In my defense, I was pre-occupied with getting a new project to support adoptive and foster moms ready to pre-launch. And there’s a freezer full of grass-fed, local, free-range ground beef downstairs that someone could’ve done something with. No one needed to starve.

So real quick, the project is called The Adoption Connection, and it’s a podcast by and for adoptive and foster moms. I found out this year that I love the podcasting medium, but it kind of lacked direction. What I hear most from you all are questions about adoptive parenting and my experience as an adult adoptee. So, I partnered with my friend, Lisa Qualls at One Thankful Mom, who is also an adoptive mom, but also a birth/first mom. Between the two of us, we represent all sides of the adoption triad.  We make a stellar team and are fully committed to being a resource you can count on.

No worries. I will continue to write here and bring you must-read content like how to keep your family happy when you don’t want to cook.

My secret?

Bacon.

[bctt tweet=”I found the secret to family unity! #bacon” username=”corkboardblog”]

I bake it, so it literally takes less than 5 minutes of the precious time that I’d rather be using to scroll through Instagram help adoptive and foster mamas.

Just follow these simple steps.

1. Buy bacon every time you find yourself in a grocery store.

2. Line a shallow pan with foil. I use a metal jelly roll pan. (Yes, that’s an affiliate link. How else will I fund this bacon madness?)

3. Lay out the bacon in a single layer.

4. Bake at 375 degrees F for about 25 minutes or until desired crispiness.

5. Drain bacon on a paper towel.

6. Leave on counter.

7. Say ,”Yes,” whenever someone asks for a piece. (Yes, you can sneak trust-based parenting tactics in anywhere!)

Notice that the complaints about the lack of milk, cereal, cheese, bread, deli meat, etc. seem wonderfully absent.

If you’re starting to feel twitchy about summer (despite the bacon tip), you can find more great tips in my book 5 Tips to Save Your Summer which you can get by clicking here and clicking the orange button that says, “Get Your FREE Summer Survival Book.”

Go! Make people happy!

[bctt tweet=”Get a FREE book of summer survival tips. #parenthacks” username=”corkboardblog”]

[bctt tweet=”Focus on what you CAN eat rather on finding substitutes for what you can’t. #paleo” username=”corkboardblog”]

But sometimes you just need a solid bread substitute. In the past, we’ve found that Paleo breads were either too dense or were more like dessert breads rather than sandwich breads.

Then I found this recipe that used cashews and whipped egg whites. It calls for probiotic to “sour” it. What I really wanted was to be able to use my grain-free sourdough starter, so I experimented and am here to report back so you can have awesome, healthy, grain-free, sourdough bread.

What you’ll need:

20 oz. raw cashews
(I get mine through Thrive Market, but then I also found these if you’re an Amazon person.)

1 cup water

1/2 cup active grain-free sourdough starter

4 large eggs, separated

2 TBS. water

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt (use something unprocessed with all the extra trace minerals still in it).
Real Salt or Pink Himalayan Salt are solid choices

Loaf pan

Butter

Tapioca or Arrowroot Starch

Parchment paper

The Night Before

1. In a food processor or powerful blender, blend the cashews, water, and starter together until very smooth. Use a rubber scraper if necessary to scrape the sides and incorporate all the cashews.
   (We have a Ninja blender).
2. Transfer to a large glass bowl. Cover and leave in a warm place overnight. The dough needs to be at at least 85 degrees but not more than 110. I either sit mine next to my crockpot (if I’m cooking something) or in my oven with just the oven light on.
   

On Baking Day

1. Preheat the over to 325 degrees F.
2. Grease the loaf pan. Dust with starch. Line with parchment paper. I usually use a piece that lines just the bottom and long sides of the pan with an inch that hangs over on each side. (I still hadn’t trimmed the paper in this picture.)
   
3. Beat the yolks with the 2 tablespoons of water. Reserve about a tablespoon in a small bowl for brushing the top of the loaf later.
4. Add the yolks, baking soda, and salt to the dough.
5. With clean beaters, beat/whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form.
6. Gently fold the egg whites into the dough.
7. Transfer the dough to the loaf pan.
8. Brush gently with the reserved egg yolk mixture. (Parchment still not trimmed. I promise that I did that before I put it in my hot oven and burned my house down ;))
   
9. Bake at 325 for about 50 minutes. The interior of the bread should read at least 200 degrees F.
10. If the top needs more browning, turn up the oven to 375 and bake another 5 to 10 minutes.
11. Remove from oven and turn onto a cooling rack. Wait at least 10 minutes to cut.
    
    

This bread is the closest thing to a white bread substitute that we’ve ever had. It’s not too dense and doesn’t have a strong flavor. It’s perfect for sandwiches, almond butter toast, and even french toast.

What would you put on a Paleo sandwich?

