Lowcarb Berry Clafoutis

While many of my neighbors are struggling to locate flour and yeast in stores, I am ripping off the benefits of being Keto, patiently perfecting my low-carb baking skills, using unpopular-during-pandemic nut flours. For sure, there is no better time to be gluten-free then now!

I’ve tried my hand at all types of baked deliciousness: bread, pies, cakes, cookies, bars, to just name a few. Some recipes ended up being super complicated while others were easy-peasy to make. 

Today’s recipe might sound fancy-schmancy but don’t let the French name fool you, it is way easier to make this Clafoutis than to pronounce its name. In fact, all you need is a blender and a small set of ingredients to make it. And if you’ve never tried Clafoutis before, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with a dessert that tastes like a cross between a souffle, Dutch Baby, and Flan, with a delicious berry center.

Lowcarb Berry Clafoutis

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Lightly grease a glass or stoneware pie dish
  2. Preheat the oven to 350ºF with the dish in it
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together almond milk, coconut milk, eggs, almond flour, stevia, vanilla, and salt
  4. Carefully remove the pie dish from the oven. Place the berries in the dish and pour the batter on top
  5. Bake until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few crumbs, 40 to 45 minutes
  6. Cool for about 15 minutes before serving

Drink Pairing

Before diving into the world of natural wines (see my earlier post on where you purchase them), my drink of choice used to be Cognac. Having tried all sorts of Brandies and Cognacs in my life, anything from $30 to $200, Costco’s Kirkland XO Cognac consistently remained to be my favorite. Aged 12 to 21, it is smooth and aromatic and truly comparable to $150+ name-brand Cognacs.

Cornbread Pancake for 1

If you’ve been following me on Instagram #cuceesprouts, you might have seen my post from a few weeks ago when, excited to go Dutch for breakfast (aka Dutch Baby), I messed up and ended up with something totally different. I named my baking mistake Cornbread Pancake. 

To tell you the truth, I am still not sure what went wrong but what I am sure is that I like my oopsy pancake so much that I recreated it for you. Enjoy :)

Cornbread Pancake for 1

To make this a family-sized affair, triple the recipe and use a full size cast iron skillet.

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Put the fat in a small (5 or 6.5 inch) cast-iron skillet and place in the oven
  2. Heat the oven to 400°F
  3. Meanwhile, in a blender, combine the almond flour, coconut flour, salt, egg, and almond milk and blend on medium-high speed until uniform
  4. Carefully remove the hot pan from the oven. Swirl the fat around the pan to coat completely. Pour the batter into the hot pan and return the pan to the oven. Cook until the pancake is golden brown along the edges, 10-11 minutes

Drink Pairing

Hi. My name is CuceeSprouts and I am a non-commital coffeeholic. No morning passes without at least a couple of cups of coffee. And each morning, it is a different brand, blend, and profile of coffee. Here are my top 3 coffees of 2020:

And my favorite dairy-free creamer: Leaner Creamer

Cuceesprouts’ Paleo Napoleon

When I was young, no holiday gathering occurred without my mom’s Russian Napoleon – my favorite dessert in the entire world. Oh, those crispy layers of puff pastry sandwiched together with creamy and buttery custard. 

When I adopted a low-carb lifestyle, the hardest thing to give up was mom’s Napoleon, as I never dreamed of enjoying anything similar again.

Then about a year ago, I stumbled upon an Instagram post of a flourless meringue-based dessert – a post that changed my life forever. Inspired by the photograph, I recreated mom’s Napoleon with all the Cucee-Approved ingredients. 

I’m thrilled to be sharing my Napoleon with you, friends. It requires no fancy ingredients or skills but:

  • Unlike the original, my Napoleon is best enjoyed right away as the layers are still crisp and light. Once the layers absorb some of the custard, their texture changes to almost custard-like.
  • If your custard turns grainy – don’t sweat it. Just run it on high in a blender to make it smooth and homogenous.
  • The custard is a bit runny, to begin with. You can thicken it up by keeping it in the fridge a little longer before layering over the Dacquoise layers. 

