Create Your Own Personal Spa Retreat!

The bathroom is the space dedicated to cleansing and purifying the body. Soaking and unwinding in the bathtub, steaming and lathering in the shower, or simply splashing your face with water restores health and refreshes your energy and emotions. Imagine a tranquil oasis within your home where you can soak the day’s cares away and restore your sense of balance with the world. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

Get Started Today. Apply these simple, practical and inexpensive Feng Shui enhancements to your bathroom and create your own personal spa retreat, a place of relaxation and rejuvenation:

1.        Declutter and organize your bathroom. Remove any items that have no purpose there.

2.       Keep your bathroom clean and mold free (use ecofriendly and organic cleaning products)

3.       Fix dripping faucets. We may not realize how small things in our environment can be draining our energy, our health and our wealth. This is especially true regarding the flow of water. In Feng Shui water represents wealth, prosperity, cash flow, career and business opportunities. In our home water flows through faucets. Therefore, dripping faucets adversely affect our wealth, not just with a higher water bill, but with an overall feeling of income “dripping away” each week.  Fix dripping faucets as soon as possible.

4.      Keep drains fully functional. Drains that are clogged up can result in our feeling overwhelmed or blocked. These feelings can affect our health and finances. Clear clogged drains as soon as possible.

5.       Proper ventilation is a must for a healthy bathroom. Open your bathroom’s window each day to let fresh air in.

6.       Toilet and Bathroom Door – Always keep the toilet’s lid down and the bathroom door closed. Keeping the bathroom door closed and toilet seat down minimizes the loss of energy and money.

7.       Make your bathroom beautiful. Bright and soothing colors (walls and cabinets) can create a serene and beautiful environment

8.      Place art that gives you pleasure and brings you good energy.

9.      The right scents are an important choice, and you can choose aromas such as calming, invigorating, or romantic.

10.    Add plants and fresh flowers to your bathroom to promote positive and uplifting energy.

11.     Bring music into the environment while in the bath.

Relax in your own spa retreat, refresh and rejuvenate often. Love Yourself.

Inspired Transformation: “Ellie helped us to transform our dark bathroom into a beautiful private spa! We started by decluttering our bathroom and painted it a soft lavender color. Then we bought a lavender-blue shower curtain, bathroom rug, a couple of lavender candles and a beautiful purple Orchid flower. These simple changes resulted in an amazing transformation of our bathroom and all for the cost of $78.39. Thank you Ellie for your guidance and creativity. We love our new private spa!" Julie and John, Los Gatos

Copyright 2017, Lavender Design + Cuisine

Ratatouille with herbes de Provence Recipe!

A Taste of Provence on Your Plate!

Ratatouille is a traditional French Provencal stewed vegetable dish, which originated in Nice, in the south of France. It’s usually served as a side dish, but may also be served as a meal on its own accompanied by quinoa or millet pilaf, couscous or rustic bread. Ratatouille is very simple to make and a very healthy, nutritious, and delicious meal. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1.   1/2 cups cherry tomatoes

2.   1 Tsp. minced garlic

3.   1/3 cup diced shallots

4.   1 cup diced zucchini

5.   1 cup diced yellow squash

6.   1 cups diced eggplant

7.   1 cup diced yellow bell peppers

8.   1 cup diced orange bell peppers

9.   1/3 Tsp. sea salt

10.  1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

11.  2 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil leaves

12.  2Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley leaves

13.  1/2 Tsp. Herbs de Provence  

Directions: 

Add olive oil in a 12-inch sauté pan over medium heat.  Add shallots and garlic to the pan, sauté until wilted and lightly caramelized about 5 -7 minutes.  Add eggplant to the pan and stir occasionally, until the eggplant is partially cooked about 5 minutes.  Add bell peppers, zucchini, and yellow squash and continue to cook for an additional 7-10 minutes.  Add tomatoes, herbes de Provence, sea salt and cook for additional 5-7 minutes. Stir lightly to blend and serve either hot or at room temperature over couscous, quinoa or with rustic bread.  Sprinkle basil and parsley before serving.  Cold ratatouille on rustic baguette with a drizzle of olive oil is absolutely divine, so refrigerate the leftover for the next day.

