Mama's Clean Apple Honey Garlic Grilling Sauce - Paleo and Low Carb!

I've had some people question how I could be so committed to eating clean. How am I sticking to it. Why am I even doing it.

I kind of wonder that myself.......8 months ago I would have never believed I went clean. NO WAY.

I was never a health nut and I had literally never been on a diet in my life (that's 36 years). I LOVE food. I especially love sweets - milk chocolate, ice cream, cake, cookies and any savory dish that is topped with sweet sauce - sweet and sour sauce, peanut sauce, honey, maple syrup. You get the picture - any excuse to eat sugar. So how am I managing to stay on the "clean and narrow" this long........

1) Journalling - This blog has allowed me to jot down my recipes so that I can use them again and make sure I remember them. It has also given me a sense of accountability. So if you are struggling with sticking with it why not start a food journal, a blog or even buy an app to keep track of things. Somehow putting things down on paper (computer screen?) makes it more real and makes it harder to forget the cheats. And I learn by writing so some of this is actually staying in my brain.

2) Feeling Incredible - I literally feel like a different person than I did 2 years ago. I have so much more energy that I can enjoy every day, every minute, every moment. I was SO TIRED for so long - I thought that stomach aches and insomnia were normal for me - something I couldn't change. I was so wrong. I could never stick with this if it was just about losing weight (which I'm not actually trying to do at this point but I was originally). Going clean was about losing weight, staying clean is about feeling great. Hey..............nice jingle material.

3) Dark Chocolate - Yep - if I wouldn't have been allowed dark chocolate (which I didn't really care for at the beginning of this) I don't think I would have lasted more than a month or two. Dark chocolate got me through the first craving filled couple months when my whole body was screaming for treats. I still crave sweets all the time but I can satisfy those cravings now in a health"ier" way and move on. And seriously, the fact that I can have something with the word "chocolate" in it just helped me emotionally......I've got it bad for chocolate and was not ready for a divorce. And by the way I still eat way too much dark chocolate.

4) Pick your battles - I'm an all or nothing kind of gal so I like to go "all in" when I do something. But doing a 100% overhaul of your shopping, cooking and eating at once, especially in a house with 3 kids that are five and under, is nearly impossible. Unless you have a live in chef, nanny and personal shopper. So I have done this clean eating thing gradually and I am still working on changing a few things over or I gave up that I am going to go 100% clean in all areas. Compared to where I was 9 months ago its incredible so I need to be happy with that. Don't be too hard on yourself (this is for me too). 

So if you think you can't do this clean eating thing - YOU CAN - stay the course, re-group, try-again - just don't give up. Your reasons for doing it might be different, but I am proof that a food-loving, sugar addict can change a life-time of eating habits

In the picking my battles department, I had kind of lost the bottled ketchup, bbq sauce, mayo and salad dressings war . I tried making home-made mayo - disaster. I tried making bbq sauce - too complicated and I didn't love it. I don't eat ketchup so I decided to just buy the girls organic ketchup instead of making it. Salad dressings - I dilute the bought stuff with vinegar/oil or plain yogurt and sometimes I make my own. But I still buy and use the bought stuff pretty regularly. I just don't have the time to make everything from scratch.

But grilling season is coming (please, please, please let this snow melt and let it come) and we grill a lot so I really wanted to come up with something to use as a "bbq sauce" over the summer. Something with ingredients I can pronounce, low-carb and not full of sugar and sodium. And something that won't take tons of time and energy to make. 

I think I found the solutions - organic apple butter. I love this stuff - two ingredients - organic apples and organic apple juice concentrate. I got mine at Super Store. Its awesome. So here is how I used it to make a quick and clean BBQ sauce for our grilled chicken breasts tonight. It would also be great as a sauce for Mama's ribs, Paleo Pork and Beef Burgers or a baked on a batch of meatballs. It's a great base recipe - feel free to spice it up more or add smoke flavor to change it up. The possibilities are endless. I might still cheat with a bottle of Bulls Eye every now and then but at least I have a doable option in my recipe box now. 

