I compiled these pudding recipes from all over the internet. Every recipe is WFPB, every recipe uses a different main ingredient, and every recipe comes from a different blog! I hope you enjoy them. If you have a favorite pudding recipe, please share it. Avocado Orange Chocolate Pudding by Dreena Burton Vanilla, avocado, dates, cocoa powder, orange zest, orange juice, sea salt Brown rice Cardamom-Raisin Rice Pudding by Straight Up Food Water, brown rice, plant milk, dates, vanilla, raisins, almonds (optional), cinnamon, cardamom Cashews Raw Vegan Banana Pudding by Simple Vegan Blog Cashews, bananas, dates, almond milk, raspberries (optional), chopped cashews (optional) Cauliflower Cauliflower Chocolate Pudding by Feasting on Fruit Cauliflower, plant milk, cacao powder, dates, vanilla Chia seeds Date-Sweetened Chocolate Chia Pudding by May I Have That Recipe? Cocoa powder, chia seeds, dates, almond milk, vanilla, berries or other fruit Chickpeas Chickpea Chocolate Pudding by Jessi Haggerty Chickpeas, dates, almond milk, cocoa powder, vanilla, almond or peanut butter (optional) Oats Vegan Chocolate Pudding by The Whole Food Plant Based Cooking Show Oats, cashews, water, dates, vanilla, cocoa powder Pumpkin Almost Instant Pumpkin Pudding by Forks Over Knives Almond milk, pumpkin, banana, dates, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, chia seeds Sweet potato Sweet Potato Chocolate Pudding by Tasha’s Artisan Foods Sweet potato, plant milk, dates, cocoa powder, pinch of sea salt, pistachio slivers, orange zest, sea salt Tofu Creamy Chocolate Pudding by Kristina DeMuth Dates, tofu, cocoa powder, vanilla, water, berries
I didn’t really follow a recipe exactly but eyeballed it until it worked. I bought cocoa butter and cocoa liquor drops (or cacao paste) and infused about 75g of the cocoa butter with my desired amount of distillate so I could make a couple batches. I used an online calculator based on the amount of servings with this mold, just over 1.5g of Loud House’s distillate for a ballpark of ~30mg per piece out of a total of 6 bars (48 servings). Just melt the cocoa butter over a double boiler (or in the microwave) until melted, stir distillate in until combined, then pour it in a container in the fridge. When it was hardened I weighed out a test portion of 25g of the cocoa butter, and about 32g of the cocoa liquor chips. I melted them in the microwave at 30 second increments for two rounds, then 20 seconds, then 15 stirring for a bit in between. I found that doing this in a glass bowl held too much heat and would make the chocolate break, but in a plastic Tupperware it never got too hot and tempers perfectly. I stirred until everything was melted smoothly, and added about 1/4 cup of powdered sugar and mixed it in. I would sift it in or you will get some clumps settling in the bottom of the mold. Once it’s all mixed together I poured it into the molds and put them in the fridge. For this smaller batch the 25g cocoa butter made 2 bars, and using the entire 75g of infused cocoa butter will make 6 bars. YMMV unless you get these exact molds, I had to do a lot of trial and error to figure out measurements and a different mold may hold different amounts. At that point you would just adjust for the amount of pieces in the servings section of your preferred edible potency calculator so you can get a ballpark dosage. If you like milk chocolate, you can also add your choice of milk powder as well. Personally I enjoy the raw vegan chocolate as is, but adding milk powder or a bit of cocoa powder does have it come out pretty nice as well. Best luck making them and feel free to ask any questions.
I’ve recently gotten into ice cream making and obviously people are wanting to try what I’m making. I have a friend who avoids dairy as much as she can and I want to try making a dairy free batch of ice cream for her since I’ll be seeing her next week. Obviously non-dairy ice cream is notorious for being difficult to get right given the restrictions so I was wondering if anyone has a good base recipe or any tips to try and reduce the chance of it being icy/hard/overpowered by coconut. I’ve done quite a bit of research into fat ratios and the best kinds of milks and creams and it’s a lot to take in. Hard to know what the best choice would be so I’d love some help! I’m thinking of making one similar to Van Leeuwen’s vegan recipe but I’ve heard that raw cacao butter can add too much of a chocolate flavour and I can’t really get my hands on a deodorised one at the moment. I’m open to using stabilisers (preferably xanthan gum, yolks, or easy to find starches), alcohol, glucose syrup/powder, or anything else that might be useful in improving the texture. If it helps, my normal base is 500ml whole milk, 500ml double cream (48% fat), 8 egg yolks, 200g sugar, 1/4tsp xanthan gum, 1tsp vanilla bean paste (or 1 vanilla bean + 1/4tsp of vanilla extract) churned in a compressor ice cream maker. Since I don’t have a lot of time to find a good base recipe and test different methods, would it be worthwhile making mini batches (100-250ml) using slightly different methods? Or would making such a small amount not be a very reliable test? In the end, as long as it tastes good, that’s all I care about, but I obviously want to make the best ice cream I can!
Specific to this recipe for homemade milk chocolate, it calls for 8oz of cocoa butter and 1oz of cacao paste. When I looked up cacao paste it mentioned blending cacao nibs. I have the nibs, though I assumed they were also cocoa butter with the only real difference being how it was processed (roasted or raw) but the fact that the recipe calls for both as separate has me wondering if I'm completely misunderstanding the details of this essential ingredient in chocolate making?
Food Catalog / Ingredients, Herbs, and Spices / Cocoa Powder Written by: Christopher Karam ｜ ✔️ Medically Reviewed by: Dr. Riad M., M.D - G.P and Micheal B., M.D ｜ Last Updated: 2020 March 22 dried cocoa beans Break down and Background Cocoa powder (Theobroma cacao), also known as dark chocolate, was introduced by the Spanish in the beginning of the 16 century. Cocoa beans are thought to have first been used by the Maya civilization of Central America for the myriad of health benefits that come with it. Cocoa powder is a dried, ripen, and fully fermented seed from the Theobroma tree’s cacao seeds, a small evergreen tree from the Malvaceae family. It’s a popular baking ingredient due to its addictive nature and plant-based compounds. How is cocoa powder made? Tryptophan is an essential amino acid that’s a precursor for the production and secretion of serotonin, the chemical that promotes wellbeing and happiness. Cocoa powder has many health benefits and very few side effects. From the cocoa pod to natural cocoa powder, there are many, many steps to take before creating a consumable unsweetened organic cocoa powder or dark chocolate. So how is dark chocolate and cocoa powder made? First, cocoa beans are removed from their pods, later being fermented and then dried, roasted, and ground into a thick cocoa liquor. The liquor is actually made up of the very fine, broken down bean cell particles and cocoa butter that was tucked inside the cocoa nibs, which were inside of the beans. The cocoa liquor is then refined from dehusking dried and roasted beans. Later pressed to extract the cocoa butter, leaving behind a cake-like mass made up of pure, fine cocoa bean particles. Afterwards, the cocoa cake is ground to then make a finalized unsweetened cocoa powder product, that’s rich and dark in color. Natural cocoa powder is a staple ingredient for everyone who likes baking. Dark chocolate is called for in many chocolate dessert recipes since it adds an intense, bitter chocolatey flavor to everything from cookies, to pies, cakes, and other desserts. It’s also a somewhat expensive ingredient because it’s an exotic type of vegetable. It's also justified by being very healthy, since it’s full of healthy fats, fiber, protein, and antioxidants. Helping enhance the taste of many dessert recipes, organic or dutch-process cocoa powder is a versatile ingredient that should be a part of everyone's daily diet since it’s so easy to fit it into your regiment. Unless you’re allergic of course. You can use cacao powder for it’s wonderful chocolate flavor. Most of the top staple desserts recipes out there include baking powder, baking soda, and chocolate. The baking process of using baking powdebaking soda coupled with cacao enhances it’s chocolaty flavor. spoon of cocoa powder on a table Be careful when looking to buy raw natural cocoa powder, as many companies add fillers, additives, and other chemicals to increase the weight volume of the packaging box. Hot chocolate and regular chocolate powder mixes aren’t raw organic cocoa powder as the instant chocolate powder mixes on the market often include a lot of sugar and emulsifiers, like lecithin, to help the chocolate mix better with water. Don’t use hot chocolate mix in place of raw cacao when you are baking. They’re definitely convenient, but there are way more health benefits to adding raw ingredients to your food or drinks instead of pre-packaged mixes. Unless your recipe explicitly asks you to use a hot cocoa mix or dark chocolate powder, just use the raw cocoa powder with your milk or cream instead and add any sweetener you like. Preferably a healthy option like Stevia. Due to cocoa powder’s nitric oxide and flavanols, cacao can dilate your blood vessels which will improve blood flow and lower blood pressure, which is very useful before and after weight training and cardio workouts. And who doesn’t like a healthy heaping tablespoon of dark chocolate? It’s one of the most loved and addictive flavors on the planet. So much so that multiple research papers have proven that it can even become addictive in many cases. The rich intense flavor of natural cocoa powder is delicious with anything including coffee, smoothies and protein shakes, or even oatmeal. Some people even make savory chocolate sauce recipes, a gravy to add on to their meat of choice, or a dark chocolate chestnut pasta. raw cocoa powder and cacao nibs Cocoa Powder Health Benefits Other than its incredible flavor, there are many other benefits of organic cocoa powder. Many research papers have found that it has impeccable health benefits for your heart, brain, and overall health through weight loss. There are so many incredible health benefits of eating organic cocoa powder that you won’t believe that something so delicious could be so good for you. These benefits have lasting effects that can improve your health in every aspect.
Brightens Mood, Boosts Happiness, and Reduces Depression
If you’re struggling with irregular mood swings and regulation, cocoa has positive health impacts on the brain which also helps relieve symptoms of depression. Researchers have displayed that cacao is a natural antidepressant that can healthily increase your levels of happiness. Cocoa contains nitric oxide the mood-boosting chemicals anandamide. It’s a fatty acid neurotransmitter that helps make people feel slightly euphoric, similarly to THC. Raw cocoa powders have also been found to have an effect on the reward center of the brain. Especially due to the transformation of tryptophan to serotonin that naturally occurs in the body. Tryptophan is an amino acid precursor to the formation of new serotonin neurotransmitters in the brain. ground cocoa powder and cacao beans Researchers have also found that cocoa interacts with your brain’s neurotransmitters to release dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins, all of which make you feel happier.