Cuceesprouts’ Paleo Napoleon

Ingredients

Pastry cream

Dacquoise layers

Directions

Pastry Cream

  1. Bring the coconut cream to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sweetener and salt until well combined.
  2. Slowly whisk about half of the hot coconut cream into the yolks to temper, then slowly return the yolk+cream mixture back to the saucepan and cook until thickened, about 4 to 5 minutes, whisking continuously. It thickens up very suddenly and quickly, so watch it carefully!
  3. Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla extract. Sprinkle the surface with coconut flour, whisking as you go, to combine well. Let cool to room temperature and then refrigerate for 3 hours. 

Dacquoise layers

  1. Preheat oven to 300°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Combine almond flour and chopped almonds in a bowl. Set aside.
  3. Use an electric mixer with a whisk attachment to whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. With the motor running on medium-high speed, gradually add the sweetener, a little at a time, and whisking well after each addition, until medium-stiff peaks.
  4. Carefully fold the almond flour and chopped almonds mixed with a large spatula into the meringue until combined.
  5. Spread the mixture onto the baking sheet in an even layer. 
  6. Bake in the center of the oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden. Cool and set aside.

Napoleon Assembly

  1. Using a serrated knife, carefully cut the Dacquoise into four even rectangles. No need to trim the edges – keep them rustic looking.
  2. Using a wide flat spatula, carefully peel them from the parchment paper. 
  3. Position one meringue layer on a large serving plate and coat it evenly with the pastry cream. Cover with the second Dacquoise layer, repeat with the cream. Continue with the rest of the layers. You can leave the final layer dry or top it with the last of the cream.

Wine Pairing

I enjoy wine pre-dinner. It is my aperitif. So by the time, it is dessert time, I am on my second cup of tea. My current tea of choice is Earl Grey Supreme.

Spanakopita Pie

Passover has notoriously been a difficult holiday for me as I’ve never been a Matza girl. Not as hard as Yom Kippur, but because of its length and restrictions, not easy at all.

It has been years now, probably 10, since I switched to a no-grain diet. And one of the perks of being Ketoish Paleo is that Passover is a breeze now! No need to stop eating bread and grains – I never eat them now, to begin with.

So what DO I eat then? I eat a lot of animal protein, such as fish, chicken, and beef. Eggs. And easy-to-digest vegetables, such as cauliflower, tomatoes, zucchini, and avocados. And I bake with nut flours because I have a sweet tooth like no other. Yes, I don’t even miss wheat anymore. But I do miss dairy, which I have a lot of in the fridge nowadays, as my kids are little cheese-lovers.

I developed this pie for them. I had a Paleo pie crust in the freezer, that I made a while back, and a block of feta that was hiding behind all the gourmet cheeses for months now. And since creativity is the only thing that keeps me going through the quarantine, I got creative and made them a Kosher-for-Passover (OU-P) Spanakopita Pie/Quiche. 

Spanakopita Pie (OU-P)

Ingredients

Cuceesprouts’ Pie Crust

Spanakopita

Directions

Pie Crust

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F. 
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs and oil. Whisk.
  3. Add the almond flour and sea salt to the bowl. Stir until well combined. 
  4. Press the dough into the bottom of a 9in round pie pan. 
  5. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until lightly golden. 

Spanakopita

  1. Lower the oven temperature to 325F.
  2. In a large skillet, heat up the oil. Add onion and saute for 4 minutes until the onion is starting to brown, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and cook for an extra minute. Add spinach, continue to cook until all the liquid evaporates and the mixture is dry. Season with salt and pepper.
  3. In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the spinach and the remaining filling ingredients. Stir until all is well-combined.
  4. Evenly spread the spinach and feta filling over the pie crust. 
  5. Bake for 45 – 60 min, or until the pie is golden brown. Remove from the oven and rest for 10min before serving.

