Supporting my body naturally with essential oils, whole foods, and nutrient sourced supplementation

I had a severe adrenal fatigue issue a few years ago, and then I started drinking coffee. MAJOR fail! So I dropped the coffee, and cleaned up my act, and thought that maybe it was just a passing phase. I sort of forgot how to support my body naturally with essential oils, whole foods and nutrient sourced supplementation. On top of that I was dealing with genetics, and sticky blood which was causing me all sorts of horrors like edema, heart palpitation, histamine increases, etc.

Of course I thought I would up my workouts, jumping into a healthier end of year, and the extra HIIT and Plyo workouts made me feel AMAZING at the end of them, but then I would totally crash! And for days.

So .... you may think, 'that sounds like me'.

What is Adrenal Fatigue?

Do you feel tired for no reason, or get that post-workout High then crash? Do you find that where you used to get up easily, you are having trouble getting out of bed in the morning? Is the first thing you reach for a cup of coffee, soda, energy drink, sweets or salty treats to get you moving? (or to keep you moving mid-afternoon) Do you feel more stressed than usual and totally run down?

If you answered “yes” to these questions then you are probably experiencing this really unpleasant thing called adrenal fatigue. Adrenal fatigue occurs when your adrenal gland function becomes less than optimal. And your diet, the way you workout, the stress at work or surrounding relationships can have an effect on all of that.

To support your fatigue you can add these essential oils to 1/4 teaspoon of the FCO (coconut oil) and apply as a warm compress over the adrenal glands (located on top of the kidneys).
. 3 drops clove
. 3 drops nutmeg
. 7 drops rosemary

That's a great start.

Also besides that, I have to say welcome to wellness! Trace minerals, turmeric, ginger, detoxifying clays and whole food nutrients have been the best support to my tired body when my adrenal glands have gone cray cay. As well, reduce the stress through meditation and easy fitness. Didn't I hear that somewhere before? I have learned that you have to support your adrenals specifically with nutrition, especially when you up the game in your life. That goes for fitness, business, vacation... you get the idea.

While the adrenal glands need numerous nutrients to function normally, perhaps the most important of them all is vitamin C, and a lot of people with really stressed out adrenals can't tolerate the vitamin C supplements, but they can tolerate berries, leafy greens and other vegetables and fruits in a highly bioavailable nutritional encapsulation. And so for me that is what I immediately go for because the processing of quick freezing fruit and vegetables destroys some of the enzymes that would otherwise degrade vitamin C in fresh fruit and vegetables. As well these cold temperatures tend to preserve ascorbic acid which is essential for our bodies.

Sufferers like myself are hit particularly hard by vitamin C deficiency. The production of cortisol and other adrenal hormones, characteristically low in this disorder, is dependent on an ongoing supply of vitamin C. If this supply dwindles, so too does the secretion of adrenal hormones. This feeble response from the adrenal glands places the body under further stress, further increasing demand for the vitamin C. The importance of intervention with the appropriate amounts of this nutrient should not be overlooked.

One of the most relevant features of this immune imbalance is the susceptibility to yeast infections. So if you have stressed out adrenals then you need to stay away from added sugar. It's what I really promote in my programs. The products I recommend has very little sugar because you really just need what is coming from the fruit and vegetables, not from a lot of outside sources.

Adrenal Support Soup

The following vegetable soup recipe has proved helpful in adrenal support. It is rich in minerals and alkalizing to help balance the acidity that usually occurs in people experiencing adrenal fatigue and stress. I talk a lot about alkalizing with using the Paleo Vegeo basic lifestyle changes in your diet and you can start today. Grab some PH strips and see what is going on in your body as well... it can be very helpful.

Ingredients:
16 oz. green beans
1 cup chopped celery
1 zucchini, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped (use alternative veggies for AIP)
1 cup tomato juice
1 cup spring water
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp ginger
1 tsp. paprika
1 cup spiralina infused vegetable broth

Directions: 
Combine ingredients and simmer for one hour until vegetables are tender. Pepper to taste.

