Healthier Mud Pies / gluten and dairy free

I bought some Glutino oreo's for the boys. They love these cookies! I thought it would be fun to make them some mud pies with the cookies crumbled on top and a couple gummy worms. My mom sent them Albanese gummy worms. 

I found a chocolate chia pudding recipe on Pinterest. It was super easy to make. 

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 cup dairy free milk - I used almond milk

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 cup chia seeds

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix it all together and chill for 4-6 hours in the fridge. 

I crumbled up the cookies, sprinkled them over the top and put 2 worms in each bowl. George thought they were super cute and delicious. Cash would only eat the worms. lol

George ended up thinking it was a cute idea, but only ate about 3 bites. George isn't a chocolate fan. Cash loves all sweets, so I am not sure why he wouldn't even try them. Cash just kept yelling he wanted more worms. Next time I will just try to see if he will eat the pudding without worms. 

Air Fryer Eggs!

We eat A LOT of eggs in our home! We go through 4-5 dozen eggs every 2 weeks. I sent eggs to work with Art every day for breakfast. Some times it's just scrambled and some times I do an egg bake. 

One of my friends Caryl posted on IG that she bought these OXO silicone air fryer molds to make over easy eggs. She said she makes an over easy egg in about 10 minutes in her air fryer. WHAT!!!! Well like any good influenced person does I ordered the OXO molds from Amazon for $4. I made some over easy eggs a couple times. Then I decided to try other type of eggs.

I cut up some red onion and jalapenos to add to the bottom of the cups. I whisk 6 eggs and 1/4 cup of salsa in a bowl. I pour the whisked eggs over the onion and jalapenos. I place them in the air fryer at 400 for 10-12 minutes. They easily come right out of the cups without any oil. 

Ready to go into the air fryer

ALL DONE! 

I have been eating the eggs over a slice of turkey and a slice of Daiya cheddar cheese with some Franks Red Hot over the top! This is my favorite breakfast right now! 

Cash has been eating these eggs without jalapenos. He was on an egg strike for awhile. He ate one the other day and was yelling for more. 

The combinations for eggs you can make are endless! Let me know if you try these and what you think! 

Molds found HERE 

Twix Bars - Dairy, gluten and refined sugar FREE!

A new follow for me on Instagram is Stacy_simmons made these gluten free, dairy free, refined sugar twix bars. I had to try them! They looked really good. One thing about being home so much is I have been baking more. Baking is not my thing. I would rather cook a full meal over baking. Maybe I will become a baker now. lol

The boys love to bake with me. It's usually easier to let them bake then to have them help cook a meal. As soon as I pull the mixer out Cash comes running and pushing a chair over to the counter. 

Cookie Bottom:

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 cup almond flour

1/3 cup coconut oil

3 tablespoons honey warmed

Put in a small pan lined with parchment paper. You will need to pack this down tightly onto the parchment paper. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. 

Completely cook before you add the next layer.

When I pulled it out of the oven I was afraid I forgot an egg or something because it seemed crumbly. Once it cooled it wasn't crumbly at all. 

Middle Caramel Layer:

1/2 cup almond butter

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup coconut oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

sprinkle salt

Stir in a sauce pan over low heat until it all liquefies. Let it cool before you add it to the cookie layer. Spread it evenly over the cookie layer and put it in the freezer for 2-3 hours. 

Chocolate Layer:

I used 1/2 cup of Enjoy Life dark chocolate chips

1 tablespoon melted coconut oil

Melt in a sauce pan over low heat. After the chocolate has melted pour over the top of the cookie and caramel layer. Sprinkle the top with kosher salt. 

I put these back in the freezer for about 10 minutes before I cut them into squares. After I cut them into squares I put them into a zip lock bag and keep them in the freezer. If you take them out for a couple minutes you are able to eat them. These bars melt quickly, so you don't want to leave them out. 

My final verdict is they don't really taste like a twix, but they are sure yummy! Let me know if you make these and what you think!! 

Gluten & Dairy Free One Pot Hamburger Helper

As a busy mom aren't we always looking for easy meals we can make for dinner?  I decided to remake The Defined Dish one pot hamburger helper for my family. I feed Cash dairy and gluten free foods. I also try to limit gluten for G. When I saw this recipe I thought it looked and sounded so yummy! This would be a great meal for a busy night too. 

