Month: November 2013

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My favorite thing about Thanksgiving is really all the gratitude that goes around. Nothing is better than getting texts from your friends about how grateful they are to have you in their life. But why should we wait for just one day a year to share all we’re grateful for?! I say write a list of your top 10 things your grateful for and read it over every morning. Can you think of a more wonderful way to start off your day? Give it a whirl, here’s my list!

1. YOU! Where would I be with out my lovely Go Sweet and Skinny readers?! Many of you have been with me for years watching the growth and evolution of the site (and me!) and for that I’m eternally grateful. It’s so inspiring to see how many people read the blog and to hear from you guys trying out all my recipes! It makes my heart smile everyday just thinking about you!

2. My family! I am so blessed to have a wonderful, caring and supportive family. They always have my back and I couldn’t ask for a better bunch of people to be related to. Their loving guidance is never more than a phone call away and their doors are always open.

3. My friends! I have always been so lucky when it comes to surrounding myself with wonderful, supportive and loving people. My old friends have been with me through thick and thin, I’m so grateful for their continuous love and support regardless of how crazy out lives have been! This year I’ve had the pleasure of making a TON of new friends through business endeavors and experiences and it has been nothing short of spectacular having these peeps in my life. You guys all know who you are and I love you all oodles!

4. My boyfriend! I’ve only known my boyfriend a few months but I’m incredibly grateful to have him in my life. He is such a loving, caring and supportive presence and it’s priceless having a partner who makes you smile day in and day out. Our stress free loving relationship is the best gift a girl could ask for.

5. Charlie! This little guy ( my westie puppy) lives with my parents and I can not wait to receive all his licks and cuddles when I’m home for the holidays!

6. My health coaching clients! I have the best clients in the world. They inspire me everyday with their hard work and determination to take care of themselves and their bodies. I truly feel most alive when I’m working with you guys! You make my heart smile!

7. My gurus! Gabby Bernstein, Kris Carr, Marie Forleo, Lynan Saperstein, Danielle LaPorte, Marianne Williamson and beyond. These kick ass, trailblazing women blow my mind day after day and inspire me to follow my heart and live my dreams. I have an amazing life doing what I love and I truly have these amazing role models to thank for keeping me on track and inspired day after day!

8. My healthy body! Virgil had it right when he said,” the greatest wealth is health”. I’m very grateful for my healthy body and strong immune system. It’s something we all to often take for granted till it leaves us.

9. Meditation and yoga!
 I’ve always had a love affair with yoga but I truly got married to meditation this year and it has completely changed my life. Meditation has given me relief and piece of mind that I never thought possible. It truly empowers me to live my best life and I’m grateful the universe brought it into my life this year.

10. ABC! This year I was blessed with the tremendous opportunity of appearing on abc’s The Taste. In my audition, not only did I get to make my famous vegan cupcakes on network TV but I had the honor of watching such famous foodies like Anthony Bourdain, Nigella Lawson, Marcus Samuelson and Ludo Lefebvre eat them! Words can’t express my gratitude or the love I have for all of the amazing people I met while out in LA. They will truly be in my life forever – love you guys!!

I don’t know about you but I’m glowing just thinking about all these wonderful blessings I have in my life! Do yourself a favor and take a moment to do this yourself. It’s a lovely way to start each day and a great tool for turning a frown upside down.

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Cauliflower purée is one of my absolute favorite comfort foods! It’s one of my very first veggie indulgences and it’s super easy to make vegan! Obviously it’s still very good if your personal preference is to add in the butter but trust me, this is delicious just as it is!

vegan cauliflower purée
head of cauliflower
3 cups of almond milk
2 garlic cloves (or ten peeled garlic)
2 tbsp of earth balance soy free “butter”
1 chopped white onion
A sprig of rosemary

Pour almond milk into saucepan and add your head of cauliflower (broken into smaller pieces), peeled garlic cloves, onion and rosemary. Let it boil and then simmer till the cauliflower is thoroughly cooked. Remove the rosemary and drain the rest of the contents, keeping the almond milk on the side. Place cauliflower, onion and garlic into a food processor or blender and purée. Add almond milk little by little till you have a nice, smooth and creamy texture. Now add some cold vegan butter and stir it in. Salt and add remaining butter to taste. Let cool and enjoy!

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There is absolutely NOTHING I love more than fall flavors but recently, after a trip to L.A., I started falling hard for Indian food! Dare I say I crave it endlessly?!! So naturally when I was in the kitchen thinking of some healthy, delicious thanksgiving sides I couldn’t help but put a little Indian spin on an old favorite! Easy to make and absolutely delicious, I highly recommend trying this recipe out!

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Indian Style Butternut Squash
1 butternut squash
2 tbsp of coconut oil
2 tsp of tumeric
2 tsp of curry powder
2 tsp of gram marsala
1 can of light coconut milk
A handful of unsweetened coconut flakes for garnish

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees, skin and chop your squash into manageable pieces. Place the squash pieces in a glass baking dish(Pyrex) and drizzle coconut oil (also can use olive oil) evenly across the pieces. Sprinkle your tumeric, curry and gram Marsala seasonings to your discretion and put in the oven for 45 minutes. Once they are finished baking, either place them in a blender/food processor or just place them in a bowl to be mashed by hand. Slowly add in 1/4 cup of coconut milk and mash. Continue adding another 1/4 cup till you reach your desired consistency! Scoop out and serve with a sprinkle of coconut shreds on top!

