Homemade Ham (GAPS, gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar free, preservative free)

 

 

Ingredients:

6 lbs. or so of Pork loin (excess fat removed)

3/4  gallon water

3/4 - 1 cup Himalayan sea salt

1 cup raw honey 

1 tbsp. dried sage

1 tbsp. dried thyme

8 whole peppercorns
1 cup  fresh celery juice (optional)

1 l prepared water kefir (also optional, but does help to prepare pork properly) - or more water + 1 tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar or lemon juice

 

Preparation:

Place the water, salt, sage, thyme and peppercorns into a saucepan. Heat and  stir until salt is dissolved. Let it cool until just barely warm, then add 1 cup of raw honey. Stir until dissolved.
Let it cool all the way to room temperature, then add 1 bottle of homemade water kefir - this is less for flavor and more for the acid base to properly prepare pork, even though the flavor does contribute.  I love using homemade water kefir root beer in this!

Add the fresh celery juice  too. Stir to combine.

Note that celery juice does contain some natural nitrates, so if you are trying to avoid them, omit the celery juice. I am adding it for flavor, more than anything else.

I cut the loin into about 3 -4 pieces - they brine and smoke more evenly that way.

Place each piece in a gallon zip lock bag, divide brine amongst it.

 

 

I like to place my bags in a little box or basket, so they are pushed together a little more. The brine rises and  covers all the meat. That way you don't have to turn the meat.  If you don’t do it this way, turn the meat once a day, so all the sides get brined evenly.

 

Place in the fridge and let it brine for 3-4 days.

Remove meat from brine and rinse well. Pat it really dry.

 

{A double batch, just before smoking.}

I hickory smoke it for 3.5-4 hrs. at 200 F until the internal temp is 150F.

 

 

{All done! Now just cooling down before slicing and freezing!}

Let it cool and slice/shave it thinly (with a deli slicer!)

 

{Yum!}

 

Store in the refrigerator. Unlike the commercial ham, this will not keep nearly as long, even when refrigerated, since we have no preservatives. Treat it like you would any other cooked meat.
I find that slicing one of the pieces and keeping it in the fridge, while freezing the others and then taking them out one by one as we slice and eat it, works well!

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Salted Caramel Ice Cream (GAPS, SCD, Paleo, Gluten-Free, Refined Sugar Free)

This is not your run-of-the-mill caramel ice cream. It has a very satisfying honey flavor with a hint of salted caramel, enveloped in a rich and velvety ice cream texture.

And, this ice cream is scoop-able right out of the freezer!

My children have declared it “the best ice cream you ever made.” That is high praise, especially since they love all the other ice creams I have made before!

 

 

Salted Caramel Ice Cream

 

Ingredients:

3/4 cup of pure honey

2 tbsp. water

1 can of  Coconut milk 

1/2 tsp pink Himalayan sea salt

4 egg yolks (fresh, preferably from pastured chickens) room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup of cultured cream (I make mine from raw milk, culturing it for 24 hrs. with some milk kefir grains)

 

Preparation:

Place the honey and the water in a pan. Let it cook to 240 F (soft boil stage) on your candy thermometer. This takes about 8-10 minutes.
Then, carefully, add 1 can of coconut milk and 1/2 tsp of sea salt and stir to combine.

Let it cook until the temperature goes back up to 190 - 200F.

It will look like sweetened condensed milk, but a bit more runny.
Remove from heat and let it cool down to room temp.

Then add 4 egg yolks, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 1/2 cups of cultured cream. Whisk together and process in the ice cream maker. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, that is fine. Whisk it a little longer to thoroughly incorporate the ingredients and whip in some air.  Then pour into a container and freeze over night.

If you are processing this in an ice cream maker, please note that this particular ice cream will stay really slushy and soft. It barely gets to soft serve stage, so just transfer it to your ice cream container and freeze at least over night.

Unlike other ice creams, this scoops right out of the freezer, so no need to set this ice cream out to thaw a bit before serving.

