What's in my Paleo-ish kitchen?

I decided to share some of my favorite staples and some non photogenic shots of my kitchen pantry, cabinets, and refrigerator! This is just how it was today, nothing altered or bought special :-) I did straighten up a tiny bit, though. But as you can see from the fridge, I live life on the edge of disorganization :-)

PANTRY-
I got a steal on lightly sweetened organic sunbutter for the kids (okay, also sometimes adults) at Natural Grocers recently. Big win, because A, it's expensive and B, sunbutters are usually super sugary.
Homemade almond butter in reused container.
coconut butter, not as good as I had hoped, and the cause of the 6 stitches in my finger. (okay, not direct cause, but the immersion blender accident of 2015 was due to blending coconut butter)
a few 100% juice boxes for kids on super rare (less than once a month) occasions
a ton of organic BPA free diced tomatoes and tomato paste.
4 boxes of organic mac and cheese by Back to Nature
coconut oil. Hated coconut growing up, but apparently it's healthy, so I'm fond of it now. Just not the dried coconut. But I eat it in Lara Bars ;-)
coconut flour
tons of cereal boxes because I buy it on sale, but we go through it super slowly. The kids have cereal for breakfast maybe once a week. And I really only buy low sugar, gluten free, healthy kinds ;-)
organic coconut milk, clearanced can pumpkin from a year ago :-/ sooo about that
can of wild caught, sustainable practice, salmon
bag of organic onions
brown sprouts bag has several sweet potatoes and some organic brown potatoes
butternut squash

SECRET CABINET
a TON of lara bars also got on sale at natural grocers
kids alive vitamins, and out of photo, my super nutrition vitamins and real food calcium supplement

selected items from FREEZER
chicken, ground pork, fish, brats
frozen veggies, fruit
homemade jam, as seen on this blog
recent impulse buy for kids-gluten free sweetened with fruit Van's waffles
a ton of homemade broth

selected items from FRIDGE
organic dates, for emergency sweetness
paleo garden veggie and sausage egg casserole for breakfasts this week
grilled chicken for easy lunch prep
lettuce and spinach
tapioca flour
almond flour
chia seeds
gluten free oats for kids
green onions
kale
radishes
a tiny bit of bell pepper and mushroom chopped for salads left
lemons
apples
berries
carrots (organic, buy the 5 lb bag for 3.97)
applegate lunch meat, pepperoni (last night we had cauliflower crust paleo pizza and didn't use them all so for a bomb snack today I had some dipped in muir glen pizza sauce that we didn't use all of either)
a few brown cow greek yogurts for the kids from Whole Foods when they had $1 sale
almond milk
cashew milk
calcium added 100% not from concentrate OJ
cage free brown eggs

SNACK CABINET
cashews
almonds
walnuts
all bulk from sprouts and whole foods
organic raisins from target when they had a sale plus cartwheel
bitsy brain ABC veggie cookies from the kids' Easter baskets
happy family gluten free best friend cookies and yogurt melts--left over from an event so the kids can eat them
Annie's gluten free bars for the kids
Annie's snack crackers
nature's bakery fig bars, probably the least healthy thing in there but the kids love them so they are a nice treat when on sale at sprouts
horizon organic cinnamon animal crackers


lucky for me there aren't any chips anywhere to be found because I'm trying to resolve to break out post-whole30 habit of chips and spicy salsa.... super love them but it was becoming a real habit so since Sunday, they've been MIA ;-)

It's crazy that there isn't any dark chocolate or ice cream...because 2.5 years ago...that'd wouldn't have been the case. This photo would have looked much different. And I just want to encourage everyone out there to give clean eating a try because it is TOTALLY worth it. And then when you're ready, give a Whole30 a shot because it's life altering and health changing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm talking to you MOM and DAD!

Strawberry Jam - Paleo, Whole 30

I got a bunch of strawberries on sale the other day, it's barely their season in California, but I guess my local awesome produce grocer got some in bulk and marked them down. Regardless, I bought 3 2 pound packages! I ate some of them with the family and 2 of them I wanted to make jam with.

When I was younger, my nana made awesome peach jam and for our wedding she gave me many jars as part of our present. It was really the only kind of homemade jam I was exposed to as a kid that I liked.

After meeting my husband I decided to make some jam for us from scratch, but didn't (still don't) have canning supplies, so we made freezer jam. And it became my jam. In both ways.

Freezer strawberry jam is so easy and super delicious, but it's often full of sugar and pectin. Those two ingredients do not mix with paleo or whole 30. And honestly, I don't know if whole 30 allows jam, regardless of how it's made. I'm of the mind set that it is the same concept as a nut butter. Tread lightly and don't make it a staple of your diet. Although almond butter and macadamia nut butters do get eaten more than once a week around here....sooooooo. rules. :-S

Moving on, here is how I made some BOMB jam without pectin or added sugars (not even honey, it's not cool on a whole 30)

Strawberry Jam

Whole 30 Compliant, Paleo

4 pounds strawberries

2 tbsp water

1.5 apples, peeling on but cored

1 cup washed white grapes, taste them before using and get super sweet ones for the natural sweetness

1/4 cup washed frozen cranberries (although I used about 1/3 cup but you'd probably find it pretty tart) 

juice of one lemon

Wash, hull, quarter the strawberries -removing major bad spots. Place into large sauce pot with the water, turn on medium low heat. Grate the apple into the pot directly, stir. Using a blender or food processor, puree the grapes and cranberries until as smooth as can be. Pour into the pot, stir. Bring to boil, then let simmer, stiring often. Mash berries with potato masher as they start to burst, be sure to scrape down the sides of pot. Cook on low for about an hour or so, the longer it cooks, the thicker it will be. Once you've reached a still runny, but pretty gel-ing state, pour into the prepared (aka cleaned and dries) jars or containers. Let cool, then freeze for up to 6 months, refridgerator for up to a month.

mine batch made "this" much

Serve over paleo baked goods (not on whole 30), use as a dip (I dip bananas in it!), mix with nut butters as a dip, eat plain, or use in sauces. I think the whole 30-ness of it depends on how you use it. Even cocao is allowed on whole 30 in the proper context.....

