Heart of Cooking

Raw Zucchini Chocolate Cake

For whatever reason, many of the recipes I worked on this week ended up being raw or mostly raw.  In part, I was continuing my quest for some travel-friendly treats for my son and decided to try some raw fruit and nut balls, similar to Larabars.

I was also testing recipes for my menu planners for limited diets free of gluten, grains, dairy, eggs sugar and other common allergens.  Many raw recipes work great for people with a lot of food limitations.  The only drawback I find is that they use nuts extensively, which is a common allergen.  I find though, that seeds such as pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds can be used in place of nuts in some of these recipes.

As far as eating raw nuts goes, it is really best to soak them for a varied amount of time, depending upon the nut or seed.  This process is what releases their enzyme inhibitors and unlocks their full nutritional value.  In terms of soaking, you can either soak just long enough to germinate, or longer to sprout (however it’s difficult to sprout some nuts).

I have to admit that I didn’t soak the nuts and seeds in the recipes I tested this week.  This was partly due to the recipes not asking me to do this and in part laziness and impatience on my part.  However, if I were to do them again, I would soak the nuts and seeds in these recipes.

Here is a list of some new and yummy things I made this week:

Cashew Apricot Bliss Balls and Cherry-Walnut Bites

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Our lovely cherry tomatoes

I have been enjoying the Tuesday Twister blog posts by Wardeh Harmon at Gnowfglins.com for the past few weeks or so ever since I found her website.   These blog posts have been a synopsis of her week in the kitchen and what has been twisting in her cooking.  I love reading them, mostly because she focuses on nourishing, whole foods!

Last week she announced her new Blog Carnival, the Tuesday Twister Carnival and her invitation to participate in the weekly postings.  I started thinking about doing this and then a couple days ago, inspiration struck I finally decided to give it a go.  I can’t promise I’ll do it every week, but we’ll see what happens.

My Meal Un-Plan

I started thinking about my week in the kitchen and what it is normally like during our busy days.  And what stood out to me the most was the fact that I hardly ever meal plan.

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Are you looking for a healthy, whole foods and gluten-free menu planner?

In the large spectrum of life, humans have been eating grains for a relatively short period of time.  While some people say we’ve been eating grains for 10,000 years, grains such as wheat didn’t become widespread in Western Europe for another 4,500 years.  (Whole Health Source)  This short amount of time has simply not given the human species a chance to fully adapt to eating gluten and other grains.

However the history charts may vary, grains containing gluten are one of the most difficult foods to digest. Not only is the number of people who have celiac disease growing, many people are either allergic or sensitive to wheat and many other grains that contain gluten.

While celiac disease is treated by following a strict gluten-free diet, people who have irritable bowel syndrome and other digestive problems often report a huge improvement in their symptoms by following a diet free of wheat and other gluten-containing grains.  Grains that contain gluten include wheat, rye, barley, spelt, kamut, oats, and tricale.

When you first learn that you can’t eat wheat or grains that contain gluten, it can feel very overwhelming.  Wheat is one of the most used foods in the United Stated and it is usually difficult at first to adapt to this new diet and lifestyle.

The Gluten-Free version of the Nourishing Foods Menu Planner is just for you if:

• You avoid all grains and products with gluten including wheat, barley, spelt, kamut, rye, and oats.
• You avoid all wheat products.  Even though the menu is gluten-free, you can easily adapt other grains such as spelt to a recipe if you are only allergic to wheat.
• You enjoy or would like to have a balanced diet of fresh vegetables and fruits, protein such as poultry, fish and some red meat with complementing gluten-free whole grains, seeds and nuts, and legumes.
• You’re looking for some easy wheat and gluten-free recipes for some of your old favorites like pastas and desserts.
• You’re looking for a menu with limited soy, dairy, corn, eggs, nuts and legumes.  (There are some dishes with these ingredients but not very many).
• You’re looking for a menu free of refined sugar, pork, alcohol, preservatives, MSG and other artificial ingredients.
• You’re looking for a whole foods, healthy and nourishing menu plan.  Every recipe uses real, whole foods.  Some recipes call for some canned goods such as coconut milk, but this is kept to a minimum.

