Fresh Pickles

Sounds like a contradictory right? Last week I needed a snack and didn’t feel like cooking or really putting any effort into it at all. I looked in the fridge and had mini cucumbers. Normally I would mix these with some mayo and be done with it but I didn’t want to make mayo. I looked around some more and this is what I came up with.

What you will need:

-cucumbers (I used 4 mini because I like eating cute little babies, but you can use whatever)

-1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

-2 Tbsp olive oil

-1/2 Tbsp honey

-1/2 Tbsp dill

-1 tsp garlic (or a couple of fresh cloves)

-1/4 tsp salt

-1/8 tsp turmeric (because it is good for you and make a pretty color)

1) Slice your cucumbers.

2) Mix all of your other ingredients together in a bowl and then add the cucumber slices. Either eat immediately or leave in the fridge for an hour or two. (If you can wait that long it is worth it)

Alternate versions

-add summer squashes or other veggies to the mix

-switch up the seasonings to your favorites

-cook them. We mixed a batch of this up and threw it in a frying pan to see what would happen and it was really good. I think we have made this 3 times in the week since I first made it.

Almond Butter Chocolates

With Easter hippity hopping around the corner, you are going to be looking for things that the bunny can leave you. And since we all know bunnies reproduce tasty tasty chocolate eggs…wait, that can’t be right. You know what, who am I to argue?

If you are not an Easter person or don’t want to buy a chocolate mold, then do what I do normally do and use mini cupcake wrappers instead of an egg mold.

What you will need:

1 ¼ cups of enjoy life chocolate chips

1 ½ Tbsp coconut oil

Filling:

½ cup smooth almond butter

1 Tbsp coconut oil

½ Tbsp maple sugar or honey

1) Put the chocolate and coconut oil in a microwave safe bowl. (Or use a double boiler if you have one) microwave for 30 seconds. Take out and stir a little bit. The chips will not be very melted at this time. Back in for another 30 seconds stir. And then once more. Three times normally does the trick for me.

2) Once your chocolate is smooth and shiny, pour a little bit into each cavity of the mold then swirl around to coat the sides but leave a nice hollow center for your filling. Basically you are making an egg shell. I find that if I swirl it slowly for a longer time it coats more evenly and will look nicer in the end. If you are using paper cups instead of the mold, just put a layer of chocolate in the bottom of the cup. (Leave room for a layer of almond butter and another layer of chocolate)

3) Put that in the freezer.

4) While that is chilling, put all of your filling ingredients in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Remove and stir.

5) Once your chocolates are solid (this should only take a few minutes for a thin layer) take them out and pour the almond butter mixture it. Leave room at the top for the final chocolate layer. Put it back in the freezer. This will take a few minutes longer than the chocolate did to set.

6) Bet you can’t guess what we are going to do next…no, not hunt the bunny down and wrestle the eggs from it…gees, I thought you guys were with me here. Take the chocolates out of the freezer and add the last layer of chocolate. Fill it right to the top. Back in the freezer.

7) When that is solid take out and remove from the tray. If you are using paper cups just leave them alone. Serve immediately. I recommend storing in the refrigerator because they will get a little soft at room temperature.

Try other fillings too. My favorite is just putting a whole raspberry in the center. For the chocolates in the picture below, I used mini cupcake wrappers. One is raspberry filled topped with cinnamon and maple sugar, the middle one is almond butter filling topped with toasted coconut, and the final one is just almond slivers. I can’t wait to hear about what you come up with.

Pumpkin Bread

It’s wabbit season!

It’s duck season!

Wabbit season!

Duck season!

I have no idea which season it is but I know it is not pumpkin season…and I don’t care. I want pumpkin bread and I don’t want to have to wait till the fall to have it. I know that we should eat in season but some days you just really want bread made from something with a face…what? Doesn’t everyone carve them before eating them?

What you will need:

1 cup almond flour

1 Tbsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground cloves

½ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

3 eggs

½ cup of canned pumpkin (but only because you didn’t want to take the time to give a real pumpkin a face)

3 Tbsp honey

1) Mix your dry ingredients in the food processor.

2) Add your wet ingredients and pulse till you have a nice evenly mixed batter.

3) Pour into mini loaf pans and bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 mins.

I still think it would have been better if you had carved a face on it and hunted it first.

Breakfast

Breakfast is a difficult time of day when you can’t have bacon or toast, cereal, or pancakes, donuts…you get the idea. When I am not having mug cakes my typical breakfast is a fried egg. Not very egg-citing…I’m sorry for that, it’s early.

I am pretty sure most of you know how to fry an egg already. Little salt, little pepper…The difference for me is that I use coconut oil for it now instead of canola or olive. Olive oil is great but not at high heat.

I use the remaining oil in the pan to cook up some greens (normally kale or spinach) It is important to heat your kale by the way. It helps you absorb more of the nutrients. You can eat it raw; it just isn’t going to be as useful.

When I need a little more to my breakfast, I add either some hash browns or for those of you who can’t have nightshades some spaghetti squash. (Generally leftover from the night before. Who wants to cook a spaghetti squash first thing in the morning? )

Fresh tomato, avocado, side of grapes…basically any fresh produce you happen to have on hand, just throw it right in.

The other option is leftovers but I normally try to save those for lunches.

Oooo, and avocado egg boats, those are good and once I make them again and get a picture, I will post my recipe for that as well.

So, there are options for breakfast and I will keep adding more in the future.I have made crepes and donuts. I am still working on getting the pancake recipe just right. In the meantime, have an egg.

Tea!

