Mushroom & Asparagus Fritatta

1 Bunch of Asparagus

2 Large portabella mushrooms

6 Eggs

Olive oil

Basil

Pine nuts

I rarely measure anything I cook, but I'll try to let you know what I did because it was delicious!

Add olive oil and heat non stick over proof pan, slice asparagus & mushroom and toss in pan, cook throughly adding basil and pine nuts. Scramble all 6 eggs and pour evenly over veggies. Then Grill in oven for about 10 min or less. Keep an eye on it, it cooks quickly. Serve with sliced avocado. Great for leftovers or make it the night before and heat it up for a quick breakfast.

Riced Cauliflower

Recipe from Paleo Comfort Foods

1 head of cauliflower

1 cup (250ml) chicken stock

1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1. Cut your cauliflower had into small chunks.

2. Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to boil.

3. Reduce heat to medium heat and cover, allowing to cook for 20 minutes or so until the cauliflower is very tender and easily mashed with a fork.

4. Drain liquid but save and use if you need to add more moisture.

5. Mash with a fork, add more liquid if you need to, for smooth whipped potato consistency, you can blend in a food processor. Salt and pepper to taste.

Scalloped Kumara

Here is my take on Scalloped potatoes:

3 medium orange kumara

100grams of feta

2 slices of streaky bacon

2 tablespoons of butter

Grease bottom of 9x9" baking dish with coconut oil or butter. Then peel and thinly slice kumara. Layer in baking dish, top each layer with a bit of feta, salt and pepper. Set oven to 160C. Once you have layered all the kumara, melt the 2 tbls of butter and pour evenly over kumara, cover with foil and bake for 30-40 minutes. Let cool and top with crumbled crispy bacon.

Coconut Pancakes

From The Primal Blueprint Cookbook:

Ingredients:

3 eggs

3 tbls melted butter

1/4 cup plus 2 tbls coconut milk

1/2 tsp Honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup coconut flour (sifted)

1 tsp gluten free baking powder

1/2 cup of water

Optional additions: flaked coconut, berries, nuts, cinnamon, bananas etc.

Servings: 5 Large or 10 small

Instructions:

Whisk together eggs, oil, coconut milk, honey and vanilla. In a separate bowl, stir together dry ingredients then add the wet ingredients, stirring until smooth. Add the water to thin the batter out until it reaches you desired consistency. In a well oiled pan (I used coconut oil) or griddle, cook pancakes until browned on both sides (about 3 minutes each). Smaller pancakes are easier to flip than larger ones, since the pancakes will fall apart if they are too big.

I made the little ones, then buttered then and added eggs and bacon on top. Very filling and you can count them as your fat intake.

Bacon Wrapped Figs

From Everyday Paleo

You'll need fresh figs and streaky bacon.

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 160c

Step 2: Cut each bacon strip in half.

Step 3: Wrap a piece of the cut bacon around each fig and place seam down on a baking sheet.

Step 4: Bake in your pre-heated oven for approximately 40 minutes or until the bacon is crisp. Make sure you baste the figs half way through the cooking time with the bacon grease.

Let them cool for a few minutes before you chow down because the inside of each little fig treasure will be like searing hot molten lava.

Drizzle them with a little bit of balsamic reduction. Directions for how to make a balsamic reduction can be found here under the Prosciutto Wrapped Pear recipe.…

Thanks Sarah!

Burgers and Fries

Burgers and fries are one of my fav meals. Grass fed barbecued beef burger topped with guacamole and wrapped in a huge lettuce leaf. The best part is you don't even need to turn on the oven; the sweet potatoes are great on the grill too.

Beef Burgers
1 pound (preferably grass fed beef)

For the fries use orange kumara: Toss wedges of sweet potato in olive oil and salt and pepper. Grill for approximately 20 minutes so put them on first.

Top your burger with guacamole or tomato and bacon and wrap in a big green Lettuce leaf.

