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It’s absolutely frigid in NYC right now and as much as I do absolutely love my juices and smoothies, sometimes in the winter it just gets too darn cold for them! When this kind of chill strikes, I always turn to soups to heat me up and nourish me. This carrot ginger squash soup is not only delicious, it’s super easy to make and packed full of nutrients to give you energy and keep you warm! (It’s also vegan! psssh don’t tell!)

Carrot Ginger Squash Soup

Sauté 1/2 cup chopped onions, 1 tbsp fresh ginger and 1 clove minced garlic in 1 tsp olive oil for 3 minutes in medium pot. Add 1 1/2 cup low sodium vegetable broth, 1 cup frozen butternut squash cubes and 1 cup of carrot slices. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 minutes. With a hand blender, puree until smooth; if desired add broth for thinner texture. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

 

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              Are you READY to get out of your own way and                                                                           FINALLY start having the body and life you want?!

                         Do you want to start 2014 off right and make sure it’s                                                             your  HAPPIEST and HEALTHIEST year yet?!

Maybe you’ve tried countless diets, detoxes and cleanses and this year you’re ready to get REAL. You want to STOP stressing so much about food and weight and start loving your body! Okay, maybe that involves losing a few pounds as well, THAT’S OKAY! You can lose weight naturally by learning how to eat right for your body and finding out what foods work for YOU.

My mission with my “2014 Jumpstart to a NEW YOU intensives” is to help support you in finding the actionable steps to make your healthy New Year’s resolutions STICK this year.

Whether that includes losing 10lbs, eating less processed foods, going vegan, learning to meditate or just trying a juice cleanse for the first time, it doesn’t matter! Decide what YOU want to shift this year! What are YOU committed to making happen? And then let me help you! Email me ASAP at Cassandra@GoSweetandSkinny.com to schedule a 2hr skype or in person meeting, if your in the NY/NJ area.

Here’s what you’ll get from our TWO – HOUR INTENSIVE SESSION: – specific ACTIONABLE goals for the next month – personalized recipes + guidance for YOUR goal – a sample week long meal plan (if appropriate to your goal) – personalized advice and tools on HOW to stick to your plan – 3 weeks of email support following our sessions – a summary of our session with key points – access to our PRIVATE 2014 Jumpstart facebook group – where you can support each other with your goals as well as get more personal insights from me!

Are you ready to invest in YOURSELF this year? Why not let 2014 be the year you FINALLY start looking and feeling AH-MAAZING!?!

It’s ONLY $200 and a great way to kick off your New Year right!
PLEASE, I urge you to book your session NOW, do not hesitate, these WILL book up and I do not want any of you to miss out!

Email me today! I can’t wait to help support you in making 2014 your sweet and skinniest year yet!

cassandra@gosweetandskinny.com

or go ahead and schedule one today at meetme.so/CassandraBodzak

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Thank you so much to all of you who spent Thursday evening glued to your TVs watching “The Taste” on ABC, whether you were a friend or family member looking out for me or you met me for the first time on the show, I am SO GRATEFUL you tuned in! The outpouring of love and support, tweets, facebook msgs, etc, has just been out of this world and I sincerely thank you. Let’s go #teamludo !
It feels like just yesterday all thirty five of us auditioning for The Taste landed in Los Angeles. I was out of my mind excited for the opportunity to make my vegan cupcakes on TV for the infamous Anthony Bourdain and still terribly nervous about whether or not I would make a mentor’s team. I remember all of us standing at baggage claim together introducing ourselves like it was the first day of school. The air was electric and everyone seemed to have the mindset of “we made it this far, we’ve already won.” After all, we had all beat out thousands of other cooks for these 35 coveted spots and we were getting to do what we love on TV for some of the most respected celebrity chefs. This glass was definitely half full.
The couple days leading up to auditions were full of foodie talk, families visiting and maybe a couple moments of poolside lounging. So many of us had already developed friendships by the time we went up to the chopping block that it was no longer just ourselves we were sick-to-our-stomach nervous for, it was our friends! All of a sudden it wasn’t about me making it, it was about “we” making it.. Our particular group consisted of Jay Qualls, Jeff Kawakami, Greggy Soriano, Lee Knoeppel, Steve Ford and Reina Bazzi but we were all pretty friendly with eachother in general. I’ll never forget the knots in my stomach as I waited anxiously to hear who had made it before I went in to cook and how even in my complete euphoria after getting chosen by Ludo, I couldn’t really settle down till I found out that Jeff had also made it. It was the most intense and thrilling experience of my life and I couldn’t have found more amazing people to share it with.
As for the actual baking itself, well just imagine wearing heels and a dress, being in a kitchen you’ve never worked in before with equipment your not used to using and having only 60 minutes to make, cool and ice cupcakes. Not intense enough for you? Well add to that the fact that you KNOW you are making something that none of the people you are trying to impress typically like and it’s all being filmed for national TV. Yeah, I’d say it was pretty nerve racking. I’ve made vegan cupcakes countless times in the past few year but never had it been more absolutely essential for them to be perfect. I finished just in time and said a little prayer as they were taken away to the judges.
Standing on that stage in front of Ludo, Nigella, Marcus and Anthony was completely terrifying. I was doing my best to keep it together as Anthony, Marcus and even lovely Nigella tore my prized cupcakes a part and bracing myself to walk away when I heard something in Ludo’s voice. He was going to pick me, this passionate, insanely talented French chef was going to take a huge gamble and give a healthy home cook a shot! I was floating on air, literally doing everything to contain excitement and not run over and hug him! I walked off that stage with wobbly legs and a smile so big my face hurt. I had done the impossible. As my dad would say,” I brought a knife to a gun fight and I won!”. I was the only vegetarian to make the show, the only person to get picked for a vegan dish and the youngest contestant this season. I was in heaven. I still am. ☺

