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If you want to impress your guests or need a dish to pass think outside the fruit bowel. Fruit salads are a healthy side dish and can complement almost any main course or double as dessert! Turn your boring old sliced up fruit into a dazzling display of culinary genius.

  Fruit skewers – who needs bowels and forks? It’s a lot of fuss for something so simple. Load up wooden skewers with berries, sliced melon, grapes and more for a rainbow of taste.

  Fruit parfaits – If you’re getting classy, load up fancy glasses and layer with Greek yogurt for an individual touch. Make before hand for a no-fuss get together.

  Fruit Cone – For a fruit salad that eats more like dessert, fill up waffle cones with your mixture. So good, they’ll eat the bowl! Clean eating waffle cone recipe right here, http://simplysugarandglutenfree.com/waffle-cones/

  Monocromatic Fruit – go all one color for shock and awe. All reds, all oranges, or even all green. Or mix just two colors together to add some aesthetic.

  Fruit on the Barbie – big slices of fruit grilled for just a short amount of time give a different texture and an increased sweetness that might surprise you.

  Go ahead, be a square – Cube everything and stack them up for a fun display. Play with your shapes and use a baller to make spheres or get creative with cookie cutters to surprise the kids.

Summer is heating up and the great outdoors are wide, open and fun for the whole family. While you’re working hard and playing hard out in the heat this season stay hydrated. Especially if you are traveling to places hotter and more humid than coastal Southern California.

  Dehydration is the leading cause of fatigue during daytime activates. Whether it’s a your summer vacation, weekend getaway, outdoor workout, or just some backyard time, don’t let dehydration stop you from living large during the dog days of summer.

  Usually our bodies are warmer than the environment, but if you’ve ever taken a day trip to the valley in August, you know that can change. When the temperature is hotter than our insides, our muscles release sweat to regulate and cool the body. But sweating is also losing fluid. As long as you stay hydrated you’re body can cool itself. If you aren’t hydrated you are putting yourself at risk of heat stroke.

  To stay hydrated for summer workouts or hard playing outside in the sun, drink 20oz about 2 hours before you are active and 8oz shortly before getting out in the heat. Try to sip or gulp every 15 to 20 minutes you are active.

  It can take up to 14 days for our bodies to become acclimated to a different heat. If you are traveling to a place hotter or more humid than you are used to, you may notice fatigue. Be mindful of your acclimation time. Doesn’t mean to need to shy away from the heat, or going outside, just monitor how you feel and hydrate accordingly.

  Listen to your body, even being active for a half hour in 90-degree heat can take its toll. If you are feeling sick or dizzy, find some shade or get inside until you feel better. We tend to be slower in high heat, so if your movements are more labored, don’t beat yourself up about it. The better choice is to stay safe.

  Enjoy the summer heat. Take precautions and preparations for safe fun in the sun! 

Ever since our HIP 90 Day Challenge, I’ve been eating up all the information I can get about clean eating and modern food. I’ve always ate health conscious, like I was conscious of what was bad for me and ate it anyway through most of college and a bit after. I always thought if I worked out enough, I could eat whatever I wanted. False.

After I cleaned up my diet, I noticed how much better I felt. Some nay-sayers have told me it’s just a placebo effect, but I think there is a lot of hard evidence to say that it isn’t.

Years ago I read, Fast Food Nation, and for several months after I didn’t know what to eat. I probably dropped 10lbs because I was too scared to eat anything. I didn’t have the proper education and the culinary skills to figure out what was good for me. As a result, my diet suffered and although I was health “conscious,” I wasn’t 100% practitioner.

I’m usually influenced by powerful research, I haven’t had any fast food since I saw Super Size Me 9 years ago. Okay well… I tried In n Out when I moved here, but it didn’t sit well.

Researchers, enthusiasts, and documentarians have learned a lot about food since a Morgan Spurlock almost gave himself a heart attack eating only McDonalds for a month. Some of them put themselves to the test like in Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead to show dramatic changes based on diet. Others present some hard to swallow facts as in Hungry for Change.

Personally, I prefer to live my life out of the fog of processed foods. It’s an unbelievable difference, but I do like to hear the research to back it up. Here is a list of a few documentaries that have changed my thoughts on food. Most are available for instant streaming on Netflix.

Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead

Hungry For Change

Super Size Me

Food Fight

Food Matters

Vegucated

Just to name a few. There are many more. Please let me know if I forgot your favorite.

-Kayte Walsh

Avid spinner? Super cyclist? Mountain biker? Beach cruiser? Leisure looper? Slow and fast peddlers can each take these tips to get a little more out of a ride, even if it is just to getting you from point A to point B.

Safety first! Your bike needs regular tune-ups too. Any bike shop will be happy to educate you on care for your bike. Also make sure you have a helmet that fits snugly and know the hand signals for driving on city streets.

Peddle to the metal. Think about pushing and pulling in a smooth circular motion rather than laboring on the down peddle. This engages more muscles giving you leaner legs and helping you from having a quad heavy ride.

Get in gear. Even if you only have a few gears, play around. 5 mins on the heaviest gear, 2 mins on the lightest. Turn a ride from one end of the strand to another into a hidden workout.

Eyes on the road. Resist the urge to look down or too low. If your head drops too low you can slow your oxygen intake and you’ll feel tired faster. Same goes for a spinning class.

