Chunky Monkey Muffins

So I have a cold and needed something easy to make for the Superheroes.  The bacon was in the oven as I searched my pantry. Much to my joy I had everything I needed to make the Paleo Parents Chunky Monkey Muffins (click on the muffin name for the link).  I did use sunflower seed butter, reduced baking soda to 1 1/2 teaspoon, and added some chopped white chocolate for the boys.  When you use the dates it does help to rehydrate them some if they're dry by letting them soak for 10 minutes in HOT water. This helps when you try to chop them up with the banana in the food processor. I was very generous in my cup of dates too. I hope you try this recipe. The kids love it and so do we. Definitely worth the time in the kitchen.

Paleo "Oatmeal" Cookies!

So I used to love making oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for Superhero #1.  I loved the added texture and complexity of flavor of having more than one grain used.  Well...I stumbled upon a recipe from PaleoMom her mock Oatmeal cookies.  Here's the link to her recipe so you see the original and below is the way I altered it based on what was in my pantry and what I felt like doing.  Let me know what you think and give me some feedback folks!  Desserts are what we miss most right?  So lets put our heads together and figure out what you miss the most and we can search and try to create a recipe for those indulgences.  These are slightly chewy cookies and don't taste the same as every other almond flour cookie recipe out there.  I like the different textures and flavors in it.  Let me know what you think. 

3/4 cup of coconut oil melted and cooled (if you skip this step you have a puddle of oil on the bottom of the bowl.)

2/3 cup of coconut sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cup blanched almond flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 TBSP sesame seeds (I had the light colored ones on hand)

2 TBSP Flaxseed meal

1/2 cup finely shredded unsweetened coconut

1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

1/2 cup raw pecans

2 TBSP raw sunflower seeds

1/4 cup raw sliced almonds

3/4 cup mini chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life brand since they're dairy free)

1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Mix oil, sugar, egg, and vanilla well.

3.  Add almond flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt to sugar mixture and blend well.

4.  Pulse pecans and sunflower seeds in food processor until they resemble coarse sand.  Then dump into batter.

5.  Pulse almond slices until they resemble oatmeal flakes.  Add to the batter.

6.  Add remaining ingredients (coconut, sesame seeds, and chocolate chips.  Mix well.

7.  Form 1 inch balls and flatten on a parchment paper lined pan.  

8.  Bake 9-10 minutes.  9 was perfect for me but every oven is different.

ENJOY!  These are flattened out by hand but you can bake them as balls...they'll just stay in that shape.

Natural Ranch Dip?

So here's the deal.  I am the mom who tricked my now 5 year old into eating his vegetables by giving him Hidden Valley Ranch dip.  Even at the time when he was 2 years old and I was doing it I would cringe inside.  I had read the label...maltodextrin, buttermilk, salt, monosodium glutamate, dried garlic, dried onion, lactic acid, citric acid, spices and artificial flavors. Dried buttermilk adds the characteristic tang to the ranch dressing. (Livestrong.com).

This is what he liked?!  Kids need to eat their veggies!?  I'm a first time mom!  I want to get it right!

Well...guess what.  He just liked flavor and I figured out how to get him to eat cooked carrots (cooked in my chicken stock), asparagus, parsnips, green beans, and cucumbers.  But, I'll be honest with you...he still liked the ranch dip.

Typical spread at my baby shower.  Note the veggies and ranch dip in the back.  This was before we gave up processed food!  It makes me shudder!

No Going Back

Handsome Hubby and I didn't want to go there.  Monosodium glutamate is bad stuff!  Here's a list of known symptoms from the Mayo Clinic website:  

• Headache
• Flushing
• Sweating
• Facial pressure or tightness
• Numbness, tingling or burning in the face, neck and other areas
• Rapid, fluttering heartbeats (heart palpitations)
• Chest pain
• Nausea
• Weakness

So now what?  I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner but Pinterest helped me.  A recipe for it!  There's a little website that is fabulous called Keeper of the Home.  I stumbled on her recipe page for 17 common mixes that we use.  One of which was a guest post linking to a Ranch dip mix.  The link to her 17 mixes is above.

Eating "Real Food" and LOVIN' it.

