RECIPE: Paleo Pumpkin Coffee Cake – healthy, easy, and delicious!

Image and recipe courtesy of Jay’s Baking Me Crazy

How freaking good does this look? When the weather turns colder I am all about apple and pumpkin recipes. Coffee cake is one of those things you think you can’t have anymore when you go Paleo, but this recipe is proof you can!

Let’s see how you make it…

PALEO PUMPKIN COFFEE CAKE

Ingredients

• • 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup coconut sugar
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup almond flour
  • 1/4 cup coconut flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 cup coconut flour (I don’t like coconut flour, so I just use almond flour)
• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 2 tablespoons coconut sugar (ditto for this, I use a different sugar substitute)
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil (and again, ditto)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325° and line a 9×9 pan with parchment paper.
2. Make the crumb topping first: in a small bowl, combine coconut flour, almond flour, coconut sugar, cinnamon, maple syrup, and coconut oil. Mix well- it should resemble wet sand. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine coconut oil, maple syrup, coconut sugar, and pumpkin. Mix well.
4. Add in the eggs and mix until incorporated.
5. Add in the almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, pumpkin spice, cinnamon, and salt. Mix until no dry pockets remain. Pour into prepared pan and top with crumb topping.
6. Bake for 45-50 minutes.
7. Store in fridge after the first day.

If you make this, take pictures so I can be jealous!

RECIPES: Raspberry Breakfast Bars

Photo and recipe courtesy of

RASPBERRY BREAKFAST BARS

Written by Mira on May 2, 2016

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I think raspberries are one of my favourite fruits out there, apart from cherries.  They’re definitely number 2 on my favourite fruits list.  However, after having lived in Japan for 1.5 years now, I’ve had to live without them as they are simply not cultivated or imported here.  I have never seen fresh raspberries or blackberries in Japan.  I honestly don’t know why.  Most of my friends have never eaten them either.  However, these last 2-3 weeks I’ve been craving them intensely and I have finally found a way to buy some! They actually sell a frozen bag of 2.5kg on Amazon and the same company also offers an array of different berries!  The minute I found the bag, I immediately bought it and am now stocked for a couple months at least! Unfortunately they’re aren’t organic, but that’s just something that I’ll have to ignore as the organic companies that I order from don’t have some in stock either.

Recipe and photo courtesy of My PCOS Kitchen

This recipe is gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, low-carb, and low-calorie. Oh, and did I mention delicious?

Paleo Raspberry Breakfast Bars

Ingredients

Yum! By the way, you can make these with any berry. What a great way to use all those berries you’ve picked this summer. Got any other recipes for the mounds and mounds of berries lying around my house?

RECIPES: 10 easy, healthy ways to use zucchini

Picture courtesy of Creative Commons, used with permission from CSouza_79

Does your kitchen counter look like this? Mine does! Well, nearly. What to do, what to do with all that zucchini?

I’m here to help!

1. Zucchini Salsa Turkey Burgers with Salsa Yogurt Dressing {GF, Low Cal}

2. Lemon Herb Salmon Zucchini {GF, Low Cal, Paleo}

3. Gluten Free Zucchini Blueberry Bread {GF, Low Cal}

4. Parmesan Zucchini and Tomato Gratin
5. Zucchini and Prosciutto Egg Muffins (Dairy free, Paleo, W30)

6. Paleo Zucchini Hummus {GF, Low Cal, Paleo, Vegan}

7. Zucchini Greek Yogurt Pancakes {GF, Low Cal}

8. Chicken Zoodle Pho {GF, Paleo, Low Cal}

9. Garlic Herb Sauteed Zucchini and Squash

10. Zucchini Chocolate Oatmeal Bites {GF, Low Cal}

RECIPES: Paleo-compliant salads for summer

Everyone likes a great summer salad, right? And us chronic illness warriors know how important eating healthy is, so here are several recipes for salads with a huge YUM factor!

The first is:

Cucumber Tomato Avocado Salad

1 lb Roma tomatoes
1 English cucumber
1/2 medium red onion, sliced
2 avocados, diced
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil or sunflower oil
Juice of 1 medium lemon (about 2 Tbsp)
1/4 cup (1/2 bunch) cilantro, chopped*
1 tsp sea salt or 3/4 tsp table salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
*Note: if you aren’t keen on cilantro, fresh dill is a good substitute

Instructions

Place everything but olive oil and lemon in a bowl and combine, then top with the oil and lemon.

The next is:

Strawberry Avocado Spinach Salad with Chicken

RECIPES: Fibro-friendly snacks (other chronic illness warriors will love these too!)

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons, used with permission, photo by swong

It’s sometimes hard to find Paleo-compliant snacks, and yet we’re told we should eat smaller meals throughout the day rather than three bigger meals. What’s a chronic illness warrior to do? I’ve got some ideas!

