Category Archives: Health and Wellness

Dairy Free Keto for Brain Health – Week 1

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Many people are jumping on the Keto diet for weight loss, but most have no idea that this diet is actually designed as a therapy diet for brain conditions. When my husband was diagnosed with seizures from a prior Traumatic Brain Injury, I knew this would be a helpful step in rehabilitation. I’ve opted into doing a dairy free keto since we have one child with dairy intolerance (no longer an anaphylactic allergy, but it instantly flares up his skin and ezcema to unbearable leavels) + we have seen how inflammatory dairy has been in the rest of us especially when it comes to congestion, allergies and pain.IMG_2110

We are already gluten free because of a wheat allergy, but we are making quite a few modifications to take out the dairy AND nuts, which can be two big elements of the keto diet. On top of that, we have one child that also has to avoid soy, avocado, banana and seeded berries (strawberry, blackberry, raspberry).

These are the recipes I compiled for week one of our Dairy Free Keto Plan. Many of the recipes leftovers make great breakfast by simply adding an egg on top, paired with one of the Keto ‘dessert’ type foods. We do a big breakfast meal here on the farm, generally a light snack for lunch and then an earlier dinner (since I have also been doing intermittent fasting for several months).

{DAY 1}
Breakfast: Nasi Goreng is hands down my new favorite breakfast recipe. I like to make a large batch since it heats up really well as leftovers (saving the eggs on top to cook fresh). I can make one mess to shred it all up and then be done for the week!

Dinner: Sheet Pan Chicken with Sausage and Asparagus I used pork sausage instead of chorizo since we have a good local source for that, but this was a good standard easy dinner to start off a Monday.  3D943CE4-DE4B-4479-B153-58D5035FBE2D 2

{Day 2}
Breakfast: Leftover Nasi Goreng with an egg on top and/or Dairy Free Chocolate Milkshakes (we have some very hungry growing boys around here that quite often eat 2 different breakfast meals by the time it is all said and done. I have had to sub the bananas in our original recipe lately for 1-2 cans of coconut cream since the little can’t do bananas, but this is a great dairy free keto treat.

Dinner: Drunken Chicken Zoodle Casserole. OMG this was SO GOOD! It was a bit more prep than some of the other meals, but totally worth it. I used chicken breast pieces, cut the chili garlic paste in 1/2 (since the kids don’t love super spicy), and used coconut aminos instead of the soy sauce, and it was just right. My husband and I love Thai food and the sauce in this recipe had such good flavor. Everyone raved about this dinner the whole way through. BONUS: This was even more amazing as leftovers!IMG_2108IMG_2111

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

{Day 3}
Breakfast: Egg Salad I have no idea why I have not yet posted my Deviled Egg Salad recipe, but it’s super simple so I’ll just post it here. This is not keto in it’s original form, but the kids LOVE it, so I made a batch for them and then made some for us without the secret ingredient {brown sugar}. lol

To make this, I soft boil about a dozen eggs in the instant pot (put on the grate, add some water to the bottom and run for 4 minutes). Peel the eggs and mash them up into a bowl with some mayo, spicy brown mustard and just a pinch of brown sugar to taste. I am going to have to make this with measurements soon because I am the world’s worst at measuring. We love to use homemade mayo and I’d say I do several TBSP of that, 1-2 Tbsp spicy brown mustard and maybe 1-2 tsp brown sugar. Mix it all up and it does not last long here. For the kids who are still eating some carbs, they put this on some toast and devour it. We do the non-sugar version and mix in some chopped celery, onion and chopped pieces of leftover bacon into a bowl and….YUM.

Dinner: Keto Beef and Broccoli Bowls  These were yummy and the kids agreed they would like to have them again, but I think I’d tweak the sauce a bit next time to be a little thicker with a little more flavor. I found the broth watered it down a bit too much by the time it soaked in. We served these over cauliflower rice and overall it was VERY yummy and easy.IMG_2107

{Day 4}
Breakfast: Leftover Beef and Broccoli – this made great breakfast leftovers by heating it up and adding an egg on top! For the kids, I made a batch of Pumpkin Pie Pudding on the side and it was delicious!