The Rationale for Fat

So my simplified version is coming below...this is just dip for veggies.  If you can't tolerate dairy, get lactose free greek yogurt.  Or you could make it with just mayonaisse.  I would recommend making your own so you can avoid soybean oil (a common allergen and gmo).  Also, try to get a full fat sour cream or full fat yogurt.  A misconception is that we have to stay away from fat.  It's not true.  We need to stay away from fake!  Eat real foods.  The higher quality of plant based food and grass fed or free range meat you eat the more quickly you become full.  

The more quickly you become full, the fewer calories you eat.  The fewer calories you eat, the more weight you lose.  It's the QUALITY of calories that matters more than the QUANTITY.  Sure, you can't eat like a pig and not gain weight.  Food is food.  If you eat too much no matter what it is, you may have an unhealthy relationship with food.  That is something for you to examine in yourself.  We had to.  We still do.

But when companies start taking fat out of dairy, adding hormones, adding flavor enhancers, you're getting away from the way God made food.  Our bodies need a certain amount of fat.  It helps in brain memory functioning, you stay full longer, there's actually less of a chance of childhood obesity in kids who drink whole milk versus those who drink skim.

The Ranch Dip Recipe

16 oz container of full fat organic sour cream (or greek yogurt)

1 TBSP dried parsley

1 TBSP onion powder

1 TBSP garlic powder

1 tsp. sea salt

Mix above ingredients and enjoy!  That's it!  It saves you money too and you can adapt it.   Don't be locked into the sour cream either.  Try mayo.  Try hummus with this mix of spices.  Try Greek Yogurt.  To make it a dressing, add some whole milk.  Just a tablespoon at a time.  Try it out and let me know what you think!

Sometimes I just miss my granola...

Sometimes I just miss my granola.  I never was much of a cereal person.  Perhaps, it was because of my gluten and lactose intolerance.  It was like feeding a beast and making it grow larger until it overtook me.

Granola on the other hand with a bit of almond milk...ahhh...be still my heart!  So now as we're on a majority grain free diet and I'm reaping health benefits from it I don't want to go back.  Yet...sometimes I miss my granola.

So today's recipe is from a blog Our Full Plate.  I stayed true to their recipe but will try to tweak it next time.  It is good.  Plain and simple.   It took minimal prep and minimal cook time.  It's not as crunchy as I wanted once dried so I did bake it a little extra but be careful so you don't burn it.  I plan on adding some dried goji berries when I eat it or fresh fruit and unsweetened almond milk.

So I'm going to have to try it again along with many other paleo granola recipes in my quest for the perfect one.  If you're missing the cereal or granola.  Try this.  Enjoy!

Oh...and Happy Mother's Day to the all the mama's out there.

Reinventing Leftovers

I have a Love-Hate relationship with leftovers.  I love the fact that it means I don't have to cook as much.  I hate the fact that it's the same old thing over and over.  So sometimes I need to spice things up and make ways to stretch the meal into several different meals.  I can freeze the leftovers or recreate them into a totally different meal.

A few weeks ago I made spaghetti sauce when Handsome Hubby went hunting.  Yesterday, I thawed it out while my parents were visiting and we had it for supper.  My mom couldn't believe how fast I prepped the meal.  She asked where the sauce came from.  We served it over mung bean fettuccine (as option 1) or some sauteéd zucchini (made with olive oil, garlic, and Italian seasoning).

Today, I gave my Superheroes the option of more spaghetti (they had eaten it for lunch) or bread sticks with the sauce.  They chose bread sticks.  I stumbled on this recipe at Multiply Delicious one day on Facebook.  It has become a favorite of ours.  My now 5 year old Superhero is bringing it to school tomorrow for his lunch.  I often wonder what the other kid's lunches look like and if he's bothered by it.      He did ask for fruit snacks today but I told him I'd give him some chocolate chips instead.  He was satisfied with that.

Tomorrow, the sauce will be reinvented again into pizza or I'll thaw out something else since we used it up tonight.  Perhaps it's time for that tilapia that's sitting in the freezer.  We shall see what I come up with.  It seems like tilapia and roasted asparagus will be the winner.  Enjoy!

You Can Make This Everyday Mom

So when my almost 5 year old says "You can make this everyday Mom" I know it's a hit.  Tonight I used some of the spaghetti sauce from Saturday's cooking extravaganza to make pizza.  I thawed some out and decided to try making a cauliflower crust.  I've been reading about them for awhile and was curious.  I perused several on Pinterest and decided on this one for no particular reason other than I know some people that had tried it too.  The blog is Eat.Drink.Smile and she focuses on real whole food recipes.

