Paleo Pumpkin Protein Pancakes with a Light Maple Cream Pumpkin Glaze

Okay - so you already know that I have a thing for sweets.

So obviously I would have a thing for pancakes. Anything you can pour syrup or any sweet sauce on top used to be in my favorite food category. It still is I just don't get to eat much of it anymore.

So I'm always looking for a tasty and clean substitute that doesn't throw my blood sugar into an uproar before 9:00 am.

And I'm also always looking for new things to eat for breakfast that have a decent amount of protein. I eat a ton of Hot Hemp and Chia Protein Porridge and Chocolate Avocado Chia Smoothies. But I like to save my eggs for quick lunches or dinner so  I don't eat them for breakfast very often.

So I came up with a new pancake recipe that uses protein powder - weird. And since I'm battling my never ending sweet tooth I decided  to dilute my maple syrup to make it go further and still get a little hit of sweet without sacrificing my blood sugar (and my mood.........and therefore the happiness of my whole family).

We ate these twice in two days. Yep - I liked them that much and hubby agreed (he doesn't always). They were also really good with diced banana's on top. They were not big white fluffy pancakes from Perkins but you will feel great afterwards. I ate these and then did an awesome work-out. After Perkins pancakes I'm usually in some kind of coma.

Keep in mind that like all Paleo pancakes you need to keep them small and cook them on low temperature or they will not co-operate. Although I must say these were easy to flip so you shouldn't be compelled to start swearing.

Paleo Pumpkin Protein Pancakes with a Light Maple Cream Pumpkin Glaze

by MamaChanty

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Keywords: fry breakfast gluten-free low-carb paleo Protein Powder Pumpkin

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Ingredients (10 pancakes, Serves 2)

Pancakes:

• 1 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder (mine is already sweetened so adjust accordingly)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (use cinnamon if you don't have any)
• 1/4 cup ground golden flax
• pinch salt
• 1/2 cup pure pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup unsweetened milk (I used almond milk)
• 3 eggs whites, beaten for a couple minute

Glaze Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp Plain unsweetened Greek Yogurt
• 1 Tbsp pure Pumpkin puree
• 1 Tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1 Tbsp canned coconut milk (any unsweetened milk would be fine)
• Dash of pumpkin pie spice and vanilla (optional)

Instructions

Pancakes:

Mix together all dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl combine pumpkin and milk until smooth.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and full combine.

Put egg whites in your dirty pumpkin/milk bowl (to save on dishes) and beat until fluffy. Gently fold egg whites into batter.

Cook on low/medium heat until bubbling/browned on one side. About 2 minutes. Flip and cook other side.

Serve with Light Maple Cream Pumpkin Glaze. Top with unsweetened coconut flakes, pecans and/or banana's.

Glaze:

Mix all ingredients together until smooth. Pour over pancakes.

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Clean, happy and hungry!

Clean. Yep - still eating clean. See pictures below. Yep - still struggling with the sweets. Pictures not all shown - too embarrassing. Iron deficiency seems to be back under control. Stomach has been okay. Feeling quite energetic. Which leads to.........

Happy. I feel happy when I have energy. And the snow is almost melted. The kids are ecstatic to be able to spend time outside. We are also happy when the kids are happy. And when the house gets a lot less messy because they are busy playing in the backyard. Awesome all around. But..............

Hungry. Well, its normal for me to be hungry all the time. But I'm even hungrier than normal. Can't seem to fill myself up. Could either be that baby is having a growth spurt (making up for some lost calories from his brutal stomach flu last week) so nursing like a champ or my body is trying to have some kind of growth spurt (great). 

Or it could be that I was instructed by my doctor to start eating wheat everyday for three weeks before I get tested for Celiac. According to the Wheat Belly book, wheat is an appetite stimulant? Maybe its the wheat. 

I don't know for sure but I do know that when I get this hungry it gets hard to stay away from the sweets. My body just wants the calories and begs for them. So I was back on the dark chocolate and I had a few treats. Which I of course did in the name of my Celiac test. Its dangerous to have that kind of excuse to rely on.

