BLOCHO'S TACOS

Tacos. I love them. Cleanses. I love them. (Yep, I do.) Yoga. I love it. After leaving one of the best yoga classes I've taken at Om Factory - Fashion District, I checked my phone and had a message waiting from my sister.  No words.  Just a link. This link. http://greatideas.people.com/2016/01/06/taco-cleanse-yoga-poses/ I knew this would be epic.  Taco cleanse yoga poses?  There was nothing in the URL that I didn't like.  A taco cleanse may seem like the opposite of the ever popular juice cleanse, but isn't there something to be said for changing up our routines? Salivating over the idea of eating tacos post-yoga, I quickly learned about the book The Taco Cleanse  (I will be starting my cleanse on Cinco de Mayo, of course) and the hilarious Taco Yoga Poses below. From The Taco Cleanse  and http://greatideas.people.com/2016/01/06/taco-cleanse-yoga-poses/ The brilliant minds behind this cleanse and detoxifying yogic culinar...

As a kid I never ate seafood.  The smell and look of salmon, lobster, swordfish, or whatever ocean / river / fish tank dweller my mom brought home disgusted me.  I used to get bribes to taste the fish -- $1 for a bite of salmon, $5 for a lobster claw -- but nothing seemed to work.  Except mayonnaise, carrots, and celery.  I loved Bumble Bee Tuna out of a can and mixed up into the most delicious tuna salad in the world -- my mom's. With years came maturity and adventurousness and I started eating seafood.  I took the $5 bribe and realized I liked lobster claws, but not the tails.  A tuna avocado roll doused in soy sauce (now gluten-free tamari) and loaded up with pickled ginger was quite delicious. Two sticky situations led me to try shrimp and salmon* and my expected reactions -- immediate hurling -- was dwarfed by the pure enjoyment. Tuna salad will always hold a dear place in my heart at my fish-eating gateway drug.  Combining tuna salad ...

Holy moly.  I cleansed for over 2 week.  15 days of juice, smoothies, and lots of lot of water. I never thought I'd be able to do it, but was really shocked at how easy it was.  Day 3 and Day 11 and 12 were probably the most challenging.  After Day 10, I started to feel the emotional ramifications of not eating.  However, when I started to get upset over something it was often because I needed my next juice!  I loved the simplicity of my life.  I didn't have to think much about what I wanted to "eat" or about preparing food.  The difficult choices were which juices to buy!  I learned to love some new Juice Press flavors ( Gravity , Simple Green, Anti-Aging, The Meal - only sometimes....) Gravity and some of my tried and true favorites were too sweet or lost their charm (Love at First Sight, Doctor Green Juice).  Chia seeds were super helpful in keeping me feel full longer and I was seriously never without a water bottle.  I d...

I posted a question/poll on Twitter.  Do you know anyone that DOESN'T like tacos? I am expecting an [overwhelming] response of "NO!".  When you break it down, a taco is a tortilla with some stuff in it.  That stuff can be meat, veggies, or a combination.  Heck, if you want to make a fruit taco, go for it! Tacos are becoming pretty mainstream.  I'd be hard pressed to find a city without some sort of Mexican food/taco outlet.  Not saying that this will be a good  place for tacos, but it's bound to exist. The proliferation of taco photos on social media has grown significantly.  In honor of everyone's tacograms today for Cinco de Mayo, I provide my hashtag taco mashup. #tacos And oh, so many more. A few of my favorites: Major kudos to all the Instagramming from: Food 52 -   Zagat - Thrillist - Be Well with Arielle - Food Network - Bon Appetit - NYC Food and Travel - Treat House  - The New Potato -a...

May is off to a great start. Sunshine. In honor of May Day, I think it is of utmost importance to highlight some great things about May. According to Big Daddy's , May is National Burger Month! Makes sense that the month that welcomes in summer with memorial Day Weekend BBQs should be devoted to the infamous hamburger. This got me thinking...what else is May? Memorial Day Weekend Cinco de Mayo  (See my previous post for more about my love of this day) Celiac Awareness Month  (Yay! Gluten Free!!) National Bike Month National Salad Month (Yum.) Brother's and Sister's day (May 2) (Hi sis!) Lost Sock Memorial Day (May 9th) (I have a lot of these) Mother's Day  (no offense to the Fathers out there) These are hilarious! Want more? http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/may.htm If you are starting to like May as much as I am, why not hedge your bets and try and WIN a trip to MEXICO.  Oh, did I mention it is...

I will still be juicin' on one of my favorite days of the year, Cinco de Mayo.  5/5. So harmonious. Obviously I could choose to end my cleanse pre-CdM, but that would open myself up to the temptations of beef, pork, cheese, and copious amounts of tortillas (in various forms).  Knowing the importance of the post-cleasne transition back to real food, I know this is not a good idea. I have decided to celebrate my own Cinco de Mayo on May 25th.  I chose the 25th because 5 x 5 = 25.  I invite everyone to celebrate with me. But with the true Holiday just a few days away, people are getting excited and the recipes are flowing over the interwebs. Today, Refinery 29 featured Elizabeth Bank's Cowboy Caviar Dip .  Upon inital review of the ingredients and the recipe, it seems like a fancy guacamole.  I'm inspired. Cowboy Caviar Dip 15 oz black-eyed peas 11 oz shoe peg corn 2 chopped avocados 2/3 cup chopped cilantro 2/3 cup chopped green onion D...