I followed her instructions almost to the word.  Just doubled it to feed our growing boys and used 1/2 mozzarella and 1/2 parmesan in the recipe.  After baking for 15 minutes I topped with sauce and toppings (black olives, pepperocini, roasted bell peppers, pepperoni, and mozzarella cheese).  I baked it a bit more we were ready to eat.

Superhero #2 chose the deconstructed pizza since he has an aversion to sauce these days.  He ate cheese, pepperoni (uncured), and some veggies and milk.  Superhero #1 said I could make it everyday. I asked my Handsome Hubby if he could figure out what kind of "flour" I used for the crust and he was stumped.  You can't tell it's cauliflower.  Trust me.  I don't like cooked cauliflower.  We all devoured it.

There are about 6 square pieces left in the fridge.  I packed 2 for Superhero  #1's lunch tomorrow.  The preschool classmates won't even know that it's not your average pizza and it's safe to bring to a school with nut allergies.

The only drawback I would say is that we had to take our LACTAID pill before eating because of our lactose intolerance.  I loved the flavor but even with the pill in my stomach working I could feel that I'd had too much dairy.  So next time I might try a recipe I found that follows the same path but does use a bit of almond flour as well.  In case you're curious...that recipe is found here at the blog Love and Lemons. 

Later this week I hope to post my latest craftiness project.  I desperately needed to patch the knees of my outdoor Superheroes pants so I decided to have fun with it and make various vehicles on each knee.  That will come later with pics.  Right now they're washing.  Enjoy the pizza and let me know what you think if you try it.

Not Your Lazy Saturday

Sometimes we have lazy Saturdays.  We don't have any commitments.  We play at home, do yard work, stay caught up on laundry, etcetera.  This was not your lazy Saturday.  My feet hit the floor running at 6:30 a.m. and stopped moving at 9:40 p.m.  I literally did not sit down for a single meal.  I do not recommend this for anyone.  Especially a heart attack survivor who is supposed to be "managing stress".  However, life is life.  Sometimes you find yourself packing it in.

I woke up this morning to my sweet Superhero #2 calling for me.  So we played a little on his car mat with him explaining types of cars to me while the oven heated.  Next, he helped me make two new muffin creations using coconut flour.  I have to admit, coconut flour has not been my favorite flour of choice.  So if you're like me and don't like the texture of coconut baked goods, you may want to consider these recipes.  I made pineapple-coconut muffins and mini blueberry muffins with my boy.  They were so good and everyone devoured them as soon as they cooled.  The pineapple ones reminded me of pineapple upside down cake.  Both were from two of my favorite food blogs on whole food eating...Elana's Pantry had the blueberry muffins and The Nourishing Home had the Pineapple-Coconut muffins.

I did adapt both recipes some.  With the blueberry muffins I used melted coconut oil and grade b maple syrup instead of the grapeseed oil and agave nectar.  Coconut oil is a natural anti-inflammatory, big in "healthy fats", anti-microbial, adds moisture to baked goods, and the list goes on and on.  I replaced the butter in the Pineapple-coconut muffins with melted coconut oil and then used lactose free whole milk that I had in the fridge since I didn't have any kefir or yogurt.  Some of us have dairy allergies here so I try to limit it as much as possible.  I'm not against dairy...just against my reaction to it.

After that we left for soccer and I met a friend to go whole food grocery shopping.  She is overhauling her family's eating and feeling a bit overwhelmed.  So we met at a local health food store, traveled to Costco and introduced her to the corporate wonderland there and then parted ways for me to complete my shopping.

I arrived home to hungry kids and a Handsome Hubby who needed food for his wild turkey hunting trip this weekend.  So...I put on my cooking hat (figuratively) and started cleaning up from breakfast.  Then I made a bean salad for him with my own recipe.

Huge bowl of Greek Bean salad...ready for the road

Greek Bean Salad
2 cans white canellini beans (rinsed and drained)
1 cup chopped pepperocini
1 cup chopped kalamata olives
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
grape tomatoes (if you have them...I didn't today)
feta cheese to taste

Mix above ingredients together and enjoy!  It's so tasty!  High in carbs but when he's out hiking all day he needs them and burns through them.  He is meeting a hunting buddy so I made a HUGE bowl today.  All of the ingredients above are approximate.  Honestly...I just dump things in and taste until it seems right.

