Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

Here in Colorado we’re rapidly entering the dog days of summer – and it’s hot, hot, HOT outside. And when the weather gets this warm, we love to cool off with a refreshing chilled beverage. That’s where this recipe comes in! Our Vegan Mango Lassi is a dairy-free spin on the traditional drink you know from your local Indian restaurant. This recipe is a great alternative for those who are sensitive to dairy or vegan, since yogurt is the main ingredient in a traditional mango lassi. We like to use homemade coconut or cashew milk in ours, but you can use any non-dairy milk (think hemp, almond, or even macadamia nut).

We L-O-V-E summer here at the Conscious Cleanse – the weather is beautiful, the best fruits and veggies are in season, and our local farmers market always has a great selection to choose from. It’s also a great time to gather in the backyard with friends or family and enjoy some food fresh off the grill. Unfortunately, most of the go-to grilling options are highly processed (lookin’ at you, hot dogs) or served up in a gluten-bomb bun. And if you’re a veggie eater like Jules, the options get even worse: imitation meat is frequently packed with artificial additives and preservatives, allergens like gluten or soy, and highly processed – not exactly a “health” food. So we wanted to share one of our favorite grilled veggie recipes: Cauliflower Steak!

It is so simple to pick up a jar of hummus from a store. But it is almost as simple to prepare hummus yourself and know exactly what has been added. You can do everything from scratch, including soaking and boiling the chickpeas, but I usually don’t feel this is necessary. The chickpeas from a jar, especially if I choose an organic brand, do it for me, but in case you do have extra time you can soak the chickpeas overnight and then boil until tender. It makes sense for me to cook your own chickpeas if you need a lot of them, so I sometimes do this for bigger parties, but if I am just hungry for a quick beet hummus I prefer having it in 5 minutes instead of the next day! However, I do prefer to roast the beetroots at home. I do this quite often anyway, so I usually have leftovers for hummus too.

These type of cakes are often called vegan cheesecakes, but I call these cakes strawberry cakes, because that’s what they are. The preparation of the cake is relatively simple, but you need to be patient because you need to wait for the cashews to soak and then the cake to set. You also need a very good blender to get the consistency nice and smooth. Once you have the cake ready, you can just keep this in the freezer and thaw it whenever you have unexpected guests or merely overwhelming feeling that you want something sweet. And as far as the sweets go – for the cake it is healthy too! Vegan Summer Strawberry Cheese Cake

We love a fresh start. Any chance we can get to clear out the old and bring in the new is an opportunity to celebrate. After all, that’s what cleansing is all about, isn’t it? Recently I’ve found myself organizing and refreshing just about everything I can get my hands on…all my tax receipts are all in order (hooray!), my kitchen knives are all sharpened, I’ve donated a large box of toys and books that my kids are no longer interested in, I bought a bunch of new bins and have taken charge of a messy closet…and let me tell you, it feels good! Really good!

There must be thousands of banana bread recipes out there in the world, but I still feel the need to share another one. I have been looking for a good plant-based recipe for a long time, but all the recipes I found always contained a load of added sugar or preparing a flax egg or something third I didn’t like, so I figured out that I don’t follow any recipes and figure out my own recipe instead. This is not the first time I just decide to wing it, and I must admit that I am not very good at following other peoples’ recipes anyway. Even if I choose to follow a recipe, I still somehow manage to switch up half the ingredients and change all the amounts. This is also, why I decided to get blogging years ago, to keep track of the recipes that work for me – with all the changes I always made I wasn’t able to remember anymore which changes I had made and which ones actually worked. Because not all the changes work, especially when baking. Back to winging it – this doesn’t necessarily always work either.

Summer is here and we’re well into the growing season here in Colorado, and we LOVE all the amazing fresh veggies we can find locally at our farmer’s market and CSA. Signing up for a CSA (community-supported agriculture) is a great way to eat based on what’s in season and try new fruits and veggies you might not be familiar with. Most CSAs provide their members with a weekly or bi-weekly selection of their most recent harvests, so you know you’re getting the freshest veggies available. Plus, the selections are solely based on what’s in season right now, so you might discover a new favorite veggie! That’s how we ended up creating this recipe! Our most recent CSA box included these beautiful Japanese Hakurei turnips, and we knew we needed to come up with a recipe to feature them.

