This salad is my most loved. It's my go-to when I'm headed to a BBQ or a get together... because no matter what is served, this salad is a meal in itself! Packed with fiber, antioxidants, and TONS of nutrients... it's worth EVERY amount of effort. 

I highly recommend making 2 batches of this. The dressing is SOOOO freaking yummy and is good on any vegetable known to man. It can even be used as a marinade. 

The base of the salad combines super antioxidant rich vegetables that nourish your body. Red cabbage boosts the immune system as it is one of the top vitamin C foods on the planet!! It helps fight inflammation, arthritis, AND promotes a healthy gut!

Cilantro is AMAZING at removing heavy metals from our body such as aluminum, arsenic, and cadmium! (Source) Also this salad is full of plant protein! The amount of quinoa in this salad boasts 12 grams of protein! Combing with raw garlic and ginger? Come on! What more do you need in a salad? NOTHING!

Serving food that...

I must say that making your very own coconut yogurt feels like such a huge accomplishment! As I discussed in another blog post, The Benefits of Fermented Foods and How to Eat More of Them, making your own coconut yogurt can be an easy way to get good probiotics and healthy gut-healing properties into your and your family's bellies! 

Check out my video above to learn how you can easily make this in 12 hours! 

Here's what you need: 

Starter Yogurt - This can be a store-bought coconut yogurt like GT's Cocoyo or another clean option. You just need a couple tablespoons. Once your batch is ready you can always use that as your starter to make your next batch! 

Coconut Cream - I love Trader Joe's organic canned options. It's affordable and super fatty and yummy! Any coconut cream will do, just make sure it's void of any gums or preservatives! 

Hand Mixer or Blender - This is helpful when you have coconut cream that is separated, especially when it's cold......

You'd have to be hiding underneath a rock to not know about fermented foods... but if you were like me, when I heard the words "fermented foods" it was like hearing a foreign language. 

I literally had no clue how to eat, source, or even get my hands on fermented foods. I never grew up eating gut-healing foods so when I began my journey towards moving myself and my family towards optimal health, I learned quickly how imperative it was to consume foods that contained SO many gut-healing qualities. 

My wish is to inspire you, if you don't already, to consume fermented foods regularly. It's vital to our health and the health of our gut! 

Fermented foods offer a myriad of health benefits.

Fermentation literally increases the nutrients in our foods. Humans have been fermenting foods since Neolithic times.

When we eat fermented foods they: 

• Increase the antibodies in our bodies and leads to a stronger immune system.
• Help regulate the appetite and reduce...

 This delicious and simple salad is SO easy to make and delicious to eat! With tons of fiber, phytonutrients, and flavor this could just be one of your new staples in life!

I'm all about keeping healthy cooking simple! This salad has always been a hit and is super simple to put together! The feta is a perfect addition but is also optional!

Of course, I suggest buying all ingredients organically! If you can't buy everything organic make sure you are following the Dirty Dozen & Clean 15 Lists! I've included them below. Always buy produce on Dirty Dozen list organically and those listed on the Clean 15, you can buy those conventionally.

Okay now that you better know to buy your produce, let's do this:

Ingredients:

8 Medium - Large cherry tomatoes cut into quarters
1/2 Large cucumber peeled and cut into bite size pieces
1/4 cup chopped red onion
Handful of Arugula chopped
1/4 cup organic feta (Sheep's feta is best and healthiest!)
2 tsp. of Italian spices
3 Tbsp.. Extra...

Let’s reminisce….

… dog days of summer,  playing by the pool all day long (probably without sunscreen), and consuming Popsicles until our heart’s content… awe the sugary sweetness paired with frozen sensation was marvelous.

Now back to reality. Store-bought Popsicles are laden with high fructose corn syrup and artificial coloring making this novelty treat a tragic reflection of  the over processed and cheapened food industry… even the sweetest and most simple summer treats fall victims.

Just because it’s summertime doesn’t mean you have to forego one of the most awesome inventions ever!

Homemade Popsicles are so simple and require just a few tools: Blender, Popsicle Molds, and Popsicle sticks. I recently purchased these and DIG them…

Two super simple recipes for Homemade Popsicles:

Fudge-nut-sicles:

2 bananas
3 tbsp cacao powder
1/4 cup nut...

I’m all about finding healthy recipes and making them even healthier! I’ve been using this recipe, adapted from Kookies and Cate, for a few years now.

