After Baby Meal Plans

I have an amazingly wonderful husband. He takes care of me and the kids without complaint and does a good job. He's a hard worker and is supportive of all the dietary changes we've gone through.
I wanted to make it as easy as possible for him to feed the big kids after the baby was born, so I made up a list of meal ideas, along with snacks, and stocked up before the baby was born & on Day 2 of my labor, when we went walking at Costco and the grocery store to try to get things moving better.

I was so very tired at the end of my pregnancy, the idea of cooking was overwhelming. We ate a lot of Corn Chex (gluten AND rice free) and Chipotle. When I would feel badly about it, I, and DH, would remind me that it's not the way we normally do things, and we were still not on the SAD (Standard American Diet). What I now consider not as good food, is still not the worst food we could be eating. I tell you this so you know I'm definitely not perfect. I have my moments. But if we can choose better than SAD foods for our less than ideal times, when we need a little convenience, we'll be better off overall. And then, when things are settle down, get back to the way I want and should be eating.

I also stocked up on paper plates, bowls, plastic forks & spoons. I don't normally use them, but when it comes down to whether I'd like DH to do dishes or feed us, I choose feed us. We have no dishwasher except us, so it's not that we can even just pop dishes in the dishwasher. I refuse to feel badly about this. There are times in life when we need to do some things differently than normal. I'm thankful I have the option!

Here's the list I typed up, printed and taped to our fridge. I inlcuded the kids' allergy/intolerances, so if I needed to give it to DH's or my moms, they'd have an easy reference.

E1 & E2 Allergies: Gluten, Soy, Oats
E3 Allergies: Gluten, Soy, Rice, Blueberries, Bananas

Breakfast
Hot Cereal/Grits w/maple syrup
Quinoa - hot with maple syrup & pecans
Smoothies - Almond milk, Almond butter, chia seeds, etc.Pumpkin Smoothie
Muffins (gluten free, premade and frozen)
Eggs (not for E2), scrambled eggs with beef and Hunt's ketchup (me)
Cereal (Corn Chex)
Pancakes (mixes in basement)
Egg Muffins (diced ham, eggs, spinach, etc.)

Lunch
hotdogs w/frozen strawberries/blueberries & peas (3-4 frozen strawberries per kid; ¼ c blueberries per kid; ½-3/4 c peas per kid)
Cooked Trader Joe's Rice Pasta w/frozen strawberries/blueberries & peas (3-4 frozen strawberries per kid; ¼ c blueberries per kid; ½-3/4 c peas per kid) Corn Pasta for E3
Almond Butter & Honey in a bowl w/apples & carrots & peas (1 piece bread, open face; split 2 apples between 3 kids; ¾ c peas for each kid; 2 carrots per kid)
Almond Butter & Honey Sandwiches w/apples & carrots & peas

Dinner
Crockpot Chicken w/Carrots
Crockpot BBQ Chicken w/Green beans (this was not good, make it with a bottle of safe BBQ instead)
Maple Chicken (will post recipe soon)
Roasted Chicken with Green beans (no pepper on 2 pieces with bones for E2)
Chili (kidney & black beans, rinsed, 1 can each, giant can of diced tomatoes, 1 lb ground beef, browned)
Chicken Soup
Pasta w/green beans (make ¼ c E3's corn pasta separate in separate water or first)
Hamburgers w/fried eggs, avocado, frozen strawberries & Green beans (2 hamburgers per person, 3-4 strawberries per child, ¼-½ c green beans) This will require 2 lbs of meat.
Frozen Crockpot Meal
Stir Fry (meat & stir fry mix)
Eggs & Pancakes (mix in baggies downstairs) (2 eggs & 4 pancakes per child, except E2 won’t want eggs, probably)
Orange Beef Stirfry
Sloppy Joes
Snacks
Muffins (only 1 per child/snack time)
Fruit Strips (only 1 per child/snack time) (Archer Farms from Target)
Apples (2 cut up and distributed, Eveline doesn’t need as many as big kids)
Carrots and Almond butter (at table! only a little almond butter for E1, he doesn’t like it as much)
Popcorn

Fat - it does a body good!

Fat is a whole lot of important. To growing bodies, young bodies, old bodies and in between bodies. Whether you're trying to conceive a child or not. Our bodies NEED healthy fats to function. Please don't deprive your body!

Donielle on Naturally Knocked Up has a great post on how important fats are and which ones are good. Not all fats are created equal! Kids need good fats to help their brains learn and grow, adults need good fats to help cholesterol, fertility and many other things. Our bodies NEED fat.

For me, good, healthy fats have made me look and feel healthier, helped me lose 56 pounds after the birth of my last child and boosted our fertility, so much so that we had our first surprise baby! My kids are pretty healthy, too, and, of course, smart.

My son and I, 2005

Me, last December

Me, last November

Pies & great deal on one of my favorite cookbooks!

Crustless Gluten Free Pecan Pie and Crustless Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie. Delicious!
We're going to my parents tomorrow. My in laws get to come, too!