Mama's Clean Apple Honey Garlic Grilling Sauce (makes about 1 cup)

1 Tbsp butter

1/4 cup onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup tomato paste

1/2 cup organic apple butter

1 Tbsp honey

2 tsp organic soy sauce - I use Bragg brand

1/4 tsp paprika

pepper to taste

Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Saute onion and garlic until softened. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer on low for about 10 minutes to let flavors blend. Cool and store in fridge until ready to use.  Now that was easy. Yum.

Roasted Parmesan Garlic and Ranch Cauliflower - Subtly Sweet and Garlicky Delicious

OMG - this was so good. A bit sweet, a bit garlicky, a lot delicious!

Wow - roasting vegetables is awesome. First it was the roasted beets that blew me away. They have now become a regular rotation in our diet. Now its the cauliflower. Yum, yum, double yum. Who knew cauliflower was a bit sweet (okay - maybe I'm a bit deprived of sweets) when roasted.

If you have given up (or want to give up) white potatoes then you will probably start buying more cauliflower. It works awesome as a replacement for mashed potato's - such as in my twice baked mashed cauliflower recipe or cauliflower shepherd's pie. But we have been eating a LOT of cauliflower and I wanted to try something different - so I roasted it. Good call Mama, good call!

This recipe is so easy. And I think the left-overs would be great in a salad. If you have any leftovers. Good luck with that. I did have to cheat a bit and use some Hidden Valley Ranch - okay - not 100% clean but only 4 tablespoons for a whole head of cauliflower. And I was low on time - and we all have to pick our battles. So feel free to make a home-made batch of ranch if you have the time. I will probably try this again one day without the bottled stuff and will let you know how it turns out. In the mean-time you can rest assured this is a great low-carbohydrate, clean"ish" way to get your veggies.

And it smelled incredible baking - hubby thought I was making garlic bread. Ha, ha, ha. No such luck my friend!

Ranch Roasted Cauliflower with Garlic and Parmesan

1 head cauliflower
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1/4 cup Ranch dressing
1 clove garlic
fine sea salt and pepper to taste
A light sprinkle of Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash cauliflower and cut into florets. Melt butter in microwave and add Ranch and garlic. Mix thoroughly. Put cleaned cauliflower florets in a mixing bowl. Pour Ranch mixture over top and combine thoroughly so the dressing is well distributed. Put cauliflower in a 9 x 13 greased glass dish (I used EVOO to grease) and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook for 20 minutes and turn. Increase heat to 425 degrees and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake for another 5 minutes. Serve. Yum. Yum.Yum.

I was baking something else at the same time hence the change in temperature. But it would likely work at whichever temperature - just adjust the length and keep an eye on it.

Weeknight Meal - Quick and Low Carb Broiled Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs

These were ready in the oven in 20 minutes! Quick and clean.

My friend on maternity leave had to go back to work today after a year off. Poor her. Boo hoo. She is on my mind and now going back to work is also on my mind (4 more months). So I'm starting to think about recipes I will be able to make quickly on a week-night. Some of my recipes have definitely been stay at home mom or weekend warrior recipes. Not always easy to quickly whip up in minutes. But this chicken thigh recipe is easy peasy. You could defrost the chicken and put it to marinate before you go to bed and quickly broil it in the oven when you get home from work.

I buy my boneless skinless chicken thighs fresh at Costco. Its a big package so I split it in three and usually freeze two packs for another meal. You could even marinate it before you freeze them if you are really forward thinking - I like to experiment so that's not up my alley but whatever gets you through the day, week, month eating clean. I'm all for it. They are a nice change from chicken breasts, full of flavor and always turn out tender.

This recipe could also be done on the grill (if it would ever stop snowing in Winnipeg). I really kept the marinade and basting light. I am trying really hard to cut back on sugar and keep it clean (at least early in the week). If you feel it needs more feel free to double the marinade or honey. But hubby thought they were really good as is. Just do lots of basting with the juices and you will be good.

