Menu for Our Last 9 Days

Sorry it's taken so long to write this final post about our diet experience. It's been a very busy month! Well this diet certainly was not easy. It took a lot of planning and even then we had a lot of curve balls thrown our way with illness, failed recipes, and a lot of time spent making more than normal from scratch. I ended up completing 24 full days and then remained on the diet about 80% of the time for Lola's last 6 days. Lola did the full 30 days but on day 28 her oh so generous brother was feeding her unapproved granola bars for breakfast while I was in the shower. Overall, we learned a lot from this diet and will continue to use some components of it in the future. Since quitting the diet we have gone back to our grains but have cut back quite a bit and no longer feel like there MUST be a grain at every meal. While I haven't had any stomach aches or reactions since going back to eating our normal food, I have felt the carbohydrate overload and we haven't even gone back to the full swing of carbs that we used to! My 4 am "I'm starving" pregnancy wake up calls have also returned. I'm realizing that carbs aren't really helping me stay full and I'm not liking this carbohydrate overload feeling. We will continue to try to reduce carbs but have a lot of carbs in our pantry that need to be eaten first. Since going back on the diet, I've significantly reduced how many junk and full of carbohydrate products that we purchase, although the guys in my life still "need" me to purchase their loaf of bread each week! If you are considering this diet, I recommend you try it but be very organized about it because it can be difficult and emotional. Good luck!

Day 22 - Thursday:

• Breakfast: Banana Blueberry Muffins and Clementines
• AM Snack: Apples and Strawberries
• Lunch: Leftover Chicken Tacos, Guacamole, Pico de Gallo, and Mixed Berries
• PM Snack: Mini Sausage Pizzas on Flat bread, Apples with Raisins and Almond Butter
• Dinner: Beef Roast, Salad and Mixed Berries

Day 23 - Friday:

• Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs, Almond Butter and Banana
• AM Snack: Unsweetened Applesauce
• Lunch: Leftover Beef Roast, Baked Potato, and Mixed Berries
• PM Snack: Apple Slices, Macadamia Nuts, Dried Cherries and Dried Blueberries
• Dinner: Smoky Lime Chicken, Green Beans, and Cantaloupe 

Day 24 - Saturday:

• Breakfast:Mini Sausage Pizzas on Flat bread
• AM Snack: Cinnamon Raisin English Muffin (Tastes good but didn't hold together well.), Dried Cherries, and Larabar
• Lunch: Greek Meatballs in a Tortilla with Avocado Tzatziki Sauce, and Mixed Berries
• PM Snack: Chips, Dried Cherries, and Clementines
• Dinner: Leftover Smoky Lime Chicken, Chips, and Mixed Fruit

Day 25 - Sunday:

• Breakfast: Almond Butter with Banana and Applesauce
• AM Snack: Fruit Leather and Applesauce
• Lunch: Leftover Meatballs in Marinara in a Tortilla
• PM Snack: Apples, Raisins, and Almond Butter
• Dinner: Buffalo Bites Popcorn Chicken, Frozen Pizza (guys only), Chips and Blueberries

Day 26 - Monday:

• Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs and Blueberries
• AM Snack: Chips and Raisins
• Lunch: Popcorn Chicken, Green Beans, Oranges and Blueberries
• PM Snack: Applesauce
• Dinner: Butter Garlic Shrimp over Spaghetti Squash, Green Beans, and Blackberries

Day 27 - Tuesday:

• Breakfast: Chick-Fil-A Hashbrowns, Almond Butter and Banana
• AM Snack: Banana
• Lunch: Applegate Uncured Beef Hot Dogs, Spaghetti Squash, Orange, and Green Beans
• PM Snack: Fruit Leather, Raw Cashews, Chips and Dried Cherries
• Dinner: Pulled Pork Nachos and Oranges

Day 28 - Wednesday:

• Breakfast: Almond Butter Plantain Pancakes and Oranges
• AM Snack: Raisins and Fruit Leather
• Lunch: Popcorn Chicken, Green Beans and Grapes
• PM Snack: Leftover Lunch (Kids didn't eat their lunches.)
• Dinner: Leftover Pulled Pork Nachos, Grapes, and Clementines

Day 29 - Thursday:

• Breakfast: Sausage Tortilla Wraps, Fresh Berries
• AM Snack: Clementines
• Lunch: Buffalo Popcorn Chicken Tortilla Wraps, Broccoli, and Grapes
• PM Snack: Nuts and Raisins
• Dinner: Tacos on Tortillas, Green Beans, and Blackberries

Day 30 - Friday:

• Breakfast: Hash browns and Sausage Patties
• AM Snack: Grapes
• Lunch: Leftover Tacos, Broccoli, and Clementines
• PM Snack: Chips and Raisins
• Dinner: Officially done with the diet - Chick-Fil-A grilled nuggets, fresh mixed fruit, and waffle fries.

Recipes to Save and Use Again:

• Flat Bread
• Tortillas
• Smoky Lime Marinade
• Sausage
• Pulled Pork Nachos
• Buffalo Popcorn Chicken

Things This Diet Will Change for Us:

• Read labels for unnecessary ingredients.
• Be more aware of obvious and hidden sugars and reduce them when possible.
• Limit or eliminate food dyes as much as possible.
• We don't need a grain at every meal.
• Overall, eat less grains but not completely eliminate them.
• Implement some of the recipes we've discovered into our weekly menus and continue to try new Paleo recipes.
• Make sausage from ground pork (that we now only purchase from the meat locker) and season ourselves. 

Week Three Menu - A Mix of Paleo and Whole30 Eating

Phew! Week 3 of this diet is in the books! I'm not going to sugar coat it, this diet isn't easy and I can't tell you how many times this week I seriously contemplated quitting the diet. It would be easier if I was single but with a husband who loves his gluten and two kids, one who is already a picky eater, this has been pretty stressful on our family. The most stressful part has been failing on recipes, both it just not working out and my family hating the taste and then not knowing what to feed them! Given the stress this next week, we will most likely be repeating meals or going with meal options that I know contain ingredients my family likes versus a bunch of vegetables they've never tried and risk them hating the entire meal. My two year old currently gets up somewhere between 5am-6am to raid the pantry and binge on his favorites like crackers, chips, chocolate covered raisins, granola bars, etc! This diet is certainly taking a toll on him to say the least. He is officially off diet now for the most part except for snacks so there isn't any jealousy. Luckily at meal time she sits far enough away from him to see what he's really having. We are taking away some great recipes that we will use in the future but overall this family is very excited that there are only 9 days left!

