Divagating Life

Did I tell you what my hubby bought me when my stove from 1994 stopped working? This beauty!

So I went to bed with my old stove and when I woke up? Walked out to this beautiful stove and a new hood! It is beautiful! It made me even love my old cabinets again…..

Definitely a new learning curve with a stove, broiler, convection oven, a simmer burner, a super boil burner and a griddle in the middle…….but you know what? I am going to love every minute of it!

Talk about the best hubby ever! After this was delivered on Saturday we had a fantabulous day with crazy quality time cooking up an early Thanksgiving dinner since I’ll be working a 12hr shift on the actual day…..

Posted in Food Porn, Low Carb, Me, Paleo, Primal, Recipes
Tags: broiler, convection oven, cooking, gift, stove, two ovens

Growing up I can say that I ate a lot of ice cream! Ice cream was a celebration food for birthdays, sometimes just for a fun summer treat and always, always a comfort food when I had strep throat or bronchitis……and I was sick most of the time growing up! There have even been times in the past I’d dish up a large mug of it in the dead of winter and eat it on my drive to work! Can you say addiction yummy?

So now that I’m living the Paleo lifestyle and loving every minute of it I knew that I had to make a healthier ice cream to enjoy! One that would not make my blood sugar rise or give me the crazy  gimme more now!

So onto my coconut milk ice cream!

First let me tell you that you need to invest in an adorable functional ice cream maker! Hubby bought me this one for my 40th birthday and I love it!

I can make two flavors at the same time or just one if my appetite is small (haha like that ever happens!) and I’m wanting a more fresh, soft serve style ice cream! This ice cream is best fresh made right out of the machine because I do not add a bunch of stuff to keep it soft after it’s frozen! Of course if you happen to have leftovers then you can easily let is set on the counter for 10-20 minutes to let it soften up! If you use a microwave then about 20 seconds softens it up too! If you want a single ice cream maker that makes one and one half quarts then this one is great! I had that one for about 12 years before I got this one and it never did me wrong!

Okay so here is the simple recipe for I’m guessing a quart of finished product? I like to adjust the recipe and use three cans of coconut milk, adjusting the rest to fit and that give both of these freezer bowls almost full to the brim of icy cold, yummy, tongue tantalizing ice cream!

Coconut milk, full fat, one can

2 eggs, omega three or farm fresh because yes these will be eaten raw!

vanilla to taste, I’d guess I use maybe a teaspoon?

4 droppers of NuNaturals Alcohol Free Liquid Vanilla Stevia

**if you use honey or maple syrup in your paleo lifestyle you will use that in place of stevia. I have read that using those it will not freeze rock hard left over night in the freezer like it does with stevia! I have no idea how much you would use so just play it by taste buds ear!

Just toss all ingredients into your Vitamix (or food processor or blender if you don’t have a vitamix) and blend til smooth. Please make sure that you’ve cracked your eggs because you don’t want crunchy shells in there……crunch can come from whatever mix in’s you choose!

Pour that delicious liquid into your ice cream maker and follow the directions that came with it! With my frozen bowls it takes about 20 minutes or so til it’s ready to start lapping eating it all dignified with a spoon in a bowl!

Now the color in the above ice cream is from a bit of decaf instant coffee tossed into the vitamix! I love me some mocha/coffee ice cream! Sometimes I do plain vanilla though and other times I puree up some strawberries or blueberries in there! You can make all flavors! Be experimental creative!

So for forever I have been using Thai full fat coconut milk for this recipe and anything else I use coconut milk for…..but I was having a discussion on my waste of time facebook with Roland who said there were brands without thickeners…..so I went to two walmart’s before I found this brand with only coconut and water as the ingredients! Winning!

Yeah I know the photo quality sucks but hey we can’t be perfect all of the time! What can I say? This was taken in my cart using my iPhone when I was in a hurry to get home after working a 12 hour shift so let’s not criticize too much be nice and give me a break ok?

Of course some of you can have nuts and that would be an amazing add in to this ice cream but I have a severe, end up in the emergency room anaphylaxis reactions  to all nuts so yeah…..my ice cream is pretty boring plain! Sometimes when I’m feeling like I need some excitement I make some “magic shell” and either pour it on top or mix it right in for a bit of crunch!

