Bulletproof Hot Chocolate

I drink bulletproof coffee which you can read about here.  It is yummy and decadent and fills me up.  But a friend on the paleo facebook page I like posted about Bulletproof Hot Chocolate.  Be still my heart.  What a great alternative to the sugary bedtime treat.  And something for my kids that would actually help them.

This is her original recipe
12ox hot almond milk
1 oz butter
1 oz coconut oil
1 oz raw cocoa paste
sweetener to taste

I didn't have cocoa paste and we drink raw milk...so, here are my changes.

12 oz hot raw milk
1 oz cocoa butter
1 oz coconut oil
1 egg yolk
1/2 T cocoa powder
1/2 oz unsweetened chocolate
sweetener to taste
dash of vanilla

Heat milk and egg yolk whisking regularly till steaming.  Remove from heat and add cocoa butter, coconut oil and unsweetened chocolate.  Once melted or near melted (about 10 min) add cocoa powder, sweetener, and vanilla and blend.  Yummy, filling, creamy hot chocolate.

I think next time I will also add an ounce of butter.

The Meat Muffin

Now that we are working on eliminating grains from our diets, I have become a big fan of meatballs.  I use them to 'hide' veggies.  It is not that the veggies are hidden per se, but more that the kids get bored with trying to pick them out and just eat.  Oh, and there is sauce to dip it in. 

Today I tried something a little different.  I used ground chicken and made some reminiscent of chicken parmigiano.  Here's what you need

1 lb ground chicken
1 egg
3 T almond flour or 1 T coconut flour
Italian seasonings to taste
1/2 t salt

Red Sauce (marinara, spaghetti, whatever)

Parm cheese

Mix the first set of ingredients together.  Mush into 12 greased muffin cups.  Top each with sauce then cheese.  Bake at 350 for about 20 min.

What I will do next time to change this.  Add a little cheese, shredded carrots and spinach into the meat.  And triple the recipe.  This fed me and 3 young kids.  It would not have worked it my hubby was home.  It almost didn't feed all of us as it was.

Other ideas I have.  Take the basic ground chicken recipe and instead line the muffin cups with ham, put chicken in middle and top with mozzarella or provolone cheese.

Prepackaged Foods

Its not all bad.  So the other day someone had asked me why I never have prepackaged snacks for my kids.  Now, Never is a strong word...I would use rarely.  Like when I give my 5 yr old a few bunny grahams and some carrot sticks.  After all, bunnies eat the carrots and we eat bunnies.  (Don't judge...it works for him so I am totally down with that logic when 5 bunnies can get him to eat 10 baby carrots).

I started thinking about it and we do eat a lot of prepackaged foods and I am ok with it.  We usually take bananas, apples, oranges, snow peas, baby carrots with us.  None require me to do much with them.  All fruits and veggies are prepackaged.  Call it mother nature or god, evolution or creation...doesn't really matter.  But this is the way food should be.  Fresh and ready to eat. 

So, when the school asks for prepackaged foods for snacks...offer bananas or apples or peaches or baby oranges (mandarins).  If you want something a little more mainstream...applesauce, beef stix, fruit cups packed in juice.  The thing to remember for prepackaged is to think outside the box.

Been a While

I know, but I am making a lot of changes in our eating habits to include cutting grains left and right. Rob is less than thrilled, but the boys are doing fine for the most part.

Tonight I made a ton of chicken tenders for the week to send in lunches instead of sandwiches.

I stole from this recipe at Health-Bent but I have vilified the nugget so much to my children in the past, they would touch one with the consistency that ground chicken would give it. So here is what I did.

1 package of chicken breasts, sliced, or tenders (mine was 3 lbs)

Bowl 1:
1/2 C almond flour
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 t onion powder
1/2 t garlic powder
Pinch of cayenne

Bowl 2:
1 egg + 2 T water beaten

Bowl 3:
Dessicated Coconut or just whirl up coconut flakes in the processor

Process:
Dip chicken in Bowl 1, shake off excess, dip in bowl 2, dip in bowl 3 then fry in a pan. I just browned each side then finished them in the oven at 350 for about 10 min.

Yummy!!!!

Chocolate-Walnut Cupcakes

From My Martha Stewart Cupcake book.

These are an amazing gluten free/grain free muffin. They are also pretty low in sugar so they make a great snack.

6 large eggs separated
1/2 C sugar
1 3/4 C finely ground toasted walnuts (or pecans or any other tree nut)
3 oz bitter sweet chocolate finely chopped1/4 tsp salt
1 TBSP orange zest

The directions are IMPORTANT!!! I screwed this up on the first round. Read carefully.

1. whisk yolks and 1/4 c sugar until pale and thick.
2. in separate bowl toss together nuts, chocolate, zest, and salt. sprinkle over yolks but do not stir in.
3. place egg whites in heat-proof bowl over simmering water, whisk until room temperature (not hot!!!). Remove from heat, whisk on high until soft peaks form (it's meringue)
4. then add remaining sugar and whisk until peaks are stiff and glossy.
5. fold egg whites 1/3 at a time into the yolk mixture...do not over stir!!!

put batter into muffin cups and cook at 300 for 30 min.

Peanut Butter Banana Cookie

These are awesome! And almost not terrible for you. They are modified from a Sesame Street Cookie Cook book my mom picked up at the dollar store. The book was surprisingly not full of sugary terrible recipes. They have one for a carrot cake cookies (yes, with lots of carrots) and another for granola cookies. I am right now looking for things to send the kids for snack and lunch treats that will be yummy and nutritious. I figure these have a lot of good protein to help their little minds function and not so much sugar that they will crash later (approx 2g per cookie added not counting the sugar from the banana).

1 C flour (I used wheat with no probs)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

1/4 C butter (I used coconut oil since I am out of butter)
1/2 C /1 banana
1/2 C peanut butter (unsalted, no sugar added)
1/4 C unsweetened apple juice concentrate (I had a pear juice one that I used)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla


Beat wet ingredients, mix dry then add to wet. Scoop on to baking sheet and cook at 375 for about 8 min.

Mine were a little soft so I would probably add about another 1/4 C flour and maybe a little less concentrate since they were plenty sweet.

Day 17 and Day 18: Remodeling is getting in the way

With all the projects, we have been less than interesting. On Thurs a wonderful friend make us dinner. It was lovely for us to sit and have dinner while the kids ran around like crazy people.

Friday was of course...chicken on the bone. We grilled chicken legs and had tomatoes and mozz cheese to celebrate the 70+ degree weather we are having. I love Feb in Georgia.

Back to remodeling.