Holistic Instincts

An empanada is pretty much a hand-held pie, with fillings ranging from savory to sweet.  Usually fried, I baked these flavorful beef empanadas, and they came out darn good that way! For the dough, I used Primal Palate's wrapper dough recipe from their book Make it Paleo II .  I have listed a few options for dough below.  If you are not following any dietary restrictions, wonton wrappers should work well here (these are NOT Paleo, though). Leftover empanadas store beautifully in the refrigerator and can be eaten cold.  They are also portable, making them a great lunch-box option. Beef Empanadas For the dough: Yucca dough by Predominantly Paleo Cassava flour dough , also by Predominantly Paleo AIP pie dough by Eat Heal Thrive (omitting the maple syrup and vanilla) Or 1 package prepared wonton wrappers (not Paleo) For the filling: 1 tablespoon olive oil, or cooking fat of choice 1/2 onion, diced 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 lb organic ground beef 3 teaspoo

I have been making this pasta sauce for YEARS and it is definitely one of our family favorites!  It is absolutely easy and quick to make with the aid of my best friend, the electric  Instant Pot (you have one, right?),  And over the last few months, this is a recipe that my 14 year old has been in charge of since it is one of his favorite meals. First, a couple notes: An electric pressure cooker is used for this recipe.  I am sure this can be adapted to be prepared on the stove - I might follow all instructions, and just increase the final cooking time to an hour. If your family tolerates dairy, I HIGHLY recommend adding a hunk of rind from wedge of real Parmesan cheese before simmering the sauce.  The rind may seem odd but every part of this delicious cheese is traditionally used, including the rind.  Mo mystery stuff from a green can here, please!  The cooking process softens the cheese rind, leaving it almost spongy, and it imparts an incredible depth of flavor to the sau

The recipe is a little different than most, in that it uses essential oils for some of flavorings.  Now, you may know that I love Young Living essential oils for many reasons .  They are a therapeutic-grade essential oil, and unadulterated, unlike most essential oils available.  And Young Living has an extensive line of dietary-grade essential oils, called Vitality ™, that can be used to as a dietary supplement or added to food and beverages (ordering info here ). I used Ginger Vitality ™ essential oil because fresh ginger is simply one of those ingredients I rarely have on hand.  And powdered ginger always tasted dusty to me.  I used the Lemon  Vitality ™ here because it sounded good and again, I didn't have fresh lemons laying around and we are not getting started on bottled lemon juice, right? I suspect that Lime  Vitality ™ will work wonderfully in this Asian-inspired recipe.  I kept the red pepper flake to a minimum because I still have a kid that prefers things on the

Thanksgiving is almost here and I planned to write another pumpkin post, but then I remembered pumpkin isn't my favorite flavor!  Instead, today I am sharing with you my absolute favorite pie recipe, one so good, that my daughter asks for this pie instead of cake on her birthday.  It is THAT good! This recipe started out as a strawberry/rhubarb pie but since I never actually have rhubarb on hand, this became just a strawberry jam pie.  And I am sorry to say I don't know enough about food science to explain why the filling actually becomes jam-like, but it does and it is the best!  Once baked and cooled, I cut this pie into 4 pieces and I eat my slice straight out of my hand.  No fork needed!  Luckily, this pie only makes an appearance twice a year or we would be in trouble..... In my past life, I always used a premade pie crust for pies, but I found that gluten-free prepared crusts sometimes have an odd flavor.  Now, I always use ** Brittany Angell's  Paleo Copycat

I love to bake, but unlike regular cooking, I just never think about creating a recipe for a baked treat. I have 4,123 cookbooks that allow me to produce plenty of legit Paleo desserts and other yummy treats as it is.  And since some Paleo-approved ingredients may be pricy, risking a batch of something only to have it fail just does not appeal to me.  But last weekend, my son mentioned having a craving for a doughnuts.  And I mentioned that conversation to my husband.  And doughnuts was ALL he could talk about that weekend. But I do have a confession to make:  I am not an all-things-pumpkin kind of person.  You know that type of person, right?  The one that count down the last of the summer days just to get into flavored coffees, ice cream, and who knows what else?  I don't know!  I mean, I  like pumpkin pie well enough, but maybe because Thanksgiving only comes around once a year and I do not have to think about it again for another year. Well, now these muffins may have c

