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Turkey Sausage, Kale & Quinoa Soup

I love soup! I always have and as soon as I feel my first brisk wind, it gives me an excuse to make a pot of soup. I have four soups that I feel like I am the master (actually 5 but I don’t count Chicken Noodle). My favorite soup is probably Vegetable Minestrone and it is so easy! I also am a big fan of Cream of Mushroom and I make it from scratch with a mushroom mix every Thanksgiving.

My top 2 of my four masterpieces is my Butternut Squash Soup and my Turkey Sausage, Kale & Quinoa Soup those I always have a bowl worth in the freezer all winter long. I make them probably every other week. Well, it’s artic in Jersey and soup can be a healthy comfort food. You can make in the Crockpot, Instapot, or pot on the stove. This is a Crockpot recipe but follows the same.  Turkey Sausage, Kale & Quinoa Soup, its super easy, satisfying and healthy.

Another great thing about this is it’s gluten free which as I have blogged about before is a diet that my family is adopting. We;ve noticed improvements in seasonal allergies, skin breakouts and digestion and have pretty much adopted removing wheat from our diet.  It began when I discovered my own wheat allergy (not gluten) from a skin prick allergy test.  As I pursued a gluten free lifestyle I kind of transitioned my family. Now, my two of my girls and my husband will not turn down pizza or gluten when out in about but at home we eat gluten free. I use quinoa often to replace pasta and even for pizza crust!

 

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Also, this year I have a living “spice rack” which I love. All of my spices are doing pretty well except my basil which needed a grow light. It’s a great way to have fresh herbs on hand all winter long. Hope your family enjoys the soups as much as mine does!

What is your favorite quick and easy soup?

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Dessert Gluten Free Recipes

Raw “Caramel” Bites

RawCacaoCaramelBites.

Lately, all I have been posting is recipes and this blog is about food but not exclusively.  It’s just been a very busy season lately. With spring my little diva’s are in sports like lacrosse which are a huge time commitment. and I went back to school to get my second degree in Fitness and Exercise Science and Advanced Personal Training which is a big time commitment.I have a toddler which is a big time commitment. Needless to say my thoughts, although I still have them have been fleeting and I have no time to capture them and post but I am working on it.   I still have time to dabble in the kitchen though and recipes are just easier to post then thought provoking inspirational post. Those for now are captured in my journal till I can figure out a way to make some time to publish regularly here. So please forgive me for overwhelming you with my kitchen experiments and favorite recipes. I promise I will get to some juicy content very soon as soon as I figure out how to navigate this season of life better.

Anyways, this weekend I was meal prepping and something that I had saw on Facebook hand inspired me (yes, I make time to scroll through social media but not post. I know I need to prioritize) moving on. You know those “Recipe Video’s” that every day become more popular. Its a 45 second video clip of someone making an amazing looking treat, meal or whatever. There are a few pages that are very well know and popular. Anyways, I was scrolling and I saw one from Food Matters for a Raw Caramel Slice. It looked delicious and I mental noted and shared it to my timeline to make in the future.  The future came last Saturday, I was meal planning and I decided for a treat to add the ingredients to my grocery list.

 

EnjoyingRawCacaoBites

Now, have you every actually attempted to make one of those video clip foods? I don’t know about you but mine don’t always turn out how the video did. For some reason I think it takes them a lot longer than 45 seconds to make them in real life, ha ha. No, but there is always something a little off about the recipe when I attempt it.   This one I found SUCCESS and it was oh so delicious success.  In hindsight I would change the measurement of one ingredient and add one ingredient (which I did in the recipe here)  but other than that it was simple and actually looks like the last shot in the video clip.  I also would highly recommend it and so would my toddler (please excuse the hair it was Sunday, wash and twist night at my house). If you’re looking for a naturally sweetened chocolate indulgence that requires no baking this is the treat for you. This is my adaptation of the Raw Caramel Slice. Please give it a try and let me know what you think?

RawCacaoBites Steps

 

 

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Dessert Gluten Free Recipes

Oeey Goey Cheerio Brownies Gluten Free

CheerioBrownie

I think some of the yummiest things are created when you don’t have all the necessary ingredients. That is what happened here. My middle daughter had requested dessert and I totally forgot about it. So, when she came home from school she immediately asked, “So, Mom what did you make for dessert?” I had promised her and didn’t want to disappoint her so I pulled out my go to, brownies.  I have this easy brownie recipe that I have been making for years. Its one of those ones you have memorized to heart and use it in a pinch.  If I forgot bible study treat or something to send in with the girls its my go-to but this time was different. I have been diligent about being eating gluten free and I knew if I made brownies that I was going to not only want to taste one but definitely indulge.

