My favorite breakfast bowl

I have been eating this a lot recently. I created it for a breakfast bowl but it could be eaten for lunch or dinner too. It is delicious and I have even packed it to go. (Once I even ate some when I was stuck in morning traffic on my way to Beverly Hills for work...)

So all you will need is:

1. A batch of cooked spaghetti squash which you can prepare in bigger batches ahead of time and just warm it up in the frying pan or microwave. How to prepare spaghetti squash. Add some salt, olive oil and fresh herbs to taste if you like.
2. Some fried ground beef or bison. Add salt to taste. You could also use any other leftover meat.
3. Sauerkraut or other fermented vegetables
4. Sliced olives (check ingredients so they are AIP compatible if following AIP)
5. You can also add any leftover salad or veggies or sliced avocado is delicious on it too.

Pur spaghetti squash in the bowl and top it with all the other ingredients. Enjoy!

PS. This would make an excellent camping or travel food too that you could prepare ahead of time and eat cold or find a way to warm it up. Don't heat the fermented veggies though, keep them separate. Heating would destroy beneficial bacteria.

New BREAKFAST cook book and a sample pancake recipe!

Happy New Year from Sequoia national forest! (I did schedule this post ahead of time as there is not much of internet access where we are!)

I am so proud to announce our new cook book coming out TODAY! It is a pretty incredible e-book with 85 breakfast recipes. Just breakfasts! Because breakfast seems always to be puzzling people most when they go on a grain free diet and all their old safe breakfast foods fly out the window.

One year ago I was preparing to start AIP diet to battle blood sugar swings and food intolerances. The diet I started on January 2nd has been life changing for me. I still have healing to do, but I have come a long way and have learnt what foods tweak me and which don't. I feel better. And I have learnt how to eat really healthy.

I nowadays recommend AIP almost to anyone as a diet reset, to check in how your body is doing, feel better, and especially if you have any autoimmune issues or unexplained illnesses, it is a great way to start healing and feeling better. If you do the reintroductions properly after eliminating lots of foods for 30 days (or more) you get valuable information of which foods you are sensitive to, or which foods make you feel yucky, cause insomnia, headaches or other symptoms or have your autoimmune illness flare up.

I am so excited to be part of this new cook book. It was my biggest fear when starting the diet - what to eat for breakfast? This book has 85 answers to that question. It has a variety of breakfast recipes from several different bloggers (including me!) and authors who are following the AIP diet themselves. The editor is the lovely Eileen Laird of Phoenix Helix, a popular AIP blog. You can imagine my excitement when she asked me to be part of this community cook book project.

In the AIP breakfast cook book there are recipes for skillets, pancakes, waffles, soups, patties, bowls etc. All paleo and AIP compatible recipes. The recipes are grain free, sugar free, dairy free, egg free, seed and nut free, night shade free. One great thing about the book is that it even has dietary modifications for those avoiding coconut, the ones following a low-FODMAP diet, GAPS/SCD or low-histamine diet. The low-FODMAP modification was something I was dealing with. You can read about that here.

Here is a taste of what the book is about. It is just one of many pancake recipes!

Oven baked pumpkin spice pancakes
by Jaime of Gutsy by Nature


2 tablespoons gelatin
1/2 cup hot water
4 medjool dates, pits removed
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2/3 cup sweet potato flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Topping: maple syrup, honey, and/or whipped coconut cream, optional

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
2. Dissolve the gelatin in the hot water and mix well.
3. In a food processor or high speed blender, puree dates, pumpkin, coconut oil, apple cider vinegar, and the gelatin and water mixture until smooth.
4. Add sweet potato flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Puree again until all ingredients are well combined (the batter will be thick – more like a cake than a traditional pancake).
5. Make six roughly equal size pancakes on the cookie sheet – spreading them out so that each one is about 1/4 inch thick.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until they hold together when you gently slide a spatula under them and try to move them.
7. Serve with desired topping or eat plain.

Good Morning Breakfast Salad

Before paleo life, when I was on a standard Finnish diet I had every morning pretty much the same breakfast (like probably a lot of other Finns if they didn’t eat oat meal): A slice of dark sour rye bread with butter, a slice of cheese and sliced cucumbers or tomatoes with some herb salt (Herbamare). If someone had told me that I would one day give up that habit and eat soup or even a salad for breakfast, I would have probably laughed politely and thought: Never.

Leaving grains and dairy has changed my thoughts about breakfasts completely. Any food can be a breakfast food now. I mean I tend to lean towards bacon and breakfast patties with veggies and fruit but occasionally I eat also soups and salads. Soup is actually a common breakfast food in Japan so it just feels strange here in the West.

