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Gut Health Gummies {gluten-free, dairy-free, paleo, keto, refined sugar-free}
These Gut Health Gummies are fun and delicious way to enjoy the amazing health benefits of everyday ingredients in a tasty, satisfying bite-sized treat. This gut healing snack comes with several different flavor variations and a bunch of options to get creative on your own.
I was never one of those kids who really liked gummy bears or fruit roll ups growing up. I always opted for ice cream as my dessert. For some reason as I’ve gotten older, I have randomly gotten the craving for some gummy bears, especially the sour ones. One of my favorite things to make when my stomach is upset or I’m coming off a cold, surgery, or sickness of sorts is my pineapple charcoal lemonade. I love the tart with a hint of sweetness and the benefits of the charcoal pulling out toxins as it is a binding agent. So, I thought why not make that drink into a gummy bear!
Pure pineapple has so many health benefits. It can help with inflammation, digestion, immunity, and many other things. Pineapple contains significant amounts of bromelain, an enzyme that breaks down protein, which may help with digestion, often you’ll find bromeliad from pineapple used in digestive enzyme supplements, these are supplements that can support the body in breaking down protein, fats and carbs so you can best utilize and absorb your nutrients. When I created these gut healthy gummies, I knew pineapple would be a great addition.
Just remember that gummy bears are not just for children, adults and humans of any age are welcome to try this recipe 😊
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How I Stay Vital with Vital Proteins
As we head into 2018, I know for so many, setting heath and wellness goals for the start of a New Year is of utmost priority. I often get asked questions about my favorite supplements to recommend, why I take collagen daily and what it does, etc. etc. So today, I am sharing some of my favorite products from Vital Proteins that help me #STAYVITAL and play very important roles in my own health and wellness, along with the health of many of my clients.
With so much of the focus surrounding wellness often being centered on What to Remove from the Diet, I really do love the idea of instead shifting our perspective to What Can I Add? While I always suggest getting your nutrients from whole food sources, at times we simply just cannot consume enough to reach the necessary level with select nutrients. Mindfully including properly-sourced supplemental sources of important and essential nutrients to boost our healthy diets and ensure our bodies are getting what we need, is something I believe can play a very significant role in our continued healing journey, along with maintaining our vitality for many years to come.
Beth’s Top 5 Vital Products from Vital Proteins:
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Matcha White Hot Chocolate with Matcha Marshmallows {Paleo w/ Keto Options}
This Paleo Matcha White Hot Chocolate is a cozy, winter dream come true. Frothy, luscious white hot chocolate meets a classic rejuvenating matcha latte, with all kinds of nutritious, superfood goodness you can feel good about – from antioxidants to healthy fats plus healing, immune-boosting, gut-healing collagen, if you wanna include it. It’s paleo and dairy-free, with options for keto and vegan! The maple-sweetened paleo matcha marshmallows on top, those are totally optional, but listen – don’t be stupid!
This Matcha White Hot Chocolate is practically a superfood tonic disguised as a treat! First and most importantly, this delightful, healthful treat features Vital Proteins brand new Matcha Collagen. Antioxidant rich matcha tea, can help fight free radicals in the body and promote long-term health. Matcha being the whole leaf, ground, also contains 137 times the amount of free radical-fighting antioxidants as any other green teas. The matcha is combined with high-quality grass-fed collagen which promotes bone, joint, and skin and digestive health. Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body and is responsible for supporting, healing and sealing the gut plus maintenance of healthy connective tissues, such as bones, joints, skin, hair, and nails. Read more about the benefits of collagen here.
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Grain-free Carrot Cake Coconut Panna Cotta {Dairy-free and Paleo-friendly }
Subtly spiced dairy-free coconut milk panna cotta topped with chunks of grain-free spiced carrot cake and a little whipped coconut cream, makes for the perfect Spring-inspired treat without the sugar, grains or nuts.