Without further ado -

From Gluten Free Easily
Crustless, Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie
2 eggs
1 can (16 ounces) pumpkin
¾ cup rapadura or honey
½ tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 can coconut milk (NOT lite)
3 Tbsp coconut flour

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Grease pie plate and set aside.
In large bowl, beat eggs slightly; mix in remaining ingredients.
Put in greased pie plate, put in oven.
Bake 15 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Bake until knife or toothpick comes out clean, about 45 minutes longer.
Find more recipes like this at http://www.glutenfreeeasily.com

Crustless, Gluten Free Pecan Pie

4 eggs
1 cup Rapadura sugar (I'd like to try honey instead next time)
1/2 cup maple syrup
4 Tbsp coconut oil, unrefined, melted
1/2 tsp salt
1 chopped pecans
1/4 cup Coconut Flour
2-3 Tbsp Chia seeds

Mix all.
Put in oiled pie plate.
Top with ½ cup of halved pecans.
Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until knife inserted is mostly clean when pulled out.
Adapted from $5 Dinner Mom

The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook is only $6 on Amazon right now! It has loads of great recipes that can be adapted for food allergies and whole foods!

Happy 1st Anniversary to me!

It was actually October 14th, but I completely missed it. Oops.
Hope you all are doing well! It's been an interesting year, that's for sure! I'm not sure what challenges I'll face with the new baby. I'm praying that the baby will not have severe food intolerances, like E3 did, but have many tools to help me out, along with great support!

Here's an AMAZING resource for any gluten/dairy/soy free family. Karina, of gluten-free goddess, made a wonderful, wonderful list of flours, baking subs, flour mixes and much, much more. I encourage you to read it if you are avoiding gluten/dairy/soy. I'm so thankful to have come across this last night. I'm going to be making her flour mix, so I don't have to buy one, and there aren't many (that are in my price range) that don't have rice flour, which E3 still can't tolerate. So excited!! Please let me know which parts you like best! And you can follow her on facebook, too!

Holiday Baking...apparently

It seems I've come to the baking/cooking portion of my pregnancy long nesting. My friends have joked that I've been nesting my whole pregnancy, and except for first trimester, they're pretty much right. I'm LOVING it!! Especially as this is the last baby that we plan to have.
Anyway, I'm enjoying my last nesting spree. It's definitely getting harder as my belly gets bigger and I get tired more easily, but I'm getting stuff done and the kids and DH have been so helpful. E1 vacuums, E2 dusts and folds dishcloths and towels, & E3 throws things away....even the things I don't necessarily want thrown away, lol. They're all so sweet and helpful, I'm very blessed!

So, on the menu tonight - Paleo Pumpkin Bread, German Chocolate Cake & my regular gluten free bread. I almost didn't make the pumpkin bread, but then I found a very easy pumpkin pie spice recipe.

German Chocolate Cake by Enjoying Healthy Foods. I overcooked it a bit, but it's not burnt and the kids LOVE it! It'd be excellent with frosting, but I don't have the stuff or energy to make frosting, so we'll enjoy it without.

Pumpkin Bread by Enjoying Healthy Foods (I really like this blog, you should take some time to peruse it)

Amazing Gluten Free Bread by Thriving Without

Pictures (hopefully) to come.

The Holidays & Candy

They're coming...holidays!
At the end of this month, there's trick or treating, then Thanksgiving, Christmas and Holiday parties. How do you handle it with no refined sugars, Paleo/Primal, etc?
A friend asked about this on facebook, and here's my reply. Not super well organized, but it hits on a few things.

We don't do candy events, like trick or treating. Last year, I put some organic Yummy Earth lollipops in bags and hid them in the house - that was their trick or treating. At Christmas, my grama asks what kind of stuff they can have and gets them some gluten free stuff that she divvies up into baggies for the kids' stockings. I ask for tea and this year, Spry gum.
They don't get the lollipops every day, it's more of a weekly or less thing.
I make gluten-free brownies and cake regularly with good ingredients and natural sweeteners, like honey. And every once in a VERY great while, we get something like coconut or almond milk ice cream, gluten free donuts (did that for the first time today, bc we were visiting with their grandpa at HyVee & they were on sale). It's a struggle, and when they go to the in laws, they get refined sugar and way more than I would like, but it's a trade off...do I want them to know and get to spend time with their grandparents? or is it a hill I'm willing to die on (battle reference, not sure I got it right, teehee).
Taking things they can eat helps a lot, wherever we go or only going places I know they can have stuff when eating out, which we don't do often. Chipotle (they get tacos), restaurants with beef hamburger patties (plain) and fries (only when we ocassionally eat out).
It's also a matter of what I have time and energy for. Right now, there are things I'm not doing every day, that I will be able to do every day when I have the energy, etc. And some things we simply don't have $ for and the subpar version isn't worth it.

For some yummy recipes, see Almond Joy Candies, Pumpkin Bread Smoothie, Lemon Cashew Cheesecake, and more on my blog!

Other blogs with holiday treat recipes:
Enjoying Healthy Foods
Caramel Apples from The Spunky Coconut & Paleo Parents
Everyday Paleo - Surviving Halloween
Cinnamon Sunflower Truffles at The Whole Life Nutrition

My Super Protein Breakfast Smoothie

People need protein to function. And healthy fat. And carbs from good sources, such as vegetables. I have been on a mission to get extra protein in, since consuming good amounts of protein during pregnancy reduces the risks of toxemia & pre-eclampsia (high blood pressure that can lead to seizures and brain damage), helps red blood cell production, as well as, along with fats, increase satiety after eating.

