THE RECIPE FOR WELLNESS WITH GIADA DE LAURENTIIS | BEST CLIPS

She's known for decadent and delicious pastas that remind you of an Italian beachside vacation. Today, Food Network star and chef, Giada De Laurentiis, is sharing brand new recipes that will jumpstart your tired taste buds and health. She's revealing her three-day reboot plan that gets her back on track after too many carbs, sweets, and wine, which, let's be honest, sounds right for a lot of us right now. Giada joins us now from her home kitchen. Giada, we're all eating for comfort right now. Oh, look at the kitty cat. My good, oh, it's a leopard. Oh my goodness. Yeah, she's a bengal. She's a bengal cat. She's just very, every time I start shooting something, she's all over me. Now she'll be gone. She's, you know, over it. I hope she has an agent. She's beautiful. So I see all the wonderful things in your kitchen, by the way. It's always nice to see people's homes. And we're all eating for comfort right now with that question. What secret indulgences do you turn to when you are stressed out? Well, I love sugar and mostly I love chocolate. So I have a freezer and refrigerator stocked with lots of different chocolate chips, chocolate bars, anything chocolate. So that is usually what I go for. And that is what I've spent 10 years figuring out how I can still indulge a little bit, but also try to really taper those sugar cravings. So when you feel like your indulgences have gotten out of control, this three-day reboot of yours just really enticed me. What are the health benefits you'll notice in that very short window of time? Well, the thing that I noticed the most was the ability to sleep better, which means uninterrupted and easier falling asleep. So solid, like seven to eight hours of sleep. And then not feeling so groggy in the morning. So more energy when I woke up, where I didn't feel like, oh my gosh, I need that cup of coffee, or I'm just not gonna make it through the day. And also the brain fog. I get a lot of brain fog in the sense that I would get, I would do a segment like this, Dr. Oz, and then I'd be depleted. I'd feel like, oh my gosh, I need a nap, or I need an espresso, or I need chocolate or sugar now in order to get through the day. And I know this isn't sexy, but bloating. I feel like that's what happens to a lot of people when they eat a lot of sugar, alcohol, gluten, and dairy, that combination, like a slice of pizza, and I would feel like, oh my gosh, my stomach, I have to open my pants, I have to do all these things. So it's all of those things. I felt like lighter, taller, clearer in my mind, and more energy. And that's when I realized, okay, even three days of this, it really helps. And so I feel like if you can get through that, then you can slowly start introducing your favorite things back in, in small amounts. You look like a gazelle. So I want to understand what this Giada three-day reboot plan looks like. Everybody, it's three meals a day, right? And all meals can have as many green veggies as you want. So load these plates up with as many green veggies as you want, right? But Giada says one meal can have animal protein, carbs, and healthy fat. So walk me through what it typically will look like. Okay, so for breakfast, typically you can do a smoothie, or you can do a chia seed pudding, or you can do some scrambled eggs with asparagus or any kind of green in it. So that's to start the day. Then for lunch, you can have white beans with sauteed broccoli rabe or any kind of green. And then for dinner, you can have your protein. I like it at dinner, but you can have it for, obviously for breakfast or lunch, if you prefer. But I love my oil, olive oil poached salmon. In fact, I just made it last night. It's very rich and filling, and you can make several pieces at a time and leave it in the fridge and just pull it out as you want it. And I serve it with loaded with greens. And you can also have some carbs. I limit myself to half a cup of either quinoa, brown rice, or you can even do a sweet potato, but just a small amount. I only do a half a cup. If you're a guy like yourself, you might want to do a cup because you can take more than I can. But a half a cup is really where I tell you to kind of stop so that you limit the amount of carbs, but you still get them. So you feel satiated and you go to bed happy. Being happy is a big part of this. And you'll actually be happy if you get rid of some of the foods that Jada says are off the menu on this three-day reboot. For example, no processed foods. Why would you do that to yourself? Red meat off just for three days, guys. You can just skip the barbecue. Dairy, which is the hardest one for me. Sugar and alcohol. I don't have problems with these. Dairy, though, I gotta admit, is a concern, but frankly, it's a little bit of discipline and confidence