Author

Mandi Gould

Mandi is a bird-brained health foodie. Her best friends are a green Quaker parrot named Gaudi and a blushing yellow lovebird named Lindy. Together, they start every day with a green smoothie or juice and pump her husband, Geoffrey, full of nutrients to help keep him cancer-free.

Green Juice

Refreshing Cabbage & Sauerkraut Juice

written by Mandi Gould

This nutritious green juice is refreshing and invigorating! The addition of the sauerkraut makes it full of probiotics, which makes it great for your digestion. It’s also tangy and very yummy–quite different from the usual green juices that include lemon.

Ingredients

3 cups cabbage, washed & sliced to fit your juicer (green cabbage of choice; classic, savoy, etc.)
1 cucumber
2 stalks of celery
.33 cup of sauerkraut including the juice

Directions

I have an auger juicer and I like to alternate between the more wet vegetables like the cucumber and the dry vegetables like the celery to keep the juicer from plugging up.
Strain the juice and enjoy!

January 13, 2018 0 comment

Green Smoothies

Yummy Blueberry Banana Smoothie with Almond Butter

written by Mandi Gould

Satisfying, creamy, nutritious, delicious!

So here’s the thing about the photo I used for this blog post. The colour is so beautiful, but usually I change that colour by adding a bunch of spinach WHICH DOESN’T CHANGE THE FLAVOUR AT ALL. Just the colour and the nutritional value. It’s super yummy!!

Ingredients – 2 servings

1 banana
1 cup of blueberries (I like frozen)
4 tablespoons of almond butter (raw is great for you but roasted is ok too)
Big handful of baby spinach
18 oz. of water

Directions

You don’t have to get fancy about the directions. Just blend it up and enjoy! The almond butter and banana make it creamy so you don’t need any kind of milk or protein powder unless you really want to. Enjoy!

January 12, 2018 0 comment

Green Smoothies

Super Creamy Avocado Smoothie

written by Mandi Gould

If you’ve never had a smoothie with avocado, you’re in for a real treat!

I don’t think there’s any way to create a more perfectly smooth smoothie than to include some avocado. The texture is sublime! I don’t do it often because avocados are way too expensive where I live, but boy is it a treat when I do. Nutritious, satisfying, sublime.

This is a smoothie inspired by one of my favourite bloggers on the internet, the Minimalist Baker. I’ve added a little more fruit to mine as well as some spinach to take it to the next level.

BTW! I recently saw some avocado in the frozen section of my grocery store. I was intrigued and gave it a whirl… Yuck! It had citric acid added to it as a preservative. Stay away!!! It was totally gross.

Ingredients – 2 Servings

1 banana
1/2 a ripe avocado
1/2 cup frozen mango
1 scoop of your favourite vanilla protein powder (optional)
2 cups baby spinach
18 oz. of water

Directions

Add ingredients to a blender, whip it up, and enjoy!

People always ask me why I use water in my smoothies. Honestly, you don’t need any milk and definitely not juice if your other ingredients are creamy enough… and believe me, with the avocado and banana, you definitely don’t need any kind of milk!

January 10, 2018 0 comment

Healthy Recipes

Who’s Kale? Best Creamy Kale Salad Recipe

written by Mandi Gould

If you’re looking for the best kale salad, this is it! I became hooked on kale salad when I first discovered this recipe at the Whole Foods near a dance event in Washington, DC. It was so good, I ate it for 3 days in a row.

I immediately looked it up on the internet and was not surprised to learn that other people were as keen on the same kale salad that I was. I found the recipe, though I’ve since made my own tweaks to improve it. Credit to the original internet source: http://www.eatingbirdfood.com/2011/02/garlicky-kale/

How this salad got its name

Last Sunday at Niagara VegFest I picked up a couple of I “heart” kale pieces of merchandise–a bag as well as a couple of buttons. Two days later, I was riding the subway in Toronto late at night and a guy asked me, “Who’s Kale?” which became a running joke among my other kale-loving friends. The name stuck.

Who’s Kale?

The Kale Recipe everyone’s talking about – Who’s Kale?

Serving Who’s Kale at the #TOLindyHopReunion
1 bunch raw curly kale, washed, de-stemmed and dried
2 Tablespoons tahini
4 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons coconut aminos, tamari, or salt to taste (I actually use soy-free miso to taste lately)
6 Tablespoons nutritional yeast (or more – yum!)
2 teaspoons minced garlic (1 – 2 cloves of garlic, when I’m lazy I use garlic powder)
1/2 teaspoon of dijon mustard (optional)
a couple of tablespoons of water to thin it out to the thickness of your choice

Wash, dry and remove the stems from your kale. Rip into bite size pieces and place in a large bowl.
Puree all ingredients (except kale) in a blender or food processor to blend the dressing.
You can make this dressing thinner by adding more water in which case you can pour it directly on to your kale and massage it in. However, I’ve since changed to keeping my dressing thick with only a couple of tablespoons of water so it’s more like a paste, and then adding my kale to it and massaging it in that way. It gives more flavour punch and sticks to the leaves better.
Eat it right away, or let the salad sit in the fridge for an hour or so to marinate. You can skip this step if you need to eat right away, but allowing some time to marinate will wilt the kale a bit and make it a little softer – particularly for those who are skeptical about eating raw kale.