Paleo ABBC muffins

Have you heard of ABC bread (or muffins?)
I first saw a recipe for it from my bradley birth instructor 4.5 years ago when she was giving us suggestions on how to increase protein content (including through whole grains). I don't think I ever made that recipe but during our clean eating years I was a big fan of veggie muffins (see recipe on this blog and also this one on another blog that I cleaned up for us). Now that we are pretty paleo (like 90%), my favorite muffin had been one made with coconut flour, a ton of eggs, bananas, and dark chocolate chips.
Craving muffins this morning, but only having one banana.... I revisited this ABC bread idea. But added blueberries in as well for some sweetness and also because  had G was asking to make 'wheat berry muffins' as seen in a library book this week, Little Red Riding Hood - A Newfangled Prairie Tale by Lisa Campbell Ernst.

Paleo ABBC Muffins

makes 12, takes about 30 minutes total

• 1 ripe banana
• 5 eggs
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• dash vanilla
• .25 tsp baking soda
• .5 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/3 coconut oil, in between soft and melted (feel free to try another fat of your choice)
• dash salt
• 1 large carrot (or 2 smaller ones), grated
• 1 apple, grated (I cored mine but left the peel on)
• 3/4 - 1 cup frozen blueberries
• I did not use any added sweetners, but you're welcome to add some honey or maple or etc if you want them sweeter and don't mind adding them

Place ingredients EXCEPT the blueberries (I added the carrot and apple to mince them even smaller, but you can choose to add them in afterwards with the blueberries) in a mixing bowl and use immersion blender to mix ingredients well. Gently stir in blueberries. Divide between muffins cups (I use silicon ones and they didn't need any extra greasing). Bake at 400 degree for about 20 minutes, keep an eye on them in your own oven though.

They were a big hit over here, so enjoy and feel free to sub in and out ingredients as you like.

note; if you don't have an immersion blender. I recomend using a blender to get the base batter mixed and then you can stir in apple, carrots, and blueberries seperately.

Dairy Free Fruit Dip

TI used to make a yummy clean fruit dip using yogurt, almond butter, and honey, but since I try to be mostly paleo....I don't eat or buy plain greek yogurt. (I do still buy some of the little cups for the kids, it's a great source of calcium and protein for them to eat occasionally) .... And the other day I was craving some fruit with dip and didn't just want to use plain almond butter. I used what I know about bananas and immersion blender to create a great fruit dip that is paleo!! I dare say it's Whole 30, but may be considered a SWYPO food....

Dairy Free Paleo Fruit Dip

2 ripe bananas
1/3 to 1/2 almond butter
shake of cacao (okay, I used a few shakes)

toss all ingredients into a bowl and let your immersion blender do the work!! (or regular blender / food processor if you haven't jumped on board the immersion blender train of awesomeness)

Makes enough for 2-3 big servings

Chocolate zucchini cake, eat clean

Yes. I am a fan of all things containing chocolate and zucchini. Here's another clean eating recipe containing them both!

My in laws were in town last night and we were having an awesome clean grilled dinner, and I had a zucchini that was getting pretty old. I figured it wouldn't be that good grilled, so I decided to whip up a dessert with it. Enter this thrown together from several online ideas...

Triple Chocolate zucchini cake

Clean eating

1/2 cup softened butter, grassfed preferred

1/2 - 1 cup honey or agave (vary it depending on your sweetness preference, and I used a combination of the two), local preferred for honey

3 eggs

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce, organic preferred

Dash vanilla if you want

2 cups whole wheat flour (I used half white whole wheat and red whole wheat)

1/2 tsp baking powder, aluminum free

1/2 tsp baking soda

Several dashes of salt

1/4 cup Dutch Cocoa

1/4 cup cocoa powder

A few dashes of ginger

1 medium zucchini, grated

1/3 - 1/2 cup milk depending on how dry the batter looks, grassfed preferred or almond/coconut milk

10 oz dark chocolate chips or enjoy life chips

Combine butter and honey with mixer. Add applesauce, vanilla and eggs; mix well. In another bowl preferably, mix dry ingredients together then add to wet and combine. Add zucchini and whip with mixer, this helps the batter be more wet from the moisture being pressed out of zucchini from fast mixing (my kitchen aid is a champ!) and cake batter like. Add the milk to get adequate moisture. I used 1/3 cup, but you'll just have to see what yours is like because the zucchini you have may be more or less moist than mine was. You want the batter to resemble a mix between regular and Greek yogurt-like consistency. Kind of firm but kind of runny. Definitely not soupy and definitely not bread battery.

Bake in preheated 350 oven about 20-25 minutes until set. At that point put the chocolate chips on top and put back into turned off oven for a few minutes until they melt. Remove and carefully spread chocolate evenly. It's nice to serve about 10 minutes later because then it's kind of like a lava cake but you can let the chocolate harden and serve it later on. Refrigerate leftovers. Can also mix in chocolate chips into to batter for an over the top treat!

