Healthy Tips and Recipes for Families from Ellen Briggs of Family Food Experts & Kid Critics #WorldHealthDay

As a mom of 4 I know all about picky eaters! I totally get the time, effort, dedication and enormous amount of patience it takes to get kids to eat a variety of healthy foods. While I sometimes "sneak" healthy foods into our meals I much prefer to have fruits and vegetables openly visible on our plates so that my children can recognize them and eventually, hopefully have a better appreciation and knowledge about what healthy foods are. We are trying to raise health minded adults after all. 

So when I was contacted by Ellen Briggs, founder of Family Food Experts and author of several books geared towards families eating and being healthy I was excited to share some of the fun ideas and great tips with all of you. For instance, we all know that smell has a lot to do with how we perceive and even taste foods but did you know that you can easily remove the strong odors that many sulfuric veggies naturally have? 

How to REDUCE NASTY SULFUR SMELLS: Do your kids run away every time you cook broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage or brussel sprouts? Reduce their offensive odors by adding a piece of stale bread or 2 celery stalks in the cooking water. 

I'm loving all of the really simple recipes, tips and games on the Family Food Experts and Kid Critics website, I hope you will add them to your reading list!


Here are 5 tips inspired by the Fuel Your Dreams^TM program to help families with small children to choose and eat healthier foods. 

Teach your kids about the connection between what they eat and drink and what happens inside their bodies. Once they learn that 100 billion neurons in their brain send thousands of messages so they can run fast, they are totally motivated to eat avocados and sweet potatoes so they can be the best they can be.  Kids will eat healthy foods that taste good.

Don’t make broccoli a 4-letter word.  Find ways to include fruits and vegetables in creative and varied ways, and your kids will love to experiment and add it to their menu.

Be transparent with your kids – they’re too smart.  Rather than hiding, pureeing, masking vegetables, if you prepare and present them properly, kids will embrace vegetables and create healthy, lifelong habits.

You become what you eat and drink.  However, kids need a reason to eat healthy food beyond “your mom said so.”  So, for example, if a kid wants to be an NFL football player (a popular choice among boys) or a veterinarian (the number one pick among girls surveyed), educate them on what specific foods can “fuel their body for success.”

Don’t “dumb it down.”  Kids are critical thinkers (love to ask and understand the “why”); they love to vote (power); and they appreciate being heard. Further, kids are egocentric, focused primarily on their own desires. Once kids understand WHY nutrition fuels success, they will crave it.

The Family Food Experts^TM team is dedicated to providing healthier food solutions that kids love to eat so they can become the best they can be.  The team developed the Kid Kritics Approved^TMSeal as a way to make food purchasing and meal preparation easier for families by identifying foods that are “kid approved” that also pass firm ingredient standards.  

Fuel Your Dreams^TM uses a variety of educational and online tools to motivate kids to want to eat healthier so they can optimize their potential, and empowers parents to understand that kids will eat healthy foods as long as they taste good.

Founder Ellen Briggs authored “Are Your Kids Running on Empty?” and “Mom, I’m Hungry.  What’s for Dinner?”  Briggs hosts the "Family Food Experts TM Kitchen" radio show, and along with co-host Carolina Lima Jantac, MS, RD, LD, and Manager of Healthier Recipe Moms, hosts “Better Food Choices,” both found on iHeartRadio.  Briggshas been featured on Fox and Friends and on NBC, CBS, PBS, FOX, and more. 

Some of my favorite recipes that get kids to eat their veggies:



Bubble and Squeak has yummy brussel sprouts, potatoes and cheese, yum!

Roasted Butternut Squash Tacos with South Western Black Beans are one of my kids favorite dinners.

Almost Meatless Sloppy Joe's

Baked Parmesan Eggplant Dippers

Share your tips and tricks on getting kids to eat healthier.

What is your child's favorite veggie? 

How do you incorporate veggies into your family's diet?

Quinoa Spring Pilaf

Fresh, raw Spring veggies are tossed with rainbow quinoa for this quick and tangy 

citrus infused pilaf.  