I use tea for a lot of my minor health complaints as well as a few of my major ones. Ginger tea has been a huge part of my life this year. It has helped reduce my migraine frequency and intensity when I do get them. It acts as a great anti-inflammatory which is also good for my MS symptoms helping to relieve some of the severity when they happen. I have a cup every day in place of the morning coffee I used to have.

This probably won’t be a huge surprise to anyone. I make my own tea. That way I know what is in it and that it is organic. Many store bought teas have additives or extra herbs and flavors that are just not needed. When I do use a store bought tea I make sure it is 100% one ingredient. (It seems like they really like to throw chamomile in everything and I have a ragweed allergy. By the way, if you have a ragweed allergy, skip the chamomile and dandelion)

Making your own tea is super easy and fast. If you have a mortar and pestle, great. Use that to break your herbs and spices up a bit. If not, use a meat tenderizer or hammer and a bag. (even a heavy book would work in a pinch) Gently smack your ingredients. Gently, we don’t want them to be powder. No need to turn into the Hulk, stay Bruce Banner for this one. Now put it all in a tea ball, bag, infuser, or some cheese cloth if you are really desperate and pour boiling water over it.

Look! Tea! (The amount you use and the time you let it steep all relies on how strong you like your tea. I give mine about 10-15 minutes)

My favorite combo is cinnamon (using a fresh cinnamon stick is just the best. It smells and tastes amazing) ginger, peppermint, lemon peel. You can get these at your natural food store or you can order them in bulk from places like Atlantic Spice Company online. If you want to go crazy you can dry your own instead.

Here are some other options and ideas.

Ginger: great anti-inflammatory, helps block pain signals from migraines, also good for nausea

Peppermint: another good anti-inflammatory, aids in digestions, nausea, tension headaches, also helps sleep and relaxation

Cinnamon: congestion, gas and cramps, tooth whitening, and it makes your house smell awesome.

Licorice root: sore throat, low energy, also good for thyroid issues, but be warned, if you have blood pressure problems stay away from licorice!

Herbs have been a hobby of mine for a very long time now and I could go on and on about them. This is just a quick overview of a very limited selection. Explore, experiment. At some point in the future I will probably do an expanded post of herbs and their uses, but right now I need to go have some tea and shortbread.

Shortbread Cookies

As someone of Scottish decent, I love shortbread. But the ingredients are pretty much butter, flour, butter, sugar, and more butter. All things I cannot have. This recipe has all the texture of shortbread with none of the bad stuff. It is also remarkably easy to make. You don’t even have to separate you wet and dry ingredients or use a mixer. Just a spoon will do the trick.

What you will need:

6 Tbsp coconut flour

4 Tbsp melted coconut oil

2 Tbsp honey

¼ tsp vanilla

Dash of salt

1) Mix all the things!

2) Roll into 8-10 small balls. Put evenly spaced on a parchment lined baking sheet.

3) Flatten them a little bit with a fork (or use a spoon if all your forks are dirty and you really don’t want to wash one)

4) Bake for 7-8 minutes. Let cool before eating. This is one cookie that should not be eaten warm. It’s just wrong, don’t do it.

Enjoy on its own or with a nice cup of tea. Top it with some jam or sprinkle with cinnamon.

The Natural Food Aisle Shakedown

How do they get a new cartoon moth in my wallet every time I open it? You know the one. It is the universal toon symbol for being dead broke in every way.

It feels like there is a tax on trying to eat healthy foods. In the beginning I had to rationalize the added expense by telling myself that it was cheaper than medications. Now I just accept it as a reality that takes a little more planning and budgeting. If you plan ahead you can mitigate a lot of the costs. It also helps that my husband eats the same things I do so that we don’t have to buy items for multiple meals. Sometimes, when doing this alone, a person can feel like they have to choose between luxury items or the food that they want to eat because it feels like a luxury item purchase when you are the only one doing it. Food shouldn’t be a luxury item.

We buy a lot of our foods that are nonperishable, online in bulk. We also supplement our fresh veggies with frozen ones. All the nutrients and less cost and waste. There is inevitably a piece of produce that has seen The Fugitive too many times or idealizes the Cooler King from the Great Escape and makes a run for it rolling behind the leftovers in an attempt to avoid being flayed, burned, and eaten. You find them weeks later, shriveled and smelly and immediately feel like you have failed because you just threw money down the disposal. Well played zucchini. Well played.

Here are links to some of the things we buy online because it’s cheaper.

First off, Almond flour. Nut flours get very expensive. I buy it in bulk from nuts.com. It’s a lot of money up front but saves you in the long run.

https://nuts.com/nuts/almonds/flour.html

Amazon is great. Especially if you are an Amazon Prime member and get free shipping. This is where we get our coconut flour, coconut shreds (used to make milk), and our Enjoy Life chocolate chips. It is actually cheaper than buying it from the manufacturer.

http://smile.amazon.com/Lets-Do-Organic-Coconut-16-OuncePouches/dp/B002O1IEII/ref=sr_1_10?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1425065411&sr=1-10&keywords=coconut+flour

http://smile.amazon.com/Lets-Do-Organic-Shredded-Unsweetened/dp/B000F4D5GC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425383590&sr=8-1&keywords=organic+coconut+shreds

http://smile.amazon.com/Enjoy-Life-Semi-Sweet-Chocolate-10-Ounce/dp/B000HDJZWO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425065455&sr=8-1&keywords=enjoy+life+chocolate+chips

The last link for this post is going to be for the Atlantic Spice Company. I use a lot of spices in my meals to make them interesting and varied. Because of that, I buy them by the pound.

http://www.atlanticspice.com/store/gourmet-spices-bulk,category.asp

Hopefully this will help relieve a little bit of the burden. Now go find that rogue zucchini in your fridge before it starts telling kids to get off its lawn.