If you subscribe to the theory that bread and cheese are the hardest things on our digestive systems because of the gluten, lactose, and casein, then pizza is absolute worst invention E.V.E.R…except that it’s so much fun to eat!

In my book, there is no acceptable cheese substitute, so we just take a digestive enzyme to break down the lactose and move on. However, after a lot of experimenting and Pinterest-ing, we did find a crust substitute that’s worth making.

Don’t even start about that cauliflower crust thing :/ I love me some roasted cauliflower and even caul-rice, but it was not meant to be crust!

My go-to crust uses this recipe as inspiration.

Ingredients 

1 cup tapioca or arrowroot starch/powder/flour (it may be called different things depending on the brand, but it’s all the same)

1 cup cassava flour

1/2 coconut flour

1 tsp Real Salt or some other unrefined salt

1 can full fat coconut milk

1/2 cup coconut oil (use refined if you don’t like the taste/smell of coconut oil)

2 eggs (you can sub this for a gelatin egg if necessary)

1 tsp each of onion and garlic powder

Directions:

1. Mix dry ingredients first. Then add wet ingredients. Combine thoroughly.
2. Divide dough into 2 balls. This freezes well as dough or after baking so you can mix once and bake twice!
3. Roll out a ball of dough between two pieces of parchment paper. No thicker than 1/4″.
4. Transfer the dough/parchment sandwich to a baking sheet (I prefer stones) and remove the top layer of parchment.
5. Bake at 450 degrees Fahrenheit until desired doneness.

For Pizza:

I like crispy crust, so I pre-bake the dough a little longer for pizza so it’s already on the crispy side. Top the crust with your desired toppings. We used pesto in lieu of sauce for this one. If you prefer tomato sauce try a heavily salted tomato paste with fresh herbs instead of canned sauces. The lack of moisture in tomato paste keeps the crust crispier. We’ve also done cheese-less versions which are just as tasty in my opinion but would never pass muster for the cheese-lovers in our family.

For crazy bread:

Bread sticks should be soft and chewy in my humble opinion, so we pre-bake the dough for this iteration a little less. Top the bread with grass-fed salted butter, fresh minced garlic, and grated Parmesan cheese. Return to the oven until everything is melty and bubbly. Cut into strips with a pizza cutter and enjoy.

What you need:

• 3 TBS of coconut oil
• 1/3 cup of popcorn
• Essential oils* (we used 1 drop Cassia, 1 drop Invigorating Blend, and 1 drop Cardamom)
• Saucepan with lid
• Salt to taste

*Only use essential oils with supplement facts listed which shows they are safe for internal consumption.

What to do:

1. Heat oils over medium heat.
2. Add 2 or 3 kernels. Cover and wait for them to pop.
3. Remove the pan from heat temporarily. Add the rest of the kernels. Cover and count to 30.
4. Return the pan to the heat.
5. Shake the pan occasionally and wait for the popping sounds to stop.
6. Transfer to bowl and salt.

We found that even though the flavors were “sweeter,” the salt really brought them out.

What are you favorite flavors on popcorn?

We’ve chosen a specific brand of essential oils because of the company’s commitment to safety, sustainability, quality, and support. We believe life (including essential oils) is best done in community and this company has a similar mindset. Unfortunately, to protect myself from scrutiny from the FDA, I’ve chosen to not disclose the brand on my website. It’s crazy world we live in! If you want to learn more about who we chose and why, send me a message here. You can also sign up for my newsletter where I send out wellness tips, event invites, and ways to get FREE oils.

Enter fried cauli-rice.

You will need:

A head of fresh cauliflower
Variety of fresh or frozen Asian veggies
An egg
Soy Vay Teriyaki sauce
Sesame oil

I kinda made this up and don’t have exact quantities. It’s a pretty forgiving recipe though. Basically make it so you like it.

What to do:

Shred the cauliflower using a box shredder on the medium side. At medium-high, heat a couple tablespoons of sesame oil in a wok or skillet. Add veggies. Just before the veggies are actually finished to your liking, add the shredded cauliflower. Create a well in the middle, add some more oil, and crack an egg into the well. Stir the contents of the wok until the egg is well scrambled and cooked through and the cauliflower is hot. Don’t over cook the cauliflower. Remove from heat. Add teriyaki sauce to taste. Enjoy.

If you’re weaning your family off of grains like me, you can reduce the amount of cauliflower and add some cooked jasmine rice.

One of the foods we miss the most since going grain-free is pizza. We did find a quinoa crust recipe that we indulge in, but Grace came up with a completely grain-free alternative recently…the pizza egg.
Basically you make an omelet and top it with sauce and cheese.

We’ve found the key to having it not stick is greasing the pan well and giving it plenty of time to heat without overheating it. We use a low-medium heat.

Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.

What will you put on top of your pizza egg?