Anyway - my meals were good. Just the treats were cheats. So I still have lots of ideas here from the week to help you stay clean...................Good luck!

Left-over almond flour breaded cod, garlic shrimp and mashed sweet potatoes. Okay - its not Red Lobster but it was pretty good and probably 1000 less calories per serving.

Spring Mix, Kale Super Salad, Rotisserie chicken and onion dressing. I feel best on days when I eat this kind of lunch.   Gotta remember that and stick with it. 

Still eating lots of hemp and Chia porridge for breakfast. I put hemp protein powder in this one. Yikes - that stuff is weedy. I must say I prefer the hemp hearts to the protein powder. I'm going to have to do some fancy experimenting to figure out how I'm going to use that can up.

Swiss Steak - Yum. Recipe to come some day soon!

Swiss steak with Costco Kale Super Salad. 

Hot Chia and Hemp porridge (again). This time I put a whipped banana in there. It was so good. I'm only supposed to eat banana 2 times a week (allergy test). I could eat this everyday. So not fair. I am so hoping my allergy re-test shows bananas aren't my problem anymore - please, please, please. Results coming this week......

Curry, raisin and apple chicken salad. with a chopped broccoli salad. I love the combination of the chicken with the apples and curry. Even baby loves this - its what finally got him to start eating textured foods. 

Pumpkin protein powder pancakes with a maple/yogurt glaze. Sounds weird. It was. But it hit the spot. I didn't intend for this to be a recipe as I was just playing around but it turned out great so the recipe will be coming.

Pork loin roast, gravy, fried onions and cabbage with steamed green beans.

Hey - how did this get in here. Okay - these were NOT CLEAN. The cupcakes I made for my daughter's Little Pony birthday party. I only ate one - just because the doctor ordered me to eat wheat. You know what - they look better than they tasted. You aren't missing much. I'm not kidding. 

These are the vanilla cupcakes from the Wheat Belly Cookbook. I added some lemon oil and fresh squeezed lemon to the batter. Then I topped with an icing made from cream cheese, butter, coconut milk, vanilla. lemon oil and Stevia. These were CLEAN, low-carb, gluten free cupcakes that tasted awesome. They weren't as cute but they tasted way better. Seriously.

Ranch roasted cauliflower with bacon bits. Amazingly good and a bit sweet. Who knew. Try them. You won't be disappointed.

Paleo Beef and Pork Burgers done on our NEW grill. So excited to finally have a new bbq that actually works properly. There will be lots of grilling going on for the next 5 months. Sorry if you don't have a bbq.

Greek salad. Grill the peppers and onions before adding to the salad. Makes it so much fancier. So good.

That's my supper. A bun-less burger, cauliflower and Greek salad. It was awesome. But unfortunately I was starving an hour later. I was actually starving while I was finishing eating. Honestly - I can't fill up. 

So that's my week. Lots of smoothies and dark chocolate not shown.

And I think I finally slowed down on the apple nacho's. Hmmmm, I better go buy some apples. Maybe that's why I'm so hungry.

I already brushed my teeth in an attempt to stop eating. But I think I'm going to go make a snack anyway................

Spring is Finally Here..............Get out of the Kitchen and Enjoy the Outdoors!

Well, it was a long time coming but we are finally getting spring.

Isn't it wonderful!!! I finally put my parka away. Hopefully not prematurely since we do still have a fairly sizable snowbank in our yard.

Give yourself a break this weekend if you don't feel like cooking. You can still eat clean. Just keep it simple. Boil a bunch of eggs. Eat salad. Grill some meat and veggies. Pick up a rotisserie chicken. Make smoothies for supper. Whatever. 

Don't fuss if you don't feel like it. Jump in some puddles with your kids. Take out their bikes. Breathe in the fresh air. Enjoy! And if you feel like fussing - go to my Mama's recipe page for lots of ideas from cold winter days when I felt like fussing because I don't now. I want to play.

We put baby in his swing outside for the first time today - he loved it. Tomorrow we're pulling out the bikes and we're having a birthday party. 

So I'm not leaving you a recipe.................I'm busy playing! And finishing our taxes.

