Oh How I LOVE Kombucha!

I started making my own Kombucha a few months ago, after my husband and I fell in love with it's taste.  However, it was so expensive in stores that it was a once or twice a week treat.  We would buy them for each other as little "I love you's".  That was until a friend of mine offered me one of her "mothers/SCOBY's" and then I was hooked.  I actually have two 2.5 gallon containers and a 1 gallon container going all the time now because we all enjoy drinking it and now we can!  Making Kombucha at home is not only easy but very cost effective, a single 2 gallon batch costs me much less than one little bottle from the health food store (around here they sell for about $3.00).  And being fermented it does wonders for gut health as well as being touted as being high in B vitamins.  My kids ask for it and I am so happy to be able to freely give them something so good for their little (and big) bodies.  
My favorite is to stuff some thawed, mashed frozen blueberries in the bottom of the bottle and then some fresh  ginger, mmm...so refreshing and tasty. Or our other favorite is unsweetened cranberry juice and fresh ginger.  Using juice is very economical and budget friendly since you only use 1/4 cup per bottle.  Another money saver I discovered is buying bottled sparkling juices in the flip top bottles, letting the kids drink the contents and then soaking off the labels and reusing them.  I found the bottles to be much cheaper that way ( and I'm paying for more than a bottle).  I can get really large bottles that way and for around $2.00 a bottle I now have some nice 34 ounce bottles.  

My children also enjoy "helping" me to bottle the Kombucha for the second ferment and look forward impatiently to when they can drink it!

 One of my 2.5 gallon Jars.

 My little one gallon jar.

 Supplies to bottle the Kombucha.

 My little 4 year "helper".

 My helper showing a finished bottle ready for the second ferment.

 Kombucha from one 2.5 gallon and the 1 gallon.

 Blueberry Ginger and Apple Ginger Kombucha.

 Apple Ginger Kombucha ready for the second ferment, so pretty!

Blueberry Ginger Kombucha ready for second ferment.

Pecan Baked Dates

This is another repost of an "invisible" post I made for Thanksgiving.

Baked Dates

This recipe is quick and easy and is for those of you looking for alternative to baking pies.  They are super yummy with the carmelized date and roasted pecan.  You could even add a little cinnamon if you like.

Ingredients:

fresh dates, pits removed

unroasted pecans

coconut oil

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 8x8 pan.  Slice into your dates lenghtwise, being careful not to slice all the way through.  Then place a whole pecan in the slit you made and place it in your prepared pan. When your pan is full or you have made the amount you need place the pan in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes.  Again it depends on your oven.  It may take a little longer, what you are looking for is for the dates to carmelize a bit and the pecan to get a little toasted.  Cool slightly and enjoy!  This are a yummy treat just be careful you don't eat to many!

Bacon Wrapped Dates

This is a repost of a recipe I posted at Thanksgiving, my computer was having problems and the post is all jumbled.  You can still find it but some of it is not readable.

Bacon Wrapped Dates

This is a very simple and easy recipe but mmmm...so yummy! 

Ingredients:

fresh dates

Bacon slices

toothpicks

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  You may slice your bacon into thirds or in half and then wrap each date with a piece of bacon.  Secure each with a toothpick so the bacon stays wrapped, place in a glass baking dish, keep repeating this step until you have the desired amount of appetizers.  Be sure not to over crowd them in the pan so the can bake well and get crispy.  When your pan is "full" place the pan in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes depending on your oven.  Be sure to check them frequently near the end and turn them at least once about half way through. They are done when the bacon is browned and looks crispy. Remove and cool slightly and then enjoy!

Please Check out Our Facebook Page..

Please be patient with me, I am in the process of upgrading this site but life can be a bit busy at times with a family of 9 (I'm sure most of you can relate).   One of the things I haven't gotten on here yet is my follow me on Facebook button.  Please visit us on our new Facebook page, we are under Paleo Made Easy, if you would hit like I would really appreciate it.  Thank you so much!

Delicious and Fluffy Grain Free Pancakes!

Here is the my new favorite pancake recipe that I have been promising you all.  We LOVE these, they taste great and have a wonderful texture too!  And they require a very minimal ingredients list.  I think you will find them quite flavorful, and pleasing.  We had them for dinner the other night (breakfast for dinner) and the other morning we used them to make Griddle Sausage Sandwiches, a very versatile Pancake Recipe.

