Veggie Pancakes OR Hamburger bun, What???

I am very excited to be testing out recipes in the new 21 Day Sugar Detox book.  You can join the health revolution and buy the book when it comes out Oct 29th, but until then I will share with you my results.  

I made sliders last night, one of my children's favorite meals.  It's probably because I make them homemade buns!  (That Recipe is here: http://naturallyhomemade.blogspot.com/2012/04/homemade-hamburger-buns.html?m=1)

For the meat I press 2 lbs of ground meat into a baking sheet (with sides), sprinkle garlic salt and onion powder.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.  Remove from oven and slice into squares.  

Well as the kid's rolls were rising I made the 21 Day Sugar Detox recipe for veggie pancakes for me which they recommend using as a bun.  I thought I'd try it.  I will admit I was a bit skeptical, but guess what???? I loved them!  You could use them as a crepe and fill them with anything really.  The possibilities are endless as well as the veggies you use to make them with.

Page 97 of the 21 Day Sugar Detox book

Ingredients:

Directions:

My version, (no modifications :) this is the mixture.....

I fried them in coconut oil....

My sliders with zucchini and carrot pancake-crepe-buns!  They were excellent :)-

Paleo Italian 3 Squash Casserole

I have been filling my freezer with as many healthy and quick meals as I can.  The other night I was tempted to eat the kids spaghetti noodles, but was able to resist by pulling out a two serving bag of chicken chili instead!  Worked like a charm.  This morning I got up and started making the kids breakfast.  I decided if I was going to be stuck at the stove cooking anyway, I should whip out a freezer meal too.  I love multitasking.  The result of my 'impromptu' recipe was wonderful.  I put 2 small casseroles In the fridge and ate a plate of the leftovers for breakfast too!

Here's what I did:

Brown 1/2 lb. Italian sausage

Chop one onion, small eggplant, yellow squash, zucchini and slice 1/2 cup cabbage.  Add to skillet and sauté.  Add 2-3 cups spaghetti sauce (I use marinara, because it is all I can find without added sugar and I love the taste).  Add 1-2 cups of water and cover.  Simmer for 20 minutes.  

Prepare your pans for the freezer.  I use 2 bread loaf pans.  They are perfect for two one serving meals.  Take aluminum foil and line the pans, with extra foil peaking out to cover the top when you close it.  Cross-cross the foil.  

Spoon the casserole mixture into the pans.  Let cool.  

Top with mozzarella cheese.  Cover with foil tabs and freeze in your freezer.  

After they are frozen, remove from freezer, and loaf pans.  Slip each foil packet casserole into a freezer storage bag and be sure to label it so you won't be playing a mystery meal game a few weeks from now!  Put back into the freezer.

When you are ready to eat it, remove from freezer, pop back into the loaf pan you made your mold from, and bake at 375 until bubbly.  Cook times will vary depending on much you fill your pan and if you cook from frozen or thawed.  Enjoy, you are planning ahead for your success!

2 course Fondue: low carb dinner/dessert

It was my husband's birthday last week and I surprised him with an overnight at our favorite B & B, the 'Lazy Cloud'. (If you go please use our name for the referral so we can earn a free nights stay ;). Anyway, I was a little nervous about what we were going to eat to stay on our low carb, no sugar, gluten diet. Not to mention there is only a mini fridge and microwave in the suite. As I was thinking about it it came to me that I could make fondue, which is also terribly romantic, and stay on the all natural and non processed food path! Here's what I did:

First, I oven baked a large sirloin steak wrapped in foil and seasoned with our usual garlic salt and Cajun spices until cooked to med-rare. I removed it and sliced into chunks when cooled. I stored it in a microwave safe container with lid.

Next I made a large bar of my all natural and sugar free chocolate by melting 1/2 cup coconut oil and 1 Tbsp butter. Then whisking in 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 2 Tbsp honey, 1 tbsp half n half, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, vanilla and orange extract.
I poured it into a waxed paper lined dish and put it into the fridge to harden. I removed it when hardened and broke it into fourths, stored in a gallon Ziplock bag.

Finally I steamed broccoli for 5 minutes in my steamer, it was a little on the raw side but I knew we would be heating it up in the microwave and didn't want to over cook it. I also cut up all my red peppers.

