Seems I’m on a muffin kick lately! These are based of the last muffins I made and of course, this original, “Hope for Healing” recipe. I got the idea after trying them (see my last post) and decided to try it today. The result was wonderful! :) I did add the spices this time and I think it helped…but then I missed having the banana flavor stand out. So, I might forgo the spices or put less—especially of the ginger if doing it for myself next time. Another idea I had was to use peanuts in place of the almonds to give it a slight peanut butter and banana flavor. Also, I want to add vanilla next time. :) Anyway, don’t let me discourage you from trying them…I’m just throwing some more ideas out there. :)

I’m trying something new today: For those of you who are gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, etc read on.  For those of you who aren’t, scroll down until you reach the last picture of the muffin (the standard version.)

Banana Oat Muffins (Allergy-Friendly Version)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups mashed, ripe bananas (about 5-6 bananas)
• 1 cup of finely ground almonds (in a coffee grinder or food processor) That’s what I did. Or use almond flour.
• 3/4 cup of sweet sorghum flour
• 1 cup of gluten-free oat flour (gluten-free oats ground in a coffee grinder or food processor)
• 1 cup of gluten-free oats
• 1/2 cup of tapioca flour or arrowroot powder (that’s what I used this time)
• 1/2 c. honey or agave
• 1/4 cup melted earth balance
• 1/4 cup of coconut oil or palm oil shortening not melted I used palm oil shortening
• 1/2 ts. of sea salt
• 1 ts of baking powder
• 1 ts of baking soda
• 1 ts of ground cinnamon
• 1 ts. of ground nutmeg
• 1 ts of ground ginger

Directions:

“Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Use a pastry cutter or a fork to mix in the shortening/coconut oil and melted earth balance. Then add in the honey and stir. Next, add the bananas. Let it sit a minute to allow the flour to absorb some of the moisture. Mix well together and pour into muffin cups about 3/4 full. Bake at for about 20-30 minutes in a 400 degree oven. Mine took a little longer because I wasn’t quite as precise as I should’ve been in my liquid and dry measuring so I had a slightly more wet batter. Make sure to check if the middle of the muffins are cooked with a toothpick and then let cool for about 10 minutes before you try and eat. You can leave them on the counter for a few days…they last well. :) They came out delicious! I came out with slightly less than 18, but it will just depend on how much batter you put in each muffin cup. :) Enjoy!

Banana Oat Muffins (Standard Recipe)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups mashed, ripe bananas (about 5-6 bananas)
• 1 cup of finely ground almonds (in a coffee grinder or food processor)  Or, you can sub another cup of flour or your can grind any other nut.
• 1-1/4 c. flour (I would suggest whole wheat for the health benefits, but you can use white)
• 1 cup of oat flour (it’s simply oats ground in a coffee grinder or food processor…or you can try adding another cup of oats or another cup of flour or even do half of both totaling 1 cup.)
• 1 cup of oats
• 1 c. sugar or 1/2 c. honey
• 1/4 cup melted butter or oil
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. of baking powder
• 1 tsp. of baking soda
• 1 tsp. of ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. of ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp. of ground ginger

Directions:

Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Use a pastry cutter or a fork to mix in the shortening and melted butter. Then add in the honey or sugar and stir. Next, add the bananas. Let it sit a minute to allow the flour to absorb some of the moisture. Mix well together and pour into muffin cups about 3/4 full. Bake at for about 20-30 minutes in a 400 degree oven. Mine took a little longer because I wasn’t quite as precise as I should’ve been in my liquid and dry measuring so I had a slightly more wet batter. Make sure to check if the middle of the muffins are cooked with a toothpick and then let cool for about 10 minutes before you try and eat. You can leave them on the counter for a few days…they last well. :) They came out delicious! I came out with slightly less than 18, but it will just depend on how much batter you put in each muffin cup. :) Enjoy!

Easy, Homemade Nut Butter

       Making your own homemade nut butter isn’t as hard as you might think. And it can save you money, and save you in a pinch when you run out and need a small amount.