Sopa de albondigas literally means meatball soup.  And I know.....meatballs?  In soup?  Yes, please! In Mexican homes, this bowl of comfort is actually just called albondigas, and it gets a boost of flavor with addition of mint (traditionally yerba buena ).  And again, yes, mint!  This soup does not include the usual chile pepper added to many Mexican dishes, so it is not spicy.  But a spicy salsa is usually expected to be served along with the soup so that diners can add some kick to individual bowl. One of my favorite things about this recipe is that the meatball are cooked right in the stock pot, along with the liquid and vegetables, so the dirty dish level is kept to a minimum. Feel free to vary the vegetables here - I always use diced carrots, celery, and some sort of squash but a bit of diced potato is quite nice here.  Mexican cooks usually leave the veggies in large chunks - I prefer a smaller, neater dice.  If you prefer your soup with larger vegetable pieces, make su

I just love meals that come together with a few ingredients right out of the pantry.  Especially when those meals are easy and provides plenty of leftovers for quick lunches. This recipe meets all of these expectations, plus more!  This recipe calls for both canned tuna and salmon, but making just a tuna or salmon burger will work out beautifully.  And I will be honest: sometimes I think I make tuna burgers just so I can eat all of the yummy sauce! I hope you do not let the addition of the pumpkin keep you from making these burgers.  The pumpkin keeps the burgers from being too dry and boosts the nutritional profile of this meal - all without tasting like pumpkin. This recipe makes about 15 burgers and leftovers will reheat really well.  To make these burgers Whole30 compliant, an equal amount of fine almond flour can be used in place of the hemp seeds, though the finished burger will be a little crumbly - but still delicious. Pantry Seafood Burgers with Smoked Paprika Sau

One of the very few things I have missed since going Paleo, and I mean truly missed, a hot fudge sauce.  And I don't mean the thin chocolate sauce that passes for hot fudge in some places either.  I mean, I missed the real deal hot fudge sauce, the one you can almost chew and really sink your teeth into.  Fudge that does not thin out in ice cream or dissolve into sad and melted nothingness. Sadly, corn syrup is the usual suspect that gives commercial hot fudge sauce its plasticy chewiness, as does a crazy amount of sugar, and we are not about that life anymore.  Right?  My favorite sundae used to be from McDonald's and a quick look at their site reminds why we are not about that life anymore! Ingredients for McDonald's hot fudge sauce: Sugar, water, sweetened condensed skim milk (milk, sugar), hydrogenated palm kernel oil, nonfat milk, cocoa (processed with alkali), corn syrup, salt, disodium phosphate, potassium sorbate (preservative), artificial flavor, soy lecit

Can I just say:  I LOVE this pudding.  And I know.  Really, I know!  There are many avocado chocolate pudding recipes available nowadays.  So many!  But one more recipe won't hurt anyone, I promise. Avocado is a perfect ingredient in a recipe like this because it provides healthy fat, and a creaminess that is hard to duplicate when avoiding dairy or cashew cream.  Plus, I wanted a chocolate pudding that was refined sugar free, so this recipe uses dates as the sweetening agent. This is a perfect recipe for those super rare occasions when there are a couple of ripe avocados lounging around the house.  And don't worry - this pudding does not taste like guacamole.  That's another promise! Avocado Chocolate Pudding 2 ripe avocados, peeled and pitted 1/2 cup soft dates, pitted 1/4 cup full fat coconut cream (from a can of coconut cream) 2 tablespoons full fat coconut milk 1 tablespoon natural tahini 3 tablespoons raw cacao powder 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla ext

