¼ cup water
1 onion
2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
4 cups peeled and chopped butternut squash
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground coriander
4 cups vegetable broth
½ cup almond butter
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp braggs liquid aminos
½ tsp crushed red pepper
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

Pre-preparations include peeling and chopping the butternut squash, so it’s assumed that part is already completed. Place the water into a large pot. Add the onion and garlic and cook stirring frequently for about 2 minutes.

Add the squash, cumin and coriander. Cook stirring frequently for another 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the remaining ingredients except the cilantro and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes or until squash is tender, stirring occasionally to make sure ingredients are well combined.

Puree in a blender, Vitamix or food processor. Add any additional water so that it’s at a consistency that you like. Garnish with cilantro before serving.

A common practice with any soup is to make a double batch of it and freeze the left over portions for another day.

Options:

I like this soup recipe quite spicy, so frequently add cayenne pepper, fresh ground black pepper and a very special Habanero oil garlic sauce I have access to here locally. Ginger would also add a nice kick in the colder fall and winter months. Experiment with your flavors. Turmeric would be a great addition to this recipe as well.

If you like, add 2 Tbsp of ground chia seeds before blending for additional fiber, nutrients and Omega 3 fat’s.

Coconut flour is gluten free, high in fiber and low in carbohydrates. 5 Tablespoons of coconut flour has 30 grams of carbohydrates to it’s 27 grams of fiber resulting in 3 net carbs. It’s slightly sweet too, so the bread is more of a heavy high protein compliment to a soup rather than for use with sandwich meats.

How To Make Coconut Flour Bread

This is so drop dead simple, even the worst cooks can make this at home. It uses 4 ingredients, 2 of which are from coconuts.

6 eggs
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cup coconut flour

Ideally you’d want to use pasture eggs from your local farmer rather than supermarket eggs because of the improved nutritional profile pasture eggs have. Do what you have to do though.

Mix all ingredients together and pour into a small bread pan wiped down with a little coconut oil.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Empty the bread out onto a towel or plate and leave it to cool for a while. Lining the bread pan with a little coconut oil should make the job easier.

Because the bread is so dense, it doesn’t rise very high as you can see in the picture. When you prepare your bread pan with the oil, pay attention to the bottom portions of the pan.

I shared my 6 egg omelet recipe through a tweet and then thought I should share the images I took a few months back while I made it one morning. These were originally uploaded to facebook and taken with my blackberry, so excuse the quality. I’ll replace them with higher quality images later.

How Many Eggs Is Normal?

So what’s considered the normal amount of eggs to consume in a day? Each of us should have our own definition of normal as @ink_slinger asked. And that’s just it isn’t it. We now know that eggs are good for us, that the “cholesterol confusion” around them has been solved and that eggs do not raise cholesterol and are not a cause for concern at all.

Eggs are finally getting the respect they deserve, yet some still fear consuming them.

Are they only for weight lifters, sports enthusiasts, people who exercise hard?

Or can egg consumption actually help people lose weight, make them feel better and improve their health?

again, depending on how you were brought up, how your eggs are produced (or where), egg consumption can have different impacts.

I remember reading a story about an interviewer asking a man who had lived to be 100 years old about his habit of consuming up to 40 eggs a day. He responded “I never thought twice about it”.

It’s just an egg. It’s the most bio adaptable source of protein for the human body and it’s what all other proteins are compared to when describing their quality.

Regardless of what your take is on this whole question, here is my 6 egg omelet recipe.

Fresh Greens Fried In Coconut Oil

I begin with slicing and dicing onion, red, yellow or orange peppers, broccoli (about a cup), 2 kale leaves de-stemmed and cut into small pieces and then fry them a little in coconut oil. Near the end, I might put a little water in the middle and then cover it with a lid to steam it a bit at the end. Fresh mushrooms would be good to add here too, I just use mushrooms as often as I should.

Add 6 Eggs To Greens

I put in another little drizzle of coconut oil and then either beat 6 whole eggs ahead of time and pour in, or just crack them individually over the mixture. I make a “mans omelet”, with none of that fancy steaming or whatever. I just scramble them up and let them cook, turning them over once, little pieces at a time. I don’t bother with a one off “flip” of the omelet. Too much trouble. At this point, I grind some black pepper over it, along with sea salt and sprinkle on a good amount of cayenne pepper. Pepper and Cayenne help to perk up the metabolism as well. Nice little weight loss tip.

Topped With Raw Spinach

I add a big heaping bunch of raw spinach. Can you have too much spinach on your omelet? I think not. Pile it high on half of the cooked eggs and get ready to fold the other half over.

Finished Omelet

Here it is done, with the other half of the omelet flipped up over the spinach.

I would then add various versions of hot sauces to this and might even add another side of steamed asparagus or more broccoli. The whole thing is then washed down with chia gel and I’m set for my morning.

So what’s your take on this question? How many eggs should be consumed in a day? I’d love to hear your responses.

Rob’s Carrot Kale Cocktail with Chia seed

I have a drink I liked to call Rob’s Carrot Kale Cocktail which was basically just a special concoction I made up in a blender but it’s now morphed into this wonderful drink that also contains nut milk and chia seed. It’s still Rob’s Carrot Kale C,ocktail, but it’s version 2.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup of sunflower seeds – pre soaked
10 to 15 almonds – pre soaked
1 carrot
1 kale leaf
a little parsley
1 or 2 Tbsp Chia seeds (see note)
1 tsp Dark maple syrup or a little stevia

Preparation: Soak 1/4 cup of sunflower seeds and 10 to 15 almonds in water overnight to activate the seeds.

Make the nut milk:
Pour off the soak water and put sunflower seeds and almonds into blender cup.
Add a cup of distilled water.
Blend.

I prefer the Magic Bullet because of it’s unique blending format which forces the liquid down onto the blades. Blend for about a minute or two. Add another cup of water to thin it out a little more. I find that blending in less water allows all the seeds to hit the blades more effectively.

Add a Tablespoon or two of chia seeds, stir into nut milk and allow 5 minutes for the nut milk gel (chia gel) to set up.

Make the Carrot Kale Cocktail
While the nut milk gel is setting up, cut the carrot into small bits so it doesn’t break the blender. De-stem the Kale and cut leaves into small bits (about an inch or so, just so it blends a bit better)

Put the carrot parts into the nut milk. Blend again until carrots are fully mixed in.

Add Kale and parsley, Blend again.

Taste.

If required, go ahead and add a tsp of Dark maple syrup for flavor. Maple syrup is optional. I suggest dark maple syrup because it has more minerals in it. Stevia may also be used. Taste it first though, you might find you like it just the way it is.

Note: Chia seeds will really gel this up if you use too much. Play with the amount of seeds to the amount of water. You should be able to sip it, not have to spoon it out.

Fiber Content:
The nut milk itself will provide a few grams of fiber. So will the chia seeds, so I’d approximate the fiber in this to be at least 5 grams (or more).

Blended salads are a great way to add nutrient dense foods to your day, as a mid afternoon snack, a post workout supplement or added to a meal instead of other beverages. Kale is a nutrient powerhouse – one of the preferred dark leafy green vegetables. Carrots add important vitamin A while the chia seeds add so much to the mix and slow down the absorption of it all keeping you full. Chia also provides important Omega 3 fats. The nuts and seeds of course provide protein, fats, fiber and many minerals.