Wilfredo and Valentina are both avid athletes. It’s not uncommon to see them sprinting up and down the steep hill in front of our building, or doing interval training in the parking lot at dawn. And rain or shine, Wilfredo is running his heart out, getting ready to run UltraMarathon races,  and Valentina is probably completing a 50 mile bike ride as part of her triathlon training before heading off to work.  They have a serious love for activity, the outdoors, and competition.

They’re also VEGAN.

Now, we eat many animal products in our house. We eat plenty of veggies and fruits, too. But we are decidedly not vegan.

Our tribe here has expanded to enfold Wilfredo and Valentina into our hearts. We want to fully integrate them into our little community and become a safe place for these New Jersey transplants.

But here’s the thing: I love them. I love them BIG. They love my kid fiercely and he loves them fiercely right back. My love language is food. So, in order to share our table with them, I’ve been experimenting with dishes outside of my normal food repertoire.

But here’s another thing: Every single person in our tribe has special food things. E takes the (gluten-free, nut-free, egg-free, dairy-free, soy-free, carrot-free) cake because of his FPIES, but he certainly is not the only one who needs special food. But nobody has excluded animal products entirely from their diets.

Until now.

So, when the tribe decided to do a vegan brunch a few weeks ago, I accepted this challenge with great excitement.  Because even though you will never see me sprinting up and down the hill for funsies, I do love a good challenge.  And if the challenge translates to a little food love, then even better.

Everyone can technically eat corn, including E. I typically try to avoid it, but it doesn’t make me feel like wheat does. I also wanted to do a homestyle dish that was still healthy and everyone could enjoy.  I began to dream about casseroles, baked dishes, and rich, flavorful sauces.

Creamy, hot polenta dishes started filling my mind. It’s easy to veganize polenta. So, I scoured the internet looking for recipe ideas. I hit a wall when I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for and started getting frustrated.

Then I remembered that I can cook. DUH.

I started extracting favorite elements from dishes that looked great. Easy enough. Then I got to work.

I discovered that making the polenta first and baking it for a bit gave it the perfect texture. Scoring it, and then topping it with a simple tomato and veggie mixture and putting it in the oven to bake longer made mouth magic.

I brought my finished polenta dish before our tribe. I know I can count on them to give me their honest feedback. They tasted. They went back for seconds. They lamented when it was over, especially Wilfredo and Valentina. Luckily, I made an extra dish of it just for them, and walked it downstairs after brunch was done. They were stoked.

This dish is the classic, simple-food-done-right, love-in-a-Pyrex pan taste of comfort every person needs in their life. Probably right now.

You can make your own variations by using what you have on hand. THIS DOESN’T HAVE TO BE VEGAN. But then again, you can’t share it with your awesome vegan neighbors if it’s not. So, prepare wisely.

Ingredients for Polenta:

• 2 cups dry polenta
• 4 cups unsweetened, unflavored hemp milk (or regular milk)
• 2/3 cup water
• ½ cup Nutiva Shortening, or butter
• 1-2 tsp sea salt

Ingredients for Ragu:

• 1 jar crushed tomatoes
• 2 fresh tomatoes, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 bunch spinach or chard, chopped
• 1-2 zucchini, chopped
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 leaves fresh basil, or 1 Tbsp dried
• 4 leaves fresh sage, or 1 tsp dried
• 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, or 1 Tbsp dried
• 1 Tbsp black pepper
• 1 tsp sea salt

Directions for Polenta:

1. Cook polenta according to instructions on package, subbing water for milk. Add additional water to thin it out. It should be a smooth, creamy texture, and easy to stir.
2. Pour polenta into a large, greased casserole dish. Bake on 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
3. Remove from oven, and score with a sharp knife into 1-2 inch squares, but do not remove from the dish.

Instructions for Ragu:

(Note: This is great to start while the polenta bakes in the oven.)

1. Saute onion and garlic in oil, then add herbs, tomatoes, zucchini and sauce. Bring to a low boil.
2. Remove from heat, and stir in spinach or chard.
3. Pour over polenta, and bake for 30 additional minutes, or until mixture is bubbling.
4. Serve and eat immediately, or store for leftovers.

