The 2021 Vegan Foodie Bundle

I’m coming to you today with the most EPIC post you have seen on this blog so far….

Today is the release of the Vegan Foodie Bundle: a curated collection of over 35 digital books, courses and classes!

This curated collection of ebooks and courses is brought together by an amazing group of plant-based influencers.

Among other things, this bundle includes:

  • over 35 ebooks & courses from some of your favorite content creators
  • vegan recipes
  • meal plans
  • fitness routines
  • cooking classes
  • self love & mindful eating techniques
  • yoga programs
  • and more!

And.. it also includes my very own “Get Off Sugar” program!

The entire bundle is worth $1,059, but you can get it here for only $50.

That’s literally a 95% discount!

Whether your a full-fleshed vegan, a flexitarian or someone simply looking to find easy resources for healthy eating and healthy living, you’ll be able to find something you love in this bundle!

No more searching for recipes and resources all over the internet. This bundle will offer most everything you need in one location.

Go to this link to check out the Vegan Foodie Bundle today!

Puerto Rican ‘Limbers’ Recipe

Have you ever heard of a “limber”? It is the perfect way to cool off during the hot summer months when I was growing up in Puerto Rico.  It is also a healthy alternative to soft drinks or sodas.

It is also a healthy alternative to soft drinks or sodas. In my native Puerto Rico, in almost every neighborhood you can find a local market where, for about a dollar, you can buy and enjoy this delicious treat. From sweet, sour fruits to combined with milk or milk alternatives.

They are named after Charles A. Lindbergh, the first aviator to cross the Atlantic Ocean by plane, nonstop and solo, who visited Puerto Rico on a “Goodwill” trip in 1928.

When he got off the plane, and felt the heat of the island, he was treated to a juice or frozen fruit drink that the pilot liked very much. When he asked for the name of what had done him so well, they decided to baptize the sweet aperitif with the aviator’s last name.

Although other voices in history speak of the pilot’s emotional coldness at the reception of the Puerto Ricans, he gained one more recognition and that remains until today: the now typical frozen juice of the country would be called “limber” (the phonetical Spanish way to say Lindbergh)

Here’s my 4 ingredient Coconut vegan recipe!

Ingredients:

– 1 can of coconut milk

– 1 can of coconut cream

– 3 Tbsp of coconut brown sugar

– Vanilla to taste

– Cinnamon to taste

Preparation:

Mix the coconut milk, coconut cream, cinnamon, vanilla and sugar in a container. Blend using a fork or egg mixer. Serve into small paper or plastic cups, and pour cinnamon on top. Take it to the freezer for 2 hours or until it is firm.

Vegan Ketogenic Diet Cookbook Interview

Today, I’m interviewing the Authors of the Vegan Ketogenic Diet book, Whitney Lauritsen and Nicole Derseweh. To get the book, https://amzn.to/3aqTzyJ

I’ve been curious about a low starch, low simple carb and low simple sugar vegan diet for quite a while, mostly as a way to offer alternatives to clients with very unique health concerns. Whitney and Nicole wrote a book with really tasty whole foods that also appeal to those into keto and low carb sensitivities. Check out the video below….

To connect with the authors:

Whitney: https://whitneylauritsen.com/evg-coming-soon/

@whitlauritsen

@ecovegangal

Nicole: http://nicoracle.com

@nicolederseweh 

I’m also featuring one of the recipes in the book, a garlic Fried cauliflower rice that’s to die for!

As the description of the book on Amazon reads:

A vegan-friendly ketogenic diet is possible―and delicious. In your hands you hold the complete guide to eating meals that are free from animal products but still contain the right high-fat and low-carb nutritional content for achieving ketosis (changing the way your body burns fuel, to aid with health and weight loss).

The Vegan Ketogenic Diet Cookbook teaches you how to get started and stay motivated, with step-by-step recipes that focus on nuts, seeds, and low-glycemic fruits and vegetables. Featuring everything from breakfast to desserts, this cookbook offers plenty of variety so there’s always something new to try. Eating vegan now includes the full benefits of the ketogenic diet, thanks to dozens of dishes that promote increased energy, better digestion, and more balanced body weight.

The Vegan Ketogenic Diet Cookbook helps you:

  • Get prepped―The introductory chapter runs you through the principles of a ketogenic diet―and how easy it is to make it vegan.
  • Get cooking―Recipes have serving sizes included so you can calculate your macronutrients, plus shopping lists of essential vegan-keto ingredients to have on hand.
  • Get eating―Find tips for serving, storing, swapping ingredients, and creating meal plans.

Easy Sauce Recipe: Black Garlic Sauce

*To get a copy of my cookbook: http://ebookbundle.jovankaciares.com/

For months, I’ve been wanting to create a few video recipes featuring easy-to-make recipes that can dress veggies and salads and make the experience of eating more plants more exciting.

So I enlisted the help of amazing Executive Chef, Verité Mazzola (my sis’ in law) to create today’s recipe: a simple black garlic sauce. Easiest thing that could change the way and amount of veggies you eat each and every day. It is so simple and so YUMMY it should be illegal! Check out the recipe video below.

