Tips

Whole Wheat Crepes

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/8 tsp sea salt
1 cup milk
1/4 cup coconut milk
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp turbinado sugar
1/4 cup melted coconut oil

Add flour to a bowl. Make a well in the center. Add the salt and half of the milk and whisk to make a smooth batter. Whisk in the eggs but do not over mix. Stir in the remaining milk, vanilla, sugar and coconut oil. Cover and let the batter sit for 1-2 hours. Just before cooking, stir the batter and add milk if necessary so that the mix is the consistency of thin cream.

On medium high heat, warm an 8-10 inch pan. Spray or oil pan with coconut oil, making sure the entire surface of pan is covered. Fill a 1/4 measuring cup with batter and pour into pan. Immediately pick up the pan and swirl the batter around the entire bottom of the pan. Use a spatula to pull the edges away from the side of the pan. Use both hands to pick up loose edges and quickly flip over. Cook until lightly brown - usually less than 1 minute. Fill with your choice of filling.

Crock Pot Sweet Potatoes

Wash 2 large sweet potatoes or yams, very well. Rub the outside of the potatoes with coconut oil. Place in crock pot and sprinkle tops with cinnamon. Cook the sweet potatoes on high for 3-4 hours. After 3-4 hours or when potatoes are soft, cut each potato down the center and drizzle with agave and cinnamon. Drizzle agave around the sides of the potato as well. Let cook for 15 more minutes. Serve and enjoy!

*Cooking more than two sweet potatoes at a time will vary the cooking time.

Taco Seasoning Mix

1 T. chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper

Mix all ingredients together. Store in an airtight container.

Fresh Strawberry Salad

4 cups fresh strawberries, washed
2 - 8 oz. containers low-carb yogurt (I use a vanilla and strawberry flavor)

Cut the strawberries into bite sized pieces. In a large bowl, add the yogurt. Mix gently. Serve!

*Hint - For work, I cut up the strawberries and put them into single serving, freezer safe containers. At work, I let the strawberries thaw slightly. I add the yogurt and mix. This is a very satisfying, healthy, quick and easy snack!

This makes a great smoothie too, by blending all ingredients in a blender!

Additives To Avoid

Additives are substances added to processed foods. These additives range from vitamins and minerals to fortify food, preservatives that prolong the shelf life of the food, sugar and natural/artificial flavorings, and dyes to make food look more appealing.

Additives in the form of vitamins and minerals can be good for you. It's other additives, especially the ones that are hard to pronounce, that you should question the safety of before putting them into your body.

Some additives are cancer causing such as nitrates, nitrites, food colorings and others cause allergic reactions or adverse effects such as monosodium glutamate - MSG.

Foods that contain a long list of additives should raise a red flag. You are better off selecting food items that contain fewer additives to prevent health risk.

Below is a list of sweeteners, preservatives, and colorings that are strongly suspected of causing cancer. Avoid them!

• sodium nitrate (found in processed meats)
  
• sodium nitrite (found in processed meats)
  
• blue #1
• blue #2
• blue #3
• green #3
• red #3
• yellow #6
• saccharine (sweetener)
  
• acesulfame K (sweetener)
  
• acesulfame potassium (sweetener)
  
• potassium bromate (usually found in white flour)