Exotic Fruit Salad

In my house, the king of fruit salad is my 15 year old son. He has carried the title for a couple of years now. He is good at it, cuts the fruit into just the right sized, bite-sized, pieces and because he is 'boy', he is happy to use a knife whenever we ask him to. So, he is my fruit salad man. 

Recently, we had some good stuff in the fruit crisper and asked him to get to it!

Ingredients:

2           Mango

1           Papaya

3           Kiwi

1cup      Blueberries 

drizzle    Honey

Peel mango and papaya. You can peel or simply wash and slice/half kiwi. Wash blueberries. Drizzle with honey or juice (I would recommend pineapple or orange to preserve fruit and keep from browning). 

Enjoy! Refrigerate and great as left over. 

No Diagnosis...Carry on with what you're doing!

So, I have had some tests done and today went to see a GI Specialist. Ugh. So, good news first, MRI clear for Multiple Sclerosis (thank god!!!). Bad news, still having peripheral neuropathy issues with limbs and face. GI doctor was as helpful as everyone else has been. You seem to have Irritable Bowel Syndrome...so, in essence, no help at all. She did however like that I had cut out dairy and flours from my eating life and told me to carry on with that, stop taking vitamins (SAY WHAT??!!!) and handed me a FODMAP diet guide (very similar to paleo eating, with a focus more on fructose/glucose absorption or in my case, likely mal-absorption in the stomach). She DID however, acknowledge the fact that I have close to zero Iron stores in my body and suggested I carry on with taking that and B12 and finally (thank you) ordered a more specific blood test for Thyroid so I can once and for all sufficiently rule that out. 


There was a bit of a set-back with a knee-injury, but several weeks into healing, I am able to sit for longer periods of time and will post more recipes! Hooray!! I now have PAGES which I will play with to make finding recipes (hopefully) easier for you! I have started with Just Desserts and it is a repeat recipe, but I will add more as time goes on. I will also add Salad, Mains, etc., to the side bar panel to make your lives so much easier on here. Not a computer techie, so bear with me! Pages are located on the right side-bar. 


If you would like to view more information on what the heck FODMAP foods and diet are click here.


That was VERY techie of me ;) 


One extremely positive side-effect of not eating breads, cheeses and yeast filled items is that I have lost 10lbs in approximately 8 weeks. Without trying and without much activity (darn knee injury!) I think this is a reasonable weight loss. Once I get moving at my normal pace again, watch out world! My 20lbs is gonzo!! I can't wait until I return to my normal, healthy, weight. I have sadly not seen it in a few years. 


Okay, back to eating and recipes. I am completely addicted to the following:


Kale Chips
Easy to make (soooo easy) and delicious, Kale chips are my new favourite salty snack. 

1 Large bunch   Kale
2 tbsp                 Olive Oil 
1 tsp                   Sea Salt 


Preheat oven to 350degrees
Line baking sheet with parchment paper. 
Rinse kale, pat dry, tear into bite-sized pieces. Place on parchment lined sheet.
Drizzle with olive oil and crank some sea salt onto it. 
Bake until crispy and slightly browned on edges. Check often. Depending on your oven could take 5 minutes, could take 10. 
ENJOY!!!!!! I don't have a picture of the kale in a bowl because it didn't make it!! Went straight from the baking sheet to my tummy. 


Boo!! Bad news: NOT a good one for the FODMAP diet. Kale is part of the broccoli family and is to be eliminated. Boo. If you can handle Broccoli, eat the crap out of this one. It is sooooo darn delicious and an excellent source of Vitamin K, beta carotene, Vitamin C, Calcium, Lutein and zeaxanthin :) 

RECIPES COMING SOON!!!

