The Tasty Alternative: January 2012

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Allergy-Free Wednesdays Blog Hop: Week 2

Hello and welcome to Allergy-Free Wednesdays (AFW).

AFW is a weekly blog hop where folks can share their allergy-free cuisine, gain knowledge about allergy-related topics/issues, and connect with others living or caring for someone with food allergies.

This is a weekly blog hop hosted by myself and four other fabulous allergy-free bloggers. Your weekly submissions will be shared on all 5 blogs! Check back each week for reader favorites and recipe highlights.

Meet your AFW hostesses

(1) Tessa @ Tessa the Domestic Diva

(2) Michelle @ The Willing Cook

(3) Laura @ Gluten Free Pantry

(4) Nancy @ Real Food Allergy Free

(5) and me.

What can I link-up on AFW?

*We welcome allergy-free cuisine in any shape or form

*Tips & allergy related articles/information welcome

*Food allergies, intolerance, and sensitivities all welcome
*Please provide a description of your recipe, such as Dairy Free (DF), Gluten Free (GF), etc.

Rules & Guidelines

*Please provide the URL link directly to your post (not your homepage).

*Please provide a link back to our weekly blog hop somewhere in your post.
*In order for your recipe to be featured, your post must contain a back link to our blog hop.

*Past and current recipes welcome.

*Recipes are not required to be free of all common allergy foods, just allergy-free in some way.

*Three weekly submissions max please.

*Please leave a comment after you link-up and tell us about your weekly submission(s).

*Entries that don't comply with stated rules and guidelines will be respectfully removed.

_________________________________

Featured Recipes & Highlights

What an amazing turnout for Allergy-Free Wednesday's first week. A big thank you for the warm welcome! The recipes were all deliciously inspiring.

Each week AFW will feature the three most popular recipes from the previous week, and the five AFW hostesses will highlight their favorites. Please note that your submission must contain a link back to our Allergy-Free Wednesday's Blog Hop in order to be featured. Click HERE for last week's entries and the appropriate back link.

So without further ado...

May I present you with the three most popular submissions:

No Bake "Normal" Allergy-Free Cookies
From: Organized Chaos

Coconut Flour: How-to and Where to Buy
From: Traditional Foods

Grain and Dairy-Free Snacks for Children

From: Jo's Healthy Corner

And here are the three fabulous recipes I chose to highlight:

Sweet: My Favorite Green Juice
This looks so amazing an simple!
From: Living Lindsay

Savory: Thyme - Swede and Apple Soup

Check out the wonderful medicinal benefits included!
From: Gluten-Free, SCD, and Veggie

SCD: Rosemary Raisin Crisps
The perfect cracker, seriously!
From: Against All Grain

Please visit the other 4 Allergy-Free Wednesday hostesses (blog links can be found above) for their recipe highlights.

Thanks for visiting Allergy-Free Wednesdays!
_________________________________

Double Chocolate Paleo Hazelnut Coconut Cookies

Once in a blue moon I crave chocolate like a crazy person. This makes my chocoholic husband insanely happy. These little double chocolate cookies really hit the spot. Dates give this cookie a nice chewy, soft texture. Generally I use almonds or walnuts as the base ingredient in grain free baking. But I had some lonely little hazelnuts in the fridge just waiting for their turn. Hazelnuts and chocolate? Fuggedaboutit.

Ingredients:

-1 cup whole raw hazelnuts*

-1/3 cup whole raw almonds*

-1/4 cup coconut flour

-1/4 cup raw organic cacao

-1/2 teaspoon baking soda

-1/8 teaspoon salt

-6 dried medjool dates (pitted and soaked in filtered water for about 3-4 hours)

-1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

-1/2 teaspoon vanilla

-3 or 4 tablespoons honey

How To:

Preheat oven to 375

1. In food processor with s-blade, grind hazelnuts until coarse.

2. Add almonds and blend until nuts release just a bit of oil.

3. Add coconut flour, pulse. Add cacao, pulse.

4. Add baking soda and salt, pulse, pulse, pulse.

(the dry mixture should feel like a fine flour).

5. Transfer dry ingredients to a bowl. Clean out food processor.

6. In food processor with s-blade, add strained dates, coconut oil, vanilla, and honey and blend until incorporated.

7. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix.

8. Form small balls and press down into cookie shape

9. Bake for 12 minutes.

10. When cool, top cookies with melted chocolate. I use this chocolate bar (extreme dark chocolate 88%). It's cane-sugar free (sweetened only with filtered date sugar) and dairy free. It does contain soy lecithin.

