Neverending Pancakes GF DF

My friends, if you learn nothing else from this blog, I hope I can teach you to ALWAYS READ ALL OF THE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE STARTING A RECIPE!

Breakfast is by far my favorite meal of the day and the most fun to cook! I'm all about making pancakes from scratch, and I have several recipes I use which are completely Paleo and also delicious!

However, I know that making breakfast for a crowd- whether it's for a holiday, special occasion, or simply because you have a large family- can be a significant struggle. Sometimes, shortcuts must be taken, particularly when said family shows up unexpectedly. You want to be able to keep the gluten free integrity of your home, but they may be wary of "this whole no grain thing". 

Making a big show about breakfast (or breakfast for dinner) can also be a special treat to help kids who are a little more reluctant to sign on to the gluten free lifestyle. Sometimes, you have to get as close as you can to the "real thing" while they're adjusting to the transition. When your family is more established in a gluten and dairy free routine, it's easier to use recipes with fewer processed ingredients like this pumpkin pancakes recipe.

For when you need a shortcut, this King Arthur Flour Gluten Free Pancake Mix is definitely the way to go!  


If you are not cooking for a crowd, please make sure to follow the instructions for cutting this recipe in half! I made the mistake (yet again) of not reading the box where it says "add mix". Not "add 1/3 cup of mix". Not "add half of mix". They mean add the WHOLE MIX.

Whoops.

Well, I'm human. Like you, I'm not a chef. Kitchen mishaps happen. 


This made a MOUNTAIN of pancakes! A little much when you intend to make breakfast for two people, but perfect for a crowd!

I also am not the world's leading authority on flipping pancakes. Whoops.

Also please make note of where it says to let the mixture rest for 10 minutes to allow it to thicken, this is important! To make this dairy free, I subbed Smart Balance for butter and used coconut oil spray on the pan. I also used 2 cups of almond milk in place of the milk, also after not reading the box where it recommends an appropriate proportion of rice milk. 

As you can see, the pancakes fluffed up beautifully anyway, hooray! Box mixes can be wonderfully forgiving. Blueberries also make a wonderful addition.

I hope you enjoy these as much as we did!
Dr. Chelsea

Food Sensitivities and Why We Have Them #WellnessWednesday

Thanks for tuning back in for Wellness Wednesday!

How did you all do with your homework this week? Were you able to successfully add in a Paleo recipe to your meal plan? Was it easier than you expected? Did you run into any difficulties? Do you feel like you need more information? Did you enjoy it? Leave me some comments and I'll do my best to address them!

Just to recap, the basic premise of the Paleo diet is eliminating wheat, dairy, processed foods, and refined sugar, instead increasing your intake of fish, well-sourced meats, fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, and healthy oils like olive, coconut, and avocado.

Some of you may be thinking, what's the big deal? Grains make up a large portion of the food pyramid! The traditional food pyramid we think of actually dates back to 1992, and there has been much more research in the fields of food and nutrition sciences since then! The CDC currently recommends that grains should only make up one quarter of your plate, equal to or slightly less than your serving of vegetables. Many Americans see that and think “okay, then I'm going to eat a whole wheat bun with my dinner”.

Here's the problem: the way we harvest, store, and process wheat and other cereal grains has strayed away from traditional practices, and they have become inflammatory to many people. Some researchers believe it's because the grains develop small amounts of mold during processing, others insist it's because of genetic modification and too much cross-breeding. Regardless of the cause, we are seeing more and more studies asserting the inflammatory nature of these grains.

If we grossly oversimplify the issue, there are two very basic types of physical characteristics that we will see with food sensitivities. The first person tends to be very slender, has difficulty gaining weight, experiences hair loss, anemia, nervousness, and other symptoms similar to and possibly including an overactive thyroid. Why? Because when her gastrointestinal tract gets inflamed, it speeds up digestion so more inflammatory chemicals don't leak into the rest of the body, and doesn't allow her to absorb the vitamins and nutrients she needs. These cases can sometimes be harder to diagnose because individuals overall look “healthy” because they are slender and don't show as many markers on blood work. The second person tends to be overweight, has difficulty losing weight even with dieting and exercise, and has symptoms similar to and possibly including an underactive thyroid because her body slows down digestion and inflammation builds up. These individuals still may have trouble getting help because their symptoms are written off as being part of obesity, fibromyalgia, or another disorder.

