Tag Archives: vegan

Kombucha

It’s pretty hard to look at any health-related article these days, without seeing the microbiome mentioned at least once! And for good reason. The microbiome (or flora) is the sum total of all the critters that live in your gut (and skin, vaginal tract etc.). By critters I mean bacteria, viruses, yeast, fungi, parasites. There are about 100 trillion microorganism cells in/on our body – which is about 10 times the amount of human cells we have. So what that means is we are more bacteria than we are human!

So far we know that the make up of your gut flora is absolutely critical to determining your health. We also seem to understand that what we know is only the tip of the iceberg. Some of the functions we know they are responsible for are:

  • create food for your intestinal cells
  • prime your immune system and support lymph tissue surrounding the intestinal tract (known as the GALT)
  • digest your food
  • release vitamins that are bound up in fibres
  • maintain the integrity of your intestinal tract
  • synthesize vitamins (like vitamin K and some B vitamins)
  • suppress pathogenic and opportunistic microbial growth
  • regulate metabolism
  • compose about 75% of our immune system

Dysregulated Microbiome (a.k.a. Dysbiosis)

When the opportunistic or pathogenic microbes overgrow and take over the good guys, you get a state of dysbiosis. Dysbiosis, or an imbalance in gut flora, has been associated with:

  • autism spectrum disorder
  • depression
  • autoimmune conditions
  • obesity
  • type 1 diabetes
  • inflammatory bowel disease
  • and many more diseases (pretty much any area of health which we don’t understand, and actually lots of those that we do, have cutting edge research being done on how the gut flora impact/contribute to that disease)

This imbalance is caused by 3 things:

  1. consuming foods that promote overgrowth (sugar, refined carbs, vegetable oils, too much fat, gluten, whole grains, legumes) or foods that you are sensitive to
  2. not consuming enough vegetables (both non-starchy and starchy), the food for beneficial flora
  3. not consuming beneficial bacteria regularly as part of your diet

Why Fermented Foods?

Fermented foods are the original probiotic. In an effort to preserve vegetables and have them last through the winter, humans started to ferment them. With the advent of refrigeration, we stopped needing to ferment veggies to preserve them. Unfortunately we didn’t realize how much we actually needed the byproduct of fermentation – probiotics. 

Food > Supplement

So why consume fermented foods if you can take a probiotic? Well, the top of the line, highest quality probiotic supplements usually contain between 4-10 strains of bacteria. Homemade sauerkraut can contain between 50 and 500 different strains. And what’s most important for creating a healthy gut microbiome, is variety and frequency.

So choosing a variety of different types of foods – fermented vegetables like sauerkraut, homemade yogurt (either grassfed dairy or coconut) and kombucha – on a daily basis is a fabulous way to constantly be reinoculating your gut with a wide variety of beneficial critters.

Kombucha

Kombucha is one of my favourite fermented foods – mostly because it tastes way more like a treat, than a ferment like sauerkraut. Full disclosure, it’s not nearly as rich in numbers or variety of bacteria, but it does have one good thing going for it. It’s filled with beneficial yeast, who do an awesome job at keeping opportunistic yeast (like Candida) from overgrowing. So while I love the ‘booch, I don’t recommend relying on it as your main source of probiotics.

NOTE: during my first trimester my sour taste buds were like on steroids. Salad dressings, grapefruit, even romaine lettuce were painfully sour. So you can imagine what fermented veggies were like. The only fermented food I could tolerate was kombucha!

 

Making Your Own Kombucha

As much as I love kombucha, it can get real expensive. A bottle of GT’s (a popular brand) ranges from $3.70-$4.99 – which adds up quick! So when I started consuming ‘booch regularly (instead of just as a treat), I knew I had to make my own otherwise I’d drink us out of house and home! It took me a while to get a routine going, and there are lot of variations out there, but this is how I do it and I’ve been very successful for months now!

