Moody Liz - Glow pops: super-easy superfood recipes to help you look and feel your best

Copyright 2017 by Liz Moody

Photography copyright 2017 by Lauren Volo

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Moody, Liz, author.

Title: Glow pops : super-easy superfood recipes to help you look and feel your best / Liz Moody.

Description: First edition. | New York : Clarkson Potter, [2017]

Identifiers: LCCN 2016031171| ISBN9780451496447 (hardcover : alk. paper) |

ISBN9780451496454 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Ice pops. | LCGFT: Cookbooks.

Classification: LCC TX796.I46 M66 2017 | DDC 641.86/2--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016031171

ISBN9780451496447

Ebook ISBN9780451496454

Photography by Lauren Volo

Author Photo by Douglas Gorenstein

v4.1

prh

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Ive always been a firm believer that having a healthy life doesnt have to be limiting or difficult. Every time a new health trend sweeps the countrywhether its expensive pressed juices or imported Asian jungle fruits or powdered superfoods with exotic namesI find myself equally excited and frustrated. Excited because I love that the health conversation has become mainstream! No longer relegated to the subcultures, the desire to eat well and nourish our bodies has become common. Natural supermarkets are popping up all over the country, sales at McDonalds are at an all-time low, and people are finally asking, What are all these man-made ingredients I cant pronounce doing in my food? Is this something I should be putting in my body?

Im frustrated, though, because the health world can feel exclusive and intimidating. My health philosophy relies on a simple rule: eat whole, real foods. Thats it! You dont need a dehydrator or hours and hours of free time or a local farmers market thats filled with heirloom apples and microgreens (although if you have any of those things, thats wonderful too!). All you need is a desire to nourish your body and an appetite for the delicious bounty that comes from our earth.

This is one of the many reasons Im such a fan of Glow Pops, healthy, nourishing pops that fill you with energy and nutrients and make you absolutely glow. Once you nail a few simple tricks to ensure you get the right texture every time, you can have a ton of fun playing around with different flavor profiles. A Glow Pop is the opposite of a boring, flavorless saladand it often has far more in the way of nutrients. Anything that gets people not only eating nutritious food but truly enjoying itwell, thats a real win.

I didnt always view food like this. When I was in college, I was obsessed with calorie counting, giving far more credence to the numbers on the back of my packaged foods than what was actually in them. I was perpetually hungry, plagued with skin problems, and couldnt get rid of the excess fat I had around my belly, no matter how few calories I ate.

At the time, I was working as a newspaper columnist. For my column, Id often find myself traveling around the world, going on adventures that I could share with my audience. Along the way, I began to notice how local cultures viewed food. Most approached both making and eating it with much more joy than I did. Instead of nuking a two-minute meal, people were soaking grains overnight, letting a tagine simmer for hours, and spending entire evenings at the table, laughing and chatting and sipping wine well after the food was finished. In many of these cultures, the people were also healthier than most of the population back home: strong and slender, with clear skin and long, healthy hair.

Intrigued, I dove deeper into the gastronomical world. I took cooking classes in Italy and Syria, and a short sommelier course in Paris. I even worked on a farm in the South of France, plowing fields and turning goats milk into creamy, tangy cheese. At the same time, I began to note all the ways food was used as medicine.

When I returned to the United States, my approach to food had completely changedand so had my body. My skin had cleared up and my body had effortlessly found its happy weight (absolutely no calorie counting required!). I felt vibrant and full of energy, excited about the possibilities food held, for both my taste buds and my health, like never before.

I started my blog, Sprouted Routes, as a way to share this knowledge and all the easy, healthy, delectable recipes Ive developed in the years since. Sprouted Routes is all about easy paths to a healthy, beautiful life. Health doesnt have to be difficult. It doesnt have to be bland or ugly or more crunchy or less delicious. It can be glamorous, gorgeous, and bursting with flavor and life. And it can be fun, which is where Glow Pops come in!

Ive infused many of these recipes with the flavor profiles and ancient, natural remedies I picked up on my international adventures. Every pop in this book is made with whole, nutritious foods and is gluten-free, dairy-free, refined-sugar-free, and optionally vegan. There are pops for weight loss, pops to decrease your bloat, and pops to make your skin glow. There are antiviral, antifungal, and antibacterial pops as well as antioxidant-packed pops. There are pops designed to soothe specific conditionswhen my summer allergies kick in, I make a batch of Turmeric Golden Milk pops weekly to keep the itchy eyes and sniffles at bay. If I know Im going to be spending a lot of time outside, I rely on Cucumber Mint Mojito pops, which contain ingredients that help protect against skin cancer. And, of course, I keep a stash of Tomato Beet Bloody Mary pops in the freezer at all timestheres no better (or better tasting!) way to quickly get rid of a hangover.

While I love to eat pops as a healthy way to satisfy my sweet tooth in lieu of traditional desserts, many of the pops contain enough fiber, good fat, and protein to make incredibly healthy meals. Because you make pops in batches and then simply grab them, fully finished, from the freezer, theyre ready in less time than it takes to whip up a smoothie or toast an English muffin. During the summer, my husband grabs a Peanut Butter & Jelly pop on his way to work most mornings.

And by the waypops are simply fun! While adults love Glow Pops, often kids love them even more, and theyre a great way to sneak more healthy foods into even the pickiest eaters diet. Because most of the recipes are quite easy to prepare, its fun to bring kids into the kitchen from the beginning, letting them be involved in the actual preparation of the pops. My four-year-old niece is obsessed with the Cardamom Cinnamon Sweet Potato pop, while my girlfriends seven-year-old son, who turns his nose up at all vegetables, is obsessed with the spinach-packed Mint Chocolate Chip green smoothie pop.