Individuals in both groups tend to experience acne, depression, anxiety, irritability, fatigue, sleep disturbances, joint pain, acid reflux, stomach ulcers, abdominal swelling, vomiting, gas, and diarrhea or constipation or fluctuate between both.

If you're sitting there saying “Wait, this sounds like me, why haven't I been diagnosed with a food sensitivity?” it's because there is very little testing that properly identifies food sensitivities. In my last video, I touched briefly on food sensitivities and how they differ from traditional food allergies, so if you're lost right now, go back and watch that again if you need a refresher. As a whole, medical research tends to focus on food allergies, anaphylaxis reactions, because they are more immediately life threatening and better understood than food sensitivities. On top of that, as we have noted before, inflammatory reactions, which are the symptoms of food sensitivities, are diverse and look very different in each individual person.

I'm not asking you to take my word for it, do an experiment for yourself. Keep following along with Wellness Wednesday and see how you feel. Unless you jump right into strict paleo, it might take a few weeks to notice a difference, be patient. 

This week I want you to incorporate 4 paleo meals into your meal plan! You can do it! It's going to be great! 

Have a sparkling day everyone!

Dr. Chelsea

Need recipe suggestions? Try one of these Simple Paleo recipes!

*Any health topics that are covered should not be considered medical advice. If you have specific questions please contact your doctor or make an appointment with us. You should check with your doctor before making radical dietary changes, particularly if you have heart disease, diabetes, cancer, or are pregnant or nursing.*

Simple Paleo Recipes

There are probably thousands of Paleo recipes on the internet, but if you need a starting block, you have come to the right place. Here are a few simple Paleo recipes with short ingredient lists to get you started. Once you get the hang of it, you will be able to modify your own family favorites as well!

Let me know which ones you fall in love with and if you find any that are even better!

Enjoy!

Dr. Chelsea

Breakfast

Any egg dish with a side of meat and veggies. Omelettes are easy. So are fried eggs with chicken sausage and baby spinach or sauteed peppers.

Twice Baked Breakfast Sweet Potatoes Highly recommend you cook the potatoes the night before!

Sweet Plantain Apple Bacon Hash

Flourless Banana Pancakes I make variations of this regularly, they are my favorite!

Pumpkin Pancakes (21 DSD)

Beef

Mini Pepper "Nachos" I would actually add some more toppings to this like tomatoes, beans, olives, and jalapeños

Mexican Zucchini and Beef

Beef and Butternut Squash Stew

Chicken

Sweet Potato Broccoli Chicken Bake

Creamy Maple Dijon Chicken (DF)

Whole30 Chicken Tenders

Mustard Glazed Chicken

Seafood

Honey Garlic Shrimp and Broccoli

Baked Salmon with Almond Parsley Salad

Thai Coconut Mussels

21 Day Sugar Detox Adventures

21 Day Sugar Detox Adventures

For those of us who have grown up in colder places, November means warm blankets, hot beverages, boots, football, and eating to compensate for calories lost to shivering. Comfort food comes out of its summer hibernation, starches and breads abound, and every recipe calls for butter. Going outside requires bundling up and is not always worth the added effort, so it is much easier to sit inside. Of course, when you're sitting inside, the pantry is much closer, and you have to be sure that no one slipped poison into the fresh batch of cookies. Obviously you must taste all of them just to double check.

November in Florida is very different from November up north. The sun still warms the land to 80 degrees most days and the evenings generally don't dip below 50. You may still find yourself by the pool Thanksgiving weekend (we did!). And yet there is still the temptation to delve into warm, calorie-rich foods, because that's what you do in late fall.

I eat fairly clean to begin with, but my sugar intake is definitely over my recommended daily allowance. Even worse if I include grains and starches as sugar sources, because they are quickly converted to sugar in the body. If all my meals are at home and they are all gluten free, sugar still makes it into every meal I eat. Eating out is significantly worse; food distributors of all kinds add sugar in ways you can't begin to imagine, because it is part of what makes the food delicious and keep us wanting more. It seems like everyone I know complains of gaining 10 pounds over the holiday season, not surprising given that increased sugar consumption decreases the intake of nutrients your body needs for survival as well as contributing to weight gain, according to a 2013 CDC study. So not only are you gaining weight, but your body also isn't getting nutrients essential for health. Do you think that factor and immune suppression from stress might contribute to the increase in flu cases around the holidays?

