Make Healthier Choices

Helping people Make Healthier Choices about real-food choices for optimal heath.

Main Dishes

Katherine’s White Chicken Chili

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I don’t know where my niece, Katherine, found the original White Chicken Chili recipe, but after tweaking it a bit it is now a family favorite!

White Chicken Chili with an added small can of chili peppers.

Katherine's White Chicken Chili
 
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Ingredients
  • 1 Medium Onion, diced
  • 1 Large Chicken Breast (Boneless)
  • 1 15-Ounce Can Black or Kidney Beans (Drained and Rinsed)
  • 1 15-Ounce Can of White Beans (Drained and Rinsed)
  • Corn removed from 3 cobs (or 15-ounces frozen)
  • 1 10-ounce can Organic Diced Tomatoes (or Rotel diced tomatoes with Green Chilis)
  • 1 Cup Chicken Bone Broth or Chicken Broth
  • 1 8-Ounce Package of Organic Cream Cheese
  • OPTIONAL:
  • Chili Powder to taste
  • Small can of Chili Peppers
Instructions
  1. Sauté diced onion on stovetop or in Instant Pot. (I sometimes don't bother to sauté first.)
  2. Add raw chicken cut into bite-size pieces (or plan to shred it later) and brown for a couple of minutes.
  3. Add bone broth and tomatoes; simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes or until chicken is done.
  4. Add remaining ingredients and heat through.
  5. NOTE: If your chicken is already cooked, there is no need to "cook" anything; just heat it all up!

 

Instant Pot or Stove Top

When I make this recipe, I don’t usually measure anything; I guestimate and it all goes into my Instant Pot. Cooking it on the stove top also works well. I always cook my bone-in, local chicken in my Instant Pot which makes beautiful bone broth. Cooking it ahead of time, and freezing both the broth and the deboned chicken, saves time when I’m ready to make this recipe. I always strain the bone broth to be certain there are no bones.

Is BT Corn Safe for Human Consumption?

I have not used canned corn in about 15 years since I learned that corn is regulated by the EPA, not the FDA. Canned corn is usually BT corn, unless it’s organic. BT is short for Bacillus thuringiensis, a toxin extracted from soil. It was genetically modified into the corn so that pesticides would not need to be used on the outside of the corn. BT pokes holes in the insect’s stomach and causes their gut to explode, thereby killing them. Is it safe for humans? You’ll have to decide that for yourself. BT corn has been around for such a long time that insects are now becoming immune to the BT toxin.

 

Homemade Sausage

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Do You Eat Pork?

I don’t eat a lot of pork—an occasional bacon for breakfast, maybe a ham for Easter and sometimes home made pork sausage. I only buy local pork and try to keep it to a minimum. Like Dr. Axe says: You eat pork; you have parasites. I don’t worry much about parasites; I fuel my body with no less than a couple handfuls of moringa oleifera every day. Moringa oleifera is said to be anti-parasitic, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-viral.

Sausage and French Toast on Rye Round MHC RR
Sausage with Rye French Toast and Fresh Orange Slices

It doesn’t have to be Pork Sausage; Beef Sausage works, too!

I realized if I wanted to avoid pork, I’d have to find another way to make sausage. I was pleasantly surprised when I deviated from pork in this recipe. The first time I made it, I only used half a pound of beef for fear of ruining the entire pound—it was delicious! I’ve not yet tried this recipe with ground chicken or ground turkey, but I’m guessing the ground fennel might need to be replaced with ground rosemary. But that’s only a guess. When I’ve had a chance to make these with poultry, I’ll update this page.

Sausage
 
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Ingredients
  • 1 Pound Grass-Fed Ground Beef (or Ground Pork)
  • ½ Teaspoon Himalayan Salt
  • ½ Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
  • ½ Teaspoon Thyme
  • 1 Teaspoon Sage
  • 1 Teaspoon Onion Powder
  • 1Teaspoon Garlic Powder
  • 2 Teaspoons Ground Fennel
  • 2 Teaspoons Demerara or Evaporated Cane Juice/Sugar or ¼ Teaspoon Stevia
    • Instructions
    1. Mix all ingredients in stand mixer until well blended.
  • Divide into 6 or 8 sections and make patties. (I use an old-fashioned ice-cream scoop to measure and flatten with a spatula or with clean hands.)
  • Cook in cast iron pan on medium heat for approximately 4 to 5 minutes on each side or until completely cooked through to middle. The thicker the patty, the longer it will take to cook.

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    Easy Cauliflower Pizza Crust

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    Gluten-Free Cauliflower Pizza Crust

    Cauliflower Crust Recipe Renegade

    Cauliflower Pizza Crust – the Hard Way

    The first time I made cauliflower pizza crust, it took me FOREVER! All my counters were covered with dirty dishes–what a mess! It was a LOT of work, but I’ll admit–it was delicious!

    I won’t eat any supermarket vegetables that haven’t first been washed. So after washing the cauliflower: I steamed it on the stove top, cooled it, pulverized it in my food processor, emptied it into a dish/tea towel, squeezed the heck out of it, put it in a bowl, mixed in other ingredients, spread it onto a pan, baked it, flipped it, baked it again, then made it into pizza and baked it again. Aren’t you tired just reading about it???

    Skip the Tough Steps

    Being able to skip the squeeze-the-heck-out-of-it step, pulverizing in the food processor, and baking instead of steaming all helped save me a LOT of time. Not only are steps skipped, but not having to wash extra pots/pans, etc. saved time. And I have to admit I hated all that nutritious juice going down the drain. If you enjoy a gluten-free lifestyle, but have not yet tried cauliflower pizza crust trust me, it’s worth it! But try it the easier way . . . use a juicer.