I have been meaning to post this recipe for a while now. We have an AIP breakfast cook book coming out on January 1st (stay tuned!) so I thought I should finally post this breakfast recipe too. It is not in the book but it is delicious and should be shared!

One day few weeks ago when I came back from my early morning Crossfit workout I craved something fresh but also warm. I used leftover romaine lettuce from the fridge and picked some lettuce and cress from the garden and made this salad. I had some leftover dairy free ranch dressing left and it paired well with the salad, see the recipe below.

Making the salad was a nice meditative activity and morning sun in the garden felt good and I watched for a while the bees pollinate my spaghetti squash flowers.

Good Morning Salad

A few strips of bacon (I buy sugar free bacon from US Wellness Meats)
Half a package of mushrooms
Lettuce
Cress
One mango
One avocado
Olives
a Persian cucumber

For ranch dressing, add the following ingredients together in a jar with a lid. Shake the jar to mix the dressing.

1 cup of coconut kefir
1 tsp honey
1 tbsp lemon juice
¼ tsp garlic powder
salt to taste
1 tsp fresh parsley, chopped

1.  Fry the bacon with the mushrooms in a cast iron pan.
2.  Tear lettuces in pieces.
3.  Chop cucumbers, mango and avocado. Remove pits from olives and slice them.
4.  Pile the ingredients on a plate, the warm mushrooms and bacon on top. Serve with the dressing.

Don't forget to check back in on January 1st (subscribe to posts to get the email!) when the new breakfast cook book comes out! This book rocks!

Brussel Sprout Lover's Pan of Happiness

Did you know that in my native language, Finnish, brussel sprouts are called "rose cabbages"? I love that name! They do look like little cute baby cabbage heads. Anyway, this recipe is so good. You will love it, I promise! You will want to have this for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I do at least. If you ever meet someone who says they don't like brussel sprouts, offer them a taste of this dish! You might just convert them. Have I sold this recipe to you yet?

I loooove brussel sprouts in all forms so who am I to say though, but I have heard a lot of sighs of happiness from people eating this food. This is the best brussel sprouts recipe I know of.  What is your favorite way of preparing brussel sprouts? Please share in comments!

I usually buy sugar free and additive free delicious bacon from US Wellness Meats, for this day's version I had to use alternate bacon as they have been out, the bacon is so good. I am a part of their affiliate program so if you buy yours through my link above you support my blog! Thank you!

Delicious Sauteed Brussel Sprouts 

1/2 lb bacon 
a couple of pounds of brussels sprouts
1/2 lbs of mushrooms (optional)
1 big clove of garlic
1/3 cup of broth (I make my own delicious and healthy broth, learn how you can, too!)
1/3 cup coconut milk
2 tbsp creamed coconut
salt to taste

1. Prepare the brussels sprouts. Wash them, cut the hard bottom part off, remove any too wilted outer leaves and cut the sprouts in half.
2. Wash mushrooms and cut them in half. Very small ones you can keep whole.
3. Cut bacon in small pieces.
4. Brown the bacon pieces in a large skillet on medium heat. Add garlic and stir.
5. Add brussels sprouts and mushrooms and toss them in the bacon fat for a couple of minutes.
6. Add broth, coconut milk and creamed coconut and simmer on low until the brussels sprouts are as soft as you like them. Mix every now and then to prevent anything from burning. Add more liquid if it all evaporates to prevent the dish from burning.
7. Enjoy alone or with friends!

Paleo Camping Food

Last weekend we went to Joshua Tree with some friend families to camp and do some rock climbing. I had never been camping yet completely grain free so I had to do some planning and preparing ahead but it was surprisingly easy to come up with a grain free camping menu.

Most of it was AIP friendly too apart from some gluten free sausages that might have had night shade spices and kids had some s'mores with gluten free graham crackers at the campfire. Here are some ideas for your future camping trips!

Check out also my post about traveling while on a special diet. The travel food ideas apply to camping too.

Equipment needed for the camp kitchen (on top of a tent, sleeping bags, pads, warm clothes and other camping gear you need):

a camp stove and fuel

lighter or matches

a frying pan and spatula

cutting board

knife
can opener *swiss army knife works for many of your needs

plates, cups, forks, knives and spoons

paper towels are the thing I always miss when I don't have them

hand disinfectant is handy to use after handling the raw sausage 

flash light, lantern or headlight if you plan on cooking in the dark

Dr. Bronner's liquid soap is handy for dishwashing and hand washing

a brush or sponge for washing dishes

coal if you use a grill

firewood if you want to cook on fire

Breakfasts:

Pancakes

I made ahead of time some plantain pancake batter at home and stored it in ziploc bags to use at the campground.

Breakfast Sausage and fried zucchini

I made a breakfast sausage mix before hand at home and stored it in ziploc bags to use at the campground. I have modified a breakfast sausage recipe from Nom Nom Paleo for this.