Various forms of protein

My Super Protein Breakfast Smoothie
1 frozen banana
1 cup Original Almond Milk (or other full fat milk)
1 tsp Spirulina
powder (has 2g protein!)
1 scoop 365 Whey Protein Powder, Vanilla
1 tbsp raw, local honey
1 tbsp Chia Seeds

1/2 tsp ginger, ground
1/4 tsp Probiotic Powder
(probiotics are extremely important to digestion and overall health!)
2 tbsp almond butter
ice

According to www.myfitnesspal.com, this smoothie has 581 calories (which I don't really care about, as long as I'm getting them from healthy fats, proteins and carbs), 70 carbs, 25g fats, 28g protein. To up protein to 44g, add an extra protein powder scoop. To lower carbs, leave out the banana and add extra ice.

*note: I don't believe that protein powder is the best way to get protein. I believe most of our nutrition should come from whole food sources. However, while I am pregnant, I'm not ready to add raw eggs to my smoothie to up the good fat and protein, and there aren't a ton of other ways to get 16g protein per serving (scoop). It's another thing you should do your own research on and make your own informed decision. We research tv's and cars, why not our health decisions? Including medications, doctors, procedures, etc. But now I'm getting onto a whole different topic :)

Pumpkin Bread Smoothie

I don't have a picture, because I'm drinking it. Here, look at a picture of a pumpkin. Now pretend it's turned into my smoothie.

I LOVE pumpkin in food. Smoothies, pudding, etc. Big fan here, Holly knows. I guess I'm starting early this year! Last time I was pregnant, I did pumpkin everything, that was almost two years ago, so maybe it's a pregnancy thing, who knows.

Pumpkin Bread Smoothie
1 cup canned coconut milk
1/4 cup Canned Pumpkin
1 tsp pumpkin pie seasoning
1/2 -1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp Maple Syrup

sprinkle of coconut flakes
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp probiotic powder
1 frozen banana (optional)
ice

Blend until ready to drink! Enjoy :)

Zucchini Spaghetti

This was really good, even my husband & the kids were big fans!

Julienne 2-3 small zucchinis, steam for a few minutes with some butter/coconut oil in a lidded pan, then add meat (I used chopped chicken from a roasted chicken), and sauce. I also added crushed garlic and Organic Italian Herb Seasoning. You could add any other vegetables or seasonings you'd like - onions, peppers, sausage, etc.

Quinoa Dish

This was super good. I had quinoa leftover from the night before, so I heated it with butter or coconut oil in a pan, then added quartered zucchini, halved little tomatoes, & chicken. Quinoa is a seed that has a good amount of protein, not as much as meat, but has lots of other good stuff.

To make quinoa:
Rinse very well, to get the bitter saponin off.
Lightly boil, covered, with chicken broth, water or a safe milk. (chicken broth for savory, water or milk to use as a sweet cereal type).
Take lid off after it's at a light, rolling boil/simmer, to boil off extra liquid.
Serve hot or cold, with seasonings (maple syrup & nuts, almond butter, salt & pepper, spices, etc.)

Use in place of hot cereal or rice.

Cauliflower "Rice" & Venison steak

Hmm, I seem to have misplaced the picture. Imagine creamy white "rice" and steaming steak, with spinach salad on the side.

Since going Primal/Paleo means no grains, including rice, I have seen people using cauliflower "rice" on their food blogs. Looked yummy & fun, so I tried it. It was yummy! Next time, I will add more butter and salt.

Just put small cut pieces of cauliflower in the food processor and pulse until the desired size. I heated mine in a pan, then added salt for seasoning. The next day, I added some butter and steak strips. Delicous!

For the steak, I just put them in a baking stone and baked in the oven on 350 for 20-25 minutes. Seasoned with homemade Herbamare.

Various meals throughout the last few months

Toast & Egg bake, with avocados & tomatoes

Dill & Lemon Salmon & Rice

Best. Pancakes. Ever.

Peanut Butter & Raw Honey with Fried Zucchini

Chicken Salad, Tomatoes & Spinach Sandwiches

Lemon Cashew Cheesecake

I've been slacking on uploading pics and blogging, so here are a few!

Lemon Cashew Cheesecake

This was really yummy! It was slightly too acidic for my mouth, so I'm going to put just a tablespoon less of lemon juice into it. My husband was really impressed with it, and while he'll be quick to tell you it's not like "real" cheesecake, he still liked it just fine as a dessert.

The Sunny Raw Kitchen's Raw Cheesecake

Rules

I know, you've all been dying to know what I've been up to. Well, besides gestating - homeschool, my aunt got a kidney transplant, you know, same ol, same ol ;)

I've been learning about the Primal Blueprint Diet. I'm very excited about it.

