Author Archives: Dawn Allen

2 Cookbooks for $20, Over 50% savings, Plus Kids and Cakes

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I just went on Amazon and checked my cookbook’s reviews for the first time is a long time. Let’s face it, reviews can be scary so I put off checking for a while. I was so pleased reading the new reviews today! So many 5 stars. Very exciting. I put a lot of love into this book and to be honest I beam a little every time I look at it. (To share the love I am offering a really great deal on the cookbook, see below, but first I wanted to update you on my family.)

For the first year ever, both kids are in school and I must admit I feel free!

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Sierra wanted all the kids at her Birthday party to decorate their own cupcakes and they each got to blow out their own candle.

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Hannah’s Birthday was a month later and she wanted chocolate cake of course!

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Hannah is starting to be a bit more adventurous with food. She has been a really tough picky eater. Below you can see she made herself a beautiful plate of fruit.

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I think my cookbook makes a wonderful gift, so I am making it very very affordable for you. $20 for 2 cookbooks and FREE shipping! Total value $55.85. (Sale available in continental US only.) If you only want to purchase one book you can still find them on Amazon. But if you want this super great deal, click the “buy now” link below (use PayPal or Credit card). Offer lasts until December 15, 2014.

Buy Now
One click buys 2 books, so, 1 “unit” is 2 books and 2 “units” would be 4 books.

New book

Healthy Lunches

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I wrote a guest post for …And Love it Too. Below is the summary- you can read the full post here (link to And Love it Too).

 

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 I try to keep the following in mind for school lunches:

  • The kids have almost no time to eat. If I pack them something like blueberries they will eat one at a time, run out of time, and come home with a full lunch box. So, it must be easy to eat in big bites- fast! Sad, I know, but a fact of our public school life. Nothing too crunchy or time consuming.
  • Pushing their comfort zone with a bit of a new vegetable or something healthy that they marginally like is OK. Packing food they don’t like just results in hungry kids. This may seem obvious, but one of my daughters is so particular it is almost impossible to guess what she will like even when I try my best. Asking her is a bad idea as she will only admit to liking fries and chocolate.
  • A little bit of fun makes their whole lunch enjoyable. A note. A carrot cut like a flower. A fun food pick.

For my lunch I use all the vegetables in my refrigerator left from the previous week’s CSA. I make a big bone broth and random vegetable soup and freeze it in individual portions. Then I know I will eat well when I am hungry and busy.

That covers lunch but there is one more important healthy food to plan for school: Birthday parties! Our school serves a lot of treats in the classroom. Often events crop up with very little warning. So, I keep my freezer full of Just In Case Cupcakes. (I think most of us Mom’s with special eaters do the same!) I usually freeze the chocolate cupcakes from my cookbook. Today I am sharing my Colorful Sweet Potato Cake recipe (which just happens to be paleo friendly).

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Photo: Colorful Sweet Potato cake with coconut whipped “cream” frosting, homemade gummies, and cupcake guys.

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Colorful Sweet Potato Cupcakes Recipe on And Love it Too!

(I will post a recipe for the naturally colored frosting (see photo below) on in the next couple of weeks.)

 

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My kids and I decorated a bunch of cupcakes like monsters and then I photographed them. Afterwards I gave the photos to my kids and asked them to write one page cartoons. Most of them are quite nonsensical and being the mom I think they are the cutest thing ever!

Cherry Smoothie and Cookbook Review

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I had plans. You know how that goes? I got a fabulous cookbook in the mail. Skimmed most of it. Made a few muffins. The kids loved them. And I planned a review. Time keeps ticking by and the review is just not getting done. So I give up. Here is a very short and sweet post about a great book.

First a photo of my “everyday” smoothie (recipe below).

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Then the cover of the great cookbook I read. You can click on it for a link to Amazon.

Now a photo of the smoothie I was inspired to make after glancing through the smoothie recipes in the book. Peach and ginger. Follow the basic smoothie recipe that I wrote and substitute the cherries for the variation ingredients. Very yummy. (Thick and creamy too!)

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A photo of some very tasty oatmeal muffins in the cookbook. They were my kid’s favorites.

muffinsAnd… Sweet potato frosting from the book. I will definately be making that again. And I will make it with purple yams so I can have purple frosting of course! Next time I will make it cute too. The muffins in the photo were the vegan muffins from the book. They were less popular with the kids but still delicious. Who can blame them for loving the fluffiness that comes from eggs?