But I do have a couple of cute and simple spring crafts we did this week. Something to do in the morning when its still too nippy to get outside.

Have a great Saturday. I think we will!

Paleo Lemon Greek Ribs - Easy & Tender

I'm not going to lie.........I made these on the weekend. Not much clean cooking and eating going on here the past two days. 

My sweet girl (#2) turned four today. We celebrate Ukrainian style - or maybe its just how my mom always did birthdays but its more like a Birthweek than a Birthday. We went out for dinner yesterday and had cake (cheat #1 was Perkins pancakes........and cheat #2 was cake). Today was the actual birthday so we had cookies and donuts - we needed the donut for something to hold the candles (cheat #3 - leftover cake and a bite of donut). Tomorrow we are celebrating with the other grandparents and we are having a party on the weekend with friends. So likely a few more cheats to come. 

In my defense, I am being tested for Celiac in three weeks. In order for the test to actually work you need to eat wheat products everyday for the three weeks leading up to the test. So I have been ordered by my doctor to eat wheat. Its true. I was kind of annoyed about the whole thing after working so hard on eliminating it but the upside is pancakes and cake. Okay - I could have picked less sugary wheat products but it coincided with a birthday - it was fate.

I actually don't think I have Celiac but I think its time I ruled it out for sure. So I will be eating some wheat products over the next few weeks but in very limited amounts and I'll still be keeping it out of my recipes. I will get back on track after tomorrow's Birthday party with some whole grains.

I have actually been eating clean otherwise. I have to or my stomach lets me know its angry pretty fast. 

Anyway - these ribs I made on the weekend were awesome. Its a perfect and quick base rib recipe that  always turns out tender. Serve with a Greek salad and you have a great clean, low-carb meal. Enjoy!

Paleo Lemon Greek Ribs

3-4 lbs Side Ribs 

1 tbsp olive oil

1 fresh lemon (or equivalent lemon juice)

Rub for Ribs

1 Tbsp Montreal Steak Spice

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1) I cut the ribs into 3 or 4 ounce portions, basically two or three bones per section. 

2) I mixed together the "rub for ribs". I drizzled the ribs with olive oil and then spiced by thoroughly rubbing the spices into all sides of the ribs. I squeezed the juice from one lemon on top and let them marinate for a couple of hours in the fridge. Optional but obviously the longer they marinate the better.

3) Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Bake the ribs (single layer) on a parchment lined cookie sheet or 9 x 13 casserole for 20 minutes at the high heat. After 20 minutes turn the heat down to 350 degrees and cook for another hour. 

Serve with Greek Salad. 

Paleo Dark Chocolate Banana Muffins

Happy Monday Everyone! 

I did some baking with the girls on the weekend as our "baked goods" were getting low and I was struggling with coming up with three snacks a day without resorting to toast, cereal, pre-packed goodies and cookies. And baking is an activity the girls love - it gets messy but its worth it. 

Now that baby is starting to eat solids its getting a little crazy how many different meals and snacks are being prepared in our house. My Paleo Dark Chocolate Banana Bread is the one thing (and probably one of the only things) that all five of us will eat consistently. Yep - even baby likes it. So I decided we would modify the recipe a bit and make it into muffins. Just to change things up a bit - crazy, I know.

Like most Paleo baking it tends to want to stick to the pan so make sure you use liners and don't try taking them out until they are completely cooled or you will lose half the muffin to the liner. I know its hard when they are steaming hot and look so delicious but they cool quickly and you will be eating them in no time. And remove the liner gently - not a job for the kids. 

You will feel good feeding these to the kids since they are full of fruit and almonds with very little sweetener. And if you use 70% dark chocolate they are full of antioxidants. And trust me, the kids will love it. 

And don't forget to try my Paleo Dark Chocolate Banana Bread recipe its amazing!