This freezes okay, but stays good in the refrigerator for a week. But the thing is, I don’t think it will last that long. This is comfort food at it’s very best.

Hug a vegan,
Carrie

Are you interested in learning more about vegan eating and running?  Visit Wilfredo’s blog over at Eat, Run and Done.

The post Creamy Polenta Ragu {Vegan and Gluten-Free} appeared first on Our Stable Table.

I am burned out with cooking. And a large part of my mission in life is cooking. Changing the conversation around food, around bodies, around babies and single people and periods and sex and family and allergies and wholeness and therapy and kombucha and…ALL OF IT.

I just have one small problem.

I want to flame my tiny pink kitchen down to the ground. Ignight it. Light it up and watch it burn down in a blaze of glory, a la Bon Jovi. (I will gladly let you film this spectacle as I stand in the middle of the flames wearing nothing but my mom jeans and an old leather vest that belonged to my grandma in the 1990s with my son’s pink ukulele strapped to my back in exchange for a lifetime of free Chipotle.)

Then I want to walk away, and never look back. 

This isn’t about food. This isn’t about my outdated micro kitchen. This isn’t even about my mission.

This is about self-care.

Last week, I started doing the thing where I eat trail mix for breakfast with a cup of coffee. Then I eat the same thing for lunch. I might grab a handful of cherry tomatoes or eat some cucumber slices off my son’s plate during lunch and start congratulating myself for making vegetables a “priority”. By the time dinner rolls around, I’m ravenous, have a terrible case of the bitchies and lose my words, so I groan and cry and end up laying on my bed in complete despair when I should be making dinner for my family. That is the moment when I want to douse my kitchen in gasoline, light it up with my Namaste candle and run away.

The trail mix is a bad sign, my friends. It means I’m giving up. I HATE GIVING UP. But sometimes I hate the process of not giving up more. It feels good to pretend I can’t cook. It feels like a whole lotta relief to plan to cook dinner and then say “eff it” at the last minute and orderThai takeout instead. It’s like a shot of heroin or the feeling you get when you cancel plans last minute because you want to stay home and watch Netflix in yoga pants and you have a legit, last-minute reason to do it.

Don’t get me wrong.  These food hacks are totally okay. We all hit our max, and sometimes we live at our max for extended periods of time without much relief.  There are seasons. I get it. I’ve been there.

But this isn’t it.

This is abandoning my commitment to taking care of myself.  So, now that the world knows what that looks like, here’s what maintaining my commitment to taking care of myself looks like.

(Note: It might look differently for you, so no judgment here.  Pound that trail (mix).)

Ready?

1. Hot breakfast.
2. The end.

I don’t eat many grains because, with the exception of rice and sometimes oats, they really tear my stomach up.  Plus, I FEEL better when I eat a protein and veggie heavy breakfast during the rest of the day. I like the feeling of something warm in my belly, too. It reminds me that my body is served best when I care for it in small ways.  Plus, I don’t have to fight the trail mix bitchies.

Here is my plan of action: Fritatta. I make one large fritatta, portion it out into individual servings, and heat it up in the toaster oven while I get ready in the mornings.  This is all it takes to make me nice.  Well, this and a cup or seven of coffee.

This simple, humble little egg dish is great.  You can make a million different variations of it, but here is my absolute favorite. The fact that I can go outside and gather many of these ingredients from my garden is a total bonus.

Ingredients:

• 12 eggs
• 1 cup cheese (I prefer parmesan or asiago)
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 1 lb of browned sausage or cooked bacon, crumbled (I prefer mild Italian sausage, but you can skip meat altogether to make this vegetarian.)
• 1 medium onion, sauteed
• 12 oz chopped broccoli
• 2 medium zucchini, chopped
• 2 large tomatoes or 1 pint of cherry tomatoes, chopped
• 1 large bunch of swiss chard or spinach, roughly chopped
• 3 Tbsp of fresh herbs of your choice, or 1 Tbsp dried herbs. (I use rosemary, basil, and thyme from the garden)
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes (if not using sausage)

Directions:

1. Whisk together eggs, milk, herbs, salt, and pepper.  Mix in shredded cheese.
2. Add protein and veggies, and mix thoroughly.
3. In a large, greased baking dish, bake at 350 degrees for one hour, or until the middle is cooked all the way through.
4. Remove from oven and serve immediately.  Cut into individual portions and reheat in the oven or toaster oven for 12 minutes at 350 degrees.

