Category Archives: Food

Coconut Apple Pancakes

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Coconut Flour Pancakes with Apples – yum! Even the little tummies in this house were fans! Perfect grain-free and paleo breakfast for a cold winter morning and great way to start off the new year. Happy New Year everyone! 🙂

Blog paleo apple pancakes (2) Blog paleo apple pancakes (1)

Ingredients

  • 4 eggs, room temperature
  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • 1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tablespoon honey or agave
  • 1/2 cup coconut flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • pinch of sea salt
  • 1 apple, sliced in very thin boats
  • coconut oil or butter for frying

Directions

  1. In a small bowl beat eggs until frothy, about two minutes (I used a food processor for this – works great!). Mix in milk, vanilla, and honey or agave.
  2. In a medium-sized bowl combine coconut flour, baking soda, and sea salt and whisk together. Stir wet mixture into dry until coconut flour is incorporated.
  3. Grease pan with butter or coconut oil. Ladle a few tablespoons of batter into pan for each pancake. Spread out slightly with the back of a spoon. The pancakes should be 2-3 inches in diameter and fairly thick. Lay sliced apples on pancakes.
  4. Cook on low to medium heat for a few minutes on each side, until they start to turn golden brown.
  5. Serve hot with butter, coconut oil, honey, syrup, or fruit.

Inspired and modified from the Fluffy Coconut Flour Pancakes on NourishingDays.com.

dit-elle-Esther

Scandinavian Shrimp Pie

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Scandinavian shrimp pie – a delicate blend of flavors – eggs with cream cheese, chopped fresh dill, and a golden toasted cheese topping!

Blog scandiavian shrimp pie

Ingredients

  • 1 frozen pie shell (I use a gluten free version)
  • 1 1/2 cups cooked shrimp (I get small salted frozen shrimp)
  • 1/4 cup (2 oz) cream cheese, softened
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cheese (mozzarella, parmesan, Havarti or fontina work well)
  • 2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill

Directions

  • Beat eggs, add cream cheese and milk and beat until well blended
  • Put shrimp in pie shell, sprinkle with dill and pour egg/milk mixture over
  • Top with cheese
  • Bake at 375 for ~50 minutes or until knife inserted in middle comes out clean

dit-elle-Esther

Mexican Hot Chocolate

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Merry Merry Christmas everyone!

Feeling chilly? Need a drink after playing in the snow? This Mexican Hot Chocolate will warm you right up! A delicious blend of spices including ginger and cayenne make this a wonderful steamy drink for a cold winter day.

Blog mexican hot chocolate (2) Blog mexican hot chocolate (1)

Ingredients (1 serving)

  • 2 tsps cocoa
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ginger
  • cayenne to taste (I use about 1/8 tsp, but I like it spicy!)
  • 1 Tbsp agave syrup or honey
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 cup milk (or coconut milk)
  • Half ‘n’ half or cream to taste

Directions

  • Mix dry ingredients in a cup
  • Add agave and water
  • Microwave on high for 20 seconds
  • Stir till well blended, add milk and return to the microwave for another minute or until hot
  • Add some whipped cream (optional)

dit-elle-Esther

Hot Artichoke and Crab Dip

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We just had our annual Iron Chef party – the challenge was to use ONE of the following ingredients in a dish: crab, chocolate or cranberries. I picked crab and made this dip. Guess who won the iron chef challenge!? Yep, that’s right – Hot Artichoke & Crab Dip! 🙂

This dip is everything you would expect from a hot creamy artichoke and crab dip – plus more! The 1/2 tsp cayenne adds a fabulous kick. Spicy but not too spicy. If you’re not into spice and heat – omit! Definitely not recommended for kids, but a wonderful “grown up” dish. I served this with cucumber and red bell pepper slices, but toasted baguette or pita would be great if you prefer!

blog crab artichoke dip

Ingredients

  • 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 clove garlic, pressed
  • 1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts in water, drained and chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups cooked crabmeat
  • 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese + 1/4 cup for topping
  • 1/3 cup chopped green onion + 2 tsps for garnish
  • 1/3 cup chopped red bell pepper + 2 tsps for garnish
  • 1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper

Serve with

  • 1 hot house cucumber, sliced (for dipping)
  • 1 red bell pepper, sliced (for dipping)

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)
  • Combine cream cheese and mayonnaise in a large bowl until smooth; stir in garlic and cayenne. Gently stir artichoke hearts, crab, Parmesan cheese, 1/3 cup green onion, 1/3 cup red bell pepper. Transfer the dip to a 9-inch pie dish and sprinkle top with rest of cheese.
  • Bake in the preheated oven until topping is golden brown and dip is hot, ~30 minutes. Garnish with 2 teaspoons green onion and 2 teaspoons chopped red bell pepper.

