A friend brought a similar salad to a potluck. Everyone raved about it and I helped myself to more than one serving!! It had the perfect harmony of flavors. She told me what was in it and I just had to make it the next day. This is a fabulous, delicious and healthy 4th of July recipe to bring to any party. It will surely be a hit, even to the non-health-conscious folks...the best of both worlds. You can sneak greens into your friend's lives and they'll still love you the next morning!! 

Even my girls who are not the most likely to eat a salad with anything dark green in it, loved it. 









Kale Salad, serves 6

Ingredients:

1 bunch kale 

1 teaspoon coarse salt, such as Celtic (amazing source of minerals)

1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 red apple, chopped ( I use Gala)

1/3 cup roasted and salted sunflower seeds

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 TBS red wine vinegar, preferably raw wine vinegar (inexpensive and excellent for your health!)

1 TBS raw honey, barely melted on very low heat. Honey is one of the most healing foods on the planet. If you heat it past 115 degrees F, it will lose much of it's healing properties. Raw honey is great to use on wounds because of it's antibacterial properties. My favorite brand is Honey Gardens Apothecary Honey.

1/8 tps stevia powder, optional (only add if you like the salad to be very sweet. I have not added this when I make it.)

1/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled

Directions:

Wash and dry kale. Tear it off from the stalks in bite size pieces. (the stalks are bitter and hard to chew)
Place torn kale in a bowl. Add olive oil and salt and massage kale for 2 minutes until it softens considerably.

Add other ingredients except feta cheese, finishing with vinegar and honey. Mix very well until all of the salad is well coated with dressing. Offer feta cheese on the side for those who care for it as not all people love it:)




 




 

If you are a cupcake lover, you will be so thankful you tried this flourless chocolate cupcake recipe! I served these last summer and my husband liked them so much he asked me to bake them for his birthday! This is a great healthy desert to indulge in on the 4th of July when there is a plethora of less-than-healthy options.





What you will need:

1 cup of almond butter ( I use Trader Joe's Brand)

2 medium zucchini, chopped.

1/3 cup of raw honey or Whole Cane sugar (Rapadura)

1 egg for brownies, 3 eggs for cupcakes

1 tsp of vanilla 

½ tsp Celtic or Himalayan salt

1 tsp of baking soda 

1 tsp of cinnamon 

1/8 tsp stevia

1 cup of dark chocolate chips. I used gluten free chocolate chips. Alternatively,
use ½ cup cocoa powder.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all the ingredients into a blender and mix everything together.
Pour into a greased 9x9 baking pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
If making cupcakes, pour into cupcake baking cups in muffin tin and bake for 25 minutes.

Looking for great, healthy recipes for the 4th of July?
Have I got some to share with you!
This one is from Elana Amsterdam's new book, Paleo Cooking.
My sister Lisa shared it and it looks so good I thought it was perfect for sharing
in my 4th of July Healthy Recipes series.

Avocado Kale Salad
Ingredients:

1 bunch of kale (remove leaves from stems), sliced crosswise
into 1/4 inch strips
2 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 very ripe avocado- diced into 1-inch cubes
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper;
1/4 tsp Celtic or Himalayan salt.
 
Instructions:

In a large bowl, combine the kale, olive oil,
and lemon juice. Use your hands to massage the ingredients together until the
kale is tender. Massage the avocado into the salad with your hands until it is
completely mashed and mixed into the salad. Spinkle with the pepper and salt,
toss to combine and serve. Cheers to a delicious, healthy salad!

It's a fact. Diets cause weight gain. Could the dieting mentality actually be the reason we have an obesity epidemic? According to recent study conducted at UCLA, by Traci Mann, professor of psychology and director of the Health and Eating Laboratory at University of Minnesota, "We found that the majority of people regained all the weight, plus more. Sustained weight loss was found only in a small minority of participants, while complete weight regain was found in the majority. Diets do not lead to sustained weight loss or health benefits for the majority of people."

"Several studies indicate that dieting is actually a consistent predictor of future weight gain," said Janet Tomiyama, a UCLA graduate student of psychology and co-author of the study. One study found that both men and women who participated in formal weight-loss programs gained significantly more weight over a two-year period than those who had not participated in a weight-loss program, she said.

Wow, so, we've been duped. Interesting that the weight loss industry is a billion dollar industry. So, a lot of people are cashing in on a lie! How many diets have you tried, only to find out that dieting causes binging? So, if diets don't work, what does?

Ingredients:

3 eggs

¼ cup coconut oil

2 medium bananas

2 TBS Rapadura (organic whole cane sugar)

10 drops Whole leaf Stevia Liquid

¼ cup coconut flour

¼ teaspoon salt

 ½ teaspoon baking soda

Place eggs, oil, bananas, rapadura and stevia in a Blendtec blender ; blend on medium speed until combined. Add in coconut flour, salt and baking soda and blend until smooth. Scoop ¼ cup batter into a lined muffin pan. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes (my batch takes a little over 25 minutes; all ovens are slightly different). Cool and serve with pasture butter, Kerry Gold butter, Strauss butter or raw milk butter. Enjoy!! Makes approximately 8 muffins. I always double the recipe and then there are leftovers after my whole family eats them for breakfast!