2 lb ground pork (at least 20% fat)

1 tbsp maple syrup

1 tbsp salt

fresh herbs to taste (cut them with scissors in small pieces) - I used rosemary, thyme, sage and sweet marjoram

1. Mix everything together. Store in a container or a zip loc bag until you are ready to use them. 

2. Form little patties or sausages and fry in coconut oil or lard.

3. Cut zucchinis in slices and fry in the leftover fat from the patties (or bacon).

Sides: 

Sauerkraut or other fermented vegetables, sliced avocados, fresh fruit, fresh veggies like cucumbers and carrots

Lunches (all of these work as snacks too):

Persian cucumbers

Baby carrots

Crackers

Homemade fermented pickles or other veggies

Canned tuna or salmon (check ingredients)

Smoked salmon (check ingredients)

Avocados

Olives

Salads and coleslaws prepared ahead of time at home and packed in containers or ziploc bags. See a ziploc coleslaw recipe here.

Dinners

Tuna salad

Lettuce (ready cut in a bag is nice and saves trouble!)

Cucumbers, chopped

Olives

Canned tuna (or salmon)

Dressing prepared ahead of time at home and brought to camp in a leak proof jar:

1 part balsamic vinegar / coconut vinegar / apple cider vinegar

4 parts olive oil

1 tsp honey

Salt and pepper to taste

Shake to mix and serve with the salad.

Hobo Aluminum Foil Dinner

This you can prepare already at home to save trouble and time at the campground. 

Raw veggies and meats or fish of your choice 

Coconut oil

Salt

We used: 

turnips (some of us ate potatoes) - these I precooked at home

bok choy

spinach

pineapple

pork

mushrooms

Cut the veggies and meats and pack them in heavy aluminum foil (if you don't have heavy foil, it is best to double the foil). Before you close the packages, add some oil and salt. Put the foil packages on grill with charcoal or wait until the campfire has burnt  for a while so you can put the packages in the coals. Check from time to time to see if they are ready and that they don't burn. 

Happy camping! Please share your paleo camping food ideas in the comments below!

Plantain Pancakes (updated recipe!)

We make these grain free and vegan pancakes a lot. They are fast to make even on busy mornings. Kids love them, adults love them. Kids like to help making them. It is our new favorite breakfast in addition to leftovers and homemade maple pork sausage patties (I use the recipe from Nom Nom Paleo book for those). Last week I made some of this pancake batter at home to take camping and we fried them on our camp stove in Joshua Tree. During last months we have made all kinds of updates to the earlier recipe I posted. I started updating that post but there were so many updates that I decided to make a new post altogether.


I found this recipe from Purely Twins for grain free pancakes. I modified it a little to suit our diet. We have kept modifying the recipe to make it our own and here is the result of months of experimenting!

Our newest discovery were burro bananas as our grocery store was out of green plantains. They worked even better than plantains. The consistency of the pancake was amazing.

Grain free vegan pancakes
autoimmune paleo, vegan, grain free

1 green plantain or green burro banana (you can use yellow ones too, the batter will be just less starchy and more difficult to maneuver when turning the pancakes, I suggest adding 2 tbsp arrowroot starch or 1 tbsp coconut flour in this case)
1/2 cup full fat coconut milk or coconut kefir
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp coconut oil, melted (I buy mine from here, affiliate link that supports my blogging)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
pinch of sea salt (I like Himalayan pink salt, affiliate link)

1. Peel the plantain, chop it and add in the blender or food processor (this is a perfect job for little kids!)

2. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth.

3. Warm your pan on medium-low heat.

4. Spread the thick batter on the pan. You might need to spread it a little bit with a spatula so the pancakes are not too thick.

5. Cook on one side until you are able to turn them. They are ready when they seem solid.

6. Serve them with maple syrup, jam, berries, unsweetened apple sauce, whatever you like. My kids favorites are apple sauce and the other one's maple syrup. You can transform them to a healthy lunch (school lunch too!) or even dinner by adding spinach and making spinach pancakes. Or eat them later cold as "bread".

Have a great Easter weekend! Easter post coming soon!

Sirpa

Bone Broth And An Every Day Gourmet Soup

We eat a lot of soup. The base of the soup is always the same, homemade broth. The other ingredients vary as I use whatever I have at hand. Every soup becomes different in this way and is always a new adventure! Read on to learn how to make your own broth/stock and how to use it as a base for a soup made of foods you happen to have at hand. I like to eat this soup when I have it at hand for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

Home made bone broth is healthy and delicious

The secret to a really good soup is in the homemade long cooked broth. The best restaurants make their own broths and you can cook delicious foods if you base them on your home cooked stocks. I save all bones and scraps of meat and veggies in my freezer and make broth out of them. You can use any kind of bones. Beef, chicken, pork, duck - all bones will do. You can buy grass fed beef bones from a butcher or health food store or use your leftover carcasses or bones from drumsticks or ribs. If you are not ready to use them, or don't have enough from one meal, you can freeze them in a ziploc bag to wait for a better moment and keep adding bones to the bag.

