Every afternoon between 2 and 3 p.m., I sit outside on my patio to enjoy a salad for lunch. Usually I’m swatting away flies who are trying relentlessly to annoy me, until my hummingbird friends come around, and I forget all about them. Hummingbirds have got to be the friendliest birds around, and you know when they’re coming cause you can hear them hum! 

I have a hummingbird feeder that I fill with sugar and water, no red food coloring, and they love it. Also, growing in my garden is a vine called Red Cypress, and it seems they dig that too. And although I don’t know much about birds, (I grew up with these and Bob White’s) I can tell these guys like company. They rarely come around when I’m not sitting right below the feeder, and when I am, they come really close to me and then buzz away so quickly I have to guess which way they went. It says online that they are the smallest birds still in existence and that they rapidly flap their wings 12-80 times per second! It’s because of this humming sound created by their beating wings, that they are called hummingbirds. 

When I was Google-ing hummingbirds, hummingbird bread recipes kept appearing on the screen. I’d never heard of any such thing before but it seems the common ingredient is mashed bananas and chunks of pineapple. Sounded easy enough for me to create my own gluten-free, sugar-free take on this bread. And it’s Paleo, so enjoy without the guilt! I also decided to make a hummingbird-inpired salad, since they seem to like my afternoon ritual. 

Hummingbird Bread- Paleo Style- makes one loaf 

Ingredients: 

-3/4 cup coconut flour

-1/2 cup shredded coconut 

-2 mashed bananas 

-1 cup pineapple, small chunks

-1/2 cup coconut oil, melted 

-3 eggs

-1/2 tsp each of cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda 

-pinch of salt 

-1 tsp vanilla 

-1/2 cup walnuts 

-2 T chia seeds 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a bowl, add the flour, shredded coconut, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and salt. Whisk throughly. 

3. Add in everything else, folding in the walnuts at the end. 

4. Bake for 40-45 minutes. 

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Hummingbird-inspired Salad with Grapefruit Citrus Dressing- serves one 

Ingredients:

-2 cups fresh greens

-1 apple, peeled and sliced

-1/2 avocado, sliced

-1/2 cucumber, peeled and sliced

-1 packet of Oh! My Omega Nut Mix from Trader Joe’s 

-1 spoonful crumbled Gorgonzola cheese 

Directions:

1. Slice and peel the apple, cucumber and avocado.

2. Add everything into a big bowl and toss.

Grapefruit Citrus Dressing 

-juice from 1/2 grapefruit

-2 T apple cider vinegar

-3 T rice vinegar

-1 T olive oil

-pinch each of salt, pepper and sugar

Directions:

1. Place all of the ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.

2. Pour over salad and toss lightly.

3. Enjoy this light, airy salad with a cold glass of sparkling water, with a squirt of grapefruit!

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On a different note, I made a quick and delicious dinner for myself last night. Trader Joe’s has buttercup squash for 99 cents right now and since I’d never had or heard of it before, I bought it! So glad I did, because it was just the right amount and the texture was creamy and a touch sweet. I added three ingredients to it… that’s it! 

Roasted Buttercup Squash– serves one

Ingredients:

-1 buttercup squash

-olive oil

-pinch of brown sugar

-pinch of salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400.

2. Wash the squash and using a heavy knife, cut the top off as if you were about to carve a pumpkin.

3. Scoop out the seeds and save them for later.

4. Sprinkle some olive oil, salt and pepper on the squash and place cut-side down on a baking sheet.

5. Bake for 30 minutes until squash is soft and brown around the edges. 

6. Let cool and add some brown sugar. Enjoy! This is quite filling!

 

 

 

I’m off to teach and tape some Power Flow at Yoga Centre now, (you can take that class later online) where I met this lovely girl below, Kacey. She is an inspiring student to watch practice and she is funny, quirky and rides horses, hangs on Aerial Silks and is just down-right cool! She just opened up her own studio called Off Beat Yoga, located at 8115 El Camino Real, in Atascadero. If you live in the North County check it out!  You won’t be disappointed!