Erica's Weight Loss Update 4/16/14

Life has gotten incredibly busy for us recently! Since February, I have been traveling at least a few days every month. It's just one of those years where several big events are taking place at once and we're excited to be involved! We have a couple of friends getting married, a couple friends graduating, a few events with our young adult's group, Flash Point. Right now the traveling every month is scheduled through August. In some ways it's nice to be this busy, especially since Nevada life tends to run pretty slowly, and it's just nice to see the people we love more often. The downside, extra little things like our blog get less love.

I am currently getting ready for another WA visit and leave on the 20th (this Sunday). My best friend Katie K is getting married in July and I am her matron of honor! We've gabbed about boys since I was 12 and I am incredibly happy that she has found the love of her life and that I get to be part of celebrating this amazing time with her! Of course, big events like this always inspire us to lose weight and try to fit into a smaller dress size ;) Well, I am no exception. I tried to just not care for a while, but eventually I was honest with myself.

Of course, with all of the travel, plus people coming to visit us, its been very hard to stick with our clean eating. I've probably gotten off track and back again more times in the last 4 months than I did in the entirety of 2013 (how's that for honest?). Needless to say, I haven't lost any pounds since the beginning of February. I've put on a few and then lost them again, but I haven't dipped under my lowest recorded weight. With that has come some discouragement, especially since I have some goals for the wedding.

Harley at 16 weeks (March) on a hike

Despite my lack of pounds lost, my body has been up to some subtle changes that I didn't even notice until just the last week! We got a puppy (Harley) at the end of January (this is not a "squirrel" moment, I promise. It relates to the weight loss ;) Well, we quickly found out this adorable little puppy is one of the most high energy dog breeds and needs intense exercise...EVERY DAY! That's what we get for not doing enough of our homework. When we came across that tid bit of info, I looked at Donald and said, "Jesus just tricked us into exercising everyday..." As much of pain as Harley can be, he's becoming very good for our health! As a result, I have picked back up rollerblading and biking, and together Donald and I have been hiking and taking long walks. I am almost to the point of exercising every day. There are definitely days where I plain don't feel like it, in fact that is most days. I usually have to convince myself to get out there, more so because it's what Harley needs. Just this morning, I dragged myself out to go bike riding with Harley (only our third time) and we went 2.6 miles! It felt great and I can't wait to keep adding up the miles!

Hiked for 3.5 miles and climbed up 1000 feet (March)

Back to those subtle changes...somewhere along the way, all that new exercise really started to add up! I posted this on my Facebook last week:
"The last few months I've struggled to lose weight (pounds) and in some ways it's been discouraging. I've constantly tried to remind myself that my goal has been and needs to continue to be being healthy. In January Donald and I were doing a little clearance shopping when I came across a $3 dress. It was a steal, but it was also a size 12. At that time in I had been consistently losing at least 1-2 pounds a week, so I bought it hoping I'd hit size 12 by summer. The dresses I had bought in Spring 2013 were size 20's! This was definitely a leap of faith purchase. After the last several months of the scale not budging, I saw the dress in the back of my closet today and decided I might as well try it on to see how close I was to being able to wear it. Incredibly enough, IT FIT!! Such a great reminder that even if the scale doesn't show it, the inches can still come off!"

This was an incredible victory after several months of discouragement! That's 4 dress sizes in less than a year! To further add victory, we did a little shopping last weekend. I decided to try on some smaller sizes after having success with my size 12 dress. I purchased my first size 14 pants and my first medium shirt!! I can't tell you when the last time I bought a medium shirt was...I'm almost positive I have never bought a medium as an adult! And the last time I bought 14's was before Donald and I got married.

I decided to come home and take my measurements after that shopping trip. The last time I had taken measurements was at the beginning of January. I measure 8 points on my body; the normal thigh, upper arm, waist, etc., plus a couple of my problem areas where I tend to gain weight the most. In almost every place I had lost an inch and in few I had lost as much as 2.5 inches!

