Cooking with Protein-Packed Nut Flours

Baking with nut flours adds lots of satisfying protein and heart healthy fat to your baked goods in addition to cutting down on carbs. These muffins are low on the glycemic index (ie. diabetic friendly) and gluten-free! And one more bonus- they have veggies in them! Can't beat that!

You can experiment with different nut flours- I used almond flour (also called almond meal) in these and they were delicious. Peanut flour is also readily available. I get both almond flour and peanut flour at Trader Joes. Be sure to store your nut flours (and any nuts or seeds for that matter) in the freezer due to the fragility of the fats. You don't want the nuts going rancid on you! See below how to make your own nut flours.

With just a hint of sweetness and lots of satisfying, blood-sugar stabilizing protein, they make for an ideal snack!

I doubled the batch and froze half. The first half of the batch was eaten in 2 days! And the second half is in the freezer ready to pull out as needed throughout the week.

Almond Zucchini Muffins

Dry Ingredients:

• 2 cups Almond Flour
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• ½ tsp Sea Salt
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Nutmeg

Wet Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups Shredded Zucchini
• 2 Eggs
• ¼ cup Grapeseed Oil
• ½ cup Honey
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease muffin pan.
   
2. Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl.
   
3. Mix wet ingredients together in a bowl.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredient bowl.
5. Bake for 20 – 22 minutes or until done in the center.

Enjoy!

Other ways to use Nut Flours:

• Use in place of flour when breading fish, tofu, or chicken.
• Use in place of flour to make pancakes.
• Add to smoothies or your breakfast cereal to add protein and fat to your breakfast. It'll keep you full longer!
• Add to soups to thicken them and make them deliciously creamy.
• Add to meat loaf or lentil loaf instead of bread.
  

How to Make Your Own Nut Flours:

This is so easy! You can use any nuts. The healthiest nuts are walnuts, almonds, cashews, pecans, brazil macadamias.

1. Pour frozen nuts (do not thaw first; always want to keep your nuts and seeds frozen) in small batches into your food processor, grinder, or blender, and process in pulses until the nuts are rendered into a relatively fine powder.

2. Check the flour after a second or two, stirring frequently. Because of the nuts' high oil content, nuts tend to form nut butter. The transition from nut to meal to flour to butter is rapid, so work in short bursts, checking often.

3. Due to the high fat content of flour made with nuts, it will spoil rapidly at room temperature. Store nut flours and meals in an air-tight container in the freezer. No need to thaw before using.

Read more: How to Make Nut Flour | eHow.com

Staying healthy for the cold and flu season

Building a healthy terrain

Do you ever wonder why some people always tend to get sick but others who are exposed to the same microbes can successfully ward off illness?

This is because those individuals who do not get sick have a healthy terrain. An alternative view of illness is based on the terrain theory. It suggests that it is the internal strength or balance of an individual that protects or fails to protect him/her from illness. In preparation of the upcoming cold and flu season, there are some very basic yet effective things to do to build and support a healthy terrain.

First, support your body’s natural barriers (skin, GI tract, lungs, kidneys, and adrenal glands) to support a healthy immune system. Follow the tips below:

Skin- Perspiration is essential for ridding your body of toxins. Take a sauna and do not suppress a fever. Fever is your body’s way of fighting infection.

GI tract- Take a probiotic supplement or eat fermented foods, like kefir, tempeh, and yogurt. Probiotics are the “good” bacteria that will defend your body from the “bad” bacteria.

Lungs- Take 100 conscious deep breaths per day. Breathe in through your nose for 6 counts and out through your mouth for 8 counts.

Kidneys- Drink half your body weight in ounces of water each day.

Adrenal glands- Have a daily routine. Go to bed and rise at the same time every day.

In addition to supporting your body’s natural defenses, eat a healthy diet. Aim to fill half your plate with colorful vegetables. Fill the other half with lean meats and whole grains. Adequate rest and regular exercise are also key factors in building a healthy terrain.

Collard Wraps

Are you gluten-free? Maybe trying to avoid carbs? Here is a delicious way to have a pseudo-sandwich and get a full serving of your greens in as well. No, the piece of romaine that you throw on your ham and cheese doesn't count as a full serving ;) . These are a great appetizer for parties or a good lunch entree when you have friends over for lunch. They are sure to impress (and so easy)! Good for kids too (toddlers and older- need to be able to chew well)!