This recipe calls for beef cheeks.  Yes, beef cheeks.  And before you run away, know that beef cheeks are one of the most unappreciated cuts of meat.  Beef cheeks require long and slow cooking but when prepared this way, they are the most tender cut of beef you will ever try.  I love beef cheeks because of the amount of connective tissue in them - and cooked down, this dish provides the same skin and gut-nourishing benefits as bone broth. I gave beef cheeks a try when I found them sold by the folks at U.S. Wellness Meats and discovered how cheap this cut of beef is, compared to other grass-fed meats.  And recently, they kindly featured my social media post  in a recent newsletter! I topped my beef bowl with a simple guacamole, but this dish lends itself to many other toppings and options. Leftover shredded beef makes a amazing burrito bowl, a great omelet filling or a Paleo taco! Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Bowls with Simple Guacamole For the shredded beef: 1/2 onion, pe

Oh boy, I love a good burger!  But who really doesn't??  I need my burgers to be delicious, messy, filling, and flavorful.  But I quickly realized that a bun-less and dairy-free burger is basically a just ground beef salad, and really not that tasty. At home, we tend to have burgers when I am too lazy tired to cook.  And my husband is always nice enough to grill our dinner outside on those days.  And if I learned anything from Rachel Ray, it is that burger options are endless because you can make a burger out of anything! In this recipe, I combined a spicy chorizo along with ground beef, and then upped the flavor with an avocado ranch dressing for the topping.  I love chorizo but since cleaning up our diet, it has been hard to find a sausage that is both clean AND delicious. A typical commercially available chorizo package has an ingredient list that looks like this : Cacique Brand Beef Chorizo:  Beef (salivary glands, lymph nodes, fat (cheek and tongue), chorizo season

The thought of a dairy-free life once seemed impossible to me.  I mean, burgers are just naked and without cheese.  Cheese-less breakfast sandwiches or salads are boring.  And a hot wings without blue cheese are just useless. Kite Hill  produces a wonderful line of cultured almond milk products and I use Kite Hill almond milk ricotta often in my Family Lasagna (recipe  here ), and I occasionally splurge on their yummy strawberry almond yogurt.  I was really happy when a local health store began to carry a few of their cream cheese-style  products and I can say that everything this company makes is delicious!  The cream cheese-style spread tastes just like the real thing, and behaves like thing real thing, too. The other day, I invited a friend to lunch and realized I didn't have a clue as to what to make.  It is still fairly hot here so I threw this dip together at the very last minute.  I am glad I did!  This dip is as creamy and decadent as any cream cheese-based dip and

Breakfast cookies are such a treat in our house!  Our standard weekday breakfasts usually consist of uncured bacon or ham and eggs.  Sometimes, we have leftover steak or chicken from the night before, along with an egg.  During warmer weather, we may have smoothies made with plenty of eggs.  Always, eggs! I wanted to play around with a breakfast treat would break up the egg rut and could hopefully be made ahead of time.  If the treat was portable, all the better.  So after many tries, this cookie was born. I used a combination of nuts for the base, but just one type of nut or seed works well!  I have also kept the sweetener to a minimum, using only a few dates and a touch of maple syrup but more can added if the wet batter does not seem sweet enough for your palate. I hand-blended frozen blueberries into the wet batter before baking but I have sometimes dolloped all-natural fruit spread in the center of each cookie before baking - both methods turn out really well.  If dollop

Countless articles have been written about the numerous benefits of raw ACV, or apple cider vinegar. Raw ACV is different from regular commercial apple cider vinegar because it has not been filtered or heat pasteurized, therefore it retains more of its beneficial nutritional integrity.  And most raw apple cider vinegars on the market contain the mother - the culture that turns regular apple cider into vinegar. Diluted apple cider vinegar is great in personal care products, such as facial toner and a inexpensive skin treatment for acne , mosquito bites, to soothe sunburn, and some skin rashes. Apple cider vinegar has long been used in natural hair treatments.  It may helpful as a conditioner substitute, to clarify the hair without stripping it of natural oils, and reduce frizz.  It can be beneficial in balancing the pH of hair as well. Some studies indicate that consuming raw apple cider vinegar may be beneficial in improving blood sugar sensitivity, cholesterol, and may e

