Wholly Granola – On the Run

Wow where has the time gone. This summer has been keeping me busy, so my blog post have been a little more spaced out for now. With summer off and running and vacations on the agenda I like to share one of my favorite granola recipes. We use this in place of buying store bought cereal. When we travel I tend to pack the majority of my food. This is cost effective for my family and provides us with good clean eating food always on hand. Traveling back home is almost a 24 hour road trip. Therefore, I need to have meal ready to go and easy to prepare on the road. Breakfast then is yogurt topped with this homemade granola, mixed fresher fruit, and banana muffins. This makes it easy to eat in the car and something the whole family enjoys. My kiddos can tolerate organic whole milk yogurt or even greek yogurt. I could tolerate dairy in small quantities, but due to recently finding out I have MTHFR (Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase) I have decided to go completely dairy-free except for the occasional goat milk items.  I will be sharing more of my story at a later date. For now lets get down to some granola making business!

Grab your mixture of nuts and start chopping away.

Now add in the rest of the dry ingredients: ground flax seed, shredded coconut, raisins, dried blueberries, cinnamon, and himalayan salt. Then stir!

Combined wet ingredients and then warm in saucepan just until melted. I picked this pineapple juice at Trader Joes.

Pour wet ingredients into the dry nut mixture and stir until evenly coated. Make sure the “granola” nut mixture is really coated.

Line pan with parchment paper and heat oven to 300 degrees. Cook for about 45-60 minutes staring every 10 minutes or so. Oh and your house will smell amazingly!

Just before going into the oven.

Granola is done when most of the moisture is gone and nuts start to brown. Let cool and ENJOY!

Out of the oven

 

Granola- Paleo Style

Dry Mixture

• 1 1/4 cup of raw pecans
• 1 1/2 cup raw walnuts
• 1 1/4 cup raw almonds
• 10 oz bag macadamia nuts
• 1/3 c ground flax seed
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 cup cup dried blueberries
• 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• sprinkle of himalayan salt
• 1 heaping tsp of cinnamon

Liquid Mixture

• 1/3 cup pineapple juice
• 3 Tbsp unrefined coconut oil
• 3 Tbsp raw honey
• 1 tsp vanilla

(Can use any variation of nuts you prefer. I also like to add in brazil nuts into the mix too)

(Can also add or substitute different dried fruit)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees
2. The nuts that need to be chopped up use a hand chopper to chop. I have tried using a food processor, but don’t like it because it chops them too fine for me. Chop nuts until you have a granola like consistency. I buy some of my nuts in pieces so I don’t have to chop them ahead of time.
3. Add in the dry fruit and shredded coconut to the mix nuts
4. Add in himalayan salt and cinnamon to nut mixture and stir.
5. In a small pot melt and mix together the coconut oil, honey, pineapple juice, vanilla, cocoa powder, salt and cinnamon.
6. Add the liquid mixture to the fruit/nut mixture and coat the “granola” really well.
7. Place granola on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 45 – 60 minutes. Check and stir every 10 minutes until done. * Key here to cook on low heat and slowly as to not burn the nuts and coconut.
8. Let cool and store in airtight container.

It is great to serve with almond milk as a “cereal” or served with yogurt as a topping. This is the yogurt I enjoyed with my granola for breakfast!  As I am thinking of it, I bet this would taste amazing in my Acai Bowl. 

My go to snack right now-LARABAR

When I think of a snack for myself, I think of something quick and satisfying. As I have discussed before I enjoy snacking on LARABAR. An enjoyable fruit and nut bar. I am a busy and active momma. I usually have them in my purse or hiking bag. Having food in my purse is a must. If I am out running errands and it took longer then expected (which is common) I know I have something healthy to snack on to hold me over until I get home. It beats picking up junk food while out and about. I have pretty much tried every LARABAR! Our go to LARABARs are: blueberry muffin, key lime pie, lemon bar, apple pie, carrot cake, cashew cookie, and mint chip brownie (target only). Phew! I don’t think you could go wrong with any of them really!

