About Sandra Shields, Healthy Food and Wellness Blogger, Health Coach, Balanced Living, Clean Beauty Consultant
Hello! I am Sam. I am a foodie, baker and a Health Coach who likes being in the kitchen making food. My recipes are all gluten free and there are recipes for different food intolerances as well. If you are looking to incorporate healthier eating habits and live a more balanced life, I hope to inspire you. I have had an obsession with baking since I was ten! I started this blog to share recipes I was making for myself after finding out I had gluten sensitivity and other food intolerances which I have mostly healed, but will always be sensitive to gluten. I went to school for Health Coaching as a second career at Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Nutrient dense food gives the body the best fuel and building blocks to be vibrant, healthy, prevent disease, and maintain great energy as well as heal. I am excited to share delicious food recipes, tips, baking and treats too!
I love healthy snack balls! They are fun to pop in when you have a craving, or need something small to tide you over before a meal, or are having a snack attack and want it to be good for you, and taste like it isn’t. 🙂
Here’s a recipe for Blueberry Coconut Snack Balls that fits the bill perfectly!
1 Cup of Toasted Coconut, Pulverized (I used Dang Coconut Chips that are already toasted, but you can toast your own.)
Directions:
In a medium bowl, add the coconut flour, flax, and salt. Mix with a whisk. In a separate bowl whisk together the honey, oil, vanilla and lemon juice. If using coconut oil, melt it just until runny. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry, and blend with a hand held mixer. Fold in the dried blueberries.
Place your toasted coconut in a mini food processor or use a mortise and pestle to pulverize the coconut flakes.
Now, scoop the dough into seven tablespoon sized balls, and roll in the pulverized toasted coconut.
Valentine’s Day is coming up soon, and these are a perfect chocolate indulgence if you looooooove chocolate chip cookie dough or chocolate chip cookies like me! They are enrobed in their own little portion size packages of dark chocolate. The recipe is egg free, so no need to be concerned about eating raw egg. They are also free of dairy, nuts, and gluten!
You can package these in a pretty little container for gift giving, store them in the freezer, refrigerator or at room temperature. I like them cold. It just depends on how firm you want them. They will be quite firm in the freezer, less firm in the refrigerator and have a soft interior at room temperature.
Directions: Sift together the Coconut Flour, Flax, Gelatin, Baking Soda and Sea Salt. In a separate bowl whisk together the Avocado Oil, Maple Syrup, Vanilla and Lemon Juice. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry, and mix with a hand held electric mixer until your dough is well combined. Stir in the Mini Chocolate Chips.
With a tablespoon sized cookie scoop, scoop the dough into round balls with flat bottoms onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Place the dough balls in the freezer for at least an hour.
When you are ready to dip the balls in chocolate, melt the chocolate chips over simmering water in a double broiler stirring constantly until all the chips are melted. (I make my own by taking a small saucepan and filling it with an inch of water and putting the chocolate chips into a metal mixing bowl that will fit on top of the saucepan and not touch the water.)
When the chocolate is smooth, dip each ball, one at a time, into the melted chocolate with two forks, coating it quickly. Then, place it back on the parchment lined cookie sheet.
Refrigerate until the chocolate is set, about half an hour.
Welcome February! What are you looking forward to this month? This is the time of year people can become starved for color and suffer from SAD. Try adding a splash of color to your wardrobe each day to boost feel good vibes. A positive thought before your feet even hit the floor in the morning can make a big difference in how your day goes, and it is cumulative! So, the more you put this into practice, the bigger the benefits, because you are literally rewiring your brain.
Deep breathing for a few minutes when you are feeling stressed, by breathing in four, holding for four and exhaling for 8 lowers stress. Try doing ten rounds of this with your eyes closed. It only takes a couple minutes, and finally getting outdoors into the fresh air, especially on sunny days, even for 15 minutes, promotes sleep, raises vitamin D levels, and boosts well being. Feeling happy and relaxed makes you radiate beauty!
If you are human, you have made mistakes. You simply cannot be living and get everything perfect all the time.
When you start out as a baby, one of the ways you learn how to crawl, walk and run is by trial and error. There will inevitably be bumps and bruises, some more than others. The learning and mistakes go on throughout life.
As we get older and have more freedom and choices, the mistakes get bigger than stumbling and bumping your head as a toddler.
I have found mistakes have helped me grow, and some of my most meaningful moments and times have been when I was afraid to do something, and I did it anyway. Sometimes stepping out has brought much heartache and a longer recovery period for my heart than I could have ever foreseen. But it has always, always made me more than I was yesterday.
I want you all to know dear ones, that you are more than your mistakes. You should never feel defeated by them for long. You are more than you were yesterday, and you will be even more than that tomorrow. Let yourself be open to love, abundance, forgiveness and hope for the future. Keep going.
