Insanely Good Stir Fry Sauce

This sauce makes anything taste amazing!  Great with veggies, meat or fish.  Make a double batch and store in a glass jar in the fridge.  Recipe from VFit Squad.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup coconut aminos
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/3 cup water
1 tbsp raw honey or pure maple syrup
2 tbsp almond butter or your favorite nut butter
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp garlic crushed
1 tsp red chili paste (optional)
2 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp grated ginger or ginger juice

Instructions:
1.  Combine all the ingredients in a small pot.
2. Heat on low, stirring frequently for about 10 to 15 minutes.
3.  Serve over stir fry or save in a glass jar.
Enjoy!

I love food and Cauliflower hummus

Have I mentioned that I LOVE food?  I love the challenge of finding different ways to fuel my body through food that is healthy and tastes good. Today for a snack I whipped up a batch of cauliflower hummus with veggie sticks and almond flour crackers. I try avoid the traditional snacks like goldfish, crackers, chips, and granola bars. I enjoy thinking of snacks that will taste good, give me energy, and avoid blood sugar crashes. This doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the occasional binge on crackers, cheese, and dark chocolate, because I do.

It is hard to believe that three years ago I hated eating.  I was nursing Haley when she was diagnosed with Failure to Thrive. I was put on a strict diet since, at the time, Haley was still refusing solid food (at 2 years old).  She was getting all her nutrients from my breast milk.  I was given a list of foods to avoid 100 % of the time including gluten, dairy, soy, refined sugar, corn, peanuts, all grain (excluding rice), oranges, and tomatoes.  I remember feeling like I never was going to enjoy food again. I ate to fuel my body and provide nutrients for Haley, but nothing tasted good. I remember feeling like being fed through a tube would be so much easier. Since any prescribed diet is hard to do 100% of the time, I occasionally cheated. Then I felt terrible guilt as a mom because when I cheated, Haley didn’t feel well and her runny nose would come back.    

Thankfully a friend mentioned a paleo blogger, Danielle Walker. I bought both of her cook books and immediately experienced a big sigh of relief.  For the first time in a while, I realized that I would be able to enjoy food again.  In her book, Danielle Walker shares her story about how the power of food changed her life for the better. I identified with her story.  Once I tried a few of her recipes, I was hooked! Everything I made was delicious and most of the ingredients she used, I could eat.  She introduced me to the world of gluten-free flours: almond, coconut, tapioca, and arrowroot, to name a few.  It has been life changing!

Fast forward a few years, and I LOVE food and eating again!  I have found many resources to help me on my food journey. For anyone who is in the midst of transitioning to a healing diet, and feeling a bit overwhelmed, alone, and not knowing what to eat or how to prepare it, know that there is hope.  You will not feel like this forever. Feel free to email me. I’m happy to provide resources and suggestions to make the transition just a little easier. 

Back to the cauliflower hummus from Against All Grain.

Ingredients:

1 large head of cauliflower cut into florets

1 head of garlic, top one-third cut off

¼ cup melted ghee or avocado oil

sea salt and ground pepper

2 tablespoon tahini

1 tablespoon pure lemon juice

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon parsley (fresh is best but I used dried and worked well)

sweet paprika for garnish (optional)

Instructions:

1.     Preheat the oven to 450F.

2.     In a baking dish with a lid, toss together the cauliflower, garlic head, ghee, and salt and pepper. 

3.     Roast for about 12 minutes until the cauliflower begins to soften.

4.     Uncover and roast for another  12 minutes until golden brown. 

5.     Squeeze 4 garlic cloves out of their paper skin and place them in a food processor with the cauliflower, tahini, lemon juice.

6.     Save the remaining garlic to spread on crackers or blend into dressing. 

7.     Blend until smooth slowly adding the olive oil. 

8.     Add more salt and lemon juice to taste.

9.     Transfer the hummus to a bowl and sprinkle with parsley and paprika, if desired, for a garnish. 

Enjoy!