Each week you will receive from the Gluten-Free Menu Planner:

• A menu for 5 delicious and creative dinners plus 5 complementary side dishes each week
• One dessert recipe a week to compliment your meals
• Easy to follow recipes for each dish
• Quick to prepare – 30-35 minute prep and cook time total for each meal (entrée and side dish together).
• An organized shopping list for the entire week, which is coded to each meal so you don’t have to cook every dish
• Kid-friendly ideas for each recipe
• Ideas for substituting main ingredients for each recipe
• Nutritional information is included in all recipes.
• Recipes focus on using fresh, seasonal produce and whole foods as much as possible.
• Family-friendly recipes!
• Plus articles about health, allergies, and other food issues.

Ready to eat delicious food?  We put the “yum” back into allergen-free meals!

Buy the Gluten-Free Nourishing Foods Menu Planner (Meat and Seafood menu):

Only $12.95 for one month, emailed weekly:

When you buy the menu planner, you get the FREE bonus:

A Whole Foods Grocery Guide: A Complementary Handbook to the Nourishing Foods Menu Planner or for any type of Whole Foods and Allergy-free Cooking
by Sarah Schatz ( $14.95 value)

100% Guarantee! Be satisfied with delicious, healthy, and allergen-free recipes or receive a full refund within the first 30 days!

Important Information:  (Please read and follow these steps to receive your menu planner)

1. When you click “Buy Now,” you will be directed to Paypal where you can pay securely for the menu planner.
2. If you don’t have a Paypal account and don’t want to create one, you can pay by credit card by clicking on the link inside Paypal that says, “Don’t have a Paypal account?  Pay by credit card.”
3. If you want to pay by check, please contact me for my mailing address.  I will add you to the list once I receive your check.
4. Once you pay for the menu planner in Paypal, you will be directed to a confirmation page, asking you to check you email for a confirmation email from Sarah Schatz.
5. Check your email (the email address that is linked to your Paypal account) and click on the link inside the email to confirm your email address.
6. Once you confirm your email address, you should receive the Gluten-Free Menu Planner immediately in your email as a PDF document.
7. If you are having trouble receiving your menu planner, please visit my FAQ page where I walk you through how to troubleshoot the problem.
8. If you have followed all of these steps and you do not receive it right away, please send me an email and I will send you a link to the menu planner.

After receiving your first menu planner, you will receive a menu planner every week on the same day of the week that you signed up. Example:  if you signed up on Tuesday, this is the day you can expect to receive your menu planner for each month of menus.

Click here to read what one of our customers has to say about the menu planner.
By purchasing a Nourishing Foods Menu Planner, you will:

• Save time – no more searching for new and interesting recipes to feed you family
• Save money – no more impulse buying because you have a shopping list for the whole week
• Eat delicious food - no more “getting by” with tasteless frozen meals
• Eat healthier – by eating homemade foods made from whole ingredients
• Spend more quality time with you family - no more waiting for your dinner table at a restaurant
• Eat a variety of foods - no more eating the same meals every week
• Have less stress in your life - no more trying to figure out what to cook at the last minute
• Have less shopping trips - no more running to the store for forgotten ingredients
• Eat foods that work for your body - no more cheating on your diet because you want to eat something yummy or can’t find something to eat.
• Feel Happy and Healthy! When people follow a diet that works for their body, they often feel better than they ever thought possible!

Please note: This is no longer a subscription service.  I am presently making monthly menu planners for specific diets and am selling them per month and emailing them weekly.  I will be adding months to certain diets and it will soon be possible to buy 2-3 months of menus at a time.  Please be patient with me – I’m a work at home mom!

Still not sure if this is for you?  Click here to find out.
Or, try the menu planner out for FREE for one week:  Click here.

I receive a lot of emails from people who have found my site and are looking for ideas for their very limited diet.  Some of these people are at a complete loss as to what to eat because their diet is so limited.  I received one of these emails from someone last week inquiring about a diet for her daughter.