Sunflower Seed Pate Collard Wraps

Ingredients:
1 bunch of collard greens, stems cut off
1 cup sunflower seeds
any seasonings of your liking-thyme, dill, oregano, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 avocado, sliced
3 carrots, shredded

Instructions:
1. Soak sunflower seeds in some water to cover them for 6-8 hours.
2. Drain the sunflower seeds of the water and throw in your food processor.
3. Add seasonings (i used dill, nutritional yeast, and salt and pepper) and lemon juice.
4. Blanch your collards in about an inch of boiling water for 1 minute (in a large saute pan). Remove from water and pat dry.
5. Fill collards with sunflower seed pate, avocado, and carrots on stem end of collards. Wrap like you would a burrito wrap.

Mushroom Walnut Pate Collard Wraps

Ingredients:
1 bunch of collard greens, stems cut off
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/2 lb firm tofu, crumbled
2 tbsp Braggs Liguid Aminos (or soy sauce or tamari)
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 cups walnuts
1/2 tsp cumin
2 tsps Nutritional yeast
1 avocado, sliced
3 carrots, shredded

Instructions
1. Cook onions in olive oil. Stir until translucent.
2. Add mushrooms, cover and cook for 3 mins. Uncover, cook until mushrooms are slightly
wilted.
3. Process in blender or food processor. Add remaining ingredients.
4. Blanch collards as above.
4. Fill collards with mushroom walnut pate, avocado and carrots. Wrap like you would a burrito wrap.

Power Smoothie

Is your little one hungry before bed? Maybe he didn't get enough protein today... Or it was a challenge to get him to eat his veggies today...if so, a green smoothie is the perfect "last snack." Try a smoothie packed full of nutrients that will keep your little one satisfied all night long. A much better choice than milk before bed! Here is a recipe we use, but feel free to play with it. You'll likely have extra after blending this all together so it makes a great snack for mama too!

I always keep frozen spinach on hand. I toss it in sauces, soups, hamburger meat, and SMOOTHIES! Trust me, your child will have no idea! The deep color of the berries will mask the green spinach. And with all the other goodness added to the smoothie, his taste buds will not be able to tell! Deceptively delicious!

Smoothie Recipe

• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen organic berries (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries)
• 1/2 banana
• 1/4 cup frozen spinach (can also use fresh spinach or kale)
  
• 1 tbsp ground seeds (flax or sunflower ground in coffee grinder- see previous post, "Give your child the seed of health."
• 1 tbsp hemp protein powder or 1 tbsp almond butter
• 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or any other milk substitute-hemp, rice, soy)-you may need more than this, just keep adding more liquid until you reach desired consistency
• Optional: 1 capsule of blue-green algae (Afa-gen). Just break open the capsule into the blender.
  

Blend and enjoy!

Avoiding Grains for the First Year

It is best to introduce solid food at 6 months. It is optimal to avoid grains and cow dairy for the first year of your child's life.

Why, you ask?

It really comes down to human physiology and anatomical (intestinal) development. Babies GI systems are immature. On a physical level, they are immature because they have wide gaps in between their cells lining their intestines. This is termed "leaky gut." Over time, the junctions start to narrow and eventually become tight gap junction. If you introduce food too early (before 6 months and some foods before 2 years of age), undigested food particles can cross the lining of the GI (through the gap junctions) and enter the blood stream. This then initiates an immune response that the baby's immune cells will start attacking food particles--> leading to allergies, both environmental and food.

On a more chemical or physiological level, babies have insufficient enzymes to digest food before 6 months (and again with some foods until 2 years of age). We know that humans do not start producing amylase (enzyme that breaks down carbs) until 2 years of age. This is why in the introduction to solids there is a delayed introduction of grains! Ironically, grains are often the first food that is introduced- rice cereal. We waited to introduce grains with Cece until 12 months (brown rice, quinoa, millet) and then wheat until 18 months.

Speaking of rice cereal, there are several reasons to avoid feeding it to your child as a first food:
1. see above- it a grain and insufficient enzyme production.
2. rice cereals are fortified with Iron, which is smart because at 6 months of age, the iron in mom's breastmilk is not enough for baby's needs. The baby's placenta stores of Iron is also insufficient by 6 months of age. Unfortunetely, it is a cheap, difficult to digest form of iron. This can cause GI distress. I suggest introducing a bioavaliable form (ie. form that baby can digest) of Iron, such as egg YOLKS (not whites until 12 months) and spinach combined. See my post on eggs to see how to make this. This was one of Cece's favorite first solids! Meat (lamb and grass fed beef) is also an appropriate form of Iron to introduce early on. Blackstrap molasses is also a good source of iron (mix with cooked apricots). Broccoli is also an excellent source of iron.

