Traditionally, we go to my in-laws place for a great Easter brunch and an egg hunt. But after a week on the road, we needed a day to recuperate, unpack, clean and, of course, grocery shop and cook.
So this morning, since we had eggs all week while out of town, I decide to make an Easter treat for the family — chocolate chip muffins for breakfast. Yum! Add that, with a cacao drink and you’ve got yourself a fun breakfast treat!
Here’s what you need:
1 cup almond or cashew butter
1 cup almond meal/almond flour
3 eggs, whisked
1/2 cup maple
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup coconut oil (or butter) melted
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon celtic sea salt
Here’s what you do:
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Beat eggs.
3. Add all of ingredients together and mix well until smooth.
4. Put muffin cup holders in tin and fill until about 1/2 way full.
5. Cook in preheated oven for about 20 minutes.
Keep an eye on them. Put a butter knife in them to make sure nothing sticks and they are done. Once there’s nothing on the knife, you know they’re ready! Enjoy!
So I’m sorry I haven’t posted in a week — the longest since I start this blog — but we were in San Francisco and Los Angeles spending time with family. And, it was an amazing trip…
When we first arrived in San Francisco, the weather looked gloomy, but about 3 hours later we had blue skies, and lucky for us, it lasted that way for the remainder of our vacation!
In SF, we got to go to the Embarcadero Farmer’s Market (can’t wait to make some new food ideas I got from there), hike Mt. Tampalas/Muir Woods, jog along Chrissy Fields to the Golden Gate, visit the Piers, ride a train, take the trolley of course, and best of all, we got in some great family time with my dad and the rest of the Asamoto family (my aunts, uncle and my cousin and her sweet little girl). It was awesome!!
This is my sweet Grandma Alice, whom my daughter is named after. Grandma is 95 years old. Doesn’t she look great? I hope I get some of her skin genes.
Muir woods was incredible. The kids got a kick out of the ginormous sequoias….
So we were kind of tired after two days of going full force, so thought we’d take a little 15 minute walk. Somehow, that turned into a 2 1/2 hour hilly hike. The kids did great, and I was so proud of them! Next time we’ll get a map though…
Although we were in California, this is not their “peace” sign, but rather them showing that they hiked 2 (plus) hours! They were exhausted and proud, and so were we!
Next, off to LA to visit my sister-in-law and her awesome family. The kids wanted to go exploring so Dana knew the perfect place!
We had a a lot of fun in Santa Monica and really got to enjoy some good quality family time while we were there! It was so great watching the cousins play together, but even better was having my sweet 1-year-old niece reach her arms out for ME all week!! LOVE that little girl!
Oh, and on our last night, our little girl got some great news – she got into the school of our dreams! What a way to end a fantastic vacation!!
It was a great trip, but after a week on the road, the kids are exhausted, as are mom and dad…
Jake-Defiantly going to try this one out looks delicious… all of your pictures are amazing, what kind of lenses are you using (if you don’t mind sharing)?ReplyCancel
landriav -Thanks Jake!! I use my 50mm 99 percent of the time. It’s my favorite but I also use an 85mm, 35mm. I prefer primes to zoom lenses. I’ve had great zooms, and they just weren’t as sharp. Thanks for your comment!ReplyCancel
Corrina -Hi, these are wonderful! Can they be frozen?ReplyCancel
landriav -Hey! Thank you!! So glad you liked them. Yes they can be frozen. We freeze muffins all the time. Then heat them in the microwave for about 30 seconds and there good to go!ReplyCancel
Kerry -I am making this NOW but the recipe calls for “1/2c Maple”. is this maple SYRUP??? I hope so b/c that’s what I’ve prepped.ReplyCancel
Do you remember “Magic Shell?” Do they even still make that stuff it anymore? Ahh, I remember when it first came out. I was so little, but I remember thinking how cool it was and that it really must have been magic. Well, my good friend Alex passed this idea on to me and my kids are so thankful for it! And, I know I say it a lot, but really, this is crazy easy to make!
