Category: Autoimmune Paleo

Celery Root Soup (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Paleo, AIP)

Posted on
Are you familiar with celery root? It’s also called celeriac and it tastes like a cross between celery and parsley. It’s starchy like other root veggies and makes a really fantastic substitute for mashed potatoes (no, really!). So if you’re looking for a low carb alternative, celery root is it! 
 

Although this amazing vegetable offers a lot to write home about in terms of taste and nutrition, it’s one of the less attractive veggies at the market and for that reason, it’s often overlooked. This vegetable gives new meaning to the phrase, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover.’ It’s shaped like a globe and has this gnarly, uneven and brown appearance – it reminds me of something straight out of Harry Potter 😛 (take a look at the photo and you’ll see what I mean!).

 
On the inside however, this veggie is creamy, white and aromatic – just beautiful. Once you’ve tasted it, you’ll kick yourself for not having tried it sooner. 
 
Celeriac is rich in dietary fibre which is essential for maintaining proper digestion. It helps keep everything moving, if you know what I mean 😛 It’s also a good source of Vitamin C and fantastic for helping to strengthen the immune system, especially this time of year (hello cold n’ flu season and cold weather!). 
 
Ok, back to the mashed potatoes talk! When you’re on an AIP diet, the comfort of the white potato is off limits to you. White potatoes are part of the nightshade family and many people who have autoimmune conditions have trouble with them. That’s why it’s invaluable to have substitutes like celery root to lean on when you have these dietary restrictions. You can turn this unassuming veggie into a gorgeous puree or mash to help satisfy that carb craving. 
 
Let’s talk about this soup now. It’s rich and savoury. Luxurious in texture. And adding the cooked bacon bits on top just adds some much needed crunch. Enjoy!
 
We want to know –> what’s the most challenging part of following an AIP protocol for you? Share with us in the comments below. 
 
We love seeing what you’re cooking up! Don’t forget to share your recreations with us on Instagram @holisticwellnessfoodie  @valeriepiccitto
Celery Root Soup
Serves 4
Write a review
Save Recipe
Print
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
35 min
Total Time
45 min
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
35 min
Total Time
45 min
Ingredients
  1. 4 slices bacon, cooked & chopped
  2. 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  3. 1 large leek, sliced
  4. 2 1-pound celery roots, cut into 1 inch pieces
  5. 1 cup celery, chopped
  6. 2 garlic cloves, minced
  7. 5 cups vegetable stock
  8. 1/4 cup full fat coconut milk
  9. 2 Tbsp fresh chives, chopped
  10. sea salt
Instructions
  1. Cook bacon as you normally would. Drain on a paper towel lined plate. Chop & set aside.
  2. In a large soup pot, warm olive oil over medium heat, add sliced leeks, celery root and celery. Cover and cook for 20 minutes.
  3. Add garlic and sauté for a minute until fragrant.
  4. Stir in broth. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 10-15 minutes or until celery root is fork tender.
  5. In batches, carefully blend soup mixture (you can use a hand immersion blender or your blender).
  6. Add the blended soup back into the pot and stir in coconut milk. Season with sea salt.
  7. Portion out soup and garnish with chopped chives and bacon.
Notes
  1. *If you are NOT on the AIP protocol, feel free to add in some fresh black pepper.
Holistic Wellness https://holisticwellness.ca/
 
SHARE THIS!
Share on Pinterest

BBQ Chicken & Sweet Potato Casserole (Paleo, AIP)

Posted on

Casseroles are by far the best and easiest dinners to whip up. Plus, you can make a massive one, enjoy the leftovers for lunch the next day and basically meal prep like a BOSS! This BBQ Chicken and Sweet Potato Casserole will definitely win your heart over, and your family too! 

Nothing says fall like sweet potato and although I’m not quite ready to let go of the hot summer weather, I don’t have a choice. I live in Canada and the coldness is approaching – UGH! (I swear I was born in the wrong Country). 

But with fall comes delicious soups and stews, casseroles and all things pumpkin. Like these Pumpkin Almond Butter Bars. They are my favourite and I can’t wait to bake them up again. 

So back to casseroles…

This casserole is quite versatile. Instead of sweet potato, you could use mashed cauliflower, regular white potato, mashed parsnips and carrots, or even cauliflower rice. And to keep this recipe AIP friendly, use an AIP approved BBQ sauce, like this one here. 

You guys might think this dish looks super fancy and time consuming, but trust me it’s not. And when it comes to cooking, I prefer taking the quick and easy route. If I have the time, I’ll make something a little more fancy, but trust me guys – most of the meals that I cook might ‘look’ gourmet but ANYBODY can make them. 

