I had the most wonderful weekend with my husband in Asheville, NC. We got to sleep in, eat fabulous food (and there was plenty of healthy, organic, and gluten free stuff for a Paleo girl – love this town!), and mountain bike until our legs just wouldn’t cooperate. It was perfect! Anyway, on the trip back, we were looking for BBQ, for Scott of course, and also some good fresh produce for the family. We came across this adorable place that had both. Bonus! I love a good produce stand and this just topped the trip. Anyway, I got some beautiful fresh vegetables so I could make a yummy chili (will post soon) and some soup for the week. Anyway, I thought you all might enjoy a few photos of this cute place, sans kids for a change.
They had so many beautiful apples, many that I had never heard of before…
Raw honey anyone? Talk about fresh! The kids would have dug this….
Cabbage, from floor to ceiling, literally…
Festive fall time squash. I’m not sure if it’s pretty, or ugly…
Sweet hubby helping out…
And of course, the best view from a produce stand I’ve ever seen…
I love warm baked goods time time of year, especially all things pumpkin. I know most pumpkin bread/muffin recipes tend to be pretty dense so it was a little tricky making muffins without any grains. But I do have to say, after making them a couple of times, I think I finally figured out how to make a pretty good pumpkin muffin!
Here’s what you need for approximately 12 muffins:
1 individual 4 oz. container no sugar added apple sauce
2 tbsp kerrygold butter, melted
1 tbsp vanilla
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup coconut palm sugar or another 1/4 maple syrup but wanted to keep the GI index low
6 omega-3 eggs
1/2 cup pumpkin (I used TJ’s canned Organic Pumpkin Puree)
1/2 cup sifted coconut flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp celtic salt
1 tbsp pumpkin spice (TJ’s Pumpkin Spice or just add in some nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger)
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
How to prepare:
Preheat oven to 350.
In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine wet ingredients and blend with a hand mixer.
Pour wet ingredients into dry and blend with a hand mixer until evenly combined.
Stir in chocolate chips.
Put cupcake holders in muffin pan, or spray with coconut oil and pour until about 2/3 of the way full in each
Bake for 25-30 minutes, check with a butter knife.
Allow to cool for 1-2 hours.
Now, I wish I could say they were fighting over the last pumpkin muffin. But in all honestly, my kids don’t really care for pumpkin baked goods. I do have to say that I forgot to add the dark chocolate chips to mine, and knowing my son, that would have made all the difference and he would have gobbled them up! But, two different families on our street tried them, and so did their kids, and they loved them. Thanks for sending the picture of the girls devouring them, Jenn. I should have posted that!!
To warm you up on a cool day like today. My kids love this stuff! It’s a great snack, side, meal, or it even makes for a really good school lunch if you have a thermos.
And this, by far, is the easiest thing I make. Here’s how you do it. You’ll need:
3 cans organic black beans (Make sure it’s just black beans and water, and maybe salt. No sugar! Also your cans should total about 45 oz in all.)
Optional: Sometimes I’ll cook some Wellshire turkey sausage and add that to the soup. It really adds great flavor!
Pour all in large pot (except for the bay leaf and greek yogurt), blend with hand blender until somewhat smooth. Cook on high until it starts to boil and then let cook on low/simmer for about 15 more minutes or until it thickens. Stir in the bay leaves. Scoop some up in a bowl, add greek yogurt, and enjoy!
Since I quit all caffeine March of this year (I drank coffee since the 11th grade!), I have been surprised at how much I really don’t miss it. But, there are certainly days when I really could use a little something. Today was one of those days…
Anyway, I accidentally discovered this pick me up drink a few months ago. I thought I was drinking it to satisfy a chocolate craving and get some great antioxidants but little did I know it would keep me up until 2am. Talk about wired! But it is a great pick me up, when taken before 3pm, and does satisfy those cravings. They say women tend to crave magnesium (chocolate) around that time of the month, so this is a great way to get what we need, and what we want. But I would definitely recommend not taking this any later than 3pm.
Anyway, the great thing about raw cacao, and the original reason I took it, was for all of it antioxidants and minerals. Oh and this is why you hear chocolate is good for us. It’s not the actual sugary processed Hershey’s bar, but the cacao that’s inside (well, inside dark chocolate; not the Hershey’s bar of course). That’s why the higher the percentage the cacao, the better it is for you and here’s why:
Antioxidants: Cacao has more antioxidant flavonoids than any food tested so far, including blueberries, red wine, and black and green teas. In fact, it has up to four times the quantity of antioxidants found in green tea.
Promote cardiovascular health – Help dilate bloods vessels, reduce blood clotting, improve circulation, help regulate heartbeat and blood pressure, lower LDL cholesterol, and reduce the risk of stroke and heart attacks.
