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Jan 27 2016 
Awesome Salmon Gluten-Free Dinner
Salmon Gluten-Free Dinner
I love have a gluten-free dinner that my whole family enjoys. I was the queen of white bread sandwiches with the crust cut off. Doritos. Candy. Fast food. Frozen dinners. All throughout my 20’s. As my husband started his health transformation, after our daughter was born, and I started seeing how much his nutrition made a difference, I really started finding new options. Finding staple gluten-free options is now a priority.
Now at 37, I don’t have time or the freedom to have my energy completely zapped from me with poor nutrition. I have fought the good fight to say bye-bye to fast food and that was a slow process! Our kids don’t even know what McDonald’s is. Extreme? Maybe, but we want them to have proper fuel just like we do. They ate this for dinner last night too! Meals like this used to be boring to me and now they are a blessing.
Salmon Gluten-Free Dinner Recipe
- Broiled wild salmon with Trader Joe’s garlic salt on it (7-10 minutes under a 500 degree broil).
- The topping is a recipe from ohsheglows.com
- One avocado
- 1/2 cup of cilantro
- 1-2 Tbsp lime juice
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1-2 Tbsp of water
- Food process until smooth!
So very delicious as a dip for anything! We steamed broccoli and there you have it. A wonderful, absolutely balanced gluten-free dinner that really keeps the body happy and healthy. Do not think that you aren’t making a difference when you put the right food in front of your family. Their bodies will love you for it! As the mother of the house, I really take pride in providing the best options possible, especially for my kids. So go make your gluten-free dinner and your family will love you for it!
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Jan 12 2016 
Protein Pancake Recipe! Gluten-Free of Course!
Protein Pancake Recipe
This protein pancake recipe is fantastic. It is absolutely perfect for a yummy weekend breakfast or perhaps a fun breakfast for dinner idea? A great way to get some protein with your carbs. These pancakes are packed with protein and will be perfect for getting the kiddos full with a healthy meal! Matt took the original recipe on the back of the pancake mix package and changed it up. He said it took him about 10 tries before he finally found the right measurements. We will have these any time! When you are gluten-free it is nice having something like this, because literally, they taste better than buttermilk pancakes. A lot of time they come as gluten-free lunch ideas! So don’t just think they are a breakfast specialty…they’re not.
Here’s chef Matt’s signature Protein Pancake Recipe:
- Heat pan to med-high with 1 Tbsp of avocado oil
- 1/4- 1/2 cup Pamela’s gluten-free pancake baking mix
- Match the amount of water to the amount of Pamela’s you used
- Wisk in 6-8 eggs
- Add 1-2 Tbsp of avocado oil.
Makes enough for our family of 4. The kids love them so it fills them up the whole morning. Perfect if you have a busy Saturday!! I love the fluffy egginess (is that a word;)?) Sometimes a protein pancake recipe comes from just experimenting!
Enjoy!
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Jan 10 2016 
Healthy Pesto Recipe – Beyond Delicious!
?Healthy Pesto Recipe?
Our families favorite meal! This healthy pesto recipe is the best meal. If you want something clean and fancy for dinner this weekend, you’ll love this! It is not just any recipe. We have been having this one at least one to two times a month for a few years now. We all love it. My son, my daughter and especially my husband. It also makes pretty good left-overs.
I want to talk about basil. I have included a break down the health benefits from Dr. Mercola.
“Basil also is considered one of the healthiest herbs. It’s best when fresh, exuding a sweet, earthy aroma that indicates not only the promise of pleasantly pungent flavor, but an impressive list of nutrients. Vitamin K, essential for blood clotting, is one of them. Just two tablespoons of basil provides 29 percent of the daily recommended value.
Basil also provides vitamin A, which contains beta-carotenes, powerful antioxidants that protect the cells lining a number of numerous body structures, including the blood vessels, from free radical damage. This helps prevent cholesterol in blood from oxidizing, helping to prevent atherosclerosis, heart attacks, and stroke.
