Tag Archives: SCD

Grain Free Bunny Pancakes

Bunny Pancakes Grain Free Kid Friendly

I recently saw the cutest pancakes made into a bunny shape showing the back of a bunny in Good Housekeeping Magazine. They were made with wheat flour, and since my family is gluten free, I really wanted to replicate these for my kids, but with my own spin on it and grain free. We had so much fun making these, and they are easy peasy and delicious! It is a fun kitchen recipe for children to participate in. Mine had a ball creating their bunnies on the griddle, naming their bunnies (Bubba and Fluffy), deciding if they were a boy or girl, etc. For the younger kids, they will enjoy watching you make their bunny, and I sure hope the kid in all of us enjoys a bunny too!

Here’s Zackary getting ready to eat his bunny pancake.

Grain Free Bunny Pancakes with Zackary

They are made with nutritious ingredients, and are perfect any time of year, but especially on Easter. These pancakes are made with bananas, eggs, almond flour and honey, and I used blueberries for the eyes and dried, unsweetened banana chips for the tail and feet embellishment.

Weekend Bunny Pancakes, Healthier Kid Approved

grain-free-bunny-pancakes

Grain Free Bunny Pancakes

Ingredients:

2 Ripe Bananas

4 Pastured Eggs

3/4 Cup Superfine Almond Flour

2 Tablespoons of Clear Honey

1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda

Banana Chips

Blueberries

Coconut Oil for greasing the griddle.

Directions: Heat a non-stick griddle to 325º degrees. Puree the bananas in a small blender. In a medium bowl, whisk together all the ingredients except the blueberries and dried banana chips.

Brush a little melted coconut oil onto a preheated griddle. Drop 1/4 cup of batter in a circle shape for the body, 2 Tablespoons of batter in a circle shape for the head, 1 Tablespoon of batter in an oval shape for each foot, and 1 Tablespoon of batter in a long ear shape for each ear. Put three blueberries on the bottom of each foot for toes and two blueberries on the head for eyes. When set and the edges are looking dry carefully flip the pancakes and cook a minute or two longer. Assemble the bunny with the blueberry eyes and toes facing up. Add a dried banana chip for the tail and one for each foot decoration and serve.

Makes 4 Bunnies.

Note: 1 Bunny is Moderate FodMap containing 3 Tablespoons of Almond Flour.

Grain Free Bunny Pancakes - Kid Approved, Paleo

Eat Your Nutrients!

Spiralized Golden Beet Salad

I am in love with spiralized vegetables! It changes the texture and whole experience of eating them. The noodles or spirals coming out of the spiralizer as you turn the handle are gorgeous and abundant! Recently, I spiralized golden beets and then wondered, what should I do different with these gorgeous spun gold noodles? I decided to lightly steam them and serve them as a chilled beet salad. I wanted crunch, flavor and eye appeal. I also wanted to keep the ingredients simple. The results were a salad with almonds for crunch, scallions and avocado oil.

I tend to spiralize several things at once and then store them in the refrigerator until I want to use them, so I only have to clean up the spiralizer once. These beets were ready a day in advance, and the actual preparation time the day of was about 20 minutes.

Spiralized Golden Beet Salad

Ingredients:

2 Medium Golden Beets, washed, peeled and spiralized

1/2 Cup Scallions, sliced, green parts only for Low FodMap

1/3 Cup Slivered Almonds

3 Tablespoons Avocado Oil

2 Teaspoons White Wine Vinegar

1/2 Teaspoon of Himalayan Pink Salt or Sea Salt (to Taste)

1/4 Teaspoon of Black Pepper or to Taste

Directions: Place a few inches of water in the bottom of a pan with a steamer insert and bring to a boil. Add the beets and steam five minutes, just till tender…think al dente. Remove from the steamer and run under very cold water to cool quickly and prevent further cooking. Drain the beets well. Add to a bowl and toss with the remaining salad ingredients. Serve, or refrigerate to chill more and let the flavors meld.

Everything contained in this salad is not only delicious, but offers health benefits. Beets are rich in nutrients, fiber, detoxify and contain phytonutrients. Scallions are great for immune system health and contain Vitamin K for bones and Vitamin A for the eyes. Almonds contain fiber, protein and good fat as well as the good fat in the avocado oil, which is delicious!

Eat Your Nutrients!

