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

carrot apple coconut muffins

YUM!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C unbleached flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 C unsweetened shredded coconut

2 pastured eggs

2 large carrots, grated

1 large apple, peeled and grated

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 C milk

1/4 C coconut oil

1/2 C raw honey

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together dry ingredients. In separate bowl, mix together wet ingredients. Combine the two and stir just until combined. Scoop into muffin cups and bake about 25 min. Enjoy!

Yummy homemade granola

I love the hemp seed granola from Trader Joe's but the sugar content is ridiculous. I decided to try making my own to see if it'd turn out and it's amazing!! Cut out a LOT of the sugar and it's actually way better than the store-bought kind. I sort of just improvised so the measurements are approximate

Ingredients:

3 C nuts (I used a mixture of almonds, pepitas, sunflower, walnuts and pecans- all raw)

1/2 C shredded coconut

2 C oats

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 C raisins

1/4 C coconut oil

2 (heaping) T raw honey

2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 325. Combine nuts and coconut in food processor and pulse until nuts are in very small chunks (not too long or they'll turn to powder). Mix the nut mixture together with the raisins, oats, cinnamon and salt.

In a separate bowl, combine coconut oil, honey and vanilla. Heat slightly just until melted/combined.

Combine the wet ingredients with the dry and stir until the granola mixture is well coated. Spread on parchment lined baking sheet and bake about 20 min or until golden brown (stirring every 5 min). Reduce oven to 225 and bake until granola is dried out (stirring frequently). I ended up cooking it for about 50 min total. Just watch it to make sure it doesn't burn

Enjoy!!

Spinach snacks

I'm gonna try making these a few more times and varying the ingredients. They seem like they'd be really versatile... even though they were really good as is!

Ingredients:

1 bag of spinach, steamed and drained WELL (I used the pre-packaged organic spinach and steamed it in my rice cooker)

1 C breadcrumbs (I used sprouted sourdough bread and just made my own)

2 eggs

1 T sesame seeds

1/2 tsp granulated garlic

1 tsp sea salt

coconut oil for "frying" (I used about 3 T... just enough to coat the pan really well)

Mix all ingredients together and form into patties. Fry until lightly brown (about 2-3 min each side). We ate these with some lacto fermented ketchup but they're really good on their own too.

Forgive me for the horrible picture, camera phone was all I had

Apple brownies- yummmmy!

These are really simple and really good!

Ingredients:

1/2 C butter

3/4 C rapadura

1 egg

2 apples (peeled, chopped)

1/4 C spelt flour

3/4 C unbleached flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg. Fold in apples. Sift dry ingredients and mix in with the wet ingredients. Spread into a greased 8x8 pan and bake for 35-40 min.

Serve with a glass of raw milk!! Yum

Simple spa water

I have to admit... I really hate water. Unless I'm ultra thirsty and it's a hot day, I prefer tea (hot or cold). I needed to find a way to drink more water, and this has helped me so much! I like to add just plain lemon or lime but this "spa water" was something different. Yummy too and the options are endless

Ingredients:

Large pitcher of water

Pear slices

Cantaloupe slices

1 tsp cinnamon

Ice

Add all ingredients, let sit for a few hours (or overnight). You don't want the flavor too overwhelming or pulpy so you might need to experiment with how much fruit to add/how long it sits.

Other varieties:

cucumber+rosemary

orange slices

strawberries+honeydew+basil

orange+mint

orange+pineapple+parsley