Paleo Hot Breakfast Cereal

The Paleo diet has been a big factor in our family having a much easier and successful transition to a gluten free lifestyle, thanks to the recent diagnosis of my daughter's Celiac disease.  So here's a quick and simple breakfast for all you Paleo cavemen/women that is a great energy boost before or after your morning workout.  Plus, it will break up the monotony of eggs every morning for breakfast :) Serves 1.

1/2 cup almond meal or almond flour
1/4-1/3 cup almond milk or coconut milk
1/2 tbsp. agave nectar
dash cinnamon
top with fresh fruit: strawberries, blueberries, banana, raspberries...you get the idea.

Mix almond meal with milk in a microwave safe bowl.  Nuke for 1 minute.  Add agave, cinnamon and fruit.  Eat it hot and enjoy a healthy, protein packed breakfast!

Healthy Slow Cooker Enchiladas

Enchiladas don't seem like a recipe that would require much thought, but these babies are not only gluten free, but are preservative and other artificial junk- free as well. It's so easy to buy a can or seasoning mix of enchilada sauce, but there are so many unnecessary and unhealthy additives involved! So my trick to a quick, tasty and healthy enchilada sauce is to use some of my {Homemade} Salsa plus some tomato sauce. That easy! It's made even handier by layering your ingredients into a slow cooker on low and letting it hang out until dinner time.  It's the perfect, quick and easy dinner for those nights after all the baseball, soccer, dance and whatever else is over and everyone's starving.

Corn tortillas, enough for 3-4 layers in your slow cooker or baking dish

1.5  lb. turkey burger, hamburger or cooked shredded chicken or pork

1 pint (2 cups) {Homemade} Salsa

1 - 8 oz. can tomato sauce

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup frozen corn

1-2 cups shredded low-fat cheddar cheese 

Cook your meat of choice or forgo the meat and make it a meatless dinner. Pour the salsa, tomato sauce, beans and corn into a hot skillet along with meat.  Stir to combine and heat through.  Layer tortilla, meat sauce and cheese, repeat, until your baking dish or slow cooker are full.  End with cheese on top. Cover with tin foil and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.  Or layer into a slow cooker and set on low for 2-3 hours.  

Top with:
sliced avocado
chopped fresh tomato
chopped green onion
fresh cilantro, chopped

Quinoa Pasta Broccoli Salad

Spring is in full force!  The blossoms on my enormous cherry trees in the back yard cover the branches and litter the grass beneath and the crab apple tree in front is the brightest fuchsia pink I've ever seen.   That means that people are uncovering the grills and firing them up once more. This gluten free, dairy free version of broccoli salad is a  yummy and filling side to serve at your next barbecue along side some Fired Up Pork Ribs! This salad can go together in a snap if you have planned ahead.  Make your own {Homemade} mayonnaise the day or two before for an even healthier, preservative free dish.  

1 - 8 oz. box quinoa Rotelle pasta (I use Ancient Harvest brand; organic and gluten-free)
1 head fresh broccoli, rinsed and florets trimmed off the stem
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 green onions, diced
6 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup cashews, roughly chopped

Cook pasta according to directions, for about 9 minutes. Cook bacon until crispy, pat the grease off with a paper towel and crumble.  Chop and prepare your broccoli, carrots, onions and cashews.   Once the pasta's done, drain and rinse in cold water.  Throw everything together and pour the dressing over top. Toss to coat and serve chilled!

Dressing
1/4-1/3 cup agave nectar or honey
1/4 cups olive oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup previously prepared {Homemade} Mayo
Salt and pepper to taste

{Homemade} Zesty Lemon Mayonnaise 
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon prepared Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon white wine or champagne vinegar
good pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
dash raw sugar 
1 cup olive oil
1 tsp. freshly grated lemon zest

Add all ingredients except oil and lemon zest.  Get a hand mixer going with one hand and with the other VERY slowly drizzle the olive oil in.  I'm talking really slow!  Like it took me a couple minutes to pour the entire cup of olive oil into the bowl.  It will begin to thicken as you mix and you can pour a little faster toward the end.  Once it resembles mayo then add the lemon zest.  Mix to combine, cover with plastic wrap and let sit in the fridge for 20 minutes or longer to let the flavors marinade and to chill. It will only last about 3 days in the fridge so use it!   

