Spicy shrimp are two words that were made for each other. This is a dish that won’t disappoint your spicy palate. I’m not going to bore you with a long story about this recipe, because there isn’t a story. My husband was experimenting in the kitchen and concocted this amazingly delicious dish! He calls it: Mark’s Spicy Shrimp… super creative name, right? This recipe is packed with nutrition and flavor!
Did you know that one BILLION pounds of shrimp are eaten every year? That’s crazy. Shrimp not only live in the ocean, but they are found in estuaries, rivers, and even lakes. Another fun fact about shrimp is their lifespan, it’s from one to seven years. Move over hamster, I’m getting a shrimp! In case you’re wondering hamsters only live for about three years.
As for nutrition, shrimp are very low in calories. About 15 grams of shrimp is 18 calories, that’s close to three shrimp depending on its size. Shrimp are high in protein and low in carbs. It’s loaded with selenium, which is an antioxidant that can boost your immune system, protect your brain, and reduce your risk of certain cancers. (1) These bottom feeders are also a great source of iodine, which is super beneficial for your thyroid to work properly. And yes, shrimp do have omega fatty acids in them too! If you want to learn more about omega’s read my post about them.
Spicy!
There is good reason to enjoy something spicy now and then. If your tummy can take it on, add some spice to your dishes. I guess if you didn’t like spicy things you wouldn’t be reading this post. Spicy foods have multiple benefits. For one it speeds up your metabolism and puts the brakes on your appetite. This stuff is good for weight loss.
Some other benefits of spicy food are that it helps fight inflammation in your body, it lowers your mortality rate…yep, helps you live longer, and it can fight off bad bugs in the body…bacteria that is. (2)
The number one tool for Mark’s Spicy Shrimp is the trusty cast-iron pan. You’re going to want a medium-sized one. It gives the food an extra layer of flavor. Believe me, I’ve done a lot of research on what pan is the healthiest to cook with. One that won’t leach chemicals, aluminum, or Teflon into my food and the cast iron wins every time! It may be heavy, but it’s extremely low maintenance. In fact, if you’re anemic (iron deficient) it helps put a little iron in your system.
One more thing about the cast iron pan, it’s SUPER easy to clean, and no soap is required. Seriously, with no soap, you’ll wreck the ‘seasoning’ of the pan. I highly recommend getting a cast iron pan, even if it’s the small one. You can find them on Amazon.
As for other ingredients, I recommend gluten-free Ramen noodles. Our family likes Lotus Foods noodles. Gluten is super inflammatory on the body, why eat it when there is a gluten-free version? It may be a few cents more, but it beats going to the doctor for issues.
Buy on Amazon
This recipe may only call for a little olive oil, but it’s worth getting the good stuff. My favorite, hands-down olive oil is California Ranch Olive Oil. It’s 100% olive oil. With that said, be sure you get an olive oil you trust is 100%. We don’t need no stinkin’ canola or vegetable oil fillers.
The secret ingredient that really makes this dish is the Hatch Valley Flame Roasted Green Chile. My husband eats this stuff by the spoon! Make sure to get the chopped-up version, not the whole. It’s kind of like a relish. Amazon has a two-pack for sale. Simple ingredients, gluten-free, and non-GMO. This is good stuff people!
Variations to the recipe. This is such a versatile recipe that any protein would work: brats, strips of steak, grilled chicken, breakfast sausage, or vegetarian with tofu or almonds.
1/2cupRed Bell PepperSlice half a red bell pepper, this is close to a half cup.
1/2cupOrange Bell PepperSlice half a orange bell pepper, this too is close to a half cup.
3/4cupRed OnionSlice red onion, slice as much as you like. Your preference to how much.
7pepperoniPepperoniChop about 7 pepperonis into 4ths. Use your favorite pepperoni.
1/2 cupFrozen green beans
1unitRamen Noodles or Gluten Free Ramen
1tbspBragg's Liquid AminosYou can use soy sauce instead, your preference.
1/4cupPickled gingerWe prefer the pink color. Any pickled ginger will do. This is a garnish.
3tbspHatch Valley Green ChileUse to your liking. If you want a milder dish, use only 1 tbsp.
2tspSriracha SauceUse to your liking. For a milder dish, use 1 tsp or less.
1tbspOlive Oil
1/4 cupGoat Cheesethis is optional
Instructions
Using a saucepan, bring 4 cups of water to a boil.