I'm the kind of person who needs rules. If I don't have rules, I am often not taking care of myself as I need to be. When I was nursing E3, I had food rules for her health - no gluten, dairy, soy, rice, corn, potatoes (white). I also have learned much about refined/processed sugars and have a desire to avoid them. I also respond poorly to processed sugars, most specifically cane sugar. I am grumpy the next few days after consuming it, I'm not a pleasure to be around. As a Christian, it's important for me to have a good attitude, and be in control of my emotions and responses. Things that make that difficult do not have a place in my life.
I haven't been doing a great job of keeping processed foods out of my diet and I've been eating to excess. I've been eating not only because I'm hungry, but because I'm bored, or something looks good. The only food rules I've had are no gluten or soy, and the no gluten rule is the only thing that has really saved me from gaining a TON of excess weight. It's good and normal to gain weight during pregnancy. But it needs to be from healthy foods and things like the placenta, extra blood volume (it almost doubles during pregnancy!), and the actual baby, not because I can't control my eating and I'm eating unhealthy things, gaining unhealthy weight.

I stumbled upon a blog called Enjoying Healthy Foods. I'm LOVING it! As I was reading through (I'll read completely through a blog from current to beginning), I was noticing that the meals Lindsey makes are things I could have eaten while nursing E3, and everything are things I can eat now (no gluten/soy). She uses lots of vegetables, good meat, fruits and coconut oil (my favorite!). She kept mentiong Paleo and, while I've heard of people doing it, I wasn't sure what all in entailed, so I looked it up. I found Paleo and Primal, and the differences. I've decided to go with the Primal, because of the differences explained in the link.
I'm really excited about it, and have already been much more purposeful in what I'm eating and buying. I'm also learning some new things, like Food Combining, which are very important to understand for optimal health and digestion. I hope you will take a look and let me know what you think of Primal Diet, and maybe even start it with me! I'm still extremely new to it all, so I'm learning as I go, also applying principles I've learned over the last few years.

Water Kefir & Gastritis

Do you know what water kefir is? It's a fizzy, probiotic drink. Very yummy, very beneficial.

I woke up Tuesday morning with my stomach in pain. It got so bad that I went to the Emergency Department that night. They diagnosed me with gastritis, which is an inflammation of the stomach lining. It's extremely painful, more so than transition contractions. I'd happily go through labor several times over to having the pain of the last few days. It seems my gut is not as healthy as I'd hope, and I am going to start working to remedy that. Back to whole foods eating! I've been letting some not so great stuff slip in, and I paid for it. It's hard to stick to something sometimes, when you don't have results, such as pain. I will do my best to remember the pain I've endured the last few days, as I go on and try to eat what I know is good for me and baby. The baby is fine, btw. :)

Back to the post. Water kefir, in effort to supply my guts with more beneficial flora, I'm going to work on getting more probiotics in there. That is something I have been forgetting lately, and it's extremely important as part of a healthy body. I'll also try making some fermented foods like sauerkraut, etc.

This is a great post on making water kefir, even using coconut water to make it! Check it out and let me know if you try it and what you think!

Favorite Products

Azure Standard:
Sorghum Flour
Millet Flour
Coconut Flour
Tapioca Starch (also can be gotten cheaply at Asian markets)
Almond Meal Flour Bob's Red Mill
Coconut Secret Coconut Aminos (replaces Soy Sauce)
Liquid Vanilla Creme Stevia
Guar Gum (instead of Xanthan Gum, for thickening)
Cashews
Sesame Seeds
Almonds
Spry Gum (for chewing)
Organic Apples
BioKleen BacOut (for killing bacteria in cloth diapers)


Amazon  Subscribe & Save:
Coombs' Maple Syrup, Organic, Grade B $17.85/32 oz
Let's Do Organic! Coconut Flour $5.28/lb with S&S option
Let's Do Organic! Shredded Coconut
Let's Do Organic! Flaked Coconut
Bob's Red Mill Flour Mix
Coconut Sugar
Cacao Powder (use like cocoa powder, but has lots of healthy  properties where Hershey's cocoa has none)
Cacao Nibs (use like chocolate chips)

Bountiful Baskets for great fresh produce for only $15

Costco:
Maranatha Roasted Almond Butter
Organic Frozen Green Beans
Organic Frozen Corn
Frozen Stir Fry Mix
Frozen Strawberries
Frozen Berry Mix
Organic Spring Mix Salad
Mushrooms
Organic Baby Carrots 5# bag
Sea Salt
Cinnamon
Chia Seeds (not sure if they're still available)
Organic Eggs (best price for best eggs, if I can't get them from a local farmer)
Organic Quinoa (again, not sure if it's still available)
Marinara Sauce

Trader Joe's:
Brown Rice Pasta
Pasta Sauce aka Marinara
Coconut Milk
Almond Milk

Whole Foods:
Peanut Butter, 365 brand
Jelly
Rice Cakes (not a whole food, but something I'm ok with my kids having when we're out of my gluten free bread.)

I get Almond Milk or Coconut Milk at walmart, target, whole foods, baker's, HyVee, etc. Wherever I am that has it for a reasonable price. Baker's(aka Kroger for some of you) also will have coupons for Almond Breze, and I'll stand there for awhile and get a bunch to use and stock up.

Blogs I like:
The Spunky Coconut
Gluten Free Easily
Intolerant Offspring
Also, check my sidebar on the right for more links!

Those are the ones I use the most. I recommend looking at the links they have to other blogs on their sidebars. Search specific recipes, post here if you need help, etc. I love searching the internet, and as long as I'm feeling well and have time, I'll do my best to help you find what you need.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough? Don't mind if I do!

