Yields 12 muffins.

Recipe:

Muffins

• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 bananas, very ripe
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 3/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp pumpkin spice
• 1-2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill gluten free 1 to 1 flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda

Topping

• 1/3 cup pistachios, smashed
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners.
3. In large bowl, melt butter and honey, then add bananas and mash well.
4. Add sugar and pumpkin, mix well.
5. Stir in egg, vanilla and finally dry ingredients.
6. Make sure batter is mixed well, then spoon evenly into liners.
7. Mix smashed pistachios, cinnamon and sugar in a bowl or ziplock bag, then sprinkle on top of batter.
8. Bake for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees.
9. Continue baking for 16 more minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
10. Enjoy!

Since I eat this concoction almost daily, I had to come up with a recipe that was both healthy AND simple. Oh yeah, and delicious. After a bit of trial and error, I finally came up with the perfect recipe. Here it is!

Ingredients:

2 cooked skinless, boneless chicken breasts
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
1/2 cup seedless grapes (halved or quartered)
1/4 slivered almonds
1/2 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground black pepper
Sea Salt & Hot Sauce to taste (yes, hot sauce is good in everything!)

Instructions: 

I start with about a pound of skinless, boneless chicken breasts. I typically buy my  organic, free range chicken which you can find at a reasonable price at Trader Joe’s. But whatever chicken floats your boat is fine. Boil the chicken until fully cooked. Allow it to cool, then shred or cube (depending on your preference). Throw into a medium size bowl.

From there, I grab the vegetables and start chopping (you can food process the veggies as well, which I do on days that I feel lazy). Once they’re chopped, toss them into the bowl with the chicken. Half or quarter the grapes, depending on their size. Add them to the bowl of awesomeness.

Sidenote: I’ve been getting some ginormous grapes lately, so I’ve had to quarter them. Regular size grapes can simply be halved.

Throw in the remaining ingredients and mix well! You can stop here and just start eating this stuff with a spoon (It’s THAT good). Or you can create the perfect sandwich by spreading this magical, chicken bliss onto a slice of toasted quinoa bread, then top it with romaine lettuce and a fresh slice of tomato! Want to keep this recipe Paleo or Gluten Free? Just grab some fresh greens and make lettuce wraps.

Enjoy!

Right from the start, I had to find a way to satisfy those cravings and trick my mind into thinking it was eating grains. So I started to get creative with my veggies and I’ve found some great ways to get that “grain” sensation. For anyone who is considering making the transition to AIP, I wanted to share my list of go-to grain substitutes. I know how hard it can be to make this change and I want you to succeed with it. So check these out!

Cauliflower Mash: If you’re craving mashed potatoes, try mashed cauliflower! It’s a great side with any meat and very easy to make. Just steam until very soft, then food process! I make mine with ghee and fresh rosemary. If you like sweet potatoes, try this Roasted Sweet Potato & Cauliflower Mash

Cauliflower Rice: This is great for a side or with any dish that would normally call for rice. I use it with Asian dishes all the time! You can use fresh cauliflower and food process to rice-sized pieces or, a lot of grocery stores carry fresh or frozen riced cauliflower in a bag! Just sauté in coconut oil or EVOO. Flavor with ginger, lemon and fresh herbs or just a little salt and garlic! Perfect pairing for any Asian dish or as a side to pretty much anything!

Zucchini Noodles: These are a great substitute for pasta dishes! Use a veggetti or mandolin to slice the zucchini into noodles and sauté in EVOO. These go great with just some EVOO and fresh herbs if you aren’t able to eat nightshades! Or check out this delicious Butternut Squash & Rosemary Cream Sauce. You can also eat these uncooked in a cold “pasta” salad.

Spaghetti Squash: These are so easy to make! When they’re in season, I make them once a week. Just cut in half, bake and shred the flesh! It shreds easily with a fork!

Faux Mein: I buy bags of organic broccoli slaw at Trader Joe’s and they make the perfect Asian noodles. Just sauté in coconut oil until soft. Top with any AIP friendly Asian meat dish! Here’s one of my favorites, Ginger Orange Chicken

Gingerbread Cookies: Treats have to be kept to a minimum on AIP, but we all deserve a cookie once in awhile! These Gingerbread Cookies aren’t exactly AIP, but you can omit the vanilla & cloves and the flavor is still great!