Who's Kale? Heading to the Niagara Lindy Hop potluck with my favourite salad. #30daysofgreen #greenchallenge #whoskale
A post shared by Mandi Gould (@mandigould) on Aug 18, 2017 at 2:51pm PDT

My favourite: Who's Kale? With a little green onion. #30DaysofSalad #salad #raw
A post shared by Mandi Gould (@mandigould) on Jul 10, 2016 at 10:26am PDT

Wikipedia has this to say about kale:

Kale or borecole (Brassica oleracea Acephala Group) is a vegetable with green or purple leaves, in which the central leaves do not form a head. It is considered to be closer to wild cabbagethan most domesticated forms. The species Brassica oleracea contains a wide array of vegetables, including broccoli, cauliflower, collard greens, and brussels sprouts. The cultivar groupAcephala also includes spring greens and collard greens, which are extremely similar genetically.

Want to know more about the various varieties of kale? Check out ilovekale.com.

January 8, 2018 0 comment

Healthy Recipes

Cozy Sweet Potato Soup Recipe

written by Mandi Gould

What’s your favourite kind of soup? I love orange vegetables in soups. LOVE. I find them to be very creamy and cozy with a lot of natural flavour that lends itself well to the foundations of a fall and winter soup. This particular soup uses sweet potatoes, and I honestly can’t wait to have another bowl full again for dinner tonight.

I’ve adapted this recipe from a great immunity boosting soup that I found from Lisa Lin. As she’s said, it’s great for keeping the sniffles away.

Ingredients

4 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 large yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic
3 cups water
¼ cup of miso (I use soy-free miso made from chickpea or adzuki)
1 TBS ginger root, minced
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp chili powder
¼ tsp cumin
1 cup coconut milk or adjust according to how thick you want the soup (choose light or heavy coconut milk depending on your preferences)

Instructions

Place everything except the milk in a pot over medium-high heat and bring it to a boil.
Once boiling, reduce to a medium heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
When the vegetables are tender, use an immersion blender or transfer it to your regular blender and blend until smooth.
Return it to the pot and add the milk.
Optional: Sometimes I like to sprinkle something crunch on top, like some pumpkin seeds.
Enjoy!

Source of inspiration: https://healthynibblesandbits.com/carrot-sweet-potato-immunity-soup/

January 4, 2018 0 comment

Health Tips

Why Reishi is the Best Superfood in the World

written by Mandi Gould

Reishi mushrooms are a powerful superfood that have quite possibly saved both my husband and my father from fatal illness. In this post I’m going to look at the incredible reishi mushroom and why it’s the most powerful superfood in the world and how my family takes reishi every day to keep both my husband’s cancer as well as my father’s prostate and blood pressure problems at bay.

There are a lot of amazing superfoods out there including a variety of other medicinal mushrooms like chaga and cordyceps, but if I had to only pick one superfood to take it would be reishi mushroom. It has the power to boost our immune system which protects us from illness. Reishi contains chemicals that fight against the formation of tumours and cancer. The following illnesses and conditions can all be treated by taking reishi:

Altitude sickness
Asthma
Avian flu
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)
Bronchitis
Cancer
Chronic bacterial prostatitis
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)
Chronic prostatitis/Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome (CPPS)
Clogged arteries
Colorectal adenomas
Diabetes
Fatigue
Flu
Heart disease
Herpes
High blood pressure
High cholesterol
HIV/Aids
Influenza
Insomnia
Kidney disorder
Liver disease
Lung cancer
Lung conditions
Poisoning
Prostate cancer
Prostate problems
Shingles-reated pain
Stomach ulcers
Stress
Swine flu
Tumors
Viral infections

Reishi also:
Alleviates allergies
Has anti-inflammatory effects
Helps with pain relief
Immune enhancing
Inhibits Bacteria
Is a strong anti-oxidant
Is also anti-ageing
Is anti-arthritic
Oxygenates the blood
Provides liver protection
Reduces blood fat levels
Reishi Contributes to Pain Relief
Reishi has Anti-Inflammatory effects
Reishi relieves Chronic-Fatigue Syndrome

You can get reishi in a variety of forms. There are powders, tinctures (drops), and dried chunks of the mushroom available to brew into a tonic or a tea. I like the powders and tinctures because you can easily add them to your green smoothie. Also, many forms of very potent reishi powders are very strong in flavour but disappears completely when combined with delicious banana and fruit.