It's beautiful and breezy here in Phoenix and totally tank top and flip flop weather!  Hooray!  Time to get a plan in action to take advantage of every minute of this 80 degree weather in the Valley of the Sun before triple digit scorching weather is here and it's our turn to be locked up inside.  Instead of being freezed in, we will be rubbing ice cubes on our necks, faces pressed close to a rotating fan.






Step 1. Get a pedicure and buy three new pairs of cute flip flops and two new pairs of sexy sandals (yes there's a difference).

Step 2. Purchase a new pair of Rock Star shades and sit by the pool to put some color back on your fish belly white arms and legs!

Step 3. Attend as many Spring training baseball games as possible while sporting your new semi-tanned bod.

{note to self: try not to gain 5 lbs this year eating Brats and drinking beer at aforementioned baseball games}

Step 4. Start making fresh, raw whenever possible meals using all of your favorite Spring veggies that are back in season!

Step 5. Try not to cry when swim suit shopping this year. We are going to eat healthier, exercise more and be even sexier bitches than we are right now!

Step 6. Go hiking every day before it reaches 115 degrees, lift weights, feel awesome!

I will in all honesty be eating this salad several times a week. I'm not one for eating the same thing over and over seeing as that I love trying new foods in new combinations but this one, this one's a keeper! Nothing beats simple + healthy + delicious.

recipe adapted from alexandra cooks

TIME    20 MINUTES        SERVES    4

Ingredients 

1 cup rainbow quinoa

1 cup **fresh fava beans (if not in season use frozen lima beans)

1 cup walnuts, chopped

4 to 5 scallions or spring onions, rinsed, trimmed and finely sliced

8 to 10 radishes, thinly sliced

kosher salt and pepper to taste

2 lemons, juiced

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil (or walnut oil)

Bring 2 1/2 cups of water to a boil. Meanwhile, place quinoa in a fine-meshed sieve and rinse thoroughly  under cold water to remove the naturally "soapy film".  Add quinoa and fresh fava beans, lower heat and simmer for 12-15 minutes until water is just absorbed. Remove from heat. Place in a large bowl to cool.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the walnuts, scallions, radishes, olive oil and lemon juice to the bowl. Toss to combine. If you prefer it a bit tangier like I do, add a tablespoon of champagne vinegar or more lemon.

**I personally do not eat soy beans because they are a GMO (genetically modified organism) which some studies  have shown to cause several health risks and complications, for me personally, they caused me to have pre-menopausal symptoms. Since genetic engineering means modifications of genes, and genes are the blueprint for making proteins, GE foods tend to make proteins not naturally found in their chemical structure. Many adverse reactions to food involve immune system response to proteins, and it would be logical to expect more of these adverse reactions in the case of GE foods.

sources

World's Healthiest Foods

Guacamole Chicken Pitas with Almonds and Dried Apricots

Imagine this. You live in one of the most picturesque,  climate friendly, supreme outdoor frolicking places to live. Ever.  Now, imagine you have crazy annoying, ridiculous allergies. To everything pollen, grass and nature related and to dogs and to watermelon. Congratulations, you are now me in a nut suit. I  love  nature. I love dogs and oh, by the way, I love watermelon. Karma confuse me?

I have spent a small fortune on allergy medicine in my life and 90% of it has been in the last 3 months! What gives?!@  Spring in the Valley of the Sun is Heaven on Earth and I am plundering around sneezing, blowing my nose and puffy faced while trying to take in deep breaths of the fragrant orange blossoms I so love. Not attractive, nor fair.

So I thought it would be a great idea to make a picnic lunch to take to the boys Cub Scout Spring Camp this week. I put aside the fact that my allergies to pretty much everything outdoors would make me miserable and quite possibly go into anapylactic shock I but also chose, once again to ignore the fact that I'm slightly allergic to avocados. What cruel world do I live in?!  Avocados! Really?!



So, naturally I made Guacamole Chicken Pitas.


I'm building up a tolerance.


It could totally work.............

maybe.

Simple, fresh ingredients you can throw together for lunch or a picnic.