I kinda love that carrot cake has become synonymous with Easter, simply because of the Easter Bunny. Rabbits eat carrots, Easter invites a sweet bunny that leaves baskets and eggs and chocolate for us. Hmmm. It’s a stretch, but I’ll take it – cuz carrot cake rules.
While I have been experimenting with the ketgenic diet since the start of this year and have slowly transitioned toward a fat fueled lifestyle over the last year and a half, my interest and taste for sweets has admittedly all but disappeared. Beyond a solid, super duper dark chocolate, I honestly can’t really be bothered. Not so great as a food blogger, but I make it work.
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How-to Make Bone Broth
What is Bone Broth:
Bone broth truly is one of the greatest superfoods. A soul-warming, healing, mineral-rich infusion found in many traditional households across many diverse cultures, bone broth is rich in amino acids and minerals and it’s healing properties run the gamut. This nutrient-dense, inexpensive magic elixir provides minerals in a highly bio-available form, meaning that the body can absorb easily them. Calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur and trace minerals. As the cartilage and tendons breaks down, you’ll also receive chondroitin sulphates and glucosamine, both sold as expensive supplements for arthritis and joint pain. The long cook time of bone broth allows the maximum release of nutrients. Bone broth contains collagen and gelatin, providing great healing value to cartilage and bones but also to the skin, digestive tract, immune system, heart and muscles.
Bone broth is a liquid made by simmering bones for an extended period of time, between 4 and 24 hours. Any bones can be used: chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, pork, bison and even fish. Vegetables, herbs and spices are often added to enhance the flavor and the bones and vegetables are strained and discarded before serving. Typically, the bones will have some connective tissue, like joints and tendons, and some meat attached.
Additionally bone broth and stocks is a wonderful way of letting nothing go to waste. The nose-to-tail concept of sustainability.
You’ve probably heard the terms Bone Broth, Broth and Stock all used fairly interchangeably, but there are actually some differences between them. Each is made using meat and/or bones, cold water, vegetables and spices / seasonings. Cooking remains similar but the time of simmering varies between them. Bone broth is different from traditional stocks and broths in that it typically is made just from the bones and whatever small amounts of meat are adhering to those bones. Bone broth is simmered for a very long period of time, upwards of 48 hours. Stock is made generally with bones and a small amount of meat and is simmered for much less time, just several hours, 3-4. Meat broth is generally made mostly with meat and sometimes a small amount of bones, simmering for usually under 2 hours. Meat broth and stock still have great health benefits, however it’s a lower nutrient content then long simmering bone broth. For some, bone broth vs stock also means the presence of meat and veggies vs. just bones. Bone broth usually does not contain these and stock usually does. That said, those clear definitions have definitely blurred as bone broth has become more prevalent and people find their own ways of making it, so don’t get too hung up on the words.
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How-to Make French Vanilla Coffee Creamer (Dairy and Non-Dairy)
Since I have begun seeing clients as a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, I am so grateful for my longstanding experiences with and my love for food. I am constantly asked the question “If I shouldn’t eat this, then what can I have, instead?”. I love having answers to this question.
I firmly believe that changing diet and lifestyle has to come from a place of both education and confidence. If I meet with a new client and tell them to stop drinking several Cokes daily, but don’t explain why, I can’t really expect them to want to make this change. Why would they? They are both chemically and emotionally attached and possibly even addicted. If I can take the time to explain the effects that the high levels of sugar are doing to their insulin resistance, if I can talk through the reasons why high fructose corn syrup is terrifying and explain the affects this one drink can have on their blood sugar, digestion, mineral absorption and so on, I have a much better chance of getting them on board for the long haul.
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Get a More Restful Night’s Sleep with Bedtime Yoga and a Boosted Sleepy Time Tea
Get a More Restful Night’s Sleep with Bedtime Yoga and a Boosted Sleepy Time Tea
My yoga practice, while ever evolving, has played a role in my health and healing for about 10 years now. The beauty of the practice, whether it’s a powerful 90 minute vinyasa flow or a 30 minute restorative session of just a few long-holding poses – yoga has the power to refresh, to heal and to replenish the body.
