Chocolate Banana Health Bombs!

I know, I know. Not the best recipe title, but I couldn't think of any other way to describe them.

Sunday was the one year anniversary of Matt's dad going to Heaven and he wanted cookies for dinner. Of course I said, "sure thing!".

I made Matt and the kids a batch of my Gluten-dairy-free-chocolate-chip-cookies (with an added 1/4 cup of protein powder) and then had to figure out something that I could eat that was like a cookie.

Here it is... a grain/gluten-free, dairy-free, naturally sweetened cookie.

In a medium bowl blend together:
1 banana
2 organic eggs
3 Tablespoons Organic Flaxseed, freshly ground
3 Tablespoons Organic Maple Syrup

Once they are thoroughly blended, stir in:
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups Almond Flour
1/4 cup Raw Cacao Powder
1/4 cup Tapioca Flour
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut.

Batter mixed up and ready to bake

Drop by spoonful onto Parchment Paper lined baking sheet.

Bake 10 minutes at 375F

Then gently move to cooling rack to cool.

They are delicious, have a good texture and 3 grams of protein per cookie!!! 

My batch was 20 cookies.

Strawberry Shortcake ~ Paleo

Tonight (admittedly for dinner, but hey, we had it with bacon!) I made some strawberry shortcake. It is grain free, refined sugar-free, gluten free, and dairy free. To sum it up, it was simply amazing! Here is the recipe in case you want to try it for (dinner) yourself!

Shortcake:
I got the original recipe from Elanas Pantry and modified it a bit.
Ingredients:
3 organic eggs
2 Tablespoons Organic Maple Syrup
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup Organic Coconut Flour
1/4 cup Spectrum Organic Shortening
1 Tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice

Put all ingredients into a Food Processor and blend until mixed. Scrape the sides down and pulse a few more times to make sure it is completely blended.

Spoon into a 9x5 loaf pan that is lined with parchment paper.

Bake at 350F for about 24-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and cake is just starting to brown on top.

Remove the loaf pan from the oven.

Carefully lift the parchment paper out (it should be holding the cake inside) and set carefully onto a cooling rack. Let set for 30-60 minutes.

Strawberries:
Wash and slice 1 pint of organic strawberries. Set aside.

Whipped Cream:
Place a can of full fat coconut milk into the freezer for 45 minutes to an hour. Remove without shaking. Open with a can opener and scoop off the cream that has risen to the top. Use a mixer/hand beaters to whip the cream until stiff peaks form.

Layer the cake, strawberries and whipped cream. Serve and enjoy immediately. Serves 8.

Paleo Carrot-Orange Muffins

I do a lot of juicing. I love the way fresh juiced fruits and vegetables taste, its just so refreshing!!

I also hate to throw away any of the pulp, it just seems like such a waste. A while back I started making a gluten-free "Pulp Bread" (get the recipe here). But now that I am grain-free I needed to get a batch that was grain and sugar free. Here is what I came up with. I have to say that I surprised myself with how good these taste!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Cashew Flour or Almond Flour
1/4 cup Organic Coconut Flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 Tablespoon Organic Molasses Unsulphured
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cups apple sauce (I used homemade peach sauce)
4 organic eggs
1/4 cup melted organic coconut oil
2 Tablespoons Orange Juice
2 cups pulp from juicing (I used pulp from a carrot-orange-ginger juice) or you can sub 2 cups grated carrot
10 dates, pitted and finely diced

Add all the ingredients into a large bowl in the order listed. One they are all in the bowl, use an electric hand mixer to blend everything together. Don't over mix it, just blend until everything is mixed.

Spoon the batter (it will be thick and dense) into paper lined muffin tins. (My batch made 18 muffins)
Bake at 350F for about 20-22 minutes until they are lightly browned on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from muffin tin and let cool on wire cooling rack.
*Note: These are more dense and have more moisture in the center of them than normal muffins do.

I hope that you enjoy these as much as my family does. They have such a sweet flavor to them that if I hadn't made them I would have sworn they had sugar in them. 

Paleo Chicken Pot-Pie

I have been craving a hearty meal for awhile now. So tonight I decided to try making some pot-pie. I really wanted ham but was unable to find any in our area that did not have sugar of some sort added to it. So my hubby picked up some Applegate Farms Organic Chicken sausages (sweet Italian variety) from Whole Foods on his way home.

Here is the recipe that I came up with for my paleo pot-pie.


Filling
1 pound of meat of your choice, cooked
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup peas
1 cup corn
1 cup chopped spinach
1/3 cup diced red onion
      *I used organic varieties of all  the vegetables. That is not necessary, it is your choice.