Enjoy!

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Easy Chicken Nuggets (With Many Variations) - GAPS friendly, Paleo, Grain Free, Gluten Free, Low Carb

We love these little un-breaded nuggets around here. They are tasty and dip-able, they freeze well and they warm up great in the toaster oven. They are also really tasty cold, straight out of the fridge or lunch box.
You can also make them into larger patties and enjoy them as a burger!

Feel free to half the recipe below - it makes a LOT of nuggets. I tend to cook for several meals at once and freeze, so I don’t have to make the effort as often!

They are easy to make and you don’t have to deal with breading them. You could also just bake these in the oven, but we love them pan fried with a little ghee around here, as they get a nice little crust around them, which just adds to the deliciousness!

Unfortunately my digital camera card is currently inaccessible, so this post is without food photos today, but I will either take new ones the next time I make these, or get them off the card one way or another!

 

Easy Chicken Nuggets

Makes about 55-60 chicken nuggets

Ingredients:

3 large eggs, preferably pastured

3 tbsp. coconut flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill Organic coconut flour)

3 tbsp. almond flour (I use Honeyville almond flour)

4 lbs. of ground chicken (or ground turkey) - they also work with pork or a mix of the three

2 tbsp. ghee - mayonnaise or coconut oil work too!

• Seasonings of choice. I usually use the following:

1 tbsp.  Herbamare or sea salt

1 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg or mace

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

 

Ghee or oil/fat of choice for cooking the nuggets.

 

Preparation:

In a large bowl, combine eggs, coconut flour, almond flour and seasonings (salt, herbs, onion powder, paprika, cumin, etc.) The resulting paste should be about the consistency of soaked bread crumbs. If it's too dry, add a little water. Then mix in the ghee (you can also use left-over mayo.)

Add the ground meat and with your hands, combine everything well.

Take about 1 tbsp. sized balls of the meat mix, flatten them a little to make a nugget shape and fry them in batches in a frying pan with 1 tbsp. of ghee or oil of choice until golden brown on both sides and cooked through. Fry them up in batches and don’t crowd the pan!

Serve with gaps friendly ketchup ;)

 

Notes and Variations:

- You can omit the coconut flour, even thought that will change the texture a little.

- You can also omit the almond flour and use either all coconut flour or another nut or seeds flour - again the texture will be slightly different though.

- They can be baked or even deep fried in some healthy oil!  Bake in a pre-heated 375 F oven for 20 minutes, or until done.

- For buffalo chicken nuggets,  add 1 tbsp. of Frank’s Original  Hot Sauce to the meat mix. Bake or fry the nuggets. Mix 1/3 cup of Frank’s Original  Hot Sauce and 1/4 cup of melted butter or ghee and heat until just warm and combined. 
After you baked your chicken nuggets for 15 minutes (or fried them in a pan to almost done), dip the nuggets into the butter/hot sauce mix and either place back on your baking sheet or back in the pan. Bake for another 5 minutes, or if frying in a pan, give them another minute or so on each side.

- If you are really looking for a breaded chicken nugget, prepare the meat mix as above, then mix the following in a bowl for your nugget coating:

• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/4 cup ground white chia seeds
• 1/2 tsp Herbamare or sea salt
• 1/2 tsp onion or garlic  powder
  

Once you shaped your nuggets, gently roll them in the breading mix and ensure they are evenly coated. Place them on a silpad or parchment paper and bake as instructed above. The “breaded” variety is better baked than pan fried.
You can use the buffalo sauce instructions on the breaded nuggets too.

 

Can’t find ground chicken or can’t find the kind of chicken you would like to use, ground?

Grind your own!

I grind mine with the meat grinder attachment of my kitchen aid.  I use this one.
However,  you can also grind chicken in your food processor.

 

Here is how!