Freshly grated carrots naturally sweeten the mixture and balance out the tang of the sugar free yogurt.

Guacamole Chicken Pitas with Dried Apricots

SERVES    6         TIME    10 MINUTES

Ingredients

1/2 of a Whole Roasted Chicken

2 stalks celery, diced

1/2 cup dried apricots (or raisons), chopped

1/4 cup green onions, chopped

1 whole carrot, grated

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1/4 cup cilantro (or parsley) chopped

1 cup fat free, plain yogurt

1 whole avocado

1 lemon, juiced

pinch of salt

dash of pepper

 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

cayenne pepper if you please

6 Pita pockets.

Chop chicken, throw into medium sized bowl. Add remaining ingredients, stir to combine. Spoon into pita pockets. Enjoy!

Serve with fresh fruit!

Chinese Chicken Salad with Honey-Peanut Dressing

This absolutely falls into the "What to make when you don't feel like making dinner" category. 

I even used a store bought rotisserie chicken (gasp!) because, well, I really didn't feel like doing a damn thing involving the oven yesterday. I blame the crazy, unrelenting heat here in Phoenix. You're probably tired of my using that excuse and quite frankly I'm tired too. All of us Zonies deal with the triple scorching digits in our own way May through August but I gotta tell you, come mid September, I personally am spent. Done and down right cranky.

We didn't even get an honest to goodness Monsoon this year! This may not sound like a bad thing if you live in the mid-west or maybe in Japan.  Complaining about  not  getting 80+ mph winds and feet upon feet of rushing waters because the bone dry, compacted desert ground can't absorb it fast enough might sound crazy if you in fact did not live in the South Western deserts of Arizona. You must keep in mind that even the tall and mighty saguaro start looking parched and pathetic by the end of a summer were temperatures have been consistently averaging around 115F.  Every. Single. Day. 

This salad was a welcomed treat for a weeknight dinner. The kiddos thought it "looked pretty" with all of the colors and loved the honey-peanut sauce which made the veggies "taste yummier". 

This could very easily be made vegetarian by omitting the chicken. You would still have a lot of protein from the peanut sauce and the bean sprouts which are a wonderful source of protein. Also, you could use tahini (a sesame paste with a milder flavor than peanut) if you prefer.

The Crunch Factor in this salad makes it very filling. I used baby clementines instead of canned mandarin oranges this time because I had a big gab of them on the counter. I much preferred the fresh taste but the little seeds in them were annoying to pick out in each bite especially with all of the other crunchiness going on.



 juice from the mandarin oranges
tablespoon at a time of warm water to thin to desired consistency

PREP TIME  15 MINUTES        SERVES   6


INGREDIENTS

2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
1/2 head Napa cabbage, chopped
1 large handful fresh bean sprouts
1 red bell pepper cut in strips
1 bunch green onions, chopped
handful of packaged julienned carrots
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
small handful of chopped peanuts
1 can mandarin oranges, reserve juice

1 tablespoon (no added sugar) peanut butter (or tahini)
1tablespoon local, Organic honey
1tablespoon tamari


Putting it all together

In a large bowl combine all veggies and toss together.
Add chopped chicken and toss.
In a small bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, honey, soy sauce juice and water.
Drizzle the sauce over the salad and sprinkle with nuts.

Tamari Soy Sauce, Wheat Free, Organic

Greek Yogurt and Goat Cheese Tzaziki Roasted Red Pepper Zucchini Rolls with Pesto Dip A.K.A. Extremely Creative and Interesting Snacks for an Unbearably Boring Mom.

Let's talk about creative energy, or rather the lack there of. For instance, I'm pretty sure that I had something rather interesting to say 15 minutes ago but since then 1 million and 1 other extremely important things have happened. Such is the life of a mom of 4. Any mom actually, but I speak for myself (disclaimer numero uno).

Case and point. In the last 15 minutes I have:

Tried to console a very distraught 4 year old little girl about a broken crayon which her 8 year old very artistic brother absolutely had to have because it was  "Imperial Blue" and the exact shade he needed to finish his bird drawing and "NO!" another shade of blue from the enormous bucket of crayons wouldn't do and excuse me please but it in fact is not a crayon but a pastel! ..............................

