I have to confess… for everything else I do that is natural and organic, I was late on getting on the cloth diapering bandwagon… and I’m kicking myself for it now.

For our first two children, I used disposables and didn’t think anything of it. I thought cloth diapering was a thing that our mothers and grandmothers did because they didn’t have a choice, and the horror stories of wringing out diapers in the toilet and endless loads of laundry had no appeal to me!

A couple years and a couple kids later, I decided to revisit the diapering subject, at the suggestion of some close friends (thanks ladies!).

I quickly found out that:

• There are now MUCH better options for cloth diapering that when our mothers and grandmothers were doing it
• There are a LOT of chemicals in traditional diapers (what… you think that magic gel stuff that absorbs 100 times its weight in urine is natural?)
• Cloth diapers (even the top of the line ones) save money, especially if you have more than one child.
• Cloth diapering can actually be easy!
• The new cloth diapers are CUTE!
• They actually leak much less than disposables. I’ve only had a couple of leaks in the 7 months I’ve been cloth diapering our youngest, and no outfits ruined by yellow baby poop!
• There are a lot of brands of diapers that can fit baby from birth to potty training, so it saves space too!
• They hold their value, so you can actually sell them when you are done with them if you take good care of them.

Somewhat hesitantly, I decided to try cloth diapering and quickly found that I LOVE it!

I’m certainly not an expert (though maybe some of my friends who are vetrans will offer some advice in the comments section) but I’ve found a few tips that have helped along the way. If you haven’t considered cloth diapering, I’d definitely recommend looking into it!

The Benefits

From a financial perspective, I’ve read that each child costs about $2,000 to diaper and can contribute about 600,000 diapers to the landfills. You can get a couple dozen really high quality (even organic) cloth diapers for under $500 and they can last through several children if you take care of them.

If money is really tight, it is even possible to completely cloth diaper from birth to potty training for around $100 (some people spend that a month for disposables!)

Another huge benefit that I’ve noticed is that my kids who I’ve cloth diapered have gotten NO diaper rashes, which even with a good diet, were a regular thing with disposables. With my first baby, I found within a week that Huggies diapers created an awful rash, and most generic brands did too… Pampers were ok, but of course, more expensive.

One downside is that you can’t use diaper cream (unless you make it yourself) with cloth diapers, but I haven’t needed it!

For my 7 month old, I can put double liners in her diaper and she can go all night without it leaking and without it irritating her skin…

Another benefit is that children often potty train earlier in cloth diapers because (a) they are more aware of the wetness and connect the sensation faster and (b) mom gets tired of washing out the diapers and is more motivated to potty train (ahem…).

For all the benefits, the one thing that actually convinced me to cloth diaper, was this…

See, as much as I understood the benefits and how much healthier cloth diaper are… I knew that about the time that the poop really started to get nasty and needed to be washed out in the toilet… I’d probably be pregnant.

And morning sickness combined with sticking my hands in the toilet to wring out diaper…. not happening.

This diaper sprayer is what actually convinced me to cloth diaper. Basically, it is a sprayer that hooks into the clean water supply on your toilet (before it goes into the toilet!) and uses a high powered stream of water to clean the diaper without you touching any poop.

I also found out that if you are exclusively breastfeeding, you don’t even have to wash out the diapers (even poop!) at all until you start giving baby solids.

The biggest benefit, in my opinion, is that you are reducing baby’s exposure to chemicals. Disposables are plastic and contain chlorine, polyacrylate, and other chemicals that haven’t been proven safe for use on anyone, especially babies!

There is also a growing movement back to cloth diapering and a ton of support. If you don’t have local friends who are cloth diapering and can lend support like I do, there are online support communities like Diaper Pin and others, where you can find reviews, laundry help, special offers, and even people selling their gently used cloth diapers.

Our Setup

There are as many ways to cloth diaper as there are types of cloth diapers.

