Sauteed Cinnamon Peaches with Coconut Cream

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am doing the 21 Day Sugar Detox and the Whole30 simultaneously. They are not the same thing, the Whole30 is much stricter and it's purpose is much more encompassing. I am following the Autoimmune Protocol as outlined in Dallas and Melissa Hartwig's book "It Starts with Food", they are the creators of the Whole30. My list of food that I can eat has been narrowed down by the Autoimmune Protocol, so I need to learn how to prepare tasty dishes with the foods I can eat, luckily, there is still quite a bit to choose from.

I created this dish to add a little flair to my meal yesterday, and found it to be very good, so good I wanted to share it with you all.

Sauteed Cinnamon Peaches with Coconut Cream

Serves 1

1 Tbsp Coconut Oil ( I prefer the cold pressed, flavorless kind)
1 Cup Sliced, Ripe Peaches (fresh is best, but frozen is great too)
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
Pinch of Salt
Coconut Cream
Unrefined sugar, honey or stevia (optional)

Put can of full fat coconut milk in fridge so that the cream will harden and rise to top. Best to leave in fridge overnight, but at least 3 hours will work.

Spoon out hardened, white coconut cream from can into a small bowl, save rest of coconut milk for a smoothie. Whisk coconut cream until creamy and looks like whipped cream without the stiff or soft peaks. Put back in fridge and keep cold.

Heat a small skillet on medium high heat. Add the coconut oil to skillet and let get hot. Carefully add the sliced peaches to the hot skillet and let sit for a few minutes before stirring. Add cinnamon and stir every so often, but let the peaches sit for a few minutes in between. When peaches are lightly caramelized, turn off heat and put in a serving bowl. If you need to add some extra sweetness, now is the time to add it (I did not use any in mine and found it perfect for me). Put a dollop of coconut cream on top, then sprinkle on a small amount of cinnamon.

This recipe is quite versatile, you could use nutmeg is place of cinnamon if you like. Also in place of the coconut cream, you could use fresh raw cream or regular whipped cream.

I hope you give it a try and let me know if you liked it.

Steph

Book Review and Giveaway of Practical Paleo By Diane Sanfilippo

This giveaway is now closed.

The winner of the Practical Paleo Book is: Eileen Lindsey!

"What is paleo? "Paleo" is short for Paleolithic, but the name is actually less important than the power of the overall approach.
While the term "Paleo" has gained traction in the mainstream media and on bookstore shelves everywhere due to the improved health of those who follow the lifestyle, you could call it "Primal", "Grain Free", "Real Food", "Whole Food", "Nutrient-Dense", or "Ancestral". Whatever name you choose, the "Paleo" way of eating is simple: Mimic our Ancestors, who suffered from fewer chronic diseases than modern populations." Diane Sanfilippo  Pg. 22 Practical Paleo 

I feel so honored that my humble blog was chosen to receive an advanced copy of Practical Paleo by Diane Sanfilippo to review. I am so excited to share this book with you today, it truly is a treasure! I'm actually not really sure what to call this book, it's not just a book or a cookbook, it's both, wrapped up in a gorgeous, photo filled, information packed book! You know those authors who publish health books, then make you wait a year or more and publish a separate cookbook to go with their health book, well there is no waiting with this one, cookbook is included!

Her book is divided into three parts:

Part 1: The Why-Food and Your Body.

Part 2: Thirty Day Meal Plans

Part 3: Recipes

In part one, Diane explains the science behind the "Paleo" or as I like to call it the "Real Food" way of eating. She explains in detail and easy to understand terms why real food is best for our bodies. She includes colorful and extremely helpful guides and illustrations as well as many tips to help us when eating out or on an airplane or at a party.

Part two contains the meal plans. She has 11 different ones to choose from depending on your health issues:

Autoimmune Conditions

Blood Sugar Regulation

Digestive Health

Thyroid Health

Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue

Neurological Health

Heart Health

Cancer Recovery

Athletic Performance

Fat Loss

Squeaky Clean Paleo

Each meal plan contains Diet and Lifestyle recommendations, nutritional supplements & herbs to consider, supportive nutrients & foods that contain them and then the meal plans themselves. I personally plan to implement the Autoimmune Conditions, Thyroid Health and Fat Loss meal plans for my particular health issues.

Part three is all about the recipes! She includes step by step picture tutorials on how to chop an onion, how to chop a pepper and how to chop anything. I have found them tremendously helpful and am now chopping more like a chef than a crazy lady :) She has recipes for salt blends and spice blends that are wonderful. She has really inspired me to break out of the salt and pepper only mold and start using more of the spices in my cabinet!