Day 15 - Thursday:

• Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs and Mixed Berries
• AM Snack: Clementines
• Lunch: Tuna Flat Bread and Clementines
• PM Snack: Apples with Cashew Butter and Raisins on Top
• Dinner: Paleo Fish Sticks (We weren't impressed and the house still stinks!), Green Beans, and Mixed Berries

Day 16 - Friday:

• Breakfast: Apple Cinnamon Roll Porridge (This was awful.), Sausage and Mushroom Wrap, and Leftover Pizza
• AM Snack: Chick-Fil-A Hash browns (contain a small amount of dextrose), Unsweetened Applesauce, and Clementines
• Lunch: Leftover Paleo Fish Sticks, Fries, and Mixed Berries
• PM Snack: Apple Slices, Raisins, and Macadamia Nuts
• Dinner: Smoky Lime Marinated Chicken (We LOVED! Even the kids!), Butternut Squash, Clementines, and Apples

Day 17 - Saturday:

• Breakfast: Plantain Pancakes with Cashew Butter
• AM Snack: Chips and Dried Cherries
• Lunch: Homemade Shrimp Poppers (Not impressed.), Green Beans, and Apple Slices
• PM Snack: Root Chips and Clementines
• Dinner: Zucchini Lasagna with Almond Ricotta (Not linked to exact recipe we used but the recipe I used for inspiration.), Leftover Green Beans, and Kiwi

Day 18 - Sunday:

• Breakfast: Larabar, Scrambled Eggs, Clementines and Leftover Tacos
• AM Snack: Raisins and Unsweetened Applesauce
• Lunch: Leftover Lasagna, Green Beans, and Kiwi
• PM Snack: Root Chips with Homemade Smoky Chia Cheeze (Recipe isn't perfect enough for sharing yet!), and Unsweetened Applesauce
• Dinner: Beef Rib Roast, Leftover Butternut Squash, and Apple Slices

Day 19 - Monday:

• Breakfast: Almond Butter Wraps and Seasoned Hash browns
• AM Snack: Raisins
• Lunch: Leftover Rib Roast, Baked Potato, and Apple Slices
• PM Snack: Sweet Potato Chips, Unsweetened Applesauce, Larabar, and Fruit Leather
• Dinner: Stew Meat with Mushrooms and Onions, Salad and Pears

Day 20 - Tuesday:

• Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs, Bananas, and Leftover Tacos
• AM Snack: Fruit Leather 
• Lunch: Flat Bread Sausage and Moxarella Pizzas and Blueberries
• PM Snack: Chips, Smoky Chia Cheeze Dip, and Raisins
• Dinner: Ground Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry with Broccoli and Onions and Mixed Berries

Day 21 - Wednesday:

• Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs, Mixed Fruit, Homemade Tater Tots
• AM Snack: Raisins
• Lunch: Leftover Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry, Applegate Beef Hot Dogs, and Banana
• PM Snack: Macadamia Nuts and Raisins
• Dinner: Salsa Chicken Tacos with Guacamole and Pico de Gallo on Tortillas, and Apple Slices

Recipes to Save and Use Again:

• Ground Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry
• Zucchini Lasagna with Almond Ricotta (add Gluten Free noodles)
• Flat Bread
• Tortillas
• Beef Rib Roast
• Smoky Lime Marinade
• Sausage

Chicken Pizzas with Sausage and Mushrooms - Paleo and Whole30 Friendly

My family loves pizza! This grain free diet has been hard on our normal pizza cravings. In fact my son asked my husband the other night if he brought pizza home when he arrived home from work. We rarely order pizza but he really wanted some. I first discovered chicken pizzas when our local news station talked about how to grill pizzas by using a flattened chicken breast as the crust, grilling the chicken and then tossing your normal toppings on top after you flip the chicken over. All while on the grill. When we had a family meal this spring that required low carbs, I made this but in the oven and people enjoyed it. This week I didn't really have the time nor the energy to flatten out the chicken breasts and pre-grill them for our pizzas so I made more of a chicken pizza oven casserole instead. It was super easy!

Chicken Pizzas with Sausage and Mushrooms
Serves 4

1.25 lbs. chicken breasts
1/2 lb. sausage, cooked
8 oz fresh sliced mushrooms, washed and cooked
12 oz pasta sauce (I use Aldi's natural marinara)
Miyoko Schinner's Nut Parmesan Cheese from her book Artisan Vegan Cheese (optional)

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook chicken breasts in a frying pan until brown on both sides and juices run clear. Place chicken breasts in an 8 x 8 baking dish. Cover chicken breasts generously with pasta sauce. Top chicken breasts with cooked sausage and cooked mushrooms. Sprinkle nut cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until sauce is hot. Serve immediately.

Sausage Stuffed Mushroom Caps - Paleo and Whole30

My grandma stopped to visit and have lunch with us this week. I was determined to stick to our diet but really didn't want it to be weird for her. If you know my grandma, you know she's an amazing cook and one of the best pie makers in her town! I like to think I get some of my cooking skills from her! I wanted to make her something special. We bought some mushroom caps this weekend so I decided to try my hand at sausage stuffed mushrooms but couldn't use my normal recipe with bread crumbs and Daiya cheese. This was almost as good but would have been even better if I could have used some sort of cheese.

Sausage Stuffed Mushroom Caps
Serves 3

6 oz mushroom caps (3 ct)
3/4 cup sausage, cooked (use raw apple cider vinegar vs. red wine vinegar)
2 Tbls almond meal
2 Tbls fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
1 green onion, chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Clean mushroom caps using a wet paper towel. Cut stems off mushroom caps and clean out insides. Chop up any large mushroom pieces and place in a medium mixing bowl. Place sausage, almond meal, fresh parsley, and minced garlic in the bowl with the mushroom pieces. Mix well. Divide mixture into 3 portions and scoop into mushroom caps. Place mushroom caps in an oven safe 8 x 8 pan. Top each stuffed mushroom with chopped green onion. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Serve immediately.