Garlic Herb Tapioca Rolls

I have the sweetest neighbor.  In fact, everyone has been so helpful and concerned about our little family since the whole "Celiac crisis" took place and I am so grateful for good people who really care.  Like my amazing neighbor who just so happens to be an accomplished chef who caters at places like the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.  She came over one afternoon with a miniature tea set for my girls to play with her youngest son for my son to play with and ready to teach me how to make these super yummy and addictive tapioca rolls.  These gluten free, dairy free little guys go fast in this house, especially when I season them up to taste like the cheddar bay biscuits at Red Lobster!  The tapioca flour gives the inside a gooey cheesy effect that is so good!

1 1/4 cup milk (coconut, almond or soy)

1/2 cup oil (olive or canola)

1 1/2 tsp. sea salt

1 3/4 cup tapioca flour (also called tapioca starch)

2 eggs, tempered

1 clove garlic, grated or finely minced

Fresh herbs, about 3-4 leafs or sprigs of each or any other combination you'd like, chopped:

thyme, parsley & basil

Heat milk, oil and salt in a small sauce pan.  Bring to a boil and immediately pour over tapioca flour. Temper eggs in a little of the boiled milk combo before adding to the bowl.  You don't want scrambled eggs in your rolls. Stir together with a wooden spoon.  The dough should form in to a sticky ball and don't worry if it takes the eggs a minutes to be incorporated, just keep stirring switching to a fork if that helps.  Stir in the garlic and chopped herbs. 

Put the dough into the fridge to cool. It will thicken more as it cools.  Preheat oven to 400.  After it's cooled drop by the heaping tbsp. onto a lightly greased baking sheet.  Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the top is slightly golden brown and has formed a crust.  The inside will still be a little gooey, but that's okay.  They're best eaten right out of the oven.  If you won't eat them all in one sitting freeze the rest on a cookie sheet then transfer to a freezer bag.  Then when you're ready for more just pop the frozen dough straight in the oven. 

Adjusting to Life's Curve Balls

It happens to everyone. Those turn-your-world-upside-down curve balls that seem to come out of nowhere. I can't even begin to tell the half of it, so here's the Cliff's notes:

About a month after the big surprise that I was expecting our fourth child my youngest Miss {M}, slowly lost energy and became grumpy and moody.  Then started the severe diarrhea followed by occasional vomiting, both of which became more persistent and chronic over the weeks that followed. After visiting the Instacare and then the emergency room at Primary Children's Medical Center three times, every time being told it was probably a virus and to wait it out, finally we were referred to a pediatric gastroenterology.  My poor baby had lost a third of her body weight, was listless, pale and in all reality slowly dying before my eyes. The most likely diagnosis....Celiac Disease. In other words, a gluten intolerance. 

People with celiac disease who eat foods containing gluten experience an immune reaction in their small intestines, causing damage to the inner surface of the small intestine and an inability to absorb certain nutrients.

Obviously we didn't eat a bunch of junk food and the Paleo diet our family had loosely followed was already gluten free so just switching to a more regimented gluten free diet would turn it around and she would begin getting better no problem, right?  Wrong! Our 2 year old's little body was already in a downward spiral and picking up pace and despite my relief that we finally had answers and a way to manage it came a little too late.

It wasn't until we spent 20 days of the last month at the hospital with our daughter doing every plausible blood and stool test, endoscopy, colonoscopy, feeding tube and central PICC line with nutrients running straight into her veins that she finally began to improve. And the official diagnosis...Celiac Crisis.  

Celiac crisis is a rare, poorly understood, but potentially deadly condition in which patients with celiac disease suffer from severe diarrhea and other serious metabolic changes. 

Celiac crisis is specifically defined as acute onset or rapid progression of gastrointestinal symptoms, together with signs or symptoms of dehydration or malnutrition that may be attributed to celiac disease, and which require hospitalization and/or supplemental nutrition. 

However, they're still not completely sure it was all due to Celiac disease or if there was some other autoimmune response triggered by a virus or bacteria.  Whatever the case we were finally able to bring {M} home, still with the central line providing needed nutrients her body is unable to absorb on it's own yet. Guess I should have become a nurse after all. Despite that, I'm getting good at playing the part of nurse to prepare everything, flush the lines, hook and unhook her PICC line everyday.  

