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On balmy summer days, you’ll find me on the porch pouring a tall glass of maple limeade. Lemonade is a classic, but limeade delivers a pleasantly less puckering punch. Paired with earthy and sweet maple syrup, limeade is the the sweet-tart thirst-quencher you’ll reach for this summer, too!

Freshly squeezed lime juice, filtered water, and maple syrup come together to create the magical beverage. Read on for our tips on choosing the juiciest limes, how to make limeade more refreshing, and why maple syrup is the superior sweetener.

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CVS has a broad offering of pantry staples, and a great offering on household goods like paper towels, napkins, and cleaning supplies. While their list prices are usually higher than supermarkets (and even some other drugstores), their sales and rewards can often make their goods much, much cheaper.

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My first experience with “nice” ice cream was 10 years ago on a family vacation in Hawaii. The hotel served some type of magical dairy-free pineapple soft-serve, and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how they made it. So I ate as much of it as I could before the trip was over, then promptly resumed my nightly Graeter’s habit upon our return home to Cincinnati. I figured the magical stuff could only be created in the tropical oasis that is Maui.

It wasn’t until a few years ago, when I tried out a Yonanas machine, that I was reminded of the dreamy soft-serve. In went a frozen banana and chopped frozen pineapple, and out came shockingly creamy soft-serve — immediately transporting me back to the beaches of Hawaii. I was hooked, and I wasn’t alone. In recent years, fruit-based ice cream has taken the health food world by storm. The most popular iteration has a base of frozen banana, which makes for the creamiest treat.

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Today I’d like to give my own introduction for our success story. She’s a former Mark’s Daily Apple success story (you can read her original story here). But she’s also a successful entrepreneur within the natural food and paleo space. I’m happy she’s shared an update to her personal journey and her business venture, and I’m excited that she’s also offering a giveaway for our community. Thanks for stopping by today, everybody. Enjoy!

My conscious-food lifestyle continues to be the backbone of my life (see my original post for more details about my journey to get here). After being in an ill-state of health until I was 21, I became passionate about healing my body, mind and spirit through food. What started off as a commitment to being gluten-free eventually evolved into me adopting the primal, paleo-inspired lifestyle around the age of 23. I experienced such a dramatic transformation in my health as a result of my dietary changes that everything in my life shifted. I was pursuing teaching yoga professionally, and as a result of my health transformation, my career ambitions pivoted and led me to open my own business, Picnik, in 2013.

Picnik was (and continues to be) a passion project for me to bring real food to the masses. I opened my first location in a reclaimed shipping container in Austin, TX. The original name, Pressed & Squeezed, transformed into Picnik when I’d show friends the location I found for our trailer. We were perched on the top of a giant, grassy hill in the middle of a bustling street called South Lamar. Every time I’d show friends and family the location, they would declare “this is the perfect place for a picnic.” To me, I considered that a divine sign and took the initiative to change the name. Hallelujah for that, because it has shaped our vibe and our culture tremendously over the years.

Building Picnik was no easy feat. In 2013, when we opened our doors, the consciousness around the paleo and high-fat movement was minimal. We had grab and go lunch items, breakfast pastries and a delicious coffee menu, but we made every item on our menu with a unique, health-promoting flare. Our coffee menu was incredibly innovative. We used coffee as the backbone for a specialty drinks menu that had a base of high-quality fats, conscious proteins and superfood add-in’s that amplified the nutrition. We wanted these drinks to taste just like what you would expect from a traditional coffee shop, just made with better ingredients. We had a very unique position in the marketplace for many reasons, but our drinks became a standout, as they functioned like a protein shake, an energy drink and a latte in one.

Convincing customers to try our coffee was challenging in the beginning. For the first year of business, I’d stand behind the cash register every day giving away free drinks and begging customers to ‘just give it a try.’ Although it wasn’t easy, I was able to get many people to approach our menu with an open mind, and many of the customers I helped transition to Picnik’s coffee during that time remain our regulars to this day. Once people would try what we had to offer, we’d often see them every morning. It was inspiring to see how people related to our products and how we were making a palpable difference in the way our customers felt every day.

At the start of 2014, things started to really heat up for Picnik.  The awareness and acceptance around high-quality fats shifted (Hello! Butter was on the cover of Time Magazine). As a result, customers began coming to Picnik with enthusiasm and an open mind. Our traffic was so heavy that we eventually opened a new, larger infrastructure on South Lamar in 2016 and, shortly thereafter, a full-service, all-day concept in our first brick and mortar location on Burnet Road in August 2016. All the while, we had been working on how to package our coffee since 2014 because it had become so high in demand. We knew how great it made our customers feel, and we wanted to reach the hands (and mouths) of our customers outside of Austin. Although it took three years of development work, in 2017 we launched our first three ready-to-drink coffees for grocery. Our first production run of our Cappuccino, Dirty Chai and Mocha was in February of 2017. By May, three months later, we were being sold in all Whole Foods Market’s nationwide.  Talk about 0-100!

Fast forward to this point, June 2018, we now have four locations. We have two food trucks and one restaurant in Austin, TX, as well as our first coffee and beverage kiosk in Whole Foods Market 365 in Upland, CA. In addition, we have four products being sold nationwide in independent retailers and grocery, with many more products on the way. It’s been an incredible ride, and I know it is just getting started.