Drink Pairing

I’ve recently discovered a new natural wine seller, MYSA, and have been enjoying their wines daily. My new favorite wine that they sell is Picofino Vinessens from Spain. Follow the link to get 20% off on your first order with them.

CuceeSprouts’ Guide on Keeping Your Natural Wine Cellar Fully Stocked During the Quarantine

Behind everyone’s closed doors and tightly draped windows, a lot of anxious thoughts are circulating. Are we going to be able to get on an Amazon Fresh delivery schedule before running out of eggs? How much coffee do we put on the order form without hoarding it? Do we have enough art supplies to last through the next few months of isolation? How about the disinfectant wipes? Do I ask the kids to wash our pets’ paws in soapy water for 20 seconds after each walk or do I buy them puppy shoes? How can I keep track of all the different online workout studios I have recently signed up for? Will our economy crash and burn in the next few weeks? How do I make sure I have enough natural wine to keep me sane throughout this mess? Will my company start laying people off as a result of the failing economy?

Yes, there are lots of anxious thoughts circulating in everyone’s homes right now, including my own. Anxious thoughts driving anxious questions. And those questions driving more anxious thoughts. It is a vicious cycle.

So… Let me try and break this cycle for you. Though I might not be able to help you feel safer in your employment status or offer you assistance in sourcing the disinfectant wipes, I do have an answer to at least one of your important questions, ”How do I make sure I have enough natural wine to keep me sane throughout this mess?”

CuceeSprouts’ Guide on Keeping Your Natural Wine Cellar Fully Stocked During the Quarantine

I’ve tried many new shops, clubs, and wineries that claim to hydrate you naturally in the past few years. Some blew my mind with their offerings while others felt like a complete waste of money and experience. Only a few places made my list. Those I am sharing with you now:

  • Offer wines that are Natural, Biodynamic and Organic
  • Source or produce high-quality wine that won’t break your bank
  • Ship locally and nationally, at minimal to zero cost to you

I divided my list into two categories:

  • Wine Stores & Wine Clubs that source and sell wine online
  • Wineries that produce and sell wine online

Wine Stores and Wine Clubs

Flatiron-sf (top pick)

This is, by far, my favorite wine shop. They have a natural wine sommelier on staff who can offer recommendations tailored to your preferences. For example, I always request classic, full-body, zero to low intervention red wine under $30 per bottle. To get a recommendation, I suggest emailing or calling their store before placing an online order.

Delivery fees and bottle discounts: Free delivery anywhere within California on orders of $129+

Mysa (top pick)

A new natural wine club with an outstanding wine selection. Their sommelier tailors shipments to your wine preferences – just email them before placing an order. If you are not ready for a wine club order, you can order wine by the bottle as well.

Delivery fees and bottle discounts: Wine club and individual bottle orders over $100 ship free. 10% off on 12+ bottles. 20% off on your first order

K&L Wines

I used to primarily shop at this store, back when I sourced my own natural wines. This day and age, I only recommend you shop with them if you know your favorite natural winemakers as they do not provide any sommelier advice.

Delivery fees and bottle discounts: The wine shop is located in NorCal and SoCal and they ship locally only. So check to see if they ship to your area. The shipping fee for orders under $200 is $12, over $200 is $8. Orders over 1K ship free

Natural Wine Shop

Delivery fees and bottle discounts: all orders over $150 ship free

Gardwine 

Delivery fees and bottle discounts: all orders ship free, 10% off on 12+ bottles

Wineries

Inizi (top pick)

Let me introduce you to my favorite Sonoma-Napa winery. It is for sure one of the only local wineries that practice minimal intervention winemaking. Lucky for us, they are currently waiving the shipping costs and offering 10% off on any wine order.

Delivery fees and bottle discounts: orders over $100 ship free. 10% off any order

Donkey and Goat 

A favorite among many natural wine lovers, Donkey and Goat wine is now delivered to your doorstep.