Mixed Nuts + Salami

A winning combination. Really good for the afternoon slump when you need a bit of protein to power through. You have to make sure you find compliant salami.

Banana Apple Almond Butter Bowl

This is one of my favorite combinations right now. It’s now become one of my go-to breakfasts. I cut up bananas and apples and drizzle almond butter on top.

Apples + Cinnamon

Another winning combo if your sweet tooth is ACTIVATED. The cinnamon brings the sweetness out in the apple.

Prosciutto + Fruit

Nuff said. I like prosciutto with apples more than cantaloupe. Sometimes I mix a bite with dried apricots and almonds.

Carrots + Almond Butter

For a zing, you can add cayenne if you want. Sounds weird but it’s actually good.

DIY Trail mix

We now keep a giant jar of trail mix on the container. It’s a a great way for me to grab a quick snack on the go.  I have a handful of trail mix and a banana for breakfast when I’m too busy to sit down.

Hardboiled Eggs + Bacon Bits

I totally forgot about hard-boiled eggs this round of Whole30. Next time I am going to add more to salads. Especially with bacon bits.

Dried Fruit

I love the dried peaches & apples at Trader Joe’s. I love to end a meal with a few pieces. It’s like having a fruit roll-up.

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

For Whole 30/Paleo, sweet potatoes are preferred rather than traditional white potatoes to create a crispy, tasty fry that is much healthier than the traditional version.

Kale Chips

Here’s a snack that’s yummy, skinny and ultra healthy. You can either make your own or buy them – just be sure to check the label first to be sure it’s compliant.

RECIPES: Five things to eat when you don’t have energy to cook

There are days we can hardly get out of bed, but we still need to eat, right? How do you handle those days? I have some go-to meals, which I’ll talk about below. I’ve also consulted other chronic illness blogs to find some other recipes. So here we go!

Breakfast:

1. Here’s one for if you have to be up to get children off to school, so you might as well make yourself some easy breakfast. Break an egg into a pan with some oil, whip around with a whisk or fork until scrambled. Let it start cooking while you grab some pre-cut veggies (yes, they’re more expensive, but these are some of the things we have to do to eat healthy) and cheese, if you want.
   Throw everything into the frying pan and let it cook, moving it around if you want the dish to be more like scrambled eggs than an omelet. If your diet allows wraps, grab one of those, and put it in the microwave for 15 seconds. Remove the egg to a plate and eat. You can also make these into muffin-eggs (eggs in a muffin pan, which you can then freeze).
2. Greek yogurt and a piece of fruit are really easy to grab out of the kitchen and eat if you like a smaller breakfast. Just be sure you’ve got nuts or something up in your bedroom in case you get hungry a little later.
3. When you’re feeling good, make muffins. Lots and lots of muffins. Here’s a recipe from a recent post for a blueberry muffin. You can change the fruit if you prefer other berries. Leave maybe a dozen out, put some more in the fridge, and freeze the rest. Lots of Paleo and Whole30-compliant recipes are out there if you’re avoiding white carbs. We use almond flour and flaxseed in ours.

Lunch:

1. If you’re allowed to eat smoked salmon on whatever diet you follow, you can take that, some avocado, and lemon juice. Put the avocado on the bottom, top with the salmon, and squeeze the lemon juice over all. Eat.
2. When you have energy, make Mason jar salads. You should be able to keep them in the fridge for a week or two, especially if you get a good seal. I only put the “extras” in these. Then I dump some pre-made greens on a plate and empty the Mason jar contents on top. I keep small containers of salad dressing that don’t need to be refrigerated in my bedroom since I always forget to put on dressing.
3. Leftovers! I don’t know about you, but I purposely make too much food for dinner. Then the next day I can just toss those leftovers into the toaster oven or the microwave and eat.
4. Anything prepared, like veggie tray or fruit salad trays. Again, they’re more expensive, but if they’re the only way you get healthy food, you might want to consider spending the money. Other examples of prepared foods are frozen meals (if you choose carefully and sodium intake isn’t a problem for you), cereal (if you can eat grains), and hummus with veggies or crackers (again, if you can eat grains).

Dinner:

1. The crockpot. What a great invention for chronic illness warriors. I use mine at least a couple of times a week, for just about everything. I’ve done banana bread, turkey breasts, meatloaf, soups, chili, spaghetti sauce, and pretty much every possible chicken recipe possible. Refrigerate or freeze what you don’t eat. My freezer is probably the second most useful cooking apparatus in my house, after the crockpot. Because this post is about eating when you have no energy, I love crockpot recipes since they’re almost always dump and cook.
2. Takeout. Let’s face it, we sometimes have more energy to go through a drive-thru than we do to stand in the kitchen and make a meal. And you know what? That’s okay. We shouldn’t feel guilty about it. Just try to make smart choices.
3. Leftovers. Yes, again. They are your friend. Learn them, love them, eat them.
4. Anything you can get someone else to make for you. Try not to be picky. And thank them.