Dinner: Superfood Baked Salmon Sheet Pan This was a beautiful dish to prepare and serve. I was honestly a bit underwhelmed at the flavors though when it all came out in the end. The wild blueberry balsamic basil topping did not have the punch I was hoping for, so I think I would add in quite a bit more garlic and lemon next time, as well as add some raw chopped bacon around the sprouts (nothing better than sprouts that can soak up the bacon flavor to crisp up while cooking).IMG_2106

{Day 5}
Breakfast: I used the extra sprouts from the night before as the base of this SUPER Sheet Pan Breakfast Hash. This will absolutely be on my morning rotation from here out. While I have used the brussel sprouts with breakfast several times before, adding in the raw bacon and then baking the eggs onto the sheet pan was just perfection!IMG_2114

IMG_2155Dinner: Egg Roll in a Bowl This was interestingly similar to the Nasi Goreng in the preparation – only instead of the broccoli this had a LOT of cabbage and also included ACV which gave it a notably different taste. While I ADORE the flavor the coconut aminos give to many of these meals, I have to change it up so we don’t feel like we are eating the same thing over and over (though essentially we are). HA. Overall though, another huge win – the kids devoured these bowls and it will definitely be staying in the Keto rotation!

UPLEVELING the Meal Planning

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Life has a good way of reminding us that we are never in control. This year has brought on new challenges that we never thought we’d be dealing with. When faced with an unexpected health challenger or diagnosis there are 2 choices: fight and do what you can to help your body heal, or give up and resign to let it eventually beat you down. I wholeheartedly believe that food is medicine, so when we found out this year that my husband’s twenty year career as a Marine left him with some long term traumatic brain injuries that are just now starting to present, a “no brainer” move has been to tweak our diets to give him the best possible nutrition to boost brain health and regeneration.

Part of his developing condition was the onset of focal seizures, which are not the typical seizure that people think of, but incredibly debilitating and damaging nonetheless. The Ketogenic diet was originally created as a therapy diet to deal with brain conditions like seizures. We are DEFINITELY not newbies to food restrictions and special diets with all the food allergies and chronic issues that we have been through with our kids, so going Dairy Free Keto was a fairly simple tweak to the diet we already had. It mostly meant taking back out some of the carbs and sugars that we had slacked and let come back in even though we eat a very real food diet already.

For me, the biggest step in making a diet change for our family is the MEAL PLANNING! This is such a foundational part of our week anyway since without the meal plan my days and meals turn into chaos.

1) IMG_2098I have been using the app Plan To Eat for several months now, and highly recommend this for anyone wanting to organize or start their meal planning. I absolutely LOVE this app for scheduling, tweaking recipe changes, saving new found recipes and putting together a shopping list of the week’s meal plan ingredients. This makes a weekly shopping trip a breeze and ensures I have all the items stocked and ready to go for what we plan to eat each week.

2) Once I’ve dropped in both a breakfast and dinner meal plan each day of the week, I transfer them to our Meal Planning Menu board  that is front and center in our dining/kitchen area so the whole family knows what to expect each day.

3) Adding breakfast to our weekly meal planning has made a WORLD of difference in our homeschooling routine. I refuse to let the kids eat sugary cereal each morning and call it breakfast, so putting in some variety lets them know what they can expect and what they are only allowed to eat that in the morning, even if they wake up before anyone else. Let me tell you – this has been a GAME CHANGER!

Do you have a meal planning system that you love? Share it with us below! Stay tuned for some of our weekly KETO meal plans and compilation of recipes.

Gluten Free Stirfry

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I often make meals that are healthy and meals that taste good, but they do not always align at the same time 😂 I try.

Tonight my 7 year old said as he was eating, ‘this tastes better than cake,’ so I figured this is worth writing down. This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, nut free and soy free and is both Whole 30 and Keto friendly.

I have been transitioning to cauliflower rice for obvious nutritional and health benefits, and am loving these super easy stir fry bowls. I’ve done chicken & broccoli but tonight’s rendition was Ahi Tuna steaks over the stirfry and it was GONE in a flash with rave reviews from all 3 boys. Super super simple.

PREP AHEAD:

Marinade Wild Ahi Tuna steaks a few hours ahead of time with a drizzle of olive oil (I use my fav Rosemary Thyme Infused oil) Coconut Aminos, and crushed garlic. Put in fridge.

