By Jessica Lang, Holistic Health Practioner, Massage and Body Care Director at Spa Velia

When I make dessert for my family I insist upon cooking from scratch and from utilizing ingredients that I already have to avoid wasteful packaging and overconsumption.  Some amazing recipes have been born this way!  Please do the same and substitute your own ingredients for the ones you don’t have …then let me know how they turn out.
Here are 3 of my original recipes for organic, natural, yummy and vegan desserts!!
~Vegan Chocolate Coconut Cake with Strawberry Coconut Glaze
Ingredients and instructions for this egg-free, dairy-free, yummy and easy cake:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
No need to grease the pan.  You can actually make this right in a glass 8X8.  Simple instructions…combine all ingredients…apple cider vinegar goes last…stir well by hand.  Bake for about 25 minutes until fork comes out clean.
1 cup whole wheat flour, 3/4 cup coconut flour, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut, 1/2 cup cocoa, 1 pinch salt, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/4 cup coconut oil (raw), 1 1/2 cups coconut milk, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (acv).
Allow cake to cool fully…it will be hard to resist eating it, so make the glaze while its cooling!
Glaze ingredients and instructions:
1 cup organic powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 chopped strawberries, add coconut milk by the tbsp for desired consistency.  I mixed this with an electric mixer, could be done by hand, but the strawberries may not blend as well.  Pour over cooled cake or serve as a side next to sliced pieces.

Texture and consistency…A+++++++…very moist!

Nathan couldn’t get enough of the Coconut Strawberry Glaze!

~Vegan Strawberry Mango Coconut Sorbet
Ingredients and instructions:
2 cups strawberries, 1/2 ripe mango, 1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut, 1 cup coconut milk, 1 tsp vanilla
Blend!!!!!!!!!!!!
Place glass bowls in the freezer for about 90 minutes.  This will make 2 big servings or 4 appropriate servings…lol…we happen to be pigs in this house and eat big servings!
Then sit back and enjoy a DELICIOUS and healthy dessert.  Can be a great smoothie too, just freeze your strawberries first!

~Vegan Oatmeal Coconut Cookies
Ingredients and instructions for these cookies that we gobbled up in an hour:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a cookie sheet with a tiny amount of coconut oil.
2 cups whole wheat flour, 3/4 cup whole oats, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/3 cup coconut oil, 1 pinch baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tbsp ACV apple cider vinegar.
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl, adding the ACV last.  Hand mix with wooden spoon.  Place by the tablespoon on the prepared cookie sheets.  Allow between 7-10 minutes to cook, we like them chewy and cooked them for about 9 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool on a rack.  You’ll definitely need a metal spatula for this because these are egg-less and therefor they are more prone to break.  Do not fear, once they are cooled they are much more sturdy…but will you let them cool or will you stand there and devour them?!

Having these in the oven made the house smell AMAZING!

Hope you enjoyed my coconut frenzy!  Please feel free to link up any amazing coconut recipes that you have discovered!!

Looking for more uses for coconut oil?  Check out these bisquits that I love to make!

Filed under: News and Events on January 27th, 2012 | No Comments »

The time for giving is here.  The holiday joy felt when
bestowing gifts upon loved ones is euphoric and sensational.  Have you
thought about how to bring some of that seasonal bliss foward into your own
life?  Lets start with boosting the Karmic factor in your gifting choices!

Here are Spa Velia’s Top 5 tips for Karmic Gifting:

#5 Random Acts of Kindness:

Broaden your horizon of gift giving and begin to give of
yourself to others.  Staying an extra 30 minutes so your co-worker can get
to his daughters school production of Nutcracker means so much to that family
that will have life long memories of that night.  Give up the front row
parking spot at the mall for the person behind you looking flustered at the
wheel.  These types of good deeds are simple, inexpensive and follow the
simple rule of Karma, Cause and Effect!

