I tend to snack a lot. Mainly because it takes the edge off of my stress level. I mean, don’t you find yourself digging for food when the mind needs to escape from reality? 

Snacks seem to have a bad wrap. They either fall into the category of PC (processed crap) or bland as hell (aka rice cake or bitter broccoli florets). Neither of these categories fit my mission of gut reviving and exciting enough to curb my craving. 

While decompressing after a corporate day of triple booked meetings, I saw a video on making chocolate covered stuffed dates and my mouth started watering. 

Dates can easily squash a sugar craving and are extremely easy to stuff, honestly the combinations seem endless. So I went our pantry to craft up a few of my own combinations. 

Base Ingredients for these Chocolate Covered Date Bombs:

• Dates
• Nut Butter
• DF Chocolate
• Coconut Oil
• Pink Salt

Combo 1: Coconut D’Bomb

• Dates
• Coconut Butter
• Macadamia Nuts
• DF Chocolate

Combo 2: Almond...

Are you OBSESSED with kombucha as much as I am? Meaning you have a budget for it - or not, ha! 

I'm so obsessed with the fizz, I took a course in fermentation and received a certification as a Fermentationist! Now I can experiment with making my own brews and fermented foods. There's only one problem I see developing very quickly, the SCOBY's (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, aka The Mother) are growing at such a rapid pace that I have a SCOBY farm in my pantry!

My favorite take away from the fermentation course was that fermenting food is EASY! I'll admit I was scared to make my own batch of kombucha or ferment my own jar of sauerkraut. I don't have it in my plan of life to poison myself from "aging" food. Little did I know there's nothing really scary about the art of fermenting food. Actually, you will learn a ton of valuable information when you get that intimate with food. Food is sexy my friend, not to mention it helps to support a happy gut. 

My new kombucha...

The holiday spirit came early this year as we’re all desperate to find holiday cheer in 2020. Winter + Covid brings days filled with Netflix & Chill, sweatpants, and warmth found in the most indulgent of foods. Grocery aisles fill up with holiday favorites and social media ads entice you to buy one get one free peppermint bark & snowflake cheetos (who comes up with this stuff?)

Caution goes out the window and we deal with the holiday bloat and raging headaches because it’s “normal” and everyone is doing it! 

You know what everyone one else is doing… complaining about the notorious burden come New Year’s day: the Holiday “15.”

That’s right, the weight gain and feeling BLAH.  

Here’s the thing, I’m not talking about deprivation during the holidays. Instead, I want to give you approachable ideas to help you enjoy the sweetness in life without counting calories and  inevitable gut...

The holiday season is upon us!  Bring on the gut rot and belly bloat!

I know, “This year will be different.” 

Either way, I’m guessing come January 1st you’ll need a full body reset. #beenthere 

As promised, in the next few weeks I plan to deliver my favorite holiday tips, tricks and hacks to having a holiday season that’s not filled with multiple trips to the bathroom, pockets full of Tylenol & Tums, or wearing out your favorite pair of stretchy pants. 

This week's favorite tip is Enjoy the Rare Stuff! Why waste stomach pain on a roll or mash potatoes? You can be in pain with those foods any day. (Keeping it real here.)

Go for the Kulula Sweet Potato Casserole! Yes that’s right, I said go for the Kulula Sweet Potato Casserole! And if you go all in with a few glasses of wine and maybe a cranberry jello shot don’t forget to take your activated charcoal! This will help bind the alcohol and unwanted food toxins out of...

The holiday season is upon us!  Bring on the gut rot and belly bloat!

I know, “This year will be different.” 

But, it doesn’t matter who I speak to, come January 1st you’re in need of a good full body reset. 

In the next few weeks I plan to deliver my favorite holiday tips, tricks and hacks to having a holiday season that’s not filled with multiple trips to the bathroom, pockets full of tylenol & Tums, or wearing out your favorite pair of stretchy pants. 

My favorite tip may sound unrealistic but it’s still my favorite tip….

#1. The 90/10 Rule: 90% of the year, spend 90% of your time, consuming 90% “good for you fuel.” Yes, that means spending 90% of your day eating foods and consuming messages which lift you up and not wear you down. Why??? So come the holidays you don’t have to worry about depriving yourself or going on a “diet” before and after. Just worry about enjoying yourself!!