• If you are starting with fresh chicken, cut it into one inch cubes and place them on a cookie sheet, lined with parchment paper. Make sure the meat is not touching each other. Place in the freezer for 20 minutes.
• If you are starting with frozen chicken, let it thaw just a little bit, then slice into one inch cubes with a large knife. I find that chicken is often sliced much easier while still somewhat frozen!
• We need the meat to be semi-frozen, as it will enable the food processor to chop more evenly, otherwise you end up with chicken mush.
• Now fill the food processor about half full and  PULSE the meat cubes until you have about the consistency of ground meat. 
  Really, PULSE, don’t let it run!  And make sure you work in small batches.
• Pick out any larger remaining pieces and pulse those again.
• Either use straight away or, if you started with fresh chicken, freeze for future use.
  
  
  

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Quick And Easy Homemade, Grass-Fed Ghee

Ghee is so delicious, don’t you think?

What is Ghee, you ask?

Ghee is basically butter with the milk protein and lactose taken out, leaving pure butter fat. Ghee is not only very flavorful, but it also has a higher burning point, meaning you can cook at much higher temperatures than butter without it burning.

This means that you can have the rich flavor of butter, without worrying about it smoking or burning at a low temperature, quite unlike butter!

While I am very sensitive to dairy, I find that I can consume ghee without any issues. Many dairy sensitive people find that they do well with ghee since it is casein and lactose free, when  prepared correctly! However, ghee can also be quite expensive, especially the grass-fed kind, which holds the most benefits.

So, I’ve been making my own ghee from the Kerry Gold Butter we get at Costco. Initially I thought this was out, as they only carry the salted kind at our Costco, but I soon found out, that the salt seems to attach itself to the protein, which is what we’re filtering out. So, the resulting Ghee is actually unsalted - and as far as I’m concerned - utterly heavenly!

I’m not only entranced by the flavor, but even more so by the smell this homemade goody produces. I have been known to just take the lid off my homemade ghee, so I can take a little sniff at the utter deliciousness! It makes me happy! And I put it on everything. On warm bread, on waffles, on my vegetables ...

My children even prefer it to butter of late!

Anyway, if you think producing Ghee is a long and laborious process that is very prone to failure - I’m here to tell you it isn’t so!

It’s actually quite easy and relatively quick. It generally takes me just 20 minutes to turn 3 blocks of Kerry Gold Butter into Ghee.

You will need:
Grass-Fed Butter
Unbleached organic cotton fabric/cloth
Fine mesh metal strainer
Large Saucepan
Jar( s) with lid

Turn the stove to medium and melt the butter in the saucepan. The temperature will stay at medium the entire time.

It really doesn’t matter how much butter you use at the time, as the process will be the same. If you’re using only one stick of butter the whole thing will of course happen faster than if you are using five.

Just make sure your saucepan is large enough to accommodate the rising foam later!

Once the butter is melted, it will fairly soon start to bubble like this. That’s the water cooking out. The bubbles will be relatively large and well defined, popping away and there will be steam. Stand away from the stove a little, just in case!

There will be some foam, but the most prominent thing will be the increasingly big bubbles.

After a few minutes, the volume will be somewhat less in the saucepan. You will be able to see this on the pot, where the melted butter formed a ring.

After a while you will see the larger bubbles disappearing and tiny little, foamy bubbles will start to appear instead.

Usually that’s when the laborious process of ghee making starts. You’re supposed to skim off all the foam. And it just keeps on coming, so you keep on skimming. I don’t.

That’s why we chose a large saucepan! We let the foam do it’s thing.

And it will! It will rise and rise. And there will be lots of foam.

If you have chosen a big enough saucepan, there’s no problem!

This is not a process you can walk away from. It’s not laborious, but you need to be standing there so you can gauge when it’s time to take it off the heat. When that moment arrives, you have to be ready and be quick!

However, up until this point, the butter is just doing it’s thing and you don’t really need to do much.

So, get your bowl, strainer and cloth ready.

