I went to a sweet 1 year old’s birthday party this year on my birthday.  His mommy is a dear friend of mine, and his older brother has a lot of food allergies.  I don’t know how she constantly comes up w/ delicious foods to feed their family, but she does and she amazes me (as does the taste of her food).  My group of friends had a blast sampling all the healthy treats at Jude’s party.  And, Jim Bob, may have eaten ten done more than just sample these muffins.  Because they were such a hit, I had to get the recipe from her.  Thanks for sharing, Vanessa!  You have to try these muffins for yourself and let me know what you think…  I swear, you’ll be amazed that they have no sugar and no grains.  When mom sampled them, she kept asking me, “But, what kind of flour is in them?!”.  They’re full of healthy fats and protein too.  Next time I bake them, I may try adding some pumpkin; you know, in celebration of this gorgeous cooler Fall weather we’ve been having.  The recipe comes from here originally.

Grain-Free Muffins

1 cup of Nut Butter (I used Almond Butter from Whole Foods)

1/4 cup Honey

2 Eggs

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1 tbsp of vinegar or lemon juice (I used lemon juice)

Chocolate or Carob Chip (optional.  I used a little of both )

Combine all ingredients (except for the vinegar/lemon juice), and mix well. Then, add the vinegar/lemon juice and mix well.  Pour into either muffin cups or a greased muffin tin. I chose the larger muffin pan, and it made 9.  Bake for 25 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven. They are done when an inserted toothpick some out clean.

Well, I finally got around to purchasing something I’ve wanted for quite sometime now.  I tried several cheap options, of which some ended up broken, others ended up forcing me to dig the final product out of the mold and others didn’t allow the product to turn out at all.  Why oh why didn’t I go w/ the high quality- oh so worth the money- machine to begin w/?!  Lesson learned!  I adore William-Sonoma and I could spend hours upon hours in that place.  Well, this recent purchase has only deepened my love for the place!  It’s gotten great reviews, and my family added in their thumbs up tonight too…  In order to get full enjoyment out of these hot Texas summer nights, you too need a Zoku Quick Pop Maker! In fact, Harper enjoyed his first popsicle from this little machine tonight.  He said, and I quote, “Mama, it is deelish-US!”

I can vividly remember as a kid some of my first experiments in the kitchen were popsicle recipes.  It was so frustrating to invent a really cool combo of flavors, poor it in a stirofoam cup and add a stick or pour it in ice cube trays and add toothpicks only to have to wait hours for the freeze so you could enjoy your hard cold treat.  Well, thanks to Zoku, the days of cups and trays are over!  And, even better, that long wait for freezing is really over.  Yep, this nifty machine really does produce your frozen treat in about 10 minutes.  In fact, you watch it freeze before your eyes.  Too cool, huh?

Mommypotamus hosted a giveaway for a popsicle cookbook recently, and I’ve heard great things about that book.  I tried a recipe off of their website for our first treat from the machine.  And of course, you know me, I can never leave a recipe alone.  This recipe is great because I’ve been fighting an itchy throat every morning, and there’s a lot of immune boosting in this popsicle.  Plus, if you use local honey it’ll help that itchy throat/allergy issue too.  And, grapefruit has one of the highest contents of vitamin C of any food.

Rooibos Red Tea Immunity Pops

3 Rooibos Red Tea bags (I used 2)

¼ cup agave nectar (I used less than 1/8 cup local honey)

1 whole grapefruit, squeezed (I used 1/2)

1 cup fresh strawberries, chopped

½ lemon, squeezed

1 cup of ice (I didn’t add ice)

(I added a handful of fresh mint from my garden)

Boil 4 cups of water on stove top and add in tea bags (I boiled 2 cups). Add agave nectar. Let simmer on low for 10 minutes. Let cool to a luke warm state. Pour tea mixture into blender. Add in grapefruit juice, strawberries, lemon and ice and blend to a smooth texture. Pour mixture into chosen pop molds. Freeze. Enjoy!

We will also be making this recipe again in our new machine.  We’ll enjoy licking them, you know like how actual popsicles are supposed to be enjoyed!  Instead of like last time, when we were digging them out of the cheap $1 molds because the sticks broke off…  Not enjoyable!

If you have a favorite recipe, please share…  I need new ones to enjoy making in my new toy machine.  Happy Summer!

1. In a medium-sized saucepan or skillet, combine the two sweeteners and the oil, and gently warm over low heat while stirring until the sugar crystals have dissolved. This should just take a couple of minutes.
2. Stir in the nut or seed butter, vanilla, and salt until smooth. Remove from the heat. Allow the mixture to cool for a couple of minutes.
3. Stir in the flaxseed, followed by the oats and cereal.
4. Now you have two choices here. If you want the chocolate chips to stay intact, let the mixture cool for few more minutes, and then stir in the chocolate chips. Or, if you are antsy like me, stir in the chocolate chips right away. They may melt a little against the warm pan, but I like them that way.
5. The mixture will be crumbly, but that is okay. Press it firmly into an 8 x 8 pan (use saran wrap or wax paper over your hand if it threatens to stick while pressing) or into 10 to 12 muffin tins. Make sure it is packed in there nicely, and then place the bars into the freezer to chill for 30 minutes to an hour.
6. Cut into bars or pop them out and eat. Store them in the refrigerator to keep fresh and from getting too soft.  Enjoy!!