Paleo Dark Chocolate Banana Bread (makes 12 muffins)

2 cups blanched almond flour (almond meal should work too)

1/2 cup ground golden flax seed

1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt

2 eggs
1/2 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup agave nectar
3 small ripe banana's, mashed
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips (preferably over 70% cacao)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Use muffin liners (really).  Combine almond flour, flax, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and then add the water, vanilla, agave and mashed banana's - mixing thoroughly. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Bake for about 40 minutes or until knife comes out clean in the center. Let stand and cool completely before attempting to get the muffins out of the liners. They do stick a bit so you need to be patient and careful as you get them out. 

Sunday week in Review - Eating Clean but still Suffering............

Its fun to look back at all the good food you ate. Well in weeks that you cooked lots and actually ate clean. I had been feeling a bit low due to my iron deficiency so I had a couple weeks where I hadn't felt like experimenting. But I'm back baby - well with the cooking anyway.

I was feeling 100 percent at the beginning of the week. But baby was sick with the stomach flu and decided to forego solids and just crank his breastfeeding back up to pre-solid food levels. Well, I'm paying for it. 

My body is not a fan. By day five of this milk fest (Wednesday) I started to feel off. And since I wasn't suspecting anything yet I went and did a REALLY intense workout. Like, I was still sore three days later kind of intense. Dumb I know.

So the combination of the breastfeeding and the overkill at the gym apparently acted as "stressors" and my adrenal fatigue showed its ugly face (anger, hunger, hunger, anger, repeat) and I started feeling tired and shaky. And my sugar cravings and hunger just went completely out of control - I felt possessed.  I even ate some pizza and was scarfing down granola straight from the box. Something I haven't done for months. Then I woke up feeling even worse. 

And with it came a return of my anemia - I started getting the dizzies again which come with general tiredness, headaches and aches/weakness. It kinda sucks. 

I can't do much about the breastfeeding until baby is old enough to take some cow's milk (next month maybe) but I know that I really need to cut down my sugar to control blood sugar swings from the adrenal fatigue. 

I have cut sugar down dramatically but I obviously have a carbohydrate sensitivity that requires extreme measures. So I need to cut back all sugar - including fruit. Sigh! I'm putting it out there so I commit to it - two a day - period. Full Stop. And I have to ease up on the dark chocolate. I'm actually only going to use it in combination with other things from now on (smoothies, apple nacho's) - not eat it straight up anymore. It was getting too frequent and my servings were getting too large. 

But I didn't let the blood sugar roller coaster go on for long. I woke up Friday determined to get back on track with the blood sugar swings. I ate a chia, protein and avocado breakfast smoothie that was super filling and had no carbohydrates or fruit. I skipped my after lunch dark chocolate and fruit. Its easier to just stay off the carbohydrate roller coaster than try to get off when its already rolling. Its a daily battle with the adrenal fatigue but it worked for now - my blood sugar swings, hunger and anger subsided. My adrenals are just waiting for the next assault.............I have to be careful. 

The anemia doesn't seem to be as quick of a fix but I'm doing what I can. I had lots of beef yesterday and I'm keeping up with my iron supplements. You need to take iron with Vitamin C to help with its absorption. I was out of Vitamin C early in the week so I bought a year's supply of chewables at Costco. Not good. My stomach did not like this. Turns out they have lots of sweetener in them. So another trip to the store for ANOTHER bottle of Vitamin C without sweeteners and my stomach seems to be happier. Maybe that's why I started to get iron deficient again? Maybe my stomach stops absorbing when sugar is involved? Who knows. Morale of the story - my body does not like sugar. 

So if you are thinking - why would I eat clean when it doesn't seem to be helping her? All these problems aren't exactly selling clean eating. It is helping me.  I swear. I don't have stomach aches which used to be a daily occurrence. I am sleeping during the night when baby lets me. I used to have constant insomnia. And I was never able to pinpoint my problems before. I would never in a million years figured out that the sweetener in Vitamin C was bugging my stomach and fix the problem within days. I had such bad stomach aches that I could never find a correlation between anyway I was ingesting and how I was feeling. I was just too much of a mess with too many bad things going in. 

And I am sure that I would feel way worse and feel a lot less in control and hopeless (like two years ago when I was basically in the same breastfeeding induced haze) than I do now. I am in tune with my body now. 

