Almond flour pizza crust

The whole family enjoyed the crunch and toasty flavor of this gluten free, dairy free, sugar free pizza crust!

Serving size: 2

What you'll need:
Parchment paper to line your baking sheet or pizza stone.
1 cup almond flour
1 egg
2 tbs melted coconut oil
pinch of sea salt
1/2 tbs garlic powder
1/2 tbs Italian seasoning . 

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk your egg,  garlic, italian seasonings and salt. Then add in almond flour and melted coconut oil.

Lightly coat your hands in the coconut oil and roll the mixture in to a round ball.

Line your baking sheet with parchment paper and a little oil on top to help not stick.

Press out your dough until about 8inches in diameter.

Pre-bake at 350 degrees with no toppings until golden brown.
Add a thin layer of sauce (I used Target's Simply balanced marinara because is sf/gf/df) bake until chosen toppings are hot.

We opted to top with salad instead of cheese ;) yum!

*Note* if you are topping with meat make sure it is cook all the way to safe temperature before adding to the pizza.

A lighter more flavorful spin on a Chicken salad

Who doesn't love chicken salad? The problem is usually its full of mayo and chicken and bread which doesn't really provide much nutritional value to your day. Here's my absolute favorite chicken salad mix on a bed of spring greens. 

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast cooked and cooled (you can boil or bake or use left over rotisserie)

1/2 tbs olive oil based mayo or veganaise

1/2 an orange

4 dried apricots

1/2 cup red grapes

optional garnish** sunflower seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, Chopped basil

2 cups lettuce of greens of your choice (I like the spring mix with baby herbs and spinach)

Note: Don't like Mayo? no problem! Substitute greek yogurt, or 1/2 tbs mashed avocado, or 1/2 tbs of olive oil emulsified in the blender with 1/2 tbs lemon juice. 

Seasonings:

cumin

sea salt

pepper

Dice up your cooled cooked chicken, apricots, grapes (cut in half) and toss with the mayo and 1 tbs of fresh squeezed orange juice (save the rest of the orange to dress the greens with). season with 1/4 tbs cumin and salt and pepper to taste.

Plate the greens in a bowl and squeeze remaining orange juice on to the greens. Spoon the chicken mix on top of the greens and garnish with your choice of seed or basil. 

Voila! so delicious and healthy!

Chicken Fajita Salad (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free, Soy Free)

Last night I made some homemade pico de gallo as I prepped for our lunches this week. This afternoon I stared in to the fridge and thought about how easy it would be to snag my toddler up and grab a bite to eat out instead. Haha! Talk about how we trick ourselves into making choices out of "convenience" when really not having to leave the home at all is way more convenient. On a whim I threw together this keeper, a recipe I will definitely be reusing time and time again.

Things you are going to need:
1 large boneless skinless chicken breast (fat trimmed) or 2 boneless skinless chicken thighs (fat trimmed)
season both sides well with:

• salt
• pepper
• cumin
• onion powder
• garlic powder

1/2 tbs of coconut oil (you can sub olive oil)
6 tbs pico de gallo
1 bell pepper (or 5 mini bell peppers)
1 cup mixed greens salad
1/2 a lime

In a medium sized nonstick skillet (this allows you to use less oil) heat up the coconut oil to medium/high heat. with tongs place your well seasoned chicken in to the skillet and brown both sides.

Cut the bell pepper in to strips and toss in to the skillet. Stir occasionally, after 2 minutes add 4 tbs of pico (save 2 tbs for a fresh garnish to dress your salad with) and toss and use the liquid to help pick up (de-glaze) the brownings on the bottom of the skillet (there is so much flavor in there!). Reduce the heat to medium /low) and remove the chicken and cut the chicken into strips then place back in to your skillet. Squeeze the 1/2 a lime into the skillet to help brighten the mix and coat the chicken in the yummy seasonings that have coated the bottom of the skillet.

Lay down a bead of spring salad mix on the plate and top with the fajita mix. Garnish with your remaining 2 tbs of pico de gallo. Enjoy!

4 oz serving of chicken fajita on salad is 220 calories.
6 oz serving of chicken fajita on salad is 338 calories.

Well balanced and delicious! Who needs to eat out? The secret to healthy eating is in your grocery cart.

Healthy Food on the Go!

Mandy posted this request on our Facebook wall this morning and I was more than happy to dive in to a blog response ;)

Believe it or not, your planning for a healthy lunch tomorrow starts with tonight's meal! If you can strive to have a lean protein each night make sure you have enough for left overs the next day.
I turn just about every dinner into a salad some how. I looked online for recipes to give you but I feel like building blocks to every day lunches or quick food is the key here.

Salad Base
I keep spring leaf salad in the fridge at all times
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Sprouts
Peas
Black olives
Hard boiled eggs
2 Lemons (wedge and save to use in place of salad dressing if you desire)

Salads don't have to be lack luster and can be hearty!
Sunday night set aside an hour to prepare for your week's lunches.
Cut up your tomatoes (I recommend de-seeding them so you cut down on moisture), Cucumbers, rinse your sprouts, and defrost a bag of frozen peas. I keep mine all separate so they maintain their individual flavors all week and don't get slimy.

Now envision that you have all of your salad base ready for you every night to pack your lunch, you had chicken tonight so you toss some chicken in there, you had ground beef, pork chops, even fish it can be added to your salad!

If you have a meal that integrates your protein in to your food like a casserole, lasagna and enchiladas then you wont really have anything to throw on your salad but here's the back up plan.

Have some quality lunch meat ready for back up, or one of my favorites it s tuna salad.
Here's my tuna mix.

One pouch of White albacore tuna
1tbs Wish Bone Robusto Italian Dressing
1 tbs of olive oil mayonaise
dash of ground pepper

This makes two servings and yields 126 calories for a 1/2 cup

                                 
  I use these Glad containers that are built for salads.










For snacks on the run I use raw almonds, baby carrots and PureNourish meal shakes (I use Vanilla coconut milk to mix, since its not naturally very sweet). I'm also a big fan of Safeway's (Von's) "Open Nature" branded nut bars.