A few notes about this recipe:

  1. I cooked my sweet potato in the instant pot. I placed the rack on the bottom of the instant pot, added in 1 cup of water, then placed 2 large sweet potatoes on top of the rack. I set the timer for manual – 15 minutes and viola. Mashed sweet potato in NO TIME! You can use this method, or boil your sweet potato or roast in the oven. Your call.
  2. The chicken – we bought an organic whole roasted chicken and shredded it up. We used this for lettuce tacos, this recipe of course and for breakfast scrambles. It’s a time saver, but you can roast your own chicken if you prefer.

P.S. If you’re looking for more delicious and easy recipes, come join me inside my Healthy Hormones Recipe Club! Are you confused with all the information out there about how to balance your hormones, lose weight + support your immunity? Can’t keep up with all the different diets; Paleo, Keto, Intermittent Fasting, or which one is even right for you Get a monthly meal plan + shopping list + recipes that will help you to support your body, balance your hormones, detoxify and shed some inches in the process! Each month has a different theme (scroll below to read what I’ll be sharing over the next few months!) This Recipe Club is available for a super affordable price, so you can easily say YES to putting yourself first, without breaking the bank. Delicious food & zero deprivation, I promise!

Ok, let’s get cooking. I hope you enjoy this deliciousness as much as we did! Be sure to leave your comments below and let us know how you liked it. We love to hear from you. 

BBQ Chicken & Sweet Potato Casserole
Serves 4
A Paleo and AIP friendly casserole dish that is loaded with beta-carotene, healthy fiber and satiating protein.
Write a review
Save Recipe
Print
Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
25 min
Total Time
45 min
Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
25 min
Total Time
45 min
Ingredients
  1. 5-6 lbs sweet potato, roughly 2-3 large sweet potatoes, mashed (see notes above)
  2. 1/4 cup coconut oil or butter or other choice of fat
  3. Sea salt and pepper (omit pepper for AIP)
  4. 4-6lbs shredded chicken (thigh or breast)
  5. 1 cup BBQ sauce (choose AIP BBQ sauce - see notes above)
  6. 1/3 cup green onion, chopped, plus more for garnish
  7. Fresh parsley, for garnish
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease a lage casserole dish.
  2. Mixed mashed sweet potato with coconut oil, salt and pepper.
  3. Spread evenly into large greased casserole dish.
  4. In a large bowl, combine shredded chicken, BBQ sauce and green onion. Spread on top of sweet potato layer.
  5. Place the casserole in the oven and bake for 25 minutes. Serve topped with green onion and fresh parsley. Serve alongside a large green salad.
Notes
  1. See notes above for tips on cooking sweet potato and preparing chicken.
Holistic Wellness https://holisticwellness.ca/
SHARE THIS!
Share on Pinterest

10 Steps to the Most Delicious Bone Broth (Instant Pot Recipe)

Posted on

Bone broth is one of the best healing foods to include in your diet and something I consume on the regular. 

It’s become a part of my morning routine and gut healing/autoimmune protocol. And with the instant pot on hand, you can whip up bone broth in 2 hours. Yes – 2 hours!

I used to make broth on the stove in my massive stock pot and would leave the stove on low heat for 12 hours (overnight). The broth always turned out great, but having your stove on for that long, especially in the summer, makes our little condo HOT. Plus, I was impatient and wanted it faster. 

Then I switched over to the slow cooker. A much better option than the stove, but I still had to cook it for 12 hours. If you don’t have an instant pot, I recommend making this in your slow cooker. You’ll just have to cook the broth for anywhere from 8-12 hours to get the optimal benefits and nutrients. 

Otherwise, get yourself an instant pot. Its inexpensive and is a huge time saver! I love making my Butter Chicken in the instant pot. It’s damn good! And only takes 8 minutes. Serve over some cauliflower rice and dinner is ready in no time. 

I get asked all the time about making bone broth and I promise, by following this simple 10-step process, you’ll become a bone broth pro in no time! Hope you enjoy this simple and easy to follow recipe and share this healing goodness with your friends and family. 

You can check out my Instagram post here, where I share this 10-Step process with photos, so you can see how it all goes down. Also, be sure to check out my delicious Healing Chicken Soup recipe here that I also make in my instant pot. 

