Author: Kimberly Roberto

Wife, Mom, Daughter, Business Owner with a Passion for Cooking and Eating Healthy Food and Helping Others to do the Same!

Almond Pancakes

I came across a recipe for pancakes using almond meal in a magazine recently so I decided to try a sugar-free, advanced plan version.  I ate them  with the strawberry sauce from the Maximized Living Nutrition Plans book.  Even though pure maple syrup is “natural”, it still spikes insulin which is not ideal.

1/2 cup ground almonds (or storebought almond meal)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons xylitol (or use stevia to taste)
1 organic egg
4 additional organic egg whites
butter

Mix almonds, baking powder, cinnamon, baking powder, xylitol, and egg.  In a seperate bowl, whisk egg whites to soft peaks.  Fold egg whites into the almond mixture.  Heat a non-toxic skillet (no teflon!), add a pat or two of butter.  Drop batter into hot pan to size you prefer – silver dollar size to CD size.  When browning occurs around the edges flip and cook the other side.

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Creamy Italian Tortoni

Tortoni was one of my husbands favorite desserts of all time.  It is an Italian dessert typically made with heavy cream, sugar, toasted almonds, and toasted coconut.  I tried my hand at updating this into a Maximized Living Advanced Plan approved dessert and the results were fabulous!  This is such a delicious dessert that you won’t believe that it is good for you!

3/4 cup fine grated unsweetented coconut
1 tablespoon xylitol
4 tablespoons ground almonds (or store bought almond meal)
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 egg, seperated
1/3 cup xylitol
2 teaspoons organic vanilla extract
1/3 cup organic heavy cream
2/3 cup coconut milk
dash salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spread the coconut in a pan and toast for 5 minutes

Combine toasted coconut, ground almonds, xylitol, and melted butter and set aside.

You will need 3 bowls:

1st bowl:  whip the heavy cream, add the coconut milk and whip again (it may deflate a little bit)

2nd bowl:  beat egg yolk and add xylitol and vanila.  Add the whipped cream/coconut milk mixture.

3rd bowl:  beat egg white with a dash of salt until stiff peaks form.  Fold in the cream mixture and 3/4 cup of the coconut/almond mixture.

Spoon into paper (no bleach or dyes) muffin liners.  Sprinkle with the rest of the coconut/almond mixture and freeze until set.

These desserts will melt quickly once out of the freezer so eat them quickly!  That shouldn’t be a problem.

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Vegetable Beef Soup

This superfast soup is a great way to use up any extra veggies you have laying around.  I always keep grass fed ground beef (in 1 lb packages) in my freezer.  You can use the beef from frozen in this recipe which is great for an impromptu meal.

1 lb grass fed ground beef
2- 32 oz containers of organic vegetable or chicken broth
2 tbsp butter
5 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 large onion, chopped
1/2 – 1 tsp italian seasoning (to taste)
1/4 – 1/2 tsp black pepper (to taste)
sea salt to taste (about 2 tsp)
2 tomatoes (preferably blanched and peeled – check notes below) or a can of organic crushed tomatoes
Other Options:  1 bunch spinach, coarsely chopped, chopped zucchini, fresh or frozen green beans, bell peppers, crushed red pepper if you like it a little spicy 🙂

Optional for core plan:  carrots, peas

Melt butter in a stockpot and add celery, onions, and ground beef.  When beef is browned through, add the vegetable broth, italian seasoning, black pepper, sea salt and tomatoes.  Let cook for about 10-15 minutes.  Add spinach.  Serve.

NOTES:  to blanch and peel tomatoes just boil a pot of water and drop the tomatoes in for a few minutes.  When you see the skins begin to split apart, remove them from the water.  Then they are very easy to peel.  Once peeled, cut the tomato in half and remove as many seeds as possible then chop.

This soup is even better re-heated the next day.

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Packable Lunch Ideas

Here is a video to show you how versatile and healthy lunches can be.

I always get questions about packing healthy lunches for kids.  This is a unique challenge for parents, especially if these are new changes for children.  Here is a list of some ideas to get you started.

Getting your kids to eat and to LIKE what you make them may be difficult at times but don’t give up.  Keep trying and you will be surprised how quickly they make changes.

I have found that using something like a bento box (what Japanese children use – it has several different small containers that keep lunch components separate and makes for a presentation kids love.  Plus…it cut’s down on plastic bags which are toxic and bad for the environment anyway.

MLNP= Maximized Living Nutrition Plans Book (contact me for a copy)

•    Chicken Salad –   Organic chicken, homemade mayo or avocado oil mayo, and any combination of:  celery, onions, curry powder, lemon juice, nuts, grapes, raisins.  Recipe in MLNP.
•    Cold Meatloaf – Recipe in MLNP
•    Cold Meatballs on skewers with Fruit or Cheese)
•    Turkey–Melon Wrap –  Organic deli turkey with thinly sliced melon wrapped in a sprouted grain tortilla.
•    Fresh Mozzarella, Tomatoes, and Basil with Balsamic & Olive oil
•    Chicken Wings –  Just bake organic chicken wings with hot sauce (check ingredients)

