Lentils are a great source of resistant starch. Resistant starch is starch that our bodies cannot digest, so it travels down to our large intestine where our gut bacteria can digest it. (P.S. SO COOL.) Those bacteria ferment the resistant starch to short-chain fatty acids, like butyrate. Butyrate does a LOT for us - a crucial component of gut health, and also helpful for brain health, weight maintenance and cancer prevention.

This sauce is one way to slam a bunch of veggies down. You won’t regret making it. TRUST.

Make-ahead recipe for a hearty grain-free breakfast.

This pasta is protein-packed and veggie-loaded. Perfect for when you're looking for healthy comfort food, or a meat-free dinner.

I used Banza pasta, which is pasta made from chickpeas and pea protein. I order it from Thrive Market, like most of my dry goods (click here to save 25% on your first order!) I think it's super tasty, but use whatever pasta you like!

I work with women who are struggling with exhaustion, burnout, adrenal fatigue/HPA axis dysregulation, hypothyroidism…from years of dieting. They come to me because they want to get better, but some of them are *still* eating 1200-1400 calories a day. Because we - as women - are indoctrinated with the diet mentality. And there is so. much. fear. around letting that go. Even if it’s what we know we must do in order to heal.

Today, I’m gonna share with you what my almost-four year old eats in a day. Now I’m no mommy-blogger, but I’ll throw in some kiddo food notes for any of the mamas out there reading and wondering. The real point of this is to showcase how CRAZY it is to think we can thrive on 1200-1400 calories a day.

I recently released What the Gut: Eating and Living for a Healthy Gut (and Why it Matters), my 2.5 hour gut workshop as an online self study video. I taught this same lecture about a dozen times over the fall and winter, and saw an interesting thing in some of my live audiences.

In talking about the gut, you have to talk about some of the stuff the gut does. What I noticed is that when I started talking about certain topics like poop or constipation or vaginas, people get noticeably uncomfortable - they tense up, break eye contact, fidget, or even pick up their phone. Talking about this stuff makes us comfortable.

We’ve been doing a deep dive on nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics. It’s some complex stuff, and it kind of makes me want to hide my head in the sand.

But it’s also the future of understanding nutrition, disease prevention, and health, so nutrition professionals really should have a decent grip on this stuff. Why is it so important?

A yummy recipe for protein-rich snack balls!

..or are you just conditioned to be that way? A few weeks back, I stumbled across a quote on Instagram that struck a nerve with me, so I took to Instagram stories with my thoughts. Here's what I said.

My diet has gone through lots of twists and turns and shifts and shimmies over the years.

Today I’m going to share with you the four ways I’ve been able to gain enough confidence to develop my own Erin Plan - and how YOU can find your ideal diet.

Just so you know, creating a recipe title is hands down the hardest part of writing a recipe. I don't even know what's happening here. It's a type of bread. But it's not banana bread or zucchini bread or pumpkin bread. It's good. And there's a whole can of beans in there, so that's pretty tricky, no?

There are five different fruits and veggies slammed into this smoothie bowl. If made according to this recipe, it offers up about 400 calories, 14 grams of fat, 11 gram of fiber and 25 grams of protein. Not too shabby whether you're feeding it to your kids, or eating it yourself!

I'm developing lots of new recipes for my new nutrition program. And I'm gonna share one with you this week because Super Bowl and chili go together like...super bowl and chili.

I've been making veggie chili for over a decade, and I've never once written down a recipe. But I did you guys a solid and actually measured out ingredients and listed out steps. I tweaked my OG recipe a little bit to make it more detox-friendly.

I wanted an easy and nutritious snack that we could pack up on the fly...so I made these cookies. They contain fat, protein and fiber—the 3 things I look for in a hearty snack. They’re super tasty (pleased both the adults and toddler), but definitely not your traditional chewy gooey chocolate chip cookie, more like a snack bar in cookie form. So heads up there. We’ve already made them 3 times. Try ‘em out!

People are looking to get healthy, and deep down we know that this requires us to alter our lives. The savvy diet industry is on to this, and so they market their unhealthy quick fixes as “lifestyle changes” to sell to more people.

In an attempt to reconnect with nature, I’ve been paying close attention to lunar cycles this past year. I’ve crafted some simple rituals and have started syncing up my intentions with the changing moons. It has given me a newfound respect for beginnings and endings, as well as a new lens with which to view the new year. There’s something to be said for a clean slate and a clear vision.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to get healthy. That’s not the issue. The issue is how we approach it. Diet culture instills unrealistic ideals of beauty and provides us with unhealthy ways of achieving them. And then they make a hefty profit.

So smoothies it is. A boon for you, because I'm coming up with different recipes to keep things fresh. I'm also dumping these recipes into my Funk'tional Holidays Facebook group—so head on over there if you haven't already! I've got other holistic practitioners adding free workouts, yoga videos, meditations and Ayurvedic practices to keep you healthy and sane throughout the holidays!

BUT! This week I popped into the Durham Juicery like the college kid I think I still am and ordered the Faster Than Light smoothie. I can’t even explain the joy that it brought me. It was cold, creamy and creative. It was so good I told my husband about it later that day. And texted my friend before going to bed that night because I was still thinking about it. And then made it for breakfast the next day.

What does apple sauce have to do with gut health? Check out today's blog to learn more. Or just skip ahead to the recipe—it's the easiest apple sauce you will ever make.