It all comes down to REAL FOOD. Feed your child a diet rich in vegetables, meat, beans, and fruit.

If you are curious about dairy, see my post on cow dairy vs. goat dairy. Goat is definitely the way to go!

The 4 R's for Optimal Gut Health

The 4 R's for Optimal Gut Health

All disease begins in the gut. -Hippocrates

Constipated? Bloated? Nauseated? Diarrhea? Gas? Fatigue? Feeling blah? Poor immunity? Eczema? Acne? Migraines?
Do these words ring true to you? If so, your GI systems needs some attention.

60-90% of your immune system is concentrated in your gut mucosa.

Trust your gut and heal!

1. Remove- Remove the following highly inflammatory foods:
♦ Gluten
♦ Dairy
♦ Soy
♦ Corn
♦ Sugar

These foods can create inflammation in your gut lining, causing the loose junctions in between cells of the GI tract. This is termed as leaky gut. A leaky gut allows undigested food particles and other substances into the blood stream. This can lead to an array of Gi symptoms, such as gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, etc. In addition to GI symptoms, this can also cause other systemic conditions, such as fatigue and autoimmune conditions.
Remove these foods for a minimum of 4 weeks, and then re-introduce one food group at a time and monitor symptoms.

Another component to this step is a GI health panel. This is a test that looks for parasites or other pathogenic bugs that may be causing problems. Consult your Naturopath for more information.

2. Reinoculate-Your gut contains 100+ trillion viable bacteria with more than 40 different species. It is necessary to populate the gut with good or beneficial bacteria to out-crowd the bad or pathogenic bacteria. Take a probiotic with lactobacillus and bifidobacterium daily. Keep them in the refrigerator.

3. Replace- Once the gut has been cleaned up (through diet and probiotics), we want it to stay that way! To encourage an adequate amount of stomach acid, take 1-3 tsps of apple cider vinegar in water 15 minutes before meals. This allows for optimal absorption of vitamins and minerals from your food. See previous post on Apple Cider Vinegar.

4. Repair- A leaky gut needs some repair and rejuvenation. The following nutrients heal the GI tract by maintaining healthy gastric lining…thus keeping those toxic particles out of the blood stream:
♦ Licorice
♦ Glutamine
♦ Flavanoids
♦ Slippery Elm

An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

For Centuries, people have been using apple cider vinegar as both food and medicine. Apple cider vinegar is used as an energizing tonic in addition to a natural remedy for many common ailments.

Apple cider vinegar is formed from the fermentation of apple juice to hard apple cider, followed by a second fermentation to apple cider vinegar. It retains all the nutritional benefits of the apples from which it was made along with the extra acids and enzymes produced during the two fermentation steps. It is the combination of these ingredients, which give apple cider vinegar its health benefits.

The best type of apple cider vinegar is made from cold pressed, organically grown whole apples – in which no chemicals or preservatives have been added, and which contains the “mother of vinegar.” The “mother of vinegar” is the natural gelatinous substance formed during the second fermentation step. It will settle to the bottom of the bottle so it is important to shake the bottle prior to pouring in order to obtain all the nutrients.

The health benefits of apple cider vinegar are numerous. Taking apple cider vinegar before meals stimulates stomach acid production, thereby improving digestion and absorption of nutrients. Apple cider vinegar also has antiseptic properties, deterring the growth of pathogenic bacteria and yeast. Apple cider vinegar contains pectin, a water-soluble fiber, which absorbs water, fat, toxins, and cholesterol in the digestive tract and removes them from the body. Its pectin content also helps improve glucose metabolism and lowers blood pressure. In addition to water-soluble fiber, apple cider vinegar contains insoluble fiber. This insoluble fiber aids in digestion and elimination, promoting regularity of bowel movements.

For maximum benefit, take 1-3 tsps of apple cider vinegar in 8 ounces of water 15-20 minutes before meals.

Consider making a delicious beverage out of apple cider vinegar. Combine 1-2 tsps apple cider vinegar with some honey, maple syrup or stevia in 8 oz of water.