Category Archives: In My Kitchen

June 19, 2022 · 10:21 am

Zucchini Bread Breakfast Cookies

Today’s from-the-garden baking experiment: low carb (thanks, almond flour) zucchini (my plants have been producing like crazy!) bread breakfast cookies. They’re also a good source of prebiotics, courtesy of oats and chia seeds. Prebiotics feed the native good bacteria in the gut, keeping it strong to fight off infection. And they support the immune system. 💪 One cookie was actually a pretty filling breakfast. Thanks, fiber. Did you know most Americans fall far short of the daily recommended intake of fiber? In fact, a recent study* reported that only 5% of men and 9% of women get the fiber they need. That matters because inadequate fiber intake is linked to a higher risk of heart disease and diabetes, two of the most common diseases in the U.S. Women should aim for 25 grams of fiber a day. Plus, it can cause a host of digestive issues and other chronic health issues.

  • “Usual Dietary Fiber Intake in US Adults with Diabetes: NHANES 2013-2018.” Derek Miketinas, PhD, RD (Texas Woman’s University) et al.

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Filed under Gut health, In My Kitchen, Just For The Health of It, Maintain 2022

June 12, 2022 · 11:51 am

Zucchini and Zucchini bread

Harvested the first zucchini from our garden yesterday. And this morning, I made zucchini bread! I got the recipe from a book called Best of the Best from South Carolina Cookbook, which I picked up at a free little library near work while on a lunch break walk to destress. Win!

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June 5, 2022 · 11:33 am

Still Grateful for Food!

Grateful for food and the ability to eat it (gonna hold onto this one for a while!). Last night, we made individual pizzas with the gluten free crust from My GF Chef at Crack A Daddle Do Farm . Mine had a lemon-garlic-tahini sauce with tomatoes; mushrooms from DarkSpore Mushroom Company ; swiss chard and red onion from JBo Ranch ; kalamata olives; banana peppers; and feta cheese. For breakfast today, I had a mushroom and sundried tomato quiche (also from Crack a Daddle*) with some citrus fruit (so I can put the peels out later to dissuade the neighborhood free-roaming cats from using our mulch like a litter box). I also made some homemade strawberry (from the farmer’s market, of course) sourdough muffins with a crumbly topping, which came out fantastic. And as an additional note, I’m now the kind of person who drives her own herbs.

  • Trent said, “Is that a quiche from Crack a Daddle? They’re doing a lot more prepared foods now.” And he’s right. They are because people want convenience…but also healthy and good-for-you foods. We had their stuffed shells and Bolognese the other night, and I’ve got their Tuscan Chicken Pasta bake in the freezer for the next time I don’t feel like cooking from scratch for dinner. Next best thing to homemade because I know it’s made with good ingredients and not laden with preservatives that are bad for my microbiome and overall health. Win!

eatfresh #buylocal (for me, that’s at the Simpsonville Farmer’s Market !) #Maintain2022

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Filed under C-Diff, Gut health, In My Kitchen, Just For The Health of It, Maintain 2022, Practicing Gratitude

May 29, 2022 · 6:40 pm

Pork Tenderloin

Sometimes I impress myself. Pork tenderloin (with an amazing new homemade marinade) and veggies (squash, zucchini, cherry tomatoes) + peaches (because obvi): it’s what was for dinner, and it was good. #domesticgoddess #Maintain2022 #eatfresh #buylocal

Pork tenderloin from Bethel Trails Farm
Veggies from Lein Farm
Peaches from Hyder Farms

All available at Simpsonville Farmer’s Market every Saturday 8-12 at City Hall.

Marinade:

🍋 juice of ½ lemon
🧄 2 teaspoons minced garlic
🌿 ¼ teaspoon each dried basil, thyme, oregano, and parsley
🍶 ¼ cup oil
🤌 ½ teaspoon salt
🤏 pinch of black pepper
🥄 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
🍯 2 teaspoons honey

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January 9, 2022 · 5:55 pm

Beans, beans, they’re good for the heart…

Kidney bean (with chia seeds) burgers: proving you can make almost anything a burger (I’m still avoiding red meat)! LOL. What I am personally excited about with this meal, which I made last week, is that it was topped (as md sided) with cabbage slaw with cotija (this is a low lactose cheese) and paprika-Dijon aïoli (also on the side for dipping). Cabbage. Raw. Not cooked. Not fermented. That’s a first. And I thought for sure I’d have problems. But…no! So that’s my #successstory from last week.

🌱 Beans are such a good source of nutrition, including fiber and prebiotics. Great for the gut. I introduced them slowly and over time, and I now eat them regularly. If you have trouble with beans, I would encourage you to try adding in small amounts over time. As the expert in an article another group member recently shared, “Some people then mistakenly think they have irritable bowel syndrome or a gluten intolerance and back off the fibrous foods.You have to start gently. Increase the amount and type of fibre gradually. The answer to a problem with beans…is actually more beans.” Article: http://bit.ly/3q61jAU.

