zucchini

Keto/Paleo Zucchini Lasagna

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This meal using zucchini lasagna noodles is proof that any recipe can be swapped out for healthy ingredients and still be delicious and satisfying. This means you never need to miss out on your favorite comfort foods again. Just by making so minor changes such as;

You can reduce your inflammation and help ward off disease.

Special Notes

It is recommended you use a vegetable peeler or mandolin slicer to slice zucchini thin and keep the pieces uniform.

zucchini lasagna noodles

I personally prefer the mandolin to make the zucchini lasagna noodles or else it will take a very long time to get the strips prepped and ready to go.

Ingredients

  • 4 medium zucchini, sliced thin
  • 1-2 Tbsp olive or avocado oil
  • 1 egg
  • ½  pound natural or organic ground meat of choice – turkey, sausage, beef
  • 1 ½ cups sugar-free organic marinara sauce
  • 1 cup part-skim ricotta or Daiya vegan cheese – mozzarella, cream cheese,…
  • Sea salt
  • 1 Tbsp chopped basil, divided
  • Coconut oil cooking spray
  • ½ cup shredded parmesan (or Daiya option)

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF and lay out 3 sheets of paper towels. Next, lay out your zucchini slices, and salt them well. Let them sit and dehydrate as you prepare the/your sauce.
  2. In a large ceramic/stainless/iron skillet, heat olive or avocado oil over medium heat. Add the ground turkey/sausage by breaking it up into small pieces and cooking until browned. Next, add the marinara sauce to the skillet and set the heat to low. Let the sauce simmer.
  3. While your sauce is simmering, mix the ricotta, egg, and 1/2 tablespoon chopped basil in a small bowl until well combined. Set aside.
  4. At this point, your zucchini slices will look like they’re covered in water. Wipe them off and press down firmly with a paper towel. Try and remove as much moisture as possible on each slice.
  5. Spray an 8×8 baking dish with cooking spray and start assembling your lasagna. Start by laying down 5 or 6 zucchini slices in a row at the bottom of the baking dish. Next, top with 1/3 of the sauce and a dot containing 1/3 of the ricotta mixture. Repeat the layers, alternating the direction of the zucchini slices. Finish with a layer of zucchini on top followed by the parmesan cheese.
  6. Cover your dish with aluminum foil and let your zucchini cook for 50 to 60 minutes. Next, sprinkle with the remaining chopped basil.
  7. Lastly, ENJOY!

Makes 4 servings

How To Encourage Children To Eat Vegetables

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Getting your kids to eat their vegetables can be one of the greatest daily struggles for parents.  Building healthy eating habits takes a lot of effort for parents to sometimes battle it out with their children.

Start Small & Tackle One Meal At A Time

First, start off with breakfast and work on getting sugary cereals, pastries, and dairy off the menu.  Substitute cereals for oatmeal and fruit.  Pastries for homemade muffins (recipe below), and dairy milk for almond or coconut milk to use in smoothies.

First and foremost, parents need to set the example to their children on how to eat properly.

Children easily pick up on the habits of their parents and will gravitate towards the eating style presented at home.  Take a minute and think about the kind of example you are setting for your children.  Ask yourself the following;

  • Do you make meal time a priority?  Preparing regular healthy meals as a family?  Or are you picking up takeout on the way home from work because you are exhausted?
  • What is your attitude towards food and your body image?
  • What messages are you consciously or unconsciously sending your children?
Encouraging your children to take care of their health is one of the greatest acts of love a parent can give their child.

Mindset around meals and snacks can easily be shifted to a more positive experience.  Involve the family in weekly meal planning and grocery shopping for the ingredients that will be needed for those meals.

Older children and teens can also take part in meal prep by washing vegetables and helping to prepare dinner.  Giving children a voice around their meal choices will help with encouraging healthier eating habits.  Provide your children with a choice of what vegetables they are going to eat each day.  In addition, add one wild card vegetable to the menu each week that they may not like, but are willing to try.

Click here to read, “Are You Eating Enough Colour?”

Tips & Tricks To Add Vegetables To Every Day Meals

  1.  Throw a handful of spinach or kale into smoothies.  Yes, the smoothie will be green, but the flavour and texture of the spinach is masked by all the fruit.

For a a fantastic green pineapple smoothie, click here to read, “Happy St. Patrick’s Day Recipes”.

cauliflower rice

2. Use the food processor to turn cauliflower into the texture of rice.  Sauté the cauliflower “rice” in a tablespoon of olive oil and season to taste.

zucchini noodles

3. Use a spiral slicing tool to turn zucchini into noodles.  It will resemble pasta and can be topped with your favourite sauce and veggies.

