The Peaceful Kitchen

Homemade Vegan Gluten Free Graham Cracker Recipe

2014-06-16T17:25:00.000-07:00

Gluten Free Vegan Graham Cracker Recipe

If you would like to continue to follow my work......

My recipes and I can now be found @

http://www.plantbasednutritionista.com

I hope to see you there!

A few weeks ago I was on the phone with my mom working out the menu for her birthday dinner and of course without fail, every single person in my family requests my Burnt Almond Fudge Ice Cream Pie as their birthday dessert!!

Vegan or not they LOVE the Burnt Almond Fudge Ice Cream recipe. The trick this year is that it requires a graham cracker crust and I needed a gluten free graham cracker crust. There are gluten free graham crackers in the store of course, but they are not vegan and they are certainly not healthy. Soooo I had to create my own and these gluten free graham crackers were delicious!!

My kids gobbled these up and I used the rest for my pie crust. If you are not gluten free don't fret, you can use regular whole wheat pastry flour as well. Enjoy the gluten free, vegan graham cracker recipe.

Where have I been......and Where am I going.....

2014-04-29T18:22:00.002-07:00

The Peaceful Kitchen is Closing Shop.....

If you would like to continue to follow my work......

My recipes and I can now be found @

http://www.plantbasednutritionista.com

I hope to see you there!

Those of you that have followed The Peaceful Kitchen over the years know that I have struggled back and forth...wondering whether I should continue with The Peaceful Kitchen or move on......

I have finally decided that it is time to close up shop and move on in my life. I LOVE creating recipes but at the same time there are some aspects of running a recipe blog that I am NOT good at!

I must admit.....I have no skill in photography whatsoever!

It is okay....we can't all be good at everything.....but the problem is if you are going to be successful in blogging about food let's face it, you've got to be able to make that food look mouthwatering in pictures. I have tried recipes from a variety of different food blogs and maybe I am biased but I think my recipes are outstanding in comparison.....but other bloggers have beautiful pictures and mine leave something to be desired.

I am not saying this out of self-pity, far from it, in reality what I finally realized is I wasn't as successful as I would have liked to be because I was NOT following my true passion! Sure I love creating recipes, but is that what I really wanted to do with my life, NO!

In order to obtain success you need to follow your passion!

I know that my TRUE calling in life is as A Healer. It is a HUGE part of me and I intuitively know how to help those I consult with and this is where my true passion lies. I LOVE teaching classes on nutrition, herbs, healing I could teach 12 hours a day and be happy as a person could be!!!! Creating recipes just does not induce the same enthusiasm.

As I have contemplated everything honestly the thought came to my mind.....what am I doing? Why in the world did I try to start a business doing something I never really, truly desired to do? I started creating recipes because as I taught nutrition classes and did consultations people would always say, what do I do next? I want to change my diet but don't know how....

They didn't know where to turn for DELICIOUS healthy food. So in desperation to try and help these wonderful clients I feverishly worked at creating recipes that would satisfy this need. These recipes have helped dozens of my clients......but in that effort I lost sight of my real passion.....

I have created PLENTY of recipes to serve the purpose of helping people learn how to eat healthy. I won't completely stop creating recipes....but that will not be my focus any longer!

****Warning to All Peaceful Kitchen Fans....

Recipes on The Peaceful Kitchen blog will only be available for a short time and then they will be removed!

I am creating a smartphone app containing all of my recipes as well as a membership site and recipe e-books that will contain all of my recipes. The recipes will remain up on the blog for a short time and then they will no longer be available for FREE on the blog. The photos and information will still remain but the recipes will be removed and you will be directed to the membership site or app to obtain the recipes.

If you love the recipes you may want to copy them now before they are gone!

Moving forward......My New Website!

http://www.integrativehealingclinic.com

This website will be up an running very soon!

www.facebook.com/integrativehealingclinic

The facebook page is up and running now.....please "Like" my new page to stay up to date with all that is going on...............

Joy of Cooking Vegan Style....Take 1

2014-03-01T07:37:00.001-08:00

First Few Days Diving into Joy of Cooking

Spiced Tea

If you would like to continue to follow my work......

My recipes and I can now be found @

http://www.plantbasednutritionista.com

I hope to see you there!

I enjoy drinking a nice cup of hot herbal tea on a cold rainy or snowy morning, or evening, or really just about anytime it is cold actually! I don't drink any tea's that contain tannins, caffeine etc... and so as I opened up the Joy of Cooking book to the tea section I decided to use one of my all purpose teas instead of regular tea leaves and it turned out beautifully!

8 oz. water {bring to a boil}

Pour the water into a cup with:

1 1/2 tsp. Rooibos {You could certainly use white tea, oolong or other tea if you prefer}

Steep for 10 to 15 minutes.

Add:

1 Tb. orange juice

2 Tb. lemon juice

1/8 tsp. powdered clove

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

5 drops vanilla stevia

5 drops lemon stevia

1 pkt. stevia

You can add more stevia to sweeten until you enjoy the taste.

I kept trying to figure out how to go through a 700+ page book of recipes and not lose track of which ones I had done and which ones I still needed to make.........Hmmmm. Okay, I know this really exposes my severe lack of organization skills, but I finally figured out a system so I don't have to just start with beverages and make my way through that way. I wanted to make drinks, breads, & meals together not just cook straight through.....problem solved.

Next up on the list was a Dinner recipe....it was a very cold and very rainy day yesterday so I was in the mood for a nice warm bowl of soup! I browsed through the soups and found several that looked yummy but I wasn't in the mood for something that would take a lot of prep time.....enter....Minestrone! Perfect!

Minestrone Soup

This is a very THICK minestrone full of tons of veggies! That is really how I like my soups...

The macaroni in this soup was actually Brown Rice pasta so this recipe is actually gluten free for those who must avoid gluten, or I guess for those who think gluten is the spawn of satan...either way it will work for you.

My family absolutely LOVED this soup...it was even a hit with my 14 year old daughter, which is saying a lot because she is a picky one. It is a very simple soup to make, it may seem like a lot of steps but really it cooks up in 30 minutes and prep time is minimal...just chopping a few veggies and opening a few cans. It is also a one pot meal, you can't go wrong with that.

Fluffy Rolled Biscuits

These are really the holy grail of low fat biscuits! They are so light and fluffy and as you can tell by the picture....they rise HUGE! The flavor of these biscuits is delicious even without any earth balance or jam on them! You will love these simple yet, fluffy biscuits!

Cinnamon & Sugar Biscuit Option

Joy of Cooking mentioned several options that you could use to give these biscuits a little pizzaz.....I decided the cinnamon and sugar option looked delicious! So for this round of biscuits...there will be more biscuit recipes so don't you worry :-)

I decided to do half of our biscuits with this option and oh boy were these delicious!!! Just like a dessert.

Sprinkle on top of the sprayed biscuits generously.

I hope you enjoy this first round of the Joy of Cooking recipes. I chose some fairly simply ones to start out with but don't be fooled by their simplicity, these recipes are delicious!

Fun New Vegan Challenge

2014-02-25T16:50:00.002-08:00

Joy of Cooking Vegan Style Challenge

If you would like to continue to follow my work......

My recipes and I can now be found @

http://www.plantbasednutritionista.com

I hope to see you there!

I have had this desire to purchase a good old fashioned cookbook and cook through the entire book 'healthifying' {Is that even a word?} and veganizing the recipes as I went. I chose the book "Joy of Cooking." This particular book was published in 1964, absolutely perfect for recreating all those recipes from the Good Ole Days....just making them healthy and cruelty free :-)

I am really excited to embark on this adventure but I want to let you know there will be a few recipes that I will not even attempt to recreate and those will include:

Coffees - I have never tasted coffee and never intend to do so, if you like coffee I'm sure you can find plenty of resources for making coffee.

Alcoholic Drinks - Never drank and don't intend to start so again I will not be making the cocktails although I might make a few "Mocktails" :-D

Animal organs or Body Parts- Recipes that include liver, pancreas {sweet breads}, Ox tails, or any other animal organ or body part. I have absolutely NO interest in recreating any of this. If a recipe is a soup and includes Ox tail I will likely add some beans and call the soup something else but I will not try to replicate any animal organ or body part in this case.

I am really excited to do this and as I go through the book I will also share the lessons about cooking that she teaches throughout the book. I think it will be really fun and I hope you will enjoy this journey.

**Please Understand: As I go through this book I will be changing, substituting and adding vegetables and other ingredients to increase nutritional value, I will also be omitting ingredients I personally believe to be unhealthy such as olive oil etc....

I am excited to take you on this amazing journey of learning and discovery of new recipes!

On to the next order of business.....

Book Review: Discovering The Word of Wisdom

I know my readers come from all walks of life and a wide variety of religious backgrounds but I would like to introduce those who may be interested to a book recently published on the LDS Word of Wisdom. It is an excellent compilation of information, insights, success stories and a background on religious ideas about Dietary habits and their relation to spiritual as well as physical health. If you feel this may interest you, you can click the link below to purchase your own copy.

Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough Dip Recipe & Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

2014-02-05T10:54:00.000-08:00

Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough Dip

If you would like to continue to follow my work......

My recipes and I can now be found @

http://www.plantbasednutritionista.com

I hope to see you there!

Delicious cookie dough dip that tastes like a yummy Snickerdoodle cookie! My mom was making my favorite snickerdoodle cookies for the Superbowl party and since I am sugar free I decided to make something yummy I could have for dessert.

This Snickerdoodle cookie dough dip is sugar free & gluten free for those who have an intolerance or Celiac. This was a HIT at the party, everyone enjoyed it.

