Homemade Organic Strawberry Lemonade

My best friend and I made this for a baby shower we catered.  It was delish. And SO pretty, also.  I'm all about pretty looking food and drink.  The recipe is originally from Emeril Lagasse.  With a few tweaks, it is MAXIMIZED! Advaned Plan friendly, of course.

Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• 1 cup pulverized Xylitol (find grind help it dissolve better)
• 1-2 tablespoons organic grated lemon peel
• 1 cup fresh organic lemon juice (don't skimp here, people.  No bottled junk... juice 'em yourself!) 
• 1 pint fresh organic strawberries, hulled and halved
• 2 cups cold sparkling water or club soda
• Ice
• Mint sprigs
• Whole strawberries, garnish



Look!  How beauitful would this lemonade table be at a summer party? Just perfect!



Method

• In a medium saucepan, bring the water and Xylitol to a boil.
• Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally.
• Add the lemon peel and lemon juice, stir, and remove from the heat.
• Let cool completely, the strain into a clean pitcher.
• In a blender, puree the pint of strawberries and add to the pitcher with the lemon juice. Stir well to combine and refrigerate until well chilled.
• Add the sparkling water and stir well.
• Pour over glasses filled with ice and serve, garnished with mint, strawberries and lemon slices.

Easy Party Snack

I had my closest girlfriends over tonight.  And I am on the Advaned Plan... I was maybe a little bummed on missing out on a glass of wine.  But I thought this would be a good opportunity to start a weekly tradition: quick and easy party appies and treats.  You CAN be on the Advanced Plan and still eat yummy, indulgent food with your girlfriends.

Tonight...
Warm Brie & Apples  

• 12 ounces good french brie, but into 4 wedges
• 3 granny smith apples, cored and thinly sliced
• A handful of raw pistachios

Place brie wedges in a small, oven safe dish and sprinkle with pistachios.  Bake in a 350 oven for about 5 minutes.  Serve with apple slices

Blueberry Lemon Scones

As always: gluten-free, grain-free, sugar-free and OH-SO-GOOD.  Perfect for Mother's Day brunch.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups almond flour
• 1 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/3 cup pulverized Xylitol (whiz it up in a blender or spice grinder to get a finer consistency)
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 2 free-range organic eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• the zest of one lemon
• 1 cup (or more if you love 'em as much as I do) organic blueberries

Method

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In large bowl, combine all dry ingredients.
• In a small bowl, wisk together wet ingredients.
• Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients and add lemon zest and blueberries.
• Form scones with about 1/4 cup of the mixture and place on baking sheet at least one inch apart.
• Bake for 12-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies

Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies

This one's for Nova!  We are both chocolate chip cookie lovers, so it was necessary to find us a suitable recipe for times when afternoon treats are required.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 2 cups almond flour
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/4 cup granular xylitol
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• A pinch of sea salt
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup organic butter (or coconut oil), melted
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup sliced almonds, chopped are good too
• 1 cup 73%+ organic dark chocolate chips or cacao nibs

Method

• Combine all dry ingredients (except chocolate chips and almonds) in a bowl and form a well in the middle.
• In separate bowl, mix together wet ingredients.
• Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix well until combined, the mixture will be a bit crumbly. 
• Fold in chocolate chips and almonds.
• Form 1 inch balls of batter, place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and gently press down into small discs.  Keep in mind that the shape you form is the shape they will bake as.  These cookies don't puff up or melt down, so try to make them a little bit pretty!
• Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes until the edges are golden brown.
• Cool (they're very delicate when they are warm) and enjoy with a cold glass of almond milk. 

Cheesy Garlic Quick Bread

Cheesy Garlic Quick Bread

Ok, this is SO good.  Like SOOOO good.  Grain-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, guilt-free GOODNESS.

This is perfect for one of those nights where all you want to do is eat something bad (like me tonight), because it's so good that you almost think it's bad.  That didn't make tons of sense, but you get my point. :) Like the Lemon Pound Cake, this bread uses coconut flour, which doesn't rise as much as all-purpose wheat flour.  It may not make the best sandwhich bread, but it definitely makes a delicious cheesy treat to accompany any soup, salad, or stirfry.  Next time, I'm going to pour the batter into little muffin tins and make dinner rolls.

My only concern with this bread:  I could probably eat an entire loaf to myself.  There's 6 eggs in it.  Not a good idea, Stephanie, not a good idea.  


Ingredients

• 6 eggs
• 3/4 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 cup ground flax seeds (this is optional, you can definitely make the bread without)
• 11/2 tsp. baking powder
• 11/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 3/4 - 1 cup grated cheese (cheddar, mozzarella, monterey jack, whatever your heart desires)
• A small handful of chopped chives or green onion

Method

• Preheat oven to 350 and grease and flour a small bread pan.
• In a food processor, combine all ingredients except cheese and chives until combined (not too long!)  If you don't have a food processor, you can do this by hand with a whisk until there are no lumps in the mixture.
• Stir in cheese and chives.
• Pour the mixture into the bread pan and bake for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Supermom

Mumma J's Green Goddess Salad

So, my cute little Mumma (who is also an Advanced Plan eater and patient at our office), brought me dinner tonight at work.  A delicious Maximized salad creation!  So simple, but SO good. I told her I was going to blog about it and that she needed to give me the recipe, and this is what she told me (like mother, like daughter - exact measurements are not our strength):

Ingredients

• Napa cabbage
• 2 large handfuls arugula
• 2 large handfuls bean sprouts
• 2 large handfuls zucchini, chopped into matchsticks 
• 1 large granny smith apple, cored and thinly sliced
• Chopped cilantro, to your liking
• Chopped green onions, to your liking
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (organic and unsweetened)
• 1/4 cup tamari
• 1/2 olive oil
• A few tbsp. sesame oil
• Salt and pepper
• A handful of peanuts

Method

• Combine all green ingredients in large bowl.
• In a mason jar, combine all dressing ingredients, and shake until thoroughly mixed (very high tech)!
• Pour dressing over greens and top with peanuts.
• Tell your Mom you love her.

xo.

Coconut Flour Pancakes

Coconut Flour Pancakes

I made these on the weekend, and was reminded again how much I love them.  The recipe can be found in the Maximized Living Nutrition Plans Book.  They're SO good with blueberries in the batter, and with coconut butter (not oil - the butter is sweet and delicious) slathered all over them!  Serve with some grass-fed organic beef breakfast sausage, your favourite mug of tea, and you have the makings of a perfect rainy Sunday morning. 

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 3 tbsp. coconut oil, melted
• 3 tbsp. coconut milk or whole milk
• 1/2 tsp. stevia or xylitol
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla
• 3 tbsp. coconut flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder

Method

• Using a wire whisk, mix together eggs, coconut butter, coconut milk, stevia, sea salt, and vanilla.
• Continue to whisk, add baking powder and coconut flour until thoroughly mixed.
• Heat 1 tbsp. coconut oil in a skillet over medium heat and spoon 2-3 tbsp. batter onto skillet making pancakes about  4 inches in diameter.Sprinkle with blueberries if desired. 

Makes about 6 pancakes.