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Please join me TONIGHT,Thursday, Jan 2nd at 8pm on ABC while I live out one of my wildest dreams and not only get to make my yummy vegan cupcakes on national TV but I get to feed them to four of the most respected chefs in the game! Getting the opportunity to audition for The Taste has really been a dream come true for me. I can’t even tell you how many times I had to pinch myself while I was out in LA with my family to film it! The entire day of my audition my stomach was a wreck, my heart was racing and my feet couldn’t touch the floor. The feeling of being on that stage while Ludo Lefebvre, Nigella Lawson, Marcus Samuelsson and Anthony Bourdain eat YOUR cupcakes, well it’s both terrifying and incredible! I wouldn’t have traded it for the world!

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I’ll be live tweeting and facebooking during the episode so please be sure to follow me on twitter and facebook and hashtag #TeamCassandra and #TheTaste to show your love! 🙂

I’ll be posting the recipe that inspired my audition cupcakes shortly after the show airs and a vlog about my post- audition thoughts the following day! So stay tuned! Sign up for my newsletter so you don’t miss anything!

Here’s a little video I recorded Pre-Pre Audition, when I was just auditioning to get to audition for the mentors!! enjoy 😉

 

I’m on DAY FOUR! Going strong and feeling amazing, my cleanse officially ends on midnight tomorrow night as I ring in 2014 and I could not be happier! But WHY am I cleansing!? Even my dad asked me,”You are already so CLEAN from all the food you eat, I don’t get it, why do you need to cleanse?!” haha Leave it to dad! Well for me, it’s not really about losing weight or even necessarily “cleansing”. Juicing gives me AMAZING energy, pure, all natural drive and a clear head. It helps me zero in on what I need to accomplish and also connect to a deeper place inside me so that when I meditate and write, it’s really coming from a deep loving place that’s true to my core. Of course, after thanksgiving and christmas, it’s always a beautiful reminder of just how GOOD are bodies can feel when we are putting the good stuff in and not weighing it down. I thought what better way to say hello to 2014 than with a clear head, an open heart and an energized body! If you have any questions about juicing or are thinking about juicing in the new year feel free to comment below and I will do my best to answer all of them! For more info on the juice cleanse I’m doing, just check out my book “Juicespiration”. peace, love and green juice! Cassandra

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You ARE far too smart to stand in your own way!! STOP IT! Okay, enough tough love, but seriously what are you getting in your own way about? Take a few minutes right now, take three deep breaths and ask yourself – where am I getting in my own way? The answer might surprise you. It might even be a major breakthrough!
I recently did this for myself a couple weeks ago and had a radical revelation. I was getting in my way in a MASSIVE way with my work. This might sound ridiculous but unconsciously I think I was really scared of my unlimited potential. I was SCARED of success!! There is a great Marianne Williamson quote that goes,”Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” And that is exactly what was happening to me.
Luckily, the greatest blessing is in the acknowledgment of where we are blocking ourselves because then we can simply open our eyes to how we can bust through that block. I’ll spare you the story of how I busted through mine but it’s safe to say now I am more ready than ever to embrace success with open arms.
Now for you, if your dealing with a body weight issue, this could look like being scared to be skinny! Are you nervous to have attention called to you? Does it scare you a little bit to step into that ideal body? Maybe it’s the effort that it will take to get there that scares you? Take a minute to think about what it could be. This could be a great time to free write some ideas. Whatever you come up with, ask yourself, what am I sacrificing by holding on to this belief? Write that list, get honest and emotional with yourself. Decide that you want whatever it is more than you want to hold on to that limiting belief.

Have a beautiful day! I’d love to hear about what beautiful blocks you’ve discovered – comment below so that I can help support you!