Delivery fees and bottle discounts: all SF Bay Area orders ship free. All West Coast orders are $24. All US orders of 12+ bottles are $36

Windchase 

Delivery fees and bottle discounts: all SF Bay Area orders on 3+ bottles ship free. All California orders on 6+ bottles ship free. All US orders on 12+ bottles ship free. 

Plus and additional 10% discount on 12+ bottles

Vinca Minor 

Delivery fees and bottle discounts: all SF Bay Area orders on 12+ bottles ship free. All lesser orders are $20. 

Broc Cellar 

Delivery fees and bottle discounts: All local orders over $75+ ship free. All orders on 12+ bottles ship free. All orders on 6+ bottles are $12.

Ordinaire 

Delivery fees and bottle discounts: All orders over $150+ ship free. All lesser orders are $15.

Punchdown 

Delivery fees and bottle discounts: All California orders are $20. All AZ, NV, NM, OR WA orders are $25. 

Vineyard Gate 

This winery delivers beer, wine, sake, and food

Delivery fees and bottle discounts: All orders over $200+ ship free. 

HIYU 

Delivery fees and bottle discounts: All orders over $250+ ship free. Orders over $250+ also earn you a 15% discount.

Old Westminster Winery

Delivery fees and bottle discounts: All orders over $75+ ship free. 

The Shelter-in-Place Chicken (or Salmon) Salad

Spring is a magical season. With the trees blooming. And the sun shining brighter. The days starting earlier. The Farmers’ Markets exploding with sweet peas, green garlic, and young asparagus. Beaches getting busier.  People dusting off their hiking gear. Mother Earth waking up from its deep winter sleep.

Every spring. Except for this one.

This spring is the Shelter-In-Place Quarantine spring. 

It is a lonely spring. 

The roads are silent. 

The buildings are locked. 

The trails are undisturbed. 

The beaches are quiet, except for the occasional wave whisper. 

The Farmers’ Market parking lots are deserted.

The shelves in the grocery stores are plastered with the out-of-stock signs. 

The restaurants are closed. Some closed forever. 

People are cooped up in their homes, with infants on their laps and teenagers roaming around in search of digital entertainment. 

Kids are doing school work via Zoom, from their living room couches, while their parents stream workout classes in their pajamas next to them. 

Disney+ takes off while the local bars close their doors forever.

The supply chain pauses the manufacturing of sunscreens to catch up with the production of anti-sanitizers and hospital masks. 

The grocery delivery services replace isle browsing.

The hospitals are over-crowded.

This spring is definitely like no other.

This spring, I planned to organize a trip to Croatia with my teenagers as it would be the last summer of all of us together before college. And I planned to teach more Barre classes, albeit my asthma. And to share with you a handful of unique low-carb recipes that I’ve been diligently developing for the past many months.

But, no, there won’t be any vacation planning – travel is limited to the essential-only indefinitely. Or new class teachings – all the studios are closed. Or cool recipe sharing – most of us have nothing but basics in our home.

This spring, with the ingredient shortage and the limited access to groceries, our kitchen experiments are all about resourceful “pantry cooking”, reuse of the leftovers, and creative improvisation with the ingredients we have on hand. 

The recipe I am sharing today is just that. It is a process, a list of steps, rather than a creative venture: re-use the leftover protein from last night’s dinner, locate the last of the vegetables in the fridge, mix them all with pantry staples and enjoy. This is the time when my Post-Soviet skills of making “something out of nothing” comes in handy!

The Shelter-in-Place Chicken (or Salmon) Salad 

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Dice the vegetables. Place in a medium-sized mixing bowl.
  2. Dice or shred the chicken. Add to the mixing bowl. Stir to combine.
  3. Add the mayo, lime juice, salt, and pepper if desired. Stir to combine until the whole mixture is nice and creamy.
  4. Sprinkle with seeds if you have any.
  5. Serve immediately, or refrigerate to enjoy later.

