Update on Pumpkin Powder

Liam has been on the Seed Oil Company's pumpkin powder since October and is doing FANTASTIC!!!! I started with a teaspoon in his smoothies every other morning. I watched and waited for something to happen. The good news was nothing did. He did not get a tummy ache or have a loose bowel movement. His little body accepted the pumpkin powder with no problem.

Because he was doing so well I decided to add a tablespoon to his smoothie. Again all was okay. I am so relieved that I can give him a protein powder that is dairy and soy free. I notice on the days I don't put the powder in his smoothie he gets hungrier faster which is amazing. This was by far the best find I found for him. What I love most is that it does not change the taste, color or consistency of the smoothie.
Now that I know he can handle the Pumpkin Powder I throw it into cookies, muffins, and sauces. The kids have no idea and I feel good knowing I am giving them extra  Magnesium, Zinc, Iron and Phosphorus and vitamin K.

Here is his favorite recipe:

1/2 cup coconut water
1/2 cup pineapple juice
Frozen pineapple
Frozen mango
1 banana
1 Tbl Chia seeds
1 Tbl Pumpkin Powder
Little bit of ice
Blend up and serve!

Typical Dinners for us!

A lot of friends ask me what I fix for dinner all the time? Do I follow one Paleo book over another? Honestly I have adapted lots of my recipes to fit a Paleo lifestyle. I will have to do more post on individual recipes, but for now here is an idea of what we eat on a weekly basis. The key to dinners I always say is plan your week out. On busy days try to make a meal in the crock pot so its ready for you. Or prep ahead of time so you can just throw it together and eat right away. I am going to give you two ideas of meals on a given day. That way essentially you will see that there are two weeks of meals in this post. You could arrange them on any day or in any order.

Monday:  

1. BLT's without the bread and Sweet Potato Fries: Bacon wrapped in lettuce with tomato, possibly avocado. For Liam because he can't digest lettuce I just give him bacon with cherry tomatoes with some other veggie like bell pepper or cucumber. He also has a generous portion of Sweet Potato Fries. For the fries I leave the skins on so they some of it is crunchy.

2. Turkey and Beef Burgers with Sweet Potato Fries. I will have to post the recipe I came up with for my Turkey Burgers soon. They are amazing. Even my husband prefers them to beef.

Tuesday:

1. Crock pot Marinara with Sausage or Meatballs served on Spaghetti Squash, Zucchini or Rice Noodles. Rice Noodles are not Paleo, but my kids really prefer them. Its a balancing act and since they don't upset Liam's tummy I tend to be a little lenient with them. With the Main course we will have a mixed Salad and sauted Green Beans or roasted Asparagus.

2. Crock Pot: BBQ Chicken ( Put Chicken in Crock Pot and put Barbecue sauce on top, let cook all day) side note make your own sauce or in a pinch I use one from Trader Joes that does not have a bunch of nasty ingredients in it. Side dishes with this meal are coleslaw and cut up pineapple along with green beans or another veggie

Wednesday:

1. Herb Roasted Whole Chicken baked with roasted Sweet Potatoes. We usually have roasted cauliflower, roasted Brussels Sprouts or a salad with it. After we eat the whole Chicken I then put it in the crock pot over night and make broth.

Thursday:

1. Taco's: Taco meat (turkey and beef) with sauted bell pepper and onions. We cut up avocado, cherry tomatoes, limes, and cilantro. I use lettuce leaves in place of taco shells. Usually serve with fruit

2. Carnitas (click on it for the best recipe) and shredded salsa Chicken (throw chicken in crock pot and dump favorite jar salsa on top and let cook all day)  have the same ingredients as taco night.

Friday:

1. Lemon Chicken (Barefoot Contessa recipe is amazing) serve with favorite vegetable and Salad.

2. Dairy Free Chicken Piccata served with steamed Artichokes and Lemon Kale Salad

Saturday:

1. Cobb Salad: I put everything in separate bowls and let my kids make it themselves. Liam eats everything but the lettuce. Our Salad consist of Mixed greens, hard boiled eggs, bacon, onion, cucumber, tomatoes, carrots, grilled chicken, mushrooms, bell pepper, almonds and cranberries. I make my own balsamic dressing for all my salads.