Week One Menu - Whole30/Paleo Diet

To say this first week on the diet was stressful would be an understatement. Don't get me wrong. The food hasn't been too bad and the cravings haven't really been too bad either. We started last Wednesday at dinner. Thursday afternoon Lola had a fever and was pretty crabby. On Friday, Oliver had the flu all day long! Saturday Lola tripped and chipped her front teeth a little bit. Nothing too bad but of course enough to make this pregnant momma cry. Finally, on Monday I decided to get some tooth pain checked out that I'd been having. Turns out I had a cracked filling that must have been around too long because I ended up with an emergency root canal and lots of pain. Phew! So with that said, next week can only be better and if we can manage this diet despite all those crazy things, then you can too!

We've tried quite a few recipes this week. Some good and some bad. That's been the biggest con of this diet. I'm familiar with having to cook a lot from scratch and the time commitment there but at least I've had my food allergies long enough to know which recipes are great and which ones just don't work. With this diet, I've been learning all over again. My husband, David, hasn't been too fond of the diet. He's a good sport though. I asked him to try it for one week and he's decided to go off of the diet starting tomorrow. My only request is that he only go off diet when at work or when the kids aren't watching. Oliver has also been having some withdrawal from his normal favorites. In fact at our first meal he saw the tacos on the table and asked for tortillas. He even took it as far as needing to search the pantry himself for some...luckily he didn't find any! So far I've learned that some of the recipes we've tried my family actually likes and it's easy to hide vegetables in some dishes. While I think we may implement this menu into our normal diet once or twice a week after this, it's not something I see us doing full time.

Here's what we've been eating this week!

Wednesday Night:

• Dinner: Tacos as a salad and lettuce wraps, homemade pico de gallo, Heidi Ho Smoky Chia Cheese, plantain chips, Terra root chips, blackberries, clementines and a date roll with shredded coconut for "dessert"

Day 1:

• Breakfast: fried egg and sausage in a naan wrap for David, fried egg, clementines and Paleo berry crumble
• AM Snack: clementines
• Lunch: Leftover Tacos
• PM Snack: Apple slices with cashew butter (Oliver wanted chocolate cashew butter so we put a little cocoa powder in it!)
• Dinner: Ranch sliced chicken breast in a pita, fries, spinach salad, pears and strawberries

Day 2:

• Breakfast: scrambled eggs and leftover Paleo berry crumble
• AM Snack: apple slices
• Lunch: uncured Applegate beef hot dog, unsweetened applesauce, spaghetti squash "cheese" noodles (I tried to make a version of my kids' favorite food since Oliver was sick. Oliver hated it but Lola liked it. Personally the noodles were fine but I didn't care for the "cheese.")
• PM Snack: Larabar and Terra root chips
• Dinner: Tacos with tortillas, leftover pico de gallo, ranch, and honeydew

Day 3:

• Breakfast: Kids had a Larabar, sliced apples and almond butter to hold them over. Plantain waffles - Didn't work in waffle maker but made into pancakes.
• AM Snack: Round 2 breakfast got late so we didn't do AM snack
• Lunch: Leftover ranch chicken, leftover tacos, potato wedges, and honeydew
• PM Snack: Kale chips - we failed, Pita chips - too crunchy, Terra root chips and honeydew
• Dinner: Guacamole burger, green beans and apple slices - I don't like avocado or guacamole but loved the homemade stuff on this burger!

Day 4:

• Breakfast: Larabar for the kids to hold them over. Hard boiled eggs and leftover Paleo berry crunch
• AM Snack: applesauce pouches and Larabar
• Lunch: Leftover tacos and burgers, fries, sliced avocado and pineapple
• PM Snack: Tried to revise the plantain waffles (fail), bananas & raw coconut butter to dip pancakes
• Dinner: Italian soup, salad, and pineapple

Day 5:

• Breakfast: Larabar to hold kids over. Hash browns, sausage, ranch and pineapple
• AM Snack: nuts and sliced apples
• Lunch: Popcorn chicken, salad and fruit
• PM Snack: fruit smoothie
• Dinner: Leftover Italian soup, salad and apples

Day 6:

• Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, sausage, and blackberries. Sausage wrap for no egg option.
• AM Snack: nuts and raisins
• Lunch: Italian soup, salad, and clementines
• PM Snack: fruit puree Popsicle
• Dinner: Crock pot spinach and artichoke stuffed chicken breast (Family liked but I didn't.), green beans, and sliced apples

Day 7:

• Breakfast: Leftover plantain waffles dipped in almond butter and egg and sausage wraps
• AM Snack: On the go! Raisins and natural fruit snacks
• Lunch: Leftover spinach and artichoke chicken and blueberries
• PM Snack: blueberries and applesauce
• Dinner: Barbacoa bowl with cauliflower rice (not a fan), pico de gallo, tortillas, blueberries, and grapes

Our keep recipes from this week that we would eat when off diet:

• Guacamole Burger
• Italian Soup
• Barbacoa meat
• Sausage
• Tortillas
• Ranch
• Popcorn Chicken
• Homemade Taco Seasoning

Excited for new recipes next week!

Paleo Popcorn Chicken

Our family loves chicken nuggets and chicken strips. My husband and I often got chicken strips in college at the food court. Since my allergies, it has been more difficult to find good chicken strips or nuggets and then on top of that to find ones as a decent price. We always bought separate ones because #1 my allergy friendly ones are expensive and #2 none of them taste up to par for my husband. I really enjoyed the Purdue brand of gluten free ones and they are especially great because the strips are soy free last I checked, which was a while ago, so they worked for my daughter too when we discovered her soy allergy. Now that I have kids who LOVE chicken nuggets and strips I need a much more affordable option. We started making our own chicken strips but found we like homemade popcorn chicken better. I mastered our popcorn chicken recipe about 3 months before we decided to try this diet. Of course my gluten, dairy, egg and soy free recipe was not Paleo friendly so I altered it to match this current diet and it's delicious! Enjoy my Paleo friends!

Popcorn Chicken
Serves 4

1 lb. chicken breast, cut into cubes
Unsweetened Almond Milk (I use Silk brand.) - Need about 2 cups depending on your dish.
1/4 cup arrowroot flour
1/4 cup almond flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
Oil for frying (Given our current mix of Whole30 and Paleo diets, I used canola.)

Directions:
Cube chicken breasts into 1 inch cubes and place in a shallow dish. Cover or mostly cover chicken pieces with unsweetened milk and let sit on the counter for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, combine arrowroot flour, almond flour, coconut flour, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix well. Add enough oil to a deep skillet to be about 1 inch - 1.5 inches deep. Heat oil over medium - medium-high heat. For even coated chicken, dip chicken pieces into the flour mixture one at a time and drop into the heated oil. Cook about 10-15 pieces of chicken at a time depending on the size of your skillet. Cook chicken until no longer pink inside and breading turns brown. Place a paper towel or two on a plate and use a slotted spoon to place hot chicken onto plate to remove excess grease before serving.