•    Salmon Cakes – Recipe in MLNP
•    Hummus – Recipe in MLNP
•    Chili in a thermos – Recipe in MLNP
•    Guacamole with veggie dippers– Recipe in MLNP
•    Organic Egg Salad on Ezekiel Bread or Wrap
•    Organic Hard Boiled Eggs
•    Dried Fruit
•    Plain Grass Fed Organic Yogurt with fruit.  Make sure you check ingredients!  Yogurt is a common hiding place for lots of sugar.
•    Cookie Cutter Sandwiches – just cut out shapes of sprouted grain bread, organic deli meat, cheese, hummus, almond butter, banana.
•    Trail Mix – nuts, coconut flakes, chunks of chocolate bark (recipe in MLNP), seeds
•    Smoothies in an insulated container.
•    Kale Chips – Recipe on this blog.
•    Organic Deli Meat Rollups – Organic Deli Meat spread with organic cream cheese or hummus, dill pickle, etc.
•    Ezekiel Bread French Toast Sticks with Strawberry Syrup (organic strawberries boiled down until forms a syrup – make ahead of time)
•    Sliced Leftover Organic Chicken
•    Raw Cheese Cubes
•    Tamari Almonds – soaked almonds sprinkled with tamari and lightly roasted
•    Pickles
•    Frozen Grapes
•    Organic GMO Free Popcorn popped in coconut oil with organic grass fed butter and sea salt
•    Grass Fed Beef or Turkey Jerky Recipe in MLNP
•    Soup in a thermos…put hot water into your thermos and let stand for 5 minutes, remove water and refill with the soup – this will keep it warm even longer
•    Salad – get creative!
•  Rainbow fruit skewers – just place colorful fruit (in rainbow order) on a skewer or make mini ones on toothpicks.

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Menu Planning Tips

Here is some great meal planning information from one of our makeover success stories, Kathy Patell.  She has lost over 60 pounds and has really figured out some great ways to make it work for her and her family.  She was gracious enough to share them with us!  Thanks Kathy.

From Kathy…

Although some patients would like you to hand them a week of menus and a shopping list, there are too many likes and dislikes to really be successful in the long term.  I think the real stumbling block is creating menus.  I would like to help facilitate your patients to come up with their own menu with their likes and circumstance.  (Cooking for family vs individual). Teach them the skill to make menus.  Establish a few rules like: you must try one new entree recipe from the book each week; no salad can be repeated until the fourth day;  there must be at least 3 different colors on your plate; you must have 2 beef, 3 white meat and 2 fish for the week; and so on.   For the advanced plan I choose one meat, one hot vegetable, and one cold salad.  I then add grains for my daughter, who is not on the advanced plan, like brown rice or sweet potatoes.

I first started by looking at the food lists in the book and checking off all the things I already liked.  I could then see how much variety I could choose my menus from.  Menus need to be written down and posted on the cabinet or fridge.  When I come down in the morning and see what to defrost for dinner, I read:

Mon:  Stir fry coconut chicken and snow peas, tomato-mozzarella salad
Tues:  :  Teriyaki salmon, green beans almandine (mine are Green Giant brand), spring mix with raspberry vinaigrette and walnuts
Wed:   Roasted Vegetable Lasagna, Caesar salad
Thurs:  Grilled chicken, broccoli cranberry salad, cottage cheese with chives (from my garden)

I think I just made my menus for the next few days!  The point is, when I see what is coming at the end of the day I say to myself YUMM!  I am not being deprived.  I’m eating from a restaurant menu.  The added benefit is that when my husband comes home he can jump right in to help prepare.  It’s written down.  If you are trying a new recipe each week, the pantry items will gradually change.

For breakfast and lunch you could do it like the hospital does.  Write several options and alternate each day: eggs (scrambled, fried, omelet), smoothie, grainless pancakes, grainless granola with almond milk.

One more strategy that must be considered when making menus; the activities commitments that interfere with meal times.  I always consult my calendar and jot down on the menu  which nights I have a class or Steph has to work.  If I need to be somewhere at 6pm and she needs to be somewhere at 7pm and Dan may or may not be home, that’s Taco night!  A meal that can be prepared ahead and hold.

Kathy Petell

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American Chop Suey

American Chop Suey is also known as American Goulash.  My mother and mother-in-law both made it for us as kids.  I think it may be a “northern thing” because I never really see it here in the south.  It could also be that it was just a “70’s thing” because, come to think of it, I never see anyone making it anymore.  I have updated it to a healthier version by using quinoa instead of the traditional elbow macaroni.

It is a very adaptable recipe, very inexpensive, and is a crowd pleaser for sure.  You can serve it with some fresh grated parmesan cheese.   There is no picture here because it was gone for me to fast to photograph it.

1 pound grass fed ground beef
1 medium onion finely chopped or grated
1 medium organic red bell pepper chopped, optional
1 tbsp garlic minced
1/2 teaspoon Paprika
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 15-oz can crushed organic tomatoes
1 15-oz can organic diced tomatoes undrained, optional
2 cups cooked quinoa
1/2 c organic celery chopped
1 Tbsp xylitol or spoonable stevia
2 Tbsp grapeseed oil

In a large frying pan, heat oil. Brown the meat and remove. Sauté the vegetables until the onion is soft. Return the browned meat to the pan and add remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes.  Serve over cooked quinoa and top with grated parmesan if desired.

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