We have a mix of bumGenius, Fuzzibunz and GroBabys (aren’t those names cute too?). I love the simplicity of the GroBabys but they leak a lot more. Over all, I prefer the bumGenius and Fuzzibunz, and have about 2 dozen, which is enough for 2 kids if I wash every other day (which i highly recommend!)

I use a plain plastic trash can for the wet/dirty diapers. Sometimes I use an old pillowcase as a liner (it gets washed with the diapers) and sometimes I just put them directly in.

I don’t cover the trash can, or put any kind of liquid in it, though many people have special covers or a liquid method. I’ve never had much trouble with smell this way, but it definitely is a matter or personal taste.

I use homemade disposable wipes  (omit the almond/olive oil) or use my homemade wipe solution on cloth baby wipes (baby washcloths work great and you can usually find them at garage or consignment sales).

To launder: I use a 1/2 cup baking soda in a cold pre-wash cycle that I let soak for 30 minutes. I then use a natural detergent like Rockin Green or Charlie’s soap, or my own soap (alternate) to wash. Occasionally, I use Dr. Bronners Sal Suds to strip the diapers.

Typically, I run another cool rinse cycle at the end to make sure all the detergent is out.

I run the liners through the dryer and hang the covers (outside in the summer, inside in the winter) to extend the life of the elastic.

For stains, the sun (summer especially) is great at bleaching! As soon as our dog isn’t quite so much of a teething puppy, I’ll be hanging them outside again.

Then, I just store the diapers in my little wooden crate (see above) and use like regular diapers. They work just like disposables, and are so much cuter! There are even artist series “designer” diapers and some are on sale right now.

Other Notes:

If you are considering cloth diapering, I’d encourage you to do your own research and find out what kind of diapers work best for your family.

I have a couple dozen that are mostly bumGenius and some Fuzzibunz (and a few Grobabys, which are now GroVias). You can buy them by the dozen and save a lot of money. You can even find organic all in-one diapers which are extremely easy to use and wash, and which will fit baby from birth to potty training!

I also really highly suggest a diaper sprayer since it will save you time and gross factor!

Some diapers even have flushable liners, so you can just dump them in the toilet and they are ready to wash.

If you haven’t considered cloth diapering, please at least look into it. It’s so much better for baby’s skin and isn’t really much extra work for you. I’m still new at it too, but we can learn together

What do you think? Ever tried it? Any veteran cloth diapering moms or dads out there? Please leave your advice and tips below!

After a lovely date with my husband on Wednesday night, I started to have a weird feeling in my stomach. I drank some Apple Cider Vinegar, which is my normal remedy for any kind of tummy troubles and the feeling went away… until 3 am.

At 3 am, I was awoken by that feeling of needing to vomit but not being able to. I spent the next few hours with horribly cramping stomach aches and awful nausea. Then the vomiting hit… and did it ever!

I’ll spare you the rest of the details, but basically, I couldn’t keep anything down, including water, for the next 8 hours and I had really bad stomach cramps, dizziness, chills, etc. In fact, I had every symptom under the definition of “Food Poisoning” on WebMD.

At some point Thursday afternoon when I was debating going to the hospital to get an IV so I would have some fluids to be able to nurse the baby, I remembered the vinegar and how it had helped for a few hours. I also remembered something I learned in a class long ago about activated charcoal being a fast remedy for food poisoning.

Figuring I had nothing to lose because I’d be heading to the hospital anyway if I couldn’t stop vomiting, I started slowly sipping a mixture of equal parts Apple Cider Vinegar and Water and chasing with 1/2 tsp activated charcoal mixed into applesauce.

Yes, it tasted awful. Vinegar was pretty much the last thing I wanted at that point and the charcoal in the applesauce looked like tar, but within a few minutes, I actually started to feel a lot better. (Apparently, this is a common remedy that works really well, according to this forum thread)

I took a few more doses of each, probably about 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar total and a few teaspoons of activated charcoal. I was still really tired that night and sore from the vomiting, but was back to normal the next day. From what I’ve read of food poisoning, it can last days or weeks, so I’m very grateful that the Vinegar and Charcoal worked.