Note: If you don't care as much about an even coating on the chicken you can do the quick method that I do given our busy kids. Place the flour mixture in a Ziploc bag. Strain milk off the chicken cubes and place chicken cubes into the Ziploc bag with the flour mixture. Shake the bag around until chicken is evenly coated. Scoop chicken pieces out of the bag and cook in oil per the above directions.

Paleo Tortillas

Before starting this diet we tried this recipe for 3 ingredient Paleo naan. It was amazing but pretty greasy. Since our first trial we've made this recipe at least a half dozen more times, each time trying to tweak the recipe to make it less greasy. Well, I finally did it! Soft tortillas that still fold, don't break, but don't leave a ton of grease on your hands! Another positive note, these tortillas freeze decently well in a Ziploc bag when I separate the tortillas with freezer paper. The freezer paper makes it easy to pull out one tortilla, microwave it for about 20-30 seconds and use it for whatever we are making. Really the uses for this tortilla are endless! These have been a total lifesaver while on this diet. This is a recipe I will be keeping and using after this diet though. I've tried multiple gluten free tortilla recipes and have never made anything this amazing. Tacos have become my new favorite snack thanks to this tortilla.

Paleo Tortillas
Makes about 2.5 dozen small tortillas

1 can (14 oz) full fat coconut milk
1.5 cups of water
1 1/4 cups tapioca starch
1/2 cup arrowroot starch
1.5 cups almond flour
1 tsp salt

Directions:
Combine tapioca starch, arrowroot starch, almond flour and salt in a bowl. If coconut milk has separated, mix well until clumps no longer exist in a separate bowl. Add water and coconut milk to dry ingredients and mix well until clumps disappear. Continue to stir periodically during the cooking process. Batter will be thin. Heat electric griddle to 400 degrees. It is important to stir batter well before pouring each batch as some of the heavier flours tend to sink to the bottom and separate. Pour batter onto griddle to make tortillas approximately 5-6 inches round. Heat first side for 2 minutes, flip over, and then cook for another 5 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Vegan Ranch Dressing - Paleo Friendly

I can't tell you how many times I failed at making vegan mayo this week. To be honest I lost count but I know it has to be close to a dozen times. It's been frustrating since this is one of our favorite condiments and my normal store bought vegan mayo is not allowed on a Paleo or Whole30 diet. At least all of my failed attempts at mayo have been able to be used for something. I altered this ranch dressing recipe to use my failed attempts to make a thin and runnier ranch dressing. It works well for salad or a small cup to dip but if you want a thick dip, you'll need to succeed on your mayo making! Once you succeed on your mayo making, maybe you can teach me your tricks and tips!

Ranch Dressing
Makes two of these condiment bottles

1 recipe of this vegan mayo (For thick ranch, make sure you reach mayo consistency. For thin ranch, blend the mayo so it has a milky color but does not thicken much if at all.)
1 can (14 oz) full fat coconut milk
1.5 tbls dried parsley
3/4 tsp dried dill weed
3/4 tsp garlic salt
3/4 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Directions: Make mayo recipe as directed for a thick ranch or until oil is creamy but still liquid for a thin ranch, set aside. In a medium sized mixing bowl, place canned coconut milk, parsley, dill weed, garlic salt, onion powder, basil and pepper. Mix with a fork until smooth and creamy, especially if coconut milk separated while on the shelf. Add prepared mayo to the coconut mixture and gently mix with a fork until well blended. Be very careful not to over mix if you've chosen the thick mayo option. Pour into condiment bottles and place in the refrigerator. Mixture should thicken a bit more in the fridge and is best served after at least a few hours in the refrigerator.

Vegan Mayo - Paleo Friendly

I've been trying to make vegan mayo for about a week. I've also failed about a dozen times. Trust me, I've tried multiple methods, recipes, and every blender I have in the house plus one from my mother-in-law (Ninja prep, Cusinart food processor, mini food chopper and immersion blender). I even ruined a shirt this week spraying oil all over my shirt thanks to one immersion blender attempt. I've taken lots of advice from a good friend who makes homemade Paleo mayo and it was her tip that I think finally did the trick! I found a decent basic vegan mayo recipe but it had a strong lemon and sour flavor so I adjusted the recipe, added a few ingredients and ended up with this! With this recipe, the method is as important as the ingredients so pay attention to both!

Vegan Mayo
Makes about 1.5 cups

1 tbls ground flax seed
3 tbls water
1/2 tbls lemon juice
1/2 tbls raw apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp dry ground mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 cup light tasting olive oil or another good tasting oil

Method:
In a small bowl, mix together ground flax seed and water, set aside. Using a food processor (trust me I tried everything else), place the lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, dry ground mustard, salt, garlic powder and 1/4 cup of the olive oil into the food processor bowl. Do NOT blend yet. Use a liquid measuring cup to measure out the remaining 3/4 cup of olive oil and set near the food processor but do NOT pour in yet. Once ground flax seed and water have created a gel type consistency, place flax seed mixture into the food processor bowl with the other ingredients. Use a food processor lid that contains a shaft. (Note: My food processor has a regular lid with a hole in the middle and a lid with a shaft. Pouring oil down the hole in the middle did not work for me.) Turn food processor on and slowly pour the 3/4 cup of oil through the shaft hole. Mixture should gradually become a mayo consistency. After oil has been poured and mixture reaches mayo consistency, stop processor immediately. Over mixing will break the consistency and cause you to have a liquid mess again. Place mayo in a glass container and keep in the refrigerator. This mayo seems to hold it's consistency best after being in the refrigerator for at least a few hours before serving.

Italian Soup - Paleo and Whole30

We've been busy trying new recipes this week and to be honest, it's been exhausting. I had an idea to try to create a soup that resembles my favorite flavors in spaghetti but without the noodles since those aren't allowed right now. My husband and son weren't big fans of spaghetti squash a few days ago so that wasn't really an option either. This soup was pretty good. It satisfied my hunger for that spaghetti flavor and the only thing I would do differently is use only sausage because....well....I love sausage and think it's flavor would enhance this soup better than the ground beef.