A word on the cloth. Cheese cloth, even several layers of it, doesn’t do a good enough job in my opinion. Some of the casein always escapes and that is what we’re trying to filter out.

If you don’t have a cloth, you can use a dedicated white dish towel, or even unbleached coffee filters. The coffee filters take longer, but they do an excellent job!

Back to the butter. The foam will really be rising now. Tiny little bubbles all over the place, rising up!

And then there will be that point of change. It will be subtle, but unmistakable.

First of all, the smell will change. It will go from a melted butter smell to an unmistakably nutty smell.

The foam will no longer want to rise up, but rather go down now and certain areas in the foam will turn from yellow to a light golden brown.

And then little golden brown flecks start floating on the foam.

That is the point when you spring into action. You pull the pan off the stove straight away and you slowly pour it into your set up bowl with the strainer and cloth/coffee filter.

There will be quite a bit of browned casein visible at the bottom and the sides of your saucepan, once all the butter and foam is out.

Just soak that in a bit of hot water and washing up liquid and it will wash right off!

The cloth/coffee filter will be doing it’s thing.

When you get to the end, give the cloth a quick twist and press with a spoon to get all the remaining butter fat out.

What will be left in the cloth is this:

Now, to enhance the nutty flavor, you can let the ghee go a little longer, which will make for darker residue and a darker ghee. I have done both, both is very flavorful, but personally, I prefer it right about at this stage.

If you’re doing it for the first time, go by these visuals and see how it works for you. After you are a more seasoned ghee maker you will develop your own preferences!

Once you are done with filtering, you will have perfectly wonderful ghee. It’s still hot though, so be careful while handling it!

If you didn’t filter straight into a jar, decant the ghee and close the lid.

Let it cool down a little bit at room temperature, then place in the fridge.

I find that it has a creamier texture when it’s fully cooled in the fridge.

I generally keep my ghee in the refrigerator when not in use. Strictly speaking this is not necessary, as ghee is shelf stable at room temperature, but I prefer it from the refrigerator. Since it’s quite warm around here, it gets soft at room temperature fairly quickly, so using it while too hard is rarely an issue!

Once it cools and hardens a bit, it has this lovely deep yellow color and beautiful aroma and flavor! Yes,  I totally love the stuff!

So, there you have it! Lovely ghee!

And if you would rather not make your own, this is the ghee I use and recommend when I don’t make my own!

Purity farms ghee is organic and certified cassein and lactose free!

Vitacost seems to have far the best price on it and has fast shipping, be it the flat rate shipping or the free shipping for purchases over $49!  If you haven’t signed up for Vitacost yet, do it now through my link and receive $10 off your first purchase of $30 or more!

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Homemade Almond Milk / Almond Milk Creamer (Dairy-, Gluten-, Soy -Free, Low-Carb, Raw, Vegan)

As you know, I’ve been making my own nut milks, but for some reason it hadn’t occurred to me to make my own almond milk. I have had the almond milk in the cartons and even though I don’t dislike it, it doesn’t blow me away either. So, almond milk wasn’t really on my to do list.

Since another Azure Standard delivery is coming in a few day’s time, I was in “use up the last little bits here and there and make room” mode and found some almonds in the freezer.  So, just because I was in the mood for a change, I thought I would make some almond milk!

Oh my goodness!! Homemade Almond Milk is N.O.T.H.I.N.G like the stuff in the cartons! It’s not even in the same flavor category!

The homemade stuff is rich and creamy (not slightly watery like the bought stuff) with a full round flavor, slightly sweet and very satisfying!

And with the addition of just a couple of healthy ingredients you have a delicious non-dairy creamer that won’t separate or curdle in hot or iced drinks!

And it’s so easy to make! If you have never tried homemade Almond Milk, you are so in for a treat!

Basically I went about it much like I did with my cashew milk.

Homemade Almond Milk

Soak 1 cup of whole almonds (I use organic) in water for 4 hrs. or as long as over night. Drain the almonds and rinse.