Prepare homemade mayo if you do not have any (this is a soy free 4 ingredient super clean condiment that tastes WAY better than anything you get in a store)

  • 1 egg
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • 3/4 cup LIGHT TASTING olive oil (do NOT use regular or it will be disgusting)
  • 1 Tbsp spicy brown mustard

Season with a dash of salt and blend all in a cup with immersion blender until nice and thick and creamy

Set in fridge and save for later

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When ready to eat:

Use any riced cauliflower of your choice (I have used several brands all with great results, but love the Green Giant with no additives or even seasoning). Pour out desired amount in an oven safe dish and add in a bag of frozen organic mixed vegetables or chop and pre-cook fresh veggies until soft and then add to cauliflower mix.

This is so easy it’s not really a recipe, but the simple seasonings make it go from blah to amazing. Stick the frozen cauliflower rice and veggies in oven or on stove until cooked through and hot.

When almost done, heat skillet over med/high heat and sear/cook the marinated tuna steaks (or can do the same thing with chicken). Depending on thickness I usually do 2.5 min per side for the tuna so they are still med rare.

Before serving, drizzle on coconut aminos over ‘rice’ and veggie mix, salt and pepper.

Top with Ahi Tuna steak and drizzle the ‘mayo sauce’ over the top. Enjoy!

Travel tip {doTERRA supplements}

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This is so simple, but oh so much cuter than other labels you can find. Many of you have these supplement travel cases that you can find at www.oillife.com or www.aromatools.com, but here is my tip of the day…

1) Gently peel back the label on an empty or almost empty bottle and cut just past the cute dotted border to make a square

2) Place your new little sticker on one of your vinyl zip pouches from the case

3) you now have your travel stash and do not have to sort by days (because SURELY I am not the only one that forgets and then gets all confused and stressed about what I needed to take when)

4) you can cut the ingredients label in the same way and put it on the back of the pouch in case you want to share with a friend and get questions about what specifically is included!

5) happy and HEALTHY traveling!

FarmFit!

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This week’s farm task is prepping our garden area so we have a spot for the pretty raised beds we are constructing. We decided on a plot of land not too far from the house to start this venture, but there is not a flat spot up here, so we get to

1) move a LOT of dirt

2) terrace the raised beds

3) all of the above

Before any of that, we had a few dead trees that had to come down, so that leads to today’s WOD:: tree flipping! Who needs a gym when you have these tasks at hand?!

Seriously:: want to save a lot of $$, get an amazing workout, fresh air and sunshine!? We can hook you up! ?

We are planning to use part of this tree to fill the bottom half of the raised beds to compost out and also help with water retention. Hoping and praying our old tractor will help us with the next phases – brush clearing and turning up the dirt!

San Clemente

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We’ve been coming to San Clemente for the past 4 years for every pediatrician appointment that the boys have – sometimes with a 3 hour drive in each way. It is always 100% worth it for so many reasons! First of all, our pediatrician is hands down the BEST there is. We’ve been seeing Dr. Sears for several years and I have never once left there feeling like we did not get amazing care that was completely geared toward the best interest of our kids. Dr. Bob has worked with us to find the most natural options to take care of whatever they are dealing with and has been great to work with through some of our more difficult challenges dealing with 2 of the boys’ food allergies.

The boys love their visits to see Dr. Bob! I also loved that I have been able to partner with the Sears Wellness Institute as a Certified Health Coach to learn more how to support their nutrition and teach others what we have learned through the years. The boys did great on their check-ups and are all super healthy and strong!