Drink Pairing

You might be worried about your wine disappearing from your wine fridge at a faster pace than before, but don’t you worry – the universe has your back. My next post is ALL about where to source natural wine, from the comfort of your own couch. In the meantime, open what you have in your wine cellar and start chopping those vegetables!

Crispy Chai Spiced Cookies (paleo, keto)

I am never late for anything. NEVER. If you invite me over for 5:00 pm, I will be there at 4:55. Sharp!

This sometimes drives people crazy. As for me, punctuality is the show of respect: I respect your time and you respect mine.

So for the first time in my life, I am LATE. The season of cookies is clearly behind us – just look at all those shopping carts bursting with collard greens, detox powders, and Beyond-Meat burgers. And yet, here I am, posting a cookie recipe for you in the middle of January. 

Clearly, I am late to the cookie game!

Or am I? Here are my thoughts: 

You and all those people with collard greens in their carts are starting a year with resolutions: to eat less junk, consume less sugar, drink less booze. Yet based on the historical evidence, most New Years’ diets fail miserably. And set you back a few pounds (and drinks). Yes, you start off with great intentions… but only last so long… until you are back on the carb-loading, night-drinking wagon. And that is because your body wants what your body wants, and you can’t fool it. So instead of completely cutting it off from sweets, alcohol, and comfort food, Dr. CuceeSprouts recommends swapping unhealthy deserts for healthy desserts, unhealthy comfort meals for healthy comfort meals, unhealthy drinks for the healthy ones.

And to help you with your first healthy food swap – here is my no-sugar, no-flour cookie recipe for you! Happy New “Rear”!

Do you need more ideas for healthy food or drink swaps?

Food swaps:

  • Kelp noodles for wheat pasta
  • Vegi Rice for regular rice
  • Cauliflower mash for mashed potatoes
  • Oven-baked almond-coated chicken for breaded fried chicken

Drinks swaps:

  • Extra Brut IPA, the Champagne-inspired bone-dry beer, with zero residual sugar for the carby Lager
  • Dry-farmed natural European reds (more on that in another post) for the loaded-with-sugar-and-additives Californian

Crispy Chai Spiced Cookies (paleo, keto)

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. In a large mixing bowl, combine, avocado oil, egg, and vanilla
  2. In a separate bowl combine Stevia, almond flour, coconut flour, pumpkin pie spice (or cinnamon,) salt, and baking powder
  3. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until a dough forms
  4. If you plan to use a cookie-cutter to shape the cookies, chill the dough for 45 minutes. Otherwise, proceed directly to the next step
  5. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line baking sheet(s) with parchment paper
  6. Shape the cookies.
    – For the cookie-cutter cookies: place the dough ball onto the parchment paper, cover with a layer of saran wrap, roll out, and cut into shapes
    – For thumbprint cookies, separate the dough into many 1-inch balls and flatten each ball with your thumb (my go-to method when in the rush)
  7. Bake for 12-14 minutes
  8. Cool cookies on a cooling rack. Store in an air-tight container

Drink pairing

I really enjoy a glass (or two) of a nice dry-farmed red wine. Pre-dinner.

Post-dinner, it is all about tea! Harney & Sons Earl Grey Supreme is my favorite, especially when cookies are involved :)

“Whole-Wheat” Keto Bread

Let’s play a game – last meal on earth, what would yours be? Mine would be a cheesy toast, made with warm home-made crusty bread.

In another life, when my gut was healthy and my kitchen upgraded to include a steam oven, I baked almost daily. And there were nights when freshly baked bread constituted our dinner. And the best dinner it was!

It has been many years of breadless life for me. I’ve baked my way through a lot of recipes but every keto “bread” that I’d pull out of the oven tasted like yet another version of a savory cake. In fact, I have shared one of those recipes with you a few years back and, even though it is delicious, it tastes nothing like real bread.

So I continued experimenting, in the search for a better match. And one of those experimentations landed me with this very recipe. 