I share this so that hopefully any of you who ever get food poisoning can do without the 8 hours of vomiting and just take these two right away. I will definitely be keeping both on hand at all times!

Quick Reference:

- At first signs of symptoms, take equal parts water (or juice) and apple cider vinegar (organic, with the mother!)

-In water or some kind of soft food, take 1/2 tsp or more of activated charcoal (or capsules if you can swallow them)

-Repeat until symptoms stop.

Ever had food poisoning? How did you recover?

Another simple and delicious crock pot drink recipe that is great for cold winter days or an easy drink during parties. If made with herbal or decaf tea, it is also wonderful for kids and the mix of spices is great for anyone who is sick or congested. Try this as a great break from coffee!

Healthy Chai Tea Latte Ingredients:

• 4 cups water
• 4 cups coconut milk (store bought or well-filtered homemade)
• 8 tea bags OR 1/2 cup loose leaf tea or herbal tea. I use Raspberry leaf.
• 1-2 tsp stevia leaf (I order from here) or stevia powder to taste
• 8 thin slices of fresh ginger root OR 1/2 tsp dried ginger root
• 6 cinnamon sticks
• 8-10 whole cloves or 1/4-1/2 tsp clove powder
• 2 cardamon pods (optional but really good)
• 1 teaspoon of real vanilla extract
• Optional: 1 Tablespoon chamomile flowers and 1/2 tsp dried fennel seeds

TIP: Put all loose spices and herbs in a reusable tea bag or cloth bag to make straining easier.

To Make:

1. Put milk and water in crock pot and add herbs and spices (I really suggest using a cloth bag or reusable tea bag)
2. Cook on high for 2-2.5 hours or on low for up to 6 (I’ve kept on low overnight)
3. Serve plain or topped with real whipped cream or the cream from a can of coconut milk. Can also be chilled and blended with ice and 2 TBSP coconut oil for an iced version!
4. Enjoy!

What is your hot drink of choice? Ever made it in a crock pot? Share!

This is probably my favorite crock pot experiment so far. I decided to try it when someone posted a recipe on Pinterest, but the link was broken so I had to try to figure it out myself.

This recipe is actually easier than cooking in the oven (unless you are making a really big cheesecake). If you are a cheesecake person, give this one a try!

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 1 cup of toasted almonds (unsalted) or pecans ground to a meal in a blender or food processor
• 2 TBSP coconut oil (or butter)
• 1 egg
• stevia to taste (optional)

Filling:

As we wrap up Crocktoberfest this week, I thought this easy recipe was appropriate. If you haven’t roasted a chicken in your crock pot yet… try it!

Not only is it the cheapest and easiest way I’ve found to make chicken, but you get a couple quarts of chicken broth from it too!

Ingredients and Tools:

• A whole chicken (Usually available for under $2/lb for even organic)
• 1 tbsp butter
• favorite herbs and spices (I add 1 tsp garlic granules or powder, 1 tsp sea salt, and about 1/2 tsp each of basil, oregano, thyme, and rosemary.)
• Crock Pot

How To Slow Cook a Chicken In the Crock Pot (Don’t blink or you’ll miss the instructions!)

1. Rinse chicken and make sure innards are removed.
2. Put butter in bottom or crock pot  and turn on low (butter is to prevent sticking, can use coconut oil).
3. Once butter melts, put chicken in crock pot (putting breast-down will make it cook faster)
4. Sprinkle with desired spices. (I’ve also heard of stuffing the chicken with an onion, apple or orange for more moistness and great flavor)
5. Put lid on and cook on low for 7-8 hours or until well cooked.

To Make Broth:

1. Remove chicken and pull meat off the bones but leave all the juices in the crock pot.
2. Put the bones back in the crock pot and add 1 small chopped onion, 2 ribs of celery, 1 chopped carrot and a little more sea salt.
3. Add 2-3 quarts of water (depending on what your’s will hold)
4. Cook on low overnight.
5. Strain bones and vegetables out.
6. Use within 3 days or freeze for later use.

