Butternut, Quinoa, and Chicken Stew....mmmmm :)

I wish I could post a picture of this, but I haven't made it yet. I will post as soon as I make it tonight! I got it fro a great sight (melskitchencafe.com). It's bound to be amazing. *Serves 6 INGREDIENTS: 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped 1 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 4 cloves garlic, finely minced 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or chicken breasts 1 can (14-oz) petite or regular diced tomatoes 3 cups chopped butternut squash (about 1 medium squash, peeled and seeded) 2/3 cup uncooked quinoa 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1-2 cups chopped fresh spinach DIRECTIONS: In a large 4 quart pot heat the olive oil until hot. Add the chopped onions, oregano, and garlic. Saute for 5-7 minutes, stirring often, until the onion is softened. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Add the chicken and boil until the chicken is cooked, 7-9 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate. Add the tomatoes, butternut squash, and quinoa. Simmer for 15 minutes until the squash is tender and quinoa is cooked. If desired, scoop out some of the squash, mash it and return it to the pot. Shred the cooked chicken and return to the pot. Add the salt and pepper, adding more salt to taste, if needed. Stir in the spinach. Cook 1-2 minutes until the spinach is wilted. Serve warm.

It's Squash Time!

I absolutely love this time of year. Harvest time :) When all the different delicious squashes come on.  My favorite I must admit is butternut squash.  So many different types of dishes you can do with this. So I decided to look up a squash recipe and found this one and made a few tweaks here and there to make it a little more healthy.

Prep Time: 15 minutes 

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 large butternut squash (about 4 1/2 lbs.) or 4 lbs. peeled and cubed butternut squash
• 1 medium onions
• 3 apples peeled, cored and chopped
• 3 cloves garlic (optional)
• 3 Tbsp. butter or coconut oil
• 1/2 tsp. salt plus more to taste
• 8 cups chicken or vegetable broth

Preparation:

1. Halve, seed, and peel the squash.  Put in large pot of boiling water and boil until soft (about 30 minutes).  Drain water once cooked and add the chicken broth
2. Halve, peel, and chop the onion and the apple. Mince the garlic, if you like.
3. Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the butter or oil and the chopped onion. Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp. salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft, about 3 minutes.
4. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
5. Add the onion garlic apple mixture into the pot with squash and the broth. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to a simmer for a few minutes.
6. Transfer small batches to a blender. Hold a kitchen towel over the top (to prevent burns) and whirl until completely and utterly smooth, 2 to 3 minutes per batch.
7. Return the soup to the pot and add more salt to taste.

Makes 4 to 6 servings Perfect Butternut Squash Soup.

I added a little side to go with the soup

Caramel Apple Sauce 

(to drizzle on top of soup) (the more you add the sweeter the soup tastes)

-2 Tbsp Coconut oil

-1/3 cup pure maple syrup

-2 apples peeled, cored, and chopped

Directions

In vitamix or food processor blend up apples and maple syrup.  Heat coconut oil in pan and add maple apple mixture.  Let reduce about 10 minutes.  Drizzle on top of soup for a sweet punch!

Nikki's Healthy Cookies

Look in your fruit bowl and if you are anything like me, there are almost certainly 3 browning bananas in there just waiting to be made into banana bread.  Skip the banana bread this time and try these impossibly healthy, but delicious cookies.  I was honestly shocked at how good they tasted after I looked at the ingredients.  My girls and even the neighbour kids gobbled them up, not once asking if they were healthy (which they ask often with upturned noses after I try to produce a healthier cookie).  I found them on one of my favorite food blogs www.101cookbooks.com.  Heidi is the author and she does amazing things with whole foods.  You can check it out to see her amazing photography of these cookies, or you can be lazy and settle with my sub-par pictures.

Nikki's Healthy Cookie Recipe

You can use unsweetened carob, or grain sweetened chocolate chips, or do what I did and chop up 2/3 of a bar of Scharffen berger 70%. I sort-of shaved half the bar with a knife and then cut the rest into bigger chip-sized chunks. You can make your own almond meal by pulsing almonds in a food processor until it is the texture of sand - don't go too far or you'll end up with almond butter. And lastly, the coconut oil works beautifully here, just be sure to warm it a bit - enough that it is no longer solid, which makes it easier to incorporate into the bananas. If you have gluten allergies, seek out GF oats.

3 large, ripe bananas, well mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut oil, barely warm - so it isn't solid (or alternately, olive oil)
2 cups rolled oats
2/3 cup almond meal
1/3 cup coconut, finely shredded & unsweetened
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 - 7 ounces chocolate chips or dark chocolate bar chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, racks in the top third.

In a large bowl combine the bananas, vanilla extract, and coconut oil. Set aside. In another bowl whisk together the oats, almond meal, shredded coconut, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks/chips.The dough is a bit looser than a standard cookie dough, don't worry about it. Drop dollops of the dough, each about 2 teaspoons in size, an inch apart, onto a parchment (or Silpat) lined baking sheet. Bake for 12 - 14 minutes. I baked these as long as possible without burning the bottoms and they were perfect - just shy of 15 minutes seems to be about right in my oven.

