Massaged Kale with Fennel Salad

This salad is delightfully nourishing and gives you all the benefits of kale, without the digestive distress. When you massage kale you break down some of the tough fibers in the cell wall that make raw kale hard to digest. 

If you normally have trouble digesting kale the solution is to either steam your kale or massage it. This recipe is one of my clients favorites! You still get all the amazing benefits of raw kale: the enzymes, magnesium, vitamin C and more. 

Massaging nourishing oil and lemon juice into the kale also help make the nutrients more bioavailable and easier to assimilate. Plus, it tastes delicious and can be paired with grilled chicken or fish for a classic healthy meal. 

Ingredients

• 1 bunch kale, chopped

• 1 large lemon, juiced

• 1 large garlic clove, minced

• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

• Sea salt and black pepper to taste

• 1 cup shredded carrots

• 1 cup chopped celery

• ½ cup thinly sliced fennel (optional if you don’t like the taste of licorice)

• ¼ cup pine nuts
  
  

Directions

1. Add kale to a large mixing bowl along with lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Using clean, bare hands, massage the kale until it is wilted (about 2 to 3 minutes).

2. Once the kale is ready, top your salad with carrots, celery, fennel, and pine nuts. No extra dressing is needed.

If kale is something that’s hard to digest for you, there might be a deeper issue that needs to be addressed. If you want to be able to eat whatever you want and have no digestive issues, you need to check out my gut health program. These principles have truly transformed my life as well as countless others. 

Check out my new 6 week program Stop Dieting and Live Your L.I.F.E - Discover your #YOUtrition launching February 11! Or join me for one of my upcoming webinars where you will learn more about your #YOUtrition and have the chance to ask me any questions!!

Hormone Supporting Coleslaw

say whaaaaaaaaat?!

Hey Hey Diva friends!! What the heck is hormone supporting coleslaw? Am I joking?! No my friends I am NOT and you should get EXCITED because this is one super healthy, super delicious, and (yay!) super EASY recipe....

Let's touch on the benefits of each ingredient first.

*This post contains affiliate links from Amazon*

Cabbage. Estrogen dominance is a very common hormonal imbalance in women. Processed foods that mimic estrogen, chemical exposure and poor detox ability can all contribute to estrogen dominance. Cabbage is a cruciferous vegetable and cruciferous veggies have phytochemicals called insoles which help you metabolize your estrogen down the healthiest pathway possible. (more on that when my next podcast drops on July 16!) In addition. green veggies in general are great for supporting your liver and digestion both of which are super important in regulating your hormone balance! 

Coconut Mayo. This is your source of healthy fats. Healthy fats are CRUCIAL for balanced hormones. A low fat, low carb diet is often a precursor for hormone imbalances. Coconut oil provides nutrients needed for hormone production AND it can assist in calming inflammation.

Raisins. Mostly in here for flavor, raisins are a dense source of carbohydrates which (as stated above) are necessary in whole foods form and in healthy proportions to maintain hormone balance. Turns out, they are also a great source of magnesium, iron and boron which studies have shown boost your absorption of magnesium AND beneficially impact your use of estrogen.

Bacon - YES BACON. This is in here because well....it tastes darn good :)

Easy Peasy Coleslaw

Ingredients:

• Cabbage
• Applegate Sunday Bacon
• Organic Raisins
• Chosen Foods Coconut Mayo (or any other clean, healthy fat based mayo like avocado or olive oil)

Directions: 

1. Cut about half the cabbage into shredded pieces
2. Cook the bacon until crisp
3. Mix 2 large spoonfuls of mayo into the cabbage ( I actually melted mine down first to thoroughly coat the cabbage)
4. Crumble the bacon onto the cabbage mix
5. Add approximately 1/2 cup raisins or until it looks visually decent :)
6. Mix well and keep refrigerated!

Fall Apple Salad

Welcome to October Diva friends! 

I have to admit that traditionally, I'm not a salad person. So when my MRT food sensitivities test came back with spinach and lettuce as foods to avoid, I wasn't too disappointed. HOWEVER, I am so aware of the many benefits of leafy greens that it felt weird not making more of an effort once the easy-go-to spinach wasn't an option.

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The other day I sat down to plan my weekly meals and decided that this week was going to be a "detox" week. No no, I wasn't going on an "all liquids" diet, or dropping my calories below 1000....All I wanted was to get lots of vegetables in, lower my meat intake (for no particular reason other than to get more easily digestible foods priority and include more beans and lentils) and include a juice every morning. So as I was looking for some recipes to include I stumbled across this Autumn Kale Apple and Quinoa salad, and thought, "That sounds like the perfect fall salad!"

I modified it to use what I have in the house and to avoid my personal food sensitivities and what happened was a DELICIOUS, sweet, crisp fall salad that I am excited to eat for lunch every day this week! OBVIOUSLY I had to share it with YOU!

*Notes* I modified the amounts to make 1 serving every day. I did make the full amount of dressing up front so I could have that prepared all week!

Picture from cookingclasssy.com

Fall Apple Salad 

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup sprouted quinoa trio
• Bowl of shredded kale
• 1/2 honey crisp apple chopped
• 1-2TBS pistachios
• 1 TBS raisins
• Drizzle of pre-made dressing 

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Prep ahead/personalization notes:

1. While this is something you could make in large amounts on Sunday and pack for work lunches (minus the dressing) I chose to make mine fresh every day. I did however prep a few things to make it easier. For example, I made a large batch of quinoa on Sunday so I could pull from that for snacks and/or this salad throughout the week.
2. I took one bunch of kale and pulled all the leaves off the spine, placed the leaves in a dish in the fridge so I can pull my daily portion out at lunch. I utilized the leftover leaves and spines in my morning green juice.
3. To save half the apple you can wrap it in aluminum foil after you rub the exposed side with lemon or lime juice to stay fresh. Consider having the second half as a snack later in the day. I used half in my morning juice and half in my salad at lunch.
4. Use any nut you enjoy! 
5. Goat cheese is delicious but optional! Make sure you read the ingredients and choose a high quality brand without extra ingredients or preservatives! 

ENJOY!

p.s. Did you try this? Comment below! I'd love yo hear your feedback!