The other day, I took my boys to the County Fair. While we were there, especially as the day got warmer, we saw lots of people drinking slushies. My boys were fascinated by these bright-colored beverages. I didn’t want to buy a fair slushie drink. The day-glow colors told me that they were full of artificial colors, and they were likely loaded with corn syrup too (which would make my little guys break out in a serious rash).… Continue reading
paleo
Meal-in-a-Glass Smoothie
What do you do when it’s so hot outside that you child declares he’ll only eat a smoothie for lunch? Make sure that smoothie is a nutritious meal in and of itself. To make this smoothie, I combined lots of greens – kale, spinach, and spirulina powder, generous amounts of healthy fats and protein – coconut and cashew butters, frozen bananas to give it some sweetness and to make it nice and cold, as well as some cacao powder to make it all taste yummy (in addition to cacao’s wonderful nutritional benefits).… Continue reading
Fruit-Sweetened Double Chocolate Cookies
When my 6-year-old asked if we could make a batch of cookies for when our friends came over to visit, it seemed like the perfect time to try this fruit-sweetened cookie recipe. I came across this recipe on Real Healthy Recipes, and loved that the primary sweetener was dates (in addition to the minimal amount of sugar in the dark chocolate chips). … Continue reading
Honey Mustard Chicken Wings
My 6-year-old loves chicken wings. He asks me to make them constantly. For a long time I had a difficult time finding organic chicken wings, although recently I’ve seen them more often (now if only I could get my local store to carry organic chicken feet…). This week we found the wings, so I agreed to make a batch.
We frequently eat our chicken wings brined or with BBQ sauce, but I this time I decided to try something different and make a honey mustard glaze.… Continue reading
Homemade Fruit-Sweetened Eggnog
The other day I got the craving for eggnog. I know, eggnog is typically considered a holiday treat, and right now in the heat of August, we’re a long time away from the winter holidays. That said, the characters in a book we read were drinking eggnog, and suddenly I couldn’t get the desire out of my head. There’s no way I am going to find commercially available eggnog at this time of year, and even if I could the stuff they sell in the market is typically extremely high in sugar.… Continue reading
Guacamole Mushroom Burgers
We love to grill year round, but especially in the summertime when it keeps some of the heat of cooking out of our house. Hamburgers are an American summer grilling staple. Since we eat our hamburgers bun free (I haven’t yet experimented with grain-free hamburger buns), I often make great toppings to go on top of them.
One of our favorite ways to eat burgers is to top them with homemade guacamole and sautéed mushrooms.… Continue reading
Fruit-Sweetened Chocolate Milkshake
The other day, a friend sent me a picture of a milkshake, reminiscing about all of the milkshakes we drank in college (yeah, they were pretty much a food group in our apartment). So when my boys were looking for a treat on a hot summer afternoon, I decided to make us some milkshakes of our own.
I wanted to make something healthier than the sugar-filled milkshakes that powered me through late nights of studying during my undergrad years, so instead of using ice cream as the cold part of this recipe, I used frozen bananas.… Continue reading
Fruit-Sweetened Tropical Temptation Ice Cream
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
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