Sweet Potato Cakes

Easy great recipe!  They make for great substitutes for breakfast with potato cakes or even dinner for something similar to tater tots. You only really need 4 things and very simple to make!

2 cups Grated Sweet Potato- This is the most time consuming part of it... maybe because I don't have the best grater. 
2 Eggs 
1 TBS Coconut Flour
1 TBS Coconut Oil
Sea Salt, Pepper
Optional: Add in any of your favorite spices (Rosemary or garlic would be good)

Mix all together and fry over medium heat in coconut oil.  I cooked each side for about 3 or so minutes.  I made 2 more crispy by leaving them on longer and liked those ones better.  Experiment and see what you like best!  They also would be good with some organic ketchup for breakfast :)

Recipe from: http://gabbysgfree.com/2013/03/paleo-shredded-sweet-potato-cakes/

Hot Chocolate!!

It's back to cool fall weather which means it's time for warm fuzzy drinks!  One of the classics and a personal favorite... Hot chocolate!! It's easy to make and you don't need the instant hot chocolate powder that is made up of all sorts of crazy unnatural things. Soooo here is a simple easy recipe! And super tasty too!

3 Cups (unsweetened) Almond Milk - my personal favorite is Whole Foods organic unsweetened almond milk. It seems much creamier and richer than all the other brands I have tried. They are usually available in 2 packs which saves a little money. 

2 TBS Cacao powder or Cocoa - the difference between the 2 is that cacao powder is considered raw- meaning it is subjected to low amounts of heat which do not alter the presence of antioxidants (aka cold pressed).  Cocoa on the other hand has been processed in heat.  Cacao is very high in antioxidants and is considered a 'super food' for this reason- why it is much more expensive.  Cocoa does not have as many antioxidants due to the heating process.  With this being said, you are heating up your hot chocolate so the cacao does not remain in its raw state.  So there really is no benefit to using the cacao over the cocoa in this recipe.  If you were making a cold drink or not heating or cooking with it, cacao would be a much better option.  For more info on cacao vs cocoa visit this link http://nourishmylife.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/raw-cacao-vs-cocoa/.

2 TBS Xylitol, Honey, or Pure 100% Maple Syrup (Aunt Jemima doesn't count)- I didn't have xylitol at home so I used maple syrup. For anyone using xylitol (people on Candida Clear or phase 1) it may need a little bit more.  Just do a little taste test to try it out first.

1/4 TBS of Cinnamon

 

 

Over medium heat mix the almond milk and cocoa/cacao powder. Let it heat up but not boil. I probably kept mine on the stove for 10 min total and stirred occasional. After it's nice and warm take it off the burner and let it sit. Add in your cinnamon and sweetener (xylitol, honey, or maple syrup) at this time and stir. The clumps of cocoa will continue to dissolve at this time. 

Let it sit for a couple minutes and stir occasionally. Then enjoy!! 

Pure deliciousness. 

Chicken, Spinach, Sweet Potoato... EASY and so Filling!! Great for Candida Clear!

This is a great recipe that made me very full quickly.  It is really easy to make but it takes around an hour to cook... so just be ready ahead of time. 

Recipe taken from Half Baked Harvest Blog with my modifications in italics.  Website below.

Healthy Chipotle Chicken Sweet Potato Skins

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 60 to 80 minutes

Total Time: 60 to 80 minutes

Serving Size: 6 as a side, 3 as a main

 

 

Ingredients

• 3 medium sweet potatoes
• 3/4 pound (about 2 small) boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1/4 cups olive oil
• 2 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
• 3 whole chipotle pepper, minced (I didn't have this... so I left it out and it still tasted great!)
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• Sea salt and pepper
• 2 cups spinach (half a 10oz bag)
• 5 ounces goat cheese
• chopped cilantro, for garnish (not completely necessary but it does make it taste great)
• Greek yogurt, for serving (also not necessary but great topping on it)

 