Can Boost your Libido and Sexual Performance
Cacao is the pure, unrefined form of chocolate. We eat the seed, which contains another alkaloid called theobromine. Theobromine acts as a blood vessel widener and is actually used in modern medicine for this purpose. It also increases blood flow throughout your body because it will lower your blood pressure, reduce inflammation, dilate your arteries. Cacao can be consumed as a powder, nibs, or whole beans. Another mood-enhancing chemical found in cocoa is phenethylamine, this chemical releases the same endorphins that are released when we fall in love, and so this can help improve your sex life. In addition, it can also reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke. Mostly linked to the flavanoid contents because it reduces bad LDL cholesterol, improves blood flow, as well as dilates and relaxes your blood vessels, in turn reducing internal inflammation.
Boosts Energy and Helps With Weight Loss
Cocoa powder contains a healthy amount of caffeine and nitric oxide. These help boost energy and fight fatigue. Not only does it have a good amount of caffeine, but it contains magnesium as well. theobroma cacao tree with growing beans Two tablespoons of natural cocoa powder have about 14% of your body’s daily value of Magnesium. Magnesium has been found to keep your body naturally energized. Magnesium has been found to protect your body against other issues such as high blood pressure, type II diabetes, and osteoporosis. Cocoa is known to be one of the healthiest ways to keep your body energized, awake, and focused. Due to all of the health benefits natural dark chocolate has on your cardiovascular system and digestive system, there’s been many studies concluding it’s relation with weight loss. Raising levels of fat oxidation, reducing appetite, controlling blood sugar levels, and insulin sensitivity all help reduce your total weight; mainly targeting your body fat stores.
Boosts your Cardiovascular Health
Cocoa is loaded with the anti-inflammatory antioxidant flavanol and nitric oxide. These antioxidants have been found to improve your heart health and your entire cardiovascular system. Flavanols and nitric oxide can protect your body against cardiovascular disease, improves your blood circulation and lowers the risk of stroke. Having similar effects to olive oil and coconut oil. Other antioxidants, called polyphenols, in cocoa are known to help reduce HDL is (bad cholesterol) levels and prevent atherosclerosis, also known as hardening of the arteries. cacao bean and powder
Boost your Skin Health
You should try to have a daily serving of hot cocoa to have long-lasting, positive health benefits. Flavanols, nitric oxide, polyphenols have been found to help you protect your cells from premature oxidation this will keep your skin from looking aged or becoming wrinkled. It can also improve your skin texture and give it a glowing look. In one study, researchers found that dark chocolate helped improve skin microcirculation, skin hydration, as well as reducing skin swelling and inflammation. You will look more youthful and bright with just a little more cocoa in your diet. Not only does it help your skin, but using cocoa butter as a moisturizer has also been found to keep skin soft and smooth. You can try making your own skin moisturizer at home with this simple recipe.
High in Polyphenols, Flavanols, and Antioxidant Enzymes
Flavanols and polyphenols are naturally occurring antioxidants that are rich in foods like nuts, certain vegetables, teas (such as earl grey tea, green tea, oolong tea, and white tea), berries and exotic fruits, chocolate, white wine, and red wine. They’ve had extensive research linking to improved blood flow, stabilizes blood sugar levels, increases your basal metabolic rate and fat burning processes, heart health, reduces inflammation, and boosts insulin sensitivity. Natural 70% dark chocolate is one of the richest sources of phenolic compounds, polyphenols, flavanols, and flavanoids which all have powerful antioxidants and the ability to reduce inflammation. cacao nibs Because these compounds improves blood flow through your body, this reduces your risk of neurodegenerative diseases and brain function. These actually go through the blood-brain barrier and supplies nutrients to the brain for the production of neurons and other necessary molecules for proper functioning. Multiple studies found that daily intake of cocoa flavanols raised the blood flow to the brain by 8% to 11% during a time span of just 2 weeks.
Reduces High Blood Pressure and Improves Heart Health
Raw natural cocoa powders and dark chocolate forms of cacao beans both have equal strengths in helping lower blood pressure. The purer the powder, the better the effects. A large number of flavanoids are lost during commercial processing, so buying the most unprocessed, raw, and natural cocoa powder product is most optimal. Mostly linked to the high levels of flavanols and flavanoids, cocoa increases nitric oxide levels in your blood which strengthens blood vessels, arteries, and your heart.
Can Improve Symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes
In actuality, cocoa is full of anti diabetic reactions. The flavanols slow down the carbohydrate absorption and digestion in your gut, raises insulin secretion of the pancreas. It also makes the transfer of energy from glucose in the blood to your muscles more efficient and internally reduces inflammation in people who are diabetic or non-diabetic. dark chocolate bar godiva on a table
Protects Against Certain Types of Cancer
All of the flavanols, flavanoids, anti-inflammatory reactions, antioxidants, polyphenols, and phenolic acids all contribute to the strengthening of your gut biome and immune system. 80% of your immune system cells reside near the small intestine and large intestine, having a strong gut biome is your best line of defense against infections, viruses, diseases, and cancer. Multiple test-tube studies on unsweetened cocoa powder being able to protect cells from degenerative and oxidative damage, inhibits cancerous cell growth and spread, as well as induces and facilitates cancer cell death due to it’s high levels of flavanols. Cocoa Powder Side Effects and Detriments Negatively Interacts With Many Medications One of the biggest factors that hinders global, general public use is its negative interactions and side effects with multiple medications. Adenosine (Adenocards) negatively interacts with cacao because it contains caffeine. The caffeine in cocoa can block the effects of the medication since caffeine attaches to the same neural receptors that Adenosine binds to. Adenosine is often used by doctors to perform tests for the heart, primarily used as a cardiac stress test and for facilitating sleep since it’s a vasodilator. Stop taking cocoa or other caffeine-containing products at least 24 hours before a cardiac stress test. Clozapine (Clozaril) is an atypical antipsychotic medication used to treat schizophrenia, decreasing the rate of suicidal behavior. The body breaks down and metabolize clozapine in order to get rid of it. The caffeine in cocoa decreases how quickly the body metabolizes clozapine, increasing its concentration. Taking cocoa along with the medication can increase the effects and side effects of clozapine. Dipyridamole (Persantine) inhibits PDE5 in the blood, which inhibits blood clotting and causes blood vessel dilation. Dipyridamole negatively interacts with the caffeine in cocoa as it might block the effects of dipyridamole. Caffeine interferes with the dilation of your arteries and increases coagulation of your blood, reducing the blood thinning effects of dipyridamole. Ergotamine (Ergomar) is an alkaloid that’s structurally similar to a neurotransmitter. It behaves an a vasoconstrictor to reduce the blood flow through the cardiovascular system, used to treat acute migraine attacks. Caffeine can increase how much Ergotamine the body absorbs. Taking cocoa powder along with Ergotamine may increase the effects and side effects of the medication. Estrogen pills (Estradiol). While the body breaks down the caffeine found in cocoa powder. Estrogen decreases how the speed at which your body breaks down caffeine, no matter the source. Taking caffeine along with foods containing estrogen or estrogen supplements may cause jitteriness, headaches, an increased heart rate, and other side effects. If you take estrogen supplements, you should limit or in some cases restrict your caffeine intake. raw cacao powder Rating and Recommendation Extremely Recommended Going through the huge list of health benefits and side effects of cocoa powder, it's a very easy inclusion in your diet. Dark chocolate is a staple ingredient in modern day cuisine and baking recipes because it has a unique flavor, it’s even used by the health conscious because it has amazing health impacts. Here’s the full list of the health benefits of cocoa powder: Brightens Mood, Boosts Happiness, and Reduces Depression Can Boost your Libido and Sexual Performance Boosts Energy and Aids With Weight Loss Boosts your Cardiovascular Health and Overall Heart Health Boost your Skin Health and Brain Health High in Polyphenols, Flavanols, and Antioxidant Enzymes Reduces High Blood Pressure and Improves Heart Health Can Improve Symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes Protects Against Certain Types of Cancer Here’s the list of side effects of cocoa powder: Negatively Interacts With Many Medications And the list of medications that can cause harm, it clashes with: Adenosine Clozapine Dipyridamole Ergotamine Caffeine Estrogen Pills Due to cocoa's great flavor, boost of mental and physical health, and especially the boost in sex drive, is highly recommended to include into your daily diet. Although the side effects can cause harm when consumed with chemicals found in certain medicines, it's best to avoid consuming any other form or product while taking these medications. Frequently Asked Questions What Is Cocoa Powder? Cocoa, also known as cacao or chocolate is a dried and fermented seed coming from the theobroma tree. It's the basis for anything made of chocolate. The theobroma tree is native to the Amazon basin and Aztec cultures in South America. Popularized by the Spanish, they brought and distributed the seeds to major continents like Europe, Asia, and West Africa. A theobroma tree can only grow properly in tropical areas accompanied by lots of rain. Unlike most other exotic trees, it's able to be harvested multiple times per year. The cacao pods fruits that grow from the tree are either green, purple, or red when young; but become a lighter shade of yellow and orange when fully matured. The pods have a rough leather like texture encapsulating the beans. The Ivory Coast is the largest exporter of pods and beans globally. Currently at around 2,100,000 tonnes per year. While the United States and Germany are the largest importers at around 2.8$ billion and 2.33$ billion dollars worth respectively. Is Cocoa Powder Vegan? Yes, cocoa products are all vegan by nature. Specifically, it's the seeds of the fruit originating from the theobroma tree. Although some chocolate products have milk, eggs, and other animal products. Pure dark chocolate powder products have no animal products at all, making them safe for all vegans. Is Cocoa Powder Healthy? Yes, cocoa powder is very healthy actually. There are so many positive health benefits that come from including it into your diet. It can: 1. Brighten your Mood, Boosts Happiness, and Reduces Depression
Can Boost your Libido and Sexual Performance
Boosts Energy and Aids With Weight Loss
Boosts your Cardiovascular Health and Blood Flow
Boost your Skin Health
High in Polyphenols, Flavanols, and Antioxidant Enzymes
Reduces High Blood Pressure and Improves Heart Health
Can Improve Symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes
Protects Against Certain Types of Cancer
Where To Buy Cocoa Powder, Beans, or Nibs? There are many places like amazon, walmart, and other supermarkets that sell organic, natural cocoa powder, beans, or nibs
Here's a detailed list of keto-friendly foods I eat on a regular basis with pics, tips and recipes [Pics, FP]
Full Disclosure:
I don’t have extravagant or complicated cooking sessions.
I keep things as simple as possible to help save me time so the things I eat daily are not complicated.
I’m also not a picky eater at all and enjoy the taste of everything.
1. An apple avocado a day keeps the doctor away
I used to avoid avocados because of their high fat content, but now I often eat one avocado a day, usually as the first thing to break my fast (“breakfast”) and it’s shockingly filling. They are quite literally, the perfect low carb, keto-friendly food. They have very few net carbs, lots of fiber, and it’s mostly just fat. Not just any fat though, it has a magnificent fat profile of mostly monounsaturated fats. (This is the stuff olive oil has a lot of too.)