I prefer to use bones that have a little bit of meat attached to them, because the broth tastes better that way I think, but it is not necessary. I usually leave some meat on chicken carcasses for this purpose or add some leftover chunks of meat. Saving trimmed parts opf connective tissue (in that freezer bag) is a good idea too. Especially beef bones you might be able to use twice for two batched of broth!

Ingredients:

bones
water
(it is believed a splash or two of apple cider vinegar will help in removing minerals from the bones but some don't like the taste - I do like the added flavor)

Optional add ons (pick one or more to flavor the broth):

carrots
celery
bay leaves
whole peppercorns
fresh parsley or carrot tops
garlic cloves

Method 1: Slowcooker

Add the bones and any add ons in your crockpot. Add enough water to more than sufficiently cover the bones. Cook on low for 8-24 hours. Or even longer. I have sometimes had the broth simmering for days and just made sure to add more liquid from time to time. It has been nice to scoop a cupful of hot broth to drink and use in cooking straight from the cooker.

Method 2: In the oven

Add the bones and any add ons in an oven proof stock pot with a lid. Add enough water to more than sufficiently cover the bones. Bake in 200F for 8-24 hours. Or longer.

Strain the ready broth (you can try to use the bones for a second lighter batch) and freeze it or store in the fridge for up to a week and use in your cooking or drink by the cupful.

How to transform your broth into a delicious soup and get called a gourmet chef

1. Add chopped vegetables and meat in a pot. You can use up all leftover scraps from your fridge!
2. Pour in enough broth to cover the vegetables (you can replace some of it with water if you want).
3. Add spices to taste. I usually add salt, grated fresh ginger, crushed garlic, sometimes pepper.
4. Let simmer on low until the vegetables and meat are cooked.

TIP: My favorite soup contains chicken, white cabbage, kale, mushrooms and carrots with ginger and garlic. Sometimes if I am in a rush and don't have broth I boil a whole chicken in water for an hour or longer if I have time and in the meanwhile chop vegetables. When the chicken is cooked, I fish it out, throw the veggies and spices in to simmer and and then strip the meat from the bones and add the meat in the soup. The carcasse I keep for a second round of broth I cook for a longer time.

Liver and Mushroom Stir Fry

My tries to incorporate more liver to our meals led to this dish. I used chicken liver for mild flavor but for stronger liver flavor use beef liver. I'd like pork liver for some foods but it is not commonly sold in the US it seems.

Liver and Mushroom Stir Fry

8 oz bacon (check ingredients carefully and for sugar free/additive free bacon, check out US Wellness Meats website)
8 oz liver
8 oz mushrooms of your choice
2-3 handfuls spinach or dandelion greens
2 cloves of garlic

1. Cut bacon in small pieces and slice liver thinly.
2. Fry bacon pieces in a cast iron pan. When the bacon is crispy, remove from the pan but leave the fat.
3. Add thinly sliced or chopped garlic to the pan. Be careful not to burn it.
4. Add mushrooms and fry until they get some color, then add spinach. Continue frying until spinach is just wilted. Remove from the pan but leave the fat.
5. Add the liver in the pan and fry until it gets some color.
6. Add all the other ingredients back to the pan and toss around for a minute or two so they are well mixed.
7. Serve as an appetizer or for main course with salad. Would be a nice breakfast too.

This recipe was posted in Phoenix Helix AIP Roundtable. Check it out for more recipes!

Finnish Rice Porridge (Pudding) With Blueberry Sauce (Gluten and Dairy Free)

In Finland rice porridge is eaten as a traditional Christmas morning food but also throughout the year as a breakfast. It is eaten with some cinnamon and sugar or with for instance a sauce made of blueberries and thickened with potato starch or some other starch. This food does not follow autoimmune or paleo protocols I have been posting recently about but it is gluten free and dairy free. I am posting this because I am often asked for this recipe and my kids still eat some rice. The blueberry sauce in this post I thickened with arrowroot starch to avoid night shades.

Rice Porridge (Riisipuuro)

1 cup white short grain rice such as arborio or sushi rice (in Finland they sell it as "porridge rice"!)
1 cup water
1 cup full fat coconut milk + 4 cups water
1 tsp sea salt

1. Add 1 cup of water and 1 cup of rice to a big sauce pan. Boil for 5 minutes.

2. Add coconut milk and rest of the water.

3. Bring to boil stirring from time to time. Keep an eye that it doesn't boil over and make a mess of your stove top (I hate cleaning it so I try to be careful!).

