Tag Archives: Gluten Free

Toasted Hazelnut Spread

I used to be addicted to hazelnut lattes at coffee shops. The toasty roasted flavor was so good But it was sugar free, fat free, and all the crap I was putting in my body in the name of fitness and health was actually hurting me. My body was starving for nutrients, but at the same time I was fighting belly fat. I didn’t know I could eat real food, good fat, lots of meat and vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds, and never be hungry or have “diet” faux food pass my lips again, and get rid of the belly fat. But the most important part to me of all, I am restoring my health and digestion.

Here is a very satisfying Toasted Hazelnut Spread recipe I use to fill my hazelnut cravings!

Toasted Hazelnut Spread

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Hazelnuts

2 Tablespoons Clear Honey

2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil

1 Teaspoon SCD Legal Pure Vanilla Extract

1/4 Teaspoon Pink Himalayan Salt

Preheat oven 350 degrees. Place Hazelnuts on a rimmed cookie sheet and bake ten to fifteen minutes until skins are blistered. Remove from the oven and place the hazelnuts in a lint free kitchen towel, wrap them and let sit for a minute to steam them. Now, roll them around with the palms of your hands while in the kitchen towel on the counter top to loosen the skins. Pick out the nuts, leaving behind the skins (it is okay if they are not completely skin free, a good bit should have come off). Cool. Place Hazelnuts and the rest of the ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth.

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Butternut Chips

This simple, savory chip recipe will hit the spot! These chips have a lot of flavor! I served them with fish. They are also great with any meat, as a side, or as a snack or appetizer.

Butternut squash contains FodMaps, but allowed on a Low FodMap diet – 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup is the serving size depending on your tolerance level. (It is a low FodMap diet not a no FodMap diet). It is a good source of carbs and has more Vitamin A than pumpkin. It is rich in carotenoids, B-complex and minerals like iron, zinc, copper, calcium, potassium and phosphorus. I love the flavor of cardamom paired with smoked paprika, and cardamom is helpful for digestion. Wow! I am eating food I really love, and it is benefiting my body! Love it!

Here is a link to a comprehensive SCD/Low FodMap food guide I use, given to me by my practitioner. It is a free guide for Low FodMap/SCD eating.

Ingredients:

1 Small Butternut Squash (If using a large squash double the spices)

2 Tablespoon Coconut Oil, melted

1/2 teaspoon cardamom

1 teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt

1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper

1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika

Pre-heat oven 400 degrees. Peel and seed the whole butternut squash. Slice into thick pieces using a food processor fitted with a slicing blade or a mandolin slicer. Toss the squash in the melted coconut oil until well coated. Mix the spices, salt and pepper in a small bowl until incorporated with each other, and then sprinkle over squash and toss again. Spread in a single layer on two parchment lined baking sheets.

Butternut Chips

Bake 20 minutes until browned. You decide how crispy you want them. If you want them really crunchy go longer in the oven, but keep a close eye on them so they don’t over brown. It is hard not to eat them all! So, hopefully someone will eat them with you. 🙂

I love to hear your thoughts!

Eat Your Nutrients!

Chinese Five Spice Chicken Bites – Paleo

Chinese Five Spice Chicken Bites - Paleo, Soy Free

Chinese Five Spice Powder is Amazing! It is a combination of Star Anise, Fennel, Black Pepper, Cinnamon and Cloves. It is a warming blend that pairs wonderfully with meat! Here I use it to make Five Spice Chicken Thigh Bites using boneless chicken thighs. This is very kid friendly because of the bite size pieces, and it is slightly sweet with fresh squeezed orange and lemon juices and just a bit of heat with red pepper flakes. You can turn up the heat by adding more red pepper flakes if you like, but don’t leave them out. You need them to balance the dish.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs

3 Tablespoons Coconut Oil

2 Tablespoons of Chinese Five Spice Powder (Gluten Free)

2 teaspoons Ground Ginger

3 Tablespoons of Clear Honey

1/4 Cup Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice

1/4 Cup Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice

1 1/2 teaspoons Himalayan Pink Salt divided

1/2 teaspoon of Black Pepper

1/4 teaspoon of White Pepper

1/4 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes

Preheat oven 375 degrees. Quarter each boneless chicken thigh into 4 cubes. Mix together in a small bowl the Chinese Five Spice Powder, Ground Ginger, 1 Teaspoon Salt, White Pepper and Black Pepper.

