Author: lisa

Thirsty Thursday: Golden Milk

Posted on by lisa

This new drink on our menu is a fun healthy way to enjoy a glass of milk. We are always trying to think of ways to sneak in more super foods, herbs and spices into our diets and this drink does the trick. 

The rockstar in this drink is the turmeric. Turmeric is full of amazing health benefits and is a powerful anti-inflammatory. Health Benefits include the reduction of joint pain, digestive aid, anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial, cancer killing, anti-depressent, liver detox, wound healing, and blood sugar balance.
The next health boosting herb in this milk is ginger.  Ginger is great for stomach discomfort, reduces inflammation, improves asthma, increases blood circulation, and boosts the immune system. It also relieves stress, helps prevent and reduce cough and cold, and helps aid in weight loss. 
Cinnamon is a great spice to add in to your daily diet. Cinnamon can lower cholesterol, help balance blood sugar levels, protect against heart disease, help reduce pain and inflammation, and increase immunity.
Who new drinking a nice cup of warm milk could have so many health benefits… Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1.5 cups unsweetened almond milk
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbs grade B maple syrup

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a pot and heat to desired temperature stirring constantly.

Yours in Health & Happiness,
Lisa and Nichole

Thanksgiving

Posted on by lisa

 Thanksgiving with the Health Nuts


Before you make your traditional Thanksgiving meal this year ask yourself “is there any way to make our classic favorites healthier?” The answer is yes. You can still enjoy your Thanksgiving meal and at the same time know that you are making good choices that won’t leave you feeling overstuffed and packing on the holiday pounds. We have focused on a primarily Paleo menu because when consuming a lot of food at one time people tend to feel overly full and uncomfortable, especially from all the breads and high starch foods. Paleo is free of all grains and processed sugars. However, we had to veer off of Paleo for the stuffing and apple crisp, bringing you delicious gluten free options. We have enjoyed all of these recipes ourselves and can make you a more than satisfied guarantee. Cheers to a truly nourishing Thanksgiving without the guilt! 



Menu


Turkey
Roasted brussel sprouts with bacon
Cauliflower mashed potatoes
Paleo gravy 
Homemade cranberry sauce
Sweet potato casserole 
Gluten free stuffing
Roasted butternut squash with apples
Desserts:

Gluten Free Apple Crisp 
Paleo pumpkin pie 
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

Bacon. Need we say more. This recipe will give you a whole new love for brussels sprouts.

Serves: 
4-6

Recipe:
1 lb brussel sprouts
 1 lb of Applegate Farms organic bacon
Directions:
– Heat oven to 350
– Place bacon on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 until crisp
– Remove bacon from pan and put on plate 
– Cut ends off brussel sprouts and cut in half
-Place brussel sprouts on previous cookie sheet and cover with the bacon grease
– Bake brussel sprouts in over until crisp
– Cut bacon and add to brussel sprouts

Mashed Cauliflower

You will be very surprised how much mashed cauliflower actually tastes like mashed potatoes, especially when they are smothered in our delicious paleo gravy.


Serves:
4-6

Ingredients: 
1 head of cauliflower
2 tbs organic free range chicken broth
2 roasted garlic cloves
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper
chives

Directions:
Steam cauliflower until soft 
roast and peel garlic cloves
place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth
Cover with chives

Paleo Gravy

Ingredients:
1 cup turkey drippings
1 cup of organic free range chicken broth
2 tbs arrowroot starch or potato starch
Directions:
-Bring turkey drippings and broth to a boil
– In a cup mix together starch and a couple tbs of water until starch is dissolved
– Whisk starch into broth and stir until mixture thickens
Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Traditional canned cranberry sauce is full of sugar and artificial ingredients. Our recipes contains no refined sugar and is super easy to make. It also is a great make ahead option to save time on Thanksgiving Day!
Serves:
4-6
Ingredients:
12 oz cranberries 
4 oranges
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup maple syrup + more if too tart
Directions:
-Juice 4 oranges, and zest one of the oranges
-Place all ingredients in pan over high on stove
-Bring to a boil and turn down to medium stirring constantly
-Cook about 10-15 minutes over medium until sauce thickens
-Taste the sauce and add additional maple syrup if you feel it is too tart
-Cover with orange zest 
Don’t be afraid to get the kids involved in the kitchen. They can be great little helpers!

Sweet Potato Casserole

A spin on the traditional sweet potato casserole that is high in processed sugars from the brown sugar and marshmallows. This version has banana and maple syrup to add in some sweetness, topped with naturally sweet crunchy pecans!
Prep Time:
20 min
Cook Time:
1 hr 5 min
Serves:
10 to 12 servings
Ingredients:
5 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed
4 bananas, unpeeled
1/2 cup (1 stick) organic unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup pure maple syrup or honey
sea salt
1 1/2 cups pecans, chopped
  
Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
-Prick the sweet potatoes all over with a fork, put them in a roasting pan and roast for 30 minutes.