Italian Soup
Makes a full crock pot - about 12 servings.

1 lb. ground beef, browned
1/4 lb. ground sausage, browned
4 Roma tomatoes
3 stalks of celery
1 medium onion
2 tsp minced garlic
1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes, unsalted
32 oz vegetable broth (I used Kitchen Basics, unsalted)
8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp marjoram
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp parsley
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
8 oz can of tomato sauce

Directions: Brown sausage and ground beef in a skillet over medium heat. Place cooked meat in a crock pot. Chop Roma tomatoes and onions and place directly into the crock pot. Slice fresh mushrooms and celery and place directly in the crock pot. Place the remaining ingredients; minced garlic, canned tomatoes, vegetable broth, spices and tomato sauce. Place crock pot on low for 6-8 hours or until vegetables are soft.

5 Week Meal Plan - A Mix of Paleo and Whole30 Recipes

2015 was B-U-S-Y! Two sister's weddings, two bridal showers, hosting birthday parties for two kids, and so much more! Oh and not to mention that we are expecting #3 now too so pregnancy symptoms have been in full swing since the end of October! I've been neglecting the blog as a result, so I apologize! 2016 and especially this next month, I should be much more involved. See, my daughter's doctor suggested we try a new diet. We recently changed pediatricians in hopes of finding someone who was more in line with our beliefs, a mix of western medicine and natural care. Her new doctor suggested we try the Whole30 diet to help her digestive issues. Her current diet of simply avoiding allergens is working, but it would be nice to start introducing allergens to her and to have her be allergy free. We are willing to try it. After researching the Whole30 diet, we've agreed to most of the terms but in the end we are going to create a menu that is a mix of Paleo and Whole30 diets. We will respect the food rules of Whole30, with the exception of our soy free vegan butter that contains pea protein and since I have a dairy allergy and can't do Ghee or clarified butter. The one thing Whole30 requires that we will be breaking though is the no recreating "junk" foods or making Paleo pancake type products. Correct me if I'm wrong but this seems to be a rule made for psychological reasons to break bad habits. We aren't on the diet for weight loss or bad habits and to be honest I'm not sure my 2 year old can survive a month without pancakes. I know that's a lot of excuses but in order for a diet to be successful, it needs to be realistic and with our entire family trying this diet....that's what's realistic for us. Cooking every meal also isn't realistic for our family so we eat leftovers for lunch almost every day and cook many meals in the crock pot to avoid crabby toddlers during dinner prep time. So with that being said, here is our menu for the next month that is a mix of Paleo and Whole30. There are links posted to the original recipe I found when applicable but some of these recipes need to be altered to fit the diet and our personal family preferences. Some items on the menu are simply ideas so maybe there will be a post later once I come up with a recipe! No repeated dinner recipes here either. Breakfast on the other hand will probably repeat a bit. We may change the menu and repeat something if we find a dish we love. The boys in our family will be eating eggs so you may see that on the menu, however, I have an egg allergy so you won't see me going near them! I hope to post as we go on this journey!

Week 1:

• Day 1:
• Breakfast - Apple Slices in Almond Butter
• Lunch - Tuna Salad Lettuce Wraps, Fresh Fruit, and Cooked Carrots
• Dinner - Taco Salad with Pico de Gallo, Fresh Fruit, and California Blend Vegetables
• Day 2:
• Breakfast - Scrambled Eggs and Sausage Patties (using apple cider vinegar)
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Grilled Chicken Paninis, Broccoli, and Fresh Fruit
• Day 3:
• Breakfast - Paleo Berry Crumble
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Crock Pot Chili/Italian Soup (sausage, beef, celery, onions, mushrooms, tomato base, and Italian seasoning), Spinach Salad, and Fresh Fruit
• Day 4:
• Breakfast - Banana Muffins without vanilla
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner -Popcorn Chicken (using almond and coconut flour), Green Beans, and Fresh Fruit
• Day 5:
• Breakfast - 3 Ingredient Paleo Naan with Almond Butter
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Guacamole Burger, Sweet Potato Fries, and Fresh Fruit
• Day 6:
• Breakfast - Egg, Sausage and Veggie or Sausage Only Paleo Naan Wraps
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Pulled Pork Sliders (pork in crock pot), Salad, and Fresh Fruit
• Day 7:
• Breakfast - Plantain Waffles - without vanilla
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Chicken Breast, Cooked Carrots, and Fresh Fruit

Week 2:

• Day 1:
• Breakfast - Banana Slices with Almond Butter
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Portabello Philly Cheese Steak with Paleo Cheese, Sweet Potato Fries, and Fresh Fruit
• Day 2:
• Breakfast - Roasted Cinnamon Pear "Oatmeal"
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Paleo Sausage Crust Pizzas with Paleo Cheese, Salad, and Fresh Fruit
• Day 3:
• Breakfast - Egg Bake and Sausage Patties
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Crock Pot Barbacoa Bowl, Cauliflower Rice, Pico de Gallo, Shredded Lettuce, and Fresh Fruit
• Day 4:
• Breakfast - Grain Free Vegan Pancakes (with some modifications)
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Spaghetti, Asparagus, and Fresh Fruit
• Day 5:
• Breakfast - Warm Banana Coconut Breakfast Bowl
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Steak and Shrimp Kabobs, Green Beans, and Fresh Fruit
• Day 6:
• Breakfast - Coconut Milk Yogurt
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Crock Pot Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Soup, Salad, and Fresh Fruit
• Day 7:
• Breakfast - Bacon or Sausage, Apple and Sweet Potato Scramble
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry, Cooked Carrots, and Fresh Fruit

Week 3:

• Day 1: 
• Breakfast - 3 Ingredient Naan with Apple Butter
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Greek Meatballs with Avocado Tzatziki Sauce, Grape Tomatoes, Lettuce Wraps and Fresh Fruit
• Day 2:
• Breakfast - Fried Egg with Sausage Patty
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Paleo Fish Sticks, Sweet Potato Fries, and Fresh Fruit
• Day 3:
• Breakfast - Apple Cinnamon Roll Porridge
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Chicken Breast Crusted Pizzas with Paleo Cheese, Salad, and Fresh Fruit
• Day 4:
• Breakfast - Apples in Almond Butter
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Pulled Pork Stuffed Sweet Potato, Broccoli, and Fresh Fruit
• Day 5:
• Breakfast - Pumpkin Spice Pancakes
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Prime Rib Roast with Mushrooms and Onions, Cooked Carrots, and Fresh Fruit
• Day 6:
• Breakfast - Coconut Milk Yogurt with Fresh Berries and Crushed Walnuts
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Chicken Zoodle Soup, Salad, and Fresh Fruit
• Day 7:
• Breakfast - Spinach Potato Pancakes
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Bacon Wrapped Chicken Strips, Green Beans, and Fresh Fruit

