AIP Red Sangria & "The Healing Kitchen" review + giveaway

It is my pleasure to not only gush about my love of the newest autoimmune protocol (AIP) cookbook The Healing Kitchen and share a recipe for Red Sangria (AIP, Paleo, alcohol-free), but also to be able to giveaway a SIGNED COPY of the book to one of my readers! Full details can be found towards the end of the post.

In January, I spent over a week cooking almost exclusively from the newest AIP cookbook The Healing Kitchen by Alaena Haber (from Grazed and Enthused) and Sarah Ballantyne (from The Paleo Mom). Even though I’m a pretty good cook & enjoy creating my own recipes, there is something really wonderful about making other peoples’ recipes. It is specially when those other people are your friends & you know the recipes will not only be delicious, but nutrient dense & completely autoimmune protocol (AIP) compliant. Whenever I get a new cookbook, I usually sit down & add tags or sticky notes to the recipes I’d like to eventually make. With The Healing Kitchen, I found myself wanting to tag nearly all the recipes! I narrowed my initial “to-make” list down to what I could manage in a week-and-a-half, but I have no doubt that I’ll be making many many more recipes from this amazing cookbook in the future.

Before I show the recipes I personally tried, here are a few general observations about The Healing Kitchen:

• The recipes are delicious! We loved every recipe I made. Everything was bursting with flavor & nothing was remotely bland, like many people may first believe AIP will be. Pizza. Tacos. Barbecue. Asian cuisine. Alaena & Sarah replicated flavors of traditional favorites into fully AIP compliant variations that I would feel confident serving to even non-AIP/Paleo friends and family. 
• The recipes are easy. None of the recipes I tried were overly complicated, nor do they require terribly complicated ingredients.  
• This book is great for people new to AIP and to seasoned veterans who’d like to spice up (haha!) their meals and get out of a food rut.

Dinners from The Healing Kitchen 

Taco Night! (Toasted Lime Cilantro Cauli-Rice, Taco Beef, Easy Guacamole) | Date Night Pizza! (Thin Crust Pizzas made into ham & pineapple Pizza & BBQ pizza with slaw, salad greens with Greek Dressing & Red Sangria) | BBQ Feast (pressure cooked BBQ pulled pork, Tangy Carolina BBQ Sauce, Fennel Mandarin Slaw Garlic Roasted Broccoli) | Meat Loaf (Caramelized Onion & Herb Meatloaf, Carrot Pilaf with lemon & Parsley, Roasted Brussels with Bacon & Cinnamon) | Salmon (Bacon-Date Crusted Salmon, Sweet Potato & Kale “Rice” Salad) 

Lunches from The Healing Kitchen 

Speedy Shanghai Stir Fry | Raisin & Spice Meatballs with Sweet Potato & kale “Rice” Salad | Pumpkin Chili 

Breakfasts from The Healing Kitchen

Crispy Salmon Hash | Bacon Herb Biscuit sandwiches with American Breakfast Sausage | Baked Carrot-Banana Bread N’oatmeal | Ollie’s DIY Sunrise Hash 

Treats & Snacks from The Healing Kitchen

Apple Crumble | Pumpkin Roll with Clementine Cream | Lemon Ginger Energy Balls 

Drinks 

Red Sangria 

Alaena & Sarah have graciously allowed me to share the recipe for the Red Sangria with you. I’ve made this recipe more than 3 times so far & I foresee making it many more times in the future too. Since I usually drink water (or tea or occasionally green juice), having a mocktail like this one was really a treat, especially in social settings where everyone else is indulging in wine or cocktails or soda.

This “sangria” tastes like the real deal, only it isn’t made with wine that can perpetuate leaky gut. It’s great not just for people avoiding alcohol on AIP, but also for pregnant ladies & those who abstain from alcohol in general. I mixed my sangria mixture with blood orange kombucha. So delicious!

Red Sangria

reprinted, with permission, from The Healing Kitchen by Alaena Haber & Sarah Ballantyne 

1 1/2 c pomegranate juice

1 pear, diced

3 strips fresh orange peel

1/2 lemon, sliced thinly

5 whole cloves

1 cinnamon stick

1 (16-oz) bottle unflavored kombucha, chilled

ice, for serving (optional)

1. Combine all the ingredients except kombucha in a large glass jar or pitcher. Place in the refrigerator to steep for at least 8 hours or overnight. 
2. Just before serving, remove the cloves & cinnamon stick and stir in the kombucha. Serve over ice, if desired. 

Note from Laura:

• I substituted blood orange kombucha for the unflavored kombucha because I love blood orange kombucha. 
• I also added a few orange slices for fun. 

GIVEAWAY! 