Strawberry Lemonade Ice Cream

I have a Spring “ice cream” recipe for you today that is tart, creamy and dairy free! It uses a pound of fresh strawberries, lemon juice, lemon zest (for the zing), coconut milk, honey and a pinch of salt. It is beneficial to use whole fruit in treats whenever possible to get in the fiber and nutrients the way they were meant to be consumed. It also slows down the absorption of sugars, as opposed to just using a juice with the fiber and fruit extracted. This Strawberry Lemonade Ice Cream is a Low FodMap recipe as well with just a quarter cup of honey in the batch, and it serves six! This would be delicious as an Easter treat or served at a Spring cookout. I really love the color of this ice cream, it is a beautiful shade of pink, all natural, and just a few ingredients. All you need is a blender…..no cooking…..and an ice cream maker. The one I use is the Cuisinart here. I have had it for years and it keeps going strong!

Strawberry Lemonade Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1 Pound Fresh Strawberries

1 Can Full Fat Coconut Milk, No Additives

6 Tablespoons of Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice

Zest of Two Organic Lemons

1/4 Cup Clear Honey

Pinch of Himalayan Pink Salt or Sea Salt

Directions:

Clean and hull the fresh strawberries and place in the blender with the can of coconut milk. Zest the lemons and put the zest in the blender. Then, squeeze the juice of the lemons and add to the blender. Add the honey and salt. Blend on high for one minute, or until smooth.

Place in a sealed container in the refrigerator and chill for four hours and up to 24 hours. When chilled, churn your ice cream and serve. If you have any leftover, you can freeze it in a air tight container. When eating any leftover ice cream, make sure it sits at room temperature about 10 minutes to allow the ice cream to soften again.

Serves 6

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Lemon Herb Juicy Roasted Chicken

I don’t know about you, but I like my chicken juicy! I also like it to taste like chicken…..good chicken, not chicken injected with something to make it more tender.

The chicken I ate as a child was good pastured chicken with firm, juicy, unadulterated meat. Try this recipe at home for a juicy roasted chicken using the best quality chicken you can afford. I used an organic 4 1/2 pound chicken. Preparing the chicken ahead with the seasonings and refrigerating it for an hour and up to 24 hours will make it even more flavorful!

Lemon Herb Juicy Roasted Chicken

Directions: Preheat your oven to 425º degrees.

Ingredients:

1 – 4 1/2 Lb. Good Quality Chicken

2 Tablespoon Grassfed Ghee

1 Organic Lemon

1 Teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt or Sea Salt, Plus extra for inside the bird

1 Teaspoon of Black Pepper, Plus extra for inside the bird

2 Teaspoons of Dried Parsley

1/2 Teaspoon Dried Tarragon

Directions: Rinse and pat your chicken dry. Place in a roasting pan with a rack. Sprinkle the inside of the chicken with salt an pepper to season the cavity. Rub the outside of the chicken with 2 tablespoons of Ghee. Zest the lemon and mix the lemon zest with 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of pepper, 2 teaspoons of parsley and 1/2 teaspoon of tarragon. Sprinkle the herb blend evenly all over the chicken. Quarter the zested lemon and stuff inside the chicken.

At this point you may refrigerate the chicken covered for up to 24 hours or bake it right away.

Prepped Oven Roasted Chicken Ready for the Oven

Bake the chicken in the preheated 425º oven for one hour or until the meaty part of the thigh registers 165º degrees. Remove from the oven and let rest 10 to 15 minutes to retain the juices before slicing.

Yummy!

Eat Your Nutrients!

A new way to celebrate St. Patty’s Day!

What better way to Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day than with nutrient dense green real food!

foodasmedicinethemovie

For me, St. Patrick’s Day was always about parades of kilted men blasting “Amazing Grace” on bagpipes, green beer, and McDonald’s Shamrock Shakes. I have a proposal for a new way for us to observe the 17th of March in a celebration of something else that is green – vegetables!

veggie_shamrock

We can all agree that eating more vegetables is beneficial. In this article I posted on our Facebook page earlier this week, Dr. Mark Hyman states, “With the greater emphasis on vegetables we’re more apt to actually meet our nutritional needs and prevent illness and inflammation.” For most people, adding more vegetables to their diet is a big drag. But, it doesn’t have to be. If you make it creative and a celebration, it can be fun!

This year for St. Patty’s Day, I’ve planned a menu for the entire day of entirely green fare. From breakfast to dinner’s dessert, everything will be green!