Week 4:

• Day 1:
• Breakfast - Breakfast Pizzas with Scrambled Eggs and Bacon to Top Sausage Crust
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Steak, Peppers, and Onion Fajita Wraps or Salad and Fresh Fruit
• Day 2:
• Breakfast - Coconut and Almond Porridge
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Crock Pot French Onion, Mushroom, and Beef Soup, Salad, and Fresh Fruit
• Day 3:
• Breakfast - Apple Cinnamon and Chia Breakfast Bowl
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Chicken Salad Wraps (May try a hot version as I hate cold chicken.), Raw Vegetables with Ranch Dip, and Fresh Fruit
• Day 4: 
• Breakfast - Blueberry Plantain Pancakes
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Crock Pot Lasagna, Salad, and Fresh Fruit
• Day 5:
• Breakfast - Scrambled Eggs, Bacon and Sausage
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Buffalo Chicken Bites, Sweet Potato Fries, and Fresh Fruit (This is Super Bowl Sunday for our diet plan.)
• Day 6:
• Breakfast - Bananas with Almond Butter
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Beef Roast (leave out red cooking wine), Cooked Carrots, Potatoes, and Fresh Fruit
• Day 7:
• Breakfast - Breakfast Stacks
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Marinated (Flavor TBD) Chicken, Green Beans, and Fresh Fruit 

Week 5

• Day 1:
• Breakfast - Paleo Berry Crumble
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Paleo Chicken Alfredo, Salad, and Fresh Fruit
• Day 2:
• Breakfast - Egg, Sausage and Veggie or Sausage Only Paleo Naan Wraps
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Meatballs, Asparagus, and Fresh Fruit
• Day 3:
• Breakfast - Plantain Waffles - without vanilla
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Stir-Fry with Chicken, Cauliflower Rice, and Fresh Fruit
• Day 4:
• Breakfast - Coconut Milk Yogurt with Fresh Berries and Crushed Walnuts
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Grilled Salmon with Avocado Salsa, Salad, and Fresh Fruit
• Day 5:
• Breakfast - Monkey Salad
• Lunch - BLT Lettuce Wraps, Sweet Potato Fries, and Fresh Fruit
• Dinner - Pork Carnitas in Lettuce Wraps, Plantain Chips with Pico de Gallo, and Fresh Fruit
• Day 6:
• Breakfast - Apple Cinnamon Roll Porridge
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Italian Turkey Burger Soup, Salad, and Fresh Fruit
• Day 7:
• Breakfast - 3 Ingredient Paleo Naan with Almond Butter
• Lunch - Leftovers
• Dinner - Paleo Crabcakes with Lemon Aioli Sauce, Broccoli, and Fresh Fruit

Other Meals Considered:

• T-Bone Steak
• Thai Spiced Turkey Burger
• Zesty Chicken Bites
• Roast Chicken
• Peachy Pork Kabobs
• Chipotle Stuffed Mushrooms

Snacks:

• Unsweetened Applesauce 
• Select Varieties of Dried Unsweetened Fruit to Mix with Nuts
• Certain Flavors of Larabars or DIY Larabars
• Apples or Bananas with Almond Butter
• Pizza Sticks
• Kale Chips
• Dried Vegetable Chips
• Fresh Fruit
• Raw Vegetables with Approved Dip
• 3 Ingredient Paleo Naan (Tried this as a test run snack and the kids ate it faster than I could make it!)
• Hard Boiled Eggs
• Nuts
• Smoothie
• Fruit Popsicle
• Roasted Cauliflower Hummus
• Sweet Potato Nachos
• Pita Chips
• Buffalo Ranch Dip
• Guacamole
• Plantain Chips
• Salsa
• Sweet Potato Bites with Bacon and Avocado
• Italian Herb Breadsticks

Regular Recipes I Will or May Need:

• Taco Seasoning (Got from a friend who does a Paleo diet.)
• French Dressing without Stevia
• Caesar Dressing
• Greek Salad Dressing
• Ranch
• Vegan Mayo (with less lemon juice)
• Sausage (with apple cider vinegar vs. red wine)
• Ketchup
• BBQ Sauce
• Almond Butter
• 3 Ingredient Paleo Naan
• Pita Bread
• Aluminum and Corn Free Baking Powder
• Vegan Cheese Sauce or Dip

Disclaimer: Remember that my family is mixing the Paleo and Whole30 diets to create a diet that will work for our family. If you are strictly following a Paleo or Whole30 diet, you should double check that each recipe meets your diet requirements and make modifications if needed.

Pancakes Like Biquick's

This summer has really gotten away from me. I apologize for it taking me so long to post again but we've been pretty busy this summer. I promise I will get back at it once things slow down this fall. We've continued to cook quite a bit this summer and have tried a lot of new recipes, including a lot of vegetarian ones, but this new recipe is one I am really excited about! My family likes to make a good breakfast in the morning. The kids and I love pancakes but after going through a few bad gluten free pancake mixes, we are pretty partial to the gluten free Bisquick mix by Betty Crocker. It can be expensive though at $4.58 for a 16 oz box (that's $1.27 for one batch) and to be honest my kids can eat A LOT of pancakes! I needed to find a cheaper way to make these so I have been playing around with some ingredients and have figured out a recipe that tastes almost exactly the same as the Bisquick version. If you just want the Bisquick mix then combine the dry ingredients only and it will yield about 1 cup of Bisquick mix. The kids approve too! Enjoy!

Pancakes
Yield: About 10 pancakes

3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon white rice flour
4 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon potato starch
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 "egg" using Ener-G Egg Replacer
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup almond milk

Directions: In a small bowl mix the "egg" and set aside. Place all dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Then add the premixed "egg", canola oil, and almond milk to the large bowl. Mix well. Heat an electric griddle to 350 degrees. Pour some batter onto the griddle and spread evenly with a spoon. When bubbles start to form on top of the pancake, flip over and brown the other side. Remove and serve when both sides are evenly browned. Yield is about 10 pancakes.

