Healthy Living: 4 blender hacks to detox your diet



If you're in for some diet detox after a long winter, nutritionist Deborah Enos has the fix.  Today on Q13 News, she whipped up 3 healthy blender hacks that can help you hit the re-set button and kick off Spring.

Enos says when you're looking to clean up your diet, you want to prepare meals and drinks that include green veggies, citrus and healthy fats.

From Enos...

I use my blender at least once but sometimes twice a day. I use it to blend my upgraded coffee in the morning and my green salad smoothie in the late afternoon. At dinner, I’m using it for sauces & salad dressings.

When you’re looking to detox a bit and clean up your diet, you want to prepare meals and drinks that have these three components:

1. Green veggies: What we want from green veggies is chlorophyll. Chlorophyll rids the body of environmental toxins, heavy metals, herbicides, and pesticides.

2. Citrus: Lemons jump-start digestion by stimulating the release of enzymes and Vitamin C helps convert toxins into a water-soluble form that can be easily eliminated from the body. Lemons also help stimulate the liver and purify our blood!

3. Healthy fats: It is essential to eat fat during a detox diet, because it stimulates the release of bile from the gallbladder. Coconut oil/MCT is good for gut bacteria.

Here are my top three spring detox hacks-using only your blender! No food processor required.

 

Upgraded coffee with brain fat and protein:

I never start a day without my upgraded coffee. I keep it simple by adding in a scoop of collagen protein powder and a scoop of powdered MCT oil. The protein keeps me full and the medium chain triglycerides (MCT oil) keep my brain in full operation mode and it also helps to keep me fuller longer.

 

Mojito Green Smoothie:

1 cup water

3 limes, peeled and quartered

2 cup of frozen organic spinach

1/2 cup firmly packed mint leaves

1 cups frozen pineapple

1 medium avocado, peeled and pitted

SECRET WEAPON: add a scoop of Life Essence Powder from Pure Essence

Why I use it: it has great detox ingredients such as chlorella, organic oat grass juice extract and North Atlantic kelp; and its absorption is good since it’s a powder mix. I like that they use herbal extracts like bacopa and astragalus and digestive plant enzymes, along with black pepper extract to help the body absorb more of all these beneficial ingredients.

Blend in your Breville Blender on the green smoothie setting. Or, just blend until it’s milkshake quality.

 

Detox salad:

The more greens the better when it come to this salad. But, the real magic is in this salad dressing I created. I make up a huge batch of it on Sunday and use it throughout the week.

In your Breville blender, add:

Pour in ½ cup of balsamic vinegar.

3 tbsp. of water

1 tbsp. of maple syrup

1 heaping tsp of Dijon mustard

1 big smashed (not chopped) clove of garlic

Salt & pepper

Give it a good blend, until the garlic is chopped. NOW you add in ¾ cup of great olive oil.

Give it a little blend (just a few seconds). Test for seasoning and store in a dark spot in your pantry for use all week long on EVERYTHING!

BONUS TIP: I’ve started adding crumbled YES PEAS chips from Popchips Their latest flavor innovation made is made with three simple ingredients; yellow and green peas, hint of oil and dash of seasoning

Here’s the awesome part: 6 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber per serving! So if I’m wanting to grab a quick snack or add some protein to a salad, I can guiltlessly (if that a word?) grab a handful and eat them with my greens. A win-win!

 

Detox Chimichurri Sauce:

This is my favorite sauce of ALL-TIME! 90% of the recipe ingredients in the sauce are considered detoxing agents. So, due to my love affair with this chimichurri sauce, I’m calling it Detox Sauce because I put it on almost every meal and I want to feel good about my choices J

To your blender add:

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 1/2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

4 teaspoons minced garlic (4 cloves)

1 tsp sea salt

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, plus more to taste

1 cup firmly packed basil leaves

1 cup firmly packed flat-leaf parsley leaves

1 cup cup firmly packed cilantro leaves

1/2 cup firmly packed finely chopped chives

3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Store in the fridge for up to 10 days-mine NEVER last that long J

Throw it all in your Breville Blender and pulse-you don’t want the herbs to be pulverized-you still want to see pieces of herb.

Add more salt or red pepper flakes if need be.