I have been sugar free for 9 days now, I am surprised I made it this far. I must admit last night I did make a little indulgent treat out of maltitol sweetened chocolate, almond butter, vegetable glycerin and oats that was delicious but I only had a couple spoonfuls and it was sugar free :-)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

I am a HUGE fan of chocolate....so I decided to make a chocolate chip cookie dough dip as well to get in that chocolate fix at the Superbowl party too. This was yummy too! However, I have decided to save the recipe for this one for an upcoming ebook instead of putting it on the blog :-) You can just look at the deliciousness and drool until the ebook comes out :-P

I honestly thought I would lose a lot more weight than I have in the last 9 days. I have been eating oatmeal in the mornings, TONS of veggies and beans for lunches and dinners and snacking on green apples and berries. I must say I have only lost a measly 1 pound in the last 9 days :-(

I cannot tell you how demotivating that is! I have also been working out 6 days a week for 45 minutes a day. Today I did 100 Burpees as only PART of a workout!!

Yeah, I have been working my butt off trying to lose weight...I haven't been sitting on my can at all.....but the weight still isn't coming off! I am hopeful that it will soon......I hope!

Unfortunately with my metabolic issues losing weight is nearly impossible! I know people don't believe me but it is SO true!

Here is the must awaited Snickerdoodle dip recipe:

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Vegan SuperBowl.....Vegan Mozzarella Sticks and more!!!

2014-02-03T12:46:00.000-08:00

7 Days Sugar Free and Counting......

If you would like to continue to follow my work......

My recipes and I can now be found @

http://www.plantbasednutritionista.com

I hope to see you there!

A week and a half ago if you had told me that I would go a full week with absolutely NO sugar.....I would never have believed you! I declared a week ago that I was going sugar free and amazingly it hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be....don't get me wrong I've had cravings for chocolate bread, cookies and other desserts but I have not caved in!

Yesterday was the real test....Superbowl Sunday at my parents house and there were some delicious snickerdoodle cookies sitting there calling to me. I haven't had snickerdoodles in ages....not because I had some super human amount of will power against unhealthy food but because my hubby does NOT think it is dessert unless chocolate is involved and so snickerdoodles just never made the cut :-( I used to love them as a kid, my mom made them all the time. I am happy to report that no snickerdoodles were eaten yesterday, but that doesn't mean I didn't get a little snickerdoodle fix sugar free style!

Benefits of 1 week sugar free

1.2 pounds lost since Monday of last week.

I wish I could report more but I still have cravings, I still have a tendency to want to overeat but for now I'll take the weight loss :-)

Now on to the Superbowl Recipes...................

Vegan Buffalo Wings

My family loved these little gems, they are DELICIOUS!! My kiddos were fighting over who got to have the leftovers for lunch today. I won't lie, they are labor intensive to make...not hard they just take a lot of time but wow were they worth it.

I must admit....my family HATES, hates, hates anything spicy!!!! Seriously my daughter will throw a full on fit if I put garlic powder in something because she says it is TOO SPICY! I have a family of baby mouths....so, I cannot use the traditional buffalo wing sauce or my family would literally die from the spice. So I use a really yummy smoky BBQ sauce instead. I'm not posting the recipe for these today...I won't be posting recipes for everything just a few things here and there that seem to be quite popular on my facebook page.

Mozzarella Cheese Sticks

Sorry about the phone picture but you can still see how YUMMY these were!!

Final Note about Kappa Carrageenan:

I know there has been a slew of information coming out about Carrageenan and it cause intestinal inflammation etc.... and people are now terrified of anything with the word carraggenan!!

I don't have time in this post to explain it all but kappa carrageenan is NOT what was used in this research...not only that, in these studies rats were fed TONS of carrageenan, in order for you to consume the equivalent of what caused intestinal inflammation in rats you'd have to eat 5 lbs. a day!!!!!

The carrageenan used in the studies is also not structurally the same as what is used in common food products...these studies have caused mass hysteria over pretty much nothing. If you want more evidence and information please comment below and I will do a special post on Carrageenan complete with the studies but for now all I am going to say is it's fine.

Kappa Carrageenan can be purchased Here:

Willpowder Kappa Carrageenan, 1-Pound

Please be aware that this will last you a LONG, LONG time as you only use about 1 Tb. at a time and this is a full pound!!!

The Peaceful Kitchen Returns......

2014-01-27T13:29:00.002-08:00

The Peaceful Kitchen Returns....

after 6 months

Sweet Poison!

If you would like to continue to follow my work......

My recipes and I can now be found @

http://www.plantbasednutritionista.com

I hope to see you there!

I am not going to go into all the reasons why I took a 6 month sabatical from blogging, it was due to some hurtful things that happened but I won't name any names, however, I have decided to move in a new direction with my blog. I posted awhile ago about my 26 year battle with PCOS and I have finally come to the realization that as much as I LOVE, LOVE sugar.....Sugar does NOT love me back!

I have battled the idea of going completely sugar free for years.....but I have only made it 30 days without sugar and then it was followed but a gluttonous binge of everything sweet I could think of...with a subsequent 5 lb. weight gain to go along with it.

I've known for a long time what I needed to do to finally beat PCOS but I have hesitated, whined, complained, thrown poor me pity parties, you name it....I pretty much threw a grown up version of a two-year old tantrum about having to give up my precious desserts and sweets! Well, the other day as I was sitting there contemplating about my struggles with PCOS it dawned on me. I have sought to help so many people in my life and have 'judged' them when they would rather suffer with their {insert ailment here}, anything from diabetes to daily debilitating migraines etc... than change their diet.

Whoa!

Wait a minute....isn't that what I am doing? Refusing to let go of my food addictions in order to heal my body....YIKES! I am doing exactly what I hate when other people do. If I had a dime for every person who asked me for help and subsequently had absolutely no intention of changing I would be a rich woman....I really would.

I finally decided that I had to stop posting all the delectable desserts and trying to cater to our sugar obsessed society and finally give up sugar and move toward a whole food plant based diet.....sans sugar!

I am Publicly Making the Commitment......NO SUGAR!

This means absolutely NO:

Agave nectar
Honey
Maple syrup
Turbinado
Succanut
Coconut sugar
Palm sugar
Barley malt
white sugar
Brown rice syrup

Any sugar that has been concentrated in any way or isolated from its original food!

Confession time:

I really did follow a healthy plant based diet.....however, that diet contained WAY Too much sugar. Do you really want to know how much?

Dessert everyday! Does that sound like a lot? Well, unfortunately that is not all, I was eating dessert everyday for Lunch AND Dinner!

Yep you read that right! I know, I know that is not healthy and no amount of vegetables or whole grains was going to override the amount of sugar I was eating. I finally came to the realization that sugar made up way too much of my diet and then when I realized I needed to stop eating the dessert after lunch I would proceed to chew pieces of gum for more of a sugar rush to my sugar addicted taste buds.

Today Marks Day 1 of Sugar Free!!!

I will post pictures and descriptions of my meals, along with a few recipes scattered in there to document my progress. I am going in for blood tests today or tomorrow so I will post my beginning blood tests and then I will post blood tests again in 90 days. No, I will not be stopping my diet in 90 days but I want to show my progress.

Breakfast:

I had a banana protein porridge made with my favorite Lifetime Life's Basics Plant Protein, Vanilla, 18.52-Ounces Tub
I topped it with raspberries and blueberries

Lunch:

I made a homemade Sweet & Sour Orange Sesame Dressing
This lovely dressing topped a spring mix salad with mushrooms, garbanzo beans, celery, apples, onion.......

Dessert after Lunch: 5 raspberries and 1 slice of a golden delicious apple

Snack: 1 quinoa thin wafer with 1 tsp. almond butter 4 raspberries and 4 banana slices

Dinner: French Lentil Curry

A successful Day 1: I am feeling great, sugar cravings aren't too bad and I am feeling very satiated from my lunch. I am determined to cure my PCOS and finally I am ready to COMMIT!

Vegan Roast and Potatoes Recipe

2013-07-18T09:31:00.000-07:00

Vegan Sunday Roast and Potatoes Recipe

If you would like to continue to follow my work......

My recipes and I can now be found @

http://www.plantbasednutritionista.com

I hope to see you there!

Conquering Food Addictions

2013-07-10T10:33:00.000-07:00

Update on Conquering my Sugar Addiction

If you would like to continue to follow my work......

My recipes and I can now be found @

http://www.plantbasednutritionista.com

I hope to see you there!

I am happy to report 1.5 pound weight loss this week!

I am very excited about my journey to overcome sugar addition. I have found that as I avoid sweets I do not have the desire to binge on food seeking that 'sugar high' constantly. I have noticed that with sugar or any other addictive substance it starts out fairly innocuous....but as time goes on your body wants more and more and more to get the same 'high'.

It leads to horrible cravings, binge eating and other destructive behaviors. Conquering an addiction is NOT easy. As I watched my weight continue to climb due to binge eating on sweets you'd think it would have made me want to stop.....but alas it did not. You have to come to a place in your life where you are so broken, so desperate that you are willing to do something very difficult and painful in order to overcome. I wish we were not that way....but that is just how people operate. We continue in self destructive patterns even though we know it is hurting us....and we do it for that 5 seconds of pleasure, at least in the case of food addictions.

Confession

Hubby and I had a date night on Saturday night and we went to one of my favorite very vegan friendly restaurants: Ginger's Cafe. They have an amazing menu including raw foods, vegetarian, vegan....we love this place and they also have yummy vegan cookies. Try as I might I couldn't resist having a couple of bites of hubby's cookies.

These cookies are NOT your traditional overly oily/sugary cookie. They are lightly sweet, yes they have turbinado sugar so something I should avoid but I enjoyed a couple of bites. I had a little guilt over it but I have continued to do extremely well in conquering my addiction.

Cooking Day with My Mom

Yesterday my mom came over to make her favorite granola and some cookies. We made some delicious sugar free chocolate chunk cookies that were amazing! My mom loved them! It was a great day and I was able to handle the temptation of snacking continuously on the food we were making.....

It was interesting that after eating the sugar free cookies I did not have the desire to binge on them, in fact I only ate half a cookie and then I was fine. I wanted to take a picture of the cookies but unfortunately, I did not get one......my mom, me, my sister, my two kids and their friends ate them all FAST!

Don't worry though, I will be making them for my hubby when he gets back from his business trip...I will get pictures of them then.

