Sneak Peak at the NEW BLOCK OF CLASSES STARTING Monday Oct 28th!!!!

Next week is the last week of classes before my new block!

Here's a sneak peak at the new classes starting Monday Oct 28th!!!!

Want to try one of the HOTTEST NEW CLASSES IN FITNESS? Now, you don't have to live in L.A. to do it! :)

M.E.L.T. Classes hitting Ellensburg 

1st class is Monday Nov 4th 

from 6-7pm!!!!!!

Sign up now, by email

erin.andon@gmail.com

HOW DOES M.E.L.T. WORK?

Day-to-day living creates tension within our bodies. Physical stressors range from sitting at a desk to running a marathon. Carrying children and heavy bags creates trapped tension, as does even the gentlest form of exercise. Emotional, mental, and environmental stressors such as processed foods, medications, environmental toxins, and daily worries all build tension in the body. New science reveals that this “stuck stress” is literally trapped in our connective tissue, which surrounds every joint, muscle, nerve, bone, and organ. Unaddressed trapped stress causes connective tissue dehydration and cellular damage. This creates a domino effect which begins with aches and stiffness and leads to common health issues such as neck and low back pain, headaches, insomnia, digestive problems, and injury. Accelerated aging and chronic health problems can follow . . . leaving us with limited options such as medicine, surgery, and a sedentary lifestyle. However, when the connective tissue is hydrated and free of roadblocks, our bodies function at a more optimal level. M.E.L.T. is a breakthrough technique that keeps our connective tissue and nervous system in top condition and slows down the aging process. MELT rejuvenates tissue hydration and relieves the tension of day-to-day life that gets trapped in our bodies. No other proactive approach directly treats the connective tissue—including nutrition, exercise, yoga, meditation, or vitamins. MELT is easy to learn, backed by cutting-edge research, and offers immediate results that you will see and feel the first time you M.E.L.T. Changes in posture, flexibility, energy, mood, and performance occur within only a few sessions. Best of all, your body feels great long after you M.E.L.T.!

WHAT BENEFITS DOES M.E.L.T. OFFER?

M.E.L.T. creates a strong, flexible body that maintains its upright posture for life. And you will see and feel results after just one session!  

M.E.L.T. IMPROVES:

• flexibility & mobility
• posture
• the results of exercise
• sleep & digestion
• overall well-being

M.E.L.T. REDUCES:

• aches & pains
• wrinkles & cellulite
• tension & stress
• headaches
• risk of injury

WHO IS M.E.L.T. FOR?

M.E.L.T. is for anyone who wants to slow down the aging process and live better, longer. For those in their 40s, 50s, and older who want to stay active, mobile, and independent—M.E.L.T. is a must. M.E.L.T. is for active younger adults and athletes who want to maintain a fit, toned body and achieve optimal performance without debilitating wear and tear. M.E.L.T. is truly for everyone! Even if you are pregnant, injured, post- surgery, overweight, sedentary, out of shape, have limited mobility, chronic pain, knee/hip replacements, or bone disorders—you can still M.E.L.T. It’s the best starting point for any exercise program.

IS M.E.L.T. LIKE YOGA, FELDENKRAIS®, PILATES®, OR PHYSICAL THERAPY?

No. M.E.L.T. is unlike any other technique because it addresses an entirely different system of the body. M.E.L.T. is to the neurofascial system (nervous and connective tissue system), what all other forms of exercise are to the musculoskeletal system. The science of the neurofascial system is being introduced to the health and fitness arena for the first time by Sue Hitzmann and M.E.L.T.

Cost is $10/per person.  Bring your hubby, wife, girlfriend, significant other, sister, whatever!!!!  This class will CHANGE YOUR BODY! :)

Hit the link to see the M.E.L.T. Method on Dr. Oz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02wDe5xPM84

FUN RACES COMING UP IN OCTOBER!!!!

WILDCAT COLOR 5K

Name: Wildcat Color 5K
Date: October 12, 2013
Time: 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Event Description:
Wildcat Color 5K Saturday, Oct 12, 2013 10:30 am 9:30 a.m. registration begins, 10:30 a.m. race start  OPR Patio $15 (before Oct. 4 t-shirt guaranteed)  Register at the Recreation Center front desk Get ready for Homecoming with the first color run on Centrals campus! Eric Scott ? 509-963-3511  imsports@cwu.edu ? 

www.cwu.edu/rec/intramural-sports

Sunday, October 13 11:00am - 1:00pm 2^nd Annual Big Dirty Run

• 2^nd Annual Big Dirty Run sponsored by Iron Horse Brewery & Suncadia, October 13, 2013, 11:00am to 1:00pm, Historic Nelson Dairy Farm

Healthy Halloween "candy" Remember these for your holiday parties as well!

