Grain-free, Gluten-free Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Just in time for fall! I don't know about you, but I am obsessed with pumpkin! It is so tasty and totally one of my favourite treats. Pumpkin pie? Yes please!!! Pumpkin cheesecake? Pumpkin streusel? Pumpkin bars? *faint*

Okay, okay. So it's true that I love pumpkin a lot! I decided to adapt last weekend's recipe to fulfill my need for pumpkin. And they totally pass the test! They are absolutely delicious!

I will take a better picture when I have them all dressed up with some tasty frosting tomorrow! We're having a party, which is why I went on a baking spree =)

So, check my other post for a link to the original recipe that I used. Today I adapted to the following (I doubled the recipe to account for extra people, but this is the normal recipe which will give you about a dozen muffins):

• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 3 T organic grade B maple syrup
• 1 t vanilla
• 2 T coconut oil, softened
• 1/2 t apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 C coconut flour
• 1/4 C blanched almond flour
• 1 t pumpkin pie spice
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 1/2 very ripe medium banana (approx 2/3 C mashed)
• 2/3 C organic pumpkin puree 
• 1/4 C almond milk (or milk of your choice)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

1. Using a stand mixer or a hand mixer, cream together coconut oil, vanilla, and maple syrup. (This step  is essential!) 
2. Add your eggs one at a time and mix well in between. Add the ACV and mix well.
3. In a separate bowl mix together your dry ingredients.
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well, using a spatula to scrape down the sides as needed.
5. In another bowl mash together the banana, pumpkin, and milk. Ensure it is well mixed.
6. Gently fold the pumpkin mix into the batter.
7. Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling them approximately 2/3 full.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick or fork comes out clean.

I did double this recipe and came away with 2 1/2 dozen muffins! WOW. So you get a lot of bang for your buck with this one =)

Leftover muffins should be stored in the fridge if you plan to have them around for longer than a day or so. They also freeze well!

Trail Mix Cups - Trial and Error

Because I had all the pulp left over from my homemade coconut milk I figured I would use it to make some trail mix bars! Or something like that =)

The first thing I did was spread the coconut out onto a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper:

Since my oven was still warm from the banana muffins I just plopped the pan in there for about 30 minutes.

While that was doing its thing, I diced up the following:

• 2 dried apple rings
• 2 dried peach slices
• 2 dried pear slices
• 2 dried nectarines
• 3 dried plums
• 3/4 C dry roasted unsalted almonds

I also grabbed:

• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• dash of himalayan pink salt
• 5 Tbsp organic local honey 

 Sadly, the mixture wasn't "wet" enough, so I cut up some waxed paper into squares and used them to line the muffin cups.

I baked them at 350* for 25 minutes! While they taste really, really good - not too sweet, good crunch - I need more of a binding agent so it's back to the drawing board! I have an idea of what I want to do, a couple of ingredients I'm going to add, but you'll have to wait for a week or two till I have them all in hand. Until then, these would be a great topping for yogurt, or as a Paleo granola!

Homemade Coconut Milk

I have tried a few different versions of homemade coconut milk but haven't been satisfied. I started seeing a number of people recommending using boiling water instead of cold water, and THEN someone recommended using hot coconut water!

Folks, we have a winner!!!!

What you need:
*1 1/2 C unsweetened coconut (preferably organic and finely shredded)
*2 1/2 C unsweetened coconut water (I purchased mine from Trader Joe's for $2.99 - a deal!)

Put the coconut shreds into your blender, and heat coconut water until just starting to boil. Pour heated coconut water over the coconut. You may want to hold a towel over the lid of the blender just in case a little spurts out the side due to the pressure of the heat. Blend for 4-5 minutes - you can give your blender a break if you feel the need. I did!

Pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl or container. Using something with a wide mouth is best so that you can press the shreds to extract as much of the fluid as possible. I let mine sit for about 20 minutes before I pressed the extra out, to let it cool. I then poured the milk into a jar.

Grain-Free Gluten-Free Banana Muffins

Good morning and HAPPY SUNDAY!!!! I have been on a roll this morning playing around with recipes in the kitchen =) I used the following recipe for today's banana muffins! Against All Grain Banana Muffins

If you haven't checked out Against All Grain's website, I HIGHLY recommend it! Especially if you are living a Paleo lifestyle. Heck, just go pick up her cookbook!

Anyway, I didn't make the streusel topping, nor did I add chocolate chips. I already have big plans for a new twist on this recipe for next weekend - I have TWO DAYS OFF IN A ROW next weekend!!!