Ramblings on overcoming addiction

There are some people who can just decide to change or do something, put their mind to it and never look back. However, this is not the norm. Most of us cannot just use our 'will power' to overcome addiction. You have to have a plan that will work for you! If the thought of giving up on desserts completely causes you to feel anxiety and stress it can lead to a short period of abstinence followed by a binge. You have to create a plan that you can be happy with, and that plan doesn't have to look like anyone else's...it is individual for YOU!

The internet is chock full of advise...one expert says do X, the next one says do Y, the next one says do Z.....and on and on the internet advise goes. So what do you do?

The reality is, not all plans for overcoming addictions will work for everyone...take the good advice that feels doable to you and leave the rest.

Create a plan that feels very doable to you
Choose ahead of time what you are going to do instead of turning to food [take a walk, read, shopping, drink some tea, knitting etc...]
Find healthy substitutions for foods you just are not willing to give up
Make a plan for dining out, parties and other situations that may lead to eating issues

I decided that completely giving up dessert was NOT going to work for me at this point in my life...I have tried it and the results were disastrous. Some people do recommend doing this and it worked for them, but it did not work for me. So instead of feeling guilty or continue to try and force myself to follow someone else's path, I forged my own.

I found MANY substitutions for sweeteners that have little to no impact on blood sugar levels and do not feed candida. Realize that we NEED blood sugar and therefore healthy whole foods are great...but as far as concentrated sweeteners go it is just too much sugar all at once.

I am the type of person that if I want something and no one else is doing it....I'll figure out my own way! I've done it many times and I'm still doing it. I want dessert but I also want to be healthy...so I am finding a way to do it! That is the attitude you need to get through and achieve the results you want!

First couple of days Sugar Free

2013-07-05T09:04:00.000-07:00

Sugar Free on the 4th of July....My first challenge

If you would like to continue to follow my work......

My recipes and I can now be found @

http://www.plantbasednutritionista.com

I hope to see you there!
I created a completely SUGAR FREE peach cobbler so I could enjoy a delicious dessert on the 4th of July.

This amazing cobbler features fresh peaches, dried fruits, a touch of stevia and cinnamon and nutmeg. I topped it off with a whole wheat sweet biscuit that I sweetened with lakanto and stevia.

***Most people HATE the aftertaste of stevia sweetened baked goods.....to be honest SO DO I! But, you can prevent that completely and I use very specific methods so that the stevia lends ONLY sweetness!

When I first started tinkering with sugar free baking I tested out some stevia only sweetened baked goods and they were....well to be blunt AWEFUL! I threw the cookbook away, it was completely useless. In my opinion just because it is sugar free doesn't mean it should taste disgusting. So I set out to figure out how to make delicious desserts without using any concentrated sugars that taste amazing. This was my first creation and my dessert loving family gobbled up the whole thing....trust me if my hubby likes it....it is a good dessert.

The ice cream on top was just a simple cinnamon banana ice cream which made this the perfect summer dessert. Just as a warning though....for those who are afraid of carbs...this is not meant to be low carb nor was it meant to be naturally occuring sugar free....this dessert does contain dried fruits as a means of sweetness. I will NOT use artificial sweeteners such as sucralose, aspartame, nutrasweet, splenda etc...

On day one it was difficult not to have some toast with peanut butter and honey....I had fallen deeply in the trap of eating honey to sweeten things but it flares up candida as much as anything else. It was also difficult not to eat a couple peices of my Panda Blueberry Licorice....but I did NOT give in!

I succeeded on my first day...no desserts, not even anything sweetened with stevia. The 4th of July was a bit harder though. It is a day we usually have yummy desserts and eat candy and treats at the fireworks. I made this beautiful peach cobbler after dinner and that really hit the spot......then I bought some maltitol sweetened chocolate to take to the fireworks and I had two small bites that I completely savored and that was perfect! I didn't touch any of the other candy! Normally I would have about exploded if I couldn't taste the treats.....but last night I was calm. So far so good! I don't anticipate everyday being this easy but the past couple of days have been okay.

Great 4th of July Celebration

I had to share this adorable picture from the fireworks....my son C holding his cousin J during the Grand Finale! He needs a little brother......I hope someday we can have a few more little ones running around the house. He would make an AMAZING big brother!

Anyway, as far as the sugar free peach cobbler recipe goes.....it is going into a collection of recipes that I will be offering. I am going to be testing out a HUGE PCOS & Thyroid protocol on myself over the next couple of months and when it is finished I will be offering it to others.

I have realized that one of my biggest issues is that I do actually have chronic yeast issues from my years of sugar laden eating.......It is frustrating to say the least but I am finally at a point where I am ready to just do what needs to be done.

2 days free of sugar......down .2 pounds!

Okay so it isn't a HUGE improvement in 2 days...I wish I could say down 2 pounds....okay I realize that is expecting a bit too much. I am going to add some herbs to the mix and see if I can get this yeast problem more under control.....I may have to cut out even the dried fruit desserts for awhile but I'm going to experiment and see what happens.

I also want to point out that I dont' believe sweets in themselves cause weight gain....for me it is that if I eat sugar it ends up that I eat too much because I can't stop eating it. So avoiding them results in weight loss simply because it removes the tendency to overeat....and sweets also are VERY Calorie dense which also contributes significantly to weight gain.

Well, so far so good on the sugar free front......we'll see what the next few days bring.

My Declaration of Independence and New Directions.....

2013-07-03T10:43:00.000-07:00

New Directions

If you would like to continue to follow my work......

My recipes and I can now be found @

http://www.plantbasednutritionista.com

I hope to see you there!

directions on the blog, then I post that I am going to retire the blog.....then a month later I am back to posting! What kind of crazy am I?

Okay, okay, I have explained before that I have felt so conflicted about which way to take this blog and I have tried new things and not liked the results.....retiring the blog was not right for me, I LOVE sharing my recipes and posting for my readers. I apologize for my crazy, constant changing of my mind.....that is just me.

I am going to be blunt and for those of you who know me.... honesty is one of my strengths! I do not beat around the bush, I will tell you exactly like it is......so here goes!

I started this blog in 2008 as many people were requesting my recipes or my nutrition clients were wanting recipes and ideas for starting their new healthy lifestyles. At the encouragement of many I started this blog.....I had a lot of fun creating recipes and in the beginning I only posted pictures of my creations not wanting to just give away all my hard work for free!

Many people commented and begged for recipes.....so I decided to start posting recipes and my readership shot up quickly! That was great, but I still was not getting a dime for any of my hard work. I thought, that is okay, it takes time.........a year later it was still the same...........another year and no change..............

I started creating ebooks:

Summer BBQ Recipes: Potato salad, Vegan BBQ wings, Grilled veggie burgers, grilled corn on the cob, chocolate peanut butter bars, brownies, sunburger pasta salad.....and more!

Restaurant Style Chinese Recipes: Vegan egg foo yong, fried rice, General Tso's vegan chicken, sweet and sour tempeh or seitan etc.....

Zesty for Life Oil-Free salad dressings: Honey mustard mango dressing, Ranch, Italian, Tahini miso.........

Fall Recipe Collection I & II: Tofurkey, stuffing, Wassail, Apple Cider, Pumpkin muffins, chili, International award winning hot chocolate, pumpkin chocolate chip sweet rolls, carmel, scones, pumpkin pancakes, butternut squash risotto, pumpkin creme brulee, candied yams,

Decadent Desserts: Chocolate swirl cheesecake, chocolate mint chip cookies, cinnamon rolls, apple crumble, chocolate mint pudding, Apple pie, chocolate peanut butter bars, chocolate chip cookies

Healthy Recipes for Kids: macaroni and cheese, pop tarts, doritos, chocolate calcium smoothie etc......

As much as I hate to admit this publicly......this was an abysmal failure.....4 years 2 sales!!! Yep, it was pathetic. I started an email newsletter and gained about 300 subscribers in a couple of months.....I offered sales, discounts, contests to win free ebooks etc..... nothing worked....no sales!

I got lots of unsubscribes and nasty emails when I would write an article that was controversial.....people accused me of spam even though I had a double opt-in process so as you can see there is no more 'sign up for the newsletter' link anymore. Honestly, I couldn't handle all the hostility so I closed up shop on the newsletter.....People are MEAN! There was no sense in having a newsletter when no one was interested in what I had to offer and all I got out of it was mean people...

I took the ebooks off the blog and these recipes are actually enjoyed by NO ONE!

I am NOT a marketer......honestly I probably couldn't sell a heater to an Eskimo! It isn't my talent, my talent is creating recipes and teaching nutrition......that is my passion.

I thought, okay I see all these successful bloggers out there and they don't just post recipes, they post health articles....I'll try that.

That did NOT go well......I wasn't expecting to make money doing it....at least initially, but maybe if people started to respect my knowledge and experience and get to know me they might follow my blog.....wrong!

I don't know if I have perpetual bad luck or what but my first two blog posts generated such hate posts that I decided to quit the health posts! The internet seems to be FULL of angry people just searching for someone to be angry with for no reason. If you don't like what I say go find a blogger that tells you what you want to hear and don't post your hater comments!

I am sensitive and I will NOT apologize for it! I have deep compassion for others and I intensely feel their pain and I think that is a trait that is LONG LOST in our society! You can call me a baby or whatever you want but my love and compassion runs deep, along with intense sensitivity and I just do not do well with angry people.

So, I went back to posting recipes........I posted a tutorial on How to cook Hashbrowns without oil.

I figured those who wanted to know would appreciate the post......NOPE! All I received were a bunch of comments about how potatoes make you fat, they turn to sugar and get stored as fat and I was a complete idiot for posting this!

Seriously people? If you think potatoes are bad for you....what are you doing reading a post about how to cook them?

I deleted the comments, they were not kind, they were not helpful, they were angry and hateful and not only that they were full of grammar and spelling errors......Not to mention that they lacked any scientific support for the claims.

I realize there are studies showing that potatoes contribute to diabetes....what they fail to recognize is these were not 'potatoes' they were studying french fries and baked potatoes which often contain MORE calories from butter, sour cream, cheese and oils, that it isn't actually a potato they are studying.