4. Simmer on low for an hour mixing it a few times so it won't burn. If you soak the rice before hand, the cooking time will be shorter.

5. Add salt. Serve with cinnamon and (maple) sugar or blueberry sauce.

TIP: Make it in the oven: Use a fat of your choice to grease a big enough oven pan. Add all ingredients to the pan, mix and cook in 350 F for three hours. My mom used to make this overnight on very low heat.

Blueberry sauce (Mustikkakeitto)

2 cups frozen wild blueberries
4 cups water
3 tbsp arrowroot starch (an other starch would work too, in my pre-AIP life I used potato starch)
3 tbsp maple sugar

1. Measure all ingredients and add them a sauce pan.

2. Bring to boil stirring it constantly. When the first bubbles appear remove from heat. It should have thickened by now. Let cool down. It is best served cold with the warm porridge.

Oxtail Soup

I like oxtail soup because I like the idea that nothing is wasted if an animal is killed for our nourishment. It is also the most delicious thing I have ever tasted. Even my selective seven year old said that he would like to eat it every day. In Finland oxtail soup is made traditionally from root vegetables and onions. I have added also some greens or cabbage and I like to add some ginger to bring flavor. Here is my slow cooker ox tail soup recipe. I eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner when I have it at hand.

Ox tail soup

One ox tail, in pieces (if you'd have a whole tail, cut the tail in pieces from the joints)
Fat of your choice, I use lard or coconut oil
A carrot
Two turnips
One small rutabaga
A teaspoon of grated fresh ginger
One clove of garlic
A bunch of collard greens or kale of white cabbage
A zucchini or yellow squash
Salt
2 Bay leaves
Some fresh parsley
A couple of quarts of broth (or if you don't have broth at hand like I didn't today, I put in enough water and a couple of beef bones cut in half)
3 tbsp lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
(a few peppercorns)

1. Chop the vegetables.

2. Melt the fat on a frying pan and brown the ox tail pieces and root vegetables.

3. Put all ingredients in the slow cooker and cook on low overnight or 8-10 hours (talk about a tasty breakfast waiting for you in the morning!) or until the meat falls off the bone.

4. Fish out all the bones and tail pieces. Let them cool. (Fish out also the bay leaves and peppercorns if you want.) In the meanwhile puree the veggies with an immersion blender or press them through a strain. Or leave them as is especially if you have cut them really small.

5. Remove the meat from the tail bones and chop in pieces and add to the soup.

6. If you want to remove fat from the soup, stick it in the fridge and peel the fat from the top when it has cooled down and the fat is a solid layer on the top.

Check out this coconut oil giveaway too!

More autoimmune paleo friendly recipes, check out this roundtable where this post was published too.

Ready Steady Eat: Fast Wraps for Any Meal or To Go (AIP, paleo, grain free, dairy free)

Some days when I have to whip up a meal from the random ingredients at hand it feels like I am on the British Ready Steady Cook show (to be honest I sometimes in my mind pretend I am on it!). They had a similar show in Finland and I used to love to watch it. In the show two chefs competing with each other create delicious and inventive meals from a bagful of random ingredients. They don't know before hand what ingredients they get and they have a very limited time to complete the task. What fascinated me about the show was how these chefs were able to come up with delicious meals in such a short time without any recipes or previous planning from a bagful of random ingredients they had no say over. There was usually also a limit how much the ingredients could cost (not much at all). Those chefs are my heroes especially as I have never been a much of a recipe follower.
I felt like a chef from that show today as I had to prepare lunch quickly to starving family members from the ingredients I had at hand. This is what I had:

1 lb ground beef (organic from Rainbow Ranch Farms)
1 carrot
1 zucchini
a handful of crimini mushrooms
an avocado
coconut wraps (you could also use other tortillas you have, big lettuce leaves, collard leaves or for instance these plantain wraps)
fermented ginger carrots (you could replace this with sauerkraut or just leave out)
lettuce (I picked some from our container garden!)
cucumber (diced)

I also had spices, coconut oil etc. basic ingredients of course (I used garlic powder, oregano and salt).

I put the ground beef on a cast iron pan with some coconut oil on medium heat mixing and chopping it and turning it over every now and then. In the same time grated the carrot and zucchini and chopped mushrooms in small pieces. I tossed them in the frying pan as well. I added some salt, oregano and garlic powder.

The I ran out to get the lettuce and fresh oregano, chopped them and diced the cucumber and avocado.

When the meat and vegetables were cooked I piled all ingredients on coconut wraps and rolled them. Note: Don't cook the fermented carrots to preserve the probiotics.