dit-elle-Esther

Avocado Toast with a Soft Boiled Egg…

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Avocado toast is just about everywhere, and for good reason.  It’s DELICIOUS and good for you too!!  You can keep it pure, or mix it up.  That’s one of the things I love about food and fashion.  You can get inspired by others, and then make it your own.  I got this idea from Frugal Feeding‘s Avocado Puff Tart recipe.  My mouth started watering the minute I saw it…

We got some yummy artisan bread at the Sunday Farmer’s Market, and I just new I wanted to make a variation of his recipe using it.  I had some tomatoes that were on their last legs, so I diced them up, soft boiled some eggs, and dinner was served!  SO easy and delicious-total win!!Blog Avocado Toast with Soft Boiled Egg and Tomatos-1Ingredients

  • Loaf of bread (any kind will do-can even use gluten free!)
  • Avocado (amount varies on how many people you are going to feed)
  • Tomatoes
  • Soft Boiled eggs (I did one per slice of toast)
  • Chili Pepper Flakes
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  • Slice up some bread.
  • Mash up the avocado in a bowl and season with a little salt and pepper.
  • Dice up the tomotoes
  • Soft Boil the eggs.  Bring a pot of water to boil.  Drop eggs in and let them cook for 8 minutes.  Drain water, and immediately cover with cold water to stop them from cooking further.
  • Pile everything on the bread and sprinkle with chili flakes (optional).Blog Avocado Toast with Soft Boiled Egg and Tomatos-2Blog Avocado Toast with Soft Boiled Egg and Tomatos-3Enjoy!dit-elle-Lauren

Apple Tartlets

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It’s definitely apple season! Pick a favorite cooking apple (Granny Smith apples are wonderful), make this easy crust, and voila – easy paleo dessert. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream for some totally-non-paleo goodness! 🙂

The recipe calls for apple juice – this is the only sweetener. I thought the apples might be too tart – but they are perfect. Even without the ice cream, this is a yummy dessert!

These Upside Down Apple Tartlets are inspired from Elana’s Pantry (with some minor modifications).

Blog apple tartlett (3) Blog apple tartlett (1)

Crust

  • 2 cups blanched almond flour
  • dash sea salt
  • ÂĽ cup coconut oil, at room temperature
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Filling

  • 6 large apples, peeled, cored and sliced, and cut into ÂĽ-inch slices (I like Granny Smith Apples for baking)
  • 1 cup apple juice
  • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder (What’s arrowroot? That’s what I said! It’s a natural thickener – a starch extracted from arrowroot. Read more on Wikipedia.)
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350° and place eight 1-cup wide mouth Mason jars on a large baking sheet (you could also make one large pie/tart if you prefer – just use an ~8″ round or square baking dish and crumble or lay the crust on top)
  2. To make the crust, pulse together almond flour and salt in a food processor, then add coconut oil and vanilla and pulse until the mixture forms a ball
  3. Transfer dough to a piece of parchment paper and place in freezer for 20 minutes
  4. To make filling, toss apples, apple juice, lemon juice, arrowroot powder, and cinnamon in a large bowl to combine
  5. Transfer apples to Mason jars so that each one is overfull and divide remaining juice from the bottom of the bowl between the jars
  6. Remove dough from freezer, place between 2 pieces of parchment paper generously dusted with almond flour and roll out to about ¼-inch thick and remove top sheet of parchment
  7. Use top of a wide-mouth Mason jar to cut out 8 circles of dough
  8. Place one on top of each apple-filled Mason jar
  9. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until the juices are bubbling and the crust is golden brown
  10. Serve the tartlets hot out of the oven with coconut whipped cream or ice cream 🙂

dit-elle-Esther

Gluten Free Pumpkin Waffles

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Love the Gluten Free Waffles we posted last week? Here’s a pumpkin version! 🙂

Blog gluten free waffles-2 (1) Blog gluten free waffles 2 (6)  Blog gluten free waffles 2 (2)

Ingredients

  • 1  cup rice flour or a gluten free flour mix
  • 1/4 cup cornmeal (omit if you are corn free and add another 1/4 cup of the rice flour back)
  • 1/2 cup potato starch (NOT Potato Flour)
  • 1/4 cup tapioca flour
  • 2  teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • dash of salt
  • 1/4 cup melted butter or coconut oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 1/2 cups buttermilk (regular milk works, too)