Happy Cooking!

Chef Ellie Lavender

Lavender Cuisine

Copyright 2017, Lavender Design + Cuisine

Create A Garden For Your Senses: See. Hear. Taste.

Gardens bring us joy and happiness. Whether you have a large backyard, a small courtyard or just a stairwell with a few potted plants, you can turn it into a place of joy, relaxation, serenity and contemplation, a living sanctuary that refreshes your mind and spirit  Using colors and the art of arrangements, you can transform any outdoor space into a restorative garden retreat.

Get inspired! Create your own garden retreat:

1.  Make your garden beautiful and vibrant!

2.  Plant colorful and aromatic fruits such as strawberries; vegetables such as yellow squash; flowers such as roses; and herbs such as lavender, sage, mint and lemon verbena.  These categories of fruits, vegetables, flowers and herbs will invite bees, butterflies and birds to your garden in addition to creating visual pleasure.

3.  Add a soft wind chime, bird feeder, solar garden lights, vibrant garden balls, eclectic stepping stones, a couple of chairs and small table. These elements are perfect for stimulating your senses. They generate and promote good energy in your garden, home and life. 

4.  Create a garden that you can smell, feel, hear and taste!

5.  Connect with nature to enjoy its soothing power on your senses.

6.  Make a habit of having your morning coffee/tea in your garden, and enjoy a glass of wine in the evening.

Have fun with your garden!

Copyright 2017, Lavender Design + Cuisine

Celebrate Earth Day: Green Living Tips and Benefits

Celebrate Earth Day :: Green Living Tips and Benefits  

Every year on April 22^nd, more than 1 billion people in 190 countries take action to celebrate Earth Day! They plant trees, clean up their communities, contact their elected officials, and more—all on behalf of the environment.  

There are many things we can do collectively to promote a cleaner environment and reduce the harmful effects of climate change. One of them being a cultivation and promotion of Green Living. For example, we can:

1.   Improve the Efficiency of our Water Heater and HVAC System

2.   Get a High-Efficiency Showerhead

3.   Always run the Washing Machine and Dishwasher with a full load

4.   Avoid Cleaning Products with Harmful Chemicals and use Natural or Organic Ones

5.   Be Creative in so many ways when recycling: The best use of an old Claw foot Tub!

6.    Compost

7.    Avoid Buying Genetically Modified Foods (GMO).

8.   Shop from Local Organic Grocery Stores and Farmer’s Markets

9.   Eat Organic and Grow our own Organic Vegetables and Herbs

10.  Use Solar Energy

11.   Drive Electric Cars

Lastly, you can choose to become vegan or at least vegetarian. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that the meat industry generates nearly one-fifth of the man-made greenhouse gas emissions that are accelerating climate change worldwide . . . far more than transportation. Collectively we can reduce the harmful effects on climate change by having vegan or vegetarian foods. It's good for our health, and also contributes towards maintaining the natural ecological balance in the environment and preserving our beautiful planet.   

Promote environmental awareness on Earth Day and throughout the year.

Happy Earth Day!

Copyright 2017, Lavender Design + Cuisine

Roasted Vegetable Medley with Herbs de Provence Recipe!

Oven-roasted vegetables are delicious, highly nutritious and easy to make. You can enjoy them by themselves, on a bed of saffron lemon millet pilaf with a glass of Pinot Noir. You can also make sandwiches with toasted breads such as ciabatta, francese, whole grains or a bread of your own liking. Pesto spread and a slice of cheese (dairy or nondairy) will make this sandwich even lovelier!

Ingredients: 2 medium golden and red beets, 4 medium rainbow carrots, 2 medium parsnips, 2 medium fennels and 1 medium shallot. You can always add other vegetables. The key is to mix vegetables that are colorful and compliments each other in tastes.  

