Monthly Archives: April 2016

Simple Tartar Sauce

Sauces elevate food! Chefs and restaurants know it, and the French have it nailed. You can have the simplest of meals, add a sauce, and it makes your mouth do a happy dance!

Today I have a new tartar sauce recipe for you! I had it this week with grilled lemon salmon. It would be delicious with any seafood. Add it to you repertoire!

Grilled Salmon with Simple Tartar Sauce

This is so simple! Don’t you love simple but good?

Simple Tartar Sauce

Simple Tartar Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup of Avocado Oil Mayo or Homemade Mayo (I used Primal Kitchen)

2 Tablespoons of Bubbies Kosher Dill Relish

2 Tablespoons of Finely Diced Yellow Onion

1 Teaspoon of Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice

1/2 Teaspoon of Finely Chopped Capers, optional

1/2 Teaspoon Dried Parsley

1/4 Teaspoon of Sea Salt

Directions: Whisk everything together. Viola! Tartar Sauce!

Tartar Sauce Ingredients

Simple Tartar Sauce Ingredients

Tartar Sauce in a Bowl

Simple Tartar Sauce

Eat Your Nutrients!

Bistro Lemon Chicken Dinner Salad

If I go several days without a salad, I start having salad withdrawals. Salads are like a surprise grab bag, there is so much variety. I never get bored with them. If you find them boring, maybe you are eating the same old one every day. One of the best things about salads is they can be an eclectic blend of different ingredients that go well together. The possibilities are vast.

One of my favorite establishments to eat in is a bistro. Bistros have an innovative, electric kind of happy buzz about them. The food isn’t fussy, but it is creative and pretty, and the ones I’ve been to have several kinds of freshly made enticing salads to choose from and many healthy options.

Bistro Lemon Chicken Dinner Salad

Here’s a Bistro Lemon Chicken Dinner Salad recipe you can make at home.

Bistro Lemon Chicken Dinner Salad

Ingredients:

4 Boneless Chicken Breasts

8 Cups Mixed Baby Romaine Lettuce

1 Can Mandarin Oranges in Their Own Juice (I Used Native Forest Brand)

1/3 Cup of Raw Sliced Almonds (Omit for AIP)

1/4 Cup Fruit Sweetened Dried Cranberries

3 Scallions, sliced

For the Marinade:

Zest of 1 Lemon

1/4 Cup Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon Honey

2 Cloves of Minced Garlic

1 Teaspoon Dried Oregano

1 Teaspoon Dried Tarragon

1/2 Teaspoon of Sea Salt

1/4 Teaspoon of Black Pepper (Omit for AIP)

The Dressing:

1/4 Cup of Good Olive Oil

2 Tablespoons of Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice

2 Teaspoons of Honey

1/2 Teaspoon of Sea Salt

1/4 Teaspoon of Black Pepper (Omit for AIP)

Directions:

Preheat the Oven to 400º degrees. Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet and brush all over top and bottom with the marinade. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes or until the chicken is browning and has reached 165º degrees. Remove the breasts from the oven and let sit at least 15 minutes to retain their juice and cool.

Chicken Roasted for Salad

Now you can assemble the salad. Slice the chicken breasts thinly.

Sliced Lemon Chicken Breasts

Layer the romaine, chicken, oranges, almonds, cranberries and scallions in a large bowl. Whisk the salad dressing ingredients together and pour over the salad. Toss until well coated.

Bistro Lemon Chicken Dinner Salad

Bistro Lemon Chicken Dinner Salad is Gluten Free, Paleo, and a Big Salad. It is perfect for making ahead and having leftovers to pack for lunches on busy workweeks.

Makes 4 Large Dinner Salads

Eat Your Nutrients!

Cherry B’Nice Cream

I spent the first 25 years of my life as an ice cream “addict”. I grew up eating bowls of it. My father was a lineman for a power company, and he ate a large bowl quite frequently in the evenings and had no trouble burning it off the next day, and staying slender.

Cherry B’Nice Cream

Look No Hands!

My dairy filled ice cream daze ended when I could no longer tolerate dairy. This has led me to a finding a healthier and dairy free version of a treat that I can make fast and enjoy when the craving hits. Thus, this recipe for Cherry B’Nice Cream, aptly named to B’Nice to ones belly. 🙂 It is also figure friendly!

Cherry B'Nice Cream Recipe

Hope your belly likes it too! 🙂

Sam

Eat Your Nutrients!

Great Resource When You Don’t Have Time To Bake and For Ingredients When You Do

When You Just Want To Put Your Feet Up!

Have you heard of Wellbee’s, buzzing back to health?

It is a fabulous online bakery and food shopping experience for those on the SCD, GAPS or Paleo Diet. They are also Gluten Free, Grain Free and Refined Sugar Free.