Get to the core of it. Sometimes you can get carried away and start leaning into your peddling. Try to keep your torso upright by engaging your abs. It’s a lot harder to peddle a beach cruiser because of their clunky heavy frames, but it’s a great ab workout if you pay attention!

It’s summer and BBQs are a mainstay for the season. Doesn’t matter if it’s poultry, beef, fish, or veggies, grilling makes it feel like summer.

If you’ve been eating clean and staying away from sugary condiments you know that most BBQ sauce has loads of high fructose corn syrup. In fact, my former favorite, Sweet Baby Ray’s http://www.sweetbabyrays.com/Nutrition.aspx the first ingredient is HFCS! The very first one.

But summer isn’t just summer without the twang of BBQ sauce on my tongue. However, I didn’t want to indulge because HFCS has really been starting to freak me out. Corn in such high quantities is what may be the biggest problem in the battle of obesity. But that’s for another time. I was on a mission.

I found a Clean Eating BBQ Sauce Recipe on my favorite food blog, the gracious pantry. She has practically any clean recipe you can think of, and I was surprised to find I already had almost all the ingredients in my cupboard, except the unsulfrered molasses, which I found at the health food store.

I have to say it doesn’t have a rich smoky flavor like my processed faves, but it did the trick for my BBQ chicken. Next time I’ll play with the spices to see if I can get a deeper twang.

Try it out and let us know what you think!

  Clean Eating BBQ Sauce

(Makes approximately 10 servings)

Ingredients:

1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce – no sugar added

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste – no sugar added

1 teaspoon low sodium soy sauce

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon paprika

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

4 tablespoons unsulfered molasses

3 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Directions:

Combine all ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl and mix well using a whisk.

Infused water is like natures koolaid. And of course nature is much classier than a giant red pitcher of refined sugar. You may have tried lemon in your water. You may even be a lemon water advocate, but have you tried infusing your water with other fruits and herbs?

Hydration is essential for survival, especially when it’s hot outside or when you’ve been in the sun. Water is the answer for a lot of everyday complaints and sometimes we constantly feel like we need to drink more water. Our thirst to be better hydrated is important. It might have you putting your H20 intake higher up on your to-do list. Maybe you wish water were more fun, or more flavorful. Maybe you should infuse your water!

3 easy steps to a tasty hydration!

Fruit first (and or/veggies), pretty much any fruit. Muddle it with a spoon or muddler to slightly mash and break down the fruit. For your citrus fruits, remove the skin.

Add a fresh herb or spice if you desire, gently bruising the leaves with a muddler to release the natural extracts.

Pour in your filtered water.

You can enjoy right away or seal in an air tight container for future consumption. Glass bottles or jars work the best to keep it fresh.

Here are a few ideas to get you started! Get creative, mix and match and have fun!

Lemon + mint or cilantro or basil

Lemon + lime + cilantro

Grapefruit + rosemary

Cucumber + watermelon + mint

Carrots + Apple + Lemon + Ginger

Cherries + lime + mint

4th of July has got to be one of the most fun holidays in the US. Summer heats up, enjoy long weekends with friends and family, and the kids stay up past their bedtimes to enjoy the fireworks display. There are BBQs, potlucks, and incredible smorgasbords across the nations to do what Americans seem to do best.

Let’s change the menu and get back to the founding roots of our foods this year. If you’re hosting a weekend celebration ask guests to bring something organic, or clean eating. Support your local farmers by shopping for the best ingredients at the farmer’s market. Make your burgers from grass fed beef instead of corn fed. Making a fruit salad might require a little more elbow grease than opening a bag of chips, but it also shows more love and care for your guests.

If you’re stumped on what to bring to the plate, what is clean eating and American try this apple pie recipe from our favorite thegraciouspantry.com.

**the crust comes together quickly, so don’t be afraid to get your rolling pin out and try it!

Clean Eating Apple Pie

(Makes one 8 or 9 inch pie)

Ingredients:

1 batch of clean eating pie crust (You’ll need two crusts, top and bottom)

Apples, cut and seeded – Enough to fill the pie tin. (About 2-3 cups)

2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup honey

1 tablespoon organic cornstarch or tapioca starch

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine your apples, cinnamon, honey or agave, cornstarch and lemon juice. Stir well to coat the apples thoroughly.

Pour the apples into your pie crust (which should be IN the pie pan already… just sayin’…).

Top the pie with the second crust and pinch all around the edge to seal it.

Cut a vent in the top so steam can escape and transfer the entire pie to the oven.

All the way from the foothills of the Himalayas these salt crystals range in color from pale pink and white to deeper hues of pink and red. The color is a result of a high mineral content, a spectrum of 84 minerals. From ancient sea salt, it remains unrefined, free of additives and hand mined, making Himalayan Pink Salt among the purest salt available. 

  The salt is harvested from ancient sea beds and by tradition, it's hand selected, hand crushed, hand washed then sun dried. You can use Himalayan Pink Salt in any recipe requiring salt, as well as to season even the most basic dishes. It's high mineral content makes the salt less "saltier" to taste than table salt but that doesn't change the portions. You may actually find yourself using less salt because of it. 

  Pink Salt is more than just seasoning. You can use it external to stimulate circulation, relax the body and soothe sore muscles, lower blood pressure, and remove toxins from the body. It can be used in various spa applications like homemade soap, soaks, scrubs, bath salts and aroma therapy.