Pasta with homemade pesto

Just a quick post. Me and my mom found wholewheat flax pasta on sale the other and decided to make something from it. We chose some simple ingredients and it turned out to be Amazing (and I'm not even a big fan of pasta)!! I hade my pasta with on a salad bed with cucumber, red pepper and tomatoes. I will post my mom's pesto recipe later on today, but you can also use a regular pesto from a supermarket.

ingredients: 

whole wheat pasta

homemade pesto

cherry tomatoes

broccoli

onion

fresh arugula

sea salt

spices

your favorite seeds on top

1. cook whole wheat pasta ,and meanwhile sauté the onion and broccoli with a little bit of oil, on a heated pan.

2. mix sauteed broccoli and onion with pasta.

3. Add 1-2 tbsp of homemade pesto and your favorite spices. We used paprika and black pepper.

4. Serve with hempseed and fresh arugula on top.

Enjoy your day! :)

-e-

DIETS DON'T WORK

Eight reasons for my opinion!

Do you know the feeling when you just have way too many things going on at the same time? I've been there lately, and that is my bad excuse for not posting anything for a long time. I have so many things I want to share with you all, but decided to start here: DIETS DON'T WORK! 
Obesity is an incredibly huge problem in the world today and We are never going to beat it if we rely on diets. Have you noticed that they aaaalll promise you the same thing: A super easy way to get the body of your dreams.
Newsflash; A MAGIC DIET DOESN'T EXIST. Why do I feel this way?

1. They teach you nothing about a healthy diet.
2. 95% of the people who are on a diet, will gain the weight and more in the next 5 years.   
3. They may be harmful, for example by lacking essential nutrients and vitamins.
4. Each one of us is unique, with different needs based on gender, age, ancestry and lifestyle; how could one diet be right for everyone? 
5. Diets are too extreme.
6. Diets might be leading to an eating disorder.
7. They are too restrictive. You are not weak if you can't follow one.    
8. you might lose the pleasure of eating.

What works then? Find a lifelong healthy lifestyle that suits you and your body. I'm not saying you can never have a movie night with popcorn and candies, or you can never eat a huge piece of chocolate cake. Finding the balance between eating healthy and providing your body everything it needs, and treating your mind with your favorite sweets, is the challenge. But it's worth it.

If you don't know how to find the healthy lifestyle that suits you, I would love to give you a FREE health consultation :) Just send me an email to maximizeyourhealth@essililjama.com and I will get back to you.

Essie's tips for turning your kitchen into a beauty salon!

Truly natural beauty products

Why don't you save some money and get your cosmetics from the kitchen for a change? It's not only cheaper, but also saves the nature and your body, hair and skin from unwanted chemicals. Here are some great foods that easily change into cosmetics :)

Coconut oil:
Coconut oil is a wonderful moisturizer. I use it for EVERYTHING. It is my lotion, massage oil, salad dressing, cooking and baking oil, hair mask, etc etc.
It's great for your hair, add it to the ends and leave it for the night before washing your hair in the morning. Or do it how i do, Put it everywhere in your hair and leave it for one day (and walk around with oily hair) and night , and then wash it.
You can also make a conditioner by mixing half an avocado and some coconut oil.
Coffee:
Caffeine in coffee actually pulls water from the skin, which helps redistribute fat cells and decrease the formation of cellulite. The caffeine in a coffee scrub also acts as a vascular restrictor, shrinking blood vessels and reducing varicose veins.
Make a perfect body scrub for you by mixing olive oil, grounded coffee and sugar.
Avocado:
Avocado is one of my favorite foods in the world, but it is also one great moisturizer. You can use it  for the hair conditioner or you can just make a moisturizing face mask by smashing half an avocado, adding it to your face until its dry and rinsing it with warm water.
It leaves you skin perfectly smooth :) 
Apple cider vinegar:
Apple cider Vinegar is wonderful for your skin. It has a tonic action that promotes blood circulation. It is also antiseptic, preventing the proliferation of bacteria, viruses, or yeast that trigger infection. 

For an oily skin, mix some water with apple cider vinegar and wash your face with it. You can also make a face wash by mixing it with green tea.
Yogurt:
Yogurt includes lactic acid that helps to smooth rough, dry skin and prevent premature aging such as fine lines, wrinkles and age spots. A face mask from plain yogurt will also help to dissolve dead skin that is accumulating in the pores causing a dull and cakey appearance. For your face, only use plain yogurt and for the best results make sure it has live active cultures in it. 
Yogurt mask: Add plain yogurt to a clean face, leave it for ten minutes and rinse it off with warm water.