While I was chopping things up for that I started making my "secret spaghetti sauce".  It's really not a secret...it's natural sweet Italian sausage from the local health food supermarket that I bake and grind up in my food processor.  Next I found that the Kirkland brand spaghetti sauce has no added sugar or junk and as a bonus...IT'S CHEAP!  So I pour the 3 jars of that with my 3 pounds of sausage and we're set for spaghetti, lasagna, pizza, and breadsticks.  I sent a bag of mung bean noodles with him and some sauce so BAM another meal done.

Secret Spaghetti Sauce

Secret Spaghetti Sauce
3 lbs Italian sausage
3 jars Kirkland Marinara Sauce

Bake sweet Italian sausage at 350 for 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes.  Cut links in "chunks" and grind in food processor.  You'll have to do several small batches.  Place ground sausage into large stockpot with the marinara sauce.  Simmer for 20-30 minutes and enjoy!

So with the dishwasher running and the counter still a mess I decided to throw some laundry in and cook more!  I'm crazy I know.  I made some turkey sliders for him to take and for us to eat while he's gone.  It's a favorite recipe from The Food Network and while it does include cheese I just try to limit how much I eat.  Here's the link if you're interested...unfortunately I didn't get pics of these.

Then with Superhero #1 celebrating his birthday at school on Monday and us having a busy day at church tomorrow I decided to do the unthinkable...bake more!  They had to be nut free but coconut flour was ok.  So I made two different coconut flour recipes.  One is for a white cupcake with a maple buttercream frosting.  The recipe may look intimidating but trust me...it's worth it.  My son always wants chocolate cake and this one was his favorite.  It came from the website Deliciously Organic.  She has wonderful information on how she healed Hashimoto's disease by eating whole foods.

Blueberry muffins, Pineapple coconut muffins, White cupcake with maple buttercream frosting and Chocolate cupcake with chocolate buttercream frosting

The second was from Elana's Pantry.  I think she must live in the kitchen because she always has so many incredible recipes and this one hit the mark again.   I did exchange melted coconut oil for the grapeseed again and used honey instead of the agave nectar.  My husband loved these the best and I honestly don't know what I like more.  I used some of the whipped buttercream from the white cupcakes and mixed it with the chocolate ganache type frosting that I had and it made a light fluffy chocolate buttercream.

In the midst of all this Superhero #2 played with water on the floor next to me showing me how to pour things, blow bubbles with straws, measure marbles in the cup with water, and many other things.  I had to experiment on and off as well and that area on the kitchen floor is SO clean.  He also saw fit to experiment with how well marbles roll on the wood floor.  He was very successful with that endeavor too.

Some playdough and Hot Wheels cars later I am finally sitting.  WHAT  A  DAY!  But you know what? Tomorrow I can relax a bit more and there are enough leftovers frozen and saved in the fridge that I don't have to cook at all while Handsome Hubby is gone.  Maybe you can all pray with me that he gets his turkey the first morning and comes home early like last year!  Enjoy the recipes...I just wouldn't recommend making them all in one day!

Now on Bloglovin!

Follow Reclaimed Life with Bloglovin!

Soon Google Reader is being phased out.  Bloglovin' is a website that compiles all the blogs you read so you can follow them.  It also recommends other blogs that follow a similar train of thought as the ones you currently enjoy.  Follow me on Bloglovin' and find some new blogs to follow at the same time.

Like Coffee...Creativity Brews

The Superheroes who wake me up early

Like coffee...I believe creativity brews.  I have a few projects in the works right now that tap into my creative side.  I have 4 knit hats on order.  I'm making children's hospital gowns for our pediatrician.  Then this morning I tried a new muesli scone recipe from Elana's Pantry.  So last night in my dreams I reworked a knitting pattern multiple times in order to make it fit the right sized head.  I sewed and redesigned hospital gowns, and I baked.  At 5:30 a.m. I heard our smallest Superhero talking loudly in his sleep so I carried him to our bedroom so Superhero #1 stayed asleep.  Then in my half awake state, I continued to allow my creativity to brew.


This breakfast is a result of that...Thanks to Elana's Pantry for the recipe.  She is a genius with baking Paleo gluten free treats that are tasty for all to eat.  I typed my altered recipe here but all the credit goes to her for creating the original.  I just used the fruit and nuts that I had on hand.