-Toss the bananas into the pan and continue roasting for 10 to 15 minutes, until both the bananas and potatoes are very soft.
 -Remove the pan from the oven but don’t turn the oven off.
-When potatoes are cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh into a large mixing bowl.
-Peel the bananas and add them to the bowl along with 1 stick of the butter, and maple syrup.
-Season with salt and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until everything’s well combined and the mixture is fluffy.
-Spoon into an oven-proof serving bowl and smooth the top.

-Sprinkle the chopped pecans over the sweet potatoes and return to the oven. 
-Cook for about 20 minutes, until the pecans are golden. 
-Serve hot.



Gluten Free Stuffing

We cheated a little bit on this one but we wanted to bring you a delicious gluten free stuffing. This stuffing is the closest thing we have experienced to traditional stuffing. In fact you may not be able to tell the difference but it won’t leave you feeling as “overstuffed.” After all, what is Thanksgiving without the classic stuffing flavor!


Roasted butternut squash with apples

What is Thanksgiving without butternut squash? This recipe combines the sweetness of butternut squash with the sweet tart flavor of roasted apples, and the crunchiness of pecans, with maple syrup draped on top further bringing out all the sweet flavors! 
Recipe here-  previous post

Gluten Free Apple Crisp

Classic Apple crisp with a healthy twist but your taste buds won’t know the difference. Simply delish!
Recipe in previous post

Paleo Pumpkin Pie

This pie is completely grain free and free of processed sugars. The creamy pumpkin filling, sweet frosting, and ginger snap crust will have you coming back for another slice!

Recipe: From Autoimmune Paleo found here pie. 
The only change we made is we doubled the frosting. 
We hope you enjoy our recipes and most importantly enjoy spending time with loved ones. Have a blessed Holiday!
Yours in Health & Happiness,
Lisa and Nichole

Thirsty Thursday: Peppermint Mocha

Posted on by lisa

Tis the season for sugar filled holiday drinks! We have a healthy version of a peppermint mocha that won’t leave you broke or feeling guilty. We need all the help we can get with all the temptations around us during the holiday season. 



Photo Credit: Michael Theriault & Megan Theriault 



Ingredients:
8oz of coffee
2 tbs coconut cream
1 tbs cocoa powder
2 tbs coconut sugar 
2 drops of peppermint essential oil (or 1/2 tsp peppermint extract )

*can sub carob powder for cocoa powder
*can sub stevia for the coconut sugar to make it a sugar free treat 

Directions:
1- Brew coffee

2- Place hot coffee and additional ingredients in blender and blend until smooth

The Health Nuts will be working on a special Thanksgiving project this weekend that we will be posting before the holiday! Stay tuned you won’t want to miss it. 

If you have any holiday drinks you would like to see on the blog comment below or send us an email we love hearing from you. 

Yours in Health & Happiness

Lisa and Nichole

Nourishing Chicken Soup

Posted on by lisa

Chicken soup may be good for the soul but it is even better as a first line of defense for cold and flu season.  

What makes this chicken soup recipe so nourishing? 

The broth. It is made from the bones of the chicken which release minerals and nutrients into the broth. These nutrients and minerals support the healing of the digestive tract and boost the immune system.  In addition, the broth contains added nutrients from vegetables and herbs for further immune boosting support. The following mineral broth is adapted from the book The Longevity Kitchen, by Rebecca Katz. We recommend this broth to all of our clients. Finding such a perfect broth gave us no reason to re invent the wheel. In fact we have even had the opportunity to skype with the author and discuss how she successfully uses food as medicine!

There are a lot of ingredients so don’t be afraid to shorten the list a little bit if you can’t find them all. You can store and freeze this broth or use it all up for a delicious family meal. It’s perfect for when you or any little one’s in the house are feeling under the weather or just need some hot comfort food.


Magic Mineral Broth

Ingredients:
1 organic chicken carcass 
8 quarts of cold filtered water
1 large bunch fresh flat-leaf parsely
1 bunch of celery, incuding the heart, cut into thirds
12 garlic cloves unpeeled and smashed
2 unpeeled sweet potatoes, cut into chunks
2 unpeeled yellow onions cut into quarters
1 unpeeled yam cut into chunks
6 unpeeled carrots cut into thirds
1 fennel bulb with tops
1 leek, white and green parts cut into thirds
2 bay leaves
1(3-inch) unpeeled fresh ginger cut in half length wise
1 (8 inch) strip kombu
12 black peppercorns
4 juniper or allspice berries
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions

* cook chicken and take the meat off leaving the carcass. Set meat aside for the soup.

Rinse all vegetables
Place ingredients in a 12 quart or large stock pot
Add the water, cover, bring to a boil
Turn heat to low and simmer 2-4 hours
Add more water if vegetables go below water line (water evaporates while cooking)
Simmer until you can taste the richness of the vegetables
Strain through a large course mesh sleeve placed over a heat proof container
stir in salt
let cool to room temperature, refrigerate overnight
skim off as much fat off of the top as possible
broth is ready to be used for chicken soup
it may be portioned into airtight containers and to freeze for later use

*This recipe calls for all of the broth for serving a family of 5-6 however you can always make smaller portions.