Clean eating BBQ sauce

• Cook 12 oz clean bacon (nitrate free) and save 3 pieces (you can eat the rest!) and remove about 2 spoonfuls of the grease (leave the rest)
• 1 - 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 onion, minced
• 1 6 - 7 oz jar (or can) of tomato paste 
• 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp molasses
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce (the cleaner the better)
• .66 cup water 
• .75 Tsp salt Salt
• .75 Tsp pepper

Instructions

After the bacon has been cooked and you've removed the two spoonfuls of grease, use the remaining grease to sautee the garlic and onion. 

Then add remaining ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes.

Turn the heat off and carefully use an immersion blender to make it smooth. If you don't have an immersion blender. Let the mixture cool and use a regular blender to combine into smooth sauce.

Keeps up to 2 weeks in the fridge. feel free to add some heat via hot sauce or peppers!

Mom's Brunch Recipes, Clean Eating Chocolate Zucchini Muffins,Strawberry Shortbread Trifle, Egg Sausage Strata

I had a few moms over for a brunch today and wanted to share the recipes I made!

Eat Clean Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

3 eggs, set out of fridge when you begin
3/4 cup grassfed butter (regular is fine, but not as clean), softened a bit
1.75 cups white whole wheat flour (still a whole wheat flour, white whole wheat flour is made from white wheat, versus red wheat the traditional whole wheat flour is made from)
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I use half dutch cocoa and half regular, the dutch results in a richer color and better flavor)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1.25 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon aluminium free baking powder (regular will do, but not 'clean')
2/3 to 3/4 cup (depending on preferred sweetness) honey or agave nectar
1.5 teaspoon vanilla
2 medium zucchini, grated (I used the shredder disk & my food processor)
3/4 cup chocolate chips (Ghirardelli 60 % dark chocolate are the best! but you can also use semi sweet)

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, salt, soda, and powder. In a large bowl (stand mixer preferred), blend the softened butter and honey until smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla, beat well. Add the zucchini and whip away (I let mine go for quite a while to, as I like to call it, pulverize the zucchini so it doesn't stick out as noticeably in the baked muffin.) Add the dry ingredient mixture and combine until everything is moist. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour into greased muffin tins, or use baking cups of some sort. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Will make ~24

Nearly Clean Strawberry Shortbread Trifle

So this takes some work because I make everything from scratch, but it's totally worth it! You can also sub in a store bought angel food or pound cake and store bought whip cream for ease, but the homemade way allows you to control ingredients and tastes better :-) But I understand being pressed for time or not that handy in the kitchen.

First I make the shortbread biscuits. 

2 cups white whole wheat flour plus extra for dusting/patting
1 tablespoon aluminum free baking powder
several dashes of salt
1/2 cup grassfed butter (or regular will do)
2 tbsp honey
1 egg
3/4 cup grassfed milk or almond milk

Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and then use a pastry cutter to cut in 1 stick of butter. Continue cutting until the butter is well distributed and finely incorporated, will take several minutes of cutting (you can also do this in a food processor and pulse, it's easier that way but I hate cleaning my food processor and I have a pastry cutter so I use it)
Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and put the egg, honey, and milk. Whisk the wet ingredients within that well and then incorporate the flour mixture with the wet until a ball comes together. You will have to add some more flour, probably, so that the dough isn't too wet. You want it to be tacky but not too sticky. You can roll the dough out and cut if you want, but since these biscuits will be getting torn up for the trifle, I don't care if they look sloppy, so I just roll them in to balls and pat down into 2.5" (ish) circles. Bake at 450 degree for about 9-10 minutes or until done. Let cool before trying to break into bite size pieces for the trifle. The biscuits and the strawberries can be done the day before you want to assemble your trifle.

You will also need to clean two pounds of strawberries and cut off the tops. 

Cut them into bite size pieces and let sit, covered, in the fridge for a while to naturally "juice".

Right before assembling the trifle, I make some whipped cream. 

I use grassfed cream and *gasp* unclean powdered sugar. It's processed, but it's better than the crap you buy in the store, so deal with it or try to make whipped cream with maple syrup?

To assemble the trifle, layer the cut up biscuits on the bottom, then strawberries, and then whip cream, I repeated this twice. I topped it with three whole strawberries for presentation :-)

Clean Eating Egg Sausage Strata

This is basically a Taste of Home Recipe but I make it clean by making the bread from scratch and hand shredding my cheese...in addition to choosing better for you sausage and bacon and free range eggs. When I make this strata, I make a whole loaf of bread (typically whole wheat in my bread machine--tip, add vital wheat gluten to keep whole wheat bread from being a brick!) and then make two stratas because each strata takes half of a 2 lb bread machine loaf, and this recipe is really easy to double even if you're using store bought bread. You can prepare the stratas and then freeze one for later and let one refrigerate overnight to eat the next morning. This is an amazing brunch recipe and awesome for crowds. It's very easy to make, if you don't do it clean. Because making it clean takes longer, I usually make the bread the day before I want to prepare the stratas, which is a day before you want to eat it because it has to set overnight. You can also add mushrooms, spinach, etc... very customizable!
Recipe is found here; http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/cheese-sausage-strata

Chickpea Bake Fest

I had a bag of chickpeas (other wise known as garbanzo beans...it's kind of complicated, apparently) sitting in the pantry last week. I also happened to be crazing snack foods, so I figured I could roast some up and boom, snacky craving satisfied. Except to take dry beans to roasted snack food takes a while. It's not like you just tear into a bag of chips, awesome as that may sound.
That's the thing about truly eating clean...it is a labor of love sometimes. Sure, there are ways to make things less time consuming, and I'm all for that. But when you put a lot of time and effort into preparing healthy foods, you A) burn more calories through all the work and B) you appreciate your food more and then C) over eat less.
So back to the story. I soaked the beans overnight sometime last week, then cooked them the next day, ran out of time and just threw them in the fridge once they cooled.
Then my kids got sick. I had a lot of work events. #Lifehappens
So last night I got tired of looking at them in the fridge and put "roast chick peas" on my to-do list, because that's how things actually get done around here. Except dusting...dusting takes an Act of God.