How easy!! I hope that you'll move forward with more health!

Paleo Vegeo Thanksgiving sttuffing... need I say anything more? There is just something that was missing before I found the recipe on the Julian Bakery website and tweaked it. Thanksgiving for me has always been about the stuffing. Can we just be honest?

One of my favorite breads is the Julian Cinnamon Bread, or you can go completely vegan with the Paleo Coconut bread. The Carb Zero -Cinnamon is gluten free, yeast free, sugar free, soy free, dairy free, and guilt free. Perfect for any diet, diabetic or gluten intolerant person. At 59 calories a slice and 9g of protein and 9g fiber per slice this bread is amazing. This bread is ideal at breakfast time as it will keep you feeling satisfied until lunch with 18g of protein in two slices

The Paleo Bread -Coconut, is organic, starch-free, grain free, gluten free, yeast free, soy free, dairy Free, and ideal for any diet. 




Now you could probably also use Mikey's Paleo Low Carb English Muffins Toasted Onion or make your own actual grain free bread to use in the stuffing.  I think it would be really interesting to use  the Grain-free Sweet Potato Flatbread from The Healthy Apple (shown above). Does it just look like Thanksgiving is written all over it?


Paleo Vegeo Thanksgiving Stuffing

Ingredients:

Date Puree:

Farinata Chickpea Crepes

I recently purchased the 'Crazy Sexy Kitchen' recipe book from Kris Carr and today I decided I was going to make some of the Farinata chickpea crepes to have for breakfast a few days this next week on my meal plan. I figured I'd make some for brunch and then put some away for the week. Good thing I was making extras because they were a huge hit with my kids. I have to say that although I've cooked with chickpea flour before, I was pretty unsure about making them. But I don't know that I'd want regular pancakes after having these, they were really that amazing!

I cooked them on low in one pan with coconut oil, and then sauteed some tomatoes and mushrooms in another pan and it was really easy to make, and fast.

Farinata Chickpea Crepes and Artichoke Aioli Recipe

I modified a little and here is my changes on the amazing recipe that Kris Carr shared in her book:

Ingredients: 
Farinata Chickpea Crepe Batter
1 3/4 cups water
1 teaspoon Himilayan salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 1/3 cups chickpea flour
4 drops rosemary essential oil

Coconut oil (add a tsp before and in between each pancake)

Directions: 
1. In a blender, combine water, salt, pepper, and chickpea flour. Blend until smooth. Add more flour, if necessary, until the mixture is the consistency of slightly thick pancake batter. Lastly add the essential ois.
2. Place pan over medium heat and add enough coconut oil to lightly coat the bottom.
3. I put my batter in a shaker cup.
4. Pour about 1/4 cup of the Farinata Batter into the center of the pan.
5. Cook until golden brown on the bottom, about 3 to 4 minutes, then flip it over and brown the other side. 6. Set aside on a plate and cover to keep warm while you cook the remaining crêpes, using the rest of the batter and more coconut oil in between each one.

In the Artichoke aioli I went the easy route

Ingredients: 
Artichoke Aioli
1/2 jar of Annies Lemon & Chive dressing
1 1/2 tbsp of Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar
1 cup of artichoke hearts

Directions: 
1. Place in blender
2. Mix until completely blended.
3. Pour and enjoy

Banana WheySmart Vanilla Protein Pancakes

A lot of my friends crave pancakes, and so this is a great recipe I had gotten off the bodybuilding website back in September that I shared with them.

Banana Vanilla Protein Pancakes:

Ingredients
1 small Banana
1 small (120g) cooked Sweet Potato
1/2 cup of Pastured Egg Whites 
1/2 cup of Ocean Avenue WAVSmart undenatured whey (or if you are following the W30 and using Soy, use the cold washed soy Complete protein) 
1 tsp coconut oil

Directions

1. Blend all ingredients for 2-3 minutes.
2. Place coconut oil in pan and heat on medium heat.
3. Pour batter onto pan in small circles.
4. When bubbles form, flip over.