Alternatively, if you don't have any wraps or leaves to use, you could just mix it all up to a salad and add homemade coconut kefir from your fridge (or olive oil and balsamic vinegar) for a dressing.

Ready, steady, eat!

PS. You could prepare all the ingredients and pack them in your backpack to go and roll the wraps while you are hiking, running errands, at the beach or park.

Have you already taken part in my giveaway that will end in a couple of days?

This recipe has been published on Autoimmune Paleo Recipe Roundtable in Phoenix Helix Blog.

Strawberry Milkshake (Vegan)

I read on Facebook that an industrial milkshake from a fast food place contains 59 different ingredients! Holy strawberry! (I hope at least one of the ingredients is actually strawberry.)

Reading something like that makes me want to start a food revolution! I made this two ingredient strawberry shake (two ingredients with optional add ons) last weekend as my answer to the 59 ingredient shake. Here you go!

Strawberry Shake

1 small bag of frozen strawberries (I buy organic as strawberries absorb pesticides like crazy), let them thaw slightly if you have time
1 can of coconut milk or coconut milk kefir (I used full fat and it was pretty creamy, I might recommend light coconut milk for the first time in my life, or replacing some of the full fat milk with water)

If it is too thick, add water.

Other optional additions to try:
a pinch of salt (somehow it seems like a pinch of salt balances the coconutty flavor)
vanilla
maple syrup or honey to taste (a couple of tablespoons should do)

Mix in a blender until smooth.

Banana Yoghurt (Vegan, AIP, Paleo, Sugar Free)

When I was a kid my favorite yoghurt was banana yoghurt. It was made of cow milk and it was probably full of sugar. I had a sudden urge the other morning to try to replicate it with allergen free and healthier ingredients. So I made some with homemade coconut milk kefir and bananas! It didn't taste exactly the same of course but it was very delicious. It would make a great dessert as well.

Banana Yoghurt
Vegan, Paleo, AIP, Sugar Free, Dairy Free (consumed in small amounts also low-FODMAP)

2 bananas
1 cup homemade coconut kefir
Optional: cinnamon, vanilla (from a bean, not the extract)

Add the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. You can leave it out to ferment for a few hours more if you like or eat it straight away. If you leave it out to ferment, taste it after few hours to see if it is ready or do you want it to ferment more. I left it out for 7-8 hours and the flavor became very rich. I ate some and left it in the fridge overnight and it had turned into a fluffy, slightly tangy banana mousse! I added a pinch of cinnamon and and it was absolutely fabulous little treat.

By the way - if you want my posts directly to your email when I publish them, fill in your email to the field in the side panel on the right. The one under "Get New Posts to Your Email". I am not currently sending any other emails so you'll only get an email about the new posts, about one daily.

I shared this recipe on Phoenix Helix AIP Recipe Round Table this week. There are some great recipes!

Grain Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free and (Autoimmune) Paleo Breakfasts

We are so used to our grains or eggs for breakfast that if that is not an option it seems hard to find other breakfasty stuff to eat. Here are some ideas for paleo breakfasts.

If you avoid fruit, skip the ones containing fruit. Avocado is a fruit too by the way but low in fructose. I have eaten some occassional fruit in very small quantities as I don't tolerate big amounts of fructose. Coconut is a FODMAP too so skip that if you are avoiding those.

Breakfast ideas for (autoimmune) paleo diet followers (I will update this page as I come up with more):

Drinks:

Black, green or rooibos tea if not avoiding tea, herbal teas, water with lemon, bone broth, kombucha (if not avoiding tea) or water kefir, fermented home made ginger ale or root beer (will post soon... there is so much to post about!)

Foods:

Leftovers (this is my favorite, so easy!)

Plantain pancakes (plantains are low in fructose but go easy with the maple syrup)

Berries (often low in fructose) or pomegranate (high in fructose, so stick to a very small quantity) with a small amount of homemade coconut kefir (I might make another post about coconut kefir but basically I make mine using regular milk kefir grains in coconut milk, super easy and oh so delicious!)

Breakfast wraps: Fill either collard greens, lacinato kale or coconut wraps with foods you have available like carrots, avocado, cucumber, squash, fermented veggies (if store bought, check the ingredients!), naturally cured olives (check ingredients that they are just salt and water), lettuce, chicken, shrimp. Wrap them. I wrapped the collard greens just like cabbage rolls - which is a great autoimmune paleo food too with some modifications, I will make a post about that later.

