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A Girl Worth Saving

AIP Twice-Fried Green Plantains (Tostones/Patacones)

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When I was pregnant with Bubba, I discovered the magic of Plantains.  Seriously, I had only thought of them as sweets but I soon learned I was very wrong.  My friend Amanda just released an amazing paleo cookbook filled with Latin American and I knew I had to share her Tostones/Patacones recipe.

From her book:

Green plantains that are fried, smashed and fried again are called tostones in some parts of Latin America and patacones in others. To make preparing these crispy bits of starchy deliciousness much easier, I recommend spending a few dollars on what is called a tostone press, which you can order online or pick up at your local Latin American grocery store. You can also use a sturdy glass or jar or even a flat meat mallet, too.  Tostones can go well with just about any main dish or can be eaten as an appetizer or snack—think of them as hearty chips.

 

AIP Twice-Fried Green Plantains (Tostones/Patacones)

Prep Time: 3 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Total Time: 11 minutes
Servings: 2 people

Reprinted with permission from Latin American Paleo Cooking by Amanda Torres with Milagros Torres, Page Street Publishing Co. 2017. Photo credit: Toni Zernik

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Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Slice the tips off the plantains with a knife, then cut 1 or 2 slits in the skin down the length of
  2. the plantain. If the peel does not lift off easily you can loosen it by soaking the plantains in
  3. a bowl of water with about 1 tablespoon (6 g) of salt for 10 to 15 minutes.
  4. Slice the peeled plantain crosswise into disks . to 1 inch (2 to 2.5 cm) wide.
  5. In a large skillet, heat your fat of choice over medium heat until shimmering, 3 to 5 minutes.
  6. Carefully add the disks to the heated fat, cooking on each side for 2 to 4 minutes, or until
  7. they have turned a darker, more golden color. Do not allow to brown.
  8. Remove the disks from the oil and flatten, using a tostone press (recommended) or a
  9. sturdy glass/jar or flat meat mallet. If using a tostone press, place the disk in the recessed
  10. circle and then clamp down the lid on top.
  11. Return the flattened plantain disks to the hot oil and fry for an additional 2 to 3 minutes
  12. on each side, or until crispy and browned. You will likely need to work in batches to fry
  13. the flattened disks.
  14. Add extra cooking fat as needed, because these will absorb quite a bit of fat as they cook.
  15. Top with a sprinkling of coarse sea salt and a garnish of cilantro and serve immediately;
  16. tostones do not reheat well. Serve with your favorit
  17. main dish.
  18. AIP compliant: No adjustments necessary!

Grain-free Gluten-free Halloween Eyeball Cake Pops

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grain-free-gluten-free-halloween-Eyeball-Cake-Pops-2

 

Now that the Little is 6-years-old, I’ve decided it’s time to kick Halloween up a notch and so I made these grain-free, gluten-free halloween eyeball cake pops.

I don’t know about you but when I was a kid, I loved me some Halloween.  My parents were not the type of people who portioned out the candy.  Once they did their check to make sure there was no razor blades or homemade foods (in hindsight, it’s so sad we no longer trust our neighbors to share healthy homemade treats with each other), then they handed us our bag which was partially devoured in one night.

grain free eyeball cake pops paleo

Ok, this recipe much more time consuming than what I typically share on the blog but it’s worth it.   I used the cleanest ingredients I could find to decorate but if you are more flexible with what products you use, then you can use edible coloring pens   and green colored candy wafers to cut down on decorating time.

 

grain-free-gluten-free-halloween-Eyeball-Cake-Pops-2

Grain-free Gluten-free Halloween Eyeball Cake Pops

Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours
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Ingredients

Cake

Frosting

Cake Pop Tools

Instructions

Cupcakes

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with 10 cupcake liners and set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl add the ingredients and mix with a spoon until completely combined.
  3. Pour the batter in to the cupcake liners and place in oven.
  4. Let cook for 15 to 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  5. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Frosting

  1. In mixing bowl add in the ingredients for the frosting and mix with a hand mixer. Set aside. 

Making the Cake Pops

  1. Crumble all the cupcakes into a large bowl, then start with ¼ cup of the frosting and mash everything together by hand. Form 20 2-inch balls by rolling the mixture tightly between the hands. If the mixture is too crumbly, add more frosting a few tablespoons at a time. Too much frosting will create super sticky cake pops that are difficult to dip.
  2. Melt about ½ cup of white candy wafers according to their instructions. Dip a cake pop stick about one inch into the melted coating, then push it halfway through a cake pop. Repeat with each cake pop, then cover tightly with plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours.
  3. Melt enough candy wafers in a dish to a depth of at least an inch deeper than the cake pop’s size. In one motion, dip a cake pop until it’s completely covered and pull it back out, being careful not to stir the melted candy with the cake pop. Gently tap off any excess, and spin the cake pop if necessary to stop drips. After about 30 seconds, place a candy wafer on the cake pop to create the iris of the eyeball. Place in a cake pop stand or foam brick to harden, and repeat with remaining cake pops, keeping undipped cake pops covered at all times.

  4. Once cake pops are hard, mix the gel colors per the instructions. To get vibrant colors use less water - start with just a drop and mix with the powder thoroughly before adding more.

  5.  Draw blood vessels using red gel with a paint brush, color the iris with green, draw the iris using black, and use the remaining melted white candy wafers to create a reflection spot over each pupil.

Need more Halloween Treats?

© 2011-2017, A Girl Worth Saving. Feel free to pin my posts but do not repost my full recipe on your blog, Tumblr, or any other website.

 

 

10 Low Carb Bagels

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So I’ve decided it’s time to go back to low carb, well with a bit of a twist.  6 days a week I do lower carb – between 40 to 80 carbs and then once a week I go carb crazy.    During the week I have been craving a good low carb bagel or a keto bagel.

I prefer to eat this way because the thought of never eating french fries or gluten-free pizza is like horrifying.  Again, I truly believe that the best diet is the one that you can stick with that uses real food.    Also, I’m discovering that my hormonal health is one of the reasons that my weight loss has stalled as well as a few other things so I’m doing a liver detox next month.  Strangely enough I’m excited!

Here are some amazing looking bagels that fit the bill and I know you will love.

 

These low carb keto everything bagels will have you grabbing your favorite coconut cream cheese.

Get the Recipe Here

You won’t miss sugar with these Sugar Free Low Carb Everything Bagels

Get the Recipe Here

Low Carb paleo bagels that your body will love!

Get the Recipe Here

These healthified Bagels use Whey powder to increase your protein intake.

Get the Recipe Here

Miss croissants? Get your low carb fix with these Low carb Croissants.

Get the Recipe Here

Made with only 5 ingredients, you’ll have seconds of these Low carb Bagels.

Get the Recipe Here

This low carb bagel uses fathead dough to give the perfect bread-like texture.

Get the Recipe Here

There nut-free bagels will satisfy your low carb bagel craving.

Get the Recipe Here

Get the Recipe Here

 

Made with almond and cashew butter these bagels have the perfect chew!

Get the Recipe Here

55 Surprising uses for Coconut Oil

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Coconut oil is very versatile, with uses in cooking, for the skin and for the hair with very good benefits in every way. It nearly became forgotten in the West due to the advent of vegetable oils which came with heavy advertising against saturated fats. Now it has become clear that the type of saturated fats in coconut oil, the medium chain triglycerides, is exactly what we need for good health. Now coconut oil has become a super food and a super oil. Here are the 55 uses for coconut oil.

Cooking With Coconut Oil

  1. Use for baking, cooking, frying, etc. to replace liquid oils.
  2. Use for greasing pans and in pie crusts, etc. to replace butter and margarine.
  3. Melt and add to smoothies.

Personal Care Uses of Coconut Oil

  1. Toothpaste: Mix coconut oil with baking soda and some olive oil (to make it softer) and use that as your toothpaste.
  2. Makeup Remover: Put coconut oil on a cotton swab and wipe away your makeup.
  3. Moisturizer: Gently melt together 14 cup coconut oil, ½ cup shea butter, ¼ cup almond or jojoba oil, and 15 drops of essential oils. Apply that to the face. The essential oils differ depending on whether you have acne or you want deep moisturizing or you want to heal aging skin.
  4. Body lotion: Melt together gently, ½ cup coconut oil, ½ cup shea butter, ½ cup almond or olive or jojoba oil and a few drops of essential oil. Apply that to the whole body as a lotion.
  5. Eye cream: Apply coconut oil around the eyes to reduce puffiness, bags, and wrinkles.
  6. Lip balm: Gently melt together 1 tablespoon of beeswax, 2 tablespoons of shea butter, 2 tablespoons coconut oil, and 20 drops of your moisturizing essential oil.
  7. Deodorant: Mix coconut oil with cornstarch and baking soda. Apply that to daily.
  8. Preshave: Coconut oil protects the skin from damage during shaving.
  9. Aftershave: Coconut oil helps heal the skin after shaving without clogging pores.
  10. Hair Conditioner: Use as a leave in hair conditioner by applying a teaspoon of coconut oil to your ends and then running your fingers through your hair to distribute the rest!
  11. Deep hair treatment: Rub in a tablespoon of coconut oil onto your dry scalp and gently work through to the ends. Put a shower cap on to prevent transfer onto bed linens and leave on overnight.
  12. Hair Gel/Defrizzer: Rub some coconut oil between your palms and either scrunch into hair (for curly hair) or finger comb in through from scalp to ends (for wavy/straight hair).

16: Lubricant: Coconut oil is an all natural, perfectly safe personal lubricant but it not compatible with latex.

  1. Massage Oil: Add almond oil and a few drops of essential oil and you have massage oil.
  2. Sunscreen: Coconut oil is a natural sunscreen with SPF of 4-5. Mix ½ cup coconut oil with 1 tablespoon raspberry seed oil with SPF of about 25 and 2 tablespoons of natural zinc oxide. Essential oil is optional.
  3. Body scrub: Mix coconut oil and sugar together, rub all over and rinse off. Your skin will be super soft!
  4. Stretch Mark Cream: Coconut oil nourishes damaged skin and reduces the damage.
  5. Nipple Cream: Apply coconut oil on a cotton ball to cracked, sore, or dry nipples, and leave on your nipples between feedings.
  6. Diaper salve: Coconut oil is comforting and safe for the diaper area.
  7. Cradle cap: If your baby’s scalp is dry on the rub coconut oil.

General Health

  1. Healing: Coconut oil speeds up the healing of bruises, cuts and scrapes.
  2. Skin problems: Coconut oil relieves skin problems such as psoriasis, dermatitis, and eczema.
  3. Bug Bites: Apply directly to a bug bite to stop the itching and burning sensation and hasten the healing process.
  4. Digestion: Coconut oil has anti-bacterial properties that help control, parasites, and fungi in the gut. It also aids in the absorption of vitamins, minerals and amino acids.
  5. Stress Relief: The natural aroma of coconuts is extremely soothing thus helping to lower your stress level. Apply to the head in a circular massaging motion.

29: Milk supply: Breastfeeding moms can take 3 ½ tablespoonfuls of coconut oil daily to increase milk supply.

  1. Fitness: Coconut oil stimulates your metabolism, improves thyroid function, and escalates energy levels, all of which help decrease your unwanted fat, while increasing muscle.
  2. Weight loss: It controls cravings.
  3. Diabetes: it helps to maintain stable blood sugar levels.

Coconut Oil assists the Following Health Problems When Taken Internally

  1. Eczema: In addition to taking it internally, many have success applying it externally, some don’t.
  2. Toenail fungus.
  3. Hot flashes.
  4. Bleeding hemorrhoids (can also be applied externally twice a day).
  5. Thrush.
  6. Flaky dry skin.
  7. Pain/cramps and heavy blood flow during menstruation.
  8. Migraines (with regular use).
  9. Alzheimer’s disease.
  10. Candida albicans.
  11. Acid reflux and indigestion.
  12. Gallbladder pain.
  13. Symptoms of an underactive thyroid gland, normalizing thyroid function.
  14. Adrenal fatigue.
  15. Depression.
  16. Herpes (applied topically and taken internally).
  17. Inflammation due to Crohn’s disease.
  18. Mental clarity.
  19. Immune system strengthened.
  20. Asthma, even in children.
  21. Autism.
  22. Cholesterol – improves HDL (‘good’ cholesterol) to HDL (‘bad’ cholesterol) ratio in people with high cholesterol.
  23. Chronic fatigue.
  24. Circulation/feeling cold all the time.
  25. Energy boost.

 

3 Nutrients for Healthy Thyroid Function

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We’ve all probably heard about how important a healthy thyroid is for our bodies.

At least for me, it seems like every week I see that trademark phrase… some form of ‘The thyroid controls every metabolic action in your body. If you’re feeling tired or gaining weight, it’s probably your thyroid acting up! Here’s how you can fix it!’

It goes something like that.

A paragraph or two later, you’ll likely see an ad or a picture for their shady weight loss treatment program costing exuberant amounts and promising the heavens.

Little did I know there was some truth to those statements! No, not the weight loss pills… Ignore those!

Rather, our bodies autonomous activities of appetite and metabolism ARE influenced by the thyroid. To be fair, it is a complex system to say the least, but research does show that the thyroid plays a leading role in this network.

Behind this matrix of thyroid health and weight loss are the ever so important triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4), and thyroid stimulating hormones (TSH).

As we get older, it seems harder to balance these hormones into ‘normal’ levels.

The American Thyroid Organization estimates that 12 percent of Americans has some form of thyroid disorder – likely hypothyroidism, or in other words, an underactive thyroid. With statistics like this, it makes sense that Synthroid is the most commonly prescribed medication in the United States!

A strong, healthy diet can also help support thyroid health. Research has shown that vitamins, minerals, and herbs help improve thyroid conditions.