#4 Think before you wrap!:

Its time to think outside of the box and ribbon.  Why
add waste to a less than ideal global climate? There are many products
available for reducing your Holiday footprint; such as, recycled wrapping paper
and biodegradable tape. Paper grocery store bags and yes even cloth grocery
totes make excellent alternatives to the traditional heavily-dyed,
non-recylable gift packaging.  Think GREEN, many sprigs, herbs and dried
berries make beautiful accents to a repurposed gift presentation. Being
creative and eco-friendly with packaging choices is fun, economical and very
good karma!

#3 Buy Local and Support Small Businesses:

Buying locally can have one of the biggest impacts on saving
the environment. When you buy gifts at a local farmer’s market, you cut down on
the need for more produce to be sent across the highways in a big 18-wheeler,
thus cutting the need for more gasoline and harmful gas emissions being put into
the atmosphere.  You are also helping to sustain that small business by
giving your purchase as gifts.  Local honey, jams, pies and even CSA
(community shared agriculture) memberships are all presents that would give
your gifting karma a GREEN boost!

#2 Gift for a Cause:

There are so many ways to give the gift of charity during
the holidays!  There are loads of companies, local and national who give a
portion of their proceeds to a worthy cause.  One could also purchase
gifts or services directly from a chartible organization such as, Livestrong,
Humane society or the YMCA of America.  Local church bazaars are also a
great place to find a hidden gem from a non-profit organization in need of
support.  Feel good about contributing to a cause of your choice while
your karma goes, up, up, up.

#1 The Ultimate Relaxation, the gift of Spa:

Namaste, (I salute or recognize your presence or existence
in the universe) bringing mutual respect into fruition.  What better way
to acknowledge admiration for an individual’s life than to help them take a
moment to LIVE in the moment?  A massage or facial comingled with
relaxation and harmony will enhance the lives of the gift recipient and the
gift giver. Karmic factor…epic.

Merry Gifting!

Filed under: News and Events on December 9th, 2011 | No Comments »

http://www.examiner.com/day-spas-in-san-diego/spa-bound-consider-hitting-up-a-green-day-spa

Filed under: News and Events, Press on February 16th, 2011 | No Comments »

Spa Velia to Provide Chair Massages for Breast Cancer Survivors at The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on Sunday, 11/07/2010 in Balboa Park.

Oct 1, 2010San Diego, CA. The wellness experts from San Diego’s Spa Velia will donate the time and talent of their massage therapists to the 11th Anniversary San Diego Race for the Cure, sponsored by the San Diego affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, in Balboa Park on Sunday, November 7st. Spa Velia will be in the Survivors’ Tent starting at 6:30 am on race day, and will remain there throughout the entire event, providing chair massages to survivors until approximately 1:00 pm. This will be Spa Velia’s 5^th year participating and coincides with their 5^thanniversary of the opening of their business!

Filed under: Press on October 11th, 2010 | No Comments »

Organic Gardening for Healthy Spa Cuisine
by Lisa Rogers Sykes, Eco-Friendly Specialist, Universal Companies

Note: This article is intended to be a very basic overview, not a complete how-to guide.

Organic gardening isn’t as complicated as it
sounds and the benefits are threefold! In the simplest of terms, organic
gardening does not employ the use of GMOs, synthetic pesticides,
herbicides, or fertilizers. Additionally, the soil is also free of
chemicals and only organic seeds (or plants) are used. When these
respectful techniques are applied, vegetables maintain the highest level
of taste and nutrients, and they offer the cleanest, most beneficial
ingredients you can include in your kitchen’s recipes. If your spa
already features light, healthy meals, then it only takes a few
additional steps to transform your spa’s dishes into sustainable organic
spa cuisine. Further, by constructing a raised bed garden, you are
implementing the easiest, most efficient gardening technique to produce
the highest yield for the smallest space, without investing large
quantities of time, energy, and money.

