Easter Macaroon Thumbprints

Breathtaking. Have you ever just stopped to take in beautiful scenery and thought to yourself, "just breathtaking." Most often cameras can't capture these moments, but I tried this morning.

I am sitting here at my parents kitchen table in the mountains at 7:05AM looking out at the most beautiful sunrise. I usually love to sleep in on Saturdays when I am not running, but something got me up early this morning so that I could come out and watch the sun come up. In the winter, the trees are bare, and we have the most amazing view of mountain landscape. Perfect for early sunrise watching :) I often find myself doing this at the beach as well, my body clock just wakes up and grabs a camera. 

Easter Baskets

After the mini photo shoot, I grabbed something sweet! I made Coconut Macaroon Thumbprints with Raspberry Chia Seed Jam from Oh She Glows for Easter and my Mom's birthday. They were delicious and the perfect Easter "basket" for my gluten free belly :)

I didn't have coconut butter, so just used regular butter instead, and they were still fantastic. I also reduced the amount of maple syrup in mine since I don't like them as sweet, but that is all personal. I made the raspberry chia seed jam ahead of time, so that I could throw the cookies together very quickly. They take a long time to cook, but only about 5 minutes to prepare.

The recipe yielded about a dozen cookies and plenty of leftover jam, which I have been enjoying in smoothies!

I also conversed with Angela at Oh She Glows and she informed me that the jam could be made with any fruit really, it just might need a quick run through the food processor before adding on the cookies. Chia jam - what a great idea Angela!

Hop on over to Oh She Glows for the Coconut Macaroon Thumbprints with Raspberry Chia Seed Jam. They are the jam :)

Happy Easter!

Sriracha Shrimp with Zoodles

Ok, get ready folks, for a blow-your-mind awesome dish. Apparently I have a thing with making vegetable noodles lately (spaghetti squash noodles). I have to give credit to my mom on this one though, she came across a recipe that spiraled zucchini to resemble spaghetti noodles. We rolled with this and started coming up with different ways to incorporate the now-called "zoodles."

Gluten Free Can Be Done

When is the warm weather going to get here!! I love fall and winter produce, but I am ready for green and a change of ingredients. Since I am so impatient, I am going to start posting some recipes so when the produce starts popping up, we will be ready to cook!

Dishes like this one make gluten free very doable. I was so worried that when I made the decision to cut out gluten from my diet that I was going to have to either cook two meals, or eat carrots and celery for dinner while I drool over Ryan's pasta with clam sauce! 

Despite my fears, my brave husband came to the rescue and agreed to try anything I would be willing to make (within reason of course). And BAM!! A new compromise was born in the Kettler Kitchen...coming up with new gluten free recipes that Ryan will enjoy. 

The only tricky step is making the zucchini noodles, or "zoodles." However, there are several tools (across all price ranges) that make this much easier:

• mandolin slicer with a julienne setting
• vegetable spiral
• julienne peeler

Besides being quick, healthy and gluten free, the leftovers can easily be turned into tacos! Who doesn't love shrimp tacos?!?! The recipe could actually start out as spicy shrimp and zucchini tacos using corn tortillas, and no one would even pay attention to the gluten free status.

Sriracha Shrimp with Zoodles (with Taco Option)

Yields: 4 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Adapted from Kitchen Confidante: Spicy Shrimp with Zucchini Noodles recipe

6 medium zucchini or yellow squash
1 tsp salt
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails on
1 T olive oil
1 shallot, finely sliced
2 T sriracha sauce
1 T tomato paste
1 tsp brown sugar
2 T butter
salt and pepper
fresh basil, thinly sliced
Turn them into tacos:
corn tortillas
avocado, sliced

Prep all ingredients before starting as this recipe goes quickly!

Julienne the zucchini into very thin strands like noodles. It is easiest to do this with a mandolin or spiraling tool. If not, a $10 julienne slicer does the trick also. Try to avoid using the seeded center of the zucchinis as they don’t hold up as well. Lay the “zoodles” out on paper towels and sprinkle with about 1 teaspoon of salt.