A...

I wouldn’t do anything for a Klondike bar, but I’d do some shady sh*t for pumpkin spice!

October is my favorite month and it might just be because I love all things pumpkin spice. Can I get a “HELL YA!?!”

Pumpkins are stacked on porches, orange lights brighten house silhouettes, and 7ft blow up Grim Reapers fill our yards. But far beyond the decorations are the smells and sights of pumpkin lattes & cream rolls, cinnamon donuts, and caramel apples (I’m drooling). 

Now, I’m not going to tell you to deprive yourself of the ONE time of year you get these tasty treats instead I’m going to give you an alternative to satisfy your taste buds while making your gut health happy. 

Pumpkins are high in fiber, containing more than 20% of your daily recommended dose, and a great source of b vitamins. The B vitamins and fiber make the pumpkin valuable against high blood pressure and strokes, thus protecting the heart over a period of time....

If you want to eat a little healthier in the fall, it doesn’t require completely changing your diet. In many cases, you can just make a few substitutions with the foods you already enjoy, and will have lower-fat foods that are tasty and nutritious. Here are some healthy food swaps that use fall superfoods.

Use Pumpkin in Cake Mixes

One of the easiest healthy food swaps you can do with your fall superfoods is to use pumpkin puree with cake mixes. This turns your cake or cupcakes into just 2 ingredients, including the cake mix of your choice and pumpkin puree. The pumpkin replaces all other ingredients you would have mixed in with the cake mix, like oil and eggs. This is often done with a spiced cake mix that goes well with pumpkin, but don’t be afraid to experiment with vanilla and chocolate cake mixes as well. 

Sweet Potatoes Instead of White Potatoes

Many people enjoy potatoes, especially in the fall when you want more savory dishes, but they tend to be high in...

Food regulates metabolism and good nutrients help to transform toxins, used hormones, RX drugs, food additives, and “junk” into water-soluble compounds which  can be excreted out of the body. So if you have your gut and liver working overtime trying to process junk (alcohol, sugar, caffeine, processed foods, and drugs) then they will have a hard time performing at their optimal levels and over time the liver gets clogged and the gut functions start to break down.  

Here’s one of my favorite Fall soups from my Restore Your Gut Health Program to help regulate the metabolic functions back to optimal performance. This soup is hearty and provides a certain level of comfort which other meals lack. 

Butternut squash is an excellent source of vitamin A and one of the healthiest starches. It has a natural sweetness which pairs well with bold curry flavors and embraces the sweetness of apple. Apple and butternut squash naturally compliment each other....

Since being diagnosed with leaky gut and blunted brush border (aka nutrient absorption deficiency), I’ve been challenging myself to incorporate as many gut restoring ingredients in my diet as possible.

My hubby & 11 yr old raved so much about this tomato basil soup that they asked me to write down the recipe so that I can make the EXACT replica next time! 

What you’ll find in my recipe is typical tomato soup ingredients intertwined with gut restoring ingredients. For example coconut oil can be used to treat occasional or mild digestive discomfort and may even relieve other severe digestive problems. It improves your body’s levels of candida and helps your body effectively absorb the essential nutrients. The best brands are organic, unrefined, and cold-pressed. For my favorite brand click here-> Coconut Oil

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

Ingredients

6-8 fresh tomatoes, pureed (local grown organic tomatoes can have great soil based probiotics) 

1...

An avocado almost took out my middle finger and not having a middle finger would be sad, ha! The numbness still reminds me of the reality horror flick but, the nightmares didn’t last long because weeks after the accident I went back to eating avocados #momstrong I just couldn’t give up the little green Goddess.

Avocados are one of my favorite healthy fats because it’s packed with vitamins, enzymes and fiber. The lack of digestive enzymes are one of the main contributors in gut health dysfunctions. When the gut lacks enzymes food particles are not broken down properly, nutrients aren’t absorbed, and food may be left to ferment and rot (let’s just say - stinky gas!) 

Lack of time is one of the biggest excuses why people don’t invest in their diet. That’s probably why my family has gotten accustomed to not making guacamole and eating avocados out of the shell with pink salt. Not to mention the store bought guacamole is loaded with...