I have shifted from the more powerful, long, morning vinyasa practices of my past to instead beginning my days with strength training sessions at the gym in the morning, with light yoga asana weaved throughout and these days I try to always finish my day with a little restorative yoga before bed. I have a new found appreciation for yoga’s power to ease me into a restful and quality sleep, through deep breathing and the physical release of tension.
No matter what poses you include and no matter the reason you were brought to your mat in the first place, yoga always places an emphasis on the combination and synchronization of breath and movement. This combination activates your parasympathetic nervous system which helps to alleviate stress and calm the body, together these can make a regular bedtime yoga practice a very effective sleep remedy.
Sleep is such an important and often neglected part of our lives, but this is when our body repairs on a cellular level, it digests and detoxifies, removing toxins, so it’s vital that we be getting 6-8 hours every single night. Maybe you can’t shut your brain off or maybe you toss and turn all night struggling to get comfortable. Whatever the reason, there are studies galore that prove the increased health risks associated with sleeplessness.
Give yourself 10 minutes before bedtime to include this simple sequence of gentle poses paired with this boosted sleepy time tea featuring Vital Proteins‘ Collagen, to let go of your day and prepare for a lovely night’s rest. You can even get yourself set up right on the bed, so you can stretch it out and roll right under the covers for your savasana.
Before your start your bedtime yoga ritual…
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Grain-free S’mores Tart
Every once in a while your friends really surprise you. During the holidays we had the pleasure of having our friends Sean and Ruth, visiting from the U.K., while traveling California celebrating their honeymoon. I learned while they were staying with us that they had never had S’mores before. How is that possible? I guess with our freedom comes amazing treats like s’mores.
So, I did what any good American foodie friend would do, I promptly went to Whole Foods, got some organic graham crackers for all them, the best dark chocolate I could buy and the best marshmallows I could get my hands on. I started a fire in the fireplace and I treated them. Their minds were blown! Since I skipped out on buying store bought processed gluten-free graham crackers for me, I have since been craving some sort of homemade S’mores concoction, to get my fix.
S’mores to me conjure up emotions of childhood, fun and summertime. They bring back family and spending time around the campfire on our big group camping trips. The marshmallows of our childhood, they are scary things. Loaded with corn syrup and chemicals, we always packed the milk chocolate hershey bars, today my foodie snobbery has gotten so intense that as a self-professed chocoholic, if that was the only chocolate in a 50 mile radius, I would pass. What’s a girl to do, but remedy that situation with the best version of a S’mores you ever did see.
The idea for this tart came to me and I instantly thought it would be such a perfect Valentine’s Day Sweet, but to be fair, I just couldn’t wait that long. So here we are. A slightly sweetened spiced graham-inspired grain-free crust, a luscious, rich, super duper dark chocolate layer (I’m talking 85% dark, people) and a lightly toasted, fluffy marshmallow topping! It’s perfection.
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The Benefits of Collagen
By now you have probably heard from myself and other bloggers about collagen and gelatin and of course, the fanfare around bone broth, etc. Some of you may already know the many benefits of collagen, but even I didn’t know it’s full potential until earlier this year. Collagen is vital for our body and is the basic building block of skin, hair, nails, bones and joints and it plays a very important role in gut healing protocols.
Our ancestors utilized sustainable whole animal nutrition, which provided an abundant amount of collagen. Over the past century however, modern food processing has removed this natural and healthy protein from our diets.
This superfood supplement has provided much healing for me over this last year as it has become part of my daily gut healing protocol, so I am excited to share with you some of the research surrounding it. Beyond finding healing for my gut, the marked benefits in my skin, hair and nails have been the wonderful icing on the cake!
What is Collagen?
Collagen is an important structural protein that makes up one third of the protein in the body and up to 70% of the protein that makes up skin. Collagen is the basic matrix of the connective tissues, skin, cartilage and bone where it comes together to form scaffolding to provide strength and structure.
