Updates from Leah Negrin

Zucchini and Sweet Potato Fritters

Zucchini and Sweet Potato Fritters
As we're heading into the season of holiday parties and family gatherings I love finding delicious recipes that I can take! This is a yummy dish to take for people to munch on before the main dish, but quite honestly it's good for any occasion! The sauce with this is a nice touch too. 

This recipe feeds at least 16 people! 

Prep Time 
30 minutes
Cook Time 
15 minutes
Total Time 
45 minutes

Ingredients

For the Fritters
  • 2 – 3 tbsp olive oil or coconut oil (for cooking the fritters)
  • 2 medium organic zucchinis, grated (approx. 3 cups)
  • 1 medium organic  sweet potato, peeled and grated (approx. 1½ cups)
  • 1 small organic red onion finely chopped
  • 3 organic spring onions, finely chopped (reserve 1 for serving)
  • 1 organic garlic clove, finely chopped (optional)
  • 1 egg from the farmers market or organic free range, beaten or 1 chia egg (see chia info)
  • 2 tbsp gluten-free flour 
  • 2 tbsp arrowroot
  • 1 tsp sea salt and freshly ground pepper (to taste)
  • 2 drops black pepper essential oil (to taste)
  • 4 drops lemon essential oil (to taste)

For the Lemon Herb Sauce
  • ¾ cup vegan or homemade mayonnaise, non-dairy unsweetened coconut yogurt or non-dairy sour cream 
  • ½ cup finely chopped herbs (choose from basil, parsley, coriander, dill and/or mint)
  • 1 spring onion finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice (to taste)
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup or honey (optional, to taste)
  • 4 drops lemon oil (to taste)
  • 1 drop black pepper oil (to taste)
  • ½ tsp sea salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
  • pinch of turmeric powder (optional, to taste)

Instructions 

To make the Lemon Herb Sauce:
  1. Place all the sauce ingredients in a blender and blend until combined. 
  2. Taste the sauce and add more sea salt, pepper, lemon oil and/or maple syrup to your taste. 
  3. Chill until ready to serve.

To make the fritters: 
  1. In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients together by hand except the cooking oil. Take a little of the fritter batter in the palm of your hand and press together to see if you are happy with the consistency.
  2. Heat a large stainless steal or cast iron frying pan on medium-high heat and add approx. 1 tbsp of the cooking oil and let it heat for approx. 15 – 20 seconds.
  3. Using a tablespoon, scoop a heaping spoonful of the fritter mixture and place it in the pan and gently press down to form a patty and repeat. Add more oil for each new batch you cook and watch the temperature as you may need to reduce it a little.
  4. Cook for approx. 2 – 3 minutes until golden and then gently turn them over using a spatula and continue cooking 2 – 3 minutes until golden brown. You may need to reduce the heat a little and be careful not to burn.
  5. Place the cooked fritters on a wire rack, a plate or baking tray lined with paper towels to remove any excess oil and gently cover with baking paper to keep warm while you cook the rest of the fritters.
  6. Serve the fritters on a platter or individual plates topped with a little Lemon Herb Sauce and serve the rest of the sauce in a little bowl on the table. You can sprinkle the fritters with chopped herbs and spring onions before serving for presentation.

Advice for Pregnant Mamas During the Holidays

Advice for Pregnant Mamas During the Holidays
The holidays are naturally a busy time filled with family get together, exchanging gifts and yummy treats. If you are pregnant during the holidays you may feel an added layer of stress. 

Last year at this time I was pregnant with our little man and I was seriously feeling all the feels. It was the holiday season and I was constantly working on the different things I should eat. And boy is there a lot of info out there! I knew there wouldn't be a lot of my usual items that I consumed on the menu (think wine, extra cookies and other less than stellar choices). 

Even with my masters in clinical nutrition, there was  A LOT of info out there, much of it is of course conflicting. So down the research hole I went. 

Sometimes Google can be a great resource and sometimes it can be a little overwhelming, which is why I decided to simplify and create a guide for pregnant mamas!

Packed with tips, recipes and ways to still enjoy things, even if it looks a little different for you this year!

This guide will put your mind at ease and make navigating all of your holiday get togethers less stressful, giving you more time to sit back and enjoy the season. 

Click here to join the waitlist to get access to the guide for pregnant mamas when it officially launches!

The Benefits of Deep Breathing

The Benefits of Deep Breathing
Stress has become such a commonplace part of our every day lives. So many things running through our mental checklists at all times, "Did I remember to get something out for dinner? Why didn't my baby sleep well last night? Did I take my supplements this morning?"

I wanted to share an intentional way for you to focus on relaxing your mind throughout the course of your day. This easy-to-implement habit will help to mitigate stress and improve your overall well-being. 

Breathing! - we do it everyday, but can we do it better?

There are so many benefits and even different ways to be intentional with it. 

Like yes we breathe everyday at every moment but when you take time to do that slow, deep and intentional breathing it’s an amazing impact on your mind and body ❤️

Deep breathing is the act of slowing down your breath and relaxing your mind.

How can deep breathing help me?

What comes to mind when you think of deep breathing? Things like meditations and yoga?

Did you know it’s actually beneficial for everyone and can be done in any setting?

Taking a moment everyday to do a simple guided breathing technique can have huge positive effects on your body and overall health!