In January, I was fortunate to attend a book signing at Book People in Austin, TX for "The Healing Kitchen." Alaena and Sarah graciously gave me a signed giveaway copy of their amazing cookbook to pass along to one of my readers! 

Thanks to Charissa (No Cook Paleo) for taking this photo of Alaena, me, & Sarah

To enter, please use the Rafflecopter widget below. This contest is open to both US and international entries, though the winner may receive an unsigned copy if a non-US resident is chosen. The contest will run through Tuesday March 15, 2016. May the odds be ever in your favor! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Additional reviews of "The Healing Kitchen"

• Alex at “Don’t Eat the Spatula:” Review + Crispy Salmon Hash preview recipe 
• Ali at “Freethought Farm:” Review + Coconut Crusted Chicken Tenders with Pineapple Dipping Sauce preview recipe  
• Bethany at "Adventures in Partaking: Review
• Eileen at “Phoenix Helix:” Review + Coconut-Crusted Chicken Tenders with Pineapple Dipping Sauce preview recipe
• Gabriella at “Beyond the Bite:” Review  
• Joanna at “Joanna Frankham Coaching:” Review + Bacon-Wrapped Apple & Cinnamon Sausage review recipe 
• Kat at “The Primordial Table:” Review + Spicy African Kale preview recipe  
• Kate at “Healing Family Eats:” Q&A with Alaena Haber + Chicken Pesto Pizza preview recipe 
• Rory at “The Paleo PI:” Review + INTERNATIONAL GIVEAWAY (runs through Friday March 11th) 
• Sophie at “A Squirrel in the Kitchen:’ Review + Toasted Coconut Cream Pops preview recipe 

Full disclosure: I did receive a complementary review copy of this cookbook, as well as a giveaway copy. However, I loved the recipes SO much that I purchased a copy for my parents :) I would never recommend any resource that I didn't stand behind 100%. 

This recipe is included in the Phoenix Helix Paleo AIP Recipe Roundtable #111

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Blood Orange Gummies with Kombucha (AIP)

Usually Valentine’s day is filled with indulgences like copious amounts sweets & decadent meals, but we’re going a different route this year. Husband had a sinus procedure yesterday, so we’re in recovery mode for the next several days, making sure he fully heals as quickly and as painlessly as possible.

We are hopeful that our paleo habits will help his healing process, but just to make sure, I’m incorporating extra nutrient dense foods into his diet.  I’ll still be cooking a special Valentine’s dinner of braised beef short ribs (this recipe is one of my favorites, just omit the tomato paste & black pepper to make it AIP), but we’ll also be eating more grassfed gelatin in things like these gummies and also in panna cotta, incorporating extra collagen into smoothies & into an upped intake of homemade broths, increasing protein portions, eating more offal (like chicken liver pâté) and seafood, & drinking extra kombucha for the probiotic properties.

These blood orange gummies with kombucha pack a lot of good nutrients into each piece. They’ve got both the protein/amino acids found in gelatin & the good probiotics (especially excellent for replenishing after antibiotic usage) found in Kombucha. They’re slightly sweet, but not overly sugary. By leaving in the pulp in with the juice, they’re slightly reminiscent of marmalade & a bit more fiber-rich than traditional juice gummies. Because it’s Valentine’s Day & I already had the perfect mold, I made these gummies heart shaped. But certainly any other shape could be made, or they could be cut into squares.


Blood Orange Gummies with Kombucha

1 c (220 g) Blood Orange Juice/Pulp--approximately 2.5 medium blood oranges
4 Tbl (28 g) Grass Fed gelatin (red can)
2 Tbl (42 g) Honey
1 c Blood Orange Kombucha (I like this brand best)

1. Remove the kombucha from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature. Peel the blood oranges & divide into sections. Place into a high speed blender and puree. Measure out 1 cup or 220 g. 
2. Pour the juice/pulp into a small saucepan. Sprinkle the gelatin over the top. Whisk to combine & allow to bloom for 5 minutes. 
3. Add the honey to the bloomed juice & heat over medium heat , whisking constantly, until the mixture just warms & liquifies.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool down to body temperature--about 10 minutes.
4. Whisk in the kombucha & transfer the mixture to a vessel with a spout for easier pouring. Portion into small silicone molds (place onto a plate or pan before pouring in the liquid for easy transport). Any leftover liquid can be poured into a glass dish or into ramekins. 
5. Refrigerate the molds/dish until firm, approximately 1-2 hrs. Gently, pop the gummies out of the silicone molds, or cut them into shapes. Store in the refrigerator.

Note: If you do not have access to blood orange kombucha, feel free to sub another flavor (ginger might be nice) or simply double the amount of blood orange juice. 

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