So I set about to roast my chick peas and realized I didn't want/need to roast the whole lot of them. So I googled around and found a few recipes I wanted to clean up/personalize and voila! They are below.

Roasted Chickpea Snack bites

2 splashes olive oil
heap of cumin powder (about a tablespoon)
heap of garlic powder (or if you don't like garlic flavor, less)
a few shakes of chili powder (About .5 tsp)
a few shakes of sea salt
dash of ground pepper
dash of red pepper flakes
2 cups of prepared chickpeas

In a small mixing bowl, combine oil and spices. Toss in chickpeas and stir to coat. Place onto parchment paper covered (or just greased) cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.

Chocolate Chickpea Bread (or cake, whatever)

2 cups prepared chickpeas
2 heaping tablespoons cocoa powder (dutch or special dark preferred)
1 tsp baking powder
several dashes sea salt
2 tablespoons white whole wheat flour (need a bit more if using agave vs. sugar)
.25 cup brown sugar (or agave)
.25 cup honey
4 eggs
.5 tbsp vanilla
1 tablespoon melted (grassfed) butter
.33 cup dark chocolate chips (about a handful)

In a smallish bowl, combine melted butter, vanilla, honey, eggs, and agave if using. In medium mixing bowl blend baking powder, cocoa, salt, flour, and sugar if using instead of agave. Combine the wet mixture into the dry mix bowl. Using sturdy food processor, grind the chickpeas until they are ground into a flour like substance. Blend into batter. Stir in chocolate chips. Line a bread pan with parchment paper and pour batter in. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes until set and toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Chickpea Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I just used remaining chickpeas from that bag I had prepared, I think it should equal about 1.5 c or a bit less
2 tsp vanilla
.5 cup pure almond butter
.25 cup honey (I also squeezed in a dollop of agave just for flavor balancing, so if you have it, do it)
1 tsp baking powder
a few dashes of salt
.33 cup dark chocolate chips (about a handful)

Process the chickpeas until finely ground. Dump in the rest of the ingredients (except chocolate), process for about 2 minutes or until a lump starts to form and make its way around the bowl, kind of creating a ball of dough. Take out the blade and mix in chocolate chips. Place 12 mounds onto a lined or greased cookie sheet. Flatten down a bit. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 (with about 5 minutes left, I reached in a smashed them down into cookie form, since they don't really do that on their own).

Meal Plan Monday - eat clean -

Sunday; Shepard's Pie Loaded Baked Potato (I added mushrooms, kale, and spinach to the mix)

Monday; Ginger Cranberry Pork Roast in the slow cooker
Tuesday; leftovers
Wednesday; Sausage Kale Soup and cheese biscuits found here

Thursday; leftovers
Friday; Pasta and meatballs
Saturday; grilled fish, squash, and sweet potatoes

lunches are salads with all the veggies, no nitrate lunch meat, fruits and almond butter or plain almonds
breakfasts are leftover pancakes, oatmeal, eggs and veggie scrambles
snacks? yogurt and dark chocolate


linked up at meal plan monday at orgjunkie.com - if you're stopping by, thanks! we eat clean about 90% of the time here...and sometimes I share recipes and sometimes I'm busy living life with my two kiddos and wonderful husband plus training for our first full marathon in April. :-)

Copycat cleaned up Panera Sonoma Chicken Stew recipe (with cheesebiscuit)

Two years ago Panera came out with the greatest soup they've ever had, in my humble opinion anyways.

Sonoma Chicken Stew may not be that great for some online reviews, but I think it is amazing. There is a cheesy biscuit in the middle of a creamy mixture of chicken and vegetables and it screams comfy sweaters, annoying but oh-so-warm furry boots, fireplaces, dreary days, and rain on the window. You know, Autumn at it's finest. Or winter, whatever season you want it to be, just gimme some o' that soup.

Panera, or the St. Louis Bread Co (re; "Bread Co") in the part of the world I'm from, is fast food, but tastier and less greasy than your typical joint. There's tons of calories, sodium, and carbs that leach onto your body just for walking in the place. Is it still one of my cravings? You bet your bippy. I ate it the day J was born because it's the only thing that sounded good, and my first full meal after I was on the road to recovery? Panera. When I was in high school I would get the chicken noodle soup in a bread bowl, with bread for a side. That's like 1300 calories......eeeeek. And I'm eternally grateful that my husband shared the greatest sandwich of all; the bacon turkey bravo. My.mouth.is.watering. I try to make better choices these days, and it's a rare occasion to eat there (twice a year maybe). I search them out if we are on the road and need to stop for fast food. I love you Panera, non-eat-clean meals and all.

But when I googled for a recipe like the sonoma chicken stew....no where to be found! If you too have googled this amazingly warm and satisfying comfort dish, look no more.

Although I must warn you, mine is cleaned up a bit and not as thick, though I have a solution for you on that front.

For me, the cheese biscuit makes the dish, and so that's included here.