I packed the rest of the ingredients into a cooler bag along with my sterno and fondue pot and off we went. When we were ready to eat I lit the sterno and started melting 2 cups of shredded Colby jack cheese, 1/4 cup half n half, 1 Tbsp butter, 2 slices Swiss cheese and 1/4 really good winter ale beer :). While the cheese was melting we warmed up the meat and broccoli. It took about 10 minutes altogether and we were ready to eat. It was so good! We filled up pretty fast, so we decided to save the chocolate fondue and fruit for breakfast. Have I ever mentioned how much I love chocolate for breakfast before????

In the morning while my coffee was brewing in the coffee pot we melted 1/2 of the homemade chocolate bar in the fondue pot over a candle. The sterno seemed to hot and I didn't want to scorch it. When the chocolate was ready we pushed the cinnamon rolls and muffins the B & B provide out of our way and started dipping! It was way better (I had one bite of a cinnamon roll ;).

I wasn't sure if this experience was blog material or not, but I hope I've encouraged you to think outside the box! We thought the meal was perfect and saved the normal $100 we would spent eating out. More importantly we saved precious alone time by not eating out in public. Alone time is what the whole B &B was about, after all!

Oh yeah, and as a thank you to the kids for letting us get away we gave them the rest of the chocolate and fruit when we got home.

Strawberry Balsamic Vinegrette

One if the things I really seem to miss since I've been a 'clean' eater is salad dressing. It is hard to enjoy my salads plain, and harder to find sugar free or unprocessed dressings. We tried this last night and it was pretty good! I will be experimenting with raspberries and blueberries in the future!

1/2 cup strawberries, puréed
1 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp raw honey
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

Pour all ingredients in a canning jar, seal lid and shake. I let mine sit for at least an hour to release all the flavors.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Banana Chocolate Vegan Cookies

Today I decided to try a sugar, wheat, and egg free cookie. What!?!?! Is that even possible....yeah and just because I can, I dipped them in chocolate :). Notice the picture at the end: the twins little hands kept grabbing more as I tried taking the picture. When I go near the fridge I hear "Please! Please! Please!" Like mini seagulls at the beach begging for bread! I think they were worth the effort :)

Cookie Ingredients:
2 mashed bananas
1 cup whole rolled oats
1/2 cup ground milled flax seed
1/3 cup natural peanut butter

Blend the ingredients and spoon onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool in the fridge. I sliced mine in half so they would be small enough to pop into your mouth after coated in chocolate.

Chocolate coating:

1/2 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 Tbsp honey
Dash cinnamon

Melt oil, stir in rest if ingredients, dip cookie balls into chocolate and sit on waxed paper. Place in fridge to harden and store in container in fridge.

Chocolate dipped Strawberries

Okay, here is yet again the same basic chocolate recipe used in another way. I have started thinking of chocolate as my favorite accessory for food :). It has a million uses and goes with just about anything, kind of like your favorite pair of shoes.

Ingredients:

1 carton fresh strawberries
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
Dash salt
1 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp vanilla

Melt the coconut oil. Whisk in cocoa powder, salt, honey and vanilla. Dip strawberries one at a time and set into a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper. Put into fridge to harden for an hour. Enjoy!

Homemade Orange Chocolates

Okay, I know this is just another variation of the same recipe, but it is sooooo good! The smell alone is worth a blogpost! I can't stop thinking up combinations, like raspberry-lemon or peanut butter-banana. So, I'd be lying if I said this was the last post on homemade chocolates your going to see from me ;)

Ingredients:

1 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp half n half
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp orange extract
1 Tbsp raw honey
The zest of 1 small orange
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup slivered almonds

Melt the oil and butter. Whisk in the honey, cream, cocoa, vanilla and pure orange extract. Pour into a pie plate lined with waxed paper. Sprinkle on the orange zest, cranberries and almonds. Place in the fridge to harden for at least one hour. Remove waxed paper from the pan and slice chocolates with a pizza cutter. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Noodle-less Lasagna

Ditching the wheat noodles has proved to be pretty easy. I didn't even have to give up lasagna, yay!

'Noodles'

3 med- large zucchini cut into strips

Cheese filling:

1/2 cup fresh chopped spinach
1 regular container cottage cheese
1 regular container ricotta cheese
2 eggs

Sauce:

1 lb ground beef
1 jar sugar free spaghetti sauce
1 diced onion
1 small jar tomato paste

Directions:

Slice the zucchini into strips and set on paper towels to dry out for a few hours. I sliced mine and went to church. By the time I came home, took a nap and felt like cooking they were prefect.

Mix the cheese filling ingredients into a bowl, set aside.