Protect from environmental and metabolic toxins – Help repair and resist damage caused by free radicals, and may reduce risk of certain cancers.
Neurotransmitters: By increasing the levels of specific neurotransmitters in our brains, cacao promotes positive outlook, facilitates rejuvenation and simply helps us feel good.
Serotonin – Cacao raises the level of serotonin in the brain; thus acts as an anti-depressant, helps reduce PMS symptoms, and promotes a sense of well-being.
Endorphins – Cacao stimulates the secretion of endorphins, producing a pleasurable sensation similar to the “runner’s high” a jogger feels after running several miles.
Phenylethylamine – Found in chocolate, phenylethylamine is also created within the brain and released when we are in love. Acts as mild mood elevator and anti-depressant, and helps increase focus and alertness.
Anandamide – Anandamide is known as the “bliss chemical” because it is released by the brain when we are feeling great. Cacao contains both N-acylethanolamines, believed to temporarily increase the levels of anandamide in the brain, and enzyme inhibitors that slow its breakdown. Promotes relaxation, and helps us feel good longer.
Essential Minerals: Cacao beans are rich in a number of essential minerals, including magnesium, sulfur, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, potassium and manganese.
Magnesium – Cacao seems to be the #1 source of magnesium of any food. Magnesium balances brain chemistry, builds strong bones, and helps regulate heartbeat and blood pressure. Magnesium deficiency, present in 80% of Americans, is linked with PMT, hypertension, heart disease, diabetes and joint problems.
Sulfur – Cacao is high in the beauty mineral sulfur. Sulfur builds strong nails and hair, promotes beautiful skin, detoxifies the liver, and supports healthy pancreas functioning.
Knowing what I know about what raw cacao can do, on top of giving you a little energy, why would I ever want coffee again? Here’s what you need to make this little drink:
Apparently cold water and raw cacao powder won’t stir together, kind of like water and oil, so heat up a little water in a glass in the microwave. Then add the cacao and stir. Then, add in the milk of choice and stir. I love it just like that! My friend tried it and said she prefers a little sweetener in hers so you could add some stevia or raw coconut palm sugar if desired. Anyway, that’s it! It’s even easier to make than coffee!
So I made a lasagna for the first time in years and it was delicious! My daughter tried it and said, “Mom, I love it, but what are these things on the bottom.” Knowing zuchinni isn’t her favorite vegetable, when she then said, “are they noodles?”, well, I didn’t totally deny it. I used the zucchini as noodles in this recipe so it wasn’t completely untrue. And thanks to a friend’s advice (in recipe below) they certainly were more noodle-like.
But for those who absolutely have to have noodles, there is a gluten/wheat free lasagna noodle called Tinkyada that I found at Publix. It’s made with brown rice, rice bran, water, and that’s it. It got really great reviews on Amazon so it must be decent.
By the way, this picture would look better if I had “layered” the lasagna a couple of times. Instead, I did just 1 layer. I told you had been awhile since I made lasagna!!
Zucchini Lasagna
1 lb grass fed chuck/sirloin
1 lb ground Italian sausage (or just use another lb of chuck)
1 medium onion chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic minced
14 oz can of tomato sauce
14 oz can of diced or crushed tomatoes (drained)
1 teaspoon celtic sea salt
and spices (oregano, parsley, basil, thyme, and/or some pepper)
3 medium zucchini squash
2 eggs
1/4 cup of grated parmesan (romano or parmigiana reggiano)
16 ounces whole milk ricotta cheese
16 ounces low moisture mozzarella grated
Brown Italian sausage and ground meat on medium to medium high heat. Drain if needed. To the meat mixture add diced onions and allow to soften for 5 minutes. Add in garlic, stir for 30 seconds. Incorporate tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, salt, and seasonings with meat. Reduce heat and allow to simmer stirring occasionally for about 15 minutes.
Slice zucchini into thin horizontal sheets similar to lasagna pasta. The recipe called for 1/4 thick slices but I used a hand peeler to make them extra skinny. Then lay them out and pat dry on paper towels. Add a good bit of salt and set aside to dry to make them taste more like noodles (thanks for the advise Shannon!).
Combine ricotta cheese, grated Parmesan and eggs in a bowl until mixed well. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Check meat sauce for flavoring, adjust if necessary. Once the meat sauce liquid has reduced remove from heat and line up all ingredients to assemble the lasagna.
In a 13×9 glass baking dish combine a third of each ingredient in layers as follows:
Zucchini slices
Ricotta mixture
Meat sauce
Mozzarella
Then repeat 1 or 2 more times!
Bake for 45 minutes or until bubbly throughout and cheese is dark golden brown. Rest for 10 minutes before slicing and enjoy!
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