Directions: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash, brush, peal and thoroughly clean all the vegetables. Dry them with paper towel. Chop them into wedges, sticks, basically, into different shapes (see picture above). Place vegetables in a large bowl. Season with sea salt, 1 teaspoon lemon rind, 1 teaspoon of herbes de Provence, drizzle generously with olive oil, and toss them with your hands to coat them evenly. Spread the vegetable on baking sheet and place them in the preheated oven and cook, stirring the vegetables occasionally, until they are tender and golden brown, about 35-40 minutes.

Get inspired and create your own roasted vegetable medley art!

Happy Roasting!

Chef Ellie Lavender

Lavender Cuisine

Copyright 2017, Lavender Design + Cuisine

Revitalize Your Life in 3 Steps!

Spring is the season of renewal and celebration and a spring cleaning of your home will nourish and strengthen your energy, cultivating happiness and prosperity in your life!

Get started today. Apply these 3 simple, practical tips to your home and enjoy your happiness and prosperity amplified in amazing ways:

1.    Declutter - First thing first. Declutter your home. Remove any items, I mean any items that you don't have a use for, need or even like. Do a quick evaluation and decide where the item needs to go. Simplify the process by using the chart above. No need to go and buy fancy boxes. Just use what you have or get some boxes from the nearest grocery stores.

2.    Organize - Put everything in its logical place. For example, books should be on the bookshelf, not on the living room floor, dining room table, kitchen counters, etc.

3.    Clean your house top to bottom using non-toxic and eco-friendly products. Windows are a must. These days you can find people who come and clean your windows quickly and inexpensively. If you don’t have time to clean or you don’t like to clean, get some cleaning people to clean your house, yard, garage, etc., The goal is getting your house, hence your home cleaned, so find a creative and inexpensive solution to get it done.

These simple and practical actions will lift up the energy in your home, hence your life.

Happy Spring Cleaning!

Ellie Lavender

Certified Feng Shui Practitioner

Copyright 2017, Lavender Design + Cuisine

Discover how to Simplify Your Life in 3 Steps.

Living simply results in a rewarding lifestyle because it’s based on mindful consumption. It's about inner richness and gratitude for the things we already have rather than constantly struggling to acquire more and more stuff, which we don’t need. Excess results in mind and environmental clutter and inhibits paths to happiness and prosperity.  

Living mindfully leads to a lifestyle of gratitude. The idea of “less is more” is never more applicable than when living simply. When making do with less, the attitude of gratitude naturally extends into all areas of life, including just being grateful for life itself.

Simplify Your Life in 3 Steps:

1.  Declutter Your Home, Office/Workspace and Relationships – Release and Let Go

2. Organize  Your Home and Office/Workspace – Be Productive and Feel Empowered

3. Apply Feng Shui – Bring Balance and Harmony into your Life

Inspire Transformation Story - “Ellie helped us to declutter, organize and Feng Shui our whole house, which was neglected for many years! Once, we declutterd, organized and applied Ellie’s creative and inspiring interior design’s solutions, our house was transformed into a beautiful home, a place of joy, comfort and relaxation. The two areas, which needed the most decluttering and organization, were our children’s bedrooms. The immediate positive impact became apparent when we stopped asking our 9 year old daughter and 12 year old son to do their homework, pick up their things, stop arguing, etc. Pleasantly, we noticed our constant nagging had turned into praising them for keeping their bedrooms clean and doing their homework. We are also delighted that every Saturday morning they bring their dirty clothes basket to the laundry room and empty their trash cans, which have helped to keep their bedrooms clean and organized. Our daughter and son are now much happier and calmer. They also sleep better, argue less, and are more focused on their school work. For this amazing transformation and so much more, we can’t thank you enough, Ellie!“ 
~ Cathy & Steve , Almaden Valley

Copyright 2017, Lavender Design + Cuisine

Moroccan Roasted Rainbow Carrots, Golden Beets and Parsnips Recipe

Organic Roasted Rainbow Carrots, Golden Beets and Parsnips (great substitutes for potatoes) are full of flavors, delicious, nutritious and simply divine. This is a very delightful recipe for lunch or dinner, lovely by itself, and even lovelier over a bed of saffron-lemon millet pilaf or mixed greens. Pour a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice and olive oil dressing (prepare the dressing a few minutes before serving the meal so that it will stay fresh) over the veggies with the pilaf or the mixed green right before serving it. Additionally, a glass of Pinot Noir will complement this dish beautifully.

