Finding foods that I can eat has become a treasure hunt.  There are a few that I dearly love.

• Cookie Mix

Our favorite is the cookie mix.  I can make Chocolate chip or oatmeal using this base.  I use Ghee.  Family doesn’t realize that I made cookies from a mix, and that the mix is almond flour.  There are great cookie recipes in Against all Grain, and in Deliciously Organic, but this mix is quick and easy, and healthy.

• Bread

I don’t eat gluten, so finding a hamburger bun that we can eat hamburgers on has been a blessing.  I also use their croutons to make meatballs and meatloaf.  If you buy 6, not 5 and not 7, they ship for free.  Fits perfectly into a shipping box.

• Almond Pasta and pizza crusts

I found an almond flour pasta from Capellos.  They also do a plain pizza crust, so we have pizza nights, which are fun.  We bought a steel pizza board to bake on and we get a crisp crust.

The pastas are now available at Whole Foods, but not the pizza crusts.  Maybe someday.

• Spaghetti and Pizza Sauce

I use Raos marinara, and pizza sauce.  Clean, only real ingredients and close to my mothers sauce  You can buy this at Sprouts or Whole Foods.  Also available at Thrive.

• Bone Broth

I have tried dozens.  I love OSO Good products, and they have lots of gelatin and terrific flavor, good enough to sip.  To make soups and sauces, I use Kettle and Fire, there is no carmel coloring (which is toxic) and it has lovely flavor.  I can keep it on the shelf in my pantry, whereas I have to keep the OSO Good in my freezer.  They both fill purposes in my cooking.

I only use beef and bison since I am sensitive to Chicken.  I am sure the chicken is also a quality product.  I will write a blog about all of the fantastic qualities of bone broth, but use it, drink it and enjoy it often.  It will heal your gut.

 

• Vegetables and fruit

We go to our local farmers market every Sat morning for organic farm fresh vegies and fruits.  We are buying local and usually produce picked the day before.  I am fortunate in that I can also get fabulous fresh wild caught fish at our farmers market, and her family has been in the business for 60 years.

On weeks where I know that I can not get to the farmers market, I get a Monday night delivery from Farm Fresh.

Thrive also has a produce delivery now.  I have not yet used it.  Since I love Thrive, I bet it is also terrific.

Buy vegetables from growers that live closest to you.  There are tremendous health benefits from buying local.  There are also health benefits from Farm to table….just in terms of nutrients from less travel time.

• Meat

In the summer, I can get grass fed, grass finished Neimen Ranch beef from Whole foods.  Sprouts carries 100%% grass fed ground beef from somewhere in S. America all year round.  I only buy antibiotic free, hormone free, free run pork, and all lamb is grass fed and I believe hormone free.  You want level 4 chickens from Whole Foods.  In the Fall/Winter and Spring I buy from Wellness Meat in MO.  If I buy enough they ship for free.  The owner is accessible if you have questions, and the quality of all their meats is excellent.

• Eggs

Since I live in the big city, it is impossible to go to the farm.  I buy Vital Farms eggs, they have the happiest girls on the planet.  *smile*  They now have eggs under several brands, which makes them easier to find.  Whole foods carries a couple.  Sprouts carries one of the brands.  I have seen them now at Vons, Pavilions and Ralphs.

• Milk

I use Almond Milk by Califia Farms.  They have removed the evil Carrageen.  I use the unsweetened. Available at Sprouts and Whole Foods, and even conventional grocery stores now.

You can also make your own, but you have to buy the almonds from the farmers market or they are processed with chemicals in some disgusting way.  I also found it very messy.

We also used canned coconut milk and cream for cooking and we whip it for deserts and on berries.  I prefer Native Forest, non GMO, and the cans don’t have the chemicals that are harmful.

• Almond Flour

Honeywell  I like the consistency, a finer flour that available from other sources.

• Other flours

Bobs Red Mill    I use their coconut flour, their arrowroot.  Also love their new Muesli.  A great alternative to Gluten Free Oatmeal, and sugar loaded conventional cereals.  I was loving Cream of Buckwheat, until I discovered it was one of my food sensitivities.  You should try it.  Quite yummy.

Ghee  I usually buy it from Thrive to save money.  I like Organic Valley, and use it everywhere I would have used Butter before I discovered I was so sensitive to Milk proteins.

Ghee is clarified butter, which means it has had the casein and whey removed, which were my sensitivities.  It can tolerate a high heat when cooking, and has that delicious butter taste.

THRIVE MARKET. 

For a small membership fee, you can save on tons of healthy products, 25-40%  Buy  over $49 and they ship for free.  I buy my laundry detergent, my dishwasher detergent, my soap to wash dishes, my Ghee (Clarified butter) that I use instead of butter and love, my coconut oil, avocado oil, mayo with avocado oil, my bubble bath, my Apple Cider Vinegar with the mother there, and many more products.  A brilliant store.  They have started selling live food.  I haven’t ordered my vegies there yet, but sure I will down the line.

GRASSROOTS NATURAL MARKET AND KITCHEN

Fantastic Health store in So. Pasadena.  Very knowledgeable employees and owner.  They just opened to help us even though they had been closed for 1 1/2 hours.  I was looking for Slippery Elm powder; he had it and spent time with me as to how to use. it.  They carry lots of great products.  You can get the Super PAV there, almond ricotta cheese, almond Yogurt, almond pasta.  Knowledgable about supplements.  They carry many great healthy food items.  Tortillas with Casava Flour, things not readily available elsewhere.  They also do presentations on some evenings to teach.  They are a find.  A health store with heart. Great little restaurant with super soups.  Limited hours so check website ahead.