So if you’re wanting some magic shell then whip out some coconut oil and ghirardelli baking chocolate. I usually toss a heaping tablespoon of nutiva coconut oil  and 2 squares of the baking cocoa into a pan and simmer it constantly while stirring until it’s melted but sometimes I take a microwave short cut…..soon enough that microwave will die be tossed out and I’ll only use the simmer method! About a minute in the microwave then stir it up and go another minute and it looks like this…..then add your liquid vanilla stevia to taste and throw in the fridge to cool. Be sure you don’t forget about it or it will solidify! You want it still liquid form but cool! Then pour it over your ice cream or mix it in!

So whether you want a nice little dish of mocha coconut milk ice cream, all indulgent in a little decorative cup with bow and all because you’re special like that…….

Or you want to whip up some magic shell and enjoy a more simple bowl of ice cream while snuggling up in your sweats comfy pj’s and watching a funny show……eat up and enjoy but never forget to wash out that freezer bowl and toss it back into the freezer so you can whip this up in a moment’s notice staying paleo and not giving in and buying ben & jerry’s!

Posted in Food Porn, Low Carb, Paleo, Primal, Recipes
Tags: Allergies, allergy, Birthday, birthday gifts, blood sugar, Coconut, coconut milk, cuisinart, dairy free, food porn, honey, icecream, low carb, magic shell, maply syrup, paleo, primal, Recipes, stevia

So what’s a girl to do with leftover cabbage that she really needs to use up? Make frizzled cabbage of course! I read forever ago about frizzled cabbage at Jan’s blog and have wanted to try it for awhile now but all of the sudden as I’m staring at this cabbage in the fridge for like the tenth time wondering what to do with it since I’m tired of cabbage rolls…..viola, I remembered her frizzled cabbage!

Of course I can never follow a recipe as is and as usual decided to tweak it a bit with what I had and what I like so here is what I did!

Shred green and purple cabbage up as thin as you can get it without chopping off your finger tip!

Add in some onion slivers and toss all together so it’s all pretty!

Pull out some bacon, cut it up in small pieces!

Stir it up and fry it just enough to par-cook it like this but try to stop yourself from grabbing a piece because it’s not quite done

Melt some bacon grease and coconut oil (or a combo of the two like I did) into a pan and toss in the cabbage/onion mixture!

Now stir it all up and make it super greasy yummy and then add in the spices and the par-cooked bacon and stir it up while cooking it about 10 minutes stirring often on decent heat til it looks like this…..

I know, I know, you wanna dive right in don’t ya? Patience…..now turn down the heat to a simmer level and continue to cook until carmelized, about 20 minutes stirring as often as you can remember to!

As it simmers and carmelizes toss a yummy ribeye onto your piping hot cast iron skillet and cook away (of course you can choose something else but shame on you if you do!!)

Okay so you really want a real recipe? Here it comes……followed by the finished plate of yummy deliciousness……

30oz shredded cabbage (I used half purple and half green)
7-10oz onion sliced thinly
2Tb bacon grease
2Tb coconut oil
6 slices par cooked and chopped bacon about 1/2 inch once cooked up
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp pepper

Follow above directions with the pictures……

Ready to eat?? Dig in and try not to drool on yourself because well, that can be a bit embarrassing when you’re an adult…….

Posted in Food Porn, Low Carb, Recipes
Tags: bacon, cabbage, food porn, frizzle, paleo, primal, ribeye

A couple of nights ago it was FIGHT night! We love UFC and MMA in this house. What better way to enjoy the fight than to have one of my favorite things to eat…..I have a few go to meals for fight nights…..gyros, steak with onions and brussel sprouts and if the weather is chilly sometimes chili!

Once upon a time I did make a great cucumber (tzatziki) sauce to go with the gyro meat but for now I am  not doing dairy……I will include that sauce in the recipe for those who are eating it though!

What you’ll need!

