Many of my salad dressings have ingredients that stimulate the immune system, heal the gut and improve digestion. I like to use apple cider vinegar, garlic and raw honey for these purposes. Another very healthy ingredient to use in dressings is miso. Miso is a fermented soy product and is shown to be high in antioxidants and polyphenols. It has been shown to be beneficial for cardiovascular health. It is known as an anti-aging food, good for the skin and digestion as long as it's not pasteurized. It has also been shown to reduce hot flashes. An easy way to consume it ins in salad dressing.

The following recipe is from www.great-easter-sun.com

Yield: Approximately 1/2 - 3/4 cups

Ingredients:

1 TBS Miso Master Organic Red Miso

4 TBS tahini (sesame paste)

1 - 2 TBS lemon juice

4 TBS water

1 TBS minced scallion

Directions:

To prepare this quick, versatile dressing, combine with miso and mix until smooth. Add lemon juice, and water, again mixing until smooth. Add scallion and serve this delicious salad dressing.  

I got this great recipe from Dr. Mercola's Nutritional Typing Meal Plan. This can be used in place of gluten flour in most recipes.

Combine:

1 1/2 cups coconut flour

1 cup of rice flour

1 cup of potato starch flour

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup garbanzo flour or fava flour

2 TBS xanthan gum

I serve this soup at our retreats and everyone loves it! Normally I just throw in any veggies that need to be used up. It's a perfect last minute dinner to make and it's always thoroughly enjoyed!

Recipe:

1 lb. ground beef
32 ounce beef broth
3 cups vegetable broth
1 - 15 oz. can black or kidney beans
1 14-15 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 cup frozen corn
4 - 5 cups broccoli or greens, chopped
5 stalks celery, chopped
4 medium carrots, chopped
1 handful fresh parsley, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
fresh herbs to taste, (I used oregano and thyme from my garden, just a bit)
1 TBS Celtic or Himalayan salt
1 tsp cracked pepper
1 TBS Italian seasonings
1 TBS EV Olive Oil
optional: 1 TBS Beef Gelatin, good for hair, skin, nails, joints, and your gut

Saute olive oil with onion and garlic, After 5 minutes, add herbs. When browned, add ground beef, separate and brown. Add broth and beans, diced tomatoes, then veggies and about 8 cups water. Bring to a boil then simmer on medium low heat for about 1 hour. Serve with sour cream or cheese.

Watch the short video above or follow my simple recipe below. Either way, you will be thrilled with the outcome of this delicious, raw sauerkraut recipe. This method is also referred to as lacto-fermented sauerkraut. I have had the privilege of learning directly from Sandor Katz, the king of kraut! He is the author of The Art of Fermentation and Wild Fermentation.

You'll need a food processor for this recipe but if you do not have one, alas, sauerkraut was made for millennia before the food processor was invented. So, the alternative is to chop all of your vegetables by hand which I have done and it works very well. You'll also need two half gallon canning jars or 4 quart size jars.

Ingredients:

2 heads green cabbage
1 green apple
2 jalepeno peppers, deseeded and finely minced
2 pounds carrots
4 TBS of Celtic, Himalayan or Real salt.

Directions:

Sanitize your jars by filling them with boiling water and allowing them to sit for 5 minutes.
Grate vegetables and fruit. Mince jalepeno peppers. Place all vegetables in a large pot or bowl. Add salt. Knead the vegetables to allow the juices to escape. Using a wide mouth funnel, begin packing the vegetable mixture into one jar at a time, pressing down into the jar with your fist.
When the jar is filled to just below three inches from the top, add water to come just above the vegetables. Leave a few inches of space to allow for the vegetables to expand as they ferment. Repeat until all veggies are in the jars. Place lids on jars. Set the jars on the counter at room temperature in a dish (to catch any juice that escapes as the fermentation process happens). Allow to ferment for about one week. Refrigerate after opening.

You might also like:

How to Make Cortido (Raw Mexican Sauerkraut)

Health Benefits of Lacto-Fermented Sauerkraut

This recipe is from the Juice Lady, Cherie Calbom in her book, The Juice Lady's Turbo Diet.

Studies show that cranberries boost metabolism and their acids help dissolve fat. They also act as a diuretic, which helps you get rid of stored up water. The credit goes to their soluble fiber, which is not lost entirely with juicing.

Ingredients:

2 pears, Bartlett or Asian

1/2 cucumber, peeled if not organic

1/4 lemon, peeled if not organic

2 tablespoons cranberries, fresh or thawed if frozen 

1/2- to 1-inch-chunk ginger root

Cut produce to fit your juicer’s feed tube. With the juicer turned off, add the cranberries and top with the plunger. Then turn on your machine and juice. Juice all remaining ingredients and stir. Pour into a glass and drink as soon as possible. Serves 1.

Join me as I interview the Juice Lady about juicing, detoxification and weight loss in the New Year on my radio show on December 13, 2013 at 2pm, Pacific. Get all the information and join the call here or listen to the recording after it's over!

Time: About 30 minutes active including clean-up
14 to 21 days to ferment

Before you begin, sanitize a 2 quart or 2 - 1 quart canning jars with boiling water. (Just boil the water, fill jars with the boiled water and allow to sit for five minutes.)

Ingredients:
2 large heads Napa Cabbage or 3 small heads
6 cloves garlic
1 red bell pepper, cored and seeded
4 medium carrots
1 small red onion
1 fresh jalepeno pepper, seeded
2 tsp ground cumin
3 TBS Celtic or Himalayan salt

Picture above is missing the carrots!