Why we don't eat Grains by Whole9

The Grain Manifesto

We’re continuing our “manifesto” series (refer back to dairy and peanuts for earlier offerings) with the one topic most likely to spur controversy – grains. Our Whole30 program doesn’t include grains of any kind – no breads, cereals, pasta, rice, not even fake grains like quinoa or gluten-free substitutes. We’re about to tell you why. (Note, we are well aware that this information may run counter to everything you’ve ever been told by your parents, doctors, personal trainers, government agencies and TV advertisements. For that, however, we make no apologies… because all the people who have been selling you Whole Grains for Health all these years have been just. Plain. Wrong. We understand if this makes you kind of angry. It makes us angry too.. but that’s a topic for another post.)

Why We Don’t Eat Grains

A. Grains provoke an inflammatory response in the gut

Lectins are specialized proteins found in many plants and foods, but are found in high concentration in grains (particularly wheat), legumes (particularly soy), and dairy. The most commonly referenced grain lectin is called “gluten”, but there are many others which are found even in pseudo-grains like quinoa. Lectins serve many biological functions in animals, but foods with high concentrations of lectins are harmful even if consumed in moderate amounts.

Lectins are hardy proteins that do not break down easily, and are resistant to stomach acid and digestive enzymes. They migrate through your digestive tract largely intact, and disrupt the intestinal membrane, damaging cells and initiating a cascade of events leading to eventual cell death. (Translation: lectins destroy the cells that line your intestines, leading to small “microperforations” or tiny holes in your intestinal lining.) These holes allow intact or nearly intact proteins, bacteria and other foreign substances to cross into the bloodstream – where theydo not belong. As the immune system notices foreign substances in the body, it responds and attacks. The immune response can manifest in an unlimited number of conditions (not just in the digestive tract!) commonly referred to as “auto-immune” in nature.

It’s important to note that these cautions are not just critical for those with a diagnosed Celiac condition. These negative downstream effects happen to everyone who eats grains, to various degrees.

B. Grains spike insulin levels

Grains pack a whopping amount of carbohydrates in a very small package. As most grains are also heavily processed (yes, even whole grains) they are broken down into blood sugar (glucose) in your body very quickly. A high amount of ingested carbohydrate broken down very fast leads to a spike in blood sugar. The body, demanding homeostasis, then releases a massive dose of a hormone called insulin to pull blood sugar levels back down. This is often referred to as an “insulin spike”.

When too much blood sugar is present in the system, your body quickly runs out of places to store it as useful energy, and will store any excess as body fat. In addition, when too much insulin is present in the system, the cells in your body become desensitized to the hormonal “message” insulin is trying to send. Since the message isn’t getting through, your pancreas is prompted to release even more insulin when your body doesn’t need it. Finally, chronically high insulin levels lead to a condition in which your body has trouble releasing the energy already stored in your cells. This is a bad place to be. If (via a diet high in carbohydrates) this pattern continues, insulin levels continue to rise, fat stores continue to grow and the body becomes completely incapable of responding to its own directions.

C. Grains have an acidifying effect on the body

A net acid-producing diet promotes bone de-mineralization (i.e. osteopenia and osteoporosis), and systemic inflammation. Grains are one of the highest acid-producing food groups. By replacing grains and grain-containing processed foods with plenty of green vegetables and fruits, the body comes back into acid/base balance (and a more positive calcium balance). Recent research out of Tufts University has also shown that a more alkaline diet preserves muscle mass. We like muscle mass.

D. Grains are “empty calories”

All grains – things like oatmeal, pasta, breads and cereals – have two things in common. They are calorically dense, and nutritionally meager. A small portion of grains packs a whopping amount of calories, almost all in the form of carbohydrates. All those calories, however, contain a miserly amount of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients (also calledphytochemicals). Compare the calories, carbohydrates and vitamin profile of two large slices of whole grain bread (100 grams) to one cup of chopped, cooked broccoli (184 grams – nearly twice the mass). (Nutritional stats from NutritionData.com)

Note that we’re not saying there is nothing good to be found in grains. They do contain vitamins and minerals in various proportions and amounts. But the serious down sides of grains far outweigh any potential health benefits. Bottom line – there is NOTHING found in grains that you can’t get from a better source with NO down sides (like vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds).

Find more Information on the Whole 9 website.