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Wash your sweet potatoes and prick all over with a fork. Cover the sweet potato with coconut oil (makes the outside nice and soft) and baking dish with coconut oil to prevent sticking.  Place in the oven and bake for 50-60 minutes or until fork tender. When the sweet potatoes are done cut in half and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes.
2. Place your chicken in a baking dish and rub with coconut oil, salt and pepper. Place in the oven with the potatoes and bake for 25 minutes. Allow to cool and shred the chicken with a fork or your hands.
3. In a medium size bowl combine the olive oil, lime juice, garlic, chipotle peppers, oregano, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. Set aside.
4. Heat a small skillet over medium heat and wilt the spinach.  Toss the spinach and shredded chicken together, set aside and keep warm.
5. When the sweet potatoes have cooled for about 5 minutes scrape the sweet potato out of the peel, leaving a medium size layer of flesh inside with the peel so that it can stand up on its own (I reserved the remaining flesh, for another use).  Place the sweet potato skin in a baking dish and brush the skins with a little of the chipotle sauce.  Bake for 5 minutes on 400 degrees.
6. While the skins bake mix the spinach, chicken and chipotle sauce together.
7. Remove skins from the oven and stuff with the chicken mixture, top with goat cheese and bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the skins are hot and crisp. Serve with fresh chopped cilantro and Greek yogurt if desired. (Put the plain Greek yogurt and cilantro or basil in the food processor to blend it well.  It makes an amazing topping for this as well as dip for avocado fries or topping for chicken or fish.)

Enjoy!!

 

 

 Without Goat Cheese

With Melted Goat Cheese 

 

 

 

 http://www.halfbakedharvest.com/healthy-chipotle-chicken-sweet-potato-skins/

 

Meal with Pot Roast Leftovers!

This idea and pictures were sent to me by someone doing Candida Clear (definitely not my man hands in the pic) back in my home town! Great idea.  Just take your leftover pot roast and make it into a nice lettuce wrap.  Add mustard (no sugar or high fructose corn syrup) like the picture and enjoy!! Other great toppings would be bean sprouts, goat cheese, green peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, or other sandwich toppings.  Be creative! And... thank you to the family for the great idea and pics!! :)

 

 

 

OH-IO! Go Buckeyes! :)

 

Homemade Noodles!! Only 4 Ingredients! Great for People on Candida Clear!

One of my patients on Monday gave me this great recipe for noodles.  It was a huge success!!  Many people miss pasta during the Candida Cleanse and those who battle candida in general.  I have to stay away from it because whenever I eat pasta I seem to bloat up and gain a few pounds... fun stuff.

There are only 4 ingredients in this pasta... which makes it so incredibly easy to make!  They are quinoa flour, water, olive oil and chia seeds (which can also be substituted for eggs but I used chia seeds since I had them).  I have had quinoa flour for a long time and used it only a few times.  I have never had much success with it because of the taste... seems pretty earthy... but with the pasta you don't notice it at all! I was so excited to have a recipe to use my quinoa flour!


Ingredients

2 cups of quinoa flour

2 tablespoons chia seeds with 6 tbsp hot water, soaked and stirred until a paste forms

2 teaspoons olive oil

1/2 cup warm water

Mix up ingredients until you get the dough.  I found it easier to mix with my hands.  It is a fairly dry dough so don't be alarmed. I put it in a gallon baggie and sealed it up for 20 minutes to let it set.  Online they said wrap it in plastic wrap for 20 minutes but the gallon baggie worked great.  Then I took it out and rolled on a cookie sheet and sliced up into thick noodles (the picture may not look pretty but they tasted great!).  I didn't have a pasta machine to make noodles so I sliced them myself.

Put them in boiling water for no more than 3 minutes.  Take out and drain water and enjoy!

Look at this blog (link below) for much prettier pictures and a better description.  It can also be made with an egg instead of the hot water and chia seeds but I just followed her recipe.  You can cut the noodles thin or thick or with a pasta slicer if you have it.  Possibly use these to make as lasagna too!