Tasty Grain Free Pancakes

Serves 4-6

2 cups almond meal
4 eggs
1/2 cup sparkling water ( I like to use one with Orange essence), or you may use regular water, the sparkling water helps make them a bit fluffier.
4 TBSP oil of your choice (if you use coconut oil, be sure to melt it first)
1-2 TBSP raw honey or maple syrup ( I like the flavor of the honey, but you have to cook them at a lower temp and watch for burning)
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda


In a medium mixing bowl combine all of the dry ingredients and mix well.  Then add the all the remaining wet ingredients and mix to combine, then using a hand mixer beat the batter ingredients for 1 minute, this will help make a fluffier batter and better pancakes.  Set aside and preheat your griddle to about 300-325 degrees (depending on your griddle and whether you used honey or not as a sweetener).  Grease your griddle well with coconut oil and pour the batter making small-medium size pancakes, turning when they start to bubble.  I like to top them with some applesauce and berries, but you may top them with whatever you like.  


*if you are going to make these into the Griddle Sausage Sandwiches then I would suggest eliminating the cinnamon, but for regular pancakes we love lots of cinnamon and vanilla


** If you use Honey you will need to use a lower temperature and watch them very closely, they will take longer to cook, but won't burn that way.  


*** You may halve this recipe for 2-3 people if you would like.  But if I were you I would make them all and then you can just pull them out of the fridge as needed.  Yum!

Enjoy!

Fresh Yummy Pancake Goodness Ready To Eat!

A Very Informational Read....

Bill and Hayley over at Food Lovers Primal Palate wrote a great article on Potatoes and Paleo today.  I personally eat them as a treat now and again when my husband and I go out to eat.  I may add them in soon on a more regular basis, I have found that my body type requires more carbs and wasn't doing real well on the strict Paleo diet, adding fruit back in a couple of times a day has helped.  Not everyones bodies need the same thing, some feel great on a low carb diet and others don't.  Anyway, enough about that visit their web site and check out the article, great food for thought.


http://www.primal-palate.com/2012/01/are-potatoes-paleo.html

A QUICK, DELICIOUS AND NUTRICIOUS MEAL

This is what I made for lunch today in only a few minutes.
Very quick, easy, yummy and packed full of nutrition.

Sheilla's Hamburger "Hash"

2-2 1/2 pounds of grassfed ground beef
1 small-med red onion, halved and cut into slices
1 cup of sundried tomatoes packed in olive oil
1/2 pound of spinach leaves roughly chopped
2 cups of chopped baby Kale
1-2 tsp of dried basil (to taste)
1/2-1 tsp dried Oregano (to taste)
Sea Salt and coarse ground pepper to taste, I used a generous amount of each

Add your ground beef and onion to a large skillet, I like to use cast iron. Cook until your ground beef is browned, drain off any excess liquid if necessary (I use 80%, so drained off a little bit). Then reduce heat to low, add the sun dried tomatoes, spinach, kale and seasonings. Cook just until the spinach and kale are wilted over medium high heat, and serve! Yum!

*you could also add a clove or two of garlic to the first step if you would like.*

I love "recipes" that require few ingredients, aren't costly, that are both quick and tasty. This meets all of those criteria. Hope you enjoy, and feel free to make your own modifications based on your taste or what you may have around.

PLEASE KEEP THIS LITTLE GUY IN YOUR PRAYERS

My family and I became aware of little Carter through my sister in law who is good friends of Carters parents.  She did a fundraiser through Facebook and email contacts to raise money in December, before they had any thing official going.  Now they have his blog and accounts where you can donate to help them with finances, but more importantly please pray for his health and for the family, this has been very wearing on them all.  Since I have a son the same age as Carter, it has really been on my heart to help this family in anyway we can and to pray for them.  Please visit their site for updates on Carter and to post any encouraging words you may have for them and/or to make a donation if you feel led to do so.  Thank you. 

http://caring4carter.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2012-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2013-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=5

Bargains of the Week

My favorite Dark Chocolate is on sale at the Grocery Outlet for $1.99 each!  Lindt 85% Dark Chocolate, a great antioxidant, and what girl  (or guy) doesn't like some chocolate now and again?