Just heat a couple of handfuls of dark chocolate (I use 70% cacao from Whole Foods) in a cup in the microwave for about 45 seconds and stir. Once it’s all melted, add in some coconut oil (about 1-2 tsp) and mix it together. Then immediately pour on some ice cream and let the kids enjoy this fun treat.
Looks just like the stuff we use to eat, right??
And yes, my kids still eat ice cream. They eat well most of the time so I’m okay with a dessert like this occasionally. For this, we used good ole fashioned Breyers (lesser of the evil with their simple ingredients, I guess) but for other ice cream treats, we really like the Coconut Milk So Delicious Minis. Honestly, I would just rather do the plain coconut ice cream, but at $5 something a pint, we have to limit that.
You got it all, buddy?
My kids are close, but not that close. Notice the casual arm block, but her eyes never leave the prize…
Happy almost Easter! Hopefully I’ll be back in a week or so with some fun SF/LA pics!!
tutti -cute pics. chocolate covered katie did this a few weeks ago with peanut butter and coconut oil. it works with almond butter, too. fun!ReplyCancel
Scott had some fantastic kale salad at Whole Foods a couple of weeks ago for lunch and said we had to try to make it. It was made with kale, avocados, red pepper flakes, lemons and salt. We were able to recreate it and it was really yummy, so I made it again last night. But this time, I wanted to try to make more of meal out of it so thought I would add some chicken (among a few other things).
Here is what I came up with…
YUM!
Here’s what you need for the dressing:
2 avocados
2 lemons, juiced
1/2 tsp celtic sea salt
5-7 drops stevia
1 small container of plain greek yogurt (I used 6 oz. chobani)
just a pinch of cayenne pepper powder (the red pepper was too much for my kids)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
To get the dressing ready, mash all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl. By the way, do you know trick to get the seed out of the avocado easily? Just get your knife and knock it in the seed, and then pull it out. So much easier, and a lot less messy. Look how clean the seed came out!
Here’s what you need for the salad:
kale about 2-3 cups, remove stems (you could also use a milder green, like bib lettuce, if your kids don’t love raw kale)
1.5 lbs chicken
pack of cherry tomatoes, sliced
1/2 cup pine nuts, roasted
Okay, since I was short on time, I picked up a Whole Foods rotisserie chicken and used that, but to be honest, that was a mistake. While this dish was really good, it would have been much better if I had taken a few extra minutes to cut and cook up some chicken. So, for you, cut your raw chicken into cubes, add some coconut to a large pan and cook on medium heat while stirring for about 10 minutes or until no longer pink. Add some salt and pepper for seasoning and then set aside.
Next, slice your cherry tomatoes and put aside. I used most of the container they came in. The tomatoes added a nice sweetness to the salad and I could have actually used more.
Then, spread out pine nuts evenly on pan, lightly spray with coconut oil and toast for about 3 minutes or so. Keep an eye on them as they cook really quickly! You could also roast some almonds or walnuts (whatever you prefer) but either way, I would highly recommend adding some type of roasted nuts as this really added a lot of flavor!
In a large bowl, once you have removed the stems from the kale, mix all ingredients together and enjoy!
I made this about an hour or two before dinner so the sauce would have time to soak in. I loved it! Tate and Alice said was it was “pretty good”, and Scott said, “this is great!” but then later admitted that it does needs grilled (or baked) chicken the next time. I think for next time I make it, and to mix it up a little (for the kids), I may try a milder lettuce since my kids said they really prefer their kale to be “crispy”!
Shannon -I realllly loved this. My new favorite thing, I’ll be making this again and again!ReplyCancel
landriav -Awesome! So glad you loved it! The lemon and avocado really make it!! Thank you for posting!ReplyCancel
Fidan-I was shocked at how good this is! I just made it for lunch and ate every bit of it! I had all the inegrdients on hand too. Today was my second day eating raw and I tasted the raw kale yesterday and I thought oh no! This is horrid! But I liked the salad here even better than a lettuce salad. Seriously more mouthfeel and flavor. I used curly kale and just rolled it up as best I could. A lot of it came out just finely chopped. Tasted NOTHING like raw. EXCELLENT RECIPE!ReplyCancel
landriav -That is GREAT Fidan!!! Soo glad you liked it. To be honest, I was surprised too as I typically (well at least I use to not) eat raw kale either! 🙂ReplyCancel
First of all, I have to say it’s really hard for me to post a picture of myself — really hard. I like to take pictures; I do not like to be in them (especially after working out, with no shower or much make up). Anyway, I took this self portrait (well, trio portrait) because I thought it would be fun and, quite frankly, I just couldn’t come up with other picture idea to go with this post! But you know what? This is me (workout clothes and all), and this is my life. But still, ahhhh, what I don’t do for this blog!