Place almonds in a blender with about 4 cups of filtered water. If you have a Vitamix, just fill it to the “max” line of the 32 oz. container with water. Blend on high until it’s all well incorporated. It takes less than a minute in the Vitamix, but will probably take longer in a regular blender.

Place a Nut-Milk Bag in a large bowl and pour your almond milk through the nut milk bag. Then squeeze, squeeze, squeeze until there’s no more milk coming out.

Discard the pulp (unless you want to reuse it, but I haven't found anything that yields a tasty result so far) and decant the Almond Milk into a jar or bottle.

Personally, I like to add a pinch of  Himalayan Sea Salt , 2 tsp of Maple Syrup and 1/2 tsp of Butter Vanilla Bakery Emulsion (or extract) to mine to round out the flavor some more, but that is optional. Shake it up and refrigerate!

Give it a quick shake before use. It doesn’t separate, but the milk can settle a little. A quick shake takes care of that though!

Note:

1.) Any kind of sweetener of preference can be used in this.

2.) We are soaking the almonds to remove the enzyme inhibitors from the nuts, so please DO discard the soaking water, as we don’t want them in the milk.

3.) For an even (naturally) sweeter Almond Milk, peel the skins off the almonds (or use blanched almonds) to make the milk.

4.) I have read that the 1 gallon paint strainer bags at Home Depot work just as well as nut milk bags and are much more inexpensive. They don’t last as long, but apparently they do the job. I haven’t tried them myself however.

5.) Four or more layers of fine cheese cloth also works for straining and squeezing the Almond Milk.

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Almond Milk Creamer

Make almond milk as above, then after squeezing the milk, return the milk  to the blender and add

1.5 tbsp. Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

2 tbsp. Maple Syrup (or sweetener of choice)

pinch of  Himalayan Sea Salt

2 tsp of Vanilla (or any other kind of flavor you like your creamer to have) extract

Blend to incorporate fully.

You can use this straight away, especially the foamy head it makes in the blender for a Cappuccino or Café au lait, or refrigerate for later use.

Shake before use.

Notes:

1.) This creamer doesn’t seem to separate or curdle like almond milk does in hot or iced drinks. At least not for several hours! However, if preparing an iced late, I would recommend adding the creamer last, so the coconut oil doesn’t harden around the ice cubes.

2.) You can just make a little at a time too by using about 1/2 cup of homemade almond milk, 1/4 tsp Coconut Oil, 1/8 tsp flavor extract of choice and sweetener to taste.

3.) Use up to 2.5 tbsp. of Coconut Oil  for a richer, creamier result. Personally, I like it best at 1.5 tbsp., but experiment and find your own happy place!

4.) Use 2 dates in place of sweetener and blend until it is thoroughly incorporated.

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Our Favorite Guacamole

Ingredients:

4 ripe avocadoes

1/3 cup cherry tomatoes, deseeded and chopped (grape or regular variety) - I love to use the yellow ones

1/4 cup red onion (finely chopped)

1 jalapeño pepper (seeds removed and finely chopped) - Optional - I omit this one as the kids like to eat “whackamole” too, but not if it’s too “hot”!

2 tbsp. finely chopped fresh cilantro

2 cloves of garlic (minced) - I omit this too when we’re all eating it, as my husband is allergic. I replace it with 1/8 tsp onion powder. It rounds out the flavor a bit!

1/4 tsp ground cumin (slightly heaping)

1/4 tsp Chipotle chili powder

Juice of 1 grilled lemon (sliced in half, placed cut sides down in a hot dry skillet, until the underside turns dark brown, but not burnt)

1/4 tsp Himalayan Sea Salt (or to taste)

Freshly ground pepper to taste

 

 

Preparation:

Cube the avocados and place in a bowl.  Pour the grilled lemon juice over the avocados and mash all of it roughly with a potato masher (or a fork.)

Add all the other ingredients to the bowl.