Broiled Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs

by MamaChanty

Prep Time: Marinate 4 hours or longer

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Keywords: broil entree gluten-free low-carb paleo chicken

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Ingredients (Serves 3)

• Marinade - marinade overnight or for at least 4 hours
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 Tbsp gluten free soy sauce - I buy Bragg brand or coconut amino's
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder (you could go heavier on this if you like garlic)
• dash of pepper
• 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
• Baste
• 1 Tbsp Honey
• 1 Tbsp Organic Apple Cider Vinegar - I buy Bragg brand or coconut vinegar

Instructions

Mix oil, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and pepper together and pour over chicken thighs. Put in the refrigerator to marinate.

Stir a couple of times to ensure entire thigh is being marinated evenly.

Put rack in oven so its is approximately 7 inches from broiler. Turn oven to broil (high) and let preheat.

Put chicken in a 9 x 13 baking dish. Bake for 10 minutes on first side. Turn. Bake on second side for 8 minutes. Turn.

Microwave honey/apple cider vinegar for 20 second to warm and mix.

Baste chicken with honey mixture and bake for an additional 1 minutes. Turn again. Baste and bake second side for an additional 1 minute.

Remove from oven and baste again with juices from the pan.

I baked for a total of 20 minutes and they were perfect but adjust for your oven. Serve and enjoy.

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Quick side note - I kept my Kindergarten home today since I feel my maternity leave slipping away and because I could.............we had fun when they (all three munchkins) weren't driving me crazy and making a mess. And we came up with a way to get rid of flour (that I don't cook with anymore and have 10 lbs of in my "bunker") and table salt (because I now only use sea salt)..............home made play dough. Fun!

What a great way to use up that refined "dirty" white flour you have sitting in your cupboard that you don't cook with anymore. Home-made play dough. It turned out great. I got the recipe from the One Perfect Day blog and it turned out awesome. I scented mine with Rum Butter oil so the kids smelled like they were in the liquor cabinet - oops.

It was kind of fun to make and really easy. The kids love mixing and it kept them busy for quite a while so I was happy!

Clean, Clean, Squeaky Clean with a Little Dark Chocolate on the Side

I started off the week reading and writing all about alkaline versus acidic foods. So I was really motivated this week to eat LOTS of veggies. I didn't get pictures of all our meals - too distracted in my mission to build the kids an art wall (which included lots of running around to Home Depot, Michaels & Ikea - I LOVE maternity leave) but we ate lots of sweet potatoes, cabbage, cabbage salads and beets. When going clean - you just gotta keep reminding yourself that when in doubt eat veggies. And then eat some more veggies...............with a side of veggies.

 Some weeks I get off track a bit and my intake of fruit, dairy, nuts and chocolate gets a little out of control. I'm breastfeeding so don't have to count calories (yet) but even if those foods are "clean" I need to watch how much I'm eating of them. And it usually means I'm not eating enough veggies if I'm relying on them too heavily to keep me full - which is difficult since I'm always hungry.

I did way better this week on limiting my dairy, fruit and nuts but that darn dark chocolate was on my brain and sneaking into my mouth every time I turned around. Its full of antioxidants so its okay in moderation but I really overdid it. So next week I will be working on limiting my dark chocolate intake. My sweet tooth and I are in a constant battle.

So here are the pictures I did get when I wasn't busy coming up with projects for my husband. Hope you find some inspiration for clean-eating ideas this week......................and if you missed yesterdays post I will be posting on Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays and Sundays from now on. Summer hours even though based on the piles of snow outside summer isn't coming...............

Haddock breaded with rice krispies and flax (had to get creative when cooking with someone else's wheat-filled pantry), roasted sweet potatoes, marinated salad and creamy broccoli salad. Great veggie heavy meal that was delicious. Very alkaline - pat on the back to my Mom!