You can't say I am going to take X AND Y drug and if I have a side effect it MUST be X drug!

Anyway, that is not the point of this post.

Enough Rambling Already What is the New Direction???

Okay, I know.....I ramble! The new direction is that I will not be posting all the recipes.....I have found that it just is NOT worth it! I work hard and give out recipes for FREE?? Would you want your life's work to be valued at NOTHING????

My recipes are very good, I work hard, I have several degrees and certificates and I'm sorry but what I have to offer is NOT worthless!

So, the new direction is that I will be posting pictures of recipes, I will post some of the recipes but not all of them.....the recipes will be part of ebooks and programs that I will be offering. If I don't sell a single ebook or program that is fine....but I value my work so I will not be offering it for free.

I Created Ebooks Followers BEGGED for!!!! What Happened?

On facebook I made some comments about the misconceptions about fat, oils, carbohydrates, protein etc....

All the sudden I had 5 or so followers say they wanted an ebook about this.....they would buy it if I would write one!

Really??? Okay, I will write ebooks based on what my followers want...that will work!

NOPE!!

This post had probably 10 likes.......so I spent hours upon hours writing & editing this ebook....quickly got it up in The Peaceful Kitchen Store and what happened? NADA, ZIP, ZILCH, NOTHING!

I offered a 10 day discount on the book for my facebook followers.......nothing.

Eventually....one purchase.

Hubby and I Discuss My Abysmal Failure!

Hubby and I started discussing this because I wanted another opinion about what I should do. I told him how many followers I had on Facebook....nearly 400!!! Yep!

Then I told him when I post a recipe the most likes I have ever gotten is 22! He said it would be one thing if you had 400 followers and had a product to sell and received 22 sales...but all these people have to do is push a button!!!! If you are only getting 22 likes, you are wasting your time!

He is right.....he was very kind but also said....I don't want to hurt your feelings but if all they have to do is push a button and they aren't willing to even do that......its pathetic.

Okay, I get it. I don't know what I am doing wrong...

He told me to stop posting all my recipes and hard work for free. Post pictures, post a little recipe here or there but ONLY if I continue to enjoy doing it because if it is stressful and I don't enjoy it....I shouldn't be doing it.

I DO enjoy it, so I will continue posting and whoever wants to follow can follow but I won't be posting all the recipes for free.

My Declaration of Independence

What is this all about? I have been fighting it for years.......fighting the knowledge that I needed to kick my sugar habit!

I LOVE sugar, I CRAVE sugar.....I can't even make it past lunch time without SUGAR!

There I confessed! I am a sugarholic of the worst kind!

I fooled myself into believing if it was agave, maple syrup, turbinado, succanut, brown rice syrup, coconut palm sugar.......some 'Natural' kind of sugar it was okay!

It isn't!

Do NOT send me hate mail or posts if you don't like my comment....if you want to eat sugar, EAT IT and go find some blog that will tell you all the benefits of eating it but on this blog that isn't what you are going to hear so go somewhere else.....

I made it known in a previous post that I had PCOS....I have made DRASTIC improvements in my health changing to a plant based diet! NO my PCOS was not caused by soy or a plant based diet.....it developed at the age of 10 and I ate NO soy as a child EVER! I drank milk....no I guzzled milk like there was no tommorrow! Milk contains estradiol, estriol and estrone....the bioactive hormones.....and yes it contributed to my high estrogen levels.

Once I removed milk and meat from my diet I had a period within three months......it had been THREE YEARS before that....and they came every 70-90 days getting closer and closer as the years went on so I knew I was on the right track.

However, I couldn't fully recover from my PCOS.....even 9 years later, although I was having regular cycles at 35 days....it wasn't enough.....something was still wrong!

It is no big secret......I just REFUSED to accept it

I needed to kick the sugar habit.....I fought it, I tried to find any other way.....but the reality is...there is no other way!

The addiction worsened as I battled the idea of not eating sugar anymore.....how can I live without chocolate chip cookies? Life isn't worth living without my chocolate chip cookies!

It dawned on me, I ask people to make HUGE dietary changes everyday.....how can I refuse to make the one last change I need to make?

I went through years of going off sugar, then BINGING and eventually it went from dessert twice a week to every single day....sometimes twice a day...to twice a day, everyday. This battle of trying to remove sugar from my diet actually led to a greater addiction than I ever thought possible!

It seemed that I would never be able to kick sugar for good....trying actually made the problem worse!

What did sugar do to me?

Let me start by saying that I DO NOT buy white sugar! I was using maple syrup, turbinado, succanut, coconut palm sugar, brown rice syrup etc.....

What did it do? Well......nothing at first.

Slowly I started having stiffness in the mornings and increasing sugar cravings. When I would eat a particularly sugary rich dessert with coconut oil and sugar a yeast infection would set in.....

I would take herbs and the yeast infection would go away.

I would eat sugar and my teeth would ache.....I would put herbs on them, rinse with essential oils and it would go away.

Eventually the stiffness got worse.....I injured myself doing kettlebell swings pretty severely to where I could not even bend over and I never fully recovered.....it still hurts and is stiff.

My cycles started becoming farther and farther apart......45 days.....60 days.....75 days.....90 days...... eventually 6 months and counting!!!!

Not only that my PCOS symptoms were increasing.....increased belly fat.....dark spots on my skin and others I won't discuss.....

I am not going to into all the details because as I said before people are mean and have their opinions.....but I KNOW for a fact.......sugar was slowly killing me!

Eventually I developed a systemic yeast problem!!! When I would avoid any concentrated sweetener it would ease up....then I would eat even a low sugar dessert and BAM....symptoms return with a vengeance.

I am publicly declaring my independence from sugar!!!

It is time! I am giving it up.......

I have decided that what will work best for me is to use dried fruit, stevia, lakanto and a few others to help me transition....

That may not be others approach but the cold turkey approach is what got me here....two desserts a day.

I know many people say you can't have fruit with yeast....but interestinly...I do just fine with it. I think there is another dietary issue in combination with fruit that causes the issue but I'm not going to discuss it because I am not in the mood for mean people or arguing. Do what you want, I'll do what I want.

I will be posting pictures and descriptions of my new recipe creations.....these recipes will be included in my thyroid & PCOS healing program!

You can watch my progress..........see what I am eating.........and follow my sugar detox....

I will be posting my Raw, Uncensored, experience of detoxing from sugar addiction..........Stay Tuned!

You will see details of my journey, pictures of what I am eating, and my progress.......

Find it Hard to Eat Healthy While Traveling?

2013-06-27T16:15:00.001-07:00

Eating Healthy on The Road

If you would like to continue to follow my work......

My recipes and I can now be found @

http://www.plantbasednutritionista.com

I hope to see you there!

One of the most common questions I receive is:

'How do I maintain my healthy diet while eating out or traveling?'

Honestly, it isn't really very hard at all but before I start explaining I need to confess something. I am insanely shy.....Yep.....I never ask for anything, I have never returned anything even if I couldn't wear it because it didn't fit, I could go on, but you get the picture, I am shy. So if I can do it....so can you!

Okay on to the eating out and traveling tips. First I will detail what I did on my recent trip to Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

**Please Forgive the Photos I took them with my cell phone as it would look to 'weird' for me to lug my huge SLR camera into the restaurants :-)

Day 1 Lunch

Costa Vida Veggie Salad

Costa Vida is an easy place to get a great healthy meal........We order the Costa Vida Veggie Salad, you can even get a whole wheat tortilla. A delicious salad piled high with lime rice, black beans, leafy greens, guacamole, pico de gallo, mango salsa....YUM!

If you want a delicious, oil-free dressing on your salad....Check out the Costa Vida Copy Cat Mango Dressing recipe in the Zesty for Health Salad Dressing ebook in The Peaceful Kitchen Store

You can find Costa Vida just about anywhere so if you are in a pinch traveling and need a quick bite to eat this is a great option.

Day 1 Dinner

Veggie Pizza at a Hole in the wall local restaurant

Hubby was CRAVING pizza and we drove by this really dumpy local pizza joint and I said NO....let's look up online and find a restaurant that offers veggie pizza. Hubby says he'll go in and ask about the ingredients, I stayed in the car pretty sure they wouldn't have anything.....well I was wrong.

We walk in and they do have veggie friendly pizza sauce and were very happy to make us a veggie pizza, they even had a veggie pizza, veggie subs and other veg options on the menu. I was impressed for a tiny little town in the middle of Colorado!

They made us a lovely pizza with olives, mushrooms, onion, bell peppers, tomatoes, garlic and NO cheese! It was actually really good! I couldn't get a picture because after 9 hours of driving and playing games on my phone out of sheer boredom, my phone battery was too low for the camera to work.

I think though that this is a great example of how even in some tiny town, population 400, you can find something! You just have to ASK!

Day 2 Breakfast

Okay, I know I always harp on all my readers to GET A HOTEL WITH A FRIDGE! Hubby has to keep the hotel rooms under $100 when he travels for work and has always been able to find one with a fridge, even in tiny towns. However, people keep ~~whining,~~ I mean, telling me they can't find a hotel with a fridge. Okay..... I decided to prove that you CAN do a healthy, cheap breakfast even without a fridge.

This hotel did not have a fridge but offered a continental breakfast. I knew ahead of time the fruit options would be limited generally continental breakfasts offer bananas, oranges and apples...that is a start. I planned ahead, found a grocery store on the way to the hotel before checking in and bought white peaches and raspberries which do not need refrigeration and lasted perfectly for the three days we were there.

Hubby got me UNSWEETENED instant oatmeal, banana, and apple juice at the continental breakfast. I poured the oatmeal in a bowl with the apple juice, topped it with sliced peaches, banana and raspberries and viola cheap, healthy breakfast!

Eating healthy while traveling or going out to eat is NOT hard, you do have to plan a little bit but it isn't anything that can't be done. I am not a good planner, I did NO prior planning for this trip, I decided to just go and find whatever food I could find to prove that you CAN travel, eat healthy with NO prior planning. With a little planning you could probably do even better....no excuses.