Ingredients:

  • 5 heads of black garlic (if no black garlic, use 5 regular garlic cloves)
  • 1/4 vinegar
  • 1/3 cup of avocado oil
  • 2 Tbsp of date syrup
  • Pinch of salt and pepper

*get the black garlic here: https://amzn.to/2wtqFiw

Instructions:

  1. In a blender or small food processor, blend until smooth. Safe in a glass jar and place in the fridge until it’s time to use.
  2. Add to your veggies just before consuming and enjoy!

La Rayia’s: Providing Healthy Meals to Homeless in LA

Today I have a super special video for you. A few months ago, I learned about and visited a new Bodega (little market in Spanish) owned and run by a fellow Afro-Latina.

If you don’t know this powerful little bodega in the heart of Los Angeles, you must! LaRayia’s is the first and only organic plant-based, vegan bodega known.

Through food recovery programs, they offer organic, vegan and whole foods to the community for less than $5.

They also make their own vegan foods, juicing and snacks. The store also sells crystals, candles and merchandise with profits going to fund their food delivery programs. Their non profit arm, Lunch on Me, provides organic food & healing for those experiencing homelessness in downtown Los Angeles.

This is truly a group of exemplary women doing incredible work. I’m especially proud about this fellow Afro-Latinas changing the world for good one meal at a time.

Visit LaRayia’s Bodega at 2713 W. 6th Street in Los Angeles or on Instagram at: @larayiasbodega.

To learn more about Lunch on Me, check out IG: @lunchonme 🇵🇷🇨🇺 www.crowdrise.com/la-bodega  

Vegan Keto Diet – Is it possible? Is It Healthy?

My clients keep asking me about the ketogenic diet and whether it is healthy.

More importantly, they (and I) want to know if you can do keto and still follow a plant-based, whole foods, vegan diet.

Here’s my take on the keto craze and a vegan version of a keto diet.

1st effect

Anyone eating a plant whole foods diet with no white crap, sugars and junk will get into a mild ketogenic state

2nd effect

Intermittent fasting – can also put you in a mild ketosis state

13-16 hrs without solids

3rd effect

Exercise can help you achieve a mild ketogenic state

fat moves faster out when moving regularly

less free radicals = more longevity

Produce Market Visit

Today, my friend Raul and I went to a produce market to get fruit and veggies at dirty cheap prices….

No, not a farmer’s market. This is an outdoor produce market: the market in LA where restaurants and food markets get their produce. These types of markets exist on every major city (even mid-size cities) and it is a great place to discover amazing fruit and vegetables that you may not know about (or re-discover oldies but goodies).

Most of these markets sell in bulk and at less than wholesale prices (we got a box of 16 mangoes for $5 or about $.31 cents per mango. That’s 3-5 times cheaper than in a regular market.

Check out our tour here:

I encourage you to find them in your home town and visit your local produce market. Get a couple of friends, pool your cash together and buy enzyme-filled, super yummy foods for a fraction!

Vegan Restaurant Outing

I went with my friend and fellow #vegan, Raul Ramirez, of VR Vegan to this super yummy Ethiopian Restaurant right on the heart of LA.

It had been well over a decade since I tried Ethiopian food (why did I wait so long) and Raul found this awesome place that offered a lunch buffet, so we decided to give it a go and take you along with it for fun.

What I loved about the experience (apart from the food) is how easy it was to find yummy flavors in foods that I (or you) may not regularly eat AND how easy it was to find different vegan food choices in this cuisine.

Come check out the video and let me know if you’ve ever tried Ethiopian vegan food and what has been your experience!

How Acupuncture Can Help Your Chronic Pain

Today I have such a treat! My friend, amazing vegan and acupuncturist / Chinese medicine man Raul Ramirez is here to show you how acupuncture can help reduce tension and chronic pain in your back, shoulders, pretty much everywhere you hurt!

I’ve been using acupuncture for well over a decade, to help with everything from balancing hormones, reduce pain and anxiety, heal and reduce inflammation.

Acupuncture is a science that’s been around for thousands of years. It comes from China and it is often part of what we know as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), which includes herbal remedies, diet and other therapies to restore balance and help the body heal.

On this video, instead of needles, Raul will use known as “cups” to help bring circulation into the areas of my body who are in spasm and sore from workouts and bad posture.

Can’t wait for you to check out the video!

 

Have you tried acupuncture before? If so, what has been your experience? Let me know if the comments section below!

Cure-All Lentil Soup from Sweet Potato Soul

Today’s blog is a super awesome vegan recipe from my dear friend Jenné Claiborne’s new book Sweet Potato Soul. I love soups so decided to make one of the soups featured in the book, a “Cure-All Lentil Soup”.

This one has a ton of great spices/herbs and ingredients to boost your immunity, and comfort you on those days you feel under the weather.

I also love soups because they are an easy way to consume a lot of nourishing ingredients in a single bowl. Even for the not-so-great-at-cooking, this recipe is perfect for its ease and flavor.

