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Grain-free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix in a Jar {Gluten-free, Paleo + Vegan}
With the holiday just a week away, I am sure, if you are like me, you still have a handful of last minute gifts to take care of. I always promise myself I won’t leave anything until till the last minute, and yet here I am, one week out with a few final gifts left to get. Thankfully, I have always loved the idea of handmade gifts, the personal touch and the thoughtfulness and these gifts can be made right up until the last moments before the actual holiday. Enter my Grain-free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix in a Jar!! Because cookies are always a great idea, especially when someone else does half the work for you. If you get lucky, whoever you gift this mix to, they’ll have you over for dessert, when they bake them.
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Grain-free Almond Flour Muffins
If I had it my way, as a nutritional therapist but also as a true, hardcore lover of substantial, energy-building, savory breakfasts I would LOVE to get all of clients eating a breakfast comprised of quality, well-sourced fats and proteins, with an appropriate amount of carbs coming from some tasty nutrient-dense veggies! But, I get it, I really do. I know most people would rather eat a doughnut, toast, cereal, oatmeal or anything else, sweet, simple and convenient in the mornings. So for me, it’s all about the baby steps and also meeting people halfway with better options than the standard fare.
I know that mornings are generally a busy time, if you have kids you are getting them ready for school, you are probably packing lunches, getting the kiddos on the bus all while trying to get yourself ready and get out the door to work. Even if you don’t have children, the mornings are generally a very chaotic time and if you don’t plan extra time for cooking, most folks either grab something packaged and convenient or worse yet skip breakfast all together. NOOOOOO! I know that unless you are fortunate enough to work from home, cooking up some pasture-raised eggs and sautéing some greens – that’s probably not in the cards.
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25+ Gluten-free and Grain-free Holiday Cookies, Treats, Sweets and Cocktails
We made a list, but there is no need for you to check it twice. 25+ Gluten-free and Grain-free Holiday Cookies, Treats, Sweets and Cocktails! Everything you could need for a tasty and indulgent, homemade, real-food-inspired holiday is right here! From cookies, sweets and treats, to hot cozy drinks and spiked boozy cocktails, you can rest easy with all the planning already done for you. More time for you to finish up that last minute shipping and perfectly wrap all those thoughtful gifts.
Grain-free Cookies
Dark Chocolate-Dipped Grain-free Rosemary Shortbread Cookies (pictured)
Grain-Free Dark Chocolate Dipped Almond Cranberry Biscotti with Sea Salt
Grain-free No-bake Gingerbread Cookie Balls
Grain-free Orange, Almond and Dark Chocolate Biscotti
Grain-free Matcha Orange Blossom Shortbread with Black Sesame Seeds
Perfect Grain-free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate Chip Coconut Macaroons
Grain-free Spices Molasses Cookies
Grain-free Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies
Sweets and Treats
Hemp Heart Peppermint Chocolate Fudge (pictured)
How-to Make Chocolate Bark (with customizable printable labels)
Dark Chocolate Peppermint Truffles
Winter Spiced Dark Chocolate Bark with Smoked Sea Salt
Grain-free Mini Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Vanilla Bean Marshmallow Creme
Winter Spiced Dark Chocolate Bark with Smoked Sea Salt
Grain-free Cranberry-Orange Spice Mini Tarts
Salted Dark Chocolate Nut Bites
Pomegranate Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Drinks, Smoothies and Cocktails
Spice Infused Winter Sangria (pictured)
Dairy-free Peppermint Mocha & Hot Cocoa
Spiced Apple Cranberry Kombucha Sangria
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Grain-free Pumpkin Pie with Gingersnap Macaroon Crust and Cinnamon Vanilla Meringue
Don’t send a Thanksgiving lynching mob after me, but I generally don’t care too much about pies. I am already not a huge dessert person, but if I am going to have a little something sweet, I’d probably always opt for chocolate. Gimme this Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Tart and I’ve got everything I need. But, I am fully aware that pies are part of holiday spreads for a reason, pies go with Thanksgiving like peanut butter to jelly. I am currently also painfully aware of baking’s ability to heal and it’s important role in relieving stress, something I have personally been in great need of since the election. So here we are, with an epic pumpkin pie that will change the minds of even the greatest pie skeptics.
I have always loved the idea of a pumpkin pie, as I am a big fan of pumpkin-spiced everything, but generally I find many pumpkin pies to be just a tad lacking. First, it’s just your standard pie crust, nothing too special there, not a ton of flavor, then the pumpkin filling gets a little spicing and maybe you top it all with a little whipped cream. To me, it just always feels like it’s missing a little something. It lacks a little dessert flair. I also find that when you add adequate spices and a sweetener with some depth, beyond just standard refined white sugar, the color of a finished pumpkin pie just ends up pretty drab. Beigy brown toasted edge crust, a orangey-brown filling. I dunno, I feel like we can do better than this you guys!