This is one of Cashy's favorite meals. He will gobble this up! I love that I only have to get one pot dirty for a filling meal. It also makes enough that we have plenty of leftovers for 2-3 lunches. Art or the kids will eat it the next day. 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 onion, chopped finely
1 pound ground beef or turkey - I use whatever I have on hand
1 teaspoon salt
2 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon tomato paste 
1-2 cups of spinach
1/2 cup of shredded carrots
1 package of gluten free pasta (usually around 8 oz)
2 cups bone broth 
2 cups of coconut milk
2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast

Instructions:

- heat your pot over medium heat

- melt the coconut oil

- saute your chopped onions and minced garlic cloves for 20-30 seconds

- brown your ground meat with the onion and garlic

- once the meat is almost all browned, add in the salt, paprika, nutritional yeast, spinach and tomato paste. Stir to combine in your meat.

- add the bone broth and milk to your browned meat. Bring the liquid to a boil. 

- add in your pasta and cook for the time amount on the package. It's usually around 8 minutes for 8 oz package. 

Serve and Enjoy!

I like adding spinach and shredded carrots to get some veggies in the meal. If I don't have spinach or carrots to add I will serve a side salad on the side or some cut up raw veggies. 

My tip to adding Liver to your Diet!

I started adding organ meat to our diet about 4 years ago. Growing up my mom use to make liver and onions. I loved it as a kid with some ketchup.

Liver is high in vitamin A, folic acid, iron and zinc. Liver is one of the most nutrient dense organ meat with a powerful source of vitamin A. Vitamin A is extremely beneficial for reducing diseases that cause inflammation like multiple sclerosis, arthritis and Alzheimer's along with great benefits for eye health. I am always looking for ways to reduce inflammation, since I struggle with it so bad from my multiple sclerosis. 

I have fried it with bacon grease and onions, but I struggle with the texture of it. I got an idea one day to buy some liver from a local organic natural market Victoria's Natural Market in Tomball, TX. I love going to Victoria's to get my chicken bones to make bone broth, liver, local honey and various other organic local items. 

I bought some liver and took it home to grind it up. I decided to add it to meatballs the first time. No one even knew it was in there and you couldn't taste it at all! I took the remaining ground up liver and put it in little baggies to freeze. When I make anything with ground meat I will add beef or chicken liver to it. I have found beef liver really gives ground turkey a lot of flavor! 

Ground up liver in my freezer

My family has no clue they are eating liver, but they are getting all the amazing benefits from the liver! I most likely wouldn't sit down to eat a plate of fried liver these days, so I can't expect my kids to eat it. I normally do not hide foods to get my family to eat them. I serve them the item and they decide if they want to eat it or not. To me adding the liver to ground meat is like adding in some extra vitamins. We all need to take vitamins, so let's add a little to what we are going to be eating.
Do you like liver? Have you ever ground it up to eat it? 

Paleo Whipped Coffee

Paleo Non Dairy Whipped Coffee!!! Testing out new coffee recipes seems to be my quarantine past time. I keep hearing about whipped coffee all over social media. The regular whipped coffee has a lot of refined sugar. I try to avoid refined sugar, so I decided to try to make a paleo non dairy version. 

Recipe:

1 TBSP instant coffee

4 TBSP hot water

1 TBSP coconut sugar

Blend this all together - I put it in my ninja blender for 1-2 minutes

I warmed 1/2 cup almond milk & 1/2 cup coconut milk. I poured the milk into my mug and put the whipped coffee on top. Then I slowly stirred it all together. Sooooo yummy!

You could also make this iced by not warming up your milk and pouring it all over ice. I like it both hot and cold. Whipped coffee is amazing! It changes up the daily cup of black coffee into a fancier latte! Have you tried whipped coffee?  Let me know if you try this paleo non dairy version! 

Monday Thrive August 28

1) I have always loved back to school stuff in the stores. I love school supplies. It's been a long time since I have been in school or needed to buy school supplies. When I see school supplies on sale for $.25 for a box of crayons I think I need to buy like 10 of them. lol I do try to avoid that area of the store because honestly how many pens or boxes of crayons does one person need? 

G is now going to preschool, but we don't have to take any supplies. He will be going 2 days for 3 hours a day. All supplies are provided and snacks, so we just send him in play clothes. They do lots of art and play outside a lot. He comes home usually with paint and dirt all over himself. I learned very quickly do not send him in cute good clothes. They won't make it! One of his sweatshirts still has red paint on the sleeve. That will be his school jacket from now on. lol

2) During Nordstroms Anniversary Sale I bought the Barefoot Dreams circle cardigan. I wasn't sure about it, but I had heard so many great reviews about Barefoot Dreams items. I decided to order one. If I hated it I would just return it. OMG! This thing is the softest thing in the world! I wish I had ordered another color. I wear it all the time! I really want the mink one next! 