Makes about 3 dozen bite-sized cookies.

Transorming Your Children from Haters into Lovers... of Good Food That Is!

 Children and sweets go hand in hand.  If I offered my children sweets for every meal, they would think they had died and gone to heaven.  Let's face it, enjoying the healthier food is an acquired taste for most people.  Eating healthy and making smart choices when it comes to food is something that I feel we should start with the younger generation.  What can we do to help children not only tolerate, but enjoy healthy foods and make the smart choices for themselves?

For the next few weeks we are going to share recipes and tips on what has worked thus far with educating our children about food and a healthy lifestyle.  Hopefully we will get to the point where they are handing over the candy and asking for an apple instead :)

Benefits of Cocoa Powder

I was reading the befits of unsweetened cocoa powder here are some that stuck out to me. 

-Protection from colon cancer

-Improved  insulin sensitivity

-Improved cognitive functions

-Has loads of antioxidants and phytocemichals

-Has disease fighting flavonoids (act as antioxidants and reduce the presence of free radicals)

-Supports immune and cardiovascular 

-Improves ones mood, aids with depression 

-Aids in Blood Flow (which in turn creates a sense of calm, improves complexion by keeping skin hydrated and healthy)

-May help prevent heart disease, stroke, and cancer

-Lowers blood pressure

-Reduces cholesterol

Wowsers! I had no idea that unsweetened cocoa powder has all these benefits.  When i think of cocoa powder I think of chocolate, which i associate with sugar and unhealthy.

I got this recipe from chocolate covered katie's blog for dark chocolate with no sugar.  It only has 3 ingredients.  Unsweetned cocoa powder, coconut oil, and agave (or stevia)

Totally satisfies my sweet tooth and chocolate cravings and after learning about the benefits of the cocoa powder and coconut oil, I feel like I"m doing my body good and eating chocolate at the same time.....:) no complaints here!

yummmm

• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 4 tablespoons unrefined coconut oil (melted)
• 1/4 cup agave or use NuNatural vanilla stevia drops (I use 10 drops. Triple or quadruple that amount if you don’t like extra-bitter chocolate. The stevia version is more snap-able, and I’d recommend NuNaturals because I find other brands to have an aftertaste. Some commenters have said honey will work, but I haven’t tried it.)
• optional: extracts, cocoa nibs, or other add-ins

I bought these ice cube trays from Ikea   They have others that would work as well. Henry loves them, however Max hasn't come around to them yet.  

mmmmmm....Candy Shop!!!

I found this really cool website with gum, mints, candy, chocolate etc made with xylitol instead of sugar.  Obviously it's a little more expensive then normal candy.  But I'm serious about making the change of limiting sugar big time in my house.  My boys are very keen on treats and being rewarded that way, so I'm going to buy some gum and lollipops from this website so I can have those on hand as a bridge for the transition of much healthier eating for my kids.  Anyways I thought you would like it, check it out.

https://www.drjohns.com/candystore/c-1-simplyxylitol-candies-drink-mixes-chocolates-sweetener-more.aspx?pagenum=2

http://diabeticfriendly.com/xylitol-candy-sugarless-sugarfree.html

Listen up Sisters!

I was doing some research on the bad effects of sugar (especially processed sugar) and healthy subsitutes. I have used agave and stevia as the major ones but I had never heard of xylitol..... I'll copy and paste the section of the article that talks about it.  Give it a read! 

The best one to use is Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) from the Asteraceae family, which was rediscovered by Dr. M. S. Bertoni in 1888. Stevia is a herb that has been used as a sweetener in South America for hundreds of years. It is calorie-free, which means it has no effect on our bodies' production of insulin. Stevia, in its powdered concentrate, is 300 times sweeter than sugar, so only tiny amounts are needed for sweetening. Stevia is widely used all over the world. In Japan, for example, it claims 41% of the sweetener market, including sugar, and was used in Japanese Diet Coke until the company replaced it with aspartame (to "standardize" worldwide).

There have not been any reports of toxicity with stevia, which is consumed by millions of people daily. However, in the US, the FDA, and in Australia, the FSANZ, do not allow stevia to be used as a food additive. But in China, Japan, Taiwan and Korea, stevia is fully approved and has proven to be safe, with no toxicity reported from its use to date. In Australia stevia is sold as a supplement and it is readily available from various distributors. A wonderful article that puts the whole sugar industry in perspective is published by the Herb Research Foundation: Stevia Leaf - Too Good To Be Legal? by Rob McCaleb (http://www.dorway.com/stevia2.html) .

The only thing that deters people using stevia is that it can taste a little bitter in drinks and in some recipes, but this can be overcome by using another wonderful sweetener, called xylitol, in combination with stevia for ideal sugar replacement.

Xylitol is a natural substance found in fibrous vegetables and fruit, as well as in corn cobs and various hardwood trees, like birch. It is a natural, intermediate product that regularly occurs in the glucose metabolism of humans and animals, as well as in the metabolism of several plants.

