Falling off the AIP wagon...

My confession picture!

Well friends what can I say the Auto Immune Paleo diet is REALLY REALLY hard and I did a great job for 7 weeks before I began to crumble.  I imagine if I could have stopped my life and had no travel plans for the summer, no outings, no dinners with friends or family and an endless budget I could have maintained things a little longer (and maybe if I was a more disciplined person).

I really thought summer would be a great time to do AIP because of all the fresh veggies and fruits in season, but one of the things required on the diet it avoiding 'nightshades' this includes tomatoes, peppers and eggplants which are all very popular in summertime (and delicious).  It also did not help that after a couple of weeks of travelling from the Bachelorette weekend to a family beach week my husband went overseas for three weeks.  I thought the diet would be easier with him gone - this was not the case as I was so exhausted from chasing my two 2 year olds around that I had zero energy to prepare and cook for myself...and my old emotional eating habits came right back into play (I even got so crazy as to dress my kids up like cows and go to Chik Fil A and buy myself a milkshake!).  The good news was I did not suffer from any migraines the whole time he was gone - despite the fact I totally derailed from the diet and was eating sugar, dairy, grains, etc. - so I am still very hopeful that some healing happened in those 7 weeks.

Another thing that I think is really important if you want to succeed in doing AIP - get a buddy!  Those first 4 weeks I had a friend who was also doing it and it was really encouraging to be sharing recipes, checking in with each other and having someone to relate to.  So if my husband and my kids were all eating like this and I had an endless budget for fresh produce, good meats, etc. then I think I may have lasted longer.  All this to say I learned a lot and actually hope to resume again when the timing is a little better...maybe the fall when apples, sweet potatoes and all those good root veggies are in season! :)

If you are trying to get yourself motivated to give AIP a try please do not let me discourage you - just know you need to be well prepared with time, energy and resources to devote to it.

Aip BBQ Chicken Flatbread & More

Homemade Kombucha with Berries, Lime & Mint

AIP is very HARD...I am just not going to sugar coat it!  I have already had a few moments of weakness but just try to offer myself grace and move forward.  And no noticeable differences with my body yet, but only early days.  I can actually hardly believe I have stayed pretty strong with no dairy, eggs or nuts.  These things were what I really struggled to give up a couple of months ago when I attempted something called the 'whole 30.'  I ended up allowing myself raw milk after 8 days of suffering through no dairy.  But this time I am feeling pretty determined, but this is definitely not easy.

It has been a good challenge to come up with exciting and enjoyable things to eat, I just wish I had a little more energy as it is definitely taking extra thought and prep time to do this.  My 'tablenosh' dinner party days almost seem like a lifetime ago, but  I definitely had more energy and was constantly learning new things and concocting new dishes.  It is good to be back in that zone to some degree, I am just at a very different stage of life not to mention different part of the world!  Maybe I will be able to crank out a 'tablenosh' dinner or two this summer for RVA...we shall see or at least get my 'side porch' underground cafe happening...

AIP BBQ Chicken Flatbread

So what have I been cooking and eating?  Lots of salads, smoothies and gelatin in everything - who knew grass fed beef gelatin was so versatile and could be put in so many things as a added source of protein.  And in the AIP world you can make a 'gelatin' egg and use it as a binder for baking.  And those of you who know me know how much I love baking, so I have been very pleased to figure this out.  One of my recent favorites is AIP flatbread! The recipe came from another bog site called the curious coconut and was my favorite recipe so far, it made enough for two and it was so nice to have the extra already made for the following day.  I made a few alterations to the bbq sauce and added some extra salt and herbs to the flat bread and was very delighted with the outcome!

In terms of the sauce, I pretty much looked at a couple other existing AIP bbq sauce recipes and decided to do the best with what I had in the fridge.  I am really not sure how it compares to others and will have to keep you posted.  I was very pleased, I would not spread it on too thick but with the chicken, mushrooms, arugula, avocado and cilantro it was delicious.

 AIP Strawberry BBQ Sauce Recipe

 1-2 cups fresh chopped strawberries

1-2 tablespoons organic molasses

1-2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 onion sliced and caramelized

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon ginger powder

salt to taste

Heat strawberries, molasses, vinegar in a saucepan about 5-10 minutes.  Put everything in a food processor or bullet and blend until smooth.  My measurements might not be exactly right, so keep doing it to taste, I think you call also use maple syrup in place of molasses.  And I can see how smoked salt might also be good, but I did not have any.  Any other spices you think might help I say just go for it!  This was just a start for more so I will update this when I make it again.

