Pizza made with Cauliflower Crust

This is going to be a quick blog post, but this recipe was just too good NOT to share it right away!  The pizza crust was made with cauliflower.  YES, cauliflower!  To get the whole recipe go to this great little blog I recently found called Eating Bird Food.
This crust is a little more delicate than your normal pizza dough so keep your toppings light.  There is already cheese in the crust so you can go easy on the topping cheese.  We even overdid it a little with ours. Tonight I just used whatever I had on-hand so I sautéed some organic peppers (organic since these are on the dirty list, click the link to get the dirty dozen and clean fifteen lists).
Since this pizza will be broiled after adding the toppings you want to make sure your toppings are already cooked how you like them before adding them to your crust.
Word to the wise, if you aren't using a Pampered Chef Pizza Stone, really oil that pan because this crust will stick!
But it was completely delicious!  I liked it MORE than the usual pizza dough we have been using!  The whole family loved it and asked for more.  Some have said that they can taste the cauliflower in the crust though they still like it, but my husband and I could not actually taste it.  (The way our girls ate it, I'm pretty sure they couldn't taste any cauliflower either!)

Make Your Own. . . Dishwasher Detergent

Dishes in our house goes something like this:  Fill the dishwasher with dirty dishes (but rinse them or they won't come clean), pour in A LOT of detergent (or they won't come clean), put it on Pots and Pans setting, high temp, and sanitize (or they won't come clean).  When they are done:  Sort through them, put the clean ones away and rewash (almost half) of the ones that didn't come clean.  Repeat  two to three times a day.  And that is with a newer dishwasher!  We have tried every brand of dishwasher detergent.  Pricey ones, cheap ones, chemical ones, Eco-friendly ones and the same with rinse agents.  They are all about the same to us.

Paleo Brownies! No Flour!

We've been researching wheat, whole wheat, and flours lately.  It's one of those "in moderation it's fine"  things. . . except it's in everything you eat!  Just like high fructose corn syrup!  

I am not interested in fad diets.  I do not believe I need to give up all gluten because we do not have an actual allergy to it.  However, I do believe in eating REAL food.  I believe in organic food.  I don't want to eat anything that has been processed or tampered with.  Labels can be so tricky.  So many people think because something is labeled ENRICHED that means it must be healthy since they are adding vitamins and minerals.  It is actually the opposite.  Enriched means that while it was being processed (heavily processed at that) nutrients were taken out and they are tampering with the product to attempt to add those nutrients back in.  But you only end up with a heavily processed product that is not good for you.  

Since this is meant to be a fun recipe post, if you are more interested in the topic here is a nice little site for you to check out. 

And now, the result of my late night flour research. . . flourless,  PALEO BROWNIES!! YUM!

Family Files #1

This is for our friends that enjoy seeing what we have been up to not only with our attempt at healthy living but our day to day life..  A lot of our Mommy friends enjoy getting some fresh ideas for their families and hopefully you find something helpful or at least entertaining.  This is post number one in hopefully a series of Family File posts.  While we haven't been up to too much this is what we have been up to:

We have been searching for a safe, natural toothpaste.  We had some luck with us at Trader Joe's.  For the girls we still cannot find anything we are happy with.  HOWEVER,  Honest (no, I never stop talking about this awesome company that has changed our lives!) has finally come out with adult and children's toothpaste and I will let you know how it is when my July order gets here! So excited!

Honest. . . Products We Love

I sound like a broken record, but The Honest Company founded by Jessica Alba, actress and author of The Honest Life, and Christopher Gavigan, author of Healthy Child, Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home,  has to be my most favorite company!   Here is a list of what Honest products are free of directly from the Honest web page:

Our HONESTLY FREE GUARANTEE means you won't find the following list of toxic nasties in our products or packaging:

phthalates, sodium lauryl/laureth sulfates, PVC, parabens, benzene, chlorine, synthetic fragrances, triclosan, formaldehyde-based preserving agents, nanoparticles, TEA, MEA, phosphates, polyethylene glycol (PEG), quaternium 15, DMDM hydantoin, 1-4 dioxane, bisphenol-A (BPA), alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs)/nonylphenol, BHA, benzalkonium chloride

(We hereby confirm this to the best of our knowledge based on information from our raw material suppliers & manufacturers.)

When The Princess was two months old she was diagnosed with Eczema.  Her skin would break out in red, rashy areas and they were super itchy.  When it got really bad we used Hydrocortizone and it would clear it up.  I felt bad putting Hydrocortizone on her skin all the time, but I also knew she was itchy and miserable.  I tried every natural baby soap and lotion out there.  Ones specifically for Eczema, baby ones, sensitive skin ones, the list goes on.  There were two things that helped, but nothing made it stop!
For the first few years we were getting by with Aveeno Baby soap and lotion and Aquaphor.

Upcycled Patio Garden

We searched Pinterest for a garden solution.  I did not inherit my mother's green thumb, we have a tiny patio, a large "dig-happy" golden retriever, and a budget of as close to nothing as we could get.  According to Pinterest, a raised garden would take care of the tiny patio problem and maybe a portion of my lack of green thumb problem.