The very best part of the recipes is that they are fast and easy to prepare with short ingredient lists for most...just how I like it!! Also each recipe has a least one gorgeous photo for you to drool at, taken by the talented Bill Staley of The Food Lovers Kitchen. I must stress the fact that this book, from start to finish, is chock full of glossy, beautiful photos...no skimping on that. I don't know about you, but I love looking at photos when I'm reading a cookbook or book on food.

Here are some of the recipes I have made from Practical Paleo...

This was adapted from her recipe Chicken Wings, two ways...

First my husband could only find regular size drumsticks at Costco instead of the recommended drummettes (or you can use wings too of course). Secondly I decided to only make it one way lol. I doubled the recipe for the Pineapple Teriyaki wings and boy was I glad I did...they were finger licking good! I really appreciated that there was no actual teriyaki sauce called for in the recipe, the combination of ingredients give you a delicious, lightly sweet sauce to mimic the teriyaki flavor without the harmful soy and sugar.

Pumpkin Pancakes...

Thank you, thank you Diane for giving the option to use a banana as a sweetener for these yummy, nourishing pancakes! This is a picture of my son's plate with the whole shebang of butter and maple syrup on top. Mine was just plain with butter, but still quite sweet that I did not miss the maple syrup.

The next day when heating up the leftovers for my breakfast, I had a great idea...drizzle on coconut butter. Let me tell you, it is so good this way, very decadent, but without the guilt!

Citrus and herb whole roasted chicken...

This was one of our favorites, so simple, yet full of flavor! The picture above shows the lemon version which my family just woofed down so fast. I saw my oldest son (aka pickiest eater) spooning extra roasted carrots and onion on to his plate, the lemon gave them so much flavor.

OK, I have to admit I goofed the first time I made this recipe, I used oranges instead of lemon, (I actually loved the orange version better) but I had set the chicken, breast down in the baking dish and proceeded to season and roast it upside down...it was still delicious and I ate some of the skin anyway :)

Upside down Orange chicken...live and learn :)

Lemon rosemary broiled salmon...

Wowie zowie, this is our favorite recipe so far! We all wanted to eat the whole thing in one fell swoop, but thanks to my husband, the voice of reason, we ate half the first night then enjoyed the other half the next night.

Lemon rosemary broiled salmon with sauteed zucchini, onion and kale

When I am finished with my sugar detox, I will be trying this recipe for Flourless mocha-bacon brownies...sounds and looks so good!

In the back of the book, Diane has guides that can be torn out and put on your fridge to help you remember important information.

My favorite guide was the one to paleo foods, I can get in a rut eating the same veggies over and over again, this guide helps remind me there are many vegetables and protein sources to choose from!

I hope my review was able to give you a good idea of what you will be getting if you purchase this "Encyclopedia" of information. It will arm you with the knowledge and tools you need to attain radiant health, which is what many of us are searching for.

This book will be released tomorrow, Aug.7th 2012!

Now for the giveaway! A brand spanking new copy of Practical Paleo will be mailed to the winner's doorstep!

"Like" my facebook page, Reading Your lips

"Like" Balanced Bites facebook page (Diane's page)

Post a comment below stating you have done both of these. The contest will be closed on Aug. 19th 2012 and the winner will be chosen and announced Monday, Aug. 20th 2012

**Update, I've changed the contest end date to Aug. 19th 2012

Good luck!

Steph

How to read lips...

I've mentioned in a earlier post that I was not born deaf, my parents did not notice that I had hearing loss till I was around 4 years old because I would not respond when they spoke to me while my back was turned.. That means I had at least 2-3 years of normal hearing before it started to decline (most likely triggered by a high fever of 106 that I had when 2 years of age). My earliest memory of that time, was wondering what all the fuss was, I thought I heard just fine. I had unconsciously learned to read lips to adapt to my new hearing loss and had no clue that I was doing it till later when I was older, I realized I needed to look at someones lips to understand them.

When I was about 6, I had a childhood friend at church who was 4. She and her mother and brother would sit in the pew in front of my family and we would get down under the pew and talk to each other silently, somehow that 4 year old little girl learned to read my lips so we could talk during church services! I vividly remember during one such time, her mom caught us and I saw her lurch forward with a look of pain on her face, her mom had given her a good swat lol (sorry Shannon). As we grew up, we continued to read each others lips to talk about boys in front of our moms so they would not know what we were saying, we did it at school too. It was such a handy ability :)

Years ago, I had someone tell me they wished that they could read lips too. It caused me to really think about how I learned it or how Shannon learned it as well. I came to the conclusion that we simply just watched lips. Yep, that's it, just watch people's lips when they speak and you will start to recognize how words look when they are formed by lips. For the most part, people will form their words the same way. You can practice this by saying the word "Oh", look at yourself in the mirror and see how your mouth looks while saying. Then have some family members say the word "Oh" and compare, you will most likely find everyones mouth looks almost the same while saying that word. Do it again with another word like "My", or whatever word you want, just play with it, you'll have fun learning. To become a really good lip reader, you need to always look at someones lips when they are talking with you, it will help you hone your skill.