I make it my own by using sprouted flours and adding seeds like chia and hemp to up the nutritiousness! Lately I’ve been using the Paleo flour by Bob’s Red Mill. It’s gluten free and works SO well in baking!

I love making this on the weekends and sometimes if the boys are up, they’ll help me… the smell is AMAZING and it pairs perfectly with my adaptogen coffee (recipe coming soon!).

When it’s done, we rejoice and indulge in yumminess. Okay, enough talk… Let’s do this:

HEALTHY HOMEMADE BANANA BREAD:

INGREDIENTS

• cup melted coconut oil
• ½ cup maple syrup
• 2 pasture raised eggs
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 ½ medium or 2 large bananas)
• 1/2 cup milk nut milk (I use homemade cashew milk… here is a recipe to make your own)
• 1 teaspoon...

My inspiration in life is to make delicious comfort food as healthy as possible. I mean, I don’t want to live my life not enjoying the fullness of food! It’s a gift to source, create, and consume food! I see it as an act of love, to myself, my family, and my friends.

Take this potato salad for example. When you cook and cool potatoes they transform into resistant starch. This creates less stress on blood sugar! Resistant starch is not digested in the small intestine, so it won’t raise glucose. Our guts need to be fed and resistant starch ferments in the large intestine feeding our good bacteria in the gut. Just this process of cooking and cooling potatoes has a HUGE impact on how our bodies respond to the potatoes. Isn’t that fascinating? I think so.

If you want to learn more about resistant starch and other foods that feed our healthy gut bacteria, click here!

So the trick to making healthier potato salad, is to cook the potatoes in advance. I like to cool...

Remember those jello packages we used to make with our moms?

Strawberry Jello contains: (Sugar, Gelatin, Adipic Acid (For Tartness), Contains Less Than 2% Of Artificial Flavor, Disodium Phosphate And SodiumCitrate (Control Acidity), Fumaric Acid (For Tartness), Red 40.)

Full of artificial sweeteners and chemicals, this shit should be banned and NEVER allowed to be fed to kids. Luckily this nourishing gummy / jello recipe is not only healthy, provides lots of protein, antioxidants, and minerals… it doesn’t contain all that SHIT!!!

The ingredient that creates the mixture to “gel” is gelatin, which has a plethora of health benefits:

• • Improves Gut Health and Digestion.

• • Protects Joints and Lowers Joint Pain.

• • Helps Improve Sleep Quality.

• • Lifts Your Mood and Improves Cognitive Abilities

• • Improves Skin Health

• • Helps Maintain Heart Health

• • Maintains Strong Bones
  • Helps You Feel Full

Read more about this healing...

The liver is the most important detoxification organ in our body! It works DAY and NIGHT to take care of us, so it’s paramount we take care of it!

This salad is created with nourishing plants that support the liver and other organs that work in tandem with it. The star ingredient in this salad is beets and beet greens. High in betalains, beets helps reduce inflammation, protect against oxidative stress and can help reduce risk of liver damage. They are also a wonderful source of fiber and vitamin C, which naturally cleanse the digestive system.

Also, I love using cold pressed flaxseed oil as it is high in Omega 3 Fatty Acids (essential to life), can help help improve gut and skin health. I add it to all my homemade salad dressings and smoothies!

Okay let’s do this!

Ingredients:

• 1 large beet, grated
• 1/2 apple, grated
• 1/2 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced
• 1 cup beet greens, finely chopped
• Juice from 2 whole lemons
• 3-4 Tbsp of organic, cold-pressed flaxseed oil

Directions:...

his super simple and nutritious side dish, is one I often overlook. I usually always buy a big head of cabbage every week… and when it’s still lurking around in the fridge after a few days, I either make my Asian cabbage slaw or this warming recipe as a perfect side dish for any clean meat!

Red cabbage is so good for us! It’s packed with disease-fighting and gut healing nutrients. One of the top vitamin C foods on the planet, it supports our immune system and it’s loaded with fiber… which every human needs more of in their diet!

If you want to learn more about the benefits of this cruciferous vegetable, check out Dr. Axe’s article ALL about it’s healthiness!

This simple recipe is easy and can be a quick side dish to cook along side your wild caught salmon, grass fed steak, or roasted pasture raised chicken.

Okay, let’s do this!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 Tbsp Grass Fed Butter or Coconut Oil
• 1 Yellow Onion – chopped
• 1/2...