New opportunities, new year, new beginnings.  There's something refreshing and promising about starting a new year, and what lies ahead.  Beginnings stir hope and imaginative dreams, goals, and aspirations about the future.  Whether you are just beginning your gut healing journey, or if you are in "maintenance mode" from the progress you have already made with your digestive health, my tips below will help foster a healthy (or healthier!) GI tract.  As you read the list, give yourself kudos for what you already implement, and consider a new change that you can realistically add to your list of healthy habits in 2019 and beyond!
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I am so excited to share this recipe with you!  Periodically, I become enlightened with a new food combination idea, which I attribute to my college days when food variety in the kitchen was scare.  I would have to "think outside the box" on how to pair foods I had on hand into a meal creation that actually tasted decent - oh, the memory of college days!  
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I love this recipe because it is simple and easy, but delivers a robust flavor.  This veggie pilaf is filling, and provides antioxidants, dietary fiber, and heart-healthy fat.  You can even serving it with Thanksgiving dinner.  Check out this must-have recipe...

There is something about receiving words of wisdom from someone who has walked through adversity and come out on the other side that makes the advice so much more meaningful.  A good friend of mine was a healthy, competitive swimmer growing up as a child, and in college, where she swam for University of Maryland and earned All-American status!  After graduation, she turned to competitive triathlons, including many Ironman-distance triathlons, and placed first female overall at many of her races.  Then, out of nowhere, she was struck with a life-threatening bout of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).  She followed the advice of her doctors and after giving birth to her second child several years later, she was re-hospitalized for her second serious IBD flare.  My friend did her homework and embarked on a journey to heal her gut for good, under the guidance of her gastroenterologist and functional medicine doctor.  Now, my friend is healthy and back to her winning ways and I'd love to share some of her pearls of wisdom with you!

Many of my clients cannot tolerate gluten or yeast, so it has been my quest for some time to find a simple homemade gluten-free, yeast-free bread alternative.  After doing a Google search, I came across this buckwheat bread recipe and made it myself.  It tasted fine, but was on the dry side.  Also, the bread was dense.  I did the math, and a very small slice was ~130 calories, which may be appropriate for someone with high-calorie needs like an athlete or growing child/teen, but I wanted an alternative that was more moist and not quite as calorie-dense, so I embarked on a recipe experiment.  Instead of adding 1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) of olive oil that the original recipe called for, I cut back to 1 Tablespoon oil and replaced the other remaining 3 Tablespoons oil with canned pumpkin in one loaf and unsweetened applesauce in the other loaf.  I was pleasantly surprised, and am excited to share my concoction with you!