I was a little leery of this recipe, I mean, it involves chickpeas. But hey, I've eaten weirder things before. Thanks to my friend, J, for the recipe and link!

Chocolate-Covered Katie made this post called "Want to eat a BIG bowl of cookie dough?" 
Well, yeah! As if it's even a question to ponder.

I used honey and I also added chia seeds. I cut up some Dark Chocolate Truffle chocolate bar my naughty friend, N, gave me. Bad N, bad. Do NOT add chia seeds. They gave it a weird texture. Just don't do it. I am planning on adding some coconut flour next time, I think that'll be superty duperty yummy. You could also use Enjoy Life Chocolate chips for an allergen free chocolate choice. (Available at your local health food store or HyVee).

I have a picture, but I don't know where my camera cord is, so you'll just have to click through and be awed by Katie's pictures. Hers are way better anyway. I'm looking forward to perusing her blog for more yummy, healthy recipes!

Best. Pancakes. Ever.

I'm not even joking. They taste like cake. Dude. Super yummy!!

I used coconut oil, because I didn't have ghee. I guess I had yogurt, but I really like how they turned out with coconut oil.
You probably don't need the stevia, if that's the only thing stopping you from making these, don't let it!

Without further ado - The Spunky Coconut Quinoa & Coconut Pancakes.

Picture to come...

Chicken Tortilla Soup

After I took my daughter to Vacation Bible School, the other two and I ran a couple errands, then came home as I tried to clear up the mess I made taking out my cabinet of homsechooling books/supplies to paint Saturday.
While I was doing that, I thought, hmm, I should make supper and soup has been sounding good. I had some chicken broth I'd made after roasting a chicken in the crockpot last week and leftover chicken and carrots, so I threw this together.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

1/2 gallon chicken broth (homemade from free range chickens is best)
leftover chicken and carrots
1 1/2 cups cooked kidney beans (it's important to cook red/kidney beans, as they contain a toxin that has to be cooked out)
1 1/2 cups garbanzo beans
1 can diced green chiles
1 quart diced tomatoes and juice
chopped garlic
optional onions

corn tortillas

Put in crockpot and cook on low all day.
About 15 minutes before serving, thinly cut the tortillas into short strips and put in with soup.

I got the idea for the tomatoes, chiles and tortillas from the $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook, which I highly recommend

Almond Joy Mounds Candies - done healthy!

I thought I had blogged this a long time ago. I took a picture, but apparently, forgot to put it in a post, lol.
So here ya go. As soon as my coconut oil comes in (backordered, darn!), I plan on making some. I should probably get some almonds. I think I will use almond slivers when I make these again.

If you're corn free, make sure you have a corn free Vanilla, I used Flavorganics from Azure Standard. I skipped the almond extract, because I don't have any, and I didn't miss it. Of course, I wouldn't know what I'm missing, since I haven't meade them with it...
I got the recipe from the The Nourishing Gourmet, and she has so many wonderful recipes, do check the site out and see what you can find!

See? Obviously delicious :D

Frittata again

I <3 Frittatas!!
I make one every day. Only 20 minutes to delicious, nutritious breakfast.
You can put whatever you want in them. Lately, I've been putting gluten free toast and crushed garlic in, with salt and pepper. This morning, I added a little bacon grease. Delicious!
The other day, I had an avocado and some tomatoes, so I topped my piece(s) with that, and OH BOY, was it yummy!!

Cream of Mushroom & Steak over Rice

I kind of threw this sauce together, I will work on getting exact measurements for future use, lol.

I heated some coconut oil (because I didn't have any my-kid safe butter substitute, we use Earth Balance sticks), then I added some sorghum flour. I quickly realized that probably wasn't the best idea, as I didn't have all my other ingredients out and ready, and it was browning quickly. Oops. 

You'll need:
cooked and cut up steak or stew meat pieces, salted and peppered (I like to use a lot of pepper on the meat, since my poor hubby can't tolerate onions or much garlic)
optional - sauteed mushrooms, onions, and/or garlic

Butter/Ghee, Butter sub or Coconut oil
sorghum flour (or whatever flour you like to use, it should be a finely ground flour, I didn't use coconut, because I felt it would be too grainy)
Chicken Broth, homemade is best
Plain milk - Coconut (be careful about adding too much coconut milk, I got too much at first and it was very coconutty), rice, or almond
salt & pepper

Heat butter sub, add flour until you have a thick paste.
Slowly add about a cup of milk, whisking away while it blends.
Slowly add chicken broth.
Taste and see if it's right yet. If not, add more of milk or chicken broth, continuing until you have the right flavor and consistency you're going for.
Add meat and veggies.
Serve as soup, over rice or noodles (beef stroganoff like)

This makes a lovely soup or sauce.

Dill & Lemon Salmon & Rice

Yum. I got this from the $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook. I modified it to my kitchen, since it called for poaching the salmon in the microwave, and we don't have one.

