Homemade elderberry syrup

This stuff is great! I was spending so much on it because it works really well when you're starting to get a cold, and I hear it works wonders if you're starting to get sick from the flu. It works somehow to prevent the virus from binding to the cells. But if you buy it in the store, it's expensive! It's around $15 for a small bottle.

I was trying to find a way to not only make it cheaper, but to make it healthier. I bought some dried elderberries from Southwest Botanicals and tried my hand at making my own. They cost around $25 for a pound, but 1/2 C of berries makes about 4-5 cups of syrup (WAY more than you can get in the store). The result was impressive, and tasty too!

Ingredients:

1/2 C dried elderberries

3 C water

1 C raw honey

Bring the berries and water to a boil for about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 45 min. Mash berries and then strain through cheesecloth. Stir in the honey. Refrigerate

We take about a tablespoon of it twice a day if we're sick. Otherwise, I like to take a teaspoon a couple times a week... or whenever I remember. It'll keep in the fridge for about 3 months.

Chocolate banana NO BAKE HEALTHY PIE!

Yes, healthy pie. Not with the "breakfast theme" but it's good anyway. So good in fact... that I was getting ready to go to bed, decided to try a slice just to see how it tasted.. and was so amazed I had to get online to post it. This is now going to be my evening dessert... and I don't even have to feel guilty about it!!!

Ingredients (crust**):

1 C toasted almonds (I used raw and toasted them myself)

2 T raw honey

2 T butter

In food processor, pulse all 3 ingredients until mealy (not too much otherwise you'll churn out some almond butter). Press into the bottom of an 8x8 pan. Set aside

Ingredients (filling):

5 very ripe bananas

1 C coconut milk

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 C unsweetened cocoa

honey to taste (This is optional. My bananas weren't very ripe so I needed to add a little bit)

Add all ingredients to food processor and pulse until everything turns into a smooth mixture. Pour over crust. Freeze. (Before serving, let it sit out just for a bit so that it's not rock hard)

**The crust on this turns out pretty thin. If you want a thicker crust, double the recipe

Catching up-- breakfast posts

Since we've been sick I've been a little behind. I will post several recipes today. If you check back to the "Eating healthy: One step at a time" post, you will find that i've linked a lot of the recipes so you can click directly on them and be taken to the recipe.

Maple bananas

Ingredients:

4 sliced bananas

1 T butter (melted)

2 T maple syrup (melted)

1 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400. In an 8x8 pan, add the butter, syrup, lemon juice and cinnamon. Toss the sliced bananas in the mixture. Bake 20-25 min or until golden brown. Serve with play yogurt!

Sweet Potato muffins

Ingredients:

1 C spelt flour

1 C rolled oats

1/3 C Rapadura

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

2 large eggs (whisked)

1 C sweet potato puree (pumpkin would be good too)

1/2 C raw milk

1/4 C coconut oil (melted)

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Stir together dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients and whisk until well combined. Slowly combine wet ingredients with dry ingredients and stir just until incorporated. Spoon the batter into muffin cups. Bake about 20 min, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Greek frittata

Ingredients:

2 C baby spinach, washed

salt/pepper to taste

6 large eggs

4 large egg whites

1 C+1C feta cheese crumbles

2 tsp chopped, fresh oregano

1/2 C chopped onions

6 small potatoes, cooked and sliced

Olive oil

1. Heat about 1 T olive oil in a skillet. Add spinach and season with salt/pepper. Toss and cook just until wilted. Remove from heat and set aside.

2. Sautee onions until translucent, and then mix together with spinach. Set aside

3. Spray the bottom of 10" skillet with non-stick spray and layer the potatoes on the bottom. (make sure to use a skillet that is safe to be put under the broiler)

4. Mix egg, 1 C of the cheese, oregano, salt/pepper to taste.

5. Spread the spinach/onion mixture over the potatoes, and then pour the egg mixture over everything (do not stir)

6. Cook on low heat until eggs are set (about 15-20 min)

7. Top the entire frittata with the remaining feta cheese and put under the broiler (on low) until everything is golden brown.

Potato tacos

I know this isn't a breakfast food, but the potato mixture I made would be PERFECT in an omelette so I'm posting it anyway. Was inspired to make these from a friend, but kind of just improvised since I had no official recipe.

