Friday, March 4, 2016

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

Red Sangria from "The Healing Kitchen"  {AIP, paleo, alcohol free}

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 
AIP 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 
AIP 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
AIP 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
AIP Treats & Snacks from "The Healing Kitchen"
Apple Crumble | Pumpkin Roll with Clementine Cream | Lemon Ginger Energy Balls 

Drinks 
Red Sangria from "The Healing Kitchen"  {AIP, paleo, alcohol free}
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 from "The Healing Kitchen"  {AIP, paleo, alcohol free}

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! 

THK Austin Signing: Alaena, Laura, Sarah
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"


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

This post contains affiliate links. Thanks for supporting "Sweet Treats." 

43 comments:

  1. I've heard many great things about this book. I'd love my very own copy! Thanks for sharing.

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  2. My favorite holiday treat is pumpkin pie.

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  3. Favorite holiday treat is pumpkin pie! Then again, I love everything pumpkin and everything to do with holiday food! :)

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  4. Loving this cookbook! Be nice to have an extra to share with a friend!

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  5. Beautiful photos. I would like to try the pumpkin chili.

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  7. I would LOVE to win this book! I have been recently diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and am seriously considering going AIP. This would be an absolute godsend!!!!

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  8. All of these recipes look amazing! We would want to try Taco Night first!

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  9. I'd like to test a few recipes on my family.

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  10. This looks so exciting! Thanks for all your efforts!!

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  11. This is a wonderful review!! I love the concept of this cookbook and all the extras it offers. The meal plans alone are worth more the gold! Thank you!

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  12. Can't wait to try the pumpkin rolls...looks AMAZING!!! Thanks for sharing all of this :)

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  13. I'd like to try the BBQ or breakfast biscuits!

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  14. Those lemon ginger Bites sound wonderful!

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  15. Those lemon ginger Bites sound wonderful!

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  16. Bacon herb biscuit sandwiches with American Breakfast Sausage......Oh how I LOVE breakfast!

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  17. Those Bacon Herb Biscuit sandwiches sound amazing!

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  18. Bacon wrapped sausage and the breakfast hash recipes!

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  20. Date night pizza looks so yummy !

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  22. I'd like to try the pumpkin roll!

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  23. Thanks for the great giveaway! Honestly, I don't have just one recipe (although those bacon herb biscuits look amazing!); it's more the whole of the book. I'm just starting to get into AIP more because of some health reasons, and figuring out food that I can actually eat is so hard. When I was on it before, I skipped meals because I didn't know what I could eat--then I took a break from it because of travel, holidays, etc., and now I'm learning more about it before starting again next week!

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  24. Knowing my family I'd have to try the Taco Night first with the Toasted Lime Cilantro Cauli-Rice, Taco Beef, Easy Guacamole and of course finish it off with that amazing Sangria.
    Samantha

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  25. I have been on aip for five month now and I would like to try the "Bacon Herb Biscuit sandwiches with American Breakfast Sausage"
    Birgitta

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  26. The book sounds great! Thanks for the fantastic review, and the opportunity to throw my name in the hat! :)

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  27. meatloaf is one of my husband's favorites...I would like to make it with the cauli rice....his numbers are off the charts (1250 instead of 50), but so far has few symptoms....I am hoping with diet we'll be able to prevent more symptoms in the future!!

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  28. I'm just starting to build my AIP cookbook library. This would be a great addition!

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    1. I'd love to make any of the desserts since I'm a sucker for pie!

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  29. These all look so amazing! Would love to win a copy so I can start making these for myself :)

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  30. This book looks fabulous! I'm only a couple of months into my aip journey & am eager for inspiration!

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  31. This book looks fabulous! I'm only a couple of months into my aip journey & am eager for inspiration!

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  32. I would love a copy of this book to help us journey through aip to help my daughters psoriasis!

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    Replies
    1. It's indeed true that a good diet can help with many illnesses. Who could deny that leaving out (for example) white sugar helps to improve health. People are what they eat.

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