One final note.....is my recipe from scratch cheaper? Yup! Based on Vitacost and Walmart's prices, my mix from scratch is $0.90 per batch versus $1.27.

Disclaimer: It is always important to read labels because brands frequently change their ingredients. These ingredients and brands work for my family but some may be processed in the same facility as wheat, soy, dairy and/or eggs and therefore depending on your severity may or may not work for your family.

Thin Mint Patties

Ah! I'm never going to lose the rest of this baby fat if I keep making stuff like this! I accidentally figured out how to make a thin mint the other week. You see for my sister's shower I made a thick peppermint frosting and ended up with some leftover frosting. After a couple days in the fridge....and a few tastes from me here and there, I started to realize what it tasted like....a thin mint! So I went to work with some chocolate and the frosting recipe and came up with this deliciousness! My mom loves chocolate mints....junior mints, thin mints, etc. We always gave them to her as presents. Good luck finding chocolate mints that are dairy free though. I did find some at the co-op the other day but they were only a bitter dark chocolate and of course were super expensive!!

Thin Mints
Yield:  26

Filling:
1/8 cup Soy Free Earth Balance Butter, softened not melted
4 teaspoons almond milk
1 2/3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure peppermint extract

Covering:
1 cup Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Mini Chocolate Chips

Directions:
Place all of the filling ingredients in the mixer bowl and mix until a well blended and thick frosting is created. Place the filling in a container and put into the fridge. Cool for at least 2-3 hours or until firm. Once firm, line a baking sheet with wax paper. Measure a leveled 1/2 tablespoon of filling and roll into a small ball. Lightly flatten the ball until it makes a thin circle or patty. Place the patty on the wax paper and repeat until all of the filling mixture is used. It should yield about 26 patties. Place the sheet of patties in the fridge and refrigerate at least 2-3 hours or until firm again. (NOTE: It's important not to overlook the re-cool portion of this recipe. If you fail to cool them again they will melt too much when they are dipped in chocolate and won't hold their patty shape.)

Once the patties have cooled. Melt the chocolate chips in a small bowl. The bowl should be just barely big enough to hold the chocolate chips so the chocolate doesn't spread out too much and is easy for dipping. Heat chocolate chips in the microwave for 20 seconds at a time. It's important to heat the chocolate in small increments so it does not burn. Stir the chips well after each increment as they will continue to melt as you stir. Heat chocolate chips for a total of about 60-80 seconds, stirring every 20 seconds. Using a fork, place a mint patty in the melted chocolate, flip it over and coat the patty evenly. Remove the patty from the chocolate using the fork and place it on the waxed paper. Repeat until all patties have been covered in chocolate. Chocolate may need to be reheated half way through the dipping process. Refrigerate overnight.

In the morning you'll have these awesome treats! Which I may or may not have tried before eating breakfast this morning...Enjoy!

Disclaimer: It is always important to read labels because brands frequently change their ingredients. These ingredients and brands work for my family but some may be processed in the same facility as wheat, soy, dairy and/or eggs and therefore depending on your severity may or may not work for your family.

Dirty Rice

I discovered a recipe for the southern dish dirty rice when I was trying to use our leftovers to make something and clean out the fridge one day. Only problem was that the recipes I was finding called for peppers, which I never have because I hate them. So this is our family's twist on dirty rice, using vegetables that we like and typically have in the fridge. This recipe is designed for the rice cooker though because if you know me, you know the one thing I can't cook is rice!

Dirty Rice
About 6 servings

In the rice cooker:
1 tablespoon canola oil
4 cups dry jasmine rice
About 3 regular cups of gluten free beef broth (Use the rice cooker guide for how much water is needed for 4 cups of dry white rice. My cooker requires 4.5 cups (using the rice cooker's measuring cup) which equated to about 3 regular cups.)
1/16 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

In a skillet:
1 tablespoon canola oil
16 oz sliced and washed white mushrooms
3 stalks or about 1.5 cups chopped celery
1 medium chopped onion

Also need:
1/2-3/4 lb cooked ground beef

Directions: Place all of the rice cooker ingredients in the rice cooker and start. While the rice is cooking, place skillet ingredients in the skillet and cook over medium to medium high heat. Cook until vegetables are soft. The celery takes the longest to soften so if you don't like crunchy celery like me, make sure you give the celery about a 5 minute head start on cooking. In a skillet, cook the ground beef over medium heat until well done and juices run clear. Once the rice is done place it in a large bowl and add the cooked ground beef and skillet vegetable mix. Mix together until vegetables and ground beef are well distributed throughout the rice. Serve immediately and season with salt, pepper, and/or garlic salt to your liking at the table.

Disclaimer: It is always important to read labels because brands frequently change their ingredients. These ingredients and brands work for my family but some may be processed in the same facility as wheat, soy, dairy and/or eggs and therefore depending on your severity may or may not work for your family.

Mini Tortilla Pizzas

I've always been a huge pizza lover. The only problem is that it takes a long time to make it, especially when I make dough from scratch. My other issue is that the crust isn't exactly cheap even if I make it from scratch and especially not if I use a mix. I thought back to my college days when I was too lazy to make food and would throw a sandwich wrap from the deli section on a cookie sheet and use it as a pizza crust. Why couldn't I do something similar with corn tortillas? (Which by the way are SUPER cheap!) So I went to work and have made these lots of times since. Oliver likes them too because they are nice and small. They are easy to have the kids make their own too.

Step 1: Make your crusts. I've done these a couple ways so it depends on your preference. Whatever you do though, don't cook these in the microwave unless you want a pile of mush! Lightly butter (using Soy Free Earth Balance of course) a corn tortilla on both sides. Using either a non stick skillet or griddle fry the tortilla on both sides or until crisp. I've also lightly buttered tortillas and then made them crisp by placing them under a high broiler. This goes fast though and I have burned them a few times so you really have to watch them and turn them every minute or two. Personally I prefer the griddle because I can cook so many at a time. More often than not though I'm too lazy to pull that thing out and clean it so I do the frying pan instead.

Step 2: Place your crusts on a cookie sheet. Top with pizza sauce, toppings of your choice and Daiya cheese. Place the cookie sheet in the oven on a high broiler, watching carefully. Move the sheet around as needed to get pizzas evenly browned.