How to buy and rotate avocados so you always have some ripe ones:
I buy 6-8 avocados at a time because it takes several days for them to ripen and I like to have a good supply.
An easy way to check if they’re ripe without having to smash the skin is to simply push down on the brown stem (if there is one). If it goes down, it’s ready.
If too many avocados are ripening and you want to slow down the process, throw them in the fridge! As simple as that.
With that trick in mind, I usually have 5-10 avocados in the fridge and 5-10 over the counter so that I have a constant supply.
If you have too many avocados that have ripened, make guacamole! Guamacole is super easy to make!
Mash up all the ripe avocados together
Add some lime
Add some minced up cilantro and you’re good to go!
If you’re at a (mexican) restaurant and they serve chips and guacamole, tell them you don’t want the chips, but order some chicken or steak with it and dip it into the guac! Delicious.
2. Eggs
Normally I eat 2-3 eggs, a few times a week. They too, like avocados, are a very keto-friendly food. They have zero carbs and are highly nutritious with an excellent amino acid (protein) profile. Pictured here are some fluffy hard boiled eggs with some salt and pepper. Simple and delicious. If I’m boiling eggs for the day, I will boil some extra ones at the same time to keep for egg salad (recipe below). Other keto friendly ways I prepare eggs?
Scrambled or sunny side up, fried with coconut oil.
Omelette with cheese/veggies
Poached eggs (w/ Hollandaise sauce) (Basically “eggs benedict” without the English muffins.)
Egg salad (below!)
3. Egg Salad
This makes for a nice lunch idea that’s easy to customize and takes barely a few minutes to make because you just mash the ingredients together.
How do I prepare these guys? Easy! I bake them! Don’t be scared of ovens, people, it’s stupid-easy to bake things! Just follow the simple steps below:
Preheat the oven to 400F.
In a small bowl, mix a few tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Soy Sauce together.
Optional: add some minced garlic, maybe some ginger depending on the veggies used.
Put the veggies in a big bowl and pour this small bowl of oil and soy sauce into the veggies and mix it well.
Put the veggies on a pan with Parchment Paper for 400F for 15 minutes.
And that’s it! Ta-daaaa! See how easy it was?
I personally like the EVOO and Soy Sauce, but you could also just put it all with BUTTER, too. That’s keto friendly, too. Oftentimes the veggies are actually there to act as a carrier for the butter.
5. Blueberries! The Keto-Candy.
Frozen blueberries are my favorite little snack! I love the crunch they provide and since they’re so cold, I can’t eat a bunch of them because then I’ll get brain freeze. This also reminds me to treat berries like candy, so I eat them sparingly and usually NOT daily. When they’re on sale, I stock up on a bunch of them, wash them and keep them in the freezer. (I eat raspberries and strawberries sometimes too, but blueberries are my jam, without the jam.)
6. Baked Fish
Fish is something I have ~3x a week that I’m always trying to eat more of. On the days that I don’t eat fish, I take a fish oil capsule to get more Omega 3’s in my diet.
Here’s how I bake fish (you could do this to fillets or whole fish):
Preheat the oven to 375F
Rub salt, pepper, olive oil, lemon and blackened fish seasoning on both sides of the fish.
Bake at 375F for 25-35 minutes.
Done! How easy is that!
Other fish choices: I don’t eat tuna anymore because Wild Sardines in Olive Oil and Smoked Sprats are superior in every way. They are lower on the food chain than tuna and don’t accumulate toxins (such as mercury) and have a superior Omega 3 to 6 ratio! (Btw, I used to buy Riga Sprats but turns out they are stored in rapeseed oil, which is a terrible vegetable oil to eat, not only cause rape is bad, but it’s mostly bad fats… so no more of that brand!)
Normally people eat the above ingredients sandwiched between a bagel. But you can’t have a bagel on a keto diet. Bagels are just bread. Fuck bread. Why would I want that stuff getting in the way of the deliciousness in the middle?
Ingredients:
Smoked Salmon Lox
Cream Cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
Optional: Chopped Green Onions (Scallions)
Optional: Capers
Optional: Avocado
Optional: If you want a “carrier”, you could put it all on a piece of lettuce.
8. Cheese and Olives
I’ve been eating this Kerrygold Dubliner Irish cheese as a standalone snack. I love to get a big knife and make extremely thin slices of these. The taste is so complex and satisfying. (They are available on Costco. And speaking of Kerrygold brand, by the way, their Irish butter tastes really good too. All their products come from grass-fed cows.) I may or may not eat this cheese with some olives. Olives have almost no net carbs and have a great fat profile, so they are a great little keto-friendly snack. I love the ones in brine.
9. Cream Cheese and Bastirma (seasoned, air-dried cured beef)
One of my favorite dairy things is to get cream cheese and mix it with some Armenian cured deli meat called Bastirma. This is one of those foods that are not well known if you’re not familiar with the culture, but it’s highly spiced, the slices are extremely thin and delicious with some cream cheese. Here are some other Middle Eastern Foods that are keto friendly: Since my father is Lebanese-Armenian and my mother is Armenian-Armenian, I know about some foods that others may not know about that are very low carb and these are my random faves:
This is a type of kefir cheese, made in a similar process as Greek Yogurt, but it tastes much more tart, like sour cream. Traditionally it’s spread on a plate and drizzled with olive oil and topped with some dried mint. I personally think it’s dank as fuck.
This is type of highly spiced, dried beef sausage that you could find at your local international market as well, probably in the deli section. I love to eat them with cream cheese.
Note: One of the main drawbacks of deli meat, or highly processed meats is that their protein becomes inferior and a lot of important minerals (like potassium and magnesium) are lost as well, so I don’t make them my main source of protein.
10. Nuts: Macadamia’s and Almonds
As you know, when one is on a low carb diet, they should replace those calories with fat and nuts are predominantly high in fat. The top two nuts that are very low in carbs AND have a very healthy fat profile are macadamia’s and almonds!
These Marcona Almonds with Rosemary are a bit pricey, but have an incredibly luxurious taste. Marcona almonds are fried in olive oil, by the way.
Warning for those trying to lose weight: Nuts are high in calories and it’s easy to “accidentally” eat a few hundred calories of these if you are just munching mindlessly. Even if you practice severe carbohydrate restriction, eating more calories than you need can result in fat gain. (I still use MyFitnessPal when I want to ensure weight loss even on keto, but that's just me, YMMV)
You could have other nuts too, like cashews and peanuts for example. But as dank as they are, I can’t go to town on them cause they’re somewhat higher in net carbs, so I eat them very sparingly and infrequently. If I’m going to have peanuts, I usually opt for peanut butter, actually. And on occasion, I go for cashew butter. (relevant peanut butter related meme)
11. Milk Alternatives for when I want a creamy drink
Note that ALL of these must specifically say “UNSWEETENED” on their label. The beauty of these are that they are only 30-45 calories per cup.
Coconut Milk: In the summertime, there’s something so brisk and refreshing about coconut milk. (It reminds me of summer, probably thanks to all those dark tanning products that smelled like coconut oil.)
Hemp and Flax and Cashew milks: I have only tried these a couple times, they are a bit more fatty, creamy, thick and I like them.
Almond milk is my favorite. Some people don’t like it at all and that bewilders me, but… I like it and it’s a yummy drink to me. I sometimes will heat up a cup and drink it hot.
Soy Milk is my go to when I’m looking for a more hearty drink (clocking in at 100cals/cup), I really like unsweetened soy milk. It’s also great to add to your tea so it’s like a chai-latte. Protip: If you live near some Asian stores, you can find unfiltered soy milk which tastes like the real thing. But you must make sure it’s not sweetened.
12. Arugula Salad
This is stupid easy to make. I just added arugula and avocado and salt & pepper and olive oil. How easy is that? Really easy. You could also do something similar with spinach. Loves me some spinach.
13. Keto-Friendly Foods On The Go
If I’m on the go, I usually don’t have hunger and can get away with several hours without eating but… if I do...
I like Quest Bars, specifically the Choc Chip Cookie Dough flavor. They are the only truly keto-friendly bars that I know of. (Edit: Costco carries Kirkland Protein Bars that are similar to these apparently and much cheaper!)
Sunflower seeds (I love the cracked pepper version) found at most gas stations, are quite a good snack if you like spitting sunflower shells.
If you’re not a fan of spitting sunflower shells, already-shelled-for-you roasted and salted sunflower seeds/kernels are also pretty delicious too. These also are found at gas stations. Just make sure they don’t have added sugar.
I also take an avocado with me sometimes. Here’s how to eat a ripe avocado without any tools:
Bite the skin at the top to remove it and spit it out.
Squeeze the avocado out from the bottom up. Eat it as it comes out the top hole.
Eventually the seed will come out as well and you just keep squeezing it out into your mouth and into the trash or straight into the trash.
Fair warning: Keep the avocado in a place that won’t get mashed in your bag by other things or else it will make a mess. Ask me how I know. :P (Maybe even put it in its own zip lock bag or something)
14. Mineral Management and Daily Supplements
Mineral management is especially important on a ketogenic diet to prevent feeling fatigue (especially before strength or endurance training) or if you’re not feeling well while in ketosis. These are the following things I take:
Multivitamin: I supplement with a daily one-a-day multivitamin to cover my bases.
Sodium & Potassium: It’s no coincidence that many foods I eat are somewhat higher in sodium overall, and that’s because the kidneys excrete more than usual while in ketosis and so I make up for it with the higher sodium intake. But, to not get too much sodium, I use “LoSalt” instead of regular salt because it’s more potassium in it and half the sodium (salt) which makes for a better balance. I also drink bone broth almost daily.
Magnesium: Two of these magnesium pills a day (400mg) for 20 days will help stabilize magnesium levels. This improves almost every cellular process in your body (especially important for sleep and muscle cramps). This is doubly important on keto due to the kidneys excreting faster than usual.
Fish Oil: If I did not eat fish that day, I’ll take 1-2 capsules of fish oil which has lots of omega 3’s in each capsule.
Advisory: Many fish oil brands will say “1200mg” but really, only 300mg of it will only be Omega 3 fatty acids. So read the labels to make sure you're getting one with high DHA/EPA!
Protein: If I haven’t ate much protein or I had a particularly hard strength training day, I will drink a scoop of vegan protein powder and add raw cacao and chia seeds in a blender bottle. The unflavored one tastes really blah but the chocolate or french vanilla flavored ones are a good powder that gets the job done with minimal fuss.