I’m sure we all have go-to solutions for mealtimes. What are yours?

RECIPE: Paleo blueberry muffins

Cooking Tips:

• If you prefer you can replace the coconut milk with almond milk or a similar paleo friendly milk.
• Make sure you beat the liquids together well so they are well combined. If you don’t you may end up with a mixture that doesn’t work very well.
• It’s important to know that these paleo blueberry muffins or any kind of paleo baking can be very hit and miss. If you’re having trouble getting this recipe to work be sure to check out video above.
• If you find your muffins are starting to burn on the outside but are still uncooked in the middle. Then you should try covering them in foil. This will help stop them from browning any further whilst allowed the mix to continue to cook.
• If you can get your hands on any fresh berries, then frozen will work just as well.
• You should be aware that vanilla essence contains alcohol for those trying to steer clear of anything that is not 100% paleo friendly then I recommend using vanilla bean. Vanilla bean is slightly more expensive but is totally worth the money.

Nutritional Information:

If you’re curious to how many calories that a single muffin has in it then you can find all the information you need below. This information has been calculated using an online tool so it may not be 100% correct. However, it should give you a great indication on whether or not you want to include these delicious muffins in your diet.

RECIPE: How to make bone broth and why you should

Recipe courtesy of Authority Nutrition

Bone broth is made by boiling down animal bones and connective tissue. This nutrient-dense stock is used for soups, sauces and health drinks. All you really need is a large pot, water, vinegar and bones. To get you started here is an easy recipe you can follow:

Ingredients

• 1 gallon (4 liters) of water – this is an estimate since crockpots are different sizes. I just make sure most of the bones are covered with liquid.
• 2 tbsp (30 ml) apple cider vinegar – be sure you use one with “the mother” included
• 2–4 pounds (about 1–2 kg) of animal bones
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in a large pot or slow cooker.
2. Bring to a boil.
3. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 12–24 hours. The longer it cooks, the better it will taste and more nutritious it will be.
4. Allow the broth to cool. Strain it into a large container and discard the solids.

In order to make the most nutritious broth, it is best to use a variety of bones — marrow bones, oxtail, knuckles and feet. You can even mix and match bones in the same batch.

Adding vinegar is important because it helps pull all of the valuable nutrients out of the bones and into the water, which is ultimately what you will be consuming.

You can also add vegetables and herbs and spices to your broth to enhance the flavor.

Common additions include garlic, onion, celery, carrot, parsley and thyme. These can be added right away in step one. I use dried spices mostly, like garlic powder, onion powder, celery powder, parsley, thyme, etc.

Now, why should you make bone broth?

1. It Contains Many Important Vitamins and Minerals

In general, bone broth is very nutritious. However, the nutrient content does depend on the ingredients you use, as each brings something different to the table.

Animal bones are rich in calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus and other trace minerals — the same minerals needed to build and strengthen your own bones. Fish bones also contain iodine, which is essential for healthy thyroid function and metabolism. Connective tissue gives you glucosamine and chondroitin, natural compounds found in cartilage that are known to support joint health. Marrow provides vitamin A, vitamin K2, minerals like zinc, iron, boron, manganese and selenium, as well as omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.

All of these animal parts also contain the protein collagen, which turns into gelatin when cooked and yields several important amino acids. As the ingredients simmer, their nutrients are released into the water in a form your body can easily absorb. Many people don’t get enough of these nutrients in their diet, so drinking bone broth is a good way to get more.

Unfortunately, it’s impossible to know the exact amount of each nutrient contained in the broth because every batch of bones is so different.

2. It May Benefit the Digestive System

Scientists have discovered that your overall health depends heavily on the health of your intestinal tract. Not only is bone broth easy to digest, it may also aid in the digestion of other foods.

The gelatin found in bone broth naturally attracts and holds liquids. This is why properly prepared broth congeals in the fridge. Gelatin can also bind to water in your digestive tract, which helps foods move through your gut more easily. It has also been shown to protect and heal the mucosal lining of the digestive tract in rats. It is thought to have the same effect in humans, but more research needs to be done to show its effectiveness. An amino acid in gelatin called glutamine helps maintain the function of the intestinal wall, and has been known to prevent and heal a condition known as “leaky gut”.