Mix well, so everything is nicely incorporated, then taste and adjust seasoning.

Once you’re satisfied, add the avocado stones back into the bowl (it stops it from browning too fast) cover and let the guacamole sit for a while so all the flavors can marry.

Refrigerate left-overs.

Enjoy!

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These are a few of my favorite things ... Cost saving tips for specialty-diet, online shopping!

Since I’ve mentioned that I shop online for some of the more specialty ingredients in my “Super-organized August” post, people have shown some interest in what my favorite places/deals are for the more expensive  ingredients, that are often just not that affordable locally, especially when you are trying to feed a whole family on those items!

This list will be a mixed lot as a lot of specialties, so not everything is going to be useful to everyone, but some might just find something they need!

 

1.) Ancient Harvest Quinoa Organic Pasta Gluten Free(Pack of 12)

This is our favorite pasta! Not only is it delicious, it is organic, gluten-free, nutritious (super-grain) and it cooks up really quickly (4-6 minutes) My kids love this pasta!

The only issue with this pasta can be that you might overcook it if you’re used to cooking pasta longer, but you can get used to this really quickly! Make sure you really only cook it aldente (so it still has a little bit of a bite to it) and you will have a perfect pasta dish!

 

They come in several varieties too. Elbows, Veggie Spirals (one of our favorites), Spaghetti, Rotelle and Pagodas

 

I linked you to the Amazon product above as there tends to be a consistently cheaper bulk price, but I also check out VitaCost regularly as they often have really good deals on this particular pasta. The added advantage is that Vita Cost has a flat shipping rate (or free shipping over $49) and you can order as much or as little of each variety as you want, if you don’t want to get the bulk box of 12.

• VitaCost Ancient Harvest Quinoa Pasta.

And I get almost all our Vitamins and Supplements from VitaCost too (WAY cheaper than anywhere else and really good quality!) so that usually works out really well for us.

 

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2.) Which brings me to another one of my favorite things/places. VitaCost!

 

 

We’ve been getting our supplements there for many years now and it has never disappointed in price or quality! They have crazy low prices on supplements, which has really made a big difference in our Vitamin and Supplement budget, so it might be worthwhile checking them out if you use a lot of vitamins, minerals and supplements. ‘

They also carry beauty products, herbs, specialty foods,  homeopathic products, nutritional items ... well you get the picture.

They are worth a look, really! I keep on coming back to them over and over, especially since I have purchased a few things only to smack my head later finding that VitaCost does actually carry it - AND much cheaper! So these days, I check them first!

As I already mentioned above, they also have a fast array of specialty foods. Gluten-free, low-carb, organic, vegan, etc. just to mention a few. With their great prices, frequent sales and flat rate shipping (or free , they are a regular place for online shopping for us!

 

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3.) I already let you know about my favorite place for Organic Palm Shortening.  Our family usually goes through two gallons of this stuff a year, so I generally wait until they have their sale on, as it makes it a really good deal, especially with free shipping!

 

 

Incidentally, they also carry a whole array of healthy oils, including the Extra Virgin Variety of the Palm Shortening, pretty much all varieties of Coconut oil and even the Coconut C0ncentrate. They also have lots of organic food offerings, raw honey,  an extensive library on healthy oils and health benefits, as well as a great Recipe section for all sorts of healthy recipes, so it’s definitely a site worth checking out!

 

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4.) Bulk Erythritol. I get it on ebay. Yes, ebay. It’s often worth a look for specialty or bulk food items! I got 25 lbs. of erythritol from a bulk seller a year ago. It worked out to something like $3.50/lb. which is a third of the price compared to local prices and it has been a really good quality. Unfortunately the seller I used is no longer there, so I can’t link you, but the principle still applies!  Look on Ebay!