My brownies for scratch are way better than your store bought or boxed brownie mix which is hard to come by sometime.  I knew that we had no more gluten free flour and I had used the last of the oatmeal for breakfast. I typically use oat flour when baking because its cheap and gluten free. I usually grind up my gluten free oatmeal and presto oat flour. So, scouring the kitchen I came up with an alternative.  The babies cheerios. Cheerios are gluten free AND put those bad boys in the grinder and you have cheerio flour. But would it work? Not only did it work my husband said, “These are the best brownies you’ve ever made.” I think partly because Cheerios have sugar in them and on top of my normal amount of sugar I put in my brownies my husband overly sweet sweet tooth was more than satisfied.  I had another request for the brownies recently and thought I definitely need to share this quirky recipe.  When you taste these you would never believe that the flour was made of cheerios.

cheeriobrownies

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Recipes

Cloud Bread

CloudBread

Don’t get me wrong I am not one of those people who don’t believe in carbs but I do try to eat them in lower quantities and do have an allergy to wheat. At first, I ignored my wheat allergy but the less I eat the more sensitive I have become. So, bread or the low carb wraps are not my digestive systems friend. My go-to has been lettuce wraps. If it needs a bun I put it in lettuce and love it. (I really do!) But sometimes you do want a bun. I found these about a year and half ago on…..(I know you guessed) Pinterest! Well, of course I had to make it. The description sounds so tempting, “pillows of goodness” and it looked so easy. Just four ingredient bread and I don’t have to worry about it rising. I am doing a sugar detox for the next 14 days (21 days total) and I did really well last week one sugar weakness, lots of withdrawals but one mess up and it was actually unintentional. This week I decided that I will be completely sugar free so bread is out of the picture. That made me go back to my old faithful, cloud bread. It’s a really good substitute for me for bread. Try it and let me know what you think!

CloudBread Ingredients

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Breakfast Dessert Gluten Free Recipes

Apple Crisp for 1, please

 

Yep, It’s that time of year! Apple Picking! It brings back so much nostalgia and memories and a tradition that I happily keep each year with my girls.  It’s been especially fun the last two years apple picking with a curious toddler.  The older girls make it fun too but those little eyes of amazement and little hands stuffing apples in a bag melts this Mama’s heart.

I know everyone has gone Pumpkin crazy but we can’t forget about, good ole American apple pie.  I am a huge fan of both Pumpkin and apple so this recipe actually works for both! It takes 2-5 minutes and you will be in that fall-warmth-comfort-food-bliss in less than 10 minutes and it is so much better for you!

applecrispfor1

There are so many to both as a snack!

Apples have many benefits to your diet four benefits:

  1. It’s good for you I know you’re like “Duh, an apple a day…” but they are a great source of soluble fiber which is needed in your diet for healthy protection, diabetes prevention, and weightloss and one medium apple is half of your daily 2 cup of fruit goal based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Apples also provide 14% of the daily value of Vitamin C requirements.
  2. It’s helps you with weight loss. How? You say? Apples are a great hunger crusher and for fewer calories than most small meals or snacks.  There has also been studies that daily diet of apples will lower your cholesterol and heart disease.
  3. It’s great for your Heart health. Numerous studies has connected apples to lower risk of death due to heart diseases and cardiovascular disease.  It is believed there are mutiple factors that contribute to this such as:
    • antioxidants found in apples
    • Helps prevent LDL cholesterol and lower cholesterol
    • Inhibits inflammation
    • Soluable fiber
  4.  It helps prevent and protect you against metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is symptoms that causes the body to function improperly increasing the risk for heart disease and diabetes. A study found that apple eaters has 27% less chance to have metabolic syndrom symptoms.
  5. Give you a boost. Apples contain an antioxidant called querctin, which helps make more oxygen for your lungs helping with endurance.  So, it’s a great preworkout snack.

This recipe has no refined sugar and is a great treat for this fall.  What is your favorite fall dessert?

 

Check out my Chai Spice Recipe!

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