Be Good To Yourself: Switch to Unbleached Paper Cooking and Baking Products

Over the last year, we've tried to become more eco-friendly at the acraftygourmet.com headquarters, aka our house. I donated all of my non-stick Caphalon pots and pans, which I purchased while working at Williams-Sonoma and replaced them with enamel and cast-iron items from Le Creuset.  Le Creuset is know for not containing harmful chemicals like PFOA, a known carcinogen. According to Dr. Mercola, studies have shown that non-stick cookware heated to temperatures as low at 446 degrees, will release toxins into the air. I found that especially scary since I cook daily. I also got rid of all of my aluminum cookware, because aluminum has been shown to be a causal factor of Alzheimer's disease, which I have a high genetic predisposition for according to 23andme.com. Finally, I also stopped using aluminum foil and plastic wrap in the kitchen.

As part of my move away from foil, I switched to unbleached parchment paper. The reason I chose unbleached parchment paper is two-fold. First, it is much better for the environment. The process of bleaching paper products releases dioxins and chlorines into the air. Most European paper companies have moved away from the traditional process of bleaching, but many US companies still continue to practice it. But even the newer and improved method is still very harmful since it releases chloroform, a known carcinogen. Using unbleached paper products is also much better for the family and home. When using unbleached parchment paper, there are no harmful chemicals leaching into your food, tea, or coffee.

I've partnered with Beyond Gourmet to introduce my readers to their line of unbleached cooking and baking products. I am giving away 2 boxes of unbleached coffee filters, a box of unbleached baking cups, a box of mini unbleached baking cups, a package of unbleached cheese cloth, and one box of unbleached parchment paper.

To be entered into the contest, you must like A Crafty Gourmet on Facebook and then please comment below letting me know how you would use these products in your home. Contest will end on September 30th and a winner will be announced on October 1st. Good Luck! Also don't forget to enter my The Spice House contest.

Grain & Gluten Free Breakfast Ideas! The Best Waffles Ever & Swiss Chard Hash

Weekend morning breakfasts at our house are usually kind of generic, a version of eggs and toast. So when this weekend the hubby asked me to make him something special for breakfast, I came up with two grain-free (both), Paleo (Hash Only), GAPS (Hash Only) and SCD (Hash Only), friendly recipes that will surely satisfy. Saturday morning, I made a Swiss Chard Hash. Then, on Sunday, I was craving waffles, so I made my usual waffle recipe but substituted grain-free flours. The waffles turned out great! For toppings, I used Tula's CocoYO and my spiced plum compote.

Swiss Chard Hash
Ingredients
1 bunch Swiss Chard
1 tbsp Ghee
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp The Spice House Spanish Smoked Paprika 
4 eggs

Process:
1. Heat ghee in a pan
2. Chop Swiss Chard finely
3. Once ghee has melted add Swiss Chard, salt and paprika
4. Saute Chard for 6-8 minutes
5. Add eggs in sunny-side up fashion, cover, cook for 5-7 minutes or until whites are fully cooked
6. Enjoy!

Grain-Free Vegan Waffles
Ingredients
1/2 cup chestnut flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup coconut oil (melted)
1 cup water
2 tbsp raw honey
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Process:
1. Mix all dry ingredients together and separately mix all wet ingredients together
2. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix on medium speed with a mixer
3. Scoop heaping 1/4 cup of batter onto oiled waffle maker
4. Depending on your waffle maker, cook for 8-10 minutes
5. Add your favorite waffle syrup or toppings
6. Enjoy!

If you are interested in learning more about going grain-free, Jill at Real Food Forager is teaching a class to help you. If you want to sign up for the class use the coupon code NOGRAINS and receive an additional $20off. The coupon expires September 25th. And don't forget about my Spices Contest!



                 

UCSF Studies on the Paleo Diet & Easy Grain-Free Quinoa Side Dish

In the last year, I feel like all of a sudden everyone is talking about some form of a grain-free diet. Whether it's Paleo, GAPS, SCD, Slow-Carb, nutritionists, acupuncturists, and health coaches are recommending going grain-free to help alleviate a variety of ailments from arthritis and autism to MS and psychological disorders. A UCSF study actually showed that when healthy volunteers followed a Paleolithic diet for 10 days (eating lean meat, fruits, vegetables and nuts and excluding grains, dairy and legumes) they reduced their blood pressure, improved their glucose tolerance and improved their lipid levels (cholesterol). Another study showed that the Paleo diet was better than the standard diabetes diet in improving heart attack risk in patients with type 2 diabetes.