I hope you found this helpful and insightful (please do not take this post to mean I think it's ok to talk during church services or to talk about boys behind your parents back, it's not how God would want us to use such a gift).

Steph

Crispy Baked Drumsticks

It's now a week into my second 21 Day Sugar Detox and I am doing great, no more cravings at all now. The first week is always a bit tough, since there is usually withdrawal symptoms and of course the psychological part that needs to be overcome...replacing the bad habit or craving with something good (in my case herbal tea) or eliminating it all together.

I have decided to join a group of people doing a Whole30 starting Aug.1st. You can read about the program here, the information is free. However, they have a book out called It Starts With Food (I highly recommend you get it!!) that explains in detail the science behind the Whole30 and much more. I am convinced doing the Whole30 will increase my health and healing tremendously. I will be following the Autoimmune Disease recommendations to avoid eggs, nightshades, dairy, nuts, seeds, and NSAIDs.

I will not be weighing myself during the Whole30, but I will when I am done and I will take a picture of how I look after as well. I am going to use these pictures as my before pictures, since I pretty much look the same and weigh the same.

So, please wish me luck! I'll still be doing the 21 Day Sugar Detox, just morphing it into the Whole30 lol.

Now on to a delicious recipe!

Crispy Baked Drumsticks

24 drumsticks
1/3 C. Coconut oil* or butter melted and mixed with EVOO
sea salt
onion powder
rosemary
pepper

Preheat oven to 375.

Line a baking sheet with parchment.

Put drumsticks in a colander and rinse well and drain.

Lay drumsticks down on the parchment with the skin facing up.

Pour oil into a small bowl and using a pastry brush, liberally brush the oil onto the drumsticks (if you are using coconut oil and your chicken are fresh out of the fridge, the coconut oil will harden and create a shell on your chicken, don't worry it's perfectly fine)

Coat the drumsticks liberally with sea salt and onion powder. Then sprinkle on the rosemary and pepper.

Bake in preheated oven for 60 min. The skin will be browned, crispy and yummy...enjoy!

*I use cold pressed, flavorless coconut oil, I am not a fan of the strong coconut flavor in Extra Virgin on my foods.

Monday I will be doing a review of a book that I was privileged to receive an advanced copy of. I am so excited to share it with you all, I have been having a blast making recipes from this book and I have learned so much from it as well! Now stay tuned because I am going to be having a giveaway, some lucky winner will be mailed a free Practical Paleo book!

This book will be released Aug. 7th, 2012 and can be pre-ordered.

Have a wonderful week,

Steph

Starting a 21 Day Sugar Detox today!

Today I'm kicking off another 21 Day Sugar Detox: Monday, July 23rd - Sunday, August 12th

My family has been on two camping trips this summer, junk food and processed, convenience foods tend to make an appearance when that happens. Mostly it's my own fault due to poor planning, but we also tend to purchase food items while we are camping at a particular place for various reasons, the main reason being...comfort. Comfort foods, snacky foods are the biggest enticements for us and we give in of course! :)

Next time I will be purchasing these healthy kits to take with us to minimize the junk...wish I had thought of it BEFORE our trip!

Steve's Original Paleokits

Primal Pacs

Sophia's Survival Jerky Chews

Whether you have over indulged on vacation or not, please feel free to join me in my sugar detox, everyone will benefit!

You can choose:
1. Just get the sugar out in all it's forms, click here for a list of 50 different names for sugar. Read labels carefully, you'll be surprised, it's in many things!
2. Get all forms of sugar out and not eat anything sweet, including fruit and stevia, splenda or other non-caloric sweeteners. Studies show that for certain people, just eating something that tastes sweet even though there is no sugar, their bodies will release insulin causing fat storage.
3. You can follow the 21 Day Sugar Detox program by Balanced Bites. This program costs $21 is full of information and recipes, check it out.

So who is with me? We can encourage and support each other!

Please leave a comment to let me know if you are participating, I'd love to get to know you better.

Steph

P.S. I will be doing a review and having a giveaway on my blog for this book

Be on the lookout next week for details!

Camping Trip to Sequoia National Park

We recently took a trip to Sequoia National Park to camp with my Dad and his wife, Bekkee. We stayed for four days at the Dorst Creek Campground which I highly recommend, the sites were very pretty and spacious. The only drawback was that there were no showers, but you could travel down to the Lodgepole Campground and use their public showers. The Lodgepole Campground also has a store and small restaurant that also has a section with ready made sandwiches, wraps, salads and various desserts to choose from. There was also a Nature Center there that shows an educational video about the bears in the area...it was closed captioned to my delight! I made sure to tell one of the people working there how appreciative I was.