Gyros
2 onions, large, sliced
1 tomato, medium, sliced
2 lb. lamb, ground
2 tbsp. garlic, minced
2 tbsp. onion flakes
1/2 to 1 tsp. sea salt
2 tsp. pepper, black

Cucumber Sauce
8 ounce yogurt, greek, we used chobani no fat and add MCT oil
1 tbsp. MCT oil, mix into greek yogurt if fat free to add creaminess and healthy fat
1/4 cup Cucumber, seeded, grated and drained
1 tsp. onion flakes
1 tsp. garlic paste
1 tablespoon lemon juice, fresh squeezed
1 pinch Stevia
1 pinch Sea salt
1/8 tsp. Dill weed

How to fix ‘em

Mix together ground lamb, minced garlic, onion flakes, sea salt and black pepper (you might want more or less spices than I use!)

Form into flat patties and broil patties for 6 minutes each side until no longer pink.

Once cooked, cool long enough to be able to handle and slice into thin strips like these

Melt some bacon grease in your favorite cast iron skillet (or pan of choice) and toss those lamb strips in there to pan fry up with sliced onions until onions are sauteed. I like at least a few of my gyro slices a bit crispy….make sure to stir often and don’t forget the lamb is fully cooked before this so you don’t have to saute with onions, its just the way I like it!

If you’re doing dairy then go ahead and make your cucumber sauce while your gyro meat and onions are sauteing. If you weren’t lucky enough to find full fat greek yogurt then mix some MCT or melted and slightly cooled coconut oil into the yogurt to make it creamy and add some extra fat to it! Now deseed your cucumber then grate it. Squeeze all the moisture out of that grated cucumber unless you love runny sauce! Toss cucumber, onion flakes, garlic paste, lemon juice, stevia (or sweetener of choice), sea salt and dill weed into the yogurt. Mix well and place in refrigerator to allow flavors to blend. You may like it more or less sweet or salty so just adjust to your own tastes!

Slice up your tomato, dish everything up and enjoy your dinner!

Posted in Food Porn, Low Carb, Recipes
Tags: cucumber, fight nihgt, food porn, gyros, lamb, low carb, mma, paleo, patties, primal, tzatziki, ufc

Now to work my way through these amazing books! So very excited to get the last awaited one to add to my collection today! Once I’m through all of them I will need to decide which is best to purchase for the family members that I’ve given copies of The Primal Blueprint or The Paleo Solution to! Guess it will be a lazy day today leafing through my newest addition, Make It Paleo!

Posted in Uncategorized
Tags: cookbook, everyday paleo, make it paleo, paleo comfort foods, paleo. recipes

Paleo is awesome! I know that I am doing this for my health but as I had said before I am also wanting to lose weight! I know this is a long read but bear with me because it is important for you to see the extremes I was going to in order to lose weight in the past, what it did to me and how I’m losing it now almost effortlessly, getting healthy and enjoying every bite! You’ll see just what I ate yesterday in pictures, how many calories I consumed and what I lost today when I weighed in!

I don’t want to lose just any weight though. I want to lose fat! Losing fat means losing inches and getting smaller! In the past I have lost weight and all I cared about was that number on the scale going down, down, down! I did not realize at that time that the things I was doing to lose weight were super unhealthy for me then and would change my future! I was water fasting for days on end or eating 200-800 calories per day while exercising with weights and cardio for 4-6 hours every day! When hubby would go on business trips I’d be going on the stairmaster in the basement at 2am to burn off extra calories!

I lost alright, I lost weight, I lost muscle and most importantly and unfortunately I lost health! Sure I was tiny but I was also weak and moody. I did not realize until much later that I ruined my metabolism. I was not able to maintain that weight loss at all. There was actually a point and time in my life I was gaining weight eating only 800 calories each day. Think I was moody before restricting? At least then I was getting the results I wanted with the scale going down but now I’m doing the same thing and gaining weight? I also messed up my hormones. I was eating veggies with no to little nutrition like iceburg lettuce because I could eat a lot of it to fill up my tummy and keep my calories low. I was doing my best to eat no fat because fat had too many calories. Chicken breast and egg whites were my protein choice and I can tell you that is pretty bland and definitely gets boring! Since my hormones were all out of whack and I wasn’t getting much nutrition and I was tired all of the time. I didn’t want to socialize even with family. I didn’t feel good like ever so I didn’t want to do anything fun that my husband would want to do. I started feeling anxious and uncomfortable in my own skin when I’d have to go out in a crowd, even a small one! I got down to double digits on the scale, was fitting into the tiniest of clothes, even kids clothes! Was losing that weight worth all that I really lost? Definitely not! It was a weight loss plan that turned into an unhealthy obsession! If only I had known back then what I know now…..of course we do learn more from our mistakes and I will have to live with mine but I hope to get the word out to others so they might not go through it!