Have you ever met somebody who does not like chocolate? I remember meeting one girl who was not fond of it years ago, but this is also the only time I have seen anybody who does not like it. As a general rule, every dessert that has chocolate in it vanishes from the table within minutes. Chocolate in itself is not unhealthy at all. Having a little square of dark chocolate a day even has proven health benefits. However, the chocolate really needs to be dark to be healthy. Most of the chocolate bars, loaded with sugar and different additives, do not qualify as healthy. I usually choose the chocolate that contains at least 75%, sometimes even more than 90% of cocoa! The chocolate mousse, usually, is full of everything unhealthy – heavy cream and white sugar. But here is good news – the recipe I share with you today only contains ingredients good for you and I let you be the judge of the taste, but in my humble opinion, it is just perfect.

Sometimes the simplest meals are the best, and this bowl full of goodness is a perfect example. The recipe is even simpler to prepare when you have cooked your soba noodles in advance. I often cook a larger batch of chickpeas, lentils, or rice over the weekend and then use throughout the week for my meals. I would never consider cooking pasta in advance, because pasta cooked yesterday…. well, it is just not very nice. Soba noodles, on the other hand, work very well cooled down and in fact, I sometimes deliberately cook soba in advance for chilled salads on hot summer days. It is important not to overcook the soba and mix it with a drop of oil, so the noodles would not stick together. For this recipe, however, you do not need to chill the noodles – they are just as good warm.

Happy (almost) summer for those of you in the Northern Hemisphere! We’re so excited for the sunny weather and all the fresh veggies coming into season this time of year. One of our favorite warm-weather treats is sushi, so we’ve made a cleanse-friendly version to share with you all! People ask us all the time what kinds of foods they’ll be able to eat on the Conscious Cleanse. The answer is lots and lots! We have a wide variety of recipes you can enjoy while cleansing, from bison burgers to vegan curry, and even dairy-free, egg-free gelato if you want dessert. The possibilities are endless! This vegan sushi hand roll is the perfect recipe to switch up your menu this week.

If you ever need to change somebody’s opinion about cauliflower, then this is the recipe for it. It is crispy, spicy, sticky, and delicious. Of course, you can adjust the spiciness level according to your taste, but I love the spice, and I have listed the amounts of chili I used. The sauce is one of the things that makes the dish enjoyable and gives it a lot of flavor, but the most essential part is the crispy-battered cauliflower itself. The secret in the batter is vodka! Don’t worry, there will be no alcohol left after frying, but it gives the batter extra crispiness that can stand the sauce and will not be soaked within 5 minutes. In fact, since I had some leftovers the last time I cooked this dish, then I had it for breakfast the next day, and it was still crispy in some parts, even after standing in the fridge overnight. I always love to serve steamed rice with this cauliflower, but it is also good on its own as a snack. Crispy Cauliflower in a Sweet & Spicy Sauce

As you probably know by now, we at the Conscious Cleanse L-O-V-E green smoothies. They’re the perfect, nutritionally-dense breakfast that takes less than 5 minutes to make and can even be enjoyed on the go! For a collection of our favorite green smoothie recipes, be sure to grab our Green Smoothies eCookbook here. Part of what make green smoothies so amazing is they can be easily customized to fit your individual health needs by adding superfood boosters! Whether you need to add extra protein and healthy fats to your diet, or you’re looking for help with detoxification or blood sugar regulation, we’ve got a booster for you! Check out our list below for some of our top superfood picks to boost the health value of your green smoothie.

I challenge you to find a simpler recipe than this cucumber soup! With a beautiful summery weather spending long hours in the kitchen is not my idea of a good time. I’d rather spend it out enjoying the sun, hiking, cycling, doing yoga or just reading a good book. At the same time, I refuse to lower my food standards just because I don’t want to spend too much time cooking. And this is precisely the type of recipe that is quick, seasonal, healthy and super delicious! Just perfect for warm weather. As a bonus, it is also light on calories, so you don’t need to feel guilty having a dessert after! I always like to decorate my food, but this is, of course, not required. If you don’t feel like playing around with balling avocado, slicing cucumber super thinly or organizing edible flowers neatly, this is absolutely fine, but I still recommend to cube up some cucumber for some texture.