My individual frittata portions are hanging out in my fridge, ready to be heated and eaten all week long. I blasted Bon Jovi’s greatest hits while prepping and cooking and cleaning up the kitchen to make this all a little more tolerable.  But I digress. I WILL TAKE CARE OF MYSELF THIS WEEK.  I hope you can, too.

Call Me Young Gun,
Carrie

The post Garden Vegetable Frittata appeared first on Our Stable Table.

Yeah.  Me, too.

Here’s The Thing, though.  I am fairly certain my love language is food. And I’m also fairly certain I have conditioned my family and friends to receive my love in this manner.  Food is NOT love, but food can be a loving gesture in a world of convenience and fast meals.  What’s better than sitting down with friends and sharing a great meal, enjoyable conversation, and choice adult beverage?  Not much.

Also, food is effing delicious, so there’s that.

When I want to share the love and keep the temperature in my kitchen down while making the most of my limited energy, I always turn to my crockpot.  I used to have major bias towards slow cookers. I grew up with crockpots galore at church potlucks.  Everyone clamored for an outlet to plug in their pot before service started so their mystery dish would stay hot and avoid poisoning a whole congregation. It was a sea of crockpots

A couple of decades later, I decided to try to resurrect my slow cooker that was still sitting in my kitchen in the box from our wedding when my truly kind souled cousin gifted us with it. I got brave.  I bought the food.  I read a couple of blogs. I studied and sweated and prayed to the kitchen gods that it would all turn out beautifully.  It didn’t.

I ruined a 5 lb brisket.

$40 of beautiful, succulent, grass-fed meat totally ruined because I didn’t understand fully how to use my slow cooker.  I did not sear it.  I under-seasoned it.  I ADDED WATER. Then I cooked it on high for 4 hours.  It was totally inedible, but of course we ate it anyway because we have a strict budget and can’t afford to toss food when it doesn’t turn out well.  I nicknamed it the Brisket of Tears, because I wept when I ruined it, and again every time I ate the chewy, gray, tasteless meat.

A couple of years ago, I decided to master the crockpot.  I did a massive amount of research. After a week of fretting and praying and hoping that I could pull it off, I made a pork shoulder.  It was phenomenal.  It gave me confidence. And I went further into the slow-cooker abyss.

When I found a ridiculously good sale on New Zealand grassfed lamb, I knew I could execute it well.  My dish would not go the way of the church potluck or failed brisket attempt of 2009.  Nope.  It would succeed.

This is probably one of the best things I’ve ever tasted.  I’m not exaggerating in the least. The flavor of the lamb is complex and finishing the whole dish off in the oven to crisp up the fat made this dish completely decadent.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 lbs of lamb riblets or short ribs
• 1/2 cup dry vermouth
• 1/3 cup olive or avocado oil (I prefer avocado bc of the mellow flavor)
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup(ish) fresh mint leaves
• 1/4 fresh basil leaves
• 1/4 cup  fresh rosemary
• 4-5 cloves garlic
• 1 medium shallot or small onion, quartered
• 2 tsp tumeric
• 2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp (+) fresh cracked pepper
• 1 tsp (+) salt

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients (except for lamb) in blender or NutriBullet.  Pulse until everything is combined.  Pour over lamb and marinate in a ziplock bag or covered dish for 2-12 hours, or if you’re in a hurry, skip the marination and use right away.
2. Rub crockpot with a little oil, and put lamb and marinade in.  For best results, cook on Low for 6-8 hours.  Eight hours is optimal, but do what you can.
3. When the lamb is finished in the slow cooker, transfer to a baking sheet and bake on 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes to crisp up the fat and caramelize.
4. Garnish with chopped mint leaves and devour immediately.