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Grain-free Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Tart {Paleo, Vegan}
Clearly, as evidence by my recent posts, we are coming up on the season of sweets and treats. With all the upcoming holidays, I think less is more when it comes to this encore course. I find most desserts to be far too heavy, too sweet and generally just too indulgent for my tastes. As with most everything in life, I truly believe that a little goes a long way.
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Grain-free Mini Pumpkin Cashew Cheesecakes {Vegan}
For so many of us when there are foods you avoid, either out of necessity or by choice, there are always very specific foods and recipes that you have to just give up longing for. The torture just becomes to much. As someone that generally avoids dairy, in more than very small amounts, I can assure you that the longing feeling I have in my heart for that stretchy pull of good cheese in a homemade mac and cheese or a slice of pizza loaded with the ooey gooey good stuff – those are quite hard to replicate. I am absolutely not a fan of the “faux cheese” alternatives, for so many reasons, mostly because I highly suspect there is very little actual food in there, so I generally just abstain. It’s fine. You just get over it. No really, you do.
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Paleo Breakfast Burrito Bowls
Over the years, breakfast has slowly become one of my favorite meals. It’s amazing to me there was ever a time I skipped this glorious and powerful meal. I can truly see (and feel), just how important a meal it is and how it sets the tone for the rest of my day. With a solid “log”(as we call it around here) to build a long lasting fire with for the day, I find a breakfast loaded with lots of veggies, and quality fats and proteins to be the best hope for a successful and productive day. These Paleo Breakfast Burrito Bowls are possibly one of my most favorite ways to start my day in a major ass-kicking way!
This is another un-recipe recipe, of sorts. I call it that, because while there are certainly ingredients and instructions, this is truly just a guide, the options and variations are endless. I am super into these types of recipes lately. I find this is the kind of cooking that has always inspired me to get into the kitchen and create, with direction but open-ended options, I feel free to make choices that speak to my personal (and hubby’s) tastes, without rigid rules or fear of screwing it up.
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Maple Glazed Pumpkin Spice Almonds
With the start of fall and now as we enter October, I say this means it’s officially, official that we can go all-in on the pumpkin spice everything. Sure it’s considered Basic B*tch to some, but I don’t care, call me “Basic Beth” if you wish – I want to pumpkin spice ALL the things, like these Maple Glazed Pumpkin Spice Almonds.
These lightly sweetened with just a hint of salt, crunchy, crispy, coated almonds are flavored with my homemade Pumpkin Spice Blend (but of course any store bought pumpkin spice blend will work) – they get coated with maple syrup and then if you allow them time to dry slowly, they harden, up, get crispy and will wow you! Otherwise you end up with sticky, stuck together, not-so-crispy nuts.
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Grain-free Zucchini Cacao Nib Muffins {Paleo-friendly}
Although it’s back to school time and summer is coming to an end, let’s not rush into the fall foods just quite yet. Zucchini are still abundant and there are lots of great dishes to be made with them. Of course, I am far more likely to make zucchini noodles and more savory dishes, than to bake with zucchini, I also find myself craving at least one zucchini baked good before the summer passes us by.
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Grain-free Boosted Brownies {Paleo-Friendly}
There are many remedies, supplements, foods and other varying antidotes and therapies over the years of my healing journey that I have experimented with and included in my protocols. As with all things, I am always tweaking and tinkering with my daily routines, based on new discoveries, what my body needs at the time and where I am at in my healing journey. Often I take supplements temporarily for acute symptoms or issues, some supplements I have experimented with and can’t see any remarkable response and of course, like anyone else, there are others that my body has responded negatively to. This is the nature of examining your own health and always exploring new methods of support. Over the years, I have a few protocols and supplements that I have implemented at a time when I needed them and they have actually stuck around for the long haul. They become part of my daily routine. Among them are cod liver oil, turmeric, beef liver capsules, and of course, my daily collagen peptides. Of these, my daily ritual-based supplements, I would say the collagen is one that I noticed the greatest outward benefits from, the quickest and I see major, noticeable differences when I forget to take it. The health of my hair, skin and nails are the most notable.
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Our 15 Favorite Summertime Salads
I know we are creeping closer to summer’s end, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We still have several weeks left of summertime abundance and then, of course, the magical swing season where summer and autumn meet for a brief time and the produce is extra special. For now, I plan to continue to celebrate and indulge in all that the summer’s markets and local farms and gardens have to offer.