They have a bakery completely dedicated to making food that is SCD Legal using honey for their sweetner. They are an invaluable resource for people who can’t just go anywhere to buy pre-made food. There products are good. I have been ordering from them for two years. What is also so nice about them, is you don’t have to spend hours reading ingredient labels and figuring out what products you can buy that aren’t going to mess with your digestion. They also offer prepacked portable snacks for travel, and when you are on the go, or don’t want to cook.

Some of my favorite items are their homemade croutons (I am a huge salad fan!), nut flours, a seasoning called Paleo Powder (this is a spice blend with all clean ingredients and no fillers), Lemon Infused Avocado Oil, Fermented Pickles, Pizza Crusts (Baked in their Bakery), Pecan Bread (Ditto on the Bakery), Duck Sauce, Ketchup, Hot Dog Buns (baked by them too), Granola and Apple Butter.

Switching your diet can be overwhelming at first. It is a huge learning curve, and they make it easier. I do want to point out, when you are beginning to heal your digestion, you will get the best results by spending time in phase one of a gut healing protocol. That means sticking to meat, vegetables, bone broth, healthy fat and a limited amount of fruit. Once you are seeing improvement and feeling much better, then is the time to add in nuts, seeds, honey, and grain free baked items one at a time and see how you do. This includes adding in dairy and legumes if tolerated. I want to mention that I don’t receive any payment at all from promoting them. They are just fantastic, and you should really know about them if you don’t already. Shout out to Donna! I am sure there are many that would benefit from this resource. I know it makes things so much easier for myself!

Check them out. Here’s the link!

Wellbee’s Prepared Food

Wishing you Happy Digestion!

Sam

Eat Your Nutrients!

Lacinato Kale with Garlic and Almonds

Lacinato Kale, also referred to as Dinosaur Kale, is a flat leafed kale with dark green blue leaves. This is my favorite kale to cook with. It has a slightly nutty flavor, and is less bitter than Curly Kale. I use Curly Kale to make kale chips, because the curls grab on to every bit of sauce you put on them. By now you would have to be hiding under a rock to not hear about all the health benefits in greens, and Kale has taken center stage in the past couple years.

Lacinato Kale with Garlic and Almonds

Kale is full of benefits, such as it is high in fiber, is a good source of Calcium, Iron, Vitamin C, Vitamin A, and Vitamin K. It is fabulous for strengthening your immune system, bones and skin.

This recipe for kale is crunchy, garlicky and savory. It is important to eat greens with fat to help your body access the nutrients, plus it just plain tastes good. I have used Olive Oil in this recipe. There are endless ways to serve this dish. It makes a great side for fish and chicken. Add some protein, and you have a meal.

Lacinato Kale

Lacinato Kale with Garlic and Almonds

Ingredients:

1 bunch of Lacinato Kale, Stripped of Stems and Washed

2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

2 Cloves of Garlic, Minced (I use a garlic press)

1 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice (It brightens the dish)

1/2 Teaspoon of Sea Salt

1/4 Cup Sliced Almonds

Directions:

Slice the Kale into 1 inch strips by grabbing a bunch and using a sharp knife on a cutting board. Set aside.

Heat the Olive Oil in a large cooking pan over high heat. Add the Minced Garlic, and cook just briefly, just about 30 seconds. Add the sliced Kale and Sea Salt. Cook over high heat until the Kale is wilted, tossing frequently. Once wilted, add in 1 Tablespoon of fresh squeezed Lemon Juice. Toss just to coat.

Place the kale in a serving dish and sprinkle with the Sliced Almonds.

It’s Ready to Eat! It is so good!

Eat Your Nutrients!

Relapse of SIBO, Food, Sauces, and Fitting Out

Real Food

Hey Everyone! I hope you are enjoying beautiful weather in your area of the world, as I am here in Maryland!

So, I have had a lot going on since Christmas, including a relapse of SIBO, which is very common. I feel fortunate to have gone a very good stretch of time without having to be retreated. I am on antibiotics to rid my small intestine of bacterial overgrowth for a second time. The treatment of SIBO is still evolving.

After first finding out what in the world was wrong with my belly almost two years ago, I followed the Paleo, SCD and at first Low FodMap diet with great success. I went almost two years without a return of symptoms and felt full of energy and just fabulous! So what did I do to have it return? It wasn’t adding in FodMap containing food. I have been slowly adding in more FodMaps through trial and error and really found out which foods work for me and which do not. FodMaps feed the good bacteria in the intestines, and a Low FodMap, real food diet is more limiting and should only be followed short term according to many experts, to reduce and manage symptoms. Here is just one article on this. You can google many more. I feel my SIBO returned because I added in too many starches. I was experimenting with Paleo friendly, grain free starches such as tapioca, arrowroot and cassava. These are fine, but not if you have had SIBO.