I was very impressed with this National Park, it was very well taken care of, very tourist friendly you might say. They have a free, seasonal shuttle service that will take you to many of the main attractions as well as to the campgrounds. They let us carry on a couple boxes of firewood to take back to our campsite, I thought that was nice.

We visited the Sherman Tree, explored the Crystal Cave and hiked most of the Muir Grove Trail while we were there. We packed quite a bit into our four day stay...well at least it seemed like a lot to me :) I have lost 30lbs since last fall and it made a very big difference in my stamina and ability to be active and enjoy our trip.  I hope that I will have lost at least another 30lbs before our next camping trip next year, Lord willing.

Here are some pictures I took while we were up there, I hope you enjoy them.

The Sherman Tree from behind, it is the largest Sequoia by circumference.

Top of the Sherman Tree.

Hiking along the Congress Trail.

Waterfall and fallen log on the Congress Trail.

Side view of the Sherman Tree...Kade marveling at how tall it is.

All of us in front of the Sherman tree.

Kade with his Grandma Bekkee and Grandpa in front of a cross section of a sequoia tree.

Aiden and Eilan on one of the rocks in the area.

Aiden, Eilan and Kade on the rock...kids just love climbing rocks!

Eric, Aiden, my Dad and Bekkee waiting for the tour to start outside the Crystal Cave.

Love this picture of Eilan outside the Crystal Cave.

We decided to take a tour of the Crystal Cave while we were down there, it does cost money and you can purchase the tickets at the Lodgepole Campground Nature Center. You do need to be somewhat fit to go on this tour, it is about a mile down a very steep trail to get to the cave, then you have to do more walking inside the cave and there is one area that you (or at least me) have to kind of squish yourself through. Then there is the walk back up the steep trail to get back to your car...whew that one was tough for me, but I made it. All in all it was worth it, the cave is beautiful.

I liked the "juicy" look of this one

The water in this stream is so clear you can see straight to the bottom.

If it wasn't so cool in the cave I would have been tempted to jump in!

Very interesting formations.

Here is the tight area you walk through, it was only a short area thankfully.

Gorgeous waterfall that was next to the trail to the Crystal Cave.

Aiden is my Nature boy, he loves getting close and examining everything.

Just beautiful country up there!

The day before we left, my Dad wanted us to hike a trail that was located in our campground called the Muir Grove Trail. By then all the walking and hiking we had done previously was taking it's toll on my poor feet. I actually was surprised they had lasted as long as they did. The Muir Grove Trail is a 4 mile trail round trip, but we only walked 3 (thanks Dad for taking pity on me). It was a beautiful trail and the day was nice and cool, it was perfect!

If there is a rock like this, the kids are gonna climb it :)

My Dad and Bekkee enjoying the view.

Eilan and Eric walking along the trail.

Stopping to take a break and eat a snack before heading back.

Breathtaking! 

I hope you get a chance to explore some of the wonders of creation, that God has so richly blessed us with here on earth and in this part of the world. Sequoia National Park holds so much beauty and mystery, we plan to come up here again in the future to see more and more!

Steph

Coconut Caramel Rice Pudding Recipe

Sometimes I just get a craving for some rice pudding. I love the flavor, the texture, the creaminess of it all, it is comfort food for me. Maybe it reminds me of my Grandma Estes, she made the best food from scratch period.

This recipe is a healthier version of rice pudding but still creamy and delicious. You get healthier fats from the coconut milk and it won't spike your blood sugar like regular sugar does.

Surprisingly you cannot taste the flavor of coconut if you follow my recipe as is, however if you use less sugar or a different sugar, you may taste it.


Coconut Caramel Rice Pudding

3 Cups (packed) of cooked rice ( I used white basmati rice)
2  14 oz (or close) cans of full fat coconut milk
2/3 Cup of Coconut/Palm sugar*
pinch of salt or to taste
1 tsp of vanilla

In a medium size saucepan, add coconut milk, rice, sugar and salt. Cook on medium heat until rice pudding is almost as thick as you would like, take off the heat and let cool for 5 min. then add vanilla and mix well. Continue to let the pudding cool, it will thicken more as it cools.

When cool enough to eat, serve as is or with a dollop of whipped cream on top. Other topping ideas are...

Cherry sauce
Sauteed apples
walnuts
almonds
raisins

* You could use regular brown sugar in place of the coconut sugar, I would only use 1/2 Cup since coconut sugar is not as sweet as regular. For just Coconut Milk Rice Pudding, sub 1/2 Cup of regular white sugar in place of the coconut sugar.

Enjoy!

My next post will be about our adventures at the Sequoia National Park. Gorgeous Country!!

Steph