A Healthy Dish to Pass!

The summer is full of cookouts and gatherings with family and friends. And let’s be real, these normally include less-than-healthy foods that you either feel obligated to eat or are struggling to resist. Either way, you end up eating way more unhealthy foods, way more frequently than you would like. That’s why I made this Fruit Pizza with Sugarless Sugar Cookie Crust my dessert staple for all my summertime cookouts and gatherings. I love how I can dive in knowing I am nourishing my body while still taking care of my sweet tooth.

The Crust

Do you remember my Sugarless Sugar Cookies from Christmas? If you do, you’ll for sure remember how super-soft, moist and all-around tasty they are! That recipe inspired me to use the same ingredients, turning them into a delicious crust for this fruit “pizza” recipe. This Sugarless Sugar Cookie Crust is gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free and added-sugar-free! Plus, it’s made from 100% whole ingredients, with the base being almond flour. Almond flour is what makes the Sugarless Sugar Cookie Crust soft and moist. You can swap out the almond flour for oat flour or coconut flour, but note that the texture and flavor will definitely change.

The Toppings

For this Fruit Pizza with Sugarless Sugar Cookie Crust, I used Greek yogurt sweetened with stevia as my “pizza sauce.” It’s so creamy and sweet and pairs perfectly with the Sugarless Sugar Cookie Crust. Plus, it delivers a boost of protein, which I know you are all about!

I decided to use raspberries, blueberries and blackberries for my toppings, although sometimes I like to change it up and top this Fruit Pizza with Sugarless Sugar Cookie Crust with a combination of mangos, pineapple and kiwi. Feel free to use any fruit combo you like—I don’t believe there is any fruit that could make this recipe go wrong!

This Fruit Pizza with Sugarless Sugar Cookie Crust is…

Gluten-free

Grain-free

Added-sugar-free

Healthy

Sweet

Creamy

Super soft

Moist

Light

Absolutely delicious

Fruit Pizza with Sugarless Sugar Cookie Crust

Ingredients:

1 cup full-fat Greek yogurt 

3 drops liquid stevia (or 1 tbsp. honey) 

1 tsp. vanilla extract 

Fresh fruit  

Cookie Crust: 

2½ cups almond flour 

¼ cup honey 

1 egg 

2 tsp. coconut oil 

1 tbsp. vanilla extract 

½ tsp. baking soda 

¼ tsp. sea salt 

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine all cookie crust ingredients with a hand mixer and mix until a smooth ball of dough forms, about 30 seconds. In a 9×13 baking dish, spread the dough evenly flat. Bake cookies for 8 to 10 minutes. Allow to cool. Mix Greek yogurt, vanilla extract and stevia in a small bowl and then spread evenly across the cookie crust. Thinly slice your favorite fruit to top it off! 

Nutrition Facts:

Makes 12 slices

1 Slice:

Calories: 197

Carbs: 14g

Fat: 14g

Protein: 7g

The fruits and veggies that you were eating during the winter months are slowly fading out of season, and now it’s time to revamp your dinner plate! No more squash and sweet potatoes, here’s our go-to graphic list of seasonal fruits and veggies that you should be able to find at any farmers market in your area in the spring time!

SPRING PRODUCE LIST

So the next time you’re at the farmers market or grocery store wondering what produce is the highest quality this time of year, pull out this little graphic we made and you’ll be set!

Tune in every week for delicious recipes and nutrition ideas, all on The Burn Blog!

When you’re on the lookout for something simple, healthy and satisfying, fruit and vegetable juice immediately pops into your head. Juices and cleansing elixirs look so appealing and refreshing with their bright colors and frothy flavors, but don’t judge a book by it’s cover. Juicing promptly removes necessary nutrients from fruits and vegetables by destroying the healthy fiber and antioxidants found in the seeds and skin. Money words like “organic, all natural, nutrient rich, and cold-pressed” are just cover ups for water packed with way too much sugar.

Although certain juices may increase your vitamin intake, when you eat whole fruits and vegetables you will earn abounding health benefits compared to gulping it down in a glass. High sugar consumption skyrockets blood sugar levels which result in fatigue, hunger pains, dehydration and an empty and unsatisfied feeling in your gut. Not only are juices high in sugar, but they lack healthy fat and protein which aid in muscle reconstruction and healthy hair, bones, skin and nails.

THINK BEFORE YOU SIP.

I know what you’re thinking, “I just want to lose the 5 pounds I gained while I gorged on cookies and turkey!” Don’t do it! Although the number on the scale might decrease, your body will feed off it’s own fat and muscle tissue, making your numerical weight lower but your appearance seem less toned. When you look in the mirror your body will shout at you and say “give me protein and get to the gym, stat!” Relying on juice and drinks makes your immune system jump into starvation mode, lowering your metabolism and making you digest food slower and hold onto fat longer. You don’t need juice to detox your digestive system, we already have organs that naturally “detoxify” our bodies for us. Our liver, kidneys and intestines filter everything we ingest, giving us a fresh start only a day or two later. Many people say they feel happy and energized while doing a juice cleanse, but once you quit taking swigs of sugar, you’re going to drastically crash.