Some other ideas for using your whole roasted chicken:

• Put a small colander on top of the chicken when almost done cooking and fill with veggies. It will steam them so you have the whole meal ready to serve.
• For the last few hours, put some medium sized sweet potatoes on top of the chicken and put the lid back on. Both will be ready for dinner.
• After making the broth, remove the bones, add some chicken back in along with a few cups of favorite veggies and you have an easy chicken soup (with tons of nutrients)

How do you cook a chicken? Do you make broth too? What’s your secret? Share below!

This is one of my favorite easy chicken recipes… In fact, it never lasts long enough to get a picture…

Bacon Apple Crock Pot Chicken Ingredients:

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (can also be done with a whole chicken or thighs)
• 2 apples- peeled, cored and grated
• 1 cup homemade barbecue sauce -or Mitch’s (sugar sweetened)  and Nature’s Hollow (xyitol sweetened) are both decent options if you don’t make your own
• 8 pieces of bacon

How To Make:

1. Wrap each piece of chicken in 2 pieces of bacon and place in bottom of crock pot.
2. Mix grated apple and barbecue sauce and pour over chicken.
3. Cook on low for 7-8 hours until done.
4. We enjoy with homemade cole slaw or sweet potatoes.

Ribs are one of those foods that always intimidated me, and while I liked them, I never  got brave enough to cook them for the first few years I was married. Then, one day, there was a huge sale on ribs at our local store, and having no better idea for dinner, I bought them. On the drive home, I realized that I didn’t have a grill at the time, so after some online research, a slow cooker recipe was born. It turned out great and we’ve been cooking this ever since!

This is one of several variations that I make, and it might be my favorite. Adjust spices and sweetener to fit your own taste…

Slow Cooker Ribs Ingredients

• 4 pounds of beef or pork ribs, cut every 3-4 ribs to fit in crock pot
• 1 teaspoon of chili powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder (or to taste)
• salt and pepper
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 1 15-ounce can of tomato sauce
• 1 6 ounce can of tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar
• 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce (make sure it’s grain free. I think Lea and Perrins is)
• 1/2 tsp liquid smoke (or more, to taste)
• 1/4 cup honey or molasses (optional)- can also use a dash of stevia

Slow Cooker Ribs Instructions

1. Dice the onion and place at the bottom of a crock pot (at least 6 quarts!)
2. Sprinkle the garlic and chili powders, salt and pepper on the ribs an put them in the crock pot also.
3. Mix the tomato sauce, tomato paste, vinegar, worcestershire, liquid smoke and sweetener if using and then pour evenly over the ribs.
4. Cover and cook on low for 8-6 hours or until tender.
5. Toss in sauce before serving.

I love coffee and nothing says Fall like pumpkins! Once upon a time I had a spiced pumpkin latte from Starbucks and it was wonderful but I can’t justify consuming that much sugar these days (much less paying $7 to consume that much sugar!)

Instead, I’ve been making this easy recipe that can be made stove-top or in a crock-pot (crock pot tastes better). It tastes very similar to the Starbucks version (from what I remember) but doesn’t need any sugar or added orange color.

As soon as I get this, I’ll be throwing this recipe in to make pumpkin ice cream…. I’ll let you know how it goes!

This recipe is Paleo/Primal friendly and definitely kid-approved. It can be halved to make a smaller batch or doubled/tripled for a festive party drink.

Spiced Pumpkin Latte Ingredients

• 4 cups of Unsweetened Coconut Milk (or 2 cans of coconut milk) [Note: If using homemade coconut milk, make extra thick and strain well for good flavor and texture]
• 1/4 cup canned pumpkin without added sugar
• 2 tablespoons of natural vanilla extract
• 1/2-1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice ( or 1/2 tsp cinnamon and a sprinkle of cloves and nutmeg)
• 1 cup of strong coffee or 3/4 cup espresso
• Heavy cream for whipping (optional) [note: can also use the cream that accumulates at the top of a can of coconut milk.