Leaky gut is a dangerous condition in which the barrier between your gut and the rest of your body isn’t working properly. Substances that your body doesn’t normally allow through leak into your bloodstream, which leads to inflammation and other problems. For all of these reasons, drinking bone broth may be beneficial for individuals with leaky gut, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or irritable bowel disease (IBD), such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease.

3. It May Help Fight Inflammation

The amino acids found in bone broth, including glycine and arginine, have strong anti-inflammatory effects. Arginine, in particular, may help fight the inflammation associated with obesity. One study shows higher levels of arginine in the blood are associated with decreased inflammation in obese women. Another study in rats suggests that supplementing with arginine could help fight inflammation in obese individuals, but more research needs to be done in humans to support these results.

While some inflammation is necessary, chronic inflammation may lead to a number of serious diseases. These include heart disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis and many types of cancer.

Because of this, it’s important to eat plenty of anti-inflammatory foods.

4. Its Nutrients Have Been Shown to Improve Joint Health

Collagen is the main protein found in bones, tendons and ligaments. During the cooking process, collagen from bones and connective tissue is broken down into another protein called gelatin. Gelatin contains important amino acids that support joint health. It contains proline and glycine, which your body uses to build its own connective tissue. This includes tendons, which connect muscles to bones, and ligaments, which connect bones to each other.

Bone broth also contains glucosamine and chondroitin, which are natural compounds found in cartilage. Multiple studies have found that glucosamine and chondroitin can decrease joint pain and lessen the symptoms of osteoarthritis.

The proteins in bone broth have also proven beneficial for those with rheumatoid arthritis, which is a chronic autoimmune disease that causes painful damage to the tendons and ligaments. In one study, 60 people with rheumatoid arthritis consumed chicken collagen for three months. Symptoms improved significantly in all 60 participants, with four showing complete remission of the disease.

5. It Is Weight Loss Friendly

Bone broth is typically very low in calories, but can still satisfy hunger. Studies have found that eating broth-based soup on a regular basis can increase fullness, reduce calorie intake and lead to weight loss over time.

What’s more, bone broth contains gelatin, which has specifically been shown to promote feelings of fullness. One study found that gelatin was more effective at reducing hunger than the protein casein, which is found in dairy products. Another study in 53 men found that, when combined with resistance training, collagen helped increase muscle mass and decrease body fat.

6. It May Improve Sleep and Brain Function

The amino acid glycine, found in bone broth, may help you relax. Multiple studies have found that glycine helps promote sleep. One study found that taking 3 grams of glycine before bed significantly improved the quality of sleep in individuals who have difficulty sleeping. Taking glycine before bed helped participants fall asleep faster, maintain a deeper sleep and wake up fewer times throughout the night. This study also found that glycine reduced daytime sleepiness and improved mental function and memory.

RECIPE: Natural bleach alternative

Recipe courtesy of Don’t Waste the Crumbs

I think we can all agree bleach isn’t the best cleaning solution out there. You can’t eat it, it smells awful and it’s dangerous for kids. But are there good alternatives out there? You bet! And that’s what I’m going to tell you about in this post.

This recipe is totally easy-peasy, which I think we all appreciate given our time and energy.

Supplies

• 3/4 cup 3% hydrogen peroxide
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 10-15 drops lemon essential oil
• 3/4 cup baking soda
• 7 cups water

Method

Combine all ingredients in a container capable of holding 1/2 gallon or more. Shake well.

Use 1 cup per load, washing with hottest water setting available.

Some other recipes call for equal parts hydrogen peroxide and lemon juice, but I thought that was a bit expensive with so much lemon juice. The 3:1 ratio is enough to get the job done, and keep costs down.

Hydrogen peroxide should be kept in a cool, dark place and preferably in a dark bottle. I used an old water jug for this solution, labeled it appropriately and keep it stored in the garage where it’s normally dark anyway. Plus that’s where our washer and dryer is.

The water you add can be plain tap water. No need to use filtered water when it’s only going to be combined with tap water in the washer anyway.

Here’s a cost breakdown. How can you beat this?

• hydrogen peroxide: $0.07
• lemon juice: $0.18
• lemon essential oil: $0.38 (this is the only ingredient that’s hard to find at a discount store, so I’ve given you another resource)
• baking soda: $0.21

Total cost for 1/2 gallon all-natural homemade bleach alternative is just 84¢!

Store-bought bleach at most warehouse stores costs around 3¢ per ounce, but the homemade version costs just 1¢ per ounce – and you’re not getting the harmful chemicals!

To get the best deal possible, aim for less than $1 for a 32oz bottle of hydrogen peroxide and buy baking soda and lemon juice in bulk at a warehouse store.

If you try this recipe out and have any changes or tips, let me know in the comments!

RECIPE: SLOW COOKER ASIAN CHICKEN LETTUCE WRAPS

Recipe courtesy of Comfort of Cooking