I like to get creative with my LARABARs. I crumble them up on top of yogurt, crumble them up on top of my Acai Bowls. If you haven’t tried Acai Bowls you must. Check out my recipe I made here. Now my new obsession is topping them with nut butter. Specifically, Barney Butter Smoothed Almond Butter, or Barney Butter Cocoa & Coconut. It has put a new twist on my favorite snack.  One of my favorites is Cashew Cookie Larabar with Smooth Barney Butter Almond Butter. I totally did the happy dance at Costco this past weekend because they had a box of cashew cookie and apple pie 18ct combo box for $14.99 plus another $4 off! I usually get them at my local Sprouts because they are between $0.88-$1.00 a piece.

Yes you can say I am a LARABAR-aholic. I now need to go and try the Larabar Organic with Superfoods. I have been eyeing the Tumeric, Ginger, and Beet combo since I love me some ginger.

Now get to snacking and don’t forget to be healthy and creative!

Weekly Menu for May 21-27

It is that time again to plan for weekly meals and grocery shop. Right now my meal plans are running Saturday thru Friday with the following Saturday being my grocery shopping day and meal prep. It worked out perfect for me this week!

I have been dedicating myself to a new goal of waking up early (5am) and getting my workout in and daily prayer. So far it has been a great goal for me. I am enjoying my workouts with the hubby as well as some time to spend in prayer before the day gets busy. I love the feeling of accomplishment and the ability to dive into my day. It has helped with my sleep quality too. The weekends are no different. I was up and ready to go. I did my menu planning the day before so I just had to plug in my groceries into my Wunderlist App and away I went. If you haven’t check out this app yet you really should!

I took one of my older daughters with me this morning. She was a great helper. I really enjoy getting my kiddos involved in planning, shopping, preparing of our food. We rocked it; 3 stores in 2 1/2 hours! Really shorter than that since Trader Joes is at about 30 minutes in just driving one way. Van full of great clean, wholesome food! Oh and plus couldn’t forget the Traeger pellets so we can smoke the brisket we picked up.  

We unloaded the van when we got home, grabbed a quick snack and got to work. Here is our menu for the week.

My older girls were in charge of preparing and making all snacks. This menu that included Mini Banana Muffins, Jello (Against All Grain), Sunbutter Balls, and Chocolate Avocado Pudding (Delighted Momma). I included the links for the recipes I use.

There you have it, happy menu planning or feel free to use mine! I am ready to get this week start. Remember keep it simple…Keep it clean.

Mini Banana Muffins

I enjoy making muffins for my family. Usually it is only during the winter months because that is when pumpkin is in season. I typically only make ones in which they can also take to school as part lunch or snack. This is my favorite pumpkin muffin recipe. When I make muffins I make them into mini muffins since there is no reason to have an entire large muffin in one sitting. Plus the mini muffins are easy to pack and take along if I need to (less messy too).  So I was in search of making an easy nut free muffin recipe when I had the idea to turn one of our families favorite donuts into muffins. Donuts are a special treat in my house. I hardly ever make them because they are time consuming and I don’t enjoy the clean up from them.  My recipe is below, but was based off this recipe.

Mini Banana Muffins (paleo/gluten-free/nut-free/refine sugar free)

Ingredients

• 6 eggs
• 4 tbsp coconut oil,  melted
• 4 tbsp coconut milk
• 4 tbsp Grade B pure maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 3 ripe bananas, diced
• 1/4 cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

Mini muffin tin and mini muffin baking cups. Bake at 400 degrees for 12 minutes. Made 51 mini muffins.

Grab all your ingredients except for the bananas and chocolate chips. (not picture is my nutmeg and salt I forgot to add them to the picture. I have also made them without both of these and they turned out just fine)

Crack 6 eggs and beat until frothy. Add in coconut oil and beat again. Add in the maple syrup, coconut milk, and vanilla and beat until just combined. Add in the remaining ingredients except for the bananas and chocolate chips.