I already shared this recipe - but I think I ate a piece (okay maybe two) of this peanut butter slice  quite a few days in a row so it was kind of a staple this week. Not very alkaline but I offset it with lots of veggies so hopefully I'm okay.

Hot pumpkin Chia and Hemp pudding. With some pumpkin yogurt on top. Sprinkled with raisins, coconut and way too much cinnamon. But its okay - cinnamon is great for your metabolism so don't be shy.

Spaghetti squash (rescued from my Mom's since they weren't being eaten) topped with Parmesan and meat-sauce. Our first batch of meat-sauce that was grass fed, hormone and antibiotic free. It was delish!

I whipped up another spaghetti squash casserole with the leftovers. Some grilled chicken breast and roasted beets. Did you know beets taste like candy and are awesome on salad? 

Another cabbage and ham soup topped with pepita's - we seriously eat a pot of this each week. Cabbage is GOOD for you. Do it!

Asparagus. Haven't had it in forever. Was so missing out. Love it. With leftover spaghetti squash casserole and nitrate free honey garlic sausages. 

Some kind of desperate attempt at "dessert". Can't remember what went in but I think some combination of coconut milk, Chia seeds, cocoa, Stevia and maybe yogurt. And topped with more dark chocolate of course.

Beef and Pork Paleo burgers with roasted sweet potatoes. Notice anything unusual??? Hubby forgot that I don't eat processed food so I got a piece of a "one molecule away from plastic" cheese slice melted on top. I would be lying if I didn't admit is was damn good. Sorry - it was. I could have removed it but its bad for the environment and socially irresponsible to waste food. Yup - that's my story!

Salad - we ate lots of greens this week. I had to make up for a weekend of eating away from the house which entailed more carbs and less greens than usual.

Hot Chia and Hemp Seed Protein Porridge with Pumpkin. Yummy!

Chicken salad with apples and curry. A modification on my Paleo Chicken Curry Apple recipe. I didn't have time to look up my proper recipe. It was still good but my original recipe was better. Try it. 

Paleo Pumpkin Pie Brownies and a Summer Hours Announcement!

Coconut flour, pumpkin, pecans, raisins - yummy, yummy, yummy, mummy!

I didn't know what to call this creation other than fantastically delicious..........so I went with brownie. Could have been square, slice, cake - whatever - you'll like it even if you don't think they qualify as a brownie as long as you like pumpkin pie. They are two-bite brownies - not much to them but they pack a lot of flavor and have just the right amount of moisture. You would never guess they are wheat-free and low-sugar. I actually found them a bit on the sweet side so you could scale back the agave a bit if you are watching your sugar really closely. I was cooking for guests (and I'm always trying to sell the clean lifestyle) so I made sure these had enough sweetness to keep them coming back for more.  They loved them!

On another matter, I have decided to scale back my blogging to four times a week. Until Easter weekend I did a post every day for well over three months. Why have I decided to cut back?

• I originally started this blog to document my recipes as I was just learning how to eat clean and wanted to make a cookbook and develop an arsenal of recipes to help keep us in clean food. As you can see by my MamasRecipes page I already have over 50 recipes documented - all of them successful experiments. I will still be experimenting and getting you new recipes, because that is what I do, but I'm actually ready and excited to start eating some of these clean recipes over again (so craving my lemon garlic chicken) and spend some time doing other things.
• I got that darn book "Young House Love" from the library and got on Pinterest and it sparked my interior design/DIY addiction to flare back up. So I've got cravings to do some interior decorating. I already got hubby to help me build a kids art wall (blinged out with back-lighting - he was so impressed about that - not quite). It turned out so cute. But I've still got some work to do on it and some other projects brewing in my mind. Oh the possibilities.
•  My maternity leave is ticking by and I have some projects that NEED to get done before I go back to work. Not as fun as cooking, blogging or DIY'ing but things I need to get organized so things run a bit more smoothly when I go back to work. I need to get some pictures (of humans) organized and do our 2012 yearbook, I need to clean our storage rooms and I need to do some serious spring cleaning. 
• The days are getting longer and some day spring will be here. With that will be lots more time spent outside with the kiddies (we like to hit the park several times a day), my flowers and hopefully a garden. And I might need to start working out in the evening if we want to spend more of our day outside. 