As I’ve settled into a conscious-food lifestyle, I’ve continued to refine and identify what works for me. My GI problems have dramatically improved as a result of a relatively consistent healthy lifestyle combined with high doses of Magnesium and Probiotics. I did, however, continue to experience histamine reactions and skin problems, even on a paleo-inspired diet. As a result, I explored several adjustments to my lifestyle over the last few years. When I was in the thick of my healing, I was committed to the GAPS diet, essentially a healing protocol that aligns with the primal lifestyle, but it omits all starches, sugars (besides honey), legumes and some forms of dairy. It is a strict elimination protocol that focuses on bone broth and really transformed my health.  As an ex-vegan, however, I sometimes became overwhelmed on GAPS with the quantity of meat I was consuming, so I pivoted and explored a more plant-based healing protocol that focused on high-quantities of fruit as well as eliminated certain inflammatory foods.

After pursuing GAPS and my plant-based, fruit-heavy diet, I ended up feeling strong and stable with my health and I began reacting less and less to food. This stability allowed me some more food-freedom and gave me the opportunity to re-experience eating foods that I had 100% eliminated in the past. As someone who had been gluten-free for over 10 years, I was able to final enjoy croissants, my favorite food, without reaction, as long as I consumed them in moderation. Moderation, however, is the key word. I definitely went off the handle a bit during this time, loving my new food-freedom, and ended up on a glorious grain and gluten-bender, regularly re-exploring a food group that had been abolished for me for so long. Although I am very happy with my progress, I still have to remain diligent and careful. If I eat grains and other starches regularly, I end up with histamine problems, brain fog, weight gain and inflammation.

In the end, I’ve re-settled back into a GAPS and primal inspired diet that focuses on meats, fish, fruits, low starch vegetables, nuts, seeds and full-fat dairy. This is my default ‘zero’ and allows me to stay in a stable place physically, mentally and emotionally. I’m happy in life, work and business, and I love knowing that healing food, for me, is always the answer to a stable and fulfilling life.

All the best,

Naomi Seifter, Piknic

Now For the Giveaway…

WIN A MONTH OF BUTTER COFFEE!

We’ll pick 3 winners to receive:

A one-month supply of butter coffee, which would include the following for three winners:
(1) 6-pack of Cappuccino Butter Coffee
(1) 6-pack of Mocha Butter Coffee
(1) 6-pack of Dirty Chai Butter Coffee
(1) 32 fl oz Butter Coffee Creamer

Just visit the Mark’s Daily Apple Instagram page for more info on how to enter and win!

The post Healing Food, For Me, Is the Answer To a Stable and Fulfilling Life appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

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Of all the annoying traits a person can have, not coming to the table when they say they will is one of the worst. That happens constantly at my house. When I do the cooking I’ll let everyone know when the food is ready, and they’ll say they are coming. Then I’ll toss the salad and take it to the table, and no one will be there. Either something came up with work, or someone is dawdling, or someone has almost defeated the boss in their video game, and I’m stuck standing at the table in a panic shouting, “You don’t understand, I dressed the salad! I dressed the salad!”

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Now that warm weather is here, it’s time to fire up the grill. But don’t save all the fun for the weekend — our collection of easy grilled dinners, from shrimp skewers to spicy chicken breasts, are simple enough to make any day of the week. All our recipes are packed with expert tips, too, so you’ll be serving a delicious dinner while mastering new grilling skills.

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Last year, I quit my day job to spend six months traveling across Europe while freelancing. (Read: How Cutting My Food Budget Helped Me Quit My Full-Time Job.) In the weeks before my departure, I hit discount stores to assemble a kitchen survival kit for life on the road. With all the uncertainties, I knew cooking would be a grounding activity. I also knew I’d need to save money instead of eating out all the time.

Before I left, I packed a one-gallon zip-top bag with a mini chef’s knife, a corkscrew, a sandwich box, spoon and fork, and a microwave egg cooker. I threw the bag in my checked luggage and headed on my way. By the end of the trip, only the chef’s knife and egg cooker remained. Turns out, the other items were not necessary. The egg cooker, however, was a life-saver.

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Ann Mah, a D.C.-based writer and author of the novel The Lost Vintage, tends to move around a lot because of her husband’s job as a diplomat. They spent four years in Paris, and bought a small apartment there to have as a home base —which means that now she spends each summer there with her 4-year-old daughter. She also happens to be a friend of Kitchn (and you should check her work out here).

We asked Ann how her eating habits differ in Paris, and whether (with all that delicious wine and cheese) there’s anything she actually misses from American grocery stores.

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If you’re into making your own household cleaners, you’re going to need a spray bottle. Whether you’re a fan of vinegar, a Castile soap mixture, or something else, having a way to distribute your solution in a convenient way is key. Enter: the spray bottle. A sturdy, medium-sized spray bottle gives you a vessel to mix up as much cleaning solution as you need and easily use it through your home.

Finding the right one is tricky, though. First of all, size matters. Too small, and you’ll be mixing up solutions again and again. Too big, and it becomes unwieldy to use. And while there are plenty of plastic options out there, a glass bottle is often preferable for its resistance to chemicals and corrosion.

With that, we bring you our favorite spray bottle, which also happens to be a top-rated option on Amazon.

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For a fun, easy twist on chicken marsala, give boneless pork chops a try for dinner instead. When cooked in a bit of browned butter and then simmered in a glossy sauce rich with golden-brown mushrooms and sweet marsala wine, these pork chops can make dinner just a tad more elegant.

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