I don't always drink coffee, but when I do...I drink butter coffee. (Insert overly confident and super cool body language and temperament here.)

Gaining in popularity because of it's rich froth and lack of a crash from caffeine, this recipe is what I drink every time that coffee is made at my house. One way to avoid the blood sugar spike and crash from caffeine is by adding fiber and fat to your cup of joe. Healthy fats are also a great nutrient to feed your brain for development & functionality (especially in kids)!

Without further adieu...

KETO/BUTTER COFFEE (or latte)

• 8-12 oz organic coffee, brewed
• (optional) 2-4 oz full fat coconut milk or almond milk
• 1-2 Tbsp grass fed butter
• 2 tsp MCT oil

Play with the amounts to see how you like your proportions. Mix all ingredients in a blender or simply use a whisk and rub briskly between your hands to mix quickly and get a good froth (melting the butter as you do so). Happy morning!

Ingredients

• 1/2 - 1 Tbsp Raw Apple Cider Vinegar (with the mother)
• quarter of a lemon
• 8-12 oz water (warmed or cold - personal preference)
• Optional: 1 tsp of maple syrup to cut the sour flavor

Directions

1. If you desire a warm drink, heat up the water on the stove for about a minute (just enough to get it warm, not boiling). If drinking it at room temp or cold, go to step 2.

2. Add all ingredients in a cup or mug, stir, and enjoy! ;)

Ingredients

• 1 cup strong coffee
• 3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 3 Tablespoons pumpkin puree
• 1 Tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice**
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 1 Tbsp maple syrup

Mix all in a blender for 20-30 seconds, pour into a fun mug, and microwave it to make it hot again! (If you're against microwaving, bless your heart, and then just heat it up in a pot on the stove.)

**To make your own pumpkin spice, you just need about 3 minutes to put it all together!

Ingredients

• ½ frozen banana

• ¼ granny smith apple (OR 4-5 frozen pineapple chunks)

• Handful spinach

• Handful kale

• 1 large stalk celery

• ¼ avocado (OR 1 Tbsp chia seeds)

• 3-4 mint leaves

• 2 dates (pitted) OR 1 Tbsp Maple Syrup

• ⅔ cup unsweetened almond milk

• 3-4 ice cubes

Add all ingredients to the blender and blend on high for 30-45 seconds. The mint is so refreshing and will wake you up, but this is also a great afternoon refresher!

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup unsweetened almond or coconut milk (choose personal preference)
• 1/2 frozen banana
• 1/4 cup cashews or 1 Tbsp hemp seeds
• 2 Tbsp cacao nibs
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp sea salt OR a pinch of pink himalayan salt
• 2-3 ice cubes
• optional: 2 dates (pitted) if you want more sweetness
• optional: sprinkle shredded unsweetened coconut & a few more cacao nibs on top for some texture and crunch

Directions

Throw it all in a high speed blender and enjoy!! You'll feel satisfied and full of energy with all that good fat (nuts and coconut oil) and those killer antioxidants (cocao nibs)! You'll crave this all day. xoxo

Ingredients:

• 1 grapefruit

• 1 navel orange

• 1 blood orange (or a 2nd navel orange)

• ¼ cup fresh mint

• ½ lime

1. Peel and slice fruit.

2. Chop up the mint and add to fruit in a bowl.

3. Drizzle honey, squeeze lime on top, and mix all ingredients together.

Ingredients

*This makes about 5 cups of granola*

• 4 cups rolled oats
• 1/4 cup craisins
• 1/2-1 cup roughly chopped almonds
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/3 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly.

2. In order to melt the coconut oil, heat the oil and maple syrup in a sauce pan on the stove (or microwave them together in a Pyrex glass measuring cup for less dirty dishes).

3. Remove the coconut oil and syrup from the heat, then add the vanilla and stir.

4. Pour wet mixture over dry ingredients and use a spoon or spatula to mix well, making sure all dry ingredients have been covered well.

5. Cover two large baking sheets with parchment paper and pour half the mixture on each baking sheet. Spread the mixture out evenly across each pan.

6....

Ingredients (makes 12)

• 12 slices of deli ham (nitrite/nitrate free)
• 1 avocado
• 12 eggs
• non-stick spray/butter/coconut oil or cupcake liners
• salt & pepper to taste
• optional: shredded cheese on top

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Spray the muffin cups with non-stick spray, butter, or coconut oil...OR place a cupcake liner in each cup for an easier clean-up.
• Place one ham slice in each cup, it may fold over the top.
• Put a chunk of avocado to fill the bottom of each ham cup.
• Break an egg and drop over the avocado in each cup.
• Sprinkle a dash of salt & pepper on the top of each cup. *Go easy on the salt since the ham (and the optional cheese) will have a ton of sodium to add flavor already.
• Optional: sprinkle a little cheese on top of each cup.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 15 mins or until the whites are cooked but the yolk is runny.