1 lb salmon
3 Tbsp lemon juice
rice
veggie, we had organic frozen green beans from costco

Heat 1/2-1 cup water with 3 Tbsp lemon juice and a sprinkle of dill, then add salmon, turning once. Cook until done. Remove from water.
Cook rice before or during poaching. I soak my rice for several hours (24 is best) with a splash of raw apple cider vinegar. Mix with a tad of EVOO and sprinkle dill on top after it's cooked.
Serve with cooked veggie (don't overcook!)

Decadent Chocolate Pudding

Oh yeah. I went there. Dude. This is delicious!! And I haven't even had it cold yet! It tastes like hot chocolate. I have missed hot chocolate so much!! Just leave out the arrowroot for a nice, hot mug of hot cocoa. It's chilly here, so it's appropriate. What other state can you have the A/C on the same day as the space heater?

Check out the Darkly Decadent Chocolate Pudding from Hecka-Good Recipes and let me know what you think!

Chocolate Bean Cake

That's right. The Spunky Coconut has done it again! Actually, she did it last year, but I'm a little slow.

I tried making Kelly's Marble cake, but my blender is dying a slow, painful death (who wants to donate to a Vitamix fund? All the cool gluten free bloggers have one;), and wouldn't really mix the vanilla part well, so there wasn't much and it was lumpy. But, oh boy. The chocolate. WOW!! It tasted like, wait for it.........REAL (gluten filled) CHOCOLATE CAKE!!! So I started just making the chocolate cake. The kids and I are having a blast! We had cake for breakfast, and I don't feel bad. The Chocolate Bean Cake has loads of protein and healthy things in it - beans, coconut oil, eggs, etc.

I looked for a good refined sugar free chocolate frosting and found a really good one at Living Free of...dairy, gluten and sugar. In fact, if you freeze it a bit, it tastes like chocolate frozen yogurt. Oh yeah. Hmmm, I should pop it in my ice cream maker!

Blessingway Brownies

Went to a blessingway tonight for a lovely young lady.
Brought these brownies.
Delicious. I was asked for the recipe by several people.

1 cup almond butter
1/3 cup honey

3-4 eggs

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup cocoa powder
3 Tbsp coconut flour

350 for 25-30 minutes. Eat the whole pan, because they're healthy ;)

Life

Well, it's been almost a month since I last posted. Life has gotten a little crazy, we're expecting #4, we're looking at moving and we bought a van Saturday. Just a little crazy. I'm spending a lot of time sleeping and trying to find things that sound good to eat, which is hard. E3 & I weaned, so I can have corn and rice now, but she still can't. I've been thinking about the direction this blog is going to take, if I will post recipes including rice and corn or not. I think I will, but we'll see.
This is probably going to be a slow time, as I gestate and we're busy with a lot of things going on. I hope you all check in every so often, and hopefully, I will be able to post more soon.

St. Patrick's Day Dinner

Not quite the typical St. Patrick's Day fare, but it'll do :) At least there's some green in it ;)

Do you know who St. Patrick was? I didn't until our kids got a Veggie Tales dvd that had his story on it. Wiki says:

Saint Patrick was a Romano-Briton and Christian missionary, who is the most generally recognized patron saint of Ireland or the Apostle of Ireland, although Brigid of Kildare and Colmcille are also formally patron saints.

If you'd like to know more, watch the Veggie Tales Sumo dvd or read more on wiki ;)

We had cubed steak, fried with salt and pepper, steamed/fried asparagus with hollandaise sauce (I used coconut oil instead of butter), and baked sweet and russett potatoes. Yum!

Fruit Juice Gelatin

It was really good.

We added blueberries.

E1 enjoyed it.

E3 also enjoyed it.

E2 enjoyed it so much that she ate it all before I got a pic.

I got the recipe from Kimi's The Nourishing Gourmet site. Check out all her awesome recipes. They're seriously delicious.

I used Apple Juice and organic blueberries. I made some without blueberries for the baby, since she's newly allergic. Sigh.

Raw Popcorn...oxymoron?

Kind of. It's actually cauliflower with nutritional yeast, salt and cayenne pepper. I was out of Cayenne pepper, so I just used salt and nutritional yeast. It gives it a cheesy, nutty flavor, like the cheesy stuff that's on cheetos - only nutritional yeast is nutritious for you! It is a complete protein, has B vitamins as well as other vitamins, and is low in sodium. I'm excited to try it in some scrambled eggs!

I made the Raw Popcorn today, and the girls and I enjoyed it. E1 wasn't too sure, but he's not that open to new foods, so we'll keep trying.

Refried Beans with Coconut Oil

Yummy. I love refried beans. I don't love the additives and preservatives.

I haven't had much success cooking beans from dried, but my Whole Foodigans friends were talking about soaking and cooking beans, so I thought I'd give it a whirl again.

I soaked pinto beans, probably a pound and a half, in water with a splash of lemon juice overnight. Mid morning, I drained the soaking liquid out, then put them in a pot with more water on the stove. Cooked them for several hours, checking every couple or so to see if the beans were done. I drained them, let them cool, then put them in the fridge. 

Tonight, I heated up some coconut oil, threw some of the cooked pinto beans in, added chili powder and salt to taste, and used my Pampered Chef Mix N Chop to smash them up. If you don't have a Mix N Chop, buy one now. I'm not even joking, one of the best inventions ever. It's original purpose was for chopping up the  ground meat, when you're browning it, but it works for so many other things!