A great start to my day

Chocolate Fruit & Nut Scones

2 cups almond flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup pecans (chopped)
1/4 cup finely shredded unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup chopped dates
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
3 TBSP. Grade B maple syrup
2 small or medium eggs (or 1 Large egg...enough to wet dough and make it stick together)

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Mix dry ingredients together.  Add nuts and fruit.  Mix together.  Add egg(s) and maple syrup.  Mix with hands or heavy stand mixer until completely wet and it forms a dough.  Flatten dough to 6 1/2" by 6 1/2" square.  Cut into 16 squares.  Bake 10-12 minutes.  Enjoy!

Toddlers, Tantrums, and Tasty Treats

Sometimes I sit down in  front of the computer knowing that I will be writing today but not knowing where to start.  I've had a Superhero with a ton of fluid in his ears the past few nights so I'm waking up at 4 a.m. and not getting back to sleep.  He's tired and a bit off and so am I.  Everyday, I've been praying for a good attitude and patience.  That I could parent my kids with the grace and patience that I want to be treated with.  And you know what?  It's worked for the most part.  I'm not at 100% right now but I do feel I'm being given divine patience and grace when I've needed it most.

Superhero #2 is in that lovely age of 2 when communication is just starting to cement itself.  He's learning how to say what he wants or needs and to express and identify his emotions in a healthy way.  This is being extrinsically taught by his Mama and Daddy. When he "gets" it I am so excited.  I praise him.  I reinforce the behavior.  I identify and label what he's done.  When he doesn't and a time-out ensues or his favorite toys are taken away and one by one put on top of the fridge for a period of time.  That's when the grace comes into play.

Today he was losing it.  One by one, he lost 2 trains, Lightning McQueen, his blankies, his school bus.  He was spiraling and I knew that he needed a time-out but it couldn't be one alone because he didn't have the capacity to rein himself in.  So I sat in the timeout chair.  I held him.  I quietly told him I loved him even when he's mad and throwing things.  I said, "I love you when you're mad.  I love you when your sad.  I love you when you're happy.  I love you when you're silly."  I kissed him and said he needed to calm down before he could leave the chair.  He needed to use words to tell me what he needed.  When I'm having a crummy day.  That's what I want.  I want someone to hold me and listen to me tell them what I need.  And he did.  Just by that simple act...he calmed down and was able to rejoin his brother for book time.

I love being a mom.  But that patience...that's from the Divine.  That's not me.

I can make some divine Pecan Coconut muffins with dried cranberries in them.   Here's a link to the site, Deliciously Organic that I got them from.  I changed the sweetener to maple syrup and the butter to coconut oil due to our lactose intolerance.  The maple added a great flavor complement to the pecans.  The only thing I added were the cranberries but you could do without them.  This takes them out of the paleo/primal category due to the sugar on the cranberries but I tried to use them moderately and you could use other dried fruit.   I had to throw a recipe in.  Parenting and finding new recipes are two of the things I live for.  Enjoy!

A Fresh Start

For some reason it takes a major life crisis or a new year to help propel us into a fresh start.  We are such creatures of habit.  I'm so guilty of trying to maintain the status quo and yet God always reminds me in so many ways that it's not worth it.

So in this "Happy New Year" mentality I'm going to show you a sample menu of what we ate the past two weeks.  I know I've checked out for about 3 weeks here due to company visiting us and and all the preparations that go into that.  Now I'm back and I still feel passionately about what my family is doing to improve our health in the long run.

I can't stress enough how thankful I am that my handsome hubby and I are doing this TOGETHER.  We both want this.  We're a team.  When the kids see what we're doing...they want to do it.  For the past 6 months, it's become our norm.  People say they don't have the time to eat healthy.  I ask, is it that you don't have the time or that you truly don't have the motivation or desire to?  We've been so busy the past 2 weeks.  Here's my lunch/supper menu during that time crunched schedule.  Every meal covered 2 to 3 days and was changed up a bit.  That saved me time and made the leftovers more interesting.  Every bit of food was eaten.   It's doable.  It's healthy.  It's necessary to reclaim your health.

Lettuce wrap with my Almond Crusted Chicken, hummus, and tomatoes.  Clementine and small dark chocolate treat for my dessert.  A perfect Christmas lunch!