I now have some serious health issues! I know that some of these are in my genetics but I believe that my stupid behavior for those years brought it all to the surface. I am hopeful to improve or possibly even reverse most if not all of these issues over time by eating paleo. Paleo is awesome in so many ways! So let me count the ways for you! Just a few are listed as there are so many more!

Paleo has taken my cravings away. Sure I still walk into the grocery store and see those Krispy Kreme doughnuts and think yum but since I’ve cut out the junk, sugar, wheat, etc. I no longer have the “I’ve got to have that NOW” type of behavior. I can pass by it and know that it’s not healthy for me. Sure there is a little bit of missing it but I know that if I did give in and eat it that it would not taste as good as it once did and I’d feel like crap after I ate it both physically and mentally!

Paleo is giving me more nutrition in the food that I eat than I’ve probably ever had in my life on any “diet” I’ve tried. I must tell you that Paleo is not a diet but a lifestyle. I can and plan to do this for life! It is not a quick fix diet to lose weight. It is a healthy lifestyle to eat whole foods that fuel the body and give it nutrition and decrease inflammation and disease in the body. Losing body fat is just a benefit that comes with it.

Paleo is a lifestyle that is liveable. Sure it takes some planning but once you get into the groove it really becomes just another part of your day. You know what? You are worth that time it takes to plan, shop, cook and clean up……and so am I!

I really can’t explain it but Paleo is giving me a more positive attitude! I know it is not because our life circumstances have all of the sudden gotten great because if anything things have gotten more stressful and chaotic as of late. Maybe it’s the nutrition I am getting, maybe it’s knowing I am doing good things for my health, maybe it’s my hormones getting back to where they should have been all along, maybe it’s the hope I have that my health is going to get better and better or hey maybe it’s a beautiful combination of all of these! Honestly I don’t care why, I’m just glad it’s happening! Believe me, so is my husband!

I am having a few improvements with my health already. I won’t bore you with the details right now but eventually in time I will blog about some of that, where I was, where I am and where I hope to go with all of it! Right now I can only hope that things continue this direction and I do believe they will if I eat healthy, whole foods and stay away from the poisons! I certainly plan to!

My food tastes fantastic! I mean really, would you rather sit down to a measly portion of egg whites that has virtually no taste or a large portion of whole eggs cooked up in coconut oil or bacon grease that taste divine? Would you rather sit down and eat a plain chicken breast or a big juicy burger without the bun? Let’s face it, fat is flavorful! Fat is fun! Fat is healthy! Well, the right type of fat that is and guess what? Fat will not make you fat! I’m not saying run to burger king and eat a high fat meal! I’m talking healthy fat’s in the absence of carbs!

It can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it. Right now since I’m trying to lose body fat, I am keeping it simple. Meats, eggs, non-starchy veggies and healthy fats (lots of unrefined coconut oil for this girl!). Eventually I will make more complicated things, enjoy different recipes, add in some berries, some seeds and starchier veggies but this is working so well right now why would I want to change it?

When that scale isn’t cooperating I know that I am doing good things for my body and mind. I’m losing inches and will fit into smaller clothes regardless of what that scale says. I am not wearing my body down by exercising too much. I am loving it! My obsession now? Getting healthy and I know an added plus will be the leanness that comes with this lifestyle!
Ok on to what I ate yesterday and the results that it yielded me!

When I woke up I wasn’t really hungry so I just had some cinnamon flavored green tea with a heaping tablespoon of unrefined coconut oil in it! Yum! I had another one of these later in the day! After all there are many health benefits in both green tea and unrefined coconut oil and a girl needs to keep her calories high!

My first meal of the day was later than I had planned…..so I went straight for lunch foods! It also helped that I had the fish already thawed since I had planned to have it for dinner Friday night but plans changed unexpectedly and I needed to make something quicker to eat on the run. This is herb encrusted Mahi Mahi cooked in MCT oil! I served it over some romaine and cucumber that I really needed to use up before they went bad. Let me tell you that I ate a lot more Mahi Mahi than was pictured! The picture looked pretty with the once piece centered but I ate over 10oz cooked so it was more like 5 or 6 pieces total!