As a graduate of the University of Georgia and the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, author of the book Super Paleo Snacks, public speaker and the Nutritional Consultant at CentreSpringMD (formerly Atlanta Center for Holistic and Integrative Medicine) since 2013, I have been fortunate enough to work with and successfully help hundreds of people who have struggled with their health and nutrition over the years. I’ve also had personal experiences with food and have been my own guinea pig. By changing my own diet, I beat a supposedly incurable autoimmune disease. Perhaps most importantly, I learned how to get my kids to eat more vegetables (and enjoy them!), try new foods, teach them about nutrition and get them involved and interested in wanting to be healthy.
To repeat an earlier post…
Why not be the best you (and your kids) can be, and feel the best you can everyday? It’s not a magic pill. It is just good nutrition, a bit of cooking, and parenting with some tough love!
I think we all know we want to be healthy, and we want our families to be healthy, and, we want to teach our children habits that last a lifetime. But it’s not always easy to know where to start. It can seem overwhelming. My goal is to share ways to make this process a little easier for you and/or your family. The sooner you start, the better. Just know it’s never too late, and I am happy to help guide you!
And as my last client put it, and yes, I’m totally bragging, but she actually said, many times “you have changed my family’s life!” That’s the biggest compliment I’ve ever received! Who knows, maybe I can help you you, or your family?
Alex V -Landria came to help our family revamp our eating habits and 2 months later, our family kitchen is TOTALLY transformed!! I have 3 of the pickiest little eaters on the planet and I wasn’t sure that we were going to be able to make any meaningful or lasting changes. I was wrong! Landria came in with zero judgements and helped me to sort through our entire kitchen. She took me shopping and showed me healthier substitutions for the unhealthy staples we were using. I used her blog for recipe ideas and information about why we needed to change our habits and it worked! My kids are eating lots of new things and we all feel great! I honestly can’t say enough great things about her expertise!!ReplyCancel
Katja -I’m new to your blog (through a friend and coworker), but I just had to stop and say, you look fabulous. Had you not pointed out you weren’t wearing makeup and that you were in your gym clothes, I doubt I would’ve even noticed. For whatever it’s worth, you are perfect au natural.
landriav -Awww, thanks Katja!! You are very sweet. Thanks for posting!ReplyCancel
Sophia Basurto -CONGRATULATIONS! What a difference you make (and will make) in so many people’s lives!ReplyCancel
Heather Leeds Smith -You are one of the most beautiful women exactly as you are!
Healthy, fit and lovely!ReplyCancel
landriav -You are so sweet Heather!!! Thank you! 🙂ReplyCancel
Shveta Berry -I adore your pictures and blog! You are so talented. For Father’s Day I wanted to get my husband a photo session with our son. Can I do that?
Also, do you ever give photography classes on photographing food?
landriav -Hey Shveta! Thank you! Would love to photograph you guys. Yes, I can email you a gift certificate to give to him. I’ll email you the details now. And I don’t give photography classes but am happy to give advise. Just ask!
Talk soon!ReplyCancel
Fabi Lovell -Hi Landria, I met you quickly at the talk you did at Annette Sullivan’s home a few months ago.. I have changed my family’s eating habits quite a bit but thinking to get to the next level I may need some extra help. My husband is more keen to join me after reading a little of the book Wheat Belly… Are you still doing the consulting visits? Please let me know your rates and availability. Thanks for all the inspiration for a better living.