And we did eat some great meals this week - here's some ideas to keep you clean this week - do it - really its worth the extra effort.............

Apples slices baked in the oven with an almond flour/flax/maple syrup/cinnamon/walnut topping! I ate it with some Greek yogurt. This was obviously before I decided I need to cut back on the sugar. 

A bunless pork and beef burger with roasted sweet potatoes and green peas.  I froze some extra burgers last  time I made them so this was a quick meal. I'll need to be doing a big batch of these if grilling season ever gets here.

My beef and pork purgers and a Greek Salad.  A quick leftover lunch. 

Okay  - this was the crust I made for my Chia cheesecakes (see below). The topping was  edible but the crust was awesome. I'm going to try this again with a different topping or as a pie crust. I mixed 1/3 cup almond flour, 1/3 cup ground golden flax, 1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, 2 tbsp coconut oil, 1 tsp vanilla and 2 tbsp raw Stevia. I'll use less Stevia next time or try a different sweetener. I baked for 10 minutes at 325.

A pineapple Chia pudding. Okay.

Roast chicken with roasted beets, roasted sweet potatoes and Greek salad. Yummo, mummo. So into the roasted veggies these days.

Damn I wish this tasted as good as it looked. What an awesome picture of a barely edible  chia cheesecake. Not sure why the pineapple tasted like candy by itself but tasted like nothing in this? Oh well, at least we got our fiber from the Chia. 

Leafy greens with leftover chicken, beets, feta and onion dressing. Oh - this was good.

Maple, soy and ginger marinated wild salmon. We grilled it in foil. I don't like salmon but I managed to eat half a portion. It was okay. I want to like salmon and I am determined to get us eating more fish so I am eating it. And this combination of flavors worked for me - as much as it can. Its still salmon.

We had the salmon with roasted beets and Greek salad. Geez - I didn't realize we ate so much Greek salad.

Butternut squash soup with Kale super salad (Costco) and some Mild turkey Italian sausages.

Kitchen sink Carrot soup. Bacon, turkey sausage, lots of carrot, tomato paste, Italian seasoning.  A little of this, a little of that and here we have another healthy pot of soup.

Roasted zucchini with meat sauce. Kids ate it with corn spaghetti - I ate mine with zucchini.

Almond flour breaded cod with roasted cabbage and avocado/tomato salad. Yum.

Slowish & Simple Oven Roasted Chicken Pieces with Mama's 9 spice Rub

If you follow along my blog you will know that we eat rotisserie chickens about once a week (Costco is our favorite - Walmart comes in second). Well, they taste delicious but who knows what they put in those things to make them taste so good. Lots of salt for one.

I figure I better learn how to roast a chicken and at least try and roast my own once in a while.

I'm not crazy about handling raw chicken and carving is just an extra step when dinner is ready. So I ordered some chicken pieces from Harvest Moon. They are organic/antibiotic free chickens. They don't use growth hormone in Canada for chicken or pork (just beef) so that isn't an issue. I got one chicken - which is about 9 pieces of chicken in a 5 lb bag. Plus they gave the extra parts that I used to make soup base. 

They were not cheap but I think its worth throwing into the rotation here and there to get away from the antibiotics. We eat a fair amount of chicken - like I'm sure most of you do.

Will I keep buying rotisserie chickens. Yep. 

Will I make this once a month. Yep. 

Was it easy and tasty. Yep.

Mama's 9 Spice Rub (this would be good on ribs or chops too)

1 tsp dried rosemary leaves

1 tsp fine sea salt

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp ground thyme

pinch pepper

pinch cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp dry mustard

Mix all these spices together. 

Roast chicken

9 bone-in chicken pieces (various) - about 4 lbs

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Drizzle the chicken pieces with olive oil. Rub one batch of Mama's 9 spice rub all over the chicken pieces to coat evenly (and under skin where possible). Put in the fridge overnight or for a couple of hours to "marinate". Put chicken pieces in one layer in a roaster with the skin side facing up. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and then the lid. DO NOT add any water, stock or other liquid. Bake for approximately 2 hours until it reaches an internal temperature of 180.  