The weather is warming up here in Colorado, and with it comes a new crop of fresh veggies! We love using seasonal veggies in our recipes, and what better way to enjoy nature’s spring bounty than with a meal-sized salad with fresh, homemade salad dressing? That’s where this recipe comes in! This rich and yummy salad dressing is the perfect complement to all those fresh spring veggies. Our Sweet Basil Salad Dressing is thick and creamy, adding heartiness to any salad that will help you feel fuller longer. Plus, it can double as a tasty dip for fresh cut carrots, cucumbers, or celery. You could even drizzle it over grilled chicken or your favorite gluten-free pasta. In addition to being delicious, this dressing also boasts a number of health benefits.

Today’s recipe is Asian inspired, but I couldn’t point a finger to an specific country, and I didn’t use any other recipe for a basis. Instead, I just opened the fridge door, found some beautiful mushrooms and my meal pretty much started to develop itself. It often happens to me that I just get creative based on the ingredients I have at hand. A tiny bit from here, something from there, soy sauce and chili make everything tasty anyway, and just like that, a beautiful meal is ready in no time and struggle. This system of mine usually works out nicely, and often the recipes turn out so good that I feel the urge to share them with others. The mushroom dish I share with you today is one of my favorites lately. Since I first made it a few weeks ago, I have cooked it for two more times. Once using champignons so I can peacefully say that they are good in this recipe too, but my personal preference is still shitakes since they have a little more bite and chew to them. The crispiness of the mushrooms is really enjoyable with the slightly sweet and spicy sauce, but as always if crispiness meets sauce – have the people waiting for the food and not the other way around – otherwise the meal will still be delicious, but you will lose the texture. Gorgeously Sticky Asian Mushrooms

Spring has sprung here in Colorado, and we are thrilled at the start of the growing season! Yay local veggies! This week, we’re sharing a recipe that features one of our favorite spring veggies: Asparagus! This quick and easy curry takes less than 20 minutes to whip up and is the perfect way to use that beautiful asparagus that’s popping up in your grocery stores or local farmers markets. Plus, it’s cleanse-friendly and packed with a bunch of bonus health benefits! In addition to being a delicious spring veggie, asparagus is also a nutritional powerhouse. It’s rich in vitamin A, folate, which supports healthy prenatal development during pregnancy, and vitamin K, which supports bone health and strength. It’s a great source of antioxidants to help defend the body from free radicals, and is high in fiber to help aid digestion and gut health.

I have to admit that my love for kale is growing every day! It is delicious plain straight from the garden (did you know that you can even grow kale on your window sill!?), in salads, roasted to crispy deliciously healthy chips or sautéed – just bring it on and I love it. I did not imagine that I could love these dark green leaves so much as a kid, but I am fortunate to have a rather healthy palate these days. Of course, this also has a lot to do with habits. Somebody who is used to have a hot dog for breakfast, burger for lunch and pizza for dinner would most probably not love this salad immediately, but it is possible to train your taste buds to like healthier foods. Just start with a few healthier choices and soon you realize that salads are actually delicious and real food that you cooked yourself is always better for you than take-out! Cheaper too! Talking about this salad warm Kale & Chickpea Salad recipe here – this is a real 15-minute meal that doesn’t require any cooking skills or fancy equipment and the ingredient list is relatively short.

Spring Break is this week for us in Colorado, so we were thinking about how difficult it can be to find healthy eating options when you’re traveling. Whether you’re driving or flying to your vacation destination, it can be difficult to find the clean-eating options in a sea of fast food joints. So we’ve put together a guide for all our tried and true tips and tricks for staying healthy while on the road, including our favorite recipe for on-the-go snacking: Easy Trail Mix! Here are our top 3 tips for healthy traveling: Plan Ahead: Plan, plan, plan.

Winter is (finally) coming to an end, and if you’re like us, you might be looking for new recipes to get out of a meal-planning rut. This time of year, it can be easy to fall into a routine of go-to meals and start craving some variety in your diet. We’ve got a perfect recipe for you! This dish is warming, nourishing, full of flavor, and stars a fish high in nutritional value – Halibut! Halibut is high in brain-boosting omega-3 fatty acids, plus it’s a great source of essential vitamins and minerals including magnesium, selenium, phosphorous, and vitamin B. As for taste, halibut is a tender and neutral white fish that is delicious when paired with this flavorful, warming sauce. You can pair this dish with roasted vegetables like carrots or cauliflower or over an abundant pile of fresh or sautéed greens (our personal favorite!). Because we keep winter squash off our plates during the cleanse, this recipe is part of our 80:20 Lifestyle Program. To learn more about the 80:20 and how to get access to exclusive recipes and more healthy lifestyle content, click here.