My second meal of the day was dinner. Again I had planned to have something else but hey this lifestyle can be flexible when it needs to be while still staying on plan and not giving in to the convenience of fast food. I mean seriously, doesn’t this look better than a Big Mac? Hamburger fried up with lots of onions! I did eat this with some jalepeno mustard and a few midget dill pickles! Always read your labels for things like that though, you don’t want sugar, starch and other crap in there! I doubt I will ever make my own mustard, although I may try it just once to see if it’s good but I definitely plan to try my hand at dill pickles sometime!

Now my last meal of the day seems to vary. Sometimes I eat more of a meal, sometimes a snack and sometimes I’m in the mood for something more  dessert like (You’ll see posts with those type of things too or check out my facebook for pics sometimes too). This night I decided I had really missed having eggs for my first meal of the day so I had it before bed instead! Yeah, I do not buy into do not eat after 7pm! My last meal of the day is usually anywhere from 11pm to 2am depending on if the net day is a work day or not! So my last meal this day was scrambled omega 3 eggs (four of them), homemade pork sausage (since I do not want any with sugar or starch or unnecessary ingredients in there that would be a detriment to getting healthy!), some green olives cut up into slices and of course it was all scrambled up in a nice big heaping tablespoon of unrefined coconut oil!

So there you have it! A perfectly paleo day! I drink water and green tea, occasional coffee but no juices, pop, etc. After all I’m working on gaining health and those things are not healthy!

I ended up having 2404 calories for the day!As you can see from the pic below I had 64% fat, 29% protein, 7% carbohydrates (total of 58.6 grams) and 2233mg of sodium. This was not one of my higher fiber days but I can tell you with the fiber I get from my veggies, the higher fat intake and the water I drink that I do not have any issues to need more fiber like they say you need from whole grains. You want health and leanness? Stay away from whole grains! If you don’t believe me then go to my paleo/primal resources page and read some of those blogs with research to back it up! Ignore the measurements listed there. I haven’t measured in awhile and it just keeps the last ones entered. I can guarantee you that those numbers are smaller right now! I currently have a pretty high body fat percentage so if the scale never goes down but the fat inches go then I’m happy with that!

So yes I am eating 2400-2600 calories of healthy foods every day and losing weight! I woke up today almost a pound down! Did I burn almost 3500 calories (the amount in a pound) yesterday? Of course not! I didn’t really do too much yesterday! I am more active on my work days than most of my days at home! So don’t you dare let anyone talk you into believing the calories in versus calories out theory! Here is my calories in and calories out for yesterday from my GoWear Fit by Body Media and yep, I lost even though I ate over 600 calories more than I burned……and no you do NOT have to count calories! I’m just trying to figure out my maintenance level so I know where to start cutting to lose without going too low and destroying my metabolism!

Eat the right foods via a paleo or primal lifestyle and you can lose eating more than you ever thought possible! You can fix your previously wrecked metabolism, enjoy what you’re eating, feel good, gain health and get lean! I still have lots of improvement to go since I don’t sleep well, haven’t added in any formal exercise and eventually want to get off my meds as my health improves! I’m going to be lean and definitely healthy with what I’m eating! If I can do it anyone can! Come on, give it 30 days and see how you feel! You may never want to go back! I don’t plan to because I’m going to be strong, healthy and lean!

Posted in Food Porn, Healthy Fats, Low Carb, Uncategorized
Tags: Burgers, coconut oil, dairy free, fatloss, food porn, health, low carb, paleo. primal, strong, weight loss

Life has been more than chaotic and for way too long……I do think it will continue that way for quite awhile but I’m going to focus on having a more positive attitude and not use any of the issues going on as a reason to continue defeating myself with junk food!

I have not blogged in almost a year due my mac crashing and losing all of the data. I’ve been wanting to blog but not wanting to re-do the blog and get started all over again! I just started using a new program and started everything over…..I also didn’t feel very motivated to blog about health, low carb, nutrition, etc. when I was feasting on junk!