Ingredients (serving size 4-6):

1 pound rainbow carrots

1 Pound parsnips

1/2 Pound golden beets 

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 Tsp. Moroccan spice Zaatar (Cost Plus sells it)

1/2 Tsp. sea salt

1/2 Cup olive oil

Instruction: 

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. (the high temperature ensures that the veggies will cook quickly, stay crispy outside and tender inside).

2. Peel carrots, beets and parsnips. Wash and damp dry to remove moisture. Cut into 2 inch strips. 

3. In a bowl mix veggies with sea salt, lemon juice, Zaatar spice and olive oil until lightly coated.

4. Spread the veggies evenly on a cookie sheet and bake for about 20-25 minutes.

5. Remove from the oven and let it cool for 5 minutes before serving. 

Happy Cooking.

Chef Ellie Lavender

Copyright 2017, Lavender Design + Cuisine

Aspiring Young Artist Chefs Made Exquisite Chocolate Arts.

The Creative Hands of Aspiring Young Chefs 

Aspiring Young Artist Chefs Made Exquisite Chocolate Arts.

The amazing Tierra Pacifica Charter School students rocked the kitchen one last time. Today, in our 4th/last class they made Artisan Chocolates with Organic Herbs, Flowers & Fleur de Sel which they loved and promised to make for the Valentine's Day. These enthusiastic foodies and creative young chefs' beautiful teamwork and collaboration was simply amazing. Click here for their beautiful testimonials.  

Thank you Bengie, the amazing aspiring young chef students and the Tierra Pacifica Charter School for the wonderful opportunity to share my love and passion for vegan-vegetarian-Mediterranean cooking with you.

My Amazing Creative Students: Love your wonderful thank you card, it is sitting beautifully in my office. 

Cheers.

Chef Ellie Lavender

Lavender Design + Cuisine

Copyright 2017, Lavender Design + Cuisine

Aspiring Young Chefs Heartwarming Testimonials.

Such a beautiful time cooking with Tierra Pacifica Charter School Young Aspiring Chefs and enthusiastic foodies. Over the period of 4 weeks they beautifully collaborated, took turns chopping veggies, sautéing, seasoning, plating, setting up the table, enjoying the foods they made and cleaning up afterward, the most amazing students I have ever had. They rocked in our culinary class adventures:

Class 1 – Moroccan Couscous Salad with Lavender Lemon Tahini Dressing  

Class 2 – Pear Lavender Parfait  
Class 3 – Tangy Veggie Wrap with Yogurt Ginger Dressing 

Class 4 – Artisan Chocolates with Organic Herbs, Flowers & Fleur de Sel  

And below is a list of most heartwarming testimonials they gifted me with along with:

Benito, 5^th grade – “The best thing about the class was, we got to make healthy delicious meals, and we all worked together to accomplish a food dish.”

Taj, 6^th grade – “The thing I loved about this class was that we got to do teamwork to make our foods.”

Rohan, 5^th grade  – “I really liked that we made food from different culture.”

Olivia, 5^th grade  – “the best thing about this class was chef Ellie taught us how to cut up veggies and fruits. We also got to work together and cool.”

Richard, 7^th grade  – “Eating, learning and flower tastes.”

Ella, 8^th grade  – “I really enjoyed the sense of comradery.  It was fun cooking all together.”

Crosby, 7^th grade  – “ What I enjoyed in this class was that I got to try foods not from the US. This has inspire me to cook more and in different ways.”

Carmen, 5^th grade  – “The class inspired me to be a chef because we used teamwork and collaboration. The food was awesome. Thank you chef Ellie.”

William, 6^th grade  – “The class was fun because we got to help out with making food and we got to eat what we made.  I mainly signed up because I wanted to make chocolate, but later, I also loved the other foods we made.”

Desiree, 5^th grade  – “I loved this class because I was with all of my friends and I got to cook delicious food with them. Thank you chef Ellie.”