You could also try my modified Blogilates Protein Pancake recipe:

Have you ever heard of a bean smoothie for weight loss or muscle gain? 

I came across this smoothie recipe, and I think I almost fell over.

Ingredients: 

1/4 cup raw hulled pumpkin seeds
1 scoop NitroFusion, or similar protein powder
1 cup soymilk
1 cup water
1 banana
1 can canellini beans, rinsed [aka white kidney beans]
[optional] cocoa powder to taste

Directions:
Blend all ingredients to desired consistency

Total stats: 974 calories, 125g carbs, 68g protein, 18.5g fat, 43g fiber

This was on a Vegan Bodybuilding website, and I wanted to say... body building for WHO exactly? I don't know about you but 974 calories is most of my daily diet. WOW!!

So what kind of bean smoothie do your recommend? 

This is more up my alley in terms of healthy and wellness for a bean smoothie.

Now of course you are probably saying, "What? Beans are not paleo??" ... but many in our community are starting to change the way we look at beans as a one-size fits all sort of plan. You know I am all about finding your own nutritional truth, right? A fantastic article on Chris Kressers' blog went into details about the pros and cons of beans, and the ONE study that most of your paleo pushers use to put the fear of beans into your diet. I recommend you read it, and if you tolerate beans, then this is a fun recipe revamp that we use at my house.

Great Northern Protein Shake

Ingredients: 
6 ounces raw pineapple
4 ounces flax or hemp unsweetened milk
1 cup frozen berries
1 can (16 ounces) Eden Great Northern Beans or your own soaked Great Norther beans, rinsed and drained
1 scoop of Action Whey (undenatured whey vegetarian) or SunWarrior Warrior Blend (for vegan)
1 teaspoon stevia (optional)
ice (optional)

Directions: 
Blend and enjoy

Vegetarian Black Bean Burgers Made with Essential Oils, oh YUM!! 

With the warmer weather quickly approaching, a healthy grilled meal could be exactly what you need to get in the spring mood. These delicious and easy black bean burgers with essential oils are sure to be loved by everyone in your family.

Ingredients:
2 garlic cloves
2 cans or 3 cups cooked black beans (drained and divided)
1/4 cup red bell pepper
2 drops Cilantro essential oil
2 drops Basil essential oil
1 pastured egg
1 cup dried shiitake mushrooms
Himalayan Salt and ground Pink Peppercorn

Directions:
1. Soak beans over night, rinse and drain the beans.
2. Put 1/2 of rinsed beans (1.5 cups), yellow onion, garlic, red bell pepper, Cilantro and Basil essential oil, egg, dried shiitake mushrooms, and salt and pepper into a food processor or blender. Process until smooth.
3. Combine with the remaining black beans and stir. If the mixture is too sticky, add more dried shiitake mushrooms until it holds together.
4. Divide into 4 patties.
5. Heat skillet/grill on medium heat. Add coconut oil.
6. Heat 6 minutes on each side. Be careful when you flip the burgers as they are very delicate.
7. While the burgers are cooking, cut up tomatoes, romaine lettuce, or other desired toppings.
8. Once the burger is cooked, put the burger on either a gluten-free bun or use a big butter lettuce leaf, top with your choice of veggies and desired condiments.
9. Enjoy!

For a delicious side dish, broil some asparagus with a little bit of coconut oil, Himalayan salt, and Lemon essential oil.

Paleo Vegeo Chocolate Muffins

Yesterday my daughter started talking about how she wished she had a zucchini muffin. She loves chocolate zucchini muffins. Then I saw these: 

Paleo Zucchini Brownies via The Unrefined Kitchen and made my changes to the recipe to share it with you. 