Other vitamins and minerals in basil include iron, calcium, manganese, magnesium, vitamin C and potassium. Not surprisingly, basil also has antibacterial properties and contains DNA-protecting flavonoids. It’s the flavonoids and volatile oils in basil that give it the most health benefits, the former protecting on the cellular level, with antibacterial properties related to its volatile oils. Among these are estragole, linalool, cineole, eugenol, sabinene, myrcene, and limonene, all capable of restricting the growth of numerous harmful bacteria, including listeria, staphylococcus, E. coli, yersinia enterocolitica, and pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Some antibiotic medications which have been found to be resistant to some of these strains have been inhibited by basil extracts. One of those oils – eugenol – can block the activity of the harmful enzyme cyclooxygenase (COX). This same effect puts basil in the “anti-inflammatory” category because it provides relief from related problems, such as rheumatoid arthritis.”
Basil is something that I really think is important to add into our diets on a normal basis. I also use the basil essential oil with an infuser in our house about once a week or every other week.
Healthy Pesto Recipe
- I buy Trader Joe’s live basil plant because it’s the best price in town. Rinse and tear leaves away from the stem. I use the whole plant.
- 2 Tablespoons of pine nuts
- 1/4 cup of shredded Parmesan (or) a vegan option is nutritional yeast. You can find it in the bulk section.
- 1/4 cup of olive oil
- As many garlic gloves as you want. I usually do 3-4
- Salt and pepper
That’s it! The best healthy pesto recipe out there!! Blend everything in a food processor and mix with your favorite brown rice noodle or gluten-free pasta and you have delicious pesto pasta dinner. Oh, zucchini noodles could work for this too! Yum! It’s amazing topped with thinly sliced broiled chicken and a few extra pine nuts sprinkled on top. Let me know what you think of this healthy pesto recipe and leave a comment if you have any suggestions on making it better!
Enjoy!
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Nov 26 2015 
Baked Sweet Potatoes and Garlic Aioli Mustard!
Baked Sweet Potatoes
Baked sweet potatoes are quite possibly one of my favorite foods. I absolutely love them. Actually, my entire family absolutely loves them. My kids will actually ask for them. Are you kidding me?! Baked sweet potatoes? Who knew?! Well they are now a staple in our house. And what makes them the best ever, garlic aioli mustard from Trader Joe’s. This garlic aioli is a staple in our house. We will use it with meat, on sandwiches and with every kind of vegetable. It’s delicious.
Now, let us delve a bit deeper into why I love having family eat baked sweet potatoes. When looking at the benefits of vegetables and fruits I eat, I go to organicfacts.net. They have a ton of information on everything healthy. Some of the main areas that sweet potatoes help with are:
- Inflammation: Like the common potato, sweet potatoes also have anti-inflammatory properties. They do not belong to the same family as common potato. This is primarily due to the presence of beta-carotene, vitamin-C and magnesium. It is equally effective in curing internal and external inflammation.
- Asthma: Sweet potatoes are effective for curing congestion of the nose, bronchi and lungs, thereby giving relief from asthma. Its typical aroma helps in this property.
- Immune System: Being very rich in beta carotene, which is a major antioxidant, along with vitamin-C and B-complex vitamins, iron and phosphorus, sweet potatoes are excellent immune system boosters. They can defend your body from a wide variety of conditions and afflictions.
- Bronchitis: The concentration of vitamin-C, iron and other nutrients help to cure bronchitis. Sweet potatoes are believed to be capable of warming up the body, possibly due to the sweetness and other nutrients that impact body temperature. This property is also beneficial for people suffering from bronchitis, along with its powerful effect on congestion.
- Digestion: The fiber content of sweet potatoes is higher than common potatoes and they taste good too! When these two factors are combined with other minerals like magnesium, which is present in sweet potatoes, it makes an excellent facilitator for digestion. Sweet potatoes are easy to digest as well, since they mainly contain starch. They are soothing for the stomach and intestines, so you will avoid any difficulties of passing or digesting them.
