandwich bread and it is simple to make too!

If you don't have to eat gluten-free (our family does not have to eat gluten-free) then why make gluten-free bread? It is always good to switch up the whole grains you include in your diet. This bread is high in protein (2 whole eggs and 2 egg whites) and healthy fats (flax seeds and safflower oil). It is always nice to balance out complex carbohydrates with fat and protein when baking bread.


1 cup warm water
2 teaspoons yeast
2 tablespoons organic raw cane sugar
1 1/4 cup organic brown rice flour
1/2 cup organic ground flax seeds
1/2 cup organic potato starch
1/4 cup organic tapioca starch
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons organic apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons organic safflower oil
2 organic eggs
2 organic egg whites

Combine warm water, yeast and sugar in mixing bowl. Let sit 5 minutes. Add all other ingredients into the mixer. Mix dough for 8 minutes at lowest speed. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl with rubber spatula. Spoon into prepared bread pan. Let rise, uncovered, in a warm, draft-free place for 1 hour. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove bread from oven and let it sit 5 minutes. Remove from bread pan and allow the bread to cool on cooling rack. Or slice the loaf while it is still warm and eat it with Earth Balance (or butter) melted on top! Enjoy!