Directions

  • Mix the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry ingredients in another
  • Combine and mix
  • Add more liquid if you need to thin the batter (water, milk or more pumpkin)
  • Scoop in portions onto waffle iron and cook
  • Serve with butter & sugar & cinnamon, maple syrup & whipped cream & toasted pecans, or other favorite toppings

dit-elle-Esther

Pumpkin Layer Pie

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Pumpkin Pie used to be the main thing I loved about Thanksgiving dinner (foodwise that is ;)), until I found this recipe about 15 years ago.  I’ve never had a piece of regular pumpkin pie since.  I’ve tried a bite here and there, just to see, but this pie is SO much better that I don’t think I’ll ever go back.  I’ve modified it over the years from the original recipe.  I never could get a consistent texture, until I tweaked a few things.  In the original recipe the cream cheese layer is about 1/3 to 2/3’s pumpkin.  I evened it out a bit, because pumpkin layer would tend to not set (the biggest complaint in all the reviews).  It’s still delicious as a soupy pie haha, but I like it better with the below modifications.Blog Pumpkin Layer Pie-1Ingredients

For the Crust…
I am a BIG graham cracker crust fan.  I have been known to double a recipe both for this or when I make cheesecake haha.  So, this is a bit thick, but so yummy!!
  • 2 packets of graham crackers
  • 1 1\2 sticks of butter (3/4 cup) (melted)

Crush graham crackers (either in a food processor or in a large zip lock bag with a rolling pin).  Pour butter over graham crackers and mix until you can form it into your pie pan.Blog Pumpkin Layer Pie-2 For the bottom layer…

  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened (I use light, but wouldn’t use non fat-too soft)
  • 1 tablespoon white sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed (you could probably use real whip cream if you’re a purist ;).  I happen to LOVE Cool Whip-total guilty pleasure!)
  • 1 Tablespoon Milk

In a large bowl, whisk together cream cheese, 1 tablespoon of milk, and sugar until smooth. Gently stir in whipped topping. Spread into bottom of crust.Blog Pumpkin Layer Pie-3For the Pumpkin Layer

  • 2  packages of 3.4 oz instant vanilla pudding mix
  • 1 Can (15 oz) of pumpkin puree.
  • 1 Cup Cold Milk
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin Pie Spice (I go a lot lighter on the spice, because it tasted to overwhelming to me)  You could also use a mix of cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.

Pour pumpkin puree and a cup of milk into large bowl, and thoroughly mix in pudding mix, and spices. When thickened, spread over cream cheese layer.  I knifed across the layers to make a marble pattern 🙂Blog Pumpkin Layer Pie-4Refrigerate for 4 hours, or until set.  I usually make it the night before…

Enjoy!!dit-elle-Lauren

Gluten Free Waffles

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Need a great staple waffle recipe? Having a hard time finding a good gluten free version? Here you go! This is a great gluten free waffle recipe. To quote Adam, “how are these so good?” I think that about sums it up.

I have a little Norwegian waffle iron – makes beautiful hearts that were a huge hit with the kids! Scandinavians like to serve waffles for dessert with strawberry or raspberry jam and sour cream – or with a large scoop of ice cream! Shown below with whipped cream, some powdered sugar and raspberries!

Blog gluten free waffles 2 (7) Blog gluten free waffles 2 (4)

Ingredients

  • 3/4  cup rice flour or a gluten free flour mix
  • 1/4 cup cornmeal (omit if you are corn free and add another 1/4 cup of the rice flour back)
  • 1/2 cup potato starch (NOT Potato Flour)
  • 1/4 cup tapioca flour
  • 2  teaspoons baking powder
  • dash of salt
  • 1/4 cup melted butter or coconut oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups buttermilk (regular milk works, too)

Directions

  • Mix the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry ingredients in another
  • Combine and mix
  • Scoop in portions onto waffle iron and cook
  • Serve with butter & sugar, jam & sour cream, maple syrup, fresh fruit, powdered sugar or other favorite toppings

dit-elle-Esther

Chocolate Pumpkin Chiffon Pudding

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This is an amazing, rich and silky chocolate pudding inspired by Elanaspantry.com. Yes it has pumpkin in it, but no it did not taste like pumpkin! So if you are looking for a pumpkin flavored pudding this is not it. But a great way to add some pumpkin to a dessert.

The original recipe called for raw egg, which I’m not a fan of, so I’ve modified the recipe to allow for cooking the egg.

I bet this would be amazing with some Coconut Cream Pumpkin Spice Frosting (Let me know if you try it :))

Blog chocolate pumpkin pudding-1

Ingredients

  • ½ cup pumpkin puree
  • ½ cup coconut milk
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ cup coconut sugar
  • 1 cup chocolate chunks, melted
  • dash of celtic sea salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

  1. In a double boiler (I use a stainless steel bowl in a pot of 1-2″ of water) combine pumpkin, coconut milk, and eggs
  2. Whisk while mixture heats, and keep whisking till hot and bubbly
  3. If egg starts to turn solid (clumping) use an immersion blender to fix
  4. Mix in chocolate, sugar, salt and stir till chocolate is melted
  5. Add vanilla and remove from double boiler
  6. Transfer into ½ cup jars, and place in fridge for 2 hours to set

dit-elle-Esther