This has been so encouraging and really inspires me to stick with the healthy eating and exercise! Donald has been doing well on his weight loss also and recently hit a big goal! He'll be sharing about it on the blog soon, so look for the link on our Facebooks =)

Sweet Potato Hashbrowns Recipe

Since finding out that I'm allergic to potatoes, I've definitely missed them! I was so happy to find out that sweet potatoes, which aren't even in the potato family believe it or not, do not cause a reaction in me. I've been able to substitute them in almost all ways I would use a regular potato. One of those ways is to make hashbrowns.

I've had to tweak and re-tweak this recipes until I found a method that did not result in a burnt crisp. Apparently, sweet potatoes burn in the pan quiet easily! I've tried both grated and small chopped versions. I've yet to perfect a grated version. This small chopped version turns out great as long as you don't walk away from the stove (trust me, I know from experience...). I like to have a little bit of crispness on the outside and I discovered that tossing them in a little bit of corn starch helps greatly!

What you need: (1 serving)
3/4 cup Sweet Potato (diced into cubes)
1-2 tsp Corn Starch (organic or non-GMO)
a bit of cooking oil (preferably Avocado Oil or Corn Oil)

Dice up your sweet potato and toss with the corn starch till everything is coated well.

Heat your oil up in the pan. Make sure its pretty hot or else the hash will be very oily. I throw in one cube of sweet potato to test it. If it makes a nice sizzle right away, the pan is ready.

Throw the sweet potato into the pan. I turn mine about every 30 seconds for the first 2-3 minutes to make sure they don't burn and that everything gets evenly cooked through.

Once all the pieces seem soft, allow them to sit a bit longer between turns. This will allow them to start crisping and getting a bit of color. I highly recommend not walking away from the pan because they will burn easily and quickly.

When they have reached your desired crispiness, they are done. I cooked mine for about 10 minutes total.

Grain-free Granola Recipe

One of the things I've really missed since cutting out processed foods and most grains is cereal. I just love sitting down with a bowl of cereal or granola for an easy breakfast. I started to wonder if I could come up with a way to substitute nuts and other things to make my own version of granola. Sure enough, there are tons of variations on grain-free granola. After looking at several recipes, I made up my own to fit my tastes and what I had on hand.

I also like to soak my nuts in a water/salt solution for 6 hours before I get started with this recipe. Then I dry them part way in the oven on warm for about 8-12 hours. By only letting them dry partially, I get a chewier granola. There are several benefits to soaking your nuts and this post explains them. I follow the recipe for Crispy Nuts from the Nourishing Traditions book.

What you need:
3 cups Nuts (I usually use a variety: Walnuts, Almonds, Pecans, Cashews)
1 cup Dried Unsweetened Shredded Coconut
2 Tbsp Chia Seeds
1 cup Dried Fruit (I've used Cranberries and Apricots)
1/4 cup Coconut Oil, melted
1/4-1/2 cup Honey (depending on how sweet you want it)
Pinch of Salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Use a blender, bullet, or sharp knife to chop the nuts. I use the grain/nut grinder on my nutri-bullet and blend up about 1/2 cup at a time. I try to leave a few medium-big pieces here and there.

If you want to chop your dried fruit into smaller pieces, do it at this point (I just throw them in the blender right after the nuts).

Combine nuts, fruit, chia seeds, and dried coconut in a bowl and mix.

Melt coconut oil and mix honey in with it. You want the heat from the oil to melt the honey and form a thin liquid. If it wasn't hot enough, melt on the stove or in the microwave.

Once the thin liquid has formed, pour it in the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.

Pour mixture on to a parchment papered (or greased) cookie sheet and spread to all corners until you have an even layer.

Bake for about 15 minutes. Let cool, it will harden a little. Break up with your hands as you place it in an airtight container or ziplock baggie.

One of the things I love about this is that it is so customizable! You could use chocolate chips, any variety of seeds, vanilla, all kinds of different fruits, etc. What flavors would you like to try?

Our Favorite Way to Get All-Natural, Fresh Chicken for a Low Price

Donald and I are always looking for great prices on chicken. It's one of the staples in our diet (and it used to be one of the only proteins I could eat). Back in 2011, we were introduced to one of our favorite online companies, Zaycon Foods. In their own words, our "simple mission is to bring farm fresh meats direct to consumers at wholesale prices." This means that they sell in bulk, which can be a new experience for some people. It was for us at first. This is what our freezer looked like the first time after Donald and I got done cutting and bagging our 40 pounds of chicken breast.

