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.

Happy New Year!

Like most people this time of year I have indulged in a few to many "Paleo" treats and chocolates, and maybe even a few to many non-Paleo treats if I'm honest (I won't cave on gluten or wheat but I will with sugar, corn and dairy) and with the New Year coming is seems like an appropriate time to start a challenge.  There are several out there for those of you looking for support during the process Diane Sanfilipo has her 21 day sugar detox starting up on the first, or Whole 9 Life has their whole 30 coming up also.  Either one is a great way to  get some direction along with support during the process.  Personally I am opting for a modified Whole 30, I am going to be eating Whole 30 approved meals and snacks 6 days out of the week with 1 day that I may eat "off".  I will still try to keep those days as close to Whole 30 as possible, but a girls gotta have her dark chocolate, and it will also allow my husband and I too keep a weekly date night (something that has been neglected for a while).  That way we can eat out without me having to worry about whether it's Whole 9 approved or not.  

I don't know about you but I have also gotten a bit lax in keeping my meals balanced and being sure that I am getting a great start in the morning.  Like eating within an hour of getting up, eating a meat and nuts breakfast with occasional eggs seems to work best for me.  By cleaning up my diet I am looking forward to improved energy and honestly hopefully some fat loss.  I am still working on getting my Cortisol levels to even out, so this should help with that too.  Even though clean eating seems like a no brainer, when I get exhausted, like I have been lately, it just seems to take to much energy to eat well.  But at some point something has to give.  I am going to sit down and lay out a basic meal plan for the myself so I don't have to think about it but just grab and go.  Like more leftovers and meals prepared ahead of time, I want to make it as easy as possible for myself to succeed when life is busy.

What are your New Years Resolutions?  Will you be joining me or any of the other groups in cleaning up your diet this month?  

Happy New Year!

Chocolate SunButter Cups

I also made these real quick today for a Christmas Treat...these are quicker and easier than baking cookies.  Dark Chocolate and Sunbutter...mmmm...yummy!

Chocolate Sunbutter Cups

3 pkgs of Lindt 70% dark chocolate (3.5 oz each) or dark chocolate of your choice

1 TBSP Coconut oil

1/4 cup sunflower seed butter (unsweetened)

1/2 TSBP raw honey (optional)

Melt your raw honey and stir into the sunflower seed butter and set aside.  Then in a double boiler, melt your chocolate and coconut oil.  Then remove from heat and line a mini muffin pan with mini muffin liners (foil works best).  Then pour your melted chocolate into a large ziploc bag and cut of the tiniest amount of the corner.  Using your bag, fill each of the cups about 1/4-1/3 full.  Once they are all partially filled, set aside and let it firm up a bit.  After the chocolate is mostly firm, place a small amount of the Sunbutter in each cup (I didn't measure but about 1/2 tsp I would guess).  Then take your bag of melted chocolate and fill the cups the rest of the way, set aside and let the chocolate harden.  And then you have some beautiful and delicious treats!