How to Make It:

1. Pour all ingredients except heavy cream into crock pot.
2. Use immersion blender or whisk to mix well.
3. Turn crock pot on high for 2 hours until hot and flavors are incorporated.
4. Whip cream in blender or by hand with a dash of vanilla and top lattes (optional)

Notes:

• This can also be heated on the stove top for a faster version, though the spices don’t incorporate as well and it tends to thicken.
• For times when you will want it out for longer than a couple of hours, just use the “low” or “keep warm” setting instead of high.
• If you are using canned pumpkin and won’t use the whole can, freeze the rest in ice cube trays and keep in a bag for future batches.
• The iced version is pretty good too

What’s your favorite fall drink? Share below!

I had another post scheduled for today, but after I got a magazine in the mail from our local hospital (that I have somehow been subscribed to) and visited a friend who had just had a baby in the hospital, this was on my mind.

The article above is from the magazine from our local hospital.  It is supposedly “Your guide to a balanced meal.”

I’ve included the text of the article in bold below with my (highly cynical) commentary after.

Chances are your dinner plate is shaped like a circle, not a triangle. So it makes sense to think of your family’s food choices as part of a circle too.

Ok, we can chalk up one true thing from this article. My dinner plate is indeed shaped like a circle. I wonder how many government dollars it took to figure that out. As for the whole food choices being a circle, it reminds me of something I’ve heard before about food choices… oh yeah… “cause its the circle, the circle of life” (from the Lion King).

That’s the practical idea behind the government’s new MyPlate icon, which replaces MyPyramid. With MyPlate, what you see in the icon directly relates to what you put on your plate.

Brilliant yet again! That old Food Pyramid (which gave King Tut Heart Disease) certainly was outdated and all of us dumb people lacking in government credentials couldn’t really figure out that you were just telling us to eat lots of carbs, some fruits and veggies and very little meat, fats, oils and sweets. Of course, since your health advice has been such a smashing success over the last few decades, I can see why you’d want to update it!

An Easier Way To Eat Healthy. MyPlate is a simple visual reminder to build yourself a healthy plate at mealtimes. For busy parents, it’s a quick and easy way to tell at a glance whether children are getting a balanced meal too. Just remember these basic rules of thumb:

-Make Half the plate fruits and vegetables -  heavier on the vegetables. Include red, orange and dark green veggies and colorful fruits.

One thing we agree on! Vegetables (and some fruits) are good and you should eat them. Of course, you guys lump potatoes (a tuber and a starch), corn (a grain) and even french fried into this category, but we agree there. Also, I’d suggest more like half the plate of green, leafy veggies and some fruits on top, but that’s a small point of difference (I say tomato, you say potato, but whatever).

Thank goodness all of us busy parents have you to help us figure out what is healthy for our kids. Without you, we might never figure out that feeding them McDonalds every day or letting them drink soda is not a good idea. What a relief!

-Make the other half grains and protein. Emphasize 100 percent whole grains, like whole grain breads, brown rice and pasta. Select fish and beans for some of your proteins, and when you pick poultry or meat as your protein food, chose lean cuts in small portions.

Great idea (sarcasm). We should certainly eat more grains than protein, since protein is only vital to hundreds of reactions in the body and is needed for cell growth and repair. Grains on the other hand… we need lots of those (sarcasm again!) to be healthy and get our fiber. We definitely shouldn’t worry about the fact that they are not nearly as nutritious as proteins, vegetables or healthy fats. We should ignore the harmful gut-eroding glutens, lectins and phytates which are causing autoimmune disease at record rates. In fact, since a couple pieces of whole wheat toast skyrocket blood sugar just like candy (See FatHead for explanation), candy must be good for us too!

As for the 100% whole grain thing! Thank goodness for those wonderful bread plants and pasta stalks. I’m so glad they don’t have to grind the grains up into small particles, which would increase the surface area and make them affect the blood sugar even more!