As you can see the food/recipe posts from a year ago were all about low carb. Since that time I have changed a bit in my thinking! I went crazy there for quite awhile eating anything and everything in sight…..not healthy things mind you but mostly junk, processed, convenient, high carb, etc. This was bad in so many ways and I’ll just leave it to your imagination as the details are too fresh in my mind to want to relive! Let’s just say, do not do what I did! It will leave you with a muffin top, a higher body fat percentage, needing a new not so flattering size wardrobe but more than that? It really sent my health in a spiral downward on so many levels…….and probably many that I’m not fully aware of!

I’m back baby! In my times of eating myself into oblivion I did keep trying to get out of that black hole! I mean I know what to do but the addiction in me to that comfort food that was so easy and yummy was wicked strong! I’m here to tell you that I am alive and kickin’……not only that but I’m working myself slowly back into that adorable little wardrobe in the back of my closet that I had almost given up on……Yes, what can I say, I am vain…..

The cool thing though? Since I’ve stopped the grains, legumes, sugar and dairy my moods are getting better, my skin is clearing up and I’m seeing other positive health changes too!  I’ve got a long way to go in terms of health since it’s a long journey but I’m doing it one day at a time! My blood sugar was spiking to very unhealthy ranges with some of the foods! I know all of the ramifications that go along with that and I refuse to allow myself to be another victim of Diabesity! Want to know what it was a few days ago when I checked it a few days into my re-started Paelo Lifestyle?

                                                          Paleo Rocks!

So do me a favor will ya? As you look back on previous food posts, please keep in mind that at that time I was focused on being low carb and sugar free. How has that changed? Currently I am not having any food labeled low carb (like low carb wheat tortillas), no dairy and the only artificial sweetener that I am using is stevia (I am looking into another one that I will try sometime called Just Like Sugar). Those recipes were great at that time but for my goal of optimal health and leanness they do not really fit in……..whole foods is where it’s at!

Will I ever have dairy, wheat, sugar, other artificial sweeteners, etc. again? I would love to say no but I am only human……but I will do my best and plan to stay away from all of that indefinitely…….right now I’m focusing on rebuilding any of my health that I can and there is no room for flexibility. I’m eating Paleo and loving it but I am sure that there will be some sensible vices in time that would be considered more Primal and I’m okay with that…..some day I may give in and have something not considered Paleo or Primal and you’ll be sure to see it here or my facebook.

This is a lifestyle and will be adjusted as necessary…….I’m not perfect but I’m striving to be my best!

Posted in Me
Tags: blood sugar, Change, paleo, primal

Since it was a beautiful, crisp fall day today I wanted to bake! At first thought I was thinking something with pumpkin but I have heard quite a few people talking about eating doughnuts lately…….so doughnuts it was! These are quick and easy to make! Takes less time to make the batter up then the baking time which is only 15 minutes!

Now these are not your typical doughnut as they are more a cake-like doughnut, not your average Krispy Kreme! Of course they don’t compare nutritionally to those either so they will not be adding inches to your waistline or inflaming your body, since they are sugar and wheat free! I have not tried it yet but next time I plan to use my unrefined virgin coconut oil so they can be dairy free as well!

Here is the batter in my awesome doughnut pan!

Here is the recipe if you are interested in trying these! We are sugar and wheat free for our health but if you are not avoiding sugar then you could easily use honey in place of the sugar free honey substitute that I use to keep us sugar free and low carb!

Doughnuts
1/2c of coconut flour (sifted twice)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
6 eggs
1/2c sugar free honey substitute
2 tsp vanilla extract (use pure)
1/2c unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. My oven runs hot so mine was set to 325 degrees. Mix all of your dry ingredients in one bowl and set aside. Mix the remaining ingredients together in another bowl. Now mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a whisk. Continue to whisk until there are no lumps (or very few). Batter will thicken up a bit after it sits for a few minutes.
Spoon batter into greased circles of doughnut pan. Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. In my oven it took 15 minutes and they were perfect! I usually set my timer at least 5 minutes earlier and check to make sure I no longer burn things! They pop right out of the pan with ease with the mixture I used to grease the pan (see below).