Next grab the chocolate chips and bananas.

Dice up the bananas and add to the mixture. 

Add in the chocolate chips and fold in until combined.

Grab your mini muffin tin and liners. There are my favorite muffin tin liners. Fill the liners almost to the top. I used a mini scoop.

Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 12 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Made 51 mini muffins. Keep leftovers in the fridge. Mine have lasted up to a week in the fridge no problem.  

Keep it simple…Keep it clean.  Baking with purpose…living life to its fullest…on this beautiful journey!

Cauliflower ‘Pop’

When making some health changes several years ago, I needed to find a replacement for popcorn for myself. My kiddos still enjoy some organic popcorn that we make in the cast-iron from time to time, but I needed to find something to replace it. I loved adding hot sauce to my popcorn (if you eat popcorn, you seriously need to try it). My alternative was cauliflower pop. Even my kiddos enjoy this as a side dish for meals. Easy to throw together, but takes about an hour to bake.

Cauliflower ‘pop’

Ingredients

1. 1 head of cauliflower
2. 1/4 cup of coconut oil-melted
3. 3+ TBSP of Franks Red Hot or Tessemae’s Buffalo Sauce (add more to liking)

Chop cauliflower into small pieces and set aside. I am using a big bowl (there is approx. 8 cups of chopped cauliflower in here).

Mix the coconut oil and hot sauce together in a small bowl. Today I used Tessemae’s Buffalo Sauce. 

Pour the hot sauce mix onto the cauliflower and toss until mixed.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and heat oven to 400 degrees.

Bake at 400 degrees for approx. 60 minutes. I start checking at about 45 minutes as bake times may differ depending on your oven. It will start to brown when finished. This may not be the best picture, but it is delicious! 

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

Mastering Hard Boiled Eggs

I enjoy a great hard boiled egg. They are great on salads, in lunches, stuffed with tuna, topped with hot sauce, or even with just himalayan salt. I have tried over the years to make an ideal hard boiled egg. I think I have tried it all, including baking them. I remember when I was in my younger years, if the hard boiled egg wasn’t completely cooked (almost green yolk) I wouldn’t touch it. Wow has my food adventures grown!

Here is my favorite way to cook my Hard Boiled Eggs:

Add a single layer of eggs to a sauce pan. Fill the pan with water until it is about an inch over the eggs.

Bring water to a boil and boil for only 1 minute.

Remove from heat and cover with lid. Set a timer for 9 minutes. Get a bowl and fill with some ice and cold water and set aside.

When the 9 minutes is up transfer the eggs immediately to the cold water ice bath.

Let them cool down. Peel and serve, or store in refrigerator.

Enjoy!

Healthy Snack Ideas

Snacks…Snacks…Snacks…

My kiddos always seem to be snacking! Snacks for me depend on if it is a school snack or at home snack. As those will change since I don’t send nuts into school with my kiddos, but they will have them at home. If you have a hard time coming up with healthy snacks, I suggest you make a list to keep on hand. I keep an excel sheet with a list of snacks that I like to do. I continue to add to the list from time to time. It is something for me to reference to when I want to change things up. I have shared a small list below with you.  Certainly there is more then what is listed here, the list truly could go on and on! Remember you are in charge of your own health and the food you put into your body. Change starts with YOU. You need to be willing to do it for you and/or your kiddos.