Prep veggies and hummus (see previous recipe here) for the week.  Then you don't have to cut them daily and you're more likely to eat well.

Have plenty of eggs, unprocessed nitrate/nitrite free breakfast meat (sausage or bacon), and veggies on hand for smoothies and omelets.  Have a green smoothie every morning and before supper.  It fills you up and is a great way to get your veggies.  Add fresh herbs, salt, and balsamic vinegar to make them a bit more tasty (like a V8).

Have organic romaine lettuce on hand.  Replace your sandwiches with lettuce wraps filled with hummus, veggies, and meat.


Crock pot Chicken or Turkey (we have a large crock pot so I double this and use the leftovers)

• 1 chicken 
• sprinkle with salt, garlic powder, and fresh thyme
• fill cavity of chicken with onion, parsnips, carrots, and butternut squash
• cover tops with same veggies
• Cook on low 5-6 hours until fully cooked

Turkey taco salads (Use the leftover turkey or chicken from above and shred it in your food processor)

• 2 pounds shredded turkey (you can estimate or buy a cheap food scale)
• homemade taco seasoning (great recipe here!)
• 2 small onions (saute first)
• 2 six ounce cans of tomato paste
• six ounces of water
• Combine all and serve with homemade guacamole (recipe here) on a bed of lettuce with tomatoes, green onions, and jalapeños.

Spaghetti

• 4 jars Organic spaghetti sauce (sugar free)
• 2 pounds All natural nitrate free Italian sausage (or make your own...recipe here)
• Bake sausage and grind up in food processor.  Simmer with sauce to combine flavors.
• Serve over spaghetti squash or Mung bean fettuccine.  Purchase here on Amazon.

Pizza

• homemade crust made from almond flour (Best recipe I've found here) Buy your flour online to save 50-60% off grocery store prices.
• leftover spaghetti sauce
• finely minced kale, uncured pepperoni, roasted bell peppers, olives, etc.
• NO CHEESE!

Ham

• Uncured ham
• green onions, carrots, parsnips
• Raw honey
• Bake at 350 covered for 1 hour surrounded by veggies.  Spread raw honey over top and recover. Bake for an addition 30 minutes until veggies are tender.

Chef Salad

• boiled eggs
• romaine lettuce
• chopped raw veggies
• chopped ham (leftover from above)
• Organic sulfate free balsamic vinegar
• Olive oil
• sea salt
• Prepare lettuce, top with veggies and ham.  Drizzle balsamic and olive oil over top.  Sprinkle with sea salt. Enjoy!

There is no halfway.  My hubby and I talked about this and both agreed...if we still had bread, crackers, chips, cookies in the house that were made of grains...we'd still be on the carb addiction cycle and wouldn't have lost a collective 50+ pounds between us.  If we still had our Pepsi or Mountain Dew, or chocolate from Kroger's, we wouldn't have 7 bags of clothes set to be donated this week.  You either want this.  Or you don't.  That means you have to give up the coffee creamer, the pop, the fast food, and find delicious substitutes.  It can be done.  Here's a few links that I use a lot.  Always keep in mind...grain free, dairy free, unprocessed.  Our only sugar comes from fruits, honey, and Grade B maple syrup.  You have menu for your first week or 2 of 2013. You have resource links.  You have recipes.  Make a grocery list and take the leap.  It's worth it.

Extra links:
The Nourishing Home
Elana's Pantry
Unrefined Kitchen
Passionate Homemaking
Real Sustenance

Make 2013 your best yet.  Enjoy!

Avoiding the Cold and Flu

So somewhere in my path to wellness I read repeatedly that vegetables are builders and fruits are cleansers.  I think the first time I saw it was on a chart at my chiropractor but I have read it in other places as well.  I don't typically gravitate towards veggies but I know I need them so I eat them.  The less sugar we partake of (including fruit sugars), the less inflammation we have and the more our bodies are able to handle the bacteria and viruses they encounters.  The more it is able to handle cholesterol, allergies, cancer, life stress, etc.  I'm not saying veggies are the cure all for everything but I am saying that a lot of the ills of the American society could be helped by eating a healthier diet with more veggies and whole foods that are unprocessed.

