This Broccoli Salad Will Make You Want To Eat All Your Veggies!

Eating lots of veggies is one of my secrets for stopping junk food cravings dead in their tracks. Once you start to pumping your diet up with veggies at every meal, you’ll start craving them instead of junk foods and desserts. It may sound crazy, but it really works! When your body gets then nutrition it needs, your body becomes satisfied!

I eat “cruciferous” veggies like broccoli, cabbage, and kale often because they are superstars in the vegetable family. They’ve been shown to help remove toxins from the body by boosting the liver’s own detoxifying enzymes. There is ample research out there that shows cruciferous veggies help to stave off cancer and heart disease too. So, if you’re not already… it’s time to add broccoli (and other cruciferous veggies) to your diet STAT.

If you’re not a fan of broccoli, this flavorful Asian Broccoli Salad just might change your mind! It makes an incredibly healthy lunch that’s easy to make ahead and pack for work. It also is amazing for dinner served alongside a hearty bowl of Carrot Ginger Lentil Soup. Talk about an awesome meal full of antioxidants and compounds that fight inflammation!!! 

I love recipes like this that require so little time in the kitchen. You can put this salad together in less than 15 minutes! Here’s how easy it is to make…

Bring a large pot of water to boil while you chop a large head of broccoli into bite-size florets. Once the water begins to boil, add the broccoli and cook quickly for just a couple minutes. Pour the broccoli into a colander and rinse under cold water until cool…

To assemble the salad… chop up a couple scallions, a small handful of raw nuts, and thinly slice half of a red onion. Add them to a large bowl along with the broccoli. Sprinkle on a couple tablespoons of sesame seeds and give the salad a little stir until combined. 

Now it’s time to make the delicious peanut (or almond) dressing! Essentially any high quality nut butter would work and if you have a nut allergy, you can use sunflower seed butter. When shopping for nut butter, look for those that are labeled organic and raw. Most store-bought versions have added refined sugar, so check the ingredient list. Watch out for the “no stir” versions that contain added oils (usually palm oil) to keep them blended on the shelf. Ideally, it should just contain nuts and stir it yourself. My favorite brands are Once Again and Artisana.

To make the dressing, start by adding the nut butter to a small bowl. Add in the tamari, rice wine vinegar, raw honey, filtered hot water, and a dash of sesame oil. Whisk it all together until smooth. Grate a teaspoon of fresh ginger and whisk it into the dressing until it’s well blended. Add a couple dashes of sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper… and now it’s ready to assemble your plates! Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to combine. Dig in and enjoy your veggies! 

Food Babe's Asian Broccoli Salad

 

Ingredients

• 1 large head broccoli, cut into florets
• 2 scallions, chopped
• ½ small red onion, sliced
• ¼ cup chopped cashews or sliced almonds
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Dressing:

• ¼ cup almond or peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon grated ginger
• 2 tablespoons low sodium tamari
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon raw honey
• Pinch of sesame oil
• 3-4 tablespoons filtered hot water, more as needed
• Sea salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Bring a pot of water to boil. Add the broccoli and cook for 1-2 minutes. Drain under cold water. Place in a bowl with the remaining salad ingredients.
2. To make the dressing, place all of the ingredients in a bowl and whisk until well combined.
3. Pour the dressing over the broccoli and toss to combine. To serve, place half of the broccoli salad on your plate and enjoy!

Notes

**Please choose all organic ingredients if possible.**

3.4.3177

 

Want more recipes like this? Get the Food Babe Eating Guide here. 

I’ll instantly send you a guide full of brand new Food Babe Recipes along with a Monthly Meal Plan. This comes with a detailed Food Babe Starter Guide which includes the “Terrible 20” ingredients that keep you from losing weight, where to spot them, what to eat instead, and my tried-and-true tips for life’s many eating situations. This is an all-in-one roadmap to organic, healthy living!

Here’s where to sign up for this month’s meal plan and recipe guide.