- Cancer: Beta-carotene, the champion antioxidant and anticarcinogenic substance, is the pigment responsible for the color of the peel of the sweet potatoes. The beta carotene and vitamin-C contained in sweet potatoes are very beneficial for curing various types of cancer, mainly those of the colon, intestines, prostrate, kidneys and other internal organs.
- Arthritis: Beta-carotene, zinc,magnesium, and vitamin-B complex make sweet potatoes a hugely important food source for managing arthritis. The water where sweet potatoes are boiled can also be applied externally on joints to ease the associated pain of arthritis.
- Diabetes: Sweet potatoes are beneficial for diabetics. They are very effective in regulating blood sugar levels by helping the proper secretion and function of insulin. That does not mean that diabetics should eat them indiscriminately. The idea is that sweet potatoes can replace rice or carbohydrate intake as a healthier option.
- Water Balance: The fiber or roughage present in sweet potatoes helps the body retain water. This maintains water balance in the body, keeping your hydrated and your cells functioning efficiently.
- Stomach Ulcers: Sweet potatoes have a soothing effect on the stomach and the intestines. B-complex vitamins, vitamin C, beta carotene, potassium and calcium are all very effective in curing stomach ulcers. Moreover, the roughage in sweet potatoes prevents constipation and the resultant acid formation, thereby reducing the chance of ulcers. The anti-inflammatory and soothing properties of sweet potatoes also reduce the pain and inflammation of the ulcers.
- Weight Gain: This benefit is pretty awesome and my husband loves it when trying to bulk. Sweet potatoes are sweet, and they contain very quality amounts of complex starch, along with healthy vitamins, minerals and some proteins. Moreover, they are very easy to digest. So, they provide a lot of energy and are excellent bulk builders for people looking to gain weight. People who have recently suffered from illnesses, or are self-conscious about being frail or abnormally thin should welcome this news about sweet potatoes, since there are no associated side effects, which most of the synthetic bulk building dietary supplements have.
- Other Benefits: They are effective for helping people quit addictions like smoking, drinking and taking certain narcotics. They are good for the health of the arteries and veins, as they protect their walls against hardening. The high concentration of beta carotene (an alternative form of vitamin-A) and phosphorus are excellent for both ocular and cardiac health.
This recipe is from the Fixate cookbook. If you have some sweet potatoes handy, I’d throw them in the oven and make these tonight. ?
- Cut in thin round pieces
- Drizzle with olive oil
- Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper
Bake at 200 degrees on parchment paper for 2-3 hours until crisp.
This mustard makes the perfect dipping sauce and is a “free food” on the meal plan. So go make up some baked sweet potatoes and do yourself a favor.
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Nov 20 2015 
Gluten-Free Meal Plan for the kids!
Gluten-Free Meal Plan
Gluten-free meal plan prep has become a way of life for our family. With myself and my daughter, highly gluten intolerant, we really have to be careful. I wanted to show you an example of what I have given my daughter. Practicing packing lunches for my kindergartener and I think this combo might be a hit! Here is what I packed for her, food items I use all the time:
- Organic Sausage
- Almonds
- Carrots
- Raspberry
- Cantolope
- Black Bean BBQ Organic Chips
- Hummus
These items really are part of my gluten-free meal plan. Now to get frilly toothpicks because these plain ones just won’t do. I love going the extra mile to treat my little girl like a lady. She is only small once, I will never get this opportunity again. 😉
This gluten-free meal plan list, is really just a mix and match. These are the main foods I give my kids. I really stay basic and consistent. I don’t really make it a big list. My kids hardly ever have soda, and have never had fast food. That is not to brag, we just don’t have those things as a family and we educate our kids on why. We also keep our meals simple. We have found they love all these food items probably because we just have not introduced them to the junk that we had before we got healthy.