I don't know about you, but I love having my freezer full of meat! When I find a good sale, I like to stock up. That way, I don't have to worry about paying the exorbitant prices week to week while I wait for the next sale (this is definitely the old couponer in me resurfacing!).

The things I appreciate most about Zaycon Foods, is that their chicken breast is 100% all natural and straight from the farm, never having been frozen. Natural chicken breast in the grocery store starts at $2.99/lb. Zaycon is selling it for $1.89/lb this term. They come in 40 pound cases, and while that seems excessive, we have definitely found it worth the investment! It works out to be $75.60. If you feel like 40 pounds is just too much, another great option is to split it with a friend! That way you both get the great price, but a more manageable amount.

When you register as a new customer, you can check to see what events they have close to you. In our Carson Valley area, they have one coming up in Carson City. On the day of the event, after you have submitted your order online, you will drive through the parking lot, show your receipt, and they will put the 40 pound case of chicken in your trunk. That's it! Usually takes all of 5 minutes.

If this is something that interests you, we would love for you to check it out through our referral link. They only offer chicken a few times a year and one of those events is coming up in February.

Tonight's "On the Counter" 1/10/14

Funny title, right? Well, I thought it could be interesting for some of you if I shared what kinds of advance preparations I had going on in the kitchen from time to time. As we have adopted the Weston A Price (WAPF) way of life, we have learned so much about the preparation of traditional foods. Things definitely weren't grab and go like much of today is. People took time in preparing their foods. They soaked and fermented and simmered things for hours at a time. It has definitely taken planning and self-discipline to adopted this new principle. Some times I'm better at it than others. The holidays and vacation definitely put a damper on it, but I am trying to get back into a routine. Today just happened to be one of those days where several prep projects came together at once. 

I've got 4 things prepping over night in the kitchen tonight. 

• Rye Sourdough Starter
  Awhile back I tried making my own sourdough starter and bread. It didn't pan out too well. So I've been looking for another way. I recently started to wonder if whey, leftover from making yogurt, could help jump start a sourdough starter. Sure enough, as I wondering around Google this morning, I found this blog. She made a sourdough starter in just 12 hours from combining whey and flour. So I decided to give it a try today.
  
  I also decided to try it with rye flour instead of wheat. We recently recognized that Donald has a sensitivity to wheat at the very least. We're not sure if it just wheat or gluten or if its all grains, so we're experimenting. WAPF highly recommends rye flour as a good alternative because it is much easier to rid it of the anti-nutrients that inhibit us from absorbing all the nutrients in whole grain flours. I'm hoping to make sourdough pancakes if this starter is successful! I'll keep you posted.

• Chicken Stock with Whey
  Chicken stock is something I make at least a few times a month. I like to have a big stock of it in the freezer, especially in the Fall and Winter. I had put up probably 30-40 cups worth by the end of Thanksgiving (so of which was Turkey Stock -- so good!). Boy am I glad I did! I got something like the stomach flu the week of Christmas and was down for the count for at least a week. Nothing sounds good except soup! We literally went through all but 6 cups of the broth I had in the freezer and that was on top of a new batch we made during the week! So I am definitely in the restocking phase right now.
  
  Something I've been wanting to try for a while is making stock from left over acid whey. Acid whey is what is leftover after making cheese. I was making ricotta pretty often in October and November, so I had a big gallon size baggie of it in the freezer. I've read that it makes a very flavorful broth, so I thought I'd give it a try. I could go on for several paragraphs about the benefits and method of making homemade stock, but I think I'll save that for another post.
  

• Homemade Yogurt
  Yogurt is a staple for us and I usually end up making it about every week! Its super simple to make and I love that I can pick the milk I use to make it. I have a blog post here that explains the recipe and method I use.