I have been pretty busy in the kitchen. Experimenting with new recipes (altering most) and some have been post-worthy and some have been major fails!  These recipes will be coming SOON, I promise. An injured knee on the mend has made it difficult for me to sit for long periods of time at my desk, but it's healing and with that, there will be loads of recipes posted :)

Hang in there, I will have it together shortly. Thanks for your patience :)

Tara

Lazy days

I realize I have been one lazy girl when it comes to posting recipes lately. Part of that is that despite the new, very healthy, eating plan, I have been extremely low on 'get up and go'! Being exhausted most of the time is something I am trying to 'kick' but so far isn't the case. I have taken photos of lots of dishes and will post them in the next week or two along with some recipes :D

I managed to survive Easter weekend without eating gluten, dairy or yeast and with a little bit of planning, I hope to do the same this weekend (away with my girl for a sports tourney). For snacks, I have found some great eats to satisfy my salt cravings (we all have them!) tostitos, yup, tostitos! corn chips, scoops and other snacks are gluten, soy and dairy free!! Not sure corn is great for you, or the additives, but for a special treat when away, I think it will be fine with some salsa (there are worse alternatives!). There are also CheeCha Puffs...gluten free, dairy free...and really yummy. The luscious lime is my personal favourite! Or good 'ol low sodium Sweets & Beets from the TERRA company. Delicious, but dangerous! Just because they are made from sweet potatoes and beets, does NOT mean you can inhale the entire bag!

To fill me up, I have found LARAbars!! Really good and comprised of mushed dates and either cashews, peanut butter and peanuts, or apples, cinnamon and nuts. So delicous...but at 200 calories, you have to remind yourself, you can't eat more than one at a time!

Eating out may very well pose a challenge, and since it will be most of the weekend, we shall see how that goes! Might be salads and balsamic vinegar for this girl. Most restaurants cook in butter and use flour for everything *sigh*

Off to the races now! Packing, WORKING, shopping and general running around. Hope to overload the pages next week!

Zucchini loaf

So, I have tried a few things over the last couple of days (mainly recycling left-overs), and the newest addition to the recipe circuit was a zucchini loaf. It was pretty good, but I will change it in the future. There was just something 'missing.' I think I would likely add more apple sauce, more zucchini and maybe a drop or two of Stevia to sweeten it up just a touch. Might even throw some nutmeg in, versus just the cinnamon for spice.  Below are some pictures, and the recipe will follow! This was enjoyed by both myself and the hubster,  he didn't realize it was paleo until I told him after he ate it. Good sign! The zucchini loaf tastes fabulous with Almond butter on it. I highly recommend adding that as a spread versus plain. Warm is nice as well. 

Egg mix, with zucchini added

Freshly placed in oven

Home-baked goodness

 Fresh out of the oven with fresh organic strawberries. Delicous :)

The recipe: From Unrefined Kitchen
http://www.unrefinedkitchen.com/2011/08/30/coconut-flour-zucchini-bread-with-crumble-topping/

You can sweeten this bread up even more by increasing the honey a bit in the bread or by adding more honey to the topping. We think it is sweet enough just like it is! Enjoy!

Coconut Flour Zucchini Bread (with Crumble Topping)

Topping Ingredients:
1/3 cup walnuts, chopped
3 Tbsp. sifted coconut flour
1 Tbsp. coconut oil
1 Tbsp. honey
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. salt

Bread Ingredients:
8 eggs
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup honey
3/4 cup grated zucchini
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup sifted coconut flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 Tbsp. cinnamon

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 
2. Mix topping ingredients together in a bowl with a fork until crumbly. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, applesauce and honey with electric mixer (or whisk well).
4. Mix in zucchini and vanilla.
5. In a separate bowl, mix coconut flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon together.
6. Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients and mix until there are no lumps.
7. Pour into greased loaf pan and sprinkle crumble mixture evenly on top.
8. Bake at 325 for 55-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

*Store in fridge.
*You can make this bread without the topping as well!

Weekend...some meats and some treats!