Mix N Chop

Amazing Gluten Free Bread!

I can't believe how amazing this bread is. It tastes like glutinous bread, and isn't expensive to make!
I was thrilled to come across this recipe from glutenfreegoddess. She has a lot of really great recipes, check out her blog!

Here's my version of this yummy bread: you can leave out the oil for an almost sourdoughy type taste!
3 cups sorghum flour
2 cups tapioca starch
1 1/2 cup millet flour
2 Tbsp guar gum
1 1/4 Tbsp fine sea salt









2 Tbsp coconut flour
3 Tbsp Date Sugar (dehydrated, granulated dates)
3 Tbsp Red Star Active Dry Yeast (not nutritional yeast, as my hubby found out)
2 Tbsp Chia seeds


In seperate bowl:
3 3/4 cup warm water (not boiling, as my hubby also found out)
9 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (just under 1/2 cup)
1 1/2 teaspoon raw apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
4 whole local, free range eggs


Mix the dry ingredients together first, including yeast.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients.
Mix together.
Pour into three greased pans lined with parchment paper and place in a warmed oven (turned OFF after warming) for 30 minutes.
Bake at 350 for 40 minutes, until the bread sounds hollow when thumped. Remove from pan and place on cooling rack. Slice off end and eat hot.

It turned out quite well, and the kids and I eat the loaf in a day. The baby LOVES it :)

ETA: This made great toast for when I was sick. I'm so glad I had a safe option.

Perfect for dipping in Creamy Tomato Soup

Turkey Salad Wraps

I saw somewhere that someone used some Boston living lettuce to wrap up their food. I happened to come across some Boston lettuce not too long after, so I snagged it.

Mix leftover roast turkey or chicken with mayo, mustard, relish, and optional onions, celery, in the food processor.
Put in cleaned leaves of lettuce.
Enjoy

Faux Frosty for breakfast? Why, yes, thank you!

A group of friends and I started a blog called Whole Foodigans. It's about whole foods, but not only real foods, DELICIOUS real, whole foods!

Anyway, mid morning snack - Faux Frosty! No sugar. It has Dolomite powder in it, which adds calcium. Delicious. Try it!
My picture is not as pretty as my friend's on the WF blog.

Coconut Milk Tonic

This is really fantastic, has calcium & a little iron, tastes pretty good, also has potassium! I like drinking it during/post workout and just as a little pick me up during the day.

I followed Kimi's recipe for Coconut Milk Tonic (at the bottom).

Beef & Cabbage Hash

I also call this "Inside Out Run.zas". Nebraskans know what I'm talking about :)

Beef & Cabbage Hash with Fried Eggs
1lb grass-fed ground beef
3 packages shredded cabbage
Coconut Oil
Salt & Pepper
Eggs
Optional:
garlic
onions

Brown beef, set aside.
In grease from grass-fed beef (if you're using the grease, it HAS to be grass-fed, NOT conventional), or coconut oil, saute garlic and onions, add shredded cabbage.
Cook until cabbage is opaque, add beef, season to taste.
Fry up some eggs and top the hash with them. I like over easy for this.
Serve on toast/rolls or just other veggies and fruit :)

The BEST Creamy Tomato Soup EVER

You can't even imagine until you've tasted it.

I made it for the first time last night, and had NO words.

None.

Quite unusual for me, if you know me ;)

My friend, Melanie, shared this recipe and gave me permission to blog it and share it with all of you! I hope you enjoy and post your results!

Best Creamy Tomato Soup EVER

(my notes are in parentheses)

1 small onion, diced
2 Tbsp minced garlic (I used my garlic press)

Saute in olive oil (or coconut oil) until onion are soft and add:
1 28 oz can of fire roasted tomatoes (used Muir Glen)
1 tsp oregano (out of oregano apparently, so used Organic Italian Seasoning)
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
Sea salt
Fresh ground black pepper

Stir over medium heat to let the flavors combine for a few minutes then add:
1 can of coconut milk(365 Coconut Milk NOT lite)

or, if you can do dairy,

1 1/2 cups of heavy whipping cream

Stir to combine the milk then move to a blender and puree for a smooth soup or eat as is. (I used my immersion blender, which left a couple chunks, but was PERFECT).

I ate it with Falafel I got from Costco and OH MY WORD. All I talked/texted/facebooked about for the next three hours was this soup. So incredibly delicious. To make it extra delicious, workout hard beforehand. ;) This is the perfect soup to serve with Grilled Cheese Sandwiches (if you can have such things).

My thanks and indebtedness to Melanie for sharing this amazing recipe.

Cream Cheese?

I got a giant bag of cashew pieces from Azure Standard. The bag has been sitting in my cupboard for a little while. Finally, last night, I put some in a bowl to soak. I need to measure next time, because it turns out I got four cups in there and I'm trying to figure out what to do with them all tonight! LOL

I made this dairy free cream cheese recipe by Kelly of The Spunky Coconut. I added some dill to a dish of it and dipped baby carrots in. Yummy!

I put the rest on baking stones, lightly salted, and am dehydrating them in the oven at 150 degrees until crunchy, for EDaddy to take in his lunches to work.