Here was her list of foods that her daughter was told to avoid:

gluten (wheat, barley, oats, spelt, kamut, tricale, and all products containing gluten such as soy sauce, etc)
grain (includes rice, millet, teff, and other gluten-free grains)
dairy
egg
soy
corn
banana
kiwi

This is a similar list to many of the people who come to me.  There are definite variations and more limited diets like those without any meat or fish, legumes, nuts, all fruit, etc.  But I thought I’d start with this diet to give you some ideas on where to start.

So what do you do when you get a list like this?  My hope is that in this post, I can give you my process for starting to come up with some foods and recipes you can eat when you receive a long list of foods you should be avoiding, even temporarily.

I am also working on compiling my recipes into menu plans for different diets such as this one so that people can have a menu planner for their specific limited diet.  I am also going to start writing some blogs about how you can start to do this for yourself!

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A wholesome and simple meal

Tonight I made a simple but very yummy dinner, inspired by the potatoes and zucchinis in my fridge and the lemon balm in my garden.  I’ll make this post quick since it’s been a long day but I was inspired to give the simple and easy recipes for this meal:

The Menu:
Turkey Sausage Patties
Baked Yukon Gold Potatoes with Butter and Nutritional Yeast
Zucchini Lemon Balm Soup

The Sausage Patties:

Ingredients:
1 pound ground turkey meat (could also use chicken or beef)
salt – about 1 tsp or less
a generous amount of pepper – at least 1/2 tsp
a tsp or so of ground ginger
a tsp or so of ground sage
a dash of cayenne

Mix all ingredients well in a bowl and then make into small patties.  Fry in a cast iron skillet with a little olive oil, about 4-5 minutes on each side, or until slightly browned and cooked through.

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To be added to the Gluten-Free Nourishing Foods Menu Planner list, please enter you name and email in the form below.  You will receive an email asking you to verify your email address and then you will receive your first menu planner.  Thank you!

Autumn Veggie Paella

Saffron Crocus

This time of year, I have a lot of fun using winter squash in new and different ways. This week I was craving a vegetable paella because one of my favorite spices is saffron.  I find this spice incredibly flavorful and also amazing because it is “derived from the dried stigma of the flower of the saffron crocus” and “it takes 4000 flowers to create 1 ounce!”   I also wanted to use my butternut squash so I decided to create the dish above, Autumn Veggie Paella.  (recipe below)

persimmons

Also, this week’s fall fruit is Persimmon. I picked this fruit because it is not only in season, it is also such a beautiful and tasty food.  However, you have to be careful when you eat them!

There are two main varieties (that I am aware of) and the one with a pointy bottom needs to be super ripe (almost squishy) before you eat it, otherwise it makes your mouth fuzzy.  The other one (shaped like a pumpkin in the picture to the left) doesn’t need to be really ripe, but do taste better if pretty soft.

I was intrigued by Ali’s Plum Upside Down Cake at Whole Life Nutrition. But I didn’t have any plums, so I decided to use my one ripe persimmon and apples to make the top of my cake.  Also, her cake called for applesauce, which I also didn’t have.  But I did have cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving so I used this instead.  Also, I was out of agave, so I used honey.

To tell you the truth, I’ve had an “upside down” kind of week, between sleep deprivation and my 11 month old getting his first molers.  But this cake turned out great and has helped me remain sane among the chaos and “upside-downess”!  I hope you enjoy it too if you make it.

Persimmon Apple Upside-Down Cake

This week’s dairy-free and gluten-free menu planner:

Monday: Autumn Veggie Paella
Tuesday: Beef or Turkey Tacos and “Cashew Cheese”
Wednesday: Chicken with Cilantro Peanut Sauce
Thursday: Nut Crusted Tilapia
Friday: Oven “Fried” Rosemary Chicken

Salads and Sides:
Roasted Fall Veggies
Quinoa Pilaf
Persimmon Avocado Salad with Poppy seed dressing
Potato Patties with apple

And for dessert:
Gluten-Free Persimmon Apple Upside Down Cake

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