    Cauliflower Pizza Crust – the Easier Way

    If you have a juicer, you’ll find this pizza crust easy to make. I have an Omega NC800HDS (you can see it in action on my You Tube channel), but any juicer will work. Cauliflower juice isn’t exactly my favorite, but you’ll probably want to save the juice. I usually juice a couple of carrots and an apple to go with a small amount of cauliflower juice.

    Easy Cauliflower Pizza
     
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    Ingredients
    Instructions
    1. Pre-heat oven to 425° F
    2. Remove cauliflower core, cut florets off stem and wash.
    3. Juice cauliflower; set juice aside to drink later.
    4. Place pulp on jelly pan (or cookie sheet).
    5. Bake pulp for 12 minutes.
    6. Remove pulp and let cool for about 5 minutes.
      While cauliflower is cooling:
    7. Place eggs in medium-sized bowl and slightly beat.
    8. Add Italian seasoning.
    9. Once cauliflower pulp has cooled to touch, add to bowl; mix together.
    10. Spread mixture onto silicone-lined jelly pan (or parchment-paper lined jelly pan).
    11. Bake at 425° for 8 minutes.
    12. Flip (I do this by placing silicone mat (or parchment paper) and second jelly pan on top and CAREFULLY and quickly flipping.)
    13. Bake for additional 8 minutes.

      Go here for: Cauliflower Pizza
    Notes
    Cheese is one of the ingredients in the first recipe I tried. I don't personally use cheese in my crust; I think cheese makes the crust tend to stick to the parchment paper/silicone liner making it easier to flip.

    These crusts freeze nicely. I’ve even frozen the pulp in a vacuum-seal bag. I like to make make it worth dirtying my juicer, so I make three or four at a time and freeze them. I roll mine in waxed paper (parchment paper would also work) and place into a (2.5 gallon) extra-large plastic bag. I allow them to thaw before flattening onto a jelly pan.

    Cauliflower Mushroom Pizza MHC RR

     

     

    Cauliflower Pizza

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    Gluten-Free Cauliflower Pizza

    Cauliflower Mushroom Pizza MHC RR

     

    Cauliflower Pizza
     
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    Ingredients
    • One Cauliflower Pizza Crust
    • 15 Oz. of Your favorite Tomato Sauce
    • ¾ to 1½ Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
    • ¾ to 1½ Cups Shredded Mozarella Cheese
    • Your Favorite Pizza Toppings
    Instructions
    1. Top Cauliflower Pizza Crust with tomato sauce, cheese and your favorite toppings.
    2. Bake on jelly pan at 450° F for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.
    Notes
    I topped my pizza with diced onions, pre-cooked sliced mushrooms and basil. It was delicious!

    Find my Cauliflower Pizza Crust here:

    Cauliflower Pizza Crust

     


    Pizza

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    Pizza by Recipe Renegade
    Click on picture to go back to Pizza Dough.

    Okay, I admit pepperoni isn’t exactly the healthiest food around, but it might be my favorite pizza topping. Honestly, pizza isn’t necessarily the healthiest choice either. Homemade and with healthier ingredients it can, at least, be eaten with less guilt. Who doesn’t love pizza, right?

    Pizza
     
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    Ingredients
    Instructions
    1. Preheat oven to 425°
    2. Oil pan for Pizza Dough.
    3. Make Pizza Dough and put into pan as instructed.
    4. In medium-size bowl, mix together: diced tomatoes, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, evaporated cane juice, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and Himalayan salt (if using salt) in a bowl.
    5. Evenly spread sauce onto top of pizza dough.
    6. Evenly sprinkle cheddar and mozarella cheeses on top of pizza.
    7. Add toppings of your choice.
    8. Bake at 425° for 25 minutes.
    Notes
    Do NOT use Himalayan Salt if tomatoes are salted!

    This is my favorite kitchen cleaner. I use it, diluted, for my vegetables:

    Pizza Dough

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    Dough in pan Recipe Renegade
    Click on picture for recipe that turns this dough into PIZZA.

    This pizza dough recipe is easy to make using a food processor.  Jovial’s Einkorn wheat contains a small amount of gluten, is our only wheat that’s not been hybridized and it is NOT sprayed with glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup).

    Secrets to the best pizza dough: Use high-quality, all-purpose, glyphosate-free wheat flour and do NOT let the dough rise before baking.

    Pizza Dough
     
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    This dough uses an ancient wheat that contains gluten.
    Author:
    Ingredients
    Instructions
    1. With knife blade in food processor bowl, add flour, evaporated cane juice, salt and yeast.
    2. Process for 10 seconds.
    3. Add soft butter.
    4. Process for 20 seconds.
    5. With food processor running, slowly add enough water to form a ball.
    6. Remove dough from processor and place on 17" x 12" jelly pan or pizza pan.
    7. Thoroughly coat hands with olive oil.
    8. Use oiled hands to evenly press dough onto pizza pan. (It will seem like there isn't enough dough, but there is.)

    9. Turn into PIZZA by topping with your favorite sauce, cheese and toppings.
    10. Bake at 425 ° for 25 minutes.
    Notes
    *1 Packet Active Dry Yeast may be substituted. If using Active Dry Yeast, subtract ¼ cup warm water from the 1 cup measurement and use to active yeast. Add at the same time as the rest of the water.

     

     

     

     

     

    Make sure you use glyphosate-free flour made from wheat that has NOT been hybridized, if you want the best health benefit . I use Jovial’s Einkorn Organic Flour. In fact, it says right on their package, “NATURE’S ORIGINAL WHEAT & the only one never hybridized.” I hope you’ve had a chance to read Are You Still Eating Wheat?