Start this year by acknowledging the things you’re putting into your body and your mind. Just like you avoid negative people who bring you down, avoid unfavorable foods that make you feel lousy. You juice, you lose.

Adding some juice in your regular diet will change your life! I know what your thinking, “I already drink juice on a regular basis.” Maybe so, but the juice I am talking does not consist of a liter of Juicy Juice or those little poison packets of Capri Sun. I am talking real juices that contain the live enzymes and nourishment that our body needs to be health and perform. With that being said, it is nearly impossible to go to a grocery store (whole food stores included) and purchase a juice that is full life. So where do you get the super juice? Let me tell you…

Juicing is the topic of this blog post. By juicing I mean extracting all the essential vitamins and minerals out of organic produce and getting them to a liquid state. Morgan and I have been juicing a lot, and I mean like a scary amount of concoctions from fruits and vegetables that have no business being blended together. This might sound crazy but juiced broccoli, carrots, apples, mango, spinach, kale, and ginger together the other day…sounds gross right? Well, it was the most AMAZING thing I have ever tasted! I could literally feel the live enzymes going to work in my body. I posted the lime green mixture on the Burn Boot Camp Facebook Page and all of the BBC moms told me I was crazy! Long story short…juicing is the healthiest habit anyone can adopt!

Why is Juicing So Important?

Vegetables were not meant to be heated up. Did you know that when you apply heat to any food you lose over 50% of the nutrients the food in comprised of? When we cook chicken breast over 50% of the protein in the meat is destroyed from the heat. When vegetables are exposed to heat the nutritional value (including live enzymes) are cut in half.

Another reason juicing is crucial in your diet is because we will NEVER maximize the speed of our metabolism by eating cooked and processed foods. These foods are not meant to go into our body, period. When they are ingested the body will attack these foods as if they are a foreign attack using all your white blood cells (body’s immunity cell) thus lowering your white blood cell count! If you can convert your diet to consist of 51% raw whole foods you body will maximize metabolism and not trigger a white blood cell invasion. When our white blood cells don’t have to tend to our food they can be defending bacteria and fungus in the body like they are supposed to!

Not Convinced Yet?

If that is not enough reason to start juicing, how about this…certain regiments of juicing have literally cured cancer! There are several  medical journals from the 1950’s proving that raw juicing is very strongly linked to curing several types of cancer. Why haven’t there been any studies since the 1950’s stating this? Believe it or not, there have been thousands of cases recorded but the United States Government banned these studies from being publish! That is a topic for another day, but if you want to learn all about raw foods and their link to disease prevention I highly recommend you watch the documentary, Food Matters.

So go out and get a juicer and start living a healthier life today!

What is the Best Juicer? 

Breville, Two Speed Juicer ===>> Check it out here!

Check Out These 15 Excellent Juicing Recipes for Immunity, Digestion, Weight Loss, Detoxifying, Cleansing, Metabolism, Curbing Cravings, and Overall Health!

Super Juice Recipe (My Go-To)

Recipe #1

• 1 Organic Kale Bunch  (Substitute: Spinach Bunch or one whole Cabbage)
• 1 Organic Collard Greens Bunch  (Substitute: Dandelion Greens Bunch)
• 1 Organic Celery Bunch
• 1 Organic Cucumber
• 6 Organic Carrots
• 2 Organic Tomatoes
• 2 Organic Lemons
• 1 Organic Apple  (Substitute: Pear or Mango)
• 1 Handful of Organic Blueberries (Substitute: Blackberries)

Single Serving of Super Juice

• ¼ Kale Bunch
• ¼ Collard Greens Bunch
• 2 Celery stalks
• ¼ of a Cucumber
• 1 to 2 carrots
• 1 Tomato
• 1 Lemon
• ½ Apple
• Small Handful of Blueberries

Detoxifying and Cleansing Recipes

Recipe # 2:

• 4 carrots, tops and tails chopped off
• 4 stalks celery
• A handful of parsley including the stems
• 1 small organic zucchini chopped but not peeled
• 1/2 of a beet
• 1/4 grapefruit peeled

Recipe # 3:

• 2 cloves of garlic
• A bunch each of green kale, spinach, collard greens and water cress
• 1 tomato
• 2 stalks of celery
• 3 carrots

Recipe #4:

• 2 organic peaches, cut in half, seeds removed
• 1 organic apple
• 2 oranges, peeled
• 1/2 cup blueberries, raspberries, and/or blackberries

For these recipes you will need to use a juicer. If you don’t have a juicer, you can use a plastic citrus juicer for the citrus items and blend the remaining items in a blender. After you’ve blended all of your fruits and vegetables, strain them with a strainer or using cheesecloth to get as much of the juice out as possible. You may need to double the recipe in order to extract more juice. Here are a couple of easy recipes that don’t require a juicer:

Recipe #5:
1 large pink grapefruit
1 large orange
3 tomatoes
1 cucumber

After juicing the grapefruit and orange with a citrus juicer, blend the tomatoes and cucumber in a blender and strain the juice. Add the tomato and cucumber juice to the citrus juices and stir well.