Then & Now

Nov 2008 

 Dec 2010

Sauteed Bok Choy

I went to the Asian Store last Saturday and they had bags of yummy looking baby bok choy. I had had some Garlic sauteed Baby Bok Choy at a sushi restaurant last month, and it was delicious! So I decided to get them and they were only .89/lb! The total for it came to slightly over a dollar.

Aren't they cute?

 I put some coconut oil in the pan along wit some crushed garlic. I LOVE my garlic press, I use it every time I use garlic in cooking.

On my plate, soon to be in my belly.

I added a little salt after this picture.

Delicous.

Coconut Oil "Candies"

 They may not be the prettiest, 

but they certainly are the yummiest!

Courtesy of Holly, from my last post:

Coconut Oil "Candies"
1 cup cold press coconut oil, melted
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1-2 Tb. raw honey (I've made these without honey, it's not going to taste good unless you're used to no sweets)
1/4 t. sea salt (it was 1/2, but Holly said it was pretty salty, so I changed it to 1/4)
2-4 Tbl. unsweetened cocoa powder (I used 3)
Flaked coconut - add to or roll the candy in it. I just added about a cup of coconut to mine.
(optional - 2Tbl. almond or nut butter) (do yourself a favor and ADD the PB! SOOO good

Mix until smooth. Drop by spoonfuls on waxed paper. Or put in mini muffin pan. Refrigerate. Eat.

What can whole foods eating do for you?

Well, a lot. It can help you have more energy, be more focused, and lots more. You'll never know what all can be achieved until you try it for yourself! Whole foods is what our family eats - whole foods, as unprocessed as possible, cooked from scratch and good, nutritious ingredients. If man made it, I try not to eat it - chemicals, food colorings (not food based), etc.

This is my dear, sweet friend, Holly's story. She's the one who first introduced the idea of whole foods to me, and she gave me permission to share this story that she wrote in 2008 about her family and their whole foods journey.

My name is Holly. I'm the mother in a family of recovering bariatrics.

On Dec. 23rd, 2007 my dear adopted son had an intense, obsessive, ranting reaction about what my in-laws served for dinner. Basically, it wasn't chicken nuggets! So he didn't eat and then demanded dessert. Needless to say, dessert wasn't granted. So he stole some truffles and ate them in the back seat while we began our four hour trip back home.

That night the camel's back broke in two! We ranted/cried/argued and then prayed. Then we discussed how to respond in a way that might having lasting effect without instituting further useless punishment on our very damaged (reactive attachment disorder) and very ill (bipolar) son.

The shocking conclusion to that conversation was our decision to drop sugar and processed foods from our diet... PERMANENTLY! I finished my final COKE and drove home to a new life.

John
I'll have to go back and look at my original posts but John became stable for the first time in only a couple of weeks. He began occasionally having dry nights. He began to show interest in relationships and activities. He is a completely different child than he was a year ago.

John is on lower doses of all his medications and is more stable than I have EVER known him. Most people who meet John nowdays have no idea that he has very serious special needs.

Due to excess calcium in his bloodstream, John requires extra vitamin D to remain stable. I believe that is why he has always had more difficulty in the winter. This winter is our best ever thanks to the extra D/sunlight I'm trying very hard to pump into his system.

We've also discovered that his bedwetting and daytime wetting is directly related to wheat intolerance if not gluten altogether. And the joy of whole foods is that when you find an unacceptable food, it is simple to eliminate.

I used to have to make John's pants for him because we could not squeeze him into size 20 huskies at 8 years old. And the adult pant legs were so long I had to hem at least 18 inches off of them. Size 10 boys pants now fit him perfectly, even in length. We aren't certain of his top weight but we believe him to have lost over 40 lbs.

Oh, and remember the huge fit over not having chicken nuggets? Well, now, he jumps up and down with excitement when we serve brussells sprouts!

Dear Husband: Theo
Theo topped out at 301 lbs. He has lost just over 60 lbs and has reduced some of his blood pressure medication and some allergy medication. (We've discovered sugar affects the immune system and increases allergies.) His eyesight has improved and he's hoping he'll lose enough weight to stop using his c-pap machine.

Hannah
Hannah has an allergy to milk and soy. Her allergies are a cinch to manage on a whole foods diet. She, too, was becoming addicted at the ripe age of one to processed foods and starting to snub her nose at healthier offerings. But today she is also a lover of brussells sprouts and nearly anything she can put in her mouth! At 2 years old, she can name all the ingredients for guacamole, a particularly favorite food!

She's the only one in the family who is gaining weight. And actually, she's really leveled off, until her next growth spurt, that is.

Myself
Hmmm, who knew this solution to John's behavior would change my life? I've lost 75 lbs. I'm now a runner! My feet don't have big, bleeding crevices in the heels anymore. My PMS is quite mild now (though, my DH does remind me it is there). My cycle included a short luteal phase which I believe contributed to at least one chemical pregnancy and some difficultly in conception. My cycle has lengthened on average about four days. My vision has also improved. We all had a bout of colds/flus in the first couple of months after switching to whole foods and now we've all been healthy longer than ever before and when someone does show symptoms, they are gone in only a day or so as opposed to weeks before.

I have more before and after photos on the original thread but here is our family before and now.