Monthly Archives: October 2016

Frosted Jackolantern Pumpkin Cookies

What kids doesn’t like a cute jackolantern pumpkin cookie this time of year! Especially if it is frosted! This honey of a cookie is thick and soft with just the right amount of pumpkin flavor.

Gluten Free/Grain Free Frosted Jackolantern Pumpkin Cookies

You will need a handmixer and a cookie scoop for this easy recipe……no rolling involved.

Frosted Jackolantern Pumpkin Cookies

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350º degrees F.

Lay out a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 Cups Superfine Almond Flour

2 Tablespoons Coconut Flour

1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1/4 Teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt

1 Teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice

1/3 Cup Pumpkin Puree, SCD Legal

1 Egg

3 Tablespoons Clear Honey

1 Teaspoon pure Vanilla Extract

Directions: In a medium bowl, whisk together the first five dry ingredients. In a separate small bowl, with a hand held electric mixer, mix the wet ingredients together….the pumpkin puree, egg, honey and vanilla extract.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and mix until fully incorporated. With a 1/2 cup ice cream or cookie scoop, scoop the cookies onto your prepared cookie sheet. There should be six even sized scoops. Now, flatten into 3/4 inch thick circles with your hand, and then pinch the tops, patting and pinching to make the stem.

Bake in your preheated oven for 16 – 20 minutes, rotating the pan end to end after ten minutes. Keep an eye on them the last five minutes. The edges should be starting to brown, but not the centers.

Remove from the oven and cool completely while you make the frosting.

For the frosting:

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons of Organic Shortening

3 Tablespoons of Honey

1 Tablespoon of Cacao Powder

In a small bowl with a hand held electric mixer, blend the shortening and honey together until it is whipped nicely.

Take a plastic sandwich bag and snip off one end. Insert a metal round piping tip into the snipped end. Scoop out two tablespoons of the white frosting from your bowl, and place it in the snipped bag. Twist the top moving the icing toward the piping tip. Set aside.

To the remaining frosting still in the bowl, add one tablespoon of cocao powder. Blend with your electric mixer.

Spread the chocolate frosting onto each cookie evenly, except the stems. Pipe the frosting on for the eyes and mouth.

It makes six large cookies. Yes, I know the picture shows five cookies. That’s because I ate one! 🙂

Happy Halloween! Boo!

Frosted Jackolantern Pumpkin Cookie – Grain Free

Ming Turns Five!

Happy Birthday Ming Ming! Your pug face bring me joy every day!

Happy Birthday Ming!

Ming Turns Five

Birthday Girl!

Hearty Baked Chicken and Sausage with Mushrooms

hearty-chicken-and-sausage

A Hearty Chicken and Sausage bake is a real crowd pleaser! We recently had the family doing some hard work here around the house, and they have been coming in at dinnertime ravenous! I have been calling them “a bunch of cavemen” 🙂 because they have been devouring the protein part of the meal. Have you every had cravings for protein?

chicken-and-sausages

Well, I’m a firm believer in listening to your body, so I made this Hearty Chicken and Sausage Bake for dinner, because all that use of muscle was creating a serious craving around here.

hearty-chicken-and-sasage-dinner

Hearty Chicken and Sausage with Mushrooms

Preheat the oven to 375º degrees.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 Pounds of Bone In ChickenThighs

12 oz. of Fully Cooked Sausage Cut in Half on a Diagonal (I used gluten free Applegate Chicken and Apple)

1 Can of White Button Mushrooms

1 Large Yellow Onion, quartered and sliced

2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

2 Cloves of Garlic, Minced (or substitute 1 Garlic Olive Oil for the Olive Oil above)

1 Teaspoon of Sea Salt

1/2 Teaspoon of Black Pepper

Sauce:

1 1/2 Teaspoons Dried Basil

1 Teaspoon Dried Tarragon

1 Teaspoon of Sea Salt

1/2 Teaspoon of Black Pepper

1/2 Teaspoon of Dried Oregano

1/2 Teaspoon of Dried Thyme

1/4 Teaspoon Crushed Rosemary

1/4 Teaspoon of Red Pepper Flakes

2 Tablespoon of Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice

1 Tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar

2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

Whisk the Sauce ingredients together and set aside.

In a large dutch oven, or an oven safe saute pan that you can cover with foil, pour the olive oil and garlic if using. Season the chicken with salt and pepper while warming the oil in the pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, and brown on both sides for about 5 minutes each side. Add the sausages, tucking them in around the chicken. Sprinkle the mushrooms and onion on top.

Drizzle with the previously prepared sauce. Cover and bake in your preheated oven for 40 minutes.

This can be served with hot jasmine white rice and vegetables.

Eat Your Nutrients!

SIBO – What Causes It and Why It’s So Hard to Treat

Anyone suffering from IBS-C or SIBO needs to know this new information. I am so happy that research is ongoing, and this new treatment is exciting and easily accessible. I subscribe to Chris Kresser’s newsletter, here is the latest article written by guest Dr. Amy Nett, MD on Kresser Institute for Functional and Evolutionary Medicine.

Here is the link! https://kresserinstitute.com/sibo-causes-hard-treat/

Have a wonderful day!

Sweet and Salty Spiced Nuts

Crunchy, Salty, Sweet and Healthy. Those words don’t go together very often when you are talking snacks. But these Sweet and Salty Spiced Nuts do!

They are fun to make, and a great choice for a snack. A serving size of nuts is smaller, but they are totally satisfying!……..AND they can be eaten with other things. They are really good sprinkled on salad, over yogurt if you tolerate it, and used as a muffin or quick bread topping. They are really pretty to put out in a bowl for pre-dinner or party munchies for guests too. I like to throw a bag of them in my purse for when I get hungry when away from home.

Sweet and Salty Spiced Nuts

Spiced nuts are so easy to make, and they fill the house with a warm spice smell that is better than potpourri! I used Walnuts, Pecans, Cashews and Pumpkin Seeds in this recipe.

Honey Sweetened Sweet and Salty Spiced Nuts

Sweet and Salty Spiced Nuts

Preheat your oven to 350º degrees. Lay out two parchment lined cookie sheets.

Ingredients:

2 Cups of Raw Pecans

2 Cups of Raw Walnuts

1 Cup of Raw Cashews

1 Cup Pumpkin Seeds

2 Egg Whites

2 Tablespoons of Honey

1 Teaspoon of Ground Cinnamon

1 Teaspoon of Sea Salt or Himalayan Pink Salt

1/2 Teaspoon of Dried Crushed Rosemary

1/2 Teaspoon of Ground Cardamom

1/4 Teaspoon of Ground Nutmeg

1/4 Teaspoon of Ground Ginger

1/4 Teaspoon of Ground Allspice

1/8 Teaspoon of Ground Cloves

In a large bowl, add the Walnuts, Pecans, Cashews and Pumpkin Seeds. Mix your spices, rosemary and salt In a small bowl, and set aside. Whisk together the egg whites and honey until frothy. Pour over the nuts and toss thoroughly. Sprinkle half of the spice mixture over the nuts and seeds, and toss well! Do it again with the remaining spice mixture, coating the mixture evenly.

Spread onto your two prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 10 minutes in your preheated oven. Toss them with a spatula, and bake another 7 to ten minutes until dry and golden brown. Watch them carefully, so they don’t get too dark at the end of the baking time!

Cool Completely and store in an airtight container at room temperature for everyone to enjoy. I put them on the counter in a petty jar so the kids and hubby grab them as a snack! The power of visual suggestion! 🙂