Don't peak until its ready. Baste the chicken with pan drippings before serving. Enjoy. Now that was easy.

Simple Butternut Squash Soup with Curry and ways to banish the need to NAP

We are having quite a week. Baby got a helmet (for his odd-shaped melon), a stomach flu and is getting a tooth. Needless to say there have been a few stressful moments - like when we thought the helmet was too tight and causing brain swelling and vomiting. A lot of laundry. And a fair bit of carrying a baby around. And he hasn't been sleeping so good. 

What amazes me is that through it all I am not tired and we have actually been having lots of fun with the kids. It is crazy. With my first two kids I woke up (i.e. was woken up as I never felt rested enough to wake up on my own) and my first thought was always, always, always "what do I have to make happen so that there is even a slight possibility that I might be able to take a nap today". Obviously it rarely happened and then I would be so tired and so frustrated that I wasn't napping. But I don't even think about having a nap now. I don't want a nap. I don't NEED a nap.

I always just thought I was a napper - like I must have been genetically programmed to nap. I could not understand people who said they couldn't, didn't, wouldn't nap. I thought "what the h is wrong with you people". 

But now I understand. Its like I'm in a new club. I don't think about having a nap all day because I'm not tired. I feel rested when I wake up. I sleep at night (well in between wake ups which are still numerous).

If you need to nap all the time your body is trying to tell you something. Its tired. Maybe from lack of sleep but maybe not. Maybe its your digestion, blood glucose swings (from carbs), caffeine intolerance, iron levels, B12, whatever. But you shouldn't feel like napping all the time. Go figure. Waking up in the morning and already looking forward to your nap is no way to live. 

I missed lots of "moments" with my kids by being in this state. I can't get them back now but I can make sure that I'm awake and alert for all the many moments to come. Because I have adorable kids (challenging and hard-work but adorable) - there are moments happening all the time if I pay attention. 

I don't know for sure if it is just one of these things or the combination of all of them but I don't nap anymore. In case it can help someone else out there, here is what I have changed:

• I gave up caffeine (this is key)
• I go to bed by 10
• I limit my carbohydrates - especially early in the day
• I eat clean (no processed foods, low sugar, no grains/beans/potatoes/rice - as organic as possible) 
• I get protein at each meal and snack
• I eat within an hour of waking up
• I take supplements (adrenal support, vitamin D, vitamin C, iron, acid pills)
• I have pretty low stress (on maternity leave)

So in an attempt to clean up your diet why don't you try making this soup. It is really simple and always turns out delicious. You can actually buy butternut squash already peeled and cubed at various major grocery stores (I just saw it at Costco today) so you can make it in a hurry. I actually like a bit of sweet potato in there for depth of flavor but it works either way. This soup is delicious - you won't be disappointed.

Simple Butternut Squash Soup with Curry

2 Tbsp coconut oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup white onion, chopped

6 cups butternut squash (or 4 cups squash and 2 cups sweet potatoes), peeled and diced

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp fine sea salt (adjust up depending on how much sodium is in your chicken stock)

1 tsp curry (this is a minimum - add more if you like curry - it can handle another 1/2 tsp at least)

3 cups organic chicken stock

Parsley Flakes

Melt coconut oil on stove top. Saute garlic and onion until softened. Add squash and/or sweet potatoes and all spices. Fry it up over medium heat for about 5 minutes to let the spices "wake-up". Add chicken stock and let simmer on a low boil for 20 - 25 minutes. Until squash is softened. Remove from heat and let cool. Puree with an emulsion blender. I do this directly in the pot. Or transfer to a blender or food processor. I blend it until its about 80% pureed. I like to leave a few chunks.  Warm and serve with some plain Greek yogurt and sprinkle with parsley flakes.

In case you don't know what a butternut squash looks like - this is it!

Low Carb & Paleo Oven Roasted Cabbage with Sundried Tomato

I am without a doubt on a "roasted" veggies kick. In an attempt to increase the balance of alkaline to acidic foods in our diet I am trying even harder to increase our consumption of veggies. But we get bored of raw and steamed.