serves 2 with possible leftovers

Salad Ingredients :

• 6 oz baby spinach
• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1 cup water or low sodium veggie broth
• 1 large delicata squash (or butternut if not available)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil, salt & pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup unsweetened craisins
• 1/3 cup walnuts

Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing Ingredients (provides leftovers):

• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 T rice vinegar (or raw apple cider)
• 1 T poppy seeds
• 1-2 tsp honey
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Soak the quinoa in water for 5 mins while you peel the squash.
• Use a vegetable peeler to scrape off the skin of the squash. Scrape out seeds and cut into 1-2 inch pieces.
• Pour out excess water from the quinoa, then dump the quinoa into a small saucepan. Pour 1 cup of water or veggie broth over it, then bring it to a boil, then cover and bring down to a simmer for...

John has been living and eating under a pretty rigid Keto diet lately. It is a high fat, moderate protein, and very low carb lifestyle. When your body is in a state of Ketosis, it essentially means you are burning fat. Since you aren't eating sugar and have limited carbs, you also don't have the ups and downs of blood sugar crashes throughout the day. Recently, we've been coming up with simpler meals that adhere to Keto, and this "salad" was one I literally threw together with ingredients in my fridge as a last-minute, late-night dinner for John.

Tex-Mex Creamy Salad (serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 1-2 chicken breasts (depending on size), cut into bite size chunks -- I marinate the breasts in lime juice, avocado oil, salt, pepper, and chili powder before I bake or grill them
• 1 avocado, diced
• 1/2 cucumber, peeled and diced into bite size chunks
• 1 large (or 2 small) Roma tomato, diced
• 1-2 fresh jalapenos (depending on desired heat), diced
• 1 handful cilantro, chopped
• 2-3 tablespoons full-fat sour cream...

Ingredients

• 2 lbs Butternut squash

• 2 cans full fat coconut milk

• 1 cup water

• 2 cloves garlic, chopped

• 1 tsp turmeric

• ½ tsp ground ginger

• 1 tsp salt (add up to 1/2 tsp more to taste)

• 1 tsp pepper

Directions

1. Use a vegetable peeler or sharp knife to peel outside layer of squash. *If you don’t have a peeler, use a knife and get as much skin off as you can without cutting off too much flesh (yours or the squash's).

2. Cut up squash into 2 inch pieces. (Spoon out & discard seeds.)

3. Add all ingredients in the slow cooker.

4. Cook on high for 2.5 hours or low for 4 hours. (*If using an instant pot, press the "soup" button on 30 mins.)

5. Once cooked, transfer 1/2 the soup to a blender and blend until smooth. Make sure you take the plastic top off the blender cover to let the heat escape if the mixture is very hot. You don’t want the top to pop...

Perfect for Fall and Winter (but delicious any time of year), this easy stuffed acorn squash will keep you satisfied without feeling stuffed yourself!

Stuffed Acorn Squash (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 2 acorn squash (each cut in half)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Salt & Pepper
• 1lb ground meat of choice (lamb is our fave and is yummy!)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 2 cups (already cooked) quinoa OR brown rice

Dressing:

• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1 lemon squeezed
• 4 tbsp water
• Salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste
• (optional: make this Keto/Paleo by using cauliflower rice)

Preheat oven to 425. Begin to cook rice or quinoa in a pot on stove (**see below for faster cooking tip). Cut squashes in half and remove seeds from middle. Drizzle the inside of each halves with olive oil. Cover cookie sheet with parchment paper and put squash face up in oven for 25-30 mins (or until tender). While roasting, brown meat on...

Family traditions are the best, and family recipes are some of the greatest traditions to have! They say that your sense of smell is the strongest trigger for memory, and most of us can attest to having at least one recipe in our family that just make us light up when we eat or make it. One such recipe in our family is my Gran's pumpkin bread. You see, Gran had 14 children within 14 years. That's real. My mom is the oldest of the 14, and I remember growing up in Houston where every single Fall, there'd be no lack of pumpkin bread. My mom would make it in our kitchen (in big batches, so she could freeze a few loaves too), it would always be available at Gran's house for tea parties (along with the infamous Mamaw's Cookies), and it was always on the dessert table at family gatherings. This bread (i.e., cake) was the "go-to" Thanksgiving and Christmas gift and love offering for neighbors and friends. Everyone loves it. As an adult, being told I had to live without gluten in my diet, I had to cut out a lot of my nostalgic childhood food, and it broke my heart. Once I got more...

This glaze has very few ingredients and it's an energy powerhouse. Don't need to feel guilty about drizzling this on top of any baked goods you want to jazz up. You can try it on my Gran's Pumpkin Bread, and you won't regret it!

Maple Pecan Glaze (makes about 1 cup)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup pecans
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 2 Tablespoons coconut oil
• 1/4 cup water (start with 1/4 and add more for desired consistency)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of sea salt

Directions:

Blend all ingredients in a high speed blender until smooth.