In the springtime, our bodies naturally want to start detoxing to “clean out” all of the gunk that we’ve stored up over the winter (which was pretty brutal this year!).
Wastes and toxins build up in our bodies from stress, processed and refined foods, sugar, fried foods, chemical additives, and pesticides. That is just one of the reasons we often feel tired and sluggish, hold on to extra weight (toxic tissue is a fat storage hog!), and don’t radiate health in the way we look.
Fortunately, this salad contains a bunch of ingredients that naturally promote the elimination of wastes and toxins. Check out all of the detoxifying ingredients!
This is a great dish to bring to a potluck or cookout. You can even make it the night before and store it in the fridge to let all of the flavors come together!
I went to one of my best friend’s birthday parties a few weeks ago (yay for turning 30!) and brought this salad with me. I doubled the recipe for the party, and it made enough for a group of 50 people. It was a HIT!
Refreshing Quinoa Salad with Apples & Almonds
Bring this to your next potluck or cookout or make it for your family!
1 cup peeled, diced tart apple, such as Granny Smith
1 cup finely chopped celery
1/3 cup golden raisins (you can use regular raisins if you can’t find golden ones :))
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
1/4 cup of thinly sliced green onions/scallions*
1/2 cup coarsely chopped almonds, toasted
Coarse salt and pepper
*I added about 1/4 cup of thinly sliced green onions/scallions to the original salad recipe, since they are in season and add another dimension of flavor. They are also detoxifying and an anti-cancer GBOMBS food!
Growing up, I LOVED pasta, especially angel hair pasta. I ate it multiple times a week with butter, garlic powder and heaps of parmesan cheese. It was my go to meal, even in college.
Since removing gluten from my diet a few years ago, I’ve tried alternatives like lentil and brown rice pasta (that are delish!), but sometimes I want something even lighter.
If you’re looking for some creative alternatives to pasta that are packed with nutrients, won’t weight you down and are perfect for warmer weather, you have to try…zucchini noodles.
AKA Zoodles!
Meet, the spiralizer. This gadget will open a whole new world of food possibilities for you. You can use it with zucchini, carrots, beets, cabbage, and a range of other fruits and veggies. Better yet, if you have kids and you’re trying to introduce them to certain veggies, let them use this gadget and I bet they will be a little more tempted to try what they spiralize!
I’ve included a video below for how to use it.
Zucchini noodles are a great alternative to pasta because they don’t spike our blood sugar or contain gluten like most pasta. You’ll be AMAZED at how similar the texture is to pasta…you can still twirl it on your fork, too!
Here’s the fun part…spiralize the zucchini! Watch the video below to learn how. (Then, cut the the strands in chunks with scissors, otherwise you will end up with one very long strand of pasta!)
To make the pesto, put the red pepper, walnuts, garlic, and sea salt in a food processor (we used a mini one), and pulse until blended but still a bit chunky.
Top the zucchini pasta with one or two spoonfuls of pesto and some paleo parmesan cheeze and enjoy!
Broccoli with non-dairy “snow” sprinkled on top. Yum!
When I found out that dairy products were triggering a lot of the health issues that had plagued me since childhood, I started to give them up little by little. I had been eating foods that I thought were good for me my whole life that had actually been harming me.
The more I cut out, the better I felt. It seemed like a miracle!
The last two foods I took out of my diet (after much resistance!) were yogurt…and my beloved Parmesan cheese.
Pasta, pizza, zucchini, ravioli, Beefaroni, zucchini, summer squash, and broccoli all tasted infinitely better when covered with a generous coating of Parmesan cheese.
I used it so often, I didn’t know how I would live without it and struggled to find alternatives that were even remotely comparable. Fortunately I’ve found a recipe thatlooks and feels just like it and tastes “cheesy” enough to satisfy! It’s considered paleo, too, because it doesn’t contain any dairy. (I don’t follow the paleo diet exclusively, but whenever I’m looking for recipes, I use it as part of my search since paleo automatically means it’s dairy and gluten free.)
The best part? It’s one of the easiest recipes I’ve made andhas only 3 ingredients 🙂 Hooray for simplicity!
1 cup unsalted cashews (Trader Joe’s has the cheapest!)
1 teaspoon sea salt
Mix it in a food processor until it is the texture of Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle it on cooked veggies, salads, pasta, or on anything else you’d normally use Parmesan cheese. I used it on sauteed broccolini with tomatoes and garlic the other day and on my salads throughout the week, and it was so good! YUM!