Panera on top, this recipe on bottom

Copycat Sonoma Chicken Stew with Cheese Biscuit Recipe

1 quart chicken broth, homemade preferred
4-5 cups water depending on how far you want to stretch it
1 cup cream or half and half, grassfed preferred
as much celery, carrots, peas, green beans as you want
(I eyeballed it, you can say 3 stalks celery, chopped. 1 lb of carrots sliced, 1 cup of frozen peas, 1 cup of frozen, cut green beans)
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp cold water and your thickening agent of choice (about 4 tbsp)
1-2 lbs chicken breasts, boiled or pan fried in grassfed butter, chopped up into bite size pieces after cooking
**To make it thicker and more of a copycat recipe, add 1.5 cups worth of chopped potatoes. This will add to the creamy texture and Panera's version has potatoes. I didn't have any on hand, so I left them out**
cheese biscuit recipe follows

Boil the broth in a large stock pot, add in water and bring to boil again. Add in celery and carrots (and potatoes if you have them), simmer until they are starting to soften then add in peas and green beans. Blend in cream and salt and pepper to taste, simmer. In a small bowl, combine flour or corn starch with cold water. In a steady stream, pour into soup and stir constantly while you do. If you'd still like yours to be thicker, repeat the process. I did so about 3 times. Simmer.
While the soup had been simmering, I pan fried some chicken breasts in grassfed butter, which is like my favorite thing to do because it tastes so dang good. A little fat doesn't make you fat, sugar does. Don't worry if it gets a little crispy on the outside, the soup will soften it up some too. Cut the chicken into bite size pieces and add it into the soup. Let the soup stew while you make the biscuits. Once the biscuits are done, place one in a large soup bowl and ladle stew over it. Salt and pepper may be added for taste once again, but remember to watch your sodium intake if trying to eat clean.

'eat clean' Cheese Biscuits

2 cups white whole wheat flour
4 tsp (aluminum free baking) powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (grassfed) butter
1 (cage free) egg
2/3 (unsweetened original almond) milk
1 tbsp honey
4-6 oz freshly grated Colby Jack or cheddar cheese

Combine the dry ingredients and then cut in the butter using a pastry cutter or two knives or a food processor. Make a well in the center of the mixture and put in the egg, honey, and milk. Whisk the wet ingredients within the well and then start to incorporate the dry ingredients. Once combined, toss in the cheese and gentle blend. Knead the dough briefly to make sure cheese is well distributed avoid over-handling though. Pat out to 3/4 inch thick rectangle on a well floured surface or silicone pastry mat. You want these to look artisan, so I used a knife to create chunky triangles or square shapes. Bake at 435 degrees on silpat lined sheet (or grease your sheets if no silpat) for about 9 minutes or until golden.

Eat Clean Whole Wheat Pancakes - optional bananas - recipe

I love breakfast foods. Like, a lot. And almost all of them.
Load me up on some cinnamon rolls, biscuits, pancakes, french toast, quiche, scrambled eggs, strata, and especially waffles...and I am one happy but carb-loaded girl!

When we transitioned to eating clean, it really wasn't that hard to make clean breakfast foods. I've been baking for years, and from-scratch breakfast isn't hard at all.

I really need to do an update on our eating clean, because it's still going pretty well. I'd say about 90/10 is the ratio we typically hit, and we incorporate some paleo ideas but for the record we will NEVER be paleo.

When my parents were here around Halloween, I found this recipe for whole wheat pancakes that I thought my dad would like. I have since adapted it in various ways and today I'm sharing my eat clean version with bananas added in and strawberry "syrup" on top.

Eat Clean Pancakes

adapted from Fifteen Spatulas

1.33 cup (Kalona) buttermilk
1 egg
2 tbsp melted (grassfed) butter
1.25 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp (aluminum free) baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 mashed banana

In a small bowl, blend the buttermilk, egg, and melted butter. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Incorporate the wet mixture into the dry and then add the mashed banana. If the mixture looks too dry, add buttermilk or regular milk until it's a bit runnier than brownie batter (but not watery or overly runny). Pour about a third of a cup of the batter onto a hot griddle (as long as it's "non-stick" no greasing is needed. Flip once bubbles pop up.

For the strawberry syrup I put some home-frozen (you can use store bought) frozen strawberry slices into a sauce pan with agave nectar and heated over medium. Then I blended some organic corn starch with some cold water and mixed into the strawberry 'syrup' to thicken it up some. Served with chicken sausages.

Eat Clean Sweet Potato Bread Pudding

We had a lot of left over homemade rolls from our Christmas celebration with my in laws this past weekend. We don't eat much bread these days, so I looked around to see what we had that I could use them with.....we had a lot of sweet potatoes. I found a bread pudding recipe that incorporated sweet potatoes because that seemed like a delicious combo. It happened to be from the delicious Paula Deen. Unfortunately but not surprisingly, it wasn't really clean.
So I cleaned it up and am sharing it with you all because it is so delicious!! It grew better with every bite until I decided it was pretty much like pumpkin pie. If you want the sugar and butter loaded one, which I'm sure is as amazing, give Paula's recipe a whirl....but the one below is way less calories and way better for you.
Try using Kalona Supernatural dairy; we recently discovered it via their cream and it's the best grass fed dairy we've had. We also use their Farmers Hen House eggs. Check them out at a store near you, I use Hy-Vee. I really can't say enough good things about them....grass fed, batch pasteurized, not homogenized (their view is the very premise of eat clean; "...we believe in doing less—not more—when it comes to our food.")
Another note to make; the straining process took a LONG time for me because I think my custard was so thick due to using proportionally more sweet potatoes, just keeping smooshing the mixture through the strainer using a wooden spoon, add more liquid while cooking if it seems to dense. Mine was a thick custard but turned out wonderfully moist, springy, and smooth (so if you skip the straining, I'm sure the consistency would be affected).