And they also have Silk Almond Milk in the refrigerated section for $1.99 per carton.  Coconut Milk is always the preferred choice, but some like me are allergic to the Coconut and so have to make substitutions.  And this is a great price!

*They sometimes sell out quickly on items, so you may want to check it out as soon as you can.  *

Pancakes

I am patiently waiting for the arrival of my Honeyville Almond Meal so I can photograph and post my new pancake recipe.  Their sale is still good till tomorrow, so if you haven't ordered yours yet there is still time.  It is the best almond meal and you really can taste the difference!  
My kids get tired of eating eggs every morning (and so do I for that matter), so this morning I made my go to coconut flour pancake recipe.  I have made is so many times that I really don't measure anymore.  Since I make these for the kids I am trying to pack in as much protein as possible so I load them with eggs. 

Coconut Flour Pancakes (Revised)

3/4 cup coconut flour
10 medium/large eggs (I buy the ones from Natural Foods by the flat and they are smaller it seems)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1/2-1 tsp vanilla (optional)
coconut milk, almond milk etc. to desired thickness.  Just remember it will thicken up a little when it sits.


I throw it all into a bowl, mix it with my electric hand mixer till smooth.  Pour onto a greased griddle (I grease it well with coconut oil), and have the temp around 325 degrees (each griddle varies though, so try one pancake at a time to find the right temp for yours).  When the middle starts to bubble a bit and the edges start to firm up, flip them over.  
I like to serve them with unsweetened applesauce, some cooked frozen berries ( I just microwave them for a couple of minutes so they are warm and juicy, and about a tablespoon of real maple syrup.  I personally skip the maple syrup when I eat Paleo pancakes, they really don't need it and neither do I!  But it's fun for the kids.


The thing I really like about the new recipe I will be sharing is that they are so yummy and taste more like a traditional pancake in my opinion.  My husband has had both and prefers the Almond Flour version, but honestly they are more of a treat as they only have 2 eggs in them and lot's of Almond Flour.  I will continue to make the Coconut Flour ones for the kids on a weekly basis, and save the Almond Flour ones for special occasions. Enjoy!

A Great Read!

Whole 9 has a great article out, that I think everyone should read!  Especially those new to Paleo, it can be pretty overwhelming at times.  I am used to cooking 3 meals a day now but there are still days when I don't want to cook and it's nice to have some shortcuts for those times when life get's busy.  http://whole9life.com/2012/01/kitchen-tips-and-trick/

Great Deal On My Favorite...

Almond Meal!!  Honeyville is having a great deal on all purchases right now, 20% off your order, when you enter the code #2012.  I just ordered 2- 5 pound bags of their blanched Almond Meal, my favorite for baking.  I have tried other brands but honestly there is a taste difference and  theirs is the best! I only wish the big bag (25 pounds) was in my budget but it's over $100, if you have room in your budget now would be the time to stock your pantry.  And the shipping is very reasonable at a flat rate of $4.49.  Follow this link to order yours:  http://store.honeyvillegrain.com/

Since I have developed an allergy to all things coconut, I am cutting coconut flour out of my diet and switching to almond meal.  My husband and I just had a couples get away and I wanted to make something special one of the mornings, so we wouldn't have to eat eggs every morning for 4 days.  I found a great recipe for almond "flour" pancakes that we really enjoyed.    I hope to be sharing that recipe soon.  
Right before our vacation we upgraded our computer, which should make blogging much easier!  Our old computer was quite a dinosaur and is ready for the grave.  Some days it just wouldn't work at all, even had technicians look at it and try to revive it at least long enough for us to retrieve our photos and files off of it.  We were successful in doing that but just barely!  Anyway, I am excited, because the old one was a bit cranky and sometimes posts would take me hours or it wouldn't let me post pictures, or it would mess up the text and not let me fix it.  So I am looking forward to hopefully being able to upgrade this site, since things should go more smoothly, and not take so long!  And I have also been working on a couple of "MY THOUGHTS" posts too, one that includes common pitfalls or mistakes those new to Paleo commonly make.