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Grain-free Salmon Pumpkin Dog Treat Recipe
This Grain-free Salmon Pumpkin Dog Treat Recipe will make you the most popular dog parent around. This DIY treat has just 5 simple ingredients that are loaded with nutrients for your furry baby and they are cost-effective, too!
If you’ve been following along with me on Instagram, then you know all about Uncle Larry.
If you don’t, let me fill you in. Uncle Larry is the rescue pup who came into our lives back in November. During the midst of the horrible Woolsey fires in Malibu, I was feeling helpless being so close, yet so far away, down here in Long Beach.
In the early days of the fire, as the devastation mounted, I felt like I needed to do something, but I didn’t know what exactly. As I was thumbing through my Instagram stories I saw the calls for help for displaced animals, both from the families evacuated under emergency circumstance from their homes and the animals from shelters in the fire zones, also being evacuated. There just wasn’t enough room for all of them and with the threat of euthanasia looming there was a desperate need for foster families.
For the first time ever, without hesitation I said to Mark “we need to foster a dog”. I say for the first time ever, because while we have considered it a million times over, it’s not a decision to take lightly when you already have pets, when you travel a fair amount and you know yourselves well enough to know there is a high probability that any animal you take in, may never leave.
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The Benefits of Wild Caught Fish and How to Source it Sustainably
From both an environmental and a nutritional standpoint, supporting sustainably sourced fish is something that matters a great deal to me. Just like meat that comes from properly raised animals that have access to pasture and sunshine, seafood caught using sustainable practices with an awareness for the environment should be a huge priority. From a nutritional standpoint, wild caught fish offers more benefits, like higher levels of beneficial omega-3 essential fatty acids. Of course, the taste and freshness of wild caught isn’t even comparable. Wild caught fish is in a league of it’s own.
The Benefits of Wild Caught Fish and How to Source it Sustainably
Wild Caught vs. Farmed
The ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fat of wild salmon, is far superior to farmed. Farmed salmon has a 1-1 ratio of omega-3s and omega-6s (due to the “junk food diet” they are fed), while the ratio for wild salmon is generally between 6 and 9 to 1, which is a much more ideal and healthful ratio.
Wild salmon swim around in the wild, eating what nature intended them to eat. Therefore, their nutritional profile is more complete, with micronutrients, fats, minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants like astaxanthin (which is what gives salmon its pink or red colored, flesh.)
In my opinion, farmed fish are the aquatic equivalent to factory farmed livestock, or confined animal feeding operation (CAFO) animals. Farmed fish generally live in very small, crowded quarters – typically pens or cages submerged in lakes, ponds, and other bodies of salt water, but sometimes on land as well. They also produce toxic waste, and fish of inferior quality. These fish are further contaminated by drugs and genetically engineered corn and soy meal feed, and in the case of salmon, synthetic astaxanthin, which is made from petrochemicals that are not even approved for human consumption. Wild caught fish, on the other hand, are caught by fisherman out in their natural habitat 1http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/04/15/wild-alaskan-salmon.aspx
References
1. ↑ http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/04/15/wild-alaskan-salmon.aspx -
Sheet Pan Crustless Quiche with Smoked Salmon and Goat Cheese {gluten-free + keto, options for paleo and Whole30}
Sleeping in on the weekend, rolling out of the bed at a leisurely pace and enjoying a feast of a brunch, this is something we all long for.
Inspired by local and seasonal fare, the new Saturday brunch buffet at catalina kitchen, at Terranea Resort, goes beyond bacon and eggs to bring you the ultimate weekend brunch experience. A culinary adventure that is sure to satisfy every palate, the epic spread celebrates the best of what California has to offer, through fresh, inspired dishes.
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Grain-free Baja Fish Taco Bowl {Paleo-friendly}
For most of my life, I have always had a (totally rational) fear of fried foods, something I can say I happily accepted and followed. It wasn’t until this past year or so that I finally experimented with for-real frying at home, beyond a simple pan-fry. Besides the occasional french fry indulgence, I never really found myself drawn to deep-fried anything. It just was never my thing. But to be totally honest, beyond the fact that I intuitively never liked how fried foods made me feel, it was mostly because of the scary calories and fat. And while calories and fat should absolutely be a valid concern, in excess, after spending time truly learning about fats and oils in nutritional therapy school program, I have learned what we should really fear more than these numbers, instead are the oils themselves and the havoc that they can wreak on our bodies and our health. That old saying ‘quality not quantity’, has really never been more appropriate.