10-Step Instant Pot Chicken Bone Broth

Ingredients:

1 leek, washed well and chopped roughly
2 celery stalks, chopped roughly
2 carrots, chopped roughly
1 onion, chopped roughly
5 garlic cloves, chopped roughly
4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
5-6 chicken feet (or more, depending on how big your pot is)
1 pound of chicken wings or backs (or more, depending on how big your pot is. As a note, I suggest to roughly chop these up, which helps to release more nutrients/gelatin. Ask your butcher to do it for you)
1-2 tbsp of fish sauce, gluten free

Directions:

STEP 1: add 1 chopped leaks to your instant pot
STEP 2: add 2 chopped celery stalks
STEP 3: add 2 chopped carrots
STEP 4: add 1 chopped onion + 5 chopped garlic cloves + a few springs of fresh thyme + 1 bay leaf
STEP 5: add in 5 chicken feet + roughly 1 pound of chicken wings 
STEP 6: add in filtered water to fill line + add in 1 tbsp of fish sauce
STEP 7: give everything a mix
STEP 8: on instant pot, select manual and set time for 120 minutes (make sure pressure valve is in correct spot)
STEP 9: wait for ON to appear – and you’re ALL SET ?? – let cook
STEP 10: strain into mason jars and store in freezer if not using right away or fridge

 

SHARE THIS!
Share on Pinterest

Plantain English Muffins (AIP, Paleo)

Posted on

I can’t even remember the last time I ate a “doughy-white” english muffin. I have a vague memory of eating them in my high school days before school in the morning. 

I was health conscious as a teenager and I used to think that english muffins, egg whites and margarine was the way to go. Boy was I wrong!

As I make my through the AIP protocol, there are lots of creative recipes I’m excited to re-create and dive into. I think it’s really easy to overcomplicate recipes and meal planning. It doesn’t have to be complicated. We spend so much time thinking about what we ‘CAN’T’ eat, when it’s much easier to focus on what we ‘CAN.’

Change your way of thinking and you’ll have greater success on any diet plan. It’s important to get into the right mindset for healing. This is exactly what we’ll be teaching in the Healing and Dealing with Hashimoto’s program. If you have Hashimoto’s or an autoimmune condition, click here to check out how this program can help you heal and transform your condition. 

I recipe tested some english muffins last weekend and they were an epic fail! I baked them in the oven and every 10 minutes kept checking if there were ready. They were a pile of mush and they wouldn’t harden. I had to throw them out. They were completely inedible. 

So, onto recipe #2. The winner. These gluten free gems are amazing!

Now let’s get real for a minute here…. these don’t taste like your traditional english muffins, I mean, they don’t even look like them for that matter. But they are delicious and perfect topped with some nut butter (not AIP), or coconut cream and raspberry jam; which is exactly what I did. 

I’ll be baking up a batch of these english muffins this weekend and I’ll top them with some guac and bacon. Mmmm!

Savoury or sweet, the muffins work either way. 

A few key things to note before baking them:

  1. I baked them in 2 circular pyrex oven safe dishes, like the image you see here. I only have 2, but this recipe below made 3. Once the first batch was done, I baked the last english muffin on it’s own. 
  2. 4 ramekins would work well for this recipe, but I don’t have any. I’ll definitely be getting some though! I’ve been needing them for multiple recipes. 
  3. Make sure to divide you batter evenly for 3 servings (or 4 if using ramekins).

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do. They are so good and perfect for your AIP breakfasts! I suggest doubling your batch and making extra so you can freeze them and have on hand for easy meal prep. 

Enjoy!

Plantain English Muffins
Write a review
Save Recipe
Print
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
18 min
Total Time
28 min
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
18 min
Total Time
28 min
Ingredients
  1. 1 large ripe plantain
  2. 2 Tbsp avocado oil (olive oil or melted coconut oil would work well too)
  3. 1⁄4 Cup +1 Tbsp tapioca starch
  4. 2 Tbsp coconut flour
  5. 1 tbsp apple sauce
  6. 1 tsp baking soda
  7. 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
  8. Pinch of sea salt
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 375F. Grease 2-4 ramekins or pyrex dishes with coconut oil.
  2. Roughly chop the plantains and place in a food processor with the remaining ingredients.
  3. Blend until smooth and creamy.
  4. Divide your batter into equal portions (2-4). Place batter into greased ramekins and using a spatula or back of a spoon, evenly spread it out. This equals ONE english muffin. Once it's baked you'll cut it in half.
  5. Bake for 15-18 minutes. The pyrex dishes are slightly larger than ramekins, so I found I needed at least 17-18 minutes, but you may need less time if baking in ramekins.
  6. Let cool slightly, remove from dish and slice in half.
  7. Place in the toaster/toaster oven for a few minutes to crisp up (optional). I like mine slightly toasted. Top with your favourite toppings and enjoy!
Holistic Wellness https://holisticwellness.ca/
SHARE THIS!
Share on Pinterest

@holisticwellnessfoodie