Day 2 Lunch

Subway

My son LOVES Subway, he absolutely LOVES the veggie sandwiches. Hubby was off working today so my son and I were left to explore Glenwood Springs. My son and I walked 2 miles from the hotel to Target and 2 miles back.....we were getting pretty tired on the way back and my son BEGGED to go to the subway by the hotel.

Subways are EVERYWHERE, I don't care if it is a town with a gas station and two houses I guarantee they will have a Subway! I ordered my sandwich......the employee will ALWAYS give you some sort of grief about the 'No Cheese'.....they may give you a confused look, clarify "you don't want cheese?", or make some snyde remark. Regardless of the nutrition illiterate teens working in restaurants you can get a healthy meal.

I got ALL The veggies piled high and topped it off with a splash of vinegar, mustard and black pepper. Sometimes I get plain baked lays but today I just had the sandwich.

Day 2 Dinner

Chili's

Yep, you read that right, we went to Chili's and I am going to teach you how to find something to eat when someone else picks a restaurant and you can't find anything on the menu that fits your dietary choices. I purposely chose a difficult place to find veg friendly food to help you out.

They had a yummy looking Carribean Salad on the menu but it was ONLY offered with the options of Chicken or Shrimp and none of their dressings are vegan. No problem, the dressings are always served on the side to it is easy to pack a dressing in a small canning jar [they have really tiny jam jars you can buy] and put it in your purse.

I did not even have a dressing with me because like I said, I did this trip with NO planning to prove that it can still be done. Although I would recommend at bare minimum have some prepared dressings with you, they only take 30 seconds to whiz up before you leave and you just pour into a tiny jar with a lid and you are good to go. Need some oil-free dressing ideas...check out The Peaceful Kitchen store for the Zesty for Health Salad Dressings.

Anyway, I ordered the Carribean salad and asked for NO chicken or shrimp. The waitor didn't even skip a beat and wrote it down. I then asked for a side of black beans. I topped my salad with the black beans and it was DELICIOUS!

A Lesson in Using the Restaurant Menu to Create A Meal

Example:

The Chili's Menu lists this sandwich....

California Turkey Club Toasted Sandwich

With turkey, applewood smoked bacon, avocado, Swiss, tomatoes, onions, lettuce and seasoned mayo on wheat Texas toast

Hubby and my son are vegetarians, they do have some dairy or eggs in baked goods when we are out to eat and they don't have as strict of healthy eating ideas as me so this is what they did.

They looked on the menu and saw that this sandwich had tomatoes, onions, lettuce and avocado.....they LOVE sandwiches with those ingredients. So hubby told the waitor they wanted this sandwich with NO turkey and NO bacon. The waitor didn't even give a strange look he just said, okay.

You can do this ANYWHERE! Look at the menu and find ingredients listed....whether it be a pasta dish or whatever if it includes broccoli, bell pepers or whatever you can get an idea of what ingredients they have so you can create something suitable.

Example #2 for Chili's

ALWAYS Look for the Sides on the Menu

Chili's has some GREAT sides:

Black Beans

Broccoli [you have to ask them not to prepare it with butter]

Avocado

Corn on the Cob

Corn Tortillas

Flour Tortillas

Penne Pasta

Pico De Gallo

Salsa

Okay so if we are just working with the sides on the menu we could create.....

Gluten free - Corn tortilla stuffed with avocado, black beans, salsa and broccoli with corn on the cob on the side.

NOT gluten free you could use flour tortillas

You could create a Mexican pasta using the penne, black beans, pico de gallo, avocado, and salsa with a side of corn on the cob

Do you see how easy this can be? I was just using the sides to create yummy food! It is really that easy.

Outback Steakhouse Example

Okay, I don't regularly visit Outback Steakhouse......however, if someone else chose to eat there for some reason and I went...I could still find something.

Example:

We can again look at the sides menu. You may have to ask some questions about chicken broth that may be used in cooking pasta sauce or rice pilafs etc.. or avoid them if you don't want to ask.

The house salad [no croutons or cheese]

Outback has vegan dressings: mustard vinaigrette, oil & vinegar or the tangy tomato if you don't bring your own.

Baked potato with chives

Green beans

asparagus

steamed mixed vegetables

steamed broccoli

Just make sure they don't put butter on them.

Just from the sides menu alone you can have a baked potato, steamed veggies and a salad with dressing. You can also ask for a dressing on the side to top your potato....I usually bring my own tofu sour cream in a small jar but either way it works.

Day 3 Breakfast

Same as Day 2

Day 3 Lunch

V Cafe in Grand Junction

www.happycow.net

An AMAZING resource when traveling!!! I always Check Happy Cow for Veg restaurants or Veg friendly restaurants while I am traveling.

I had a delicious wrap filled with veggies and guacamole. This was a fun little place we found on our way home. I highly recommend searching Happy Cow for veg restaurants as you travel, we have found some amazing places that we never would have been able to find otherwise so check it out!

Hubby had the black bean burger on Ciabatta bread and LOVED it!!! He actually wrote down the address so next time he was on a business trip he could come back. They had really great food and it was very inexpensive as well.

Tips for Traveling Healthy Style

Prepare a couple salad dressings ahead of time
Look at the ingredients listed in entrees on the menu to see what you have to work with
Look at the Sides to see if you can create a meal from them
Don't be afraid to ask questions
BE POLITE!
Check out www.happycow.net before you go
Go to a local grocery store and pick up whole wheat bread, peanut butter, jam, fruit and even unsweetened instant oats if you have very few options available to you.
We even found oatmeal on a room service menu [just ask for no milk] and they often have fresh fruit as a side you can top it with.

Traveling while healthy doesn't have to be difficult, have a great time, don't stress about the food you can always find something! Life isn't about food, it is about people and relationships so make memories and forget about the food. If you have to eat a big bowl of fruit for lunch from a gocery store for lunch because it is all you could find....great. Forget the food, make memories!

I'm Back with a delicious recipe for Chipotle Soy Curls and Chipotle Ranch Dressing....

2013-06-17T10:05:00.002-07:00

Chipotle Soy Curl Salad with Chipotle Ranch Dressing

If you would like to continue to follow my work......

My recipes and I can now be found @

http://www.plantbasednutritionista.com

I hope to see you there!

This delicious salad features Soy Curls smothered in a chipotle BBQ sauce tossed in a healthy salad of green leaf lettuce, cucumber, fresh tomato, grated carrot, millet, lenils, and onion. All this deliciousness is smothered in a simple chipotle ranch dressing!

Where Have I Been?

I have been MIA the last couple of weeks, no recipe creation, very few facebook posts and no blog posts...... It was extremely difficult being that we were living at my mom's house, all four of us in a 10X10 room with just the bare necessities.

I am terrible at keeping track of my recipes at home, I knew there was no way I would be able to keep track of recipes created at my mom's house and so I put my blog on hold for a couple of weeks until we could find a house. I am happy to report that we found a house and we are all moved in....YAY! I resumed my recipe creation when my mom came to see our new house. I offered to make her lunch, and so this recipe was created that morning along with some delicious homemade bread!

I am Back to recipe creation and blogging and hope you enjoy the new recipes!

I have a few new things in the works that I think you will be really excited about! I am trying to improve the blog, update the store front and add some amazing new products to the store as well as provide you with more features... Check back often as I will be announcing new and exciting things to come.

Decadent Vegan Chocolate Decadence Recipe

2013-06-04T10:28:00.001-07:00

Chocolate Decadence Recipe

If you would like to continue to follow my work......

My recipes and I can now be found @

http://www.plantbasednutritionista.com

I hope to see you there!

I must apologize for the poor photo, all my belongings have been in a storage shed for over two weeks and so this is a cell phone picture....

Decadent is the PERFECT word for this dessert....creamy, rich, smooth chocolate heaven! My husband has a favorite restaurant that he goes to frequently because they have really good veggie sandwiches and he always orders their chocolate decadence.....hubby is vegetarian so he does eat desserts with dairy or eggs at times....

He absolutely LOVES this dessert and so I set out to make a vegan version of this very popular chocolate lovers dessert. The photo above is before the decadence had been chilled long enough, my family could NOT wait to eat it and so we ate it while it was still warm and the strawberry ice cream was melting quickly on top of it.

Hubby really enjoyed the dessert but it wasn't until he snuck back into the kitchen to get some more hours later that he started raving that this was every bit as good as his favorite restaurants chocolate decadence.....SCORE!

We are still living in the 10X10 room at my parents house......I cannot believe how absolutely frustrating finding a home to rent is. We found a wonderful home in an area we loved and submitted an application...we were the FIRST ones to submit an application and then we find out they are going to 'collect' applications for four days and then just pick one....much to our dismay, we were not chosen.

We continue to call on homes only to have them rent before we even have time to make an appointment to see it or we have to sit and wait for them to collect applications and of course we are never chosen and end up back at square one. It has been very emotionally draining....I hope we find a home soon. Unfortunately while I continue to try and find a home my recipe creation will be hindered and my photos will be on a cell phone so hopefully you can bear with me until I can get settled.

Eating While Homeless............

2013-05-30T09:18:00.001-07:00

Creating Recipes while Homeless

If you would like to continue to follow my work......

My recipes and I can now be found @

http://www.plantbasednutritionista.com

I hope to see you there!

Delicious, thin chocolate cookies filled with homemade vanilla ice cream....It is made with a cashew cream base.

Okay so we aren't technically homeless as in living on the street......however we have been alternating living out of hotels and at my parents house. All four of us staying in a 10X10 bedroom! We have been doing this for about 2 weeks now and I am praying we will be able to find a home SOON!

Unfortunately I do not have the recipes for this creation....my mom came up with the idea and I just quickly created it on the fly. We even froze these wrapped in saran wrap and they were equally good several days later. When we get settled I will take the time to recreate these delicious little ice cream sandwiches and post the recipe for those who are interested.

Dairy Free Sour Cream Enchiladas

You'll have to excuse my cell phone pics....it is all I have right now until we can dig my SLR camera out of the storage shed. I made these at my mom's house on Monday night, they were really yummy! I made them extra saucy smothered with TONS of my yummy cheese sauce!

