Heal Your Whole Body: The 12-day Plan to Flush Toxins & Balance Hormones

Today I started a cleanse alongside many of my clients, friends and family members. The cleanse is not what you may think of when you hear “CLEANSE”. It is not about starving yourself, or overdosing on sugary juices. This is 12 days of clean eating paired with milk thistle supplements and dandelion root tea. The diet is centered around promoting healthy liver function. Our liver is what sifts all the toxins we consume in our diets and all the chemicals we breath in everyday. When our liver is working optimally, we feel more energized and hormonally balanced. This diet has been seen to decrease inflammation, bloating, headaches, help with arthritis, clear skin, improve mood and decrease sugar cravings.  This clease requires you to move. Inorder to feel your best I reccommend you exercise daily.  Your overall daily movement should increase.  You do not have to exercise vigorously.  I reccomend lots of yoga and walking.  Go outside and feel the sunshine on your face.

The cleanse involves lots of vegetables, spices, healthy fats, pre and probiotic foods, sulfur and lemon water.  To be successful you will have to cut out dairy, gluten and all processed foods.

I used the past week to prepare guidelines, sample grocery lists as well as tips to help all participants cleanse with ease! My cleanse is based off of Frances Murchison’s book “Heal Your Whole Body”. Click the below link to read an overview of the cleanse:

http://www.rodalenews.com/foods-your-liver

If you are interested in feeling better you can join my support group on Facebook. Here you can find links to a sample grocery list, a quick guide to the cleanse as well as recipes for other cleansers and myself. If all goes well with this first cleanse, I plan on repeating the same diet post holidays!

Join my Facebook group to stay updated: https://www.facebook.com/groups/874533072564308/

Gooey Pumpkin Bars

Gluten free, dairy free, vegan, full of fiber, guilt free and absolutely delicious.  This recipe screams fall without an over powering pumpkin spice flavor.  I wish I could say I came up with the genius secret ingredient, but the credit goes to the Purely Twins.  The ingredient that makes these bars gooey and flour less is pureed plantain.  I had all the necessary ingredients in my pantry, with the exception of a plantain, so chances are you have most of these ingredients already at home! I modified the original recipe just bit.  See below:

Ingredients

• 1 medium ripe plantain
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 cup turbido sugar
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil (1oz), liquid
• 1/2 cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• Puree the plantain in a blender or food processor
• Combine all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl but hold the chocolate chips
• Add the plantain, pumpkin and coconut oil to the dry ingredient bowl and mix well with a spatula
• Fold in chocolate chips if you so desire
• Spread the mixture into an 8×8 baking dish greased with coconut oil and bake for 20-25 minutes

These bars are gooey and decadent, but are best when stored in the refrigerator.  They are moist and prone to molding if you leave them out for days at a time.  I have a bar recipe similar to this one and I always keep cool or even freeze if I know I cannot gobble them up in less than a week.  I usually do not have that problem…

This recipe packed with fiber and makes for a great snack, breakfast or dessert.  Feel free to experiment and add your own mix ins.  I think pecans or sliced almonds would add a great crunch! If you try anything out, let me know how it goes 🙂

Slow Cooker Chicken & Sweet Pots

Everywhere I look I see delicious fall recipes.  I would love to crank out an elaborate seasonal feast every night, but with my funky work schedule I like to have dinner ready when I get home.  My last client usually ends around or after dinner time so it can be a pain to come home and prepare food.  The crock pot is truly the answer to this dilemma.  This recipe is gluten free, delicious and only takes 10 minutes of prep.

Ingredients:

• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 1 pound of organic skinless chicken breasts
• Half of an onion
• 1 cup of unsweetened apple sauce
• 2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• Salt & Pepper
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 2 cloves of garlic minced

Directions:

1. Peel and chop sweet potatoes
2. Slice chicken into one inch cubes
3. Place chicken and sweet potatoes in crock pot and season with salt and pepper
4. Mix onion, apple sauce, apple cider vinegar, cumin and garlic in a small bowl
5. Place mixture on top of chicken and sweet potatoes, cover and cook for 6 hours on low

I have eaten this dish a few ways.  On the first night I ate the dish alone.  On the second day I mixed with red quinoa and on the third day I served alongside sauteed kale and brussel sprouts.  It’s tasty, filling and delicious as a leftover.  I found the original recipe via Stock Pilling Moms and look forward to trying more of their slow cooker recipes!