2. Asian Salad: Chicken fingers, butter lettuce and romaine lettuce, carrots, green onion, cucumber, red bell pepper, almonds and Asian dressing.

Sunday:

1. Leftover night

2. Breakfast: Eggs, Bacon, Canadian bacon or Sausage, Fruit, and Grain Free pancakes

Hope this helps give you some ideas!

Pumpkin Protein and Pumpkin Butter

Photo Courtesy of Seed Oil Company

If you love pumpkin then look no more. There is a a company that sells Pumpkin Seed oil, Pumpkin Powder and Pumpkin Butter. If you want more info on how to buy the product from Seed Oil Company click here.

Photo Courtesy of Seed Oil Company

Pumpkin Powder can:

• Relieves chronic weariness and stress 
• Has Amino acids required for muscle protein
• Great for Bone density
• Improvement of the liver and prostate
• Improvement of metabolism
• Rich in Magnesium, Zinc, Iron and Phosphorus.
• High Vitamin K 
• Great source of Vegan Protein
• Perfect for high protein, low fat, low carbohydrate diets
• Gluten Free , Soy Free, Non GMO and Dairy Free

If you are Paleo and want to add protein to your smoothies, baking and everyday life look no further. This is amazing product that can be used in many ways. 

Pumpkin Seed Butter is another great product. 

Photo Courtesy of Seed Oil Company

Benefits of Pumpkin Seed Butter are:

• Vegetable Protein
• Bladder strengthening
• Prostate (BPH) relief
• Anti inflammatory
• Relieve IBS
• Prevent urinary and prostate problems
• Prevents formation of kidney stones
• Relieve muscle fatigue 
• Provides nutrients, essential for muscle growth
• Ease the symptoms of arthritis

Pumpkin Seed Oil is great too! It can be used Pumpkin seed oil is used as a salad dressing
mixed with fresh lemon juice or apple cider vinegar. You can add flavor and nutrition to soups, sauces and many other recipes.

Photo Courtesy of Seed Oil Company

Benefits of Pumpkin Seed Oil

• Bladder strengthening
• Prostate (BPH) relief
• Anti inflammatory
• Relieve IBS
• Prevent urinary and prostate problems
• Prevents formation of kidney stones
• Relieve muscle fatigue 
• Stimulate muscle growth
• Maintain the body's cholesterol levels
• Ease the symptoms of arthritis.
• Boost metabolic rate

For more info on this product you can watch this:

http://www.kdrv.com/sustainable-table-pumpkin-power/

• Liam is doing so well with his U.C. that I am super excited to try him out on the Seed Oil's products. I have wanted to get his gut stable before introducing something with more fiber than he is use to. The Seed Oil Company has an even finer pumpkin powder this year, so we are super excited to try it out. I will let you know how it goes.

Halloween Candy Alternatives

Are you wondering what you can do this Halloween about at the candy your kids are going to get from trick or treating? Let me help you with some idea,s which allow your kids to feel like they partake in the holiday and don't get gypped. Here are some ideas and links to help with this Halloween.

For older kids:

• You can simply buy back their candy. This works well with older kids.

• Two years ago I found a dentist that bought my kids candy by the pound and then he shipped it to our troops overseas.

• You could also get gift cards to their favorite places and trade out the candy for a gift card.

For little one's you can go with these ideas:

Set up a "shop" after they are done trick or treating you can have a table with items from the dollar store or appropriate candy and have prices near them. For example:

• 25 pieces of candy for : a  plastic ball or whoopee cushion
• 5 pieces of candy for: fruit snacks like Annie's or TastyBrand
• 10 pieces of candy for: pack of stickers

You get the idea. The kids might think its really fun to go shopping after they trick or treat. I suggest giving them a heads up so they know what to expect when they get home.