Because reishi is rather expensive, particularly when you’re taking it every day, until recently I wasn’t taking it myself but was just putting it in Geoff’s green smoothie every morning to help ensure that his testicular cancer doesn’t return. However, recently I started to take reishi myself as well to treat my vocal nodules. Even though they’re calluses and not tumours, I’m currently working to heal my vocal nodules naturally and I’m using reishi as part of my healing regime. Geoff’s been taking reishi daily for a couple of years now and his health has been excellent. People are always shocked to learn that not just that he’s a cancer survivor but that he’s also 51. No one can ever guess his age. They’re always off by 10 years or more. Here’s a recent photo of him, happy and healthy:

GeoffTrain

With Geoff visiting Istanbul, happy and healthy.

I like to rotate the type of reishi and the source of reishi to make sure that Geoff’s getting as much of the available concentration of cancer fighting properties as possible. I do this because there are several kinds of reishi mushroom, and because every source is different. One morning I’ll include a tincture, then the next it will be a powder, and so on. I don’t really make the tea any more because I found it to be a bit impractical and not as strong.

At any given time I have at least 3 types of reishi in my smoothie cupboard, and sometimes as many as 5 or 6 different kinds. While it’s hard to know how strong some of the sources of reishi really are, we’ve tried and compared a lot of reishi products and I have no doubt in my mind that the strongest reishi product available are the ones available through Raw Food World. That stuff is potent! I’m not kidding. I’m not only saying that because the flavour is so strong and bitter (it is) but also because when we first started using it, it was like rocket fuel. Now we’re both accustomed to it so it doesn’t blast us the same way, and neither of us is actually sick, but I’m sure that if you took that stuff while you were sick with something you would get visible results. They have some pretty incredible statements and testimonials on that page about it. I highly recommend that you read through all of the information that they’ve provided.

No, the reishi spore oil, spore powder, and reishi triterpene crystals are not cheap, but what is your health worth to you? Not to mention the fact that the reishi is so highly concentrated that you don’t need very much. We take other, less expensive, kinds of reishi and we have to take 2 tablespoons of it where with the reishi spore oil, spore powder, and reishi triterpene crystals you only need a very small amount for it to be effective. They have a deal if you buy all 3 types of reishi products together and it’s really worth it. Click here for all of the information. Raw Food World also has amazing at-cost specials every month:

Not as incredibly potent, but still a very good product, I’d like to mention for fellow Canadians that Giddy Yoyo offers a good reishi tincture. That’s also one of the items that’s always in my smoothie cupboard that I take in rotation with the other reishi, and I also recommend their chaga mushroom tincture. Plus, they have great cacao products. Click here to visit the Giddy Yoyo store.

I’ll continue to add information here as more discoveries are made about reishi. For now, these are a few of my favourite go-to links for information about the benefits of reishi:

Sources:

January 3, 2018 4 comments

Health Tips

Start the New Year Right with Green Smoothies, Green Juice & Healthy Living

written by Mandi Gould

Do you want to live a healthier, happier life this new year?

If you look around, it’s not hard to see that there is an increasing consciousness about the food that we eat and how it affects our health and the world around us. Food – real food – is powerful. It has the power to nourish and to heal. Best of all, food has the power to prevent.

One of the best ways to ensure that you’re getting enough vegetables and all of their powerful phytonutrients is to start your day off with some vegetables in the form of green smoothies and/or green juice.

Smoothies & Juice

Starting your day with a green smoothie is a quick and convenient way to start your day with 3+ servings of fruits and vegetables. Blending also makes the vegetables easy to digest and assimilate, and each smoothie is full of healthy fibre. A smoothie is a particularly great way to consume leafy greens; with no chewing involved and the sweet flavour of the fruit, it couldn’t be easier to kickstart your day. Making green smoothies part of your morning routine is probably the easiest and most effective way to improve your overall health.

Juicing can be a bit more labour intensive and time-consuming, but it’s the best way to blast your body with the maximum amount of nutrients possible. Like many people, adding green juice to my diet really changed my life. It actually changed my entire outlook on life and health. It changed the way that I view the world and it changed my relationship with my body. Since starting to juice, I’ve learned to listen to my body, to nourish it, and to rest it when needed. Whenever I feel sluggish I blast my body with juice.

Juicing allows you to squeeze out all that goodness and separate it from the fibre so that juice is actually full of goodness that you wouldn’t be able to absorb if you were eating the full produce. Their goodness is released from the fibre and we are able to drink their highly concentrated nutrients which are able to enter our bloodstream very quickly.

New Year’s Resolutions = Creating New Habits

Forget new year’s resolutions that are too vague and unattainable. Incorporating green smoothies and juice into your diet is a specific habit that you can start to adopt right away. It doesn’t have to be a big deal. It can be easy and something you can start right away, and after just a few days it will become a habit.