I hope I gave you some good ideas :) Good night,

-e-

Top five recipes! You gotta try these!

Simple, nutritious, healthy and delicious!

One of my clients has asked for simple and healthy recipes and I thought I might as well upload them here, so all of you can get some ideas :) These recipes are something that I make every week or every day, and many of them uses same ingredients, but it works for me. When I see recipes I want to try, I always make my own version to make it just the way I like it, and I suggest you do the same. Feel free to use your favorite seeds and nuts, vegetables, greens and sprouts. 

1. Raw mixed salad with red cabbage

Cabbage

Red cabbage

cucumber

cherry tomatoes

carrots

arugula

avocado

hempseed

cilantro

lemon vinegar dressing (recipe in the end of this post)

Everything in this salad is raw. I usually mix the cabbages and carrots, pour the dressing on them and then add everything else.

2. Sauteed eggplant on a spinach bed

1/3 Eggplant

Red bell pepper

spinach

cherry tomatoes

garlic

lemon juice

Pumpkin seeds

turmeric

cayenne pepper

sea salt

paprika

apple cider vinegar

lemon

1 tbsp olive oil

Put olive oil and one chopped glove of garlic on a pan. Add eggplant, a little bit of water and the spices, and sauté the eggplant until its soft. Meanwhile chop all the other veggies and put spinach on a plate. Add sautéed eggplant, all the other veggies and pumpkin seeds on the plate, pour a little apple cider vinegar and lemon on it and ENJOY!

3. Sauteed Kale and Bok choi

bok choi

Kale

tomatoes

cherry tomatoes

carrot

avocado

pine nuts

nutritional yeast

olive oil

garlic

lemon

apple cider vinegar

cayenne pepper

Put olive oil and one chopped glove of garlic on a pan. Add bok choi first and then kale, a little bit of water and the spices, and sauté them for about 2 minutes. Meanwhile chop the veggies. When the greens are sautéed, add them on a plate followed by everything else. Again, you can pour a little apple cider vinegar and lemon on top and VOILA, its done!

4. Collard green wraps with quinoa and portobello mushroom

Collard green leaves

quinoa

1 portobello mushroom

carrots

1 tomato

cucumber

1/2 red bell pepper

hemp seed

nutritional yeast

lemon

olive oil

turmeric

black pepper

sea salt

paprika

Prepare quinoa as told on the side of the package. Meanwhile chop the portobello mushroom and cook it on a pan with some garlic and olive oil until its soft. Chop all the other veggies, and when your mushroom and quinoa is done, mix all the ingredients together, and Add your favorite spices. Take one leaf of collard green, add the topping on it and roll it. It might be a little hard in the beginning, and maybe the roll is not the most beautiful but it tastes amazing! 

5. the simplest cabbage salad

1 (small) Fresh Cabbage 

3 tasp Olive oil

1 tasp sesame oil

sea salt

pepper

fresh lemon juice

1-2 gloves of garlic

sesame seeds

sunflower seeds

Cut the cabbage and put it in a bowl. Mix the oil and the spices in a glass and pour it on the cabbage. You can put a handful of different kinds of seeds and nuts on the top of your salad.

I'm sure you all notices that I'm in love with Hemp seed, lemon, garlic, cayenne pepper, turmeric, avocado, olive oil, vinegar. I'm also a big fan of quinoa and soba noodles (buckwheat noodles), and I promise to post my favorite soba noodle salad soon! I hope you liked the recipes and will try some of them. If you do, I would love to hear any feedback. Also if you make your own version, I would truly appreciate if you share it in the comments section.

*Lemon vinegar dressing: olive oil, apple cider vinegar (or balsamic vinegar), lemon, seasalt, black pepper. Mix all the ingredients and pour it on top of your salad or veggies. Be careful if you don't want it to be too vinegary!

Love, -e-

Library of recipes: Rawlicious oatmeal (raaka kaurapuuro)

My new favorite breakfast!