Recipe #6:

• 4 medium tomatoes
• 1 beet, peeled with the tops and tails chopped off and cut into small pieces
• 1 bunch of spinach or kale
• 1/2 of a bell pepper
• 1/2 small lemon
• 1/4 cup of water

Blend the tomatoes in a blender, strain the juice, place in a large glass or container and set aside. Blend (with a 1/8 cup of water) or use a food processor to “juice” the beet, strain it and add it to the tomato juice. Blend the spinach, bell pepper and lemon with the remaining water. When well blended, strain the juice with a strainer or cheesecloth and add it to the tomato and beet juice mixture. You may add a dash of cayenne pepper for flavor.

Super Immune Boosting Recipes

Super Immune Booster

Recipe #7:

• 1 apple
• 4-6 carrots ( depending on size)
• 2 stalks of celery
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• 1 cup parsley

Super Immune Shot

Recipe #8:

• 1-2 limes ( or more.. enough to get about 2 ounces of juice)
• 3-4 cloves of garlic

Blend in blender.  I prefer this remedy poured into a shot glass
so i can quickly shoot it down!

Super Immune Burn

Recipe #9:

• beet root
• ginger

If juicing with masticating juicer add about 3/4 beet root to 1/4 ginger and experiment to your desired “heat” tolerance from the ginger. If in blender add a little water or lemon juice. Shouldn’t be more than a few ounces as this is designed to be taken in a shot glass.

Juicing for Weight Loss: Veggies

Speedy Digestion

Recipe #10:

• 3 carrots
• 1 tomato
• 1 stalk of broccoli
• 1/4 head of cabbage

Juice everything and spritz with some lemon juice if desired.

Healthy Snack

Recipe #11:

• 4 stalks celery
• 1 beet
• Handful of spinach
• 1 zucchini
• 1 cucumber

Green Metabolism Energizer

Recipe #12:

• 2 green apples
• 1 cucumber
• 1 lemon
• Handful kale
• Handful Spinach
• Handful flat leaf parsley
• 2 stalks celery
• 1/4 bulb fennel
• 1/3 head romaine lettuce
• 1 small piece ginger

Run each item through your juicer, and stir or shake before serving.

Perfect Green Juice

Recipe #13:

• 1 stalk broccoli
• 1 cucumber
• 1 beet
• 1 inch wheatgrass
• 1 handful spinach
• 1 cup cabbage
• 1 apple (optional)

Juice everything and enjoy!

Green Juice for Controlling Cravings

Recipe #14:

• 3 celery stalks
• ½ cucumber
• 1 apple ( green of course!)
• 2 large handfuls of spinach

Greens Apple Celery Lemon

Recipe #15:

• 2 large handfuls of spinach
• 1 apple ( green of course!)
• ½ lemon
• 2 celery stalks

I’m trying to bank some minutes—I’m now acutely aware of their value. So I’m going to use some time-saving shortcuts to get a healthy dinner on the table and get me a few extra minutes at the end of the day.
Time saved – 30 minutes
Your microwave isn’t just for reheating a your stale cup of coffee. It’s a tool for cooking, and it can be pretty efficient. For example, one of my favorite easy dinners is stuffed sweet potatoes. In my oven, potatoes take 45 minutes to 1 hour to cook, but in the microwave they take only about 4 minutes. Not everything is suitable for the microwave, but vegetables in particular lend themselves well to being nuked. So next time you need to pull together a vegetable side dish, or a stuffed potato, consider saving time by using your microwave instead of your stove or oven.

Shortcut 2. Buy Prepped Vegetables

Time saved – 15 minutes
Often on the periphery of the produce area at the grocery store you’ll find bags or boxes of vegetables that have already been washed, chopped, sliced or cooked. If you’re in a time crunch, use them. Look for bags of broccoli florets (you’ll save time chopping them from the whole head) or a shredded carrot-and-cabbage mix for a throw-together slaw. Opt for baby spinach over adult spinach. You can easily find it prewashed (time saver!) and you don’t have to remove any of those pesky tough stems.

Shortcut 3. Raid the Salad Bar

Time saved – 20 minutes
I hate to admit that I often let my salad greens wither in the fridge because I don’t want to go through the trouble of prepping other vegetables to go with them. But I recently got into the habit of raiding the salad bar at the local grocery store. I skip over the lettuce and just pile up the toppings–hard-boiled eggs, sliced mushrooms, cucumber and red pepper. I can buy just what I need for the next couple of days and skip all the cooking, slicing and chopping.

Shortcut 4. Use Frozen Fruits and Vegetables

Time saved – 20 minutes
If you love soups this is a huge time saver. Morgan and I love lots of vegetables in our soup. And by “lots” I mean variety. Instead of being tied to my cutting board all night, I stock up on frozen vegetables that I can add to my creation quickly. The beauty of frozen vegetables is that they’re usually all chopped up and ready to go. Plus you can buy mixed bags of the stuff–broccoli and cauliflower, for example, or a stir-fry mix with peppers and onions–so you can get the variety you’re looking for without stuffing your freezer to the brim.

I hope you like these! Forward them to your busy friend who need some help saving time preparing dinner for their family!