• Soaking Nuts for Grain-Free Granola
  I've been super craving cereal lately. Just something about the crunch and the milk. Just sounds so yum! There are days I just miss my granola, but unfortunately I had a sensitivity to oats. I had heard of grain-free granola recipes and after toying with the idea for a few days, I decided I wanted to try it. I knew that I wanted to do it was a WAPF twist and soak my nuts first to remove all those anti-nutrients. I just used what I had in the pantry, which was walnuts, pecans, and some slivered almonds. They say to sprinkle some salt and then cover with water for 6-8 hours. Mine will end up with a bit longer soak than that though, just because its easier to leave them overnight. In this picture they had already been soaking for several hours, so much of the water has already been absorbed. In the morning, I will dry them in the oven for a bit. If my granola recipe is a hit, you will be guaranteed a blog post about it! (Are you noticing a theme? I do A LOT of experimenting in my kitchen, cooking and baking based on my hunches of what will work and taste good. If its a success, I love to share. And sometimes, the failures are worth sharing too ;-)
  

 This is a bit more than I would usually do at once, but I try to just roll with it when inspiration strikes! I love letting these things soak/ferment/simmer over night because all the waiting happens while I'm asleep and I get to wake up to them finished! I'm really excited to see how things turn out in the morning, especially the sourdough starter!

Do you use any of these traditional practices to prepare your foods? Does this inspire you to try a new idea or recipe you've been waiting on? Do any of these recipes particularly interest you? Please share in the comments!

Erica's Weight Loss Progress - 60 Pounds in 2013!

When I began my clean eating journey in January 2013, I had no weight loss intentions. I was frankly fed up with my chronic illness and being sick all the time. Conventional medicine wasn't working and I was desperate. I had prayed time and again for healing. Finally I prayed for wisdom. And I whole-heartedly believe that God led me down this new path of healthy living and eating. I found a lot of great information on herbal and natural remedies for my chronic illness and I quickly kicked out almost all of the conventional medicine I was taking (which was actually making me sicker).  I was already on a pretty restricted diet, with a list of food allergies as long as my forearm. I was living with and working for clean eaters. So I followed their example and quickly realized how much better I felt.

By July I had lost 41 pounds

Even as the weight started to come off, I still did not change my focus. I wanted to be healthy. I wanted to wake up every day and be able to get out of bed. I wanted to really start living. And so I did, for the first time in years!

November 2013, after Christmas tree hunting in the mountains for 2 hours!

As the months went by and I got healthier, I continued to kick it up a notch. I really began to dig into the lifestyle of the Weston A Price Foundation. I found new way to eat clean, kicked more crud out of my diet, and got creative in the kitchen. As Donald explained in his last weight loss post, he joined me in the clean eating lifestyle in September. There's just something special about having your spouse team up with you! Having him along on this journey with me for the last 4 months really kept me going and gave me new inspiration.

Of course I fell off the band wagon a few times this year. Late summer was particularly hard because I was working an extreme amount of hours (50-60/week). My eating went down hill and I started getting sick again. We prioritized and kicked a few of my shifts out. I was able to get back on track, but it took a few weeks before I started feeling better. Then in late September and through out October, my weight loss plateaued. I think I only lost 3 pounds between the two months. It was a great reminder of why I was eating clean; it still wasn't about the weight loss, it was about being healthy. It was also a great lesson on sticking out the plateau! As I'm sure many others on the weight loss journey have experienced, plateauing can be quite the discouragement.  I can't tell you what changed, but one day I started losing weight again! Between November and December, I lost another 10 pounds!

I wasn't aiming for 60 pounds in 2013, but boy am I excited about it! I was finally able to track down some of my measurements from before I started losing weight...holy moly! This year, I have lost over 50 inches throughout my body!!! 8 1/2 inches in my waist, 8 inches in my hips, 3 1/2 inches in my upper arm, just to name a few. I've gone from buying 3XL shirts to L and XL. I was in size 20 jeans last year and now I am tantalizingly close to size 14!

I am now 20 pounds away from the weight I was when I graduated high school, which is my next goal. But I'm not going to stop or change what I'm doing when I get there. I figure my body will stop when it's at the weight that God designed my body to healthily live at and I'm satisfied with that!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Johnson's! (Countdown to Thanksgiving Finale)

Yes, Donald's eyes are closed..they were in every picture.