I served this with a side of saffron infused basmati rice, pan fried mushrooms and sweet onion, along with a fruit-filled salad.  There wasn’t even a speck of lamb left on the bones, and we devoured an entire plate in 20 minutes flat.

You will love this.  Trust me.  Or don’t.  But take a chance.  And make friends with your crockpot this summer.

It feels good to be baaaaaad,
Carrie

The post Boozy Lamb Short Ribs appeared first on Our Stable Table.

We are strictly gluten-free at our house because of my son’s FPIES, (which is a fancy acronym for Allergic to Practically Everything).  Luckily, E can handle quinoa like a champ. I’m always looking for food all of our friends and family can enjoy so our kid grows up eating the same food as everyone else at our table. Traditional breakfast foods are the most challenging dishes to make to please a crowd.

Enter my BFF, Quinoa.

Quinoa is one of those universal foods that, when prepared correctly, is unbelievably satisfying. These fritters (I would call them pancakes except these are much more flavorful and delightfully crispy) are total crowd pleasers.  Even though I plan food as much as possible around E’s dietary restrictions, I also love to challenge myself and find new ways to make really tasty food that doesn’t feel restrictive in any way.  The quinoa fritters totally fit that bill.

I also have a hard time getting enough fat into my toddler’s diet, so I look for unique ways to incorporate fats into my dishes.  This coconut honey butter is totally edible as a stand-alone, if that’s what you’re into.

Ingredients for Fritters:

• 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill organic quinoa flour
• 1/2 cup milk (plant or animal)
• 1/2 cup apple sauce
• 2 Tbsp melted coconut oil or butter
• 2 Tbsp raw honey or other equivalent sweetener (optional)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
• tiny pinch of salt

Directions For Fritters:

1. Whisk baking soda, cinnamon and quinoa flour together in a bowl.
2. Add wet ingredients and combine thoroughly.
3. Heat a tablespoon of coconut oil or butter in a skillet on medium heat.
4. When skillet is hot, spoon batter into skillet and spread out with the back of the spoon into a thin round shape. Flip when the edges begin to cook and the center begins to bubble ever so slightly. It should only take a minute or two to finish cooking.
5. Press the pancake with the spatula to see if it is finished cooking.  If it is mushy in the middle, it needs more time.  If it is firm, it’s ready to eat.

Ingredients for Coconut Honey Butter:

• 1/2 cup virgin coconut oil
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (I prefer Kerrygold)
• 1-2 Tbsp raw honey

Directions for Coconut Honey Butter:

1. Remove butter from refrigerator and bring to room temp. (Butter should be very soft.)
2. In a small sauce pan, melt coconut oil but do not make it hot.  Heat it just enough to liquify it. Remove from heat.
3. Whisk honey into coconut oil, and then whisk together with room temperature butter. (I prefer to use an electric hand mixer, but a hand mixer would work fine.)
4. Spread over a saran wrapped plate or small cookie sheet, and freeze until firm, (or spread immediately).
5. Cut into small squares and melt over piping hot fritters.

You can add anything you want into this batter.  I think pieces of cooked, thick cut bacon would be fabulous in this recipe.  Blueberries, and even zucchini or pieces of banana would be super tasty.  Or, better yet, add bananas and bacon and you’ll have a scrumptious breakfast feast.  But whatever you do, you can make it your own.

Quinoa’s Biggest Fan,
Carrie

The post Quinoa Fritters with Coconut Honey Butter appeared first on Our Stable Table.

Kale chips, by far, is my most frequently requested recipe outside of desserts.  Friends, family, readers, and remarkably self-aware Portland toddlers demand good kale chips.  There are a million ideas on the interwebs, and I feel as though I’ve tried them ALL.  And I don’t love them, I’ll be honest. Well, except for this brand.  I can eat that spendy kale goodness all day long.  But in general, I can’t quite get used to the bitter flavor of the brittle, crispy kale.

However, I’m always up for a challenge unless it involves something that I don’t want to do, like running a marathon or laundry.  Then I’ll gladly say Uncle! and curl up on the couch with a good book and glass of wine.

Given my love of kale and your great interest, though, I actually feel morally compelled to find a kale chip recipe that is not only passable, but doesn’t make me want to eat a whole cake afterward just to get the taste out of my mouth.

