Real Food with Christine

I've been trying to find a good grain free chocolate chip cookie recipe for quite some time now. I've tried a few recipes and they were ok, but none of them I wanted to make again. If I didn't read this post from Danielle at Against All Grain , I wouldn't of tried these. Her post convinced me that these would taste like a real traditional chocolate chip cookie, one that my husband would even eat! She was right, these definitely made my list of cookies to make over and over again. Even my husband who has said "these are not for me", about the last few grain free chocolate chip cookie recipes I've made, ate a few of these and went back for more! Here is the link to the recipe: Against All Grain Real-Deal Chocolate Chip Cookies I followed this recipe exactly, I made a little smaller cookie so I got about 20 cookies. I may or may not have added a few additional chocolate chips :) Anytime I find a recipe as good as this, I don't even bother to ch...

Sometimes when I wake up and all the kids are ask for breakfast, I just need a quick breakfast for myself to get me going. I also like this shake for a mid-day snack when I need something or even after a workout. This is such a thick, chocolate satisfying shake you'll never know it is packed with nutrition! Ingredients 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk 2 tablespoons peanut butter (or any nut butter) 1/2 frozen banana 1 tablespoon raw cacao powder 1 tablespoon hulled hemp seeds 2-3 ice cubes optional add-ins chia seed frozen berries flaxseed honey (if you want it sweeter) Directions Put everything into a blender (I use a Vita-Mix) and blend until smooth.

Since we had a ton of snow to play in outside thanks to Nemo, we were in need of some warmth when we came in. This hot chocolate was just what we needed. It is free of dairy and refined sugar. My kids loved it and I think this will be an after snow tradition for us, although I wouldn't mind making it without the snow part! This recipe was inspired by this recipe from Danielle at Against all Grain . Ingredients 2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk 1 cup full fat coconut milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 tablespoons honey 2 tablespoons raw cacao powder 3 ounces dark chocolate chopped Directions In a medium saucepan combine the almond milk, coconut milk and vanilla extract. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the honey, cacao powder and chopped chocolate and stir until combined and smooth. Pour into cups and serve hot.

This is a great recipe for an appetizer or for a snack. It is packed with protein from the quinoa, is gluten free and really tasty. If you are serving these for a party you might want to double the recipe. These are also great kid friendly snacks. This recipe was inspired from this recipe . Ingredients 1 cup uncooked quinoa 2 large eggs 2 scallions, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 onion minced 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley 1/2 cup grated goat cheddar 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a mini muffin pan with olive oil. First cook your quinoa. Bring to a boil 2 cups of water and 1 cup uncooked quinoa. Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes until water is absorbed. In a large bowl, mix all of the other ingredients until well combined. Use a small cookie scoop or tablespoon to fill the muffin tin. Fill each one to the top. Press down on each one to make sure it is well  packed. Bak...

I love pizza, but when being gluten free and limiting grains it is not something I have often. When I saw this idea in Paleo Indulgences I had to make it. Using Zucchini as a crust is an awesome idea. I sprinkled mine with kalamata olives and used my own homemade marinara sauce and goat cheese mozzarella. Ingredients 2 zucchini's cut lengthwise and seeds scooped out to make a well in the middle marinara sauce ( I used my recipe posted here ) goat mozzarella shredded kalamata olives chopped crushed red pepper (leave this out if you don't like it spicy) sea salt Directions Lay zucchini on baking sheet, spoon a few tablespoons of sauce into well. Sprinkle top with mozzarella, kalamata olives, crushed red pepper and sea salt.

My husband's favorite dinner is chicken cutlets, so I spiced these up a little and he loved them. Plus, we got the nutritional benefits of the Turmeric, Cayenne and Garlic! My kids loved them too, so this is a meal we will be making again. I paired these chicken cutlets with my Sweet Potato Wedges (recipe below) Chicken Recipe Ingredients 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast sliced thin (preferably organic) gluten free bread crumb (I used Gillians) 1 egg cayenne pepper to taste garlic powder to taste turmeric to taste celtic sea salt to taste Directions Add the gluten free bread crumbs, cayenne, garlic, turmeric and sea salt in a bowl and mix together. Beat your eggs in another bowl. Dip your chicken first in the egg and then into the breading mixture. Fry in olive oil until cooked through and lightly browned on both sides. Transfer to a plate covered in a towel to absorb any excess oil. Sweet Potato Recipe Ingredients 4 sweet potatoes cut into w...

I am not 100% paleo, but I do eat many paleo foods and I'm always looking for new paleo recipes. I try to limit my grains, but for now having some grains and beans works for me. Whether you are paleo or not, Paleo Indulgences by Tammy Credicott is a great book. I have made the following recipes from this book and highly recommend it to anyone regardless of your dietary needs. When I made my Samoas posted first here , I used the caramel recipe from this book . The recipe  is posted here  with permission from Tammy . Here is a few of the recipes that I made from this book and they were all amazing. Blueberry Crumb Muffins Macadamia Cherry Clusters Candied Coconut Walnuts There are many more recipes in this book that I cannot wait to make, such as Mandarin Chicken, Paleo Fish Sticks, Gingerbread Pancakes and Egg White Bread! Thanks Tammy for an amazing paleo book! **Update: I made the Egg White Bread, this was also great!

I was never a big fan of Chinese food except for chicken with garlic sauce. Now, I never order Chinese food because it will most likely have gluten and most definitely soy in it. I came up with this dish as a healthy Chinese food alternative. It is a little spicy so if your not that into spice you can leave out or use less of the chili paste.  Ingredients 1 lb boneless skinless chicken cut into cubes preferably organic 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 head of broccoli cut into florets and lightly steamed 2 scallions chopped For the Sauce 4 garlic cloves minced 1 inch piece of ginger minced 1/4 cup coconut aminos 1/4 cup water 1/4 cup honey 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 tablespoon of chili paste 1 tablespoon arrowroot dissolved in a little water salt and pepper to taste Directions Place all sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix together. Divide in half and place cubed chicken into one half and marinade for about an hour. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Remov...

Okay, so I'm not into Football. I don't watch any games throughout the season nor do I watch the playoffs. I keep up so little that in order to make my cupcakes festive for the event, I had to Google what colors the teams were ;) But, I do get excited for Super Bowl food. So, here is my recipes for Super Bowl 2013. My kids saw a picture of pigs in a blanket and wanted them. I had never made them gluten free so I decided to use Bob's Red Mill gluten free pizza crust mix and cut A pplegate farms grass-fed beef hot dogs . If your going to use this dough, I want to let you know that it gets really sticky and it helps to keep a bowl of water next to you to keep dipping your hands in so the dough doesn't stick too much. The dough came out a little thicker than I wanted so they are more like pigs in comforters :) Ingredients 1 package Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pizza Crust (follow directions on package) 1 package Applegate Farms Organic Grass-fed Beef hot dogs ...