Ingredients

  • 1L purified water (divided into 2x 2 cups)
  • 1 organic tea bag, plain black
  • ¼ cup organic sugar cane
  • ¼ cup kombucha from a previous batch
  • 1 small SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast – this little mushroom like thing that floats around in your liquid, eats up the sugar and infuses your beverage with gut-healing magic. Note – the SCOBY seen in the pictures below is HUGE because I’ve been using it with high volume continue kombucha brewing for about a year now. Most are just a few inches in diameter.)

Directions – Part 1

  1. Boil 2 cups of the water in a small pot.

  2. Once boiled, stir in the sugar until fully dissolved.

  3. Add the tea bag. You’re now making sweet tea! (note, I’m making a quadruple batch here)

  4. Add remaining 2 cups of water (to help speed up the cooling down process).

  5. Cover the pot with a lid and let cool to room temperature. You can put it in the fridge for a few hours to help speed up the process, but don’t let it get too cold.

  6. Once it’s at room temperature, pour the sweet tea into a clean jar, add the SCOBY and kombucha from a previous batch.
  7. Cover with a coffee filter or dish towel and let sit in a cool, dark place for 2 weeks. Homemade Kombucha | AmandaNaturally.com

Part 2

  1. Once the 2 weeks are up, pour off almost all of the kombucha into a separate jar or juice jug, retaining enough to make another batch.Homemade Kombucha | AmandaNaturally.com

  2. You have the option to do a 2nd fermentation at this point, but I didn’t like the hassle so I don’t do it. Feel free to google it if you’re interested in a more fizzy beverage!
  3. Add flavour to your kombucha. My favourites are:
    1. lemon / ginger
    2. organic cherries
    3. mango

  4. Store kombucha, with the flavouring in it, in the fridge!Homemade Kombucha | AmandaNaturally.com

  5. Meanwhile, repeat Part 1, with the leftover kombucha you retained.Homemade Kombucha | AmandaNaturally.com

Continual Kombucha

Every other Friday I make a new batch of kombucha. I start with Part 1, but since I have an old batch going, as soon as the new sweet tea is cooled to room temperature, I begin Part 2. I empty out most of the 2 week fermented kombucha into juice jugs with flavouring, leaving the SCOBY and enough kombucha in the bottom for the next batch. Then I pour the cooled sweet tea in and recover. Takes me about 20 minutes (plus a few hours wait time) every 2 weeks.

NOTES:

  • Start tasting the kombucha after 1 week to make sure you achieve your desired flavour. The goal is to have most of the sugar gone, so it shouldn’t be super sweet. But it also shouldn’t be vinegary.
  • Don’t increase the size of your batch too quickly. I did and it resulted in a mouldy mess because the SCOBY wasn’t big enough to handle the sugar and keep the opportunistic microbes at bay. Start increasing slowly. Start with 1L, then do 1.5L, 2L, 3L etc. I now follow the exact ratio above, but for 4L at a time. It lasts 2 of us 2 weeks – and we each drink abut 4oz a day.
  • The SCOBY is a slimy mushroomy looking thing. But it’s not mould. Mould is very different. Here’s a good visual:

    http://www.kombuchabrooklyn.com/blog/kombucha-mold-need-know/
  • Your best bet is to get a piece of SCOBY from someone who has one going. Alternatively you can rehydrate one from a company like Cultures for Health. Apparently you can create a SCOBY by following the above process with a bottle of plain, store-bought kombucha too. But I’ve never done it, so you’ll want to google that!
  • You need to use sugar cane, not honey. Honey can introduce undesirable bacteria. Most of the sugar gets eaten up by the SCOBY.
  • If you let your ‘booch go too long, don’t throw it out. Instead turn it into jello jigglers – just make sure to add honey to combat the vinegary taste!

Chocolate Smoothie (with hidden spinach!)

Chocolate SmoothieAh the smoothie. The breakfast that always sits on a pedestal. Even if it’s full of crappy ingredients, the word “smoothie” always brings to mind healthy, fit individuals. Is that legit? Well, in some cases maybe – so let’s sort out all the info.

