Dark Chocolate coating (for cookies, fruit or whatever)

These are my Ninja Almond Cookies shaped into footballs and covered in chocolate. The laces are just cream cheese and a few drops of liquid sugar substitute warmed and piped onto the cookies.


This has a rich dark chocolate flavor. Not super sweet, but good. If you like a sweeter chocolate just adjust the sweetener to taste.


2 Tbs. unsalted butter
2 tsp. coconut oil
2 Tbs. cocoa powder
2 tsp. granular sugar substitute (I use stevia)
Liquid sugar substitute equivalent to 2 tsp. sugar (I use stevia)


Melt butter and coconut oil in microwave. Add cocoa and sweeteners and stir until smooth.
That's it, you're done. Now start dipping!!!

Gets nice and hard in the fridge.

Flax Crackers

I'm trying to come up with some healthy snacks for the Super Bowl. I tried a few of the flax cracker recipes off the Internet but they just didn't quite do it, mostly they left too much of a slimy feel in my mouth after eating them..yuck. So I remembered how my almond flour would come out of my dehydrator after making almond milk. It's always dry and flat so I have to grind it again before using it. Hmmm. flat? Dry? Crispy sheets? I can work with that. It just needs a little bulk and flavor. So, off to grab the Ninja (maybe you've noticed that I use this little beast quite alot). These are really crispy and great with dip. The flavor combo's are endless so be creative. I'm even going to try a sweet version soon.

What you need:
1/2 cup nut meal (I used pecan for these, but any nut meal will work)
1/2 cup golden flax meal
1/2 cup dehydrated tomatoes
1/2 Tbs. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup water

What to do:
Throw it all into your Ninja (a food processor will work too). Blend until you get a thick paste (see picture below). Spread mixture out as thin as possible on to a parchment lined dehydrator tray. Score mixture with sharp knife into desired size and shape and start drying. When mixture gets solid enough to pick it up flip it over and continue drying until crispy. Store crackers in an air tight container. It's just that easy!!

Ground Beef and Cauli Rice Cabbage Rolls

Oh so good and easy.

What you need:

10 Large Cabbage Leaves

1 Lb. Raw Cauliflower (do not use cooked or frozen)

1 & 1/2 Lbs. Ground Beef

1 Tbs. Minced Garlic

1 Tbs. Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper to taste

3 Cups Tomato Based Sauce (spaghetti sauce)

What to do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cabbage leaves in boiling water for about 2 minutes to cook until flexible but not too soft. Drain and set aside to cool. Put raw cauliflower in food processor and pulse until it is the consistency of rice. Set cauli rice aside for now. Brown Ground beef and minced garlic together, drain. Add cauli rice and olive oil to cooked ground beef and cook over medium heat until cauli rice is soft, season with salt and pepper to taste (feel free to add any other seasoning you prefer).One at a time place a partially cooked cabbage leaf into a 9 X 13 baking dish to form a bowl shape. Add 1/2 a cup of beef and cauli rice mixture to center of cabbage leaf bowl. Fold sides of cabbage leaf over beef mixture, then roll up burrito style starting with the thinner end of cabbage leaf so the thick end stays on the outside of the roll. Place seam side down in baking dish. Do this with all 10 cabbage leaves. Pour tomato based spaghetti sauce over the top of the cabbage rolls. Cover and bake for 60 minutes.

This is what the Cauli Rice should look like

The Ground Beef and Cauli Rice Mixture when cooked together

Ready to be rolled up



Eating Primal(ish)

On my Facebook page today one of the people I follow - Primal Toad @ http://www.facebook.com/PrimalToad?ref=ts - asked a question that really got me thinking. His question was ... "What does primal or paleo mean to YOU?" My answer was "Eating foods the way Mother Nature created them not how man modified and manipulated them." Personally I consider the way I eat to be Primal(ish). The (ish) part comes in because I choose to drink raw milk and eat peanuts. I prefer not to use artificial sweeteners anymore, but cannot say that I don't, at least until my Stevia plants grow and I can make my own liquid sweetener, or, I break down and buy some to get me by. I prefer to use raw honey for most things I need to sweeten up. My ultimate goal is to grow, can, dehydrate and freeze almost all my own foods. I have a goat, that I'm hoping is pregnant (I won't know for a few months yet), that I get my raw milk from, which is also my main source of cheese, and I have ducks and chickens I keep for eggs. Unfortunately I cannot own any animals for meat because my daughters will hate me for eternity if I were to eat one of our "pets". Luckily I live in a huge farming community and buying half a cow from a farmer isn't too difficult. At the very least I know that the cow was raised ethically and in a humane environment without steroids. Living in Wisconsin opens up a huge opportunity for me to also gather several kinds of berries and fruits from the wild. Maple syrup is my newest brain storm. I just need to research it a little more and find a source. So maybe my way of eating mimics the Primal/Paleo way but isn't strictly by the rules. I've never been good with rules anyway. I guess for now I'll just refer to it as eating natural.