If you know anyone who loves broccoli (or maybe needs a delicious recipe to convince them otherwise!) please send them this recipe. 

Xo, 

Vani

 

 

 

Posts may contain affiliate links for products Food Babe has approved and researched herself. If you purchase a product through an affiliate link, your cost will be the same (or at a discount if a special code is offered) and Food Babe will automatically receive a small referral fee. Your support is crucial because it helps fund this blog and helps us continue to spread the word. Thank you.

from Food Babe http://ift.tt/2yIe9sF

Dear Mark: Gum on Keto, Acacia Fiber, Cramping, and Keto Body Odor

For today’s edition of Dear Mark, I’m answering four questions. First, is sugar-free gum okay to chew without worrying about insulin spikes? Next, is acacia fiber a good choice for a keto person trying to get more fiber and reduce constipation? Third, what can a person who has tried seemingly everything do for nighttime muscle cramps? And finally, why might a person’s body odor get worse on keto?

Let’s go:

Hi I hope this is not a dumb question but Will chewing sugar free gum cause an insulin spike? I’m currently going keto (loving the new book by the way!!) I work in close contact with the public and am always aware of breath freshness so I chew a lot of gum and just worried that it may be defeating my good intentions

You should be fine depending on the type of sweetener.

Most sugar-free gums use xylitol and/or erythritol, neither of which have any significant effect on insulin release. There’s certainly no spike.

Sometimes you’ll find other, artificial sweeteners on the label. Although the effects of these on insulin responses are mixed or inconclusive, there are other reasons to steer clear of them.

I’d suggest checking your labels and opting for varieties that are sweetened solely with sugar alcohols. And there are no dumb questions!

Carla wondered:

What are your thoughts about acacia fiber? I have chronic constipation and that has helped me in the past

Acacia fiber is great. Tremendous source of fiber, and not many people know this, but it’s a prebiotic fiber. So you get the bowel movements that are just out of this world and your gut bacteria will be very, very, very happy. The gut motility it promotes, let’s just say your gut has never been more motile.

I know a guy—great guy, did a little business with him back in the 90s—who beat a week-long case of keto constipation using acacia fiber.

Add it to yogurt and that yogurt is better at treating IBS than regular yogurt.

In diabetic mice, acacia fiber improves kidney function.

Donna asked:

I have been experiencing pretty severe leg cramps while sleeping. I take a magnesium supplement. I’ve been drinking Natural Calm at night. I eat avacodos almost daily. I drink plenty of water. The cramps are all through the night very disturbing. I’ve been on the keto diet for 6 weeks. Any suggestions what else I could do?

First, you’ve got most of the relevant electrolytes handled. I’d make sure you’re eating enough salt, too—add salt to taste whenever you cook or eat, drink salty broth or bullion.

You’re doing the water.

You’re doing the magnesium.

And nothing’s working. The cramps keep coming. Is that right?

I’m actually not very surprised that you’re still having cramps. Contrary to popular belief, studies find that neither electrolyte status nor hydration status predict your propensity to cramps. And the evidence for magnesium’s effect on cramping is mixed. Can’t hurt to take it. Just don’t count on it for the cramps.

What does work?

Sour, pungent, spicy flavors.

For example, pickle juice works against cramps, and not by restoring hydration or electrolytes. It actually reduces active cramps faster than you absorb the water and electrolytes by triggering a set of activators in the brain known as TRP ion channel activators, which influence skeletal muscle contractions.

Other TRP ion channel activators are found in cayenne pepper, ginger, and cinnamon, and researchers have created a blend of extracts from all three plants called Hot Shot that shows efficacy against muscle cramps. 

Finally, Charlotte Root asked:

Hey Mark, I’m wondering if you can speak to the body odor side effect that many of us have been talking about: experiencing increased body odor in ketosis, especially underarm (people talk about breath but that’s not my primary concern atm). Is there an imbalance that you know of that causes this? On fbook groups people point to detoxing from previously poisonous foods, but I’ve been strict paleo/primal for 6 years, so not sure that’s what it is for me.