Here is the recipe in case you don't want to use the link:

Banana Muffins with Chocolate Chip Streusel Topping

 

Author: Danielle Walker – Against All Grain

Recipe type: Baked Goods

Serves: 1 dozen

Ingredients

• 4 medium eggs, room temperature
• 3 tablespoons honey (optional, but may be needed if bananas aren’t too sweet)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil, softened
• ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• ½ cup coconut flour
• ¼ cup blanched almond flour
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 overly ripe medium sized bananas (we’re talking big brown spots)
• ¼ cup milk (I used coconut, but almond works well too)
• ¼ cup chocolate chips (optional)
  For the Streusel
• ¼ cup pecans
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons chocolate chips (either homemade or Enjoy Life)

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Using a paddle attachment in a stand mixer, cream together the coconut oil, honey, and vanilla until is light and fluffy.
3. Add your eggs one at a time, mixing well after each one. Add in the apple cider vinegar.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the flours, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
5. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, scraping down the sides of the bowl if necessary.
6. Mash the bananas and the milk in a bowl until it has reached a similiar consistency to baby food. Fold the banana mixture into the batter and the chocolate chips if you’re using them.
7. Spoon the batter into muffin tins lined with cute parchment squares (thanks Martha!) or these handy and reusable silicone muffin cups. Fill to about ¾ full.
8. For the streusel topping, chop the pecans, honey, and cinnamon in a blender or food processor until finely chopped. Mix in the chocolate chips, then sprinkle the mixture over the muffins.
9. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the tops have browned lightly and a toothpick comes out clean.
10. I like the store anything made with coconut flour in the fridge for 3-4 days or the freezer for 3-4 months.

Grilled Herb Chicken Quarters

I know, I know. The title isn't exactly interesting so much as it is descriptive! But hey, I'm a no frills kind of a girl!

Now I put this together in kind of a hurry being that it was almost 7pm when I finally got around to preparing the chicken. What you will need:

*Package of 4 chicken leg quarters, skin on (best if you can get local pastured chickens, but if not opt for the best you can find)
*3/4 package Kerrygold herb and garlic butter, sliced into 1/2 tbsp pieces
*A blend of the following:

• 2 tbsp (or more - I'm a garlic fiend) granulated garlic
• 1.5 tbsp Italian seasoning blend
• 1/2 tbsp ground sage (also a sage fiend)
• 1 T black pepper
• Himalayan pink salt

***Side note: the Kerrygold herb butter is not salted, so you will need to salt to your taste. I am not a huge salt fan so I am still getting a good grasp on how much salt is enough. Last night I did not use enough, even though I salted the skin layer as well, so I need to tweak the recipe and do some better measurements!***

First, turn on your grill and get it heated up, clean the grate, etc!

Rinse your chicken and pat dry. Trim off any extra skin and fat pieces and place onto a tray. Run your fingers underneath the skin to separate the skin from the meat, creating a nice pocket.

Spoon the spice mixture onto the meat, under the skin, and rub in gently, making sure to press it into the back corners and around the edges. Take 3 or 4 slices of the butter and tuck them under the skin as well, then pull the skin taut. When all have been seasoned under the skin, take the remaining slices of butter and rub it onto the outsides of each piece. Season the skin with salt and pepper to taste.

Place on the grill and cook over medium heat for 35-40 minutes. Cooking time will vary depending on the grill. These cooked about 40 minutes on our propane grill:

And yes, they were just as delicious as they looked! Though as I said before, not enough salt =) I still have 3 left in the fridge and I can't wait for "day two" because you KNOW it only gets better as it sits overnight! Next time I do these I want to thin slice some parsnips and oven roast them, and add something else for some greenery like grilled asparagus! YUM!!!

If you don't have a grill you can bake it in your oven. I did something similar a few weeks ago, though I did not have a grill pan so they turned out okay but not as crispy as I wanted. If you do have a grill pan, I would put them in a 400* oven covered with tin foil for about 25 minutes, then pull the foil off for another 10 minutes until the skin gets crispy.

Enjoy!

My Real Life Optimum Health Journey

It occurred to me the other day that there are a lot of people in my life now that don't know where I started from. Many probably think I've always been into working out and being really active. While there is a grain of truth to that - I spent many years working professionally on the horse show circuit which meant early mornings, late nights, and lots of physical activity - I haven't been the kind of person who was "into" running, climbing, and real working out.

I've struggled with weight all my life. As an adult, I now know that much of my weight issues stemmed from my undiagnosed gluten allergy.

I was a pretty active kid. My mom was not the kind of person to let us sit in the house watching tv or playing games. We were outside ALL. THE. TIME. Rain or shine, unless we were doing homework, eating dinner, or going to bed, we were out in the yard or playing with our neighbor friends in the tree farm behind us, climbing trees and running all over. We rode our bikes from one end of town and back. For 5 years we lived at the top of a pretty big steep hill, one we walked up and down each day to get to and from the bus. I rode horses and also did some barn work to make a little extra money (always the entrepreneur). On the weekend we were at my dad's house, and again we spent much of our time biking around town from my house to my cousin's, or over to my friend's house who lived way on the outskirts of town. We also played soccer and T-ball, and also were part of the swim team. So, I wasn't exactly sitting around doing a lot of nothing!