 What else...well this morning I made up a 'sweet potato plantain' waffle recipe...unfortunately I did not write it down so I cannot tell you exactly what made it work, but I will try it again and post the recipe soon.  The waffles actually got nice and crispy and did not taste like glue and would have been really good topped with caramelized banana and maple syrup but I did not have any on hand.  I put a little raw honey and a sprinkle of cinnamon on top.

AIP Sweet Potato & Plantain Waffles

This week I am working on a few more recipes with more red meat.  I was actually raised a vegetarian and did not really start eating chicken until high school, but never had the stomach or desire for red meat.  When I started 'tablenosh' dinners in 2008 I started learning to cook with red meat and forced myself to taste it but still it did not appeal to my palate.  With the AIP it is really important that I get those nutrient dense meats into my system, so I have been trying!  So far I have only been able to eat a little grass fed ground beef that I cook into AIP lasagna or I make a taco less salad with a cilantro avocado dressing and put the ground beef on that.  Last night I hit whole foods and chatted with the butcher and stocked up on some new cuts of meat...hoping I can grow to LOVE beef & pork!  And it would be really great if I could learn to drink 'bone broth' while I am at it...I bought a bag of bones :)

Goodbye Grains (and a lot more) and HELLO AIP Paleo

Most of you who know me or have stumbled across other bits and pieces of my story probably know that my health like most people is not perfect.  And for the past seven years my husband and I have been dealing with mostly unexplained infertility.  In God's grace our family grew through adoption and we have two beautiful sons that are both miracles to us...however I must admit I am still on a journey to figure out my health and find healing.  I have a few other health issues that I won't delve into but am hoping the next foodie chapter for me is going to be a BIG healing one - and also full of new exciting food concepts and flavors...like learning to eat red meat!

So, I am diving in to a full blown Auto Immune Paleo diet (to the best of my ability).  Based on a number of my symptoms there is a very good chance that I have some type of Auto Immune Disease - what this really means I am still not quite sure but I am trying to get excited about the prospect of healing my body through these dietary changes.  So here goes...goodbye to grains, dairy, eggs, gluten, sugar, nightshades, nuts and seeds and HELLO to lots of grass fed, organic hormone free meat, vegetables and fruit! 

The good news is there are already so many others blogging wonderful recipes of what I can cook and I am finding new ideas every day.  This is definitely going to take some discipline and prep but I am hopeful that healing is on the way.  And as I go I thought what better time to reinvigorate my blog with some new food experiences and ideas!  After last night's dinner (which I must say was absolutely delicious, I already posted about the lasagna) my husband and I even talked about the idea of me doing a few 'Paleo Tablenosh Dinners' this summer for RVA!

For more information on AIP (Auto Immune Protocol) I recommend checking out the blog http://www.thepaleomom.com/ as a good place to start - she is very detailed with lots of explanation.

Paleo (AIP) Lasagna Recipe

This AIP paleo friendly version of Lasagna was amazing, the recipe was inspired by another paleo blog called 'He won't know it's Paleo' so I definitely cannot take all the credit.  But here was my version and I must say my husband literally stated 'I think this is the best lasagna I have ever had!'

Ingredients:

 'Nomato Sauce' (I altered this recipe slightly using caramelized onions and roasted beets and did not use any capers or lemon juice - it is pretty easy to vary this to your own taste)
2 Sweet Potatos
1-2 Zucchini
1-2 Squash
Grass fed ground beef (you could use any kind of ground meat)
Avocado Oil
Salt
Nutritional Yeast Flakes (optional)

To Make:

Sautee ground beef until cooked through then add the 'nomato sauce' and season to taste with salt, garlic, etc.  Slice the sweet potato, zucchini and squash very thinly making your 'noodles'.  First layer the sweet potato on the bottom of the pan and drizzle with avocado oil and salt.  Then do a layer of the meat and sauce.  Repeat another layer with squash brushing the squash with avocado oil and yeast flakes.  Then add meat again and do final layer with zucchini, brushing the zucchini with avocado oil and yeast and salt.  Of course if you are not on a dairy free diet you could also do a layer of cheese.

Bake the Lasagna covered for 45 minutes on 350 degrees then remove foil and bake at 400 for 10-15 more minutes until the top is brown and looks done (I broiled mine on high for 2 minutes at the end).

Let cool for a few minutes before serving and ENJOY this is sooooo good and was just as delicious the next day for my lunch!  Next time I will make a double batch of the sauce and store some for later.  I also might have to make 2 pans of lasagna and freeze one.