Eat Clean Sweet Potato Bread Pudding

adapted from the queen of butter Mrs. Deen

chill at least 8 hours before you want to bake it

prep takes about 1 hour

baking takes 40 minutes

grass fed butter for dish
a handful of sliced almonds for topping
1 cup of grass fed cream
3/4 cup of grass fed milk
1/2 cup agave nectar
1 1/2 large (but not HUGE) sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3 cage free egg yolks
~7 cups of whatever homemade whole grain bread you have on hand, torn into bite size pieces, it should be enough to have 2 layers in an 8 x 8 x 2 baking dish

In a medium sauce pan, boil the sweet potatoes to soften. While that happens, melt a bit of butter in an 8 x 8 dish, use a napkin or paper towel to spread it around (greasing the dish). Combine the dairy, agave, vanilla, spices in a bowl. Once the potatoes are soft, drain and mash. Put the dairy mixture and mashed sweet potatoes into the sauce pan. Bring to just a boil. Set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth. Put a bit of the sweet potato mixture into the eggs while whisking constantly (this is to warm the egg yolks up so they don't cook immediately when you dump them into the sauce pan), add another bit of sweet potato mixture into the eggs again while whisking constantly. Pour egg mixture into the sauce pan. Over medium-high heat, stir mixture constantly until it's thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Strain the custard and reserve.

Put one layer of bread pieces in the greased dish, pour half of the custard over the bread. Put the rest of the pieces on top of that and cover with remaining custard. Jiggle dish to settle. Chill covered for 8 hours or overnight.

Top with sliced almonds, bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until set.

Super Food Muffin {eat clean recipe with kale, pumpkin, carrot,cranberry and apple}

I love baking treats, but when we started eating clean....I had to, by necessity, cut way back. Sometimes, if I think about it, I get a little sad, but not really when I button my pre-two-pregnancies-pants. Even now, when I eat unclean ice cream, sure it tastes good, but it's not nearly as delicious as I thought it was before I wasn't addicted to sugar. Man that stuff is a drug.

Anyways, I get my baking fix these days through muffins. I've always loved to make muffins (my specialty used to be Banana Blueberry Muffins), but now they just have a super healthy punch. I recently came up with a very healthy Fall recipe. Seriously, you can't feel bad about eating these things (unless you're Paleo or GF, in which case, I feel bad for you). There's Vitamin A, B, C, D, K, Iron, Calcium, Protein...the WORKS. Plus other stuff I don't even know, like minerals--Magnesium, Selenium...does that sound right? Just google Kale. It's a super food. And these muffins taste awesome!

...okay. If you are used to sugar treats and pastries, you're not gonna love these the first time you try them. But if you are trying to work in more veggies, give them a shot. If you already eat clean, then you will DEFINITELY love these and your eat-clean kiddos will gobble them up! My daughter is too smart for me to hide kale in even her eat-clean-style mac and cheese...but hidden in muffins works like a charm. And for the record, she ate like 6 pieces of lettuce tonight, woot!

Eat Clean Pumpkin Carrot Kale Cranberry Muffins

makes 24, takes about 1 hour including prep

Dry Ingredients;
1.5 cups white whole wheat flour
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
(or you can use 3 cups of all of one kind and subtract the other)
.25 tsp salt
3 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vital wheat gluten (I used for added protein here, but you don't need this ingredient)
1 tbsp baking powder
Wet Ingredients;
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 eggs, beaten
.5 to .75 cup agave nectar (based on your sweetness preference) (you could use honey instead)
.75 cup all natural unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla (pure)
about half a bunch of kale (leaves only), should be around 2 cups
about .8 pound of carrots (I used almost a whole bag of baby carrots)
-- grind up the kale and carrots in the food processor at the same time, to tiny pieces but not pureed, before mixing with other wet ingredients--
Folded in at the end
1 to 1.5 cup of washed fresh/frozen cranberries (can use raisins if needed)

Preheat oven to 365, just to be fun. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl; in a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients. Blend the two together, but avoid over mixing. If batter is too dry, add some Greek yogurt extra pumpkin puree, or almond milk, but this batter is supposed to be fairly stiff. Fold in the cranberries. You're welcome to try these topped with chopped nuts of your choice, or even fold them in too. Prepare muffin tins with either liners or grease of your choice. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for 18-24 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean, turning half way through.

 Enjoy :-)

Eat Clean Pumpkin Cut Out Cookies Recipe

EDIT as of 11/17, I changed the recipe some to add healthy flax seed into the mix! 

One of my most favorites about Fall is pumpkin, specifically pumpkin cookies! My mom has a great recipe that I haven't seen elsewhere (though I haven't looked too hard), it's for roll out pumpkin cookies. I love it because the taste is not too sweet, with a great pumpkin taste. Oh, and if you don't feel like rolling them out, just make little balls :-)

Pumpkin!

Here, I've cleaned it up for you!

Clean Eating Pumpkin Cut Out Cookies

1 cup pumpkin
3/4 cup softened butter
1/4 ground flax seeds (use a coffee grinder to freshly grind whole flax)
1 cup agave nectar (or honey)
2 tbsp molasses (not necessary, but gives it a good flavor)
1 egg
4-4.5 cups white whole wheat flour
2 tsp Pumpkin Spice
extra cinnamon to taste
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda

Cream the butter, flax, and honey/agave. Add pumpkin, mix well. Add egg. In a separate bowl, combine 4 cups of white whole wheat flour, salt, soda. Gradually mix into the wet ingredients. Add more flour if needed to stiffen the dough (I usually close 4.75 cups). Let it chill in the fridge for about 2-3 hours. Dust counter with flour as needed to roll dough out to 1/3" to 3/8" thickness. Cut out shapes. Bake on ungreased sheets for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

It's Halloween! Why not have pumpkin cookies for breakfast?