Again, no recipe for this one, I have been cooking for 8 people every night we have stayed at my mom's and so I am just throwing things together quickly to get dinner done before everyone gets home from work but I promise when I get settled I will post a recipe for this one too!

Life has just been crazy, we have stayed in hotels, stayed at my parents.....we even considered staying in my brother in laws camping trailer until we could find a place to live. It has been hard to create recipes and post on the blog while we have been so transient. You'd think finding a place to live would be easy but rent prices have SKYROCKETED in our state and it is near impossible to find a nice place for a decent price...most places in our price range are in the ghetto and we just don't want to put our kids in a dangerous area.

You could buy a house here for WAY less than you can rent for so it makes finding a rental difficult. Yes, I'd love to buy a house but due to a business loss three years ago we just can't buy a house yet so we get to pay the high rent prices. We've noticed that rent is about 30% more than your payment would be if you bought the same house!

So here we are looking for a SAFE neighborhood for our children with decent rent and of course the fact that we have two little doggies doesn't help either! So until we can get settled I may be posting more tips on eating out, preparing food with few resources etc.....

Vegan Taquitos Recipe......

2013-05-17T08:39:00.001-07:00

Vegan Taquitos

If you would like to continue to follow my work......

My recipes and I can now be found @

http://www.plantbasednutritionista.com

I hope to see you there!

A delicious tempeh, lentil, brown rice mixture with rich cheese sauce fills these delicious taquitos. We topped them with salsa and homemade dairy free sour cream but you can have them with whatever toppings you like!

A request to create a vegan version of taquitos.....Here it is!

I try to accommodate as many recipe requests as I can, sometimes I can do it quickly and other times it takes me awhile. This recipe is so very simple and yet my family absolutely LOVED these! Even K liked these and she generally does NOT like Mexican food at all!

I know I haven't posted in over a week.......it is a long story but we moved most of our things out of our house thinking we had to be out by May 1st. I didn't pack up all of the kitchen and we packed suitcases and left mattresses on the floor.....once we had loaded up our things we found out that the renters had backed out!

Here we were with an empty house....no kitchen table, no chairs, no couches.....nothing but mattresses, food and pots and pans! We decided not to go to all the trouble to move back in only to have to move back out again when we found new renters. We borrowed a card table and 4 old folding chairs from my parents and brought in two camp chairs for the family room.......We are literally camping out in the house!

Dinners lately have been very simple.....no frills.....my husband LOVES simple meals so he has really enjoyed it. The really cool thing about that is.....we both have lost weight! I've lost about a three pounds in two weeks! So I guess if you want to lose weight my simple meal plan works really well!

I had the ingredients to make taquitos so I figured I would just make them the night after I received the request for the recipe. They were super simple to make with my limited kitchen resources.

Eating dinner is quite a feat these days.....the card table we have been eating on is EXTREMELY wobbly. I remember this card table from when I was a young kid 25 years ago! You have no idea how annoying it is to eat with a large 11 year old boy who cannot sit still for anything......which means the card table is wobbling all over the place while we are all trying to eat our dinner! I will be so glad when we are able to find a new place, I will not miss that card table one bit!

Luckily we found new renters and we will be moving out on Saturday....well moving the rest of the way out and then cleaning...... No we do not know where we are going to move to....if one more person asks me that question I am going to scream! We don't do things like most people do.....nope.....we fly by the seat of our pants literally. If you ask me if I have a plan I will invariably tell you no, so just don't ask :-)

I will probably be posting more about the simple meals we eat while staying at my mom's house or eating out. I think it will be really good for many who are new to plant based eating to see how easy it is to find delicious meals anywhere!

No Excuses..........

2013-05-08T16:07:00.000-07:00

I Can't Eat Healthy......I Love To Go Out To Eat!

If you would like to continue to follow my work......

My recipes and I can now be found @

http://www.plantbasednutritionista.com

I hope to see you there!

Yes you Can!

Last week I attended a Women's Conference Thursday from 8am to 10:30 pm and Friday 8am to 5:30 pm. I did not plan ahead, I attended determined to prove that you can find food anywhere you go!

The Campus we were on had a steakhouse style restaurant but they were ONLY serving a buffet style because of the 20,000 women or so attending the conference....it needed to be fast. So what is a plant-based eater to do?

It was quite simple actually, we asked about the food on the buffet and they had plenty, they told us to just load up our plates with whatever we wanted of the food offered. As you can see I had corn, potatoes, mixed fruit, salad, and two whole wheat rolls [no butter]

This is probably one of the most restrictive places you could possibly go, there were NO other options available other than what was on the buffet. If I can find something to eat in this situation you can find something ANYWHERE! No Excuses!

The biggest excuse I hear from people is that they love to go out to eat.......well guess what....SO DO I!

Just ask my husband, I love to go out to eat, but I do not let my healthy lifestyle deter me one bit from enjoying a night out. It is absolutely possible to get a healthy meal, sometimes you have to ask for something special but no matter what you can find something.

If you want to be an excusitarian you can find an excuse for anything! If you want results and you want good health, you will find a way!

I enjoyed this meal, ,we also found a Costa Vida place near by and I had a veggie salad for lunch on the second day. On the first day we were running from class to class and grabbed a salad and a roll from another quick buffet place. It was a lovely spinach and fruit salad with a roll, nothing fancy but it hit the spot until we could get dinner later.

It has been a busy couple of weeks and I know I have neglected posting on facebook and the blog but I have some things to post in the next few days or so. We are eating very simply but I think many people appreciate simple but delicious meals.

No Excuses!

All You Can Eat Vegan Whole Grain Cupcake Birthday Party

2013-04-25T08:32:00.004-07:00

Whole Grain Vegan Cake Recipes in Vanilla & Chocolate

The Smore Cupcake

If you would like to continue to follow my work......

My recipes and I can now be found @

http://www.plantbasednutritionista.com

I hope to see you there!

I generally post Gluten Free recipes but today I have two delicious whole wheat cake recipes for my non-gluten free readers! I know I just recently posted about my birthday......but interestingly enough three days after my birthday is my sons birthday!

These cupcakes were a hit with family & friends. I even took them to the family party on Sunday and my whole extended family enjoyed these fun cupcakes!

****Warning: These cake recipes are not my usual 'healthy' recipes. These are vegan cakes and I have reduced the oil as much as possible but to preserve the traditional taste and texture of the cake the recipes do contain turbinado sugar and some oil!

Family Birthday Tradition

Every year on the kids birthday they can choose what they want for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner......and I also let them choose their own cake flavor.

They really enjoy being able to eat their favorite foods on their birthday. It generally isn't the healthiest food, but this year when my son ordered chocolate chip pancakes I made them with whole wheat pastry flour so other than the chocolate chips they were quite healthy pancakes. :-)

Even though they usually choose less than healthy things for their birthday foods I generally find ways to add in some greens, whole grains, legumes or other things in there.

The Sneaky Mom

My daughter always gets frustrated when she finds out what I sneak into her food. She was thoroughly enjoying some chocolate sauce on her strawberries for dessert last night......little did she know I added pea protein and chia to her chocolate sauce ;-)

I have added beets to her strawberry smoothies, carob and greens to her chocolate mint smoothies. I usually tell her when she is half finished and she always says: "Mom that's gross"

I remind her that she has been heartily downing the yummy concoction and she continues to drink it while complaining about what I sneak in her food. In fact, one day when I promised to make her some banana ice cream she stood in the kitchen and said, "I am going to watch everything you put in my banana ice cream so you don't put anything funny in it."

Once you learn how to disguise veggies and other things in food it is fun to watch your children enjoy eating something they don't know is healthy.

All you can eat cupcakes!!!

The Vegan Boston Cream Twinkie

Anyone who knows my son is absolutely NOT surprised that he wanted an all you can eat cupcake party. My son can EAT and eat and eat and eat and he LOVES food! I know people think it is funny that I at 4' 11" tall have a 10 year old [now 11] son who is already 5' 2" 1/2 and weighs 120 pounds! Yep, he is a BIG boy and literally growing like a weed. He grew 1 1/2 inches in the last 3 months!

Who says vegan kids are skinny and scrawny? My son certainly isn't. So of course for his All you can eat cupcake party I created three different cupcake flavors for him......he chose the flavors and I created them.

The Last All you Can Eat Cupcake Creation......

The Peppermint Patty Cupcake

I realize this one isn't as pretty as the others......by the time I got to this one the cupcakes had just come out of the oven and I was racing to decorate them and clean up before the birthday party began.. Icing cupcakes when they are hot just doesn't work very well....but I did what I had to do!

This is the chocolate cake recipe, topped with mint icing and chooclate ganache!

Cake Decorating

I created a delicious vegan pastry cream to fill the twinkies with and topped it with a homemade chocolate ganache made from dark chocolate chips and soy or almond milk.

The icings are just your normal buttercream icings: I made them with earth balance, organic powdered sugar, vanilla, soymilk. I didn't make them healthy as it was just a crowd of 10 and 11 year old boys eating them :-)

Pipe on the icing however you like or just smear it on....it tastes the same.

Enjoy!

High Protein Fresh Carrot Cake Juice for my Birthday

2013-04-19T13:57:00.001-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

If you would like to continue to follow my work......

My recipes and I can now be found @

http://www.plantbasednutritionista.com

I hope to see you there!

Yesterday was my birthday........no I'm not going to tell you how old I am......let's just say I am 29.95 + tax and shipping :-)

I committed one of the great weight loss mistakes yesterday.....confession time! I knew I would be going out to lunch and dinner and was worried that within my tiny little calorie requirements I would not be able to fit all that food in....so I decided to have a low/cal high nutrient breakfast and 'Save' my calories for later.

I did create an AMAZING Post-workout recipe, more on that later. But as I tried to 'save' my calories for later I found myself getting hungrier and hungrier as the morning wore on and by 10:30 I was REALLY hungry and so what happened, I broke down and ate some of the kids cereal, it started out as just a little cup of cereal which I proceeded to fill up three times! Ooops, so much for that calorie 'saving' idea.