Five of us decided that this year, our sugar cravings were not allowed to rule the holidays. No more submission to the siren calls of the gingerbread men. No more being enslaved by our food.

Dr. Frank, Laure, Kristina, Jessica and I all elected to participate in the 21 Day Sugar Detox challenge starting November 1st. Everyone selected the level of the program that was right for them, and some diets were stricter than others, but we all made it through the 21 days. And...

...We. Had. A. Blast! 

Everyone had an assigned day to make lunch, so we only each had to make lunch once during the work week and we were able to try a wide variety of different recipes! We were surprised to find how many delicious things we could make without sugar, even Pumpkin Pancakes! 

We lost a combined total of 28 pounds!

One participant said:
"My personal experience with the 21 day sugar detox was hard in the beginning but I must say it did get easier after the third day. The reason I wanted to do the detox was to decrease my dependency on sugar. Very often I would depend on a sugar snack to fulfill my cravings for a boost of energy when feeling down, tired or simply bored. I felt that by the second week of the program my cravings were gone. I also noticed that I lost about 10 pounds during the program. The easiest was to complete the program was to have a meal plan in place and during the program be surrounded with people that are going to be supportive and encouraging."

These were Laure's thoughts:

"This past November, the good Dr. Frank and I decided to dedicate 21 days to a sugar free life. When we spoke about it at the office, we were very excited that 3 other office members wanted to join us. I had half halfheartedly participated in the 21 day detox in the past, but this was the first time I fully dedicated myself to follow the program through to the end.  With the encouragement and interaction of our staff members I felt confident that we would all have success!

We all familiarized ourselves with Diane Sanfilippos' 21 Day Sugar Detox manual and cookbook and chose recipes to share with the group. I feel her manual is extremely well written; detailing “the science behind cravings, sugar crashes”, tips on what to expect during the program, meal planning and great recipes for nutritious, delicious meals appropriate for the whole family.

I expected to deal with cravings during the program and truly I did. I had to keep myself out of the kitchen, finding things to keep myself busy until they passed. One of the pearls I came away with was the concept that we were resetting our taste buds. An example is that during the program the only “sweet” foods allowed are 1 green tipped banana or 1 green apple per day. In the beginning, the apples tasted somewhat sweet/tart to me. Much more so than a golden delicious or a fuji. At the end of the program the green apple tasted so sweet and delicious and fruits such as strawberries tasted like they had been dipped in sugar! So not only was this “resetting” of the taste buds a concept, but a true reality!

During the detox I slept better, had no digestive disturbances of any kind, had little or no swelling in my joints (could sugar do that?) and lost 5 pounds. I was ecstatic about all these results and felt I learned a lot about how my body reacts to sugar, and how I needed to re-arrange my lifestyle to limit sugars for good. I will say that I have indulged here and there over the holidays and visits with family etc. but I have kept away from refined foods primarily, and have been careful to watch my quantities of fruits.

I'm happy to do this challenge again anytime I feel like I've gotten off track or someone else needs the support. Cheers to a happy, healthy, sugar free 2016! Laure Frank"

Another participant said:

"Definitely I don't enjoy sugar the way I used to before the detox. I don't put it in my coffee anymore and I don't crave it as much. My clarity is much better and I am not as sleepy as I used to be during the day. In the first few days I struggled with cravings and had headaches while my body was weaning itself off sugar, then they went away. I know I lost at least 10 pounds! I still haven't returned to eating as much sugar as I used to and I'm more conscious, especially watching out for added sugar and sodium in the regular products I buy at the grocery store. I'm also keeping my drinks to coffee and water, I completely cut out soda and I have tea infrequently. When I do, it's half sweet, half unsweet to cut down the sugar. I would do the detox again, it certainly wouldn't hurt!" 

I noticed that I did best with the detox when I supplemented with one serving per day of a gluten free, sugar free baked good like my popovers (recipe to follow soon!) or quinoa. My body is so addicted to grains that it became overwhelmed at times when I had too much fat, and needed the carbohydrates to balance it out. What that actually means is I probably should have detoxed longer, and it's a great reason for me to jump back into it. My absolute favorite part about the detox is I really was able to enjoy eating healthy fats such as avocado and coconut daily. And I was able to eat bacon more often! It was obvious that when I had a sugar craving, I needed more protein and/or fat instead and I felt significantly better and felt satisfied longer than if I would have had a sugary snack. My downfall over the holidays was being at home with family and falling into old patterns.