We wanted to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, had friends or family to celebrate with, and had many things to be thankful for. We wanted to thank you all for sharing in our blog! It makes us feel a little closer to home and all those that we love.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, celebrating with close friends in Nevada! The days of prep work to make a fully homemade Thanksgiving feast were totally worth it! The food was amazingly delicious and it was so great knowing that it was all healthy.

Check out all the veggies on that plate!

We had a lot of fun blogging our Countdown to Thanksgiving and hope you had fun reading it. We are wrapping up our awesome celebration by introducing a few of our young adults to a family Thanksgiving tradition: watching Miracle on 34th Street =)

And on that note...who's excited for Christmas?!? I'm so excited to start decorating in the morning!! Have you decorated yet or are you planning to this weekend? We will be traipsing into the woods to cut down our Christmas tree on Saturday!

Countdown to Thanksgiving - Clean Eating Cranberry Sauce with Grass-fed Gelatin

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, I love the Ocean Spray jellied cranberry sauce! It's on my table every Thanksgiving and I can't imagine eating the feast without it. The problem is...it's not exactly healthy. And it certainly does not fall into the clean eating category. Therefore, I set out to concoct my own recipe, hoping to come up with a very similar, but healthy alternative.

I knew I wanted to use grass-fed gelatin because of all its healthful goodness! And I definitely wanted to use real cranberries, not just cranberry juice. I also thought I could sub out some of the sugar for organic, unfiltered apple juice. Here's what I came up with:

What you need:

2 - 12 oz bags Fresh Cranberries
2 1/2 C Organic Apple Juice
2 C Water
Honey to taste
1-2 Tbsp Grass-fed Gelatin
Soup Pot
Strainer
Whisk
Measuring Cups and Spoons
Large Bowl

Start by pouring both bags of cranberries into the soup pot. Add water and apple juice to the pot.

Bring to a low boil and simmer for 30-45 minutes. You want the cranberries to burst and become very soft.

Put strainer over large bowl and pour cranberry mixture into strainer. Press the cranberry pulp until you've gotten all the juice out. It should yield about 3 1/2 cups of juice.

Taste juice to see if it is at your desired sweetness. Mine was extremely tart still at this stage despite the apple juice. I ended up adding 6 tablespoons of raw honey to the warm mixture, tasting in between each tablespoon until it reached the right ratio of tart and sweet.

Whisk gelatin into warm cranberry juice. For a soft set, use 1 tablespoon of gelatin. For a firm set (like use in a mold), use 2 tablespoons. If the whisking creates a lot of foam, skim it off the top and discard.

You can either pour it into a bowl or a mold. If using a mold, grease them before hand. I wanted more of the softer set, but still put the sauce in 4 wide mouth jelly jars. They take up less room in the fridge and that way I can open one at a time.

Once in desired container, cover and refrigerate until set and ready to enjoy on Thanksgiving!

For more Thanksgiving inspiration, check out the rest of our Countdown to Thanksgiving posts!

Countdown to Thanksgiving - 9 Ways to Eat Clean this Thanksgiving

This is our first Thanksgiving as clean eaters and we're pretty excited about it! In years past, I have used things like boxed stuffing, canned cranberry sauce, and pre-made pie crusts. This year, I am cooking EVERYTHING from scratch! It is quite the undertaking, but I've spread it out over several days to make it a smooth process. I wanted to share some of the ways we are incorporating clean eating into our feast!

1. Add more vegetable dishes to your menu. As I looked at menus on the internet and at our's from previous years, I realized that there weren't very many vegetables involved in the typical Thanksgiving menu. I decided to add in Roasted Carrots and Wilted Spinach with Raw Romano Cheese.
   
2. Homemade Stuffing from Homemade Bread. Stuffing is my favorite Thanksgiving item and I am so excited to try this fully homemade version! Depending on your grain preferences, you could use Sourdough, Soaked Wheat, or Ezekiel bread. If you're not up for making your own bread, you could also pick up your preferred healthy bread.
   
3. Homemade Cranberry Sauce with Grass-fed Gelatin. I looooove the Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce and can't imagine Thanksgiving without it. This year, I am making my own from actual cranberries, organic apple juice, and grass-fed gelatin (which is very healthy for you!). You can find the recipe here on our blog tomorrow!
   