I have always loved to read books.  And cookbooks?  It is like an obsession and I used to hoard every cookbook I could get my budget conscious hands on.  I saved recipes from can labels, the back of boxes, and scoured the book section of thrift stores for interesting cook books.  Maybe I was even the person that quietly ripped recipes out of magazines in a doctor's office.  Maybe.  And those little paperback cookbooks by the checkout counter at the grocery store?  I wanted them all. Over the years, our tastebuds and dietary needs have changed.  And my culinary skills have improved  a bit so I have donated most of my old books, and recycled most clippings and recipe labels I saved over the years. I never really learned to cook growing up and I remember being newly married and trying to cook out of an old McCalls cookbook I permanently borrowed from my mom.  Sometimes I was happy with what I made.  I was disappointed more often than not, though.  One recipe that stood out was

I tend to rely on canned coconut milk for most culinary applications  but depending on how much I use on a regular basis, quality coconut milk can become pricey very quickly. On days when I am the only one having a smoothie, opening up a can of coconut milk is not the best choice since I will most likely get stuck with part of a can of milk to use up - and I usually forget! I like making my own dairy free milk for various reasons: 1.  I can make only what I need - no forgotten can or box of something at the back of the fridge. 2.  I can vary the type of milk depending on how I plan to use it. 3.  I can make dairy free milk with what I have on hand - whether it be nuts, seeds, or even unsweetened shredded coconut, 4.  It is super easy.  Most of my food, beverages, personal and household products, natural remedies, and even some clothes are handmade.  But it is all handmade BECAUSE it is easy. Hemp, though related to marijuana, is not considered the same as the recreational

Is it hot where you live?  Too hot to cook?  So hot, you want to stay in your air-conditioned bedroom all day?  Or is it just me? I may have mentioned it before, but summers in Vegas are hot.  And hot weather is just not my favorite thing to deal with.  Neither is a hot kitchen.  But having a family that eats three meals a day, meals made with real food - sometimes a hot kitchen feels inevitable. I picked up some fresh tuna steaks last weekend with the vague lunch idea of grilled tuna over salad.   And then it happened. I was hit with a sudden craving for ceviche.  If you are not familiar with ceviche , it is a very popular seafood dish in Latin America, usually made with very fresh and very raw fish or shrimp (but usually served with cooked seafood in a restaurant) and it is one of my favorite foods. I consider my dad to be the king of ceviche.  A few years back, on a quick trip to Baja California with him, he bought a whole fish from a fisherman and took it back to our rent

For centuries, many cultures instinctively used bentonite clay for its powerful healing properties, but the practice of using the clay medicinally had been largely forgotten.  In recent years, however, Bentonite clay has been making a comeback! Due to its special properties, this type of clay swells up to six times it size when activated by water and develops an electromagnetic charge.  Its absorbent quality allows it to draw out and absorb toxins.   Bentonite clay is known to absorb and remove heavy metals, chemicals and other impurities. Bentonite clay is typically sold dry but can easily be rehydrated  so that it is always readily available to use,  Once prepared in a glass jar, the clay is ready: To be taken internally to ease stomach aches and other digestive issues - 1 teaspoon dry clay powder added to a glass of water To ease heartburn Balance ph Provide minerals to the body. Externally, Bentonite clay can be used for: Used in a detox bath - adding about 1-2 cu