Place Chicken Thigh cubes and powdered spice mixture into a gallon ziplock bag and shake until very well distributed. Get in there and massage with your hands if necessary. 🙂

Mix together the orange juice, lemon juice, honey, red pepper flakes, and the other 1/2 teaspoon salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, then simmer until reduced by half. Melt the coconut oil in a large oven safe skillet or fry pan. Add the chicken cubes in one layer (very important for browning, so make sure your pan is big enough).

Chinese Five Spice Chicken Bites

Brown for five minutes not touching, then flip the cubes and brown 5 more minutes. Pour the reduced sauce over the chicken cubes and transfer to the oven in the pan and bake for 5 minutes. Viola! Done! Pour the chicken and sauce into a serving dish and toss a couple times to coat with the sauce.

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I love to hear your comments!

SCD Paleo Summer Strawberry Pie w/ Toasted Hazelnut Vanilla-Orange Ice Cream

Summer Strawberry Pie with Toasted Hazelnut Vanilla Orange Ice Cream

The strawberry patches are starting to ripen here, and there is nothing like the flavor of local berries! You don’t have to give up treats in moderation on a SCD/Low FodMap diet. I limit my treats to special occasions and stick to the legal ingredients only. My daughters love fresh Strawberry Pie! Here is a spectacular pie recipe for when you want to treat yourself and those you love, full of ripe, juicy, nutritious strawberries.

First the crust:

Pie Crust Ingredients:

1 3/4 Cup Superfine Almond Flour (Scooped and Leveled)

1 Egg White

1/4 Cup Organic Shortening

1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt

Almond Flour Pie Crust

Preheat your oven 350 degrees. Mix Almond Flour and Salt with a whisk. Cut shortening into the Almond Flour with a pastry cutter (it doesn’t need to be cold). Add egg white and lemon juice and stir with a fork until it comes together. Press the crust evenly into the bottom and along the sides of a pie pan, crimping the edges as desired. Bake in the preheated oven fifteen minutes or until starting to turn golden brown and crisp. Cool completely.

Strawberry Pie Filling Ingredients:

5 Cups Organic Strawberries

3/4 Cup Clear Honey

1 1/2 Cups Water

1 Tablespoon Great Lakes Gelatin (orange label)

1 Tablespoon Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice

1/4 teaspoon Himalayan Pink salt

In a medium sized heavy saucepan, mash 2 cups of the strawberries with a potato masher. Slice the other 3 cups of berries and place in the cooled pie crust.

Summer Strawberry Pie

To the mashed berries, add the honey, water and salt and bring to a boil. Once boiling return to a simmer, and simmer the berries for five to ten minutes stirring often. Stir the gelatin into the lemon juice in a small bowl. Add to the simmering berries and cook for two more minutes whisking to incorporate the gelatin. Pour the cooked berry mixture over the sliced berries in the crust, evenly. Refrigerate uncovered until cool, and then cover with wrap until ready to serve! Make sure you let it refrigerate 4 to 6 hours to fully set up.

Summer Strawberry Pie Filling

I served the pie with my Toasted Hazelnut Vanilla-Orange Ice Cream on top. The flavors compliment each other very nicely! You can also serve with Coconut Milk Whipped Cream.

I love to hear your thoughts!

Eat Your Nutrients!

Easy Moist and Tender Pot Roast w/Carrots

Easy Moist & Tender Pot Roast

There are many benefits to incorporating grass fed beef into your diet. A big benefit I like is it contains more conjugated linoleic acid which may protect against heart disease, diabetes and cancer. It has zinc, iron, potassium and phosphorus, and who doesn’t want more nutrients. Chris Kresser has a article on the benefits you can read more about here: http://chriskresser.com/why-grass-fed-trumps-grain-fed

I like this pot roast for several reasons. It takes about 3 1/2 hours, but that is oven time not hands on time. The prep is fifteen minutes and then it goes in the oven and you go about your day. It is moist every time…..no dried out hard to chew pot roast here. I make it often, because it is a winner! There is a lot of flavor, and you can change up the sides depending on what is in season and the time of year. People will ask you for this recipe. So let’s get to it!

Easy Moist & Tender Pot Roast

Ingredients:

1 – 3 1/2 to 4 pound boneless (grass fed/organic is best) beef chuck roast

Himalayan Pink Sea Salt

Black Pepper

2 Tablespoons Garlic Infused Olive Oil

1 Cup Dry Red Wine (one you would drink such as Syrah or Grenache)

2 Cups Homemade Broth if you are Low FodMap or Good Organic Gluten Free Broth of your choice

1 teaspoon Organic Italian Seasoning

1 teaspoon Organic Parsley

Preheat Oven 350 degrees.