The literature on diet and body odor is pretty thin.

In 2006, Czech researchers placed men on either a diet containing red meat or one without red meat, then had them sweat. Women smelled and rated the sweat. Across the board, the red meat dieters produced less attractive body odor. When they had everyone switch to the other diet, the results persisted: Those who had switched to a no-red meat diet produced better-smelling sweat.

It sounds damning, but before you stop eating beef and lamb, check out the details. The non-red meat diet differed from the red meat diet in many ways. The non-red meat dieters weren’t just avoiding red meat; they also ate way more fruits, vegetables, eggs, cheese, and soy than the meat eaters. The researchers failed to control all other aspects of the diet, instead focusing only on the meat.

I’ve said many times before that keto dieters tend to eat less produce, either because they don’t like it and see keto as a free pass for near-carnivory, they worry about the carbs in produce throwing them out of ketosis, or they somehow think plants are restricted on keto. These are mistakes. Common ones. You can eat plenty of produce on keto. You should eat plenty of produce on keto. Mushrooms of all kinds. Leafy greens. Cruciferous veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy. Low-carb fruits like berries. Anything fibrous.

A more recent study seems to confirm my suspicions. Both produce and meat, cheese, and egg consumption predicted better-smelling body odor. You know what predicted worse body odor? High carbohydrate intakes.

I haven’t seen any legit reasons why a keto diet in particular would increase body odor. Try eating more plants and reassess in a week.

That’s it for this week, folks. Thanks for reading, and be sure to add your own comments down below!

The post Dear Mark: Gum on Keto, Acacia Fiber, Cramping, and Keto Body Odor appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

from Mark's Daily Apple http://ift.tt/2h14TZ2

The Best Kind of Weekend – Almost No Plans

Hi, guys! A very happy Monday to you!

How was your weekend? Ours was low-key and included minimal plans, which, honestly, was the best type of weekend. The fall has been crazzzzy for our family – and with me off to Israel later this week, a quiet weekend was exactly what we needed. Here’s a recap!

Friday

I finally enjoyed my first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season. I actually shared my order on Instagram Stories and received a TON of questions about it, so I wanted to share it here, too. PSLs can be serious sugar- and calorie-bombs, so here’s how I ordered mine: Tall with almond milk, 1.5 pumps of syrup (a regular tall has 4), and no whipped cream. Easy as that – and it was still very delicious!

We stayed in Friday night – ate dinner and went to bed early.

Saturday

Quinn was awake super early on Saturday morning, so after some snuggle time, I started to chores around the house (laundry, dishes, etc.) while he played. Once Mal was awake, we got ourselves ready and headed to CrossFit. Photo below: Mal and Quinn discussing what flavor of donuts they wanted to get at Coffee Shack after CrossFit. Mal’s pick: Honey Dip. Quinn’s pick: Chocolate Frosted.

After CrossFit, we headed to the party store for Quinn’s Halloween costume. He decided on Spiderman (because “he can shoot webs from his hands”), but the store was sold out of his size. Whomp whomp. We tried to pick out a second choice option, but Quinn wasn’t into it. Oh, well. We figured we still had time and it made more sense to find a costume he was excited about before dropping $30 on one he didn’t really like.

We did, though, find a bunch of CREEP decorations for our house! Quinn was wayyyyyy more into the decorations than Halloween costume!

After that, we stopped by Trader Joe’s to do our grocery shopping for the week. I tend to be a bit of an over-shopper with our groceries, so I decided to reign it in and mostly eat from our freezer and pantry this week. On the menu for dinner: Maple Bacon Hash, high-protein pasta with meat sauce, Shepherd’s Pie, tacos, and lemon rosemary chicken (from Trader Joe’s).

During nap time, a special package from my friends at AVIA arrived. They’re gear is so cute and SUPER AFFORDABLE. Seriously, some of their clearance items are less than $5! And their high-support sports bras ($12.46) are some of my favorite for CrossFit workouts.