This bread tastes JUST. LIKE. BREAD! Real “whole-wheat” bread! With a crusty outside and a soft fluffy inside. 


“Whole-Wheat” Keto Bread

A few notes on psyllium husk powder. There is no substitute for this magic ingredient – it is this psyllium husk powder that acts as gluten in this recipe. You also need to use the powdered form of it, not the flake form. If you accidentally purchase the flakes, grind them until they resemble a fine powder.

You can bake these into buns or a loaf. The world is your oyster – experiment. 

If you want to experiment with textures or flavors, you can substitute water with marinara sauce. Or replace the sesame with poppy seeds, everything-but-the-bagel, or seaweed salt flakes.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F
  2. Bring the water to a boil
  3. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl
  4. In a separate bowl, mix the egg whites and vinegar. Pour them into the dry ingredients and mix to combine
  5. Slowly pour in the boiling water and continue mixing. The dough will start out runny but quickly thicken up as it absorbs the water. The consistency should resemble Play-Doh
  6. Moisten hands with a little olive oil (or wear kitchen gloves, which is what I do) and shape your dough into 6-7 balls for burger-size buns or 9-10 for dinner rolls
  7. Place the balls on a baking tray, lined with parchment paper. Optionally, top with sesame seeds
  8. Bake on the lower rack in the oven for 50–60 minutes, depending on the size of your bread rolls. They’re done when you hear a hollow sound when tapping the bottom of the bun

These buns should be refrigerated after 24 hours. They also freeze well. Toast them in the oven for a few minutes each time you serve them. 

Drinking pairing

Whether you are serving these as an appetizer or with your dinner, I’d recommend going either with one of these natural wines: a rich medium-bodied organic Salcheto Chianti Biskero ($13.99) or a light-bodied Camp Wines Zinfandel ($16.99)

(Join GoodEggs by following this link and get a $25 credit towards your next purchase.)

Cauliflower Hummus (Paleo, Keto, Vegan)

I am going to vent now—my recipes are HARD to photograph! Foods like stews, liver pate, and cooked vegetables often end up looking ghostly or muddy in pictures and really don’t do the recipes justice. This can be super frustrating, as the cook in me really wants to share my creations with you, while the artist in me cringes with each photo taken.

When I first started blogging, I cooked and ate very differently. Vegetarian food is naturally more vibrant and colorful, especially when cooked minimally. So recipes like Strawberries in Minted Honey Syrup and Soba Noodles with Eggplant and Mango were a lot easier and more fun to photograph than, let’s say, Cauliflower Liver Hash or Salmon with Fire-Roasted Tomato Coconut Sauce. With that being said, I love the food that I make—and I love sharing it with you. And even though I do miss those fun photo opportunities, I feel lucky to still be able to experiment so much with so many dietary limitations and produce really unique, outstanding and super tasty dishes.

Enough about me. Let’s talk Hummus! I thought I have already tried cauliflower-everything: mashed cauliflower, riced, hash, flatbread, pizza crust, souffle, bread, buffalo, steaks, even “oatmeal” (please, don’t ever try that). And to tell you the truth, I was getting a bit tired of this very versatile vegetable. But lo and behold, after some aimless recipe researching for yet another way to use up a head of the farmer’s market Cauliflower, I stumbled upon this Hummus idea.

With a few modifications, I present to you my version:

Cauliflower Hummus

I like my cauli-hummus on a chunky side, almost tuna-salad consistency. However, if you want it more hummus texture, use a bit more water when blending it.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups cauliflower florets (from 1 medium size head of cauliflower)
  • 1/4 cup Avocado Oil (divided) 
  • 1/2 cup Tahini 
  • 2 cloves Garlic (minced or just chopped into a few pieces) 
  • 2 tbsp Lemon juice 
  • 1 tsp Salt, or to taste
  • 1 1/2 tsp Cumin 
  • 1/4 tsp Paprika 
  • 3-5 tbsp Water