As a protein, collagen contains significant amounts of amino acids proline and glycine, which are harder to find in other protein sources and serve as a protector of your gut.
The Benefits of Collagen
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Red White and Blue Berry Chia Parfaits
I am a big fan of holidays, especially the ones where themed foods are encouraged. I can always get down with a reason to create a celebratory treat! Here’s the thing though, holiday or not, I cannot turn off on my strong feelings around seeking healthy options, first.
I am definitely all about indulging every now and again, but I am a firm believer in our healthy choices fueling ongoing healthy habits and a ever present healthy lifestyle, all the rest of the days throughout the year when it isn’t a holiday. This means when it’s time to have fun and let loose, I still inherently find myself seeking an option that won’t make me feel terrible after I eat it or undo all the good I do the rest of the time. For me, it’s all about picking my battles and when possible selecting the right foods, the ones that have the power to heal and nourish my body, while still being fun and kitchy. When there is an option for something delicious, but still good for me, that will always be my first choice. #sorrynotsorry
I’ll just say it, I am slightly creeped out by artificially colored foods. There is something so unnatural about all these patriotic-themed treats I see floating around, loaded with chemicals and dyes, it just doesn’t feel very festive to me.
Mother Nature provides us with so many beautiful, vibrant hues, why not take advantage and celebrate with those instead. The bonus: richly colored plant foods are loaded with phytochemicals. These substances occur naturally only in plants and may provide health benefits beyond those that essential nutrients provide. Consider these phytochemicals, bright little disease fighters! Not only can we not say that about artificial dyes, but I would be we could say the opposite, in fact.
According to information from the Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH), phytochemicals may act as antioxidants, protect and regenerate essential nutrients, and/or work to deactivate cancer-causing substances. And while research has not yet determined exactly how these substances work together or which combination offers specific benefits, including a rainbow of colored foods in a diet plan ensures a variety of those nutrients and phytochemicals.[1]
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Strawberry Hibiscus Jello
Happy 5th Birthday Tasty Yummies!!!
This week we are celebrating Tasty Yummies’ Birthday / Anniversary / Blogaversary!! I seriously cannot believe it has been 5 years since I sat down to share the first gluten-free recipe here. Where, oh where has this time gone? From the deepest depths of my heart, I thank each and every one of you for supporting me and this website over the last 5 years. I can say in all sincerity, this blog and my life wouldn’t be what they are – without all of you!!
Besides the usual feelings of excitement surrounding a big anniversary like this, it has also stirred up some unique emotions, as well. Given the state of things currently, I am reminded fondly on this special day of the idea that this blog was built from my desire to create a space, a virtual community where I could share my journey and my creations! I also always had the hope that in the process of sharing, I might help to empower others to find strength amidst a less than ideal situation with their health and diet. Here we are, 5 years later, continuing our journey together, with new struggles and challenges unique to us, yet still reminded that we are not alone.
Sometimes in life, you have to shift your focus and your energy, finding the positive in whatever situation you are in, no matter how challenging. Being in the middle of the autoimmune protocol, I have actually been finding so much joy in the restrictions. I get so excited I find myself dancing around the kitchen when I can pull together a delicious recipe that not only fits the long list of things that are not allowed but actually tastes good and makes me as happy as any other recipe would. This has all been so much more rewarding than the usual creations. With each recipe I develop, it feels like I have completed the most challenging board in a video game, I get my gold crown and I get to move on to the next level. I’ve actually have been quite enjoying this forced shift in my perspective, the encouragement and motivation to be creative in the kitchen – it’s all so invigorating and it makes each step and each day easier!
I won’t lie to you though, with all of the many restrictions on my diet currently, I nearly let this special celebration pass. I was worried that without some grandiose, pinterest-worthy baked good, a layered cake or dainty little cupcakes with cute little number 5s on them – that it wouldn’t feel much like a birthday. But that just simply isn’t true! So what, I can’t have my favorite grain-free chocolate cake right now? There is still so much celebrate and it’s just as special of a holiday, chocolate or not!