In honor of GoSweetandSkinny.com’s Fall of Fitness, I’ve called in women’s weight lifting guru and certified personal trainer (and one of my lovely girlfriends!), Kaitlin Holiday to answer a few questions about working out for us less than savvy gym goers! Stay tuned for the whole series, this particular video is about HOW TO NOT BE INTIMIDATED BY THE WEIGHT ROOM 🙂

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I don’t know about you but as soon as the NYC winter starts coming, so do my intense cravings for hot cocoa! Ever since I was a kid I’ve absolutely LOVED hot chocolate! Never was a big fan of chocolate milk or sugary beverages but once the temperature got low, I craved that sweet, body warming goodness all too frequently!

Of course, I needed to come up with a healthier alternative and a dairy free one to boot! So once the NYC winter temps started rearing their ugly heads earlier this week, I got to experimenting! Oh, such hard work I had to do, drinking all that dairy free hot cocoa! Here’s my favorite concoction – the picture does not do it justice! Sadly my whipped coconut cream and sprinkles of vegan, gluten free chocolate chips melted and sunk to the bottom before I could grab the camera. However, I’m sure you’ll be seeing a lot more of these beauties on Instagram this winter!

Dairy Free Hot Cocoa
ingredients per single serving
1 cup of almond milk
3 tbsps of unsweetened cocoa powder (my favorite is Valrhona Cacao powder!)
1 can of coconut milk
Handful of mini chocolate chips

Easy as pie to make! First, pour your can of coconut milk into your mixer, place a towel over the head and keep it whipping at medium speed. This will whip your coconut milk while you heat your hot chocolate. If your coconut isn’t getting thick you can add a tsp of xantham gum to help it along. Next, heat your almond milk on the stove in a small saucepan and stir in your cocoa till it’s your favorite temp and chocolatey-ness. When your hot cocoa is done, place it in a mug, dollop some of your whipped coconut milk and sprinkle some mini vegan chocolate chips! Perfect! You have a delicious, sweet winter treat with out all the bad stuff, so you can enjoy it all season long guilt free!

In honor of GoSweetandSkinny.com’s Fall of Fitness, I’ve called in women’s weight lifting guru and certified personal trainer (and one of my lovely girlfriends!), Kaitlin Holiday to answer a few questions about working out for us less than savvy gym goers! Stay tuned for the whole series, this particular video is about WHY WOMEN SHOULD WEIGHT LIFT 🙂

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              I’m spontaneously inspired to write a blog post about my lovely afternoon with Tara from Skinnybytara.com and Jordan from TheBlondVegan.com. These two lovely ladies joined me in Central Park to talk about our healthy, happy lives and businesses, oh and I also interviewed them both for GoSweetandSkinnyTV!(So you can totally look forward to that soon!) It really hit me how wonderful it is to surround yourself with POSITIVE, HEALTHY, EMPOWERING people.
hjkhkjkThere is a famous quote that goes something like,“You become most like the five people you spend the most time with, choose them wisely.” While, I’m not positive it’s limited to just five, I think it’s really important to surround yourself with an awesome group of people who support your values. When you are starting along your wellness journey it is even MORE important to find some happy, healthy comrades to keep you company along the way. Having a great support group can be the difference between having fun while you get healthy (the girls and I already discussed smoothie parties, yoga dates and full on kitchen playtime!) and feeling alone and frustrated while trying to make healthier choices. I know it may seem scary at first but reach out! Make friends in yoga class, follow healthy gurus like myself, @skinnybytara and @theblondevegan on instagram or facebook and create a community for yourself. There are so many wonderful opportunities to connect with other wonderful, happy, healthy ladies and I promise to start being more proactive in helping spread the word about events for us to connect. For now, start the conversation on my facebook page or tweet at us (@gosweetnskinny,@theblondevegan,@skinnybytara) let us be YOUR sweet + skinny sisters!

Peace, Love and Cupcakes,

Cassandra

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“Everything we do is infused with the energy we do it with” – wise words from one of my spiritual gurus, Miss Marianne Williamson! Hit all too close to home this morning when I overslept my alarm and woke up when I was supposed to be on my way to set for the day. Absolutely worst way to wake up, right?! Despite having set at least five alarms, my body obviously didn’t feel like cooperating this AM. Naturally, I’m frantic, trying to remedy the situation and completely beating myself up but as soon as I caught my breath and was on my way I had to have a mini intervention. First, I serendipitously saw this quote and secondly, I knew that there was nothing my self-loathing was helping at the moment. So I put my big girl panties on, took a few deep breathes and allowed myself to be human. In that minute I made the choice to continue the rest of my day in peace instead of letting that frantic energy resonate with everything I did for the rest of the day. I hope this can inspire and move you to face your Mondays (and any other days) with love and peace. Maybe you can do one better than me and make that choice for peace before you get too far into that negative spiral! Our days will go as positively as our mindset allows, so let’s all have Marvelous Monday!

Peace, Love and Cupcakes,

Cassandra