 While everyone else is munching on sugary CANDY have some, or all, of these handy and ready to go when a craving hits!!!!

You can HAVE YOUR CANDY AND EAT IT TOO!!!!!

Chocolate-Raspberry Fudge Bites

80g raspberries (2/3cup)

3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (16g)
4 tbsp coconut butter
Scant 1/16th tsp salt
Sweetener: 2 tbsp stevia (20-30g)

Melt your coconut butter, then add the raspberries (I like to use frozen, thawed berries and melt them a little too).  Add all other ingredients.  Mash until it’s completely smooth, like chocolate butter. (If you wish, you can use a blender, but I never do. I just put it all in a Magic Bullet short cup and mash with a spoon. Use as frosting, or fridge/freeze. (If you freeze, be sure to thaw before eating.) This makes a very small serving, so if you want a regular-sized cake, make a bigger batch!! (Triple or quadruple for a normal-sized cake pan.)

You can eat the entire serving above!!!!!!

Calories: 180
Added Sugars: 0g
Protein Grams: .5

Fudge Babies

(paleo fudge balls)

1 c walnuts (120 grams)
1 and 1/3 cups pitted dates (220 grams) (I often use SunMaid dates, which are super-soft.)
1 tsp vanilla extract
optional: pinch of salt (I always add this.)
3-4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (or even Dutch cocoa)
Stevia to taste

Blend all the ingredients, using a food processor, Magic Bullet, etc. (No need to blend the dates first; I just blend everything all at once in a Cuisinart food processor, which works much better than a blender.) Roll into cutey-pie little balls. (Use plastic wrap if you wish, or smush it all together in a plastic bag so it’ll stay together better.) Or, if you want true brownies, shape the dough into bars!

*2 "bouncy ball" size fudge babies equal 1 serving

Apples or Pears with Date “Caramel” Sauce

Serves: 4
2 large or 3 medium crisp, sweet apples,
or 2 large firm sweet pears, thinly sliced


Date “caramel” sauce
1/2 cup pitted dates (medjool or deglet)
1/4 cup unsweetened nondairy milk (very good with almond or coconut)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

stevia to taste

Arrange the apple or pear slices on a platter, slightly overlapping.

Place the dates in a mug or bowl and cover them with boiling water. Let stand for 10 minutes, then drain.

Combine the dates with the nondairy milk in a food processor, or in the container that comes with an immersion blender. Process until quite smooth, either in the food processor or with the immersion blender. I don’t recommend a blender, simply because it’s a very small amount, and it’s more difficult to get it out from the bottom of the container. Transfer to a small serving bowl.
drizzled fruit with the date sauce.

*** A serving is the equivalent of 1 peace of fruit, so eat 1 apple, or 1 pear with the Carmel sauce.

You can also use this sauce for caramel popcorn!!!!

*Simply pop some "healthy pop" popcorn.  Or if you have a popcorn popper, fresh popcorn,  and drizzle the sauce over the top!

Frozen Yogurt-Covered Blueberries 

Ingredients
1/2 cup Plain, Nonfat Greek Yogurt
1 tbs lemon juice, plus the zest of 1 lemon 

1 TBS stevia
~1/3 cup Blueberries, fresh (rinsed, dried and picked over), you can use raspberries, grapes, strawberries as well.

Instructions
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and reserve space in your freezer for the pan, set aside.
In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt, stevia and lemon/lemon zest
Poke a blueberry with a toothpick, dip in the yogurt, and push the berry off the toothpick with another toothpick. Do this with all of the blueberries, and put the pan in the freezer for 1-2 hours, or until frozen. Put the blueberries into a sandwich bag and store in the fridge or freezer.

Notes


This recipe is: sugar free, low fat!

Nature’s Sweet & Sour Candies 

When I was little my favorite thing was penny candies. The ultimate penny candies were the sweet and sour varieties.

Now that I’m older and in-tune with my body I don’t like the effects of packaged candy in my body. However, I found myself missing the flavor of that intense sweet mixed with the fresh sour. In comes this incredibly simple (I don’t know if you can even call it) recipe.

Only two ingredients… Ready? All you sweet and sour candy lovers are going to love me for this! Oh, and it’s raw vegan, unprocessed and straight from nature.