Brown the ground beef, drain. Add onion and sauté for a few minutes. Add sauce and tomato paste. Mix well.

Layer your ingredients as normal for a lasagna. Top with mozzarella cheese and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Blue cheese T-bones and balsamic brussel sprouts

Well it's been 27 days past the 21 day detox and I'm still going strong! I love eating this way, and as the one or two cookies I've cheated with have reminded me, I feel so much better too! Here was a very yummy dinner we had a few nights ago, and brussel sprouts are my favorite treat lately!

Balsamic brussel sprouts:

Wash and slice off the bottoms of your baby cabbages. Sauté them in olive oil and garlic salt for 5 minutes per side. ( I find that if you slice them in half too they cook better all the way through. ) Pour some balsamic vinegar over the caramelized brussel sprouts and sauté for a few more minutes. Serve warm.

Swedish pancakes- gluten and sugar free

We love Swedish pancakes. It is a family tradition that my husband makes on the weekends for the kids. We haven't had them in a while and now that we are trying to eliminate wheat and sugar from our diets I decided to tackle this recipe next. Here is what I did:

Ingredients:

8 eggs
1/3 cup half n half
1tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup almonds

Toppings: fresh fruit, honey, fruit preserves, or peanut butter.

I put the almonds into my coffee grinder and chopped them as fine as possible. Then, blend everything on a blender. Pour into a frying pan and make as normal. Spread topping on and roll.

I think next time I will add a little bit of applesauce to them. I know you can buy gluten free flours, but I haven't gotten to that yet. I'm sure they would work just fine as well.

Tex Mex hamburger stir fry

Ummm, well I was short on time, ingredients and imagination.....the result was a hit with the hubby! I ate mine over lettuce, he covered his with cheese. Pretty simple and tasty. Don't be afraid to experiment. :)

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 med onion chopped
1 large green pepper
1 large red pepper
1 large yellow pepper
1 can chili beans
1 can tomatoes with chilies
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp minced onion

Brown the ground beef and drain. Add the sliced veggies and sauté. Drain the tomatoes and add with the beans to the pan. Mix in the spices and serve over lettuce with cheese. Enjoy!

Spaghetti Squash and Sausage

It took a year, but I finally got (almost) everyone to admit that spaghetti squash is good! Proving the simple truth that if you put sausage in anything my husband will like it. I personally love spaghetti squash. I think it is one of those amazing foods that show the creativity of our Creator! Here is how I make it for the less adventurous in our family.

1 lb. sausage
1 small diced onion
1 jar sugar free spaghetti sauce (or homemade)
1 small can stewed tomatoes
1 large spaghetti squash
1/2 cup shredded cheese

Split the squash. I microwave mine for 5-8 minutes to soften the skin before cutting. Cook the squash. You can cook it in the oven at 350 for 35 minutes or steam them in a steamer for 25 minutes. Scoop out the squash and put in a casserole dish.

Sauté sausage and onions in pan, drain. Add sauce and tomatoes. Pour over the squash and top with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Serve warm.

Easy Beef stew

We love beef stew in our family. This recipe is so simple and without potatoes, it fits the 21 day sugar detox guidelines.

Ingredients:
2 lbs. stew meat
1 large onion
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
8 cups beef stock
1/2 tsp. garlic salt and onion powder
2 cups stewed tomatoes (or 1 can)
1 bag frozen peas
1/2 bag frozen green beans

Sauté the stew meat in olive oil. Add onion, carrots, and celery and cook until tender. Add tomatoes and broth and simmer for 1 hour or more. Add frozen vegetables 30 minutes before serving.

Balsamic Barbecue Chicken -sugar free

One of the things I notice about doing the sugar/gluten detox over the 21 days is you miss yummy sauces like barbecue on your chicken. I started looking for an alternative and came up with a very tasty and healthy version. My crock pot is broken at the moment so I slow cooked this in the oven in a covered roasting pan. I used fresh pineapple in the sauce and had everyone licking their lips asking for more. We will be making this again soon I'm sure!

Ingredients:

1 cup stewed tomatoes
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp honey
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 fresh pineapple

Chicken breasts
Provolone cheese

Mix all the sauce ingredients in a blender until smooth. Cook in a sauce pan for 10 minutes. Pour over chicken breasts and bake at 300 degrees for 4 hrs or in a crock pot. Baste with the sauce over the chicken several times while baking. Top with Provolone cheese and broil for 5 minutes and just before serving.