If you have not worked with coconut flour, let me tell you it makes for a sticky batter! I am talking stick to the bottom of pans sticky! I had been using non-stick cooking spray but a few of my recipes have left a little more than I’d like in the bottom of my pans! I do not mind that too bad when it is just meant for us but they really wouldn’t be suitable for serving to company!

Today for the first time I whipped up a little concoction for greasing pans that I read about in the book Cooking with Coconut Flour by Bruce Fife. He says to melt 1/4c of coconut oil and them mix in 1/2 teaspoon of lecithin. We also tend to avoid soy in this house and majority of lecithin you will find is made of soy. I was able to find sunflower lecithin that is liquid so that is what I used! So I melted the coconut oil, mixed in the sunflower lecithin into it and then lightly greased my pan with that. You do have to keep the jar of this mixture in the refrigerator!

At this time I am slowly adding things back into my diet to see how my body reacts. Unfortunately sugar alcohols that are most of the artificial sweeteners I use for baking (except stevia which I am using right now daily) and coconut flour have not been added in yet as I’m sticking mostly to whole foods…….so I was not able to eat any of these delicious looking (and smelling) doughnuts! Hubby is my taste tester and he loved them so much he quickly ate three of the six! I wish that my little sweet eater Casey could have them but xylitol is not safe for pets (dogs or cats)! Please do not let them have anything made with xylitol as it can cause their blood sugar to drop severely causing vomiting, loss of coordination, seizures and even death!

I had planned to make a nice buttercream frosting (sugar free) for these doughnuts but John ate half of them so quickly that it will have to wait until the next batch I make! Since these are cake-like I think that they would make a great base for strawberry shortcake! I might experiment with this recipe a bit and try to create pumpkin doughnuts since it is that time of year! Mmmmm, pumpkin doughnuts with cream cheese frosting served up with a nice cup of pumpkin spice coffee sounds delish!

Sugar free coconut flour doughnuts without frosting

Posted in Recipes
Tags: Coconut flour, doughnuts, Fall, low carb, Sugarfree

Oh how I have missed you my blog! More important though I have missed my food! I mean how fun can food blogging be if you are only eating romaine, cucumber, chicken and fish! I am back to adding in the yummy fat now, so I have been cooking, eating and of course enjoying all of the food!

No one makes a better burger than hubby! You can check out his site at Whats John Eating.

My first fat added back was of course a juicy burger! I was wanting something crunchy to add to my burger basket though! So came zuchinni and onion straws!

If you have a spiralizer it may seem like a great idea to use it to make zucchini or onion straws, but speaking from experience, they shrink down to tiny little wisps of nothing once fried in oil! They did taste good but next time I will hand cut things a bit thicker and hope for something more substantial! The spiralizer is very affordable and fantastic for spaghetti noodles made with veggies and lots of other things too!

Once you have sliced them to the size that you want you will want to squeeze all of the excess moisture out before deep frying. You might not want to use a dish cloth like I did. Next time it will be paper towels since it took two washings to get the onion smell out of that dish cloth! We fried them in coconut oil but it is a tricky process!

Hey cooking is fun but most of the time it is experimental. The good thing about that? Well there is always room for improvement! I don’t mind experiments when they are at least edible! Sometimes things may not look nice enough to share with company though until you’ve mastered that particular try!

I am loving right a newly made up before bed, dessert treat too. Cut up frozen strawberries and let them sit out about half an hour……in the mean time open a can of thai coconut milk (full fat is the only one to use) that has been in the refrigerator over night……spoon out the thick white until you reach the coconut water. Leave the coconut water to use for something else or just drink up since it is full of electrolytes! You take this coconut milk fat, add stevia (I use one packet), some pure vanilla and I grind some fresh cinnamon into it……whip it to mix it and thicken it up a bit with your small whisk and refrigerate.

No it is not thick like whipping cream but for now I am not adding dairy back into my diet until I can get my hands on either organic full fat greek yogurt or raw dairy which we will be adding to our diet soon! So you just spoon this yummy sweet slightly thickened coconut milk onto the semi frozen strawberries and mix it up! It remind me of when I was a little girl and we would have vanilla icecream and mash up fresh strawberries in it! Delish! Of course not only is it healthy for you but it is a great way to end your night……but only if you serve it up in your favorite bowl!

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Tags: basket, Burgers, low carb, onion straws, zucchnini straws