It happened over the holidays when I was trying to make Christmas treats the whole family and company would perceive as “regular”. This is where the Fitting Out comes in for me. After almost four months of SIBO hell, I have decided in the food department, I do not care a less if I fit in or not! In fact, I prefer to fit out! I have figured out what food makes me feel the best and thrive because I want to feel energetic and healthy. I want to add to my health and keep striving for the best healthy version of myself. This is true for all of us. We, as humans are all genetically individual and come from all areas of the world, with different ancestors, who ate different kinds of food indigenous to where we are from.

I love eating real, and what has been termed Paleo foods, which is in essence real food… within the parameter that works for me . I get excited about going to buy loads of gorgeous vegetables, fruits, healthy meat, nuts, seeds and healthy fats. I look forward to my coconut milk latte. I feel grateful for the variety of healthy food I have access to. It’s important to note that it is very difficult to get rid of SIBO with diet alone. It needs to first be treated with either herbal or prescription antibiotics, and include a SIBO friendly diet like this one or this one.

One of my favorite ways to keep it interesting is sauces! I try and have plenty on hand, made in advance and frozen, if necessary, so I don’t have to spend a lot of time preparing food when I have a busy day. There are more and more pre-prepared clean sauces coming into the market. Some of my favorites are Tessemae’s fabulous buffalo wing sauce, and their ketchup sweetened with dates. Primal Kitchen has a new Chipotle Lime Mayo and Salad Dressings, and their regular Mayo made with avocado oil is the bomb! Best mayo I have ever had, hands down. There are also 22 sauce recipes in the recipe index of my blog here.

So, to wrap it up, I know more than ever the food I thrive on, and it is healthy, real food. That is what I love the most! Eat what you know works for you and keep it real. Enjoy each day you are given, reach out for help, and don’t go it alone. Finding a grain free diet that is low in starch is what makes me feel like I could conquer anything. I will continue to develop new recipes to share within this parameter that are delicious for everyone. No more tapioca, cassava and arrowroot in my recipes. I love to entertain, feed my family, and as a previous artisan bread baker, food is a passion!

Blessings!

Eat Your Nutrients!

Are You Living in Abundance?

abundance photo

Happy Friday! Are you living in abundance? Do you feel your life is balanced, and you are accomplishing your goals and living your purpose? It is good to evaluate areas of your life and check in now and then with yourself to see if your circle of life is on track. A circle of life includes many different facets such as Joy, Spirituality, Creativity, Finances, Career, Education, Health, Physical Activity, Home Cooking, Home Environment, Relationships and Social Life. This is something a Health Coach helps you explore as part of your coaching program. Here is a quick Abundance quiz! I wish you a life of Abundance! Have a fantastic weekend!

Take An Abundance Quiz Here

Chocolate Banana Quick Bread (Grain Free)

Who doesn’t love a portable quick bread that you can pack? My kiddos like a slice in their lunches, and I can feel good about the great ingredients in this recipe knowing it is good for them, and me, and sweet at the same time. It’s mostly those bananas with a touch of good quality honey baby! Quick breads are supposed to be soft, but not mushy, and I totally consider them a comfort food. How many of you had Mom’s or Grandma’s that made quick bread when you were young? My favorite, and it’s a classic, is banana bread.

Chocolate Banana Quick Bread Slices

Here is a healthy spin on Banana Quick Bread. It is chocolatey too with the addition of magnesium rich raw cacao! It also contains nice amounts of potassium, protein, and uses unprocessed, real food ingredients.

Chocolate Banana Quick Bread (Grain Free)

Preheat your oven to 350º degrees. Line a 8 inch loaf pan with parchment paper. This keeps the loaf from sticking and helps it lift right out of the pan, so leave some edges sticking out to grab on to.

Chocolate Banana Quick Bread Batter Ready for the Oven

Ingredients:

2 Cups of Superfine Almond Flour

2 Tablespoons of Coconut Flour

1/2 Cup Raw Cacao

1 Teaspoon of Baking Soda

1 Teaspoon of Baking Powder

1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon

1/2 Teaspoon of Allspice

1/2 Teaspoon of Sea Salt

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

4 Ripe Bananas with black spots

4 Eggs (I used soy free eggs due to a sensitivity)

1/4 Cup Honey, I used raw honey

1/4 Cup Coconut Oil, melted

1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

In a food processor, add all the wet ingredients and blend until completely smooth. Alternately, using a hand mixer, do the same. It will just take longer to incorporate, making sure the bananas are completely smooth.

Add in the Dry Ingredients, and continue to mix until completely blended. Pour into your prepared loaf pan. Bake in the preheated 350º oven for 60 to 75 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean with just a few crumbs attached. Cool in the loaf pan five minutes on the counter before removing the loaf to cool completely before slicing.