TIP: Put the avocado first on the leaf and smash it with a fork to a quick sauce, the foods will stick into it and it will hold together better

Mashed cauliflower (FODMAP so don't overdo it) porridge with organic palm shortening and sea salt (boil some cauliflower, dicard most of the water and mash the cauliflower in the remaining water, add palm shortening and salt)

Filled avocado: Half an avocado, remove the seed and fill with shrimp, sprinkle with sea salt (Herbamare if not avoiding onions) and squeeze some lime on top

Smoothies:
-raspberry, banana, spinach or kale
-greens, berries and just a little bit of coconut milk (optional)
-greens, apple (high fructose so be careful with the amount) and limes
Add kombucha to any smoothie if not avoiding tea

(remember to keep the amount of fructose per day in minimum though, some recommend max 20g/day).

Soup that has been in the slow cooker overnight (home made broth, meat and AIP legal veggies, mushrooms (FODMAP), can be spiced with salt, herbs, ginger and garlic if not avoiding)
OR: Stew of meat and veggies and broth that has been in the slow cooker overnight

Avocado and cucumber with smoked salmon or cooked shrimp - you can also put all these in nori wraps "taco style"

Stir fry with any meat or sea food and zucchini, asparagus and mushrooms - spinach or kale might be a nice addition (for faster mornings, chop ingredients already in the evening and store in a jar in the fridge), add sea salt and herbs

In the toaster oven: bake sliced zucchinis (put some olive oil on them and for instance Herbamare salt if not avoiding onions) and premade breakfast sausage/meat patties / meat balls (fry or bake ground meat in any shape you like, you can add herbs, salt, apple sauce, mashed boiled cauliflower, coconut flour etc. to the "batter"). Eat with sauerkraut, fermented pickles (check ingredients and watch out for mustard seeds and peppers) or carrots, rutabaga or turnip sticks.

Grain Free and Vegan Pancakes (updated!)

It is the third day of our autoimmune paleo experiment. I woke up earlier than usual but don't feel as tired as I think I would usually if I did so. We started our lovely sunny Saturday morning with pancakes and red currants.

I found this recipe from Purely Twins for grain free pancakes. I modified it a little as I wasn't sure if psyllium is allowed on AIP (I think it is not allowed on GAPS diet). I replaced the psyllium with arrowroot starch (not allowed on GAPS if you follow that as well). Next time I will try the recipe without psyllium AND arrowroot, I think it might work out just fine. Or a little coconut flour might help too if it is too runny. The yoghurt I replaced with coconut milk. I was out of home made coconut kefir but will try the recipe again in a couple of days when I have fermented some more. I also added a pinch of salt which wasn't in the original recipe but I like a pinch of good quality salt here and there.

The kids loved these (I think I heard one say: "These are the best pancakes EVER!") and ate several. They are not fully on the AIP (yet at least, I want get adjust myself first) so for their pancakes, per their request, I added some dairy free and gluten free mini chocolate chips (Enjoy life). I ate mine with a little bit of maple syrup and I think one pancake was fine but after I ate two I felt a little nauseous. So for me these are good one at a time. Husband was fine with two and he brought a third left over pancake with him when he left to Rainbow Ranch Farms to pick up our monthly organic meat batch. As a side note for those who remember me as a long time vegetarian: After we found out about our food sensitivities and started having health issues, I had to leave out legumes and nuts and grains etc. and had to take some organic meat in my diet. I still like to cook vegetarian/vegan foods though.

Grain free vegan pancakes
autoimmune paleo, vegan, grain free

1 green plantain (mine were already yellowish as you can see in the photo but they worked ok, green ones make a better batter though) UPDATE 4/18/2014: Green burro bananas work even better than plantains!
1/2 cup full fat coconut milk or coconut kefir
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp coconut oil, melted (I buy mine from here, affiliate link that supports my blogging)
2 tbsp arrowroot starch (UPDATE 4/18/2014: if your bananas are really green you can omit this and won't know a difference)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
pinch of sea salt
(1 tbsp maple syrup, optional, I don't actually add this anymore but it is for you who have a sweet tooth!)

TIP: If the batter is very loose, say, if the plantains were already very ripe, you can add a tablespoon or two of coconut flour too.

1. Peel the plantain, chop it and add in the blender or food processor (this is a perfect job for little kids!)

2. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth.

3. Warm your pan on medium-low heat.

4. Spread the thick batter on the pan. You might need to spread it a little bit with a spatula so the pancakes are not too thick.

5. Cook on one side until you are able to turn them. They are ready when they seem solid. They won't be very easy to turn if the plantains were already yellow.

Have a great weekend!
Sirpa

PS. Transform these pancakes to a lunch or dinner by adding spinach to make spinach pancakes. Or eat them later cold as "bread".

What to eat on (autoimmune) paleo diet? Meal ideas!

