My daughter and I decided to make a healthier version of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups today. I found a recipe I liked a while back at Tessa the Domestic Diva's web site. She calls these Healthy Paleo "Peanut Butter" Cups.  I modified the original recipe some and we used almond butter and a little bit of peanut butter instead of sunflower seed butter as in the original recipe. These are very delicious but they need to harden in the freezer otherwise they are little bit too runny. Almond butter is little more runny than some other nut butters so you can use any nut butter you like if you want them more firm.  I don't mind keeping them in the freezer since it is warm here in California and it tastes great eating cool nut butter cups. We just let them defrost a little before we eat them. The original recipe also calls for 1/2 teaspoon vanilla but we forgot to put it in and I couldn't tell the difference.

What we used

How we made them

These nut butter cups are very delicious but they need to be eaten cold otherwise the filling is a little bit runny. You can experiment and add any nut butter, I used natural almond butter and it is more runny since it doesn't have hydrogenated oils in it. I will definitely make these nut butter cups again.

Oh, you might want to use smaller paper liners than what we used.  Natural nut butters are filling so these cups are big enough to split with two people. 

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Johanna is an aromatherapist and she is passionate about educating people about health, essential oils, real food, natural remedies, and nutrition so they make healthier choices in their lives. 

Follow Johanna on twitter and facebook for more health tips and information.

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Classic Creamy Cole Slaw

1 tbl. Dijon mustard

1 tbl. cider vinegar

1tbl. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tbl. sugar

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 sour cream

1 small green cabbage, finely shredded. I use a mixture or red and green cabbage.

2 medium carrots, coarsely grated

1 small onion (optional), coarsely grated

Whisk together mustard, vinegar, lemon juice, sugar, salt, mayonnaise, and sour cream in a bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use. Can be refrigerated up to 2 days.

Put cabbage, carrots, and onion in a bowl. Pour in dressing, toss around, cover and refrigerate until slow begins to soften after 1 -2 hours. Can be in the fridge up to 2 days.

Next time I make my other cole slaw I share the recipe.

I like food that is fairly simple and healthy at the same time. My husband and I found this recipe Herb Marinated Braised Lamb Shanks at Simply Recipes  a couple of years ago. It has become our favorite lamb dish in our house, and I like the fact that it includes fresh herbs and healthy spices.

We mix the herbs and spices with olive oil and marinate the shanks over night.

The first thing we  do the next day is to brown the meat in dutch oven or other oven proof pot for about 10 minutes. We add crushed garlic, and we always add more garlic than what the recipe says.

We add our homemade stock and bring  it to a boil before we transfer the pot to the oven.

Once in the oven, we let it cook with the lid on for an hour before we turn the shanks and let it cook for another 45 minutes. Once the shanks are done we remove them, and put them on a platter and cover to keep them warm. We finish the cooking on the stove and add carrots, potatoes, zucchini and tomatoes.

In a separate small pot we mix some fat, flour ( can use gluten free alternatives such as arrow root), tomato paste and some braising liquid and stir it for a couple of minutes. We add it to the big pot which now has  the vegetables removed, and let it boil for another 2 minutes. Once done we add the vegetables and the shanks back into the dutch oven.

Even our picky eater in the family finds something to eat in this pot! Complete recipe can be found at Simply Recipes

Johanna is an aromatherapist and she is passionate about educating people about health, essential oils, real food, natural remedies, and nutrition so they make healthier choices in their lives. 
Follow Johanna on twitter and facebook for more health tips and information.

My salads are very simple this time of the year since I slow cook meat, vegetables, herbs and spices so we get a lot of nutrients from the main dish. Since the main dish itself is a powerhouse of nutrients I'm happy to just add a few things to my salad. I love olives so I try to include olives as often as I can. Today before the main course  I just served a simple but delicious salad of greens, onion, goat cheese and olives.

I can't remember the last time that I bought a salad dressing. This is by far my favorite salad dressing and it is a very powerful dressing. I've learned this recipe from Tracy Holly from the Cory Holly Institute. It is full of garlic, olive oil and lemon juice. According to Steven Horne, garlic is probably one of the most valuable natural alternative to antibiotics available. An anti-microbial and pungent compound called allicin is released when the garlic is crushed. Horne says garlic is anti-viral and as such is helpful for colds and congestion. He also says garlic is helpful in combating parasitic and fungal infections. Valnet wrote that lemon is a tonic for supporting the nervous and sympathetic nervous system. Lemon also counteracts the acidity and makes the stomach more alkaline. It also stimulates the action of the white blood corpuscles. It also has a tonic effect on the circulatory system.

Salad dressing ( I always double the recipe)

Mix in a glass jar:

1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil

1/2 juice from freshly squeezed lemon

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

6 cloves of freshly grated garlic

 Put the lid on the glass jar and shake. Taste it and if you want it more tart, add more lemon juice, and if you want it more oily, then add more olive oil. You can switch out the lemon juice with apple cider vinegar or or balsamic vinegar. You can also switch out the olive oil for flax seed oil.

My oldest son decided to top his berry mixture with raw honey and unsweetened shredded coconut.

My daughter and my youngest son put almond butter, honey and shredded coconut on top of their berries.

I just added almond butter and shredded coconut on top of my berries.

Berry cups are great snacks and you can make them any way you want.

This makes about 2 1/2 cups.

We love roasted sweet potatoes in our family, and it is also a perfect replacement for the potatoes. Potatoes has a high glycemic index we don't eat it as often.

Sweet potatoes are packed with the antioxidants beta-carotene and vitamin C and E. They are part of the morning glory family and they don’t belong in the same family as potatoes. They are rich in complex carbohydrates and low in calories. A four oz serving of sweet potatoes will provide more than 14 milligrams of beta-carotene. Sweet potatoes are high in fiber and suitable for people with diabetes. The fiber indirectly lowers blood sugar by slowing the rate at which food is converted to glucose and absorbed into the blood stream. Sweet potatoes also contain vitamin B6 and folate.

I found a new recipe on a Paleo diet website and we tried it for  the first time on Thanksgiving. It is a really easy and delicious recipe.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes With Rosemary

 1 pound sweet potatoes or yams cut into cubes

1 large sprig of rosemary

3 tbsp. lard, duck, or goose fat

5 cloves of garlic, smashed

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
( I added more garlic and rosemary than the recipe called for)

As I mentioned before, it has been very hot here in the Texas the last few days. This is a three day weekend so we decided at the very last minute that we should make ice cream today. I came across a simple recipe a while back that only required heavy cream, egg yolks, vanilla, and some kind of sweetener. My children enjoy their special treat day once a week. They had a lot of fun helping out making the ice cream today. My husband and my teenage son did most of the work but we all helped out in one way or another.

We got some fresh eggs from our friend last night.  We were also very fortunate that the grocery store had some great deals on organic berries.

The recipe I used as an inspiration called for 1 pint of double cream, 6 egg yolks, 10 drops of vanilla, and sweetener to taste. We increased the amount of cream and egg yolks to make enough for the whole family. We used honey as a sweetener and added strawberries and blackberries as well. As always we we followed the original recipe loosely but the ice cream turned out great.

The Players

About 2 quarts of organic whipping cream

12 eggs

20 drops or so of real vanilla w/out corn syrup

about a cup of strawberries and 1/2 cup of blackberries

Some local and raw honey to taste. I think we used about a tablespoon or two.

My husband mixed all the ingredients in the ice maker container and put it in the machine. My oldest son did a great job helping out.