How far I’ve come in a year, as told by my “About” section

As I transition away from this blog and onto my full business blog that will be on my health coaching website…

The original “About Me.” I notice how negative I sounded. So much self-doubt! I am grateful that I can recognize it, and I know that I am doing a much better job of looking brightly toward the future with full confidence in myself, My abilities, drive, and potential are there. I am ready. A new chapter of my life is unfolding and this is a great reminder of who I am, AND how much I have grown in such a short period of time.

Hi, I’m Morgan. I am pretty sure that I have ten followers right now. Welcome to my personal diary just floating around in the web world – you can pick it up and read it if you’d like. I might not be interesting yet, but I am on a lifelong mission to make myself more interesting so give me a chance. It is actually just therapeutic and fun to start writing down what I eat and how I feel about it.

I have a passion for food. I don’t know if that sounds weird to non-foodies, but I know fellow foodies understand this concept. The way a musician feels about music, is how I feel about food. Cooking is my creative outlet, sharing food is my connection with others, and enjoying it is my connection to the earth, and myself. I guess I have always had an addiction to food, although I love food for entirely different reasons than I used to.

I grew up eating what the majority of white middle-class kids (oh yeah, and I’m a sociologist) eat. I was encouraged to eat my veggies, but meat, dairy, and over-processed foods were also a large part of my diet. I was always an active and athletic kid so weight was not an issue for me. Not until college, anyway. I gained 30 or so lbs. in college, which is not surprising because I was pretty much doing nothing good for my health. I stayed up late, drank beer, ate crappy food, and couldn’t seem to stick to a workout schedule. So yeah, no surprise there.

The last semester of my senior year, I had an aha! moment where I decided to change everything, and it happened very quickly. I started an intense workout routine, stopped the late nights out, and pretty much just focused on eating less. My interest in nutrition was sparked but I still did not understand real healthy food. As I transformed my appearance, I was changing even more as a person. I “found myself” that spring. Or started finding myself, anyway. Maybe it was because I finally broke off a relationship that should have been ended much earlier, or because I stopped going out with friends and had more “Morgan time,” but I spent so many hours thinking about the world and my place in it. More than ever, I felt inspired to help people, to travel, and to follow my passions. I wanted to be the best version of myself (who doesn’t?). Losing the weight was symbolic of the real changes that were happening for me. I became more independent, gained confidence, and let go of the bullsh*t story that society told me about how my life should be.

That summer after graduating, I left for New York to work at a summer camp as a canoe and kayak instructor and trip staff. It was an incredible experience, spending my days on the water with new friends from all over the world. I met an amazing friend from NYC who was vegan. I was so intrigued by her recent decision to be vegan, and one thing she said was that she wanted to live a kind life. That sounded right up my alley, so I made a mental note to research vegetarianism when I got back to Colorado at the end of camp. Being vegan was not even on my radar, in fact I distinctly remember declaring “I could NEVER be vegan!” on more than one occasion.

That fall, I decided to try vegetarianism. I continued my research on the many reasons to go veg. As a knowledge seeker and academic, I was not about to make changes unless I had made an informed decision. The more I learned, the more I started to see things clearly. Yes, clearly. The fog was lifted. Becoming healthy was not a sacrifice. It was more of an awakening.

I went back to grad school that same fall for a Master’s in Sociology. In grad school, I researched food insecurity in the US and nutrition based social programs. My Master’s thesis was an exploration of the cultural perceptions of female muscularity and the body experiences of female athletes. So what now?

I am now coaching gymnastics and working at a brand new organic juice bar in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I love that my jobs reflect my passion to grow a career in health and wellness. I don’t have a clue what I will end up doing with my life, but I know that I eventually want to be self-employed and doing what I love. Maybe I will be a health coach, open up a small cafe or tea lounge, or write books. I look forward to seeing where life takes me, and I know that as long as I keep pursuing what I love, I am in the right place. I will eventually move back to my beautiful home state, Colorado, but I am looking forward to life in New England for a little while! I also hope to travel a lot and maybe even someday move to another country. I want to live in a tropical location (Costa Rica?), near the beach, and grow my own mangoes, avocados, bananas, citrus. To live a minimalist life and focus on a simple approach to my human experience. Measure my success in smiles and inspirational moments, not what car I drive or how much money I have. For now, I am still just a dreamer operating in the “real world.”

