Christmas Sweets #2

Vegan/GF Puppy Chow

So this puppy chow could use a little more powdered sugar but still tastes the same as the "regular version."

9 cups rice and corn chex
1 cup chocolate chips (I use Pascha brand, 88% cacao)
1/2 cup nut butter of choice (I use sunbutter)
1/4 cup earth balance butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Combine chips, nut butter, and butter in pan and melt. Once melted mix in vanilla. Coat cereal with this and mix until well incorporated. Put powdered sugar in plastic bag. Poor cereal mixture in bag. Close bag and shake it up until coated with sugar. Put on co

until till cool.

Christmas Sweets #1

Here is an easy one. I loved chocolate covered peanuts growing up and most people don't know how easy they are to make. This is also a very easy one to make vegan.

Chocolate Covered Nuts and Raisons

1 bag (80% cacao) chocolate chips (not milk chocolate)
1 container walnuts/pecans/peanuts/raisons (whatever you prefer to cover)

Melt chocolate in microwave or on stove.
Mix in item you are covering.
Scoop out in dollups onto wax paper and wait until set.

*This one is perfect for dark chocolate fans. Although there is also a 55% 
cacao version that I also make for those who like it less bitter.

Breakfast of Champions

I have mild adrenal fatigue. A large part of recovering is through nourishment. I don't eat gluten, dairy, or eggs and get asked all the time "What DO you eat then?" So here's a sample. With adrenal fatigue, a protein packed breakfast is preferred over a carb laden one or one that's filled with sugar.  I have found some balance by adding protein powder to oats or hot farina cereal. But, this breakfast is my favorite and it's a nice change to my breakfast routine.

I'm not the best photographer:)
But, trust me it's delicious

Avocado Toast: Enough said:) YUM!
Ener G brand gluten, dairy free bread (toasted) 
1/2 avocado, mashed
salt and pepper to taste

Chicken Sausage
1 lb. ground chicken
1/2 apple diced
1/4 onion diced
2 tsp. poultry seasoning

Combine all and form into patties. Put in 385 degree oven for roughly 25 minutes
These are easy to make at the beginning of the week and store in fridge.

Wild Blueberry Smoothie
1/2 banana 
1/2 cup frozen wild blueberries
3/4 cup water
1 scoop 3 grass blend powder
1 scoop collagen powder
1 slice lemon, squeezed
1 cup frozen spinach or kale

This is the breakfast of champions because of all the variety of nutrients involved. Avocado is a great fat and will keep you full longer. It helps balance the sugar in the bread so you don't have a sugar spike and then a drop. Chicken and collagen powders are proteins. Also very satiating and filled with amino acids.  Lemon in the smoothie is alkalizing. Wild blueberries are a superfood. Filled with antioxidants, they help your body heal from the inside out. I can eat this at 8:30 and not be hungry until noon.

Just Three Things....February

Here are my Just Three Things topics for this month:

Organic vs. Conventional Apples

For real people, this is not right?
(organic normal sized apple on the left)

Mercury Levels in Tuna: Is it Safe?
The Many Benefits of Liver

Organic vs. Conventional Apples
My kids know that when an apple looks all shiny and beautiful that that is not the apple you want to pick. At school, my son, told his friend that his shiny apple had pesticides on it. At first glance, I'm raising food snobs:) At second glance, he's educating others. Apples are always on the dirty dozen list of fruits and veggies with the highest pesticide loads. And yes, that shiny apple is coated in wax and other pesticides. Lately, I have been noticing HUGE apples at the store. I am sure they are GMO. Either way, SO wrong. No apple needs to be that big. It just doesn't seem right. Now I hear they are "creating" an apple that doesn't brown. Is this really such a big deal? Squeeze a little lemon juice on those apple slices before sending them off in your kid's lunch. Let's not create in a lab something that is not natural. When it comes to apples, bigger is not always better. 

Mercury Levels in Tuna

I love tuna. I used to pretend I was sick from school just so my mom would make me a tuna sandwich and mushroom soup. Tuna day was every Monday. Tuna with cucumbers on fluffy white bread....YUM! Ah, food memories...little did my parents know, or did I until recently, the amount of mercury in that tiny can. Mercury can really do damage to the body. Did you know that unless you intentionally try and clear it from your system, it will just sit there forever. Most of us even have mercury that has been passed down from our ancestors. Here is a link to the environmental defense fund's website with more detailed information on the topic: https://www.edf.org/oceans/mercury-alert-canned-tuna-safe-eat
I use canned salmon as a substitute. I also have found this tuna and have been using it. It tastes just as good and I feel better feeding it to my family. 
https://safecatch.com * TIP: A good first step to clearing your body of mercury or any other heavy metals, start eating cilantro. Its the best at detoxifying it and moving it out of your body.

The Many Benefits of Liver

Don't let the pic fool you. It's not chocolate mousse:)

Most of you are cringing I know. There are 2 frames of thought around liver. One is that it's a superfood. Full of amazing vitamins and minerals. The second is that its the liver. It filters through toxins all day long and why would I want to eat that? I'm on the side of superfood. Although, it's important to buy liver from grassfed and responsibly raised animals. The liver does filter toxins but it doesn't hold onto them. Liver is full of iron and zinc. So, if you are borderline anemic or have a low immune system, its a good thing to eat. It also has a healthy amount of Vitamin A and Vitamin B12. Vitamin A is an amazing antioxidant and vitamin B12 is essential for a healthy nervous system and keeping your red blood cells healthy. Liver has a very odd texture, so I cannot fry it up and eat it but I do make a killer liver pate that is so good with veggies or plantain chips. Its creamy and tasty. It may not look the best but I urge you to try it. 

My Liver Pate
1 lb chicken livers
1 onion sliced 
1 piece of nitrate free bacon
a few shakes of thyme, salt, and pepper

Preheat oven to 385 degrees. Put all ingredients in an oven safe dish. Cook in oven for 35 minutes. When it is done, put in ninja, vitamix, or food processor. Blend until smooth. Let cool in fridge. 
Enjoy.
* TIP: its also really good alongside of guacamole. Sounds odd but don't knock it before you try it. 

Grounding Vata Meal

 Before I let the crockpot
do it's magic

What an exhausting week. So much political energy circulating.  Regardless of what position, it's almost impossible not to get swept up in the energy of everything that's gone on last week. Nothing like a good meal to bring a sense of grounding to the energy of the body. We are still in Vata time, so warming, stewy, stick to your ribs food is still going to be helpful in grounding yourself. However, we are slowly moving towards kapha time.  Kapha is all about bringing a little spice back into your life, from a food perspective. So, this meal will ground you and your energy. It is warming, soothing, and  a little spicy. It just makes you feel like everything is going to be OK.

Spicy Shredded Beef
1-3 lb chuck roast ( Grass fed if possible)
1/2 jar of  Pepperocinis
 One bag of baby carrots
 One small onion

Put all ingredients in a crockpot. Layer carrots and onions on the bottom, beef on top of that, and pepperocinis with juice on top of beef.  Set too low for 6 to 8 hours. When done shredded beef with two forks and put beef mixture back in crockpot.  Serve immediately. You could eat this over potatoes or make this into a sandwich with a bun.

Enjoy!