Notes

*Soak and dehydrate nuts for optimal digestion

Shared on: Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Pennywise Platter, Miz Helen's Country Cottage, Traditional Tuesdays, The Healthy Home Economist, Fat Tuesdays, Ruth's Real Food: 101, Real Food Wednesdays, Gluten-Free Wednesdays, Just Another Meatless Monday, Melt in your Mouth Mondays, Lunch Box Love Fridays, Allergy Free Wednesdays, Whole Food Wednesdays, Wellness Weekend, Allergy-Friendly Friday, Freaky Friday, Fresh Bites Fridays, & Superfood Sunday

Friday, January 27, 2012

Raw Cranapple Sauce

After I made my sweet and savory applesauce for pork chops, I knew a raw applesauce was in order. I had some leftover dried cranberries and thought, hey, this might work. Yummers!! No sweeteners needed for this one, just a bit of orange juice. Really delicious, healthy, refreshing...and raw!

Ingredients:

-6 organic red apples of choice, chopped. (3 peeled, 3 with skins)

-1 cup dried cranberries, soaked in filtered water for about an hour (try to find dried berries with no sugar added or sulfur dioxide)

-1/4 cup orange juice (I used two small Clementines, but adding orange juice is totally optional...I just happen to love anything tart!)

How To:

1. In a food processor fitted with the S-blade, blend apples until they start to release some of their juice.

2. Strain cranberries and add to apples, blend until well incorporated.

3. Add orange juice and continue blending until desired consistency. I went with a traditional applesauce texture.

Shared on: Lunch Box Love Friday, Wellness Weekend, Pennywise Platter Thursdays, Freaky Friday, Fresh Bites Fridays, & Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Raw Foods Thursday, Friday Foodie Fix,

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Know Your pH Balance

An important part of holistic healing is knowing the pH balance of your body. This sounds all very scientific, but luckily, it's quite easy to check. Any health food store, or drug store should carry pH test strips, such as this one:

Okay, so why is it important to know your pH level and what does this mean for your health? Great questions! Simply put, your pH level is an indicator of your overall health. It's important to know how acid (or overly alkaline) your body is running so you can bring it back to a slightly alkaline level. Food plays a major role in this, as some foods increase acidity and some increase alkalinity.

So without getting to scientifc and geeky on you here, let's break-it down. First, it's important to know the scale:

As you can see here, optimally, you want to be around at 7.3; this is an ideal state for your body. I will share that I run at about 5.6 which is very acidic. In fact, Crohn's disease is listed as one of the aliments from running too acidic. I also suffer from Lupus flares, another disease found in the "too acidic" department. Go figure.

What is the pH scale?

The pH scale is a system of describing acidity or alkalinity, ranging from pH 0 to pH 14, with pH 7 being neutral. Values lower than 7 indicate acidity; those higher than 7 indicate alkalinity. Each number on the pH scale represents a tenfold change in acidity or alkalinity. Thus pH 5 is 10 times more acid than pH 6, and pH 4 is 100 times more acid than pH 6; pH 11 is 1,000 times more alkaline than pH 8. (Source: Wikipedia)

So here are two websites that provide a slew of information about pH balance and health:

1. Balance pH Diet

2. How to Boost Your Immune System

After you test your pH and read up on what this means for you, now what? Let's turn to food.* Food plays an important role in bringing your body to an optimal pH balance. Please see below and review these acid/alkaline food charts:

List of Acid / Alkaline Forming Foods

Acid / Alkaline Food Chart

*As always, please consult with a holistic practitioner or other medical professional before changing your diet or lifestyle.

Continue to test your pH balance throughout the month and while on a mindful alkaline diet. Good luck on your healing journey. This post is not exhaustive on the subject, but it is meant to be an impetus for you to look (perhaps more closely) into this component of healing.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Allergy-Free Wednesdays Blog Hop: Week 1

Hello and welcome to Allergy-Free Wednesdays (AFW).

Meet your AFW hostesses

(1) Tessa @ Tessa the Domestic Diva

(2) Michelle @ The Willing Cook

(3) Laura @ Gluten Free Pantry

(4) Nancy @ Real Food Allergy Free

(5) and me.

What can I link-up on AFW?

*We welcome allergy-free cuisine in any shape or form

*Tips & allergy related articles/information welcome

*Food allergies, intolerance, and sensitivities all welcome
*Please provide a description of your recipe, such as Dairy Free (DF), Gluten Free (GF), etc.

Rules & Guidelines

*Please provide the URL link directly to your post (not your homepage).

*Please provide a link back to our weekly blog hop somewhere in your post.
*In order for your recipe to be featured, your post must contain a back link to our blog hop.