4 pastured eggs (could use egg substiute) 
1 1/2 cup grated organic zucchini
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (or mashed banana)
1/3 cup raw honey or raw agave (for vegan)
1/2 tsp. pure Madagascar vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. Himilayan salt
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa or raw cacao
1/2 cup sifted coconut flour

http://www.unrefinedkitchen.com/2011/09/15/new-improved-paleo-zucchini-brownies/

What about Chocolate is paleo? 

There is controversy in the paleo caveman commeth community about whether "cocoa", not chocolate, is allowed. When you buy processed chocolate it always has sugar & other additives in it {including dairy}. Now if it's super healthy raw cacao (from the real cacao plant) I do not have a problem with it. I like to make my daughter hot chocolate with hemp milk, raw agave and cocao or unsweetened cocoa. This is rich in minerals like manganese, iron, copper and magnesium. So keep aware of sugar and dairy, but don't feel bad about this little antioxidant treat. 

Hosting a Paleo Dinner party for Vegetarians

You know that there is nothing more fun than dinner party with friends, but it can be complicated if you are following a Paleo diet. My friend, Lauren, over at Uplifting Accountability, hosted Christmas dinner at her house all Paleo based. But, when you are Paleo Vegetarian, it gets even harder, and so I wanted to share some of my favorite recipes with you to accomplish this.

First you want appetizers. I love Jalapeno Poppers!! LOVE! Peppers are a fave of mine. In fact we stuff and roast anaheim peppers in the summer on the grill and they are to die for. So this is my Jalapeno Popper recipes:

Ingredients: 
15 large or 20 medium Jalapeno peppers, cut in half lengthwise, cored and seeded
3 medium shallots
4 cloves of garlic
1 lemon
2 tsp. dairy-free soy-free butter
1 cup of Daiya Mozzarella Style Shreds
6 sprigs of fresh Italian (flat) parsley, de-stemmed and roughly chopped
Black pepper to taste

Directions: 
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees or heat grill on high.
2. Finely chop shallots and garlic. Melt butter in small pan and sauté shallots and garlic until soft and slightly browned. Cut lemon in two and squeeze the juice into the pan, and cook a little longer.
3. Remove pan from stove and put shallot mixture in a small mixing bowl, using some of the liquid but not too much. Let that cool and then add the Daiya Shreds, chopped parsley and some pepper to taste. Mix together.
4. Arrange the prepared jalapeno boats on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and fill each boat with the mixture, pressing into pepper and mounding to create a rounded popper, mounding them slightly.
5. Bake for 10 - 18 minutes, depending on the size of peppers, and they'll get more browned if you leave them for the full 18 minutes. You can grill them on a grilling pan, but be careful with the fillings oozing all over.

Serve this with a nice alcohol-free sangria: (if you want an alcoholic sangria head over to Collage Candy for a yummy version your friends will enjoy but use some agave or stevia instead of the sugar)

Ingredients: 

3 cups 100% Whole Fruit Organic Concord grape juice
2 cups fresh squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 orange, ends trimmed, sliced into half rounds
1 apple, cored and cut into thin wedges

Directions:
In a 2-quart pitcher, stir together the grape, orange, lemon, and lime juices. Stir in the orange and apple wedges and refrigerate, covered, for 4 to 48 hours. Serve the sangria in tall glasses and spoon in some of the fruit.

You could also prepare some gluten-free flax chips, and some cut veggies with some white bean dip or a roasted red pepper hummus. Oh yum! Another favorite of mine is the Caprese Skewers and I highly recommend them.

Now what about dinner

Dinner is the best, but you need something to ground everyone out after that sangria. Right? So how's this for a menu:

Blackened Wild Caught Salmon or Portobello Mushrooms
Avocado Tomato Salad or Spanish Prawn Salad
Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash

And for dessert... Spa Bettie's Saffron Doughnuts with Rosewater Dressing... but I would use coconut oil (get a 14 oz jar) instead of the canola oil. Coconut oil should be on medium high heat, and the hot oil should be 1/2" - 3/4" deep. Test a the temp by tossing in a doughnut hole, it should bubble rapidly if it's ready.