Last week, we enjoyed a family breakfast of scrambled eggs and these biscuits.  It was so nice to have a biscuit option that didn’t have a ton of preservatives, wasn’t hard to cook and didn’t have wheat.  Thanks, Mommypotamus!  I thought they tasted even better as a snack than they did fresh out of the oven.  Again, these are wonderful for pregnant/nursing moms as they have lots of protein and healthy fats too.  Try them and let me know what you think.  I’d love to hear what you enjoy for breakfast…  It’s the one meal a day that I really need but have a hard time being creative with.

Emerald City Salad

2 1/4 cups of water or stock (I used Whole Foods’ boxed veggie stock, and just enough to cook rice by directions)

1tbsp butter (I used coconut oil to fit JB’s diet)

1tsp sea salt (I salted to taste)

1 cup wild rice (I used Lundberg’s Organic Wild Rice Blend)

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

1 minced garlic clove

1/2 cup chopped fennel bulb

1/2 diced red or yellow bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped red cabbage

1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley

2 cups finely chopped dark greens (I used Swiss chard)

Cook rice according to directions.  I saute my rice in coconut oil before adding stock or water to cook.  Combine lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and salt in a large serving bowl.  Add fennel, red pepper, cabbage, parsley and then the greens .  Once rice is fully cooked, cool until it quits steaming but is still warm, and then spread like a blanket on top of the greens.  When the rice cools to room temperature, toss rice, vegetables and dressing together. Taste the salad and adjust seasonings, some extra salt and/or lemon may be required.  Garnish with cheese if desired (I left cheese out).  Enjoy!

Something else that is really neat that has been a huge motivator this time around…  And, I doubt when my dad shared this that he understood how much this made me cherish and want to better care for my health.  My dad left today to go to Haiti.  He will be doing water filtration.  But, out of the thousands of men who could have joined him to help, only a hand full could pass the criteria needed to go.  You know why?  Because only a handful were healthy enough!  You can’t be completely out of physical shape or on blood pressure medication and qualify to be on certain teams to go help in a crisis.  How sad that our society is filled with willing people who don’t value their health enough to take care of it so that they can help out in a huge time of need.  People will use the excuse, “Yeah, but they are old and retired.”  Hello!  I would kill to be in a retirement position (money, no children depending on me, no job holding me back, free time) and able to serve.  But, what is the point of working hard to make it to that position if your body is in no shape to serve others when you are available?  How terribly sad!  We have an entire society who is putting food and self gratification ahead of others; and, most don’t even see that as a problem.  With that in mind, I keep my goal ahead of me, and I press on to whip my body into shape and choose foods that are going to help my health not hinder it.  The Lord had a huge plan for us when He told us that our bodies were to be temples.  That is taking on a whole new meaning!

We got creative tonight and tried a new recipe, which we loved:  Stir Fried Spinach and Oranges

2 large bunches of fresh, organic spinach (I used more)

1 orange, peeled.  Remove seeds and cut into bite size pieces

1/4 cup chicken broth (I use fresh stock- Sally Fallon’s recipe from “Nourishing Traditions”)

Sea Salt to Taste

Sesame Seeds to Taste

Tamari Soy Sauce (I left this out, would use it when off cleanse)

Saute spinach in coconut oil until wilted.  Add in remaining ingredients, mix and heat through.  Serve over brown rice.  This would also be delicious with caramelized onions and/or garlic added. 

This recipe is wonderful for those dealing with iron issues or who are pregnant/nursing.  Spinach is a great source of iron and eating it with citrus (oranges) increases its absorbency, enjoy!

I am loving the world of Twitter!  You can find so many great people, blogs, ideas and recipes just from all the connections one of your contacts has.  It has made cleansing so much easier .  Because I am still nursing, I am trying to keep protein and calorie intake up while on the SP 21 Program.  On Friday, I tried this recipe, and really liked it.  You can leave out the sesame seed oil and soy sauce (replace with sea salt to taste).  I used fresh ginger, and loved the addition!

Also, I love this new blog!  Her menu planning for the week inspires me.  And, I have been able to pull some great, new recipe ideas to try while cleansing.  She did a guest post for this blog, on keeping your kitchen clean when you are constantly cooking.  I feel like that is one of my big struggles on the cleanse.  I will be visiting this site more often now. 

We are almost through Week 1, 2 more to go!  Happy Cleansing!