So, when I created a kale chip recipe that I wanted to eat compulsively, I did a little kitchen dance of joy. These little guys took  about 6 tries before I was satisfied with the results, and I ate them until I was almost full. Because you can’t REALLY get full on kale chips.

They taste wonderfully spicy, a little cheesy, and satisfied my snack cravings.  The only problem?  I wanted more.  I also used coconut oil which helped with the bitter flavor.  It is my favorite oil to use on the kale chips by far.

So, I give you Zesty Kale Chips!

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of kale, washed, de-stemmed, and dried thoroughly
• 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
• 1 Tbsp olive oil or melted coconut oil  (This coconut spray worked REALLY WELL, but I can’t vouch for it’s nutritional value or purity.)
• 2 tsp favorite salt-free seasoning mix (I chose a Grill’n Chop kind, but Spike would work.)
• smoked sea salt (which you can find at Trader Joe’s for cheap, or in the bulk bins at Whole Foods)

Directions:

1. After you’ve torn the kale into bite-sized pieces, put in a mixing bowl and spray or drizzle oil over leaves.  Mix well.
2. Spread leaves over a baking sheet in a single layer.
3. Sprinkle nutritional yeast over the kale, and then follow with salt-free seasoning and a very light sprinkle of salt
4. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes, depending on your oven.
5. Kale should be dark green and even a tiny bit brown in some places, but crunchy.  Consume immediately.

So, there you have it.  My You-Don’t-Want-To-Eat-Cake-After-Eating-These-Kale-Chips Recipe.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

All Hail The Kale,
Carrie

The post Zesty Kale Chips appeared first on Our Stable Table.

Most of us have guilty pleasures.  My husband, who is an indie music aficionado, loves a little Brittany Spears.  It’s not uncommon for him to rock out to “Toxic” while taking a long run. An old boss of mine, who was a MAJOR wine snob, loved the occasional bottle of Boone’s Farm. My very health-conscious BFF can’t resist a spoonful of Cool Whip in all of it’s chemical creaminess, especially when it’s frozen.  No matter what your “thing” is, you almost undoubtedly have a guilty pleasure.

Or, if you’re like me, your guilty pleasure list rivals your regular {translation: acceptable} pleasure list.

At the top of my foodie GP list?  Red Lobster cheddar biscuits.   Fluffy, cheesy, herby, and comforting baked heaven. I hate that I love them, but it I just can’t help it.  Maybe they’re rooted in childhood nostalgia.  Maybe I love bread and cheese a little too much.  Maybe I’m a secret lover of chain restaurants.

Or maybe I just like what I like.

At any rate, I can’t eat those little biscuits from heaven without feeling like I’ve been dragged through hell the next day.  I’m sure the less-than-quality ingredients have at least a little something to do with it.  Also, wheat is my mental/emotional/physical kryptonite. I turn into a puddly mess approximately one hour after eating it and it takes me a full 24 hours to recover.

So, I did what any other carb-loving, cheese-worshiping home cook would do: I adapted it.  No gluten, no fuss, no troublesome dough or wheat-induced weeping.  Just good, old-fashioned guilty pleasure food.  Minus some of the guilt.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup coconut flour, sifted
• 3 Tbsp butter, cubed
• 4 eggs
• 1 Tbsp raw honey
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar
• 1-2 Tbsp chives (dried or fresh)
• 1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning (optional)
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, butter baking powder, eggs, honey, and apple cider vinegar until completely incorporated. (Butter will be slightly lumpy, and that’s okay.)
2. Add chives and red pepper flakes then combine, and fold in cheese last.
3. On a parchment paper lined baking sheet, drop biscuits with a spoon and flatten slightly.
4. Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees.  Allow to cool almost completely before eating.

Variations

Maybe you don’t love cheese.  Maybe you just want plain biscuits.  THAT’S OKAY, TOO.  There is no wrong way to eat these bad boys.  You can omit the cheese and herbs, and you’ll be left with a simple coconut flour biscuit perfect for Eggs Benedict or a snack on the go.

