colorful cilantro lime nacho's (gluten free!)

Some nights it's hit and miss around here with healthy eating. As much as I obsess over this lifestyle, I sure haven't mastered it yet.... Yet. :)
However, when your husband yells: "nailed it, Ky!" as he's finishing his dinner, it makes this wannabe foodie proud.
This recipe was inspiration from one of my FAVORITE cafe fresh delicacies; the cilantro lime quesadilla. Nothing is better than that dish.
I got home around 9:30 last night and had half a mind to simply order out.. BUT...I don't know what I'd be eating and we all know how much I love that. So I started making dinner. And I don't regret it for half a second! It was so tasty!

Cilantro Lime Nacho's

• 1 bag all natural gluten-free corn chips
• 2 free range, boneless skinless chicken breasts; chopped
• 1 TBSP coconut oil
• 1 tsp all natural sea salt
• 1/2 bag organic white sweet corn
• 2 dollops all natural grass fed gluten free sour cream
• 1 cup shredded cheese (I used part Tillamook, part raw. Tillamook doesn't have artificial growth hormones. It's the only regular store brand I'd buy!)
• 1/2 TBS Bobs red mill corn starch (gluten free)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk (or coconut milk)
• One jar sugar free salsa (if you have a local sports, opt for the Chia, flax and quinoa salsa to add a little super to your food!)
• Cilantro
• Lime

To start, heat your coconut oil over medium heat. sautee some cilantro and salt until the cilantro looks crispy and brown. At that point, remove most of it from the oil, return to heat and add your chicken. Once your chicken is in, take half your lime and squeeze the juices from it onto your cooking chicken. 

In a separate pot, boil your corn. 

In another pot (sorry, I'm not the one pot chef) add your almond milk and corn starch (mixed in) and begin to let it simmer. Once it's simmered, slowly stir in your cheese a little at a time until cheese melts. Your sauce should begin to thicken and look like a light colored cheese sauce.

Once everything is cooked through, it is time to layer those nacho's!! Chips, chicken, corn, cilantro, cheese, salsa, sour cream, juice of lime and DEVOUR! 

Paleo Nutella *update!

 Yet another update: click here to find out why this recipe is good for you while still being tasty!

I was 11 years old when I was introduced to the magic of nutella. But it wasn't in the states back then. My step dad used to travel to Europe multiple times a month. He would bring home all sorts of European delicacies and my favorite was nutella. No one does food as well as the Europeans.

Ever since I started eating clean and avoiding processed sugars, I naturally haven't had these treats in years.

HOWEVER, God is good and led me to a PALEO recipe for nutella. :) Holy Hannah, I must be doing something right!! I did tweak it a bit, or a lot, so I'm pretending it's my recipe. ;)

So, here it goes!!

Homemade Paleo Nutella

Ingredients

• 1 cup blanched hazelnuts
• 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk
• 1/2 cup evaporated cane sugar (you could try the subbing maple syrup, but evaporated cane sugar isn't refined so it's technically Paleo. :) since it's from it's original source)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil or ghee
• pinch of celtic sea salt

1. pre-heat your oven to 375. Spread your hazelnuts in a thin layer and bake for 10-15 minutes until the brown skins are dark brown and flaky. 
2. Put hazelnuts in a bowl and let cool. 
3. Once cool, trap hazelnuts between two bowls and shake vigorously. Brown skins should flake right off. (Don't stress about them coming all way off. You just want a majority of them off. :)) 
4. Put the nuts in a food processor (or in my case, a magic bullet) and process until the natural oils start to emerge and the texture is smooth. (This may take a while, and you may have to scrape the sides of your food processor often)
5. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. 
6. Store extra's in the fridge (if you have any) in a sealed container for up to two weeks. :)

We enjoyed some of our nutty nutella with strawberries and banana's!! 

I will make a disclaimer, I haven't had regular nutella in ages, so I am not sure if they compare EXACTLY, but from what I can remember, it was close. AND, it was mega tasty either way! 

This is why your hazelnut butter should look like before you add all the other ingredients. CREAMY. :) 

Luscious! 

ON a delicious strawberry!

Chocolate covered banana! (this was each our favorite thing we dipped)

Get your food processors cranking pals, it's worth the mess. :) 

Happy, healthy, healing!!

<3 KBS

*update 1. Um, I kinda woke up wanting this for breakfast...so I gave in. Don't judge. 

Update 2: the flavors set SO much better being in the fridge over night. I recommend greatly refrigerating it before eating it! Or eat half and half like we did! Ha. It's just that good! 

Tasty Detoxing

"Leeks" and "rutabagas" almost stopped me from making this recipe. I knew what a leek was...but the name was kind of a turn off for some reason (wonder why?) and a rutabaga was a foreign word to me. I decided that I would go to the store and if I could find all the ingredients, I would get it.

I decided to make a detox soup because it's been a while since I tried my tea detox...if you follow me on Facebook, you know all about how well the tea detox went...or didn't. I was mean and starving the whole entire time. A soup sounded a little bit safer to my marriage, happiness and overall health. I still regret the things i said and did to my husband out of "hanger" (hunger-anger) on that blasted tea diet. So, after I dismally found what is known as a rutabaga, I decided to make the detox. 

If you know me personally, or have read this blog, you know I am not an unhealthy eater. But when I made my gluten free, sugar free, health cake this week, I indulged a little much. :) As NOT bad as that cake was, I still needed this detox. Recipe here.

Now, I am here to report that leeks, despite the turn off of a name, are my new love affair and rutabaga's are my male mistress. YUM!! This was so much better, and filling, then the tea detox. :) EVERYONE needs to try it! And the best part is, is that this recipe is good for so many different dietary restrictions: Paleo (almost), gluten free, vegetarian, raw, vegan, etc. And it doesn't even taste bad. :) 

I will say, even though pinto beans are healthy, I used black beans. All of my research has simply deemed them to be the healthier of the two. Black beans contain flavonoids that help fight colon cancer...and let me tell you, as a crohnsen kid who is at high risk for colon cancer, I am willing to put anything in my body that will fight that SOB off. :)

I hope you're as excited about this detox as I was. This awesome lady even listed why everything in it was so good for you!! If I can get the husband to agree, this may be a weekly staple around here. :) You know me and my unadulterated love for anything with good health benefits! :)

Happy detoxing! 

Blogging over load!! But, but ya gotta love blackberries!!

For those of you who frequent sprouts market (previously sunflower market) their blackberries are on sale this week for 88 cents per carton. YUM! I was so excited I bought four containers yesterday and only have two left! Fatty. Oh well. Life's problems. -shrug- ANYWHO!
After eating a carton and a half, I thought...what's so great about these? I know nothing was BAD about them...it's a berry for crying out loud. But what makes them good??
Crohn's disease causes inflammation in the intestinal tract. I learned that a cup of berries has enough anti inflammatories to tame an inflamed digestive tract! Holla!! That was the fact that stood out the most to me because its the one that pertained to me.
But listen ladies! Blackberries contain phytoestrogens, which I learned are plant estrogens, that help to fight breast and cervical cancer. Um...no pink ribbons for me! YES PLEASE NO BREAST CANCER!
There were quite a few other health promoting properties in blackberries...vitamin k--bone health, vitamin c---immune system, fiber, magnese, helps esophagus cancer , etc.
but only 62 calories a cup...indulge a little. :)

Happy health!!