Plantain Pancakes

These pancakes are a big hit in my house. They are super easy to make, and there are three ingredients you will need to whip them up! They are great save and warmed up later. You can keep them in the refrigerator up to 5 days or freeze them for up to 2 months.


When I make them I usually try to find nice yellow plantains, but I have learned how to improvise. If I have a few really ripe plantains I will throw in a green one to help balance the batters consistency. It's trial and error, but as you make them you will easily figure out what works best.

The consistency should comes out of the blender just like pancake batter.

When putting the batter onto the griddle or skillet, I usually put 2 to 3 heaping tablespoons on, and spread it out with the spoon.

We enjoy ours plain with breakfast, but they are great with maple syrup or cut up fruit and a coconut whipped cream.

Ingredients:
1 medium apple peeled and cord and quartered
4 plantains peeled and cubed
Your choice fat for frying

Instructions:
Put ingredients into a high powered blender or food processor.
Blend until the mixture is smooth like pancake batter.
Heat oil on a griddle or skillet over medium heat.
Spoon and spread the batter onto your cooking devise.
Cook for 4 to 5 minuted per side.
Remember to grease you griddle or skillet each time you put a new batch of cakes on.
Serve and enjoy, or let them cool completely and save them for later.

Isaac's Birth Story

I remember looking at the clock after being woken up by a contraction. It was 6:04 a.m.. I didn't think anything of it, as I'd been having contractions like this for weeks. I got up to get ready for a fetal monitoring appointment that I had to be at the hospital for at 7 a.m.. By 6:30 a.m. I was having trouble walking through the contractions, but again didn't think anything of it. I asked my husband James to get up and help me finish what I needed to do before leaving. As he helped he watched me work through the contractions that were about 5 minutes apart. He told me that I shouldn't go to the appointment, I argued that it would probably stop and I'd be fine. He insisted and called to cancel it for me. Thankfully he didn't let me go, because by 7 a.m. I was on my hands and knees through each contraction. It was at this point that we decided it was time to pack our things, and get ready to meet our baby boy.

Packing our bags for the hospital, proved to be quite the task, as I had to stop and get on my hands and knees to work through each contraction, but we did it. I messaged my friend and labor coach Nancy asking her to come over and sit with me, while James took our other two boys Isaiah and Andrew to a friends house. She arrived at our house around 8:30 a.m. She was talking with James, when I came in and told her, "You know I have a birth plan, and I'm chucking it out the window." She let me know that this was all she needed to know, and then gently asked me if I felt like it might be a good idea to go to the hospital instead of waiting. I was completely on board with the idea, as I wanted to know how dilated I was. James was surprised, but didn't object to it. They got me into the back seat of Nancy's car, on all fours, and Nancy and I headed to Sarasota Memorial Hospital. Nancy timed the contractions all the way to the hospital, and didn't tell me at the time, but they were 2 minutes apart.

We arrived at the hospital around 9 a.m. They brought a wheel chair, which I ended up facing backwards on my knees in, while they wheeled me to triage. When I got to the front counter I started to have another contraction, and proceeded to get down on my hands and knees to work through it. I remember the nurse at the front counter telling me I can't have my baby on the floor. I assured her that I wouldn't. Once the contraction was over, they got me to a room, and checked me. I was thinking I was maybe at 4 cm. To my surprised the nurse announced that I was 8 cm, and they were going to move me up to labor and delivery quickly to have my baby. Nancy immediately called James and told him to hurry and get to the hospital. They kept me on the bed on all fours and rolled me up to labor and delivery. This seemed to be the only position that I could handle being in.