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees 
  2. Toss cauliflower with 2 tbsp oil and roast in a single layer on the baking sheet for 35-45 minutes, until browned and soft
  3. Transfer the roasted cauliflower to a food processor and add lemon juice, 2 tablespoons water, remaining oil, tahini, garlic, sea salt, cumin, and paprika
  4. Puree to the desired consistency, stopping to scrape down the sides occasionally
  5. If it’s too thick, thin out with 1-3 more tablespoons of water, 1 tablespoon at a time

Wine Pairing

When serving this as an appetizer, along with the Seedy Keto Cucee Crackers and a nice charcuterie board, I pair it with a cold glass of bubbly. One of my favorite ones is Antech Blanquette de Limoux Brut Nature

Mexican Machaca with Eggs

It has been 10 years since the birth of CuceeSprouts. TEN! Ten years of Cucumbers, Brussels Sprouts, and home-made Almond Butter!

Lots have changed in the past 10 years: the food I cook, the recipes I blog, my writing and presentation styles, just to name a few. But what has not changed is my love for cooking, a devotion in helping those with food allergies feel empowered in their kitchens, and a persistent need for creative self-expression.

I learned to cook out of necessity: his name is Jacob and he was such a darn cute baby but also allergic to many of the foods that brought me joy. When I received a firm diagnosis from the doctor, I felt terrified, heartbroken, even mad. It was difficult to comprehend that something I loved so much could turn against my family and become a source of pain.

The stages of grief are universal and I crawled through them, like a turtle, towards the final one – the acceptance. As I rid my kitchen of eggs, milk, cheese, and nuts, I finally made a decision to stop feeling pity and turn a crisis into an opportunity.

Creative people are creative everywhere! And so I embarked on a search for a creative solution to a very complex problem. I researched, experimented, failed, succeeded… until I was finally able to come up with innovative solutions for family meals and social events. I learned to cook with a limited set of ingredients in a way that did not at all feel limiting. My family was happy, I was happy, my friends were happy.

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”  My friends, those with similar food intolerances and those 100% healthy, who sampled my food at my dinner parties, began cooking my way, demanding that I shared recipes developed for my family. And that is how CuceeSprouts was born. 10 years ago.

The only constant here is change. In the last 10 years CuceeSprouts evolved, CuceeSprouts transformed.  As my son outgrew some of his allergies, I developed a few of my own and my blog turned from whole-grain heavily-vegetarian to high-protein low-carb. And as the next decade rolls in, I can’t predict with certainty what the future holds for CuceeSprouts. But what I can firmly confirm is that my baby blog will continue to evolve and prosper, serving as an inspiration to all of you for years to come.

Mexican Machaca with Eggs

Traditional Machaca is beef that has been dried out, shredded then cooked with peppers, onions, and eggs. My Machaca is slow-cooked rather than dried out, making it an easy weeknight dinner option. Machaca can be made in advanced and reheated for a brown-bag breakfast or lunch.

Ingredients:

Machaca Beef
Can be prepared in advance and refrigerated

Scramble

Directions:

Machaca Beef

  1. Add the beef to the Instapot
  2. Cover with remaining ingredients
  3. Cook on manual setting (High Pressure) for 45 minutes. Allow pressure to release naturally
  4. Remove the beef from the pressure cooker and shred with 2 forks or in the food processor, reserving the liquid for something else

Scramble

  1. In a large skillet, sauté onion and peppers in oil until onion is translucent and peppers are cooked through
  2. Add Machaca Beef, give everything a good stir and cook for another 3-5 minutes. You are looking for a somewhat dry mixture
  3. In a medium bowl whisk eggs. Add them to the skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes or until eggs are cooked thoroughly. Scramble everything together

Drink Pairing

Well, paring something to this recipe really depends on what time of the day you are enjoying it. If this dish caught you in the morning, may I offer you a cup of Bulletproof Coffee? But if Machaca Scramble is your dinner, here is a great bottle of natural red Malbec Inkarri that I often have stocked at home