FabiReplyCancel
landriav -Hey Fabi! I am still available. Will email some info tonight. Thanks for your note and so great to hear about all you’ve done already! 🙂ReplyCancel
About a year ago, I saw a Jamie Oliver Food Revolution episode that I wanted my kids to watch. I’m always trying to educate them on nutrition and this was the perfect opportunity! Since we sometimes are a minority by not (ever!) going to McDonalds, Wendy’s, etc. I wanted, I needed, my kids to understand why mommy doesn’t take them to these places. After showing Alice this video (Tate was just 3 so we have a way to go on him), she said “that is disgusting, I don’t ever want McDonald’s.” Which of course makes me so happy because at some point, they have to draw their own conclusions, they have to make their own choices, and this is one choice that I don’t think will be an issue for my kids. If you haven’t seen it already, I highly recommend you watch this 6 minute clip from the Jamie Oliver show, and have your kids watch it as well.
The next new thing we’ve been hearing so much about in the media is “pink slime”. Food is certainly not always what it seems and this other Jamie Oliver clip is great at explaining just how fast food or school nuggets are made. Unfortunately, Jamie’s experiment failed (because the US kids still wanted to eat it. Ughh!) so maybe just show your kids the first few minutes until Jamie asks “now who would eat this?”.
Unfortunately these fillers are not just in fast food restaurants but they are also in our kids school cafeterias (which is changing soon thankfully! see this article) and in most (70%) of the meat in our grocery stores. So, how do we avoid it? I know buying organic isn’t always cheap, but between these nasty fillers, chemicals, oh and the hormones and antibiotics these animals are on, the organic stuff is well worth it!
In honor of Jamie Oliver, I made some fabulous Coconut Fried Chicken Nuggets that were ammonia free, pink goo free, horomone free & gluten free and I promise they were far better than any processed “chicken” nugget!
Here’s what you need:
1.5 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
1 free range egg
1/2 cup almond meal/flour (Almond meal from TJ’s). Or, use coconut flour if allergies
1/4 cup shreadded coconut (from Whole Foods. Not the light.)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion dried
1 tsp salt and a dash of pepper
4 tbsp coconut oil
1. Wash and cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and set aside.
2. Mix in a large bag all of the ingredients except for the chicken and egg and set aside.
3. Now beat the egg and mix it with the chicken.
4. Add the chicken (and egg) to the plastic bag and shake until the chicken is completely covered. Make sure to hold on to the top so it doesn’t open up.
5. In a large sauce pan, heat on medium high heat. Add 2 tbsp coconut oil and add chicken in.
6. Continuously stir until the chicken starts to brown. As it cooks, the coconut oil will be soaked up by the chicken so add another 2 tbsp when the pan starts to get dry. Add more if needed, but the tricky part here is you don’t want so much oil the nuggets get soggy, and not too little where they can’t fry up nicely so just keep an eye on it.
7. Allow to cool, serve, and enjoy while watching some Jamie Oliver clips!
The boy truly doesn’t know patience! Good for me, not so good for my picture. Happy weekend everyone and thanks for reading!
By the way, I would love to hear what your kids thought about the clips, or nuggets. As always, please feel free to comment or share anytime.
I saw that Jamie Oliver episode also….so very horrible! I plan to do everything in my power to keep my kids away from that stuff some day, too.ReplyCancel
landriav -It’s was an amazing episode everyone should see, don’t you think?
They are delicious! I loved these little things!! I’m excited to try out some of the foods on your blog. Looks yummy!
Thanks for posting!!ReplyCancel
Alex -We make these once a week. They are my kids favorite and they beg for them! After watching those clips, my 7 year old and I had some really good discussions about our food and where it comes from. Thanks for sharing these!ReplyCancel
Theresa -HMOG – so so so glad I found you and this recipe! We’re trying to eat Paleo, but have a 4 year old who loves Chicken Nuggets. So far, have been making her the Tyson premium ones that at least have no chemicals/preservatives, etc and wheat flour, but would prefer something else. Can’t wait to try these!ReplyCancel
Cathi Onley -Delicious! I used sesame oil (this is what I had) instead of coconut and it worked fine. Will try coconut oil next time to see if there is a taste difference.
