Sweet Potato and Pecan Pies 

Gluten Free Pie Crust
Ingredients

•  4 cups gluten-free flour (Namaste) 
• 2 sticks of butter or Melted coconut oil
• 1/4  pinch sea salt
• 1 tbsp of  sugar or coconut crystals
• 1 egg
• 1-2 tbsp of cold water, as needed 

Instructions
1. Mix flour, sea salt, and sugar in a food processor or kitchen aid and pulse (or mix with a fork).
2. Drizzle the butter or coconut over the flour mixture and, using your fingers, work it into the dry ingredients until it resembles yellow cornmeal. (If the mixture gets warm, refrigerate it for 10 minutes before proceeding.)
3. Add the egg and stir the dough together with a fork or by hand in the bowl. If the dough is dry, sprinkle a tablespoon or more of cold water over the mixture.
4. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and shape into a ball. Divide into 2 equal parts. Wrap with plastic and put in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
5. Roll the dough out on parchment paper until over 12 inches  fold over edges of your pie pan.
6. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
7. Put a piece of parchment paper or foil over the pie shell and fill with dried beans, uncooked rice, or pie weights. Bake on a baking sheet on the center rack until the dough is set, about 20 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven and lift sides of the parchment paper to remove the weights. Continue baking until the pie shell is lightly golden brown, about 10 more minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.  You can wrap the edges with foil.

Sweet Potato Filling
Ingredients

• 5 cups baked small yams (baked at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes scrubbed and I removed peel after cooked and 
• 1/2 cup butter ghee instead
• 1 cup of 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 large eggs beaten
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 (9-inch) pie crust 

Instructions
1. Bake 5 cups of sweet potatoes.
2. Make the crust while potatoes are cooking.
3. Make the pie filling. The smaller yams are so much sweeter cut sugar in half. Add butter to the sweet potatoes and mash until smooth. (used my kitchen aid). Add the sugar to the sweet potatoes and mix until well combined. Add the vanilla extract, milk, and the eggs. Mix until well combined. Pour into the unbaked pie crust. 
4. Reduce oven to 350 degrees F and bake the pie until the center of the pie is set, about 1 hour. Remove the pie from the oven and allow to cool slightly. 

Optional Topping
Homemade whipped cream- Calories per serving is 118
Ingredients 

• 1 pint/2 cups heavy whipping cream (COLD) 
• ½ cup power sugar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla

Pecan Pie Filling
Ingredients

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter you can use coconut oil too.
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of pitted dates
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup coconut milk (I used regular)
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 2 cups chopped toasted pecans
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten

Instructions
1. Make the crust. 
2. While the crust is baking, make the filling: In medium saucepan, combine the coconut oil, dates, brown sugar, corn syrup, coconut milk, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and stirring constantly, continue to boil for 1 minute.
3.Remove from the heat and stir in the nuts and vanilla. Set the mixture aside to cool slightly, about 5 minutes. (If the crust has cooled, return it to the oven for 5 minutes to warm through.) 4. Whisk the beaten eggs into the filling until smooth.
5. Put the pie shell on a sheet pan and pour the filling into the hot crust.
6. Bake on the lower oven rack for 40-45 minutes, until the edges are set but the center is still slightly loose. If the edges get very dark, cover them with aluminum foil half way during baking.

Over these last 20 years living in Seattle, I have created a community of clients that have become friends, and neighbors that have become family. Gym friends are now my sisters and their daughters have become my daughter's baby-sitters. What an honor it has been to have these people in my life as well as them letting me into theirs. I recently went to a friends' daughters' graduation who I've known since she was born and another who I met at 5yrs old just turned 18. To see them become young ladies brings me so much joy and gratitude. Just thinking about how I met them as I was teaching their parents to implement self care, even in challenging times and moments in their lives, brings tears of joy. What lies ahead in this coming year?

I love it all and am grateful for my community.  The strong support system I belong to gives me love and direction, and is only possible through relationships and being open. We all need a strong support system that gives us guidance and energy to tackle other departments of our lives, not just the physical. We all have the power and capacity to move our dreams and desires along, even as we get bombarded with consumerism or other people's ideas of what the holidays should be. For me, it starts with a having a healthy body and healthy relationship with myself. Then I can strengthen my mind, spirit, and soul through relationships with others. I may not have family in this city, but I have made my own village in this community with other mothers and aunties. I'm grateful to have healthy modeling of partnerships and parenting, which has inspired me and allowed me to create my own healthy family unit.
 
I love my job and all the people I have met along the way. I thank you!
 
A healthy body is necessary to feel good during the holidays. Make sure you sleep at least 6 hours every night and eat a healthy breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack. If you have sugar one day, skip it the next. Try some yoga, or go on a walking meditation if you can't sit still for 15 minutes a day. Try writing down what you are grateful for at the end of the night or at the beginning of your day; that itself will invite more of those things to come.

