Author Archives: Amber
Paleo Pumpkin Pie Bites with Maple Coconut Whipped Cream (free of: grains, dairy, cane-sugar)
Ditch The Can: How to Make Delicious Pumpkin Puree
New Grist Gluten Free Beer
Pumpkin Spiced Teff Pancakes with Maple Coconut Whipped Cream and Toasted Pecans
Pancake:
-This teff pancake recipe (sans the banana – and plus 2 Tbsp of water)
-1/2 cup fresh, plain pumpkin puree (how to make pumpkin puree)
-1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice mixed with the 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
How To
1. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl
2. Mix wet ingredient with pumpkin puree and additional water
3. I would take caution with adding any additional sweetener to the batter. The dish becomes very sweet with the maple coconut whipped cream. The pancakes are meant to compliment, rather than overpower the other flavors
Maple Coconut Whipped Cream:
-1 can cold Thai Kitchen coconut milk – you may need this brand due to this issue with coconut milk
-2 teaspoons vanilla
-3 tablespoons maple syrup, or to taste (we love grade B)
-1/2 teaspoon thickener of choice (if the coconut cream is too runny, you just never know from can to can). I like to use xanthan gum to thicken. Works great.
How To
1. Refrigerate the can of coconut milk for at least 3 days prior to use (I usually leave it in there for a week or more). In fact, I store about 5 cans of coconut milk in the fridge and use them as needed.
2. Scoop out the cream into a bowl, not the coconut water (which you will see at the bottom of the can; save that for another day and recipe).
3. Add vanilla and maple syrup to coconut cream and blend with a hand mixer. Add in thickener if needed.
4. Store remaining cream in refrigerator. It will also thicken quite a bit in the fridge, so this is a good idea to make the day before!
Oh, and don’t forget to lightly toast those pecans!
Homemade Jojoba Shea Butter Lotion: for dry skin and eczema
Still a very smiley little guy!!
Labels: beauty, eczema, Holistic healing, homemade remedies, how to.
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Pasta with Delicata Squash Sauce
-Oil of choice for roasting
-Water for boiling
How To:
1. Add chopped squash, onions, and 2 teaspoons garlic granules with a drizzle of oil to favorite roasting dish and roast on 400 for about 40 minutes. Every oven is different, so check at around 30 minutes. Remove when tender.
2. Bring water to a boil and cook your pasta
3. Add some oil to a pan and saute mushrooms until tender.
4. Steam the peas.
5. When the squash is done, place in a blender with 1 tablespoon of garlic granules, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste. Blend, adding water until desired consistency. I added quite a bit of water and it didn’t dilute the taste.
6. Toss some of the sauce with your pasta. Add mushrooms, peas and combine.
7. Freeze leftover squash for another day.
Notes:
*This makes a very sweet sauce. It’s a fun twist on your everyday red sauce, or your pasta primavera.
*Experiment with different varieties of squash; I’ve used butternut and kombucha.
*Add different veggies to this dish to transform the flavor: chopped tomatoes, basil, asparagus, different mushrooms, green beans, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, etc.
Tasty Alternatives to Traditional Halloween Candy
my own using a small 8″ non-stick saute pan on top of a small
sauce pan filled with some water).
*Transfer to fridge until cooled
*These do very well sitting out at room temperature,
the chocolate does not melt. Perfect to eat like a “Tootsie Roll Pop”
Homemade Sunflower Seed Butter (Sunbutter)
Homemade Sunflower Seed Butter
Ingredients:
-Pinch of salt (optional)
3. After about 6 minutes the seeds will form a ball then become thinner as the oils in the seeds are released.
4. After about 8 minutes of processing you can add in a pinch of salt, but this is totally optional. It should be properly blended by this time. Store in class container in the refrigerator.
Yields 1 1/4 cups of sunbutter
Our neighbor’s lemon tree is showing some action!
They let me go over there whenever I have the need and pick to my heart’s content. |
Our other neighbor has a nice fig tree with a sizable
bunch hanging on our side of the fence!
So excited for these!
|
We still have watermelons to harvest!
We had quite the bounty this year. |
Our tomato plant is out of control, but still providing
us with sweet, gorgeous cherry tomatoes. |
Labels: allergy-friendly, dips and spreads, GAPS, lunch, nut free, Paleo, SCD, snacks, vegan.
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Kale and Golden Beet Salad with Tahini-Cider Dressing
5. Pig out
Shared on: Lunchbox Love Friday, Real Food Forager- detox challenge, Summer Salad Sundays, My Birthday Pot Luck Party Friday, Healthy Vegan Fridays, Wellness Weekend , Raw Foods Thursday
How to Decrease Kitchen Waste: 101
When you think of kitchen waste, what comes to mind?
I’m guessing food. Yes food is a huge waste that adds a bulk to your garbage bag that turns against you rather quickly. But what else? If you live in a town that recycles, first off, hooray for you, but secondly, weekly recycling doesn’t take care of everything. I’ve heard of some pretty picky towns where only cans, plastic bottles and cardboard is allowed. What about the bread packaging, inside the cereal plastic bag, frozen veggie plastic bags…if you eat cheese, the plastic around the cheese and don’t even get me started on PLASTIC BAGGIES. The list goes on and on in the plastic department. What about paper towels and napkins? Foil? Styrofoam? The wrapping from your deli meat?