I also discovered for the first time probably in my entire life I actually need a black cardigan. The black and mink cardigans are going on my wish list! I will be ordering another one of these next year during the sale. 

3) I started listening to Jen Hatmaker podcasts when I was flying back from ND. I LOVE this podcast!!!!!! Her recently one with Brene' Brown is a must listen too! Sometimes I need something uplifting. This podcast is exactly that! I always feel so much better about what is going on in my life after listening to Jen. She makes you feel like you are doing your best and your best is good enough!

4) The hurricane/flooding in Texas is so very sad! Last year Art and I went to the Houston area to look at possibly moving there. Maybe one day we will, but right now we aren't. The area that is flooding is right where we looked at moving. I saw pictures of MD Anderson the medical facility I want to go to. It is terrible! The place that helps thousands of people is flooded. It's really heart breaking to see MD Anderson flooded! I know so many people that go there. They are one of the few places that understand Medullary Thyroid Cancer and actually help people fight this ugly cancer. Lots of thoughts and prayers for everyone dealing with this catastrophe. 

5) I am not sure if I shared these paleo chocolate chip cookies on the blog in the past. Sometimes you just need chocolate chip cookies even when you are eating as healthy as possible. These cookies are amazing! My dad even liked them which says a lot. He thinks I eat the craziest stuff. If you want something healthy, non-dairy and paleo these are your go to cookies! I actually haven't bought the ingredients for them because I can't avoid them. 

I hope everyone has a great week!

Weekly Menu - Paleo Friendly

I mainly use coconut oil or ghee for cooking. I buy both of them at Costco in bulk. The container of coconut oil lasts me a couple months and runs about $20. I use this to cook, take my make up off, lotion, bullet proof coffee and whatever else I might need to use an oil. It does take some getting use too. Art isn't a big fan when the coconut oil flavor is prominent. I have noticed if I use salt it helps to mask the flavor a lot. I honestly don't even notice it anymore. When other people use other types of oils to cook with I don't really like them now. I can taste the difference, but the coconut flavor doesn't other me. I love chicken fried in ghee! That is just the best taste to me.

Main Dishes:

Hamburgers - I love hamburgers on the grill. I bought some butter lettuce to wrap burgers in this week.

Shepherds pie - I will try to share the recipe I use for this. I buy some frozen veggies, make my own gravy, make some mash potatoes and throw it all in my cast iron skillet in the oven.

Cracklin Chicken - if you haven't tried Nom Nom Paleo's cracklin chicken you need too!!!!!!!!!!! It's the BEST!!!! Use some ghee to fry this chicken. Ok I am craving this now!

Buffalo Chicken Soup - this is a new recipe I want to try.

Chicken Curry - I haven't made curry in ages. I usually just throw in whatever veggies we have and put it over cauliflower rice.

Sausage - This is an easy meal. Throw some sausage on the grill!

Happy Menu Planning!

Monday Thrive!

I decided to change the title posts of my Monday posts to Monday Thrive! I didn't really like the last name, but I couldn't come up with anything else. lol 

1) I have struggled to find a pancake and waffle recipe that all of us will eat. G and I will eat most of them. I just wanted a pancake that tastes similar to what I use to eat, but that is Paleo. Recently I was at Sprout's and they had the Birch Benders buy 1 get one free. I decided to give them a try. All of us LOVE them! If you don't have a Sprout's near you Amazon also sells the mix. 

2) I have been struggling with my concealer under my eye creasing at times. I hate the way that looks. It makes you look like you have wrinkles and old eyes. I recently watched a blogger put on her make up. She mentioned she used powder under her eyes to avoid creases. I have had the Mattifying Powder by BeautyCounter in a box sitting in my house for months. I wasn't sure what to use it for or even why I would use it. Oh boy! 

I pulled it out to try it and let me just tell you it is a total game changer! No more creases and granny looking eyes! I put my concealer and cream blusher on my face. Then I take a brush and put the powder over the concealer and blush. It really helps set it to stay all day long. 

I then put on my eyeliner on the top of my eyelid. I have been lining the bottom with black eye shadow. I then take the powder and brush it over my eyeliner to help set it. I haven't ever had luck in the past keeping eye shadow on as an eyeliner! It always would wear off and look terrible by noon. Well with the Mattifying Powder it stays set ALL DAY LONG! 

I really like my eyes now that I started lining my waterline. I had to learn I have to do a thin line of eyeliner in order to not feel like a raccoon with my waterline lined. 