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Orange Currant Muffins

This new muffin recipe uses whole peeled oranges in it, which adds a lot of flavor! There are many benefits in eating food in it’s whole form the way nature made it, so I was very excited to come up with this recipe! There is no added sugar. They are sweet and flavorful from the banana, and oranges with an added benefit of carrots in the recipe. This is an ultra moist muffin and is egg free.

Orange Currant Muffins

Directions:

Preheat your oven 350º degrees and line muffin pans with 16 natural liners.

Ingredients:

2 Flax Eggs (combine 2 Tablespoons of Ground Flax Seed and 6 tablespoons water, whisk and refrigerate 15 minutes)

1 Cup Very Ripe Banana (sliced and packed) this took 3 medium bananas, but measure

1/2 Cup Coconut Flour

1/2 Cup Superfine Almond Flour

2 Cups Orange Segments (no seeds, peeled)

2 Cups Peeled and Sliced Raw Carrots

1 Tablespoon Ground Cinnamon

2 Teaspoons Baking Soda

1 1/2 Teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract

1 Teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar

1/2 Teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt or Sea Salt

1/4 Cup Dried Currants for the Tops

Orange Currant Muffins Ready to Go Into the Oven

To Make the Muffins: Place all the ingredients except the dried currants in a food processor with a blade attachment. Pulse to start incorporating and chopping larger ingredients, then turn on and process for two minutes until completely blended. Fill each muffin cup almost to the top with a muffin scoop, refer to photo, (you should have 16 muffins) and sprinkle with dried currants, dividing evenly.

The muffins are sweet and moist! It is hard to believe they have no added sugars and are made completely with whole nutritious fruit!

Bake in the oven for 35 minutes. Enjoy!

Eat Your Nutrients!

Mango Banana Blender Ice Cream

This creamy blender ice cream is a guaranteed way to satisfy a sweet tooth and a craving, and it only takes seconds in the blender! Three ingredients is all you need, and you will have a nutritious, figure friendly ice cream without the guilt! All you need is Bananas, Mango and Vanilla Extract. I always keep frozen bananas on hand, because they are so creamy when blended into smoothies.

Most everyone knows that bananas are a good source of potassium, but did you also know they are a source of vitamin B6 which our body does not store and is used to make antibodies to fight infection? Bananas are also a source of vitamin C and have 3 grams of fiber each. The Mango packs a punch of vitamin C (96% in an average sized mango) as well as vitamin A, fiber and some calcium.

Mango Banana Blender Ice Cream

Ingredients:

2 Frozen Ripe Bananas, cut into chunks

1 Cup of Frozen Mango cubes, the riper the better

1/2 Teaspoon alcohol free for AIP Paleo or Pure Vanilla Extract, No Additives,

Directions:

Place the ingredients in a high speed blender that comes with a plunger, and blend on high pushing the fruit down with your plunger until it is creamy and blended. Serve immediately.

1 – 2 Servings

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Simple Oven Roasted Butternut Squash

I was at the grocery store last week buying butternut squash, and the checkout clerk held up my squash, squished up her nose in curiosity and asked, “What do you do with these? I see people buying them, but how do you eat them?” I asked her if she had ever had butternut squash? She said, no she was Italian and was familiar with zucchini, but not butternut squash. I was so excited to share with her my favorite way to prepare it…..oven roasted. Simple is often extraordinary! It is delicious, caramelized, sweet and nutty when oven roasted. I so wanted to invite her into my kitchen and give her a demonstration so she could taste it for herself! So, that has motivated me to do a series of simple vegetable dishes that are delicious and nourishing.

Butternut squash, referred to sometimes as Butternut Pumpkin in Australia and New Zealand, is full of health benefits including a good amount of beta-carotene which our bodies convert to Vitamin A, Potassium for our bone health, Vitamin C, Calcium, Magnesium, Vitamin B6, Fiber and some good Carbohydrates (5% in a cup) in addition to Carotenoids, which are naturally occurring pigments thought to be preventative against cancer and macular degeneration.

Here is a simple and delicious way to prepare it!

Simple Oven Roasted Butternut Squash

Ingredients:

1 Medium Butternut Squash

2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil

2 Teaspoons Himalayan Pink Salt or Sea Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400º degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Wash and peel the squash. I use a vegetable peeler. It works beautifully! Slice the squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. It will look like this:

Peeled and Seeded Butternut Squash

Cube the Squash into 2 inch cubes and place on your rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle it with the salt and pepper.