I thought I was still hungry when I finished but within the hour my tummy grew more and more full and by noon I wasn't hungry at all! Luckily my sister was late for her lunch break and so we didn't end up eating lunch until close to 1:30 when I was starting to feel hungry. We made it to Noodles & Company where I had the Bankok Curry Noodles. I ordered the small and only ate about 2/3rds of it hoping to again 'save calories' for later.

Well, my mother is the ultimate 'make a party out of every situation and it must include dessert!' Decided to buy the ingredients for my Bakery style chocolate chip cookies and we baked them when we got back from shopping. I only ate 3/4 of a cookie but at almost 4pm again I felt full! This day was turning out to be a dieters worst nightmare :-(

Hubby got off work early and showed up at home at 4:45 excited to take me to my favorite vegan restaurant.

Sages Cafe

photos by Sage's Cafe

I LOVE Sage's, we have been going there since 2004 and I have absolutely LOVED everything I have had there. In the top picture you can see one of the amazing sandwiches featuring Seitan with their cheese sauce and in the bottom pic one of my favorite desserts......the Russian Tea Cake or {Mexican wedding cookie}

We also enjoyed the Brownie sundae...a delicious ultimate FUDGY experience topped with soy ice cream and smothered in a delicious Fudge sauce. Mmmmmmmmm.......that was fantastic.

I wasn't terribly hungry so I thought I would be good and order the simple meal of fruit and vegetable slices along with fresh baked bread and the carrot butter pate.

Hubby ordered the AMAZING Cassoulet which is a baked penne pasta in a red sauce, smothered in rice mozzerella, seitan sausage and veggies baked in a ceramic dish. SOOOOOO yummy!

I ended up tasting hubby's amazing dinner a few times, enjoyed some garlic bread and loved the carrot butter on the apple slices........even though I was feeling full off the small amount I ate, I dove into dessert with gusto! Try as I might that amazing fudgy brownie and ice cream kept tempting me to indulge a little more....by the end of the evening I was overly full.....my tastebuds were fully satisfied but my tummy was protesting from all the food I had eaten.

The evening ended with us visiting my in-laws so my mother in law could give me my Birthday present.........

Beautiful Handmade Crochet Doily {Doilie}

This is what I opened.......a beautiful handmade Doily!

Now this is my kind of present, something handmade! I love the idea of giving a gift of your talent, it is literally a piece of you.

This doily is absolutely STUNNING! I crochet but honestly I had never seen such a beautiful work of art! I LOVED IT! I felt so honored that my mother in law would take the time to hand make me such a beautiful treasure. It was a wonderful birthday and I was so grateful for the wonderful gift.

Later that evening at home.....I was sitting on the couch with a full heart and an uncomfortably full belly and realized that my 'calorie sparing' idea had completely failed me! I teach nutrition, I know in my heart that this doesn't work so why in the world do I do it?

The reasons behind my stupidity are many, but this morning I paid the price for my stupidity when I measured my waist to find it 1/4 inch bigger than yesterday and .8 extra pounds on the scale! My plan had failed and now I have to work for the next week to remove all the mess I had made. I know this because I have done it before, the extra pound gained after a binge usually takes about 5 days to get back off. I know they say a pound is 3500 calories but I am 100% convinced that is not the case! In theory outside the human body maybe but with all the intricacies of the human body and my personal experience I don't buy it. If I can overeat and gain a pound and it takes me almost a week to get it back off that wasn't 3500 calories!

Anyway, Learn from my mistakes, don't try to save calories! Instead, learn to savor the food without feeling that you have to eat it all! I know you don't want to waste food but I will tell you this: It WILL get wasted one way or another!

You can either waste the food in the trash can or you can waste it as extra, nasty, ugly FAT on your body but one way or another that extra food is GOING to get wasted!

That conservative, penny pinching nature of yours is going to force you to wear it if you don't get over it and find another way to put that extra food to use rather than stuffing your face with it in an effort to not be wasteful! It's still wasteful, just wasteful in a different and much more emotionally painful way~!

Okay, off the soap box :-)

High Protein Fresh Carrot Cake Juice

Ooooooo This was FANTASTIC!!!

I wouldn't recommend this as the only thing you eat for breakfast, it will burn very cleanly and will replenish your glycogen stores quickly but you'll need something of more substance within about an hour.

It is best to follow up a workout with a glycogen replenishing, electrolyte drink that contains about 3-4 carbohydrates per protein calorie. The body needs to replenish glycogen stores and of course muscles need to recover but carbohydrate is also necessary for muscle recovery and so this balance provide the necessary building blocks for complete recovery. Excess protein can actually inhibit recovery because the body CANNOT store protein and therefore it must be broken down and excreted. Long story......but this makes a great post-workout recovery drink that doesn't cost a fortune!

High Protein Carrot Cake Recovery Juice

*****I cannot guarantee the correct flavor with any other protein powder!!!!! This protein powder has an AMAZING sweet vanilla flavor without added sugars!

Nutrition Profile of the Carrot Cake Juice

Calories.....................337

Protein.......................27 g.

Fat.............................2.8g

Omega 3's..................53% {this is because the protein has chia}

Vit. A.........................1888%

Folate.........................27%

B1..............................27%

B2..............................29%

B3..............................24%

B5.............................28%

B6.............................43%

Vit. C........................44%

Vit. E.........................15%

Vit. K.........................144%

Calcium......................18%

Copper........................32%

Iron.............................12%

Magnesium.................25%

Manganese..................44%

Phosphorus.................28%

Potassium...................32%

Selenium.....................5%

Sodium........................34% **Natural Sodium in Celery, excellent electrolyte

Zinc.............................16%

A Hearty Vegan Breakfast.....'Eggs' Benedict and Hubby's Health Journey

2013-04-10T11:46:00.000-07:00

Easter Morning Breakfast......

Vegan 'Eggs' Benedict

If you would like to continue to follow my work......

My recipes and I can now be found @

http://www.plantbasednutritionista.com

I hope to see you there!

Hubby and the kids absolutely LOVED this Hearty Vegan version of Eggs Benedict! It took quite a bit of creativity to come up with the 'egg' part. I wouldn't say that it perfectly mimics the taste or texture of eggs because it really doesn't but boy does it have a fantastic flavor all its own!

This was a very involved process so I would recommend saving this one for special occasions when you really want to wow the family with your culinary skills! It really isn't a difficult recipe so don't let it scare you off.....it is just time consuming and has a lot of steps.

My husband raved over this, the recipe made probably 10 'eggs' and he snacked on them all day long dipping them in the vegan hollandaise sauce! Growing up his family were HUGE egg eaters and his parents still eat them a lot....and then wonder why they have elevated cholesterol! Unfortunately with his dad working in a hospital you would believe how nutrition illiterate they are and their health suffers immensely. It is hard to watch but old habits die hard, and nutrition illiteracy runs deep.

I am truly grateful because my husband did not get the Block Headed Stubbornness that the rest of the family suffers from :-D He is very respectful of me, he didn't become vegetarian overnight and he was very resistant to begin with but when I began teaching classes and doing nutrition research for my college classes and started sharing information with him he listened and he started changing......as he changed his health improved so much he couldn't deny the benefits of plant based eating.....

It took him 4 1/2 years but eventually he committed to a vegetarian lifestyle and it has really been a blessing for him and me ;-)

Hubby's Health Background and Transformation

Hubby with adorable K when she was 3 years old!

He was eating at the local fast food joint every single day for lunch:

Double Cheeseburger

Large order Fries

Dr. Pepper

Oreo Cookie Dough Shake

Yep, I was eating a raw food vegan diet at the time and this is what hubby was eating everyday. At home he would eat cereal for breakfast and for dinner he ate what I fixed so he was getting something healthy for dinner but even with that.....his health suffered.

Migraines 2-3 times per week that were so severe he would literally throw up from the pain
Severe back pain...he was taking 6-10 advil per day
H. Pylori and ulcers he went 3 weeks living on potato rolls and grape juice because of this at one point
He was about 40 pounds overweight
He couldn't lift anything without injuring his back

I had to rush home from the grocery store one day because he had lifted a filing cabinet earlier that day and it hurt his back.....later he ended up on the floor of our garage in so much pain he couldn't move. Finally I convinced him to just try eating better......it was worth a try.

Hubby on a Plant-Based Diet

Competed on the Toyota Engines of Change Triathlon Team

Completed the Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon!!!

Back pain was significantly reduced
Hubby trained 2+ hours a day running, biking, swimming and hiking
Migraines gone!
He weighed 129 pounds and was very fit!

What did he eat?

Breakfast was usually a green smoothie, oatmeal or a whole grain cereal with soymilk

Lunch: tomato avocado sandwiches on whole wheat bread, veggies and hummus, whole grain crackers

Dinners were full of veggies & brown rice or whole wheat pasta dishes etc...

Finally hubby believed me that he could be healthy and fit if he would just change his diet!

A plant-based diet is very powerful!! Most people do not realize that it can even have an amazing effect on migraines, ulcers and a host of other health problems!

Now on to our Hearty Breakfast Recipe......

The Ultimate Healthy Kid Friendly Meal

2013-04-03T12:23:00.001-07:00

Kid Friendly.......Mom Approved

Gluten Free Vegan 'Chicken' Fingers and Honey Mustard Sauce

If you would like to continue to follow my work......

My recipes and I can now be found @

http://www.plantbasednutritionista.com

I hope to see you there!

This delicious Kid Friendly meal was a HUGE hit with my whole family! The kids were thrilled when they saw the yummy breaded 'chicken' fingers and macaroni and cheese. They were so excited, thanking me for making them an 'unhealthy' meal for once.

Shhhhhh..... I didn't tell them that it was actually healthy :-) They had no idea they were eating vegetables, whole grains and legumes...hahaha.

*****Disclaimer: Kids who are only used to eating junk food will probably not enjoy this at all!

I have to make that disclaimer because children who frequent McDonalds or who eat tons of frozen junk foods will not enjoy this at all. These do not have the same texture as meat does so please don't expect this to taste like or have the texture of meat.