After Quinn woke up from his nap, we went to one of his friend’s birthday parties. We heard Trick-Or-Treating was involved, so he dressed up as a Ghostbuster (Proton Pack from aunt Sibylle via Amazon).

The party was a lot of fun, and Quinn’s favorite part was playing with the huge T-Rex Dinosaur. He seriously loved every second of it!

Sunday

Sunday morning kicked off with a big ol’ pancake breakfast. The boys had Mal’s famous -like pancakes in dinosaur molds.

I “healthified” my pancakes with ghee, collagen, cinnamon, and a flax egg (1 tbsp ground flaxeed + 2.5 tbsp water).

Yummmmm!

After breakfast, we took a trip to the park for some exercise.

Back at home, we made our house “creeeeeeepy,” ate lunch together, and then Quinn went down for his nap.

After nap time, we carved a pumpkin. Quinn wasn’t into scooping out the seeds, but he had fun supervising!

The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent hanging around the house and getting our lives in order before the start of the week. It was such a nice way to spend the day and wrap up the weekend!

$100 VISA Gift Card Giveaway

Thank you to everyone who entered! Here’s your winner:

Lily

I love honey and a splash of lemon in my morning green tea

Congrats, Lily! Please email me at tina@carrotsncake.com with your full name and mailing address to claim your prize.

Questions of the Day

Have you had a Pumpkin Spice Latte yet this season? If so, how do you order it? 

Would you rather: Tons of weekend plans or very few?

 

The post The Best Kind of Weekend – Almost No Plans appeared first on Carrots 'N' Cake.

from Carrots 'N' Cake http://ift.tt/2zwEI3e

Homecoming + Terranea

Helllooooo everyone!! Did you enjoy wedding week?! It seemed like you did! We came home from our honeymoon over the weekend. I missed you all. I missed Mazen!! And really just missed normal life. (And oatmeal and kale – for real.)

The first night of our honeymoon

We had a fabulous time on our cruise to Mexico, and I can’t wait to share all the pics! The posts – three of ’em – will be coming up as soon as I can get them written.

I was able to write a bit about our first leg of the honeymoon on the plane. We had a one-night stay in Los Angeles before our ship sailed in the morning! I had asked my cousin Anna for a recommendation for a “fabulous oceanfront hotel.” Her recommendation was Terranea.

Terranea was stunning and lived up to our expectations and its reputation! It was likely the nicest hotel I’ve ever spent the night in. We arrived after dark and after a long day of travel, but the views from our room the next morning were spectacular!

We were greeted with champagne and chocolate dipped strawberries in our room. (I had put on the “anything to note?” part of the reservation that it was our honeymoon!) After settling in, we had a fun little dinner in the Asian restaurant, Bashi, at the bar and everything tasted incredibly fresh! We shared sushi and a tuna poke bowl.

The sunrise the next morning was breathtaking.

We had a light breakfast (bananas and coffee) and took a short hike along the cliffs overlooking the ocean.

Our last stop: the pool. Our time was short, but we used every minute until our noon checkout!

My cousin Anna picked us up and drove us to Long Beach to meet my other cousin Jon and his partner Kelly. We also met up with my third cousin, Andy, whose kids were so cute! We don’t get to see the West Coast crew all that often, so lunch together was a special treat.

I had coconut shrimp and a fresh California shrimp salad topped with avocado.

We then headed to the pier to board the Ruby Princess! To be continued…

The post Homecoming + Terranea appeared first on Kath Eats Real Food.

from Kath Eats Real Food http://ift.tt/2z0HnGm

Clean Eating Goulash Recipe

Goulash is one of those feel-good comfort foods you always like coming home to at the end of a long day. It’s got great flavor, it’s satisfying and it’s not hard to make. It’s got that perfect… Read more →

from The Gracious Pantry http://ift.tt/2yHUbQv