Paleo Vegeo Mediterranean Mushrooms and Quinoa

I saw a recipe on Live Well Network that I had to modify.... the Mediterranean Chicken with Quinoa and I changed it up to a Paleo Vegeo Mediterranean Mushrooms and Quinoa. The original really looked amazing, as you can see, but we don't use chicken or regular cheese in this household. Now if you have a raw cheese, I'll let you use it, but it has to be raw organic cheese to use instead of using the Daiya cheese.

Ingredients:

1 container of sliced bella mushrooms
3 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 cloves garlic, pressed or finely chopped
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 cans organic diced tomatoes
approx. 1 cup green olives (sliced into thirds)
approx. 1/4 cup white wine
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/8 - 1/4 tsp. Organic Fijian Turmeric Powder (according to your taste preference)
dash black pepper
2 cups Quinoa and 4 cups water

Directions:
1. Cook the quinoa according to the package.
In large skillet with olive oil, saute garlic, onion and mushrooms. As the mushrooms begin to cook, they will express liquid; continue to cook until the liquid is gone and the mushrooms are tender and golden. Sprinkle with black pepper.
2. Add white wine and stir in tomatoes, olives, oregano and turmeric. Cover and simmer on low heat (with the lid vented slightly) for approx. 15 minutes.
3. When quinoa is ready, spoon into serving bowls and top with chicken mixture and serve immediately.
4. If desired sprinkle a little daiya cheese on top.

They say it's great accompanied with a green salad or a side of steamed broccoli (or both). And like all quinoa dishes, it just gets better the next day. Yummy!! I think Joey Fatone has found a new fan with his new show, "A Family Recipe Rocks".

How can I make a Paleo Vegeo pastry for the holiday season

I found this great recipe on the Gluten-Free Homemakers website, and had to right to altering it to work for my Paleo Vegeo lifestyle. I found that one of the things I really miss this time of year is a good Danish Kringle, but there are not decent vegan/gluten-free/sugar-free/paleo Kringle's for sale these days. In fact the one company that has a vegan Kringle is filled with soy and corn syrup. I will never get how you can convert to a vegan lifestyle and still think soy flour and corn syrup are amazing to eat. Never. So missing the yum of the Kringle I went searching and was so happy that I found this recipe. It made me beyond happy, because any recipe that requires very few modifications is going to be better to get the desired results of the original baker.

Recipe: Multi-Purpose Pastry Dough

Ingredients: 
3/4 c. brown rice flour
3/4 c. millet flour
1/4 c. sweet rice flour
1/4 c. potato starch
1 Tb. xanthan gum
2 tsp. stevia
1 tsp. powdered agar agar
1/4 tsp. Himilayan salt
1 large pastured egg (or flax substitute)
8 tbsp. Spectrum organic shortening or 6 tbsp melted coconut oil
1/4 c. milk substitute (add + 1 – 2 Tb.  if you went with the 6 tbsp of shortening)

Directions: 
1. Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
2. Using a fork, beat together the milk and egg.
3. Add the milk mixture and shortening or oil to the dry ingredients and stir with a fork. It will look crumbly, but everything should be wet. If needed, add a little more milk.
4. Now use your hands to form the dough into a ball and work it a little until it is smooth. The dough is now ready to be rolled out or can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator.
5. Roll the dough out on a silicone mat, pastry mat or piece of parchment paper. Use a piece of plastic wrap on top of the dough to keep it smooth.
6. Experiment with thickness. Rolling it very thin makes it more likely to break when folding or transferring. About 1/16 – 1/8 of an inch works well.

When using this dough bake at 350 degrees for 15 – 20 minutes. You can use this for making pigs in a blanket for your kids(uncured grass-fed beef dogs of course) or for those lovely Danish Kringle's that I am craving.

Oh Paleo Kale ..my favorite of green vegetables!