HEALTHY SNACK IDEAS

• Grass-fed Beef Nick Sticks or Turkey Sticks from Wallace Farms– You can find where to buy them here
• Any raw veggies
• Fresh fruit with our without nut butter/sunbutter
• Dried fruit without added sugar
• Wholly Guacamole cups with plantain chips
• Plantain chips and salsa
• Chicharrones
• Enjoy Life Bars
• Organic Fruit Strips
• Homemade jello- Can find the recipe here.
• Organic Cheese Sticks
• Organic Fruit Snacks
• Fresh fruit cups
• Sunbutter Balls – My recipe here.
• Raw Pepitas
• Crunchy Rice Rolls with or without nut butter/sunbutter
• Organic or Greek Yogurt (plain greek yogurt with nut butter and mini enjoy life chocolate chips)
• Larabars
• Trail mix (mixture of nuts with or without dried fruit)
• Paleo pumpkin muffins – find recipe here.
• Chocolate Avocado Pudding- find the recipe here.
• Organic Popcorn- I pop it myself in a cast iron pan
• Dates or Dates stuffed with goat cheese
• Paleo granola – My recipe coming soon to this blog!
• Deviled eggs or hardboiled eggs
• Almond Date Truffles- find the recipe here.
• Smoothies
• Paleo pancake sandwiches – find pancake recipe here.
• Paleo banana bread
• Paleo zucchini muffins- find the recipe here.

I have put together a sample slide show of 39 snack variations I have done for the kiddos. Some of these are school snacks and some are at home snacks.  I use a BPA free tupperware for their snack bucket at school.  I can also attach an ice pack to the lid for when I send a snack that needs to be cold. I hope this list will provide you with some snack ideas you can enjoy.

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My menu

Busy weekend doing some testing on a new recipe that I haven’t had since I went paleo. Super excited to be sharing it with you all soon. Just have a few more finishing tweaks! So with the restricted amount of time I just put together a quick 5 day meal plan (M-F). Here is what we are having.

Breakfast:

1. Quiona-kiddos & egg and sausage.
2. Paleo waffle sandwiches
3. Egg & sausage hash
4. Egg & sausage hash
5. Paleo Pancakes and Eggs

Kiddos Snacks:

1. Yogurt & banana chips
2. Paleo pumpkin muffins & celery sticks (Sunbutter, coconut flakes)
3. Apples with Sunbutter balls- recipe here.
4. Paleo pumpkin muffins & fruit
5. Crunchy rice rolls with Sunbutter ball & yogurt

School Lunch: * Rob and I usually have a fresh salad or previous nights leftovers.

1. Hard boiled eggs, tuna cakes, salad, pickles, and fruit
2. Monday night leftovers
3. Chicken, veggies, & fruit
4. Paleo coconut flour pancakes sandwiches, fruit, and veggies
5. Thursday night leftovers

After school snack:

1. Paleo Sio Pao & fruit
2. Exploding Apples (Sunbutter, raisins, & shredded coconut flakes)
3. Paleo zucchini muffins & smoothie
4. Candied walnuts & celery
5. Paleo zucchini muffins & smoothies

Dinner:

1. Baked potato bar – Mexican style
2. Cauliflower “fried rice” with chicken
3. Tex-Mex – sweet potato style
4. Buffalo chicken & sweet potatoes
5. Leftover night!

That is it for me this week. Should be an easy meal prep, allows me to be able to prep during the week too!

Enjoy the journey & Keep it simple!

Larabar and Yogurt for snacks

It’s Friday and I am ready to enjoy the weekend with my family.  Looking forward to hitting the mountains for a hike if all goes as planned. When we go hiking it calls for lots of water and of course some healthy snacks.

One of our favorite snacks to take along with us is a Larabar. It is a great energy stabilizer. They are made from 100% real food. Made up of fruit and nuts. Some of the bars do have chocolate in them, but it is Fair Trade Certified chocolate. The Larabar has simple ingredients, is minimally processed, and GMO free.

One of our number 1 favorite go to Larabar is the Blueberry Muffin, which you can find here. It only has 6 simple ingredients: Dates, cashews, unsweetened blueberries, blueberry juice concentrate, lemon juice concentrate, and vanilla extract. The Blueberry Muffin Larabar is Kosher, Vegan, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, and Non-GMO. They are several different flavors, so I am sure you will find one you will love! You can read more about Larabar and their story here.