A healthy mental space is so good for helping us empty out what we don't need and shed the heaviness of limiting beliefs. It helps us process our emotions, and truly enjoy peace and tranquility in our bodies as we release tension. We can nurture our mental health through meditation and also through stretching. 

Let's make sure we keep exercising through these last 4 weeks of the year by doing home workouts and cardiovascular exercises such as HIIT. If you need support, I have plenty on my YouTube channel here. 

Let's avoid feeling the guilt and shame of letting our bodies and minds go to shit because we got stressed out or overwhelmed and numbed ourselves by eating, drinking and shopping way too much. 

Let's have the different reality for the rest of 2022 and start in a better spot the beginning of 2023.

​Let's end the cycle of off-and-on. I was caught up in it for way too many years.

Let's enjoy a different experience: joy and excitement for what's to come while still enjoying the present moment.

Need a good strength regimen? Try these videos on my YouTube Channel:
​
For mobility:  https://youtu.be/w_fdG4P8ytc
For stretching: https://youtu.be/V8bANPb1gHQ, https://youtu.be/AyVyr_VsyIY
For balance: https://youtu.be/BRBq0QBG5tg

It is easy to lose ground during the holidays when there are many competing demands for your time and attention. Here is an idea for maintaining the overall big picture and getting a better grip on your health and self care:

List some routine activities that nurture your mental, emotional, and physical heath- you will want to list at least one thing for each category. For example, yoga, mediation, journaling, a bike ride, eating 3 healthy meals, no alcohol, or cardio. Pick what you value and what is realistic for you. Keep track with a list or spreadsheet, and give yourself credit for what you can accomplish. 

Watch the trends as the days go by. If you've missed a few workouts, make it a priority the next day; if you had drinks a couple nights in a row, skip it for the next couple days. You probably won't be able to do everything every day. But by mindfully choosing to balance your choices over time, you will do a better job taking care of yourself.

The Holiday Challenge provides a structure for keeping track of your progress on these kinds of goals over 6 weeks. You get points for each things you accomplish, with a weekly target and accountability to you coaches and Holiday Challenge community. And there is so much more!
Join us today to start on Nov 24.

Did you know that a typical Thanksgiving dinner can have more than 3,000 calories*?! If you carry on indulging like that through to January, it's not hard to guess what will happen to your waistline!

As we enter the holiday season, here are 5 tips to kick off a healthy holiday season:

1. Indulge in food, but not all the time.
We all want to celebrate with great food, drink, and the people we love. But that doesn't mean letting go of all sensibility. If you have a string of parties to attend, choose fruit over cake every other night. Limit yourself to one plate of food. Cut back on the carbs. Bring a healthy dish. Don't starve yourself before the party.

2. Set some guidelines for yourself around socializing. 
If you get stressed out by all the family, work, and social obligations during the holiday, decide which events, and how many, you want to attend. Send your holiday greetings and your regrets to all the rest. You won't like feeling trapped at a party you didn't want to attend in the first place, and if you aren't comfortable, you may compensate by drinking more. If you agree to a party out of obligation, give your host a heads up, in advance, that you need to leave early. Then do it.

3. Get enough sleep and exercise on a regular basis.
​This helps you keep your energy level, metabolism, and mood elevated, helping you make smarter choices. It is also much easier to maintain a fitness and nutrition plan than to let it fall apart and then start all over again in the new year. And water- drink plenty of water!

4. Carve out some "me" time.
Whether it's yoga, meditation, writing, drawing, hiking, biking, or birdwatching, set aside some time each day (or every couple of days) just for you. Stay connected to the little things that bring you joy, and you will feel some of your holiday stress melt away.

5. Make a plan.
Plan ahead to make sure you can really fit everything you want to do into the holidays. We can feel so much pressure to "do it all" and be everywhere, all at once. You will find yourself more relaxed and more present if you mindfully choose the way you will spend your time, rather than being swept away with everyone else's plans for you.

If you need support in any of these areas, or want to join an awesome community moving mindfully through the holidays, join the Holiday Challenge today. We start Nov 24.

*https://caloriecontrol.org/popular-holiday-dishes/

I am so excited to announce this year's holiday challenge! I am teaming up with my long-time friend, amazing energy healer and coach Candice Box, to bring you a full body and mind renewal. What do you want your holiday season and new year to look like? Give yourself the greatest gift by joining us for 6 weeks of exercise, meditation, accountability, motivation, inspiration, mindset training, energy clearing,community and more.

Day by day, you will move closer to your goals. Let's do this together and kick off the new year in high gear. 

Are you in? Sign up here.