While water is warming up, chop the red onion, red bell pepper, orange bell pepper, and pepperoni. Count 5 shrimp out and have them ready.
Line up ingredients so you have the ready to use.
After water has boiled, gently place shrimp in the boiling water. Watch them closely as they cook. During this time, turn on the heat on for the cast iron pan. When shrimp turn pink, turn heat off and set aside.
Now that the cast iron pan is hot, put 1 tbsp of olive oil in the pan and place the red onion, red bell pepper, orange bell pepper, along with the hatch chilis and aminos into the pan. Stirfry until you get an aroma.
Remove shrimp from hot water, remove any shell and tail.Chop the shrimp up. Place shrimp into cast iron pan. Turn pan on low.
Boil another 4 cups of water and place Ramen into boiling water. Let cook for 4 minutes.
Drain 90% of the water from noodles and add noodles to the cast iron pan. Add green beans to the cast iron pan. Add ginger.Add pepperoni to the pan.Turn heat to medium heat.
Add sriracha and goat cheese. Turn off heat and serve!
Notes
Calories are estimated not including the goat cheese. To make the cooking time go faster, use two saucepans, and have the water boiling. If you’re not a fan of pepperoni try breakfast sausage. And again, adjust the spiciness to your liking. Enjoy!
Be sure to check out my other simple and delicious recipes! All are gluten-free and dairy-free recipes.
Spiritual warfare. Do you believe it? Over these past few years, there has been an increasing amount of spiritual warfare. Many walk around completely oblivious to spiritual warfare. They think they just have bad luck, a bad day, or that nothing good happens to them. STOP! Get a handle on what’s happening around you and change the course of your day immediately! Learn what it is and how to fight spiritual warfare with these 7 steps. Claim your life back today!
I wanted the truth.
Back in April of 2020, I started to seek truth in the only book that has truth, the Bible. And goodness, what a transformation it has done on me. I want that for you. People have even said to me, “Christy you sound so good,” “Christy, I can tell a weight has been lifted.” I owe it all the Jesus. Seriously, this guy changes things and makes things happen!
What is Spiritual Warfare?
Spiritual warfare is the invisible war between good and evil. Wikipedia defines it as, “…the Christian concept of fighting against the work of preternatural evil forces.” So how do we fight spiritual warfare? How do we know we’re being affected by it? Is it really true? These are all great questions, let’s get started on answering them.
Is this real?
The book of Truth (Bible) says in Ephesians 6:12: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” This is only one of the references in the Bible where it talks of evil, Satan, demons, and fowl spirits. There are hundreds of times in which the Bible talks of evil.
The Gospels are FULL of instances where Jesus and his twelve disciples drive out demons. You can find these books in the New Testament, the second half of the Bible. The Gospels include Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. This is really an interesting read with a wealth of knowledge that will help you get to know Jesus better. So good! In fact, the series “The Chosen” does a great job reflecting these books.
Yes, spiritual warfare is real. Even through Jesus defeated Satan by Jesus himself raising from the dead, Satan is still pissed off about it. So what does Satan do? He messes with us (God’s children) to throw us off course. To move forward, to do God’s will, we need to stand firm in Christ to fight.
And yes, there is a heaven and a hell. Satan exists along with other fallen angels. And no, I’m not a crazy person. The depth of the spiritual realm is beyond my comprehension, let alone being able to explain it in simple terms.
My wake-up call.
Many things led-up me to look further into spiritual warfare. Was I indeed a battlefield? Sure enough, I was. In fact, we all are. The Bible says we must be alert, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).
Not only did I have a physical ailment with no explanation, but I suffered for five years. Let me tell you, it was a royal pain in my rear…literally. It’s not fun to talk about, but I know someone needs to hear this.
My story of spiritual warfare and how I fight.
Somehow in some way, I hurt my left hip which radiated pain not only down my leg at first, but then moved to my groin and compressed some delicate nerves. Sitting for long periods of time was NOT happening. Even walking was rough. Just the fact that I don’t know how I hurt myself is a huge clue as to who might be behind this.
The x-ray showed nothing, four MRIs were unmarkable…nothing was wrong. No one could give me an answer as to why I was experiencing this horrible, crazy pain. I saw 8 physical therapists, 4 chiropractors, went through 30 acoustic compression appointments and saw 5 doctors, not to mention hours and hours of researching online for an answer.
