The end of fall is always a hard time for me and this year has been no exception. Life sometimes has a way of letting you down, bringing you down, or creeping up on you. As you can tell, that is a lot of different directions to be pulled in! Often in these times when I am not feeling well emotionally I start to indulge in food and drink that does not do my body good so instantly I also do not feel well physically.

This happened in the past few weeks. I was indulging in too much whiskey, sweets, and other unsavory items. My body was feeling sluggish and I needed a reset. No one is perfect nor will they always eat perfectly but as someone who is conscious of what I am eating, I can easily recognize that it was effecting my mood and my self-esteem. Winter hadn't even started and I felt like I had packed on my winter weight.

So what do you do? You do a juice cleanse combined with raw foods, well at least that is what I do! On Sunday after gorging on pizza and cake, I came home and took our my juicer and got to work. I have a slow juicer so the juice lasts for a number of days, I made a big batch of apple and turnip green juice as well as a beet, carrot and ginger juice so that I had some variety.

Let me tell you, after the first day you feel so much lighter and remarkably better physically. This in turn provides a mental boost as well. Now, I don't want you to picture me drinking juice all day long. In the morning I have a smoothie so that I can blend in my Green Vibrance and for lunch I drink juice. Throughout the day I snack on fruit if I am still hungry and for dinner I eat a raw meal. This means that I eat vegetables uncooked and no this does not have to be boring!

The recipe here is for my Raw Collard Green Burritos that are stuffed with zucchini, peppers, onions, garlic, and spices - essentially its like eating a chunky veggie filled salsa inside of your collard wrap and it is insanely delicious. The best part is that if I wanted to eat 3, I totally could! After 4 days of juicing and eating this way, I feel more like myself. I hope that you enjoy!

Raw Sprouted Lentil and Vegetable Collard Green Burritos

1 Zucchini, chopped

1/2 Onion, Chopped

1 Garlic clove, Chopped

1 Green Pepper, Chopped

1 Poblano Pepper, minced

1 Jalapeno Pepper, minced

2 Tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup Corn

1/2 cup Sprouted Lentils

1 tbs Cumin

1 tbs Chili Powder

2 tbs Olive Oil

1 tsp Honey

1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar

Pink Himalayan Sea Salt to taste

Large Collard Green leaves

In a large bowl, add the chopped vegetables, lentils and spices, stirring to combine. Taking 2 collard green leaves, remove the tough inner stem. Place them dark green side down with the stem sides overlapping in the center.

Add a heaping portion of the veggies and lentils to the center of the leaves. Tuck the short ends in and roll up burrito style. Cut in half and enjoy!

I love to add a little spice to my life, heat things up a bit, especially when it comes to the tongue! Poblanos Chiles are one of those delightful peppers that pack a punch while imparting a rich smokey taste that makes you want to eat the entire pan of whatever you have made with them - trust me, I had to stop myself after the first pepper!.

When thinking about heat, I often forget about this delightful pepper, especially since I have a ton of jalapenos still in the freezer from my summer CSA. However, yesterday I ran into my local farmers market to grab some apples and wandered over to the discount rack. Now if you are like me, you love a good bargain and you love vegetables! Eggplants that need to be baked in the next day, limes that need to be juiced, or peppers that need to be roasted right away do not daunt me, especially when a whole bag is 75 cents! Well lo and behold, they had a 75 cent bag of poblano peppers that were begging to be roasted and stuffed and I just couldn't resist. Now if I had been thinking straight I would have grabbed a lime and some cilantro to add to my dish but I was overwhelmed by this amazing deal and didn't think of it until mid preparation.

Poblanos are great because they are easy to stuff, in reality you could put anything inside of them and they would taste divine. This recipe stuffed these beauties with quinoa, onion, garlic, yellow peppers, corn, tomatoes, black beans, and goat cheese. The goat cheese is an awesome addition as it provides a cool, creamy, tang to counteract the heat.

After roasting the peppers and preparing the filling, I decided to place the peppers into a salsa style fire roasted tomato and bake it for 20 more minutes in order to blend all of the ingredients together, however, you could definitely skip this step if you are short on time or famished. I hope that you enjoy!

Roasted Poblanos stuffed with Quinoa, Corn, Black Beans, Tomatoes and Goat Cheese

3 Poblano Peppers, roasted with skins and seeds removed

1 cup Quinoa

2 cups Water

2 tbs Olive Oil

1 medium Onion, chopped

2 cloves Garlic, chopped

2 small yellow peppers, chopped

1 cup Black Beans

1 cup Corn

2 Roma Tomatoes, chopped

1 tbs Cumin

1 Tbs Chili Powder

Pink Himalayan Sea Salt to taste

4 oz Goat Cheese, Crumbled

1 can Salsa Style Fire Roasted Tomatoes

Turn the oven on Broil to preheat. Place the poblanos on a baking sheet and broil, turning every few minutes until the skins are blackened, about 10 minutes. Place in a brown paper or plastic bag for 5 minutes to steam. Preheat the over to 350 degrees.

Meanwhile, bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce to medium low and simmer for about 15 minutes or until all of the water is absorbed. Put aside.

Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium high heat until glistening, add the onion, peppers, and garlic cooking until softened. Add the corn, beans, and tomatoes, stirring until heated through. Add the spices to the pan cooking for 1 minute more until fragrant. Add in the quinoa and stir to combine.

Taking the peppers out of the bag, run them under cold water to remove the skins. make a slice down one side with a sharp knife and remove the seeds. Try to keep the stem intact for easier stuffing.

Open the can of salsa style fire roasted tomatoes and place into a small baking dish.

Add 3 oz of the goat cheese to the quinoa and vegetables, stirring to combine. Carefully stuff the peppers with the quinoa mixture, placing them into the fire roasted tomatoes. Sprinkle with the remaining goat cheese and bake for 20 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling. Enjoy and healthy eating!