How To: Soothing Dry Cracked Feet

It seems dry, cracked feet becomes a bigger problem in the fall and winter months than the summer.  (At least I hear more about it from my clients during this time of year...)  Of course this can be due to the dryer climate both outside and indoors, but it can also be a sign of malnourishment or toxicity in the body.  It is best to take care of your feet year round so the problem doesn't get out of hand, in to severely cracking skin with bleeding.  Here are my recommendations for soothing dry, cracked feet.

1.) Drink more water:  Increase your water intake to, at minimum, half your body weight in ounces of water daily.  This helps to not only rehydrate your skin, but flush the lymph system to ensure toxins are moving to the colon and out of your body.

2.)  Increase your healthy fats:  If your body is deprived of the healthy fats (DHA & EPA), your skin will be the first to show it.  This doesn't necessarily manifest down in your feet, but all over your body you will notice dry skin lacking resilience.  I recommend everyone supplement at least 2-4 grams daily of a good clean fish oil or hemp oil.  Also add in plenty of healthy fats to your diet - avocados, coconut milk, eggs (the yolks!), nuts, grass fed meats, wild caught salmon..  Over time your skin will repair itself.

3.)  Begin a dry brushing regimen:  Read more about dry brushing here and begin your 3 month commitment, paying extra special attention (and pressure) to your feet.  You should notice huge changes in just one month, but allow at least 3 months for full effect.  I recommend dry brushing daily, just like we brush our teeth and shower.

4.)  Follow up your dry brush with a foot bath:  After you've sloshed off all the dead skin from your body, treat yourself to a healing foot bath (recipe below).  The Epsom salt pulls toxins from your feet.  The baking soda neutralizes the skin as toxins come out (can also substitute with apple cider vinegar).  The honey, oatmeal, aloe, and lavender sooth and replenish the skin.  Follow up the foot bath with a massage of olive oil, put on some thick socks, and let the healing nutrients soak in.

Dry Cracked Feet Bath

1/4 cup raw honey
1/2 cup dry oatmeal (can run thru food processor for finer texture)
1/4 cup pure aloe vera
1/3 cup Epsom salt
1/4 cup baking soda
20-30 drops pure lavender essential (or oil of choice)
Hot water to fill foot bath

Mix all ingredients together in the foot bath with water as hot as you can handle. Soak for at least 15 minutes. Simple, quick and easy but very relaxing and moisturizing!

If you suspect your body is suffering from more than simply dry skin, toxicity may be an issue.  It is correctable and you don't have to suffer!  Email me any time for advice and a free initial consultation on what could be going on and how to heal.

Bumble Bars

These are a little different than the "traditional" bumble bars made with sugar, Cheerios, etc, that my family made growing up.  I've put my Healing Cuisine spin on it!  Feel free to add a handful or two of 73+% dark chocolate chips to the bars, too.  Stir in with the nuts.

Bumble Bars

2 cups raw sesame seeds
1 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 cup raw cashews
1 cup coconut flakes
2 cups organic raw unsalted Valencia peanut butter OR almond butter
1/3 cup honey
2 tsp sea salt

1.)  Line a 9 x 13 inch baking pan (or a 9 x 9 inch pan for thicker bars) with unbleached parchment paper.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.)  In a large bowl, stir together Valencia peanut butter, honey, and sea salt.  Stir in nuts and coconut flakes, mixing until evenly combined.

3.)  Pour and spread mixture into baking pan.  Bake for 12 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Cool to room temperature.  Cut into individual bars, wiping knife clean between cuts as needed.  Enjoy or store in fridge until ready to eat.

Green Green Smoothie

Smoothies are always fun to create. It's especially fun to make green smoothies, hiding the sometimes bitter and pure vegetable flavors in a refreshing glass of energy. Feel free to twist around my Green Green Smoothie below. I throw in usually whatever we have on hand. Kale instead of spinach, a frozen cucumber or fresh grapefruit instead of banana. Play around with ingredients and see what new creations you can come up with in your blender!

