No'tmeal

No'tmeal is a great paleo alternative to oatmeal.  I love to top mine with a nut milk, fresh fruit, and sometimes nuts.  I've heard this categorized as a whole30 SWYPO, but for me oatmeal is not a treat!  If you're doing a whole30 you'll have to decide what your intentions on this.

No'tmeal

1 banana

2 whole eggs

1/4 cup coconut milk

1 tablespoon hemp hearts

 1 tablespoon chia seeds

Blend all ingredients together.  Cook over medium heat in a greased skillet until eggs are cooked to your liking.

Broccoli Soup (Healthified)

The temperatures in my neck of the woods have dropped this past week.  Things are starting to look and feel like Fall around here.  SO, this past Sunday I decided it was time to reinstate "Souper Sundays", a little tradition I started last winter of serving soup for Sunday dinner.  One of my family's favorite soup is Broccoli Cheese .  It's is chock full of broccoli which is super healthy and good for you.  However, it is also full of butter, white flour, and cheese.  Last week, I decided to try to makeover my original recipe into a healthier version. I substituted clarified butter for regular, arrowroot powder (sometimes called arrowroot starch or arrowroot flour) for the white flour, and coconut milk for the whole milk. I'm happy to report that I succeeded.  In fact this version tastes identical to the original - really.  Go ahead try it and see for yourself. 

This recipe yields 6 large servings.

Broccoli Soup 

(made-over)

2 (10 oz.) packages frozen chopped broccoli

3 tablespoons clarified butter

1/4 cup chopped onion

3 tablespoons arrowroot powder

2 cups chicken broth

1 can full-fat coconut milk

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

Fill medium pot with one inch of water.  Over high heat, bring water to a boil.  Add broccoli. Cover pot and steam broccoli  5-6 minutes or until tender.  Strain to remove excess water. Set aside. In a large soup pot, melt clarified butter over medium-high heat.  Add onion and cook until clear.  Stir in arrowroot powder.  Let cook for 1 minute before slowly add broth and coconut milk.  Stir until slightly thickened.  Add salt, ground nutmeg, and cooked broccoli and nutritional yeast, and stir to combine.  Let simmer an additional 3-5 minutes. 

STEP-BY-STEP DIRECTIONS

1. Fill medium pot with one inch of water.  Over high heat, bring water to a boil.  Add broccoli. Cover pot and steam broccoli  5-6 minutes or until tender.  Strain to remove excess water. Set this aside.

 2. In a large soup pot, melt clarified butter over medium-high heat.  Add onion and cook until clear.

 3.  Stir in arrowroot powder and let it cook for 1 minute.

(This greatly improves the flavor.)

4.  After the 1 minute is up, slowly stir in the chicken broth and 

 can of full-fat coconut milk.

4.  Now it's time to add in the rest of the ingredients - the salt, nutmeg 

 nutritional yeast,

 and broccoli.

5.  Let the soup simmer 3-5 minutes to help incorporate all the flavors.

6.  Ladle it up and enjoy!

Spinach Eggs

The hardest thing for me when I began my first Whole30 was what to eat for breakfast.  I am a cold cereal and milk person.  In fact, I still to this day sometimes crave a crunchy bowl of cereal drowned in creamy cold milk. Unfortunately, the lactose from the milk and the grain from the cereal do not agree with me, and let's not even talk about all that sugar -there's a ton!

So, Spinach Eggs became my go-to breakfast.  They're quick and easy and only require 3 main ingredients (2 if you want to leave out the sausage and go vegetarian)., and you can whip them up in less than 5 minutes.

Now let's talk about the health benefits of this dish. Did you know spinach ranks as one of the most nutrient-dense of all foods?  This dark, leafy vegetable is an excellent source of folate, antioxidant carotenoids and vitamins K, C, A, E and B-6. It’s also a good source of magnesium, riboflavin and potassium.  All sorts of good-for-you stuff!  Eggs are incredibly nutritious as well. They're also high on the satiety index, which means they make you feel full longer -that's a good thing.

This recipe yields 1 serving

Spinach Eggs

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1/2 Aidell's Chicken Apple Sausage

2 eggs

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup spinach leaves, washed and dried

In a non-stick skillet, melt coconut oil.  Dice sausage into small bite-size pieces. Brown sausage pieces in oil over medium heat.  Once sausage is brown, crack in the eggs, and add the spinach. Stir everything together.  Continue stirring until spinach is wilted and eggs are fully cooked. Remove from heat.  Salt and pepper to taste.