We should definitely eat beans instead of meat too, because it has some protein (and lot of carbs). When we combine the carbs from the fruit over on the other half of the plate with the hearthealthywholegrains on this side and the carbs from beans, we might just be getting close to the 300+ grams of carbs we are supposed to be eating a day according to you guys, even if we are diabetic.

As for fats… those evil arteryclogging saturated villians… certainly they should be avoided. Never mind that they are needed for minor things like hormone production, satiety, healthy reproductive function and more and that they don’t actually make you fat (or cause heart disease)… avoid at all costs. Eat candy instead.

Pour a glass of fat-free or low-fat milk. You’ll get as much calcium and other important nutrients as from whole milk but with less fat and calories.

Oh yes, do that! Of course, the vitamins in milk like the synthetic Vitamin D in minuscule amounts do need fat to be absorbed, but who cares if you are absorbing them, as long as you are getting them! You can’t have your cake and eat it too (unless of course, you use wheat flour and count it as your hearthealthywholegrains).

And calories, those are the bad guys! It doesn’t matter at all if they come from grains and carbohydrates (which raise the blood sugar, get stored as fat and wreak havoc on the body)  or proteins (which are needed for important functions like cell repair) or fats (which are a much more dense and effective source of fuel). As long as we limit those calories, we are A-OK! In fact, someone once gave me a bottle of fat free, calorie free, salt free salad dressing. I might just drink the stuff!

And dairy, we need lots of that! Of course, all other animals don’t drink milk after infancy, but dairy is such a healthy source of (relatively nothing since they pasteurize and process it all out) everything, we should drink it too… maybe instead of the salad dressing!

Keep Portions Sensible! Think small dinner plate not supersized platter.

Well shoot… I was soooo looking forward to that gigantic salad I was going to have for dinner. but of course, that would be way more than half the plate of vegetables, so that isn’t good, and the other half would be lots of meat (and not the lean kind) with good ol’ fatty olive oil drizzled on top and nary a grain or dairy in sight. Yep, better not eat that! It won’t be nearly enough nutrients and way too much protein and fat.

What should I eat instead? Maybe a couple slices of blood sugar boosting whole wheat toast with some hummus, an apple and a potato… yep that would fit, as long as I wash it down with the fat free dairy…. sounds so much more nutritious to me!

And I should probably keep some of those super-healthy (sarcasm) 100-Calorie packs with me at all times so that I can eat small portions throughout the day because not eating every 2 hours would be like fasting, which would cannibalize my muscle tissue (or not!).

STEP UP TO THE PLATE. MyPlate was developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Wait, what? The U.S. Department of AGRICULTURE is telling us what we should eat? You mean those guys who approved Monsanto’s request to grow genetically modified crops and test them on their own? The same guys who bailed out Domino’s Pizza (lots of saturated fats there) to give the dairy industry a boost? That same organization who’s leader was once a top proponent for Monsanto’s push for genetically modified crops?

Now why would the USDA have any interest in telling us what to eat? They only regulate foods like corn, wheat, soybeans, processed dairy, factory meats…. oh wait! Oh… its all starting o make sense now! (Note to self: consider hiring USDA for brilliant marketing campaign)

It’s designed to translate the government’s 2010 Dietary Health Guidelines for Americans into practical information that you can apply to your meals. Together, these tools help you get the right number of calories for reaching and maintaining a healthy weight. That’s crucial at a time when obesity rates have hit epidemic levels.

How wonderful that we have those sweet, unbiased people at the USDA (who regulate all those heart healthy whole grains and low fat dairy) telling us to eat more heart healthy whole grains and low fat dairy. Surely, they are just concerned about the health of consumers and don’t care  one bit about where their funding comes from.

Measures like these will certainly reduce obesity, just as they’ve been doing for the last couple of decades under the government’s guidance (obesity rates have been rising). If only all of us dumb Americans had been smart enough to figure out that that pyramid thing was trying to get us to eat more whole grains these last few decades, we’d all be thin and healthy by now and heart disease and diabetes would be things of the past! (statistics show we actually eat less fat than we did a few decades ago).