Instructions:

Before you start, if you have a scale, weigh the bowl you will put the veggies into. Then, after chopping, add veggies to bowl and weigh again. You will use 3 TBS of salt for 5 pounds of veggies. So, if you do not have a full 5 pounds, use a bit less salt. When making sauerkraut, there is no need to do it all perfectly. There has never been single case of food borne illness from raw sauerkraut!! There are many ways to make it, this is just one! Typically, the rule for salt is 2 tsp - 1 TBS per pound of veggies used.

Using a food processor with the grating attachment, slice all veggies (except garlic) to fit the feed tube of the food processor. If you do not own a food processor, simply chop all veggies into thin, lengthwise pieces or grate with a hand grater. Mince garlic and add to veggies. Add salt and cumin.

With clean hands, knead the veggies. As you do, the juices will be released and this will form the brine or liquid in which the veggies will ferment. If you are worried about the bacteria from your hands, rest assured, this is an important step in the process as you are adding your 'love' to the kraut! We are so afraid of bacteria in our culture that literally, it is damaging our health. Consider welcoming the bacteria:) We are actually made up of 10x more bacteria than cells. Adding healthy bacteria to our bodies every single day is more important than most other things we can do for our health.

If you have a canning jar funnel, place this on top of your sanitized jar/jars. I always use a funnel so I don't end up spilling all of my kraut down the sides of the jars. Add veggies to jar. If they are submerged in water all the way to the top of the kraut, leaving about 2 inches at the top for room for kraut to expand as it ferments, then no need to add water. If the water level does not come to the top of the veggies, add a bit of pure water. Making sure to leave about 2 inches at the top of the jar, place a lid on top and set the jar in a bowl because some liquid may leak out as it initially expands. This can get stinky for a few days so you may want to put this in the garage if it's not too hot out there.

Allow kraut to sit for at least 7 and as long as 21 days. If you like it really sour, leave it longer and if you don't, leave it for a shorter amount of time. There is no right amount of time. The amount of time depends totally on your taste preference. You can open the jar every few days and taste it to see how you like it.

I eat a couple tablespoons of raw kraut at every meal for digestion and to continually add healthy bacteria to my gut!

Enjoy and let me know if you have any questions by commenting below!

Healthy 4th of July popsicle recipes are easy to make and a great project to do with the kids. I count this as quality time with kids, rather than time in the kitchen. The possibilities are so endless and the end results so delicioso!

We made three kinds, but two of them had similar ingredients, so I scored 'cool mom' points, but didn't spend hours in the
kitchen!

This striped one was the most time consuming and you could just as easily have fun with only two stripes instead of three:)

This is a three step process, but it's so simple!

For the triple stripe popsicle pictured above, here's what I did:

1st Layer-
1 1/2 cups frozen mixed
berries
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp
stevia
1 cup water

Place ingredients in blender, blend well and pour into popsicle forms to fill 1/3 of each. Place wooden popsicle sticks into the mixture. You'll be pouring the following layers in around the stick. Freeze for about an hour.

2nd Layer-
Organic vanilla yogurt. Just pour some yogurt in to fill popsicle form 2/3 of the way full. Freeze for about an hour.

3rd Layer-
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 small peach
1/8 tsp stevia
1 cup water

Blend in blender until smooth and add to fill each popsicle mold. Freeze and enjoy!

Starburst Popsicles

I made the starburst popsicles with the leftover mixture from the 1st layer
above. Fill half of each popsicle form with the berry mixture. Use a funnel to
add organic vanilla yogurt to each to fill to the top. Place lid on and freeze.
 When these are done, you will have popsicles that are all white in the
center. Good way to make a creamsicle too! These are so simple and were a huge
hit with the kids.

Pina Colada Pops

These are my favorite! So easy.
Here's what I used:
1/4 cup coconut cream which I purchased in a can at Trader Joe's
1/2 cup frozen pineapples
1 banana
1 tsp vanilla
Throw it all in the blender and blend. Fill popsicle molds and freeze. Especially good on a hot, sunny day!

This is the guacamole that everyone goes nuts over. If you want to bring a raw, vegan healthy, side-dish to your 4th of July celebration, this one will be a hit.

Besides being super simple to make, it is delicious and pairs great with veggie sticks, making it a guiltless indulgence that will satisfy your taste buds as well as take care of your cravings for all that yummy holiday food. Remember, healthy fat makes you thin, it's all the processed foods and sugars that causes your body to hold onto the fat!

Maria’s Fresh Guacamole  

1 avocado

1 tablespoon minced onion

1 small clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon minced tomato

2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Celtic or Himalayan salt to taste

Scoop flesh out of avocado skins. Place in bowl and add other ingredients. Mash ingredients together using a fork. Enjoy! Serve with jicama chips (just purchase a jicama, and slice it in the shape of chips.) or carrot, celery and cucumber slices.


Maria’s Simple Salsa

3 large, very ripe tomatoes (about two pounds), cored and diced small

½ cup tomato juice, freshly squeezed or canned or jarred.

1 small jalepeno or other fresh chile pepper, stemmed, seeded if desired, and minced

1 medium red onion, diced small

1 medium garlic clove, minced

½ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

½ cup juice from 4 medium limes

Celtic or Himalayan Salt to taste

Mix all ingredients, including salt to taste, in medium bowl.  Cover and refrigerate to blend flavors, at least 1 hour and up to 5
days.