When my family and I made the choice to adopt a healthier lifestyle, one of our biggest worries was how that decision would impact our wallets. We were able to up our grocery budget a little, but we really didn’t want to spend a lot more. We still had a kid in diapers and we’ve been on a mission to pay off debt. So learning to eat healthy on a budget was absolutely critical. Once I started the AI Protocol and began making separate meals for the boys and for myself, learning to save on groceries became even more necessary.

Our very first trip to Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s AND Target to get all of the necessary organics, produce, meats, etc wound up costing us WAY over our usual budget. But it was a good starting point. Over the past year or so, I’ve come up with some cash-saving tips to help us eat healthy for half the cost. We’ve learned to make it work because we had to. If we can do it, YOU can do it. Here’s how!

1. Meal Plan. Creating a meal plan and sticking to it is the easiest way to cut down on spending. By creating a meal plan, and a corresponding grocery list, you eliminate excess spending AND waste. Just make sure you ONLY buy what’s on your list and don’t give in to sales or those tempting treats at the check-out. Tip: Always use one night’s dinner for the next day’s lunch to ensure you’re using up all of the leftovers! Tip 2: There are TONS of free meal plan templates available for download on the internet.

2. Shop in Bulk. Places like Sam’s Club & Costco offer a lot of bulk foods that can be stored until later use. They even carry quite a few healthy ad organic options.

3. Eat eggs. All the time. Eggs are a healthy, inexpensive food that be used in countless ways from a frittata to a cauliflower pizza crust!

4. STOP eating out. All of those pizzas you’re ordering or drive-through runs to McDonald’s?? They’re not just leading you closer to heart failure and diabetes. They’re eating away at your wallet, too! Cut out the crap and start cooking healthy foods. Your body and your bank account will thank you later.

5. Buy produce that’s in season, when it’s cheapest. Or, buy frozen fruits and veggies, which are less expensive than the off-season fresh ones.

6. If you can’t afford to buy all organic, stick to organic for the dirty dozen and buy the rest of your produce at the less expensive rate. What are the dirty dozen? They are the fruits and vegetables that contain the highest amount of pesticide contamination, so you want to avoid that exposure by purchasing organic when possible. Check out this handy chart for reference!

7. Join a Community Supported Agriculture program (or CSA). You can receive a shipment of fresh, organic produce weekly, biweekly or monthly. A lot of CSAs also have bulk meats available for purchase. To find a CSA in your area, go here.

8. Visit your local Farmer’s Market for great deals on fresh fruits and vegetables. Even better? Go shortly before closing time when you can negotiate the prices or find already-reduced items.

9. If you see a theme here about produce, there’s a reason. Vegetables are healthy, versatile and pretty inexpensive. Instead of loading up on expensive meats at the grocery store, add more veggies to your diet. You should be consuming around 5-7 servings of vegetables daily anyway, so here’s another chance to increase your wealth & your wellness!

I hope this helps you as you begin your journey to health & happiness. As always, if you’re looking for a more structured nutrition plan or program with one-on-one support, please feel free to contact me here!

Now that we’ve gotten that love fest out of the way, let’s talk cake. Not THAT kind of cake. I’m talking about the kind of cake that honors the perfect union between pig and fermented cabbage. Okay, that doesn’t sound very appetizing, but trust me, IT IS!! It’s like wedding cake, only better. Because these are AIP & Paleo friendly, and healthy enough that you can eat them all!! Or save some for later. Your choice.

Okay, I’m really done this time. On to the cakes.

I have to eat fermented foods daily as a part of my gut healing treatment. I haven’t always been the biggest fan of sauerkraut. But… it’s a superfood with super powers (that’s another story) so I eat it alot. And it really is growing on me. Now that I’ve created THESE, I might even say that I love it. (But not in the same way that pork loves it. I’m not a homewrecker.)

Okay, ok. I now pronounce….Sorry. Here’s the recipe.

Fried Pork & ‘Kraut Cakes
Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

1 lb. High Quality Ground Pork
2 Cups Sauerkraut (drained and patted dry)
1/4 Onion, finely chopped
1 Small Sweet Potato, steamed and mashed
1 tsp Fresh Rosemary, finely chopped
1 tsp Fresh Basic, finely chopped
1 tsp Salt
1/2 cup Coconut Oil for frying.