Thank you again for an easy recipe that is healty:)ReplyCancel
landriav -Yay, so glad you liked it!! I bet it was good with sesame. I like to use the coconut because of all the health benefits and it does so well on high heat. I’m not sure if you can actually taste much of the oil, or it could be that we’re just so use to it. Different brands definitely have more or less of a coconuty smell. Spectrum has the least amount of smell, for what it’s worth. Thanks for posting and letting me know!! I appreciate it!ReplyCancel
Aylahk -So, maybe I am a little slow on the process, but I had some issues with the extra “batter” getting pretty burned before the rest of the chicken was done. Was I supposed to dump the whole bag into the pan, or just select the chicken pieces?
landriav -Hey aylahk! Sorry to hear yours didn’t turn out well. I heat the oil, then put the individual pieces in the pan on high for a couple of minutes, flip, and then once brown, cook on medium or medium low until throughou cooked. I hope this helps! I hope next time they turn out better for you. I love these things!ReplyCancel
riley -We made these tonight for dinner pretty much step by step but all of our breading floated off while it was cooking in the coconut oil. Any tips? Did we use too much egg or something?ReplyCancel
landriav -Hey! Sorry to hear that Riley! Next time, maybe pat the chicken dry or skip the egg and see if that doesn’t help. Lately I haven’t been using the egg and it’s fine. Sorry yours didn’t turn out!ReplyCancel
Cynthia -Just made these and they were great! Not as pretty as your picture as they did not brown as nicely, but taste was not compromised. Thank you for a healthier alternative to the frozen, store bought brands.ReplyCancel
landriav -Absolutely! Thanks so much for your note. So nice to hear Cynthia!! 🙂ReplyCancel
Melissa -They were a HIT! I have 4 girls, they all have VERY different tastes, so I’m thrilled when I find something that they all like (and isn’t from McDonalds 🙂 AND a bonus? My super picky husband also polished them off! And in addition to tasting great, they were so extremely easy. I mean, really really easy. Thank you!!ReplyCancel
landriav -Melissa, that is awesome!!! Thanks so much for sharing that! So nice to hear! 🙂ReplyCancel
Debbie-great Thai Chicken, going to try the chicken nuggets tonight. Wondering why I don’t see Turkey recipes??
Thanks for giving me hope – recently told I should be not only gluten but grain free….ReplyCancel
landriav -Thanks Debbie! Good question. I do have a slow cooker turkey and I actually use turkey quite a bit but it tends to be a drier meat so probably use it less often unless I’m putting it in a soup or something.ReplyCancel
Ruby -Hi does the “not light” shredded coconut mean sweetened?ReplyCancel
landriav -Hi yes, unsweetened and not low fat.ReplyCancel
Jen -Made these for the family and everyone loved them. I read some of the posts and cooked some on stove in coconut oil and some in oven and broiled at end to give them a bit of a crunch. Both ways turned out well.ReplyCancel
landriav -Great to hear! Thanks for sharing Jennifer!!ReplyCancel
Dee -I just saw you recipe for the shrimp coconut soup, and am reading your blog and recipes for the first time, and am enjoying it.
My grandson and I watch the Jamie Oliver special together, and he wanted to take his own lunch from home after viewing it.
I have been making a similar recipe to this one for several yrs… with a few changes. I dust my dried off chicken pieces with whole wheat flour or cornstarch, then dip in a beaten & frothy egg white. then dredge in a coating mixture of coconut flour, almond flour, dry unsweetened coconut flakes, parmesan cheese and season salt & pepper, garlic powder, or sometimes lemon pepper. then either bake @ 450 degrees on a rack over baking sheet, or fry in coconut oil. We all love them, including my grandson and all his friends. I use this same coating on fish, pork chops, and even zucchini. Dredging first b4 dipping in egg white helps the coating to stick. I hope this helps.ReplyCancel
Patricia Marion-Looks like a great time for children (and adults). Can hardly wait to look at everything. Thanks for making this site for kids. Not enough fun thing for the grandchildren to do when they come to visit. Keep up the great work. A satisfied person.
Patricia Marion-Love what I have seen so far and i just started looking at your site. GLAD TO SEE MORE IDEAS GEARED TO KIDS (and adults (lol)). There are ideas out there, but they are too hard for the younger ones. This looks like it might be interesting for the kids. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE IF I LOVE YOUR SITE.ReplyCancel
landriav -Nice Alison! Thanks so much! Would love to hook up with y’all and will definitely check out the link. Thanks for your comment!!ReplyCancel
Erin Rose -Very yummy! Thanks! My 3 year old didn’t eat it…. but that’s more than likely due to the fact that he got into mischief while I was cooking them and I had to leave the stove for a minute to stop him which caused the chicken to burn and the fire alarms to go off. So, he had no interest in the chicken after that. Ha! Just more for me! And by the way, the burnt chicken was good too! Thanks again. Will definitely make again!ReplyCancel
landriav -Oh no! That’s awful Erin!!! Well I’m glad there wasn’t a bad fire and the chicken was still good! 🙂ReplyCancel
Aleksandra -Do you think it would be possible to bake these instead of frying?ReplyCancel
landriav -Heu Aleksandra, yes I would think so. I have a great baked chicken nugget recipe in my book, too. Just cook your nuggets on 400 for 10 min. Flip them and Broil them for another 5 or so. You can brush on some butter, too. I haven’t ever baked these but I’m sure it would be similar to the recipe in the book.ReplyCancel
Sarah -I was wondering how many nuggets does this recipe serve? And also,how well does the nuggets keep if I were to pack them for my children’s lunch for school?ReplyCancel
landriav -Hey Sarah! I think it makes about 20-25 or so if I remember correctly? They won’t be crispy but they should pack well for school lunch. I hope yall like them!ReplyCancel
.jpg "_DSC7286C")
.jpg "_DSC7303crop2")
.jpg "_DSC6291")
.jpg "_DSC6666")
.jpg "_DSC6467")
.jpg "_DSC6502")
.jpg "_DSC6597")
.jpg "_DSC6881")
.jpg "Untitled-2")
.jpg "_DSC6808"){kind=spacer}
.jpg "_DSC7111")
.jpg "_DSC6687")
.jpg "_DSC5757cr")
.jpg "_DSC5799cr")
.jpg "_DSC5785cr bw")
.jpg "_DSC5792cr")
.jpg "_DSC5786cr bw")
.jpg "_DSC6172cr"){kind=spacer}
.jpg "_DSC6142cr")
.jpg "_DSC6144cr")
.jpg "_DSC6119c")
.jpg "_DSC6105cr")
.jpg "_DSC6118cr")
.jpg "_DSC6146ccr")
.jpg "_DSC6154cripo")
.jpg "this one")
.jpg "_DSC5146c")
.jpg "_DSC5125c")
.jpg "_DSC5140c")
.png){kind=small}
j3nn - Your whole family is so beautiful! And yes, Grandma Alice looks amazing. We should all be so fortunate to age so gracefully.
I like your muffins, too. Chocolate chip is my favorite type of muffin!
landriav - Thanks so much Jenn!!
Jake - Defiantly going to try this one out looks delicious… all of your pictures are amazing, what kind of lenses are you using (if you don’t mind sharing)?
landriav - Thanks Jake!! I use my 50mm 99 percent of the time. It’s my favorite but I also use an 85mm, 35mm. I prefer primes to zoom lenses. I’ve had great zooms, and they just weren’t as sharp. Thanks for your comment!
Adina - Trying this recipe and love the pictures!
JP - Wow. I never comment on these blogs, but I just made these muffins. The perfect paleo sweet treat!
landriav - Nice! Thanks so much JP!! 🙂
Corrina - Hi, these are wonderful! Can they be frozen?
landriav - Hey! Thank you!! So glad you liked them. Yes they can be frozen. We freeze muffins all the time. Then heat them in the microwave for about 30 seconds and there good to go!
Kerry - I am making this NOW but the recipe calls for “1/2c Maple”. is this maple SYRUP??? I hope so b/c that’s what I’ve prepped.
landriav - Yes maple syrup. 🙂
Marie.. Brissette - The muffins are the best! So delicious.
landriav - Aw so glad you liked them! Thanks!!