Our 15 Favorite Summertime Salads:
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Grain-free Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Coconut Milk Ice Cream {dairy-free}
I broke the seal on this summer’s ice cream maker usage with this incredible Peach Raspberry Sorbet, earlier this month and now I can’t stop. When I get a craving for something, you best watch yourself. Get out of my way and let me do my thing. My current adoration of my ice cream maker plus a craving for a childhood favorite meant it was time to create!
I had the realization that I have sadly been without cookie dough ice cream for longer than should be allowed. The store-bought ones, even when gluten-free or dairy-free, are still loaded with so much junk, tons of refined sugar, creepy lab experiment thickeners and I just can’t.
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Peach Raspberry Sorbet
Going out for ice cream in the neighborhood, this is about as summertime as it gets. On the same hand, fresh local, supremely ripe, sweet as candy fruit, this is also key to celebrate all that summer has to offer! This Peach and Raspberry Sorbet is precisely what summer time is all about. A fresh, Read the rest of this entry »
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Cantaloupe Creamsicle Smoothie
Part of the self-initiated responsibility that I have gladly taken on with Tasty Yummies and now as I move towards my Nutritional Therapy Practice, is to not only read about and research how traditional whole foods can play a role in our healthy lifestyles and healing journeys, but to also keep my ear to the ground about new (or new to me) nutrient-dense alternative foods. I especially am drawn to foods that are more under the radar, that may be of benefit to my readers and their health.I know that with this community we have created together here, we have a wide array or food allergies and intolerances and unique health concerns, so whenever I come across a food that may be of benefit to the community, I get really excited. Like little-kid-on-Christmas-morning stoked!
This particular discovery was one that I had heard about, long before I had the opportunity to sample it for myself. Camel milk. Yes, you heard me correctly, milk from a camel. Now, before you shy away I think it’s important to learn what makes this 100% wholesome, raw and natural milk an amazing alternative to cow’s milk.
Nutrition
For centuries, man has subsisted on raw camel milk – and this wisdom must be passed on! Unlike the homogenized, de-fatted and pasteurized cow’s milk you’ll find at the store, that is devoid of almost all of the beneficial vitamins and minerals naturally found, Desert Farms Camel Milk is raw, non-homogenized, it contains no hormones, preservatives or additives and the milk comes from camels that are pasture raised, 100% grass-fed on non-gmo feed and they are grain-free.
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Sprouted Super Seed Bars with Puffed Rice and Dark Chocolate (Nut-free)
As a self-professed perfectionist/crazy person, this recipe nearly didn’t make it to the website today. In some ways I am actually cringing that it did. I made these bars over the weekend, a recipe I had been dreaming of after being inspired and finally made the time to make them. They are SOOO crazy delicious, you guys. But, after spending the time creating them, after melting the chocolate, carefully sprinkling the coconut and giving the bars time to chill, when it came time to cut the bars, I was doing too many things at once. I was photographing another recipe, I was trying to keep the dog out of the food photo set up on the floor and I let myself get flustered. The sharp chef’s knife came out, I laid the bars on a cutting board and with the first cut I saw that I simply wasn’t present. I was somewhere else. With each cut thereafter it only got worse. Then the sun came out after the first so many photos were taken, so the lighting was changing. Things were just not going my way.
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Raspberry Vinaigrette
Happy Friday, friends! I am still away on a little anniversary getaway with my husband. We’re in Palm Springs soaking up all of the desert goodness, celebrating 9 years of marriage and 13 years since our first blind date. We try for a vacation every year for our anniversary, it’s so important for us to stop the clock, step out from our busy lives and just celebrate each other for a few days. Especially since we both work from home, going away is a really nice opportunity to just be with each other, without the distractions of our work and life. We get to relax, talk, reminisce and most excitingly, nap in the middle of the day, just because we can.
I think one of the (many) things I love most about our love, is that Mark still has the ability to surprise me, even after all of these years. He’s always keeping me guessing and on my toes and he is always willing to try something I made, just to support me.
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Coconut Panna Cotta with Strawberry Rhubarb Compote
I know many of you don’t read my words, you look at the pictures, you scroll down to the recipe and maybe you make it. Or maybe you don’t. I get it. No offense taken. Good news for those of you in the no-words-please club, you’ll be excited for this post and maybe those in the coming few weeks. I have finals coming up and studying is of the highest priority but I can’t not create and share recipes, it’s my life blood, it’s my energy source, it literally fuels me. We’re also leaving town tomorrow, headed to Palm Springs for our wedding anniversary. I plan to sit by the pool, read my text books, study my flashcards and maybe sneak in some napping and cocktails while I am at it, too. All that said, writing words right now feels harder than any community projects, any tests and quizzes, essays or book reviews – somehow it’s weighing on me heavier than anything else.