that you can make it happen that lets you start with this, then go in any direction you wish. So explain how taking these foods out of your body helps you research your field. Well, I really believe anything bagged is just, it's technically processed foods. I think that for a lot of us, we don't know what's what anymore because we're so used to having this part of our diet. And I would also limit nuts. Maybe just take a step back on having a lot of nuts, only because they're very difficult to digestion. So they make your system work harder. So I would say no processed foods. No chips, no bagged anything, really. I just think processed foods are just loaded with fats and sugars that are hidden and you never know what you're getting. So that alone will help you to sort of detox yourself. The inflammation in your body will go down. Red meat, difficult to break down, hard on the system, and obviously, for heart disease, cholesterol, all that. So just don't eat it for three days. For me, that's not that hard. For some people, that might be. Dairy, any kind of dairy. I don't even do yogurt. So if you wanna have anything in your coffee, I would use almond milk, oat milk, anything that's a non-dairy creamer, that will work. Sugar is the hardest thing for me. I have a really hard time with not having any sugar, especially in my coffee in the morning. It's very difficult. So a lot of times, I'll switch to tea in the morning because I don't feel I need sugar for that. But otherwise, you could try coconut sugar, maple syrup, things that are a little more pure rather than refined white sugar. I think that's like a duh. We shouldn't be drinking alcohol those three days. For all those reasons. But you should drink something else because I know you take hydrating very seriously. You've been on this stage talking about it. So correct me if I'm wrong. You drink 12 cups a day of something healthy, and you say there's a particular thing that you enjoy connected to the celery that's in front of you called a celery cooler, which makes hydration that much tastier. So explain this to me. I love the color, by the way. Isn't it pretty? I think the main thing with water for most people is it doesn't have any flavor. And so people are like, it doesn't taste like anything. I don't want to drink it. The thing is, you can sort of season your water, flavor it with stuff. So this is celery. Celery is a great anti-inflammatory, detoxer, and it hydrates you. It allows your cells to actually absorb the water better than even plain water. So celery is great. You can put it in the blender, some lemon and some salt and some water. It's so simple. Easy, easy things to do. But anyway, I drink this. I like to drink it first thing in the morning. It's really helpful to sort of make you feel a little lighter in the morning. It's the first thing and hydrate you because a lot of us wake up dehydrated in the morning. So I would say either this or a warm cup of water with some lemon in it. That is always hydrating. Before coffee, before tea, before anything else. And then I also like this spinach and coffee smoothie that I think you're gonna maybe take a look at also, which I think is great if you want to sort of switch it up and not have coffee for breakfast, but have coffee in your smoothie. So it's sort of a more decadent, but also a healthier way to get your coffee in the morning with a little bit of chocolate and cocoa nibs. Now you're just tempting me. Tell you, everything sounds and feels so good. You just want to do it. It's not even a penalty shot. And for three days, it's worth the experiment. I'm excited about what Giada eats after her three-day reboot as well, because ideally it takes you and grounds you, and then you're actually able to do the right thing when you come out of the three-day period. So up next, Giada's gonna share her guilt-free chocolate dessert that she promised us earlier. She says anybody, anyone can make it. Enjoy your celery. We are back with Chef Giada De Laurentiis, who is revealing new healthy foods that will blow your mind. For example, take a look at the new green drink. There's a surprising ingredient. Cocoa. Coffee or green juice? What about both? Just a little sweetness? Yes, good. Chin chin. It's a great pick-me-up. Healthy and... Giada, this is to die for. I mean, I tell you, it's brilliant. I don't know why people haven't been doing this for centuries. How'd you come up with green drinks with cocoa nibs? I'm so embarrassed others haven't done it yet. Well, cocoa nibs are actually pretty good for you, right? Minus the sugar and everything else that's in them. I mean, usually that's what happens when they make chocolate. They add sugar and butter and all this kind of stuff to it. But this is sort of the pure cocoa. And when you add that into a smoothie with spinach, which is