Ingredients:

7 medium size potatoes (cooked, diced)

Juice of 1 lime

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp chili powder

salt to taste

1/4 C salsa

Tortillas (we used brown rice and corn)

raw milk cheddar (I used about 1 cup for all of our tacos)

Coconut oil for "frying"

Mash potatoes in a bowl with a fork (I left mine a bit chunky). Add lime juice, salsa, cumin, chili powder, salsa, salt and stir to combine. Fill tortillas with some cheese (as much as you like), and top with 2 tablespoons or so of the potato mixture. Fold in half and fry in a bit of oil until lightly browned/crispy on each side. Serve with sour cream and avocado!

I will be using the leftover potato to make potato omelettes tomorrow before church!

Breakfast ideas- Day 1

Soaked cinnamon crumb cake

Ingredients:

2 C spelt flour

1/2 C rolled oats

1 C plain whole milk yogurt

1/2 C raw honey

Combine ingredients in a bowl, cover with a cloth and let soak overnight.

Ingredients:

1/4 C Rapadura

1/2 C raw pastured butter (softened)

1/4 C unrefined coconut oil

1 egg

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp vanilla

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp sea salt

Crispy nuts (any variety would work)

Preheat oven to 300. With electric mixer, beat together rapadura, butter and oil. Add egg, vanilla, baking powder/soda, cinnamon, salt. Blend until ingredients are mixed well. Add the mixture with the previously soaked ingredients and blend to combine. Pour into well greased (I used coconut oil) 9x9 pan. Sprinkle the top with a little rapadura, cinnamon and crispy nuts. Bake 40-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Banana bites

Ingredients:

Sliced banana

Your favorite pancake mix (recipe I used will be posted later)

Coconut oil for "frying"

Heat some coconut oil in a pan. Dip banana slices in pancake batter and "fry" until golden. Enjoy!! These are the perfect snack for little ones! I ended up using about 5 bananas because they were being eaten as fast as I could make them.

Getting healthy: One step at a time

We have completely made-over our kitchen since January of this year. It took a lot of time (and definitely some extra money) but it has been so worth it. I see a lot of people asking "where do I start?" and up until now, I've been recommending starting with one area of the kitchen and moving to the next (i.e. start with the baking pantry) and so on, until your whole kitchen is "healthy." Now I realized... maybe it would be easier for some people to start by making 1 meal healthy at a time.

Soooo.... this week, I'll start with breakfast. I'll start with a list of ideas and try to post at least a couple of recipes every day ..... Or at least links to some of the ones I've posted in the past. If I can figure out how, I'll turn the list below into links, so that all you have to do to find that recipe is click on it.

Depending on our time constraints, I usually try to have fruit and some kind of raw dairy every morning. Here are some of the things we make for breakfast:

Soaked oatmeal (topped with things like honey/maple syrup, crispy nuts, dried fruit, etc)

Fruit/kelp & kefir smoothies

Fruit/yogurt parfaits

Cheese/veggie omelette

Soaked spelt waffles OR pancakes

Steel cut oatmeal in the crockpot

Mini frittatas

Breakfast quesadilla

Nutty granola (w/yogurt)

Soaked cinnamon crumb cake

Baked oatmeal squares

Apple carrot coconut muffins

Maple bananas

Greek frittata

Grain-free banana chocolate chip bread

Grain-free blueberry coconut muffins

Sweet potato biscuits

Sweet potato muffins

Banana bites

Cottage cheese pancakes

Almond flour scones

Breakfast "cupcakes"

Sprouted sourdough french toast

Peanut butter and jelly "pop tarts"

Apple butter turnovers

Fruit & oat bars

Huevos rancheros

Breakfast casserole

Potato omelette

Chocolate avocado pudding

Have overly ripe avocados and bananas to use up? Make some of this! It's surprisingly good... and healthy, too! Owen loves it. I'm gonna use some of it in our smoothies this week too cause I made too much. Super easy, super yummy-- always my favorite combination. (This is definitely a different combination of flavors for some people, so you might want to halve the recipe first to make sure you like it!)

Ingredients:

4 ripe avocados

4 ripe bananas

4 T(ish) raw honey

4 T(ish) cocoa powder

Combine everything in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Add more honey/cocoa (if needed) to taste