Stopped 3 times to put on baby doll clothes. On the same baby doll.

Tried to reason with a dramatic 6 year old over why it's not the end of the world when someone touches him, looks at him, breathes on him.

Prepared myself for yet another night of over reactive drama and whining about how grosssssss dinner is before they even know what it is.

Tried to take a picture or two of for mentioned dinner when the house we moved into several months ago does not have ONE SINGLE north facing window, or any decent window for food photography for that matter.  (note to self, look for new house immediately. post note, be in complete denial that the housing market is yet again rising faster than my strategic abilities allow.)

Exaggerating? Who me? NO. Not this time my friends, not this time. Life as a mom, end of story. 

Again, I'm pretty sure I had something very creative or mildly interesting to say in regards to this post 15 minutes ago but alas, you will forgive me as my creativity has been sucked away over the years and replaced with the cutest of cute, adorable, little, needy monsters. 

What's the opposite of boring? These super cute snack containers from Planet Box. I. heart. their lunch boxes and so when they offered to send me one of their brand new sectioned snack boxes, 

"The Shuttle" with a perfect little dipping container I was waiting by the window for the UPS guy.  

This little snack container was much roomier than I imagined and perfect for my portioned, 5 a day small meals. As you can see it held my 'second' lunch quite nicely and I won't even mention the fact that my dear husband swiped it from me the  next morning. I did get a nice text message around lunch time about how fantastic my zucchini rolls were. Cudos.

I love Planet Boxes sleek and convenient  design and that the magnets were interchangeable. My boys loved this alien one and when mommy wants to take it to work I simply take the magnets off or I can switch them out for one of their other cute magnets. These cute space guys ended up on our fridge. 

Several different sizes to choose form with eco-conscience design and cute carriers. I love it!

Back to School Time Already! Time to get a sturdy lunch box that will last through the year! 

Planet Box sent me these items, all opinions are my own.

Day 1 of "Drop a Dress Size Challenge" What I'm eating this week.

Day 1 of holding myself accountable. Day 1 of no more excuses. Day 1 to the new me. I'm excited and a little nervous I'll screw it up. Today I'm doing pretty good, I had my vegan chocolate Shakeology for breakfast which is pretty yummy and really hits the spot. I blend it up with almond milk and ice so it's more of a shake which I need to cool me off here in July in Phoenix. Even first thing in the morning it's hot, damn hot. I've had my coffee because there's just no way around that for me. I did have almond/coconut milk in it instead of my usual half and half. I've had a big glass of water, I plan on keeping a big glass of water next to me at all times, with a straw, you drink more with a straw.

However, it's 12:37 p.m. and I haven't worked out yet. I'm soooo not a morning person and I always find 47 other things that I 'need' to do in the mornings like making out a grocery list and weekly menu while sipping on my coffee. I need to work on that.

I did take my measurements which wasn't pretty. At all. It will be good to see the changes in my body as the weeks go by though and seeing those numbers were a huge eye opener! This is a 90 day challenge I'm doing with 8 other ladies and run by my long time blogging buddy Jennifer at The Fit Housewife, she's amazing!






So, here's what I'll be eating this week. It's important to have a healthy meal plan so there is no last minute "I guess we'll have to order a pizza" nights. I work 3 days this week, one day until 9:30p.m. So I have to accommodate for that.


Breakfasts:

Mostly Shakeology
On my days off from work, veggie scrambled eggs
On Saturday:

Healthy Eggs Benedict with Creamy Avocado Dill Sauce

Snacks: 

Fruit, berries, peaches & nectarines are in season

 Apples w Almond Butter

Veggies and Hummus

Crudites with goat cheese or Laughing Cow cheese

Lunch:

Tuna salad minus the mayo w radishes and celery on top of baby spinach

Grilled Chicken salad  Iced Tea

Turkey Roll ups w lettuce and red bell pepper  Iced Tea

Roasted Asparagus with Poached Egg and Miso Avocado "Butter"

Dinner:

Grilled Mahi-Mahi with Caponata

Lighter Sesame Chicken w Broccoli

Zucchini Black Bean Chopped Salad w Yogurt Dill Sauce

Lentil Burgers with Smoked Gouda and Salad

Friday Night Pizza: Grilled Portobello

I've purged my pantry of my trigger foods, really only potato chips and stocked it with plenty of healthy foods and have made healthy grab and go snacks like my banana sunflower cookies from my previous post.