Green Green Smoothie
Makes 2 Servings

1 1/2 cups organic unsweetened almond milk
1 head organic Romaine lettuce, chopped
2 handfuls organic spinach
3 stalks organic celery, chopped
1 organic Granny Smith apple, cored and chopped, frozen
1 organic pear, cored and chopped, frozen (Core Plan only)
Small handful fresh cilantro
Small handful fresh parsley
1 organic banana, frozen (Core Plan only)
3 tsp fresh lemon juice
2 scoops plain or vanilla protein powder

Add almond milk, romaine lettuce and spinach to blender. Starting the blender on Low speed, blend until smooth.  Gradually moving to higher speeds, add the celery, apple, pear, cilantro and parsley. Finally, add the banana and lemon juice. Finish with 2 scoops of your favorite protein powder. Serve immediately.

Product Review & GIVEAWAY: SKIN Organic Body Care WINNER

I am excited to announce today's SKIN Organic Body Care giveaway winner.  One lucky lady will receive a prize package of body care products from SKIN valued at over $100!  Thank you to all who participated in this month's giveaway!  I hope you have enjoyed getting to know this great company and will enjoy trying out their fabulous products in the future!

And the winner is........

Hannah Baldwin!  Congrats girl!  Send me an email and I will get back to you with details on how to claim your prize: elise@healingcuisinebyelise.com.

Come back tomorrow for a great new recipe, y'all!!!

Product Review & GIVEAWAY: SKIN Organic Body Care

Alright folks, I have discovered a fabulous new organic product line to share with you!  I am so excited about it!  The company is called SKIN -- a complete body care line free of chemicals, parabens, fragrances, and preservatives.  I love it because SKIN is completely organic and natural.  Check out SKIN's product ratings on the Skin Deep Cosmetic Database from the Environmental Working Group.

SKIN was founded by Stephanie Simkins who has a passion for organic eating and holistic healing.  She saw the need for truly natural beauty care products and created her SKIN line using organic oils and botanicals.  Her products are designed to nourish and heal your skin, specifically formulated with food-grade ingredients such as green tea, fruit extracts, and coconut oil.  Stephanie was so sweet to send Dave and I a goodie bag of her products to test out and review.  And I must say, we were both deeply impressed by the quality and results.  It has been almost 3 months since we began using her facial cleanser, toner and moisturizers and our skin has never looked or felt better!

My favorites from SKIN are the Lemon Aid Face Wash, Lemon Fresh Toner, and Daily Greens Cream.  The face wash is like no other I've ever used.  I have combination skin, so it's always hard to find a good cleanser that gets rid of the oily buildup without drying me out.  Well, SKIN's Lemon Aid Face Wash is PERFECT!  Any blemishes are healed up after one or two washes.  Followed up with the Lemon Fresh Toner, and my pores are tight and face glowing afterward.  I like the use the Daily Greens Cream around my eyes and along my cheek bones.  It is infused with green tea which helps to neutralize free radicals, and amped up with vitamins and minerals.  I noticed after a couple weeks use my eyes were less puffy and those dark circles that came with my pregnancy were diminishing.

I encourage all of you to check out this fabulous product line.  And fellas, take it from my husband: he's IN LOVE with the cleanser from SKIN!  It's not just for the ladies!  And I've been using the Lemon Mousse Hand & Body Cream on baby Austin's bottom when he needs a little diaper rash refreshening.  Works like a charm!  These products will be featured on my Healing Cuisine's Christmas Gift List this year for sure.