Benefits of Smoothies

  1. Fast.
  2. Can be made ahead.
  3. Easy way to get additional fruit and veggies in.
  4. You can sneak in super foods like collagen and any supplements you might want.
  5. If you’re dealing with major digestive distress, smoothies can be helpful because less digestive function is required. 
  6. Helps people shift away from the traditional North American breakfasts of refined grains on sugar on pasteurized dairy.
  7. Great for the whole family (bonus if you have a large blender, you can make everyone’s at once!).
  8. Great to send in kids lunches (especially in lieu of crappy yogurt drinks).

Downsides of Smoothies 

  1. Some people don’t register the liquid calories in a smoothie as a meal, so it can leave them feeling hungry.
  2. By not chewing food, you fail to start the digestion pathway. Chewing is essential in releasing amylase in your saliva and triggering the stomach to start secreting stomach acid. 
  3. Smoothies allow you to eat standing up or on the run, which does not allow you to get into proper rest and digest mode. This means you won’t digest your food properly, which can lead to nutrient malabsorption and gut problems like dysbiosis and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. 
  4. Most people do not design them properly! I usually see smoothies fall into one of the following categories:
    1. All fruit + water/almond milk. The problem with this is you’re getting a massive hit of sugar, with no fat or protein to sustain you. You’ll burn through that smoothie in 90 minutes or less, storing much of the sugar as body fat, and then be reaching for a snack.
    2. Protein + water. This combination is way too low calorie to be a meal. At 100-120 calories, heck it’s barely a snack! The only time this is appropriate is if you need a post-workout protein hit. But even then, it should contain carbohydrates to replenish muscle glycogen.
    3. Crappy protein powders. So many proteins contain fake junk. Ingredients like artificial sweeteners (aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame-potassium), food dyes and artificial flavours should be avoided at all cost. Whey protein, while ideal from a bioavailability standpoint, can cause problems in the large percentage of the population that has trouble tolerating dairy. And plant-based proteins are often primarily pea protein, which is a poor quality protein that is notorious for causing major gut irritation.
    4. Random, unnecessary ingredients. So I pretty much added this bullet to address flax. Both the seeds and the oils are completely unnecessary and yet so many people add them to their smoothies! What’s your reasoning for adding flax? Here are the 3 common ones I hear all the time:
      1. Chocolate Smoothie (with hidden spinach!) | dairy free, vegan, paleo | AmandaNaturally.comOmega-3’s! I hate to break it to you, but the type of omega-3 found in flax seed is ALA and unfortunately, that’s not the form our bodies need. We need EPA and DHA. Sure we can convert some ALA to the usable forms, but at the rate of 0.5-2%. So yeah, not very efficient. One bite of salmon gives you the same amount of omega-3’s as a whole whack of flax.
      2. It keeps me regular! Then you have a GI issue that you need to work on. If flax seeds are keeping you regular, it might be that you’re not getting enough fibre. Add spinach, berries, apples, pears, pumpkin, sweet potato etc. to your diet and get back to me! Not working? Likely there’s something that is causing constipation (a food allergy, gut overgrowth, poor digestive function).
      3. They’re so healthy! Well that’s debatable. They’re not a great source of omega-3’s, the fibre can be irritating to the gut in some cases, and most importantly, they’re highly estrogenic. So if there are any hormonal imbalances that need to be addressed, flax shouldn’t be consumed on a regular basis.

So to sum up, if drinking a smoothie is going to prevent you from swinging through Tim’s for a bagel with cream cheese, go for it! Just make sure it’s properly designed (see below). Also, make sure to give yourself 10 minutes to sit, relax and actually enjoy your smoothie – to aid in digestion!

 

Creating an Awesome Smoothie 

So how do you make a smoothie that’s good for you and an actual meal?

Use the following equation:

 

CARBS

fruit and starchy veggies

banana/berry

mango/pineapple

pumpkin puree (for pumpkin pie!)

+

VEGGIES

baby spinach (my preference because it blends easily and doesn’t add any flavour)

cucumber, fresh herbs, kale, celery etc.