There were nights when I cried myself to sleep. Prayers desperately went up for relief and healing. I dug into the Word even more. It just so happens that in Psalms 91 it occurred to me that the Enemy probably had something to do with this pain. I dug deeper into the Word, and even read books on spiritual warfare. My eyes were opened to a whole new way of going about this injury.
The game-changer.
For the record, the PT helped, but it didn’t do all the healing. What helped me even more was putting on my armor and fighting back. My prayers got more specific, my physical therapist even prayed for me, AND she understood spiritual warfare. In fact, she shared with me how she fought and still fights back. And you know what happened? My body started to feel better, my hope returned, my faith got stronger, I wasn’t complaining as much, I had spunk in my step, and I felt stronger in more ways than one.
It was time to claim my life back.
Goodness, this seems more like a journal entry for me than a blog post. But listen up, I learned some more super important game-changers that I want to pass along to you to help you in this area.
I’m not writing this post to teach you everything I learned, there is a lot of information, so much so that I don’t even know how to explain it! This post is to give you quick tips and a taste of what you can do to claim your life back.
Seven steps to peace
Step 1
The first step I took was to physically clean out my home of any objects that may have been subjected to evil doing. I know this sounds silly, but if objects can be blessed like a prayer shawl, objects certainly can be cursed too. Yikes! Be careful about the things you collect, including books; some of you might not like what I’m going to say, but it’s time to get rid of the Harry Potter books and Pokemon stuff…both are dealing with witchcraft. Sorry. I’ve heard it more than once people.
Also, be watchful of gifts you receive or have already received. Most things are probably fine, but if you question anything that may have been cursed or made with the hands of witchcraft or a religion that goes against Jesus, get rid of it. I know this sounds whacky, but remember who you’re dealing with…don’t entertain the enemy or test him.
The next step I took went beyond knickknacks. I went deep…into my old journals. Digging out my journals from high school, college, and my twenties was an eye-opener for me. First off, journaling is super healthy. It’s great to journal lessons you have learned, to write down prayers, to journal about great things and dreams, and to write about positive memories.
It’s also great to vent on paper, it’s better to beat up a pencil and notebook than to take it out on a person. Write it out. Don’t hang on to anger. Vent. But then pitch it. Physically throw the journal entry away or burn it. When we keep our old journals, the ones filled with darkness and distress, in some way or form our mind is still hanging on to them. Do you know what I mean? Destroy those entries full of complaining, anger, bitterness, and foul language. Who are you saving those journals for? Why would you ever want to reread those things, ever? Get rid of that darkness. It’s done. All over. It’s behind you.
What motivated me to destroy these entries was that I personally didn’t want my family to ever read them or for me to read them again. Toxic. I have no idea why I hung on to them for so long! So…I ripped out the bad stuff and burned them. Yep! I burned them in our portable fire pit; kind of like breaking up with a boyfriend and burning his things. I broke up with my old self. It was so liberating! I didn’t want to remember that junk, so again, why was I hanging on to it?
Step 3
The third step was to repent my sins. I wanted all negative ties broken. Asking for forgiveness for all my wrongs was humbling. You may think it’s no big deal, but to have a fresh start this needs to happen. In the past, I had asked God for forgiveness, but this time I was more thorough and I continue to this day to ask the Lord if there is something I missed to bring to my attention. I don’t want any sin holding me back from what God wants to do in my life. This is a daily practice for me, I sin all the time without even knowing it!
In Psalm 139:23-24, David asks, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” This is a GREAT verse to add to your prayers.
Check out Psalm 51 too. This is when David is asking God for forgiveness after the whole Bathsheba deal. However, this isn’t just about adultery, you can use this passage for your own sins big and small.