At most restaurants, even the nicest of places and honestly in most people’s homes, fried foods are generally cooked in denatured vegetable and seed oils. These are usually highly refined polyunsaturated fats that are highly unstable, especially in high heats. Often they are hydrogenated and when exposed to heat they oxidize and go rancid very quickly and form free radicals. “These chaotic, skewed fatty acid molecules, now in the form of free radicals, wreak havoc on the body attacking and damaging DNA and RNA, cell membranes, vascular walls, and red blood cells, all of which cascade into deeper physiological damage such as tumor formation, accelerated aging, arterial plaque accumulation, autoimmune imbalances, and more!”[1] WOAH – just woah, right? My life-long intuition-led opinion on fried foods was definitely not for nothing.
Now, before we get into this recipe, I am certainly not advocating that fried foods, even in healthful oils, are something we should consume often. Like sweets and treats, even of the more healthy variety, this type of cooking falls into the category of once-in-a-while eating. But, being totally afraid of something and never being able to enjoy it, that doesn’t really feel good either and it certainly isn’t a lifestyle I ever want to live or promote. However, these curiosities for a better option, this is usually how I manage to come up with an alternative, a new way to enjoy something one-in-a-while that I never get to, but in a much more health-minded approach.
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Slow Roasted Salmon with Meyer Lemon Gremolata
The thing about food is, it all tastes better when enjoyed with someone (or several someones) you love! Food is nourishment, but it is also community, it is celebration and it is love. When you put your passion, care, love and mindfulness into a meal, people will be eating your love. How incredible an idea is that?
If I could, I would give the universe to the people whom I love the most, so in my food, I seek to do just that.
Each Spoonful Contains the Universe
Pay attention to each spoonful of food. As you bring it up to your mouth, use your mindfulness to be aware that this food is the gift of the whole universe. The Earth and the sky have collaborated to bring this spoonful of food to you. While breathing in and out, you only need a second or two to recognize this. We eat in such a way that every morsel of food, every moment of eating has mindfulness in it. It takes only a few seconds to see that the food we’re holding in our spoon is the gift of the whole cosmos. While we chew, we maintain that awareness. When we chew, we know that the whole universe is there in that bite of food.
– Thich Nhat Hanh // How to Eat
The one contains the all. When you pick up a lemon, you can know that the entire universe resides in that lemon. The earth, the sun, the sky. When you enjoy a dish made with the lemon, not only is the love and care of all that came together to grow that food contained within it, the love of the farmer, but also the love of the person who made the meal. What’s more, even with all this talk of sharing your love through the food you make, if you are eating by yourself, you can trust that you are never truly alone. The food becomes the means to connect you with the larger community that helped to grow your food, every meal contains the presence of so many caring people.
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Grain-free Salmon Cakes with Old Bay Aioli
Truth me told, the loaded fries and the chicken wings, those are more my husband’s football food. He begs and pleads for junk food on football Sundays, so I have always caved by simply recreating the classics for him, but in a healthier way. It’s a good deal for both of us. Me, I am a bit more uppity when it comes to what I want in a party spread. Give me an epic charcuterie or crudités platter, a little homemade roasted red pepper and feta dip, some tasty, fresh homemade salsa and chips (I reach for the plantain chips these days), a simple, but flavorful chili, the best darn gluten-free soft pretzel bites or these…tasty, crispy salmon cakes!
These Grain-free Salmon Cakes with Old Bay Aioli may seem a more fancy option at your Super Bowl spread, compared to the chips, fries or wings, but don’t let these fool you. They are whipped up in a mere minutes and they are the perfect small bite, party food. A little crispy on the outside with a soft, fluffy, perfect interior. Do not, I repeat do not skip out on the Old Bay Aioli. It’s a must here.
Though salmon cakes aren’t a food I grew up eating, these are comfort food to me. They are totally fuss-free, so they actually make for a very simple weeknight meal or a quick lunch or brunch, even. We almost always have canned salmon on hand, but this recipe is also great for leftover cooked salmon, as well. I love these served over a mixed baby greens salad, but they make an amazing appetizer, as well. Make the patties even bigger and go for more of a burger vibe, if you’d like.
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Danzante Halibut with 3 Chile Sauce
It’s been a few weeks since my trip to Loreto in Baja California Sur, Mexico and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss the food as much as I did the incredible views and starting each day with yoga on the beach. OK and maybe those creative cocktails and mocktails, the spa treatments and the sunsets…
Besides all the beautiful, fresh local fruit, the traditional Mexican foods and of course, their house-made gluten-free baked goods, the beautiful seafood was above and beyond, it is certainly what I most remember, when I think of all the delicious food. Most, if not all, the seafood served at the Villa del Palmar is sourced from the local waters, the Sea of Cortez. Chocolate clams (chocolate for their color, don’t worry they didn’t serve with chocolate) and the various fish were my favorites. You cannot beat fresh seafood, caught in the morning and served up to you in the evening.