Broth/Gravy Sauce
1 cup chicken broth (I used my homemade and you can get the recipe here)
3/4 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
1/4 + 1/8 cup almond meal
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon Sea Salt
1 teaspoon Italian seasing
    *note: My homemade chicken broth does not have any salt in it. If you are using broth that has salt in it then you do not need to add as much salt.

Crust
2 cups Almond Flour
2 organic eggs
2 Tablespoons Organic Coconut Oil


Directions:
Wash, chop, and dice the vegetables. Stir them together in a bowl and set aside.

In a medium sized sauce pan heat 1 cup of broth and 1/4 cup of the almond milk on medium high heat. In a separate cup pour the remaining 1/2 cup of almond milk. Blend in the almond flour, pepper, salt and seasoning. Once the broth and milk start to boil, stir in the flour mixture. Stir constantly and cook for 5 minutes on medium high heat. Mixture will not thicken like a typical roux does.

Remove the sauce from heat and get a medium size bowl. Blend the 2 cups of almond flour, eggs and coconut oil together until mixed completely. I used a fork to mix them.

Place the crust between two sheets of Parchment Paper . Use a rolling pin to flatten the dough until it is large enough to cover the top of the container you are cooking in. (I cooked this pot pie in a 1 1/2 quart baking dish.) If you are using multiple smaller dishes, form the dough to fit the tops of them. I had a little extra so I placed it in the bottom of my baking dish.

Once the dough is done, pour the hot sauce mix over your vegetables. Toss them making sure that all of the vegetables get covered in the sauce. Stir in the meat of your choice. As I mentioned earlier I wanted to have ham. But we ended up using organic chicken sausage (precooked). Chicken goes great in this as well! Spoon the sauce into your baking pan.

Pick up the dough on the parchment paper that you rolled it out on. Flip it (carefully) over the top of the vegetables. Gently press the dough to the edges of the baking dish. Using a knife, make a few slits in the top of the dough so that the air can vent from inside while it bakes. I like to make heart shapes, and every time I do then Gabriella says, "aw, how cute!"

Bake at 425 F for about 30 minutes. The crust should be slightly browned and the sauce bubbling up from the slits you made before cooking.

Serve warm and enjoy!

Lemon-Dijon Chicken ~ Paleo

Yesterday I made the most delicious chicken that I have ever eaten! It was amazing!! Here is the recipe for the marinade that I made, most of these items you should have lying about your kitchen which is great. I am not a of making a trip to the store for one thing.

Lemon-Dijon Marinade
1/2 Tablespoon lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (I zested one medium sized lemon and then juiced it. Zest first!!)
2 Tablespoons Spicy Dijon Mustard (I used Trader Joe's brand as it has no sugar)
1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Organic Maple Syrup
1 Tablespoon Organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried (or fresh) basil
1 teaspoon dried minced onion
1 teaspoon dried (or fresh) rosemary

In a one cup measuring cup (I used a half pint mason jar) add all of these ingredients together and stir with a fork to blend.

Place your chicken drumsticks (my pack of organic drumsticks from Trader Joes had 5 in it) in a bowl and then pour the marinade over them. Place in the refrigerator and allow to sit for 4 hours. During that time rotate the drumsticks occasionally to spread around the marinade.

When you are ready to bake, move the drumsticks to a baking sheet covered in aluminum foil with a cooling rack on top. Place the chicken the cooling rack and then spoon extra marinade over the top.

Bake at 375 F for about 1 hour (be sure that your chicken is completely cooked and reaches a proper internal temp of 165F).

I served this for dinner with fresh kiwi (my daughter's favorite fruit) and some wilted kale. You can snag the wilted kale directions here.

It was a complete crowd pleaser!!

Garlic Kale

One of my favorite side dishes is wilted Garlic Kale. No one else in my family likes it so I get to eat it all myself!!

Here are the directions to make your own.

Ingredients:
1 bunch of freshly washed organic kale
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Pinch of sea salt

After you have washed the kale, pat it dry with paper towels. I cut the leaf part off the stem (I save the stems and use them for juicing so they aren't wasted) and then place the bunch of kale in a frying pan.

Drizzle the EVOO over it and sprinkle the garlic powder and pinch of sea salt. Using tongs, flip the kale around to spread around the oil and seasonings.

Cook on over medium heat for about 5 minutes, rotating the kale constantly with the tongs. The idea is to gently wilt the kale, not fry or burn it. You can sneak little bites of it to get it to your desired level of texture.