Speaking of Erythritol. If you are a frequent user you will know that it’s very hard to dissolve. Powdered erythritol usually works better, but it is also more expensive. Well, often when you buy bulk erythritol it can clump, which is really not a huge deal. But another big cost saver is to just grind your own powdered erythritol. A coffee grinder will do the job just fine and you simultaneously get rid of clumps and powder it ready for use! You are saving upwards of $1.50 on every pound that way!

The other place that has the next best price on Erythritol is nutrition.com. Also a great place , especially for specialty ingredients. Also a place with low flat-rate shipping, which is always a huge bonus!

 

 

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5.) My most favorite, best money saving place for online shopping in general is however ... who can guess? Yep, not difficult, right?

You will find sooo many things on my blog linked to Amazon.com. Not so much because I am an affiliate, but because it’s my favorite place to shop. It’s because it has been my favorite and best money saving place to shop for many years, that I became an affiliate. Subtle but important difference, right?

Anyway, shopping on Amazon.com is not only fast and convenient, it can be a real money saver! Amazon Prime membership comes with so many benefits, which are great, but the “bestest” one of them all is the free 2- day shipping!

Their Subscribe & Save program has to be my second favorite thing!

I admit that Amazon wasn’t always first on my list to check for grocery items. But in the last couple of years their array of grocery items has not only grown, but it has become really competitive in terms of pricing, especially if you are a Prime member and you don’t pay for the shipping!

It’s a great way to save money on bulk items and you can totally control the frequency. Oh, if you’ve never tried it, just a little tip. Whenever you have a Subscribe & Save item, you get the choice of regular check-out or Subscribe & Save checkout. You can safely click Subscribe & Save . It will give you more money off your order and if you find that you don’t like the item or you don’t like it on a regular basis, you can just go into your account and cancel it before the next delivery! There is no obligation which is really neat!

 

So what kind of things do I get there? How does it work out cost wise? Let me show you some examples.

• Lipton Tea Bags, Decaffeinated Family Size 48-Count, 10.5 Ounce Boxes (Pack of 3) 48 family sized tea bags per box, times 3 gives us 144 family sized tea bags. We pay $17.24 for those.

If I bought the same amount of tea bags at Wal-Mart, I pay around $22 (including sales tax) And I don’t get it delivered to my door, which is an added bonus of online shopping!

• Lipton Green Tea, Decaffeinated, Tea Bags, 40-Count Boxes (Pack of 6) We pay $19.79 for that. So that’s  $3.29/box.

This is often about the same price at Wal-Mart, IF we can find it as they are frequently out of stock and elsewhere it is more expensive. However, we still pay sales tax on top of that, so for us, having a steady supply of the tea we drink every single day, is worth it!

Now occasionally a coupon will come around for Lipton teas, and if those work out cheaper, I will get them locally and delay the Subscribe & Save delivery for the appropriate amount of time.

 

• Gold Mine Kelp Noodles, 16-Ounce (Pack of 6)

Love, love, love these noodles! Tasty, so many different ways to prepare them (flavor and texture wise), they are raw and really nutritious. And very filling, low-carb, gluten-free and low-calorie!  A lovely change from the zucchini noodles for me!

But, even if I can find them locally, which is rare, they are VERY expensive. Around here upwards of  $6/16 oz. On Amazon I pay $19.23 for 6, which makes it $3.20 per pack.

Incidentally, the second best non-bulk price I know of is at VitaCost, so again, worth checking that out!

 

I would also highly recommend checking out the Subscribe & Save cereals. Unless you buy the no-name cereals, which would be cheaper, the Subscribe & Save cereal boxes can often be much cheaper, especially for the gluten-free cereals!

And speaking of gluten-free, check out those items too, especially if you use Bob’s Red Mill. I also get the Gluten Free Whole Grain, Rolled Oats and Gluten Free Oat Flour from them.

And of course Amazon.com is pretty much one-stop-shopping on so many items, so it’s not just for groceries or book anymore either! It always helps when you can combine things!

 

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6.) Last but not least, don’t forget to look at

 

for specialty items.

