Have you heard all the alarmist news stories about how kale is bad for your health? Well, kale is goitrogenic and thus should not be consumed in ridiculously vast quantities, especially if you already have thyroid dysfunction. For most people, we are talking having a big green juice in the morning made of mostly kale, followed by a massaged kale salad for lunch and maybe some kale chips for snacking on. However, there are two ways to eat your kale and stay abundantly nourished and vibrantly healthy.
1. Protect your thyroid
Most people are iodine deficient. Many types of radiation are taken in by the thyroid in search of iodine, so make sure your thyroid is fully topped up with iodine. Our family enjoys iodine rich foods in the form of seaweed, especially kelp and also supplementing with Nascent Iodine product. Kelp is extremely rich in iodine, in fact many times higher than most other types of readily available seaweeds. It is also relatively inexpensive. Kelp is something that should be eaten in small quantities regularly. If you want to mix it up a little, our Sacred Strawberry brand Tahini Dill Kale Chips contain kelp. It’s a perfect marriage!
2. Rotate your greens
By regularly switching up the greens you eat, you avoid any build up of plant alkaloids or anti-nutrients that one particular green may have. Kale, collards and mustard greens contain goitrogens; spinach and beet greens have oxalic acid; lettuce has traces of opioid like sedative compounds, etc. Eating too many of one thing only is not eating optimally- we need variety! By eating only one type of green that you find tastiest, you also miss out on the benefits that other greens have- different vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. Eating a variety of greens over time is what we want to strive for.
Love Kale!
photo by KeepCalmShop on Etsy 🙂 I can totally see this framed and in the kitchen!
I hope everyone reading this had a stress-free, relaxing Labor Day! I ran into the supermarket today, and while I am grateful it was open for what I wanted, the truth is that it could have waited and I felt bad for the people working.
We woke up this morning and I made some blueberry vanilla almond flour pancakes. I love love love using almond flour and sometimes an almond/coconut flour combo instead of packaged gluten free pancake mix! The recipe I use is just so simple!!
Gluten-Free Almond Flour Pancakes
1 cup almond flour ( I sometimes sub 2 tbsp. for coconut flour) 3 flax eggs ( or other egg replacer or organic pastured eggs if that is your thing)
3/4 cup almond milk ( or water or any other plant milk)
You can add in whatever you like!! I added 1 tsp vanilla powder and a big handful of organic blueberries.
I cook mine in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. They do take longer than regular pancakes- maybe 3-5 min per side. I like to top mine with coconut oil, real maple syrup and more fresh berries!
This recipe makes enough for two big appetites and a baby 🙂
After such a delicious but heavy breakfast we played outside with Amethyst in her sand box and did some more tidying. For lunch I wanted a salad!! I made this and it was sooo good! Farmers Market kale massaged with avocado and lemon juice, with grated carrot, chopped apple and spring onions all seasoned with sea salt and pepper and topped with homemade Dill Kraut! So perfect!
Amethyst didn’t really eat much salad so I made a big smoothie that we all shared with banana, avocado, frozen blueberry, cacao beans, dates and almond milk topped with fresh berries.
We went for a drive and met this Elder who let us take some of her berries! We are going to tincture our haul this time and have some wonderful immune support this winter! We were so pleased as we hadn’t been able recently to get to know a lot of Louisiana flora. Glad to know that Elder lives here too!!
After that I was hungry and tired so I stopped into the stupormarket where I bought pineapple and some purple corn on the cob (so surprised to see this) which we had for dinner! I had my corn with coconut oil and black pepper. Delicious and satisfying!!
Kale and Kelp Salad
1 large bunch of kale, destemmed and broken into pieces. We are lucky to have locally grown awesome kale! 1 packet of kelp noodles, rinsed and drained.
3 banana peppers (they are in season at the moment here and so good. You could use any veggie, and red pepper would be especially nice), sliced finely.
For sauce: 1/2 cup cashews 1/2 cup coconut ( shredded or fresh) 1/2 cup wild jungle peanut butter (or any nut butter you have) Juice of 3 limes Juice of half an orange 1 tsp green curry paste (or curry powder. The point is to impart a mild curry flavor) 1 tsp toasted sesame oil (not raw and optional) 2 tbsp hemp oil 1 tbsp white miso 3 tbsp wheat free tamari 1 clove garlic
2 cups coconut water or spring water
Blend in high speed blender until smooth.
Pour sauce on top of kale, kelp and peppers. Massage in with hands roughly until kelp noodles are evenly distributed and kale is coated with sauce and softening. Leave to marinate for half an hour and then serve!
Serves 4
This meal was sooo nourishing and good! It would be just so perfect topped with homemade sauerkraut or some other type of fermented veggies.
We chopped some up superfine and Amethyst gobbled it up!