Gimmie 5 Campaign....raising money for a great cause

My fellow blogging friend, Cindy, over at Vegetarian Mamma has started a "Gimmie 5 Campaign" as a way to help raise money for a service dog for their family.  Her boys, Carson and Benjamin (ages 6 & 3), live with life-threatening food allergies.  They are working to raise money to train an allergy alert dog from Angel Service Dogs.  This certified service dog will detect life-threatening allergens specific to her boys.

The "Gimme 5 Campaign" is a simple donation (the cost of a cup of coffee) through Angel Service Dogs, which is a non-profit agency.  All donations are tax-deductible and can be made through paypal or snail mail.  Their dog will be trained on peanuts and almonds, which are life-threatening allergies in their home.  Cindy's youngest son has asthma, as well as, a dairy and severe gluten intolerance.  

How precious are these little guys??!!  

Donations made will go towards training Gia, flying the family to meet her and a 10 day intensive training session with the family.   This is a very expensive process and they need your help!!!

Little Gia waiting for her family...

You can read about their story at her blog Vegetarian Mamma.  

Fresh Strawberry Pie with Grain-Free Crust

This pie is just one of the many reasons that I love strawberry season in Georgia.  Make sure that you use fresh, ripe and sweet berries for this dessert.  It will really enhance the flavor.  You will never know that this dessert doesn't use refined sugars.  I love coconut sugar and use it in just about everything these days.  It's sweet, flavorful, natural and doesn't alter the taste of foods or leave a weird aftertaste (like artificial sweeteners...bleh!)  I encourage you to try baking with it, if you haven't already.  
It all started with these gorgeous, freshly picked berries from Southern Belle Farm.....

 Fresh Strawberry Pie 

Ingredients:
1 Coconut Almond Pie Crust, baked and cooled or your favorite pie crust recipe
3 quarts fresh strawberries, stems removed, gently rinsed and patted dry with paper towels
1 cup white grape juice,the no-sugar added kind (you can also use freshly squeezed orange juice)
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 packet Knox unflavored gelatin
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup coconut sugar
pinch sea salt

Directions:

In a saucepan, mix half of the strawberries, juice and agave nectar.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and boil for 15-20 min, stirring frequently until mixture has cooked down and thickened.  This process can take up to 25 minutes.  Take off heat and set aside.  In a separate glass bowl, whisk together gelatin, water and lemon juice.  Stir in coconut sugar and salt.  Combine with strawberry mixture and bring back to a low boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes.  Cool mixture for 30 minutes then fold in fresh berries.  Pour into cooked pie shell and refrigerate for 4 hours until set.  Garnish with homemade whipped cream, if desired (see below for recipe).  Store in the refrigerator.  Best if eaten within 2-3 days. 

Homemade Whipped Cream
3 cups heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp agave nectar, light amber
2 tsp vanilla extract

Combine in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat just until stiff peaks form.  Serve on top of pie with a garnish of fresh mint.

Coconut Almond Pie Crust

This is a delicious grain-free option for pie crust!  You can make this with all almond flour or all coconut, but I happen to love the combo of the two together.  So many filling possibilities..........  

Coconut Almond Pie Crust

Ingredients:
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 cup blanched almond flour
2 TBSP coconut oil, melted (pastured butter is wonderful here, too, if you do dairy)
1 TBSP maple syrup
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Combine all ingredients into the bowl of a food processor.  Process until mixture sticks together.  

Press into an 8 inch pie plate.  

Bake for 12-15 minutes until edges are lightly golden.  Cool and fill with your favorite pie filling.  

Gorgeous and Comfortable Fitness Gear from Albion

I have a bit of a fetish for fitness gear.  I would much rather buy comfortable and stylish workout clothing than a dress or fancy outfit.  It probably has a lot to do with the fact that I live in my workout clothes and rarely go anywhere that would require a nice dress (the hubs and I really need to ramp up the date nights...)  I love to feel good in what I am wearing whether I am lounging around, running errands or exercising.  When style meets comfort it's the best of both worlds.  Read on here to discover my favorite new gear and how you can win a gorgeous 26.2 jacket for yourself!!!

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Dates

This simple appetizer is so delicious.  I always double my batch, because they disappear quickly!

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Dates

Ingredients:
8 oz pitted medjool dates
30 whole, unsalted almonds
12 slices bacon, cut into thirds

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Stuff dates with almonds and then wrap with a slice of bacon.  Arrange in a glass baking dish.

Bake for 12-15 minutes.  If you like the bacon a little more golden and crisp on top, turn on the broiler (watching carefully so they don't burn, it won't take long) and cook just long enough for the bacon to lightly brown.  Drain grease and arrange on a platter.  Serve with toothpicks warm or room temperature.  
They are seriously addictive!!

Meat Crust Quiche

I have made this quiche twice in the last two weeks.  It's so good!!  I doubled the recipe and made two, one for dinner and another for breakfast.  It reheats beautifully and makes my life easier in the morning when we are in a rush.  A tip that I would recommend is to drain the grease from the pie plate after you have cooked the sausage "crust".  I did this before I set it out to cool prior to adding the egg filling.  I made the recipe exactly as listed the first go around and then tried a mushroom, onion and spinach version when I made it this week.  There are so many filling options that you can do with this recipe.  Thank you PaleoOMG!  This recipe rocks!!

 Meat Crust Quiche

Click here for the recipe over at PaleoOMG (she's awesome, you'll love her stories as much as her recipes)
So good and packed with protein, healthy carbs and veggies in one delicious slice......

Homemade Almond Butter 4 Ways

I can't believe that it's taken me this long to make my own almond butter!!! It's great when you can control the added ingredients, so many nut butters have unhealthy additives in them. I had fun experimenting with different variations of the recipe. You can make a mild tasting  almond butter by using whole, unsalted almonds and a richer flavor almond butter by roasting your nuts on a baking sheet at 375 degrees for 5-6 minutes.  Make sure that you watch them closely so they do not burn.  I like the un-roasted version (especially for my cookie recipes that use nut butter), but it's totally up to your taste buds. The cinnamon nut butter makes a delicious batch of Almond Butter Dark Chocolate Chip cookies!!!  

Homemade Almond Butter
4 cups whole almonds (roasting optional) 
1/4 tsp sea salt 
1 tsp coconut oil 

Honey Almond Butter
4 cups whole almonds (roasting optional) 
1/4 tsp sea salt 
2 tbsp raw local honey 
1 tsp coconut oil 

Maple Almond Butter 
4 cups whole almonds (roasting optional)
1/4 tsp sea salt 
2 tbsp dark amber maple syrup 
1 tsp coconut oil 

Cinnamon Almond Butter 
4 cups whole almonds (roasting optional)
1/4 tsp sea salt 
2 tbsp raw organic agave nectar 
1-2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp coconut oil

Directions:
Using the "S" blade on a food processor, add your almonds to the bowl.  Process nuts for 20-25 minutes (roasted almonds will process faster), stopping periodically to scrape down the bowl, breaking apart the mound when it starts forming into a ball.

At about the half way mark, add the remaining ingredients (depending on which blend you choose)  You may feel like it's never going to happen and then..........this part takes patience.........

the nuts finally break down and release their oils you are left with creamy and delicious homemade almond butter!  I like to store mine in glass mason jars because they are cute, the perfect size and eco-friendly.  Store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks for best flavor.