4. Swap out regular refined sugar and corn syrup for healthy alternatives. Coconut sugar, maple syrup, honey, brown rice syrup, organic corn syrup, and real cane sugar are all great alternatives! Even though we're clean eaters, we still choose to enjoy the Holidays and goodies. When possible, I clean our traditional recipes up so that we're consuming healthier versions of the classics. They still taste just as good, sometimes better!
   
5. Use real butter instead of margarine. Margarine is chocked full of hydrogenated oils and chemicals. Butter is actually really good for your body, especially if you can find grass-fed (like the Kerrygold brand). Here's a great article about the benefits of butter.
   
6. Soak nuts to reduce phytates and enzyme inhibitors. If your baking pecan pie, putting nuts in your salad, or using nuts in your stuffing, I would highly recommend soaking them a few days prior and then letting them dry on the counter till your ready to cook. (10 reasons why your should soak nuts).
   
7. Make your own pie crust with butter/lard. This is a great clean eating recipe for pie crust. It is very clear that you do not want to use lard/shortening from the grocery store. You only want to use grass-fed lard/tallow. She even walks you through rendering your own lard! If you don't have access to lard, you can use all butter. I recently made this recipe with butter and it turned out amazing! Hands down, best pie crust I've ever had! The key to an extra flaky crust is leaving big globs of butter in the dough.
   
8. Use homemade chicken or turkey stock instead of canned broth. I make bone broth all the time and have lots of it saved up for Thanksgiving! If you don't, it's pretty simple. You can either use a whole chicken or just the bones of the chicken. Put it in a large soup pot with some carrots, celery, and onion. Cover with cold water and put in a few splashes of apple cider vinegar. Let sit for 30 minutes. Bring to a low boil and simmer for 4-24 hours. The longer, the better, but if your short on time, the 4 hours will work.
   
9. Make your own gravy instead of using the kind from a jar. One of the best reasons is that it tastes better! Even after several years, I still get nervous making gravy, but somehow it always works out. I just follow one of the easy gravy recipes using turkey drippings and chicken stock.

I hope you feel inspired to make some clean eating changes to your Thanksgiving. Even if you aren't able to make all of the changes this year, starting with a few is a great step in the right direction! 

We will be continuing our Thanksgiving Countdown tomorrow with my new recipe for Jellied Cranberry Sauce!

Countdown to Thanksgiving - Grillin' Up the Turkey!

I feel like I have never really been involved in the cooking of anything at the holiday celebrations that we have throughout the year. Of course, I enjoy BBQ-ing and I cook this way as often as I can (steak, ribs, brisket and other roasted veggies). I enjoy it so much! Sometimes there are just fun things to throw on the BBQ and see what kind of tastes you can come out with! Hence what I am writing about: how to grill up a golden delicious turkey!

I started out where everyone starts, the prep work! I tend to trim up any meat that I grill, especially where there is excess fat or skin. Next: choose your seasonings! Anything that is acceptable to your taste will do. In this case, I picked thyme, rosemary, salt, onion powder, and oregano. Take your time in this phase. Make sure that you get all the areas of the turkey covered with these tasty spices, use as much or as little as you deem necessary.

Most people would decide against grilling or BBQ-ing a turkey because it tends to dry out. Although you may have done your best to keep it moist, it went south. This is our trick, we cut up half of an onion into shards and cut a small apple into pieces. Now stuff the turkey with these high moisture, aromatic items! I used a few tooth picks to hold in the apple and onion pieces to make sure they didn't dump out in the moving or flipping process of grilling.

Now it's time! Make sure your grill is heated up and ready to cook! You'll want to keep your grill in the 350-400 degree range to ensure that the turkey will cook well. Even heat is your friend here.

Cooking time will vary by weight but because this guy was a small one, weighing in at just under 8 pounds. I grilled it for about 3-1/2 hours. Initially, I put down some foil for the first 2 hours, as well as over the top of the turkey to make sure that the heat would not just cook the under side of the bird or char the skin.

I also added in a bit of my own flair, I placed a few cups of water in a oven safe dish, put it on the grill and added mesquite liquid smoke to the water! When your grill starts to boil up the water, the mesquite will add a wonderful flavor to the turkey.

