my nourished vibes

what's better than whole30 cereal ? almost nothing. cue on the scene whole30 chocolate cereal.... ***drool***   saturday mornings deserve a treat! lazily pour yourself a bowl of chocolately dreams and feel like a kids again, but this time a kid who is healthy and eats real food ;) i created this chocolate crumble topping to go with my delicious  whole30 chocolate pudding and saved the extra in a jar, stored in the fridge for just such occasions of creativity and sweet tooth surrender. whole 30 chocolate cereal 1 cereal bowl filled with  whole30 cereal     3 tbs "crumble topping" from whole30 chocolate pudding    enough  whole30 coconut milk to cover *combine chocolate crumble topping with cereal. pour in milk. enjoy!! #cerealkiller

cereal = life saver with all the prep i was up against each day to keep us on track, i knew i would need something yummy/exciting/convenient to throw at my kids serve the kids when they needed something to hold them over till meals were ready.  this cereal is so freakin tastey, it saved me , from having  a melt down quite a few times too....  for the perfect bowl of magic to wake you up in the morning, first fill your bowl with one diced apple and a handful of raisins. then top with about 1/3 c cereal. pour whole30 coconut milk over top, and your taste buds will bask in the crunchy, crispy, sweet, chewy, cinnamonny etc party that's happening in your mouth! whole30 cereal 2 c plain coconut shreds 1 c almonds 1 c walnuts 1/2 c ground flax juice of 2 oranges 2 egg whites, whipped to medium peaks 1/4 c  whole30 date paste 1/4 c prunes, chopped 2 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp vanilla   *process nuts in food process...

  i rely on honey alot. like alot. i kicked refined white sugar out of my life a decade ago, so just about every baked good i make around here is sweetened with honey. duh. ok, so no baked goods for a month while on whole30? we can do that!  but... no honey in our smoothies?  no honey in chia pudding?  no honey for homemade granola? (breaking out in nervous hives) << exactly why i avoided doing whole30 for so long > > this aspect of the detox was what worried me the most. but i found this handy little jar of date paste to be the perfect sweetener in time of need for multiple dishes. and i have to admit, i liked the full bodied flavor so much, im gonna make this a regular at our house! date paste 1 c dates water *place the dates in a bowl and pour in enough water to cover them. let them soak and soften for one hour. *drain dates and place in blender. *blend on high, adding just enough water to keep the mixture ...

chia pudding 2 c  coconut milk 1/3 c chia seeds  *pour milk into jar. add chia seeds. *stir well with  a fork. shake and stir every 20 minutes for the first hour to ensure each seed gets to expand. *the seeds will expand and create a thick gel-like pudding in about two hours. *store in the fridge.

  assuming you started your whole30 journey at my first weekly meal plan.... welcome to whole30!!! you got this! so, lets start out with the easiest recipe. we drink coconut milk at our house on a regular basis. to by pass all the chemicals, thickeners, sugars and strange additives, we avoid the coconut milk sold in the cold case near the dairy milk. that stuff scares me! its a little extra work to make your coconut milk this way, but it actually tastes much better too, making the extra step completely worth it! you could always use it directly out of the can, but its so thick it would be a little strange poured over cereal. youll use this recipe in multiple ways over the next 30 days. it adds the perfect cream factor to whole30 chia pudding . its the base for nourishing hot cocoa and smoothies. (yes i know we "cheated" on that one.) and its life changing in a bowl of whole30 cereal ... to make it whole30 approved, instead of sweetening it with...

Happy New Year! I'm so excited to be sharing my first recipe of 2016 with you! and boy is it goooood..... We had a wonderful holiday season, ending 2015 on a relaxing note with our family in Florida. Sometimes I do crazy things, and my husband has a full time job of reeling me back into normalcy. So when I had the craziest idea of all, I was surprised that he said "Yes, let's do that!" with out hesitation. On our drive back to North Carolina, I had this crazy, crazy, really crazy thought. Seemingly out of nowhere I had the desire to start 2016 adhering to the Whole30 detox plan. And not just me.... the entire deer pack!! So, here we are three weeks in and I can't believe I have even kept the kids on it too! One week to go and we'll celebrate crossing the finish line! I can see an elegant cheese platter just on the horizon..... In the weeks to come I will be able to summarize our whole experience and talk a little bit more about our deci...