I know a Glowing Green Smoothie is a GREAT breakfast.....but we all know that sometimes you just want something else. Especially if you know you won't be able to have lunch early or you are going to have a long day. I made my own recipe of raw oatmeal, by simply just mixing all my favorite ingredients. And you should do the same. This Raw oatmeal is made the night before, soaked in the refrigerator over the night and then enjoyed in the morning! 

Ingredients:

Oats

water

raw honey

cinnamon

1/2 Organic Apple

pinch of seasalt

crushed walnuts

1 tsp chiaseeds

1 tbsp flaxseeds

1 tbsp coconut oil

Put all the ingredients in a breakfast bowl and put it in the refrigerator. You can use the nuts and seeds you have, doesn't have to be walnuts. I wouldn't suggest putting a lot of honey, just a little bit to make it  super tasty!

I think I will make this for breakfast tomorrow and we will see what my boyfriend says! I'll keep you posted! Have a wonderful weekend!

-e-

Fat, sick and nearly dead!

Maybe someone close to you is just like these guys.

If you haven't seen this funny but teaching documentary already, it's about time! Show it to your dad, uncles, cousins, aunts too or anyone who might have a bad diet, attitude or some overweight. I have showed it to my boyfriend, he loved it. Also my mom loved it and she is going to make my uncle and stepdad sit down, watch and learn!

Fat, sick and nearly dead is a story of two men from different worlds who are overweight, sick and unhappy. With doctors and conventional medicines unable to help long- term, Joe turns to the only option left, the body's ability to heal itself. He changes his diet completely, from junk food to green and fruit juices for 60 days. Across 3,000 miles Joe has one goal in mind: To get off his pills and achieve a balanced lifestyle.

You can find the full documentary from google starting $1.99, it's on netflix and they also have their own website.

Make yourself a nice smoothie or juice, and enjoy these guys' trip!

Oletko valmis todelliseen muutokseen?

Nyt sinulla on mahdollisuus saavuttaa kaikki ne tavoitteet, joihin olet aina halunnut päästä, sekä löytää täydellinen tasapaino itsesi kanssa!

Oletko stressaantunut? Haluatko pudottaa/nostaa painoa? Tunnetko itsesi väsyneeksi jopa pitkien yöunien jälkeen? Oletko koukussa sokeriin tai kaipaavatko ruokailutottumuksesi muutosta? Oli ongelmasi mika tahansa, me voimme yhdessä löytää siihen ratkaisun kuuden kuukauden ohjelmani avulla. 

Niinkuin monet teistä jo tietää, opiskelen holistista ravitsemusta insitute for Integrative Nutrition koulussa. Minun toimintatapaani ei kuulu laskea kaloreita, proteiineja, hiilihydraatteja eikä rasvoja. En usko dietteihin, enkä siihen että ongelmat voi ratkaista kieltämällä tietyt ruokalajit. Sen sijaan, haluan työskennellä asikkaitteni kanssa ja yhdessä rakentaa heille onnellisen, terveen elämän, jonka kanssa jokainen viihtyy koko loppuelämän.

Minun kuuden kuukauden mittainen ohjelma on suunniteltu muuttamaan elämäsi, parantamalla itsetietouttasi, löytämällä sinulle sopiva ruokavalio, sekä tasapaino jokapäiväiseen elämääsi. Ohjelmaan kuuluu kaksi tapaamista kuukaudessa, jotka voimme tehdä joko henkilökohtaisesti, skypen välityksellä tai puhelimitse. Tapaamisten aikana määritämme sinulle henkilökohtaiset tavoitteet, suunnittelemme tarkasti kuinka voimme ne saavuittaa ja seuraamme tuloksia. Minä rohkaisen sinua pysymään tavoitteissasi, valmennan ja kannustan sinua. Saat 100%:n tuen, sekä paljon muuta.

Oletko valmis haastamaan itsesi ja löytämään tasapainoisen, terveen elämän, joka tekee sinut onnellisemmaksi kuin olet koskaan edes unelmoinut?

Jos haluat kuulla lisää ohjelmastani tai tunnet jonkun joka voisi tarvita apuani, lähetä minulle viestiä essi.liljama@gmail.com ja vastaan sinulle mahdollisimman pian. Pidathän kiirettä, sillä valitettavasti ajanpuutteen vuoksi ohjelmaan mahtuu mukaan vain hyvin rajattu määrä henkilöitä.

Let's get the ball rolling!

-e-