Spring is here! There are loads of people who utilize spring as a time to ‘reset’ and shake off the winter sludge with a dietary detox or cleanse. Spring cleaning season is also here, and you may be finally seeing the extent that the dust has accumulated on the blinds now that the sun is shining. While seasonal detoxes can be a great mental reset, if toxins are a concern it is of primary importance not to cleanse your diet for X days, but to first minimize exposure to harmful chemicals every day. I encourage you to go through your cupboards and garage this spring and get rid of harmful pesticides, herbicides, and heavy-duty cleaners which have warning labels on them. While you can pick up some non-toxic cleaners at the store, some of these still contain questionable ingredients and all of them are far more expensive than the DIY recipes I have here that work just as well. Give these a try and let me know what you think!

DIY everyday cleaner – I have a couple bottles of this in the house in various places. Some essential oils have strong antibacterial and antiviral properties; these are the ones I like to use in this cleaner.

• 1 cup white vinegar (If your countertops are made from marble, granite, or stone, use rubbing alcohol or cheap vodka instead of vinegar (its acidity can harm these surfaces).
• 1 cup distilled water
•  10-20 drops of your favorite essential oils (lemon, tea tree, orange, pine, and clove all have great antibacterial action).

Mix all in a spray bottle and use when needed.

Shower Cleaner – 1 cup water, 1 cup vinegar, 5-10 drops of lemon, pine, or lavender essential oils. Spray on tile and let sit for several minutes before wiping away.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner – Kristin Marr at Live Simply has a great toilet bowl cleaner that utilizes baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. The baking soda adds a little bit of grit and the peroxide disinfects *and* reacts with the making soda to foam up the bowl a bit. Take her advice and keep the two separated until they are to be used. Here’s the recipe:

• cup water distilled or boiled water for long-term use
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 1/2 cup Dr. Bronner’s liquid castile soap
• 15-30 drops lavender essential oil or grapefruit, tea tree, lemon, orange, or whatever you like!
• Hydrogen Peroxide

1. Using a small funnel, add the liquid ingredients: water and castile soap to a squirt container or bottle. Then, add the baking soda. Shake to combine the ingredients, except the hydrogen peroxide.
2. Place the top on the bottle (make sure the squirt top is closed!). Shake the bottle vigorously until the ingredients are combined.

To Use: Squirt the interior sides of the toilet bowl with cleaner. Spray hydrogen peroxide over the cleaner. Allow both to rest for 5-15 minutes, then scrub the toilet bowl with a cleaner brush. Store the cleaner (sans peroxide) at room temperature and vigorously shake before using. Separation of the ingredients is normal. You may wish to store the peroxide in a spray bottle next to the bowl cleaner. Alternatively, it can be omitted, but it will then not have as strong as a disinfectant effect. Read more here.

Mildew killer – spray vinegar directly onto the affected area. Let sit for 30 min, then rinse away with warm water, scrubbing if needed.

DIY Window Cleaner – This is originally from Crunchy Betty, but nabbed from WholeNewMom.com.

• 1/4 cup white vinegar 
• 1/4 cup isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch (the cornstarch reduces streaking)
• 2 cups water
• 8-10 drops essential oil of choice (optional)

To use: Combine everything in a spray bottle and shake well to mix. Spray onto glass surface and wipe clean with newspaper.

For more recipes I strongly recommend the book Clean House, Clean Planet! It’s a timeless publication that covers all areas of the home. If you want something a little more current that includes such 21st century items as foaming hand soap and dishwasher pellets, check out The Organically Clean Home: 150 Everyday Organic Cleaning Products You Can Make Yourself–The Natural, Chemical-Free Way

These cleaners will leave your home smelling fresh and your surfaces shining! In my next post I’ll share some other tips to keep toxin exposure low inside your home.

This meal is hearty enough to be satisfying on a cool evening yet light enough not to weigh you down. It’s also quick to the table – in thirty minutes or less depending on how small you dice the apple. Give this a try the next time you want a quick, hearty meal! It also pairs well with a rice pilaf or butternut squash risotto.

• 2 tbsp. sour cherry jam
• 1 cup cranberries, fresh or frozen
• 1 medium apple, diced
• 1/4 cup apple juice
• 1/4 – 1/3 tsp. thyme
• 10 twists black pepper (about 1/2 tsp)
• 4 pork chops, about 1″ thick
• 1 large bunch lacinato kale, de-stemmed and leaves torn
• 1 tbsp. avocado oil

Preheat oven to broil. Salt and pepper pork chops and begin making the sauce (below) while the oven preheats.

Sauté the apple in a small saucepan over medium heat in a little avocado oil or butter. When the apple begins to soften, add cranberries, jam and apple juice. Stir to incorporate and simmer on low-medium, breaking up the cranberries and apples as they soften to create a thickened sauce. Add thyme and pepper and simmer on low for 5 more minutes, or enough liquid evaporates to create a chunky applesauce consistency.

Broil for 7-10 minutes then flip the chops and continue to broil for 3-5 minutes, monitoring closely. Remove and let rest.

While the sauce is cooking, sauté the kale in a little oil. Add 1-2 tbsp. water to steam-saute the kale until it is bright green and wilted.

Assemble the plate by placing the pork chop on a bed of kale and adding the compote atop the dish. Serves 4.

Since football season is here it means that HOT WING SEASON is here! The great thing about hot wings are that they are an easy crowd pleaser that can be made to be fairly healthy. Here’s a Instant Pot Hot Wing recipe you can take with you to the next game – you’ll look like a culinary bad ass, but Instant Pot does most of the work!