Thank you again the amazing students for your wonderful testimonials, the beautiful card and many thanks to you Bengie for your contribution, you are all simply the best.

Cheers, 

Chef Ellie Lavender

Lavender Design + Cuisine

Copyright 2017, Lavender Design + Cuisine

Valentine’s Day Recipe: Lavender Meyer Lemon Madeleines

A Valentine’s Day gift made with love. There’s nothing quite like making a special gift made with organic, healthy ingredients and ton of love. This lovely Lavender Meyer Lemon Madeleines are absolutely divine and very easy to make.  

Enjoy.

Chef Ellie Lavender

Ingredients: Makes about 15 madeleines.

1.       1/2 cup spelt pastry flour

2.       1/2 cup almond meal flour 

3.       1/2 stick unsalted butter

4.       1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

5.       1 tablespoon lemon zest

6.       1 tablespoon sugar

7.       1 tablespoons of organic dried culinary lavender (finely chopped)

8.       1/2 cup of almond milk

9.       2 tablespoons spelt pastry flour

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350. 

2.  Melt butter and set aside to cool.

3.  Prepare the madeleine pan by brushing melted butter into the molds with a pastry brush. Then, dust the molds with flour (the 2 tablespoons, no.  9), tap to remove excess flour. 

4.  In a bowl, combine spelt pastry flour, almond meal flour, sugar, lemon zest, and culinary lavender and lightly mix with a fork. 

5.  Add almond milk, lemon juice, lemon zest and melted butter.  Mix with a fork until the ingredients are well combined.  

6.  Use a tablespoon to place 2 tablespoons of the batter in the Madeleines’ mold.

7.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the tops of the madeleines spring back when touched.

8.  Transfer the madeleines to a wire rack to cool by inverting the pan. Let them cool for 10 minutes before enjoying it.

9.  Let them cool for an hour before packaging it as a gift.

Copyright 2017, Lavender Design + Cuisine

Promote Love and Sensuality in Your Life.

You Personal Valentine's Day gift to yourself. 

A clutter-free, serene, and mindfully designed bedroom generates a fresh flow of nourishing and sensual energy leading to peaceful rest, an enhanced love life and happy relationships. 

Get Inspired. Apply these simple, practical and powerful Feng Shui enhancements to your bedroom and watch your love life and relationships flourish and strengthen in amazing ways:

1.       Take a fresh look at your bedroom with an eye towards decluttering. Keep what’s essential and remove any items that have no relevance being there.

2.       Remove pictures, objects and art forms (from the past and present) that do not represent, invite, promote or attract love, romance and sensuality.

3.       Keep work-related items such as electronics devices, bookshelves and work desk out of your bedroom. 

4.      Organize your closets. Designate a place for everything in your closets (shoes in one place, shirts, skirts, suits in another and so on) and donate items you haven't worn in six months to a year. 

5.       Bring tranquility to your bedroom. Choose calming colors such as light blue or soft lavender for your bedroom. Invest in high quality beddings with a solid pattern and soft, nourishing texture.

6.      Add light fragrant candles or an essential-oil diffuser to your bedroom. The scent of Lavender induces relaxation. Rose and Jasmine scents promote sensuality, love and romance.

7.       Promote Love and Sensuality in your life.  Add books such as The Goddess' Guide to Love (Timeless Secrets to Divine Romance) and the Art of Sensual Aromatherapy (or other love related books of your own choice) to your nightstands. The goal is to invite love and sensuality into your life. Whether you are single or in a relationship shouldn’t matter.

8.      Be Awesome and Love Yourself Without Limits. 

      Inspired-Transformation Story - “Ellie helped me harmonize my bedroom, which greatly improved my sleep, hence my love life and relationships. For years I suffered from sleeping difficulties, but after decluttering my bedroom, I slept through the night, and woke up feeling rested and refreshed. At first it was difficult to remove electronic devices and art objects from my past relationships, but with Ellie’s guidance I felt empowered and let go of all of them. Thank you, Ellie, for your encouragement and knowledge!”
      ~ Julia , Santa Cruz

Copyright 2017, Lavender Design + Cuisine