PROTEIN

Grassfed/organic whey protein is the best from a bioavailability standpoint (Prairie Naturals Organic Whey, or New Zealand Whey are my favs).

If you don’t tolerate dairy, my other favourites are Manitoba Harvest Hemp Pro, Brown Rice Protein by Prairie Naturals or Sun Warrior and Pumpkin Seed Protein by Omega Alpha.

If you are on an autoimmune protocol, there aren’t any great options for complete proteins. However you can use the Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides. It’s not a complete protein, but 2 scoops gives you 18g of protein AND gut/joint healing awesomeness. So just make sure you eat other quality proteins during the day to balance it out!

+

FAT 

Key to keeping you full! Yes protein helps keep you full, but fat does a much better job.

Plus the body likes to burn fat as fuel, if you let it.

¼ cup canned coconut milk (full fat!)

½ avocado

1-2 tbsp almond butter or other nut butter

¼ cup cashews

+

LIQUID

water

don’t waste your money on almond milk, it’s just expensive white water with no nutritional value, synthetic crappy vitamins and some gut irritants (carrageenan, guar gum)

+

OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS

vanilla extract

peppermint extract

sea salt

cocoa powder (carob powder for AIP)

spices (cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice)

chilled coffee or tea

scoop of kefir (coconut or dairy if tolerated)

supplements

collagen protein (not just for the autoimmune protocol! I add a scoop to every smoothie to support my gut & joints. Not to mention support my skin, hair and nails!)

 

Chocolate Smoothie (with hidden spinach!)

This is one of my favourite recipes for sneaking veggies into kids’ breakfasts. Ok if I’m being honest, I fully use this with adults too since many people are weirded out by a green-coloured smoothie (get over it people!). Cocoa covers up the green colour beautifully!

 

Chocolate Smoothie
Serves 1
A dairy-free, well-designed meal that is delicious and manages to hide some veggies!
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Prep Time
2 min
Total Time
2 min
Prep Time
2 min
Total Time
2 min
Ingredients
  1. 1 ripe banana
  2. handful of spinach
  3. 2 tbsp cocoa powder (carob for AIP)
  4. 1 tsp vanilla extract
  5. pinch of sea salt
  6. 1-2 scoops protein powder and/or collagen
  7. handful of ice
Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients.
  2. Blend and serve!
Notes
  1. 1. This can be made ahead and refrigerated or sent in a lunch box with an ice pack.
  2. 2. Protein powder options are (a) grassfed/organic whey, if dairy is tolerated (b) hemp seed, pumpkin seed or brown rice protein for plant-based options and (c) 2 scoops of Vital Proteins collagen peptides for a super gentle & healing protein or AIP option
  3. 3. Try not to add additional sweetener to this smoothie. It's not a super sweet, chocolatey milkshake, but the flavour is rich. If your kid refuses to eat it, add 1-2 of raw honey or real maple syrup, and over a few weeks reduce the amount until you're not putting in any.
Amanda Naturally http://www.amandanaturally.com/

 

Bacon and Apple Braised Cabbage

Bacon & Apple Braised Cabbage | AmandaNaturally.comCabbage isn’t many people’s first choice of veggie. It has a bad reputation that it simply doesn’t deserve! Cause you know what? It’s one of my favourites and I’m not a notorious eat what most normal people don’t like person. I have learned that if you cook food properly, it can taste amazing. Case in point – cabbage and brussels sprouts. When I ask clients what their dislikes are, the overwhelming majority responds “brussels sprouts” (which btw are the same family as cabbage – they’re pretty much just baby cabbages). To which I respond, “have you ever had it cooked any other way than boiled?”

<< silence >>

Exactly. I wouldn’t want to eat that $h*t boiled either! So trust me when I say that as long as you cook it right, cabbage and brussels sprouts can be amazingly delicious!