though my feet walk in the modern world, my heart beats in the old world.  oh those two words are just so magical to me! day dreaming of ancient traditions and wisdom being passed down the generations, living by the seasons, breathing air not polluted by toxins, collecting clean water from a fresh flowing spring…. back in the modern world (sigh)….. but lucky me, growing up of greek heritage, i was mesmerized listening to my grandparents and their friends tell many stories of the old world era they grew up in. their words melded together to paint the magic of the simpler life, residing in the beauty of the greek countryside. most stories were complete with detailed recollections of ocean breezes, village donkeys, and of course, the best food the world has to offer! our family vacation to greece in  2014 transported us back in time, to the original settings of my grandparent's stories! overlooking my grandfather's village, kardymila walking the streets o...

i love the seasonal foods of autumn!   the way they warm you up and make you feel cozy is just magical, isn't it?! i am so blessed to have found an amazing organic farmer in our area, whom i now call friend. once a week i make the drive through winding country roads out to her beautiful property to pick up eggs, meat and milk. this simple routine already makes my heart so full , but on top of that she's always sending me home with the latest homemade treats from her country kitchen, to really make my soul feel nourished! oh this apple butter!!! slow cooked in her crockpot with just the right blend of subtle sweetness and warming spice, this jar had me thinking of a million different ways to eat it,  just shy of digging in with a spoon!  after mixing it into oatmeal and eating it spread on sourdough english muffins, i decided the perfect vehicle for this delicious concoction would be a light grain free muffin. of course store bough...

this recipe has *saved* me from my starbucks addiction. literally, i am liberated ! you see, i can know all the horrors of starbucks…that their milk contains hormones, pesticides and even pus, and that their coffee beans are not "gourmet", but are loaded with mold and mycotoxins and dear lord, don't even get me started on the bottle of cancer they call flavored syrup! but yes, knowing all those things, i could still see the starbucks sign and go "oh coffee!!", and be in line to order my grande iced carmel latte before you could blink.  i'm sorry, but my afternoons just *need* an iced latte. this was a weekly habit, dare i say it, sometimes even daily habit for me, for almost three years . yikes!!! but i'm not gonna tell you that this coffee recipe is nourishing. because, well, sometimes i just want a latte, and in order for me to be making it myself and not ordering from starbucks, it better be the best drink i can imagine!  so, to a...

>> fall is in the air <<  i'm so ready for the newness of the season! when were not getting our cozy fix with things like my  pumpkin spice muffins , were warming up with a nourishing mug of bone broth! one of my favorite ancient traditions to bring into our modern world, is the routine use of bone broth. as i have said before, *every single traditional culture*, had their own recipes for bone broth! this practice  ensures that all the  nutrients found inside the bones, ligaments and organs of the animal do not go to waste. there are many different ways to prepare bone broth, using whatever meat, vegetables and herbs you have available.  the most important thing is to choose organic meat , since conventionally grown livestock are swarming with toxins due to factory farming, improper diet, antibiotics, hormone injections etc… the basic steps are simple and in essence, the liquid created is a very high concentration of vitamins and minera...

one supplement i try to sneak into our diet around every corner, is gelatin. to learn why, you can  read my post  about the amazing benefits of grass fed gelatin, and why it's so vital to our health. we reap the benefit of gelatin and many other nutrients by drinking our   bone broth regularly. along with that, fun treats like this one utilize the silky, whipped texture gelatin offers, while nourishing our bodies….and our sweet tooth too! you know i like to go big…i topped this pretty lady with some homemade ice cream for extreme decadence! im a lover of real food. i'm a lover of chocolate. and most important, i'm a lover all things mousse.  this is what happens when my sweet tooth wins…caramel drizzle!!! and sea salt of course! nourishing chocolate mousse pie crust: 1 1/2 c almond flour 3/4 c grassfed butter, melted (coconut oil can be substituted for dairy free version) 1 tbs coconut sugar dash sea salt #dessertgoals. light,...