Name: Ivy Larson

Kids: Blake Larson, 10 years old

Occupation: Author, “Clean Cuisine” Cooking Instructor & Recipe Developer, Fitness Instructor & Publisher of CleanCuisineandMore.com (The Clean Cuisine book will be published by Penguin in Jan 2013.)

Hometown: North Palm Beach, FL

H&H Interview with Ivy:

1.  What advice do you have for families looking to start eating clean?

So many people have an “all or nothing” mentality and I think that sort of thinking really sets the stage for failure. Instead of striving for “perfection” I think moms should strive to boost nutrition whenever and wherever possible. Instead of focusing on “counting food” (in the form of calories, carbs, fat grams, etc.) it is best to focus on making food count nutritionally—-load up on nutrient-dense foods at the grocery, especially fruits and vegetables. If it is too overwhelming to revamp your family’s eating habits all at once then start by making a commitment to serve one fruit and one veggie with every meal. Then move on to revamping just dinner and do that for 1 month. Commit to making a “Clean Cuisine” dinner for one month and the 2^nd month revamp breakfast. But most importantly ditch the “all or nothing” mentality!

2.   What are your top 3 go-to Clean Cuisine recipes?

For Family Meals: Healthy Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce with Veggies Galore

For Chocolate Cravings: Dairy-Free Chocolaty Healthy Cupcakes with Vegan Frosting

For Quick, Easy & Nutritious Kid-Friendly Snack: Garbanzo Bean Bread Triangles

3.  What is your guilty pleasure when you get a little coveted ‘me’ time?

Getting a massage or pedicure. I really think it is very important to take time for yourself, relax and recharge. I make it a point to get a massage or pedicure once a week (alternating weeks) and it really does wonders for my mood—and energy levels!

4.  What would we be surprised to find in your purse?

Green Vibrance individual greens drinks packets, Costco brand Kirkland green tea & a Lara Bar (favorite flavor is Carrot Cake)

5.  What is your favorite reality TV show?

When it comes to TV the joke with my friends is that I live in outer space…I never watch TV, except for in the mornings I have the Today Show on while making coffee and breakfast or the Food Network on while making dinner. I have never liked TV (I do like movies though! Just last night watched Eyes Wide Shut with my husband—strange movie, but good!)

6.  What is your favorite cocktail of choice? You can still drink when you eat clean, right?!

Ha ha, YES! You do not need to be a teetotaler to “eat clean”. Although I don’t really drink cocktails I do have a glass of wine on a nightly basis. People are always SO surprised that wine doesn’t make you gain weight but there is solid research that it doesn’t. Here’s a link to an article I wrote a while back with references: Does Wine Make you Fat? (note: wine does increase risk of breast cancer, so I wouldn’t recommend it on nightly basis if you have a strong family history of breast cancer)

But, on the occasion when I do make cocktails my absolute favorite is my watermelon concoction which is so easy to make—just put 3 cups of chopped super cold seedless watermelon cubes in a blender and process until smooth. Add vodka to taste. Pour mixture into a pitcher and add 1 cup chopped fresh mint. Put pitcher in freezer for 20 minutes. Drink ice cold.

7.  What is the funniest thing your son has said or done lately?

Hmmm….the funniest thing Blake said a while back was that “Daddy is very smart at doing operations on people, but mommy is super smart at cooking.”



8.  What is your favorite quotation?

“Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”—Anonymous

9.  How do you instill the importance of an active lifestyle with your family?

Lead by example. There really is no other way. You can’t preach healthy living…you just have to do it. You can mention at the dinner table why vegetables are healthy and you can talk to your kids while you are jogging with them how running will make them strong and healthy—but you can’t preach about these things unless you are DOING them. My son is now 10 years old, he is incredibly athletic and healthy (he’s been on antibiotics just once in his life)—at this age he now totally “gets” that the whole healthy living thing has made a difference. I don’t need to preach to him!

10.  Who is your favorite celebrity mom and why?

I don’t have a favorite and to be honest I don’t know a whole lot about them…but it seems like Kelly Ripa, Gwyneth Paltrow, Heide Klum and Gabrielle Reese are all very loving and devoted moms who seem to approach fitness and nutrition in a healthy positive manner.

11.  What is one thing most people don’t know about you?

Hmmm….I think most people probably know just about everything! I’m pretty open!

12.  What is your secret to staying Hot & Healthy?

I definitely don’t think of myself as “hot” but I do think I look good for my age (35 years old). I have several habits that I think have helped me keep youthful-looking skin and keep excess pounds off:

Eating lots of fruits and vegetables (fruits and vegetables have phytonutrients that help protect the plant, but they also help protect YOU, the plant-eater and many phytonutrients act like antioxidants that combat the free-radicals that accelerate aging)

Strength Training. Ever since I was in high school I have done some form of strength/ resistance training exercise—you just can’t stay tight and toned as you age (especially after having a baby!) if you don’t strength train.

SLEEP!!! I get a solid 8 hours every night. I make sleep a priority because I know nothing is more rejuvenating than a sound sleep.

Drinking a “Greens” Drink once a day for flood of nutrients and anti-aging antioxidants. Here are two of my favorites.

*Thanks, Ivy!*

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