Keeping it Simple (& Child Friendly) in the Kitchen

Courtney Snyder, MD

​Though steeped in nutrition professionally and personally, I don't like to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Most of what I prepare has very few ingredients, though the ingredients are whole (unprocessed).  And most of my food preparation has very few steps.  I'm hoping my culinary limitations, which I've honed over these past few years, will be useful to someone else.

Before getting into the below "recipes", I should add,
I believe...

• Eating is personal.  Food carries individual meanings for all of us.  We need to move beyond "good" and "bad."
• Sharing solid information about the relationship between food, nutrients, the micro-biome, and their relationship to inflammation in the body (and brain) have more impact than telling someone what to do.  
• There's not a perfect diet for everyone.  We're all different.  Some of us have difficulties regulating trace metals in food, some - methyl/folate imbalances, some (probably all of us) - imbalances in our gut flora, some - gastrointestinal candida/yeast overgrowth, some - histamine intolerance, some  - food allergies or food sensitivities.  Needless to say, the below recipes won't be for everyone.  
• Too, when it come to ingredients, we're all at a different places - ie. conventional, organic, grass fed, etc.  Start with what works for you at the moment.   There's no perfection here...or anywhere else for that matter.   
• Changing what we eat is a process, one that requires replacing food, not eliminating it.

​And lastly,
​I believe...

• Celtic sea salt is magic.  When asked, "What did you DO to this chicken"  My answer, "Salt....celtic sea salt."

My "must have" kitchen gadgets -

• a Nutribullet  or similar for making nut butters, nut or non-gluten grain flours, avocado dip, plantain tortilla chips.
• a dehydrator for drying nuts (I soak them first - for how and why to prepare nuts, see my Dec. 8th Facebook post)

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​All of these recipes are gluten free, all but one (the ranch dip) are casein free.  None of these recipes use grains (unless you replace nuts with gluten-free grains) and therefore would be relatively consistent with the GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) diet and the SCD (Specific Carbohydrate) diet - diets that avoid grains.  Many of these recipes would also work with a Paleo Autoimmune Diet and most, (except those with banana, honey or yogurt) would work for a candida/yeast free diet.

Chicken Wings

• spread out cut wings in glass pan
• sprinkle celtic sea salt & lemon juice (or Vitamin C powder)
• cook at 375F for 1 hr

Plantain "Tortilla Chips"

• 3 plantains, 2 T coconut oil & 1/4 tsp salt 
• process into a paste and spread thinly on parchment paper on baking sheet, use knife to make squares
• cook at 400 until crispy (25 min). 

Steamed Veggies

• put cut broccoli or whatever in metal strainer on top of pot filled with 2 in. water
• cover with lid
• boil water to steam as long as you want
• sprinkle with salt & lemon juice (or not)

Apple Crisp

• peel, slice & add cinnamon & lemon juice to 6 green apples.
• put in glass square pan with sm. pieces of butter/ghee - 2T
• sprinkle clumpy mixture of ground pecans, butter, cinnamon, salt and stevia (to taste)
• cook at 350 covered for 30 min, uncovered for 15 more

Carmel Candy

• stir 1 C butter & 1 C honey constantly over medium heat (it will come to a rolling boil)
• Stir for 10 minutes
• pour into glass pan(s), cool at room temp, cut into small pieces

Wrap Ups

• serve large pieces of lettuce with:
• small bowls of ground meat, diced or roasted chicken, chopped hard boiled eggs, tomato, cucumber scallions, avocado, ranch or avocado dip

Roasted Chicken

• whole chicken in crock pot
• celtic sea salt & pepper (on it)
• cook - high setting 6 hrs

Chicken Soup/ Broth

• 3 leg with thigh pieces in lg. pot
• cover with water
• celtic sea salt & pepper
• once boils, put to simmer - 2.5 hrs

Chicken "Noodle" Soup

• Add spagetti squash to chicken soup (remove bones if you don't like a big leg bone in your soup)

Vegetable Soup

• add garlic and cut veggies (leak, carrots, broccoli, zucchini, etc.) bring to boil and simmer for 25-30 minutes

Bread/Muffins

• Mix 3 C ground nuts, 1/4 C soft butter or coconut oil, 4 eggs, 1/4 tsp salt
• Cook in greased loaf pan or at 300 for 1 hr
• Last night I ground quinoa and millet into flour to use instead of nut flour and added an extra egg and it worked.  

"Spagetti" (Squash)

• cut off stem end & then cut in half
• scoop out seeds
• cook face down on baking sheet at 375 for 25 min. or until fork just pushes through skin

Meat Balls

• mix ground meat, egg, celtic sea salt, garlic*
• make into balls
• cook in covered skill with broth or water
• cook uncovered to brown outside

Spagetti Sauce

• Simmer tomatoessalt, garlic (granules or minced), oregano, basil, butter/ghee/olive oil in pan on stove top for as long as you want

Broiled Veggies 

• put diced butternut squash, onion & green apple  OR cauliflower and orange pepper or asparagus on baking sheet,
• sprinkle with olive or coconut oil, salt and pepper
• push around periodically
• cook at 375 until it's how you like it

Banana Bread

• Do bread recipe over there​<<<<
• add in 2 mashed bananas, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/3 cup honey or less and/or add stevia to taste. 

Cookies

• Mix 1 cup pecan butter, 1 egg, pinch of salt, stevia or honey to taste
• cook at 350 for about 10 min

Ranch Dip

• Whole yogurt
• Mix in celtic sea salt, garlic granules, onion granules and pepper to taste
• serve with cut cold veggies, diced chicken or wrap ups or use as a salad dressing.

Avocado Dip

• avocado, lemon juice or Vit. C powder & celtic sea salt
• blend in processor
• serve with diced chicken, cold cut veggies or with cubed chicken breast

Cubed Chicken for Dipping

• cook diced white meat, little butter/ghee & celtic sea in skillet until brown (may cover initially to get inside cooked
• serve with avocado or ranch dip

Fries

• Cut sweet potato, rutabaga or butternut squash into sticks.
• Cook at 375 on baking sheet with 1 Tb coconut oil & salt until crispy.  Toss periodically.

Pancakes/Waffles

• mix 3/4 C nut butter, 1/2 C pureed zucchini/other squash/plantain, 3 eggs & salt to taste (add more eggs if want thinner)
• cook in skillet in butter/ghee/coconut oil

Lemon Ice

• lemon juice & a little stevia over ice cubes
• blend with Nutri-bullet into a snow consistency

​After each of these, I would add..."or something like that."   Use these as ideas, experiment and make them your own.  

 
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