Oh my goodness, do I love a good, crunchy graham cracker! Since going gluten free and mostly grain free, a good graham with clean ingredients has been hard to find, and the other recipes I have tried either fall apart, don’t taste amazing or are too soft and wouldn’t hold up to toppings or s’mores.
These I literally had to put out of my sight in order to keep myself from munching on them every time I came into the kitchen. If you are a fan of the Sandlot Movie, like I am, (It’s an all time family favorite), you know Smalls would never settle for a whimpy gram to stuff his face. Watch the scene here:
These grahams are delicious in every way……texture, flavor, sturdiness….. and you can make them any size you want. They also happen to be egg free. I have been testing them for several months, and never was completely satisfied until this week when I was in a hurry and whipped together some while making dinner on a busy night, because we needed some Grahams in the house. They turned out great! Since I wasn’t actually in “testing” mode, I didn’t write it down until after they were done, and turned out so well. So, the next day, I retested them with honey instead of maple syrup. They turned out tasty with the honey, but you have to watch them carefully so they don’t burn. I again tested them using maple syrup, and they were s’more worthy! The maple syrup version is my favorite. It gives the grahams a true graham flavor and doesn’t over brown. These graham crackers can be enjoyed year-round. They are great for packing in lunches sandwiched with some nut butter and good quality fruit spread, and they are so, so s’more worthy! So campfire season, watch out, because Everyone should have good grahams!
1/2 Cup of Avocado Oil (it is heart healthy and has high smoke point)
1/4 Cup of Pure Maple Syrup (You can substitute honey for SCD compliant, but watch carefully to prevent over browning)
4 Teaspoons of Pure Vanilla Extract
1/2 Teaspoon of Lemon Juice
Directions:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the coconut flour, cinnamon, flax and baking soda. Then, in another bowl, whisk together the liquid ingredients which are vanilla, avocado oil, maple syrup and lemon juice. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients, and beat with a hand held mixer for one minute. Sprinkle the gelatin over the top, and beat again until it is completely incorporated.
Form the dough into a ball, and place between two sheets of parchment paper. Flatten the ball with your hands, starting to form a rectangle. With a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a rectangle to fit a cookie sheet pan. The parchment paper should still be sandwiching the dough. This prevents your rolling pin from sticking. The dough should be about 1/4″ thick. Remove the top piece of parchment. With a fork’s tines, poke holes all over the dough, then use a pizza wheel to score vertical and horizontal lines making the graham crackers the size you like. Place the parchment with the rolled out grahams onto a cookie sheet. Bake in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes. They don’t take long. I recommend checking at eight minutes. When the edges are starting to turn golden brown, they are done. Remove them from the oven and cool completely on the cookie sheet before breaking them apart at the score marks.
What are your dreams? I hope you have some, because at every age we need dreams and purpose no matter how young or old you are! Dreams give us things to strive for, hope, excitement about our lives, and goals. I have found when I talk to people that tell me they don’t have dreams, they are in a state of depression, illness or some other difficult circumstance. Finding a purpose and going to sleep with a dream can help.
Dreams and purpose also tie in with thankfulness. Can we be thankful in all circumstances? I admit it is much easier to be thankful when everything is going right, but it is possible to be thankful, have purpose and dreams when things are not. One tip is to get into the practice of writing down ten things you are thankful for every morning. You can have a pad next to your bed, a notebook, or jot it down while you are having breakfast on your phone’s notes. If you can’t think of anything, because your circumstances are too hard, start simple.
Please share with me, I want to know. What is one dream you have right now? What is one thing in your life that gives you purpose? Share with me in the comments. I promise, I am listening.
I have a new Chinese chicken makeover that will fulfill all your cravings for Chinese takeout and not leave you feeling bloated and thirsty the next day.
The chicken is skillet to oven, and we are going to make some butternut squash noodles and oven roast the bok choy! It’s a really, really good dinner.
I am making this for Chinese New Year this year and am still working on some other recipes to add as well. It is a very special time for my family. Two of my daughter’s were adopted from China when they were babies, and I have always honored their heritage. One of the ways we do that is having a party on Chinese New Year and also the Autumn Moon Festival. Visiting China was magical each time, and authentic Chinese food is amazing, with lots of healthy vegetables included.
Chinese Chicken and Noodles with Bok Choy
Preheat your oven to 375º degrees F.
To begin, prep your butternut noodles and bok choy (see below). Then, mix together the ginger, tarragon, cinnamon, sea salt and cloves, and season your chicken cubes evenly with it.