Grilled spaghetti squash

4. Use spaghetti squash instead of pasta to make traditional spaghetti with meatballs (remember to use grass fed beef for the meatballs).

Click here for “The Ultimate Guide For How to Cook Spaghetti Squash”.

fruit salad ideas

5. Rather than ice cream for dessert, serve a plate of fresh fruit.

Almond-Berry Muffin Recipe

As promised, below is a recipe for healthy muffins that freeze well and are easy to serve as part of a healthy breakfast.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups raw almonds, ground
  • 2 free-range eggs
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
  • 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt (optional)
  • 1 cup fresh or frozen berries (raspberries, blueberries)
  • 1/4 cup chocolate chips
  • 12 muffin liners

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. Grind raw almonds until fine.
  3. Mix eggs, coconut oil maple syrup, vanilla and apple cider vinegar in a bowl. Add ground almonds and baking soda. Mix thoroughly.
  4. Fold in berries and sprinkle with chocolate chips.
  5. Evenly distribute batter between 12 muffin cups.
  6. Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes.
  7. ENJOY!!

Also, try this recipe breakfast muffins. It’s another great healthy breakfast idea that you can prepare in advance!

Victoria Day BBQ Recipes

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Victoria Day BBQ Recipes

It’s that time of year! Summer Barbecue season is here and it’s time to fire up the grill!! But with so many choices of what to cook, it’s easy to get stuck in a hot dogs and hamburgers rut that don’t offer many nutrients.

Here are some taste-bud blowing recipes that will make your mouth water, but are also packed with nutrients to fuel your body for summer fun!

Zucchini halves stuffed with minced meat and vegetable

Zucchini Boats

Find the largest zucchinis that you can. Slice longways down the middle and scoop out the largest seeds.

Cook hamburger meat in skillet.

Cook onions, garlic, peppers and mushrooms in another skillet and add 2 handfuls of spinach when it’s almost done cooking. Add hamburger meat to skillet once it is cooked and mix together.

Fill zucchini boats with mixture and barbecue until the zucchinis are softened. Top with your favourite herbs and spices.

Chicken Kabobs

Chicken Kabobs

Slice free range, organic (if possible) chicken breast into chunks fit for a kabob skewer. Keep them fairly small so they don’t take a lot longer to cook than the vegetables also on the grill. Slide the chunks onto the skewer and sprinkle with pepper.

To other skewers, add a mixture of fresh mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, chunks of pepper, celery, zucchini, onion and pineapple. Add a very light brushing of extra virgin olive oil before they go on the grill to help them get a bit crispy.

(I like to keep the meat and veggie skewers separate due to raw meat juice contamination, and they tend to cook at different speeds).

Grill and Enjoy!

Grilled Corn on the Cob

Grilled Corn on the Cob

There are two ways to do this, so experiment and see what you like best…

#1 – Grill with the husk on – just throw it on the barbecue and turn it often. The result is more of a steamed corn and just a little grilled-ness. Should be cooked in 10-15 minutes, or when you feel that a knife easily pierces the kernels.

#2 – Husk the Corn and then grill it. This creates a much more grilled effect, where the kernels become darkened and absorb more of the grilled flavour. Turn them often, and they are cooked in about 10 minutes.

You can drizzle with a little bit of garlic butter and salt for added flavour. Or lime and hot sauce. Or your favourite topping!

Refreshing LemonadeRefreshing Lemonade

Grab your high speed blender and fill with 1 L of water.

Cut the rind off of a lemon, leaving the white pith. Put the whole lemon into the blender and blend until smooth.

Strain the lemon-water mixture with tiny mesh strainer into a pitcher. This will catch the small pieces of seeds, etc that didn’t break down in the blender.

You don’t need to add anything to sweeten it, it is not sour, just pure flavour! Serve over ice and enjoy! 

Don’t Pull Out That Weed! All About The Cancer Fighting Medicine That’s Growing in Your Yard

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Dandelions fight cancer

There is an old shaman’s tale that when you are in the Amazon jungle, and you are bitten by a bug, or a snake or some other equally scary incident, the antidote is always within arm’s reach.

Nature provides the healing remedy at the very location you need it most.

This may be a fair ideal when you are in such a densely populated area of herbs, plants and insects as the Amazon jungle, but what if the principle can be applied elsewhere?

What if you looked out into your backyard and realized that the very dandelions that you spend so much time trying to rid from your yard actually provide immense healing properties!