I also want to thank my patient who told me about this recipe!  I am sooo happy to share it with everyone :)

http://pinchofme.com/2013/01/23/quinoa-pasta/

 

Pic of noodles in the strainer

Breakfast 'Cereal'

I bought puffed millet about a month ago and have just been using it in my homemade chocolate (recipe in a previous post).  However just recently I have been eating it as cereal in the morning.  It is like a puffed rice crispy.  It's not crunchy when it gets wet, but I think it adds a great variety to the morning routine.  I had a large bowl of it with pecans, fresh raspberries and unsweetened almond milk.  It is not very filling by itself so adding nuts and some berries gives it more substance.  Try it and see if you like it!

I purchased mine in the health food section of Kroger... possibly by the cereal or healthy baking section.  (It's been awhile so I can't quite remember)

Brownie/Chocolate Cake with Almond Flour

Sorry its been awhile since I have last posted and put up a recipe.  Life has been busy needless to say and I haven't been trying out new recipes lately.. so I will get back in the swing of things.  (And it gives me ideas to post up stress releasing ideas and supplements... who wouldn't benefit from that.. right?!) Anyways a patient of mine sent this recipe to me awhile ago and I finally made it last night!  It was great! It gives you that chocolate and 'starchy' fix that many people crave.

Ingredients
2/3 cup xylitol or honey
1/2 cup melted butter coconut oil
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup cocoa (unsweetened)
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. sea salt

Mix ingredients all together and place on a greased 8x8 pan.  (I grease all my pans for baking with coconut oil.)  Bake on 350 degrees for about 20 to 25 min. 

The texture is closer to a dense cake than brownies I thought.... and the batter is delicious :).. that's my weakness. 

I hope you enjoy them like I did!  It would be great with raspberries on top :)



The recipe was modified from http://grainfreefoodie.blogspot.com/2012/01/almond-flour-brownies.html. 

Almond Butter Buckeyes!

Here is an easy dessert for you all to make.  It takes only a few ingredients and tastes similar to the dessert peanut butter Buckeyes (for you Tennesseeans that's what we call them in Ohio). These are the healthy version of Buckeyes... yay!!! All you need is almond butter, quinoa or puffed millet, and xylitol.  You can make your own chocolate to drizzle on top or just eat them plain. Either way they are pretty tasty!!

Mix 1 cup almond butter, 1 cup quinoa (or puffed millet... more info on this to come), and 1/4 cup xylitol. You could also probably add a dash of vanilla as well.  Mix ingredients together and roll into little balls.  Put in the freezer for 10 minutes or longer to make them harder.  You can eat the 'Buckeyes' as is or drizzle chocolate on top.  Enjoy!

(Not sure if the picture looks appetizing or does them justice. They taste much better than my pic looks!) 

Delicious Summer Time Dinner!

I was inspired to make this from one of those taste tests at Whole Foods... Refreshing Dinner!

Take cold (or you could do with warm) quinoa, cut up peppers, avocado, and cilantro. Mix it all together and then top with fresh lime juice.... So good! I am a huge fan of all of the ingredients and put them all together... Its perfect! (Esp on a warm day!) It also makes great left overs and an easy lunch for people on the go. 

Enjoy!!

Healthy Mashed 'Potatoes'

Well they may not be potatoes but they taste like it!  Just made these tonight and was very surprised at how much they tasted like mashed potatoes. I usually don't like raw cauliflower or even when it is steamed but for some reason I really liked this! (Great texture!)

All you need is one head of cauliflower, a little butter or coconut oil, and some sea salt and pepper.

Steam the cauliflower and after its cooked place in a food processor (or blender possibly) until it is blended and has a smooth texture. Then add a few tablespoons of butter and coconut oil as well as sea salt and pepper.  Chives would also be a great addition to this too! 

Enjoy and this is such an amazing and healthy substitute for mashed potatoes (plus it doesn't take long to cook)!

Hope you all have a great week :)