Post Holiday Detox

Well I don’t know about you but I feel like it is time to detox. The holidays are a time to indulge, but sometimes I find it hard to kick my cravings for sugar and red wine after the new year arrives. I know I am not alone, which is why I have decided to lead another 12 day liver detox.

This 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 cleanse requires you to move. In order to feel your best I recommend you exercise daily. Your overall daily movement should increase. You do not have to exercise vigorously. When practicing yoga focus on twists to help detoxify the body.  If you don’t usually exercise start walking and stretching each day. Go outside and feel the sunshine on your face. That is if you can find any.

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

This is my second time leading the cleanse and I already have a great network of participants (newbies and veterans). 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. I know I will be getting lots of questions via Facebook and I will do my best to answer as promptly as I can. I do want to point out that you will be most successful if you start making these changes today and slowly implementing the cleanse. This will create more of a lifestyle change and make it a little more sustainable. Just because you binge on a brownie does not mean you are done. You can always brush those crumbs off your lap and continue with the cleanse. This is not an all or nothing diet!

I made the start date for the cleanse January 19th. You can start before or after this date, it is all up to you! Scroll down for some helpful resources.

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

You can access a spreadsheet with a breakdown of cleanse worthy foods and food groups to avoid here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xWVGxHl1EePkBGyD88SLClU1mRqeZVnvsjMe2gg1wLM/edit?usp=docslist_api

I also made a daily checklist to help you keep track of your food intake:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NIoOCPt0SR1TS4ZMPvr5-R5dU-SzJ_GXD_KEz_XDr5I/edit?usp=docslist_api

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 🙂

Gut Health Pumpkin Spice Smoothie

Fall is officially here in Virginia.  The nights are in the low 40’s and Trader Joes is stocked with all things pumpkin.  I don’t usually like the taste of  most pumpkin flavored products.  They all taste artificial and not much like pumpkin if you ask me.  I remember trying the Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks a few years ago.  It was so disappointing, I ended up taking two sips and dumping it in the trash before I left the store.  Now Starbucks is being slammed with criticism for using caramel coloring and other artificial ingredients.

So maybe pumpkin packaged goods are icky, but you can still celebrate fall by making delicious and healthy homemade recipes with fall squash.  Pumpkin is a super food.   So why not add it to everything?

Pumpkin Packs:

• Lots of dietary fiber
• Low calorie count
• Antioxidants to improve skin and sight
• Vitamins A& B
• Folates
• Minerals like copper, calcium, potassium and phosphorus

Recently I have been on a quest to improve my gut health. Going dairy, grain, soy and legume free has made breakfast a challenge.  I have had to get creative to find things that keep me full when I don’t have time for eggs and veggies in the morning.  So let me present you with my Gut Healthy Pumpkin Spice Smoothie recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 frozen banana
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tbsp ground flax seed
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 1 tsp organic honey
• splash of unsweetened coconut milk (or as much as needed)
• few dashes of cinnamon
• 1 dash of nutmeg
• 1 dash of ground cloves

Simply add all your ingredients together, blend and enjoy at home or on the road! Happy fall y’all 🙂

Pumpkin & Almond Butter Muffins

Whether you want your muffins for breakfast, a snack or dessert, this recipe is for you. These muffins are moist, decadent and pretty damn healthy. If you are a health food junky you likely have all the required ingredients ready …

Super-Gut-Food Almond Butter

I have been dealing with Leaky Gut Syndrome for a while now, but my flare ups have become irregular and almost obsolete.  In fact, my gut has been fairly healthy in the past year and a half.  However, this past Monday I was completely blind sided by the side effects of this crap syndrome.  So for a few days I was consuming mostly liquids (coconut milk, kombucha, hot tea, and lots of water).  I eased my way to coconut milk yogurt, sauerkraut and mashed up bananas.  My stomach was inflamed and my energy level was insanely low due to a calorie deficit.

So now I am on a mission to repair my intestinal lining and get back to a healthy gut.  My diet for the next 2-4 weeks is going be restrictive, more or less Paleo with some extra rules.  I cannot eat soy, sugar, legumes, dairy, night shade vegetables, grains or anything processed by any means. Last night I had a dream I was eating Chinese food. I don’t even like Chinese food.  I have been Gluten Free for almost seven years and I remember in the first year I would have dreams I was eating sandwiches all the time.

It is not complete torment, I still get to eat most of the things I love.  I will be consuming lots of coconut products like coconut milk, coconut milk yogurt, coconut oil and coconut butter.  Fermented foods like sauerkraut and kimchi are great for gut health and I do love an excuse to splurge on kombucha.  I will be attempting my first bone broth this weekend which is supposedly deeeelish, I just hope I can find some chicken feet.  Another great food group for gut health is sprouted seeds (like flax seed, chia seed and hemp seeds).  Which brings me to my creation this morning.

Super Gut healthy Almond Butter

• 2 tablespoons of Almond Butter ( I use Trader Joe’s Unsalted Crunchy)
• 1 teaspoon of Chia Seeds
• 1 teaspoon of Ground Flax Seed
• 1 teaspoon of Coconut Oil

Mix them all together and enjoy! I spread mine on apple slices for a mid morning snack.  This is a very filling spread so you might not need to eat the whole two tablespoons in one sitting, but it’s so good I cannot help but lick the bowl clean.