Meal Planning

I have been trying to meal plan sporadically over the past 3 years. Whenever I made a meal plan, I always felt my week went much smoother: I only went to the store twice, instead of every other day; I didn’t get stressed when 4 0’clock rolled around and I had no idea what I was going to make for dinner; and we all ate varied, healthy meals.

Over the past few years, I have played with many different ways of meal planning, but whatever I did didn’t stick with me until now, finally! I have been consistently meal planning for the past 5 months now and it is a game changer! Even though I realize that everyone is different and what works for me and my family may not work for another family, I thought I’d share what I do to plan meals in hopes of inspiring others to find the perfect meal planning approach for you.  Here are my 8 tips on successful meal planning for my family.

1.     Find a fun chalkboard or whiteboard that you can hang on the wall in your kitchen.  This provides a weekly reminder to plan meals.   Paper can get lost and is not as visible to the eye.

2.     Get your children involved with the meal planning.  Have them choose one meal for the week. My rule is that we have to have a protein, at least one veggie (the more the better), and a grain or a starchy vegetable. As a family, we made a chart of all the foods that we like: one column for vegetables, one for protein, and one for starchy vegetables and grains. This way, it is easy for my girls (ages 4 and 7) to look at the chart and pick from the list. For the most part, it is the same meal each week, chicken sausage, sweet potato chips, and broccoli. 

3.     Fridays are usually something easy: homemade pizza or sushi take out. 

4.     I come up with 3 other dinners during the week.  Three dinners, doesn’t seem nearly as overwhelming to me as 7!  I like to come up with one new recipe each week to prevent myself from feeling like I’m in a food rut. I love to cook so trying a new recipe is fun for me.

5.     I do not assign a meal for each day, instead I just list out the 5 dinners. This way there is more flexibility depending on what the day brings and what I have the energy and time for. 

6.     I do not plan meals for the weekends. The weekends are “clean out everything in fridge” meals. This way I make room for my big grocery shopping, usually on Mondays. I also will pick up a few items at the end of the week because I can never get everything I want at one store. 

7.     When I am selecting my 3 dinners for the week, I like to choose one or two resources, whether it is a favorite cook book or a favorite blogger.  It is easy to get lost on line or immersed in all of my cookbooks, so the more I limit my resources, the quicker the meal planning goes. 

8.     I tend to plan for one breakfast that I can easily grab and go on my busy mornings. I also will plan out one healthy baked good for a snack, and one lunch idea. For instance, I will buy wild salmon, bake it, and then make salmon salad for lunch, which the whole family enjoys. I will occasionally plan a dessert, but most of the time we just eat dried fruit. Dried apricots and mangoes are my girls’ favorites. Dates with cashew butter is also a family favorite.

My advice is always to start small. Maybe start by planning for 2 or 3 days. Play around with different meal planning approaches and what works best for you and your family. And remember don’t get discouraged if it doesn’t stick the first time. Keep at it and when you find what works best for you, it is amazing how much smoother your week will go.  Happy meal planning!

Harvest Breakfast Cookies

Cookies for breakfast?  Yes please!  They cookies are grain-free and sweetened with fresh fruit.  The cookies taste delicious with a cup of coffee or tea in the morning and are a perfect nut free snack to send into school with my girls’.  These are also great with walnuts if they don’t need to be nut free.  These cookies are kid tested and parent approved! 

Harvest Breakfast Cookies

Makes 12-16 cookies

Slightly altered From Detoxinista

Ingredients:

1 cup mashed banana

½ cup butternut squash puree

1/3 cup coconut flour

4 soft Medjool dates

2 teaspoons cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

½ cup raisins

Directions:

1.      Preheat the oven to 350F.

2.     Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

3.     Combine banana, pumpkin and dates in a food processor and blend until the dates are broken down.

4.     Add the coconut flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda and vinegar and blend until batter has thickened.

5.     Mix in shredded coconut and raisins.

6.     Scoop the batter using a heaping tablespoon onto the lined baking sheet. These cookies don’t spread out so feel free to flattened them to desired shape.

7.     Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until edges are golden.  Allow to cool as they will be soft.

Enjoy!