It only requires two things: nuts and a food processor. I have this one and bought it at Wal-mart for $8. I use it for everything. And it’s never caused me an issue and it doesn’t take up much space. I’ve had it for 3+ years.

    1. Take nuts, (almonds in this case) and start chopping them. You can use whole nuts/pieces. This picture was taken after a few pluses on the food processer.

  2. Keep processing…it will get finer and finer. If you get to here, you’re almost at almond flour stage.

 

 

3. You’ve made it! (almond butter)

 

3. You’ve made it (peanut butter!)

   

 

Enjoy! If you have any tips on how to make nut butter, let me know…I’m wondereding why the almond butter didn’t get as creamy and was more dough like…maybe because it was unroasted.

Recipe Review: Fluffy Nut Butter

 

Fluffy peanut butter and carrot sticks…yum! :)

This is a great way to make nut butter less calories and also make it last longer…doubling the amount of nut butter…so it’s frugal too.

 

I’m going to quote Chef Rachel’s recipe here but feel free to see it on her site here:

“Fluffy Nut Butter  
Prep: 10 minutes/ Yield: 1 cup; 8 servings

To make almond butter, peanut butter, and other nut butters more spreadable and less calorie-dense, you can emulsify them with warm water and add a little sea salt. After the mixture chills, it thickens and fluffs up making a delicious spread for bread, waffles, baked sweet potatoes, winter squash, cooked apple compote, or sliced fresh or frozen bananas. For a sweeter taste, see variations below.

Notes: Select a bottled brand of nut butter that doesn’t contain added salt, sugar, hydrogenated oil, or soybeans, or use homemade nut butter.Although it may be tempting to dilute an entire jar of nut butter––don’t do it, unless you plan to freeze most of it. Diluted nut butter will sour in the refrigerator after about 5 days if unsalted; 7 to 10 days if salted. It keeps well frozen.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup roasted, unsalted, unsweetened almond, cashew, or peanut butter  
1/2 cup warm filtered water
1/4 teaspoon finely ground, unrefined sea salt (Celtic, Lima, or Real Salt…)

See sweetener suggestion below if using this with frozen bananas

1. Don’t discard the oil on top of a new jar of nut butter. Process the contents of the jar in a food processor, a Vita-Mix, orin a bowl with a sturdy spoon until smooth. Return nut butter to the original jar and refrigerate what you don’t plan to use immediately.

2. Dissolve the sea salt in warm water. Add the almond butter and mix or blend until smooth. Scrape the mixture into a wide-mouth jar or small bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (or freeze for 1 to 2 hours) until thick, before serving. Use within 4 days if unsalted, within 1 week if salted, or freeze for up to 6 months in covered glass jars with 1-inch of headspace at the top for expansion.

2 tablespoons: 109 calories, 4 g protein, 3 g carbohydrate (3 g fiber), 9 g fat, 89 mg calcium

Variations:

*  Sweet, Fluffy Nut Butter: To the recipes above add 2 to 3 tablespoons honey or agave nectar, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, and 1/4 teaspoon pure stevia extract powder or clear or vanilla flavored stevia extract liquid.”

 

This is really good! :) Give it a shot! :) I haven’t tried it sweetened yet…but I want to try again soon without salt/less salt. :)

 

I saw this recipe via Happy Herbivore the other day, and decided, I needed to try it out. Oatmeal Cookies for breakfast? Count me in!

And amazingly, these are the only ingredients you need…so it’s super frugal and nutritious.

2 frozen bananas…..

 

        

1/2 t. cinnamon, 1 T. raisins…….1/4 c. oats………………………and 1/4 c. milk/non-dairy milk.

 

Blend together….

  

Garnish with cinnamon and enjoy!

True to the name…it did remind me of its cookie cousins…

Next time…I want to use two big bananas….and perhaps a little more milk… and more oats maybe?

but mmmm…this is delicious! :)

Thanks HH Lindsay!

This is my version Comfy Belly’s Fudge Popsicles. I did change it up a bit so I wrote what I did and left it as it originally was where I didn’t change it.

