Recipes - GF

My goals with food are to increase our vegetable intake, incorporate a variety of nutrients by including lots of colourful veggies, to balance our blood sugars by replacing grains with vegetables, eliminating food sensitivities and inflammatory foods, and to include healthy fats and organic proteins as much as possible. 

• 2 tbsp Organic Virgin Coconut Oil

• ½ Medium Onion, chopped

• 4-5 Chicken Breasts or 7 Thighs cut into 1” Cubes (Free Range /Organic if possible)

• 2 ½  tsp Mild Curry Powder

• 1 ½  tsp Sea Salt or Herbamere

• ¼- ½ tsp Black Pepper 

• ½ tbsp pureed Ginger

• 1 tbsp Minced Garlic

• ½  Can Full Fat Coconut Milk

• 3-4 cups of Fresh Raw Baby Spinach or Baby Kale

• 1 bag frozen Cauli-Rice

• Spaghetti Squash - pre cooked

• Optional: ¼ cup chopped cashews and cilantro leaves to garnish

Tonight’s dinner is a quick throw together of ingredients I had left over from other meals or bought pre-chopped, frozen or minced in a jar to make it a quick meal.  

I started with an epicurious recipe for coconut curry spicing and inspiration. 

1. Saute chopped onion in coconut oil until translucent.

2. Add cubed chicken, curry, sea salt and pepper and stir well to coat as chicken is cooking (Tonight I bought pre-cooked chicken breasts to save time).

3. Add ginger, garlic, frozen cauli-rice and cook until cauliflower pieces are tender and cooked.

4. Add Spinach or Kale and saute until wilted and no longer crunchy.

5. Add cooked spaghetti squash and coconut milk and stir well to mix

6. If desired, plate with garnish on top or put toppings on table to add as desired.

Last night we had Spaghetti Squash, Steak with Fried Onions and Salad. So the leftover Spaghetti Squash and onions became a natural noodle type addition to today's meal. 

Feel free to try other spiralized veggies - like zucchini, beet, carrot, sweet potato - or use the Kale Salad pre-made mix in your saute. My kale from my garden is still holding on in this Fall weather, so I wanted to use it up this week before winter sets in.

I’d love to hear how you experimented with this meal! 

Pass along your ideas and feedback at: pegthrive@gmail.com or ask for an invite to my Facebook group: “Thrive With Essential Oils” to comment on this post there and enjoy our wellness community. 

Want more input? Go to https://getoiling.com/PeggyWright/landing/best-self to grab a copy of 4 Steps to Your Best Self. 

My oldest son, James, loves marble cake! I've been baking one for him every birthday since he was a toddler. But it has been getting more complicated to make a cake that works with our family allergies. Collectively we avoid gluten soy, corn, dairy, eggs, peanuts, nightshades, and we are careful about sugar. 

• 1 ⅔ cups dairy free milk (I use almond or coconut - but rice milk works well, too)
• 1 ½ tsp apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice)
• ⅓ cup unsweetened applesauce or 3 flax eggs (3 tbsp milled flax seeds + 9 tbsp water)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 3 ¼ cup almond flour
• 1 cup millet flour 
• ⅓ cup arrowroot starch
• 1 ⅓ cup Volupta Zero Calorie Sweetener (Erythryitol & Monk Fruit Extract) or Sucanat
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1/4 cup of cocoa powder (to be added for marbling)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease pans with coconut oil (two 8” round pans, one 9”x13” pan, or three 6” round pans). 
2. In a large measuring cup measure out dairy-free milk and add vinegar or lemon juice to create a ‘buttermilk’ - let sit a few minutes. Then add applesauce and vanilla. Whisk to combine.
3. Add dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Then add wet ingredients to dry and beat or mix until there are no lumps. Add more almond flour if the mix is too wet and more dairy-free milk if it doesn’t pour easily. It will be thick.
4. Pour ¾ of the batter evenly into pan(s).
5. With the reserved batter in the bowl, add ¼ cup cocoa powder. For richer colour, add more cocoa. If it needs more moisture add dairy-free milk.
6. Drop dollops of chocolate batter on two areas of the pan. Then create a marbling effect by using a butter knife and pulling the chocolate through the vanilla batter in a pleasing swirl pattern. 
7. Bake on the center rack for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the edges and surface appear golden brown. 
8. Let cool in 9”x13” glass pan for several hours until the pan has no heat before frosting. OR Let cool 15 minutes in cake pans before removing to the cooling rack - then let cool completely before frosting. 

• ½ cup butter or 2 sticks of vegan butter
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 3 ½ - 4 cups organic powdered sugar

1. Add softened butter to a large mixing bowl and beat for 1 minute until smooth and creamy. 
2. Add vanilla and mix 
3. Gradually add sifted powdered sugar 1 cup at a time and beat until thick, spreadable frosting is formed.