Psalm 127:3-5

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!"

Swept up into Baking...


So I went into work this morning and my boss told me she didn't need me today because one of our doctors was out of the office. I left wondering what I should do with my day. It didn't take long before I decided to turn my day off into a baking day. I've been reading about other wives who devote a morning or evening to baking. I've been wanting to do this, so I can have muffins and breads stored in my freezer, but it's hard to do when I work a lot.

So...here's what's cooking:

Banana Coconut Flour Muffins

Spiced Apple Muffins

Cranberry Pecan Corn Muffins

For several reasons, Kyle and I have decided to add animal products back into our daily eating routine, but in small amounts and only grass fed, free range, non-hormone pumped animals and dairy. Since the cost of this type of meat/dairy is higher, that will also limit how much we eat.

Because we are on the go so much of the time, sometimes it's hard to get enough food into us with just eating fruits and veggies. Because of this, I have been quite concerned that we are getting enough nutrition. I still do not know fully what I think about meat eating vs. vegetarian, but since I've been off of meat (and Kyle mostly) for about 2 1/2 months, we are going to try adding a little back in to see how that effects our systems. We will also be paying attention to energy levels, etc... I know that the two times I have eaten meat I feel heavy and loaded down. Not what I normally feel after eating yummy vegetables!

We are really seeking to find a good balance in nutrition and health. I have been reading A LOT about different styles of "healthy eating" and the one thing I find in common, whether it be vegan, vegetarian, or meat-eating, is to eliminate ALL processed foods from our bodies. That means: no white or brown sugar, no white flour, no caffeine, no boxed meals/cereals, etc... Many people take it down to not even eating any canned food. There are so many toxins and harmful additives (i.e. MSG) that are added to our foods without us even knowing about it. Or worse, we do know about it but continue to still eat it.

So, in trying to sift through what we feel called to eat and cook, Kyle and I have decided to rid our kitchen and baking routines from as many processed items as possible. Over the last three months I have been changing over the products in our kitchen to more healthy, holistic foods. I no longer cook with regular sugar but use Sucanat (evaporated cane juice), honey, and molasses. I've even begun to use coconut flour (which is gluten free and grain free) for some of my baking. We eat simple, whole food meals. We are also still seeking to incorporate a lot of fresh fruits and veggies, beginning the day with a fruit smoothie and having salads for lunches.

Today I bought one cage-free, vegetarian fed, non-hormone pumped chicken to boil down and use in several meals. Much of the reading I've been doing talks about the nutrition found in bone broths so, like any good ol' country gal, I saved my chicken stock in glass canning jars to store in the freezer and pull out for soups this fall. (I have great memories with my Mom of us boiling down a whole chicken together. Mom would teach me how to skin it, take out the insides, and then cook it. Thanks Mom for all the great cooking memories we've shared over the years. I kept thinking about you today as I cooked!)


Since I baked for about 5 hours today, dinner was super easy and quick. I decided to try Health Begins with Mom's recipe for Chicken Burrito Skillet. It turned out really yummy!


Here's our yummy dinner. I substituted yellow corn tortillas for the whole wheat tortillas. We both gave it a 10 on the food rating scale! Yum yum!


*** I wrote this post last night but then I lost power to my computer so I didn't post it until today. I have an update about how I was affected by eating this way last night. Basically, I felt bad all morning! I felt so full (from trying several muffins + eating the new food [i.e. chicken and cheese] and my lips broke out again! We knew that I was allergic to wheat and oats, but we were wondering, before starting our diet, if I was also allergic to dairy. Sure enough, after eating cheese last night my lips broke out. The odd thing is that I usually don't break out with other forms of dairy... so I guess we'll have to start experimenting to see what all I'm really allergic to. For now, I've cut the cheese back out of our diets.) The next time I make this dinner it'll probably be without the chicken and cheese. But it'll still be super yummy! --Saturday night--

2 comments:

Mother said...

Michelle,
What JOY!! to remember those times in the kitchen ! :-)) We learned alot together!! This recipe sounds really good!!

Anonymous said...

I loved reading about your baking. I would love to try coconut flour. Your recipes sounds great.
Enjoy cooking!!!!

Related Posts with Thumbnails