Ingredients (makes about 7-8 small pops)

• 1-3/4 cup lite coconut milk (This time I used my first attempt at coconut milk yogurt—that fermented but was a complete liquid-----and you couldn’t even taste the sourness after everything else was added. Yay for frugality! :) )
• 1/2 cup of honey
• 1/2 cup of cocoa
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt 
• 1 tablespoon of earth balance

”Preparation

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine all the ingredients and mix until well blended - about 5 minutes.
2. Cool for about 15 minutes, or until it's close to room temperature.
3. Add the mixture to popsicle molds and freeze for at least 3 hours.”

I thought these were good, similar to the fudgesicles I remember as a kid.  They were really sweet though for my tastes. Next time, I want to decrease the sweetener by half. They are also very rich and chocolaty, so I may decrease the cocoa a little too.

 

But they do hit the spot! :) You won’t need another one…as these leave you feeling satisfied and sweetened out. :)

Recipe Review: An Alteration of Stephanie’s Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins (For Those of you who don’t have allergies) + an explanation of why I’m making some changes and call for suggestions…

         Hey, everyone! Due to lots of friends of mine who aren’t GF, dairy-free, and sugar-free, I have been thinking about making some changes. I have done this kind of thing a little bit in the past. Previous to going GF, dairy-free, and sugar-free again, I cooked a lot for my friends and they loved my food and asked for recipes. A lot of them still like reading my blog, but aren’t able to make the recipes because they have specialized ingredients.

             Starting with this post, I will be posting two versions of every recipe or at least posting alterations you can make if you aren’t following a gluten-free, dairy-free, and sugar-free diet. Or just have one of those issues. (If you just have one of those issues, you can compare the recipes side by side and follow the parts each recipe ingredient list that you need to follow…hopefully that’s not too confusing).  I want to make it so, in most cases,  those of you would can have gluten (and or dairy, and/or sugar) can make my recipes too! And they would still work! :) Of course if I make a GF sandwich bread, there’s really no reason to post another version of it since the point was making a GF bread…but in most cases, two versions would work well.

             This way, everyone can make them and live frugally too. I mean, there’s not a whole lot of reason to have to purchase expensive flours or ingredients if you don’t need them. That would totally ruin the idea of being frugal. Sound ok to you? Besides, I know if you aren’t GF, dairy-free, and sugar-free the ingredients and methods used may be really overwhelming and hard to you to know how to substitute…I’m sure it would have been the same way for me prior to changing my diet.

                I’m thinking about doing it in two separate posts…of the same recipe…..so that everyone can just pick the post/recipe they want. :) What do you think of my idea? Does it sound good to you? Please comment and let me know…and offer me any suggestions you might have. For example…should I do two different versions of the same recipe in two different posts or just give out the options with the same post?  If I do two different posts, how should I differentiate between the two? Perhaps the gf, dairy-free, sugar-free ones might be called Allergy-friendly and the regular ones might be called standard recipe?

              Also, I’ll be calling on you, my non-allergic friends lol :), to make the recipe and tell me how it turned out. Sometimes, I might be able to make the standard (not allergy friendly) recipe for my family or someone, but a lot of times, I’m going to leave it up to you guys to try it out and let me know how they turn out. OK?

            Wow. Sorry that took so long to explain…..but now, on to this post. :)

Who doesn’t love muffins? Seriously, I haven’t meet many people who don’t. Personally, I love them!

        I tried these lovely ones out from Stephanie's Hope For Healing Blog. I saw this muffin recipe last night and knew I couldn't just bookmark it, but had to make it…like NOW. :)  I suppose part of that had to do with the fact that they reminded me of my mom's applesauce raisin muffins which I had attempted to recreate before, but these are so much closer to what I remember.  A few things (I couldn’t just pick one) that I really love about this recipe: 

1. They are made with whole grain goodness.
2. They have oat flour and oats…and I just think that combo works beautifully for making a tastier and healthier baked good. :)
3. They use a whole two cups of applesauce and honey and oils…..wow….I am super impressed that all those wet ingredients didn’t yield a gooey mess. :)
4. They are super good for you. They are full of protein, fiber, and more! :)
5. They are nice and moist!
6. They use applesauce instead of juice, which I think is much more healthy. I love using juice too in my recipes, but I’m learning that fruit is much better for you when it’s either eaten raw (healthiest), cooked, dried, etc.