Ideas:

• Stickers
• Plastic ball
• Whoopee cushion
• Play dough Halloween packs- sold at Target
• Temporary Tattoos
• Glow Sticks
• Bouncy Balls
• Hair clips
• Hair bands
• Fun Socks
• Match box cars
• Earrings
• Nail Polish
• Squishes
• Bubbles
• Slime
• Fruit Snacks : bunnies, Tasty (they have Halloween characters at Costco)
• Lollipops without all the bad stuff

Some sites to buy stuff at are:

http://www.indiecandy.com/default.asp they have gummies, lollipops and chocolate that is all 8 major allergens free

http://suncups.com/ - Liam can't eat these due to dairy, but if you can have dairy and not nuts, corn, soy or gluten this site is for you!

http://www.crispygreen.com/where-to-buy.html - freeze dried fruit in a bag

http://www.tastybrand.com/api/Index.cfm/cms.page/i/3406/Tasty-Store-(Gummies)/- gummy fruit snacks

Breakfast ideas

A typical breakfast for us is eggs and bacon. Its nice to change things up a bit though so the kids don't get sick of it. Here is what we eat. I will try to post the recipes soon.

• Eggs: scrambled, fried in olive oil, or steamed with some water and a lid. 

• Meat: Bacon, Canadian Bacon, sausage patties all nitrate free. Sometimes I just cook up a bunch of meat and give them a fruit smoothie and they are good to go. 

• Frittata: I will take a 8x8 Pan and spray with coconut oil or Olive oil. I put left over carnitas, or ground sausage or turkey from tacos, ham, or bacon on the bottom. Next I take whatever veggies I have. For Liam I saute them so they are a little less crunchy. Don't saute too much because they will cook down in oven. His favorite is bell pepper, spinach or kale, and mushrooms. Savy my daughter loves all those too as well as asparagus, onions and garlic. After you layer the veggies on top on the meat you pour over beaten eggs. For our family its usually 10-12 eggs. If you have ramekin's you can make individual ones for your kids. Then just place pan in a 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes. Take a toothpick and poke the center, if it comes out clean then its cooked. I make this ahead and cut up into squares and store in a glass container and reheat in the mornings for school. 

• Smoothies: My kids love smoothies for breakfast. I make fruit ones, chocolate banana ones. I will post these recipes soon.

• Muffins: I make muffins up a head of time. Right now my kids are loving an almond flour blueberry muffin. click here for the recipe 

• Oatmeal: When Liam isn't feeling so great he still asks for Oatmeal. This would be a cheat he has that isn't Paleo. I let him eat it though because it seems to feel good on his tummy.

If you have any questions feel free to ask. 

Almond Flour Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups Almond Flour (the finer the better)

2 Eggs

2 Egg whites or 1/3 cup of organic egg whites

1/4 cup of Agave, Honey or Coconut Sugar. I use whatever I have on hand

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1 TBL Apple Cider Vinegar

1 Tsp. Vanilla

2 TBS Grape seed oil, Sunflower Oil, Avocado Oil or Coconut Oil. I have used all of them and they are             all great. 

1 Cup blueberries. Recently I ran out of blueberries so I did 1/2 cup blueberries and 1/2 cup                          Raspberries and it was delicious. 

Directions:

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees

Place all ingredients together except the berries in a bowl. Mix up until smooth. I have put it all in my Blentec and it works great too. Fold in Berries. If you don't have paper muffin cups spray the muffin tin with your favorite oil. Scoop batter into muffin tin with a scooper. I love my melon ball scooper. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy!

Bone Broth

When Liam's tummy is really bothering him or when he is in a flare up my go to is ALWAYS Bone Broth. It heals a leaky gut because the gelatin in bone broth protects and heals the mucosal lining of the digestive tract and helps aid in the digestion of nutrients. It fights inflammation in that it is very high in the anti-inflammatory amino acids glycine and proline. It also helps with bone formation, growth and repair. The calcium, magnesium and phosphorus in bone broth helps our bones to grow and repair. 