I also want to say that I am SO grateful to even be able to write this blog. For so many people in the world, hunger is a real concern and legitimate threat. Having local access to fresh fruits and vegetables every day of the year is a privilege that only a portion of human beings on the planet have. This is an inspiration for me to strive towards helping areas in the US, as well as other countries, gain access to nutritious foods. I also have an incredible boyfriend who supports my endeavors, and the greatest dog in the universe who will always be my side kick. He will make guest appearances in the blog because he is my best buddy and it would be unlike me to not include him! Here is a video of his life. Plus, I have the internet and a computer which gives me access to a whole community of people from all over the world. And that is so freakin’ cool!

I am happy to report that I still have the same goals (possibly open a business in Colorado, or pursue health coaching full time, or figure out a way to travel and make money). I am committed to building this live I desire. I have come a long way, and I have nothing but brightness ahead.

Baked Apple Breakfast & How I survive detox during a winter storm!

First of all… SNOW DAY!!!

It is important to detox each season, but dang, detox is so much easier in the summer! Cucumbers, watermelon, baby greens, and warm weather make it pretty easy to clear out the junk in our bodies!

Myself and my group of detox clients officially began our 15-day program yesterday. It just so happened that it was also the night that kicked off a gigantic storm in the East. Luckily, I picked up my CSA share on the way home from work, so I have cabbage, carrots, parsnips, onions, beets, and apples. I can definitely work with that!

But this morning, I could not accept the idea that I would have a smoothie for breakfast, like I do most days. I needed something warm and comforting, but that fits into my detox program. My detox includes warm breakfasts, roasted veggies, blended soups, and hot teas, but – I was craving THIS.

Food that is cozy, warm, AND totally clean = WIN!!!

Detox-Approved Baked Apple Breakfast

Apple, chopped

Spoonful of coconut oil

Cinnamon, sprinkled on top

Bake at 350 degrees for around 20 minutes.

Sprinkle topping: Ground up mixture of sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, coconut shreds, and goji berries. Normally I would also top with pecans but this is a nut-free detox (to rule out nut allergies and sensitivities!)

Homemade Almond Milk

Hello 2015 –

Here’s why I like you.

Virtually every supermarket carries non-dairy milks now! As a culture we are becoming more conscious of what we’re putting in our bodies. I’m grateful that I get to be a part of the movement.

Personally, my biggest motivation for choosing plant love comes from my love for cows (moo!), and secondly my intolerance to dairy (tummy aches like crazy). On top of that, nut milks are de-freakin-licious! Especially when you make them yourself! Although the store bought non-dairy milks are a great option to have, they have still been manipulated, and often have added sugars or potentially harmful additives, like carrageenan.

Not cool!

Luckily, it’s easy to make your own nut milk, so follow the pictures below to get the recipe (which has TWO ingredients, one being water).

And, BONUS! It tastes amazing too!

From blender to glass, the whole process took around 5-7 minutes. See – now you have no excuse not to make your own.

Almond Milk (4 cups)

1) Soak 1 cup raw almondsc and forget about them for 8+ hrs (expands to 2 cups)
2) Dump the water and rinse almonds
3) Blend with 4 cups water, for 1-2 minutes
4) Use a nut bag (or panty hose) and slowly squeeze the liquid out
5) Keep the pulp – you can make cookies, hummus, almond flour

Store milk in a sealed glass container. It should last 2-3 days.

