Heart of Cooking

Congratulations!

Hooray and thank you for all who participated in the Free Give-away for the Holiday Menu Planner and Just Desserts for Limited Diets recipe e-book.  The winners of the give-away are: Tina, Emily, Michele S, Rebecca and Robin.  Congratulations and I hope the book and planner bring a wealth of goodness to you holiday season!

GAPS update:

As for me, I feel like I’ve ran a dessert marathon these past few weeks.  I have never baked or created so many sweets in such a short amount of time. I have to say that my enthusiasm, energy and ability to get this done in time is largely due to following the GAPS diet.  I have never had so much energy, been so even-minded, centered, happy, and enthusiastic for such long periods of time.  Yes, and it is all because I am no longer eating grains, starches, and refined sugars (only honey).  I plan to write a lengthy post about all the changes I have been experiencing on GAPS soon!

Thanks Mom!

I also really have to give my mom some credit here because she helped me test/create several of the candy recipes and a cookie recipe.  I was a little over-zealous with how many recipes to put in the e-book so it was so great to have her help with this project.  She used to make lollipops for us when my sister and I were kids and I still have a vision of her making them over the stove with the star and heart molds.

My flops:

I have to share a few of my flops while testing recipes for the Just Desserts for Limited Diets recipe book.  I unfortunately didn’t take pictures of them.  I cleaned out the refrigerator tonight and tossed them in the compost.

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If you’re looking for healthy, sugar-free and gluten free dessert recipes and a delicious allergen-friendly Holiday Menu Planner this season, you won’t want to miss the 20% OFF pre-order offer that will be expiring tonight at midnight PST.

All of the recipes on both the Just Desserts for the Limited Diet recipe e-book and the Holiday Menu Planner are free of the following ingredients:

no gluten

no wheat

no grains

no starches or nightshade veggies

no refined sugar – only honey is used

no dairy – butter is used but coconut oil can be substituted

no soy

no corn

no peanuts

egg-free options and dessert recipes are on both the menu planner and dessert e-book

Some of the recipes that you won’t want to miss out on include:

Dairy-free Egg Nog

Egg-free Egg Nog

Gingered Cranberry Raspberry Relish

Dairy and Gluten-free Coconut Cream Pie

Gluten free Pecan Pie

Gluten free Pumpkin Pie

Gluten free Cookie Cutter Cookies

Gluten free Cookie Press Cookies

Spice Cake with “Butter” Cream Frosting

Walnut Torte with Lemon Whipped Cream Frosting

Almond Brittle

Almond Rocha

and many more!

Also, the desserts e-book and the holiday menu planner make great gifts for the holidays for someone who is limited in their diet.

To read more about the allergen-friendly Holiday Menu Planner and the Just Desserts for Limited Diets recipe e-book and to pre-order, click here.

I hope you’re having a relaxed and blessed holiday season!

Cranberry Raspberry Relish from Eatingwell.com

I had so much fun with the Thanksgiving Menu Planner that I am very excited about creating menu planners for the coming holidays as well!

So excited, that I am actually going to create both a Holiday Menu Planner as well as “Just Desserts” recipe booklet for people on limited diets.

I grew up celebrating Christmas, but if this is not the holiday you celebrate, these menu planners and recipes could most likely work for any festive celebration and holiday.

The Holiday Menu Planner:

I think for many families, having a nice breakfast on either Christmas morning or another special day during the holidays is very common.  So I decided to include a breakfast menu to the holiday menu planner as well as a dinner menu.

Once again, the menu planner is going to be free of the following foods, so that it can work for almost any limited diet:

no dairy -  (butter may be used in some recipes but there is always another option that is dairy-free)

no wheat or gluten – all grains and products containing gluten

no grains

no sugar - only natural sweeteners will be used, such as raw honey and maple syrup

no soy – no soybean oil, lecithin, and other soy products

limited starches

no corn

no beans and legumes

egg-free options

Read the rest of this entry »

Dreams do come true.  I’ve been dreaming about the ocean and the beach, literally, for the past couple of years.  I was pregnant two years ago and traveling wasn’t very easy so we didn’t go.  And last year, we went to the mountains in California but weren’t able to visit the beach on that trip.  But this year we took our 21 month old toddler to the beach in North Carolina and we had a ball.

We went with a beautiful family whom we have only recently befriended this past spring.  But with some friendships, doesn’t it seem like you’ve known each other forever?