With the weather finally resembling spring and the temps hitting almost 80 degrees today (yay!), I was inspired to share a new recipe for a deliciously decadent summertime (or anytime!) treat…
Fudgesicles!
I remember buying 18-count boxes of fudge pops when I graduated from college and enjoying them every day. Since they were a low-calorie AND sugar-free treat, I thought I was making a healthy choice!
Yum! Homemade fudgesicles!
Out of curiosity, I looked up the ingredient list for Popsicles Sugar Free Fudgesicles, and this is what I found:
Really? Do we need over 20 ingredients in a fudgesicle?? I don’t even know what half of those things are, but I’m pretty sure I don’t need them in my body.
I’m excited to share this recipe because it’s 2-in-1. The same recipe that makes fudgesicles ALSO makes creamy chocolate pudding if you leave it unfrozen. How cool is that?
This recipe is dairy-free and doesn’t contain any refined sugar (or the laundry list of chemicals in the store-bought kind!), and it results in a rich taste and creamy melt-in-your-mouth texture because of the avocado and coconut milk.
Bill and I and two friends tried these for the first time the other day, and we couldn’t tell the difference between these and the “real thing!”
1 cup canned coconut milk (or other non-dairy milk) – I used full fat coconut milk to make these nice and rich. You can find the coconut milk at any grocery store, often in the international aisle. I use this kind.
As I’ve been on a journey to upgrade my dietand make healthier choices over the past few years, I’ve been introduced to new snack food options, ones that don’t contain 42 ingredients like my beloved Doritos but still satisfy the salty/crunchy desire many of us have.
While I try to eat as many unprocessed, unrefined, whole foods as possible, I don’t do it all the time.
When I do eat something processed, I look for as short of an ingredient list as possible, one that contains ingredients a third grader can pronounce…and ideally has around 5 (not 42!) ingredients.
That’s why I like these!
Way Better Tortilla Chips
These are two of our favorite varieties of Way Better Chips!
Way Better chips contain 6 ingredients and are made from real foods like sweet potatoes, organic chia seeds, and sprouted quinoa, that are not genetically altered like almost every other snack food on the market today. The sprouting process that their ingredients undergo increases the nutrient value compared to grains and seeds that aren’t sprouted and makes them more easily digestible.
Noocho Cheese with Way Better Sweet Potato Chips – yum!
Another plus is that these chips are certified gluten-free, so if you have sensitivities to gluten or are gluten-intolerant, you can still enjoy them! 🙂
Way Better makes a lot of different varieties, but we like the Sweet Chili, Sweet Potato and Black Bean chips the best.
It’ll be worth the read to get to this dairy-free noocho cheese recipe at the end!
One of the reasons a lot of us don’t take the time to cook or try out new recipes is because we are afraid of failing, fearful that we will “mess it up” and that it will have been a waste of money on food.
We’ve all been there, right?
I often experiment with recipes I’ve never made before and ingredients I’ve never used. I learn what I like through trial and error and take the “will this really taste good?” guesswork out of it for you 🙂
As I continue to focus on a dairy-free lifestyle because of how much better I feel eating this way, I’m sometimes challenged to find comparable alternatives to dairy-based favorites.
In my last post, I shared one of the key ingredients I now use in my cooking to impart some “cheesy” flavor. I promised that one of the recipes I would share with you would be a dairy-free nacho cheese sauce (AKA “noocho” cheese, since nutritional yeast or “nooch” is what gives it its “cheesy” taste).
Most of the time when I prepare new recipes, they turn out great and taste delicious, and I can’t wait to share them with friends and family.
Not-so-nacho cheese…first recipe attempted – won’t be making this one again!
It lacked flavor, and no matter what I added or even if I heated it up on the stove, I couldn’t get it to taste right…and it definitely didn’t resemble nacho cheese.
Fortunately, using a recipe from this cookbook, noocho cheese attempt #2 was a HIT!
Bill and I made it on Friday night and brought it to a friend’s house as an appetizer, and they liked it, too. Check out the recipe below. You will not regret making this stuff! 🙂
The Ultimate “Noocho” Cheese Sauce
Yum Yum Cheesy Goodness!