 

I know, it’s again not the first place that comes to mind for gluten-free, organic or even vaguely healthy food items, but you might be surprised. In the last 2 years or so, Big Lots seems to have more and more specialty food items, which is great. Of course you can’t count on them always being there - that is the nature of Big Lots. They buy liquidation lots and sell them and once it’s gone it’s gone. However, you can find gems and stock up big time. A couple of weeks ago Big Lots had a huge blow-out on Bob’s Red Mill items, amongst them about 5 gluten-free items. Amongst them the whole-grain oats! They were 50% or less per package of the usual retail price! So it’s well worth checking out Big Lots every once in a while!

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

So, this has been a somewhat more product rich and elaborate post, but I hope I gave you some places to explore, some new ideas and some ways to save some money on the specialty items on your grocery lists!

 

I would love to hear of some other places people have found great deals at, so don’t be shy about letting us know in the comments! Have a fabulous day everyone!

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Grain-free Cheddar Bacon Spinach Muffins (GF, LC, SF)

Or they could be biscuits - or even  bread. It all depends what shape you bake them in. My favorite method for these are however these  muffin cups from IKEA! 





Shape wise they are a bit of a cross between the size of a muffin cup but almost as high as a popover form. Nothing ever sticks to these little things, they stand up by themselves, which means you are not restricted by a muffin tin and they crisp the cheese up around the outside of the muffin and on the bottom just right!





{YUM!}
I was really pleased with the texture of these. They are delicious straight out of the oven. Very flavorful and moist, without being soggy or eggy, which can often happen with these kind of ingredients.
Even cold these were a hit with the family and they toast up deliciously the next day!



{Look at all that yummy goodness!}


This recipe is quite versatile and you can switch out some of the ingredients to your liking. I will give some indications behind each ingredient what you could substitute with.



Cheddar Bacon Spinach Muffins

Makes 12 regular muffin sized and 8 large sized muffins


Wet ingredients:
4 eggs
1/4 cup bacon grease (or coconut oil, olive oil, softened butter)
1/3 cup mayo (I use veggienaise)
1 handful of fresh spinach leaves (Kale, fresh garden herbs, chopped onions) - I add them to the blender, but if you prefer your muffins not to have a green color, just finely chop whatever you are adding - about 1/4 cup chopped. It looks much prettier but doesn’t affect the flavor!
1/3 cup green onions, chopped
Dry ingredients:
2 cups almond flour
1/2 cup golden flax seed meal (I prefer golden, but you can use regular flax seed meal)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp guar gum (or xanthan gum)
1/2 tsp salt (or seasoning salt if you don’t’ use bacon)
1  cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/3 cup parmesano regiano, grated
1/2 cup bacon bits ( or sausage crumbles, or chopped vegetables, chopped nuts or seeds)


Preparation:


1. Preheat oven to 350F and line a muffin tin with paper liners or grease your muffin tins/silicone forms.
2. In a blender, combine the wet ingredients. It doesn’t have to be totally liquified, just a fine chop will do.
3. In another bowl combine the dry ingredients and use a whisk to combine. Then add the wet ingredients and stir together with a wooden spoon. Make sure everything is well combined. Let the batter sit for  a couple of minutes. It will thicken a little bit.
4. Divide the batter equally among your muffin papers and bake  for about 17 - 25 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Don’t overbake these or they’ll be dry! If in doubt, ever so slightly underbake!
5. Allow them to rest for a few minutes after they are out of the oven, then enjoy!
6. 
   

They will keep in an airtight container or ziplock baggy in the fridge for several days.

They are best heated either by toasting them or by wrapping a damp kitchen towel around them and nuking them in the microwave for 30 -45 seconds.

The carbohydrate count of these can vary widely, depending on the carb count of your individual ingredients and what you choose to add. With MY ingredients (making 12 muffins,) each muffin has 6g of carbohydrate, 3 g of fiber and 12 g of protein. So 3 g of net carbs.

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