GHCL Blog Articles

How to Make Blanched Almond Flour For Cookies & Other Recipes

Blanching almonds is really simple to do, which I discovered recently when I wanted to make some cookies that didn’t have wheat flour.

I had almond MEAL on hand, but the recipe called for blanched almond flour and I know that the meal is rougher due to the skin being part of it… so I wanted to use ‘flour’ made from blanched almonds.

Thankfully I had a small bag of almonds stored in the fridge!

So, here’s what I did to make my blanched almond flour…

So, What Exactly Does It Mean to Eat Clean?

By GHCL

There was a time when I didn’t know exactly what that meant either. It seemed kinda… complicated.

But one day a friend pointed out to me that I DID, indeed, know what it meant to eat clean and that I had actually DONE it.

When she said that, of course I was like, “Huh??”

She went on to tell me that, because I was a raw fooder at one point, I was already eating clean!

Then the light bulb went off.

“OHHH… now I get it!”

But the clean eating I was doing at the time was actually taken a step further than what it tends to mean to most people nowadays because, I wasn’t even COOKING the food!

That’s a whole other conversation for another day, though. Anyway…

So, What Exactly DOES It Mean to Eat Clean?

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Getting Over That Holiday Sugar Hangover

By GHCL

Last year, Thanksgiving & Christmas were great! You and your loved ones shared lots of good food, laughter, and fun.

And after dinner came the desserts – pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie, apple pie, two or three types of cake, banana pudding, and more! You ate and ate until you had to undo your pants, lie back and take a lil’ food coma-induced nap.

Yep, it was a good day.

But the day after Thanksgiving? Probably not so good, huh?

Super groggy, terrible headache, and just wanting to stay in bed the entire day – coupled with the overwhelming “obligation” to do it all over again with the leftovers.

I know the feeling as it happened to me too.

I didn’t know what the hell was going on, but all I kept thinking was, “I feel hungover.”

The first thought that popped in my mind was that I had a sugar hangover, but wasn’t sure if that was an actual thing, so I googled it and, sure enough, it WAS!

Tips To Stay Fit During The Holidays And Still Enjoy Your Food

By GHCL

As you know, we have a couple of holidays coming up here in the states that are HEAVY on the eats.

And with that comes packin’ on the pounds.

If you’ve been doing a good job so far keeping your weight down, you don’t wanna sabotage all your efforts but at the same time, you don’t want some ‘ole watered down, bland, fake versions of your favorite dishes either.

Naw, you wanna THROW DOWN and I don’t blame you one bit!

So, how can you stay fit during the holidays and still be able to enjoy your food?

By doing what a personal trainer once told me…

EARN that shit!

Breakfast Meal Prep Ideas For The Week: Frozen Omelet Fixins

By GHCL

Inside: Here’s a great breakfast meal prep idea if you make omelets and wish you could just whip up your eggs without the hassle of chopping up the veggies or pre-frying the meat.

There was a time when we (my hubby, youngest daughter and I) were all on an ‘omelet kick’… couldn’t get enough of ’em.

But UGH… having to chop up all the stuff and fry up the ham, sausage and bacon every single time was making me not wanna make them. (Yeah, yeah, yeah… I’m lazy sometimes.)

So I wondered…

“Hmmm… can I just PRE-chop and PRE-cook all this stuff and then freeze it for whenever I want an omelet?”

I didn’t do it right then and there, but one day I finally decided to go for it and it worked like a charm!

How to Pre-Prep Your Omelet Fixins

Gather up all of your usual add-ins: onions, green peppers, mushrooms (yuck),b etc.

1. Chop up your veggies and sauté them in butter or light oil til they’re translucent.

2. If you’re using sausage, fry it up “ground beef style” (crumbles). I also added some ham that I chopped up, but that’s optional.

3. Allow the food to cool off a bit, then grab some small sandwich bags and put a scoop of each ingredient into the bags, seal them up, then put THOSE bags into a slightly bigger freezer bag and pop it into the freezer.

Easy peasy!

So now you’re wondering…

How Did it Turn Out When it Came Time to Use it?

It turned out great!

I warmed up my pan, added some butter, and then put the frozen clump of meat and veggies into the pan with just a splash of water. I allowed it to thaw right in the pan, from the heat.

Naturally, you can also set the bag of fixins out to thaw on the counter, but who wants to wait on that?

Or, you can take a bag out the night before and put into the fridge to thaw overnight… whatever works for YOU!

Once thawed, just stir it around and allowed it to heat while you whip up your eggs.

I generally just pour the eggs on top, sprinkle with some cheese and cook it up! I’m not all too fancy with making omelets that fold, although I CAN do that… I just choose to keep it simple and quick as possible!

And it was delicious! One would never know the meat and veggies had been frozen and it was quick to make!

An Added Benefit of Pre-Freezing Omelet Fixins

One thing I love is the fact that, NOW veggies don’t have to end up sitting in the fridge and going bad, simply because we didn’t eat omelets often or fast enough!

I’m sure you know how spinach can get after a few days… green slime CITY, right?

But now, you can buy any combination of omelet veggies you want, chop ’em up ahead of time and freeze them, along with any meat you want if you’re into meat, for omelets (or omelet breakfast bites) anytime!