Step 4
The fourth step was to forgive anyone who had wronged me, including me! I didn’t say forget. I am not a Bible scholar, nor am I trying to be one, but I do know that you must forgive those who hurt you…yes, this includes everyone. Most of our offenders didn’t know what they were doing because the Enemy had such a big hold of them they had no way of telling what was right from wrong. Yet, some people DID know what they were doing…
The verse that comes to my mind is Matthew 6:14-15, “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
Step 5
The fifth step was to renounce, refuse, and reject any lies, or fears that were/are holding me back. The Enemy is sneaky and he only wants to hurt you. When you hear a lie like, “You’ll never succeed at this.” Get on top of it immediately and say, “That’s a lie Satan. I am complete in Christ!” It’s also a super good idea to slam him with scripture you’ve memorized. In Ephesians 6 we are given the armor of God, and one vital piece of that battle gear is the Sword of the Spirit, which is God’s word. Philippians 4:13 states, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Memorizing has been a powerful experience for me. Granted I only know a handful right now, but when I use them, I can feel it. Fighting off the Enemy is a daily thing along with repenting my sins and forgiving others. Just remember that in John 10:10 Jesus says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Here is a site that is full of scriptures to memorize and use to fight spiritual warfare: hopefaithprayer.com
As for putting a layer of protection over your home, read aloud Psalm 91. Read it aloud in every room if you want. Anoint the frame of your front door with oil (olive oil or oil of choice) in Jesus’ Name and invite the Holy Spirit to come into your home and thank Him for His protection. You can do this on every door frame if you want.
Pray something like:
Dear God, You are a mighty God of love and protection. Please bless this entryway in Jesus’ name. I ask that you please guard all those who enter and leave this home. Do not allow anything to enter this home that is not of you in Jesus’ name. I forbid any sin, warfare, or corruption to enter this home. And I now command any unclean spirit to leave immediately in the name of Jesus and I send them to the foot of the cross. May this home be blessed by you, Lord, and honor you. Thank you for this home God. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Step 6
The sixth step was to look at what I’m putting into my mind daily. Am I listening to gossip? Depressing music? Lies on the news? Am I watching trashy TV? What are my conversations full of? What am I watching on YouTube or what video games are I playing? How are these shows helping me?
I’m not perfect, I have temptations, but I do have a mind. And if I want to live a life of joy and peace, I am going to try my best to control the things I put in my mind. Did you hear that? “What we put in our minds is in our control.” We have a choice here. No one is forcing you to watch Silence of the Lambs. The Bible teaches us what to put in our minds Philippians 4:8 gives us an idea, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, what is noble, whatever right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”(NIV)
Play praise music in the background all day long, put the Bible on and have it speaking, or listen to things that are pleasing to Him. Be careful of what you listen you. My son recently went through his playlist and deleted all songs that didn’t align with God. He said he even looked up some of the artists and found out that they worship something else… be careful!
Step 7
The seventh step is to pray. I’m not just talking about prayers of “God is great. God is good. Let us thank him for our food.” Prayers for protection, love, and to do His will have power behind them. The Lord wants to hear from you, He wants to talk with you, and He wants to bless you. But the first step is to pray.
Prayer is the MOST important part of your life! Let me reiterate, prayer is SO incredibly important. The more you know God personally, the better your prayer life will be.
Pray before a crisis happens, pray in the morning before your day starts, and pray at night before your body, heart, and mind rest. Stand firm in Christ.
When you pray, know that it is a weapon against the Enemy. Find a place that is your secret place to pray, where there are NO distractions. A place where you can be your total and true self. Your prayer place is a place where you can cry, sob, yell, and sing without the world looking at you and judging you.
Play instrumental music in the background. Invite the Holy Spirit to come and guide your prayer.
To close your eyes or keep them open? It doesn’t matter. I do both. The Bible doesn’t say you have to close your eyes.
Memorize scripture and recite it back to God in your prayer.
When I pray I like to go in this kind of order:
Praising God and telling Him how great He is.
Thanking Him for everything big and small that comes to mind.
Confessing my sin and asking for forgiveness, getting right with God.
Asking for the Holy Spirit to come into my heart.
Asking for protection over the Enemy, and using God’s amour to stand firm next to Christ.
Other prayer requests, praying for people, situations, and myself according to His will.
Asking all in Jesus’ name. Sealing the prayer in and through Jesus. For instance, I end the prayer something like this… “thank you Jesus, I ask all this in your name, in Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Sometimes, on challenging days, I simply talk to Him, I lament, cry, and get it all out. He is full of truth, love, mercy, and hope. He is the only One. Pour into Him, trust Him. Ask Him. Love Him.
In Matthew 6:5-15 Jesus teaches us how to pray. He uses the Lord’s Prayer as a guide in what you should include in your prayers. Some pastors follow an acronym for prayer: ACTS.
Resources
Along with reading the Bible (Ephesians 6:10-18 is a good start), I also recommend these books.
I HIGHLY recommend the Wild At Heart App. It has many powerful prayers that help fight the Enemy.
To round up how to fight spiritual warfare
Whether you are dealing with physical pain, relationships, weird moods, nightmares, or just feeling off, I hope that you’ll take a step back and see WHO is really at fault here. By all means, don’t discount your doctor, just add some spiritual fighting power. I recommend going through these seven steps so you can get clarity in your everyday life and fight spiritual warfare like you mean it! This isn’t a one-shot deal, it should be done as often as you need.
The Enemy wants to distract us and interrupt the line of communication between us and God. Let’s remain diligent and focus on God. My hope is that you’ll understand more about this spiritual warfare stuff so you know how to recognize it and fight it off! Blessings to you.
Cleaning the house has been one of the most toxic yet healthy tasks in life. Sure we could pay someone else to do it but stay humble friend. Living in a clean house is not just healthy for our bodies but for our psyche. Learn how to make cleaning less stressful by understanding 5 key factors.
There have been numerous times my husband has suggested hiring someone to clean our house. Each time he brings it up three reasons keep me from saying yes:
1. I would still clean the house before they came to clean!
2. It’s hard to find a good cleaner, let alone one you can trust.
Someday I will probably get there, but I honestly don’t have any excuses for why I can’t clean my own house. If you’re like me, listen up to loosen up about cleaning the house.
Why cleaning the house matters
First off, living in a clean home does a body and mind good. When we don’t dust or vacuum as often as we should, dust mites build up and can lead to allergies. Not to mention lingering smells and sticky surfaces. It’s like a welcome mat for various germs and bugs with large bodies and little legs…that will motivate me to clean!
Like mowing the lawn, cleaning provides that same kind of instant gratification. Accomplishing a clean house is a huge win, especially if you put your sweat into it. Don’t let pride get in the way of cleaning. Everyone should clean. Some top CEOs are known to clean a restaurant bathroom.
When I’m cleaning I like to think of all the money I’m saving from paying someone to do it, not to mention all the calories I just burned! Cleaning the house has benefits, two of which are weight loss and money management.
5 factors to determine how often I clean
I’m not a deep cleaner every time I clean my house. Deep cleaning and the number of times to clean will depend on your situation. I’ve found there are five factors to determine how often to clean your house.
Pets
If you have a shedding dog or other messy pet, cleaning is probably going to happen more often. To easily clean fur off of furniture, use a dryer sheet, rubber gloves, or a lint brush.
Kids
The number of kids determines how often to clean. With kids, you must consider their ages. Starting a child out at 5 years old with an easy cleaning chore helps them understand you’re not their servant. The older they get the more they should help period.
Allergies
If your husband’s allergies flare up, dusting and vacuuming will be more frequent. When my husband sneezes in the morning, I know it’s time to clean. My son has the same issue. I’m getting a lot of miles on my vacuum!
Location
Where you live plays a factor in how often you clean the house. Do you live in a dusty field, near a construction site, or a pollen-invested forest? Again, in these instances, allergies could attack.
Personality
And lastly, don’t forget about your personality. Ask yourself these questions: Are you a ‘Laidback Jack’ or an ‘Anal Andy’? Do you like to do things yourself or are you a delegator? What about how you were taught? How often are you entertaining? Understand who you are and how you want to move forward.
When it comes to cleaning the house, get in the right frame of mind. Schedule a cleaning day and make sure your kids or husband understand what cleaning is and what their responsibilities are. Remember your cleaning schedule depends on where you live, who lives with you, and how you’re living!
When it comes to meal planning, we could all use a few meal planning tips. Cooking and I have a love/hate relationship. There are days when it is soothing to my soul, and other days it’s like a ton of bricks on my shoulders. Let’s face it, just figuring out what to eat has been a chore. Today I have a simple yet powerful solution for you when you have to answer the question “What’s for dinner?”. It’s my secret weapon to reduce stress for everyone under the roof!
What’s for dinner?
During my morning coffee time with my husband, I noticed when we ask each other what we want for dinner I start sweating. How could three little words stress me out? What’s for dinner?
Starting the day out with these words was not doing me any favors. The problem? I didn’t know how to answer the question. Foods would start swirling in my mind with questions like What does Mark like? What can Dave eat? What is easy? What is healthy? Should we go out? But where? When can we all eat together? Hence, the sweat.