Chicken Soup Recipe

Ingredients

Magic Mineral Broth
1 bunch of celery chopped
5 large carrots chopped into 1/2 inch circles
1 tbsp ground sage
2 tsp ground turmeric
sea salt and pepper to taste
chicken meat from entire chicken

Optional add ins (everyone has there own classic favorite):
Brown rice
Organic Potatoes
Brown rice pasta

Directions

Place broth in large stock pot
Add in carrots and celery
Bring to a boil and turn heat down to med and cook for approx. 30 min depending on desired tenderness of veggies
Add in chicken meat and optional precooked ad in for the remaining 5 minutes of the 30 min just to heat them up
serve immediately

Enjoy!

Yours in Health & Happiness

Lisa and Nichole

Thirsty Thursday: Hot Cocoa

Posted on by lisa

This is a perfect healthy version of hot cocoa for the cold weather we have been having. If you can’t do cocoa powder you can sub carob for the cocoa. I have been enjoying this a lot lately!


Photo credit: Michael & Megan Theriault


Ingredients
1 cup non diary milk
2 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tbs coconut sugar


Directions:
1- In small pan warm non dairy milk
2- Whisk in cocoa powder and coconut sugar

3- Bring to simmer and pour into mug 

   Yours in Health & Happiness,


     
                                        Lisa and Nichole

Thirsty Thursday: Apple Pie Smoothie

Posted on by lisa



This smoothie taste like a slice of apple pie in a glass! But much healthier of course. 

Photo credit Michael Theriault & Megan Theriault 


Ingredients:
3/4 cup apple sauce
1 cup milk (whole or non-dairy)
1 tsp vanilla 
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbs maple syrup
dash of nutmeg


Directions:

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Enjoy!

Have a happy and healthy Halloween tomorrow everyone! We promise to be around more soon with recipes, updates and video posts. We have been swamped lately trying to finish up our last semester! 

   Yours in Health & Happiness,


     
                                        Lisa and Nichole

Grain Free Pumpkin Pancakes

Posted on by lisa

Sorry for the lack of posts last week things with school have been crazy for us! This recipe is worth the wait. These pancakes are a great option for anyone who is on a gluten free or grain free diet. They have no added sugar and are full of protein, vitamin A, and bursting with pumpkin flavor. Feel free to add a few tablespoons of maple syrup to the batter if you want a sweeter pancake. 

photo credit to Michael Theriault and Megan Theriault 




Ingredients:
3/4th cup pumpkin
3 eggs
1/2 cup almond butter
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Directions:
1- Blend all ingredients together
2- Heat pan on medium and coat with coconut oil
3- Pour 1/4cup of batter onto skillet 
4- When batter begins to bubble flip pancake
5- Enjoy with ghee, butter or coconut oil and maple syrup

                           Yours in Health & Happiness,


     
                                                Lisa and Nichole

Chunky Cinnamon Apple Sauce

Posted on by lisa

There is nothing like Fall in New England. One of the most popular fall activities is apple picking. Here is a perfect recipe to use all of those apples that you picked. Homemade apple sauce is super easy, cost effective and the best part is that you can control all of the ingredients that go into it.


Photo credit: Michael Theriault & Megan Theriault




Ingredients: 
1/2 cup water
6 apples
1 tbs cinnamon 


Directions: 
1- Peel apples and core
2- Chop apples into squares
3- In a medium pan combine apples and water
4- Turn on medium and cook covered until apples soften
5- Remove cover and add cinnamon 
6- Mash apples with a potato masher

7- Store in refrigerator to up to a week


                                              Yours in Health & Happiness,


     
                                        Lisa and Nichole

Thirsty Thursday: Carrot apple ginger juice

Posted on by lisa

The perfect juice for the upcoming cold and flu season. This juice helps support the immune system and makes your skin glow! 


photo credit to Michael Theriault Megan Theriault


Ingredients: 
2 apples
5 carrots 
2 inch of ginger 


Directions:

Put all ingredients in a juicer and enjoy! 


 Yours in Health & Happiness,


     
                                        Lisa and Nichole

Chocolate Pumpkin Chia Seed Pudding

Posted on by lisa

Hey blog readers! I just wanted to stop by quick with a fun new breakfast recipe for pumpkin season. This is a grain free version of overnight oats. Chia seeds are a great source of vegetarian based Omega 3’s in the form of ALA. This is a great breakfast choice for anyone who doesn’t have much time in the morning to prepare. This should be made the day before and left in the fridge overnight. You can heat it up the next morning or eat it cold the choice is yours. 


Photo credit: Michael Theriault & Megan Theriault



Ingredients:
1/2 cup nondairy milk
1/3 cup pumpkin
2 tbs chia seeds
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tbs cocoa powder
2 tbs chocolate chips (Enjoy Life)
2 tbs maple syrup 


Directions:
1- Place all ingredients in a glass jar and mix together. 
2- Store in the refrigerator overnight and enjoy for breakfast the next day. 

 Yours in Health & Happiness,


     
                                                         Lisa and Nichole