If you’re craving sweet over savory, omit cheese and herbs, and add 1/4 cup raw chopped pecans, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp of vanilla extract, and 3 Tbsp of raw honey or Grade B Maple Syrup.

And finally, if you’re totally into cheese but are strictly paleo or dairy intolerant, sub 1/4 cup nutritional yeast for the cheese and add two tablespoons of unsweetened almond milk. This is my favorite variation for savory sandwiches.

Guilty Forever,

Carrie

The post Paleo Biscuits {Four Ways} appeared first on Our Stable Table.

I found two spaghetti squash the last time I was there and experimented with how best to prepare them.  Confession: I’ve tried making spaghetti squash a few times and always found it to be either crunchy (i.e. underdone) or super watery (i.e. over-steamed).  Either way, the squash was pretty flavorless and, well, sad.  This time, I decided to infuse the squash with as much flavor as possible and change up my cooking method.  And it worked! The new method I tried was something I read about over at Elena’s Pantry.   Instead of steaming it, or trying to wrestle and butcher the squash before it’s cooked, you cook it first.  Revolutionary, right?  Poke holes in the raw squash.  Roast it.  Cut it.  Scoop out the seeds and discard, then scoop out the perfectly cooked squash and consume.

This changes EVERYTHING.

Ingredients:

• 1 largish spaghetti squash
• 3-4 Tbsp brown butter (see below for directions)
•  6-8 fresh sage leaves
• cheese cloth, or double-fine mesh strainer
• S&P to taste

Directions:

1. Using a fork, poke two sets of holes in whole spaghetti squash.
2. Place squash on parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 80 minutes.
3. While your squash is baking, begin preparing your brown butter. In a small sauce pan, melt 1/2 cup (one stick) of butter on medium-low heat (4 of 10) and allow to simmer slowly.
4. When squash is finished baking, cut open lengthwise to make two halves, then scrape out seeds and discard.
5. With a fork, scrape out the sqaghetti squash into an oven safe dish.  Cut up your sage leaves and sprinkle them over the top of the squash.
6. Check on your melted butter.  It should start to brown a bit by now, with the solids falling down to the bottom of the pan and turning golden brown.  It will also smell amazing.  Be careful not to let it burn, which requires watching it fairly closely. 
7. When your butter is a dark golden brown with a caramely-nutty smell, remove it from heat and filter out the milk solids by pouring the mixture through a cheese cloth or double-fine mesh strainer.  You’ll be left with a clear, golden brown butter and a strainer full of  brown crunchy milk solids. 
8. Pour butter over sage and squash, give it a gentle stir, and return to oven and bake for an additional 20 minutes until ridiculously tender, the sage is soft, and the butter is soaked in.
9. Remove the squash from the oven.  Salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

You will NOT be disappointed, my friends.  Unless you hate butter.  But I can’t help that.

The post Brown Butter Sage Spaghetti Squash appeared first on Our Stable Table.

When I was growing up, I coveted boxes of Lucky Charms, Fruit Loops, and Honey Bunches of Oats. What kid DOESN’T want a sugar-loaded cereal to start their day?  But typically, boxed cereals were too expensive, and even if I found a coupon, my mom wouldn’t let me have all that sugar anyway.  She was a smart mom, and knew then what we are starting to learn now: junk food changes the way our brains develop and function. She did her level best to give us something healthy.  Whole milk, low-sugar/high fiber cereals. Fresh eggs. Homemade wheat toast with natural peanut butter.  All three of us kids protested her healthy efforts to no avail.  She was a woman determined to give her children a good start to the day, damnit!  She would actually chase us down if we forgot a jacket or our homework or our lunch, and yes, sometimes even our toast. We never stood a chance.

My mom would make us granola at home. (She made a LOT of things.  She also split our firewood, but that’s another post.)  We, her ever-resistant offspring, scoffed because the granola wasn’t from a box and she usually added wheat germ and raisins and about 1/3 of the sugar.

Jeeze.  We were really ungrateful.  Sorry, Mom!

