If you enjoy the satisfaction of preparing your own healthy meals at home, using whole foods or minimally-processed ingredients for your recipes, then this blog might be worth your time to read for some Culinary Inspiration. My name is Connie, and welcome to my kitchen! I encourage your feedback on the dishes I post and would even love a recommendation of what recipe to try next. I might even be so bold to take on "health-ified recipe challenges" that involve transforming a traditional recipe such as the cheesecake posted above into a more satisfying, less insulin-spiking dish.
Yes, as you can see in the photo above, I do love to pose alongside a sweet treat every now and then before I turn off the camera and devour--I mean, savor it. Sadly, this photo of me with a slice of full-fat dairy cheesecake, sweetened with a ton of refine sugar was my last traditionally-made dessert. Well, at least the fruit toppings were whole-food based.
Part of the reason why I decided to create this blog has to do with my pursuit to one day become a holistic nutritional consultant. I am currently a student at the American College of Healthcare Sciences working towards my AAS in CAM with emphasis in holistic nutrition. If you would like to donate to help fund my dreams of starting my own wellness center, let me know culinaryinspirationsbyconnie@gmail.com and I will provide a link to my PayPal account in my next post.
Since I have been obsessed with all things coconut lately, I imagine the base of my healthy dairy-free"cheese"-cake version would have coconut milk as the main ingredient followed by a crust made from dates and nut/seeds or something like that. What do you think?
FULL DISCLOSURE: I do not have the actual recipe for the cheesecake that is featured in this blogpost--the photo was taken from my first (and hopefully not last) yoga retreat. I was fortunate to attend Sarah Kadel and Crystal Beshears' yoga retreat last April 2016.
If you enjoy relaxing vacations that are coupled with delicious food, consider booking a retreat with Utopian Retreats. I am sure the kitchen staff would be happy to make you cheesecake similar the one I had during my stay. Tell 'em I sent ya! I don't get any extra perks from you mentioning my name, but it would be interesting to see if they would even remember me, probably not. It would also be interesting if you actually went all the way to Spain to relay a 'hello' for me. Unless of course you were already in Spain so no biggie...anyway...getting back to my anti-sugar/anti-gluten dietary restrictions...
Nowadays, I am doing my best following Alisa Vitti's nutritional recommendations as outlined in her cycle syncing recipes to cut out wheat and dairy products ever since my husband and I decided that it was time to get serious about our TEAM Wrighthouse fertility journey. My copy of her book, WomanCode, has taken a beating as I refer back to it often, especially the page that has the food chart containing the cycle-friendly foods that assist with balancing out my hormones from week to week. Having seen the benefits of going without dairy and gluten, my diet is mostly plant-based (I still consume meat/fish/seafood, but not as often and not as much as I used to) with a lot of Paleo-inspired recipes, such as homemade coconut yogurt. I like to follow the Paleo Mom's recipe, Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, from her cookbook, The Paleo Approach this easy, probiotic-rich, gut friendly breakfast.
Just to clarify, this blog will contain a lot of paleo-friendly recipes from various sources, but I am not going to commit to all the dietary restrictions that Dr. Ballantyne's AIP protocol outlines in her book or any other recipe developer for that matter. On the occasion when I feel I need more grains in my diet I will incorporate rice, oats, and buckwheat.
Oh, in addition to posting recipes of the culinary sort, I also plan to share recipes from my DIY beauty inspiration collection and might even through in a few videos of me singing my favorite songs for audio inspiration. These ideas may eventually evolve into their own separate blogs in the future, but for now I plan to keep everything on this blog those of you who want a lil' more variety. Are you inspired yet?
Last summer, I decided to see if there was an online audience interested in "feasting" their eyes on all the yummy recipes I create in my kitchen https://www.facebook.com/culinaryinspirationsbyconnie/
My decision to turn Culinary Inspirations by Connie into an official blog began with an assignment from my NAT 306 Holistic Health Consulting & Business Skills course this semester (Spring 2017).
In my efforts to kick it up a notch this year, I am going to see if I can commit to posting either weekly or monthly highlights from my healthy creations on this platform. On the fly, direct from my kitchen I will still continue to post to my Instagram account. I have a few recipes posted at Dishfolio, but plan to post future recipes at this site just for ease of access.
Happy, Healthy Cooking & Eating to All & Stay tuned...Tell me what inspires you in your kitchen.
Thanks for stopping by!
Nom, nom--Connie
P.S.
In the spirit of St. Patrick's Day, rather than have a pint of Guiness, I plan on posting a Matcha Panna Cotta recipe this weekend. I have never made it before so it will be interesting to see if it will turn out. CHEERS~