 Well...I cheated a bit this weekend. A viewing of the Hunger Games with a crew of teeny-boppers required a popcorn with EXTRA butter sort of indulgence. I don't feel too guilty as there really is zero dairy in theatre butter (I know this from working at a theatre as a teenager). Also, I shared! A lot. I have a personal belief that if you eliminate all that is joyful to eat in life, you are setting yourself up for failure. This journey is based on my attempt to eliminate gluten, dairy and now yeast from my life. Eliminating all things sinful would result in a dreadful existence. On the upside, what I am finding, are recipes for treats that perhaps don't have the perfect combination of flour, sugar and butter...but are still tasty enough to satisfy my sweet tooth. That is all I can hope for.

This weekend, I had a lot of left-overs from my amazing meals last week! As most of my family is NOT on board with me and my new found eating plan, I need to learn how to cut recipes in half. I have always thought more is better, but not when you're eating for 1 or 2. What I did make, was pretty great! I made some chocolate-coconut 'fudge'...every woman needs chocolate in her life once in a while...some of us more than once in a while ;)  Today I enjoyed in a lovely scrambled egg and sausage round breakfast, and a fantastic chicken Caesar salad for dinner (a small 'fail' on the barbeque chicken department by my husband. He added barbeque sauce to mine...thankfully, no wheat, gluten or dairy in the sauce).

I think we should start with the good stuff first!! Mmmmm....

Chocolate-coconut 'fudge'. This recipe (that I altered...I keep doing that!) called for 'coconut butter'...since I have absolutely no idea what that even means, here is what I came up with! It was pretty inexpensive ($1.49) but I used the entire package for my treats.

Melt the package of coconut butter (1 cup) (I put it in microwave for approximately 30 seconds and stirred to melt), mix with melted coconut butter with 1/4 cup Cocoa powder, 3-4 Tbsp maple syrup (pure, and yes...this is where I changed it up. The original recipe was just too dry without the added (1-2 Tbsp) maple syrup. 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp sea salt, 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut.

Place mixture in wax paper lined tupperware container (called for medium in the recipe...no idea what that means either so I chose a sandwich container). Press down. Cover and place in refrigerator. This recipe was originally derived from Make it Paleo...but I changed it...as per my usual!!

Chill for approximately 1 hour (or until firm) and slice! I made 16 small pieces. Yummy yum yum!

This mornings menu needed to include something other than granola and fruit (if you haven't been able to figure me out yet...I get bored. Easily and quickly!) so scrambled eggs and sausage rounds were on my plate and in my tummy:

Scrambled eggs (My recipe) : I whisked 2 eggs with approximately 1\4 cup of Almond milk and a crank or 2 of pepper. Cook on medium heat, plate! While you can create your own sausage from scratch...the sausage at the butcher doesn't often have a lot of fillers in it, saves time and is probably cheaper if you you're just looking for a quick breaky. Some of the 'name brands' contain fillers (aka: gluten and things you can't pronounce so shouldn't be inside of you (sort of like my theatre butter)). I quickly fried the sausage on it's own approx 1-2 minutes each side on medium heat.

For dinner, delicious Chicken Caesar salad! (Recipe is a classic and can be found in cookbooks or recipe cards in mama's cupboard all over the world)

While I LOVE croutons and bread and creamy salad dressing, those are off limits so I made good ol' fashioned dressing the way it was intended...minus the anchovies! (I don't mind them, just didn't have any in the cupboard).  Easy breezy to make: Mince or press 2 garlic cloves...3 if you're not looking to kiss anyone anytime soon, the juice squeezed out of 1 lemon, 1 egg yolk, 1 Tbsp dijon (I normally prefer the grainy kind, but we were out) and pepper (a couple of cranks from the pepper mill). Mix well, add about 1/2 cup of olive oil and EMULSIFY...if you are not familiar with that word, it means mix really, really, well so the dressing doesn't separate. Add anchovies if you want.  To make it the REAL way...use a wooden bowl and let the dressing sit at room temperature for a few hours (cover bowl with tea towel). This practice has been all but eliminated due to the possibility of salmonella poisoning. Basically, if the egg has it, you'll get it whether its straight out of the refrigerator or on the counter for a few hours. I'm still living and I was raised on the real deal.