After roasting Cauliflower for the first time last week and discovering that it was AMAZING I decided to keep going with broccoli, cabbage and asparagus. The broccoli was hideous, the asparagus was okay but the cabbage earned another AMAZING!

If you read my Sunday Week in Review you will notice that we eat a pot of Ham and Cabbage soup almost every week. So obviously we love cabbage. Must be the Ukrainian in us.

It gets a little bit sweet when roasted and gets tender but not soggy. Unlike when you fry it. Love it. And don't forget its cheap (always a plus in my book) and full of fiber(which I need to offset this iron pill business wreaking havoc on my stomach).  Some consider it a SUPER food. Why not. 

Oh yeah - and its alkaline. 

And it goes great with meatballs. Oh, and I bet Kobasa too! I feel like doing a polka.

Oven Roasted Cabbage with Sun-Dried Tomatoes (serves 2 -4)

1 head of cabbage, cored and sliced

1 Tbsp sun-dried tomatoes

1 medium white sweet onion, sliced

2 Tbsp melted butter

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Pepper, parsley and celery seed (I didn't list amounts as I used less than 1/8 tsp for each). Just give it a light dusting.

Parmesan cheese (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Liberally grease a 9 x 13 glass dish with olive oil (about 1 Tbsp). Layer half the onion and cabbage in the casserole. Top with sun-dried tomatoes. Sprinkle with half of the salt and garlic and lightly dust with pepper, parsley and celery seed. Layer with remaining onions and cabbage. Drizzle melted butter evenly over the cabbage. Repeat seasonings. Bake for 40 minutes. Gently stir approximately every 10 to 15 minutes. Enjoy!

What a week to stay clean! My Sunday review!

What a week we had. A bit of a roller coaster. Here is my recap, because like I said on Friday, journal-ling is helping me stay clean.

Started out the week with my oldest daughter being sick. She recovered nicely and quickly but I kept her home for a day from school anyway just because I could.............the smile on her face when she announced to her Dad that she "got to stay home with her brother and sister" was priceless.

I had several really good workouts this week. I can tell how I'm feeling overall by how much energy I have at the gym. So I think my anemia is under control for now. The "gentle" iron pills are still a bit hard on my stomach so I have to eat a ton of Chia (no hardship for me - still love those little seeds) and I really have to keep the eating clean or my stomach gets angry (not ladylike to discuss the repercussions) . The adrenal pills I'm taking are doing their job as my night sweats, anxiety and hanger (lunch time angry/hungry period) have been non-existent. I also got my 5th weekly B12 injection on Thursday. One more week to go and then hopefully I can start cutting it back to once every two weeks or once a month.  

So basically I'm feeling pretty great. But it is super HIGH MAINTENANCE to feel this good. Within an hour of waking up I have to drink a glass of lemon water, take my adrenal pills (on an empty stomach), take two stomach acid pills immediately before eating, eat breakfast, take an iron pill, Vitamin C and Vitamin D with my food. Not to mention dress and feed 3 kids and make myself presentable. Plus I need my de-caf coffee in there. I just need it. Its part of my day even though it would be so much easier if I would give it up. 

Oh yeah, and my breakfast needs to have lots of protein (for my adrenal fatigue) and lots of fibre (to offset the iron pills). And that's just in the first hour. Its not as intense the rest of the day but it continues with lots more protein and supplements throughout the day........and a weekly trip to the Naturopath for my B12. I'm not complaining.......it is so worth it to feel energetic all day. I just hope at some point I get to the root of the problem so that I don't need to be on such a regimen - especially with the supplements. And I'm just pointing it out to show that the solution to digestive problems can be complex and require vigilance. If you are as messed up as me you might want to try and consult with someone on how to come up with a plan tailored to you - because it can be darn confusing. 

In the meantime, my little 9 month old started standing on his own, got a helmet for his odd-shaped melon (more on that another time) and got the stomach flu. He is a trooper. Through it all he still gave us tons of giggles and was his usual playful self when he wasn't puking or listless. He is an awesome little dude.

