I had the pleasure of collaborating with my friend Megan from Healthy Grocery Girl for this Vegan, Gluten-Free, Almost-Raw, Chocolate Tart recipe. Well, I shouldn’t even say collaborated, because she made it and I was the lucky one who got to devour it. Thanks Megan! It was delish. If you’re not familiar with Megan, check her out. She’s a nutritionist with an awesome site and YT channel filled with so much healthy goodness. For the full recipe on the drool worthy photos below you can click here or watch our video. 
Health & Fitness
Asian Kelp Noodle Salad
This is such an easy, yummy, crunchy, bright, spicy, Asian salad. It’s totally plant-based and very Sharzad friendly because you can eat buckets of it and not feel guilty! I was on a kelp noodle kick recently since they are zero points on Weight Watchers and I like to trick my mind into thinking I’m actually eating noodles. I’m so over this baby weight. Like get off my body. I don’t want you, I don’t like you and I certainly don’t need you. The ingredients and directions are below along with a video. Enjoy! 
Ingredients:
Kelp Noodles (Any kind of noodle works great. You can find them at Whole Foods or an Asian Grocery store)
Persian Cucumber
Carrots
Red & Yellow Bell Peppers
Cilantro
Ginger
Jalapeño
Spicy Peanut Dressing (I got mine from Trader Joe’s, but you can use any dressing you like)
Salt to taste
Directions:
Wash and chop all the veggies and noodles, mix together, add dressing and ENJOY!
*Food photography by Rica Blue
Hearty Vegan Quinoa Bowl
It is time to get serious about loosing this baby weight! As some of you may know I’m a huge fan of Weight Watchers and I just started using the program again about a month ago to shed this 30 extra pounds of chubbiness. The recipe below is one of my favorite meals of the moment. It’s super easy to make and can be customized to your liking. It’s also very Weight Watchers friendly. The whole bowl is 6 smart points depending on how much dressing you use and how much quinoa and sweet potatoes you put on your plate. Please let me know if you try this at home!
Ingredients:
Cooked Quinoa
Chopped Apples
Massages Kale
Roasted Sweet Potatoes or Yams
Dressing:
1 Tbsp Miso Paste
Approximately 1 Ounce of Water
.5-1Tbsp Sesame Oil
Juice of a lime
Ginger to taste
Splash of Stevia (If you like sweeter dressings)
Salt to Taste
*Photos by Rica Blue
Two Ingredient Vegan Cookies
TWO INGREDIENT VEGAN COOKIES!?! Say what!? Yes, it’s true. They are also VERY Weight Watchers friendly. The best part about these bad boys is they are easily customizable. On the latest episode of My Dancing Kitchen my mom and I made tons of varieties and variations- experimenting with banana to oatmeal ratios and adding other ingredients like cinnamon, peaches, peanut butter- the list goes on. We played with egg whites one day and turned them into pancakes and topped them with fresh berries- AMAZING! Obviously if you add egg whites they are no longer vegan, but still super Weight Watcher friendly and delicious. Have fun with your creations and let me know if you make any at home or have a version that’s particularly BOMB. 
Photography by Rica Blue
Gotta Go!
Watermelon Gazpacho
This is SUCH an easy recipe. It’s RAW, VEGAN, GLUTEN-FREE and ZERO smart points on Weight Watchers. Hello perfect dish. I promise it’s tasty and the best part is you can customize it to your liking. This is a great staple in the summer. I hope you enjoy it and please let me know if you make it.
This is what I did and it made enough for about 4 people.
3-4 cups watermelon or 1/2 of a small/medium watermelon
1 Tomato
1 Persian cucumber to be blended
1 Persian cucumber to be diced and added to the soup
1/2 Red Onion to be blended
1/2 Red Onion to be diced and added to the soup
Jalapeno if you like heat!
Dill (as much or as little as you want)
Salt/Pepper and Lemon to taste
Photography by Rica Blue
Gotta Go!
Taste Of Wellness
The last few weeks have been rough with the passing of my uncle. I don’t think I’ve ever been this drained in my life- dealing with a death while your pregnant is a roller coaster ride I hope never to be on again. When the Four Seasons Westlake and the California Health & Longevity Institute invited me to experience their Taste of Wellness “Relax & Rewind” package I jumped at the chance. It included a massage, Soma Dome, life strategies consultation and a sustained living lunch in the Lobby Lounge. Yes please!
Spending the day getting my mind off of everything and being pampered was EXACTLY what I needed. My morning kicked off with a life consultation session with Dr. Illana Kukoff, Ph.D. The last time I spoke to a professional about my problems I was an angry brat in Jr. High. I had no idea what to expect when I walked in this time. After some brief introductions we began with an actual session. I started by telling her what my family was going through followed by my current ups and downs with work and then venting about my level of exhaustion. In a short period of time we covered everything from dealing with the loss of a loved one to career advice. I left with an action plan for my life and was super pumped. It was equal parts therapeutic and motivational. Thanks Dr. K! 
My lunch consisted of a perfect quinoa bowl that was filled with pistachios, mint, sun dried tomatoes, avocado and topped with expertly cooked salmon. 
After lunch it was time to experience the Soma Dome. I’m a hug fan of unique beauty and wellness treatments. (If you’ve seen my show The SASS than you know what I’m talking about!) What is a Soma Dome you ask? It’s a meditation pod that you relax in for about 20 minutes. It is designed to help you get rid of all the noise and distractions in your life, all while sitting under healing light. You can have a voice guide you through a variety of mediations or you can guide yourself. I chose a guided manifestation session. I’m not sure if I was actually meditating, but I can tell you I was in a peaceful place and it went by way too fast.
The maternity massage was nothing short of amazing. I’ve been lucky to have several maternity massages in the past and I always favor the ones that have a special pregnancy pillow so I can lay on my stomach as opposed to my side. I was in such a mellow state of relaxed bliss when I left the FS Westlake. 
If you need to hit restart on your life for whatever reason, I urge you to check out the wellness packages offered at FS Westlake. For even more of a wellness geared individual they offer a ton of programming options and are the only Four Seasons with a full dedicated medical center on site. You can receive anything from a full physical, your teeth cleaned, a mammogram, a massage and end the day with a Wine Wed cooking demo in the Wellness Kitchen.
Gotta Go!