Because of my FPIES toddler and my breast-feeding elimination diet, I have to be careful about what grains I consume. Wheat, oats, and a few other grains are off limits for my little dude entirely.  I find it’s easier just to almost avoid them altogether these days, and I don’t miss them much.  I’ve found ways around my cravings that help me feel satisfied and keep me out of the deprivation danger zone, which I fall into when I eliminate too many foods without having some great treats on standby.

This granola is FANTASTIC.  I’m giving you the adult version, which includes maca powder.  Maca is pretty amazing.  It boosts hormone function, energy, and sometimes even libido.  It can also enhance angry feelings, so I wouldn’t recommend giving it to your kids or eating it if you tend have a short temper.  But the high protein and fiber content will be a great start to your day!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups raw coconut flakes (sometimes called chips)
• 2.5 cups raw nuts and/or seeds of your choice (sunflower seeds, cashews & chopped brazil nuts are my favs)
• 3 Tbsp chia seeds
• 3 Tbsp organic coconut oil or grass-fed butter
• 2 Tbsp raw honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon, heaping
• 1/2 tsp cardamom or allspice (optional)
• 2 Tbsp maca powder (optional, and not for kiddos)
• 3 Tbsp mini-chocolate chips (optional, but tasty)

Instructions

1. Combine nuts and spices in a large mixing bowl.
2. On low heat, melt butter.  Add honey and vanilla extract when butter is just melted.  Stir until just barely incorporated.
3. Pour butter/honey mixture over the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
4. Once thoroughly combined, spread evenly on parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
5. Bake at 275 degrees for 25 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and sprinkle mini chocolate chips on top.
7. Allow to cool COMPLETELY before breaking it up, eating, or storing in an airtight container.

*I made this recipe over the weekend. I shared it with a friend who texted me the next day saying she could not stop eating it.  My husband took it to work for a snack and it didn’t come home again.  This stuff is crazy addictive.

The post Grain Free Chocolate Chip Granola appeared first on Our Stable Table.

I’m writing this and I don’t even fully know how to tell you to do it because, the very deepest truth is, I’m learning how to do this myself. I like movement. I like commotion. I like getting caught up in the shuffle. It’s exciting and invigorating. Even as frustrating as it can be, it’s a little electrifying and fun. And that’s okay. We all need fun.

But it’s also distracting.

When my body and mind are too busy, (which I slip into way too easily this time of year), I miss the really GOOD stuff. Like my son’s new hand mannerisms that appeared overnight, or my husband’s introverted co-worker who often gets overlooked at company Christmas parties but is delightful to talk to once engaged.

One of my very wise teachers told me she had a serious problem slowing down when she was a girl. At one point, it was so bad that she was almost expelled from school because she couldn’t stay focused on any task that required repetition. Her father decided to help her find a way to connect to methodical tasks that required her full attention. Her family ate rice at every dinner, and he gave her the job of washing the rice. She hated it. She had to stand still, be patient, sift the rice through the water. Fill, sift, wash, dump, repeat, until the water ran clear. She couldn’t leave her task in the middle of it and go do something else. When she took shortcuts, dinner was ruined and her family got angry. Doing this simple task brought her pride when done well, and the important life skill of learning how to slow down. Later, when she went to medical school, she told us how the simple act of washing rice, submerging her hands in water, doing this methodical task, would bring her back from her frazzled, over-stimulated state of being in a matter of 10 minutes.  It carried her through her partner’s heath crisis later, and her son’s teen years. It even helped her build a thriving medical practice.

She told me this as I sifted my own rice to make a slow-cooked curry dish. And as I stood there, listening to her story, I let the water run into my bowl and I felt each grain of rice, each gentle rush of water, and found my brain slowing down. She kept talking and I kept listening (kind of) but I was lost in the simple act of doing something slowly, consciously, and enjoying it.  I was shocked how much I allowed myself to find meaningful connection in a mundane task.

So, can we all slow down just a little? Find our awareness through small, everyday acts of service to those we love. Hell, you don’t even have to do anything more than what you’re doing now, just do them differently.  Do them with intention.  Do them with loving connectedness.

Here are a handful of places to start:

Watch your children. And I mean WATCH them. See how they move, find joy in their play.

