Our New Favorite Breakfast Drink

When Greg and I were following a low lectin, keto food plan, we had a morning drink, made with lots of raw greens. I'm a bit cautious about consistently consuming too many raw greens that are high in oxalates. So, we came up with this, and I feel like I've taken a "happy pill" after drinking it!

What you need:
1/4 to 1/3 head of celery, finely chopped
1/4 to 1/2 turnip or rutabaga, peeled
Large chunk of daikon radish, peeled
4 to 6 mushrooms
Handful of cilantro
Chunk of turmeric, peeled
Chunk of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
Pith, peel and juice of one lemon
Juice of one more lemon
High quality sea salt
Pepper
Filtered water

What you do:
Put all ingredients in VitaMix
Add the filtered water to almost the top of the VitaMix
Blend well (I scoop off the foam after blending)
Enjoy!

This makes enough for 4 to 6 12oz. servings.
I have refrigerated any leftovers for up to 24 hours.
If this is all I'm having for breakfast, I will add 1/4 to 1/2 avocado to my portion and blend.

Fritatta

My sweet baby sister, Debbi, is an amazing cook! We were heading to a dear friend's daughter's wedding, and Debbi wanted to bring a frittata for the family. We didn't head to the store. We just combined what we already had. One bridesmaid commented that it was the best frittata she had ever tasted!

What you need:
 3 sweet potatoes or russet potatoes, cleaned and thinly sliced
 Butter
 1 pound bacon, chopped
 1 diced onion
 8 ounces chopped mushrooms
 8 ounces chopped spinach
 4 finely chopped garlic cloves
 8 ounces grated cheese
 12 pastured eggs
 1/2 cup whipping cream
 Salt and pepper to taste

What you do:
 Heat oven to 350º
 While oven is heating, place large slab of butter in 9" X 13" baking glass and melt in oven
 Once butter is melted, remove baking dish and layer potatoes on bottom of dish
 Put baking dish back in oven and bake until potatoes are tender to touch with fork, about 10-15 mins.
 While potatoes are cooking, put bacon in large pot and cook on medium heat
 Once bacon is almost cooked crisply, add onions and mushrooms
 When onions and mushrooms are tender, add spinach and garlic
 In large bowl beat the eggs and add cream, salt (about 2 tsp.) and pepper
 Spoon out bacon/spinach/mushrooms over the potatoes
 Sprinkle grated cheese on top
 Pour egg/cream mixture over everything
 Place in pre-heated oven and check at 30 minutes
 Cool, slice and serve with a dollop of creme fraiche (sour cream), sliced avocado and a scoop of salsa
 Enjoy hot or cold!

I wrap leftovers in parchment paper (individual servings), then in plastic bags and store in the freezer. Then I heat up just what we need for a meal in our toaster oven. Quick, nutrient-rich, yummy meal!

Energy Bars

My daughter, Ali, is the master at creating tasty, nutritious energy balls. She won't give away her recipe (because she doesn't have one), so I experimented to come up with my own!


What you need:
1 cup coconut oil
2 cups properly prepared nuts (almonds, walnuts, cashews, macadamia nuts)
6-8 pitted dates
1 cup sprouted sunflower seeds
1 cup sprouted pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup chia seed
1 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup raw cacao powder
1/4 cup cacao nibs
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. vanilla
Maple syrup or raw honey to taste (very little, about 1-2 Tbs.)
Celtic sea salt to taste

What you do:
Melt coconut oil (I melt it in a glass Pyrex measuring cup, placed in a pan with about an inch of water so the oil does not get hot)
Place melted coconut oil, nuts and dates in Vita-Mix and blend
Pour this mixture into large bowl
Add the remaining ingredients and mix together with large spoon
Adjust syrup and salt to taste (not too sweet)
Spread mixture out on parchment lined baking sheet
Put this in the refrigerator until set
Slice into desired bar size
Enjoy!


Properly prepared nuts: the WHYS and HOWS

Blueberry Almond Bread

This recipe is an adaptation of Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride's grain free bread recipe found in her book, Put Your Heart in Your Mouth. Ali came up with the idea of cooking our bread without raw honey in it, as heat destroys some of the nutrients. We add the honey and cultured butter after the bread is baked!


What you need:
 3 eggs
 2 1/2 cups almond meal
 1 tsp. sea salt
 1 tsp. baking soda
 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
 1/2 cup apple sauce
 zest of 1 lemon
 juice of 1 lemon
 1 tsp. vanilla
 4 oz. blueberries

Equipment:
 Mixing bowl
 9" X 5" glass loaf pan

What you do:
 Preheat oven to 300º
 Melt small amount of butter, ghee or coconut oil in loaf pan
 Beat eggs
 Mix in almond meal, salt and baking soda
 Mix in melted coconut oil
 Mix in apple sauce, lemon zest and juice, vanilla
 Mix in blueberries
 Bake for 50 minutes and check for doneness. May be quite jiggly in middle, but will firm up
 Serve with lots of butter and raw honey or homemade cream cheese/honey spread (recipe coming   soon)
 Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Pancakes

I created this pancake recipe with my nephew, Brad, in mind. He is trying to stop eating gluten, and he needs to eat a lot of healthy proteins and fats because he is very active.


What you need:
 6 eggs
 1/2 cup coconut flour
 1/2 cup applesauce
 1/4 cup peanut butter or other nut butter
 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
 1/4 tsp. sea salt
 1/2 tsp. baking soda
 1 tsp. vanilla
 Butter
 Maple Syrup

Equipment:
 Vita-Mix
 Frying pan or pancake griddle

What you do:
 Blend first eight ingredients in Vita-Mix
 Heat butter on frying pan
 Add batter (smaller pancakes are much easier to turn)
 Flip when browned on one side
 Enjoy topped with butter and maple syrup!
 Makes about 16 pancakes


Benefits of consuming healthy fats:
Taking the Fear out of Eating Fats, by Lori Lipinski, Certified Nutritional Consultant
The Truth About Saturated Fats, by Mary Enig, PhD and Sally Fallon
What if Bad Fat is Actually Good for You?, by Nina Teicholz
Good Fats, Bad Fats, and Why I Eat Plenty of Butter, by Stephanie Langford


ps-Brad tested and approved!

Spicy Sausage

I love sausage with scrambled eggs, in soup, or just by itself. When we became more aware of the ingredients in the foods we were eating here in our home, I could not find sausage without sugar and added stuff. So, I experimented and came up with a "real food" version.


What you need:
 2 pounds ground beef
 2 tsp. ground sage
 2 tsp. ground garlic
 1-2 Tbs. crushed red pepper flakes
 2 Tbs. maple syrup (grade B)
 1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
 1/2 tsp. pepper
 Ghee

What you do:
 Mix all ingredients, except ghee, in large bowl
 Form into patties. (I usually get about 16 patties; two ounces per patty.)
 Heat ghee in large skillet and cook patties approximately 3 minutes per side. Do not overcook.
 Freeze left overs in freezer in glass containers.
 Enjoy!