Clean Eating Progress and recipe links

We've been eating 90%+ clean for around 2 months now. It's going great, and I no longer really equate food with comfort. So that's an awesome feeling. I've lost weight, not where I want to really be in my clothes, yet, but it's a definite start. My husband has lost weight too. Overall, I just feel really proud and happy with what is going into our bodies. Our bodies will find their own happy weight on their own, since we are giving them the right fuel. G has adjusted pretty well, and J eats lots of our table food, since it's all clean anyways! Sometimes when G was his age, I'd make special foods for her because what we were eating wasn't what I'd want to feed her so young...which is saying something. Even though I thought we were eating pretty well.

If it's not something you want to feed your infant, why do you want to feed it to yourself? Baring alcohol and the occasional treats...and honey.... you know what I'm getting at.

Sometimes things I make take up a lot of time, and I hate that, but it certainly makes me appreciate our food a lot more. My husband respects the effort I put into feeding us well. I haven't bought bread products since the end of July. Yah. Mind blown.

It's not any more costly, either. I'm spending right around the same amount as I was before. I was hoping it'd be less, but produce and meat still make up most of our budget. Processed goods just got replaced with baking ingredients or healthier snacks.

I definitely think being a lover of all things kitchen, and a small appliance dork, have helped me succeed so far. If you don't like to bake or cook, your eat clean journey might be a little tougher. Definitely do-able, though, but a love of baking and cooking will certainly increase your chance of survival.

When we do eat junk now, we can tell, and to be honest (never thought I'd type the following)...it's not as good as I thought it was, and I don't crave it like I used to. Sure, there are days when all I want is a little bit of ice cream/custard. Ok, I'm human. And I have it. But a lot of times, I'm like; "Man, it's weird...I want to be craving ice cream, but really, I'm not. So strange." I literally think that to myself. Now, dark chocolate chips and plain Greek yogurt, I could eat that all day. WHO AM I??
We recently went to a picnic at a local cider mill put on my husband's work. We ate the BBQ provided, because, it's free, and good; but definitely not clean. I ate the white bun, but it was seriously hindering the meat's flavor. I almost took the meat off, but the portions were small, and we had just run 6 miles, and I was honestly famished so I kind of needed any calories I could get, sadly. I ate about half a snack-bag size of plain potato chips. Yes, they were pretty good, but old-Kaylene would have eaten the whole thing. I had an apple cider doughnut (ok, 2?) and it was the awesome...overly sugary, but yeah, it was good. These few and far between treats get me through. Oh, and then there's G....  can totally tell when she's hopped up on sugar, since she doesn't really have it often. Half of the doughnut and she was doing circles.

Ok, back to the point. We are doing great with eating clean, but do so within our means and take advantage of little treats now and again.

Here are some of my favorite recipes;

Clean Wheat Tortillas
Clean Pizza Dough
Zucchini Brownies - I combo these two recipes A and B

Honey 100% Wheat Sandwich Bread

Clean Hamburger Buns

100% Whole Wheat Rolls

Clean Crackers. This was a super chore. I've made them once. I'd really just suggest forgoing crackers all together, or stocking up on Annie's Homegrown like me ;-)

Sweet Potato Lentil Stew

Stuffed Red Peppers

Eat Clean Potatoes with Lemon


I stock Daisy Cottage Cheese, Chobani Plain (some flavored cups for easy lunch-packing and G's snacks), deli cheese, low sodium no nitrate lunch meat, clean peanut butter (PS no stir style "natural PB" isn't clean), homemade jam, healthy cereal, eggs, Annie's Homegrown snacks, almonds, and of course fresh fruits and veggies.

We eat a lot of salads, a lot of Mexican style dishes because I bought a 5 lb bag of Masa (to make corn tortillas), meats and veggie meals...I make a lot of veggie muffins and quiche using personal recipes. I also make up a lot of my own meat recipes, including a secret clean chicken and dumpling recipe that I want to enter into a contest ;-)

For anyone out there questioning if they should "go clean" or not...the answer is DUH, Yes!! Just know it takes some planning, some sweat, and some serious motivation. Commit and don't look back, because you already know it's better for you. :-)

Eating "Clean" and Running

This summer has flown by! We are now on week 10 of half marathon training, and it is going super well! Our longest run has been 8 miles, so far, and we do 10 miles, three Sundays from now! How exciting! I pray we stay fit and healthy. I'm very thankful for my body and what I can do with it. I feel strong, even if I don't look like it. Having a C-Section, let alone 2 babies in 22 months changes your body permanently. Especially when baby #2 stretched out your belly like you had twins--my abs are still split down the middle :-( I don't think they'll ever get back together. Gross. This brings me to our attempts to eat clean. I think that eating 'healthy' as our current culture defines it is not good enough. How is drinking a shake made from a manufactured powder good for you? How is eating a "bar" made with "grains and fruit" good for you if it also has a lot of other processed stuff? It's not. I know that eating clean is kind of a fad right now, but let us be honest....it's a good one. There can't be anything wrong with eating whole fruits and vegetables and non-processed foods. The thing is, I have to be realistic. We don't live on a farm. We don't have a full-fledged garden, and we are millionaires to afford to buy everything at Whole Foods or Farmers Markets. So, we are doing what works for us. And feeling great about it. I have the Fooducate app--and that's been pretty helpful. I'm trying to lose weight--not for vanity's sake or to achieve some number--but because I want to feel better. My mid section and flabby arms are ridiculous...hopefully eating cleaner will help us. We donated a few packaged food items and are slowly eating our way through the already opened ones--because there are starving people across the country and world, so it's a huge disservice to the environment to just throw food out. Here on out though.... no more boxed Velveeta Shells and Cheese (so bad but so good!), no more packaged granola bars, no more processed ice cream (cookie dough, anyone?), and no more buying bottled salad dressings. I've found recipes to replace common snacks, and will be getting familiar with non-bread-machine-yeast. I would say I hope this works out, but I know it will... It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle, and one that humans were born to thrive on. Poor G...she was just getting used to those awesome kid food like the blue box and hot dogs. I think there will be a learning curve here, though, so I'll keep you posted on how it goes. So far I've made some pretty delicious meals and our breakfasts have been full of veggies and fruit thanks to things like zucchini-carrot-banana muffins and carrot-blueberry-greek yogurt muffins (I threw in a banana too). I've been trying to get all the food groups into our meals, especially breakfast, the most important one of the day.