- Oranges
- Bananas
- Chicken (Organic breast and thighs from Costco)
- Tacos (gluten-free tortilla shells, ground turkey, lettuce, home made guacamole, salsa, green onions, romain lettuce, yogurt, and black beens.)
- Grapes
- Eggs
- Spinach/Kale/Lettuce
- Dried Fruit
- Fish of any kind
- Gluten-Free Toast – we love Udis or Rudis.
- Organic Peanut Butter
- Vegan Chocolate Chips (the kids love these, we get them at a co-op near where we live.)
- Organic Fruit Snacks (Costco has some bulk options)
- Any vegetable!!
- Pamela’s Gluten-Free Pancake Mix (My husband makes pancakes once a week, but only uses about half a cup of mix and includes 7 to 8 eggs. He calls them his “protein pancakes”. It is probably the kids favorite meal.)
- Broccoli (it is a staple and our most eaten vegetable. Just steamed with a little himalayan salt.)
- Coconut Chips (I already have a write up on these. Love them!)
- Shakeology (Yep, they have it everyday….I practice what I preach!)
I will continue to add to this list. But our gluten-free meal plan is simple. Take basic healthy foods and have our kids eat them consistently. (Here is another lunch idea I posted.) We don’t keep them from eating junk occasionaly, but their main treats are included above. Literally this is the list we eat from 5 to 6 days a week. My husband BBQs chicken every week, he makes a braised leafy green and egg mix every day, which he shares with our son. It is crazy how well our kids eat and mostly it is because we share what we eat with them. We just all eat the same thing. No one gets different food at dinner.
So be encouraged and make your own gluten-free meal plan. It is not hard, but you have to be consistent with your kids and you need to eat it with them. We can’t expect our kids to eat things we aren’t willing to eat. Oh and I also give them gluten-free waffles for breakfast occasionally! Anyways, I hope this helps, please share your ideas….I need all the help I can get!
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Nov 19 2015 
Zucchini Noodles and Meatballs – Gluten-Free Dinner!
Zucchini Noodles
Zucchini Noodles make an amazing gluten-free dinner!! My bestie made it for me and I not only want her cute white dishes, I could have this meal weekly. Trying new dishes with friends is amazing. My cousin, who was my maid of honor in my wedding and my best friend has lost a bunch of weight in the last few months. This is one of the main reasons why. Having things like zucchini noodles is a huge part of the process in getting healthy. Not that she can’t have normal noodles, but keeping away from carbs, that are very starchy and dense, has been key in her transformation.
Gluten-free Dinner
You do need a spiral veggie cutter. Veggetti was what we used. $12 bucks and it’s small and easy to store. Zucchini Noodles are easy to make and can be used in tons of different dishes. My kids will eat them…which is huge! Here’s a little excerpt from Organic Facts about zucchini,
“Zucchini is well known to reduce weight, yet still boosting the nutrient value of your diet. Moreover, it helps to promote eye health, and prevents all the diseases that occur from vitamin C deficiency like scurvy, sclerosis, and easy bruising. It helps to cure asthma and has a high content of vitamin C, carbohydrates, protein and fiber. Zucchini contains significant quantities of potassium, folate, and vitamin A, all of which are important for general good health. Zucchini, when eaten regularly, can effectively lower your homocysteine levels.”
So as you can see…..add zucchini into your diet as much as possible! You can’t go wrong….now onto what we had for dinner.
- What she threw in:
- Organic marinara sauce from Trader Joe’s, heated
- Aidell’s Italian meatballs, browned
- Zucchini noodles, boiled for 2-3 min.
- Salt & Pepper
We did mix some gluten-free noodles we had made for the kids in with our zucchini noodles. It is amazing how good something can taste, even when it is not what you think it should be. Never, once when I was growing up, do I remember having zucchini noodles!
The salad is:
Green onions
Mixed greens
AvocadoFeel free to use this for a 21 Day Fix Meal! And remember, add zucchini noodles into your meal plan as much as possible!
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