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Smoothie Recipe
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1 cup coconut water
1/2 avocado
1/4 cup coconut milk
~10 frozen cherries
heaping scoop goat’s whey protein powder (vanilla flavor)- sub your favorite powder

(I do not sweeten the cherry version but you might find it “not sweet enough”, in that case add honey or something sweet)

Variation Inspired by the Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook:

Frozen Peach Slices (instead of cherries)
Small slice fresh ginger
Honey to taste

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Combine everything in a high speed blender, then enjoy!

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Grain-Free Crepes

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crepe peach

Of all the posts on this blog, I think this recipe is the one I make most day to day. I love these crepes. I have made many variations and many fillings. I like them best sweet, but that is only because I like dessert better than dinner! I won’t go into detail on how to cook the crepes, because you might already know how to do it or you can learn elsewhere online (or in my cookbook).

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For fillings I have used: a thin layer of cashew butter and fresh fruit, yogurt and fruit, whipped coconut cream and fruit, sauteed vegetables and cilantro sauce, peach flavored whipped coconut cream and fresh peaches…

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And I make it cute by cutting it like a maki roll:

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Grain-Free Crepes Recipe
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3 eggs
3 tablespoons egg white protein powder
6 tablespoons pear juice (other liquids are OK- this is my favorite for sweet crepes)
2 teaspoons melted butter (buttery spread or coconut oil)
1 tablespoon tapioca starch (coconut flour works too but I don’t like it as well)
pinch salt

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Mix together all of the ingredients. I usually give up on the whisk and use the blender. Be sure to use a well seasoned caste iron pan or non-stick pan. Keep the crepes very thin as you swirl the batter into the preheated and oiled pan. (Like I said you can look up more detailed crepe instructions.)

Fill them up and enjoy!

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Grain-Free (Nut-Free) Waffles

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I love these. My younger daughter loves them too. But I want to be honest with you; the texture is not the same as a flour based waffle. These are more dense and soft. We like them topped with maple syrup or fruit compote. We made a cherry/cranberry/blueberry compote that paired really well with these. You can also skip the vanilla and cinnamon and use them in a savory way. What you can’t skip is the egg white protein powder. If you try to replace that, the waffles get very “floppy”. If you insist on trying despite my words of caution, then I would increase the coconut flour by about 1-2 teaspoons.

A little bit cute as a burger bun…

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Serves 2-4 depending on what else you are eating.

Grain-Free Waffles Recipe
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3/4 cup mashed sweet potato (or pumpkin)- I prefer Hannah Yams
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vinegar or lemon (to activate baking soda)
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil (or other oil)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 tablespoons coconut flour
cinnamon (to preference, I use about 1/2 teaspoon)
1/4 cup egg white protein powder

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Mix all of the ingredients together, one at a time, in the order they are listed. Cook in your waffle maker.

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Dessert “Spaghetti and Meatballs” (Vegan)

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I have been looking at recipes with spiralized vegetable noodles for years, but never took the initiative to buy a spiralizer. Then I started following a relatively new (but very prolific) blog “Inspiralized“. First of all, the name is so cute, and the photos are beautiful. I finally went out and bought one. The first recipe I came up with was this dessert; spaghetti and meatballs.

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You can make individual servings or a family style serving. If you spiralize the apples in advance I suggest soaking them in lemon water so they don’t brown.

On another note: I spiralized a butternut squash and one piece was about 20 feet long. My kids ate the way toward each other- this is a photo of the last 10 feet when they got full and quit.

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Dessert “Spaghetti and Meatballs” Recipe
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MEATBALLS
(Make more or less depending on how many servings you need. I do 3-4 per person.)

1 cup sunbutter (unsweetened)
2-4 tablespoons creamed honey (liquid honey will be too runny), sweeten to taste
1 cup (estimated amount) macadamia nuts

1 pound frozen strawberries (other red fruits can be substituted)
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup water

1-3 apples (1/2 an apple per person)

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Prepare a tray with parchment paper (and make room in the refrigerator for the tray.)
Combine sunbutter and creamed honey then form a small ball with the mixture. Stuff a macadamia nut inside and roll in your hands until smooth. Repeat and set out on the tray, not touching each other, and chill until serving.

Combine the strawberries, honey, and water in a saucepan and cook on medium-low heat until the strawberries are broken down. Transfer to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Taste for sweetness and add honey if needed. If the sauce is the thickness of marinara sauce then it is done. If it is too loose, return it to the pan and reduce it. Chill the sauce until serving.

Spiralize the apples. (I do thin noodles).

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Assembling the dessert is fairly obvious, and eating it is fairly delicious.

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