So in honor of that and in order to avoid colds and the flu as much as possible...Handsome Hubby has gotten us on a veggie smoothie kick.  Here's a quick recipe to try.  We use the Vitamix 5000.  It's astronomically priced but really is worth it.  If you have to save money for a year to buy it...DO IT!  Skip your Starbucks or Caribou habit for a year and I bet you could save up for one.  Skip McDonald's and Pizza Hut and you'd have it sooner!  It makes everything smooth.  NO CHUNKS!  I don't do chunky smoothies.

As my Handsome Hubby says...Down the hatch! We make up a different name for every smoothie...This one is the Green Delight.  If you like V8...you'll actually like these.  Balance out the bitterness of the kale with the sweetness of the tomatoes and bell pepper.  Then add some strong flavors like the dill and celery and the superfood kale is hidden.  Enjoy!

Green Delight Smoothie
3 plum tomatoes (health benefits linked here)
2 stalks celery (celery benefits linked here)
1 sprig fresh dill (dill benefits linked here)
2 leaves of kale (the big stuff...not the baby kale...don't cop out on me. Find out why here.)
1/2 bell pepper (Another health link here.)
1 green onion (Last link to health here.)
enough water to cover 1/2 of veggies
sea salt to taste

Blend until smooth and have 12 to 16 ounces for you and 12 to 16 ounces for someone else!

Advent: Our chance to celebrate life and giving

So it's December 1st.  I stayed up late working on a homemade Advent Calendar idea I found from the site Mr. Printables.  So cool but I had to create activities or prizes for inside.  Since we want our kids to appreciate the little things and have a giving spirit...I didn't want to have a monetary or candy prize for everyday.  I wanted to focus on things we could DO together or ways we could help others.  So here is our list.  I added a Bible verse to everyday as well since that why we celebrate Christmas.  I used the Christmas story from Luke and the Beatitudes in Matthew 5.  That gave me a big head start and I also picked others that focused on love, forgiveness, letting our light shine, helping others, etc.

Here's my list so far...I still have 11 more to add but we're having fun with it so far!  Enjoy!

Our snowman...The boys LOVED this!

Our Advent calendar almost ready to go.

1. Make Mama and Daddy into a snowman.  Use winter hat, scarf, etc and toilet paper.  :-)
2. Do something kind to help someone else in the house. (Including your little brother).
3. Write letters or draw pictures to people you love.
4. Go shopping for Operation Christmas Child or another charity.
5. Wrap Christmas presents!
6. Make Christmas ornaments with glitter (Glitter is a big deal here!).
7. Find our old mittens and scarves and sneak them over to a needy families house without them knowing!
8. Make a list of love and appreciation for each other.
9. Make ice candles.  Fill a bowl with water.  Fill a tin can with rocks so it sinks halfway down into the water.  Freeze.  Remove can and ice.  Set ice bowl cube in a larger bowl and light a candle in the center.  Have a candlelit dinner.
10. Make a birthday cake for Jesus and freeze for His birthday!
11. Make Ice Ball ornaments for the sidewalk.  Fill balloons with water.  Add food coloring.  Freeze.  Pop balloons and set on edge of walk to decorate.
12. Make homemade bouncy balls.  I found a recipe here. Mom to 2 Lil Posh Divas.
13. Have a scavenger hunt. (I'm hiding our Nativity Scene figures).
14. Make snowflakes for our windows.
15. Camp-out in our living room in our tent!
16. Play flash light tag (hide and seek in the dark with flashlights).

So it's 10:30 and I need to get to bed.  I'll add the rest as I finish them and post pictures.

Traveling Food...Eating Healthy on the Road

For Thanksgiving, we traveled to my parent's house this year.  My Handsome Hubby and I were perfectly matched in the sense that we're hardcore road masters.  We get on the road, get to our destination, and then play.  We traveled about 15 hours to my parents house and if I'm recalling correctly we only stopped 3 times.  On our way back, we had a  10 1/2 hour drive and did it with just 2 stops.  All together our stops only added 30 minutes onto our trips.  We're crazy.  I realize that.  But we have 2 kids that are very content travelers and a potty chair in the back of the van.  We also stock up on cheap diapers to soak up the yuck, disinfectant wipes, Ziploc bags, and toilet paper.