*Past and current recipes welcome.

*Recipes are not required to be free of all common allergy foods, just allergy-free in some way.

*Three weekly submissions max please.

*Please leave a comment after you link-up and tell us about your weekly submission(s).

*Entries that don't comply with stated rules and guidelines will be respectfully removed.

Thanks for visiting Allergy-Free Wednesdays!

________________________________

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Chamomile + Honey = A Bowl of Soul

The lovely and talented Maggie is hosting this month's "Go Ahead Honey." When I saw her theme I thought, whoa, this is right up my alley.

One of my favorite herbs immediately came to mind: chamomile. I will share for a moment that during both my pregnancies, chamomile somehow instantly calmed my painful Crohn's flare-ups. I love chamomile for so many reasons, I could go on and on, but let me just say that if you come over for a visit, I will offer you some chamomile tea and probably keep asking until you say yes. The next healing food that came to mind was honey. I use honey all the time in baking, smoothies, homemade facial masks, and holistic healing remedies (such as cough syrup). So below you will find the health benefits of chamomile and honey, as well as some easy, practical uses. But first, how about a warm Bowl of Soul...

What's that you ask? Well it's a fabulous, comforting warm drink made with chamomile and honey. Years ago my friend, Heather, took me out for a birthday dinner. And for a nightcap, a delicious drink she raved about from a local indie coffee house. It was called A Bowl of Soul: chamomile steeped in warm soy milk and sweetened with honey. It. Was. Delicious. I don't drink soy milk anymore, but I make my own version of Soul here at home with homemade almond milk (or any nut milk). And I wanted to share it with you today.

Ingredients:

2 cups homemade almond milk

2 tablespoons loose-leaf chamomile

Honey to taste

How To:

1. In a small sauce pan over medium low heat, bring almond milk and chamomile to a gentle simmer. Immediately remove from heat and cover for about 10 minutes.

2. Strain milk into large cup through a nut milk bag.

3. Add honey to taste.

4. Turn on some jazzy soul music and enjoy this warm, calming drink on a cold winter evening.

Notes:

*This is a great beverage for children in the evening (as a calming agent). Chamomile naturally calms nerves and is super relaxing. *You can use any dairy alternative milk, I happen to like the way almond milk works with the other flavors. *Take care to not boil, burn, or scald the milk.

Chamomile Health Benefits

*Check out this study linking health benefits

*Chamomile can be used topically or orally to treat a number of everyday ailments, such as:

-Insomnia and other sleep disorders
-Anxiety and Panic Attacks
-Muscle twitches
-Wounds, burns, and scrapes
-Skin conditions such as psoriasis, eczema, chickenpox, and diaper rash
-Stomach problems such as menstrual cramps, stomach flu, and ulcers *See more from this site

*Take caution with chamomile if you have an allergy to ragweed

{Please always consult before taking herbs if taking prescription medications.}

Some Practical Uses

*Chamomile can be used in baking, such as muffins, cookies or cakes. Chamomile has a very pleasing taste/aroma and makes a wonderful tea (1 tbsp to 8 oz boiling water).

*Chamomile can also be used as an ingredient in beauty products, such as homemade lotion for dry skin/eczema, or as a facial toner.

*And here's a fun idea, use it as a natural hair highlighter.

Honey Health Benefits

*Interesting reads: world of honey & this site.

*Honey can be used topically or orally to treat a number of everyday ailments, such as:

-It may help fight cancer
-Used to heal minor cuts and burns
-Eases coughs
-May help with allergies
-Contains antioxidants
-Raw honey: anti bacterial, anti viral, anti fungal
-More easily assimilated by the body than refined cane-sugar

Some Practical Uses

*Honey is obviously a great substitute for refined cane-sugar in baking and cooking. Please take caution if you have digestive issues, as raw honey is difficult to digest and may irritate the digestive tract.

*Honey is a great ingredient in homemade beauty products, such as facial masks, as a dry skin moisturizer, or for your hair!

*Due to its anti-bacterial properties, honey can be used as an acne remedy.

*I use honey as a cough syrup for my children (and often mix in herbs, such as thyme).

Salud - Be Well

Shared on: Traditional Tuesdays, Fat Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays & Allergy-Friendly Friday, & Whole Food Wednesdays, Allergy-Free Wednesdays,

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Homemade Almond Milk

Homemade almond milk is fabulous. It's the #1 milk substitute in our home. I started making almond milk years ago. When I started I didn't have a fancy high-speed blender; I just used my Ninja (which I purchased on sale and with a coupon - so it was super cheep and perfect for me at the time). Don't shy away from making homemade nut milks because you don't have a high-speed blender. You can still do it my friends! And making your own nut milk is a great way to decrease your waste in the kitchen, a mission I take very seriously everyday.