I do not like meat at all and do not try to perfectly mimic its texture or flavor for a reason!

These little seitan fingers don't have the texture of meat but they do have a delicious flavor and they are really fun to dip into honey mustard sauce! My children don't eat junk food and so this was a really fun treat for them. Healthy kids will have a lot of fun with this for sure!

K's Thoughts on the Seitan Fingers, Honey mustard sauce and mac & cheese

Hey guys! I'm back again! :) This was an awesome kid-friendly dinner! I LOVED it! If it was my turn to make dinner this is probably what I would make! :)

We are currently in the process of moving.....again! I know we have moved 4 times in the last 4 years and hopefully someday we will be able to settle down and quit moving around so much. I miss my home on 5 acres so much...... Hopefully someday we will be able to have something like that again :-)

Amongst all the moving and packing I am trying to keep up my recipe creating....I have a few cracker recipes that I will be posting pics of on the facebook page today. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up the recipe creating for a bit longer but during the major transition I may not be able to so I might even do some posts on how to eat on the fly!

I am really good at throwing things together or even eating from the grocery store whatever can be made with a bowl and a spoon. We have traveled a lot so I have a lot of experience with eating with very little available options. It doesn't matter if you are in the middle of nowhere cowboy country, a vegan can always find something to eat! I have done it!

Before moving on to the recipes I have a question to ask..........

How many of you would be interested in an Ebook on eradicating Candida?

I am considering writing an ebook for those who are struggling with candida because I know in our modern society it is such a HUGE problem. There is a lot of information out there....most of which is NOT vegan and they almost make it seem as if a vegan cannot possibly rid themselves of candida but this is simply not true.

If you want to be able to understand the facts from the myths I'd love to write an ebook and share recipes, herbs, and information about candida with you so you can rid yourself of candida the vegan way.

Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe with Gluten Free and Whole Wheat options.....

2013-03-26T08:21:00.001-07:00

Bakery style Chocolate Chip Cookies

Take these to a potluck and EVERYONE will ask for the recipe.....gluten free or not these are out of this world!!

If you would like to continue to follow my work......

My recipes and I can now be found @

http://www.plantbasednutritionista.com

I hope to see you there!

Don't worry there are both Gluten Free AND Whole Wheat options so this cookie will work for anyone!!

These cookies are the perfect cookie.......lightly crisp on the outside....nice and gooey on the inside!

My husband has had a rough few months at work and food has unfortunately become a comfort for both of us.......my weight has gone up and yet.....the comfort and seduction of chocolate has just been too strong! This is one reason why I have started the Beck Diet Solution...in an effort to regain control of my dietary choices.

My husband took a pay cut to take this current job because they indicated that they would promote him to a sales position within the first year as my husband has 15 years sales experience! Well, unfortunately due to very unfortunate circumstances he was passed over for the promotion and it has put us in an extremely difficult financial situation!

He came home after a difficult day at work and the only way I could think of cheering him up was to make some amazing chocolate chip cookies! I couldn't have even imagined how wonderful these cookies would turn out!

My daughter has been BEGGING me to let her review these cookies on the blog! She keeps asking....when are you going to post about the cookies? Well, I decided to hurry and get the recipe on the blog so she could post about them.

**Disclaimer: These cookies will not take away your stressful or painful situations......but they certainly will help you drown your woes temporarily!

I want to make this cookie recipe so that everyone can enjoy it, whether gluten free or not so I have put whole wheat chocolate chip cookie adjustments for those who don't need to be gluten free.

K's Review of the Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hey y'all peaceful kitchen lovers! :) These cookies were HEAVENLY! These were the BEST cookies chef mom has ever made! :) I only had 7 of them! :P

My husband said that these cookies were amazing for gluten free or otherwise and he actually HID them in the cupboard so he could sneak them off to work! Yep, they were that good!

Gluten Free Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

with a whole wheat cookie option.....

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Option

Kid Friendly Salad Recipe......Think BBQ and Ranch!

2013-03-23T19:13:00.001-07:00

BBQ Ranch Salad Recipe!!

If you would like to continue to follow my work......

My recipes and I can now be found @

http://www.plantbasednutritionista.com

I hope to see you there!

I served this delicious salad for dinner a few nights ago and the kids LOVED it! My husband said it was the best salad he had ever had!

You can't go wrong mixing BBQ sauce and Ranch dressing together in the same recipe.

This delicious recipe would be the perfect salad for a summer BBQ or to grace the table at your next potluck, I guarantee you will get many recipe requests with this one!

Lately I have been creating in the kitchen constantly.....I'm on a good roll and that doesn't always happen. It has made my weight loss goals fairly difficult to achieve though. I am constantly battling the strong desire to keep eating and eating and eating even though I'm full and that is NOT conducive to losing the last 5 pounds or so that I have wanted to lose. Yes, I gained the typical 'Holiday weight' this year and I have been struggling to get it back off.

The absolute BEST program I have found for emotional and compulsive eating is The Beck Diet Solution! It actually helped me lose the weight I had been trying to lose for years and quite quickly as well. The book warns not to quit early but to finish the WHOLE program.....well of course me, the biggest impatient short-cutter ever quit once I met my goal weight I quit. Exactly as the book said, I had not got my new habits down completely and fell back into my old ones! Stupid, stupid, stupid.....I should NOT have done that....I was warned!

So starting on Monday I will be beginning the Beck diet solution again, it does not really prescribe any specific diet it is more about learning habits that prevent over-eating and other bad habits surrounding food. Anyway, I may post from time to time on my progress so you can benefit from seeing how I am doing with this program as I know emotional eating is such a common problem.

Vegan Pizza Night.....With a Twist

2013-03-22T09:21:00.000-07:00

Roasted Rosemary and Butternut Squash Pizza

If you would like to continue to follow my work......

My recipes and I can now be found @

http://www.plantbasednutritionista.com

I hope to see you there!

Surprisingly this different twist on pizza was a HUGE hit with my kids! It turned out beautifully!

I have so much butternut squash just laying around and it needs to be used so I came up with this really fun pizza idea. I had no idea how this was going to turn out........But I took the risk!

A delicious combination of white cheese, rosemary, butternut squash and veggies.....

I made my own whole grain gluten free pizza crust and it actually turned out really good! I made it with brown rice flour, potato starch and teff flour which gives it that whole wheat look. I had extra butternut squash slices so I roasted them with the pizza and we dipped them in marinara sauce.......you would not believe how delicious roasted rosemary butternut squash is dipped in marinara! Wow...we loved that!

It was like a very healthy twist on fries!

K' Thoughts on Roasted Rosemary Butternut Squash Pizza.....

Hey guys! It's K again! :) Oh that pizza was glorious!!! And the crust was amazing!! That is absolutely the BEST gluten free pizza I've ever had!! Thanks for making it mom! Love you! :)

I had no idea how silly 13 year old girls could be until I had one :-)...... I was really surprised that K liked the pizza because he is VERY picky about her pizza....she usually just likes sauce, olives and cheese sauce so I didnt' expect much out of her.....much to my surprise she actually liked it and went back for seconds.

The flavors in this pizza works so well, they were fantastic!

C's thoughts......

best pizza in years the crust was very soft like gluten pizza and it would be great with root beer

My son and my hubby LOVE root beer.....and I'm not talking about the HFCS crap in the grocery store either.

My husbands all time favorite Root Beer would have to be Virgil's Root Beer, my son likes the Virgil's Cream Soda....we had that earlier this week...well I had a sip anyway and Oh My that stuff it fabulous! It isn't made with chemical garbage it is actually made from the natural herbs that root beer was originally made with! Mmmmm nothing like natural flavors.

In this house you can't have pizza without cream soda or root beer!!! I also like that they have stevia sweetened root beer and cream soda as well, we buy those most often although the BEST flavors are in the originals.

Move on over Cinnabon.....Amazing Gluten Free Cinnamon Bun Recipe!!!

2013-03-18T17:19:00.000-07:00

Celiacs Dream Come True.......

If you would like to continue to follow my work......

My recipes and I can now be found @

http://www.plantbasednutritionista.com

I hope to see you there!

Gluten free can be extremely difficult, especially when it comes to yeasted breads! Most gluten free yeasted products are either crumbly or so chewy they don't even remotely resemble anything edible in my opinion!! I have spent the last 2 1/2 years trying to create a gluten free cinnamon roll recipe.....I've had MANY abysmal failures and some fairly good results but nothing that I felt worthy of being called a cinnamon roll........until yesterday!!!

Oooey, Gooooey, delicious, moist cinnamon rolls! These were absolutely fantastic!

In full disclosure and all honesty these are not quite as soft textured as gluten containing cinnamon buns.....but they are close!

It took a lot of contemplating about how to get a soft, moist texture but still be able to roll the things out, because most gluten free bread dough is more of a batter than a dough, so when you get a batter consistency just thick enough to roll out.....you get BRICKS!

With a little ingenuity and creativity I was able to get a dough that was soft, pliable, rose nicely and made delicious cinnamon buns! FINALLY!! I almost gave up, this was honestly going to be my last attempt.

K's thoughts on the Cinnamon Buns.....

Hey, i'm here again! :) Those cinnamon buns were heavenly! I ate 3 of them before mom stopped me! I could have them for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert and not be bored of them! Thanks mom for making them! That was one of your BEST recipies ever! :)

Love, K

C's thoughts on the Cinnamon Buns.....

If you are in the mood for sugar, this is the recipe for you, I love them!!

I guess I am a living example of the mantra.....NEVER GIVE UP!!

My whole family really enjoyed these cinnamon rolls and I was satisfied that I had finally conquered one of the hardest recipes I have ever tried to create. I tried to take pictures of the process so you could see how to make them....but alas my camera was out of batteries....so frustrating! So I don't have a pic tutorial as I had planned to have but I will try to explain it......

If any of you struggle getting the details of the recipe right let me know and I will gladly make them again with my camera on full battery and do a tutorial!