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Grain-free Banana Cream Pie Bites {Paleo & Gluten-free}
Sometimes, my Type-A, control-freak brain comes in very handy, I can be so organized when it comes to certain things and I can also be so obsessed with being in control and ahead. I am competitive with myself and I am always striving to do better than the last time. But, there is still that little hippie type-B inside of me, that likes to be relaxed and fly by the seat of my pants, go with the wind and whatever my mood and the energy of the day dictates. This post is a culmination of all of this. Let me explain why.
I was lying in bed Monday night thinking about all those silly “National Food Holidays”, that have become such a thing over the past few years. If you are on any social media platform, I know you know about it. There is National Donut Day, National Red Wine Day, Chocolate Cake Day, Pizza Day, last week there was National Margarita day and National Toast Day… the list goes on and on and on. I have no clue where these come from, nor who created them. Mostly I think it’s fun. I like the excuse to be reminded of something in the TY recipe archives that you guys might like to know about it, after all I have nearly 6 years of recipes just hanging out here.
As I thought about this trend, I decided to see what food holidays were coming up this month and I saw that today, March 2nd, was National Banana Cream Pie Day. Fun. But wait, I don’t have a banana cream pie recipe to share, that I love. I sat up in bed and started thinking about so many fun recipe ideas and then realized I had everything on hand to whip up some adorable little mini Banana Cream Pie Bites! As I drifted off to dreamland, I dreamt of soft, luscious, banana cream pies that I could actually eat.
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Grain-free S’mores Tart
Every once in a while your friends really surprise you. During the holidays we had the pleasure of having our friends Sean and Ruth, visiting from the U.K., while traveling California celebrating their honeymoon. I learned while they were staying with us that they had never had S’mores before. How is that possible? I guess with our freedom comes amazing treats like s’mores.
So, I did what any good American foodie friend would do, I promptly went to Whole Foods, got some organic graham crackers for all them, the best dark chocolate I could buy and the best marshmallows I could get my hands on. I started a fire in the fireplace and I treated them. Their minds were blown! Since I skipped out on buying store bought processed gluten-free graham crackers for me, I have since been craving some sort of homemade S’mores concoction, to get my fix.
S’mores to me conjure up emotions of childhood, fun and summertime. They bring back family and spending time around the campfire on our big group camping trips. The marshmallows of our childhood, they are scary things. Loaded with corn syrup and chemicals, we always packed the milk chocolate hershey bars, today my foodie snobbery has gotten so intense that as a self-professed chocoholic, if that was the only chocolate in a 50 mile radius, I would pass. What’s a girl to do, but remedy that situation with the best version of a S’mores you ever did see.
The idea for this tart came to me and I instantly thought it would be such a perfect Valentine’s Day Sweet, but to be fair, I just couldn’t wait that long. So here we are. A slightly sweetened spiced graham-inspired grain-free crust, a luscious, rich, super duper dark chocolate layer (I’m talking 85% dark, people) and a lightly toasted, fluffy marshmallow topping! It’s perfection.
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Banana Bread Gluten-free Doughnuts with Maple Hemp Heart Glaze
What sounds more comforting than warm, homemade banana bread, straight from the oven? How about banana bread doughnuts. How about banana bread doughnuts dipped into a maple-sweetened hemp heart glaze? I’m sorry if you are drooling on your keyboard, but also, sorry not sorry. These are the best! They didn’t last more than a few hours over here.
These doughnuts are a wonderful use for those overripe bananas you have sitting on the counter. Bake these babies up for the perfect weekend breakfast, or make them ahead and you have the perfect on-the-go breakfast for this busy work day mornings. They aren’t sickeningly sweet, most of the sweetness coming from the bananas, the little bit of coconut sugar and of course, the beautiful, glossy maple hemp heart glaze.
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Honey Sweetened Orange Marmalade
We are closing in on three years of living in Southern California and I can tell you with so much confidence that the novelty hasn’t worn off, I don’t take a single day here for granted and I feel like I am exactly where I was always destined to be. This place is truly magical. While hailing from Buffalo, I had a little bit of snow-day envy as the blizzard made it’s way across the east coast this weekend, walking outside in a t-shirt to your very own orange tree – that is certainly not lost on me. Not one bit.
We got so very lucky that the house we ended up in, here in Long Beach, has a beautiful yard, complete with an abundant orange tree, grape vines, the biggest fig tree you ever did see, an avocado tree and so many other amazing fruit trees. I have been learning to get creative with everything we have been so graciously gifted from this land, but despite the constant creations I still have so many oranges that need to get eaten. So, this marmalade was created and even more excitingly this week I purchased a canning kit, to *finally* learn to preserve. It gets here in just a few days and I plan to make lots more of this marmalade to enjoy throughout the year. In the fall I certainly plan to preserve my Fig Honey Jam and some grape jam, too.