For centuries, many cultures instinctively used bentonite clay for its powerful healing properties, but the practice of using the clay medicinally had been largely forgotten.  In recent years, however, Bentonite clay has been making a comeback! Due to its special properties, this type of clay swells up to six times it size when activated by water and develops an electromagnetic charge.  Its absorbent quality allows it to draw out and absorb toxins.   Bentonite clay is known to absorb and remove heavy metals, chemicals and other impurities. Bentonite clay is typically sold dry but can easily be rehydrated  so that it is always readily available to use,  Once prepared in a glass jar, the clay is ready: To be taken internally to ease stomach aches and other digestive issues - 1 teaspoon dry clay powder added to a glass of water To ease heartburn Balance ph Provide minerals to the body. Externally, Bentonite clay can be used for: Used in a detox bath - adding about 1-2 cu

Mexico is the land of aguas frescas.  Agua fresh, literally means fresh water, and it refers to traditional fresh fruit and/or veggie drinks.  Aguas frescas are usually single-ingredient drinks, such as an agua de limon (a lime-ade), agua de pi ñ a (pineapple) or my favorite: agua de tamarindo (tamarind drink).  And some aguas are simple combos such as a lime and cucumber agua fresca. Interestingly, the lime and cucumber flavor is usually made with nutrient-dense chia seeds and is recommended for a healthy digestion. Walk down most streets, especially those around or in the town square, and you may find a vendor or two serving a variety of aguas frescas out of huge glass containers.  The drinks are then served in a plastic baggie with a straw, which is great while exploring the town!   During market day or special event, vendors multiply and make it hard to choose between tables of colorful options! I spent three weeks in Mexico last month and indulged in a lot of agua fresca.  

Taco seasoning is literally the opposite of authentic Mexican food but what can I say?  My kids like it.  Mind you, they would not come near standard fast food with taco seasoning flavors, nor can they stomach the smell of a store-bought taco seasoning packet.  But this?  This they like! A quick look at the label of a readily available brand of taco seasoning surprised me due to its fairly decent ingredients: McCormick Taco Seasoning ingredients include: Spices (including chile pepper, cumin, paprika, onion), onion, whey (milk), salt, garlic, sugar, potato starch. and natural flavor Due to a dairy allergy, I stay away from foods that contain whey or other by-products and as a general rule of thumb, we stay away from added sugars.  Natural flavor can mean a host of things but again, I stay away because I don't know what it is! Other brands, such as Ortega  , contain huge no-no's, such as maltodextrin, modified corn starch, and autolyzed yeast extract.  As far as I

I just came back home after spending three whole weeks in the state of Michoacan, Mexico eating anything and everything that was shoved my way.  That is the life, I tell you! Most of the time, our time was spent in the town of Pajacuaran, Mexico,  One of the many things I love about visiting is the food.  Crazy, I know!  In town, if you can cook, you can make a humble living by setting up a table or two right outside your front door and serve breakfast or dinner to anyone who swings by.  We climbed three blocks up a steep hill, one block which was unpaved, to a house for freshly made crispy enchiladas, burritos and tacos more times than I care to count.  My dad took us a few times to another woman's house that served pozole, tortas and tostadas with a variety of toppings - my favorite: tender liver tostadas.  I could not get enough!  We had dinner in many different houses and once, inside an old bus. My dad almost always ordered extra food to take back for my tia Carme

Breakfast and lunch tend to be difficult for some to navigate when switching to a real food diet.  And the idea that a real food meal needs to be prepared with simple and fresh ingredients can seem daunting! I like to double-batch certain dinners, like roasted chicken, grilled steak or tuna patties, so that leftovers pull double duty for breakfast and/or lunch the next day.  But even I know, leftovers can only take you so far!  Once in awhile, especially when the weather turns warm, I will prep a large batch of salads or pates, such as this one, so that there are a variety of options in the refrigerator to choose from when hunger. Wild-caught tuna is inexpensive when compared to other wild proteins so this recipe can be accessible with items already probably in your kitchen.  And this tuna pate is versatile because it makes a great portable school or work lunch. I love any excuse to add extra fat to our diets so this recipe includes a nutrient-dense avocado plus a little extr