The interesting thing about the Paleo diet is that it is a form the "real food" diet. While there are many companies trying to jump on the Paleo bandwagon, if you are eating the hunter-gatherer diet, you are eating whole foods that are not found in boxes. It is so interesting that a diet that has been proven to be more beneficial that what the American Dietetic Association recommends for type 2 diabetics hasn't become mainstream. One of the reasons that it's not mainstream may simply be a conflict of interest. The ADA influences the dietary guidelines set by the USDA. The ADA is a non-profit organization that is heavily financed by companies such as Kellogg's, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Hershey. So it's important to remember that the American Dietic Association is an industry friendly organization and not exactly the best source of dietary advice.

As part of my efforts to alleviate my lower back pain, I have been practicing a grain-free and dairy-free diet, which isn't Paleo because I choose to consume legumes. My pain has vanished. To me it feels miraculous. After spending 8 months seeing countless doctors and being poked and prodded, it's been amazing to see that the first medicine is food. If you are suffering from arthritis, gout, high blood pressure or if you are overweight, I recommend trying one of the diets mentioned above or all of them to find which one you can adopt as a lifestyle.

Like the UCSF study, you can try it for 10 days and work with your doctor to take blood before you begin and after 10 days. If you have a doctor that you do not feel is supportive, get a new one. I recommend One Medical Group. They have offices in the SF Bay Area, New York and Washington, D.C. From personal experience, I feel you will be able to find a doctor there willing to participate in your personal experiment.

In the meantime, I have a great satisfying Quinoa dish that you can enjoy. Quinoa is not a grain. It's actually seed that is closely related to beets and spinach. It contains the large amounts of the amino acid lysine, a necessary protein building block which is essential for calcium absorption, and hormone, enzyme and antibody production. It's high is calcium and is the considered to be a complete protein, meaning it contains all 9 essential amino acids.

I always keep Gogo Rice's Organic Cooked Quinoa in my pantry in case I forget to soak some. Since the Quinoa only needs to be heated, this side dish takes less than 5 minutes to prepare.

Quinoa Primavera Pilaf
Ingredients
1 package of Organic Cooked Quinoa
1 cup spinach
1 large carrot
1/2 parsley
1 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp Celtic Salt
dash of pepper
dash smoked paprika

Process:
1. Empty quinoa into a pan and heat on low with a tbsp water so it doesn't burn
2. In a food processor or by hand, grate carrot
3. Chop spinach and parsley finely
4. Toss carrots, spinach, and parsley into pat and heat everything for 2 minutes (add more water if needed)
5. Empty into a bowl and add vinegar, salt, oil and spices
6. Mix and Enjoy!

If you are interested in learning more about going grain-free, Jill at Real Food Forager is teaching a class to help you. If you want to sign up for the class use the coupon code NOGRAINS and receive an additional $20off. The coupon expires September 25th. And don't forget about my Spices Contest!



                 

Last day of my CAN CAN Clease, Easy Jerky Recipe, and Finally The Juil Contest Winner Announced!

So today, I finished my last day of the CAN CAN Cleanse. I do have to say, I won't be doing that for a while. It was by far one of the harder things I've done in my life. I seriously recommend it to anyone who loves a good challenge. But I definitely feel more clear headed and my skin is glowing. So call the girls up and tell them I sent you!!

I'm ready to get back to eating my food vs. drinking it. I prepped my meals for tomorrow and am treating myself for a very special snack: beef jerky! Jerky happens to be one of my favorite snacks, but it's a difficult one to find without soy sauce, sugar, wheat flour, and other ingredients I try to stay away from. I usually buy my beef jerky from Fatted Calf, but it also happens to cost $40lb! That's some expensive meat! So I decided to save a few bucks and make my own.

Beef Jerky
Ingredients
1/4 lb of lean cut beef (I used flank steak)
2 tsp fine grain Celtic salt
2 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar
2 tsp raw honey

Process:
1. Place beef in freezer for 2 hours
2. Remove beef and cut into thin slices
3. Put all ingredients into Glasslock container and shake for 1 minute

4. Place container into refrigerator for 6-24 hours, depending on how long you prefer to marinate it. I did it 24 hours.

5. Set oven on dehydrate setting and set temperature to 145 degrees. If you don't have a dehydrate setting then set on lowest setting (could be 200), and prop oven oven doors leaving a 3 inch gap using a dish towel.

6. Place meat on Silpat mat. You can also just do it on the oven rack. Don't use parchment paper or foil, because you won't get the same results. You need air to circulate all around the pieces.