My Goal this Week:

No wine after dinner! ;}

Coconut Crusted Baked Chicken Strips {gluten free}

I remember when I was in college I thought grabbing some chicken fingers at Wendy's was a healthier choice than grabbing a cheeseburger, I mean no bread right? Wrong, duh me. I'm not going to lie, I still love a good, crispy chicken nugget but avoid the drive through like crazy nowadays. It's a good thing, a very, very good thing that home made chicken nuggets happen to be one of the very easiest things you can make. Yippee!







Anyone can make these even if you don't like to cook or it's not really your thing. This is one of my "go to" weeknight simple dinners. I'm bored to death with plain baked chicken not to mention the whole humane issue with eating cooped up chickens. Of course eating Organic & cage free chicken gets pricey when feeding a family of 6 so we don't have it very often.

These would be a perfect appetizer at a party!

When we do I make sure it's gonna be tasty and serve it up with lots of fruits and veggies. In this case, an amazingly sweet and creamy mango yogurt dipping sauce! I could have eaten it by the spoonful. Not ashamed.



One of my nutty kids doesn't like coconut (the shame) but the rest of us loved these sweet and crunchy chicken tenders and were more than happy to swipe Jack's chicken nuggets right of his plate. Ya gotta be quick around this joint when it comes to protecting your food and making sure you get the very last chicken nugget from the pan.

6-8 pieces chicken tenderloins (preferably Organic free range)

11/2 cups almond or other nut flour 

1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut

4 eggs, beaten

2 tablespoons milk (dairy free if possible)

salt and pepper

1 tablespoon oil for coating pan 

2 ripe mango's + 1/2 cup yogurt = mango dipping sauce

peel mango and slice fruit away from pit. Discard pit, place fruit into blender or food processor. Add yogurt, blend.

Preheat oven to 400F

Arrange 3 deep plates on counter. Add flour to one,  beaten eggs to the second and coconut to the third.

Working one at a time, place chicken tenders into flour and dredge on both sides to coat. Using your other hand, dip coated chicken into egg to coat. Next, lay chicken in coconut and dredge to coat, flip, coat other side.

Place on a lightly oiled pan or one lined with parchment. 

Continue to do this to remaining chicken. 

TIP 

 Only put half of the flour and half of the coconut onto plates as they will become gooey.

Half way through your chicken, quickly rinse off plates if needed and dry.

 Add remaining flour to one plate and remaining coconut to the other. 

Cook at 400F for 4-5 minutes. Using tongs, carefully flip the chicken pieces over. 

Cook an additional 5-6 minutes until golden brown.

Don't over cook chicken as it will become dry and taste like cardboard.

Enjoy!

Do you cook less when the weather gets warmer? 

What is your favorite warm weather dish?

Roasted Chickpea, Heirloom tomato, Avocado, Lemon Tarragon and Basil Salad.

My mom is in the background reminiscing about how she always used to win the spelling bee. Every year she says, and there was a big stage and real prizes, that's how they did it in my day. All because I asked her how to spell extraordinaire. I should have known better. She's still going on and on (can't blame a gal for reminiscing) so of course I ask her how to spell reminiscing and she pauses with a bit of doubt..... HA! I totally know how to spell doubt! So I promptly turn to my handy dandy, new age spelling check thingy on my state of the art MAC computer and it shuts my poor mom down and tells me how to spell reminiscing before she can spout it out.   Pooooor  mommy.

I can't really feel all that proud about my somewhat limited technological (spell check told me how to spell that, I'm not ashamed) abilities because right after I was congratulating myself on my ability to spell a couple of 5th grade words and patting myself on the back for navigating through Photo shop to produce a half way reasonable food pic I found myself cursing my wireless mouse. You see, when I moved right, the arrow would go left. When I move up, the arrow would go down.  Gahhhh!  Why can't technology be simple?!!


