Click on the "In the Kitchen with 11 Magnolia Lane" Button to read about our new series

My Spring Menu has “hatched” and I am so excited to share this healthy but satisfying menu that truly captures the essence of spring (at least I think so!).  This menu offers a ton of fresh veggies, light and fluffy fritattas, and energy-packed protein shakes that will get you through a busy morning.  Click here for to download our tasty spring monthly calendar as well as the spring shopping week 1

Spring Menu Reveal

Here are just a few of my favorites from the Spring Menu so far:

1. Fish Cakes with Remoulade Sauce

2. Red Bliss Potato Salad with Mojito Braised Pork

3. Soy Marinaded Skirt Steak with Asparagus and Sugar Snap Pea Stir Fry

4. Romaine and Carrot Slaw

Our “In the Kitchen Series” is designed to make your life easier, providing a healthy, easy to follow meal plan and shopping list. No more drive-throughs, frozen nuggets or unhealthy boxed macaroni and cheese!

I personally feel that spring is a time to refresh, renew and rejoice.  It is the perfect time to focus on your health and possibly a good time to begin spring cleaning–not your closets, I am talking about your diet and your body.

So many of us rely on carbohydrates, caffeine and sugar to make it through the day.  We poison our bodies with excess and wonder why we feel so tired.  Trust me, I know how hard it is to change bad eating habits.  I have been there and done that!  In fact, I have been there and done that so many times that I constantly need to remind and challenge myself to stay on a healthy life track.  There are so many ways to spring cleanse but I wanted to share a story recently shared with us from our good friend and guest blogger Kara Pfau, we thought it was an important message and we asked her if she would share it here too.

Kara is an expert when it comes to good healthy eating habits and she, like most of us, was sick of living in the fog of unhealthy eating and caffeine dependence.  She was searching for clarity, energy and of course wanted to feel and look great.  Here is what Kara has to share about cleansing our bodies:

Kara…Why do we need to detox and cleanse our bodies?

It’s simple, we are a product of our environment and we are exposed to toxins in the air we breathe, the foods we eat and the products we use on our skin. You are a subtotal of those toxins and these toxins stay in our tissues and fat for long periods of time.  Unfortunately, these toxins we let into our bodies really don’t want to leave.  In fact, they love to live in our tissue and fat cells.  When this happens, it causes inflammation which can lead to more serious health problems such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

Stock Image

Here is the good news, we can do something about this! By simply detoxing our systems daily you can reclaim your health.  First, I suggest you avoid hurtful toxins, take supplements that support your liver/ kidneys and of course, exercise!!

Last year I decided to do this 30 day challenge and it has changed my life. I did note that my intense cravings for sugar, carbohydrates, coffee and wine were a result of an imbalance of blood sugar in my body as well as an indication of a sensitivity to several of these allergenic foods. As a result of this program I began working out 4-5 times a week, picked up a new sport of tennis, lost my strong sugar cravings, had a much clearer mind ridding that foggy state I had been in from the overload of sugar and toxins, and had an enormous amount of energy to get through all the events of the day with 2 small children.

The program I followed was Arbonne’s 30 Days to Fit which is an overall body cleanse that encompasses eating whole fresh foods, eliminating allergenic foods, balancing your blood sugar, increasing nutrient intake, and supporting the body’s 4 elimination pathways (the liver, kidneys, intestines and your largest detoxifying organ, your skin).

Arbonne 30 Day Fit Program

Your liver regenerates every 45 days, your brain regenerates every 60 days, your bones regenerate every 90 days, and your skin every 30 days.

Balancing your blood sugar is crucial to your health and balancing your PH is essential as diseases grow in acidic environment. Every food is either alkaline forming or acidic forming and next post I will go into which foods to eliminate, how they impact your blood sugar and ph imbalance and how these foods might be causing you to hold on to pounds you wouldn’t mind parting with!

The 30 days of detoxing and cleansing helped me accomplish all 5 things above. The program includes eliminating inflammatory type foods an help your body automatically release toxins. Weight loss is a by-product of this cleanse. 80% of your immune system is in your gut as well as 80% of your serotonin so the main goal of this cleanse is to help you feel as good as you can, reclaim your teenage like energy, and have clarity and release those toxins that may have been building in your system for quite some time!

I invite you to take the plunge and challenge yourself to a 30-day spring cleanse!

In wellness and good health,

Kara

(If you want more information on how to begin a 30 day detox, you can email Kara directly at karapfau@yahoo.com)

Thanks so much for your insight Kara, we are so excited to have you on board as our health guru:).  I tried to keep all this useful information in mind while creating the spring menu.  My goal is to keep me, my family, and our readers healthy and well-balanced so we too can enjoy the “feel-good” life Kara describes above.  I will continue to featured recipes from the Spring Menu over the next couple of months so please stay tuned (either via Linky Tools, Facebook or email subscription) as you don’t want to miss a thing.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy!

**The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only.  While we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.  Please always consult your doctor/dietitian prior to making any health related changes**