One pot Kale and Quinoa pilaf… my modified version:

Nori Rolls as an appetizer or a meal

Nori rolls can be super easy to make, and can be used either as a party appetizer, a fun starter at a dinner party, or a yummy side for your next meal. I found however that a lot of what I like about my nori rolls is the kick I get from the jalepeno hummus, and in fact just writing this blog post has me craving it for lunch. I'm not kidding. You can add just about any sliced veggies to a nori roll if this is your cup of tea, and you could use any other hummus you choose to make your own combination up. You find that most of those following a paleo diet are overlooking the edible seaweeds. But these boast an unparalleled nutritional profile including many essential nutrients, and they are loaded with iodine which is an essential trace element to life. Iodine is especially important for the proper functioning of the thyroid gland. I know that I often do not get enough, and I'm betting you do not either.

Paleo Vegeo Nori Roll

Ingredients:
Nori sheet
Lily's Jalapeno Hummus
Sprouted Brown Rice or Quinoa {cooked}
Beets, sliced into sticks
Carrots, shredded
Purple Cabbage, shredded

Directions:
1. Lay out the nori sheet.
2. Spread hummus across the middle of the sheet all the way across for about 1/3 of the middle of the sheet.
3. Add brown rice or quinoa across the hummus
4. Add slices of beets, cabbage and carrots
5. Like a burrito fold the bottom of the nori sheet over the contents and then roll it backwards, then continue to roll it up into a long tube.
6. Roll the tube back and forth {you may have to use a dab of water across the end to keep it in place}
7. Slice up and add to any meal or use as an appetizer at your next party.

Vegan Buffalo Cauliflower

One of the item I really miss since I gave up meat is the buffalo wings at Squatter's Pub in Salt Lake City, Utah. I also once had the wings at the Pike's Bar and Grill in Seattle at the Pike's Market and they are comparable. For me it must be spicy and it's been an item that I really really miss in life. The Curvy Carrot posted this great recipe, but I don't do buttermilk and so I needed to change it up... but it's to die for.

Buffalo-style Cauliflower

Ingredients:

1 head cauliflower, cleaned and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 cup coconut milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 cup sprouted eikorn flour or your choice of all-purpose gluten-free flour
2 teaspoons garlic puree,
1 teaspoon himilayan salt
1 cup Frank's Original Hot Sauce {gluten free and kosher}
1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted



Directions: 
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. In a small bowl mix coconut milk and apple cider vinegar.
2.  In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut milk mixture, flour, and garlic, salt, whisking until mostly smooth (it’s ok if there are a few lumps left).
3. Very gently (cauliflower can be pretty delicate), place the cauliflower in the bowl and lightly toss to completely coat with the mixture.
4. Place the cauliflower in a shallow baking dish and bake for about 15-18 minutes or so (watch it, it may start to brown up quickly on you.)
5. Meanwhile, combine the buffalo sauce and the melted coconut oil in a small bowl.
6. Carefully remove the hot cauliflower from the oven and pour the buffalo sauce mixture over it, stirring gently to coat it as best you can.

Cranberry-raspberry sauce recipe for a yummy Thanksgiving!

This is one of my favorites for Thanksgiving, and probably because I never ever liked cranberry in a can. EVER! I always thought I was the oddball, but it was because my body wanted the real deal. You can also sub out the raspberries for pear, and you'll mouth will do a party.

Now the reason you want to use coconut sugar {or you can use honey} is because of coconut sugar has such a lower GI level {35} and you don't want to over sugar your holiday if you are going off the sugar-free living.

Ingredients: 
1 package (12 ounces) fresh organic cranberries
2 cups organic raspberries, fresh or frozen, no sugar added
1 cup water
1 cup coconut sugar

Directions: 
1. In a medium-sized saucepan bring to a boil water and sugar, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add cranberries, return to a boil. 