After returning from our New Year's trip to Sequoia tonight we ate a feast of sushi, some Californian Sauvignon blanc and coconut milk ice cream from Wholefoods before starting the autoimmune paleo protocol tomorrow. I have been brainstorming on meal ideas. We eat mostly grain/legume/nut free food already so this is not a big change. Biggest change is leaving out morning coffee, chocolate, occassional rice and legumes, nuts, seeds, processed foods, sugar and such things.

Here is my go to list of meal ideas for the coming weeks:

Breakfasts/lunches:

-Soup from home made bone broth, greens, mushrooms, chicken (I buy our organic meat from Rainbow Ranch Farms), ginger, sea salt and herbs

-Wraps: Using either collard green leaves, other cabbage leaves, lettuce or coconut wraps (made yourself in a dehydrator - google for recipes - or buy from here or here) wrap in them anything that is allowed on the diet like cooked chicken, cucumber, fermented veggies, avocado, naturally cured olives, quacamole made with avocados, garlic, lemon and sea salt, carrots etc. etc.

-Smoothies: greens, berries and coconut milk or greens, apples and limes and kombucha (remember to keep the amount of fructose per day in minimum though, some recommend max 20g/day).

-Avocado and cucumber with smoked salmon or cooked shrimp - you can also put all these in nori wraps "taco style"

-Stir fry with beef or chicken or pork and zucchini, asparagus and mushrooms - spinach or kale might be a nice addition (for faster mornings, chop ingredients already in the evening and store in a jar in the fridge), add sea salt and herbs

-In the toaster oven: bake sliced zucchinis (put some olive oil on them and for instance Herbamare salt) and premade breakfast sausage/meat patties / meat balls (fry or bake ground meat in any shape you like, you can add herbs, salt, apple sauce, mashed boiled cauliflower, coconut flour etc. to the "batter"). Eat with sauerkraut or carrots.

-baking some coconut flour biscuits/muffins, will have to look into the fructose contents first

Dinner ideas:

-Spaghetti squash (recipes coming soon!) with olive oil and herbs, steamed broccoli and baked/fried/roasted chicken or ground beef patties or sauteed shrimp (sautee in coconut oil with garlic if not avoiding and sea salt)

-Soups with home made bone broth - AIP legal veggies and meat (see the breakfast soup, it works for luncha and dinner as well :))

-Fried or baked fish with steamed veggies (I like to add some coconut oil and Herbamare on the steamed veggies, my faves are kale, bok choy, spinach, cauliflower)

-Mashed cauliflower, beef patties spiced with salt and grated carrots and/or rutabaga with orange juice

-Sweet potato fries (sweet potatos, coconut oil or olive oil or lard and salt and baked in the oven, will post a recipe later), beef patties in lettuce wrap with fermented cucumbers (will post recipe later) and avocado slices

-Roasted chicken (herbs, salt, oil, lemon, maybe garlic if you choose to include that in your AIP, I think some avoid it), roasted cauliflower (toss cauliflower in olive oil/coconut oil and salt and bake on a baking sheet in one layer) and sauteed greens (sautee any greens in bone broth or coconut oil or lard and add salt and garlic if you choose).

-This idea is from a dear friend, Kristin (thanks!!!): Fry some chicken strips in lard or coconut oil and add some broth and greens and simmer until ready.

-slow cooker stroganoff: ground beef or stew beef, coconut cream, home made broth, salt and eat with boiled sweet potato or rutabaga cubes or as is. Top the stroganoff serving with home made chopped pickles.

More ideas and actual recipes later!
-Creamy cauliflower soup
-Finnish Cabbage casserole (without pepper - I have heard mixed opinions about including black pepper on AIP - and without or with only very little molasses and no Earth balance that might be mentioned in the recipe, palm shortening instead will do)

Snacks (I am personally torn on snacks, I prefer to just eat 3 full meals per day but will sometimes snack too):

-If you choose to have fruit on your AIP diet - not everyone does, you can snack on fruit in small quantities (better to be eaten alone, not with meals anyway)

-Carrot/rutabaga/turnip/cucumber sticks (some choose not to eat starchy veggies on AIP)

-raw cauliflower

-avocados (I squeeze lemon on the avocado halves and sprinkle some Herbamare on the top).

Drinks: Water, kombucha (if not avoiding black tea/green tea that kombucha is made of) and water kefir, herb teas

Click on this link to see all autoimmune paleo diet friendly recipes from this blog.

More recipes:

http://autoimmune-paleo.com/recipes/

(I made the raspberry "cheese" cake and it melted in my mouth and tasted so good but it was almost too rich, we froze most of the cake and will eat it for a very long time!)

Excited to start this new experiment. It will be an adventure and I think I will learn a lot and feel great. I will try to post as many recipes as possible and also let you know how it is going. Talk to you soon!

XOXOX,

Sirpa