So why am I writing about this now, months later? It's April and we are heading into beach season. Now is an amazing time to say goodbye to bad habits, lose some weight, and start fresh for spring! If we do another detox in the next month, can we count on you to join us?

Call the office at 813-788-0496 so we can embark on this journey together!

If you have Diabetes, are pregnant or are nursing, you should not begin a diet without first consulting with your doctor. 

Any health topics that are covered should not be considered medical advice, if you have specific questions please contact your doctor or make an appointment with us. 

Pizza, the allergy free way

When I was growing up, Friday night was always pizza night. Not just takeout either, we regularly made amazing homemade pies at home. It was the highlight of the week! Until my sister and I discovered that neither of us could handle the cheese anymore because of our dairy sensitivities and hers to gluten. I was in denial for a few years, then would pick off the cheese when it was presented at parties, until I finally came to accept that I don't handle gluten well either. Most of the gluten free recipes out there which I have found for pizza crust have a ton of dairy in them (like 4 CUPS of cheese, what the heck?!). So for quite a while, I have suffered from pizza withdrawal.

Until Laure bought me a pizza crust from Sami's Bakery. Now I can have pizza anytime.

The crusts from Sami's do have traces of wheat, so if you are highly sensitive this may not be the solution for you.
Here are a few alternatives (disclaimer, I have only tried the Bob's Red Mill mix):
1. Bob's Red Mill Mix
2. Gluten Free Goddess (She has an AMAZING blog, check it out!)
3. King Arthur Flour Mix (which comes with some helpful tips)
4. Food Network Potato Pizza Crust
5. Faithfully Gluten Free

I would also like to take a moment to rant about store-bought pizza/pasta sauce. My mom has always made her own sauce, so any time I buy something from a jar, it is simply bland. Some are better than others, but I always end up adding spices to them. If you are buying sauce, I highly recommend adding oregano, thyme, and garlic, and adding basil right at the end.

Empty the Icebox Pizza
Whenever I make pizza, I try to load it up with as many vegetables as possible! Which ones I use depends on what we have in the fridge that week, but my three primary requirements are zucchini, bell peppers and sundried tomatoes. Getting the sundried tomatoes in the jar in oil is the key step here, the rich buttery flavor really makes up for the lack of cheese.

This time around, I used zucchini, bell peppers, sundried tomatoes, asparagus, summer squash, mushrooms, and brussel sprouts. Be creative with it, you can use whatever you have in the fridge! At times we have used kalamata olives, eggplant, pineapple, avocado, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and whatever else we could find. I also usually add some kind of meat depending on what is available.

Ingredients: 

1. 3-5 cups of vegetables cut into bite-sized pieces
2. 3 cloves garlic, chopped
3. 2 cups tomato sauce
4. Seasoning (oregano, basil, salt, pepper)
5. 1 pizza crust (see above)
6. 1-2 cups meat, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces (optional)
7. 4-5 tsp olive oil

Instructions:

1. Set oven to 400 degrees
2. Prepare pizza crust (If it's Sami's, just take it out of the bag, if you have a recipe, prepare it as instructed) and place on a baking sheet
3. Spread sauce on pizza crust, add oregano and pepper
4. Heat 1tsp olive oil in a frying pan or wok on medium, then add garlic and saute for 2 minutes
5. Add vegetables, season to taste and add 2-3tsp olive oil, cover and cook until they are almost soft.
You may have to do this in stages, adding in the harder vegetables like brussels, carrots, peppers etc. first and allowing to cook for a while before adding softer vegetables like zucchini, summer squash, sundried tomatoes, mushrooms, etc. which only require a short cook time. Add more olive oil if needed, but keeping the cover on should produce sufficient moisture.
6. Use a slotted spoon to remove vegetables from pan and spread onto the pizza
7. If you chose to use meat, add it to the pizza now
8. Bake until crust is golden brown, around 13-15 minutes.
9. Serve and enjoy!

*We do not get any kickbacks from any of these brands for promoting their products, we are simply thoroughly impressed with their commitment to producing delicious gluten free products!*

Send me your favorite combinations, I'm always looking for new variations!
Dr. Chelsea