an antioxidant, a banana, a little avocado, and then what you saw me pour in is actually coffee. So ground coffee. It becomes this sort of coffee-spinach smoothie in the morning, which is so much better for you than a straight cup of coffee. And, you know, it's also your breakfast all lined up in one. So, and it's honestly really delicious. It's, and people may not believe it because there's no sugar added, but it's actually decadent and fabulous. Well, the green drinks have enough sugar already in them. And the cousins of chocolate and coffee go perfectly together. But here's the thing. This is something you can have on the program, but if you want an even bigger chocolate boost, we're gonna surprise you now. Giada teased you about this. She'd come up with an easy dessert you can have after your three-day reboot. That is Guilfrey. This is your payoff for being good for those three days. It is called the chocolate and orange brown rice treats. Giada says this is like the nostalgic childhood favorite that everyone, you have, but most of us should have had. So show us how to make chocolate and orange brown rice treats. I've got everything I need in front of me. You do? Okay. So do you have some heated maple syrup and almond butter? I did. By the way, before I go, I have the ingredients. Maple syrup, coconut oil, are these rice? Yes. So this is puffed brown rice cereal. So instead of the white rice cereal that you would have made when you were a kid for these rice crispy treats, we're using brown rice puffed cereal. So same idea, but made with brown rice. And then what you do is you heat up maple syrup, so half a cup of maple syrup, and two thirds of a cup of almond butter so that it's nice and melty, just like that. Got the almond butter right here. Yeah, the coconut oil went into the dish so that we can put the paper down and you get that nice coconut flavor from that. So you pour all of that in there. And I also added about a quarter teaspoon of salt to the mixture to balance it out. And then about a teaspoon of fresh orange zest, because I think orange and chocolate, really great mix. Having said that, my daughter Jade is not a fan of the orange. So when I make it for her, I leave the orange out. So if you have kids, they don't always love it. Just heads up. No orange for them. And then you mix it all together. There you go. So instead of using the marshmallow fluff or the marshmallows, melted marshmallows you would normally use as a child, or we used to use, we're using the maple syrup and the almond butter to make it sticky. And then I add half a cup of chocolate chips, or you could ground up a bunch of chocolate bars, whatever you wanted. Remember I use dark chocolate because it has less sugar in it, but that's the decadent part of this. So up to you, what kind do you like? There we go. And we mix this all up together until all of the cereal is coated. And then we put it in a little baking dish like this. And I add the paper like this so that I can lift the bars out. You see after they've set in the fridge like that. So then you just pour the chocolate in here. You put the oil here already, right? On the paper, in the dish? Yeah, I did. And I put it on the paper, yeah, coconut oil, because coconut oil is so much better for you than the processed oils that we used to use. And then we push it down. Now, remember the trick to this is twofold. Number one, you gotta really press the cereal down, okay? So you really gotta press it down hard so that everything is sort of at one layer. And then you gotta pop it in the fridge and it's gotta sit in the fridge minimum of an hour to set and cool before you cut them. So press hard and then throw it in the fridge and let them cool completely. And you can do this the day before. The longer it sits, the better it is. But this is what they end up looking like. Do you have some done? Yeah, there you go. Did you try it? I just did. I was in my mouth. Oh, look. Oh, it's good. What do you think? The orange is brilliant. It gives it just- I love you too. The zest, as you mentioned, goes well with chocolate. I like that it's light. And you know what I like the most? It's big. I hate desserts that are tiny, like a little micron sliver worth of dessert. You can't actually get your teeth into it. This, you can fill your mouth without filling your belly. I'm very proud of you. Oh, thank you. And by the way, you can make them as little or as big as you want because you're cutting them so you can decide. All right. For more delicious, healthy Italian meals and Giada's healthy three-day reboot plan, you can find it all in her new book, Eat Better, Feel Better. It's beautifully done as everything she does is. It's available wherever books are sold. Giada, congratulations. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Enjoy the kitty cat. Bye-bye.