The next 30 minutes all run together, as things got very intense and painful. I remember Nancy helping me change into my labor clothes. Signing paperwork. Trying to hold still as they put an iv in my hand. Asking for the doctor multiple times. Trying to push, while being reminded that I needed to wait for my husband to get there. When Doctor Sullivan arrived, he told me as soon as James arrived he'd break my water and I could start pushing. I objected and told him I was ready, and didn't needed to wait for James. Thankfully he didn't listen to me, and took extra time getting his scrubs on to stall me. James arrived about 10 minutes later, out of breath and absolutely relieved that he made it. As promised they broke my water and let me go for it. I didn't feel ready for this moment. I didn't feel like I could do it. I remember screaming, "I can't", and being so overwhelmed by the pain. But by the Grace of God I did! Within 5 intense contraction, and 11 minutes Isaac Jonathan Beechy was out and in my arms! He was a sweet 7 lb 14 oz boy.

So grateful for this team!!

Grandma Leah

I don't think about you all the time, but there are those special moments that come, where I can't help, but wish you were here to experience them with us. My wedding day, becoming one with your son before all our family and friends. There was so much joy and laughter! I know you would have loved to have been there. Our first Thanksgiving and Christmas. I bet James had a favorite recipe of yours that you could have taught me to make him. Every time we bring new life into this world. This one has to be when I miss you the most. I never got to meet you, but I've heard about how wonderful you were. I can't imagine how much you would have treasured watching your son become a father, and holding your grandchildren for the first time. There's always a moment after each birth were I imagine you in the room holding them. It brings me to tears every time.
I wish you were here to tell me all about you son. The things only a mother knows. Little secrets that you kept to share with me about him. What he was like when he was to little to remember. How he made you laugh. Times when he drove you crazy. How much his sons look like him, and act like him. The times in space that only a mother remembers. I know the Lord took you for a reason, and that you are at peace, but oh how you are missed in our home and in our hearts. Grandma Leah you will be forever treasured by this family.

Chicken Sausage and Kale Soup

Soups are definitely a staple in my home. They are so easy to make in big batches. Leftovers make for easy warm up lunches or I'm too tired to cook dinners. They are gentle on our stomachs, and with the right ingredients can they can be very healing.
This has to be my favorite soup right now! I'm kind of obsessed with kale and love to add it to a lot of my recipes. I have to say it works perfectly in this particular soup. I have a 4 year old who never fights me when I serve it this way.
I'm also a red potato kind of girl. They are hardy and filling and make a great addition here.
Along with the chicken sausage, I'd have to say this soup is the prefect blend of soothing, salty, and satisfying.
It is super simple to make, and a family favorite in our home. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!


Prep time: 10 Minutes
Cook time: 30 Minutes

Ingredients:

• 12 oz package of Chicken Sausage cut into bite size pieces (Trader Joe's has a wonderful selection of options for this recipe.)
• 8 small red potatoes or 6 medium also cut up into bite size pieces
• 4 cups kale chopped
• 3 tbs your choice fat
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tsp dried rosemary or 1 tbs fresh
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 4 cups chicken stock (I love to use homemade chicken bone broth for the healing benefits and flavor)
• 4 cups water

Instructions:

• Have all the ingredients cut, chopped or minced before starting to cook this soup.
• Heat the fat in a stock pot over medium heat.
• Add minced garlic into pot and stir to mix it with the fat. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
• Add chicken sausage, rosemary, and salt.  Stir and let cook for another minute or so.
• Add red potatoes, kale, chicken stock, and water.
• Turn up the heat to bring soup to a gentle boil, and stir to get all the seasonings off the bottom of the pot.
• Once soup is at a gentle boil reduce heat to a simmer.
• Cover and cook for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are soft.
• Salt to preferred taste.
• Serve and enjoy!

Faith Through The Seasons

      I love looking at life as an adventure. I firmly believe we can never fully be prepared for what it holds, and taking it in as it comes makes it much easier to manage. Each day comes with it's own set of challenges and rules for navigating. As I go through this thing called life, I can't imagine doing it without my faith in Jesus. There is so much that happens in the short time that we are here, and as the seasons change, it's always amazing to me to experience what happens in each one. Some have been trying and intense, filled with tears and pain. Others are full of joy and laughter. All of them are packed with learning and growing.