🎵 Or as we used to sing in my childhood, “Beans, beans, they’re good for your heart. The more you eat them, the more you fart. The more you fart, the better you feel. So eat your beans at every meal.” 😂

❤️ They really are good for the heart, too…not just because of the fiber but because of their significant amount of antioxidants. They’re also linked to reduced frequency of breast cancer. Eating beans or lentils two or more times a week was associated with a 24% reduction in risk of breast cancer.

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Filed under C-Diff, Gut health, In My Kitchen, Just For The Health of It

January 2, 2022 · 5:28 pm

Homemade Granola

1/2 c coconut oil + 1/2 cup local honey + 1 tsp cinnamon + 1 tsp salt. Mix it all together and then add 3 cups oats and 1 cup sliced almonds. Mix it really well. Spread it out on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 300° for ten minutes, stir. Then 10 more minutes. When I take it out of the oven I’ll add dried fruit if I want to and smash it in there with a spatula. Then I let it cool completely on the baking sheet. I can break it into big and small pieces. I like adding it to plain unsweetened coconut milk yogurt.

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January 1, 2022 · 10:12 am

Sourdough Chicken Pot Pie

Last night I threw together a sourdough chicken pot pie in my new cast iron skillet…and it was ah-mazing! Totally impressed myself…which is good because I also clearly made enough to feed us for a week. 😂 It has chicken, lentils, carrots, sweet potato, peas, and I used a little coconut cream and veggie broth before topping it off with a sourdough crust and cheddar cheese.

The crust was super easy. I just mixed together these ingredients in a bowl and then poured it on top of the “filling,” shredded some cheese over it, and put it back in the oven for 25 minutes at 400°.
• 1.5 cups fed sourdough starter
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon Penzeys Italian Herb Mix
• 3 tablespoons ghee
• 2 teaspoons baking powder

I really wasn’t sure that was actually going to work. But it did. LOL. 😁

I can eat all these foods! Happy 8th day of Christmas!

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December 28, 2021 · 6:20 pm

Sourdough Pancakes

So these sourdough pancakes I made on Christmas morning are now my official staycation obsession.

Last year, as I was recovering from c-diff, someone gifted me some sourdough starter because it’s considered to be good for the microbiome. After all, it’s home like a bazillion bacteria (that’s why it bubbles!) . And it’s supposed to easier to digest because it’s fermented. And fermentation is one step in the digestion process, so basically, it already made it easier by cutting out a big step, right? But really, here is a WebMD article about sourdough. Notably, it explains, “Sourdough bread may be easier to digest than white bread for some people. According to some studies, sourdough bread acts as a prebiotic, which means that the fiber in the bread helps feed the “good” bacteria in your intestines. These bacteria are important for maintaining a stable, healthy digestive system.”

Last year I made some great muffins and these, but failed at making bread. I made poser pizza with sourdough crust. We had great homemade sourdough tortillas, and I ate plenty of homemade sourdough dark chocolate chip cookies. But the pancakes are new. And I love them. I serve them with a little ghee (still avoiding lactose!) and a little real maple syrup. Delicious! And pretty easy too…at least for staycation!

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Filed under Gut health, Healing 2021, In My Kitchen

December 27, 2021 · 8:17 pm

Eat Your Colors (Finally!)

Remember when I used to be all about “eat your colors?” But then I wasn’t because I couldn’t (and couldn’t really eat food at all?). Well, tonight I am going to bed #grateful that I ate my colors! We had maple carrot power bowls for dinner. Usually, on Christmas vacation, we’d have lasagna or spaghetti with “to die for” sauce or steak…special occasion stuff. But it’s a different kind of Christmas…a staycation…with home cooked colors. But how wonderful it is to eat the colors! #Healing2021 #domesticgoddess

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Filed under C-Diff, Guiding Words, Healing 2021, In My Kitchen, Practicing Gratitude

December 25, 2021 · 9:05 am

Christmas Breakfast

Santa brought me a new cast iron skillet! So I made sourdough pancakes for breakfast. Plus sweet potatoes and a baked omelette (with mushrooms, a little greens, and gruyere cheese). I can eat! Some variety! Still modifying (that’s probably permanent), but what a difference a year makes! They said it could take 1-3 years for a full recovery, and that was hard to believe until I was living it. And at the year mark, I ended up sick. I thought I was back to square one. But another few months is a whole new world. So Merry Christmas to me…and you too! Have a wonderful day. #domesticgoddess #Healing2021

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Filed under C-Diff, Guiding Words, Healing 2021, In My Kitchen, My Life