Boil a large pot of water and add in a pinch of salt. Blanche the zucchini noodles for 1 minute, reserve 1 cup of the water and drain water and noodles quickly. 

In a small bowl, mix the Sriracha, tomato paste, brown sugar, salt and pepper together. 

Warm the olive oil over medium heat in a large saute pan. Saute the shallots until just translucent and stir in the Sriracha mixture. Add in the prepared shrimp and saute for a few minutes until barely pink (careful as the Sriracha mixture will pop in the hot pan). Stir in the butter and ⅓ cup reserved water and stir until the butter has just melted and creates a sauce. Place the shrimp on top of the zucchini noodles on each plate and top with the pan sauce. Garnish with fresh herbs.

Turn them into tacos!

Warm the corn tortillas slightly in the microwave and place zucchini noodles on the tortillas, avocado slices, 2-3 shrimp and drizzle with pan sauce. Top with favorite cheese or plain Greek yogurt.

Healing Vegetable Soup

There is nothing worse than being sick, except maybe when your spouse is also sick. Ryan and I spent the better half of the nasty, rainy, cold weekend fighting coughs and colds. We certainly took it easy most of the weekend, but did muster the strength to whip up some home remedies to fight our illnesses.

Warm water with lemon and honey is my go-to for coughs and colds for several reasons. First, you need tons of liquids when you are sick to flush out all the crap in your system. Secondly, you need vitamin C to boost your immune system and fight the illness. The honey is just a nice addition to the warm water :)

Anti-inflammatory remedies are also very important for illness, especially for people with autoimmune diseases like Crohn's. I find the best way to accomplish this is with a Healing Vegetable Soup.

I like to add two essential anti-inflammatory ingredients to my soups when I am sick. Both of these should actually be incorporated into a daily diet - turmeric and cayenne.

Turmeric and Cayenne

Turmeric is a plant in the ginger family and usually presents itself in a bright orange-yellow powder form. It is a key ingredient in many Asian dishes and often used for medicinal purposes due to its anti-inflammatory properties. The active ingredient in turmeric is curcumin, which has been linked to fighting off colds and breaking down mucus congestion. I started taking turmeric/curcumin supplements about a month ago as another anti-inflammatory vitamin to help prevent my flare-ups. So far, so good!

Cayenne, a hot red chili pepper, is another wonder-spice that I always include in my daily diet. I actually have this in the morning with warm water and fresh lemon for a daily liver cleanse. Cayenne is also an anti-inflammatory spice that has many, many other health benefits. Check out this list of 17 Health Benefits of Cayenne Pepper. This also adds a bit of spice to the soup, which helps break up congestion.

Hopefully, you don't get a cold or cough, but if you do, there are many things you can do besides revert to DayQuil (which for me, never really works).

Ryan and I certainly are on the mend AND enjoying some delicious soup leftovers!!

Healing Vegetable Soup

Yields: 6 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

2 shallots, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 large carrots, peeled and diced

2 celery stalks, diced

2 T butter

½ tsp cayenne

½ tsp turmeric

½ dried Italian herbs

¼ tsp dried tarragon

salt and pepper

6 cups chicken broth (or vegetable for vegetarian version)

1 bay leaf

Parmesan rind

2 parsnips, peeled and diced (about 1 cup)

1 cup frozen peas (or snap peas, chopped)

Brown rice, cooked

Plain Greek yogurt for garnish

Fresh chives for garnish

Put on the brown rice to cook if not prepared already. 

Start by chopping all of the vegetables and aromatics. Warm a large soup pot over medium heat and melt the butter. Saute the shallots, garlic, carrots and celery for about 5-7 minutes or until starting to soften. Stir in the cayenne, turmeric, herbs, tarragon, salt and pepper and cook another 2 minutes until very fragrant. Pour in the chicken broth and add the bay leaf and Parmesan rind, then bring to a slight boil. Stir in parsnips and peas and cook for 15 minutes or until parsnips are cooked through and soft.

Serve with a small scoop of brown rice, yogurt and chives.