15. Special mention for Fiber
If I’m feeling like I ate too many things that don’t have any fiber (read: meat, cheese, etc) and feel constipated, then I will have 1-2 teaspoons of organic psyllium husk mixed in water. It’s pure fiber which causes me to poop gloriously sometime later that day. ProTip: Nowadays, if I’m going traveling or camping, I will take a zip lock bag of this stuff with me and my bowel movements won’t feel disrupted from the traveling and it works incredibly well. (relevant meme)
Well, that wraps it up
Now you know what I eat on a regular basis. All this info above was from a blog post that I published yesterday titled "What I Actually Eat" but since self promotion is not allowed on this sub, I took the hour here to make it reddit-friendly.
If you're missing an ingredient or curious to know exactly which product I use, there are a billion links (mostly on Amazon) in the official article.
This post blew up and I'm glad this was valuable to many of you! I thank YOU for adding VALUE with your nifty comments! (It's not often I am greeted with so many excellent comments... This sub is a great support group!) Oh and thanks for the gold, internet-friend.
Hey, guys, I have a question that I've been meaning to ask. For the last 6 years I've been making a green smoothie in the morning. As I learn more I hear about Bioavailbility and makes me wonder how much am I really getting from my green smoothie. Could you someone offer their educated opinion on the recipe and let me know if I should add/remove ingredients. I do Crossfit and of course, being vegan (hold the jokes) so I'm trying to build muscle and eat enough. Thoughts? Green Shake Recipe ---------- ¼ of blender water 2 ½ scoops of Garden Of Life Raw Organic Meal (20g of Protein per scoop) About 2 tablespoons of Agave 3 Teaspoons of Ashwagandha Powder 4 Teaspoons of Maca Powder 3 Tablespoons of Peanut Butter About 2-3 Handfuls of fresh organic Power Greens from Grocery Store A handful of Clover Sprouts A handful of Frozen Mango 1 Large Ginger Stalk 1 Organic Apple 1 Jumbo Avocado Raw Cacao Nibs added after for ‘crunch’ to encourage chewing of smoothie and proper digestion --------------------------- Stored in 3 mason jars. I eat it in the morning 6 days a week Sat-Thurs and have Oatmeal for breakfast on Fridays.
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Bring remaining 1 1/2 cups milk to a boil in a small saucepan over high ... Tofu Scramble-Stuffed Peppers Recipe 30 mins - 260 cal Jan 26, 2018 - Get the easy make-ahead breakfast recipe for Tofu Scramble-Stuffed Peppers. Veggie Reuben Sandwich Recipe 20 mins - 365 cal Dec 7, 2018 - Re-create your favorite sandwich with some smart swaps. This take on the Reuben feels familiar thanks to the Swiss cheese and rye bread, but ... Cashew-Goji Berry Bars Recipe 221 cal Combine dates, prunes, and hot water in bowl of a food processor. Process until a thick paste forms, about 20 seconds. Add cashews and cashew butter to date ... Mango and Maca Smoothie Recipe 15 mins - 265 cal This dairy-free mango and maca smoothie is dairy-free, easy to make, and healthy. Butternut Squash-Kale Hash Recipe 40 mins - 282 cal Sep 8, 2016 - Our Butternut Squash-Kale Hash recipe can be your new perfect food Instagram picture. Before pouring your at-home mimosa, grab the easy ... 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Find out how to manage diabetes and ... Grilled Salmon With Tomato-Basil Relish Calories per serving: 261. Fat per serving: 14g. Saturated fat per serving: 2g. Cholesterol per serving: 83mg. Fiber per serving: 1g. Protein per serving: 31g. Roasted Root Vegetables Calories per serving: 219. Fat per serving: 14g. Saturated fat per serving: 2g. Cholesterol per serving: 0mg. Fiber per serving: 5g. Protein per serving: 3g. Basic Granola Recipe Preheat oven to 300ºF. Toss together oats, almonds, pumpkin seeds, coconut, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in oil and syrup. Step 2. Divide mixture ... Coconut-Caramel Pears Get energizing workout moves, healthy recipes, and advice on losing weight and feeling great from Health.com. Find out how to manage diabetes and ... Sole en Papillote Get energizing workout moves, healthy recipes, and advice on losing weight and feeling great from Health.com. Find out how to manage diabetes and ... 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Baffled Nutritionist: Why does broccoli make me sick?
I read The Plant Paradox in August 2018 and began the program immediately. After over a decade of studying nutrition, this is the best book on health and nutrition I've ever read. I was very impressed with the program, so I followed phase-1 to the letter, and later repeated phase-1 on a couple occasions (months apart) to try to kick-start my body again. (Phase-1 is a three-day cleanse where you essentially just eat lettuce, avocado, flax oil, fermented cod liver oil, and perhaps a few other greens like dried nori, and absolutely abstain from sweet fruits, animal products, lectins, most seeds and nuts, etc.) I definitely felt a boost from phase-1. I progressed to phase-2 and I've pretty much stayed there on a lectin-free diet ever since. I'm definitely a canary (a reference to being a "canary in the coal mine"), also known as a HSP (highly sensitive person). And for anyone who cares, I'm an INFJ (Myers Briggs personality type). I'm highly sensitive to a wide variety of foods (especially lectins, refined sweeteners, hydrogenated oils, and conventional fruits), as well as fumes (like fried onion fumes give me migraines), as well as textures and sounds. I've worked on unearthing the causes of these sensitivities from scientific standpoints as well as emotional and spiritual ones for fourteen years. I developed stomach ulcers at the age of sixteen which were misdiagnosed as anxiety, and I didn't discover that I'd had ulcers until I had nearly healed from them entirely myself at the age of twenty. I began avidly research health while I was sick and crawled myself out of the hole my life had fallen into. I spent full years of my life as a raw vegan but switched to raw vegetarian when my joints were hurting in 2012. (Raw vegetarian = Raw vegan + raw dairy and occasionally a raw egg.) I was the chief editor of The Vegetarian Health Institute for five years (age 20 to 25) and had the privilege of learning directly from many renown doctors during my time there, but lectins were still completely under the radar back then, so I had no idea why cashews made me sick. (I was frustrated, because my raw vegan cheesecakes tasted so good, and I was amazing at making them. Now I make them with macadamia nuts. It costs more, but the result is lectin-free and pain-free.) In response to reading The Plant Paradox I have experimented more with cooked foods, now knowing that many of the reactions I was having in response to cooked foods were due to lectins. I write a lot about these discoveries in a detailed article I wrote called "My First Three Weeks on The Plant Paradox Program" here: http://www.raederle.com/2018/09/lectin-gundry-teeth-cavity-vegan-fish.html Unfortunately, the vast majority of cooked foods (even after six months lectin-free) still give me unfortunate reactions. Cauliflower (steamed or raw) gives me really bad gas. Broccoli (steamed or raw) gives me terrible stomach aches. Kale (steamed) gives me stomach aches (but raw kale does not). Asparagus (baked) doesn't upset my stomach, but often it gives me bad gas and it always gives me rank-smelling pee which lasts for days after I've eaten it. (My husband's pee doesn't smell nearly so strongly from eating asparagus as mine does.) Cabbage (raw or cooked) gives me awful stomach pain. Same with garlic. Same with onions. Sweet potatoes (raw or cooked) gives me some of the worst stomach pain, but this I've at least discovered is probably due to the mannitol content; I've reacted very badly to a B12 supplement that used mannitol and it felt very similar to the pain I get from sweet potatoes. Perhaps even worse, adding oil to vegetables such as cooked cabbage or steamed cauliflower makes my reaction way, way worse. I would love to eat cooked vegetables drenched in oil for lunch and dinner, but unfortunately it upsets my stomach very badly. Dr. Gundry recommends making cooked vegetables drenched in healthy fats (MCT oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, macadamia oil and flax oil) a staple in your diet in Chapter 10, where he talks about what to do if you're in critical condition with dementia, cancer, or other severe conditions. Because of The Plant Paradox I decided to give avocado oil a try, which has done very well for me. I can eat fried and baked plantains with avocado oil and have no negative reactions. In fact, plantains seem particularly good for me and help keep me regular. MCT oil has also worked for me. I used to have terrible reactions to coconut oil when I was a raw vegan, but going lectin-free completely (booting goji berries, tomatoes, zucchini, cashews, lentils, peas, etc) seems to have cured me of my sensitivity to coconut oil, and I'm now enjoying it every day. However, I bought some lovely macadamia oil which I love the taste of, but unfortunately it also gives me terrible gas pains. It's a shame, because it tastes amazing on avocados. Fortunately, MCT oil also tastes amazing on avocados with caraway seed, salt and pepper. So, in short, eating lectin-free has healed my gut and/or other organs enough that I can now eat a few things I could not eat at all before, or could not eat much of, or didn't know I could eat. Foods that used to upset my body, but now I can eat:
Coconut oil;
Avocados, (I can eat two a day, as long as I don't eat them back-to-back without negative results);
Avocado oil,
Algae oil,
Wild-caught fish, (I'd previously tried farmed fish and was terribly sick as a result);
Organic cassava flour, (I tried conventional cassava flour and it made me notably depressed and tired every time I ate it);
Hemp seeds, (I used to react to these back when I was eating raw vegan, but now can sprinkle them on everything it seems);
Macadmia nuts, (I used to eat these only raw, but I started eating them roasted and have no problems); and
Pine nuts.
Unfortunately, lots of other things that I had a problem with before have not been cured and I still have no good explanation as to why (except sweet potatoes, which I know is due to the mannitol), including: Foods that currently give me symptoms:
Walnuts and pecans (which give me painful lumps in my breasts that take weeks to dissipate);
Broccoli, garlic, onion, cabbage, sauerkraut, kim chi, and sweet potatoes (which all give me terrible, incapacitating gas pains);
Cauliflower and asparagus (which give me smelly gas and/or pee and sometimes some abdominal pain);
A2A2, grass-fed, Amish-raised, raw dairy products (which cause my skin to break out quite a lot unless we're talking heavy cream or butter, i.e. no milk);
Sesame seeds and tahini (which constipate me and give me gas pains if I have more than a tiny amount – especially whole sesame seeds);
Dairy yogurt (which constipates me);
Egg whites (which give me smelly gas, gas pains, stomach upset, and stinky burps to boot); and
Honey (which causes me to break-out and gives me terrible cravings).