7. Dehydrate/Bake for 8-12 hours (depending on your oven)

8. Enjoy!

And finally, I would like to thank the wonderful team at Juil for sponsoring this contest. I hope everyone that entered will consider buying a pair or 2 or 3 of these amazing sandals and shoes. Personally, I'm looking forward to the Mary Jane's they are working on! Using, RANDOM.org, I put everyone's name in a list to randomize and the winner is Maryin Quezada! Please email me your address, the shoe you would like as well as the size to Gabyatacraftygourmetdotcom. Congratulations to you and thank you to everyone who entered. Please don't forget to enter my The Spice House Contest and good luck to you!

Learning More about CAN CAN Clease and day 2/3

Day two was much easier than the first day, which was actually pretty surprising. I was expecting it just to get worse but it actually wasn't a hard today. The schedule was the same:

8:00am Juice #1 (Lemon Lime Juice)

9:00am Juice #2 (Green Juice)

10:30am Juice #3 (Hibiscus Tea)

12:00 Juice #4 (Zucchini Basil Soup)

2:30 Juice #5 (Watermelon Juice)

5:00 Juice #6 (Green Juice)

7:00 Juice #7 (Nut Milk)

8:00 Juice #8 (Lemon Balm Lavender Tea)

I didn't find myself as hungry today as I was yesterday. Also, it's pretty nuts at work and even on the juice cleanse, I was able to think straight and concentrate on my tasks. 

I spent much of the day thinking about how well organized the cleanse is. I could tell that much care went into planning the juices and developing the recipes. I was extremely curious about how the idea came to be, so I gave the girls and CAN CAN Cleanse a call to ask them some questions about their amazing business.

CAN CAN Cleanse's was founded by Teresa Piro, a Seattle, Washington native who moved to San Francisco 11 years ago.  Her childhood experiences with her grandparents home garden in Portland and her studies in Holistic Nutrition at Bauman College really shaped her views on nutrient rich foods and how they make us feel. The idea for the cleanse came from the desire to remind others how their food choices make them feel. According to Teresa, "letting the digestive system relax and reset leads us to discover physical and mental clarity." I couldn't agree more!

I was also interested in the unique concept of combining juices, soups and teas. Teresa felt that people often times have a hard time drinking cold juices all day long, especially in San Francisco where it's never really that hot. So, she found her clients did much better with the hot soup and hot teas. She found that it was more satisfying and more enjoyable that way. This is the sole reason I chose CAN CAN over all other cleanses: I loved the idea of warm beverages during a cleanse. She also adds cayenne pepper or cinnamon to most of the blends to give them more warming qualities.

Finally, CAN CAN knows that the cleanses aren't easy and they don't believe they should be. Teresa believes in an act of mindfulness to follow the schedule and to be fully aware of what you are consuming. She believes: "the result is an invigorating and inspiring feeling that puts us back on a healthy track."

CAN CAN recommends that your do cleanses seasonally, and I'm definitely looking forward to trying their updated flavors 3 months from now.

Dancing the CAN CAN while on the CAN CAN Cleanse!

So after all the eating out and indulging in cake since I ended my detox cleanse, I was thinking that I'd like a little reboot. I didn't really care to do anything major since I did just do a 21-detox cleanse, but just a little pick me up! I'd done a juice cleanse once before, about 2 years ago when I bought 18 bottles of 16oz juices from Whole Foods. At the time, I was feeling sick after eating Chipotle daily for lunch for 6 months. By day three, at 10:30 am, I hopped on the bus to the nearest gluten-free bakery and bought a sandwich!

When I was researching cleanse companies in the SF Bay Area, I found CAN CAN Cleanse! I called the girls up and they were kind enough to let me try their cleanse! The cleanse consists of 8 juices, teas, a nut milk, and an amazing, absolutely delicious soup for lunch!  But honestly, the best part of the cleanse are these jars that they come in!  I can't wait to come up with all the crafty ways to utilize them.

So yesterday was my first day. It started with a Lemon Lime Juice at 8:00am. When I drank it, it reminded me of the Master Cleanse, but without any sweetness. It was super tart, but I really enjoyed it. It was a great pick me up in the morning.

At 9:00am, I had the Green Juice, which is made with celery, cucumber, green cabbage, broccoli, fennel, romaine, spinach, kale, parsley, ginger, lemon and apple. I have to say that for all those veggies, I found the juice a little light. The flavor was amazing, but I wanted it to be more thicker. I think that's more about personal preference, since store bought veggie juices don't usually contain pulp. Because I own a slow juicer and a Vitamix, I tend to like juices on the thick and pulpy side. When I had the Breville the juices definitely contained very little pulp and I know people love that juicer.