Ingredients for the Chicken:
8 Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs, cut into fourths
1 Tablespoon of Ground Ginger
2 Teaspoons of Tarragon
1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon
1 1/4 Teaspoon of Sea Salt
1/2 Teaspoon of Cloves
1 Tablespoon of Garlic Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil (you may substitute 3 minced garlic cloves if you like and use regular olive oil in place of the garlic infused olive oil.)
Directions for the Chicken: In a large oven safe skillet, add the olive oils over medium high heat, swirling to coat the pan. Then add the seasoned chicken when the olive oil is hot enough to sizzle. Cook the chicken four minutes on one side or until golden brown, then flip the cubes and brown the other side. When the chicken is brown but not cooked through, pour the reduced chicken sauce over the chicken in the skillet, and toss to coat evenly. Place the skillet into the oven and cook the chicken an additional five minutes, or until the chicken is done. Spoon the chicken into a bowl and pour the sauce from the pan and all the brown bits over the chicken.
Chicken Sauce:
1/4 Cup of Coconut Amminos
1/4 Cup of Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
3 Tablespoons of Honey
1/2 Teaspoon of Salt
Directions for Chicken Sauce:
Whisk together the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Then, lower the temperature and simmer until the sauce is reduced by half. Set aside to prepare the chicken.
Directions: Spiralize the solid end of the peeled butternut squash. (I use this one and love it.) In a large skillet, add the olive oil, salt and garlic and cook over medium high until fragrant, this happens very quickly. Add the spiralized butternut squash noodles. Toss and cook until al dente. Then, whisk together the coconut aminos and honey, and toss with the squash noodles to coat. Cook a few more minutes, then set aside until ready to serve.
Ingredients for the Bok Choy
6 Baby Bok Choy (Mine were pretty large, so you be the judge of how much you want.)
1/4 Cup of Olive Oil
1 Teaspoon of Garlic Powder (Omit for Low FodMap and substitute 1 Tablespoon of Garlic Olive Oil in place of 1 of the tablespoons of Olive Oil above)
1 Teaspoon of Ground Ginger
1 Tablespoon of Coconut Aminos
1/2 Teaspoon of Fish Sauce
1/2 Teaspoon of Sea Salt
Directions: Preheat the oven to 375º degrees F. Wash and half the bok choy lengthwise (see photo). Lay on a rimmed sheet pan. Whisk together the rest of the ingredients, and brush evenly over the bok choy. Bake in your oven for 20 minutes.
To Serve:
Place a mound of noodles on your plate. Spoon Chinese chicken and sauce over the noodles add some bok choy on the side. Dig in!
The New Year is here, and I’m resetting my taste buds after enjoying the holiday and extra treats.
The number one rule I have when doing a food reset is Don’t Starve Yourself. That just messes up your metabolism and hormones, so don’t be tempted by that. It never works long term.
I am taking out extra sugars, which for me would be maple syrup and honey mostly, but still eating low sugar fruit like blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries, which are full of nutrition and fiber.
I am making sure I get plenty of low starch vegetables in like spinach, bok choy, artichokes, broccoli, zucchini, Swiss chard, kale, cucumbers, leafy green lettuces, mushrooms, asparagus, fennel (one of my favorites) onions, a little bit of fermented vegetables each day, and Brussels sprouts. I eat as many of these vegetables as I want.
I’m eating complex carbs from vegetables like butternut squash, beets, carrots, and winter squash. You can make “noodles” with butternut squash, beets and zucchini noodles using a spiralizer. (I have this one that suction cups to the counter top and cleans up like a breeze! It’s under $20. now. ) You need adequate protein for each meal like grass fed meat, pastured chicken and seafood such as salmon, and also healthy fats, especially whole food avocados.
I am also prioritizing sleep. Plenty of sleep helps avoid cravings and lowers cortisol levels. High cortisol can cause you to store belly fat and make you crave sweet things more than ever.
I’m drinking plenty of water and clear teas which are perfect hot for this deep freeze we are having in Maryland! My favorite teas are Dandelion Root, Rooibos, Chamomile and Milk Thistle with a piece of ginger root in it. I also have one cup of coffee a day with raw cacao powder, a scoop of collagen and a tablespoon of coconut milk.
I have a shoulder injury at the moment involving the lower trapezius muscle by my right shoulder blade, so weight bearing arm workouts are on hold for now. It’s an injury that occurred last June that healed, and then I re-injured it doing planks again. So, now I’m starting physical therapy to help heal and learning techniques to strengthen that muscle and restore the range of motion to prevent another re-injury. It’s a bummer for me, but you have to take care of your body. Currently my exercise routine looks like this, and I’ll add there is a point of exercise where you feel good and refreshed, and one where you overdo it and feel depleted. You want to avoid feeling depleted. If you can’t recover quickly, then it’s too much. For me what works is twenty minutes in the morning of some form of toning exercise like pilates, resistance bands, cardio step or an exercise ball, and then later in the day a 30 to 40 minute brisk walk, preferable outside, but on the treadmill if the weather isn’t good. I start out my walk with a square of 70% dark chocolate. I’ve been doing this for years, and it works very well for me as a motivator.