While loading up on donuts may seem very ironic after finishing up well visits, we could not pass up a trip to Sensitive Sweets bakery seeing as they are RIGHT across the street from Dr. Bob’s office. It’s not every day (or EVER) that we have a completely allergen free bakery in the area, so it was super fun to take the boys in and they could have ANYTHING they wanted and know it was completely safe. They are a gluten free, dairy free, nut free, peanut free, soy free, egg free bakery with 2 locations in CA. For those of you who only dream of a place like this, check them out at www.sensitivesweets.com because they SHIP too! Awesome! So the boys could not decide so we did a little sampler of the blueberry muffins, cupcakes, donuts and pumpkin spice donut holes. 🙂

For those who have kids with food allergies, you know how happy it makes your heart to see them enjoy a rare treat that normally they cannot have. <3

San Clemente is such a charming little town. Since we are looking for a small cabinet to store our computer in while we travel, I had fun searching through antique stores. La Casa Verde is a cute little shop on Granada St that you definitely want to check out if you’re in the area! Some of our FAVORITE spots to eat are South of Nick’s (upscale Mexican) and Mimosa’s for breakfast/brunch. The Fisherman’s is another great spot if you want to grab fish and chips on the pier, but it’s super touristy and usually has a long wait, so we prefer the more local stuff off the beaten path.

There are few places as charming as wandering the streets of San Clemente. We literally could stay here forever, but we have to get rolling on our adventures, so time to say adios and start our drive up the coast! san clemente 4

free essential oils in August!

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Want some free essential oils in August? A new month = new promos on essential oils and this is a GOOD one! Any 160 PV (appx $160 in oils) will get a FREE 15 ml lavender, lemon and peppermint oil this month with their order!!! This is amazing! We use these 3 oils non-stop and even combine them for daily season support (my husband swears by them)! Lavender is a must-have for sunny summer days to calm and soothe the skin, but can also relax your mind after a busy day and help with restful sleep! Lemon is a staple in our baking and cooking, but also works as a gentle cleanse and even removes sticky residue or paint safely and naturally! Peppermint is a natural pick-me-up for sluggish afternoons or mornings and is excellent to provide not only flavor, but a cooling sensation on hot summer days when spritzed on the skin. Peppermint is also a must-have for relief of temporary head tension or muscle soreness after a busy day!

In Tune is also 10% off this month and is a must-have homework/focus helper for back-to-school! Known as the ‘focus blend’ it’s one that we use every day in our family to help us keep on task and have good listening ears 🙂

For those who already have doTERRA accounts, order all of these before the 15th on your loyalty rewards program and any order over 125PV will also get a 5ml bottle of our Breathe Respiratory Blend! It’s fantastic to help open up airways and promote clear and healthy breathing!

If you don’t have oils for your family yet, message me ASAP and I can help you get your hands on these. They have been game changers for our family and are something that we use every day in our home to get and stay well naturally!

detox foot & armpit mask

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Many people love bentonite clay + apple cider vinegar masks on their face, but did you know you can also use these to detox other areas of your body? I like to keep a small glass jar upstairs with the 2 ingredients and a wooden chopstick. Makes whipping up a batch of this stuff so quick and easy.

Pour a few Tbsp of bentonite clay into my 4 oz jar, add in organic ACV until it gets smooth and stir it well with the wooden stick (do not use metal with the bentonite clay).
It will get nice and smooth and bubbly – way better than mixing it with water! My favorite essential oil to mix in is dōTERRA’s Zendocrine detoxification blend. It is an amazing blend of tangerine, rosemary, geranium, juniper berry and cilantro essential oils!

These oils are fantastic to support cleansing of the endocrine system (great for your skin) and cilantro is also excellent for heavy metal cheating.

Add in 2-3 drops of the Zendocrine oil to your wet clay mixture, cover your feet. Prop them up and sit back with a good book and let it dry before washing all those toxins and inpurities out!

This is also GREAT for an armpit detox!! Pulling out those toxins and odors can be very beneficial, especially when switching to natural deodorants.

Some other fun oils to try as add-ins::

  • Deep blue to sooth tired feet and sore muscles
  • Slim and sassy to boost metabolic function and detox
  • Lemongrass and peppermint for a fresh and cooling pick-me-up
  • Cilantro to pull out heavy metals

Have fun with these & Let me know how you like it!

Long nights?

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I had a long night up with the kiddos the other night and woke up looking a bit…puffy around the eyes. I decided to try correct-X on one eye and a very expensive eye cream on the other to see if the rumors I had heard were true that this can aso be a magic eye cream. Within minutes I could tell and feel the difference, and believe it or not, the correct-X won! It calmed and soothed the skin and took the puffiness right down. A super convenient skin ointment for the kiddos that also works to erase long, rough nights? Yes, please! Bye bye expensive eye creams!