Obviously there is a pattern with me being sensitive to cruciferous vegetables, but this is confusing when so many studies and reputable sources show that cruciferous vegetables are supposed to heal the very same conditions which I suffer from. They are supposed to heal stomach ulcers, cut back inflammation, settle the digestive tract, and help balance flora. So why do they give me so much terrible pain? One person online suggested this is due to the sulfur content of these vegetables, but I'm not sure why that would be a problem. Thoughts? These things I've listed above I mostly avoid due to the reactions, except for a period where I was eating cauliflower and asparagus almost every day just because it was something to eat while following phase-two of The Plant Paradox strictly. Eventually I gave up on being fruit-free as it was just not working for me (like, I was getting really constipated, for example) and added in citrus fruits (mostly grapefruits), bananas (mostly to eat with raw, organic cacao), blueberries, mangoes, and occasionally pineapples. In the article I linked above, I talked about Dr. Gundry's militant assertion that fruit is "just as bad as candy." That doesn't vibe with me or match my experience whatsoever. I elaborate more on The Plant Paradox program and why/how it keeps you off of omega-6 as well in my follow-up article: Six Weeks on the The Plant Paradox Program: http://www.raederle.com/2018/10/oil-plant-paradox-avocado-omega-leaky.html I tried some peeled, pressure-cooked potatoes a couple times during these seven months lectin-free, and I actually reacted less to those than I did to broccoli, garlic, and kim chi. The potatoes made me sleepy, but they didn't give me terrible gas pains, bloating and constipation. Potatoes are a nightshade, and all nightshades (according to Dr. Gundry) should be eliminated from the diet, and only included if seeds and peels are removed, and generally it is still safer if they are pressure-cooked. He says little about potatoes, and I believe his stance is that all night-shade potatoes should be omitted. (Sweet potatoes, in his book, are fine.) Butter, also, like potatoes, makes me very sleepy (my butter is A2, grass-fed, pasture-raised, cultured, salted, summer-butter). However, the reaction from butter is way more dramatic than with potatoes (which I don't put butter on, as the combination would probably prostrate me). Butter actually seems to take my heart-rate down dramatically, and the only way I've found to combat that is to drink ginger juice and also do high-intensity cardio exercise before and after to prevent my heart-rate from dropping crazy low. In the absence of those measures, butter brings my heart-rate down so low that a gentle touch can cut off circulation to an entire limb and have it go painfully pins-and-needles, not to mention how hard it is to simply climb the stairs after having a few cassava pancakes with butter! Also, Dr. Gundry claims my cravings would stop and I wouldn't feel crazy-hungry on this diet. Unfortunately, that never happened. It is still purely an act of willpower to force myself to do intermittent fasting, and when I do start eating it is terribly hard to stop sometimes. I do believe this is mostly a long-standing emotional issue, as few dietary changes have ever impacted my appetite, and I feel hungry almost independent of my mood. (Like, being depressed makes me want to eat the same amount or more.) I was always hungry as a raw vegan as well, but that worked out fine since most raw foods are super low calorie and digest quickly, so I could just keep eating all day and it was fine. Obviously it sounds like I have a severe flora imbalance. That's the obvious conclusion! However:
Yogurt constipates me terribly.
Kim chi and sauerkraut give me horrible, excruciating gas pains that double me over in pain.
I've tried doing Inner Eco on a daily basis (coconut water kefir) and had some mildly positive results from it, but I can easily go through $80 a month on that product alone and it doesn't solve any of the above.
I've tried a slew of probiotics over the past twelve years, many of which I took every day for years, but I have found most of them to be a waste of money, providing little benefit to speak of.
Goat kefir from the store sometimes gives me a boost of energy and relieves constipation, but I think the feed varies and that it sometimes has lectins and sometimes does not, as sometimes it makes me feel sick to my stomach instead.
I tried making yogurt at home: that still constipated me.
I enjoy kombucha and seek out the flavors that aren't sweet at all (Elderberry by AquaViTea for example) and have no negative reactions to these, but they don't do anything for my flora health that I can tell.
A probiotic called Natren's Trinity has helped me overcome various illnesses in the past decade, but it costs $30 for 25 tablets, and it takes two to four tablets a day to get the results I want, so that just isn't sustainable.
I do have a secret weapon I call The Flora Flush Cleanse which I write about in one of my books. It is a cleanse where I have myself and/or my clients eat only fermented and pickled foods with zero exceptions for three days. Vegan kefir, diary kefir, vegan yogurt, dairy yogurt, kombucha, olives, pickles, kim chi, sauerkraut, kvass, etc, are all on the table, and nothing else. Now, by some miracle, despite how several bites of kim chi make me sick when I eat them as part of my lunch or as a regular snack, in the context of the Flora Flush, I don't have any negative reactions to any of these foods. I'm assuming this is possible because none of the foods digest each other. I'm imagining that when I eat kim chi on my regular diet it interacts with some grapefruit, cauliflower or avocado in my intestines somewhere and "blows up." Yet on the Flora Flush, what's the kim chi going to react with? The kefir? The Flora Flush has helped me a lot (and others who've done it), and hence, I put it in my book. Unfortunately, it isn't very sustainable. The scope of foods is broader than you'd think, but it is still very limited. Also, while it isn't inherently expensive, it ends up being very expensive for me due to my preferences and quality standards. I am taking Green Pasture's Blue Ice Royal Blend of fermented cod liver oil and fermented butter oil and this product has done wonders for me – it removed the plaque from my teeth, eliminated the sensitivity in my teeth, healed my gum infection, improved my concentration, and even improved my digestion somewhat. (I've noticed worse reactions to foods when I stopped taking royal blend for periods of time.) So I feel that the $50 a month I spend on this product has been justified because the results are really outstanding; it even helps abate my cravings a little. I am also taking Wiley's Finest Bold Vision which contains: "Concentrated Fish (Pollock) Oil containing Omega-7 Fatty Acid Ethyl Ester, capsule shell (tilapia gelatin, humectant: palm glycerin; purified water), Identity Preserved Non-GMO Vitamin E (Sunflower), FloraGLO® Lutein in Safflower Oil, Zeaxanthin in Safflower Oil, Zinc Picolinate, antioxidants: tocopherol-rich extract, Astaxanthin, Bilberry Extract, emulsifier: Sunflower Lecithin, natural colourant: beeswax." This supplement has done a miracle on my eyes. I've been prone to extremely severe eye-strain my entire life. I even cried when I was outside, in the shade, as a baby due to the nearby bright sunlight. I've had bouts of eye-strain so bad that I had to go blindfolded for days to recover. This incredible product (in combination with low-blue-light, zero-flicker monitor, and usage of salt lamps at night rather than typical lighting) has eliminated my eye-strain! It has made it possible for me to use my computer at night if I need to, and to drive at night and not have any eye-watering or pain due to headlights. This is another $35 a month. I also take vitamin D and K2. The supplement I've been taking is a dry powder in a capsule and I'm unsure if it is really doing anything. It is inexpensive and has no yucky fillers, so it seemed like a good bet. One supplement is 5,000 IU of D3, so that seemed good, but I've noticed zero changes from being on it or off it. So I'm going to try a liquid form next at the same dosage, and then, if still no results, I'm going to try really high doses. Dr. Gundry, among many other experts I respect, claim that high levels of vitamin D are very safe and that they've never seen an overdose despite much information I've encountered that claims the contrary. I can report back on my own experience when I try it, since I seem to be sensitive to anything that anybody else in the world is sensitive to. (Except strawberries: I have an allergic friend, but I have no problems with strawberries.) My current vitamin D/K2 supplement is costing me only like $10 a month, maybe less. I've just bought a new one in fluid form that costs a bit more, but the supplement comes in a base of MCT oil which seems like a great idea for fat-soluble vitamin absorption. I take spirulina daily for cankersores. Before I discovered spirulina I simply couldn't eat pineapple or kiwi at all without getting a cankersore immediately. I also tend to get them from eating a lot of citrus compounded by a little raspberry. So now I just take it daily in tablet form. (I tried spirulina powder but I just couldn't find a way to eat enough of it to help.) This costs me around $17 a month. I mention this list of supplements that I take and how much they cost so you get an idea of (1) what I'm already doing that is working for me, (2) what I feel a reasonable cost is relative to the level of benefit, and (3) because what I've learned and what I'm doing may help someone else with similar issues. My questions are as follows:
Why do foods like yogurt and tahini constipate me?
Why do healthy vegetables like broccoli, garlic, onions, cabbage, and kim chi cause me severe gastric distress?
Why do walnuts give me painful breast lumps?
Why does honey make my teeth hurt?
Is there any hope of changing any of these so that I can eat these foods without these reactions?