   You ready for the recipe yet? I’m going to keep the same wording of her recipe and just add and delete here and there…I’d quote all the little parts I took from the recipe but that would just take me forever and look ridiculous. Anyway, here it goes…

 

Stephanie's Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of homemade applesauce (or an unsweetened store bought variety will do)
• 1 cup of finely ground almonds (in a coffee grinder or food processor)  Or, you can sub another cup of flour or your can grind any other nut.
• 1-1/4 c. flour (I would suggest whole wheat for the health benefits, but you can use white)
• 1 cup of oat flour (it’s simply oats ground in a coffee grinder or food processor…or you can try adding another cup of oats or another cup of flour or even do half of both totaling 1 cup.)
• 1 cup of oats
• 1 c. sugar or 1/2 c. honey
• 1/4 cup melted butter or margarine or oil
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. of baking powder
• 1 tsp. of baking soda
• 1 tsp. of ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. of ground nutmeg I omitted this but I think it gives it more flavor. Will add in next time.
• 1 tsp. of ground ginger”I omitted this but I think it gives it more flavor. Will add in next time.
• I added 1/2 c. raisins and actually didn’t think I really needed them. It’s up to you.

Directions:

“Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl, ( I mixed all the dry ingredients together, including raisins. Then I used a pastry cutter [or you can use a fork] to add mix in the shortening/ and melted butter. Then I added honey and stirred and I added the applesauce last.) then add in the applesauce and the rest of the wet ingredients. Let the batter sit for a few minutes to let the oats soak up some of the moisture from the applesauce. Mix well together and pour into muffin cups about 3/4 full. Some of mine ended up being to the top. Bake for about 18-20 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Mine took a little longer because I wasn’t quite as precise as I should’ve been in my liquid and dry measuring so I had a slightly more wet batter. Make sure to check if the middle of the muffins are cooked with a toothpick and then let cool for about 10 minutes(very important) before you try and eat. They are great muffins to sit on the shelf or you can preserve them in the fridge for the rest of the week. This recipe makes about 18 muffins.”

 

They came out delicious! :) I also came out with 18 muffins. :)  I hope you all enjoy Stephanie's recipe as much as I did! :)

 

Next time (or the next couple of times), I want to try…

• omitting the raisins
• adding in more cinnamon and/or adding the nutmeg/ginger in.
• adding chopped apples (for a more-apple like flavor)
• possibly looking at my mom’s applesauce raisin muffin recipe and making this one more like it
• playing around with the flavors. What if I subbed 2 c. mashed banana for the applesauce? Yum! :)

 

 

 

Who doesn’t love muffins? Seriously, I haven’t meet many people who don’t. Personally, I love them!

        I tried these lovely ones out from Stephanie’s Hope For Healing Blog. She also blogs GF, dairy-free, sugar-free (and soy-free) and personally I love her site. I saw this muffin recipe last night and knew I couldn’t just bookmark it, but had to make it…like NOW.    I suppose part of that had to do with the fact that they reminded me of my mom’s applesauce raisin muffins which I had attempted to recreatebefore, but these are so much closer to what I remember.  A few things (I couldn’t just pick one) that I really love about this recipe:

1. They are made with whole grain goodness.
2. They have oat flour and oats…and I just think that combo works beautifully for making a tastier, “normal” like baked good.
3. They don’t taste gluten-free, if you know what I mean. They taste more like my mom’s whole wheat ones.
4. They use a whole two cups of applesauce and honey and oils…..wow….I am super impressed that all those wet ingredients didn’t yield a gooey mess.
5. They are super good for you. They are full of protein, fiber, and good for you fats. Perfect!
6. They are moist! and not dry.
7. They use applesauce instead of juice, which I think is much more healthy. I love using juice too in my recipes, but I’m learning that fruit is much better for you when it’s either eaten raw (healthiest), cooked, dried, etc.
8. They rose! Amazing!
9. No gums needed! (That would be xanthum or guar gum, not the gums in your mouth silly! lol)

   

   You ready for the recipe yet? I’m quoting her original recipe with my notes added in…

Stephanie’s Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins

Ingredients:

• “2 cups of homemade applesauce (or an unsweetened store bought variety will do) I usedmy mom’s homemade.
• 1 cup of finely ground almonds (in a coffee grinder or food processor) That’s what I did. Or use almond flour.
• 3/4 cup of sweet sorghum flour
• 1 cup of gluten-free oat flour (gluten-free oats ground in a coffee grinder or food processor)
• 1 cup of gluten-free oats
• 1/2 cup of tapioca flour
• 1/2 cup of agave, or 1/4 cup agave and 1/2 cup of unrefined sugar cane (sucanat) I used 1/2 c. honey
• 1/4 cup of light olive oil or walnut oil I used melted earth balance
• 1/4 cup of coconut oil or palm oil shortening not melted I used palm oil shortening
• 1/2 ts. of sea salt
• 1 ts of baking powder
• 1 ts of baking soda
• 1 ts of ground cinnamon
• 1 ts. of ground nutmeg I omitted this but I think it gives it more flavor. Will add in next time.
• 1 ts of ground ginger”I omitted this but I think it gives it more flavor. Will add in next time.
• I added 1/2 c. raisins and actually didn’t think I really needed them. It’s up to you.

Directions:

“Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl, ( I mixed all the dry ingredients together, including raisins. Then I used a pastry cutter [or you can use a fork] to add mix in the shortening/coconut oil and melted earth balance. Then I added honey and stirred and I added the applesauce last.) then add in the applesauce and the rest of the wet ingredients. Let the batter sit for a few minutes to let the oats soak up some of the moisture from the applesauce. Mix well together and pour into muffin cups about 3/4 full. Some of mine ended up being to the top. Bake for about 18-20 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Mine took a little longer because I wasn’t quite as precise as I should’ve been in my liquid and dry measuring so I had a slightly more wet batter. Make sure to check if the middle of the muffins are cooked with a toothpick and then let cool for about 10 minutes(very important) before you try and eat. They are great muffins to sit on the shelf or you can preserve them in the fridge for the rest of the week. This recipe makes about 18 muffins.”

They came out delicious! I also came out with 18 muffins.    I hope you all enjoy Stephanie’s recipe as much as I did!

Next time (or the next couple of times), I want to try…

• omitting the raisins
• adding in more cinnamon and/or adding the nutmeg/ginger in.
• try replacing at least half of the sweetener with stevia or something like that and then add more applesauce for the liquid lost….
• adding chopped apples (for a more-apple like flavor)
• possibly looking at my mom’s applesauce raisin muffin recipe and making this one more like it
• playing around with the flavors. What if I subbed 2 c. mashed banana for the applesauce? Yum!

‘Tis the season for….Strawberries…….and if you’re like me……chocolate is always in season too.

 

     I rescued these babies from a party I went to where they were having fondue. “I’ll take them plain”, I said (well, even if I didn’t say it, that’s what I did.)  The chocolate fondue looked so inviting… “One tiny taste won’t hurt me,” I thought. One tiny taste later, “Ugh! Yuck!” I said inside, as I made a face (and tried not to show it to everyone else.) This can’t be chocolate…blek! Have you ever had that experience? You thought and have memories of the stuff you were “missing out” on as tasting so great and just being so wonderful….come to find out they aren’t that great after all? That’s what I decided too…. but I was still craving chocolate covered strawberries……so here’s what I did…..

Remember the recipe that I got from Oceans of Joy for peanut butter cups that I posted here? Well, it’s the same chocolate recipe….I’ll just post it here for reference.