Ingredients*
1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked in water for at least 30 minutes and then rinsed (Trader Joe’s has the cheapest)
We served it with our favorite healthier chips, which I will share more about in my next post! I enjoyed some leftover sauce the next day with baby carrots. You have to try this!
*There’s a good chance that a couple of things in this recipe aren’t already in your pantry…don’t let that stop you! Ordering online at Amazon or Vitacost is super easy, or you can pick them up the next time you’re at the store.
If you don’t know where to find something, ask. I’ve found that people are happy to help!
Tahini (find in the international section of most grocery stores, in any natural food store, or online.)
Roasted red peppers (sold in glass jars in the non-refrigerated section of the grocery store)
Nutritional yeast (you can buy this online at Amazon, Vitacost or other retailers, or at any natural food store, Wegmans, Whole Foods, MOMs, or Roots)
Despite the fact that I was a lifelong lover of dairy products like yogurt (ate it every day!), ice cream, string cheese, and Parmesan cheese, I cut out dairy products a couple of years ago.
It turns out that dairy products were triggering a number of health issues I had for most of my life – from allergies, congestion, sore throats, ear infections, indigestion and acid reflux to skin issues, gas and bloating. I used to get congested frequently, had chronic ear infections (which meant lots of antibiotics), and took Claritin and Zyrtec for seasonal allergies, along with reflux reducing meds like Prilosec (for 10 years!).
For me, cutting out dairy has been one of the keys to begin healing my body, not being sick so often (almost never!)…and getting off of those medications naturally. It’s been pretty amazing!
Check out my *NEW* Pinterest board – Deliciously Dairy Free – for additional articles on the topic as well as dozens of recipes for non-dairy alternatives to foods like cheese, cheesecake, ice cream, milkshakes, dips and dressings. I will be featuring many of them in upcoming blog posts, so stay tuned!
One of the questions people often ask me is, “How do you live without cheese? I could never give up cheese.” The short answer is there isn’t an “exact” match, BUT I’ve found some great options to use as replacements!
One of those foods is nutritional yeast (AKA “nooch”).
Nutritional yeast! I bought this kind at Wegmans, but you can also get it at Whole Foods, MOMs, Roots, or online at Amazon, Vitacost or other health food retailers.
A few years ago, I had never even heard of nutritional yeast and certainly wouldn’t have guessed it was something edible. This is kind of like the eggplant naming question…couldn’t they have picked a more appealing name??
Despite its odd name, this stuff has been a staple in our pantry for the past 3 years. You can find it online, or at Wegmans, MOMs, Whole Foods, Roots, or other natural food stores.
Here’s the 411 on why you might want to get yourself some “nooch”!
It’s a great source of protein and contains essential amino acids (protein building blocks!).
It’s loaded with vitamins, especially B vitamins, which are important in hundreds of your body’s processes, including staying energized and fighting stress.
It’s low in sodium.
If you can get past the weird name, it’s worth giving this stuff a shot.
I will be posting my favorite “nooch” recipes in the coming weeks – check out the list below for a sneak peek of what I will be making and sharing!
This is what “nooch” looks like out of the container
Herby homemade popcorn
Salad dressings
Kale chips
“Cheezy” curly kale salad
Dairy-free “cheese” sauce for mac & cheese or nachos
Nutty rawmesan cheese (a substitute for my beloved Parm cheese!)
Want to learn more about nooch? Click here or here!
This has been one of the most read posts on my blog. I’ve summarized most of it in this video, so feel free to check it out and read below for the full “concoction” recipe and links to learn more.
Sometimes the scientific evidence for something is lacking but anecdotal evidence is strong. That’s the case with what I’m about to share. You’re going to have a hard time finding someone who is going to be eager to fund research about the health benefits of a natural product like raw apple cider vinegar (ACV).
Why?
No one stands to benefit financially, which is the opposite of what happens in the case of pharmaceutical research when drug companies benefit.
I swear by ACV as a “cold kicker” and immune booster, which is largely anecdotal but is supported by the experiences of my family, friends, peers and others online.
“Lack of proof isn’t proof that something isn’t happening.”
The research on the benefits of apple cider that has been done is promising in the area of helping us control our blood sugar and keep us feeling satiated. Controlling blood sugar isn’t just something that concerns diabetics. When we control our blood sugar, we get off the mood and energy roller coaster and we feel fuller and satisfied longer, which may lead to eating less overall.