I love cabbage in slaw form, but hands down my favourite way to eat it is braised, or more specifically as Bacon and Apple Braised Cabbage. It turns deliciously sweet as the onions and apples get caramelized! My favourite dishes to pair braised cabbage with are pork chops, sausages or roast chicken. 

One of the best parts about cabbage is it’s super inexpensive, local, easy to find organic (and reasonably priced!) and it makes a huge amount. The leftovers seem to get better as they sit in the fridge, and they reheat amazingly well. I love the leftovers because they pair so wonderfully with breakfast! (anyone who works with me knows I am always trying to get people to eat veggies at breakfast!) Scramble up a few eggs, cook up a few extra pieces of bacon, side of apple braised cabbage – boom. Incredibly healthy breakfast.

Speaking of healthy, I’m just going to remind you the incredible health benefits of cabbage (I listed these over in my Simple Coleslaw recipe, but it can’t hurt to be reminded!).

Cabbage, along with other cruciferous veggies (kale, chard, collards, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy), are nutritional powerhouses. Here are some of their health benefits:

  • very high in the sulfurous compound, glucosinolate, which is metabolized by the body into potent antioxidants isothiocyanate and thiocyanate.
  • isothiocyanates have also been shown to be effective in protecting against cancer, specifically breastcoloncervical and prostate.
  • help the body excrete excess estrogens (this is particularly helpful for someone coming off of birth control, or anyone who has estrogen dominance. Also a good idea for everyone, because many of the chemicals we are exposed to daily, from plastics to fragrances to pesticides, are xeno-estrogens, which means they mimic estrogen in our body) (additional source)
  • contains sulforaphane which may reduce hypertension and improve kidney function
  • packed with nutrients – vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, fibre
  • contains indole-3-carbinol which supports phase 2 liver detoxificationphase 1 is also supported via the sulforaphane content. This balance is important because many “liver supporters” only up regulate phase I. Phase 1 often turns chemicals into more toxic substrates, before phase 2 neutralizes them. Only supporting phase 1 liver detox can result in nasty symptoms. (Note: supporting phase 1 and 2 liver detoxification is real detox, not juice-cleansing, cayenne shooters, no protein “detox” – that’s a load of crap.)

Cabbage Prep

Never prepared cabbage before? Here’s how I do it for braising:

1. Remove the outer few layers of the cabbage.

2. Chop the thick end off.

3. Cut into quarters. If the core is really dense, slice out a bit of it and discard. (I didn’t have to for this cabbage)

4. Roughly slice.

Bacon and Apple Braised Cabbage
A trusted recipe for making cabbage actually taste delicious!
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Print
Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
45 min
Total Time
50 min
Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
45 min
Total Time
50 min
Ingredients
  1. 1 large head of cabbage, roughly sliced
  2. 2 apples, sliced thin
  3. 2 onions, sliced thin
  4. ½ lb pastured bacon, diced
  5. ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
  6. sea salt
  7. black pepper (optional)
Instructions
  1. In a large pot, braiser or sautee pan (make sure it has a lid), cook the bacon pieces over medium heat, until crispy. Approximately 10 minutes.
  2. Remove the bacon pieces and set aside. If there is an excessive amount of rendered grease, pour of some to use another time.
  3. Reduce heat to medium low, add onions to remaining bacon grease and sauté for 5 minutes.
  4. Layer apples over the onions and immediately top with the sliced cabbage.
  5. Add in apple cider vinegar, and about 10 grinds of sea salt.
  6. Cover and cook for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so. (if you find it's starting to burn, reduce temperature to low)
  7. Season with additional sea salt and pepper (to taste), top with crispy bacon bits and serve!
Notes
  1. You can absolutely make this without the bacon (but why would you?) For a bacon-free/vegetarian option use your favourite cooking fat such as avocado oil, olive oil or butter.
  2. Feel free to sub in apple cider (the juice or the alcoholic beverage) in lieu of ACV if you want! I'm sure beer would work well too if you tolerate it.
  3. You can use red or green cabbage. I just think red is prettier!
Amanda Naturally http://www.amandanaturally.com/

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