Season your Beef with Salt and Pepper generously. Using a Dutch oven or other heavy oven proof pot with a lid, heat 2 tablespoons of Garlic Infused Olive Oil over medium high heat. Add your seasoned roast (make sure oil is hot enough to sizzle when beef is added). Brown five minutes without touching the meat, then flip it and brown five minutes on the other side. Take the gorgeously browned roast out of the pan and set it on a plate. Add a Cup of Dry Red Wine to the pan and release all the brown bits, bring to a boil for a minute, then add the broth and seasonings. Add the roast back to the pot with the burner still on and bring it all just to a boil, then place the lid on your pot and place in the 350 degree oven. Roast for three hours, flipping after an hour and a half. After three hours remove the roast from the oven and let it sit with lid on for fifteen minutes. Serve with sides of your choice. Here it is shown with some sauteed carrot coins.

I love to hear your thoughts. Eat well, you deserve it!

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Red, White and Blueberry Snack Bread

SCD, Paleo Red, White & Blueberry Loaf

SCD Paleo Red White and Blueberry Bread

Memorial Day weekend is almost here! I always get excited when Summer is just around the corner. I start thinking about fun summery food. I love the 4th of July, hanging out with family and friends, picnics, the kids twirling around with sparklers waiting for the fireworks to start, parades, barbecues, happy laughter, and lots of outdoor time. This bread is not only yummy, it is fun and just right for a picnic in the Summer. I am serving this at a cookout over Memorial Day. It keeps well in the refrigerator, so it can be made in advance leaving you more time to play outside! It would also be very delicious and pretty topped with some fresh berries and coconut milk whipped cream if you want to dress it up more. But it is pretty just by itself, and it is soft and yummy.

Ingredients:

2 Cups Super Fine Almond Flour

2 Tablespoons Coconut Flour

1 teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt

pinch of nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon of Pure Stevia Leaf (optional, I use one that contains just Stevia Leaf here.)

4 eggs

1/4 Cup Organic Palm Shortening (I like Spectrum) or Coconut Oil

2 Tablespoons Clear Honey

1 1/2 teaspoon SCD Legal Vanilla Extract (just vanilla and alcohol in the ingredients)

1/4 teaspoon SCD Legal Lemon Extract (optional)

1/2 Cup Diced Fresh or Frozen Strawberries

1/2 Cup Fresh or Frozen Blueberries

Red, White & Blueberry Bread Batter

Directions:

Preheat Oven 350 degrees. Lightly grease a medium loaf pan, then line it with parchment paper.

Mix together Almond Flour, Coconut Flour, Baking Soda and Salt and a pinch of nutmeg and the cinnamon.

In a separate bowl whisk eggs, then add the clear honey, melted palm shortening and the rest of ingredients up to the fresh berries. Add the wet ingredients to your dry ingredients and mix until just blended. Gently fold in the berries so you don’t start getting swirls of the berry in your batter (Red, White and Blue).

Pour batter into the loaf pan, smooth the top, and bake for approximately 50 to 60 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack for ten minutes, then remove loaf from the pan and cool completely. Serve warm or wrap tightly and refrigerate. It is good warm from the oven, (but give it an hour to cool before cutting) and also cold from the fridge is delightful on a warm day. Store in the refrigerator. You can eat this bread anytime of day. My daughters love it for breakfast!

SCD, Paleo, Red, White & Blueberry Snack Loaf

I love to hear your thoughts!

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Honey Mustard Chicken Wings

If you are craving some tangy, succulent wings that are easy and everyone will love, this recipe is a great choice! The sauce is quick to mix together. They smelled so good when they were baking in the oven, I could hardly wait to dig into them! They would be great the next day in a lunchbox, but we didn’t have any left, so next time, I will need a double batch. They are baked and then finished off under the broiler to get them nice and crispy.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. Chicken Wings

2 TBS. Garlic Infused Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon Clear Honey

1 Tablespoon Garlic Free Yellow Mustard

1 Tablespoon Djon Mustard

1 teaspoon Ground Cumin

1 teaspoon Chipotle Chili Powder

1 teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt

1/8 teaspoon White Pepper

two dashes of Habanero Pepper Sauce

2 Tablespoons Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice

Preheat oven 375 degrees. Lay wings on a parchment lined rimmed baking sheet, sprinkle with a little extra Himalayan Pink Salt and Black Pepper (pre-season your meat to build flavor) and bake ten minutes. Meanwhile whisk up the rest of the ingredients for the sauce. After ten minutes of baking, remove wings and brush with some of the sauce…coat them well. Bake another ten minutes, remove from the oven and turn the wings over and brush again and return to the oven ten more minutes. Repeat once more for ten minutes. Keep an eye on your wings. (Depending on the size of them the time will vary. My wings were medium sized and took 40 minutes.) Turn on broiler and broil the wings until they are at your desired crispiness, coating again and turning once. This will only take a minute or two. Serve!

