A Squirrel in the Kitchen

Reverse Hashimoto's autoimmune disease

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The Healing Kitchen by Sarah Ballantyne and Alaena Haber – Giveaway!

Struggling with AIP?

The Healing Kitchen - Review and GiveawaySarah Ballantyne, aka The Paleo Mom, and Alaena Haber, from Grazed and Enthused have teamed up to bring you the latest AIP cookbook called The Healing Kitchen: 175+ Quick & Easy Paleo Recipes to Help You Thrive.  The intent behind this dynamic duo’s collaboration was to offer people suffering from an autoimmune disease the means to change their life for the better.  And they delivered!  Alaena and Sarah are both savvy AIP cooks and they have spared no effort to bring you this formidable resource to help you transform your kitchen into a healing kitchen!

My first reaction when I got a review copy of The Healing Kitchen was WOW! REALLY? The fresh and colorful cover immediately drew me in and my eyes were hungrily roving over the delicious and abundant display of AIP foods.  And this cake on the forefront, oooh yummy!  Once you open the cookbook and dive in, you will be delighted by the selection of quick and easy recipes at your fingertip.

THE HEALING KITCHEN 1000-63 (1)My personal favorite is the breakfast section.  Breakfast is notoriously the most difficult meal to tackle for AIP beginners, but it doesn’t have to be that way.  And the collection of breakfast options in The healing Kitchen is seriously tempting.  We are talking smoothies, patties, sausages, biscuits and gravy, pancakes, porridge, n’oatmeal, casseroles, and skillets.

Here are the key points that make The Healing Kitchen so special:

  1. Over 175 delicious recipes using healing foods that can be easily found at most grocery stores.  Each recipe is simple and quick to make.
  2. Twelve one-week meal plans with shopping lists.
  3. Two batch-cooking meal plans with step-by-step instructions and videos!
  4. Over 100 pages of introductory material easy to understand and clearly organized, including “yes” and “no” food lists, and tips for shopping on a budget.
  5. Lots of beautiful pictures and cool infographics!

The_Healing_Kitchen_illustrations-12And now a little something fun!  I have asked Sarah and Alaena to give us 3 fun facts about themselves, as well as their #1 advice for people starting the AIP diet.  Here is what they had to say!

Sarah_funfacts

Alaena_funfacts

To wrap up this review, here is a delicious and creative recipe from The Healing Kitchen!  Enjoy!

Sample recipe: Toasted Coconut Cream Pops

Toasted coconut cream popsMakes 4 pops | Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 5 minutes | Freeze Time: 4 hours | Total Time: 4 hours 10 minutes

 Ingredients:
1 (14-ounce) can coconut cream (see Tip below)
2 tablespoons honey
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lay the coconut on a rimmed baking sheet in a thin layer. Toast for 4 to 5 minutes, until very lightly browned. Watch it carefully, as coconut can burn quickly.
2. Reserve 3 tablespoons of the toasted coconut and pour the rest into a blender with the remaining ingredients. Blend for 15 seconds until a thick, slightly grainy mixture forms.
3. Pour immediately into the desired molds. The reserved toasted coconut can be added to either the top, middle, or bottom of the molds. Freeze until solid, 3 to 4 hours.
4. To remove the pops from the molds, run the molds briefly under warm water until the pops loosen from the sides. The pops are extra creamy when left out at room temperature for a few minutes before serving.
Tip
If you can’t find canned coconut cream, place 3 (13.5-ounce) cans of full-fat coconut milk in the refrigerator overnight. Carefully open the cans and scoop out the thick cream that has risen to the tops of the cans. Avoid purchasing cream of coconut, which tends to be sweetened. I prefer the Savoy and Aroy-D brands of coconut milk and coconut cream.
Make Ahead
Complete Step 1 up to 2 weeks in advance. Store the cooled toasted coconut in a plastic bag at room temperature until ready to use.
Storage
Store in the molds in the freezer for up to 6 months.

The giveaway is closed. Congratulations to Erin J., you are the winner!

Alaena and Sarah have graciously agreed to give away a print copy of their new cookbook “The Healing Kitchen: 175+ Quick & Easy Paleo Recipes to Help You Thrive” to one lucky reader! To enter the giveaway, subscribe to my newsletter and leave a note here in the comments to let me know you have done so.  Please note that you have to confirm your subscription in order to enter the giveaway.  Let me know also if you found this review helpful!  That’s it!  This contest is open to US domestic participants only.  The winner will be chosen randomly and will be announced on Wednesday January 27, 2016. Good luck everyone! 
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above may be “affiliate links or Amazon affiliate links”. This means that if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Reader Interactions

Comments

  5. Subscribed, and what a great review! I’ll have to make the coconut cream pops for my family this weekend. 🙂

    Reply

  8. I love the recipes I’ve seen from this book so far. Also very excited for the intro. information! Thanks for doing this review!

    (I’m a subscriber to your newsletter!)

    Reply

  23. I have subscribed and also love following you on Facebook. I seriously don;t know how I could have done AIP without bloggers like you, Aleana, Micky and Sarah. Thank you, thank you!!!!

    Reply

  24. Thanks for the review…I am very interested in the new book as I’ve just started AIP. Just subscribed to your newsletter…

    Reply

  25. subscribed! I’m apart of the Colorado Aip group! I love following you on Facebook. thank you for all your info, AIP can be hard!

    Reply

  26. I didn’t even *realize* you had a newsletter ’til now, and just subscribed (though I think I follow you everywhere else it’s possible…). 🙂 Thank you for reviewing the book and posting a recipe, too.

    Reply

  29. I’ve been subscirbed to your newsletter for awhile now. I enjoy getting it. Thanks for the giveaway. This book has been on my want list!

    Reply

  38. I’ve been following your email subscription for some time now, you have fantastic resources, great recipes. Thank you so much! Looking forward to check out this book.

    Reply

  39. I have been a fan of Sarah for awhile now and have just discovered Alaena. This must be an awesome cookbook. I’m excited to have the chance at winning it.

    Reply

  44. Sophie — I am already a subscriber and enjoy your newsletter. The Healing Kitchen would be a wonderful addition to my AIP arsenal!

    Reply

  49. Being new to the whole AIP concept I have subscribed and found your blog, recipes and book review(s) very helpful and inspiring Thanks for letting us know that you can you can still have flavour and meals with friends when embarking on the AIP journey – and that I’m not alone!

    Reply

  55. I’m new to AIP and love your blog and definitely like to have a copy of this new cookbook. Subscribed and confirmed.

    Reply

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