• 1/2 c. cocoa powder
• 1/4 c. melted butter, earth balance, or coconut oil
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1/8 – 1/4 c. honey/agave (try the lesser amount if you can handle it---It seems to help them hold shape better)

Combine all ingredients. Stir well. Dip your strawberries in. Take a big bite and enjoy life simple frugal pleasures…... Mmm…..:)

Looking for more chocolate fun? How about…..(Ok, so I went a little overboard with my list…..but these are a few of my favorite chocolate recipes!:))

• Mini Grain-Free, GF, Dairy-free, Sugar-free Chocolate Brownie Bites
• A Healthy Homemade Chocolate Frosty (w/o the sugar, gluten, or dairy!)
• When it’s not Easter, these should really be called, Chocolate Covered Almonds! :)
• Rich, Sugar-free Chocolate Syrup/Sauce
• A simpler, but equally tasty, Reese’s type recipe for Chocolate and Peanut Butter Candy
• GF, dairy-free, sugar-free, vegan, homemade chocolate chips!
•  Sugar-free Chocolate Milk (Dairy-free too!) anyone?
• Homemade Reese’s Cups (w/o dairy, gluten, sugar!)
• Healthy, Chocolate Cookies with Homemade Peanut Butter Chips!
• Healthy, Chewy, Sugar-free Chocolate Chip Cookies…

More chocolate and strawberries?

• Try this! Chocolate Crepes with Chocolate Sauce and Strawberries!

Strawberry Love?

• Sugarless, But So Naturally Sweet Strawberry Jam (Freezer worthy!)
• Strawberry Rhubarb Jam (Freezer/Canned)
• Strawberry-Blueberry Muffin Love

And of course, more to come!

  

 

Strawberry Jam

   Don’t you just love strawberries? I do. This is a picture I took of a few of the lovely jewels from the pick-it-yourself farm. Sweet. Vibrant. Little. Jewels. Delicious.

Mom was making freezer jam with most of these.  I wanted to make some that I could have……..

And I’m so glad I did.

      

The finished product. The lighting was a little weird on my camera, but anyways, the jam came out amazing. Never mind the fact that it’s gluten-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free, AND it doesn’t use honey/agave etc. Only a little fruit juice and stevia. That’s it, sweetie!

Plus, this jam is approved by my sister who thinks all my food is disgusting. Mom, is slightly less picky, liked it too.

 

 

Simply Sweet Strawberry Jam

• This recipe is for freezer jam but can be altered slightly for canned jam. :)

Ingredients:

• 5+ c. mashed strawberries
• 3 c. white grape raspberry 100% fruit juice (or 6 oz. concentrate and 18 oz water)
• 6 t. stevia
• 1 T. lemon juice
• 1 package of No/Low Sugar Added Pectin

Directions:

• Mash berries by hand one cup at a time. (It is easier to mash by hand about one cup at a time then all together.)
• Bring the juice to a boil. Add in pectin. Stir until dissolved. Remove the pan from the stove. Add in strawberries, lemon juice, and stevia. Stir well
• Pour into glass jars being sure to leave 1/2+ inch room at the top for expansion. Let cool for an hour+ on the counter or until cool enough to place in the fridge. 
• After about 24 hours, remove all but the jar(s) you are going to use for the near-future to the freezer.
• Take your “fridge jar” and enjoy it :) It’s great for….

                                

Bananas with Peanut Butter and Jam                               Dried Pineapple Dipped in Jam

 

                               

Strawberry Surprise Chicken (Recipe coming soon)         PB & J Energy Bites (recipe to come soon)

 

And, best of all, on a spoon! :)

(My funny face: tomatoes, eggs,and turkey).              BB's (carrot "hair",cheese, cucumber, tomato, ham)

Here's a simple, frugal, nourishing meal.