GIVEAWAY

I have great news for you.  Stephanie has generously offered to share the same product package she sent use with one of you!  The Giveaway Contest will run from Wednesday October 12th until Monday October 17th at 9:00am.  I will use Random.org to select the winner and announce it here at Healing Cuisine at 11:00am on Monday, October 17th.  One lucky winner (open to U.S. residents only) will receive one each of the following shipped directly to your door:

Lemon Mousse Hand & Body Cream
Apricot Eyes Eye Makeup Remover
Lemon Aid Face Wash
Tropical Orange Hand Cream
Naked Face Wash (unscented)
Lemon Fresh Toner
Daily Greens Hydrating Repair Cream

HOW TO ENTER

There are three ways to enter:

MANDATORY: Visit SKIN's website, check out the products page, and come back here to leave a comment about which product you'd like to try the most and why.

Additional ways to enter:

1.)  "Like" Skin, Organic Body Care and Healing Cuisine on Facebook

2.)  Share this giveaway via Twitter (@EliseJSchwartz) and/or Facebook (@Healing Cuisine) being sure to link back to me so I see you did it.


GOOD LUCK to each one of you!  These are amazing products that I know you'll love, and your skin will thank you :)  See you back here on MONDAY to announce the winner!

Season's Eatings Holiday e-Book

Do you ever ask yourself this question?  The holidays are here, now what?  This was my inspiration for creating Season's Eatings, my holiday e-book modeled around the Maximized Living Nutrition Plans.  Within its pages you'll find 62 Core Plan recipes, 46 Advanced Plan recipes (view the recipe list), advice on managing stress (Essential #1) thru the holidays, how to cook with natural sweeteners, a shopping guide, and bright tantalizing pictures to guide you thru!

Season's Eatings is so much more than a recipe book.  I designed it to be a menu planner and resource guide you can come back to year after year.  And what is the most loved food tradition of Thanksgiving and Christmas?  The cookies and desserts of course!  Well, I've loaded this e-book up with all of my favorite cookie and pie creations.  You will not be disappointed!

This e-book is also a fabulous resource for the array of holiday parties coming up.  Whether you have volunteered to bring one dish to share or are hosting a dinner party of your own, Season's Eatings will supply you with health-inducing, whole-food options that taste SO GOOD your guests will never know they're healthy!

It's about living a Maximized Living lifestyle every day of the year.  And just because holidays come with a tradition of processed, high sugar, trans fat, and gluten laden dishes DOES NOT mean you have to eat that way.  Holiday eating should be guilt-free!  Start a new tradition within your family of Maximized food that tastes good and is good for you!

HEAR WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING

It is a blessing to hear and read how my recipes have been helping Maximized Living families all over the world.  I wanted to share what a couple families have to say:

This book is one of the best books we have ever cooked from.  There is no book out there that we have found that has perfect ratios for the recipes, great tasting food and wonderful ideas.  Eating healthy CAN be fun and extraordinarily tasty with Elise's "Seasons Eatings" e-book!  This year we are having my family over for Christmas and were worried how to make healthy desserts, side dishes, and entrees for them, but now we have a great book that we are comfortable cooking from.  Our favorite side dish from the book is the coconut bread.  It can go with so many things, stuffing, scones, etc.!  Our favorite dessert is the "Double Dark Chocolate Mousse Pie."  She even tells you how to make the crust.  We have literally gone through a ton of healthy cookbooks and recipe guides when it comes to healthy eating, but they all had horrible ratios of ingredients or never worked out like the picture showed.  With Elise's "Seasons Eatings" book all we have to do is follow the recipe and it turns out amazing!  If you were worried about how to make a healthy holiday meal and have the WHOLE family like it, this is it.  Completely worth the price!
               -  David and Abby Janis
                  San Leandro, CA

This next review is from a fellow blogger.  She goes by Tall Girl and is currently living in Wiesbaden, Germany.  Check out her post, Season's Eatings is toward the bottom.

You can read more about Season's Eatings holiday e-book here and purchase and download it here.  And don't forget to visit my YouTube channel to watch me make Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake from Season's Eatings!

With Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas now just weeks away, the holiday rush will be starting.  I want to wish each one of you many blessings with your families thru the holidays!  I am thankful for you, your support, and the impact we are creating to help others live healthier lives every day.  Happy, Healthy Eating!