So I was hitting up Target today grabbing a few things that were on sale thanks to the cartwheel app. A couple a our favorite yogurts were on the cartwheel app. Organic Stoneyfields YoKids squeezers was 50% off and Chobani Kids Tubes 5% off today. My kiddos enjoy having yogurt for snack, and I feel comfortable providing them these options.

 

I really try to just sticking to my grocery list and that is it, but as I was walking out something caught my eyes. I usually have great will power, but when it comes to certain types of mints…maybe not so much. Mint Chip Brownie Larabar….Say WHAT! So of course I had to pick up a box up to try. What can I say, they are simply amazing. They are Gluten Free, Non-GMO, Vegan, Dairy Free, and Kosher. They are made with dates, almonds, semisweet chocolate chips (unseated chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter, vanilla extract), cashews, cocoa powder, and peppermint oil. They sure are dangerously good! So good in fact, I had the hubs pick up a couple of boxes for me to have on hand! After looking into it further since I have not seen this kind anywhere (and I know and tried almost every one) I found out this kind is actually Target exclusive only. Note to self…So if you are out and about at Target you should keep a look out for these. A nice healthy treat for oneself from time to time! 

Happy snacking! Remember keep it simple…Keep it healthy. Enjoy your journey, wherever it may take you. Enjoy your beautiful weekend.

Wednesday Food for Thought

When I started this journey to making a healthier lifestyle for my family and I, I turned to Paleo for a place to start.  I needed a starting point to help me with an elimination diet.  I liked the strict confines of the Paleo diet because it gave me exactly what I could and couldn’t have. I needed the simplicity of that to help me with dealing with everything else in life. A daughter with allergies/food intolerances, recent birth of twins in which I was feeding and pumping constantly for, and taking care of the older three children.

I remember when I first started on Paleo I saw my milk supply decrease and about freaked out. My body was digesting food more rapidly instead of holding and storing it. I needed to add in more calories since I was feeding 2. Being overwhelmed was an understatement. So Paleo was a starting point for me and gave me the direction I needed, along with a very supportive husband. I remember when I was struggling I decided to reach out to Stacy and Matthew at The Paleo Parents.  I went on a whim and emailed them for some direction on trying to increase my breastmilk supply while on the Paleo diet. She provided some advice on smoothies and foods that would help.  I also started making their lactation cookies. I seriously swear by these, and love making them for my friends with newborn babies.  You can find the recipe here. I was also able to adjust what we were eating even more based on what I was seeing. For instance, with Charlotte’s allergies/food intolerances I resorted to an Autoimmune Protocol for her. I found the guidance on this from The Paleo Mom.  Along the way I have learned so much about food and how it affects our bodies.

In comes today. I am so thankful for the amazing people that have shared their recipes and stories because they have helped me out along my journey as well. Although we follow a lot of the paleo “diet” I have also started introducing more foods into our clean eating lifestyle. Which brings me adding quinoa, white rice, and some raw milk cheeses. Some corn in the from of organic kernels for making our own popcorn.  Usually these are in smaller quantities. Although, there are foods I am still not able to tolerate. For instance, dairy. Even if it is organic and raw it still causes me to break out and bloat. I can tolerate goats milk so I will enjoy some goat milk cheese or goat milk gouda. Goat milk has a different protein structure and smaller fat molecules making it easier to digest.

Today’s lunch is picture below. For next school year I will be upgrading my older kiddos lunch boxes to something that can hold more as they are growing! So these bad boy, lunchbots, will be handed down to my younger 2!

It isn’t often I do cinnamon rolls, but the kiddos have been asking for them for some time now. So afternoon snack consisted of The Urban Poser’s Almond Flour Cinnamon Rolls. I made ours with cinnamon, walnuts, and raisins. These are the one and only cinnamon roll recipe we make. They are yummy and my kiddos like to top theirs with some nut butter or coconut butter. You can find her fabulous recipe here. You will not be disappointed!

Cinnamon, Walnuts, Raisins

Cheers to another day of clean eating and healthy recipes. Keeping it simple….Keeping it clean!