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Author Archive | Ami

Low-Carb Homemade Strawberry Lemonade

Okay everyone. This is one of those recipes I’m embarassed to call a recipe because it’s SO EASY! As soon as I made it I thought, “Where have you been all my life?” and “Why didn’t I do this before? It’s so easy!” But because it was so refreshing and amazing, I decided it needed its own post, even if it is the easiest recipe ever.

When I was a kid, we ate at Olive Garden a lot. We didn’t have one in my small Wyoming town of 18,000 people, but we went to Salt Lake City, UT often to visit family and watch the Jazz (Stockton to Malone!!! Yep. I’m old). While we were there, we always ate at Olive Garden. I always got the same thing: Ministrone soup, spaghetti with meat sauce and strawberry lemonade. Not the healthiest dinner, but it was delicious. The thing that made Olive Garden’s strawberry lemonade so good was that it tasted real! You could actually feel the fruit in your mouth. I’m not sure if it was made of actual strawberries and lemons, or just some syrup-like substance, but it was the best lemonade in the world.

Today my daughter and I came home from a bike ride exhausted and thristy (It hit 97 degrees here today!!!). I started craving Olive Garden strawberry lemonade. Then it hit me! I had lemonade; I had strawberries and math taught me, that equals strawberry lemonade (Thank you first grade math teacher!). I was set.

So the two ingredients that make up this decedant, delicious, restaurant-quality beverage… (drumroll)… VitaminWater Zero Lemonade, and frozen strawberries. Seriously! That’s it! It’s so simple I’m sad I didn’t try it sooner. Make sure you use the “Zero” lemonade. The other stuff is loaded with sugar. You can tell the difference because the “Zero” flavors have the white part of the label on top and the sugar-licious flavors have the colored part of the label on top. You’re welcome.

I love when I can recreate childhood treats without all the junky ingredients. This one was a winner! I’m not sure I can have plain lemonade again! Next time, we may experiement with blackberries, blueberries or raspberries.

And that sounds so good, “next time” may be in five minutes. I hope this delicous, frosty beverage gets you through the rest of the heat of the summer!!

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Ultimate Spaghetti Squash Guide

I love spaghetti squash. It’s definitely earned its place as my favorite vegetable. I generally plan a spaghetti squash dish once a week, and always bake two so I can have some for lunch leftovers. Of course, I now have to fight my 8-year-old daughter for the leftovers, so I may have to start making three. Luckily, spaghetti squash is extremely easy to make.

First: Cut it in half

For years I cut it length-wise. Basically my fingers were in great danger everytime I made spaghetti squash. Then one morning I was listening to the Balanced Bites Podcast, and they suggested cutting it around the middle. Life. Changing. It’s SO much easier and cooks just as well.

Second: Clean it out

Just scrape it out with a spoon just like you do a pumpkin. But a spaghetti squash is smaller and much easier to clean out than a pumpkin.

Third: Season it

I drizzle each half with a bit of avocado oil and sprinkle on some salt and pepper. That’s it!

Fourth: Bake it

Turn each half of your squash cut-side down on a pan lined with parchment paper and bake it at 400 degrees F for 45- mintues to an hour. You know it’s done when the tops are brown and it’s soft to the touch.

Fifth: Scrape out the “spaghetti”

I always let it cool a bit before I scrape it. To get the “spaghetti” out, just use a fork on the sides of the squash.

That’s it! Easy, nutritious and yummy. Spaghetti squash is also high in fiber and vitamin C so those are added bonuses.

Now what do you do with this delicious vegetable? I’ve listed some of my favorite ways to eat spaghetti squash.

My top pick: Pesto!!

I love pesto! I just make some of my Dairy-Free Pesto (click here for recipe) and mix it in. We serve this as our veggie side dish regularly. Sometimes I’ll add in some chicken and tomatoes for a full meal, but the pesto alone is an amazing dish!

Classic Spaghetti

If you love spaghetti but can’t do the pasta, this is a great alternative. We just brown some ground beef with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. Then we top it with whatever no-sugar, organic marinara sauce we have on hand or my homemade marinara sauce (click here for recipe). We sometimes stir in a bit of full-fat coconut milk to make it even creamier. If you haven’t tried that, you’re missing out.

Shredded Meat, Tomatoes and Spinach

Something about tomatoes and spaghetti squash go so well together. I add whatever leftover roast I have on hand and a handful of spinach and small tomatoes. Then I warm the whole thing up in the microwave. So fast and easy!

Sausage, Spinach and BBQ Sauce

This is a great dish because it comes together with things I always have on hand. I always keep a jar of my No-Sugar BBQ Sauce (click here for recipe) on hand for meat, dressings, soups, etc. We also keep True Story brand sausages on hand for quick meals. To put this dish together, I add the leftover spaghetti squash, some spinach leaves, a sliced sausage and a bit of BBQ sauce to a skillet and heat it all up together.

