Yummy for breakfast....

We had this yummy bread for breakfast and I knew I had to share with you!
It's the second time we've made it and it is soooo close to a regular banana bread.
Goes great with a side of bacon and a big mug of chai. :)

Anniversary dinner

Our tenth anniversary was yesterday!
Even more astonishing, was the realization that we have been together over 14 years! That seems like forever!
Won't be long before we've been together longer than not.
Whoa!
With a six month old munchkin, it isn't easy to get out.
I planned an elaborate meal at home.
It was a ton of work.
I made meatloaf (not my idea - that was all the husband).
I made cauliflower dippers I saw on Pinterest.
I sautéed up some garlic Swiss chard.
Dessert was amazing. So amazing there is no pic. Ugh.
It was my own version of this chocolate custard with coconut milk, honey, and some peanut butter stirred in.
All was mostly a hit with everyone.

A day in the life.....

Today marks 4 weeks of eating grain free.
Each week I intend to work out more than I did the past week, yet it doesn't happen.
Ugh.
It is so hard to force myself to make the time!
When I have worked out (a couple of times each week), it has been a treadmill run or kettlebells.
I take my measurements on Fridays.
Today I was down 8 pounds and 8 inches,
3.5 in the waist, 3 in the hips, 1 in the highs, and 1/2 in the arms.
Yay! Now if only I would work out, I'd be more trim and STRONG!
Well I needed a goal for this wee right?



Here's what my diet looked like yesterday.....

Breakfast consisted of 2 eggs fried in coconut oil, a sliced tomatoes sautéed with spinach, and a bit of feta on top.

Lunch was one and a half mini burgers that I made for daycare lunch. Some leftover brusselsprouts, sautéed mushrooms and some olives.

The kids had leftovers for dinner and Jimmy was gone for conferences, so I used some taco meat I had and made a taco salad.


Obviously we haven't made the jump to go dairy free, but we are limiting it more and more. I did have a little dried fruit and a handful of my favorite crackers when I was a little hungry.

WHY??? the crazy lifestyle change?

Lots and lots of questions about how we are eating now. Mostly the deal is we are eating high amounts of good fats, good organic proteins and lots and lots of fruits and veggies. Why? We have been researching what grains can do to your body. Even whole grains and wheat, beans, rices.... They can cause many digestive problems as well as spike your blood sugar every time you eat them, causing messed up metabolism and sugar levels in your body. The thought is to try to keep your sugar levels as even as possible throughout the day. You can read info in the Wheat Belly Diet or many blogs that talk about Paleo/Primal eating. For breakfast, we eat a lot of eggs with lots and lots of veggies in them and sometimes meat. I have also made some paleo versions of pancakes and donuts. Lunches, we made sandwiches on lettuce wraps, salads with lots of veggies, meats, nuts and and oil and vinegar dressing. OR, we just have leftovers. Dinners are usually a high quality meat with a couple veggies. We make soups with homemade broth and no noodles, potatoes, or rice, just LOTS of veggies. We've been having fun experimenting with grain free pizza recipes on friday family game nights. Homemade broth is one of the best things you can feed your body. SO much nourishment. There are some really great recipes for desserts and treats. Some are hits and some are TOTALLY misses! I've made great lemon cake, brownies, peanut butter cups, coconut balls.... Snacks are easy... raw almonds, or other raw nuts and seeds, dried fruits, plain greek yogurt with fruit, fruit with nut butter, homemade crackers.... The fats we use are... tons and tons of coconut oil, butter, olive oil, bacon fat.... Sweeteners that are ok are pure maple syrup, stevia (a little more processed), raw honey (raises your blood sugar a little more, but has amazing health benefits) You want to eat for fuel, so you want the least processed, chemical free, organic, not nitrate..... food you can buy. Never low fat and never artificial sugar. This, like any lifestyle change or diet, could consume every minute of your life. The point is to live healthy so that you aren't sidetracked from what you were put here by God to do because of health issues or obesity. You also don't want to go too far the other way and become a diet snog or so consumed with what you eat that you don't have time for anything else.

The best crackers yet!

So, I have found the yummiest, easiest, homemade cracker recipe!
It just so happens to fit our grain-free lifestyle, too!
I am going to have to search for a link of where it came from, but I have the recipe....

BEST CRACKERS EVER
2 cups almond meal/flour
1/2 t salt
2T herbs (any that you like.   We use a spicy spaghetti one from SAMs)
2T water
1 egg white
1T olive oil


Preheat oven to 350.  Mix it all together. Then roll out thin between 2 sheets of parchment.   Score with a pizza cutter or knife.   Slide entire sheet onto baking sheet.   Bake 10 minutes, then turn oven off and let sit in oven for another 10.


Easy peasy!
The last pic is the beginnings of a soaked flax cracker for the dehydrator.  I'll let you know how it goes!

Our new toy.....

We have a new toy in our house!
It's the Excallibur dehydrator!

We couldn't wait to try it out.
We are excited to make fruit, veggie chips, jerky, crackers.....    OHHHHH the possibilities!
It arrived late afternoon, so about all we had time for was fruit leather.  
I immediately blended whatever was near.


Strawberries, apples, oranges, bananas, apple pears....

Family Pizza and Game Night

We've been successfully having family game night every Friday night for a couple months now.
We've also been having pizza night with it.
How do you have pizza if you've gone grain-free?
You make crust from Grass Fed Girl
So far we like it the best and I didn't even make it right!
We will be doing a part 2 of this crust next week and I bet it will be even better.
My mistakes?
          First, I didn't have enough Parmesan, so I subbed mozzarella.
          Second, I baked the entire crust BEFORE putting on the toppings.
Result?
           A frazzled mom, a light, crackery, great tasting crust ( broke a little too easy). And a very happy family.

Blog REVIVAL and a lifestyle change

Ok. So I know it has been a while.
Life got in the way.
Sometimes living is more important than the blogging about it.
We've had many changes recently that are all worth blogging about.
We get questions all the time!
First, THIS:
My beautiful Arabella, now 5 1/2 months.



Second, we have gone grain free.
No, it's not some religious quest or health emergency, we just realize we needed this for our health. Boy has it been an adjustment, but we've seen results! AND, WE GET TO EAT THINGS LIKE THIS: