I’m on a huge waffle kick, and today I was gifted cream cheese. What better than some fluffy, uplifting waffles?
Something magical about the combination of ingredients make the texture of this beautiful creation fluffy and airy, while still being solidly waffle. A light brush of butter and done!
Ingredients:
8 oz cream cheese
4 eggs
1/2 cup almond flour
2-4 drops lemon extract
1 squirt lemon juice
Dash of salt
Pinch of baking powder
1/4 tsp vanilla
Squirt of stevia
Directions:
Soften cream cheese in microwave, about 30 seconds.
Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
Some mornings I feel like making something a little different for the kids. They will only eat eggs for so many days in a row, and I like experimenting on them. 🙂 This porridge is quick and easy, with only a minimal amount of work required.
If you have leftover pumpkin, it’s so great to freeze in small containers or an ice cube tray for later. I’ve been keeping it around in cubes for fall.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup pecans, chopped or ground
1/4 cup almond meal or flour
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup almond (or other) milk
7-10 stevia drops
Dash of salt
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp maple syrup or alternative (I use Lakanto Maple Flavored Syrup)
Directions:
1. In a small pot combine almond flour, pumpkin, pecans, and almond milk and simmer.
2. Add stevia drops, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice. Stir and allow to simmer for another minute.
Stir in maple syrup. Remove from heat.
Serve with whipped cream or a drizzle of kefir for a hearty, fall inspired breakfast or satisfying dessert.
I really love dairy. I think I’ve probably said this before. What’s not to love? It’s a delicious food group. Unfortunately, my body does not love it back. I constantly flip flop back and forth between eating delicious cheese and cream-based concoctions, but when I’m honest with myself there’s no denying that my body is happier during exclusion.
So once again here I am in grain free, dairy free, soy free land. Hey, I guess it could be worse–it could be the AIP diet again. Life is SO hard without eggs and nuts.
Here’s something I wondered this morning at breakfast: what’s one to do if they just want a simple, old fashioned sandwich while trying to eat keto(ish) and yet they’re avoiding these problem foods? I really just wanted a breakfast sandwich tbh. My husband says gross, but my stomach (and kids) says yum. Bacon, eggs, and turkey stacked into something simple and magical.
Here’s the dairy-free magic, ya’ll. It’s carbier than the dairy version, but no offense, cream cheese cloud bread, this tastes much better and somehow less eggy.
Ingredients:
3 eggs, eggs and yolks separated
Dash of cream of tartar
1/4 cup almond flour
1 tbsp almond milk
1/2 tbsp onion powder
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325°. Separate egg yolks and whites into different bowls.
Add cream of tartar to egg whites and beat until white, frothy, and retains shape/peaks. I think of it as a meringue bread.
Add spices, almond flour, and almond milk to the egg yolks. Beat into a liquid.
Fold the egg yolks into the egg whites.
Spoon onto parchment paper about an inch thing. I just make small circles 2 or 3 inches wide, about sandwich size.
Bake for 15-20 minutes.
These should be stored in the refrigerator. When you want to reheat them, just pop them in a warm oven for a few minutes.
I never liked apple pie as a kid in spite of wanting to. Every time I tried it something about the texture of the apples was never quite right to me; they would be partially crunchy with peels still clinging to the sides. Finally I’ve learned what I didn’t like about it! Crunchy cooked apple isn’t for me.
In a large microwavable mixing bowl, combine mozzarella and cream cheese. Microwave for 30 seconds to a minute, until cheese begins to melt.
Remove from microwave and vigorously stir with fork.
Add egg and stir.
Add swerve, cinnamon, salt, coconut flour, and almond flour. Mix together until doughy. You will need to knead with your hands towards the end.
Using a folded piece of parchment paper and rolling pin, pull a small ball of dough out. Roll the dough into a rectangle shape about 1/4 inch thick.
Spoon a large spoonful of apples into the middle. Using the parchment paper, fold the sides of the dough over the apples, enveloping them in a pouch. Set aside on baking sheet with parchment paper.
It’s been so long since I’ve been to Starbucks that I don’t even know if these are available anymore, but 10 years ago this was my favorite. I have finally found an amazing, healthy recipe to replace the insanely high sugar original.
I love pizza. But you know, gluten and carbs and stuff. Fathead pizza is a great substitute and it’s not like it’s super time consuming, but sometimes I want the comfort food with minimal work.
Queue the Crockpot! What a wonderful invention.
Ingredients:
1 onion
2 orange bell peppers
1 poblano pepper
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
Garlic
Basil
Oregano
3 chopped yellow squash
1 pound Italian sausage
Mozzarella
Parsley
Red pepper flakes
Directions:
Cook sausage and set aside. Chop and dice all the vegetables and combine onion, peppers, tomatoes and tomato paste, and squash in crockpot. Cook on high for about 2 hours.
Add garlic, oregano, basil and parsley. Stir in cooked sausage. Sprinkle with mozzarella and stir in. Top with more mozzarella. Crack the lid to vent steam and cook 1-2 more hours.
If you’re looking for snack ideas for a low carb diet sometimes it can feel like quick and easy options are limited. One of the go-to snacks in our house is pork rinds, but let’s be honest, that gets so incredibly boring. I always get burnt out on pork skins pretty quickly.
That’s where the dip comes in: having a wonderful, creamy dip really ups the ante. This flavorful concoction contains both avocado and sour cream, packing quite the punch in terms of fat content. This amount is for 2-4 people, but can easily be multiplied for larger groups.
Ingredients:
1 avocado
1 tbsp lime juice
1/2 cup sour cream
Spices: I used 1 tbsp onion powder, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp chili powder or cayenne , 1/4 tsp oregano, a pinch of salt, a dash of black pepper, and a dash of cumin.
Directions:
In a small bowl mash avocado and lime juice with a fork.
Sometimes I like to do themes for the kids for a day, a few days, a week, or whatever. The local zoo has a fun summer thing set up where there are animatronic dinosaurs throughout the place, so I thought that this would be a really fun way to get the girls excited about going to the zoo to see the dinosaurs! If you aren’t near San Antonio, and thus don’t have a zoo or something to take them to see the dinosaurs, you can add a fifth day of dinosaur activities.
Warning: this post is a bit longextreme. I’m going to put a link to some of the recipes instead of inserting the whole recipe so that the length will be a little more reasonable.
Pro tip: my kids are young enough that we can add the word dinosaur to almost anything and make it more exciting, hence the general basis of my naming theme.
Disclosure: some of the supplies linked are affiliate links, meaning that, at no additional cost to you, I will receive a commission if you use this link to make a purchase. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
My girls play this silly game where they put blankets on their heads and run around saying, “I’m a scary dinosaur!” They also really like to dance and listen to music. I thought, why not try to combine these two things? Plus, thanks to Sandra Boynton, we have a pretty good idea of how dinosaurs like to dance. So throw a blanket on your head and break out your best velociraptor moves!
Day 2
Craft: Dinosaur Sticker Collage
We found these awesome holographic dinosaur stickers at the dollar tree and have some others from Michaels. With the ridiculous amount of stickers I’ve collected, it’s hard to keep track of where they come from. These stickers seem like a lot of fun.
When we do focused crafts like these I like to do them with the kids so they can see my idea of how to do it. They do whatever they want, of course, but it’s fun to do together. First, with a green piece of paper, cut out a basic “ground” shape. You might need to do this for kids, too. On a second piece of paper (orange, yellow, or blue), glue this ground to the bottom. Now the dinosaurs have somewhere to roam!
Next, bust out the markers. We’re going to add some rocks, grass, trees, and a sun–or whatever you want to, that’s just what I’m adding. Landscape complete!
Add dinosaur stickers! Proudly display artwork on wall.
Activity: Dinosaur pool party
On this nice summer afternoon we’re filling up our cheesy eight dollar blow up pool and adding plastic dinosaur toys. Voila! Simple and still on theme.
Day 3
Craft: Dinosaur watercolors
I know, it sounds lame. I’ll be totally honest, too: it’s pretty lame. The kids will be happy, though. For this you’re just going to cut out the most basic dinosaur shape that you can out of construction or printer paper (you can trace, sketch, draw, or print one out if you need to–there are a ton of awesome free printable coloring pages available via a quick google image search).
Looking at Google images for assistance
Once you have your dinosaur, simply hand it to them with some watercolors. They will have a blast painting their own dinosaur. Once done, I like to let them (or do it myself) glue this to a second piece of colored paper and display on the wall once dry.
Recipe: Stone Age Soup
So, here’s the deal with Stone Age Soup…it’s really just a way to get everything that’s been sitting unused in the fridge into edible form. Squash, carrots, onion, frozen veggies, old meat or a scoop of gelatin…What I’m saying is that you probably don’t need to go out and buy ingredients. It’s a mom way of framing something dull into something a little more fun.
Day 4
Activity: Dinosaur Containers
These are what we’ve been using as our portable busy boxes lately due to the current dinosaur obsession. But it turns out every morning before breakfast they want to play with these while I cook. Win!
Day 5 must be awesome. It’s what all the days have been leading up to, which is why on day 5, we have zoo day! Alternatively, you can use these awesome endings.
I tried dinosaurs three ways: freehand, using a squirt bottle, and pouring into cookie cutters.
The squirt bottle probably would have been amazing if I used regular pancake batter, but I had some almond flour clump and clog the nozzle.
Cookie cutters worked the best, but the first batch I didn’t remove the cookie cutter quick enough and they got stuck.
Some of these attempts were just plain hilarious:
Strange monster and swirls
Turtle and witch “dinosaurs”
Activity: Paleontological Excavation
This might seem like a bit of work, but it’s really not so bad. Just bear with me.
First, you need to decide where your “dig” is going to happen. If you want to fill a tub with sand or dirt, that’s great. I’m going to pick a little patch of dirt outside because I think my girls will enjoy that a lot, and I’m not using it. Plus, it’s good for them to be in the dirt.
Next, locate some plain rocks that you can draw or paint on. I’m going to be lazy about it and just draw with a white paint marker. I have two kids, so I’m doing about 10 each. Draw some bones on there–the beauty of this is that they can be ugly/imperfect and it’s no big deal.
Bury your dinosaur “bones” in your excavation site. Be sure to spread them out a bit. If you’re doing this outside like us, stick some small sticks around the outside to mark the area and “rope” it off with some string. Be sure to create separate dig sites for each kid.
These buttery, chocolatey gems were for my daughter’s dinosaur themed birthday party! Seriously unlike anything else, the texture of the cashews and the cashew coating combines perfectly with the chocolate and “blood” drizzle. My husband came in afterwards and said, “hey, cool, it looks like meat, bones, and blood!”
These are sure to satisfy any carnivore’s sweet tooth.
Amounts vary depending on your molds. If you don’t have molds for this you can pour in a tray and cut into squares.
Ingredients:
For the Filling:
1/2 cup cashews
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup confectioner’s swerve
10-15 drops of red food dye
For the Chocolate:
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup confectioner’s swerve
1 tbsp heavy whipping cream
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp moringa greens powder (optional)
a tiny amount of emulsifier such as xanthan gum (optional)
For the Drizzle:
20 drops red food dye
1 tbsp cocoa powder
4 tbsp butter
20 drops liquid stevia
Directions:
Melt the butter for the filling in the microwave, about 30 seconds. Add swerve and red food dye.
Stir the cashews into the pinkish red butter mixture. Spoon into molds or scatter in a greased tray.
Melt the coconut oil and butter for the chocolate in the microwave. Add heavy cream and vanilla and whisk with a fork.
Add swerve, cocoa powder, and greens powder and whisk until combined.
Pour over cashew mixture evenly. Place in refrigerator or freezer and allow chocolate to set.
For the red “blood” drizzle, melt butter in microwave, 10-15 seconds. Add red food dye.
Add cocoa powder and liquid stevia.
Remove chocolate from refrigerator once it has set. Remove chocolate from molds/tray. Drizzle red chocolate on top and serve.