I'm writing this post today because I make almond milk a little different. From what I've read in cyberspace, a typical recipe calls for 1 cup almonds to 3 or 4 cups water. Well, I use a lot more water. I find the milk is still rich and delicious. I purchase raw, organic almonds in bulk, and they can be expensive (although they are often on sale at my Coop) so I like to stretch my dollar a little further by adding more water. So today I wanted to share my recipe with you and my almond milk making process.

Ingredients:

-1 cup raw, organic almonds

-7 cups filtered water

-1 teaspoon vanilla

How To:

1. Soak almonds in filtered water for 10-20 hours, or just over night. I prefer soaking them on the longer end (and I change the water once). While making breakfast for the kids in the morning I get a bowl of almonds soaking, change the water before bed that same day, and then make the milk the next morning during breakfast. I find it easier to make the milk while I'm already in the kitchen doing something - I have a momentum going and it works for me.

2. When the almonds have been properly soaked, drain and rinse with filtered water

3. To your blender add almonds, 7 cups water, and vanilla

4. Blend on high for 60 seconds (I currently use a Vitamix)

5. Here's a step in the process that might be different from most:

*After blending I let the milk sit in the blender for about 5 minutes. This gives the milk time to settle and the foam to gather on the top. After the 5 minutes I scoop off all the foam. After removing the foam my original 7 cups remain. I dislike straining foamy milk through the nut milk bag. See pictures below for foam scooping process:

5. After you scoop off the foam, strain the milk through a nut milk bag. I strain the milk into an 8 cup glass Pyrex

6. Transfer to glass pitcher with lid and store in the fridge for up to 4 days

Notes:
*If using a "regular" blender, start with 5 cups water and blend on high for up to 2 minutes. Add more water in future batches if you like the consistency & taste with 5 cups.

Shared on: Wellness Weekend & Lunch Box Love Fridays

Monday, January 16, 2012

Paleo Chocolate Pumpkin Coconut Pudding

My daughter is a budding chocoholic like my sweet husband, and nothing makes me happier than creating a healthy, nutrient dense treat for my girl. I use cacao on occasion in desserts. Due to this sparing use it's greeted with treasured delight. I used what I had on hand today, but you can throw just about anything in chocolate and it will taste...like chocolate! I made an allergy-friendly version of this pudding (coming soon) for my son who can't have chocolate, and I have to say it's mighty tasty. I actually prefer it over the chocolate, which causes my husband to seriously question my sanity. I'll tell ya, my husband and chocolate...get a room!

Ingredients:
-1 can full fat coconut milk (I prefer Native Forest, which has a BPA-free can or Natural Value, which is free of gums and preservatives).
-1/2 cup plain pumpkin puree
-3 tablespoons raw cacao (or more to taste)
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-2 tablespoons ground chia (I ground the seeds in a coffee grinder)
-3 to 4 tablespoons sweetener (I have used honey and maple syrup)
-1/2 ripe avocado (optional) for added nutrition

How To:
1. Combine all ingredients in blender, high speed or otherwise
2. Transfer to glass container and store in refrigerator
3. Pudding will thicken as it cools

Notes:
*Are chia seeds Paleo?

Check out these links for more chocolate + pumpkin recipes

Chocolate Pumpkin Brownies

Chocolate Pumpkin Ice Cream

Chocolate Pumpkin Smoothie

Pumpkin-Spiced Chocolate Covered Pears with Toasted Pecans

Shared on: Fat Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Wellness Weekend, Pennywise Platter, Miz Helen's Country Cottage, Traditional Tuesdays, The Healthy Home Economist, Ruth's Real Food: 101, Real Food Wednesdays, Gluten-Free Wednesdays, Just Another Meatless Monday, Melt in your Mouth Mondays, Lunch Box Love Fridays, Midnight Manic Meatless Mondays, Lunch Box Love Fridays, Freaky Friday

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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Allergy-Free Wednesdays Blog Hop: Week 2

Double Chocolate Paleo Hazelnut Coconut Cookies

Friday, January 27, 2012

Raw Cranapple Sauce

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Know Your pH Balance

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Allergy-Free Wednesdays Blog Hop: Week 1

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Chamomile + Honey = A Bowl of Soul

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Homemade Almond Milk

Monday, January 16, 2012

Paleo Chocolate Pumpkin Coconut Pudding

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