I thought, when I first read The Plant Paradox that going lectin-free, omega-6-free (which I pretty much already was), and sweet-free was going to magically make those foods acceptable to my body again. Yet seven months down the road, that isn't the case. (Although I didn't stay sweet-free, I have stayed free of omega-6 rich oils and lectins. Of course with the exception of the small dose of safflower oil I get in my Bold Vision supplement.) I bought The Plant Paradox cookbook, but due to these limitations, I can't really use the vast majority of the recipes in it. I tried the broccoli bites and oh did those make me sick. I tried the recipe again, only with cauliflower, and it came out tasting and looking funny (because the cauliflower was too wet, I think), but it didn't hurt my tummy as much. In both cases my husband just ate most of it in my stead. Usually I have my clients do a food diary for at least three days before I diagnose them to the best of my ability, so here a rough food diary sketch for typical days of mine in the past six months. Everything is certified organic unless specified otherwise. Day Example 1 (when not doing intermittent fasting and whilst avoiding dairy) 1 grapefruit, 5 tablets of compressed spirulina-chlorella powder (breakfast, around 10am) 1 avocado with 2 Tablespoons MCT oil, caraway, sea salt, black pepper (brunch, around 11am) 1 grapefruit, 1 handful roasted macadamia nuts (lunch, around 12pm) 2 baked plantains with avocado oil, sea salt, parsley, cilantro, black pepper and sage (early dinner, around 2pm) 1 grapefruit (snack, 5pm) 2 ounces home-made chocolate consisting of coconut oil, raw cacao, vanilla extract, vanilla powder, raw carob, and home-dried/home-grown stevia (snack, 5pm) 1 tablespoon Royal Blend fermented cod-liver-oil and fermented butter oil (snack 5pm) 8 ounces Elderberry AquaViTea kombucha (snack, 6pm) 1 tea bag Breathe Ease by Traditional Medicinals (snack, 8pm) 1 quart of water over the course of the day Day Example 2 (when doing intermittent fasting, when I'm on my period and need cramps-support) 6 ounces thawed raspberries, 5 tablets of compressed spirulina-chlorella powder (breakfast, 2pm) 1 avocado with dill seed, sea salt, black pepper (brunch, 2:30pm) 3 oranges (lunch, 3pm) 2 fillets wild-caught flounder cooked in avocado oil (dinner, 4pm) 6 ounces thawed raspberries, 5 tablets of compressed spirulina-chlorella powder (cramps medicine, 5pm) 1 teaspoon Royal Blend fermented cod-liver-oil and fermented butter oil (supplement, 5pm) 1 tea bag Healthy Cycle by Traditional Medicinals (cramps medicine, 7pm) 1 to 2 quarts of water over the course of the day Day Example 3 (when doing intermittent fasting) 2 grapefruits, 10 tablets of compressed spirulina-chlorella powder (breakfast, 2pm) 1 tablespoon Royal Blend fermented cod-liver-oil and fermented butter oil (supplement, 2pm) 1 avocado with mild curry powder, sea salt, black pepper (brunch, 2:30pm) 2 bananas with 2 Tablespoons raw cacao (snack, 3pm) 8 ounces wild-caught scallops cooked in avocado oil (lunch, 3:30pm) 6 ounces blueberries, 6 tablets of compressed spirulina-chlorella powder (snack, 4pm) 1 loaf cassava bread made from ½ cup cassava flour, 1 tablespoon arrowroot flour, 3 duck eggs, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, ½ teaspoon baking soda, 1 handful dried apple slices, 1 peeled tart-apple, 1 teaspoon dessert spices including ceylon cinnamon and cardamom, and 1 pinch sea salt topped with 6 Tablepsoons of A2A2 grass-fed butter (dinner, 5pm) 4 ounces Brew Dr.'s Clear Mind kombucha (snack, 5:30pm) 1 tea bag Egyptian Licorice by Yogi Tea (snack, 8pm) 1 quart of water over the course of the day Day Example 4 (when avoiding fruit and sweet flavors) 2 nori wraps filled with ice berg lettuce, dried olives, black pepper, flax oil, and sea salt (breakfast, 11am) 1 tablespoon Royal Blend fermented cod-liver-oil and fermented butter oil (supplement, 11am) 1 avocado with MCT oil, flax seed, sea salt, black pepper (brunch, 12pm) 1 handful macadamia nuts, 1 handful pine nuts (snack, 1pm) 2 fillets wild-caught flounder cooked in avocado oil, 1 goose-egg yolk without the white (lunch, 3pm) 2 thick slices grass-fed sheep cheese (snack, 4pm) 1 teaspoon Royal Blend fermented cod-liver-oil and fermented butter oil (more supplement to help with cravings, 4pm) 5 ounces coconut yogurt or sheep yogurt, 2 more slices of cheese, 1 head steamed cauliflower with salt and pepper (dinner, 5pm) 1 avocado with algae oil, black pepper and sea salt (snack, 6pm) 1 coconut wrap filled with tahini, lettuce, olives, black pepper, sea salt, and flax oil (snack, 6pm) 1 tea bag Throat Coat by Traditional Medicinals (snack, 7pm) 1 to 2 quarts of water over the course of the day You'll see these examples have me stopping food by 6pm. That's actually optimistic and doesn't always happen. However, when I do eat late, I end up with acid reflux in the middle of the night, especially if I eat a large meal, like two fish fillets at 9pm will always do that. The above gives you a pretty good range of my various styles of eating at various times. I'm open to further questions and open to all kinds of advice, ideas or reflections. Even just empathy is nice. I'm especially interested in advice or ideas from people who read the articles I linked from here as well, and understand fully what I'm saying about my sensitivities to lectins, FODMAPs, mannitol, refined sweeteners, etc, and still yet have further information to give me which I do not have. But I'm open to experiential advice, non-expert advice, and also professional advice. Raederle (Ray-der-lee)
reasons why vegan diets are unhealthy, debate these.
five Reasons Why Vegan and Vegetarian Diets End Up In Disaster
In this article, I first look at the different vegan and vegetarian diets that exist. Next, I will have a look at all the problems associated with vegan and vegetarian diets – by giving you eight reasons why you should steer clear from any vegetarian, and especially vegan diet. This article is not written as an attack on vegan's or vegetarian's. I have good friends who choose to follow these particular diets. Instead this article is meant to help clear the confusion around whether plant based diets are the best for our health or not. The sad thing is that a lot of people have been misled into believing that vegan or vegetarian diets are optimal for their health and mental performance, while in reality this is far from the truth. Note - If you are a vegan or vegetarian and you know that all the evidence in the world won't change your way of eating, then I highly recommend downloading myFREE essential supplement guidefor vegans and vegetarians.Click HERE to download.
Different Vegan and Vegetarian Diets
For those who are not acquainted with vegan and vegetarian diets:
Vegan diets eliminate all animal meats and animal by products (such as eggs and milk from an animal) foods;
Vegetarian diets on the other hand, allow for some animal food consumption, as long as the food does not come from the body of an animal. So, milk and eggs are allowed on a vegetarian diet, while bone broth, meat cuts, or fish are avoided.
There are subtle differences between variations of vegetarian and vegan diets. Some vegans, for example, might even allow the consumption of oysters and mussels, because of the argument that the nervous systems of these creatures are not developed in such a way to allow these creatures to feel pain. This is called ostro-veganism. Next to ostro-veganists, there are all kinds of difficult names to describe different vegan or vegetarian diet variations: there are lacto-vegetarians, raw-vegans, ovo-vegetarians, partial vegetarians, pesco-vegetarians, and so forth. For the purpose of this article, you do not need to remember all these names. To keep things simple, this article assumes that vegans do not eat any animal products at all. And I assume that vegetarians still consume milk and eggs – because their argument basically boils down to the notion that milk and egg consumption does not hurt animals. When considering the health effects of these two diets, I criticize vegan diets more heavily in this article, because I consider vegan diets more dangerous than vegetarian diets for your energy levels, mental well-being, and physical performance. As will become clear, if you’re following a vegan diet, you will be missing out on even more nutrients than on a vegetarian diet. However, keep in mind that you will still be missing out on essential nutrients on a vegetarian diet, compared to the omnivorous diet that I consider best for your health. Enough of the context, let's look at 8 reasons why a vegan or vegetarian diet is damaging to your health.
Reason 1: It’s Hard to Get Enough Protein in a Vegan or Vegetarian Diet
It’s much harder to get sufficient protein from a vegan diet.[1] This is true for vegetarians as well, but only to a lesser extent. Steak or fish contain 20-30 grams of protein per 100 grams of product. The main protein sources for vegans - vegetables, beans, soy, tempeh, and rice - contain only 5-20 grams of protein per 100 grams of product. Why is this an issue? Inadequate protein consumption leads to protein deficiency. This leads to edema, fatty liver, hair, skin and nail issues, poor recovery and growth, weakened immune system and loss of muscle and bone density. Sure, there are high protein sources for vegans, such as hemp protein powder, that you can use to increase your protein intake. But hemp protein powder contains large amounts of unstable polyunsaturated fatty acids. That PUFA content only becomes higher in other hemp products, such as hemp seeds. So, hemp is not a great option to get your protein needs met given the dangers of PUFA overconsumption (read more about this topic HERE). I’m not saying that it’s impossible to get your daily need for protein through a vegan diet—instead, I’m saying that you’re swimming against the current when trying to get your daily protein needs met exclusively through plant food consumption. An analogy would be my vision towards strength training: would you rather train 15 minutes a week, and get excellent results, or spend 5 hours a week sweating in the gym, and get the exact same result? The same is true for getting your protein needs on a diet that includes animal foods: it takes less work to get all of your protein requirements from animal foods.
What about vegetarians?
The fact that vegetarians eat milk and eggs does give them a huge advantage compared to a vegan diet. However, most vegetarians do not make milk and eggs a staple of their diet. And only eat small amounts of milk and eggs to avoid health problems. Many vegetarians therefore end up having too little protein in their diets as well. If you’re following the diet on my Hormone Reset Program, where fish, meat, liver, bone broth, milk, and eggs are staples of your diet, then you will have a lot lower chance to ingest too little protein.
Reason 2: Vegan and Vegetarian Diets have Lower Protein Quality
Vegan diets not only make it more difficult to ingest sufficient protein, but the protein quality of many vegan foods is also lower than that of animal foods. Animal proteins are the highest quality proteins: eggs, fish, milk, whey protein and beef, for example.[2],[3]. I wrote a detailed article on protein quality HERE. Yes I acknowledge that soy protein made it on the list of high-quality proteins as well, but soy has enormous drawbacks as a food group. Soy increases your estrogen levels, is a GMO crop meaning it is extremely high in glyphosate, and it is also high in PUFAs. Other plant-based options, such as hemp, pea, or rice protein powder, all have much lower protein quality compared to animal sources, such as fish or meat. 📷 Vegan Protein Staples.Source greatist.com Protein quality is always really important. Let’s say you’re trying to improve your results in the gym. In that case, when soy, rice, beans, grains, and vegetables are the staple foods of your diet, you will just not have the same muscle building response compared when ingesting different types of animal foods.[4] In essence, more muscle tissue is built on high-quality animal foods compared to plant foods.[5] But protein quality is not just important for muscle mass. The greater the quality of the protein you ingest on a diet, the easier it becomes to lose weight.[6] Ingesting higher quality proteins will also help you build stronger bones.[7] And a higher quality protein - as found in animal products - is better absorbed in the body than proteins derived from plants. [73] The fact that vegetarians eat some animal foods, means that they will have less of a problem with regard to protein quality. So, if you’re a vegetarian, make sure that milk and eggs become a staple of your protein-rich foods. If you’re a vegan, however, these protein quality issues cannot easily be circumvented. By following a vegan diet, you’re making it harder for yourself to achieve optimal health and performance.
Reason 3: Vegan and Vegetarian Diets lack Specific Amino Acids
There is another big issue with both vegan and vegetarian diets: these diets lack specific amino acids. Amino acids are the “building blocks” of proteins. You need a balanced intake of amino acids, to get the most benefits out of your diet. Bone broth, a food source avoided by vegans and vegetarians, is one food group that contains unique amino acids, that are lacking in our modern diet. In my guide to bone broth, I covered how bone broth has so many amazing health benefits. You can make bone broth by slowly boiling bones over a long period of time, which takes up to 48 hours. Gelatin and collagen proteins – which are often sourced from the skin and connective tissue of animals - contain the same unique amino acids that are found in bone broth. Consumption of collagen or gelatin proteins, however, are avoided by both vegetarian and vegan diets because they stem directly from the connective tissue of animals. As bone broth is sourced directly from the bones of animals, vegetarian and vegan diets avoid the use of bone broth as well. 📷 Bone Broth - a nutrient dense food Sure you can make vegetable broths, but from a nutrient standpoint these lack the amino acids found in traditional bone broth. Just because they share a name, doesn't mean they share the same nutrient properties. The elimination of these foods creates big problems for vegetarian and vegan diets: the specific amino acids contained in them, such as glycine, proline, and hydroxyproline, cannot be ingested at adequate levels in a typical vegan or vegetarian diet. Even omnivores need to consume bone broth, collagen, or gelatin, to get adequate amounts of these amino acids in their diets. By just consuming meat, fish, and shellfish, you cannot get these amino acids. Why do the amino acids found in bone broth matter so much? Bone broth has been shown to:
Improve your gut health and smoothen and strengthen your skin[8],[9],
Toughen the connective tissue in tendons and ligaments and increase bone health[10],
Decrease joint pain[11],
Improve sleep quality[12],
and improve overall mental well-being[13].
