Kimchi - Recipe for better health

Don't run away just yet - Kimchi isn't as scary as it smells. ;) 

Well that's what my daughter does every time I bring out my Kimchi but I'm ok with it because I know how good it is for me and I actually LOVE the taste of it now! A few years back, I turned my nose at it too. Full disclosure- I just couldn't do it. My husband was ALWAYS buying it because it was something he grew up eating. 

I didn't. My food smelled good growing up. It didn't stink like this. 

Yup, I was that girl. 

Didn't want to try something because I had a preconceived notion about it. I just knew I didn't like it until I tried it for like the 10th time and now I LOVE it. I CRAVE it on occasion because I feel so much better when I'm taking care of my GUT HEALTH. 

Seriously- When I'm intentionally making strides to improve my gut health my entire being feels better. Not just my gut... my mind, my body, my anxiety is lessened, I have less pain in my joints, I just FEEL good.  

However with that said - the thing is when it comes to gut health, it won't get better unless your stress / overwhelm / too much going on.... improves! 

 When you have stress (whether you're aware of it or not! OMG yes I did. Most of y'all don't even think you're stressed but everything you're telling me goes back to "I'm Stressed!".) your body works differently. 

Stress is a great response we have to a potential threat. So what happens is our body releases cortisol because we either need to FIGHT or FLIGHT when this happens (Like let's say you come across a bear ready to attack you... do you fight it or run away?). Either way, your body needs more blood flow to your arms and legs so you can either fight that bear or run away! It also comes with more glucose being released and insulin to help that sugar into the cells for energy. This is meant to be short term and then the blood sugars become normal, the energy demand is down meaning you won't store energy...

It's a great mechanism that occurs in our body, along with adrenaline, it's like a super power of ours! 

However, the bad part is- most of us live in a state of stress. With blood flow being shunted from the gut at higher amounts than usual, no wonder we have a gut health issue here. 

Then you couple that with the blood sugar issue now and you'll see most people that suffer from chronic stress, tend to have more abdominal fat than those that are in flow.


SOOOOOOoooooooo


Long way of saying- I know my followers. I know y'all and know that you put a lot on your plate. You do a lot of things for everyone else, so for now - do something for yourself. 

Take a nap. 
Meditate. 
Do yoga. 

Rest a bit and then have fun making this Kimchi! 


We WANT the body to have good bacteria, probiotics, in your gut. My biochem professor once told me we have around 2 POUNDS of probiotics in our gut. Unfortunately, antibiotics, stress, birth control pills, and poor diet tend to alter our gut flora (those good bacteria/probiotics... yup they have a lot of interchangeable names). Also interesting to note, the way you came into this earth will determine how your gut health will be too. Vaginal births will have a better gut flora profile than those born via c-section. 

Meaning you end up with less of the good guys and more of the bad ones... 

So what to do?

Some people benefit from taking probiotic supplements (like those with gut health issues, depression, anxiety... I've even recommended certain strains of probiotics for vaginal health with great results, so probiotics are super beneficial in my book!!) however we ALL will benefit from eating fermented foods! 

I enjoy eating my probiotics when I can and making Kimchi was my first run at fermented foods (besides making my own starter for sourdough bread). And holy crap y'all! It's soooo good! 

So enjoy making this because it's so easy and enjoy eating this because you're going to feel SO good once you're body adjusts and starts loving you for taking care of it!



What is Kimchi?
- It's a traditional fermented Korean dish and today I made it with 3 different cabbages, carrots, onions, chili, ginger, soy sauce vinegar, salt and sugar. 


Ingredients
1 white onion, thinly sliced
1 Purple Carrot
1 Orange Carrot
1 Yellow Carrot
1/2 Nappa Cabbage
1/2 Purple Cabbage
1/2 Cannonball (Green) Cabbage
3 tbsp Sea Salt
4 Cloves Garlic, crushed
2 thumbs worth of chopped Ginger (I mean how else would you measure it!?)
12 fl oz Soy Sauce (or Coconut Aminos)
12 fl oz White wine vinegar (or go my crazy route with 6 oz Red Wine Vinegar and remaining 6 oz with distilled white vinegar... you can thank my husband for this mix up haha but who cares, it ended up being amazing)
6 tsp Sugar 


Directions

I used a Kilner Fermentation set (no affiliation, just wanted to let you know what I use) and I altered their Homemade Kimchi recipe to what I had on hand! Best tip I can give you in the kitchen, if it's not baking - substitutions are totally fine with using different ingredients. However with that said... don't skimp out on the sugar or replace it with an icky sweetner because that's how the fermentation process works... with sugar fermenting ;) . 

Ok let's get to those directions again. 

1. Slice your veggies and place in large jar. Add in salt and allow to coat all the cabbage. 

2. Add all ingredients into bowl first to mix  ( I guess I read this part wrong because I just tossed everything into the jar and mixed it as best as I could, So the bowl route might be best).  Add to jar. 

3. Make sure rim is clean and seal jar with lid and air lock. (The airlock needs to have water in it). Leave jar at room temp for at least 2 days. If the lid raises, push back down. 

4. After 2 days transfer to fridge or can them! If not canned, eat within a week.  I'd recommend canning them because it makes a lot. 

5. Enjoy as a side or on top of some tacos. OR any other meal you can think of! Enjoy!

If you enjoy it and make it, share it with me and my Free Health Warriors group over on Facebook. Click here to join the community!

Or maybe you like Instagram more! I spend my time evenly in both places. I'd love to friend you! Find me here and watch my IG stories so you can see what I do to stay healthy and active!