There are times in life when it’s nice to have someone tell you what you’re having for dinner instead of giving you a choice. Have you ever looked at all the different kinds of jelly and jam at the grocery store? There are a TON of them. How did we get to this point of too many choices?
So when someone asks me “What’s for dinner?” and I can’t answer that, it usually results in me thinking about it ALL DAY LONG. This can be a major distraction and a nuisance. If only I put more thought into meal planning!
How to answer the question
My fix to this madness is to have a piece of paper tell me what’s for dinner. Yep, a simple piece of paper. Of my meal planning tips, this is my #1.
When I have a plan in place, my stress level drops tremendously and I can move forward with my day. There are a couple of ways we can go about this. We can either look up meal plans online or we can create our own. Either way works. But to make life simple, just use my monthly guide and fill in the blanks. You can find my guide in Freebies. Some meal planners online can be overly complicated and have ingredients or items that are unrealistic.
Meal planning tips made simple, we’re not going to die
For my family, simply writing out the source of protein and one side dish does the trick. With that said, every Sunday I grab my piece of paper and write out the week’s meal plan, and if it’s like last week, so be it. No one is going to die.
When I plan I only plan dinner; breakfast and lunch are ‘whatever meals’ in my head. As long as I have healthy choices for the kiddos, I’m good.
As I said earlier, for dinner, I only pick a protein and maybe a side dish, then I fill in the gaps with what I have laying around. For instance, tonight, we’re having brats and green beans. I’ll probably fill in the gaps with either noodles or plain potato chips. Tomorrow we’re having salmon and baked potatoes, and I’ll probably throw in blueberries. The next day it’s grilled chicken and roasted butternut squash, and I’ll probably add some strawberries. Simple, easy, and good for our bodies.
To save time and cravings at the grocery store, don’t go to the store. That’s right, nowadays, some people will grocery shop for you! This is an incredible service, especially if you hate grocery shopping or you just can’t get to the store for other reasons.
My #2 meal planning tip is to shop wisely. Look for deals, and buy things in season. I have much more money-saving tips at the grocery store here. You gotta check it out…good stuff that saves you money!
But I have food sensitivities
My family is a bit unique. Remember the jelly and jams in the grocery store? Well, our specific diets went from being able to have many choices, to just a handful. Preparing meals, where we could eat anything, was a heck of a lot more stressful than being able to eat just a few things… the bright side to food allergies and sensitivities.
My son and I have limited menus due to inflammation in our bodies. Sure, we could continue to eat everything we wanted, but we would pay a huge price for it. It’s been my choice to reduce the inflammation in our bodies as much as I can by making a few changes in my diet. And it has been very effective and I don’t feel deprived!
My son and I can’t eat dairy or gluten (wheat, rye, barley). He also can’t have nuts. But I can. I can’t do eggs or soy, but he can. It gets confusing. We both have gone through tests and we also went through food elimination to help us determine what we could eat and what would backfire. We want our bodies to heal, and to do that we must eliminate the triggers. So when it comes to meal planning, it becomes a little easier after you figure out what is causing issues! Yes, I said easier. How? There are fewer choices.
But what if you don’t have a special diet to follow?
If you want to be healthy, stop weight gain, and put an end to cravings, eat like you meant it. Food is meant to fuel our bodies. Having food taste good is a bonus. When we cut back on processed and sugary foods, our bodies will be given a chance to heal and be happy.
As our body adjusts to a cleaner menu, our cravings will change from wanting junk to wanting pure food. You might be like, “Shut up Christy! I’m not doing that!” Friend, that’s the junk food talking, not you. Bad mood foods? Yes, they exist. Trans fats disrupt the balance of our omega-3 fatty acids, and when our omegas are low, it can lead to a bad mood. Not only that, but blood sugar can play a role in mood swings as well. When our nutrition is off, so is our frame of mind. I didn’t even talk about hormones and foods.
Meal planning tips in a nutshell
Circling back to taking the stress out of meal planning; simply use a pencil and my meal planner to extinguish the “What’s for dinner?” question. It’s okay if you have the same menu plan for a couple of weeks. We just need to feed our family wholesome foods.
Post your planner on the refrigerator or a kitchen cupboard so everyone can see what the main meal will be for the night. Heck, you can even use a paper talking puppet to tell your little ones what’s for dinner. Download the Meal Planner in Freebies. Bon appétit!