3) Do you buy much online? Have you signed up to use Ebates? I signed up with Ebates maybe about 5ish years ago. I will admit I don't always remember to use them. I kick myself when I make a purchase and don't use them. Over the years I have earned over $330.00. They will deposit the money into your Paypal account. Right now I have earned over $35 for the next payout. I downloaded the app to my phone, so it is easier to make purchases. I also log in when I make purchases on my computer. Use this LINK to earn $10 to sign up. Free money is always fabulous!

4) I love Target Tee's!!!! I feel I buy different styles and colors every season. They are just so comfy plus they are a great bargain. I bought the one below for $5. They have a purple color that I just LOVE! I have been looking for a purple tee for a long time. Regular price they are only $8. 

You can get the tee for only $8.34 with tax if you use your Target Redcard since they offer free shipping on all Redcard orders. I also used Ebates, so I will get 1% cashback. While the 1% isn't much it does add up over time. 

Find it HERE! 

5) I bought the Rubbermaid Reveal Spray Mop on Amazon recently. I buy too much stuff on Amazon! It is my go to place. I can usually get things within 2 days for a good price. I love this mop because I can fill it with non-toxic cleaners to spray on my floor. It's great for mopping your entire house or for a quick clean up. When you have a toddler you need to be able to mop areas quickly without having to drag out a mop, bucket, filling it with water, blah blah blah. This mop is fabulous! Sometimes I spray my entire kitchen with cleaner, let it sit then I go back into the room and mop it. My kitchen could be mopped twice a day. Now I feel I need to go mop my kitchen now. lol

I linked up with Hello Monday Linkup

Carylee & Jenna

Disclaimer: All thoughts and opinions are my own. The post Monday Thrive appeared first on Because Chocolate Can't Get You Pregnant. 

Paleo Instant Pot Beef Stew

My mom makes this amazing stew that I love. It's so simple, but it's not paleo. I have been wanting to recreate it for awhile. The one ingredient I was stuck on was dry ranch dressing. Well I found a recipe online. I have been wanting ranch dressing to go with veggies too. I make this ranch dressing in double batches because we go through so much of it. I didn't take a picture of the stew from the other night because it was gone quick!

1 onion chopped
4 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon of tapioca flour
2 pounds of stew meat
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups of bone broth
1 tsp cumin
1.5 tbsp dry ranch dressing
1/2 small bag of baby carrots
1 small bunch of kale
4-5 small potatoes sliced

I sprinkled the tapioca flour all over my meat along with salt. I put a little oil in the bottom of my IP and turned it on sauté. I put the onion, garlic and meat in the IP to sauté for about 5 minutes. When it started to turn a light brown I turned it off. I then poured in the bone broth, cumin and dry ranch dressing. I turned it on high pressure for 30 minutes. When the timer went off I manually released the pressure. I put the veggies in the IP under high pressure for an additional 5 minutes. I manually released the pressure again.

It took about 60 minutes total to cook. It was AMAZING! We had plenty of leftovers too. The flavors were amazing! The meat was so tender it just fell apart.

You could easily make this in a crockpot. I would throw everything in the crockpot on low for about 6 hours

The flavors of this stew are just like the one my mom makes. I quickly wrote down all the ingredients I had used, so I wouldn't forget. I felt it was a very easy dinner to make. I love the IP! I love that I can throw things in there and go do something else while dinner is cooking.

Let me know if you try this recipe!

Disclaimer: This recipe was created by Becky Post. The post Paleo Instant Pot Beef Stew appeared first on Because Chocolate Can't Get You Pregnant.  

Put your Health 1st in 2017!

My life was changed in May 2016 when I was encouraged to start eating Paleo by my doctor. I was having so many health issues. I honestly thought within a couple years I would need a cane or wheel chair. I felt horrible! I could barely go for a walk without needing to rest for a couple days. I was barely able to get the normal daily tasks done. Chasing a toddler was extremely exhausting. 

The thought of never eating bread or dairy again was very overwhelming. I am German and Italian....seriously no pasta or bread? Do you know how I was raised? I was raised on flour based foods. Then I remembered when I did the HCG diet. I lost 80 pounds not eating foods with flour. I felt really great when I was doing certain stages of that diet which didn't have gluten or dairy. If I was able to do it before, so I could do it again. 

I had my entire grocery list made out on a Thursday when I was encouraged to change my diet. I told my doctor ok well I guess I will go home and make a whole new grocery list. And I did! I totally changed what I fed myself and my family. I am not going to make different meals for George or Art. If it wasn't healthy for me to be eating all these things then my toddler maybe shouldn't be eating those things either. 

During this time I came across Dr. Wahls. Another life changing event. I started following the Wahls Protocol. As I would read her book I just couldn't imagine how my body would even start to heal with just foods. I was willing to take the chance. If it worked for her then it might help me. She was a lot worse off then I was, but I felt my health was headed to a bad place like Dr. Wahls experienced. 