Another Goodie - Gluten-free Oatmeal Chocolate-chip Cookies

I am not going to lie, I did not come up with this recipe on my own...but I must say it is a winner.  I went strictly gluten-free for about 4 months and discovered some really good recipes.  This cookie recipe I have made many times now and always get compliments - the cookies seem to get even better after a few hours or a day.  The recipe comes from a cookbook called 'flourless' and I highly recommend it.

Oatmeal - Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chip Cookies 

1/4 cup unsalted butter - room temp
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs slightly beaten
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups GF rolled oats
1 1/2 cups choc chips

Heat Oven to 350F/180C.  Line baking tray with parchment paper.
In a large bowl using electric mixer, beat the butter, peanut butter and both sugars together on high speed.  Add the eggs, baking soda and vanilla beat well.  Fold in the oats and chocolate and stir together.

Using a small scoop/spoon, scoop dough and drop onto prepared baking sheet about 2 in apart.  Bake until cookies are lightly browned about 12-14 minutes.  Remove from the oven and cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack.

Store in airtight container at room temp for up to a week.

Enjoy!

Healthy Muffins, Happy Toddlers!

It is hard to believe after all my efforts I too am having trouble getting my boys to eat vegetables!  Ugh!  So, this morning I decided to concoct a muffin recipe that had no refined sugar, no gluten and would sneak in some healthy ingredients...like zucchini and they loved it!  You could easily add carrots to these or sweet potato.

Gluten-Free Banana, Date & Zucchini Muffins Recipe

Preheat Oven 375

3/4 cup dates

1/4 cup coconut oil

1 zucchini

2 eggs

2 bananas

1 t cinnamon

1/2 t nutmeg

1 t vanilla extract

1 cup oat flour

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1 t baking soda

Chop dates and melted coconut oil in a food processor or blender of some sort.  Then mix the date mixture with eggs, banana and zucchini (I put it all in the mixer and mixed until smooth).  Next add spices and vanilla. Then slowly add flours & baking soda, stirring gently with a spoon until mixture is combined.

Spoon mixture into oiled muffin tins and bake 10 minutes for mini muffins and about 15 minutes for regular sized.  Once they look done pop out of pan onto a cooling rack or serve warm with butter.  Enjoy.

Tablenosh 'Underground' Baking...

In-home 'underground' baking that whets the appetite, sweetens the tongue 

and delights the soul.

Soooo this holiday season I had the fabulous idea of taking holiday baked goods orders to make a little extra $$ for Christmas.  Basically I created a 'baked goods' menu and emailed it out to all my friends and if they liked what they saw they placed an order.  My hubby was going to give me a full day in the kitchen to bake, while he took the kids for the day and I completed all the orders.

And let the baking begin...somehow things never quite go according to schedule or plan in my kitchen (or my life for that matter), on baking day I woke up with an unplanned cold, my 6 year old came down with an unplanned ear infection and the nurse called us to come and get him from school, then we had to organize an unplanned visit to the doctor and meanwhile I was trying to now continue to bake with all 3 kids at home...somehow I managed to get a few orders filled that day but the grand idea of finishing it all in one day was definitely an oversight (I filled the last order on Christmas Eve morning!).

I must say other than the sickness part of things I really did enjoy it and stumbled across a few fabulous new recipes, created some tricks of my own and got to jam out to my joyous Christmas songs along the way.  My favorite new discovery was making caramel pecan cinnamon buns...DELISH and not nearly as hard as I thought.  I was also reminded of how delicious caramelizing onions can make things taste...this is a must-do from now on with all tarts and quiches!

On the whole my new 'underground' bakery managed to crank out:
16 dozen cookies, 3 vanilla bean pound cakes, 2 pumpkin spice cakes, 3 pumpkin pies, 1 pumpkin cheesecake, 3 kale, caramelized onion and sausage quiches, and 1 batch of pecan-caramel cinnamon rolls.

And all of this baking is what gave me the idea of transitioning 'tablenosh underground dining' into 'tablenosh underground baking' and maybe I will occasionally still be able to pull off a dinner or two.  I probably still need to think this new concept through a little bit, but as for now I am now officially taking more orders...so if you need some home-made baked goods let me know and I will see what I can do!

Wedding Pies and Gingersnap Pumpkin Pie Recipe!