I use the broth for just drinking hot when he isn't feeling well or if were sick with colds. I will also make Chicken Soup with the chicken and add lots of yummy vegetables like carrots, celery, green beans, onion, etc...

Gut-Healing Chicken Broth Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 organic whole chicken

• 8 c of water

• 4 -6 stalks of celery, finely chopped

• ½ white or yellow onion, finely chopped

• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

• 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

• 1 inch ginger root, finely chopped

• ½ teaspoon sea salt

• ½ teaspoon of apple cider vinegar

• 2 Organic carrots chopped

Directions:

Place all of the above ingredients in a crock pot and cook on low heat for 8 -10 hours.

I like to cook mine until the meat is falling away from the bones.

I make this just before bed and it’s ready and hot for breakfast.

You can store any excess broth in the freezer and defrost for a later time.

Where I shop

Many people ask me in daily conversations where I do my shopping. Many said it would be helpful if I posted on my blog, so here it is:

Costco: 

Monthly shopping- 

• Frozen Organic Chicken Breasts
• Fresh Organic Chicken thighs and drumsticks
• Organic Ground Beef (Costco told me it was grass fed)
• Grass Fed Organic Steak
• Sometimes they will carry frozen ground turkey. I always checking to see if they have brought it back. If not then I buy ground turkey from Foster Farms.
• Organic brown eggs- 3 of there 18 count 
• Organic fruit (this is seasonal)
• Coconut sugar
• Coconut oil
• Avocado oil
• Chia seeds
• Annie's fruit snacks
• Fruit leathers
• Frozen fruit for smoothies
• Nitrate free salami
• Organic vegetables:  salad mix
• Nitrate free Hot dogs
• Dark Chocolate Chips
• Lara Bars
• Honeyville Almond Meal...They finally are selling it and I don't have to get online anymore
• Organic Olive Oil

Trader Joes:

Weekly Shopping Depending on my weekly menu-

• Nitrate free bacon- but mostly I get this at Target now
• Nitrate free Hot dogs if Costco is out
• Olive oil potato chips (treat for my kids on occasion)
• Coconut milk
• Almond Milk
• Coconut yogurt
• Raw organic nuts (cashews, almonds, pistachios, pecans, sunflower seeds)
• Organic Romaine
• Organic salad mixes (kale, spinach, leafy greens)
• Organic Carrots, Celery, Broccoli, Cauliflower,Sugar Snap Peas, Green Beans, Asparagus, Onions, Garlic, Avocado ,Tomatoes, Zucchini, Cucumber, Bell Peppers etc....
• Bananas
• Spaghetti Squash
• Artichokes
• Organic Fruit (Apples, Grapes, Pears, Plums, Peaches, Nectarines, Strawberries, Black Berries,   Raspberries, Kiwi, Pineapple etc...)
• Chicken breakfast sausage
• Italian Sausage
• Organic Marinara
• Pasta noodles- gluten free treat for my kiddos
• Frozen Fruit
• Lara Bars
• Kind Bars
• Organic Ketchup
• Organic Mustard
• Artichoke Hearts in a jar
• Hummus
• Olive oil
• Sunflower Oil
• Grape Seed Oil
• TJ's barbecue sauce because it does not have corn in it
• Odds and ends depending on week like spices and such.

Target:

• Hormel Nitrate Free Turkey and Ham
• Applegate products: Bacon and Salami and Hot Dogs- its nitrate free and uncured
• Van's Gluten Free Waffles- in frozen section if we are having a cheat
• Fruit Leathers
• Kind and Luna Bars- in health food section near the protein powders

Almond Flour:

I order it in bulk for all my baking at Honeyville. The link is below

Honeyville http://store.honeyvillegrain.com/

Typical School Lunch

This post isn't just what Liam eats, but what we eat as a family for lunch. Liam has a hard time digesting raw vegetables so for him we modify. I will give examples of when we modify.