[I'm practically choking on sarcasm by now, in case you didn't notice!]

Many people also don’t eat the variety of foods needed for optimal nutrition and health. Both adults and children often come up short on fiber, potassium, calcium and vitamin D.

MyPlate helps you to remember to choose a varied diet.For gauging portion sizes, the old guidelines talked about servings. The new oens refer to cups for fruit, vegetable and dairy and ounces for grains and proteins – units more familiar to home cooks

Yes, we need more varied whole grains! Of course, vegetables have more fiber and potassium… and foods like sardines and bone broth (lots of fat!) have more calcium… and we could get some Vitamin D from, you know, the sun… but we do certainly have to include those grains and dairy in our variety.

There are hundreds of fruits and vegetables, but we can’t let all that variety cover more than half our plates! where would the beans go? and the lean meats cooked in oxidized vegetable oils? Certainly, we must limit our vegetables to half our plate so we can make room for our whole grains and small portion of lean meat…

The article concludes by giving you resources to read more from the USDA (sorry, not linking to it!) and the hospital’s own website. You could even hire a dietitian to help you eat all that stuff in case you still can’t figure out that you are supposed to eat a lot of hearthealthy whole grains.

I wonder when the USDA and the medical community are going to figure out that these recommendations won’t really help anyone be healthy. Of course, where do people go when they get sick? The hospital!

What a coincidence!

As for me? The MyPlate recommendations won’t be on my plate! But this might…

What do you think? Is this article just bad health advice or a brilliant marketing scheme?

This is my latest healthy Italian dish variation. I never really liked Chicken Parmesan until I had it at a friend’s bridesmaid’s luncheon. It was the most grain free item on the menu, and it was wonderful (I later found out it was breaded in some type of potato starch and not flour!).

When I got home, I decided to try to make a truly healthy version, and thus, this recipe was born. I also created a Chicken Parmesan Fingers recipe that the kids loved, so I could make a fun meal for them and a nice dinner for my husband and I in the same night.

If you ever miss Italian foods, this is a good alternative, and even if you were never a pasta person, you might like this one.

Healthy Chicken Parmesan Ingredients:

• 2-3 lbs of boneless, skinless, chicken breasts (or strips for the Chicken Fingers variation)
• 1/2 cup coconut flour (or almond flour)
• 1/3 cup arrowroot (option, can use more flour instead)
• seasonings: garlic powder, basil, salt, etc
• 3-4 eggs
• 1 TBSP heavy cream (optional)
• 1 jar (approx 24 ounces) of pasta sauce (check ingredients if store bought)
• Parmesan cheese (optional)
• Mozzarella cheese (optional)
• Tallow, Lard or Coconut Oil for frying

How To Make Healthy Chicken Parmesan

1. Put 1-2 cups of lard, tallow or coconut oil in a large skillet or fryer and turn on medium high heat.
2. If using chicken breasts, butterfly them and pound slightly with meat hammer or flat side of heavy spoon until about 1/2 inch thick. If using chicken strips, this is not necessary.
3. Beat eggs with heavy cream (if using) in a medium sized bowl.
4. On a large plate or dish, combine coconut flour, arrowroot, and spices and mix well.
5. Dip the chicken into the egg mixture and then into the flour/arrowroot mixture until well coated.
6. Put directly into hot oil and cook, flipping once, until both sides have browned and chicken is cooked (about 4 minutes per side on my stove).
7. While chicken is cooking, heat sauce over medium heat until warmed.
8. If making regular Chicken Parmesan, place chicken in large baking dish once cooked and top with pasta sauce and cheeses (if using). Heat on broil the oven until cheese is melted. For Chicken Parmesan Dippers, put the cooked chicken strips on a plate and serve with pasta sauce for dipping.
9. Serve with salad with homemade dressing of choice.

This recipe can also be modified to make delicious Eggplant Parmesan too!

What’s your favorite Italian dish? Will you try this one?