The more oxygen in your blood, the more energy you’ll have; I know we could all use that! 

When the afternoon slump hits, take a minute to take a few deep breaths 💕 you’ll be amazed at the feeling. 

Do you take time for deep breathing?

Must Have Autumn Staples🍁

Must Have Autumn Staples🍁
The harvest is associated with abundance, prosperity and wealth. Humans too experience an "autumn". If spring represents new birth and childhood, and summer symbolizes youth, autumn represents adulthood and maturity. 

I wanted to share with you my must haves for the Autumn season as a new mom. 

Diffuser scents : I just got an essential oil called cozy chai and it just brings me right into that fall mood without all those nasty candle chemicals

Sweaters that fit : having recently given birth, I truly have no idea if I even have any sweaters that fit and allow me to breastfeed. eh. So what I'm hearing is that I should go shopping?😜

Cute hats: I have a love/hate relationship with hats. I like my sunhat that I would always wear whenever I was in California, but I haven't yet found a winter hat I actually want to wear that is cute - favorite hats anyone?

A warm fun drink of choice: I talk a lot about this because to me having an exciting hot beverage to enjoy when it’s cold out just makes things that much cozier! what’s yours? 

Cute boots!: I love to wear my fall boots, yes even in Florida I can do that in January, I used to love to wear high healed leather boots that went up to my mid calf-these days not so much, more of the short boot style with a little heel -what about you?

🍂What are your Fall Must Haves! Comment below and let me know!

Caring For a Growing Belly During Pregnancy

Caring For a Growing Belly During Pregnancy
Something I get asked about in terms of pregnancy (well besides food that is) is the all too famous stretch marks!

So I wanted to share some of my pregnancy secrets for your growing belly!

Your skin is literally being stretched by growing a human (which is pretty amazing if you think about it!) BUT can we do anything for those marks that sometimes show up and don’t always make you feel the most confident version of you? Absolutely!!! 

First, let me say, YES there is something to be said about wearing them with pride, but also we can do so much to support the health of our skin along the way! It's not only important to support your skin for stretch marks, but with a rapidly growing belly and stretching skin can come lots and lots of itching too. 

Every night I would apply what I call the happy belly blend. This is my super simple balm-like recipe that consists of Lavender, Frankincense and Cypress essential oils mixed with coconut oil. It is so soothing for the itching and it’s also very moisturizing which may help with the appearance of any stretch marks. 

Here is what you will need:

A glass jar with lid for storage

Coconut oil

Young Living Essential oils (Lavender, Frankincense, and Cypress)

Start by melting down the coconut oil and then give it some time to cool a bit (not until completely hardened, you still want it soft for mixing). 

Then go in and add about 10 drops of each essential oil and stir just until it's well incorporated. 

To be fair I just threw random amounts in towards the end of pregnancy.
 
I am extremely picky about what goes on my body and essential oils have little regulation. Young Living oils tick all the boxes for me when it comes to the best of the best in the industry, so only Young Living essential oils for me. 

During my last few months of pregnancy someone said to me that I could get stretch marks after birth, which I thought well maybe that is possible?

But also, maybe not! 

Luckily for me (as usual, disclaimer here that everyone’s body is different!) that did not happen!

I'm in the process of creating a guide all around nutrition and support for pregnant women to share all my secrets and best kept tips to help you during your journey, join the waitlist here to be the first to know when it's available!

Meet Leah Negrin

 
I am a bold, beautiful, sometimes timid, usually happy, essential oil, nutrition junkie. Although at 39 I feel as if I've had several careers over a lifetime (or at least sometimes when I look back at my resume that is what shines through). I've been a paralegal, an office manager, an administrative assistant, worked in commercial lending and have finally landed on nutrition.

My journey to nutrition started many years ago when my sister was diagnosed with celiac disease and food had to change for the family. From there, along my own health journey I’ve helped people not only figure out what to eat but how to do it so that it can work for them sustainably. For almost seven years I’ve been counseling people on their nutrition and weight loss journeys. 

Finally getting some sunshine in Southern California *Photo credit  Brittany Hassett 

I am knowledgeable about what purpose food serves your body and I focus on finding sustainable options when it comes to food; this also led to my love of essential oils. I had the opportunity to attend a workshop where a registered dietitian spoke about using essential oils in her practice to help her patients. I was floored. I knew that #plantsheal but I didn't realize that others in the 'conventional' medical community thought that as well!! Learning that it was possible to incorporate these magical little bottles gave me a huge sense of hope.


Alina, myself and Caitlin (oily bffs) *Photo credit Anne Negrin

 
As I learned more about these oils I was diagnosed with increased intestinal permeability or as many of us know it, leaky gut. Leaky gut has been around for quite awhile but many of us are just learning what this is or why this is even more common these days than ever before. Many issues can be related to leaky gut including autoimmune diseases. Receiving this diagnosis just led me down a path further to learn about nutrition and how to best serve my body and take care of myself.


Enjoying a vegan ice cream cone in Budapest! *Photo credit to Michelle Owen 

Since birthing our sweet baby boy at home earlier this year I’ve been incredibly passionate about helping other women too who are pregnant and new mothers with their nutrition. Eating healthy for your pregnant body and your postpartum self is a game changer for both mother and baby.

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