Check out the recipe and more details about the book on today’s video blog

 

Get Jenne’s Book Here

Learn About Jenne’s YouTube channel here

Recipe

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 cup diced yellow onion

1 cup diced celery

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup diced carrots

1 unpeeled white potato, cut into 1⁄2-inch cubes

1 cup dried green lentils, sorted and rinsed

8 cups Veggie stock

 

Herbs/Spices

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon celery seeds

1⁄2 teaspoon dried sage

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon pepper

Salt to taste

 

Instructions

  1. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat.
  2. Add the onion, celery, and garlic and sauté́ until the onion is translucent, about 3 minutes.
  3. Add the carrots, potato, lentils, and stock and bring to a boil.
  4. Reduce the heat to medium-low
  5. Add the fennel seeds, thyme, celery seeds, sage, and bay leaf.
  6. Simmer for 30 minutes, or until the lentils become tender.
  7. Season the soup with soy sauce and pepper.
  8. Season to taste with salt

Serve hot.

What a Health Coach Eats, Winter Edition

I often get asked what I eat in a day and the answer to that question is “it depends”. I eat differently in winter than in summer and regularly check with my alternative medicine practitioners to check for imbalances and nutrient deficiency.

Having said that, you can still follow some simple basic principles to help your body feel its best regardless of the time of the year.

Here’s what a health coach (moi) eats during winter!

Now, below the video, tell me: do you eat for the seasons? What are you eating these days and how does your body feel? Let me know in the comments below!

Is Leaky Gut Caused by Grains?

Vegetarian or Vegan and with Food sensitivities? Listen on!

So much has been said about grains causing leaky gut. Is it true? Why are we suffering from leaky gut and other gut problems when people have been eating grains for thousands of years {seemingly} without issues. What’s a healthy eater to do?!

I tried to answer these and other question on today’s video. So click on over below to learn more!

What do you think? Still planning on shying away form grains? Trying something new? Let me know in the comments below!

Vegan Raw Chocolate Mousse

What do you do when on the go and in need of some fun superfood cacao treat? A raw vegan chocolate mousse of course! I’m making this treat on my Nutribullet so if I can do it on a tiny blender, so can you! Check out the video for my simple (on the go) and totally yummy recipe for a vegan chocolate mousse:

What I love the most about this recipe is that it’s filled with antioxidants, healthy fats, micronutrients and none of the bad stuff in commercial chocolates!

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 avocados
  • 3/4 cup pitted dates
  • 1/4 cup of cocoa powder
  • Chaga and Reishi mushroom tincture

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Blend until smooth
  • Blend until combined

What’s The Daniel Diet

Have you heard of the Daniel Diet? It is based on the book of Daniel on the bible, which is often credited as the ancient foundation for a plant-based diet. On Chapter 10, the book describes the vegan fast the Prophet Daniel followed: “I ate no delicacies, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.”

In the book, after those 21 days, Daniel appeared healthier.

Check out the video to learn more!

So What Is The Daniel Diet?

The plan is a plant-based program inclusive of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, and healthy oils. No caffeine, alcohol, additives, or preservatives are allowed. Usually, participants partake in the plan for a period of 21 days, often as part of a religiously motivated fasting period.

In 2010 researchers at the Univ of Memphis studied the diet and found that:

  • Fights inflammation
  • High in antioxidants
  • Lowers cholesterol
  • Protects against diabetes
  • Fights obesity

And even if you consume small amounts of dairy or flesh (perhaps as a condiment or in truly small amounts), they diet seems to provide the same benefits.

I love the idea of giving your body a respite from processed foods, chemicals and foods that produce an inflammatory response. And it’s a great reminder that a plant-based diet is not a fad diet, it’s been around since biblical times!

So get curious, add more plants to your plate and let me know how you feel! And let me know in the comments below!

My Diet Is Better Than Yours + Elimination Recap

Thank you so much for tuning in to ABC’s MY DIET IS BETTER THAN YOURS.  It was an incredible experience and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

As you probably now know, I was ousted by my contestant at the end of Episode 2 (Whaaaa)… That means, no more #vegan diets on prime time (for now)…

Here’s a video with a recap of what happened

Here’s the thing: The cookie was not the problem. Neither was the diet. Weight loss is a byproduct of a healthy lifestyle. It is impossible to judge the effectiveness of a particular diet based on how many pounds somebody loses in a single week. I did wish I could stay longer and show the world the amazing goodness of a compassionate lifestyle.

I have no doubt that a plant-based diet works. There is no better proof than what I see in the mirror every morning. After all, this lifestyle is what keeps me looking and feeling amazing well into my 40’s.

Give a plant-based diet a go, it changed my life; it can change your life too!  And DON’T FEAR THE COOKIE!

Enjoy the show this week and let’s root for Taj to reach her goal!

So what’s your take on what happened? Share by leaving a comment below! Thanks.

 

About Jovanka

Jovanka Ciares is a former entertainment executive turned Wellness expert, detox specialist, nutrition educator and author. She is the creator of the Wellness Smackdown™, a proprietary detox and weight loss program for natural weight loss which was featured on the first season of ABC’s “My Diet Is Better Than Yours”...

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