Real Food with Christine

  After cooking pumpkin recipes pretty much from September until now, I am ready for my next favorite holiday treat - gingerbread! Jenni Hulet at The Urban Poser has done it again, as soon as I read this post about her gingerbread donuts I was off to the kitchen. These were very simple and absolutely delicious. It's a change from the traditional gingerbread cookie and is a perfect holiday treat. I followed this exact recipe, except I skipped beating the egg whites because I was short on time and she says they come fine without that step, but next time I make these I will try adding that step to see the difference.

When I saw this post earlier today for  peppermint patty rice crispy treats  from The Balanced Platter , I knew I had to make something like this. When I use to eat sugar loaded treats, peppermint patties and rice crispy treats were two of my favorites! I followed the ingredients, amounts and directions from this recipe , but I used almond butter instead of the sunflower seed butter and I used raw cacao powder  instead of cocoa powder. These came out amazing, better than any rice crispy treat I had before! My kids also loved these and asked if we can have them again tomorrow for dessert!

1/2 cucumber 1 green apple 1 celery stalk 1/2 lemon with rind 3 romaine leaves 4 kale leaves handful of fresh spinach handful of fresh parsley small piece of ginger

I have been gluten free for almost two years now and have succeeded at finding a satisfying replacement for just about any dessert I use to like. I was never a fan of pie, but when my daughter asked me to make a gluten free apple pie for Thanksgiving, I had to make a good one. After researching gluten free pie crusts, I came across this one from Brittany Angell at Real Sustenance and it was so easy to make and easy to work with. The only thing I did differently than the instructions was put the piece of dough onto the pie plate and push it into place. This crust came so good, I can't wait to experiment with more pies. I may not have been a fan of pie as a gluten eater, but I am now! Ingredients Gluten free Pie Crust (I used this recipe from Real Sustenance ) Filling 2 tablespoons coconut oil 8  apples peeled, cored and sliced 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons maple syrup 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice 1 tablespoon arrowroot dissolved in a little water 1/2 teaspo

The days after Thanksgiving, I like to decorate for Christmas and eat leftover turkey. This year I decided to try a pot pie, I made this crust  for my Apple Crumb Pie  and since the recipe makes two crusts, I froze one for this pot pie recipe. This recipe will also work with chicken so it can be made anytime you have leftover chicken from a roasted chicken too! Ingredients 1 gluten free pie crust (I used this recipe from Brittany Angell at Real Sustenance ) 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 onion diced 1 cup carrots diced 1 cup celery diced 2 garlic cloves minced 2 cups homemade turkey stock (or store bought stock would work but I like to make my own) 3 tablespoons arrowroot starch 2 cups chopped turkey (this will also work will chicken) 1 cup frozen peas handful of fresh parsley leaves chopped salt and pepper to taste 1-2 cups leftover mashed potatoes (enough to cover the top of the pie) Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat olive oil in a pan and add onion

I've always loved chocolate, it is one of my favorite desserts. When cutting out sugar, I tried to elimate my evening chocolate, but that didn't work. I need that little bit of chocolate at night after dinner. It is something that I truely look forward to. Now I turn to real, unprocessed, homemade chocolate. If you think it is way too hard or you don't have time, you will see how easy it is with the recipe below. I was motivated by this recipe from Liana from The Earth Diet and with only a few ingredients you can make some great homemade chocolate desserts. My kids love this chocolate and don't miss any packaged chocolate at all.    Benefits of Unprocessed Chocolate Cacao raises the level of serotonin in the brain which gives us a sense of well-being. There are healthy fats found in cacao butter. Cacao contains oleic acid, a heart-healthy fat. Cacao has more antioxidant flavonoids than any food tested so far, including blueberries, red wine, and g

1 Beet 1 Carrot 1 Apple 1/2 lemon with rind 1 small piece of Ginger

Every since  The Earth Diet book  by Liana Werner-Gray was available to pre-order, I had my copied ordered! The first thing I made when I got it was the Peanut Butter Cups, you can read about them  here . Last night I had the opportunity to take a raw food class taught by Liana. The class was awesome and she is so nice and easy to understand! If your lucky enough to be in an area where she is teaching or speaking, I highly recommend you go. She taught how to make some juices and the raw cupcakes in  The Earth Diet book . I am looking forward to making these for Thanksgiving this week. If anyone is concerned about kids accepting raw desserts, Liana was nice enough to let me take two of the cupcakes home to my kids and they ate them right up!! My kids also love the raw cookie dough bites you can read about them  here . I am happy to continue to give my kids the highest quality, nutritious foods there are, without them having to miss out on dessert!

1 grapefruit peeled 1 orange peeled 1 lemon with rind 1 small piece of ginger

1 Beet 1 Carrot 1 Apple 1 lemon with rind

Handful of Kale Stalk of broccoli including stem and florets Handful of parsley 1 Stalk of celery 1 green apple

Salmon is one of my favorite fish to eat. I recently started making this blackberry, balsamic glaze and it gives a really nice variation to this dish. I don't like sauces that are too sweet, so this one has the perfect amount of sweetness without any added sugar. Make sure to use a jam that is sweetened with fruit only, not sugar. Ingredients For the Salmon: 2 salmon portions sea salt freshly gound black pepper olive oil For the Glaze: 2 tablespoons of blackberry jam (I use fiordifrutta ) 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar sea salt 2 cloves garlic grated small chunk of fresh ginger grated Directions Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Drizzle olive oil on a baking dish and lay salmon on top skin side down. Season with salt and pepper. Bake for about 15 minutes until cooked through. While the salmon is cooking make the glaze. For the Glaze, grate the ginger and garlic and put into a bowl. I love my OXO grater . Add