What about supplementation? You might think that vegans and vegetarians can get the specific amino acids contained in bone broth, collagen, or gelatin, by supplementing them. But even supplementation is difficult. I’ve searched far and wide, and cannot find any vegan or vegetarian source of proline or hydroxyproline, which are key amino acids in bone broth, gelatin, and collagen. Eating a vegetarian or vegan diet, you will not get the benefits from consuming bone broth, gelatin, or collagen. However, the problem with with amino acid deficiency does not stop with bone broth. There’s an additional amino acid that’s almost exclusively found in animal foods: taurine. Taurine is mostly found in shellfish, meat and fish. Eggs, seaweed, and milk are another – but very suboptimal – way to get taurine in your diet. The only way to get taurine for vegans, is to supplement with taurine, or to ingest taurine through brewer’s yeast. I hope you are beginning to see a pattern here: it takes a lot of time and effort to support the body with all the individual nutrients that you will be missing out on a vegan or vegetarian diets. Sure, vegetarians can ingest some taurine through their eggs and milk, but the taurine content in eggs and milk is not nearly as high as it is in meats and fish. If you’re a vegetarian, you therefore still need to supplement with additional taurine. You can download my FREE vegan and vegetarian essential supplement guide my clicking HERE. Why is Taurine important?
You need adequate amounts of taurine to lower your chances to get cardiovascular disease[14],
develop and maintain a healthy nervous system and eyes[15],
to prevent inflammation[16] – which lies at the basis of many modern diseases,
for optimal immune functioning,[17]
to slow down aging,[18]
and to improve exercise performance.[19]
Taurine really has all-round benefits for your health. Scientists have actually tested the levels of taurine in different populations. In vegans, taurine levels were much lower than omnivores.[20] This means that almost all vegans are not getting enough of this key nutrient right now.
Reason 4: It’s Hard to Consume Enough Quality Fats on Vegan and Vegetarian Diets
I’ve already stated that getting the right amount of proteins and good quality proteins is much more difficult if not impossible on a vegan or vegetarian diet. To make matters worse, it’s also problematic to get the right fats into your body on these diets. Sure, there are some great options to get some healthy fats in your diet as a vegan, such as coconut oil, high-cacao dark chocolate, or avocados. But let’s say that you’re mostly eating beans, rice, soy, fruits, vegetables, and (hopefully soaked or sprouted) grains. In that case, you will still end up having problems getting the right fats into your diet. If you’re eating foods such as full-fat raw milk, oysters, and pastured eggs, then you will be getting all the healthy fats you need, just by eating these staple foods. Healthy fats such as saturated fats, cholesterols, some omega 3s etc. These high-quality (animal) fats are essential to your health. High quality fats reduce your bodyfat, are great for your heart and brain health, and will give you stable energy for hours. 📷 Don't believe the lie. Animal fat is actually heart healthy. Read morehere. Sadly enough, many great fat sources such as beef or fish are avoided by vegetarians. This problem is worse for vegans, as they do not even consume eggs or milk, which contain some of these important fats. The problems do not stop here: there’s an additional problem with many vegan foods. Almost all oils that are found in many vegan products, such as soybean oil, rice oil, margarine, different vegetable oils, sunflower oil, and even flaxseed oil are very high in PUFAs. PUFAs are extremely detrimental to your health. As a vegan, you therefore need to avoid many supposedly “healthy” pre-packaged foods are stuffed with these PUFAs: 📷 Meat-free does not equal healthy The soy found in your tofu burger is bad in itself, but the additional PUFAs added to the burger make it a toxin bomb. See the label of the vegetarian burger above: sesame oil, safflower oil, and ten additional “Frankenstein” ingredients which no health conscious person should consume. It’s almost impossible to get all the right fats in your diet when you’re eating a vegan diet on a daily basis. The problem gets worse though. There are also some very specific fats that are lacking in a vegetarian or vegan diets.
One main missing healthy fat for vegans is CLA – or conjugated linoleic acid. CLA is mainly found in butter, eggs, and beef. There’s rising evidence that CLA will help you lose bodyfat,[21] improve insulin functioning, and aid in building muscle.[22]
As a vegan, you can thus only obtain this fat in your diet once you supplement with it.
There’s yet another very important healthy fat called DHA, which is lacking in vegan diets. DHA is also very hard to consume within vegetarian diets (but not entirely impossible).
DHA – or Docosahexaenoic acid in full – is an essential fatty acid that is mainly found in oily fish, such as wild salmon, sardines, or mackerel. Other sources of DHA that work reasonably well are krill, meat and eggs. It is possible to supplement with DHA in the form of fish oil, but most fish oil on the market has a very poor quality. The fish oil is often either oxidized, or not very well absorbable.[23] So supplementation is not always your best option to get your DHA needs met. Vegetarians and vegans can use an algae oil as a DHA supplement - or they could simply consume some wild caught fish or even egg yolks - both which contain readily absorbed DHA. 📷 The Garden of Life Omega 3 Algae product is a vegan DHA supplement- use discount codeBHS654to save on youriherb.compurchase. You can find a great quality algae oil here (and download my free supplement guide HERE) Such a supplement is very expensive though, costing $120 a month to get DHA’s maximum benefits. It’s much easier (and tastier) to just eat a can of sardines! At the end of the day, vegans and vegetarians don't get enough DHA in their diets. When measured, vegetarians have lower DHA levels than omnivores – and the problem gets even worse for vegans.[24],[25],[26] The reason vegetarians and vegans have lower DHA levels in their blood, is that it’s extremely hard for the body to create the right kind of DHA from plant sources. [27],[28] Luckily, vegetarians still consume some DHA through milk or eggs, but it’s often not enough to get sufficient levels in your body. You thus need fish, shellfish or egg yolks to get optimal DHA levels in your diet. Everyone needs adequate amounts of DHA: it’s important for brain development and brain function,[29] cardiovascular health,[30] curbing inflammation[31], and improving your overall mood.[32] So, DHA becomes yet another nutrient that you need to supplement while being on a vegetarian or vegan diet! It now becomes very clear that it is extremely hard to consume enough healthy fats on a vegetarian or vegan diet, and it’s also almost impossible to consume enough specific healthy fats that you need as well, such as CLA or DHA.
Reason 5: Vegan and Vegetarian Diets lack Essential Minerals
In addition to getting enough and high-quality proteins and fats, vegan and vegetarian diets lack in many very important minerals, such as calcium, iron and zinc. The problem in getting enough minerals, originates because many foodstuffs that vegetarians and vegans rely on, such as grains, rice, beans, soy, all contain anti-nutrients in one form or another. Several anti-nutrients exist, such as lectins, [33] phytic acid, [34] and different phytates and fibers.[35] When foods like grains or beans are left untreated, these antinutrients will prevent the uptake of minerals from that food. Antinutrients are the natural defense mechanism that foods like grains or beans have, to prevent them from being eaten by animals. While protecting the plant itself, however, these antinutrients also prevent you from absorbing the plant’s minerals. Because vegetarians and vegans rely so much on plant foods, their anti-nutrient consumption tends to be a lot higher – leading to mineral deficiencies. Remember, it's not what you eat, it's what you absorb. The issue of anti-nutrients is actually a lot more complicated that I’m describing here. Overall the net amount of minerals you get from a diet that is rich in plant food, is a lot lower than that of a well rounded omnivore diet. Let’s look at some examples:
Calcium: Vegans have much higher fracture risk, due to their diets containing too little absorbable calcium.[36] While calcium in vegetables absorbs pretty well, you would still need to eat 2 pounds of vegetables on average a day to achieve your daily recommended allowance of calcium as a vegan.[37]
If you eat the wrong vegetable, such as spinach – which contains little well absorbed calcium because of anti-nutrients – then you will almost get no calcium that can be effectively used by the body at all.
trying to eat dates in the last month? here's a delicious smoothie/milkshake
I don't remember where I found this recipe from (might have been this sub!), and I am not vegan. But it's certainly delicious, and I use 5 dates instead of 3, so I just do one per day! Vegan Peanut Butter Cup Shake Ingredients:
3/4 cup water
1 tablespoon chia seeds
2 tablespoons all-natural peanut butter Peanuts are one of the crops most heavily sprayed with pesticides, so some people prefer to buy organic.
3 soft Medjool dates, pitted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoons raw cacao powder (I use regular cocoa powder)
3 large handfuls of ice cubes
Directions: Combine all of the ingredients, except for the ice, in a high-speed blender and blend until the seeds are completely broken down. Add in the ice and blend again to create a thicker shake that’s cold and creamy. Serve immediately.