So I will be posting on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sundays for the time-being. I was really enjoying my Toxin Tuesday posts so I might throw those in here and there or move them to another day - we'll see. 

The fact that I'm ready to slow down on the blogging and documenting is really reflective of the fact that I'm kind of up the worst part of the learning curve of how to shop, cook and eat clean. It took a huge investment of time researching, finding ingredients and learning how to cook new foods. But I did it and now its become second nature to grab coconut flour instead of wheat, throw Chia seeds (in everything) and use coconut oil instead of canola oil. Its hard to believe I'm the same gal I was 6 months ago. I have completely and utterly changed how I eat - this is/was not a diet or a tweak - I did a complete overhaul. You can do it too. If you are just starting and feel overwhelmed and uncertain just stick with it - it was hard at first but before you know it you will be able to whip up a pumpkin brownie with no wheat just like that. Its not always easy but you will be rewarded with feeling better than you have ever felt in your life.  Don't give up - you can do it! Seriously - you can!

Paleo Pumpkin Pie Brownies made with Coconut Flour, Pecans and Raisins

1/4 cup coconut flour

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 free run egg

2 tbsp unsweetened milk (I used Flax Delight)

1/4 cup nut butter (I used Sunflower Butter)
1/4 cup agave nectar

2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 cup pure pumpkin puree

2 Tbsp raisins

2 Tbsp pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combined coconut flour, salt and baking soda thoroughly. Add remaining ingredients and mix together until fully combined. Easy. Pour mixture into a well greased 8 x 8 baking pan. I used butter and it didn't stick at all. Smooth out the top with the back of a spoon or ladle. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool and enjoy another guilt-free, clean recipe. 

Low-Carb Wheat-free Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares

Yes - I know - I did a whole post yesterday on eating more alkaline foods.

Pop quiz - Were peanuts on the list of alkaline foods?

Nope. They most certainly were not. But sometimes my frugal (okay - REALLY cheap) side and enormous sweet tooth win out over my practical clean eating side. I have a bag of peanut flour to use up that I bought with my Nuts.com order and I wanted something sweet, so I made a peanut butter square. I ate TONS of veggies today, all very alkaline, so its okay that I ate some acidic peanuts. Plus this square has no wheat or grains, has relatively low sugar and is tasty.

So its all good. Try this out when you need a sweet"ish" wheat free treat. But make sure you eat those veggies too.....................

Low-Carb Wheat-free Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares

3 Tbsp organic coconut flour
1/4 cup peanut flour
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

2 eggs
3 tbsp agave nectar
1/2 cup natural unsweetened peanut butter
1/2 tbsp vanilla
1 tbsp melted coconut oil

1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine first four ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add eggs, agave, PB, vanilla and oil and stir until fully combined. Pour in a greased 8 x 8 baking dish. I used butter and it didn't stick at all.  Bake for 15-20 minutes (until centre is set). Do not overcook or it will be dry. Cool and slice. And if you want to get crazy, stack them up and take a picture. Its fun to play with your food!

Toxin Tuesday - Rebalancing your PH - Acidic versus Alkaline Foods

I find the inner workings of the digestive system and basically the human body extremely confusing. I am no doctor or health professional of any kind - just an accountant on maternity leave trying to learn how to heal my stomach and adrenal fatigue so I can feel my best and enjoy my family.