So by 10:30, my stomach was growling and I was thinking: "why am I doing this again?," but I kept at it, since it's for both personal and blog related R&D (research & development). I love challenging myself :). I didn't realize until today (day 2, 9pm) that I could've actually just had a snack. CAN CAN provides a great list of "cheat" foods you can snack on, that won't affect the effectiveness of the cleanse.

Speaking of effectiveness, you're probably all wondering: What's the point? I believe, juice cleanses are a great way to clean on all the gunk hanging out in the intestines and organs. It's like an oil change for your car. It helps with cravings and with aches and pains, which I've been suffering from. Here's a great summary of the health benefits of juice cleanses.

So with my stomach was growling, I had juice #3, a very flavorful Hibiscus Tea.

By 12:00, I was beyond ready for lunch. I was in luck, because Juice #4 was actually a soup, a bowl of hot, nourishing soup. The Zucchini Basil Soup was actually incredible! Thick and creamy, it's made with Zucchini, Basil, Broccoli, Celery, Leeks, Garlic, Onion, Cumin, Coriander, Cayenne Pepper, Lemon Juice, Sea Salt, Filtered Water. I think I will be making this one at home once I'm done with the cleanse!

At 2:30, I had a treat with Juice #5, Watermelon Juice made with watermelon, apple, & lime. It was a nice satisfying drink, especially since juices 1-4 weren't that sweet.

The next juice wasn't until 5:00pm and by that point, I was ready to chew off my own arm. Again, this was totally my fault since I could have had a snack, but was trying to follow the juice program 100%. At 5:00, I gulped down another Green Juice and was somewhat satiated.

Because I was busy, picking up my daughter from pre-school, feeding her and the hubby, I didn't have time to think about that my next juice wasn't until 7:00pm. The good thing about Juice #7 is it's actually a nut milk made with vanilla and dates. It was really rich and creamy, but not super sweet like the Blueprint Cleanse's Cashew Milk, which also has a really thick gooey texture.

An hour later, I had Juice #8, a Lemon Balm & Lavender Tea, which was very aromatic. Lavender and Lemon Balm are both relaxing and calming herbs, so this was a perfect way to end the day.

Overall, I really enjoyed all of the flavors of the juices and teas, but I was definitely hungry. I think that's the point of a cleanse though, you aren't meant to enjoy it, but your insides are enjoying it on your behalf. Cleanses are a really great way to reboot and recharge, so even if I'm feeling a bit tired and hungry on day 1, I know that once I'm done, I'll be feeling refreshed. Or at least that's my hope. Stay tuned tomorrow to see how I'm doing!

Saturday Night Crafty Gourmet Dinner In: Veal Sweatbreads with Spiced Plum Sauce and Tangy Broccolini

Since the hubby and I have decided to limit how often we eat out, I decided to spice things up for our Saturday night dinner. Why shouldn't we enjoy restaurant quality food in the comfort of our home?

I paid a visit to my favorite butcher shop this afternoon, and was excited to find they had veal sweetbreads in stock. As I've mentioned before, sweetbreads are my favorite food. I really wanted to make this dinner special. I spent the a few hours thinking about how I could combine what's in my fridge to create a really unique and tasty dish. For the past two weeks, my CSA box was filled with plums and we haven't had the chance to eat them, so I decided to make a spiced plum compote and then reduce that compote as a sauce for the sweetbreads. That seemed special enough to me.

Spiced Plum Compote
Ingredients:
10 plums (cut in half)
3 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
2 cardamon pods
1 cup of water
1 tbsp raw honey

Process:
1. Place all ingredients in a pot or dutch oven

2. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low and cook for 1hr

Smokey Crispy Sweetbreads with Spiced Plum Sauce & Tangy Broccolini
Ingredients:
1lb Veal Sweetbreads
1/8 cup chestnut flour
1 tsp smoked paprika
3 tsp Celtic salt
1/2 tsp Hungarian paprika
1 tbsp ghee
1 bunch broccolini
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil

Process:
1. Earlier in the day, bring a pot of water to boil and cook sweetbreads for 20 minutes
2. Remove sweetbreads and place in a airtight container to cool for several hours

2. Later, place 2 tsp salt, paprika, and chestnut flour in a bowl and add sweetbreads and mix

3. Heat ghee in a pan and add sweetbreads

4. Cook for 5-6 minutes

5. In another pan, steam broccolini for about 10 minutes or until desired texture

6. While sweetbreads & broccolini are cooking, take 1/2 cup of spiced plum compote and reduce on high heat until thickened (10-12 minutes), stir often to prevent burning

 6. Lay sweetbreads over sauce on plate with broccolini on the side

7. Enjoy!