Food is amazing. It’s a source of nourishment, the cornerstone of many celebrations, and can even offer consolation in dark times. But I’m going to deviate a little from my usual food rants to talk about something else that’s been on my heart.
Choosing healthy, real food is a decision I made and try to stick to it when I can. I don’t have crazy rules or regulations that restrict me from living a normal, well balanced life, but it’s important to me to treat my body well and nourish it the best that I can.
Another way I recently started nourishing myself was by being more aware of the beauty and personal care products I was purchasing. It’s easy to grab whatever is convenient. And a quick pass at a label ensuring the product was ‘natural’ was enough to convince me that the lotion, oil, or shampoo was going to be good for my body.
But it’s unfortunately not that easy. We’re all aware that just because a package on a food label claims that it’s contents is ‘healthy,’ that can be far from the truth. This holds true for beauty and personal care products.
Friends, personal care products are poorly regulated in the United States. The U.S. bans 30 unsafe chemicals from beauty products. To put that in perspective, the European Unions has restricted more than 1,400 unsafe chemicals. When it comes to food and beauty products, we are part of a society that values profit over the well being of people.
The best thing we can do is educate ourselves and find companies who are diligent in ensuring their products are safe for consumers. I was recently introduced to Beautycounter and have fallen head-over-heels with the way they run their business. They are a company committed to health and safety standards that go beyond what’s required by U.S. law. They ban over 1,500 chemicals from their products and are dedicated to ensuring every product they sell is the highest safety quality it can be.
I am beyond EXCITED to share my involvement with this company. Not only because I believe in their mission, but their products have been some of the best I’ve used.
Last week I shared about my decision to be diligent about recycling. A baby step to doing the earth a little better. Today I’m sharing a small change I’m making to take care of myself. It’s easy to turn a blind eye, or worse, overwhelm ourselves trying to overhaul our lifestyle then giving up and throwing in the towel.
But small changes add up. Choosing to read labels and understand what we’re putting on our bodies is a small way we can be a littler bit better. I encourage you to read more here. And if you want to learn more, get in touch with me and I’ll be happy to share more about why I’m loving Beautycounter.
As promised, I’m not totally deviating from food. So today I have a Thai-inspired chicken salad with ribbons of shaved carrots, broccoli slaw, apple and an incredible peanut dressing. Crunchy, sweet, salty, creamy – this salad is all the things.
It’s clean, bright, and perfect for the warmer weather. And if you swap out the peanut butter for almond butter and use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce, you’ll be Whole30 and Paleo compliant.
I know this was a bit of an overload of information, but it’s so so important that we educate ourselves and take the steps to create a safer environment. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
Thai Chicken Salad with Shaved Carrots and Peanut Dressing
Serves 4
For the Dressing
- 3 Tbsp Peanut or Almond Butter
- Juice from 1 Lime
- 1 Tbsp Soy Sauce or Coconut Aminos
- 1/2 Tbsp Maple Syrup
- 1/2-1 Tbsp Water
For the Salad
- 3 Medium Carrots
- 1 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast, cooked and shredded (instructions below)
- 4 Cups (1 bag) broccoli slaw
- 1 Bunch of Cilantro, chopped
- 4 Green Onions, chopped
- 1 Green Apple, thinly sliced
Whisk together all the ingredients for the dressing and set aside. Use a vegetable peeler or spiralizer to cut the carrots into ribbons or noodles. In a large bowl toss together the carrots, chicken (cooking instructions below), broccoli slaw, cilantro, green onions, and apple. Portion out each serving and drizzle with dressing. If making in advance, wait to dress the salad until you’re ready to serve.
To Cook the Chicken
Place the chicken in the bottom of a pot or pan and cover with an inch of water. Add the 1 Tsp salt. Turn the heat to high and bring the water to a boil then turn the heat to medium low. Cover the pan and allow the chicken to simmer until the it’s opaque and the internal temperature reaches 165. This took about 15 minutes for me, but you may need to check on your chicken after 10 minutes. Place the chicken on a plate and allow to cool before shredding with a fork.