Last week I had the joy of baking 8 pies for a wedding.  I made three different kinds and only had 3 little disasters along the way (the last disaster involved dropping a pie!)  The 3 pies were: pumpkin pie with a gluten free gingersnap crust, chocolate chess pie with a gluten free chocolate cookie crust and chocolate, bourbon & pecan pie.  I also made vanilla bean whipped cream to serve.  I have not heard back from the bride yet but I am hoping they were all a hit!

I realized that Thanksgiving is coming up and there may be some of you who want some of these recipes, so I thought I would post a few of my favorites for you to consider!  I have truly enjoyed working off the recipes from 'A year of pies' by Ashley English.  So I definitely need to give her the credit for most of these creations.

Pie Recipes:

Pumpkin Pie with Gingersnap Crust (I think the gingersnap crust takes pumpkin pie to a new level and is the only way I will ever make it again)

Gingersnap Crust

9 inch pie pan or springform pan

10 ounces of gingersnap cookies (I use the gluten free ones from Trader Joes)

6 tablespoons of unsalted butter (melted)

1/2 cup almond meal, pecans or walnuts (this is optional)

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Crush the gingersnaps, nuts and sugar in food processor then mix in melted butter.  Press the mixture into the pan covering the bottom and pressing up the sides.  Bake for 10 minutes and then let cool.

Pie Filling

2 Cups pumpkin puree (I roast my pumpkins and puree them, but you can totally use canned pumpkin)

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 t cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon sea salt

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup whole milk

2 large eggs beaten

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Combine all the ingredients in a medium sized bowl and whisk to blend.

Pour the filling into the prepared crust and bake for 55-60 minutes or until set.  Cool at least an hour before serving and refrigerate once cooled if serving the next day.  Top with whipped cream and enjoy!

few and far between

Roasted Figgy Custard Pie

Truly these posts are FEW and FAR between but I am determined to not to let my blog completely die!  Juggling a household with our sweet babies and our new six year old foster child takes up more time and energy than I seem to have!  Anyhow, I have not completely forgotten about pie but certainly have not kept up to speed with 'pie day Fridays.'

I did make a fig custard pie about a month ago which was delightful and used fresh figs from our fig tree!  I was so excited because last year the birds and the squirrels ate them all and I was left with none.  The fig pie was a recipe from Ashley English and although it was tasty, I think I would leave out all the spices next time and just go for a vanilla bean custard fig.  Her recipe called for a lot of spices which I felt over powered the figs and you could barely taste them.

I also made an absolutely divine nectarine & plum tart with walnut-mint pesto, also based on a recipe from Ashley English.  This was spectacular and a perfect summer tart.  The walnut and mint pesto just brought and extra delightful flavor that was not overpowering just the perfect compliment.

Nectarine & Plum Tart with Mint & Walnut Pesto

This week I am doing a ladies Friday Pie Night for some of the nearby college students from our church.  I am testing two pies for a future pie making job (for a wedding).  I will be testing out a gluten-free gingersnap pumpkin pie recipe and chocolate chess pie.  I also just got some delicious Asian pears in my Horse & Buggy veggie box, so I might have to make a pear tart as well!

Hopefully I can give you all a run down of my favorite pie recipes by the end of the year and you can actually try some of these out for yourself!  I am doing some baking for a local women's creative retreat next weekend (Sept. 27-28) and will be selling my edibles on Friday night at the 'Craft Fair' portion of the retreat, so if you live in RVA come and check it out!  I am also co-teaching a session on Homemade Pasta & Sauces on the Saturday afternoon.

September is birthday month and I am dreaming that for my birthday this year I could just do a 'tablenosh' style dinner for all my friends in Richmond - and of course if you want to come from Australia please do!  I have not mentioned it to my husband yet, so we'll see...and who knows if I really have the creative juices for such a thing but oh to let the noshing continue!

pies for sale

In June I booked my first pie job for a wedding.  Pies seem to be the new thing for weddings and I could not agree more with this fabulous idea!  Pies are so juicy and full of flavor and there are so many good pies out there to choose from.  My pie job consisted of making 6 apple pies.  One might think this a simple little task but I realized that making 6 pies can take a long time when you are making every bit from scratch (other than growing the apples)!

Prior to even taking on the job I made 4 small tester pies for the couple to taste, this in itself was an experiment as I had never actually made 2 of the pies that they requested.  So I had to make testers for my tester!  Raspberry pie, strawberry-rhubarb pie, apple pie and blueberry pie were the choices so I went to work.  The blueberry pie was decent and the strawberry-rhubarb pie was fine and I have made apple pie a hundred times so felt confident about that,  it was the raspberry pie that I had trouble with.  I was not pleased with the first tester recipe for me to taste so I used a different recipe for them and I am pretty sure it was not a hit (of course later that week I made up my own recipe and it was just perfect!).  So go figure the pie that they liked the best and asked me to make was my grandma's apple pie recipe - which like I said I had made many times before.  It is super simple and always delicious.