Healthy Eyes

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so I maybe did a little airstream renovation work this past weekend without proper eye protection. That combined with the desert dust and dryness was not a great combo.

These three oils have been by my side and are fantastic when you need to support healthy eye function. LOVE these touch rollers! Just figure 8 them around your outer eye bone in layers when you need a little extra support! 

Never never put essential oils directly into your eyes, ears or nose:..safety first! 

me and kombucha

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I’ll never forget the first time I had kombucha. I was browsing a health food store (which is one of my favorite mindless activities to do) and I was thirsty. I scanned the wall of awesome designed bottles touting life changing health benefits, and picked up something randomly labeled kombucha. 10 minutes later I’m driving down the road, pop it open and take a swig. GROSS! It was intense. I don’t like or drink beer and it really tasted like some kind of funky beer to me. I scanned the label while pulling onto I-5 and realized it did contain alcohol. CRAP! I quickly put the lid back on and threw it under the seat thinking this would surely be the day I got pulled for a random car search. Tthey would never believe that I was just thirsty and fell for a cool label on a drink and had no idea what it was.
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So that happened & at least I knew that whatever kombucha was – I didn’t like it. I did aquire a taste for the coconut probiotic drinks though, and could see the benefits when I would consume them on occasion. Several years after my initial kombucha experience I decided to open my mind again and tried another one. Not sure if it changed or if I am just way more of a hippy now, but I really kind of liked the taste and knew it had some amazing gut health benefits which gave me more reason to give it a chance.

Fast forward to today and you’ll find a large jar housing our scoby (my 6 year old named it ‘Ron’) on the kitchen counter and an entire kombucha brewing shelf in the work room housing our 2nd brew and our scoby hotel.

No doubt if you’ve visited my house for any reason lately, you’ve not left until you tried one of my latest creations. I find it really funny to insist that visitors (even ones I just met) try my kombucha. So proud of that stuff!

As to not bore you further when I’m sure you just want the how-to {DIY} stuff, I’ll break that down in other posts and link it up here for you soon. You’re welcome.

almond crusted pork loin with cranberry apple chutney

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Ok so my husband and I have started the Paleo diet in an effort to reduce our intake of processed foods and refined sugars and improve our health and lifestyle. We are 1 week into it and not only am I feeling better and losing some weight, but I’m enjoying the fresh foods and planning recipes for our week in one sitting. I have stretched out of the box and prepared new dishes this week that will definitely be some of our family favorites from now on. I thought I’d share one on here and will post several for my own reference. Please forgive the vague measurements but I was ‘improvising’ as I went so I will have to refine the amounts next time I try and re-create this dish. The spiced Chutney makes a wonderful flavor for the holiday season!
Almond Crusted Pork Loin

  • 1 package of thin cut boneless pork loin chops (much thinner than regular pork chops)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 c. coconut milk
  • 1 Tbsp honey
  • about 1 cup whole raw almonds
  • thyme, rosemary, black pepper, parsley

combine beaten egg, coconut milk and honey in a shallow pan

grind almonds in mini food processor until finely chopped, add spices to almond mixture/

sea salt and pepper the pork loin if desired

dip pork loin in egg wash, then coat in almond mixture

place coated pork loin on greased foil lined baking sheet and bake at 450 for appx 15-20 min (cooking time may vary so do not overcook)

Cranberry Apple Chutney

  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1 granny smith apple, cored and finely chopped
  • white cooking wine
  • white vinegar
  • balsamic vinegar
  • ground ginger, allspice, cinnamon, cloves

 while pork is cooking, heat about 1 cup water in saucepan and bring to low boil

add cranberries and apples and cook until tender

while cooking, add some (appx 2 Tbsp each) white wine, white vinegar & balsamic vinegar along with a dash of all the spices

when apples are tender, pour mix into food processor and blend to desired consistency

spoon chutney onto almond crusted pork loin and serve

I served this dish with olive oil roasted asparagus. Let me know if you try it and love it as much as we did!
 