Apple cider vinegarhelps stabilize our blood sugar by slowing what is known as “gastric emptying,” or the rate at which food leaves our stomach. If it takes longer for food to exit our stomach, we will feel fuller longer!
Not only that, but the main substance in apple cider vinegar is acetic acid, and it has been found to kill bacteria and prevent bacterial growth. This is one of the reasons, in addition to its digestive supportive properties, that ACV is often implicated as an immune booster. Anything that supports digestive health, boosts our overall health and well-being.
Using just any apple cider vinegar won’t provide all of the benefits. In this case, the type and brand really do matter. The ACV that I swear by that you can now find at just about any grocery store, every health food store, and online, is Bragg’s Raw Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar with “The Mother.”
Bragg’s Raw, Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar with “The Mother” – this is the bottle to buy!
Regular apple cider vinegar is clearer and kind of looks like apple juice; it’s been filtered. The good stuff (Bragg’s) contains some cobweb-like stuff at the bottom of the bottle called “The Mother,” which is made up of raw enzymes and bacteria that promote digestive health, as they feed the good bacteria in our gut.
I started using this stuff about two years ago when I first came off of the acid reflux medication I had been taking for almost 10 years. Since then, I’ve been using it as the base for an energizing morning drink and whenever I start to feel like I’m coming down with something. I also love using it in salad dressings and to add flavor to a pan of sauteed greens.
My dad – a 67-year-old, 6-time Ironman triathlete – swears by it and calls it “the concoction.”
My Ironman dad swears by Bragg’s apple cider vinegar and “the concoction”
The moment he feels a tickle in his throat or a cold coming on, he throws back one of these drinks (recipe below) and says it prevents his symptoms from progressing! My husband and I do the same thing, and it really does work for us. While there is no research in the scientific literature to support those claims, we’re not the only people experiencing them. Bragg’s has a list of customer testimonials on their website.
The “concoction” doesn’t taste amazing, but chances are, you’ve at least had a shot of something that didn’t taste great but drank it anyway, right? Try it for a week or two each morning and see if you notice a difference.
There isn’t an exact science to the recommended amount to drink, but two teaspoons seems to be the magic number.
*Because the acidity of the lemon juice and vinegar can potentially soften tooth enamel ALWAYS make sure you drink this with a straw AND rinse/swish your mouth with plain water after drinking it and BEFORE brushing your teeth.*
This is not intended to be medical advice. If you have questions or concerns about using apple cider vinegar or are currently taking medication to control blood sugar or insulin levels or stomach ulcers, talk with a naturopathic or functional medicine practitioner, which you can find here and here.
Pink Apple Cider Vinegar Drink
Try this drink before meals to stimulate your digestive system!
1-2 cups water (room temperature)
2 teaspoons raw apple cider vinegar (Bragg's brand with "the mother")
To protect your teeth, drink this with a straw. You can find fun glass straws here.
Alwaysdilute ACV with water and avoid brushing your teeth immediately afterwards, so you’re not scrubbing the acid into your teeth. Rinse your mouth with plain water after drinking this as an additional protective step.
Ingredients for “the concoction”
Have you used ACV before? Feel free to share how you like to you use it in the comments below!
Prior to about 4 years ago, I had never eaten kale, and, to be honest, I didn’t even know what it was. I had no idea that the leafy green garnishes I had seen at buffets or the “leaves” on Edible Arrangements were none other than…kale!
Saw this sign on a walk and DC and had to take a picture. It’s so true!
Kale is an absolute nutritional powerhouse. It scores a whopping 1,000 points on the ANDI scale, which stands for “Aggregate Nutrient Density Index,” a scoring system that rates foods on a scale from 1 to 1,000 based on nutrient content. To give some context, blueberries (another super healthy food) receive a score of 132. Kale is cancer fighting, anti-inflammatory, detoxifying, and loaded with bone-building and brain-boosting nutrients. This leafy green is definitely a standout!
We use kale in everything from smoothies and salads to soups, stir-fries and sautees. It is super versatile and a great way to pack a nutritional punch at any meal. It’s also one of the “Dirty Dozen” veggies that is most likely to be contaminated with harmful pesticides, so it’s important to buy it organic.
A Christmas gift from my dad – 50 Shade of Kale cookbook!