*Optional: Blend with vanilla, spices, sweetener (I added vanilla and 3 dates)

My Version of Smoothie 101

Someone asked me if I had any go-to smoothie recipe resources. The short answer is no. However, I make smoothies all the time (as in hundreds a WEEK – it’s for my job, okay? :)), and generally stick to this equation:

1. Start with a liquid – water, coconut water, non-dairy milk, etc.
2. Add something for a smooth consistency – either 1/4 avocado, 1/2 to 1 banana (preferably frozen), you could even add cooked squash or sweet potato, or zucchini
3. Add greens – spinach, kale, mixed greens, etc. You can’t taste them, and you get all the nutrients, so why not?
4. Ice as needed

You have the option to
A. Go fruity – pineapple, mango, berries (frozen or fresh)
B. Go veg – celery, cucumber, beet
C. Get spicy/flavorful – add ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, turmeric, vanilla, chai spices, fresh herbs, raw cacao (chocolate), matcha green tea powder, essential oils like orange or peppermint
D. Make it SUPER – add superfoods like chia seeds, maca powder, spirulina, chlorella, hemp protein, ground flax seeds, coconut oil, bee pollen, goji berries, or superfood blends
E. Get nutty – if you desire: almond butter, peanut butter, cashew butter
F. Make it sweet – if it needs some sweet, try a date, maple, or honey

Okay, so that wasn’t as simple as I had planned on making it, but basically:

liquid + banana/avo + greens + _________ = perfection.

Here’s what I had today:

1 cup water
1 frozen banana
Spinach
Kale
1 scoop matcha green tea powder
1 scoop maca powder
1 scoop chia seeds
1 scoop cacao nibs

TIP: Everything tastes better in a bowl with a spoon. Fact. Make it extra thick and eat it with a spoon.

How do you make your favorite smoothies?

2015: The year I (re)started blogging.

Alright soooo… last time I wrote a blog post I had a broken foot and I was stuck at home for two weeks with nothing to do.

Nine months later… it’s now the NEXT YEAR… (this is embarassing)… but HERE I AM! Ready to rock.

Quick Update:

• I am the manager of an organic juice bar (The Fresh Press in Portsmouth, NH). I helped open it in April and have been the recipe creator for all of our salad dressings, soups, and some smoothies, juices, wraps, and more! I also get to work on social media, new projects, writing, and more. It has been so rewarding to do what I love which is create yummy healthy food!
• I enrolled in The Institute for Integrative Nutrition and am on my way to becoming a certified health coach. I am about to launch my first program which is a Winter Detox and I am so excited about it! I have an amateur website (www.morgan-avery) and someday I will 1) upgrade it and 2) learn to link the blog to it.
• My foot is totally fine, but my beloved pooch Price just got knee surgery. Poor lil guy.

I want to say that I am THRILLED to be back and would really like to pursue blogging, mainly just to share my recipes! I have sooooo many to share! And I love them all. It’s great. Food is great. Life is great. You are great.

So, CHEERS TO 2015!

A year of facing my fears, learning, growing, creating, exploring, and FUN!!!

Dulse Flakes and Day Five of Raw Challenge

I sat down to write this update and realized I had no idea how far into this raw challenge I was. I just checked when my last post was. It’s been FIVE DAYS?! I thought it had been two, maybe three.

It’s been SO easy! Okay, I did eat cooked food two days ago. I went to a Thai restaurant with some friends and “splurged” or “cheated” on the most incredible vegetable stew. But other than that, all raw baby! I think. Some things catch me by surprise. Is kombucha raw? I drank that. What about liquid aminos? I used those. Dijon mustard?  It’s still hard to believe that there are raw vegans who literally will not eat anything that has been heated above 118 degrees Fahrenheit. I highly doubt (though I’ve learned to never say never: I specifically remember saying “I could never be vegan!”) that I would ever become fully raw, but it’s fun to experiment with. Just like when I stopped eating meat and dairy, I had to think outside the box and it forced me to try so many new foods and combinations.

Today, I bought dulse flakes from the natural grocers. I sprinkled them on my salad, but I believe they can be used for just about anything (stir fry, soup, even smoothies). I hope to become more acquainted with them and check back in in a few weeks. In the meantime, here is a bit of info on dulse flakes.