Xylitol is so natural that our bodies produce up to 15 grams of it daily during normal metabolism. Xylitol has been known to organic chemistry since the 1890's. Studies on both humans and rodents have shown that xylitol, when administered orally, is well tolerated and safe to levels of at least 40g per day (which equates to some 10-12 teaspoons of sugar) with no subjective or objective adverse findings. Importantly, much less insulin is released into the blood during xylitol administration than during glucose administration. This is obviously a very good thing for insulin-sensitive individuals or for anyone concerned with weight loss, as insulin (apart from driving the glucose into the cells) also tells the body to store even slight excess carbohydrates as fat, rather than to use them as energy.

Relatively high quantities of xylitol are found in plums, raspberries and cauliflower (0.3 to 0.9 g per 100 g dry matter; the quantities vary depending on plant varieties). Even though xylitol is derived from fruits and vegetables, it is not the same as fructose. Xylitol is a five-carbon sugar, which means that it is anti-microbial (prevents the growth of bacteria), whereas all other forms of sugar are six-carbon sugars, which cause bacterial and fungi overgrowth.

Xylitol looks, feels and tastes exactly like sugar - though that is where the similarity ends! While sugar wreaks havoc on the body, xylitol heals and repairs. It also builds immunity.

There are many benefits of using xylitol as a sugar substitute:

* Glycemic index of 7 (sucrose is 60)

* Minimal effect on blood sugar and insulin levels

* Inhibits yeast, including Candida Albicans (It actually helps fight candida)

* Inhibits plaque and dental cavities by 80% (Dentists use it and recommend xylitol toothpaste)

* Retards demineralization, and promotes re-mineralization, of tooth enamel

Based on scientific and public health evaluations, xylitol has been approved in virtually all industrialized countries to be used in oral hygiene products and in other products to promote oral health.

In its crystalline form, it can replace sugar in cooking, baking, and as a sweetener for beverages. Xylitol is used in chewing gum, mints and hygiene products, such as nasal and mouth washes, because it inhibits bacteria. Unlike many artificial sweeteners, it leaves no unpleasant aftertaste.
Xylitol is formally approved in over 50 countries worldwide. Xylitol has no known toxic levels (Except that quantities over 90 gm/day may have a laxative effect).

The amount tolerated varies with individual susceptibility and body weight. Most adults can tolerate at least 40 gm/day. The only problem with xylitol is that it costs more than sugar, however, if we combine it with stevia in the ratio of 12:1 (12 parts of xylitol to 1 part of stevia), it becomes more cost effective and is a healthy way to sweeten our taste buds and satisfy our brain! Imagine eating cakes and chocolates that not only taste good but are also good for our teeth? You can literally have your cake and enjoy it without the guilt or empty detrimental sugar calories!

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/022692_sugar_xylitol_stevia.html#ixzz27nJFAHQj

I think I"ll give it a try and let you know where you can find it and how it worked for me :)

Healthy Gluten Free Pancakes

(picture to come later)

-1 cup oat flower (I used my vitamix to blend the oats into flour)

-1/2 cup spelt flour

-1/4 cup raw shredded coconut

-1/4 cup flax seed

-1 cup finely shredded zucchini (I peel the zucchini before so my kids don't see the green flecks in     them)

-1/4 cup agave or stevia

-1/2 teaspoon salt

-1 teaspoon vanilla

-1 tablespoon olive oil

-1 egg

-1 to 2 cups of almond milk depending on how thin or thick you like your pancakes ( you can use normal milk, or soy milk etc)

There are a few ways you can do this, I have a vita mix, here is the link, (https://secure.vitamix.com/5200-Getting-Started.aspx) and I am in love with it. I use it multiple times a day and have grown to depend on it. Anyways, how I do it with my vitamix is to combine the oats, spelt flour, coconut, and flax seed in and blend all of them together until it makes a fine powder (about 20 seconds) Then add everything else and pulverize it into a beautiful creamy liquid.  Pour it onto a hot pan and let cook on each side how you would normally cook pancakes.  

If you don't have a vitamix or a very strong blender, don't be dismayed, there are other ways to do this. You do need some type of small blender however to blend up the oats and flax seed into a powder. So do this, then combine everything else in a large bowl, and mix by hand or with hand mixer) 

****Most importantly**** to top off this recipe I use PURE maple syrup (I get mine from Costco) instead of the other stuff they call syrup that has been jammed with as much sugar as legally possible (although it shouldn't be legal). 

Extra side story.......

I have to say I was so proud when the other day my boys grandpa made "normal" Bisquick pancakes for them, and they were so used to eating my pancakes that they wouldn't eat the Bisquick ones because they didn't liked them! I was so proud in that moment :) and felt like all my hard work of changing the way we eat started to pay off.

Welcome Welcome!

Alright Marcie and Shelley. It is done. I gave myself a pat on the back. We can certainly spice it up later on. Right now, I am just figuring things out again, as far as how to run a blog goes. But hooray! If you have any ideas let me know, until than I will be working, as I can, on making it look decent. Love you all!