But given no one is able to tell me exactly what is wrong with my stomach I am having to learn and read way more about digestive health than I would have ever imagined. I am trying to pinpoint exactly what the problem is. What I do know is that I have food sensitivities (for which I am currently being re-tested and will have results this month - really hoping banana's aren't still an issue), I possibly have candida overgrowth (also being retested), I have low stomach acid (based on a test I just did) and I have pretty severe adrenal fatigue and anemia. So I am trying hard to avoid the foods that came back as troublesome on my original food sensitivity test in 2010. I'm avoiding sugar and carbs and upping my protein as much as I can to battle the candida and adrenal problems. I'm drinking lemon water and taking digestive tablets before meals to combat the low stomach acid. And I'm taking adrenal support and iron to battle my adrenal fatigue and anemia. Its bloody confusing but I have come up with a pretty good system of clean food guidelines that are tailored to my issues.

Because of my particular situation I need a fair amount of protein and it can't come from a high-carbohydrate source. That rules out a lot of plant based proteins so I end up eating a fair amount of meat. But meat tends to be on the acidic side and we want our bodies to be slightly alkaline (a ph of between 7.3 and 7.5). Except for our stomachs which need to have a certain amount of acid, but that's a different issue (yes - confusing, I know). If our bodies are acidic, basically less than a ph of 7, then we become a potential breading ground for cancer and disease.

Our internal acidity is determined by the foods we eat, stress, toxins, immune system reactions and acid by-products produced by our metabolic system. We can't control all of these things but we can make sure that our foods contain buffering minerals via alkaline foods that can offset this naturally acidic state. Everyone can benefit from eating more alkaline foods (Don't leave this page just because you don't eat meat or don't have the slew of problems I'm dealing with). But especially someone like me since I have a history of high stress, immune system problems and a meat-heavy diet.

So one of the things I have been reading up on is what foods are alkaline versus acidic. There are lots of good charts on Pinterest (go to my Detox Board for a few good ones). But I decided to just jot down a few of the highlights based on my typical diet as a reminder to myself of which ones I should be adding to my diet (or patting myself on the back if I'm already eating them) and which ones I should be limiting or avoiding. Some of these are just a good reminder of why I gave them up in the first place and motivation to keep it clean.

Acid Forming Foods - Avoid, Limit or Offset with Alkaline foods if necessary

• MSG, aspartame, table salt
• Black tea, coffee, beer (okay - that's it - I'm down to one cup of decaf coffee starting tomorrow)
• Sugar, cocoa (damn - that will have to be an offset - can't give it up)
• Balsamic and red wine vinegar
• All processed dairy is somewhat acidic
• Soy milk
• Eggs, Fish and Meat - Beef is the worst but they are all acidic except shellfish
• Grains and flour - most are acidic except quinoa and oat but I don't eat grains so just an FYI
• Nuts - Brazil, walnut, pistachio, pecan, peanut
• Vegetables and legumes - soybean,  green pea, most beans and green beans
• Fruit - cranberry, tomato
• Yeast and processed foods. 

Alkaline - Add to diet, Start eating more or Keep up the good work mama

• Sea salt (if you were wondering why I always say sea salt in all my recipes - there you have it)
• Kambucha, green or ginger tea (I have to stay away from Kambucha but will be replacing some coffee with green and ginger tea)
• Soy sauce, white vinegar and apple cider vinegar
• Nuts - pumkin seeds, almond, hazelnut, cashew (big pat on the back here)
• Vegetables - onion, garlic, sweet potato, asparagus, cauliflower, cabbage, brussel sprouts, beets, celery - I already eat lots of these but when in doubt eat more veggies
• Citrus fruits - lime and lemons are great for salad dressings and as flavour in recipes
• Fruit - most of the standards are alkaline except as noted above
• Olive Oil
• Chia Seeds - yay - I would be in trouble if they weren't

So there is a quick and dirty list. I have already incorporated a lot of this into my diet but I need to get even more veggies (maybe start juicing? my sister will have to teach me how) and cut back on the coffee. Its tricky business eating clean................good luck and I encourage you to look at your own diet and see if there are some opportunities to make your diet less acidic!!!