Now you wait. Keep moving of the turkey and opening of the grill to a minimum for the first 2 hours. Allow the smoke flavor to sink into the meat. ( Now I'm Hungry! ) After a few hours had gone by, I took out the foil completely. At this point, you want to start getting those glorious grill marks on the turkey. I rotated the bird every 30 minutes. Once you have achieved a lower turkey breast temperature of 165 degrees, you are done! Here is the end result!

Enjoy this fun Thanksgiving cook out idea and check back tomorrow for Erica's post about how to include clean eating in your Thanksgiving meal as we continue our Countdown to Thanksgiving!

Mac n' Cheese with Sweet Potato Noodles

First off, let me just say, this is one of those things that just does not photograph well. I tried several different angles and no matter what, it just looked like gloppy orange stuff in a bowl. The photo definitely does not do this justice! It's definitely worth the taste test!

This recipe was invented out of the need for a quick dinner, one which did not use grains. Donald and I haven't cut out grains completely, but we're trying to greatly decrease how many we're ingesting. Our weightloss progress seems to pick up drastically anytime we greatly decrease our grain intake. As I stood in my kitchen tonight, with this fact fresh on my mind, I struggled to think of something quick. Pasta sounded wonderful and I was desperately trying to resist. We've also been upping our intake of raw cheeses and I wanted to incorporate that into our dinner. I knew people had used zucchini as noodles, but did not have any on hand. So I tried to think of what vegetables I had on hand that could be used as noodles. That's when I thought of it. Sweet potatoes.

What you need:

1 small-medium Sweet Potato
1/2 C of Half & Half
Some of your favorite all natural/organic Sausage (we used 2 chicken apple sausages)
Scant 1/4 C of your favorite Cheese (I used raw cheddar and  raw pecorino romano)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Peeler
Sauce Pan
Medium Fry Pan

Fill sauce pan with water and put on to boil.

Chop up your sausage into bite sized rounds. Pour the half & half into fry pan and turn on medium low. Add sausage to the pan with the half & half.

Peel the sweet potato. Once peeled, take the peeler and use it to cut strips of sweet potato. These are your noodles.

Once boiling, add the sweet potato noodles to the water. Cook for 2-4 minutes, until the noodles can easily be bitten through.

Drain the noodles and put aside.

Once sausage is heated through, remove it from the half & half, which will have reduced some. Turn the heat off of the fry pan.

Shred or cut cheese into small chunks. Add to warm half & half. Stir until cheese has mostly melted. Salt and pepper to taste. If you're using raw cheese, its important to keep the heat very low/off during this step so that it will retain it's healthy raw properties.

Once cheese has melted, add in noodles and toss with cheese mixture. Then add in the sausage and toss again. And that's it, you're ready to eat!

Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe {Gluten Free, Dairy Free, and Low Sugar}

Donald's 26th birthday was this last week and he asked if I could make him peanut butter cookies as his celebratory treat. As with a lot of our recipes now, I knew I could invent a healthier version of a classic recipe. One of the things I've been subbing in is all natural sugar alternatives. Here's the recipe I came up with.

What you need:

1/2 C Natural Peanut Butter
1/2 C Coconut Sugar
1 Egg
1 Tbsp Arrowroot Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Vanilla
Pinch of Sea Salt

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream peanut butter, egg, and coconut sugar. Mix in the rest of the ingredients.

Use a tablespoon to form and drop cookies on to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Makes about 12. Flatten slightly.

Bake for 7-9 minutes.

At 8 minutes, cookies have a nice crisp around the edges, but still soft in the middle.

Before I could snap a picture, most of the cookies were gone! That's the only after shot I could get =) Needless to say, they were a hit! They did not have quite the same texture as traditional peanut butter cookies, but we loved this new texture with the crunch around the edge and a little soft in the middle.

Homemade Sweet Potato Fries in Coconut Oil (Including a Freezer Version)

One of the things I love the most about our WAPF lifestyle is that it embraces healthy fats! This means that things like sweet potatoes fried in coconut oil are good for you, which happens to be one of my favorite side dishes!