 

Beef Bone Broth

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OK so I have made my own stock before with chicken and turkey, but I was more intimidated to make beef bone broth. With the chilly temps today and a few little ones needing an extra immunity boost, I knew it was time to just jump in and get this going! Our pediatrician highly recommended that we incorporate homemade bone broth into our diets on a regular basis, so here we go! I followed a lot of the steps from this recipe from Nourished Kitchen https://nourishedkitchen.com/beef-stock-recipe/

I started out with 9 lbs of assorted organically raised beef bone parts. I consulted the farmer directly on this since I figured he’d be a pretty good resource. I had a bag of oxtails, a few feet (cross-cut), several split marrow, a hefty beef shank with a little meat on it, and a few other things I should have written down. So I pulled out my massive roasting dish, set the oven to 400 degrees, drizzled olive oil down and put all that in the oven for a bit.

The best thing is to save a bag full of veggie ‘scraps’ for your broth as you chop veggies for meal prepping. I hadn’t been saving them up to this point, so for my first attempt I just chopped a few bunches of organic celery and used the ends and leafy parts, threw in a bag of organic carrots, several organic onions and about a pint of organic mushrooms. Roasting veggies makes them taste AMAZING, so why not do that with the stock, right? I threw all these chunked up veggies onto the top of the bones and let it all roast together. I left them in for about an hour and a half (until I knew I had to move on to the next step and still make it to bed at a decent hour).

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This is the part I don’t have an exact science for, since the bones and amounts that I have are so different each time. I have a massive stock pot so I pulled that out onto the stove and then got out my large crock pot as a back-up simmering station.

I divided all of the roasting pan goodies into the stock pot and crock pot, filled them both up with water and brought it to a boil. Once it was boiling, turned it down to a simmer and added in 2 Tbsp of organic apple cider vinegar and a dash of cinnamon (because I cannot make a beef dish without it lately). I’m obsessed with cinnamon.

Do NOT add salt to your bone broth, as it will condense down and can become too much as the stock thickens. Better to add it to the final dishes as needed when you actually use the broth.

So it has been there on a low simmer all night and the house smells yummy.

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Can’t wait to sip some of this for our lunch today! It is good straight up with a dash of seasoning, or I add it as the base for ALL of my home made soup recipes which we make frequently…especially in these chilly months! Let me know how yours turns out!

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

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Nothing says Happy Halloween like a fresh pot of homemade roasted butternut squash soup!

The more I have learned of the evils of candy (sounds dramatic, but seriously most of the stuff is SO dangerous and wreaks havoc on our systems and especially the kiddos) the more I want the fall festivities to be focused on family, real food and great memories! So Halloween will be dressing up creating costumes, and enjoying our bowl of delicious butternut squash soup while passing out glow sticks to our friends and neighbors.

No sugar highs, no tummy aches, no neurotoxins flooding their bodies, just good real food and fun! They really don’t care about the candy if it is not made to be about that, so for now we’ll go with this!

Delicious homemade butternut squash soup is SO easy with a little advanced prep. The key is to roast the butternut squash a day or two before you need it.

Here’s the recipe:

About 4 small organic butternut squash

To roast, cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds and roast face down on a baking sheet greased with olive oil for about an 30 min to an hour at high heat (400). Roast until soft. Then scoop the squash out of the skin and discard the skin.

3-4 organic onions, chopped
3-4 tbsp olive oil
32-48 oz organic chicken broth or stock
2 Tbsp chopped garlic
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1-2 cups milk of choice (I used flax seed milk)
2 Tbsp rosemary and thyme infused olive oil (made with essential oils)
Fresh organic dried parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

If you have pre-roasted the squash and just stored it in the fridge, this could not be easier.

Chop the onion and sauté it in the olive oil until caramelized.
Turn burner to low.

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Add 1 large box of chicken stock and the garlic and throw in all the roasted butternut squash.

At this point you can use an immersion blender, or transfer it in batches to a vitamix and purée it all. I add in 1-2 cups of milk and extra stock through this process to get all the good squash purée off the sides of the blender.

Once it is smooth and creamy, add ground cinnamon, drizzle a few Tbsp of the rosemary and thyme olive oil over the top and stir it in. This stuff is liquid GOLD for flavoring all my homemade soups.

Add in salt to taste and grind fresh pepper over the top. Crumble some fresh dried parsley on and enjoy!

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