A few years ago, I befriended two holistic health coaches, who were trained by the health coaching program I recently completed and were a big part of the reason I pursued it. They introduced me to their delicious 5-flavor kale salad…one that has now become my absolute favorite and a staple in our house!
I bring this salad to potlucks and parties and enjoy it probably once a week for dinner. It’s the way that I introduce friends, family and clients to kale when they’ve never had it before. I haven’t had anyone turn it down yet, and it’s now my dad’s favorite, go-to salad, too. He raves about it!
5-Flavor Kale Salad
Dressing ingredients & a head of dino kale for the 5-flavor kale salad
Dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
3 Tbsp. raw tahini (sesame paste)
3 Tbsp. lemon juice (add more to taste)
1 Tbsp. maple syrup (we use Grade B)
1 Tbsp. tamari (wheat-free soy sauce) OR coconut aminos
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
2 cloves crushed raw or roasted garlic
dash of sea salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
Salad:
1 large bunch curly kale or dino kale (stems removed), washed and chopped (dino kale is also called Tuscan Kale or Lacinato Kale and holds up best in this recipe)
2/3 cup Dressing
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup shredded carrots
Having the right tools in the kitchen helps to make food prep and cooking more efficient, easier, and fun!
If you missed my first post about 5 must-have kitchen gadgets – like the AvoSaver, garlic rocker, and an awesome dicing knife – click here to check it out!
Today, I’m sharing 5 MORE of our favorite kitchen gadgets (under $20!). We use these at least weekly, if not daily!
Here is a more extensive list of the best kitchen gadgets with some gadgets which cost over $20, but I thought I would do a smaller list for some of the cheaper items. So, with no further ado, here it is!
Fine mesh strainer, peeler trio set, stainless steel cup, onion saver, and microplane grater
Microplane Zester/Grater – We use this tool to grate ginger and turmeric root and to zest lemons, limes and oranges. We are thinking about getting these gloves because if you’re not careful with this thing you can definitely cut yourself.
Swissmar Swiss Trio Peeler Set – There are few things more frustrating in the kitchen than a really dull vegetable peeler. Since we eat a lot of vegetables, we peel a lot of vegetables, so we use these peelers on a daily basis. I use it to peel the hunk of ginger root that I put in my smoothies in the morning. We also use these gadgets to peel butternut squash, carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, and eggplant.
Stainless Steel Blender Cup– Bill and I make smoothies for breakfast most mornings, and sometimes we make a pretty hearty serving that doesn’t fit into a regular cup. Like most people, we like our smoothie to stay chilled. We looked online for one of those cups that restaurants give you when you get a milkshake and they make too much, and we found this one! We use it every day, and it does a great job keeping our smoothies nice and cold.
Onion Saver – We eat lots of onions. Onions are one of the healthiest foods you can eat and are anti-cancer powerhouses. We dice them up in just about every stir fry, soup and saute we make, and we LOVE chopping them in big chunks and roasting them by themselves or with other veggies. They are SO good! Sometimes we don’t use the whole onion at one time, so we store the leftovers in this little onion house.
OXO Good Grips Fine Mesh Strainer – The main reason we use this strainer is to rinse quinoa. We eat a decent amount of quinoa in the Druckenmiller household, and this fine mesh strainer is great because none of those pesky little quinoa seeds can fit through the holes, so you can rinse your quinoa worry-free! Check out this post about how to make quinoa and this one for my absolute favorite quinoa recipes!
We have an Amazon Prime membership, so we get free two-day shipping on just about everything we order from Amazon and just pay an annual fee of $79. We ordered a cast iron skillet on Amazon once, and those things are super heavy…but we didn’t have to pay any shipping! We love being able to price shop, and the 2-day shipping is awesome for everything from gadgets to cookbooks to dishwasher detergent packs.
A big thank you to my friend Jessica for introducing me to it two years ago! She used it as a way to get the least expensive diapers for her son, but we use it for everything from superfoods and kitchen gadgets to Christmas gifts and cookbooks!
Kitchen gadgets can be an affordable way to make your life that little bit easier. However, if you’ve got some extra money to spend, then why not consider upgrading your kitchen using an automation system like Creston? You can control everything form your television screen to the lighting, entirely remotely and at the touch of a button. A friend of mine has recommended this great crestron system in london if you’re tempted to learn more about turning your property into a smart home.
Do you have any favorite kitchen gadgets you can’t live without? Feel free to share them in the comments below!
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