Touch your partner with intention. A hand on the back, or a thumb swiped gently across a wrist.

Write a note to your parents. Express gratitude for something positive they did that shaped you. And if you don’t have those kinds of parents, send one to someone who helped bridge that gap. A phone call would work, too.

Wash dishes. Yep, washing dishes engages both hands in concerted movement, which means both sides of your brain are working together. This is excellent for your mental acuity and you have the added bonus of a clean kitchen when you’re finished.

Make slow food. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. In fact, simple is better. But there is something so satisfying about crafting a tasty meal from just a few ingredients and SITTING DOWN to eat it. Yep, that’s part of the deal. Sit down to eat.

So, in the spirit of slowing down, here is my favorite slow-food recipe, Korean Barbeque Beef. I’m sure it’s a far cry from authentic Korean food, but it’s rich, warm, satisfying, and makes excellent leftovers. It also goes well with rice.

Ingredients:
2-3 lbs grass-fed chuck roast
1 onion, thinly sliced
5-7 cloves fresh garlic, crushed
2 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
I cup Braggs Amino Acids
1/4 cup rice vinegar (I use organic and unsweetened, but you might be able to use 1/8 cup of Apple Cider Vinegar instead.)
1/4 cup organic black strap molasses
3 Tbsp Siracha or other hot sauce
1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
20-30 drops liquid stevia, or three Tbsp raw honey
1-2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes for extra heat

Preparation:
1) In a medium bowl, whisk everything together except for the onion and chuck roast.
2) Grease your crockpot using some toasted sesame oil.  It adds extra flavor and makes cleaning easy.
3) Put your chuck roast in the crockpot and add the onions around the sides of the roast.
4) Pour your marinade over the roast and onions.  You can add a little water if you’d like,  1/2 cup should do it.
5) Cook on low for 6-8 hours.  I think 7 hrs is perfect, but it’s up to you!

The post Healthy Holidays — Slow Down appeared first on Our Stable Table.

At the time, I didn’t grasp how drastically every social interaction changed for my brother’s family the moment C’s allergy necessitated an epi pen. It was a very serious condition for such a tiny human to deal with, and although I was fully committed to keeping her safe, I still forgot to leave the cashews in the car sometimes or check the label on her treats to make sure they weren’t made in a facility that processed peanuts. Luckily, my brother, sis-in-law, and oldest niece were vigilant and wouldn’t let anything that even hinted at peanuts to cross the threshold. (As it turns out, it was crazy hard to find toddler treats processed in a peanut-free facility 10 years ago. Now, it’s a bit easier because food allergies are so prevalent. ) I wish I could go back to 20-something year-old Carrie and give her a good shake about the reality of food allergies, and the sonic effect families with food allergies experience.

In spite of her challenges, C has always had a resilient and sunny attitude, even when it meant missing out on a special treat or experience with her friends or big sister.  C bounces along, continually looking for the silver lining, sharing her bright energy and outlook with the world. I wanted to create something especially for C, since nuts of all kinds are off limits now, and her family is trying to cut back on sugar. She’s a total chocoholic (it runs in the family!). Of course you can always sub a different seed or nut butter, but these are so yummy, there’s no need!

Ingredients:

• 1 16 oz jar of smooth sunbutter
• 2 eggs
• 
1 avocado (yep, you read that right) or 1/4 cup coconut oil…but it won’t be as good as the avocado.
• 1 cup coconut crystals
• 
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
20 drops liquid stevia
• 
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 bar of 90% dark chocolate, chopped
• 
pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Mash the avocado until totally smooth. You can put it in the food processor if you’d like.
2. Add sunbutter, vanilla extract, stevia, eggs, and blend VERY WELL.
3. Combine baking powder, cocoa powder, salt, and erythritol in a separate bowl, then add to sunbutter mixture, mixing well.
4. Press mixture into 9×13 glass baking dish, and spread evenly. (A smaller dish is fine, too.)
5. Sprinkle dark chocolate chunks over the top of the batter.
6. Bake at 325 degrees for about 30-40 minutes.
7. Allow to cool for 30 minutes before cutting.

The post Sunbutter Brownies appeared first on Our Stable Table.