I realize now that there have always been signs of my allergy, but being that it wasn't a "thing" back in the 80's like it is now no one was going to diagnose me. I was called "picky" in regards to my eating. I disliked things other people enjoyed like fried chicken, and many cereals. Funny enough my favourite cereals were teh corn and rice based ones: Crunchy Corn Bran, Rice Chex, Crispix, and Kix. I know now that when a kid says they don't like something it's important to see if there is a common thread/food - there is a high possibility that it is a food allergy!

In any case, when I was 6 or 7 I was a pretty normal kid with a little bit of a belly:

 

As the years passed, I began to put on weight. No matter how active I was I just always had extra weight around my stomach.

We moved to a new town when I started 3rd grade so I was put into a new school with new people, and also a new neighborhood with new kids. The only ones my age were boys, and in the way that boys can be they were mean to me pretty much from the get go, calling me fat and making fun of me in the ways that young boys do.

I stayed with the same classmates all the way through my senior year. I only found a few pictures from that time frame, but as you can see I got a bit taller but also put on weight:

I am missing one of my photo albums that has more pics from this era of my life. When I find it I will add more photos, but the above pictures are me in between the ages of 12  - 18.

I left high school bitter and unhappy with little to know self-confidence, covered up by false bravado and an "outgoing" or "gregarious" personality. Inside I hated myself, I hated that I was FAT, I always felt ugly. I sought acceptance in new groups of friends, bounced around a bit, and eventually ended up in Georgia where I began my life working with horses.

By this time I was a mostly vegetarian, eating mostly salads and tofu, faux meat products (they're healthy, right?), and occasionally having grilled chicken or turkey. I suffered from chronic heartburn and GERD, but I didn't know at the time that it could be an allergy. I knew which foods made me worse but I ate them anyway. I mean, other people in my family had the same problems as me and they just took Tums for it so I figured that was my solution.

With horses I was working really long days, with barely any breaks for food. While I did lose weight - when I first began I got down to 125-130 but not for long - I was still around 148lbs. I DID feel much better about myself physically because I wasn't 160 lbs anymore, and I was really strong thanks to throwing hay bales around, cleaning stalls, riding, walking/running long distances to get to and from the show ring in a hurry, etc. No matter what I was doing I was still heavy around the middle. I wouldn't get into a bathing suit in front of people. I hated EATING in front of people.

I felt bloated all the time no matter what. I blamed it on "baby fat" but how long can you hang on to that?

Losing weight DID give me confidence, at least more than I had ever had before, but my weight was never stable. It fluctuated a ton. I was trying to eat healthy by being an even MORE hardcore vegetarian. When that didn't help, I went back to eating some meats but still stuck to a more vegetable and tofu centric diet.

I didn't like having my picture taken, especially my body. I learned how to dress myself so people couldn't see the spare tire around my middle. Through this time I was working with horses, running or walking every day, and even going to the gym - without any real results or changes.

My health got really bad about 4 years ago, the year before I got married. I was sick all the time, suffering from rolling waves of nausea, near constant GERD to the point where even something as simple as ice water would come back up. (GERD is gastro-esophageal reflux disease, where you burp up food and bile). During this time my work suffered, and as much as I was trying to be there for my jobs I know that I wasn't at my peak. I felt like crap all the time, my moods were horrible. I went to my PCP who prescribed omeprazole (Prilosec) 3x a day. I was like, "Uh, I take that shiz and it doesn't help me. Fool." So I went to a naturopath and she started me on a gluten-free diet.

Gluten free did help to a point in that the chronic nausea went away, but I was still dealing with other things. Heartburn and GERD still happened. I was even MORE fatigued. I went to a different naturopath and we discussed trying out the Blood Type Diet. Following the plan, I was to eat pretty much as a vegetarian. I was subsisting on beans for protein, soy milk, gluten free foods, etc. The only meat I would consume was, again, chicken or turkey. I was severely anemic and began taking both a prenatal vitamin and an additional iron supplement.

I looked "fine" in the way that people do when they learn to cover up their flaws. I chalked a lot of my issues up to just being overly tired from working 40 hours in an office plus 25-30 hours at the barn per week.

I was working a ton, stressed about the wedding, running in the mornings to get "ready" for the big day, etc.

I feel I should insert here that work involved both a desk job and the barn. At the barn I would clean stalls, ride, teach, move jumps, etc. Very physical work.

Fast forward to two years ago when we moved to Alabama. I was tired of being tired and feeling crappy! A friend of mine posted about Paleo on her Facebook and I was intrigued. I had noticed that gluten free foods gave me the same symptoms as gluten laden foods. I was at my wits end feeling crummy and food was becoming my enemy.