Here’s a list of the top three nutrients for healthy thyroid functionality:

  1. Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 is part of the B complexes of Vitamins. These vitamins are the ones that primarily work in converting food and our diet into fuel and energy for our bodies through the day.

If you lack enough B12, you’ll feel a variety of symptoms – though the most prevalent and common is fatigue, especially as the day goes on.

According to several studies conducted with Vitamin B12 and thyroid health, approximately 40% of hypothyroid patients have a deficiency in B12.

After correct supplementation, significant amounts of hypothyroid patients reported improvements in their symptoms. The studies recommend checking B12 levels and getting it corrected if necessary.

Foods like fish, liver, milk all contain high levels of Vitamin B12.

2. Ashwagandha

Ashwagandha is an Ayurvedic herb that has been around for centuries.

You don’t need it to survive, though. It’s not a vitamin, like B12, that our bodies need or a mineral like selenium, which we discuss later.

However, Ashwagandha is still very useful and remains as one of the popular natural remedies for hypothyroidism.

The reason behind this is the large amount of research that proves its effectiveness in producing more of the T4 hormone. In 2014, researchers conducted a study of 60 patients where half of them took a placebo while the other half took Ashwagandha.

The latter group saw an large increase in thyroid hormone levels, helping cure their hypothyroidism! The other half with the placebo did not see any significant changes.

Another study, although this one was carried out on mice, saw equivalent results, supporting this conclusion

3. Selenium

The thyroid gland contains the highest concentration of selenium in our bodies. Our bodies need it!

Selenium helps synthesis thyroid hormones and protects against elevated levels of iodine in the body.

According to a research study conducted in 2007 and published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, selenium supplementation during pregnancy and postpartum, “reduced thyroid inflammatory activity and the incidence of hypothyroidism” when compared to a control group that did not receive selenium.

Unfortunately, we cannot produce this mineral on our own. The only way we can get selenium is through our diet (eggs, beef, turkey, brazil nuts.)

And that is the essence of this post!

Diet is very important – not only for the thyroid – but many other organs! Be sure to eat healthy foods with lots of nutritional value!

 

This Planner will Make you rethink how you Cook

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sunday prep day meal plan make ahead

 

The first meal was cooked over an open fire with probably nothing more than a few sticks and stones.

With time, these tools changed and evolved into cast iron, stainless steel and even fancy induction pans.

However the process of cooking hasn’t changed that much.

Yes, there are shortcuts like using a microwave or buying takeout but if you make food from scratch you are still working with this 5 step process:

  1. Planning the meals
  2. Creating a grocery list
  3. Going grocery shopping
  4. Cook each meal on the day you planned
  5. Clean up.

In 2012, researchers discovered the following:

  • The average mother spends 18 whole days each year in the kitchen
  • Over the average lifespan this amounts to 1,117 days or just over 3 years

For those who follow a real food diet, I’m certain this average is way off and women are spending more like  5 to 7 years of time in their kitchens!

Easy Make Ahead Meal Planning

In a world overwhelmed with a mile long to-do list, cooking is taking the back the seat.   For the first time in history, people are spending more money at restaurants versus the grocery store.

This has further implication that I won’t go into like the cost of the meals, health care costs from the quality of ingredients you’re eating, etc.

What if I told you that there is a better way to cook at home? One that would save you time, money and clean up time?

To good to be true, right?

20 Dishes is a meal planner that shares easy make ahead meal plans.  They take cooking from out of the stone age and teach you how to do it in the 21st century.   Here is their process:

  1. Use the curated meal plan or customize it and make your plan
  2. Print shopping list or pull up on your phone.
  3. Go shopping
  4. Prep ahead all your meals so that on the meal day, you simply throw it in the pan. 
  5. Clean up.

You might be thinking, oh, that’s a lot more work.

Prep ahead means I have to do work twice.

If this is what you thought, you are actually wrong.

When you prepare ahead your meals with the planner, you prep all the ingredients for all the recipes at once which saves you massive amounts of time.
Easy Make Ahead Meal Planning
For example, if you plan on making meatloaf,  lamb burgers, spaghetti and tacos, instead of cutting onions the day you are making each recipe, you prep ahead and cut all the onions for that dish on your prep day.

On the day you make the recipe, you just pull out your prepped ingredients, throw it in the pan and you’re done.

The planner figures out what ingredients you need to prep and tells you the exact amount so you don’t have to think.

 

Yes, this is a new way of thinking.

But with the meal planner, all you have to do is read (which you are doing now) and follow the directions.

It’s the easy button and you get to reap the reward of dinner on the table with no stress (and know exactly what’s for dinner when your kids ask for the 10 millionth time).

Are you ready to do this?

Start here. 

P.S  share in a comment how much time  you are spending in the kitchen each week.