Cabbage soup may be one of the best foods to keep you healthy through the long winter months. I make a powerhouse cabbage soup, loaded with nutrients from every ingredient.  This soup is healing and will get right to work on healing your gut and your health!

Cabbage is a wonder food that will help detox your body in more than one way. Because it is rich in sulfur, it helps aid the liver in breaking down toxins.  Then it's diuretic properties help rid the body of excess water, flushing the broken down toxins out of your system!  Cabbage also has an abundance of nutrients including vitamin C, K, B1, B3 (niacin), B6, protein, fiber, magnesium, calcium, potassium, selenium and iron. All of these nutrients are released into the broth as the soup is simmering, so drinking the broth is very important. 

The carrots, celery and onion add even more vitamins and minerals, with the carrots providing beta-carotene and the celery providing folate. 

The broth is just as important, as I typically use 4 cups of organic chicken bone broth and 4 cups of organic chicken broth. Bone broth has healing compounds and minerals that boost the immune system.  The important healing compounds in bone broth- collagen, glutamine, glycine and proline- are what give bone broth so much healing power.  The collagen from the bone broth reduces intestinal inflammation and heals the gut lining.  Bone broth is especially important for people with leaky gut.  Drinking a couple of quarts a week could work wonders for them! But adding a quart to your cabbage soup creates a healing, healthy and nutrition filled meal that will benefit everyone!

In this recipe I also add garlic with the option to add tumeric and diced organic tomatoes. I don't always put tomatoes in mine, but I know a lot of people like them added. The tumeric is for an added boost, as it will help your body absorb all the nutrients your are consuming!  And of course, the garlic. We all know how wonderful garlic is, not just for the taste and added seasoning, but garlic is a great detox and healer itself. If you have a cold or flu symptoms, the garlic will add some extra fighting power to kick it to the curb. 

This soup is like drinking down straight nutrients that heal you from the inside out! Bon apetit! I hope you enjoy as much as I do! 

Ingredients
8 Cups of Broth (4 cups organic bone broth; 4 cups organic chicken broth)
1 small head of organic cabbage
I small onion, chopped
3 medium-sized carrots, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
bay leaf
sea salt and cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon tumeric (optional)
3 organic roma tomatoes, diced (optional)

​Combine ingredients in a pot and simmer for an hour.  

For about 6 months in 2014 I was on a pico/salsa mission.  I made a different one every week.  I tweaked it a little bit each time to find just the right ingredients for a nutrient-packed, super tasty pico.  I make this any time we go to a pitch-in or gathering.  It is always the biggest crowd pleaser!  I'm always getting compliments and requests for the recipe. There's usually not a drop left and I make a HUGE bowl of pico de gallo.  This recipe can be chopped or blended to make a salsa.  So here you have it...

​Kelly's Favorite Pico (made with organic ingredients to keep it real)
​6 -7 Roma tomatoes
1 medium red onion
1 large green pepper, core removed and chopped
​1 large red pepper, core removed and chopped
​1 jalapeno pepper, core removed and chopped
​3 green onions, chopped and set aside
​2 bunched of cilantro, washed and de-leafed and
​set aside
​1 lime
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup of olive oil
sea salt, to taste
​fresh cracked, black pepper, to taste

​​Nutrients Found In This Pico:
​-vitamin A, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin E, dietary fiber, vitamin B2, vitamin K, niacin and potassium
​-cancer fighting lycopene
​-calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, selenium and zinc 

Chop all vegetables and add to large bowl.  If blending for a salsa, add vegetables to blender and blend, all except the green onion and cilantro.  Once vegetables are blended or chopped and added to bowl, add the chopped green onion, cilantro, olive oil, salt and pepper.  Then squeeze all the juice from the lime over the mixture.  Stir well and let marinate in fridge for 30 minutes before serving.  Bon appetit!