So we started and ended the week sick, had lots of laughs in between (especially at the expense of the helmet) and ate really clean with some (okay lots of) dark chocolate on the side. Here are some of the meals we squeezed into our week.........maybe it will give you some ideas. 

Have a great Sunday and a clean and healthy week!

I made my daughter some home-made chicken noodle soup when she got sick. I used rotisserie chicken and brown rice noodles.  She loved it!

One of my breakfast smoothies. I have these most days. They are usually chocolate protein powder (Vega-One) with ice, chia seeds, dark choc chips, cacao nibs, soy milk and sometimes banana,  plain Greek yogurt  or avocado for creaminess. I actually think this one was French Vanilla flavor.

Coconut flour chocolate banana pancakes. An experiment that the kids actually loved. I might share the recipe if I make it again. Another chocolate breakfast - sigh - I'm so predictable. 

Omelet with free run eggs, sun-dried tomato's , nitrate free ham and mozza. A quick and clean lunch.

Oh - this was a YUMMY supper. I made Mama's Ribs using the organic/pastured/anti-biotic free side ribs I got from Harvest Moon. I served with steamed brocolli, Ranch Roasted Cauliflower and a smidgen of white rice.

Wheat belly Pizza Crust #1 (again). This time with spinach, red onion, shrimp, black olives and mozza. And I used organic vodka sauce for the base. It was pretty fantastic. Here's the link again to the Dr. Oz Wheat Belly Pizza recipe. I made a double batch of dry ingredients and froze it. I'll let you know if it works - starting to experiment with meal planning for when I go back to work.

Yep - that's my sweetheart in his new lid. He's "got a flat" spot. He is really a happy man - that's the first day in his helmet - didn't faze him at all. We are going to be de-calling it up with his name and a couple of other things..........leave a comment if you have a suggestion. I think "what the frog you staring at - I've got a flat" with a picture of a frog in a helmet riding a bike with two flat tires.  But hubby says we wouldn't really be able to take him out in public and definitely not to church like that. He gets lots of stares and lots of "he's a cutey" comments in his new lid. He is a cutey but it definitely makes people a little uncomfortable and not sure what to say so they overcompensate. 

Chocolate Chia Pudding/frozen  yogurt. Yum!

Oven roasted sole with a chopped salad. I baked the sole on a bed of onions with some spices and topped with lemon for about 20 minutes at 425. I still prefer my fish to taste like chicken fingers (i.e. breaded) but this was pretty good.

Baked Eggs. Free-run eggs on a bed of spinach, tomato and green onion. I seasoned and poured some butter on it and then baked for about 20 minutes at 425.  Quick, easy and clean.

Baked eggs - a quick supper you can whip together and throw in the oven while you try to make something wheat-free to go with it or something else for your fussy kids. I did some hungry man sausages. 

These looked awesome. They tasted okay. I put hemp protein powder in them - they were a little "weedy". 

We were totally out of protein bars so I whipped up a batch of avocado/walnut/chia/hemp/date/sunflower bars. Hubby thought they tasted like chocolate cake batter - now that's a compliment.

Left-over grilled chicken, salad and Shiratake noodles with cheese sauce. I decided Shiratake noodles are best with Asian dishes. I couldn't eat them. Plus baby decided to get sick during our lunch so I lost my appetite. Or re-directed my appetite to apple nacho's instead of this. Any excuse to eat apple nacho's. I eat them EVERY day.

I made the girls some gluten-free "macaroni and cheese" using organic brown rice noodles. I thickened the cheese sauce with arrowroot powder. They loved it!

Meatballs topped with my left-over apple honey garlic grilling sauce. I also roasted cabbage and asparagus.Watch for the cabbage recipe - it was really fabulous, easy and so GOOD for us!

I made the girls this crazy/borderline gross nitrate free wiener and noodles dish. I've made it before but I still get a kick out of it. 

So that's what I got pictures of - lots missing - most of it clean. I don't dare take pictures of all the dark chocolate I consume - its disgusting. I also eat lots of breakfast shakes and snacks that I don't take pictures of because it gets really repetitive...............apple nacho's anyone??