The best news is she's improving and after months of frustration and heartsick worry I have my happy little {M} back and I am so grateful that I was prepared with an arsenal of healthy gluten free or at least meals that I could easily convert to gluten free.  Not only was I prepared with recipes and know-how, but so was my family.  My older two children, ages 8 and 5, were willing without feeling too deprived to join in as a family to support {M} in her diet change.  Our whole family now is 100% gluten free. This change is something that would have been way more challenging than it already has been if our family hadn't been accustomed to eating a healthy diet. 

It's never too late to make a change for the better! Thanks for everyone who's visited Food L'amor while I've been M.I.A. Expect more fabulous gluten free dishes coming soon!  

{Homemade} White Bean Chili

"Is it spring yet?"  My kids and I are going a little stir crazy with all this wintry weather that just won't end! So to stay warm, full and healthy, why not heat things up with a little chili. This white bean chili is full of flavor without any of the added calories or unnecessary processed additives. Using whatever yummy leftover chicken you have hanging out in your fridge means you save money on your grocery bill and add even more yummy flavor. It's so fast and  easy to throw together, this chili may turn into one of your go-to dishes when you don't have much time, but a big appetite.
Serves 4-6 (depending on how big your helpings are ;)

1 tbsp. olive oil
1 white or yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 - 15 oz. cans low sodium white beans, drained and rinsed
1 - 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
4-5 cups chicken broth (add more broth if you like it soupier)
1 - 4 oz. can fire roasted diced green chilies
1 lb. cooked chicken, cubed or shredded.  Leftover rotisory or grilled chicken is perfect!
1/2-1 tbsp. cumin
1/2-1 tbsp.  coriander
2-3 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
Salt to taste

(my kids don't like a huge kick of spicy so mine was a little dulled down.  When adding spices, if you're unsure how much to put in start small, taste and adjust to what suits you and your family best.)

Heat olive oil in a stew pot and add onion and garlic. Cook until fragrant and lightly caramelized.  Now just throw all remaining ingredients in!  Stir it up and let it simmer until hot and steaming.  Or put it all in your slow cooker and let it go for the afternoon until you're ready to eat it.

Garnish with any or all of these:
shredded cheddar cheese
fresh cilantro
corn tortilla chips
chopped green onions
diced tomatoes

Rosemary Citrus Salmon & Kale

So this turned out to be the yummiest dish!  I had to pat myself on the back :) This meal is so packed with vitamins, antioxidants, omega 3's and flavorful goodness it's crazy!  The trick to this incredibly moist, flavorful salmon is to pan sear it in some coconut oil and then loosely wrap it in tin foil with the edges pinched tightly closed.  Place it right on the burner to steam in all the flavors of the sweet citrus Oro Blanco grapefruit and earthy rosemary.  Set it on top of some garlic and citrus infused kale and oh my heavens!  Have I talked it up enough?

2-4 salmon fillets, rinsed and patted dry
1 Oro Blanco grapefruit, 4 slices the rest reserved
2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary or about 1/2-1 tsp. dried rosemary per fillet
1 bunch kale, stems removed and roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp. coconut oil
sea salt and pepper to taste

Start by heating a tablespoon of coconut oil in a large nonstick skillet.  Rotate the pan to get the oil evenly distributed. Season both sides of the fillets with salt and pepper and place in the hot skillet to sear for two minutes each side.  If you try to turn the salmon too soon it may stick. Once they're seared remove skillet from heat and place salmon on a piece of tin foil.
Don't stack them on top of each other.  Give everyone a spot. Top each salmon fillet with fresh chopped rosemary leaves, stems removed or dried rosemary and a slice of Oro Blanco.  Place another piece of foil loosely on top and pinch the edges closed. Now just put the tin foil package right on the burner (medium - medium/low heat) and watch it slowly puff up like a pillow. Let it vapor cook for about 3 minutes (you'll smell when it's ready) before removing it from the heat.
In the same skillet you seared the fish in heat another tablespoon coconut oil and garlic.  Throw in the kale and turn to coat.  Squeeze the juice from the reserved half of the Oro Blanco grapefruit and let the kale wilt and shrink down by half, but still bright green.  Place a nice helping of garlic kale on the plate topped with a salmon fillet and it's Oro Blanco friend.
Serve and savor immediately :)