I tried this recipe with a bit of applesauce...

I make banana chocolate chip mini muffins every time my bananas say that I need to. So, I baked some more again today, but cut the oil measurements in half with applesauce. My family couldn't even tell!  I LOVED it! Organic applesauce is cheaper than coconut or olive oil, so I am one very happy baker. They are still moist and a tad bit fluffier. And I nix the nuts, because they are EXPENSIVE and not really missed. Not like the chocolate chips. (Btw the choco. chips make this recipe not very paleo...*sigh* baby steps) I am really getting the hang of this Paleo baking, and I LIKE IT!

 Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 6 eggs
- 1/4 cup raw honey
- 3 bananas
- 1/4 cup coconut oil (or olive oil) (or half the oil with applesauce)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup walnut pieces

On another note, we are starting to phase out the dairy in our home. Not only because it has been tampered with, or because consuming 20% or more dairy in your diet increases your chances for  heart disease, but simply because we don't really eat it that much anymore. The string cheese has been lingering longer than usual. Same story with the milk. It's not as difficult as the wheat phase out was, which is interesting to observe. But we will see for sure when we don't have dairy in the fridge. And NO...EGGS ARE NOT DAIRY!!!

My husband made one of our family's new favorite dinners! It was inspired by my sister's Square Foot Garden harvest of organic tomatoes, zucchini, green onion, squash, and basil. My mother-in-law made it for us the night we brought everything home and we have been in love with this amazing creation ever since.  It's like a lazy cousin kind of dish of ratatouille. You just throw all those ingredients in and add garlic, salt and pepper to taste, and presto...you have a delicious soup like dish, with yummy hunks of veggies that your body just thanks you for! It seriously like a hug for the inside of your body!! Since we don't have our Sq Ft garden set up yet, we have been able to buy organic tomatoes from Costco.  Those work out beautifully!  It's a super easy, fast, and healthy meal that's perfect for this time of year. Try it out and let me know how your creations turn out;) If you need measurements for the ingredients let me know, and I will ask the chefs.  Good luck!

What a difference grains make...

This has how I have felt for sometime. now. Like this smiley face, barely keeping it together. Having to bite my lip so that a flood of emotions and tears don't come pouring out. at any given moment. I have been dealing with a LOT of new changes in my life. For the most part I am LOVING my changes. But no matter how good the change is...change is HARD!

So, I was having a chocolate craving day, and thought I would make some no-bake cookies! Oatmeal is NOT as bad as wheat, but come to find out its the number 2 worst grain to eat. I didn't want to accept this fact to be true for myself, so I made a batch of those delicious cookies, anyway. Now,  I see that when I eat oats/grains I get very weepy!! I have NOT been eating grains for a long while now and I have been able to keep it together through some pretty trying times lately. But then, throw in the grains, just a little, back into my diet and BOOM...I am BACK on the emotional roller coaster of my before-paleo-life! That roller coaster ride of fluctuating extreme emotions, although taxing and annoying after a while, was what used to consider to be my norm. Of course,  I NEVER would let anyone else know about it, because I have NEVER heard of anyone else (besides my family) having that constant battle with extreme emotions. I truly understand and know how people can actually be peaceful and patient. And NOT be faking those emotions ALL of the time! I struggled for SO LONG trying to gain that inner peace and patience for myself. I am still on my journey with it, but I can see the many blessings that have been put in my path this past year to help me sincerely feel the peace and patience towards myself that I have been longing to have since I can remember. The best part is that after feeling it truly, I have been learning how to maintain it. Everyone's way in achieving those 2 simple qualities in life is so very unique and very personal. For me, it is all about what I take in. Physically (eating, breathing, seeing, etc), emotionally (people's positive or negative energy, music, etc) and spiritually (inspiration, promptings, meditating, etc). I have to come to appreciate and love the fact that I am a sensitive being. My body has food sensitivities that I never realized/understood that I had, until I started eating the Paleo way. My emotions have become increasingly sensitive with every passing year. My spirituality is ever growing. To maintain my sanity, I have come to realize that it's as simple as what I eat that determines a LOT on how sane and grounded I feel.

I loved grains (breads, pastas, oatmeal, cereal, casseroles, etc) and beans and dairy, so very, very much. But now I see THAT love was pretty much a one-way street.

*sigh*

Well, at least I know, now;)

For C & C!! & I'm not talkin' 'bout the Music Factory!

I LOVE eating PALEO!!

It has TOTALLY ROCKED my WORLD (to a MUCH BETTER place:) I can't help but share with people why I love it so. In fact, at my little nephews preschool open house I was sharing my testimony of it to one of my nephews sweet preschool teachers!! She was so kind to listen to my facts and food experiments:)

So, I was having a really different day on Monday. I had a lovely day with my sister, my girls and my Mother-In-Law, but still had a bit of a tough day with other things. I decided I would let the girls and I cheat and eat WHEAT! I have been craving pizza for a LONG time now and was really excited to finally enjoy my slice or 3 of Papa Murphy's Mediterranean pizza. Well, after I scarfed down like 7 chocolate covered macadamia nut clusters I went for the pizza. I KNOW that wheat affects me in a negative way, so I was eating the pizza slices as fast as I could before the negative physical reminders reared their ugly heads;) I only got through 1 1/2 slices before my body said, "We're done!" But my mind convinced me to just keep going and eat the rest of the second slice. So, I did. I was drinking water to try and dilute the wheat that I'd just eaten. It didn't really work. About 10-15min. After my first bite of pizza I felt this stabbing pain in my back part of the left side of my head. And then, the white noise in my brain was blaring full force, followed with a fogginess and heavy eyes and head kind of feeling. I am blogging about this today, so that I don't forget how wheat affects me. Wheat is a toxic thing for me to eat. And I have only realized this recently. Crazy that it has taken me this long to figure it out! But at least I know:) Now I have to wait 2 weeks before the wheat is completely out of my system again. UGh...

Anyway, like usual, tonight we ate a lovely Paleo dinner with my sister's family. We followed that up quickly with Paleo German Chocolate Cake and Paleo Berry Ice Cream!! IT WAS DIVINE!! My sister was worried that the cake didn't turn out as well as she'd hoped. (Oh those Type A personalities...) I KNEW, with every fiber in my being, that it was going to be DELICIOUS!! So, when I saw her creation on the cake stand, I found myself salivating in anticipation to try this deliciousness:D ELANA's PANTRY is a WONDERFUL, almost magical place for all of us transitioning into the Paleo/Primal lifestyle that still need a baked good every now and again! My sister followed Elana's German Chocolate Cake recipe and it was RIDICULOUS!! FIRST of all, you couldn't even TELL that it was Paleo!! :) And SECONDLY, it was WAY BETTER than any other cake that I EVER had in the USA before. I love Paleo baking because it calls or 2 times or 3 times more eggs than traditional recipes. So, when you are eating a dessert you get a good amount of protein with every delicious bite! As well as, a tummy that says, "Thank you for not filling me up with sponge/foam-like-wanna-be-yummy-kind-of-cake." My stomach is super picky!;)

I hope my sister will post a photo of her Cake Creation and Ice Cream on her blog The Woman Who Did Everything and Nothing All At Once, eventually. She's a busy lady! So, be patient.

Life has afforded me time to blog again. YAY!! But that's all for today. Til next time...