Thanksgiving Day Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

It can be hard to wait for dinner, but it's far easier if you have a really great soup to nosh on while you are cooking. Right? This roasted butternut soup has become a staple in our house over the last few years, and once you make it you'll see why. The combination of the pear and the squash is quite amazing, and you'll find yourself wanting seconds. But remember, even though it doesn't use sugar, maple syrup is a sugar so keep the cup fulls to a minimum.

Maple Roasted Butternut Squash Soup 

Ingredients: 
2 medium butternut squash
1⁄4 cup (50 mL) grade B maple syrup, divided
3 tbsp (15 mL) coconut oil
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
1 ripe Bartlett pear, peeled and sliced
31⁄2 - 4 cups (875 mL - 1 L) vegetable broth
1⁄2 tsp (2 mL) sage
pinch cinnamon
pinch salt
1 cup (250 mL) coconut milk half and half cream or whipping cream

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Cut squash in half lengthwise, remove seeds and place cut-side-up on a rimmed baking sheet or in
a 9"x13" pan. Drizzle with half the maple syrup and roast for about an hour, until tender and
golden on top. Remove from the oven and set aside until cool enough to handle.
3. In a large soup pot, heat the 2 tbsps coconut oil and sauté the onion for about 5
minutes, until translucent. Add the pear and cook for another minute or two, until the
fruit softens.
4. Meanwhile, peel the squash and coarsely chop it. Add to the onions and pear along with the broth,
sage, cinnamon and salt. Cover and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to med-low, cover and simmer
20-25 minutes, until the squash is very tender.
5. Stir in the remaining tablespoon of coocnut oil and the coconu tcream and puree in the pot using a hand-held immersion blender. Alternately, you can transfer it in batches to a blender to puree, then return to
the pot.
6. Enjoy :-)

Seasonal Spiced Pumpkin Soup

If you love this harvest season, then you probably love everything pumpkin, and soup is a great. I saw a great soup in the Simple Vegan recipe book one day, but first off it had carrot juice in it... and since when was carrot juice paleo vegeo... so then I had to figure out how to modify it to my dietary lifestyle.

One of the great items I have purchased over the last couple years is my Vitamix and so I don't need to juice a carrot if I want to use one, I can just throw it in the vita and go to town. So here's my take on their recipe:


Seasonal Spiced Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients:
24 oz Vegetable broth
1/4 cup (60 ml) unsweetened coconut milk
1 1/2 cups (368 g) canned pumpkin
1 tablespoon coconut oil {if needing that rich flavor}
1/2 cup (58 g) sliced onions, sautéed in coconut oil
1 1/2 garlic cloves, roasted {if you want to cook this on the stove, then chop and toss in}
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
2 medium sized organic carrots
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 drops of Black Pepper Essential oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/2 cup hulled pumpkin seeds - roasted {optional}

Directions for Vitamix: 

1. Place all ingredients into the Vitamix container in the order listed and secure lid.
2. Select Variable 1.
3. Turn machine on and slowly increase speed to Variable 10, then to High.
4. Blend for 6-7 minutes or until heavy steam escapes from vented lid.
5. Garnish with roasted pumpkin seeds and enjoy 

Yummy Healthy Breakfast Smoothie 

A banana is a great item to throw into a recovery drink because it's a good,quick usable carbohydrate. I am allergic to them {latex allergy} but you are welcome to bring them into your diet if you'd like. I got the idea from the Simply Savor site, but I don't use a lot of their ingredients like yogurt {hence the whey} or soymilk. We don't do soy anything, but I do get the Maranatha almond butter for my cutie husband. My daughter and I have always used Hemp Nut Butter.


Banana Nut Butter Smoothie:

Ingredients:
1 Small Ripe Banana
1 tsp almond or hemp nut butter
3/4 cup of flax milk, almond milk or coconut milk
1 Scoop of Undenatured Whey
Handful of ice cubes

Directions: 
In a blender combine all ingredients, blend until smooth. Enjoy.

Amazing Alkalizing Blueberry Shake