Because organic gardening prohibits the use of chemical
pesticides, natural “pesticides” are utilized instead. In fact, these
natural “pesticides” are probably already on your property: beneficial
insects (ladybugs, lacewings, and the praying mantis) and birds. While
beneficial insects and birds devour garden pests, they won’t eat your
plants. You can invite most beneficial insects by planting daisies and
herbs nearby or by purchasing a “starter community” online. Birds are
easy to attract—place some seed feeders within the vicinity of your
garden and keep it full of black oil sunflower seed—they won’t be able
to resist! In addition, you can try plant variety and crop rotation.
Pests are often plant specific, so to prevent them from taking up
residence in your garden, plant a variety (such as tomatoes, eggplant,
and cucumbers) and rotate the next year with another selection (maybe
potatoes, lettuce, and peppers). Insects that have wintered over will
not have a free meal the following year.

Luckily, due to
its design, a raised bed doesn’t require herbicides because weeds are so
infrequent, but when they do appear, your hands are best for the job.
Raised beds contain very loose soil, so weeds are easy to pull up—no
strenuous tugging or digging required.†

Fertilizer for an organic garden must also be natural, which
would include nutrient-rich kelp meal, bat guano, manure (from a farm
that raises animals on hormone-, antibiotic-free, natural and/or
vegetarian diets), and compost. A rolling compost bin is easiest for a
busy spa because it can be placed next to the garden, it keeps a good
amount of material out of the landfill, and it is discreet. Some
readily available items that can be placed in a compost bin are shredded
cardboard and newspaper, egg shells, small twigs, tea bags, coffee,
coffee filters, and vegetable scraps. Moreover, these materials can be
divided into two categories: greens and browns. Rich in nitrogen, greens
comprise of vegetable scraps and coffee grounds. Browns, which are
generally fibrous and packed with carbon, consist of twigs, egg shells,
and newspaper. The ratio of greens and browns should be around 30 parts
browns to 1 part greens, just enough greens to aid the decomposition
process.††

Good “starter” sizes for a raised bed are 4′ x 8′ or 8′ x
16′—you can always add on to them later. For illustrative purposes, this
article will describe the brief construction of a 4′ x 8′ raised bed,
which takes at least two people and the following items: flat shovel,
rake, black garden fabric, metal garden spikes, rubber mallet, hammer,
1-1/4″ Phillips screws, Phillips screwdriver or drill, saw, 3 -2″ x 10″ x
8′ cedar boards, 4 raised bed corners, 60 cubic feet of organic soil or
barn dirt, 1 -4 cubic feet bag of peat moss, and organic manure. Once
you gather your supplies, pick a flat area and measure it into a 4′ x 8′
area, and snap a chalk outline. Remove all grass in this area with the
flat shovel, making sure that the roots are gone. Next, tack down the
garden fabric with the metal spikes, overlapping and cutting the fabric
rolls as needed. Saw one of the 8′ boards in half, making two 4′ boards.
Then, with the hammer, tap the first 8′ board into one of the corners.
Once secure, drill the screws in place. Repeat until you’ve formed a
box. Make sure box is placed over the fabric, and tap the end caps
(which come with the corners to protect them from rust) into place with
the rubber mallet. Fill with organic soil and top it with 1″ to 2″ layer
of peat moss, raking it in. Then, add the organic manure and work it
into the soil. Plant seeds or plants according to package directions and
for which zone you’re located.

Once your spa has its very own organic garden, it can boast
about the vitamin-packed vegetables it produces onsite, just for its
clients. Adding phrases such as “specifically grown for you” or
“nurturing hands and nourishing food” to your marketing material
strongly addresses your spa’s mission: to provide soothing holistic
services and wholesome, sustainable cuisine. Plus, by offering homegrown
goodness, your spa is no longer just a spa—it’s a dual focused
treatment center, dedicated to the total health and wellbeing of its
clients.

† TIP: In a larger raised bed, you can avoid packing your
dirt down by using an extra board to step across it, like a bridge.
This will enable you to get to the middle and harvest your vegetables
without compressing the soil.
†† TIP: For more in-depth information concerning composting, visit HowToCompost.org.

Filed under: Green Tips and Articles on September 15th, 2010 | No Comments »