Fast forward to the present. Eating the Paleo diet has not changed my cancer at all. I have actually had additional growth on some of the cancer spots. My MS has changed drastically. If you have read previous posts and new posts that will be coming out you will see my fitness level has greatly improved. Right now I can see my life not needing a cane or wheel chair. 

Over Christmas I ate some non-Paleo food items. Oh boy! Usually I am SUPER careful about what I eat. I decided to allow myself to eat somethings I liked in the past. Lesson learned it isn't worth it. My body was achy, stomach hurt, bloating, and just feeling like garbage. I can't do dairy period! 

If you have any health issues I HIGHLY recommend you try eating the Paleo diet! It really has been life changing for me. I will say the first 4-6 weeks were super hard. It got boring trying to figure out what I could eat and getting sick of the same things. I felt I wouldn't be able to ever eat out at a restaurant. Over the past few months I have been able to change recipes to make them Paleo friendly. When a recipe calls for milk I use coconut milk. When it calls for butter I use ghee. Flour - I use tapioca starch or almond flour. You slowly start to learn what substitutes for things. You also learn to look ahead at menus and pick items you can eat when you eat out. You can ask them to hold certain ingredients and let them know your food allergies. 

Some people are able to add cheese and rice back into their diets without experiencing any problems. I think it all depends on your health and body. I can't add those things back in. I tried and it didn't work for me. I don't think you can expect to see a huge difference in how you feel within a couple days. When I look back to how I felt in April of 2016 to how I feel in December 2016 it is night and day. 

Getting to a healthy place isn't a sprint. You have to take it like a marathon. Slow and steady. 

1. Start to get some sleep! Your body needs sleep badly! So many people don't sleep properly. You need 7-9 hours of sleep each night. If you aren't able to sleep at night try to get a little nap. A 20 minute nap for me really helped heal my body. I use to nap 4-6 days a week for about 20-30 minutes. Now I rarely nap. I still love my Sunday afternoon nap while listening to a football game. Something so calming about those naps. 

2. Change the foods you eat! If you are eating processed food and feel terrible...shocker it's probably because it is processed. How can you expect your body to process these foods? If it has a package of dry ingredients did that come from a field? That is going to sit in your body for who knows how long trying to figure out how to process it. I could go on and on about this. 

3. Exercise! Even if it's for 20 minutes a few times a week. Find something you like. Take your kids for a walk to feed the ducks that crappy bread you shouldn't be eating. lol YouTube has a lot of free workouts. I love Chris Freytag workouts. You can find a lot of them on YouTube. 

4. Start reading the labels of the products you use. Look up ingredients on products to figure out exactly what is in the product. If your lotion has some strange things listed on it google those words. You will probably find out you are putting harmful chemicals on your body. 

You can't jump into this all head first. I did things slowly. I did the food, sleep, exercise and then products. I still struggle with sleep. It is midnight and here I am writing a blog post. Tomorrow I will probably need a nap. MS is a killer for messing with your sleep. Sometimes sleep aids work and something they don't. 

Vanilla Almond Milk Latte

I recently discovered Peet's Vanilla Almond Milk Latte's. O-M-G! Those things taste soooo delish! What I do not love is the fact they cost $5+ bucks for a medium. If you know one thing about me it is I am frugal. I needed to find a version of the vanilla almond milk latte that I could make at home. Well I found it! It is AMAZING! I love that I can make it at home, sit on the couch in my pjs and watch the Today show. I don't have to get dressed, put on make up, load up the toddler and drive to the local Peet's. 

Here is the recipe I have been making. 

1 cup strong coffee
1 cup of warm almond milk
1 teaspoon of honey
1 teaspoon of vanilla

I heat the almond milk, honey and vanilla in a pan until the edges start to boil. I pour the coffee and milk together. This is my favorite nap time drink!!! 

Vegan cheese

I think I mentioned on a previous post that I have given up dairy. Cheese is the hardest part. Pizza and Mexican food.....oh boy! Thankfully there are so many options these days. Sprout's has a lot of options for a good price. I found Daiya sliced cheese that melts amazing on a grilled cheese. I was looking through the frozen section at Sprout's and found the dairy free pizza below. It really tasted good. The meatless meat on it even was tasty. I would like to find a vegan pizza with actual meat though lol

Earth Balance vegan mac & cheese is really good too. I used coconut milk when I made it. Of course it doesn't taste like Kraft, but it's a good substitute.

There are just a couple of the substitutes I have found that I like.