Today is Monday.  Today was a bizarre-o day. I can't quite put my finger on what it was, but today was not normal. Some good things about today: -I took my first Flybarre class at Flywheel.  Boy, was that hard! I was a sweaty mess afterwards and am a bit nervous I will be immobile and sore tomorrow. -I tried the Juice Press Rainforest smoothie (sans agave).  Yummy.  A little sweeter than I expected/wanted. -I began making my NYC Restaurant Bucket List.  It is super duper long.  Post-cleanse do I start eating out or cooking for myself?   I want to do both! So why was today non-normal?  Dunno. I wasn't getting into the groove with my juices.  Maybe it was because I started the day off so sweet, or maybe because I bought such a random hodge-podge of juices, not really considering a daily "menu".  I also wanted to bring my computer to work for a specific project and I didn't. Juice! And subway feet. Overwhelming things: ...

Today is Day 7 of my cleanse. It is also a beautiful Sunday in NYC and I got up early to seize the day!  Carpe Diem! I walked from my apartment North West through SoHo and the West Village.  I passed plenty of shops, boutiques, restaurants, cafes, bakeries, and shoe repairs.  Some were familiar, others not as much. If I were not cleansing I would have likely stopped in 2 or 3 of these locales for a cup of tea or coffee, maybe a gluten-free treat, or just to browse. Today, I didn't. I do not feel deprived from taste or nutrition with my cleanse, but perhaps a bit deprived in experience.  So much of my life is about trying new foods in new places so now I must focus on just trying new things....new activities, new adventures.  Changing my mindest and adapting is a great exercise. So now, I sit in a Le Pain Quotidien, sipping on a mint tea infusion and I write to you, my elusive reader.  I hope you have a beautiful Sunday filled with experience...

I've tempted myself. On Friday: I arrived at work and my coworker has a massive chocolate bunny leftover from Easter on her desk.  About once an hour we talked about it. My home-baked Passover treats are still in the office and since I've had them before, I know how delicious they are. I sat in a 1.5 hour meeting and was the only one not eating a classic NY bagel with cream cheese and/or peanut M&Ms. I went to lunch with my team for "bonding".  My coworkers ate a cheeseburger with bacon, a chicken club sandwich, and a tuna burger.  And fries.  Crispy fries.  They looked delectable. Colors! On Saturday: I went to Smorgasburg .  This food mecca is filled with things I really love.  Tacos, ice cream, Blue Bottle Coffee, lobster rolls, cheese, you name it!  Luckily, it was a gorgeous day and I had a fine time just taking in the scenery.  Also, you can say I "cheated" because I drank coconut juice from a coconut, but I just su...

When on a juice cleanse, I expect to feel pretty darn great.  In my previous experiences of 3-day cleanses, I have felt on top of the world. Energize.  Clear Headed.  Not so hungry. Light. Flexible. As Day 4 draws to a close, I feel 96% great.  Definitely energized and clear headed.  That 4% of not-so-great is consumed by my stomach discomfort.  Part of what I love about juice cleanses are that they pretty effectively eliminate bloating and gas.  I'm not feeling that way quite yet.  (This is Day 2 of stomach discomfort starting around 5pm). Bottle Service. Today I drank a lot of fruit juices (unintentionally).  Maybe that is why? Also, I wonder how chia seeds are affecting my digestion/stomach.  They're great for a source of fiber, but maybe they are expanding in my stomach or intestine and causing some discomfort.  Yikes! My self-prescribed cured: WATER WATER WATER. Day 4 Menu: Mother Earth Doctor Green (Was amazed...

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Day 1 of the extended cleanseeee (cleanse with 4 Es for 4 times the impact! Maybe?).  Well, so far, so good.  I think I'll start to really question why I'm doing this on day 9.  All in all this will be at least the 7th or 8th time that I've cleansed, but the first time I've done more than 3 days.  In all the cleansing literature I've consumer, people wax eloquent about the important of detoxing with juice and supporting/optimizing this detox with massages, dry brush scrubs, spending time in a sauna or steam room, and...colonics.  Now, one may wonder, "what is a colonic exactly?".  Think about it.  Google it.  Now you know. I have always understood the theory behind colonics, but they terrified me.  It seems pretty unnatural and uncomfortable.  For the sake of experimenting and really giving this extended cleanse a run for my money (and because a Juice Press store manager and 34-day cleanser recommended it) I will get a colonic.  T...

Dear friends and family and readers, If you follow me on Instagram , you know that I love Juice Press .  I really cannot get enough of it.  There is a Juice Press on Mott Street that I tend to walk by quite frequently, and I've been known to walk past it and turn around to go pick up a bottle of their delicious juices.  Why am I so obsessed?  That's a really good question.  I think a few factors are involved. 99% of the juices I've tasted are DEEEE-licious. They are constantly adding new juice flavors to their arsenal so I am always able to try something new. Their "propaganda" is laugh out loud funny and I use the "You're a Pig" piece as a bookmark. Ginger Fireball . They offer a variety of raw foods including (some of my favorites) a marinated kale salad, chia seed pudding, falafel, and delicious "cheese"cakes and pies.   Juice Press epitomizes a healthy lifestyle brand and they are not trying to push some agenda on their cus...

I have been having a serious internal debate. Many people made a resolution to be healthier in 2014.  That may include incorporating juice cleanses or veganism or a paleo diet into a daily routine.  I am a BIG fan of juices and if you know my Instagram feed you know that I have developed a profound love for Juice Press. I feel great when I do a juice cleanse, but I sometimes question its efficacy. So for 2014 I'm thinking why do a juice cleanse when I can do a TACO CLEANSE. Look: The Hows and Whys of the Taco Cleanse This is just about the best thing I have ever seen.  When do I start?