Because idiots like me can't figure out when a mouse is turned upside down. In my defense it is wireless and is completely anatomical.

Yeah. I know.



It's a good thing I know how to cook without burning the house down. I love uncomplicated summer dinners. I'm declaring it summer here in Phoenix. It's in the 90's, good enough reason for me to turn off the stove and focus on quick and simple meals with fresh ingredients.






Simple, fresh ingredients. Heirloom tomatoes, chick peas drizzled with a good quality olive oil and sprinkled with some Himalayan Pink Sea Salt. Roasted to crispy perfection.  Don't feel like turning on your oven? No problem, neither do I come May. This salad tastes equally amazing with out roasting the chick peas. I happen to loooove the crispy texture and flavor that roasting brings to them but in a pinch, plain ol' cooked chick peas will do.



You can use canned chick peas or dry ones. If using canned, drain and rinse thoroughly. Put into a small bowl, drizzle with a tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle with a salt. Spread onto a baking pan, I love my stone one which absorbs flavor and allows you to use less oil and is super easy to clean. During the hot summer months I can see myself skipping the oven all together but I do love the crispiness and flavor that roasting the beans adds.

Roast in the oven at 375F for 20-25 minutes to desired crispiness. I highly recommend investing in a baking stone. I use mine to roast veggies, bake cookies and pizza crust. You use a minimal amount of oil with a baking stone and it roasts more evenly that a metal one.  Check out this Rada Cutlery Stoneware

When I can find them, I love these pretty little Heirloom tomatoes. They are naturally sweet and so good for you, think no GMO's. Real tomatoes not genetically modified. Don't want to spend the money or can't find them in your hood. Use cherry or grape tomatoes instead.

Slice a semi-ripe avocado into bite size pieces. Sprinkle with a generous amount of dried tarragon. Tarragon goes amazing with avocado! Squeeze the juice of 1 whole lemon over the avocado and gently toss to coat. Lemon not only adds fresh flavor but helps the avocado not to brown quickly. Set aside.

Avocado tossed with tarragon and lemon.

This one was an instant keeper! Usually I make recipes several time before posting them on my blog. But I am sitting here writing this with a bowl full of this yummy salad sitting in front of me.

 It's  that  good.



Light, lemony, healthy and fresh. What more do you want in a summer salad?

Perfect to bring on a picnic! Enjoy with a cold glass of Pinot Grigio and an herbed salad mix.

TIME     20 MINUTES       SERVES     4-6 

Ingredients: 

2 cans (or 3 cups cooked) chick peas/garbanzo beans1 pint baby heirloom tomatoes, sliced in half ~ can sub cherry or grape tomatoes2 avocados, dicedsmall handful fresh basil leaves, sliced thinly1 teaspoon dried tarragon2 teaspoons divided extra virgin olive oiljuice from one lemonsalt ~ I love my pink Himalayan sea salt

Preheat oven to 375F.  

Drain and rinse chick peas if using canned. Put into a large bowl and drizzle with 1 teaspoon olive oil, sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Toss to coat. Spread evenly onto a baking pan, I love my stone baking sheet.  Bake on center rack for 20-30 minutes to desired crispiness. 

Meanwhile, slice tomatoes in half and dice up your semi-firm avocado. Put avocado into a large bowl first and sprinkle with tarragon. Drizzle lemon juice over avocado and toss gently to coat. Add tomatoes to the bowl and sprinkle with a bit of salt and sliced basil. Add chickpeas and gently toss to combine salad.  

Serve with a green salad to make it a meal. Don't forget the Pinot Grigio! 

Grain Free PB&J Bread

My 6 year old has 4 cavities. FOUR! If ever I felt like a failure as a mom, this is it. Epic fail. The fact that the dentist is my sisters husband may or may not have made me feel even punier. Not that I ever claimed to be World's Best Mom but I DO however like to think of myself as a fairly healthy eater and especially when it comes to feeding my kids healthy foods and snacks. I mean that's the entire premise of my blog! 