Can't Resist Them - Honey Mustard Chicken Wngs

Can’t Resist Them – Honey Mustard Chicken Wings

SCD Paleo Strawberry Lemon Tea Cookies

These are bite size, or maybe two bites, depending on how large your bites are, shortbread tea cookies with freeze dried strawberries and lemon zest. They have just the right amount of strawberry and lemon flavor, and they are egg free if you have difficulty with eggs. They are really pretty when plated to serve. You could include them as part of a luncheon, take them to a spring picnic, or serve them as an after school snack for your kids.

Strawberry Lemon Tea Cookies

So, here we go! Let’s whip up a quick cookie!

Preheat Oven 350 degrees.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 Cups Superfine Almond Flour
1/4 teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt
1/4 teaspoon Gluten Free baking soda
1/4 Cup Organic Palm Shortening
3 Tablespoons of Clear Honey
Zest of one Lemon
1/4 Cup of Freeze Dried Strawberries cut into small 1/2 inch pieces

Mix together the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl including lemon zest. Melt shortening then stir in the honey. Gently but thoroughly incorporate the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Fold in the strawberries. Using a tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the cookies onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake 8 – 9 minutes until the tops are just starting to show a touch of golden brown. Cool a bit before popping them in so you don’t burn your tongue. 🙂

Scooped Strawberry Lemon Tea Cookies Read to Bake

Makes approximately 16 cookies.

Thick and Rich Italian Tomato Sauce

Italian Tomato Sauce with Zucchini Noodles

This recipe for Italian Tomato Sauce is thick and rich with a lot of flavor. You can make it in larger batches and freeze it too ,so you always have good sauce on hand. You need a food processor or immersion blender for this recipe.

Thick and Rich Italian Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

2 – 25 oz. cartons or cans of Strained Tomatoes

1 orange bell pepper, diced (they are the sweetest)

1 Tablespoon Garlic Infused Olive Oil

1 1/4 teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 tsp. ground fennel

1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning (I used Spicely Organics certified gluten free)

1/2 Cup Dry Red Wine

Place garlic infused oil, diced orange bell pepper and 1/4 teaspoon of Himalayan Pink Salt in a dutch oven or large stock pot and cook on medium high heat until soft and starting to brown. Stir in remaining ingredients and simmer on stove top with sauce partially covered with the lid for approximately 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. The sauce will reduce, thicken up, and get infused with all the seasonings you added to it. Using a food processor or immersion blender blend the sauce until smooth incorporating all the orange pepper so there are no chunks. Serve! The sky is the limit. I served it over zucchini ribbon noodles.

Savory Honey-Brushed Chicken Thighs

I don’t know about you, but when I make a recipe for meat that is juicy, fast and delicious fresh and even better leftover, it is a keeper! These thighs are so yummy and have a bit of a umami addiction to them. The ingredients are SCD, Low FodMap and Paleo and Gluten Free. I love to chop up the leftover chicken the next day and add to a salad for lunch. I also pack them cold for my girls’ school lunches the next day, and they love them that way. Since Chili Powder has garlic added, I found Chipotle powder a fantastic option. Make sure your spices are gluten free and organic is even better. I love Spicely Organic Spices since they are certified gluten free, and I am very sensitive to gluten. Here is the recipe. Let me know what you think. I served the thighs with oven roasted zucchini spears drizzled with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce (recipe coming soon), and a salad.

Savory Honey-Brushed Chicken Thighs

8 bone in skin on chicken thighs
2 tablespoons garlic oil
1 tablespoon chipotle chili powder (just chipotle peppers in it)
1 1/2 teaspoons himalayan pink salt or sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon of cayenne (more or less depending on how much kick you like)
6 tablespoons clear honey
1 tablespoon cider vinegar

Lay your chicken thighs out on a parchement covered rimmed baking sheet.

Mix together garlic oil through cayenne and stir to create a rub. Rub evenly all over both sides of the thighs.

Rubbed Thighs Ready for Broiling

Mix together 6 tablespoons of clear honey and 1 tablespoon cider vinegar to brush on at the end and set aside.

Broil chicken 7 minutes, then turn all the thighs over and broil for 7 minutes more. Take thighs out of oven and brush with half of the honey/vinegar mixture and return to broiler for 2 minutes, turn once more and brush with remaining honey/vinegar and broil 2 more minutes or until 165 degrees in the center. That is 18 minutes and they are done!