Steak, Broccoli and Your Favorite Dressing

Since spaghetti sauce is a veggie, you can almost treat it like a salad, topping it with your favorite salad dresssing. Add in a bit of steamed broccoli and a seared steak and it’s a full meal! My favorite sauce for this is my Roasted Red Pepper Cauliflower Hummus (Click here for recipe). I love this stuff with broccoli so this combination is perfect for me. I cook the broccoli in a skillet, then add in the sliced steak when the broccoli is almost done. Then I add in the leftover squash and dressing just to heat everything through.

Ultimate Leftover Plate

I LOVE to combine all my leftovers on a plate. This day I used leftover squash, chicken, roasted veggies and pesto. Really all you need is a meat, some more optional veggies and a sauce. YUM!!

Some of my favorite recipes from others to make with spaghetti squash are:

What’s your favorite way to eat spaghetti squash?

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Dairy-Free Chocolate Fudge Frosting

We love to have people over for dessert, but I often feel guilty serving them something that fits into our family’s food sensitivities. It’s hard to make something that tastes like Grandma’s cooking when it has to be gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, and egg-free. Luckily, food is a big enough part of my life, we figure it out. I’m not okay living in a world that doesn’t allow me to have treats…regularly.

A few weeks ago, I wanted chocolate cupcakes with chocolaty, fudgy frosting.  I’d always loved ganache back in the day, so I wanted to make a replica of my favorite ganache frosting using ingredients that won’t wreck me.

This frosting did not disappoint! My kids referred to our cupcakes as “magic cupcakes.” Pretty much I felt like the most awesome mom ever.

I was confident enough in these to serve them to guests, and didn’t even have to lead with a disclaimer. We baked a basic paleo-style cupcake but like all cakes, the frosting made the dish. I consider all cake a vessel for frosting. I always double the frosting on my birthday cake because… it’s my birthday.

If you don’t want to make frosting out of this chocolate goodness, you can skip the whipping part and roll it into balls to make truffles. Or you can just call it pudding and eat it with a spoon. All of the above are a perfectly acceptable way to eat this mixture that may resemble chocolate unicorn tears.

We used Lily’s chocolate chips to keep it sugar-free. These chips are sweetened with stevia and erythritol, neither of which bother me in reasonable amounts (I know this because I’ve eating unreasonable amounts and the result “cleared the room” if you know what I’m saying…).

You can use a dark chocolate or your favorite semi-sweet chocolate as well. We love Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips and Nestlee Simply Delicious Chocolate Chips. Both are made with minimal ingredients and dairy-free.

If you’ve ever made ganache, you know how easy it is. Just add hot milk (coconut milk in this case) to chocolate…

Once it’s melted, whisk it together…

Let it set up in the fridge…

And whip it. Whip it good! (I’m so sorry. I had to. And do you see my finger mark in the frosting? No apologies here)…

So easy and yummy!! We actually had to add a bit more coconut milk as we were whipping to get our perfect texture. If you need to add more coconut milk, do it 1 Tbsp at a time until it seems perfect to you.

So if you’re planning a birthday party, a BBQ to have friends over for dinner or if you just want something that goes well with a spoon, you can make this frosting and be proud!

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Gluten Free Replacements

Best Gluten-Free Substitutions

I’ve decided to start a series of posts to share my favorite allergy-friendly food substitutions. We’re going to start with the biggest offender: gluten. Gluten sensitivity is becoming more and more common. Luckily, with all the great alternatives, it’s becoming easier all the time to go gluten-free. Here are some of my favorite gluten-free substitutions.

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Sugar Detox Chocolate Clusters

A few months ago, I taught a health class to a group of ladies. I talked about how to give up sugar and they asked what I do for a treat. They were shocked when I admitted I eat squares of 100% chocolate. It’s true! I love it! While it’s a bit of an aquired taste, it’s totally doable. I generally suggest people start with something like 80% and work their way up, but it’s possible to transition.

I have to admit though, I get bored of my 100% chocolate. I occasionally want something with more flavor and texture that feels like a treat. That’s why I came up with these candies. They are so delicious! They taste sweet from the addition of orange, cinnamon and vanilla; but have no sugar. Plus adding nuts gives them a few different textures in each bite.

I genuinely feel like I’m eating an indulgent treat with these, but they have nothing in them I wouldn’t add to a breakfast smoothie!

If you aren’t up to the 100% yet, feel free to make these using a little bit sweeter chocolate. Again, I wouldn’t go lower than 80%. I really recommend trying these as written though.

Also, if you’re doing the 21 Day Sugar Detox these are totally approved!! If you’re curious about trying the 21 Day Sugar Detox, check out this post I wrote about my experience here.

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