Step 3: Remove from the broiler and cut into fourths. Crust will likely be somewhat soft in the middle but for the most part I am able to pick up these little triangles and eat them as finger food.

Step 4: Enjoy! Just make sure you make enough. Tortilla shells are low calorie so these aren't super filling. Plus if you have a little one in the house like I do, you end up having to share half your pizza!

Disclaimer: It is always important to read labels because brands frequently change their ingredients. These ingredients and brands work for my family but some may be processed in the same facility as wheat, soy, dairy and/or eggs and therefore depending on your severity may or may not work for your family.

A delicious and beautiful shower for the bride to be! - Take 1

Ah! I had a feeling that the wedding would be over by the time I had the chance to write this. It has been a busy few months for us personally and then also with two sisters getting married. I figured I better get this written though before the next shower....well that didn't happen either so you will be seeing another shower post shortly. The end of April we threw a beautiful shower for Rosanne, who just got married Memorial Day weekend. Her colors for the wedding were peacock blue with a yellow accent so my mom capitalized on that for the shower decorations. We chose to do a Pampered Chef shower which turned out to be a great way to stock Rosanne and Tom's kitchen. Thankfully our consultant was super respectful, not pushy at all, and let us run the shower the more traditional way that we wanted to. We also played Bride Bingo, had a devotional from my grandma, a prayer time for Rosanne and Tom and of course watched her open some gifts. A beautiful soon to be bride with wonderful family and friends, pretty decorations and of course....delicious food.

Speaking of food...here was our menu. Please note, my sisters can eat dairy so we did have some cheese, however, the bride to be is allergic to peanuts so this was a peanut free meal!

Caesar Chicken Sandwiches - These sandwiches are awesome! I used Cybele Pascal's dinner roll recipe from her Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook. If you don't own this book already, you should! There are so many great recipes in it. Even the gluten guys in our life love these rolls during the holidays. I also used a modified version of this dairy free, gluten free slow cooker Caesar Chicken Sandwich recipe that I found on once a month meals' website. My only modifications are half the pepper and half the lemon juice!

Fruit Kabobs - Easy and elegant! We bought a variety of fruit that was on sale that week along with some kabob sticks and made some beautiful fruit kabobs that made for easy finger food.

Meat & Cheese Tray - It's really important to find gluten free meats so I relied heavily on Aldi's packaged deli meats that were labeled gluten free and Land O Frost, which are my normal go to options for deli meat. We used ham, turkey, and Hormel pepperoni. I personally didn't get to try the cheese given my allergies but I bought my cheese from Aldi too because I've found they have the best prices for the small quantity of cheese I'm typically looking to purchase.

Crackers & Hummus - I used a variety of gluten free crackers including Aldi's sea salt version, Van's Lot's of Everything crackers, Back to Nature's multi-seed rice thin crackers and Food Should Taste Good's roasted red pepper brown rice crackers. I like all of them but the roasted red pepper crackers were by far a favorite for the gluten and non gluten eaters. For the hummus, it's been difficult to find soy free hummus at times. Some of Aldi's flavors are soy free though so that has been a good resource as well as Minnesota's own Holy Land Hummus!

Raw Veggie & Dip Tray - While the veggies met my allergy needs the dip didn't....sorry. If you need a good dip maybe try some hummus instead. Again we just bought a variety of veggies that were on sale that week. For the dip we used sour cream with a ranch packet so it certainly was not dairy free! It went over very well with the guests though.

Salt and Pepper Cashews - As I mentioned above, the bride to be has a peanut allergy. Did you know that almost every cashew on the shelf at Walmart contains peanut oil? Do they not realize that tree nut and peanut allergies are different and not everyone has both? Apparently not. It's very difficult to locate peanut free cashews as a result but I did finally find some. I found them at Aldi of all places! While most of Aldi's cashews are not safe, their salt and pepper flavored cashews were safe! Yay!

Cream Cheese Mints - These were not dairy free but I bet you could make some with some Daiya cream cheese. I haven't tried yet because these dairy ones were time consuming enough the week I was making them for the shower. I may have gone a little overboard though with how many I made. I used this recipe I found online. I didn't have any molds so I made balls and flattened them with a fork which worked just fine.

Cupcakes - I used the same vanilla cake recipe I found for Oliver's birthday party for these cupcakes and again it went over well, except for one little cousin who doesn't like gluten free cupcakes! I also used the buttercream frosting recipe from Oliver's birthday. My mom did the decorating and she did have to add some powdered sugar to the recipe in order to get the frosting to hold well and work with the cake decorator bags. We found a picture on Pintrest to arrange the cupcakes to resemble a wedding dress.

Grandma's sugar cookies - I don't have her recipe but while they are egg and gluten free I know she does put butter in them so I haven't tried them. I hear they are awesome though and I'm very thankful she brought them to add to our menu.

Punch - My mom made some yellow banana, pineapple, and 7-up punch that she has always made for our graduation parties and whatnot. It was delicious as usual!

Grandma gave a devotional for Rosanne. This is a picture of grandma explaining how the devotional relates to the quilt pattern she made for them.

Disclaimer: It is always important to read labels because brands frequently change their ingredients. These ingredients and brands work for my family but some may be processed in the same facility as wheat, soy, dairy and/or eggs and therefore depending on your severity may or may not work for your family.

Italian Sausage - Paleo and Whole30 Friendly

$4 a pound for sausage! Are you kidding me? Isn't that more expensive than ground turkey when on sale and about twice the price of the chicken breasts I buy on sale? Ah! I wish I didn't like it so much...expensive and not good for me. I decided it was time to try to season my own. I used ground pork which is supposed to not be as fatty too. Plus it's cheaper than sausage. Because it wasn't as fatty it certainly had a more taco meat like texture. It has a mild to medium spice factor and did work well with our pizzas.

Italian Sausage
1 pound ground pork
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon fennel, crushed
1/2 teaspoon pepper (half the amount for Mild)
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (half the amount for Mild)
1 teaspoon raw apple cider vinegar
3/4 teaspoon paprika

Directions: In a bowl, mix all ingredients, including the raw ground pork, and blend thoroughly with your hands. Place the meat mixture in a skillet over medium heat and cook until it is well done and juices run clear. Use in recipes or freeze for later.

Disclaimer: It is always important to read labels because brands frequently change their ingredients. These ingredients and brands work for my family but some may be processed in the same facility as wheat, soy, dairy and/or eggs and therefore depending on your severity may or may not work for your family.