This recipe is gluten-free and paleo-friendly and is adapted from The Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook which has recipes for all kinds of eaters. I’ve cleaned it up by following instructions to broil instead of fry the wings and by making my own hot wing sauce, which is easy and keeps the dairy and gluten-free folks happy!

Bomb-Diggity Game Day Hot Wings

• 3 pounds chicken wings
• 1 cup water
• kosher salt
• 2 cups wing sauce (see recipe below)

Add chicken wings and water to Instant pot. Season with salt to desired taste. Selected ‘Manual’ and ‘high’ pressure on Instant pot and set time to 10 minutes.

While Instant Pot is cooking the chicken wings assemble the hot wing sauce:

Hot Wing Sauce

• 1/2 cup avocado oil*
• 3 tbsp. honey
• 1/3 cup sriracha
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp. coconut aminos
• 2 limes, juiced

Combine all ingredients in a blender or vitamix until garlic is well blended and set aside.

When the wings are finished, use the natural pressure release for ten minutes and then manually release any additional pressure. Removing wings and place upon a cooling rack to drain or press them dry between paper towels. Preheat oven to broil.

Dump wings and sauce into a large bowl. (you may want to reserve a little bit of sauce for dipping; its totally up to you!) Mix until sauce coats those wings well! Line a baking sheet with foil (for easy clean up) and lay wings on the baking sheet. Broil for 5 minutes, or until crispy. Flip wings and broil for 3-5 more minutes, then remove.

Serve with celery sticks and your favorite hot wing dip.

*I use avocado oil instead of olive oil because it is a mild flavored oil that has a high smoking point. Olive oil should not be used for broiling, frying, or sautéing due to its low smoke point. If you have an olive oil that is reportedly acceptable for such purposes its quality is highly questionable.

Last week we went camping for the first time this year. Our Squish (who isn’t so little and Squishy anymore!) had a terrible camping experience last fall and we have been hesitant to go out again. Thankfully he had a GREAT time playing and sleeping in his outdoor “Ohm”.

Rose Infused Honey

Rose Body Oil

*Commercial honey is pasteurized and filtered so fine that no pollen remains. Given that the FDA identifies honey as having pollen in it, can it even be called honey at that point? Sometimes it is also diluted with corn syrup, imported from China, and otherwise not the healing, healthy food you’ve read about. All enzymes and vitamins have been destroyed.

**Apricot oil is derived from the pit of apricots. It is a light oil that makes skin velvety soft. It’s great to apply upon dry, parched skin and won’t feel heavy or greasy when used topically, making it a favorite of massage therapists. It can also be used in hair as a hot oil treatment.

Resources:

Learn more about commercial honey here: http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/comparing-commercial-and-locally-produced-raw-honey-zbcz1412.aspx

This recipe is a simple derivation from the recipe used in the movie Chef, which was a hit amongst foodies in 2014. The original recipe can be found here.
This pork roast is an easy and highly flavorful dish that is most authentically served alongside fried plantains or sliced, tucked into a homemade plantain wrap and served with a salad. Simple and Merry makes my favorite plantain wraps recipe, which you can find here.

As I am testing out the AIP diet on myself I am eager to find easy dinners and meals that can be prepared with a wide variety of flavor. It’s very easy to get bored on AIP, so we gotta shake it up as much as we can!

Try this out and tell me know what you think!

AIP Cuban Mojo Pork

1 cup lightly packed cilantro, roughly chopped
1 Tbsp. finely grated orange zest
¾ cup fresh orange juice
½ cup fresh lime juice
¼ cup lightly packed mint leaves, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 Tbsp. minced oregano
Sea Salt
3½ lbs. boneless pork shoulder, in one piece
Butcher’s String to tie pork together

DIRECTIONS

Place all ingredients aside from the salt and pork in a blender and food processor and pulse on low to finely chop the herbs and garlic. Add a tsp. of salt to the marinade and pulse again once to mix.

Set the pork in a large glass bowl or baking dish and cover with marinade. Cover and refrigerate overnight, rotating once to allow both sides to soak up the marinade.

Preheat the oven to 425° and set a rack over a shallow roasting pan. Transfer the pork to a cutting board and discard the marinade. Fold the pork under itself, into thirds if necessary, and tie with string to form a neat roll. Season all over with salt and place it upon the rack.

Roast the pork for 30 minutes at 425°, until lightly browned. Reduce the oven temperature to 375° and roast for 1 hour and 30 minutes longer or until a meat thermometer inserted in the center reads 150° – 160°
Remove the pork form the oven and to a carving board and let rest for 30 minutes. Remove the butcher’s string, slice across the grain and serve.

Make Ahead and Freeze:

Place all ingredients aside from the salt and pork in a blender and food processor and pulse on low to finely chop the herbs and garlic. Add a tsp. of salt to the marinade and pulse again once to mix. Place the pork and the marinade in an extra large ziploc bag or double layered plastic bag and use a rubber band AND butchers string to tie it together. Freeze for up to 3 months.

To cook, remove from freezer and thaw overnight. Preheat the oven to 425° and set a rack over a shallow roasting pan. Transfer the pork to a cutting board and discard the marinade. Fold the pork under itself, into thirds if necessary, and use the butcher’s string from the freezer bag to form a neat roll and tie it together. Season all over with salt and place it upon the rack.

Roast the pork for 30 minutes at 425°, until lightly browned. Reduce the oven temperature to 375° and roast for 1 hour and 30 minutes longer or until a meat thermometer inserted in the center reads 150° – 160°
Remove the pork form the oven and to a carving board and let rest for 30 minutes. Remove the butcher’s string, slice across the grain and serve.