Goodbye 2011

"Don't let the past stand in the way of the future".

It's time to bid farewell to 2011. So long old year, it's been fun, but it's time for me to move on.

2011 was by no means a banner year for me, but it wasn't my worst year either. I think I learned more last year about myself and my beliefs than I ever have before. I have a much better idea of where I want my life to go and how I want to live.  I have also formulated a rough sketch of how to get there.

Some great things happened in 2011. I realized that I was my own worst enemy and feeling sorry for myself was getting me nowhere. So I stepped up and took responsibility for my own actions instead of blaming life in general. I started eating better and lost 38 lbs of unhealthy me. I started growing and preserving my own foods as much as I possibly could. I bought a goat, some ducks and some chickens which not only provides my family with healthy foods but gives me a reason to get up off my butt and do something that makes me feel good inside. I started this blog, which not only gives me a way to vent but lets me share my journey to a happier life and hopefully gives people ideas to help them too. I discovered that procrastination is just a way to be lazy. And mostly ... I decided that I will be happy!!!

I also decided not to make any resolutions for this new year because it's too much like a promise. It's too restrictive and the disappointment when you don't succeed is too much of an ego/pride sucking monster. Nobody needs that. Instead, I have a list of wishes for the new year. We all know that not all our wishes will be granted and just stay hopeful that someday they might. Hope is much better than disappointment.

Sooooo, Here's to hoping that 2012 is better than 2011. May all your wishes be granted, and if they aren't, don't give up hope. Tomorrow is another day and another opportunity to make your dreams come true.

New Years Resolution

How many of you plan on making a New Year Resolution (again) this year? We've all done it. I'm going to lose weight. I'm going to quit smoking. I'm going to volunteer more. Yada yada yada.... The list of peoples resolutions could go on forever. Now ... How many of you actually succeeded at keeping those resolutions? Wait!! Did I just see most of your hands drop back down. Yep, mine went down too. I have failed to keep almost every resolution I've ever made. Sure, I start out strong. Mind made up to do it this time. I usually make a pretty good effort at first and feel pretty good about it. Then reality sets in and will power fails. After that it's all downhill. My self esteem and pride follow my will power right down the drain. Last year my resolution was not to make any resolutions. Do we all see how that one was a fail right from the start? Well, this year I've got it all figured out. Hmmm...How is that? I don't need one set goal to aim for. My resolution this year is (drum roll please) TO MAKE NEXT YEAR BETTER THAN THIS YEAR!!! It doesn't matter how. As long as I try hard and something improves I have succeeded. How hard can that be? I guess I will find out. Some people might think that this is the chickens way out, but think about it, the possibilities are endless. I will not be limited to only one possible way to succeed this time. I can succeed over and over all year long. So folks, that's it. I will be better next year than I was this year in any way I want to be.

Low Carb Yule Log Cake

This recipe originally came from http://nourishedkitchen.com/ and is called Bûche de Noël (Grain-free, Gluten-free Holiday Cake). However, my kids found it to be a little strong on the chocolate side and not quite sweet enough for them. I knew I could also make it low carb and sugar free. So I modified the recipe to make it work for everyone in my home. Below is my modified version. This cake is moist, sweet, and so simple to make in almost no time at all.

For the Sponge Cake:

• 6 large eggs, separated
• 4 tablespoons granular sugar substitute (I use Stevia in the raw)
• liquid stevia or other liquid sugar substitute (equal to 1/4 cup sugar)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup cocao powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• zest of 1 orange
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

For the Filling:

• 8 oz. package cream cheese
• 8 oz. tub whipped cream (cool whip)
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• liquid stevia or other liquid sugar substitute (equal to 1/4 cup sugar)

 

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Cut parchment paper to fit inside an 11X17 cookie sheet.
3. Whisk six egg yolks together with four tablespoons granular sweetener, salt, cocoa powder and vanilla extract with the zest of one orange until smooth, creamy and thickened.
4. Beat six egg whites with one-quarter teaspoon cream of tarter and liquid stevia until soft peaks form.
5. Fold beaten egg white mixture into the egg yolk and cocoa mixture.
6. Pour the batter into the parchment covered cookie sheet.
7. Bake the cake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for fifteen minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
8. As the cake cools beat cream cheese, lemon juice and liquid stevia until smooth.
9. Add whipped cream to cream cheese mixture and blend until well mixed.
10. After the cake has cooled, gently invert it onto a stretch of aluminum foil or a kitchen towel.
11. Spread whipped cream cheese mixture onto the cake, then gently roll the cake length-wise and place it seam down on a serving platter. The cake may crack, revealing a bark-like texture and appearance.
12. Slice the ends of the roll off at an angle, then affix them to the side of the log.