If this is true, maybe Mother Nature is onto something – she provides abundant sources of healing if only we know what to look for.

The Truth About Cancer website is an authority on all things cancer-related, most especially known for natural healing remedies and prevention principles.

They are reporting that dandelions are actually a potent cancer fighting medicine that is loaded with vitamins and minerals.

There are reports of people pulling out the dandelions, drying the roots and grinding it into an edible powder that boosts the immune system to help fight off cancer.

Currently, clinical trials are underway to study how dandelion root extract can help to treat blood-related cancers including lymphoma and leukemia.

Additionally, researchers from Windsor Regional Cancer Centre in Ontario are also in the midst of a study on dandelion root extract on a group of 30 patients with end-stage blood related cancers. So their findings will be very interesting to learn about.

How Can You Incorporate More Dandelions Into Your Diet?

For starters, you can pick dandelion leaves from your yard and add them to salads or juice them with other greens. Be sure you are picking leaves that have not been sprayed with pesticides or that you dogs may have been near. Or you can purchase dandelion greens at your local grocery store!

You can also make dandelion tea by pouring hot water over the greens and flowers and steeping for 10 minutes. And you can incorporate dandelion greens and flowers into your regular salads.

My favourite way to use dandelion greens? Juicing!!

I found huge dandelion greens at the grocery store this week (literally 18 inches tall) and added them to our weekly green juice regimen.

Dandelion Green Juice: (use as many organic options as you can)

2 English Cucumbers
4 zucchini
1 head celery
1 large bunch Bok Choy
1 large bunch Dandelion Greens
3 lemons (Just peel and put the whole lemon with pith through the juicer!)
3 Granny Smith Apples (sliced in half and cored)

Enjoy!

With Sources From:

https://thetruthaboutcancer.com/cancer-fighting-medicine-in-your-yard/

Stop Throwing Away Juice Pulp! Do This Instead

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Stop Throwing Away Juice Pulp! Do This Instead

If you are anything like me when it comes to making homemade juices, it absolutely kills me to fill up my green bin and throw away the pulp leftover from juicing. It feels like I’m throwing away vegetables or fruit that still have nutritional potential, not to mention hard earned money.

The reason we want to take the pulp out of the vegetables when we are juicing is to give the digestive system a break from having to do any work, while the nutrients in the juice are absorbed directly into the bloodstream and go to work feeding our cells.

But the pulp is by no means devoid of nutritional value simply by removing the liquid from it. It has a ton of fibre and other nutrients that are not extracted during the juicing process. Use the following ideas in your own kitchen to get the full benefit of your fruits and vegetables.

Top 7 Ways to Use Juice Pulp and the Best Fruits/Vegetables to Use for Each

  1. Freeze It – Pulp can be stored in freezer bags or glass containers in the fridge or freezer for use later in any of the below ideas. If you don’t have plans of using the pulp within 48 hours then it is best to freeze it immediately.
  2. Crackers – The best pulps to use for crackers are the naturally drier pulps like celery, zucchini, carrot, and sweet potato. Crackers can be made in a dehydrator or in a low temperature oven.  Simply mix the pulp with ground flax seeds and spices and dehydrate until crackers are crunchy and dry.
  3. Soups/Stews – Pulp is great to add to soups and stews as a thickening agent and to give your meal extra fibre. The best options are carrots, celery, parsley, kale or spinach, zucchini, and sweet potatoes.
  4. Homemade burgers/veggie burgers/falafels – This might be my favourite option, because the pulp can be so easily hidden in these patties. It also adds a binding factor to keep the burgers intact as they are cooked. Try using carrot, zucchini, and celery pulp.
  5. Add to muffins – Zucchini or carrot pulp can easily be added to traditional zucchini muffins or carrot cake recipes. For healthier baking look for recipes that are lower in refined sugar, flour and lower in saturated fats.
  6. Smoothies for extra fibre – Fruit or vegetable pulp can easily be hidden in your favourite smoothie recipe. My favourites are zucchini, pineapple, apple and cucumber pulp due to their mild flavours and textures.
  7. Homemade vegetable broth – Just like you would use leftover carrots or celery and onion to make a homemade vegetable broth, do the same with leftover juice pulp. Add a variety of herbs and spices to add an extra kick of flavour to your broth and simmer on low heat. Once cool, strain broth for use. Extra broth can be frozen for use later.

So, before you throw your next batch of juice pulp in the green bin or compost pile, consider the above options to get the full benefit of your produce.