I had recently seen Cheeseslave post a blog about making french fries in coconut oil. Despite all of the healthy I had regained and food allergies I have healed through clean eating, potatoes still seem to be one of the few things I react to. So as good as those french fries sounded, I knew they wouldn't work for me (...yet. I still believe I will be completely healed of all of my allergies). I am, however, able to eat sweet potatoes and adore them! I use them in all the ways I would use a regular potato (baked, hashed, mashed). Therefore, I set out to make a sweet potato fry recipe!

Coconut oil, when cold-pressed/expeller pressed has a higher smoke point than a lot of oils and won't loose its nutritional value at high temperatures. I buy the Nutiva brand from Costco. Now I know, you're thinking "won't my fries taste like coconut?" My answer from experience: no, they will not. I was a little concerned about that too. I like coconut flavor, but the people in my house are not so crazy about every little thing tasting like coconut. So I had them be my taste testers. They said there was no residual coconut taste, despite the oil initially smelling of coconut when it was first melting.

In the end, I decided on two recipes. One for immediate consumption and one for the freezer, enabling me to grab and go.

Recipe #1 (for dinner tonight)

What you need:
Coconut Oil
Sweet Potatoes (number depends on how many you want to eat.)
Salt
Deep pan or soup pot
Kitchen Thermometer
Sharp knife
Peeler

Put about an inch worth of coconut oil in your pan and put on medium heat. You want the oil to be between 325-335 degrees.

Peel and thinly slice your sweet potatoes. For a super crispy fry, cut very thinly. For a fry with a soft center, cut a little thicker. The more uniform the cutting, the more evenly they cook. I found that out the hard way. Here's what mine looked like:

Once your oil has reached the right temperature, put in a handful of the sweet potatoes. I used tongs and put in 2-3 tong-fuls of fries. You want to make sure not to overcrowd the pan so that the oil remains at the right temperature.

Let cook for about 3 minutes. Remove to a plate and let oil reheat back to the 325-335. Once oil is back at the right temperature, add more sweet potatoes.

Repeat this process until all of your sweet potatoes have been fried.

After your last batch is fried, heat oil to 375. It is time for the second fry, which is what give the fries their true crispiness!

Again, fry them in small batches, allowing the oil to rise to the correct temperature between each batch. I only had to fry mine for about a minute during this second fry. They will quickly change from orange to a dark brown if you leave them too long.

Once all your sweet potatoes have been through the second fry, sprinkle them with some pink salt or sea salt and they are ready to eat!

Recipe #2 (for the freezer)

Follow directions from recipe #1 until all sweet potatoes have been through the first fry.

Lay out the once-fried sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and allow to cool. Once cooled, place in freezer. Transfer to a freezer bag after they have frozen.

When you're ready to use some of them, preheat the oven to 325. Lay out some of sweet potatoes on a baking sheet.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on the the thickness of the fries. Half way through the time, move the fries around with some tongs to prevent one side getting burnt. Sprinkle with salt and let them sit for a few minutes before eating (they will feel soft coming out of the oven, but allowing them to sit lets them crisp up a bit).

This is what mine looked like after coming out of the oven the other night. I had a few dark ones, which were the fries that had been cut too thin. It was so nice to have them only take 10 minutes from freezer to the dinner plate!

This whole recipe was trial and error. The first time I made fries, I only cut up 2 medium sweet potatoes and Donald and I polished them off in one sitting. The second time, when I was trying the freezer method, I cut up 5 sweet potatoes, that were a little more on the large side. I got a full gallon sized zip lock bag worth out of those. The first time I tried to cook them in the oven, I put the heat way too high at 425. When I checked on them after just 4 minutes, this is what I found.

The other thing I learned through this process is that coconut oil is reusable! When I first heard that, I thought it was weird and for sure that there would be a funny after-taste. I decided to try it. I just let the coconut oil sit in the pan with the lid on. It solidified and looked kinda gross.

I used this oil again the next time I made sweet potato fries. I just add some fresh oil to it to get it to the right depth in my pan. Surprisingly, it had no flavor difference! So I would highly recommend you save yourself some money and save your used coconut oil! You don't have to leave it in the pan. You could transfer it to a mason jar after its cooled it you like. Just make sure you put a lid on whatever you leave it in so that things in the air don't float into it between uses.

Hope you enjoyed this recipe and happy cooking!