It is a crappy phone pic because it was already dark and I was so hungry, but here is my delicious dinner.

p.s. Today I also tried juiced parsnips, and enoki mushrooms (the white noodley things in the picture below). Both get a big thumbs up!

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Salad:

Mixed greens

Baby heirloom tomatoes

Cilantro

Green onion

Sugar snap peas

Enoki mushroom

Carrot

Beet

Celery

Alfalfa sprouts

 

Dressing (blended in NutriBullet):

Fresh ginger

Fresh garlic

Sesame oil

Rice Vinegar

Liquid aminos

Maple syrup

 

Topped with: sliced almonds, dulse flakes

Acai Superfood Bowl and Day One of Raw Challenge

Smoothies are great. Smoothie bowls? Even better!

&

Smoothie bowls for breakfast are great. Smoothie bowls for lunch? Even better!

I’ll stop with that. Here’s the story behind my beauty of a lunch: For almost a month, I have not been able to workout out the way that I want to due to a very unfortunate situation. Broken foot. I”m dying to go for a long run outside and enjoy this beautiful spring weather but sadly it will be several weeks before that becomes even a possibility. For home workouts, I am able to do push-ups on my knees, dips on a bench, squats (sort of), and a lot of ab exercises on the floor. Plus a little bit of yoga and a lot of hopping around on one foot. Nothing that satisfies my urge to run, though! I should add that I am not an avid runner and have never really enjoyed it. I suppose that what I really long for is being able to go hiking, do gymnastics, and skip stairs and jump down them for the hell of it, like I always do – whiiich is also how I got myself into this situation!

To the point, though. Although I preach that living a healthy lifestyle is not about weight loss or looking thin, I am struggling right now to convince myself of that because I have put on a couple (yeah, we’ll go with “a couple”) extra pounds. I am not endlessly reaching for some societal standard of beauty, but the bottom line is that I don’t feel comfortable with the way I look right now. It doesn’t reflect ME. And, my clothes don’t fit right, and that just sucks. This dissatisfaction with my body affects the way I think, how I act, and of course, how I feel. My confidence is weakened, and confidence means everything right now, especially as I start a new job and meet a lot of new people.

So, here’s my commitment. I am going to eat a raw diet for one week. My goal is actually one month, but I think I’ll start small and set myself up for success. Today is day one of this challenge. I have been meaning to do this for awhile, but the cold weather always led me back to the comfort of warm soups and hearty meals. Not to say that eating a bowl of warm veggie soup is bad, but I know I will eat much healthier during this challenge.

So what did I eat today? Nothing out of the ordinary. This raw food thing is easy, for now.  🙂

I started out the day (way too early at 4:45 am) with some hot lemon water (does that count?) and some strawberries. Throughout the morning, I snacked on fresh mango and blackberries. As the day progressed, I ended up drinking a lot of fresh juice because I work at a juice bar (what better time than now to do a raw challenge?). I had only small amounts from what was leftover from customer orders, but it adds up! I drank juice from spinach, kale, romaine, celery, carrot, ginger, apple, orange, grapefruit, pineapple, mint, cucumber, lemon, beet, pear, parsley, and more! What a great job perk! By lunch I wasn’t all that hungry but I was still craving an acai bowl, so here’s what I threw together:

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Acai Superfood Bowl

Acai bowl base:

• 2 frozen acai berry pouches
• 1/2 banana
• 2 oz. coconut milk
• 1 scoop chlorella

Toppings:

• bee pollen
• 1/2 banana
• chia seeds
• goji berries (I went a bit overboard but I love the crunch they have when they’re cold!)
• coconut shreds

First, I blended the ingredients for the base together in a high powered blender. It had the consistency of a thick smoothie or an extra-soft soft serve ice cream. Then, I loaded on the toppings! I usually top these bowls with a bunch of fruit, but I wasn’t feeling that today.

The best part about it (besides the incredible health benefits) is that it was so freaking delicious. Healthy ice cream sundae? Yes please!

As I type this, it’s evening and my tummy is growling so I better go feed the beast. Hmm… what to have to dinner? Suggestions?