I served this last night with my Lemon-Dijon Chicken. It was a perfect side dish!

Best Paleo Cinnamon Rolls!

Every so often I get a crazy craving where I want to eat something that has the texture of bread and is thick and solid (I juice a lot so I crave solid foods!).  I was also wanting something a little sweet so I decided on some cinnamon rolls. I found this recipe online (at realhealthyreipes.com) and modified it to make it fit my dietary requirements (no dairy, grains, gluten, rice, oats, cane sugar and candida-diet friendly).

Dough:
2 1/2 cups Almond Flour
1/4 cup Organic Coconut Flour
1/4 tsp baking soda (if you want to keep it strict paleo, then be sure and use a substitute)
1/4 cup Organic Coconut Oil , melted
2 Tablespoons organic raw honey (or maple syrup)
2 organic eggs
1 Tablespoon Organic Almond Extract (be sure and check your extracts for hidden sugars and grains)
1/4 cup Organic Coconut Sugar

Mix the wet ingredients first, then stir in the dry ingredients. Set aside while you make the filling.

Filling:
1/4 cup organic coconut sugar (if you like them extra sweet, use 1/2 cup of coconut sugar)
2 Tablespoons organic ground cinnamon
2 Tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup chopped almonds
    optional: 1/4 cup chopped organic raisins

Stir the filling ingredients all together to get a wet and crumbly paste.

Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough between two pieces of Parchment Paper until it is about 1/4-1/3 inch thick in a rectangle shape. (If you are a serious gluten-free, grain-free, or paleo baker, buy your parchment paper at Costco. It is by far the best price for a HUGE amount!)

Sprinkle your filling ingredients evenly over the top of the dough. Using the parchment paper, very carefully and gently roll the dough into a long snake. This part takes a bit of time and finesse. Stay patient and calm and squish the dough back together if it crumbles.

When you have your long roll of dough all rolled up, you have two options. You can cut it into 9 pieces using either a serrated knife or a piece of thread. (To use the thread, put it underneath the roll and pull up on each side of the string using opposite hands. Cross over and pull the string together. It should easily cut cleanly through the dough. This is the way my mom has cut cinnamon rolls for years and it is awesome!)

Lightly grease a 9x9 square baking pan. Place the 9 cinnamon rolls into the pan (they should be just touching each other). Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes.

They are best eaten when they are warm (don't burn yourself!) but are great stored airtight in the refrigerator for a few days too (if they last that long!).

Enjoy!!

Amazing Paleo Strawberry Chocolate Ice cream Sandwiches

While I was at my mom's last week I got a craving for chocolate and ice cream. Here is the strawberry lemon paleo "ice cream" that we made and the chocolate cookies to put it on.

Chocolate Cookies

I made these before, as chocolate chip cookies but my newly found allergy to cane sugar left me with no viable chocolate chip options. So plain chocolate it was!

In a bowl Mix:
1 cup almond butter (raw, unsweetened)
1 organic egg
1/4 cup raw organic honey
1/2 tsp Baking Powder, Aluminum Free
12 tsp sea salt
2 Tablespoons Raw Cacao Powder .

Spoon onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper and flatten with the back of a spoon.
Bake them at 350F for 10 minutes and then carefully remove them and place on a cooling rack. Recipe yields about 11 cookies.

Once they have cooled to close to room temperature, place them in the freezer while you get the ice cream started.

Strawberry Lemon Paleo Ice Cream

1 pint organic strawberries
1 can full fat Organic Coconut Milk, unsweetened
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 Tablespoon organic raw honey
1/2 tsp sea salt


In a large bowl place the strawberries, rinsed with stems removed. Using a masher (I used my metal potato masher), mash them up to a mostly liquid consistency. Gently stir in the other ingredients until completely blended together.

Pour into your ice cream maker (I use a counter-top Cuisinart one, the kind where the bowl goes in your freezer until you are ready to use it). It takes about 20-30 minutes to get the ice cream to set-up to a good consistency.

Once the ice cream is ready, spoon it onto one of the cookies and then place another on top. Put the cookies immediately back into the freezer. Let them set for about 1 hour in the freezer (or you can eat them right away and have them be just as delicious but significantly messier) before serving.  Any leftover ice cream can be eaten right away or stored in an air tight container in the freezer. To re-thaw, let it set at room temp for about 10 minutes for best texture.

These ice cream sandwiches were a HUGE hit with my family and met all of our dietary requirements: gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, peanut-free, sugar-free, oat-free, etc.  I hope that you enjoy them as much as we did!