These are all sources of unwanted waste. I say unwanted because the recycle folks don’t want this stuff. So it goes in the landfill.
My kitchen waste revelation came one day a few years ago when my garbage can smelled so horrid I just couldn’t take it any more…okay, enough is enough. We didn’t use those hefty plastic bags, we used recycled brown paper bags from our weekly grocery shopping for our garbage, so all our food waste and other gunk was exposed and oh boy it started to take on a life all its own.
I said to myself…I know I can do better!
I started very, very slow and assessed my waste. Food was at the top of the list so I started there and slowly worked my down the list finding alternatives and replacing old habits with environmentally frienldy behaviors. So if you are new to the concept of decreasing kitchen waste, please see below for some very easy ideas to get you going on your journey.
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*We made a very modest 5×5 box out of redwood in our backyard and started to pile in our uncooked kitchen waste with equal parts carbon and nitrogen. And I read this quick, simple guide to composting. There are so many other composting ideas, many I found in the book, but you can also research on-line and find what works best for you. For example, we are going to start a worm bin soon for our cooked food waste!
*Okay, let’s be real for a moment. Plastic baggies are a hell-of-a-convenience, and if you have kids, well, they may feel like a must-have necessity. It was difficult, but these were #2 on the list to go for me. I stopped buying them and looked for alternatives.
e. ECOlunchbox three-in-one. My daughter takes this for her lunch. It’s lightweight and easy for little hands to use and maneuver.
*This solution is three-fold. First of all, milk alternatives are EXPENSIVE. I did the math and I started saving serious money when I stopped buying packaged milks and started making my own. Second, you have total and complete control of the ingredients when you make your own milks – awesome for you! Third, and let’s be honest here, those milk alternative containers are not recyclable. I shed a tear of guilt every time I had to throw away those huge cartons. Okay, so problem solved. Making your own nut milks is so super easy. I make the following: almond milk, cashew milk, hemp milk and hazelnut milk. You can find a slew of how-to videos on the internet. And you don’t technically need an expensive high-speed blender to make these milks. Before I purchased my vitamix, I used a Ninja Blender for years and it worked fine. Don’t be detoured my friends!!
*Ahhh, this was so hard at first! I had a very unhealthy addiction to paper towels. I would use them for everything…if I had them I would go through them like crazy. I had zero control. So one day I just stopped buying them and also stopped buying paper napkins.
*I used foil for so many things in my kitchen. This was difficult at first too. I tried very hard to clean the foil and recycle it, but it didn’t always work. And my philosophy wasn’t, “well, it’s okay to throw it away once in a while,” it was to “never again throw anymore foil away into garbage ever again.”
One day I purchased a pork shoulder from the meat deli at our Coop and I was appalled when I got home, unrolled it, and saw how much paper and plastic waste was from this single (albeit rather large) portion of meat. My next trip to the coop I was equipped with my snap glass and Pyrex storage. It takes some planning, but if you know what you are going to be purchasing it’s not a problem – plus I highly recommend going to the grocery store with a plan and a list. This saves time, energy and money.
Vegetarians can incorporate this concept when purchasing cheese. Go to your cheese deli and have them slice out what you need into your glass storage. Then it’s home and into the fridge. No more fussing with a half (plastic wrapped) block of cheese.
Labels: green living, green living tips organization, how to decrease your kitchen waste.
These sound wonderful. At first I thought they were raw, but I see that they are baked in the oven. I love the idea of combining the crust with the filling, as the hard part about making pumpkin pie is the crust. My 2 year old would probably like these, too. I’ll be trying them!
-Sea of Book of Yum
Hello There~
Thank you for your comment. You are right on the money! These are so, so good. I’m very pleased with how they turned out. Please let me know how you like them, and if you make any interesting changes/additions.
My son, Ethan (2 years), just loves these little cookies, and I feel SO good about giving them to him…here have 2 or 3!!
Be Well,
–Amber
I adore the way you hand print every thing, makes it look real homnemade, Healthy & Happiness
Hello Taste Buds Gluten Free Take Away Foods~
Thank you for your lovely comment. You made my night!
Be Well,
–Amber
These look so delicious. I just found your blog via the Balanced Platter and this recipe caught my eye! I’m always look for delicious, healthy, sweet treats!! Thanks for sharing
Hello Queen of Quinoa (I love your name)!
Thanks for your message. These are as easy as they are delicious! Glad you found a new sweet (and healthy) treat to try. These are one of my faves for sure!
Have a great weekend,
–Amber
These look delicious! Can’t wait to try them!
Thanks Kellie,
They are super yummy. Let me know how you like them!
Be Well,
–Amber
Mmmm these look so good and so beautiful too! Like pretty little bites of deliciousness!
Thank you Maria! They are pretty fun (and pretty). I had some leftover pumpkin puree in the fridge and they really hit the spot today! So easy to make.
Be Well,
–Amber
Sharing these on my FB page right now :-).
This looks so good and I can not wait to try this!.