     At this point in life I feel like I am growing in a new way. Currently we are pregnant with our third child, and are expecting him at the end of September. Along with this, my husband left his full time job in April to pursue a God given dream to have his own business, and is working out of our garage, as an engineer/machinist to see it come to fruition. So far we don't have an income, but have a little saved to keep us a float. 

       As I think about the season that we are in my mind is given to two trains of thought. The first being the natural human reaction of "what on earth are we doing???". The second being, I know that this is what we are called to, and even at the midnight hour, the God who I serve will provide all that we need. I am so grateful for the faith that I have, because without it I know that I wouldn't be able to support my husband, and care for my family the way that I have been enabled to. There is a holy drive inside of me to see us successful, and even on the roughest days you can't sway me. I fully believe that this is exactly where we are supposed to be right now, but there are moments where the exhaustion of having two little ones, along with being in my third trimester take there toll on me. It's in these moments that I find the roots of my faith growing deeper, and hear that still small voice that always leads me back to peace and trusting that God is in this. That He is for us and with us. That He is guiding and directing our path, and my husbands hands and mind as he works day and night to make his dream come to life. 

       As Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." This season has given me a greater understanding of faith and holding fast to what I know to be true. How beautiful it will be to look back on all of this, and see the faithfulness of God through it all. For now I hold fast to the hope that I know.

A Snapshot Of Our Journey Through Ezcema

2 Months Old

       When my son Andrew was about a month old he started to get a rash on his face. At first it just looked like baby acne, but after a couple of weeks it began to take over his cheeks. I took him to our pediatrician, who told me it was baby acne and that it should clear up in the next week or so. After a couple more weeks we were back at the doctors office, where I was informed that Andrew had eczema, which was most likely being caused by laundry detergent or a soap I was using of him. The rash began to get much worse and soon my son's entire face looked like one big scab. I used olive oil to keep it moist and did my best to keep him off fabric, but none of that seemed to matter. I had many people offering me advice on how to help him. One friend gave me a homemade ointment to try, which really helped keep infection away and calmed the rash down, but didn't heal it completely. Another dear friend, who went through the same thing with her son talked with me about leaky gut, food allergies and sensitivities, which took me on a very intense journey of eliminating things from my diet to see if food was the problem. The first thing to go was dairy. Within 3 days I began to see a difference in Andrew, the eczema was calming down, but not going completely away.

10 Months After using coconut oil on Andrew's face.

15 Months Old

Then, I took out any foods containing gluten. Again, I noticed a difference, but there was still more that needed to be taken out of our diet. During this time the rash spread to Andrew's arms, legs and feet. He also wasn't sleeping at night and would have random fussy times during the day, where nothing seemed to console him. I took Andrew back to our Pediatrician and asked to have him tested for food allergies. All of the testing came back negative, but his skin response was telling me something different, so I chose to ignore the blood test results, and kept going with the elimination diet. Over the course of about 8 months I took out all processed foods, all sugar, dairy, grains, legumes, beans, eggs, nuts, and seeds. Through the help of many friends, tons of conversations, and a lot of research, I came to a diet called the Auto Immune Protocol (AIP). It's much like the Paleo Diet, but more intense. It wasn't easy, but for 2 months I stuck very strictly to this diet, so that the milk Andrew was getting from me would be completely AIP. Thankfully Andrew wasn't super interested in food until he was about a year old, and he nursed a lot, so it wasn't hard to make sure he was getting the nutrients he needed inside of this diet. I ended up losing a lot of weight and felt like I was always hungry, but over time I figured out how much I needed to consume to maintain my weight and stay satisfied. The diet worked, soon Andrew was no longer scabbing and he also started sleeping through the night. I read a book called the Paleo Approach, which talked about how this diet is different for everyone, as everyones gut issues are different, so I paid very close attention to how Andrew's skin and stomach responded after eating different foods inside the AIP diet. I found many other things that needed to come out such as poultry, pork, coconut, watermelon, squash, nightshades, etc... I also focused on what would help Andrew heal. We did a TON of cooked vegetables, leafy greens were a big part of my diet, bone broth and quality organic meats, and fruits. We started this journey in June of 2014 and by October of 2015 his skin was completely clear, he was happier, and sleeping very well! I was absolutely thrilled! In November of 2015 I decided to try to reintroduce eggs and almonds, as I was thinking about weaning him, and wanted some more options for proteins and fats. These were also easy foods to have on the go or make in a jiffy. I thought he was doing fine with them, but his poop started to become mushy, and he started waking up at night again. Over Christmas he got really sick and had diarrhea. I gave him a very small amount of activated charcoal mixed in applesauce and the next morning found worms in his diaper. That's an entirely other story that I will write about another day, but after eradicating the worms and taking back out the eggs and almonds Andrew began to thrive again. I will say he hasn't been the same since this happened, and he still has one small patch of eczema on his leg, that we are working on healing. I have noticed the best medicine is sticking to his diet and time. I also recently introduced a new probiotic. I'm hoping he will respond well to it, as so far we haven't been able to find one he tolerates, and probiotics are so good for gut healing. Our hope by being so strict is that as Andrew gets older his body will completely heal, and he will be able to tolerate a wider variety of foods. This journey has taught me so much about health and the healing power of food. It has shown me a strength inside of myself that I didn't know I had, and it has given me a passion for making food healthy and keeping it fun. It has not been easy and there have been many tears and sleepless nights trying to figure all of this out, but I am grateful to have grown through this with my son, and seeing the fruit of my labor I will keep going, knowing that we can fight through anything.

Two years old and thriving.

Advice that I would give to any person working through skin issues or gut issues is that all people are different, and what worked for us may not work for you. It is truly trial and error, but I will say the AIP diet has worked for many people. Also, have grace for yourself. There were many times in the beginning of all this, where I wasn't prepared and had to eat something I knew I shouldn't simply to feed myself. I always told myself its okay, and tomorrow is another day.




Andrew's Food List

After a lot of trial and error, reading, research, prayer, and directions from friends who have had the same experience we have been able to narrow down foods that are safe for Andrew to have, foods that he can tolerate very moderately, and foods that he must stay completely away from. There are many foods that we haven't tried to introduce, because our focus has been getting him to thrive inside of what foods we know to be safe. When he is completely in the clear we will try other things.

Unsafe Foods:
Processed foods
Dairy
Grains
Legumes/Beans
Peas
Green Beans
Coconut
Eggs
Poultry
Pork
Nuts
Seeds
Squash
Yucca
Corn
Cucumber
Grapes
Berries
Cherries
Melons
Night Shades- tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, potatoes (sweet potato is okay.)
Honey
Maple Syrup


Tolerates Moderately:
Terra Sweet Potato Chips
The Original Sea Snax Sea weed
Peaches
Nectarine
Plums
Beets
Cabbage
Brussel Sprouts

Safe Foods:
Red meats
Fish
Sweet potato
Carrot
Kale
Spinach
Moringa
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Asparagus
Parsnip
Lemon
Lime
Avacado
Plantain
Banana
Apple
Papaya
Pineapple
Mango
Onion
Garlic
Celery
Herbs
Seasonings that do not contain peppers or any extra ingredients

Beef Stew

This is a recipe that I came up with while learning the ins and outs of the AIP diet. It's a simple concoction that my son loves, and I can make in bulk for him to have when he gets hungry.
It's also one of my husband's favorites. I love it's simplicity and the warmth that it brings to our table.   
Sometimes I serve it as is, but it also goes great with a simple salad and some fresh out of the oven plantain flat bread.


Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 4 to 8 hours

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs stew meat

2 cups carrots chopped
2 cups celery chopped
2 cloves fresh garlic minced
2 tsp rosemary
2 tsp thyme
2 tsp salt
6 to 8 cups water
Instructions:
Put all the ingredients into a crock pot and cook on low for 6 to 8 hrs,
or cook on the stove top in a large pot by placing all ingredients into the pot, and bringing to a gentle boil. Then reduce to a low heat and simmer for 4 hrs. Once stew is done cooking take the beef out, pull it apart and then stir the shredded pieces back into the pot. Enjoy.

Taco Night

Sarah Style Taco Night

A little over a year ago my family was hit with some not so fun health issues. We had to change our diets completely. At the time taco night was a staple in our home, which was given up, until I could come up with a "diet friendly" alternative. 

I remember the first time I served it to my husband, and was thrilled at how much he loved it. Now every time we invite people over for dinner he asks me to make it for them. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do! 

The part of this meal that brings it together is the plantain tortillas. They are soft and have a little sweetness to them, and you can bend them just like a soft taco.

Make sure to use the parchment paper. They don't come out the same without it. I usually make these earlier in the day or the day before, so i can focus on the pilaf when dinner time comes. 

Let's talk about that Cauliflower Rice Pilaf! You don't even need the shell to enjoy this part. It actually makes a great meal by itself, but to get the full affect of the fiesta I highly recommend making everything. It's also great as leftovers, served cold or reheated. 

I rice the cauliflower in batches. If you put to much in the blender at once some of the pieces don't become "rice".

  You could also mix things up a bit and try other veggies like shredded celery or diced beets. the flavors all marry and become absolutely delicious!

We love to add cut up romaine, homemade guacamole and fresh salsa with this meal, but the sky is the limit as to what you can add to this dish. 

Cilantro Lime Cauli-rice Pilaf:

Ingredients:

1 head cauliflower

3 Large carrots (shredded)

2 cups Kale (chopped)

1 small onion (diced)

3 garlic cloves (minced)

5 tbs. EVOO

1/4 cup fresh cilantro (chopped)

zest from 1 lime

1 tbs fresh lime juice

1 lb ground beef or turkey (seasoned however you like. I season mine with 1/2 tsp. sea salt, 1/2 tsp. parsley, 1/2 tsp. dried thyme, 1/4 tsp. sage) 

Cooking Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Chop the cauliflower into florets. Wash and then rice in a food processor.
3. Spread the riced cauliflower onto the parchment-lined baking sheet.
4. Put in the oven and bake for a total of 30 minutes, turning at the half way point.
5. In the meantime, heat 2 tbs. EVOO in a skillet over medium heat. Cook ground meat. Once thoroughly cooked drain and set aside.
6.  In a different skillet heat 3 tbs. EVOO over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until translucent (around 5-8 minutes).
7. Add the carrot and kale to the skillet. Sauté for another 5-8 minutes.
8. Remove the roasted cauliflower rice from the oven and add to the skillet along with the other vegetables.
9. Add the lemon zest and juice, sea salt, and cilantro.
10. Add ground meat.
11. Toss and serve! 

Plantain Tortillas (usually makes 16 tortillas) 

Ingredients:
4 cubed large yellow-ish plantains peeled and cubed

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup water

1/2 tsp. sea salt

Cooking Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

3. Add all ingredients to a blender (a Vitamix works best). Blend everything until very (very) smooth. (it will resemble pancake batter.)

4. With a spoon, smooth batter into tortillas onto the two baking sheets. I can usual fit four tortillas per baking sheet. 
5. Bake for 10 minutes, switch racks, and bake for another 10 -15 minutes, until just browning in spots. 
6. Cool for 5 minutes before serving, or cool to room temperature and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. These freeze very well: separate tortillas with a piece of parchment paper so they don't stick together once frozen. They can be gently reheated before serving.