Protein:

• Turkey roll up: Turkey (nitrate free) rolled up with pickles, cucumber or  cherry tomatoes for Liam Savy my daughter will put mayo and mustard on the turkey then roll up either a pickle, bell pepper, cucumber, or avocado.  Sometimes for Savy we wrap the meat in Lettuce. Liam cannot eat any lettuce so he stick with just the meat

• Nitrate free Salami
• Nitrate free Ham
• Nitrate free Bacon
• Chicken legs
• Homemade Chicken Fingers
• Salad with veggies and left over meat (Savy eats this but Liam can't have salad)
• Steak pieces left over from dinner
• Hummus with carrots, cucumber, bell pepper, mushrooms, sugar snap peas, broccoli, and cauliflower. If you notice she is not a fan of tomatoes. Liam does not eat Hummus. He doesn't like it. I often wonder if it upsets his tummy since he has never liked it.
• Jerky

Fruit:

summer/spring

•  watermelon
•  strawberries
•  nectarines
•  peaches
•  grapes
• pineapple 
• pears
• plums
• kiwis
• berries

Fall / Winter :

• apple slices
• orange slices
• frozen or fresh pineapple
• grapes if good
• kiwi
• Packaged Dole mandarins or pineapple in a container that is in its own juices. I don't buy the ones with syrup in them.  

Veggies:

• Carrots- Liam can eat two baby carrots
• Cucumber slices- Liam can eat as long as no skin
• Snap Peas- Liam can eat a couple raw but I blanch them so he can have more
• Small Bell Peppers or Sliced- Liam does okay with these as long as its not a lot
• Cherry Tomatoes- Liam loves these
• Pickles
• Celery- Liam cannot eat Celery

Extras:

• Fruit leathers
• Bunny snacks
• Applesauce Pouches
• Fruit and Veggie Pouches
• Dried Cranberries
• Raisins
• Trail Mix: Raw almonds, cashews, sunflowers, and pistachios 
• Bars: Homemade, KIND, and LARA 
• Kettle in Olive Oil Potato Chips
• Dried Fruit
• Plantains
• Coconut Yogurt
• Jello

If you need more ideas ask away. 

Gluten and Dairy Free Cake Pops

Gluten Free Cupcake Pops

1 Chocolate Cake, from The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook, page 84 (view the PDF)

1 Bag Wilton Chocolate

1/4 - 1/2 cup Coconut oil

Sprinkles

*Dairy Free frosting like Pillsbury is optional to help bind and give a creamer taste to the cake

Special Equipment:

30 paper lollipop sticks

2-4 Styrofoam blocks

Bake Chocolate Cake as directed from the The Gluten Free Almond Flour Cookbook. Cool cake so that you can crumble into a big bowl. If choosing to bind cake with frosting add just enough to bind it together. If your opting to roll without the frosting take a clump of cake and knead together like you would play dough. Next roll into 1 inch ball. After rolling, put on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Once all the balls are on your cookie sheet freeze for at least an hour.

Melt the chocolate in a small bowl over a boiling pot of water on medium heat. If you have a double broiler than heat it up with that. To make the chocolate thinner add 1/4 cup coconut oil. If you don't have coconut oil you can use Crisco. Take your cake balls out and let sit for 5 minutes. One at a time, dip about ½ inch of the tip of a lollipop stick into melted chocolate. Next, Insert the lollipop stick straight into a cake ball, no more than halfway. Holding stick with cake ball attached, dip entire cake ball into melted chocolate, until covered. Twirl  any excess chocolate coating off the cake pop so it is evenly coated, then apply sprinkles. Place cake pop in Styrofoam block. Complete with remaining cake pops and store in refrigerator. 

*You can store these gluten free cake pops in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

*You can also freeze just the balls for up to two weeks, then make the pops the day you want to serve them