Another hot summer afternoon led us to again pull out our ice cream maker. This time, I wanted something fruity and tropical. So we pulled out a bunch of tropical, as well as some not-so-tropical, ingredients and whipped up this batch of cold, fruit-sweetened deliciousness. My 2-year-old asked for “More Yummy” when his ice cream was gone. That pretty much sums it up.… Continue reading
grain-free
Greek Chicken Bites
Light, easy-to-make chicken dishes are wonderful for the heat of summertime. Because this dish cooks on the stovetop instead of in the oven, it doesn’t add as much heat to the house. In this dish, you cut the chicken into small pieces before marinating, so the marinade really soaks through the entire piece of chicken. After cooking, you are left with a platter of moist, juicy, and delicious chicken bites.… Continue reading
Grain-Free Ginger Snap Cookies
We got together with some friends the other day who had ginger snaps that my boys couldn’t eat (they were standard ginger snaps made with wheat). So I promised my 6-year-old that we would make ginger snaps at home that he could enjoy. To make these cookies, I modified our favorite Grain-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe (recipe HERE). While my 6-year-old declared that these cookies would be better if they also had chocolate chips (he likes adding chocolate chips to pretty much every dessert), we all enjoyed them.… Continue reading
Quick Thai Green Curry Chicken
We all love Thai food in our house. Unfortunately, when you order it in a restaurant it typically contains soy sauce, which contains wheat, and in turn makes most of my family break out in a rash. So, when we get the craving for Thai, we make it ourselves. This recipe is one of our favorite fairly simple meals. To make it simple, I used a jar pre-made Thai curry paste.… Continue reading
All Natural Super Fruit Milk
The other day we were at story time at our local library and one of the kids had a sippy bottle full of strawberry milk. It had the distinctive bright pink color of the Strawberry Quik I drank as a child. I found myself surprised that stuff was still being sold (I thought it went the way of Tang – is that still around too?).… Continue reading
Healthy Snack: Cucumbers with Soft Goat Cheese (Chevre)
This week’s healthy snack of choice is Sliced Cucumbers with Soft Goat Cheese. The goat cheese is loaded with healthy fats, as well as giving a nice tangy taste and creamy feel to the snack (For information on the health benefits of goat cheese, please see HERE). The cucumber is crunchy, juicy, and wonderfully refreshing. Together, these make a great combination, and the rounds are simple and quick to prepare.… Continue reading
Greens Cake: A Mixed Greens Side Dish
We’ve been eating a lot of braised greens lately (Garlic Braised Greens (recipe HERE), Braised Greens with Cranberries (recipe HERE), Eggs over Braised Greens (recipe HERE), and so on). So I was looking for another way to prepare them to add a little bit of variety into our greens consumption. As I was thinking about this, I remembered seeing this recipe on Elana’s Pantry years ago.… Continue reading
Healthy Chocolate Nut Fudge Bars
I try to keep a supply of easy to grab healthy snacks in our refrigerator. We all, adults and kids included, do better when there’s something we like to eat that we can grab quickly when we need a snack. This week, I decided to make a chocolate variation on the Carob Fudge (recipe HERE) we often make. This version has a distinct dark chocolate flavor, but still contains a healthy assortment of raw nuts and seeds.… Continue reading
Fruit-Sweetened Banana Cardamom Ice Cream
Another hot afternoon means another round of ice cream at our house. We’re all enjoying having a cool, healthy treat on these hot summer afternoons. Today’s flavor of choice? Banana Cardamom. The bananas provide the sweetener, and the nut butter adds a richer mouth feel (as well as some healthy fats) that you wouldn’t otherwise get without adding cream. Here’s how I made it:
Banana Cardamom Ice Cream Recipe
2.5 cups Milk of choice (coconut milk works excellently for this, but dairy or almond milk would also work)
4 Bananas
½ cup Almond Butter (peanut butter would also work, but adds a distinctive peanut taste)
2 teaspoons ground vanilla beans (read about them HERE)
2 teaspoons ground Cardamom
¼ teaspoon Salt
Process Bananas and spices in a food processor or blender until thoroughly combined.… Continue reading
Sautéed Mushrooms
Mushrooms are a wonderfully healthy, earthy delight. They have complex flavors. They can be prepared to have a variety of textures. And they adapt well to a variety of dishes. One of our favorite ways to prepare mushrooms is actually one of the simplest: we sauté them in coconut oil and season them with salt and pepper. This simple preparation yields a delightful side dish that easily accompanies eggs, tops a burger, or graces a salad.… Continue reading