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Merry Christmas from my kitchen to yours! I hope you are having a fabulous evening enjoying delicious food with your loved ones!

These adorable little Santa men I made were an easy, delicious and healthy dessert! Just slice open strawberries, carve a little out in the middle and let them dry a bit on a paper towel. In a separate bowl, mix some tofutti cream cheese and powdered sugar till you get an icing like consistency and then place into a pastry bag (or plastic bag) and let it sit in your fridge for a 10-20 minutes. Pipe your icing in your little strawberries bodies and stick some vegan chocolate chips for eyes, it’s strawberry hat and a little extra icing on top! Voila! Adorable little Santa men!

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MUST HAVE GIFTS FOR YOU & YOUR BESTIES:
10 BOOKS TO CREATE A NEW YOU IN 2014
  Money Love by Kate Northrup. Who doesn’t want to get out of debt, gain financial abundance and start creating the life they want! Kate Northrup’s book is the perfect gift for any loved one in a pickle with their finances. Click here to learn more about it.
 
Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. This book made me try out veganism for the first time and till this day it is one of my go to guides when I feel like I need a refresher. These ladies write the same way you would talk to your closest girlfriends. It’s a fun, easy and highly educational read, even if you are a meat eater! Click here to learn more about it.

 Spirit Junkie by Gabrielle Bernstein. This is probably the most transformational book I read all year. The effect it had on my life was tremendous. Gabby B takes your through her journey from rock bottom to her current spiritual guru success. This is a great gift for anyone who’s going through a tough time this year. Click here to learn more about it.

  $100 Start Up by Chris Guillebeau. This is a great book for that friend or family member who’s always talking about starting a business. It’s an inspirational collection of successful start ups and walks you through everything you need to get a small business going! Click here to learn more about it.

  Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg. I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Sheryl this past July and listening to her speak at BlogHer ’13. She encouraged all of us to start thinking about what we would do if we weren’t afraid. We need more ladies to lean in and be fearless! This book should be required reading for females all over. Click here to learn more about it.

  Crazy, Sexy, Diet by Kris Carr. If Skinny Bitch was what the doctor ordered while I was in college, Crazy Sexy Diet is my latest prescription. Vibrant and inspirational Kris Carr gives you a whole new perspective on how you take care of your body. Click here to learn more about it.

  Place of Yes by Bethenny Frankel. This book boasts 10 ways to get everything you want in life and actually delivers some pretty amazing tips to living a life of your highest potential. Bethenny is a huge inspiration to me and this is the kind of book you’ll read over and over again. It’s a great gift for one of your close girlfriends! Click here to find out more details.

 The Best Advice I Ever Got by Katie Couric. This is a fabulous book for anyone on christmas list. There is such a wide variety of amazing people sharing their stories that everyone will find something that moves them. You might even want to get yourself a copy while your at it. Click here to learn more about it.

  The Alchemist by Paul Coelho. If you or anyone you love has not read this book, you MUST, I repeat MUST buy it for them ( or yourself). There are so many beautiful life lessons to be learned from this book that I have quotes from it all over my notebooks and in my cell phone. It’s a fast read and a great gift! Click here to learn more about it.

  Make Every Man Want You by Marie Forleo. Marie (along with Gabby and Kris) is one of my power female gurus. She gives absolutely incredible business advice that has helped me tremendously with GSS. So it was a bit of a surprise for me when I found out her book was called, “Make Every Man Want You”. Regardless, I read it anyway and it is about SO MUCH MORE than men. Yes it will definitely make you irresistible to the opposite sex but it will also totally upgrade your entire life. It’s a fun read and will have you being your BEST self in no time! Click here to learn more about it.

It was so much fun to meet up with Jordan Younger, vegan smoothie queen and creator of TheBlondeVegan.com. She is such a vibrant and inspirational lady and I’m very pleased to share with you part 1 of our interview! Check her out! 🙂

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I love butternut squash and this maple cinnamon recipe is a super easy crowd pleaser for the holidays!

maple cinnamon butternut squash

1 butternut squash
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of nutmeg
1/2 tsp of cloves
1 tbsp of brown sugar
2 tbsp of macadamia nut oil

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and get out your Pyrex or whatever oven safe dish you’d like to use. Skin and chop your squash to small chunks. Place your squash in the oven dish and drizzle with oil. I love using macadamia nut oil or coconut oil but regular olive oil will do if your in a bind. Next sprinkle some brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. I’d use about a tablespoon of sugar and two shakes of each spice but do it to your preference. Next, move your butternut squash around in the pan to evenly distribute the spices and oil. Let it bake in the oven for 45 minutes till squash is nice and soft. When it cools, drizzle some room temp grade b maple syrup over it and enjoy!