Cubed Butternut Squash

Melt the coconut oil, and pour it over the cubed squash. Toss with your hands until well coated. Spread the squash out in a single layer on the cookie sheet, and place it in the oven. Roast a total of 50 minutes to an hour until it is starting to caramelize, tossing with a spatula every twenty minutes. There you have it! Utterly delicious, and you are Eating Your Nutrients in a very yummy fashion!

*If you are eating Low FodMap a serving is 1/4 Cup at a time.

Eat Your Nutrients!

Smokey Tomatoes Gratin (Grain-Free)

Smokey Tomatoes Gratin is a quick and elegant way to eat tomatoes. They are high in water content and fiber, and vegetables like tomatoes can help with hydration and regularity. The concept of crowding out means you don’t have to feel deprived or hungry. The more health giving foods you add to your diet, the less room you will have for other less nutritious choices, and the less you will want them. Adding in more vegetables is a great way to start crowding out. It can make a huge difference in your health without missing anything or being hungry. Make a commitment to eat two more vegetables a day for the next month and see if you notice a difference. Pick one that is green and another colorful one such as tomatoes. See how you feel and let me know. Did you notice you lost weight, had more energy, clearer skin, better elimination? There are many benefits to eating lots of vegetables, and those are just a few. The long term effects of all the nutrients you are putting in your body will increase longevity, vitality, and make a huge improvement in your immunity. Make sure to take a look at the Dirty Dozen/Clean Fifteen list when purchasing produce, here is a free 2015 printable list you can take with you from Environmental Working Group, and enjoy this beautiful, healthy Smokey Tomato Gratin recipe to kick it off!

Smokey Tomatoes Gratin (Grain-Free)

Ingredients:

4 Organic Medium Tomatoes, washed and halved crosswise

6 Tablespoons Blanched Almond Flour

1 Tablespoon Smoked Paprika

1/4 Teaspoon Black Pepper

1/4 Teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt or Sea Salt

1 Tablespoon Dried Parsley

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Flaky Salt such as Fleur De Sel

Smokey Tomatoes Gratin Ready to Broil

Directions:

Preheat your oven broiler and place the rack about 1/3 down from the top broiler.

Place Tomato halves on a cookie sheet. Mix together the almond flour, smoked paprika, black pepper, and Himalayan Pink Salt in a small bowl. Sprinkle the gratin over the tomatoes evenly. Sprinkle with dried parsley. Drizzle the tomatoes with olive oil. Broil in the oven for 2 to 3 minutes, keeping a close eye on them, until the tops are golden brown.

Sprinkle with flaky sea salt and serve.

Eat Your Nutrients!

Strawberry Apricot Granola (Grain Free)

It is pretty easy to make your own granola, and it is worth the extra effort. This week I have a really delicious granola recipe for you that is grain free! If you like variety in your granola, this Strawberry Apricot Granola recipe is a delicious way to add it. It may become your new favorite! It is definitely my springtime favorite this year! With nuts, seeds, fruit and healthy fat, what’s not to love? I like to grab a handful for a snack, and for breakfast it is good with dairy free milk and fresh fruit. It is also fantastic with yogurt.

Strawberry Apricot Grain Free Granola

Ingredients:

1 Cup Raw Pecans

1/2 Cup Raw Pistachios

1/2 Cup Raw Sunflower Seeds

1/2 Cup Raw Brazil Nuts

3/4 Cup Dried Strawberries (like these) not freeze dried

6 Medjool Dates

1/2 Cup Dried Apricots

1/2 Cup Very Hot Water

1/2 Cup Unsweetened Coconut Flakes

2 Tablespoons Cinnamon

1 Tablespoon Ground Flax

1 Tablespoon of Pure Vanilla Extract

1 Teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt or Sea Salt

1 Tablespoon Coconut Oil, Melted

Directions:

Preheat oven 325º degrees.

In a food processor with a blade attachment, puree dates, apricots, vanilla, coconut oil and hot water until it is smooth. Add the nuts, sunflower seeds, flax and coconut flakes and pulse until you have a medium grind and everything is sticking together nicely. Add in the cinnamon and salt and pulse to combine. Dice your dried strawberries into 1/2 inch pieces then add them to the food processor and pulse a few extra times to incorporate them.

Turn the granola out onto a parchment lined, rimmed baking sheet and bake in a 325º degree oven for 35 minutes, stirring every ten minutes, or until golden brown. Cool and store in an airtight container. Enjoy this delicious granola for breakfast or as a snack! It travels very well also!

Eat Your Nutrients!