Hey everyone! So while I've had a couple interviews I was excited about, none of them have resulted in an offer. One was a sort of "we may have openings early next year", so we'll see what happens in the mean time. I'm still staying as positive as possible, applying a bunch positions every week, etc. Due to how the waitlist worked out, the baby will be going to daycare starting next week. While that's an expense we were hoping to avoid, it does mean that I'll be able to make cooking videos uninterrupted during the day. I've tried to make a couple for you, but pretty much every time the baby woke up in the middle and I'd have to run off and things would get crazy and ruined and so forth...didn't make for good footage! That said, I continue to appreciate and thank from the bottom of my heart my Patreon supporters! Most of them have been supporting me at just a dollar or two a week, while a couple have really invested in me at higher pledges. While none of them have asked for specific rewards, I'm always willing to figure something out for anyone who pledges and wants something, like an extra recipe per week, or even something like a live cooking class or whatever. I'll repeat that I'm not licensed or anything, I just love food and cooking :) If you used to drink a bunch of sugary starbucks but I've convinced you to clean up your cooking, consider supporting my patreon with just one day of your old habit...1-2 dollars per week helps me a lot with my groceries! Check me out at www.patreon.com/primalmealplan This week I tossed in two "side dishes" that are a breakfast food and a dessert food. I almost always do main and side dishes, so I wanted to toss you a couple more things you could try out to cover all your bases! Enjoy! Instant Pot Picadillo - Sort of like a chili, but with somewhat more saltyness. If you don't have an instant pot, just toss this in a slow cooker for the usual 8 hours on low. Paleo Sweet Potato Gnocchi in Spinach Cream Sauce - I love gnocci, and starting paleo was a sad day when I found that I'm not good enough to make it with no flour like some of the masters. However, using cassava flour seems to work pretty well! Give this a shot! If you want those trademark ridges, lightly press the back of a fork into the top of the gnocci. Garlic Butter Meatballs - My wife sent this to me on Pintrest...and I'm glad she did! The title pretty much says it all. Pumpkin Apple Breakfast Bake (Paleo, Whole30) - I've seen pumpkin chia recipes, and it makes me wonder why we don't have more pumpkin for breakfast as a society. This is very good! Dairy-Free Fudgesicles (Vegan, Paleo) - Creamy and chocolaty....not quite the real thing, but still very tasty! Grocery List Baking Goods ☐ 2/3 cup cacao powder Canned and Jar Goods ☐ 1 can full fat coconut milk ☐ 1/2 cup full-fat canned coconut milk ☐ 2/3 cup full fat coconut milk ☐ 1 cup pumpkin puree ☐ 4 oz (1/2 can) tomato sauce Dairy ☐ 4 tbsp. butter ☐ 1 egg, beaten ☐ 3 large eggs ☐ 1/2 c. grated Parmesan, plus more for garnish Meat ☐ 1-1/2 lb 93% lean ground beef ☐ 1 lb. ground chicken Miscellaneous ☐ 2 tbsp alcaparrado (capers or green olives would work too) ☐ 1 large apple peeled and diced ☐ 2 large ripe Avocados peeled and diced ☐ 1/2 cup cassava flour ☐ 1 cup mashed sweet potato cooked-boiled until soft ☐ 1 tablespoon tapioca flour optional- as a thickener ☐ 1 lb. zoodles Oils and Dressings ☐ 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil ☐ 1 tablespoon olive oil ☐ 2 teaspoons olive oil Produce ☐ 1 large ripe banana mashed ☐ 1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped ☐ 2 tbsp cilantro ☐ 2 cloves garlic, minced ☐ 2-3 large garlic cloves ☐ 5 garlic cloves, minced and divided ☐ Juice of 1/2 a lemon ☐ 1 small red onion minced ☐ 1/2 large chopped onion ☐ 2 tbsp. freshly chopped parsley ☐ 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary chopped ☐ 1 tablespoon fresh sage chopped ☐ 1 cup fresh spinach ☐ 1 tomato, chopped Sauces and Condiments ☐ 1/2 cup pure maple syrup to taste Snacks ☐ 3/4 cup chopped pecans Spices and Seasonings ☐ 1-2 bay leaf ☐ optional red chili pepper flakes to taste ☐ 1 tsp cinnamon divided ☐ 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon ☐ 1 tsp ground cumin ☐ 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes ☐ 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice ☐ 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract Instant Pot Picadillo Uncategorized Cook 30 minutes Makes 6 servings, serving size Source Skinnytaste.com Ingredients
1-1/2 lb 93% lean ground beef 1/2 large chopped onion 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 tomato, chopped 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped 2 tbsp cilantro 4 oz (1/2 can) tomato sauce 1 tsp ground cumin 1-2 bay leaf 2 tbsp alcaparrado (capers or green olives would work too)
Directions Press saute button, when hot brown meat and season with salt and pepper. Use a wooden spoon to break the meat up into small pieces until no longer pink. Add onion, garlic, tomato, salt, pepper and cilantro and stir 1 minute, add alcaparrado or olives and about 2 tbsp of the brine (the juice from the olives, this adds great flavor) cumin, and bay leaf. Add tomato sauce and 3 tablespoons of water and mix well. Cover and cook high pressure 15 minutes. Natural or quick release and enjoy! Paleo Sweet Potato Gnocchi in Spinach Cream Sauce Uncategorized Prep 20 minutes Cook 10-15 minutes Makes 2-4 servings Source Paleoglutenfree.com Ingredients
Gnocchi: 1 cup mashed sweet potato cooked-boiled until soft 1/2 cup cassava flour 2 teaspoons olive oil pinch of sea salt optional Sauce: 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 small red onion minced 2-3 large garlic cloves 1 can full fat coconut milk 1 tablespoon tapioca flour optional- as a thickener 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary chopped 1 tablespoon fresh sage chopped 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1 cup fresh spinach optional red chili pepper flakes to taste
Directions Gnocchi In a bowl stir together the cooked mashed sweet potato and flour for the gnocchi until completely smooth. If you don't have cooked sweet potato on hand, make it by peeling a large sweet potato, cutting into 2" chunks, and boiling in water until soft (drain water from sweet potatoes after boiling). Separate dough into four equal parts and roll out into 3/4" diameter tubes on a surface dusted lightly with cassava flour. Cut the tubes of dough into 1" pieces. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and drop gnocchi into it. Once they have risen to the surface, remove, and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Heat a skillet over medium heat and pour 1 tablespoon olive oil into the pan. Add gnocchi and cook on each side until golden, then remove. Sauce In a skillet saute the minced onion and garlic in 1 tablespoon olive oil for the sauce until golden then set aside. Add rest of ingredients for the sauce (except spinach and leave out tapioca flour if you want the sauce to be thinner) to the sautéed onion and garlic. Bring sauce to a low boil and boil for 1-2 minutes, stirring continuously (otherwise the flour will clump in the sauce) until sauce thickens. Then stir in spinach, let it wilt, and add gnocchi. Garlic Butter Meatballs Uncategorized Prep 0 Cook 0 Makes 4 servings Source Delish.com Ingredients
1 lb. ground chicken 5 garlic cloves, minced and divided 1 egg, beaten 1/2 c. grated Parmesan, plus more for garnish 2 tbsp. freshly chopped parsley 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil 4 tbsp. butter Juice of 1/2 a lemon 1 lb. zoodles
Directions In a large bowl mix together ground chicken, 2 garlic cloves, egg, Parmesan, parsley, and red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper then form into tablespoon sized meatballs. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat oil and cook meatballs until golden on all sides and cooked through, 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate and wipe out skillet with a paper towel. Melt butter in skillet then add remaining 3 garlic cloves and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Add zoodles to skillet and toss in garlic butter then squeeze in lemon juice. Add meatballs back and heat just until warmed through. Garnish with Parmesan to serve. Pumpkin Apple Breakfast Bake (Paleo, Whole30) Uncategorized Prep 10 minutes Cook 40 minutes Makes 6 Source Wholesomelicious.com Ingredients
1 cup pumpkin puree 3 large eggs 2/3 cup full fat coconut milk 1 large ripe banana mashed 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice 1 tsp cinnamon divided 1/4 tsp salt 1 large apple peeled and diced 3/4 cup chopped pecans
Directions Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x8 square pan with coconut oil or spray, set aside. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, banana, eggs, coconut milk, pumpkin pie spice, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and salt. Using a hand mixer or immersion blender, beat the ingredients together. In a separate bowl, sprinkle remaining cinnamon on the diced apple and coat the apples. Now mix into the wet ingredients. Pour into square pan. Sprinkle the pecans along the top of the dish, and place in the oven. Bake for 35-40 minutes (depending on oven). You will want the top to be mostly firm and golden on the top. Let sit for at least 10 minutes before serving. You can also chill and store in the fridge for up to a week. Serve warm, cold, or at room temperature! Dairy-Free Fudgesicles (Vegan, Paleo) Uncategorized Prep 10 min Makes 6 fudgesicles Source Theroastedroot.net Ingredients
2 large ripe California Avocados peeled and diced 2/3 cup raw cacao powder 1/2 cup pure maple syrup to taste 1/2 cup full-fat canned coconut milk 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Directions Add the ingredients for the fudgesicles to a food processor and process until completely smooth - you may need to stop the food processor to scrape the sides with a rubber spatula a few times. Spoon the fudgesicle mixture into your popsicle mold. Stir the mixture around in the molds and tap it gently on the counter to ensure the molds are completley filled and to avoid air pockets. Cover the popsicle mold with its lid and insert popsicle sticks. Freeze for at least 3 hours, until completely set up. When ready to eat, thaw the popsicles 5 to 8 minutes, or run the outside of the mold under hot water to help release the fudgesicles. Enjoy!
Cacao butter can be used in conjunction with cacao powder and natural sweetener to make your own chocolate (see some recipes below). It is also great to add to bliss balls or nut bases to hold them together and can be used in the place of coconut oil. It will add a lovely velvety, chocolate flavour. Cacao butter is edible but it is also used in skin care products. Vegan Cacao Butter Recipes. Explore raw and vegan cacao butter recipes (aka cocoa butter) and discover its uses in cooking desserts, making chocolate, baking and more tasty treats! Cacao butter is mostly the same as cocoa butter - the only difference is that cacao tends be raw (i.e. not heated to over 45°C / 113°F), but check the packaging to be sure. Both of them are vegan, as they're ... Feb 28, 2018 - Explore Julie Palmer Priddy's board "Cacao butter recipes", followed by 163 people on Pinterest. See more ideas about cacao butter recipes, butter recipe, recipes. Cacao recipes and articles. Cacao is simply raw cocoa beans ground into a powder and is ideal for use in raw chocolate recipes. If you don’t have any, you can just use unsweetened cocoa powder instead. If you’re not keen on using cacao powder, you can use carob powder instead in many of these recipes. Black Bean Chocolate Pudding. This black bean chocolate pudding is packed with nutrient ... Sprinkle a few granules of sea salt and drop 1–2 carob chips in each cup and place your tray in the freezer. Prepare the chocolate topping in a bowl by combining the raw cacao, vanilla, the other tablespoon of coconut oil, and sweetener of choice. Stir well to combine. Raw Cacao Desserts Recipes 8,319 Recipes. Are you looking for a quick and easy recipe? Yes No No Preference. Skip. Last updated Jan 28, 2021. This search takes into account your taste preferences. 8,319 suggested recipes . Guilt & Gluten Free Chocolate Banana Pie AmbraTorelli. sweet potato starch, banana, alcohol, erythritol, cacao nibs and 15 more. Choc-Mint Pudding KitchenAid. pure maple ... Aug 1, 2019 - Cacao Butter is pure vegetable fat that is extracted directly from the cacao bean. It is packed with antioxidant properties, vitamins and minerals and is often used to make dessert-type dishes, as well as lotions, soaps, and lip balms! TRY WITH: Desserts, Smoothies, Energy Balls, Chocolate Creations, Substitute your Regular Butter, Lotions and Soaps!. cacao butter coconut oil cocoa powder coconut butter maple syrup vanilla extract sea salt raw cashew coconut milk stevia coconut dairy-free gluten-free vegan vegetarian egg-free pescetarian kosher red meat-free tree nut-free seafood-free dessert snack beverage breakfast brunch The Spruce / Anastasiia Tretiak Did you know that you can make raw vegan chocolate at home using nothing but cocoa, cocoa butter, and a liquid sweetener like agave or maple syrup? It's that easy to enjoy vegan chocolate at home any time you like with no cooking required. Making homemade cacao recipes are a great way to use fresh raw cacao, the bean that all chocolate originates from. This is the naturally fermented and dried cacao "nut or seed" that comes from the Theobroma cacao tree. The skins are usually removed from the bean and sold as a peeled whole bean or crushed to make raw cacao nibs, cacao paste, cacao powder and cacao butter.