I split the pie making up into a couple of days because I thought it would be a little easier with the babies. Making the pie crusts was the hardest and most technical part of it all!  It was a very hot week and keeping my kitchen cool seemed next to impossible, so the crusts kept going in and out of the fridge to keep them cool.  And the trick with pie crust is certainly keeping everything cool!  By the end of the pie making I decided it took me somewhere between 6-7 hours to hand make all the crusts, peel all the apples, roll out the crusts, put in the filling and then do the lattice crust on top!

Overall it was a good challenge and we had lots of fun in the kitchen - my boys were excellent amusement and just too precious!  It sounds like the pies were a hit and thoroughly enjoyed at the wedding, but I don't think I will be becoming a professional pie baker anytime soon!

For those of you who might be interested here is my grandma's apple pie recipe:

Grandma Lil’s Apple Pie

Ingredients

1 pie crust

4-5 large granny smith apples                                 

 1-2 tsp. cinnamon

¾ cups sugar                                                                    

6 Tablespoons cold butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Peel and slice apples very thin.  Mix ½  cup sugar with cinnamon and mix with apples in a bowl.  Dump apples into pie shell and mix pieces of butter throughout the apples.  Sprinkle extra sugar and cinnamon on top (optional).  Bake at 400 for 15 minutes and then reduce heat to 325 and bake 45 minutes or until apples look soft.  Cool and serve w/ a dollop of whipped cream or some vanilla ice cream…enjoy J

*For a topping you can just use a second shell to cover or weave strips over and under to create lattice cover.  For pie crust I usually make an all-butter pie crust with butter, salt and flour.  Sometimes a teaspoon of sugar.  

Pies thus far...

Strawberry & Apricot Pie w/ Vanilla Bean Maple Cream

I can hardly believe I have not posted ANYTHING for 6 months!!!  This does not mean I have been doing nothing!  A midst caring for our 3 babies there has been a lot of baby food puree making and pie
baking...

Asparagus, Pesto & Feta Tart

I just thought I would do a quick pie update and reflect on what I have discovered.  So far I have done the following sweet & savory pies and experimented a little bit with crusts as well.  Some of these were recipes from 'A Year of Pies' and some have been my own experiment or adaptations.

Shoofly Pie
Lemon Chess Pie
Asparagus, Pesto & Feta Tart
Roasted Sweet Potato & Sage Galette
Chocolate, Coffee & Marmalade Tart
Gingersnap Key Lime Pie
Winter Greens and Cornbread Quiche
Mushroom, Kale and Chèvre Galette
Strawberry Crumble Pie
Strawberry & Apricot Pie
Chicken, Lentil & Kale Curried Pie
Pear & Apple Crostata
Rosemary Bourbon Sweet Potato Pie
Salted Pecan Mini Tarts
Spiced Meat Pie
Sweet Potato & Chicken Pie
Dried Fig Custard Tartlets
Whipped Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust (the best cheesecake I have ever made!!)
Apricot, Blueberry & Strawberry Tart

Whipped Vanilla Bean Cheesecake w/ Gingersnap Crust & Fresh Strawberries

Out of these the favorites have definitely been: 'strawberry crumble pie', 'mushroom, kale & chevre galette' and the 'rosemary, bourbon & sweet potato pie.'  The strawberry pie with fresh apricots was also really good and key lime pie with gingersnap crust is always a winner (I have been making these for years).  The chicken and lentil pie I made using a spelt crust was also pretty delicious, I just made the recipe up with lentils, kale, curry spices and some leftover roasted chicken.

Chicken, Kale and Lentil Curry Pies

In terms of crusts, I have now tried an all butter crust, butter and lard, whole wheat crust, spelt crust and a gluten-free gingersnap crust.  I was very pleased with the spelt and the wheat crust in which I just used all butter, I was amazed at how good they tasted and that they actually held together.  The whole wheat crust had half white flour and half wheat.

Salted Pecan Tartlets

Today is 'Pie Day Friday' and I am making a Rhubarb and Vanilla Bean Custard Pie...sounds scrumptious to me, hopefully it will taste as good as it sounds.  I have fresh local rhubarb from my veggie box and am excited to try a new recipe!  Here's to more PIE...

Fig Custard Tartlets