One thing that we do need to calculate into the mix is food.  Now in the past, all health consciousness  was ignored.  We were on the road...the kids could eat pop, chips, candy, whatever made them happy.  The only problem is that now we realize that some of our health issues and behavior issues are directly related to the food we had been eating.  Superhero #1 is a smart cookie.  I was waiting for him to ask for pop for the trip before I bought any.  He didn't ask.  I thought for sure he'd want to pick out the chips like we've done in the past.  He didn't ask.  Candy?  No questions about it.

So what did we eat?  How can you travel 15 hours in the car without eating junk food or stopping for fast food?  What is there to eat?  How can a 4 year old and 2 year old be satisfied?  It's possible.  I do want to remind you that this is a process.  It takes some time for your taste buds to change but if you persist.  If you keep trying and keep getting back up when you fall down, you will succeed.  You can do it.  Take it one step at a time.  Today my sweet tooth kid tried a sample of candy from Costco.  I asked if he wanted more and he said no...."These are too sweet mom.  You can have them."  He ate the roast beef instead.

Here's a sample of what we had in our cooler for the road.  We haven't completely cut dairy out for our kids but at this point...only the 2 year old eats it.  Our 4 year old is lactose intolerant and seems to have lost his taste for everything that contains dairy but ice cream.

On the Road Menu/Kitchen items

homemade grain free pancakes with Grade B maple syrup (here's my favorite recipe from The Nourishing Home...we all LOVE THEM!)

nitrate free bacon or sausage (cooked at home ahead of time)

nitrate free, hormone free, organic thinly sliced turkey and ham

homemade hummus (here's a link for my recipe)

organic romaine lettuce

Loaf of paleo bread (here's a recipe we like from Elana's Pantry...everything I make from her website is fantastic!)

fresh veggies to snack on and put on open faced lettuce wraps or sandwiches (bell peppers, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes)

homemade pickles (or store ones with nothing artificial added)

sulfate free, unsweetened dried fruit (use with Peanut Butter or Almond butter in place of jelly/jam)

Almond butter without sugar added (our kids are still adjusting to this but avoid peanut butter if possible or use in moderation it can contain carcinogens)

homemade chocolate (here's a recipe)

homemade blondies (Again from Elana's Pantry)

fresh fruit (apples, oranges, grapes (use sparingly)

ice water

almond milk

organic 2% milk for our 2 year old

cutting board

Swiss army knife

paper towel

Ziploc bags

vegetable peeler

wet wipes

small plastic bowls/plates

plastic cups

That's it.  That's what we brought and the kids gobbled up the pancakes and bacon in the morning (dipping their mini-cakes in the syrup).  Then at lunch they wanted more meat and by the end of the day they were content with open-faced nut butter and dried fruit sandwiches.  It worked great and we had enough variety we were all happy.  I admit it took a little prep work on my part but it wasn't outrageous.  I made one thing for the trip each day the week before so when it was time to leave we were ready and I didn't feel stressed.  With the pancakes I make a double batch and freeze them so I already had them ready.  I made extra bacon one day too.  The bread was leftover from our Thanksgiving meal and I had made the bars and chocolate that week too for sweet tooth cravings at my parents. 

The kids traveled a lot happier too.  I fully believe this diet is worth cleaning your pantry out for.  Get rid of the processed foods.  They only give you temporary happiness and then you end up kicking yourself for eating junk.  I know.  I've done it time and time again.  It's possible to eat well, enjoy your food, and take care of your body at the same time.  Just keep eliminating one thing per week.  Eventually, you'll get there.  Be patient with yourself...it takes time but you're worth it.

What we ate tonight...

Tonight we had one of my favorites...dill hummus with raw veggies.  We also had turkey chili. The boys are still acclimating.  Superhero #2 loves the hummus.  Superhero #1 is still being convinced.  I got the recipe from the book "The Ultra-Metabolism Cookbook".  It is our go to cookbook for our lifestyle change.  I have tweaked it like I do every recipe... here is the recipe with my tweaks...

Hummus

1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas or 2 cups cooked chickpeas
1/2 cup tahini
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
4 medium cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
a dash of ground red pepper

My bonus ingredients...Use only one of the below options...

1/2 cup roasted red pepper
or
1/2 cup fresh basil
or
1/2 cup fresh dill

Drain and rinse chickpeas but save some liquid for later.  Combine everything in the food processor fitted with the metal blade.  Process until smooth.  If too thick, slowly add extra chickpea liquid until desired consistency.  Enjoy!