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients (except coconut oil) in large bowl until well-mixed.
2. Heat oil in skillet until it sizzles with a sprinkle of water.
3. Form 1 1/2 to 2 inch round balls and flatten.
4. Cook on medium heat for 7-10 minutes per side, or until fully cooked.

Once they’re cooked through, serve hot and crispy! I like to pair these with applesauce and some Roasted Sweet Potato & Cauliflower Mash.

So once I finally figured out how to create a worthwhile Paleo base for a gyro, I had to figure out the rest. Overall, this recipe is a bit involved because it has 3 parts; the wrap, the meat and the tzatziki sauce. But, each part is pretty simple and if you can spare a little time, these are totally worth it! I like to serve these with a side of homemade sweet potato fries for the full experience. I hope you love them!

The Meat.

Ingredients:

1 Lb Organic Ground Lamb
1 Small-Medium Onion, Finely Chopped
2 Cloves Garlic, Finely Chopped
2 Tbsp Fresh Rosemary, Finely Chopped
1 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper (if tolerated(

Instructions:

1. Brown meat, onion and garlic in skillet over medium heat.
2. Drain excess fat.
3. Add herbs and seasons.
4. Serve!

**If you prefer to make a loaf and bake, place raw mixture into oven and bake on 325 for 60-75 minutes.

The Tzatziki Sauce.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Shredded Cucumber
1/2 Cup Coconut Milk (Organic, Full Fat and Chilled in Refrigerator for 24 hours)
2 Cloves Garlic, Finely Chopped
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 Tbsp Fresh Dill, Finely Chopped
Sea Salt to taste
Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste (if tolerated)

Instructions:

1. Peel, seed and shred cucumber until you have roughly 1 cup.
2. Open chilled coconut milk and scoop out thick cream on top, it should be roughly 1/2 cup. (Keep remaining liquid to add later if sauce is too thick for your liking. Or pour remaining liquid into a mason jar for later use if you want.)
3. Combine all ingredients in medium-sized bowl and mix well until thoroughly combined.
4. Chill until ready to serve.

The Wrap.

I use this amazing Paleo Wrap Recipe for the wraps. Make sure to use 1/2 the mixture to make them a little thicker than a tortilla. They are a little spungier than a pita, but very light and delicious!

**If you’re AIP and have tolerance issues with Arrowroot, you’re gonna want to use a different wrap than what I used. I recommend Paleo Wraps Gluten Free Coconut Wraps. 

I have been able to reintroduce ghee and eggs successfully, which has broadened my baking horizons tremendously. So I started playing around in the kitchen in search of a tortilla/pita substitute. I wanted to be able to make tacos without using lettuce as the shell. And I wanted to eat a gyro. I figured the two would be possible with two separate recipes, but I ended up discovering the perfect solution to both with these wraps. And you will not believe how easy they are!

Sidenote: I have tried some other Paleo tortilla recipes, including those that use cauliflower or plantains as the base. But, in my experience, they are far more complicated and not nearly as good!

So, let’s get to it. There are gyros to be made!

Paleo Tortillas
Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:
2 Free Range Eggs
1 tsp Melted Ghee or Coconut Oil
1 tbsp Water
1/4 cup Arrowroot Powder
1 tsp Coconut Flour
a Pinch of Sea Salt

Instructions:
1. Heat 8″ skillet over medium heat.
2. Whisk eggs, ghee (or coconut oil) and water in medium-sized bowl.
3. Add in dry ingredients and mix well until fully combined.
4. Pour in batter and roll around until evenly coated. Tortilla will start to lift around edges.
5. Cook for one minute on each side.

Enjoy!

**Makes 2-3 tortillas, depending on thickness. Use 1/3 batter per tortilla or 1/2 batter for thicker wraps such as gyros.

Bacon, Egg & Veggie Wrap.

I’ve been making a ton of Zoodles lately, just because it’s so easy to grill some chicken or shrimp in the summer months and just toss it in with the zucchini noodles. But it’s a bit cold for grilling and I felt like switching things up, and since the only veggies I had on-hand were zucchini (of course), tomato and onion….I decided to toss them together in a casserole. The result was ahhh-mazing. So good, in fact, that my veggie-hating 2 year-old had 3 big helpings. Must’ve been all the butter. But butter is a clean food, my friends. Do NOT fear the butter!!