Funny Face Salad

BB (Baby Brother) loves salad, vegetables, and fruit! :) (Although he also loves cookies, etc.) but, hey, we are happy that he loves good stuff too. And who doesn't love cookies? I do.....just not what he likes. ;)

Anyway, BB requests funny face salad for his birthday every year. It's a pretty simple concept, I think we found it from Family Fun Magazine one year.

So, all you do, is lay out your lettuce and then use your vegetables/meat/cheese/etc as you wish to make a "Funny Face" salad and then you eat! :) It's fun and a good way to get kids excited about eating healthy! :) Besides, it can be adapted to whatever your food allergies/intolerances/diets may be! :)

So go to town! My whole family loves this dinner. Even my picky-16 year old brother--that doesn't normally eat any fruits/veggies :( likes/will eat this. :)

Hope you enjoy this and watch out for more posts soon to come! ;) \

PS. What do you do to feed your family frugally and nourish them at the same time? How do you get them excited about eating healthy? :)

A Freebie and A Coupon For Your Digestive Health! :)

Especially since I deal with digestive issues and have food intolerances, I thought it would be especially pertinent to let you know of these freebies and coupons going on.  Culturelle is giving out a $2 coupon here if you click on it or here and also, if you request it, a free t-shirt that says I 3> bacteria! :) lol. C'mon, you know you want it! :) Enjoy better health my friends! :)

Recipe Review: Ali and Tom’s Thai Coconut Fish Sticks and Peanut Dipping Sauce

I’m sure most of you are familiar with Ali and Tom from The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen. They always have the greatest recipes for those with food allergies and I love reading their posts. I’d been dying to make these since the day I saw the recipe here and finally did. They were so good! Of course, these aren’t made exactly the same (but pretty close) as I used what I had on hand (ie. the frugally rich way, of course! :))



Thai Coconut Fish Sticks à la Ari :)

1.5-2 lbs skin-less fish (I used cod)

1/4 c. cornstarch/tapioca flour/arrowroot starch

1 t. sea salt

2 eggs

2 T. milk (or dairy-free alternative)

2 c. unsweetened coconut flakes

Organic Spectrum Palm Shortening Oil (used since I was out of coconut oil) or Coconut Oil (prefer)

If your fish is frozen, defrost them first carefully in the microwave. Next, cut up the fish into sticks. In a small bowl, mix the starch and salt together. Roll each stick in the starch and then into an egg wash (I used 2 eggs and 2 T. milk). After that, roll the stick in shredded coconut. Place each stick in a warm frying pan (medium heat) with plenty of melted oil (you can start with a few tablespoons). Cook thoroughly on both sides. If your fish falls apart easy, you know it’s done! :)  ***FOR MORE BREADING IDEAS, SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST :) ********



Peanut Sauce à la Ari

1/4 c. natural peanut butter or other nut butter or sunbutter

2 T. lime juice

water (the original recipe calls for 1/2 c.)

garlic and salt as desired (I omitted the garlic as I’m intolerant)



First off, I am going to recommend doing this a little different then the original recipe suggests because of what happened when I followed the directions (really liquid/watery  sauce.) So, I suggest that you make this with the 1/4 c. peanut butter as stated in the original recipe, BUT then add the water and lime juice one tablespoon at a time until you get your desired consistency. Also, you might want to add the lime juice in teaspoonful amounts as I found the lime flavor a little overbearing, but maybe that’s just me. Add garlic and salt to taste. Dip your fish sticks in and enjoy every little bite!

Looking for more breading ideas??? Look no further......:)



I also experimented with using crushed corn flakes (first picture) and oat flour* with curry powder.

To do so yourself, follow the same directions as above, except omit coconut and roll in crushed corn flakes (or oat flour* with your desired ratio of curry powder.) Tada. Easy. :) And more variety for you to boot! :) I do have to admit though, my favorites were the coconut ones! But I also shared these with a neighbor (who follows SAD-standard american diet ;)) and she loved all of them, but especially the curry ones. :) So I'm sure it is just your personal preference! :)

*Use GF oat flour if needed.

PS. I tried some of these with flounder but thought that cod was much tastier! :) (again, probably personal preference...)