My friends have three kids, ages 2, 5 and 8.  So counting all the heads, that made eight people to feed, breakfast, lunch and dinner.  To make things more complicated, Jana and I are both gluten-free and Elijah and I are dairy-free.  So before our trip, we did a little gluten-free and dairy-free menu planning and came up with the following ideas for our families:

For dinner:

Turkey Burgers and Sweet Potato Fries (one of my standbys)

Meatloaf (Made with Grass-fed Beef) and Steamed Broccoli (I used almond meal in place of breadcrumbs)

Chicken Burritos with Lime Guacamole (I use Food for Life Brown Rice Tortillas for the gluten-free people)

Lasagna with Ground Turkey (I use Tinkyada Brown Rice Lasagna noodles)

Pasta with “Cheese” Sauce and Green Beans and Peas (I use Tinkyada Brown Rice Noodles)

For breakfast:

Gluten-free pancakes (made one batch with coconut flour and one with buckwheat flour)

Grain and Gluten-free Apple Muffins (made with quinoa flour)

Omelets with Mushrooms, Onions and Tomatoes

Eggs and Toast

Smoothies

Fruit Salad

Lunch:

Chicken Salad with Celery and Raisins (I would have added chopped apples but they made faces at me when I mentioned this!)

Sandwiches and other snack items

Leftovers

Some kid-friendly tips that I learned on the trip:

I learned a lot this week about what a lot of parents struggle with daily – how to feed a children new and different foods they aren’t used to.  Luckily the toddlers are not very picky – my little one is used to my “weird” cooking and doesn’t question me about if cheese is real or not.  Jana’s toddler Zack is also a champ at eating unless he’s not hungry.

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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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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!

Read the rest of this entry »

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!

Risotto with Artichokes and Leeks

Coming home late from work, Beth walks into her home with a toddler in tow, and remembers with a flash
that she had her personal chef come and cook meals for her family today.  A sigh of relief and a feeling of excitement fill her body as she looks forward to trying the delicious meals awaiting her in the refrigerator.

Her husband comes home just as she is heating up some of the meals for them to enjoy for dinner.  Everything looked so good, it was hard to decide what to try first.  Without having to cook anything, they settle down to the table and enjoy their meal together with their daughter.

This is the kind of experience that I give people when I cook for them as a personal chef.  I started my business, Sarah’s HeART of Cooking Personal Chef Services in 2006 and quickly started cooking full time.  However, I also became pregnant in March of 2007, slowing me down quite a bit, to say the least.

Last year I continued cooking for a few of my clients but I didn’t go back full time like before my pregnancy.  I also started my online service, the Nourishing Foods Menu Planner, so that I could start to serve people from home and on a wider scale.

My family and I have been living in Berkeley Springs, WV, but as of the end of this March, we will be moving to Frederick, Maryland.  My husband is from the Baltimore area so one reason why we are moving is to be closer to his family. Once we move, I will once again cook for my clients on a regular basis.  I am also accepting new clients so if you are looking for someone to do all the work and you live in or near Frederick, give me a  buzz.

One of my clients from Arlington, Virginia told me that I was the only personal chef she could find in the area that was willing to work with her limited diet instead of a fixed menu.  Because of a health condition, she had a long list of foods that she couldn’t eat.  When we started working together I used her “good” list and created a menu that worked for her body as well as her taste buds.

Indian Style Eggs

Another client who I cooked for last year who suffers from congestive heart failure said that the first personal chef he approached wasn’t willing to “sacrifice taste” by making salt-free food to cater to his low-sodium diet.  I created a menu for him with low-sodium foods and made meals that were still very tasty.

I also have many clients who simply want to eat healthy and nutritious meals.  They don’t have time to plan, shop and cook their meals because of a work schedule and enjoy having this done for them in the safety of their own home.

For me I love being able to give people the gift of healthy, organic, home-cooked meals free of preservatives and chemicals.  Many people simply don’t have the time or desire to cook and end up eating restaurant food or frozen meals.  Unfortunately, this diet can affect one’s health.  I offer a great alternative – home-cooked meals without having to do any of the work.  My clients love it!

Underlying my services is a deep belief that the quality of the food we consume is an intrinsic part of our well-being.  Food affects us on more levels than just the physical – it nourishes our hearts, minds and our spirits!  Furthermore, it offers us deep healing qualities that one can find only by eating certain foods.  To me, it is very amazing to think of the bounty that the earth gives us every day in order to nourish and heal our bodies.  This philosophy coupled with my wide knowledge of cooking for limited diets makes my service unique.

Can we send you a check every month?

Did you know that you can start earning money by telling people about the Nourishing Foods Menu Planner?

If you have a like-minded business centered in health, wellness, nutrition, allergies, celiac disease or any other condition that limits people’s diets, you can easily begin making money simply by referring people to Heart of Cooking.

How the Affiliate Program works:

When you sign-up to become an affiliate, you will receive an affiliate ID.  You’ll then refer people in need of healthy and allergen-free menu planning to our website by placing a link on your own website.

When we receive visitors through your affiliate-tagged links, we’ll associate that visitor with your affiliate account.

If they then order a subscription of the menu planner (either on that visit, or on a subsequent one), you’ll receive a 20% commission on their account!

Recurring Income

When someone you refer to us orders a menu planner, you’ll earn 20% not only on the initial sale, but also on any recurring payments they make.

Example: You refer Leslie to us, and she signs up at $12.95 a month.  You earn $2.59.  If she signs up for another planner, you’ll continue receiving commissions on her purchases, at $2.59 a month.

If you’d like to become an affiliate, click on the link below to get started today!

Join our Affiliate Program!