NEXT: Barbeque (Canadian spelling, eh?!) your chicken breast (skinless/boneless)...I do NOT recommend you put sauce on the chicken, maybe just coat the bbq with olive oil if you're afraid the chicken will stick. We also fried up some bacon for 'bits' (in lieu of croutons)...a bit meaty, but such a great, healthy, filling meal!! I recommend it as a side (minus the meat), or as a main! Enjoy :)

Planning on a loaf of banana or zucchini 'bread' of some sort for tomorrows breakfast. This eating plan has become much easier and more enjoyable since I found recipes that aren't all eggs and coconut oil!! If I can do this, so my friends, can you :)

'Spaghetti' and Turkey-balls

So last night, I mad a delicious 'spaghetti' and turkey-ball meal. I made a basic marinara sauce (most are gluten and dairy free regardless so that was an easy task), and some healthy turkey-balls. You can use whatever meat you want for the recipe, all will work well :)  It took approximately 30 minutes to get everything prepared and ready, but it was worth it! I used spaghetti squash for my 'spaghetti' but a rice noodle would work just fine as well. In the meatball, I used almond flour to act as a binder along with the egg. It wasn't too dry and I am quite proud of my recipe. Looks great, tastes great thankyouverymuch ;)

The marinara sauce in full simmer 

turkey-balls in the oven...looking good!

Mmmmm...finished product. So worth the wait! 

Tara’s ‘Spaghetti’ and turkey-balls:

Meatballs:

1                            onion, finely chopped
1/1lb                      organic,  ground

1 tsp                      garlic powder
1 egg                     whisked

2 tbsp                    almond flour/meal (heaping!)

1 tsp each            Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, in a medium sized bowl, combine ingredients. Once combined, roll into 1 ½ inch balls. Place on parchment lined baking sheet. Place in oven 20-25 minutes or until cooked and browned. Turning once while cooking.

Marinara Sauce:

1                            onion, finely chopped

2 cloves                garlic, minced (or use a garlic press)

4                            white mushrooms, sliced

½                           red pepper, chopped

2 cans                   diced tomatoes

1 tbsp                   oregano, freshly chopped

2-3 tbsp                parsley, freshly chopped

Sea salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp                   Olive oil

Sautee onion, garlic and mushrooms, on low-medium heat, until onions are transparent. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil and then simmer on low with lid on pot for approximately 20 minutes. If too ‘watery’ reduce further, or drain some of the liquid out.  Add meatballs for a few minutes at the end.

‘Spaghetti’:

1                      spaghetti squash (halved, seeded and either boiled or baked until soft and           ‘noodles’ separate)

*you can also serve rice noodles in lieu of spaghetti squash*

This recipe is delicious and filling! Serves 4

Today and yesterday for the most part have been full of left-overs, granola cereal (with bananas) and some apples with almond butter and some carrot sticks for snacking. I think I shall attempt a babaganoush and some crackers (not my own recipe, unless I see a need to change something...which I likely will, cuz that's how I roll ;), some treats, because I CRAVE treats! and I'll see what else I might be feeling...if it's good, I will share it :)


I am officially down 4lbs in 7days, so not really a healthy loss. I will be keeping an eye on that in case it is something more serious than a diet change. I can't imagine that as I remain guilty of snacking on Cadbury mini eggs and the odd coffee with half hot chocolate. Don't get me wrong...I really want to lose the 20-30lbs that crept up on me, just in a moderate, healthy way :) Losing weight too quickly usually results in muscle loss and I don't want any part of THAT!


Enjoy the spaghetti...soooo delicious!