My recipes are usually very straightforward and quick, only containing a few ingredients and not many steps. For me, the current recipe categorizes under simple recipes too, but it does require quite many steps, especially if you also decide to prepare your own sauce and haven’t precooked the lentils in advance. I usually cook a large batch of lentils, chickpeas or beans over the weekend and then use them during the week in different recipes – it is an excellent way to save time during the busy working week and always prefer cooking my own legumes over the canned versions. Talking about the canned versions, this recipe uses quite an unusual ingredient that is canned because it is difficult if not even impossible to get fresh one outside of Asia. I am talking about the king of fruits – jackfruit! Jackfruit is a huge fruit mostly grown in South-East Asia, and I fell in love with it in Asia.

While the pressure of the New Year can be needlessly intimidating, it’s still as good a time as any to make healthier choices. The sad fact is that we tend to associate healthy changes with deprivation and there’s really no need for that! At the Conscious Cleanse, we know that even a slight shift in perception is enough to help us embrace change, not with fear, but with excitement. And that’s where our featured recipe of the week comes in. Many of our cleansers absolutely L-O-V-E cheese and can’t imagine going a single day without it! That is before they found the Conscious Cleanse. Sound familiar?

Since it’s been so cold and snowy lately, we wanted to share a recipe bursting with color and flavor to remind you that spring is just around the corner! Our beet hummus not only looks like veggie vibrancy in a bowl, it’s also packed with health benefits! Beets are a great way to check in on how smoothly our digestive tract is running (for more on that topic see my post called “The Beetroot Test”), plus they’re also filled with many health-boosting nutrients like folate, vitamin C, and manganese. Beets have anti-inflammatory and detoxification properties, and they’re also known to boost stamina, lower blood pressure, and strengthen the immune system.

As I was cruising around the Farmer’s Market last Saturday I noticed these beautiful bright yellow and orange flower-like veggies at one of the stands. Upon further investigation, I realized that these beauties were squash blossoms! I’ve never eaten squash blossoms before and I always love expanding my veggie repertoire, so my blog mission for the week became crystal clear! To my new discovery, squash blossoms can be found on any variety of squash, zucchini or pumpkin plant, making these varieties “double agent” veggies. We love any veggie that can be enjoyed “root-to-tip” and our recipe today is the perfect way to turn part of the “leftover” squash plant into a delectable and gourmet-looking vegan appetizer! Today’s recipe for Cashew Cheese Stuffed Squash Blossoms comes from our friend and natural food chef extraordinaire (seriously, she’s a genius!), Casey Easton.

These are the most decadent, mind-blowing, make you giddy with endorphins, heaven on earth, chocolate coconut truffles we’ve have ever tasted! And trust me, we’ve had our share of chocolate. We love traditional chocolatey treats as much as the next person, but what we don’t love is the nasty sugar crash, hangover and the compromised immune system that they leave us with. These sugar-free chocolate truffles are guilt-free and won’t leave you with a sugar crash. Raw cacao is a great source of natural energy and antioxidants, and coconut contains beneficial healthy fat. Did you also know that coconut oil can help to improve heart health and thyroid function? It also supports your immune system, boosts the metabolism, and can promote weight loss. Now that’s a dessert that loves you back!

Winter is the time of the year we tend to stay inside more compared to warmer periods. Staying inside often also means moving less and at the same time, winter dishes tend to be heavier. Good food is my passion, no question about it, but staying fit and healthy is something I am passionate about as well. This means that I always try to figure out smarter recipes that taste amazing but are good for me. It´s all about balance and the recipe I am going to share with you today is a perfect example of healthy food that definitely does not lack flavor! These little red parcels here are perfect as a side dish or even a vegetarian main. They look awesome on the dinner table and are rather healthy and balanced due to the protein in the quinoa. Red Onions with Quinoa Filling