Spring is here! Just in time for a pumpkin recipe, right? I always want to have special, seasonal recipes…but it just never happens. I should probably be posting an Easter recipe right now, but instead I’m posting a fall recipe. Fall recipes still taste good during spring, though! So eat up!

Ingredients:

One 14 oz can pure pumpkin (only ingredient should be pumpkin)

One 14 oz can light coconut milk (I used the one in the green can from Trader Joe’s)

1 tablespoon coconut sugar

1.5 tablespoon gelatin

1/4 cup fat free & lactose free milk

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

A little less than 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Pinch each of cloves, allspice, and ginger

NuNaturals liquid stevia to taste (I don’t have an exact amount because in the middle of making this I realized that we were all out of stevia)

Directions:

Bloom your gelatin in the milk and set aside. Bring pumpkin, coconut milk, coconut sugar, egg yolk, and spices to a boil, stirring constantly. Once boiling, reduce heat to low. Turn off heat and add your bloomed gelatin to the mixture. Whisk until smooth. Pour into individual bowls, or one big bowl–whichever you’d prefer!

I don’t have the macronutrients, but I can tell you that if you divide this whole recipe into 5 servings it will come out to 110 calories per serving!

Share and Enjoy

There’s a Thai restaurant near my house that has a dish that I LOVE called “pad huarapa”, but when I Googled the name nothing came up–so I just had to recall the flavors and imitate the dish on my own. I think I did a great job, and it is (of course) gluten and wheat free! It can be made paleo, too, if you substitute coconut aminos for the wheat free soy sauce. I might double the amount of coconut aminos, since the flavor isn’t as strong as soy sauce.

Ingredients:

- 20 oz chicken breasts

- 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil

- 6 mushrooms

- Large handful of basil, ripped into pieces

- 25 cherry tomatoes, cut in half

- 2 large garlic cloves, minced

- 1 tablespoon fish sauce

- 1 tablespoon wheat free soy sauce (or coconut aminos)

- 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon Thai seasoning (I used Spice Islands’ seasoning)

- Hefty sprinkling of dried, minced onions (Feel free to use real, sliced onions-I would have, but we were out of onions)

- 12 drops NuNaturals stevia

- Dash of water

Directions:

Heat a large wok and add your coconut oil. Add your chicken and let it begin to cook. Once it has begun cooking, add your minced garlic and dried onions. Once the chicken is almost fully cooked, add your fish sauce, soy sauce, dash of water, Thai seasonings, stevia, and mushrooms. Once fully cooked, rip your basil leaves into pieces and add those, along with the cherry tomatoes. Turn the oven off and continue stirring, allowing the basil and tomatoes to soften.

Enjoy!

This recipe makes 6 servings.

Nutrition facts for 1 serving (1/6th of the recipe):

130 calories, 2g fat, 3.5g carbs, 23g protein.

Share and Enjoy

Ok, it’s been too long…again. I feel like I say that every time I post here, but I’m hoping that with the changes I’ll be making I’ll be able to post much more frequently.

Changes? Ok, well…I mentioned it before here, but I’ll say it again. I did the paleo diet for a while, and it was great! For years I thought it would be good for me to stop eating wheat because I get very sleep when I do eat it, and my face gets all red..but I never stopped because I thought it would be too hard. Then I decided to try the paleo diet-no wheat, gluten, grains, soy, dairy, legumes, or sugar.

Uh, way harder than just giving up wheat.

Well, that’s what I thought at first. It actually wasn’t that hard.

However, I decided to just use the paleo diet as a learning experience and take what I want from it. I learned that I feel much better without wheat, and I can do without gluten, too. I have no known sensitivities to soy, but soy just seems…weird. It can make men grow boobs, and I don’t like that, so I’m going to go easy on the soy. I’m fine with dairy, but I still love my almond milk!

Basically, this blog is headed in a slightly new direction. It will be full of gluten, wheat, and refined sugar free recipes. Dairy free, too, if you make substitutions.