When it comes to favorite cookies, the chocolate chip cookie is the best. The gentle crisp on the outside and soft center is the perfect texture to satisfy anyone…in my opinion of course. Oh, and then you get a chunk of chocolate that is slightly hard but surrounded by dough…oh, so good from a texture point of view.
However, when I was told I couldn’t eat gluten anymore due to an Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) my heart sank, to say the least. So if any of you have Crohn’s or colitis, I know you understand what I’m talking about. My pleasure of baking and having a fresh cookie out of the oven was a thing of the past. How am I going to live? Is there even a gluten-free dairy-free chocolate chip cookie recipe?
After I let that devastating news sink in, I was more determined than ever to recreate my guilty pleasure of chocolate chip cookies but gluten-free style. To the store I went to find gluten-free flour. I must say I was not only confused about all the flours but I was a bit sticker-shocked at the prices, which will do my body good because I won’t make them as often, but when I need a fix I’m making the da*n cookies.
Take note, I wrote a post that includes this recipe. If you happened to missed it and want to catch up on How Cookie Dough Gave Me Super Powers you’ll want to check’r out. It talks about stress and what I did to treat it.
Gluten-free Flour
This can be overwhelming. And I did get overwhelmed. There is so much information on the internet I honestly am not going to reproduce it, but I will give you some sources to check out. If you want to learn more about different flours Healthline has a good article. If you want to make your own blend, I recommend Sarah Bakes Gluten-free. She’s got some great recipes I’ve had before too.
As I said, gluten-free flour is not a spitting image of ‘normal’ flour, but it does the trick to satisfy your fix.
It’s important to note, that there are many gluten-free pre-made chocolate chip cookie mixes at the grocery store. I’ve tried a lot of these, and they’re okay. If you look at the ingredients in these mixes you’ll find that sugar is the first ingredient! And as with any ingredient list, the first ingredient is the most abundant ingredient, and so forth. For my taste, those mixes are too sweet and there are some unwanted ingredients in them too, like soy. Be aware of your digestive triggers that throw your system off. With that said, in the refrigerator section, there is a premade reduced-sugar chocolate chip cookie that is quite good when you don’t have time to bake your own. It’s Sweet Loren’s Gluten-Free Chocolate Chunk. Here is her website to check things out.
Products I use for this gluten-free dairy-free chocolate chip cookie recipe
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To keep this recipe low on inflammation and allergens at bay I use Enjoy Life Mini Chips. These are super good. We like them more than the normal kind. They’re great in brownies, pancakes, melted over rice crispy treats, or on a spoonful of peanut butter! Great. Now I need to go eat some.
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To make it easy on me with the gluten-free flour I use King Arthur’s Gluten-Free Baking Mix. Note the MIX. They do have the flour, but you’ll want the mix. Watch out for this.
On to the gluten-free dairy-free chocolate chip recipe!
1cupKing Arthur's Gluten-Free Baking MixBaking mix. Use a heaping cup.
1/4tspSalt
1/2 tspCinnamon
1/3cupEnjoy Life Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips MiniThese are allergy-free, read package.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 370. Tear a sheet of parchment paper and put it over the cookie sheet.
Add the coconut oil, brown sugar, and cane sugar to glass mixing bowl and mix with hand mixer until mixed together
Add egg, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar. Mix until together
In a separate bowl, add a heaping cup of King Arthur's Gluten-Free Baking Mix, salt, and cinnamon. Hand mix with a fork.
Gradually combine both bowls while mixing with the hand mixer. Mix until all together.
Fold in Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips Mini with a wooden spoon.
Scoop dollops of dough about the size of the wooden spoon and place on the cookie sheet. Allow 1-2 inches between dollops.
Place the cookie sheet in the oven and set the timer for 11 minutes.
While cookies are baking, clean-up the dishes. Please don't eat raw cookie dough due to the egg. We don't need tummy aches.
When cookies are done, slowly transfer them to a cooling rack if you have one. Otherwise, remove the cookies from the cookie sheet in a minute.
Notes
Calorie count is a guesstimate for one cookie when baked. It depends on the size of the cookie. Also the cost of the batch of cookies is also an estimate.
Be sure to check out my other sweet treats!
All are gluten-free and dairy-free. Simple and delicious.