Okay, here’s the recipe.

Ingredients
Prep Time: 20 Minutes. Cook Time: 55 Minutes.
Serves 4.

2 Medium-Sized Zucchini, Sliced into rounds.
2 Large Tomatoes, Sliced (I just pulled some from the garden)
1/8 Cup Onion, Finely Chopped
2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
1 Teaspoon Fresh Oregano, Finely Chopped
1 Teaspoon Fresh Basil, Finely Chopped
1 1/2 Cups Cheddar Cheese, Shredded or Grated
1/3 Cup Parmesan Cheese, Grated
3/4 Cup Gluten Free Bread Crumbs (I used Gutino, which you can find at Whole Foods, Target or even Big Lots)
Salt & Pepper to Taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly butter a 9×9-inch pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine Cheddar, Parmesan, oregano, basil, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.
3. Arrange half of the zucchini slices in the pan. Sprinkle 1/4 of the cheese and herb mixture on top. Arrange half of the tomatoes, and top with another 1/4 of the cheese mixture. Repeat layers.
4. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in onions, and cook until soft and translucent. Stir in breadcrumbs; cook until they have absorbed the butter. Sprinkle on top of casserole.
5. Cover loosely with foil, and bake in a preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake until the top is crusty and the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Okay, onto it.

This recipe is a bit involved. I typically keep my meals quick and easy because I’m a busy, working mom. But occasionally, I feel like I deserve a little something special. This is one of those special meals.

Zoodles with Butternut Squash & Rosemary Cream Sauce
Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 1 Hour
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
1 Butternut Squash, Medium-sized
3 Tablespoons Ghee ((or Coconut Oil for Paleo))
1 Onion, Medium-sized, Chopped
2 Cloves of Garlic, Minced
3-4 Large Zucchini, Spiralized (I prefer the thicker setting on the Veggetti, like fettuccine)
1 Pound Mushrooms, Chopped. (Shitake or Baby Bella are good)
2 Tbsp Fresh Rosemary, Finely Chopped
1 Cup Coconut Milk (Full-Fat only)
1/2 Cup Chicken Broth (I use my own bone broth!)
Salt & Black Pepper to Taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Slice butternut squash in half lengthwise. Grease a baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of coconut oil and lay butternut squash (flesh-side down).
3. Roast for 30 – 45 minutes, until squash is tender and flesh can easily be pierced with a fork. Once it’s fully cooked, allow squash to cool, then scoop out the flesh (this should yield about 5 cups of flesh) and discard the skin. Add flesh to a blender.
4. Add 1 tablespoon of coconut oil or ghee to a pan over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and saute for 3 – 5 minutes, until onion is translucent.
5. Next, add the sauteed garlic & onions, rosemary, coconut milk, broth, and salt to the blender with the squash. Blend until smooth.
6. Add the remaining tablespoon of coconut oil/ghee to a large pan. Add the mushrooms and saute for about 2 minutes, until they are just starting to brown. Then add the zoodles and cook for about 3 minutes, until almost tender. Add the sauce to the pan and continue to cook until sauce is hot and zoodles are tender.

Add salt & pepper to taste and serve hot.

Enjoy!

But you don’t have to fast to enjoy the benefits of bone broth. There are countless, delicious, paleo soups you can make with the broth to keep you feeling full while still reaping the incredible, gut-healing magic of bone broth! Personally, I love to make hearty soups. Especially this time of year. Meat (sometimes multiple), veggies (as many as I can find in the house or the garden) and plenty of fresh herbs. One of my absolute favorites is this Zuppa Tuscana!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. Italian sausage, browned and drained
• 4 cups Bone Broth or chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2-3 carrots, thinly sliced
• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
• 1 large russet potatoe
• 2 cups kale, diced
• 1 can full fat coconut milk, refrigerated

Instructions:

1. Brown the Italian sausage in a pan and drain.
2. Add sausage, chicken stock, garlic, onion, carrots and potatoes to the slow cooker.
3. Cover and simmer on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4-6 hours until the potatoes are tender.
4. With 30 minutes left, add the kale to the slow cooker. Cover and allow the kale to cook for 30 minutes.
5. Five minutes before serving, open the can of refrigerated coconut cream and add just the solid white cream to the slow cooker. Cook for 5 additional minutes.
6. Enjoy!