Here it is:

Sweet purple grapes with fresh squeezed lemon over top.

I use one lemon for 1 bowl of grapes.

This is incredibly simple and is so delicious. If you are like me and enjoy a contrast of flavors this sweet and sour, raw vegan, all-natural snack will be a life saver.

1.5 cups is an awesome meal 2 snack option.

When you feel like BINGEING!!! PLUS, some funny stuff to brighten your day! :)

Click on the pic to see it BIG!!!!

Mason Jar MEALS!!!! PERFECT FOR ON THE GO!

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE Making TONS of Mason Jar meals for the entire week, then you just grab what you need and go!!!!  You can eat them anywhere you want, and KIDS LOVE THEM!!!!!

Be creative, their are TONS of meals that can fit in a mason jar! 

Below are a few of my favorites!!!  Also, I Do flavored water, (shown in the picture below)  Put any fruits, mint, cucumbers, etc in you water jars and you've got a Delicious drink with no crazy additives!!!!!

Shrimp With Avocado-Mango Salsa

Serves 4 (so divide the recipe up into 4 jars!)

INGREDIENTS

Olive oil cooking spray
8 cups baby spinach
1 cup couscous or quinoa.  (If you use couscous it counts as a healthy carb, if you use quinoa it counts as a protein)
1 lb medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1 large mango, peeled and diced
1 medium avocado, diced
1 medium tomato, diced
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/2 jalapeño chile, seeded and finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

PREPARATION

Heat grill, or heat oven to 400F.  Fold four 18-inch-long pieces of foil in half; unfold and coat inside with cooking spray. Place 2 cups spinach in center of 1 half of each piece of foil. Combine couscous with 1/4 cup water; divide evenly among packets, placing on top of spinach. Combine shrimp, 1/4 cup cilantro, oil and 1/2 tsp salt in a bowl. Divide shrimp evenly among packets, placing next to couscous. Fold foil to close and crimp edges to seal; place on grill; close lid; cook until packets are fully puffed, 10 minutes. Combine remaining 1/4 cup cilantro with remaining 1/4 tsp salt, mango, avocado, tomato, onion, jalapeño and lime juice in a bowl. Carefully cut foil to open; stir contents; garnish with salsa if you like.

THE SKINNY

397 calories per serving, 10 g fat (1 g saturated), 52 g carbs, 8 g fiber, 25 g protein


Make a Week of Steel-Cut Oats in 5 Minutes

Ingredients for each jar

1/4 cup uncooked steel-cut oats
1 cup water
Large pinch salt
*** Note, when cooked, a serving of the steel-cut oats is 1 cup.  If you want to do a big batch all at once, add as many servings of steel-cut oats as you want and as many cups of water as you need, and simply scoop out 1 cup of the cooked oats for each jar*****

Mix-Ins:
Almond, flax, or coconut milk
Cinnamon or other spices
Raisins or other dried fruit
Walnuts or other nuts
raw Honey, or stevia

Equipment

5 pint-sized Mason jars with lids (I used wide-mouth jars)
Large saucepan
Ladle

Instructions

1. Collect your jars and other equipment. I like pint-sized jars because they allow a little more room for adding nuts, raisins, and milk later. But you can also use half-pint jars.

2. Bring the oats, water and salt to a boil. Simmer for about 3 minutes then turn off the heat.

3. Ladle the oats and water into the jars. Cover the jars tightly with their caps and rings. Leave on the counter overnight. (This is how I make my oatmeal and I have had absolutely no problems with it, healthwise, but if for some reason you are not comfortable leaving hot oatmeal out overnight, you can also refrigerate the jars. The oatmeal won't be quite as well cooked in the morning; it will be a thinner, less creamy oatmeal. But it will still be fine.)

4. The next morning, put all but one of the jars in the refrigerator. Take the cap off one jar and stir up the oatmeal inside. Microwave for 2 to 3 minutes, or until quite hot. 

5. Add any optional add-in's:  a splash of milk, hand full of dried or fresh fruit, Handful of nuts, stevia or honey, Cinnamon, PB2 or other mix-ins. Enjoy!

Additional Notes:
• You can also add your fruit, cinnamon, or other mix-ins to the rest of the jars before putting them away in the refrigerator. Then all you have to do is grab one and go on your way out the door.