Even if you don’t change any other habits this new year but you introduce either a green smoothie or fresh green juice into your daily habits, you will be so much healthier! If you’d like support on your journey to incorporate more vegetables and healthy foods into your diet, join our Facebook group! Don’t be shy to join in the conversation and ask questions.

January 1, 2018 1 comment

Green Juice

Zippy Zucchini, Kale, & Apple Juice

written by Mandi Gould

It’s important to balance the produce that you put into your green juice so that there’s a mix of high water content produce (like cucumbers) and lower water content produce (like leafy greens). This keeps the price of your juice down, speeds up the juicing process, and works better for overall flavour.

I came across a nice recipe by Isabel Smith that uses zucchini as the high water content vegetable. Zucchini is also great for your potassium level.

Ingredients

2 medium zucchinis
4 kale leaves
1 green apple
1/2 lemon (roughly chop off the peel first)
nub of ginger

Instructions

Chop your vegetables so that they’ll fit in your juicer and for best results, alternate between each kind of ingredient; a piece of zucchini, a kale leaf, a piece of apple, a chunk of lemon.

Source of inspiration: https://www.rebootwithjoe.com/green-zucchini-juice-recipe/

December 26, 2017 0 comment

Green Juice

Tomato Cocktail Recipe

written by Mandi Gould

Tomatoes, green onion, celery, and raw sauerkraut make up this delicious and unique juice.

One of the most helpful juicing discoveries I ever made was in a YouTube video where they guy suggested that you can juice your raw sauerkraut, and also use the liquid. This was a breakthrough idea for me! I wish I could find the video and include it here. If I ever find it, I’ll give the guy credit.

This idea helped me to make one of my favourite juices. When juice feasting, I find this tomato cocktail to be especially refreshing and a great change from the usual lemony green vegetable juices that I drink throughout most of the day.

Ingredients

3 large tomatoes, or 6 roma tomatoes (preferably organic)
2 stalks of green onion
8 celery stalks
1/3 cup of raw sauerkraut, including the liquid

Directions

When using a slow juicer, it’s helpful to alternate between the wet tomato and the dry celery stalks.
Tomato gets very pulpy through the juicer. If you’re doing a juice feast and you’re paying strict attention to limiting your fibre, make sure to strain the juice. If you’re not being strict, don’t sweat it. It’s super tasty.
This juice separates very quickly so I like to keep it in a jar with a lid so that I can put the lid back on and shake it up a few times as I drink it.

It’s a tasty, very *different* kind of juice. I hope you enjoy it!

December 20, 2017 0 comment

Health Tips

Clear Up your Acne Naturally with Maca

written by Mandi Gould

Do you struggle with acne?

There are 4 main factors that cause acne:

Excess oil production
Hair follicles getting clogged dead skin cells and oil
Bacteria
Hormones (androgens)

For acne that’s caused by excess hormone production, regulating your hormones can help to prevent the development of acne at its core. I’ve been struggling with hormonal acne since my teens. It was better for some time but then it got particularly bad again about 5 years ago. Luckily, when I started on my green smoothie journey, I discovered maca and that changed everything.

Maca for Hormonal Acne

Maca, a root that’s similar to ginseng, is great for regulating your hormones. This includes mood, menstrual problems, fertility, and sexual function. If you have any physical symptoms from hormonal imbalances, like acne, it can help with that too. It’s also known to help with energy levels so if you’re prone to the 3pm “crash”, maca powdeer could be a great option for you. It’s also good for memory.

Maca is available in a variety of different forms. I like to take the powder in my morning smoothie, but if capsules are more convenient for you, that’s also a great option.

Maca in Smoothies

I take anywhere from 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of maca every morning in my smoothie. It depends on how I’m feeling. When you’re first trying it out, you might want to start with just a teaspoon and see how you feel. If you aren’t used to it, at first it might affect you as a bit of a stimulant, like coffee, and give you more energy than you’re looking for. Start with a small amount and then increase the amount gradually. It’s not advisable to take more than a couple of tablespoons a day.

More Maca Benefits

There are additional benefits to maca. It’s is rich in antioxidants, helping to slow down and correct the signs of ageing. It’s also got cancer-fighting properties. Maca root powder contains a whole slew of vitamins and minerals; C, B, calcium, potassium, phosphorus.

Other Acne Tips

For other kinds of acne, make sure to clean your skin with a gentle cleanser and to gently exfoliate every 2-3 days. Once your skin is clean, apple cider vinegar makes a wonderful toner. Use a cotton ball to smooth the ACV over your skin. Drinking lots of water is always a good idea too. It may also be worth doing an elimination diet to see if there is a particular food that’s triggering your break outs.

Have you used maca to help clear your skin? I’d love to hear about it!

December 15, 2017 1 comment

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