What a great week this has turned out to be and very much full of all kinds of lessons and moral tidbits. Yesterday I spent the day back with the most wonderful little girls ever. I am so happy and so excited for the next year or so to come with these little munchkins. They are two little girls who have changed my life over the last (almost) two years and I am so grateful to be back learning, growing, teaching, playing and cooking with them. I met with so many amazing people this week and finally closed a few chapters in my life. It’s been amazing. I’ve had the chance to pipe up for myself this week in a way I never thought I would and am really proud of myself for that. I’ve learned so much over the last couple months, about myself, my work, my future and my self worth. I am really blessed to have had these opportunities and can’t WAIT for the AWESOME times to come. I would say that’s quite a lot of lessons and growth opportunities!
So with all these lovely lessons, I decided to teach myself and experiment in the kitchen with some lessons of my own and also to go back to basics, like with the simple, yet delicious, frittata. I have a problem with buying tons of produce, with good intention, and then not finding the time to cook with it or make as many meals as I’d planned. Kale and raw spinach are no brainers, I can use those in everything or even juice them or make smoothies, so when I buy those and haven’t used them yet, I generally can use them up in the couple days before they turn. As for asparagus, I buy it like CRAZY. Most of the time I roast it with a little coconut oil, sea salt and pepper, but sometimes, I need a new spin on it, or just forget about it and then have to use it quickly. Same with tomatoes. I love cherry tomatoes, especially heirloom cherry tomatoes, but I buy those and then eat a few and then have to quickly use them as well. This must all have to do with the fact that I am madly in love with grocery shopping so all of this amazing produce looks fabulous and then my time management and cooking skills don’t match up with the produce I buy ha! So, I wanted to use up some of the savory things I had and what better way then to make a frittata!?
On another note, for something less savory, I thought what could be better then CHOCOLATE!? I also had a ripe zucchini needing to be loved and so I 
thought I would try my hand at working out some kind of gluten free bread that doesn’t use the typical rice flour or potato flour. I saw a couple recipes online and then adapted them to make my own from what I have learned lately with gluten free baking. I am not a huge fan of all of the “gums” like sorgum or xanthan gum so I wanted to try something new and see if eggs and a small bit of coconut flour could hold this together. Plus coconut flour is relatively cheap and much easier to find then trying to make a blend of rice flour, potato flour, the gums, etc. etc. etc. That’s the hard thing about gluten free cooking, it’s not like when I used to eat gluten and I just tossed in all purpose flour, there’s a science to it and a mixture of lots of different flours sometimes. I like it simple.
CHOCOLATEY NUTTY ZUCCHINI BREAD
Ingredients:
- 1 medium sized zucchini
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons coconut flour
- 3 tablespoons good quality cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup almond butter
- 2/3 cup honey
- 1 tablespoon coconut milk
- 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease your loaf pan with coconut oil so that the bread has a nice bed of oily goodness to lay on and not stick to. Shred your zucchini by placing chunks of it in your food processer and pulsing until you have nice shredded pieces, but not too fine. Lay out 6 paper towels on your counter, and dump all of your zucchini on them. Zucchini shockingly has a lot of water, so grab all that shredded zucchini in the paper towels and ring out as much of the water as possible in the sink. Dump the zucchini into your mixing bowl, add all of the other ingredients, along with 1/2 of your chocolate chips and mix! Now, the almond butter may be hard to mix in so make sure you mix everything extremely well. Pour the mixture into your greased loaf pan and smooth it out with your spatula. Top with the rest of the chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, but until a toothpick comes out clean. Every oven varies so it could take longer. When done, let cool, turn out of the pan, slice and EAT EAT EAT! yum. This isn’t an overly sweet bread, but super yummy.
USE THOSE VEGGIES! FRITTATA WITH GOAT CHEESE AND GRASS FED PORK SAUSAGE
Ingredients:
- 3 eggs
- 1/4 cup coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon grass fed butter
- 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 lb ground pork breakfast sausage, preferably grass fed organic
- 1bunch of asparagus
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup broccoli florets
- goat chevre
- salt and pepper to taste, plus 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper for egg mixture
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. This is great, it’s a ONE PAN dish! NOTE: If you do not have a cast iron skillet, use a skillet that has a metal handle and can be put in the oven, Calphalon makes nice ones. Wash and prep your vegetables. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half, trim the asparagus and leave the flowery tops and a couple inches of stalk. Trim into 1 inch pieces. Wash and trim your broccoli as well. Crack your eggs into your bowl, add the coconut milk, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and mix well.
In your cast iron skillet, add your butter and oil and melt. This will coat the skillet and a lot of it will sink in so your frittata is easier to grab out later. Cook your breakfast sausage down so it’s nice and brown and crumbly. NOTE: If you do not want any meat, just cook the veggies this way! 
Add your veggies and cook just for a bit till they turn green. Pour the egg mixture over your veggies until they are covered. Crumble your goat cheese on top. Also top with more cracked pepper and sea, kosher or table salt.
My sausage is from a grass fed farm called U.S. Wellness Meats. They are amazing. Order online and they ship right to you all packed in dry ice and ready to pop in your freezer. They are well priced and amazing quality for all kinds of meats.
Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. You’ll be able to tell it is done when the edges are crispy and it does not wiggle anymore. That means the eggs have set, are firm and ready to eat. Cool and cut into slices. This is a GREAT recipe for your weekly breakfast! ENJOY! YAY BRUNCH!
Tags: asparagus, bread, breakfast sausage, broccoli, cast iron skillet, chocolate, coconut flour, eggs, frittata, goat cheese, goat chevre, pork, tomatoes, US Wellness Meats, veggies, zucchini
What is better than KALE and BACON!? Nothing really. The flavor combination, good for you ingredients and just the amazing versatility is the BEST! Kale and bacon on their own, sautéed together is yummy, but add other yummy veggies and you have a breakfast flavor explosion!
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a medium sized cast iron skillet, or pan, cube your bacon and toss in the pan. Cook until crispy. Add your zucchini, hotsauce and garlic and make sure it cooks through a bit.
the lovely randoms of a cupcake 
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