Happy 2018 Everyone!
What is one of your favorite memories of 2017? What was hard, and what are your plans, goals, and what are you looking forward to in 2018? I want to know.
It’s almost a New Year, and I know you most likely want this to be your healthiest year yet! I know I do! In times when obesity is at an all time high, even in our children, and the next generation is the first not expected to live as long as their parents, there has never been a more urgent time to clean up our eating so we can live longer for our loved ones, and leave a legacy of healthy habits for our children to follow. I’ve attached a short video below of Dr. Oz speaking about this and using food as medicine.
That being said, we don’t have to sacrifice delicious food to be healthy and improve our health. That is a myth! Because, real food is delicious food, and I would argue the most delicious of all if our palettes are back on track, and we have so many different spices and herbs and alternatives at our fingertips!
Here is a wonderful salmon dinner using canned non-GMO salmon. It is a budget friendly meal, topped with a fat everyone loves…….the beloved avocado! The salmon burgers have fresh dill in them and other dried herbs, and are delicious! Have I ever told you how much I love herb shears? I am short on the patience required to finely mince herbs like parsley, dill, etc. Kitchen herb shears are so fast, and the mince is super fine. I put a link below if you are interested in seeing what I’m talking about. They come in super handy and are inexpensive!
Salmon Patties on Roasted Red Cabbage with Avocado
1 Tablespoon of Fresh Minced Dill (or 1/2 teaspoon dried) (I use these herb shears for mincing herbs. They are fabulous and fast!)
1 Tablespoon of Garlic Infused Olive Oil (you may substitute 2 cloves or garlic and regular olive oil if you like)
2 Teaspoons of Cider Vinegar
2 Tablespoons of Avocado Oil or Olive Oil
Ingredients for Roasted Red Cabbage:
1 Large Head of Red Cabbage, Cored and Shredded with a sharp knife
1/4 Cup of Avocado Oil or Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Teaspoon of Sea Salt
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400º F. To prepare your red cabbage, toss the cabbage with 1/4 cup of Avocado Oil, the apple cider vinegar, and sea salt. Lay on a large rimmed baking sheet, and spread it out in an even layer. It shrinks by about 50 percent when cooking. Place it in your preheated oven, and roast for a full 40 minutes, tossing with tongs after the first twenty minutes. When it is done, it will have crispy brown edges.
Cook the minced celery, red onion, and 1/4 Teaspoon of Sea Salt in 1 tablespoon of Garlic Infused Olive Oil over medium high heat on your stove top until soft. While this is cooking, whisk together the coconut flour, gelatin, herbs and the other 3/4 teaspoon of sea salt. In a large mixing bowl, place the drained, canned salmon, the cooked celery and red onion, apple cider vinegar, coconut milk and coconut flour mixture, and mix until thoroughly incorporated. Add two tablespoons of Olive Oil to a large oven safe, non-stick skillet. With a half cup measure, scoop out the salmon mixture onto the greased skillet, and form twelve patties by pressing them down with the tips of your fingers until they are and inch thick.
When the cabbage is almost done, you can cook the patties. Since everything in these patties are fully cooked, the object is to brown them on both sides. These patties are delicate and delicious, but care is needed in flipping them. Cook the prepared patties over medium high heat about 4 -5 minutes a side. Then, pop them into the oven for 5 more minutes with the cabbage.
To serve, place a generous mound of roasted red cabbage on your plate. Top the cabbage with a salmon patty and sliced avocado. Feel free to drizzle with a sauce. I never say no to that! I like the Mastadon BBQ which is here.
In this short Interview with Dr. Oz and our President, Dr. Oz discusses solutions to our all-time high obesity rates in adults and children in our country. Dr. Oz is a huge advocate for food as medicine!
Hello! I am Sam. I am a foodie, baker and a Health Coach who likes being in the kitchen making food. My recipes are all gluten free and there are recipes for different food intolerances as well. If you are looking to incorporate healthier eating habits and live a more balanced life, I hope to inspire you. I have had an obsession with baking since I was ten! I started this blog to share recipes I was making for myself after finding out I had gluten sensitivity and other food intolerances which I have mostly healed, but will always be sensitive to gluten. I went to school for Health Coaching as a second career at Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Nutrient dense food gives the body the best fuel and building blocks to be vibrant, healthy, prevent disease, and maintain great energy as well as heal. I am excited to share delicious food recipes, tips, baking and treats too!
Sam Eats Her Nutrients 
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