So how is it that my baby has 4 cavities? The dentist a.k.a. my brother-in-law asked me what his weakness was when it came to snacking.  "Errr, weakness?"  "Yeah, like does he love gold fish crackers and pretzels or candy?" Me, "NO! Well, I mean he does, actually have a big time sweet tooth but I SWEAR I can't even remember the last time I've bought gold fish crackers, or any crackers other that our GF quinoa and seed ones or any fruit snacks, candy or cookies or doughnuts....... (my mind is working over time trying to figure out where I went wrong).  So I say, "I mean sometimes I buy Popsicles, and there was Halloween where he gorged himself with candy  Oh!  all of those birthday parties at school with the cup cakes, that's got to be it right?  

Dentist/brother-in-law concerned for my mental health, "Ummm, no. You usually don't get cavities at this age from occasional snacking. Me, hanging my head in shame: "oh".  B-I-L, "What about your pregnancy? Was anything out of the ordinary there?"

Me:.......................... wrapping my mind around this question.

"Um. No. I mean I had to have surgery for appendicitis when I was 20 weeks along." 

"No, I mean were you sick a lot? Did you have a poor diet?"

Inner me trying to remember what the hell I ate 7 years ago while I was pregnant with my 3rd child that would have caused him to have 4 cavities at the age of 6:  "Um no. I mean maybe a little. I mean I think  I might have eaten more french fries than usual, and maybe a few second helpings of pasta..... at 2 a.m. 

And then I very jokingly and lovingly because he is family after all say "Why is it always the mothers fault?!!"  

I'm sure he knew I was joking. Kind of. Oh crap! I haven't been helping him brush his teeth in months. Should I mention that?

Nah.

Sighhh.

Which brings me to bread.

obviously.

I've played around with making gluten free bread a few times and have made a decent enough loaf or two but nothing that screams out "Mmmmm, home made bread!" Usually it's pretty dense and very dry.   

This bread was unbelievably good! It was heavier than your store bought, gluten laden variety because it is made with nut butter (ground nuts). I was however, expecting it to be much denser than it was. In fact, it was fairly light and airy and had just a mild hint of nut flavor. 

Cashews are my favorite nut after all. 

The small list of healthy ingredients, no yeast involved was a big bonus for me. Making home made bread was never so easy. You can use jarred Organic cashew butter or save some money and make your own if you have a good quality blender or food processor. See my post here on how to easily make your own nut butters.

Elana, from Elana's Pantry recommended using  Parrish Magic Line Loaf Pans
to bake gluten free breads which will help with the thin, dense bread that comes from using a regular size loaf pan. So I bought one. And it worked! Yay Elana! P.S.  she has another wonderful recipe for a grain free bread that I have tried and we all loved. It was however, slightly more involved than this recipe and I try to be as non-involved as possible these days. I blame the children. Which is only fair since somebody is going to turn around and blame me for all of their ailments and shenanigans anyway?  I kid!

Recipe from Danielle at Against All Grain

Yields 1 8.4x4.5 loaf
1 cup smooth raw cashew butter at room temperature.
4 large eggs, separated
1 tablespoon local honey
2.5 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup almond milk (cow milk, coconut, hemp milk or rice milk will work as well)
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt 

Directions 

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. 

In a stand mixer using a cookie dough paddle, beat the cashew butter with the egg yolks, then add the honey, vinegar, and milk. 

Beat the egg whites in a separate bowl until peaks form. Combine the dry ingredients in another small bowl. Make sure your oven is completely preheated before adding the egg whites and the dry ingredients to the cashew butter mixture. You don’t want your whites to fall, and the baking soda will activate once it hits the eggs and vinegar. 

Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and beat until combined. This will result in more of a wet batter than a dough. 

Gently fold in the beaten egg whites into the cashew butter mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan, then immediately put it into the oven. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. 

Remove from the oven, then let cool for 15-20 minutes. Use a knife to free the sides from the loaf pan, then flip it upside down and release the loaf onto a cooling rack.