Balsamic Vinaigrette SALAD

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1-2 tbsp water (more or less depending on the consistency you want)
2 tbsp honey (can be replaced with agave or STEVIA)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions
Place all ingredients into a small jar (canning jar). Anything with a lid works well.
Shake to mix thoroughly. Stores in fridge for 1-2 weeks.
*Or use my blending method: throw everything in the blender, blend for about 30 seconds, then store in a jar for 1-2 weeks.



Salad
Makes 2 salads (Salads were made in 32 oz mason jars)

1 cup cooked quinoa
2 big handfuls spinach
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1/2 red onion, diced
4 tbsp balsamic vinaigrette

Layer the ingredients in the jar as follows:
dressing
onion
mushrooms
tomatoes
quinoa
spinach

The most important part of the layering is making sure the dressing and the spinach (or whatever ‘leaf’ you choose) don’t touch. As long as they stay separate, these salads can be made up to 4 days in advance and will stay fresh in the fridge with a lid on. This is one of my tricks to eating salad everyday for lunch at work. I make a few jars on Sunday night and just grab one to bring to work everyday. When you’re ready to eat, just shake it up.
Leave the dressing separate until you're ready to eat if you're making salads for a few days.

Taco Mason jar salad

Serves 4

Ingredients:
4 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
2 cups tomatoes, chopped
2 cups black beans
1 cup corn
2 cups ground turkey meat, cooked and seasoned with taco seasoning
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
4 tablespoons green scallions, finely chopped
8 tablespoons fresh salsa

Directions:
All ingredients are listed in layering order.
Divide all of the ingredients evenly among four Mason jars.
For this salad, add the salsa on top and shake prior to eating instead of adding to the bottom of the jar.
Shake to coat salad items with dressing and enjoy!




Roasted Grapes, Red Pearl Onions, Shrimp, and Egg salad

Ingredients:
few clusters of green seedless grapes
one heaping cup red pearl onions- root ends cut off
2 raw eggs
4 extra large shrimp
olive oil
finely ground sea salt
fresh cracked black pepper

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a strainer place grapes, onions, eggs, and shrimp, and give them a nice rinse, draining well. 

In a small baking dish, I used an 11×7 inch glass dish, place the rinsed items and the whole uncracked eggs, being sure to place the eggs in foil or silicon cupcake cups liners so they don't roll around. Drizzle all but the eggs with olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt and pepper. 

Bake for 25 minutes but removing the shrimp after 6-12 minutes- if you are using fresh shrimp check it at the 6 minute mark, it will be done when pink and curling into a “c” shape. Mine were frozen so was perfectly done at 12 minutes. 

Finish baking the rest of the items so that they have been in the oven for a total of 25 minutes. I had only cooked mine for 20 minutes total and the egg could have used 5 more minutes. Remove from oven and place eggs in an ice bath to stop cooking. Once cooled, peel the eggs and cut in half lengthwise. 

Throw everything in a jar, Makes enough for 2 snack jars on the go. 

Note: To eat the pearl onions, pinch the stem end, bite down on the onion, root end in your mouth, and the onion will pop right out, into your mouth. Who needs peeling- it’s finger food!



roast pumpkin + quinoa salad w/ spiced coriander dressing

For a little added kick, add a good pinch of dried chilli flakes to the dressing and if you tolerate, a crumbling of feta over the salad just before serving would work wonders!

serves 4


2 cups cooked quinoa*, cooled
900g of fresh pumpkin, (not canned, the entire pumpkin) Butternut Squash, (or any type of winter hard squash that looks similar to a pumpkin) or yams, seeded, peeled and cut into rough 1cm cubes (approx 5-6 cups once cubed)
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
small bunch fresh coriander (cilantro), approx 50g, washed


Dressing
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1 small clove garlic, peeled
the juice of 1/2 lemon
1 teaspoon runny raw honey or stevia, or to taste
1/4 cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted and halved

Preheat oven to 200 C/400F. Place cubed pumpkin and 2 teaspoons cumin seeds onto a large oven tray. Drizzle with olive oil and season with sea salt and black pepper. If your coriander (cilantro) still has it's roots attached, finely chop these and a little of the stems (reserving the rest of the stems and leaves for the dressing) and scatter over the pumpkin. Give it all a good mix with your hands, pop in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, turning a few times until tender and golden. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.


To make the dressing:  Place all ingredients in a blender and blend.

Combine cooked quinoa, cooled roast pumpkin (and any spices/herbs left on the oven tray) and kalamata olives in a large bowl. Pour dressing over, mix and divide into 4 mason jars. Nice eaten slightly warm, room temperature or cold.