Alabama became a great place for a "fresh start." First, a pic from when I first arrived:

A few months later, after switching to Paleo, and working the farm every day (teaching, riding, moving jumps, etc):

I felt really, REALLY amazing for the first time in a long time. Fat literally *melted* off my body. I had boundless energy. I had NO HEARTBURN. Living grain free, dairy free, and eating real, whole foods made a huge difference in how I was feeling! And finally I got the physical results I was looking for.

Once we moved here and away from my long days at the barn I once again put on weight and lost track of my diet and exercise. I was living in limbo! Then a friend introduced me to the workout programs, and though I haven't been as consistent with them as I would like to be, it has given me an outlet for my energy. I have been focusing on being consistent, as I was back in Alabama, and thanks to the commitment I am finally back on track where I'd like to be. And thanks to that, I am finally embracing myself where I am at RIGHT NOW, and celebrating the sprouts in my life, such as the progress below. Forward progress, however slow, is still progress.

Hey look! Finally a picture of ME with NO COVER UP. Taking these pictures, and then deciding to post them was FRIGHTENING to me. It's frightening to me to write this entire blog post. I'm not even sure how coherent it is. I'm not sure if I have even been able to put into words how much this lifelong struggle has burdened me. I know now that a lot of what I went through was mental, hangups leftover from the cruel words of ignorant children. But part of letting go and moving on is getting it out of your head and onto paper, so here it is. 

If you made it through all of that, I'll bake you some Paleo cookies and send you one =) 

Thank you for your love, your support, and for just being here. You mean the world to me, and I hope that my words have given you something, anything, if only just a little smidgen of contentment knowing that we are all the same.

Big Audacious Goals: Redux!

Well hi there, friend! Long time no see! Things have been all over the place lately what with starting a new job, going on vacation to visit the family, and settling into a new routine. I'm finally starting to feel more human and more in touch with my time again, and let me tell you what a giant blessing it has been. I feel really good about what is going on and how things are happening! So, in light of all this I've decided it's time to revisit my Big Audacious Goals. You know, those things we talked about back at the beginning of the year? Yeah, those things.

They are funny things, these B.A.G.'s. We all want to have one, but they can be so daunting! The time, the commitment, heck just coming up with them is a big deal. Plus there's that little voice inside that says, "That isn't feasible" or "that's too BIG of a goal!"

Well let's just tell that little voice to shut the heck up!!!!

Here's the thing I've been learning this year: to walk by FAITH and not by SIGHT. I have been learning to let go, to trust, and to take action in the direction of my goals.

Only one problem: I kind of lost sight of my goals.

I mean, I have a couple that are still hanging around.

1. Have a horse.
2. Buy a house.
3. Start a family.

And of course the in betweens that will lead to accomplishing those ones.

1. Pay off debt.
2. No, seriously, like ALL of the debt.
3. Save money.
4. Increase my skill and thus my income.  

So what are my BIG AUDACIOUS GOALS then??? Paying off all the debt (meaning, car included), starting a family and buying a house are pretty big ones to a lot of people! But really, I think those are just average, run of the mill everyday goals.

The truth is, I have been sitting around the last week or two reevaluating my goals. I have been spending time dreaming BIGGER than normal and thinking of those things that I really, really want to do. Some of these are continuations of what I wrote down at the beginning of the year, and some are new ones, but here they are in no particular order:

• Travel to Belize and help build the orphanage for King's Ransom.
• Feed 100 orphans a year through my tithing 10% of my income.
• The above means I need to increase my income by 200%.
• Grow my home based business so that I can work from home, which affords me the ability to be a working stay at home mom and offers the flexibility to work on growing some additional income streams.
• Build my food/recipe blog and even begin baking, cooking and selling Paleo/gluten free items for fun and for extra income (which ties in nicely to increasing my income).
• Put money aside to open and/or invest in a winery in Oregon.
• Learn about the art and science of making/selling wine (see above).
• Bake/cook tasty foods to serve at the wine tastings at the above winery.

I know that ALL of these things are possible. The starting off point? That's exactly where I'm at right now. The first step is annihilating our debt utilizing the skills learned in War on Debt. During this we will be able to save money as well, and begin deciding in which investments we would like to put our "wealth account" money. This will start the fund that will be the future for our family, and will build the long lasting wealth for the generations of our family.

Getting these down on paper gives me perspective, and the opportunity to look them over and decide which comes first. It also gives me the opportunity to reverse engineer the goals. I take the goal, then I break it down into pieces and steps, and I set up the pathway to get to each individual step! I'm already on my way to feeding the orphans, which has been an amazing feeling. By the end of the year I will have fed at least 10 - a healthy start!

So, what are YOUR Big Audacious Goals? I would really love it if you would share them with me!

Have an AWESOME day!