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Sometimes even the healthiest of eaters miss the things they used to eat before they cleaned up their diets. That's true for us, anyway.

Both my husband and daughter react negatively to good old fashioned potatoes. You heard that right. No mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving; no French fries or potato chips.

So, we've cleaned up their diets and have committed to (usually) healthy alternatives. And I'm along for the ride, potato-wise.

For us, one part of healthy eating has been finding ways to replace what we used to enjoy.

Fortunately, not only are Japanese yams healthier than standard potatoes*, but they also taste better, in our opinion.

They're white on the inside, and easy to mash and put on the table next to the turkey (or tofurkey). Next to regular potatoes, I'm not sure I'd be able to tell them apart by looks alone. Kind of like Gwenyth Paltrow and me. (Kidding. Sigh.)

As an added bonus, this healthy alternative to potatoes has just a single ingredient. If you've seen my homemade almond butter, you'll know I like to use as few ingredients as possible.

They're one of the easiest crowd pleasers I know how to make. Everyone who's tried these at our house, loves them. And once again, I'm almost embarrassed to share the recipe because it's so simple. Consider it a gift from me to you!

Japanese Yam Chips

Note: We also like using red garnet yams and prepare them the same way. Another delicious and healthy alternative!

My husband and I like them baked like a regular baked potato, as well, but the little fiber strings they sometimes have deter our texture-sensitive daughter. She jumps for joy at the chips, though, so it's a win for the whole family!

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*Source: https://healthyeating.sfgate.com/health-benefits-eating-sweet-potatoes-yams-4562.html

Gluten free pumpkin spice muffins are amazing. In fact, I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest we rename autumn "Pumpkin-Fall." And if you're anything like me and want delicious pumpkin-flavored treats year-round, we can also rename Winter, "Snowy Pumpkins" and Spring, "Blooming Pumpkins." What about Summer, you ask? I want to hear what you think we should call it. "Hot and Sweaty Pumpkins" doesn't sound quite right.

That aside, I've been craving warm breakfast foods lately. Plus, I want to boost my immune system this time of year--especially since I spend most of my week traveling to various schools with their wide variety of kiddos and alllll they bring into it. Perhaps most importantly, I want a breakfast that tastes good while still starting my day off right health-wise.

I made a checklist of what I want in the morning. Here's what I was looking for:

I found everything I was looking for in these pumpkin spice muffins!

gluten free pumpkin spice muffins
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Gluten Free Pumpkin Spice Muffins for Breakfast (or Anytime)!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Use two bowls: one for your wet ingredients and the other for your dry ingredients. One bowl should be large enough to hold all the ingredients when you combine them. I like this one (afflinks) since I can put a lid on it if I need to take a baking break.

Bowl #1

Dry Ingredients. Combine the following:

Bowl #2

Wet ingredients. Combine the following:

Combine the contents of the two bowls. Mix just until combined. Get your muffin pan, and then for the easiest cleanup, use a large spoon to fill baking cups fairly full. These muffins won't rise much. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

And then eat until your heart's content, no matter the pumpkin season! These gluten free pumpkin spice muffins stay good in the fridge for a couple days or a couple of months in the freezer.

Do these gluten free pumpkin spice muffins make your mouth water, or what?

If you like them and/or are looking for something similar to try (at least as far as the health profile goes -- the flavor is quite different) -- you will undoubtedly enjoy our gluten free zucchini bread. They, too, work well as muffins and are SO good. We don't hesitate to eat them for breakfast to start our days off right!

Half the people in our city are sick this week. Half. No good, I say! We like feeling healthy and strong, thank you very much. I have no time to be down with a cold or flu. So, to the extent that I can, I'm giving my body every tool imaginable to keep it working properly and happily. My Instant Pot® stew is one such tool, and I'm thankful for it (afflinks).

Inspired by the memory of a wonderful soup friends in Québec City made for me years ago, I looked up some of the best warming ingredients I could find and decided to experiment with them. Since, unfortunately, my husband is one of the people who's down with a cold, I didn't want to invest a lot of time shopping and cooking. I wanted to create something that would give us all the benefits of germ-fighting powerhouse foods but without losing hours in the kitchen that I could be spending elsewhere (like sanitizing everything in my house from top to bottom).

I'm happy to report that my experiment worked! Now, we're the proud owners of a brand new recipe that's downright good--not only for the body, but for our spirits, too. It's an all-around feel-good meal. Who knew we could make our own comfort food?

Part of what makes this recipe so easy is that everything goes straight from being chopped to directly in the Instant Pot.

Instant Pot Carrot Ginger Red Lentil Stew, otherwise known as Easy Comfort Food Stew

Option #1: Up until now, this is a vegan recipe (if you've used vegetable broth or water). If that's not your thing, you can add meat (my husband likes chicken).

Option #2: Spice it up with 1 tsp (or more) turmeric powder.

Option #3: Bonus health points if you add fresh greens! I like basil, but just about any green, including carrot greens, can work great here.

Turn on the Instant Pot to your "Stew" setting and set it for 15 minutes. We used the quick release function at the end, and it turned out perfectly! Add seasonings to taste, if need be, but I like it just as it is. If it's too thick for your liking, you can always add more water.

Serves four adults.

Be well!

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