I’m excited!

So let’s get started with the best protein shake I’ve ever made. And I’ve been making protein shakes for years. Yes, it’s basically a banana protein shake, but when I sipped it I thought it had a familiar taste. I told my sister to try it and she said, “omg, banana Laffy Taffy!” Yes!! That was it! I think it has to do with the protein powder I used. I don’t know-it’s just my FAVORITE protein powder! It makes all my shakes taste good. I use Muscle Gauge Nutrition Naturals Whey. It’s sweetened with regular sugar (dang it, I just said this blog was going to be refined sugar free) and stevia, instead of sugar alcohols, which I never eat anymore. There isn’t much sugar, though, because one scoop only has 3 grams.

Anyway, here is my favvvorite protein shake recipe!

Ingredients:

1 scoop vanilla Muscle Gauge Nutrition Naturals Whey

1 cup fat free milk (you can substitute your favorite non-dairy milk-I bet coconut milk would be REALLY good)

1/4 cup fat free cottage cheese (I swear you can’t taste it)

1/4 banana

4-5 ice cubes

1/2 teaspoon banana extract

Pinch xanthan gum

5 drops yellow food coloring (optionafl)

Directions:

Blend all ingredients in your Vitamix (or regular blender) until perfectly smooth. Pour and enjoy!

Nutrition (calculated with fat free milk):

260 calories, 3g fat, 24g carbs, 36g protein

Share and Enjoy

My lower back has been bothering me on and off for YEARS, and the only thing that seems to help is rest. I met with a physical therapist right before Thanksgiving and she told me that I have low tone, and that it is not sciatica or a pinched nerve, so I was definitely happy to hear that…but, she insisted that I stop lifting weights for two weeks. That meant I couldn’t go to CrossFit, and I was not happy about that.

Two weeks went by, and then it was time for finals. Finals ended, and then it was last minute Christmas shopping. Last minute Christmas shopping happened, and then it was Christmas. Christmas happened, and then it was New Years!

These are all a bunch of excuses and the bottom line is that I didn’t go to CrossFit, or work out at all during that time, but I’m back on track now. I’ve been following an old lifting routine that I did before, I took my dog on a run today, and I hope to be back to CrossFit on Saturday!

As for my diet…let’s see…chocolate dipped biscotti, Greek New Years bread, Armenian boureg, pasta with burnt butter and tons of cheese, banana and caramel pancakes…I think I’ve told you enough.

I still love the paleo diet, but I’ve made some adaptations to create “my” paleo. Paleo people just love the phrases “my paleo” and “your paleo”, don’t they? Is it just a way of saying, “This really isn’t paleo, but I really want to eat it, so now this is ‘my paleo.’ Rice, cheese, and protein powder aren’t paleo, but I just really like them, so I’ll include them in MY PALEO.”

Yeah…I’m sticking with gluten free, wheat free, refined sugar free, and limiting soy. I’d also like to try and be as grain free as possible. I’ve sort of merged my old heating habits with the paleo diet, and I’m loving it! I’ve been doing a lot of posting on Instagram (watch out for lots of pictures of Sosi-I can’t help it…it’s a healthy obsession) with photos of what I’ve been eating and recipes. I’d love it if you came and visited me there! My username is TheBaboo.

Like I said, I still really like the paleo diet, so I plan on continuing to post recipes here!

Here’s a simple one that many of you have probably heard of, but if not-you’re in for a treat!

Healthy Frozen Yogurt

Ingredients:

- 1 medium & ripe banana, chopped and then frozen

- 1 frozen chunk of sweet potato from a bag of Trader Joe’s frozen sweet potatoes (optional)

- 2 tablespoons nut butter (I used peanut butter-not paleo, I know!)

- 3 drops NuNaturals liquid stevia

Directions:

-Put everything in your Vitamix and blend on a low speed, scraping the sides until smooth. This has such a creamy texture-even creamier than regular frozen yogurt!

Share and Enjoy