--and now for what you really care about, the kids. J is seven months old and killin' it at milestones. He's currently sick, though, and teething, soooo yah, real fun. G is almost 2.5 and rockin' the potty, coloring like a champ, and impressing us all with her vocabulary and comedic timing. They are super sweet together and life is good.

Recipe: Smoothie Muffins

I recently altered my favorite blueberry-banana muffin recipe to be a bit more healthy and use up some ingredients... The result was what I am now calling Smoothie Muffins because they use a lot of smoothie ingredients--clever, I know! They are super delicious; both moist and healthy (ish?).

Smoothie Muffins

1  c all purpose flour

1 c whole wheat flour

3/4 c sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c oil (or 1/2 melted butter if you are devilish)

2 eggs

dash of vanilla

6 oz greek yogurt (I used "honey" flavor but vanilla or plain would work well too)

1 banana, mashed

1 1/2 c both blueberries and raspberries, frozen (don't thaw) or fresh

Combine dry ingredients (flour through salt). In a separate bowl combine oil, yogurt, eggs, and vanilla. Blend dry and wet ingredients until moistened throughout. Fold in fruits. Spoon into prepared muffin tins. Bake in pre-heated oven at 400 degrees for 18-22 minutes. Makes 12 regular muffins + 6 mini muffins... or 18 not-as-full regular muffins.

Cinderella Cake with G

I love baking. That is pretty obvious. I also enjoy letting G help me bake. We've grown together, in our method. I've never really shied away from letting her measure, dump, stir, mix, and occasionally make a mess. There have been a few times when I've gotten frustrated with her, due to time constraints, expensive ingredients, or sensitive nature (yeast, specifically) but generally, we have a grand time. She has her own apron, hat, mitt, etc. I imagine she'll be a big baker when she is older too. Her favorite thing to do, aside from TASTE, is mix. The other day, though, I learned she does NOT like the hand mixer. It is too loud for her. She much prefers the Kitchen Aid stand mixer....classy expensive taste :-)

From "Kitchen Fun - a cookbook for Children" by Bell & Smith (1932)

G has her own little cook book, and anytime I get my recipes out, she wants to have her own book down too. It's quite adorbs. We haven't ever made anything out of it, though there are plenty of fun recipes in it.

Then over the weekend (Memorial Day, specifically) I decided it was high time she got to actually make something from her cook book. We picked out just the perfect thing. Cinderella Cake with Jam Frosting!

I have no clue why it's called Cinderella Cake, but I'm guessing it's because it's pretty plain, but still yummy. Like Cinderella was really plain, but still caught the Prince's eye? Idk.
I let G do everything, with some help, aside from cracking the eggs. And, she didn't want to hold the mixer (see above). But we used the Kitchen Aid for the frosting, and she's great at turning that on and off, and helping to tap-tap-tap the sides.

mixing in the vanilla by hand, with tear stained cheeks from hating the hand mixer

After I put J to bed, we finished the frosting and all sat down to enjoy our Cinderella Cake :-) It was a lovely end to our lovely weekend.

Recipe: Noosa Wheat Bread in the breadmaker

 

Have I mentioned the bread maker I got for Christmas? I think I did. Anyways. I love it. Tons.

About two months after we got it, we bought some whole wheat bread and tried a few recipes. Then I altered one to include the most delectable thing one could ever eat. Noosa Yoghurt. I have told lots of people about Noosa, because it is Heaven on earth. Go buy some right now and get a spoon at the grocery store food court, plop yourself down in your car, and scarf the whole thing down. I dare you not to. It's not Greek yogurt, though we love that, and maybe you're a Chobani fan...that's cool, we like that too. But Noosa is creamier, richer, and just in a whole different ball park. It is dessert that you can get away with eating any time and attempting to call it healthy. I mean. It's not unhealthy, persay, but it isn't something you could eat all the time and not feel a teensy bit bad about. It isn't light at all, but it is real food. It's simple and good. Yum.

Egg Salad Recipe {#Lent #meatless}

My Friday Lent meal plan typically looks like this:

Fish (frozen), fries or mac and cheese, veggies

BORING! I know.

So then I pulled out my recipe book and was flipping through... I found egg salad and was totally like..."oh ya! I forgot about that!"

So I altered it beyond recognition and here's what I've got for you--- it's really good, not to mayo-ey and super full of protein.

Egg Salad Sandwiches

9 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and cut into small chunks

to get perfect boiled eggs, lay eggs in the bottom of a pan, cover with cool water, put on stove on medium-high, heat until boiling, allow to boil one minute, remove from heat, cover pot with lid for 10 minutes, drain, remove eggs to bowl, fill bowl with cold water, refrigerate for 2 hours, drain, keep in refrigerator until needed

2 stalks of celery (organic is prefered), chopped small
2/3 cup mayo
1 tablespoon mustard
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste
dill seasoning to taste (I love dill!)

combine in bowl, cover, refrigerate until needed
serve on toast
(I want to try these with bacon on top, but alas, that's not a Lent friendly Friday meal)