Category Archives: Gluten Free

Lemon Basil Cookies

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My basil plant has been loving the heat wave in Seattle and growing like crazy! These lemon basil cookies are great for breakfast or as a quick snack – keep in the freezer for a yummy cold paleo cookie treat! Grain free, dairy free, soy free, egg free! Blog Basil lemon paleo cookies-2 Blog Basil lemon paleo cookies-1 Ingredients

  • 2 cups blanched almond flour
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ cup coconut butter
  • ¼ cup honey
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest

Instructions

  • Combine almond flour and baking soda in a food processor
  • Pulse in coconut butter, honey, basil, and lemon zest
  • Scoop dough one level tablespoon at a time onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet
  • Press balls of dough down to flatten
  • Bake at 350° for 6-10 minutes
  • Cool for 2 hours
  • Serve or freeze for an easy protein rich snack!

Inspired and modified. Thanks Elanaspantry.com dit-elle-Esther

Strawberry Balsamic Granita

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It’s been so hot in Seattle that all I can think of making is frozen treats! Granita is an Italian dessert made of sugar, water and flavor or juice and is very easy to make.

Also check out Lemon Granita and Cranberry Jalapeno Granita!

Blog strawberry balsamic granita-1

Ingredients

  • 10 ounces fresh strawberries (about 2½ cups), hulled
  • 1/4 cup coconut sugar, or to taste
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 tablespoon aged balsamic vinegar
  • More balsamic vinegar for topping (optional)

Preparation

  • Combine berries and sugar in a food processor until smooth. Stir in water and vinegar. Transfer to a glass baking dish and freeze for 30 minutes.
  • Thoroughly scrape the entire pan with a fork, breaking up ice crystals. Repeat freezing and scraping process every 30 minutes, until granita is firm but not frozen solid, 2 to 4 hours.
  • Spoon into small glasses and serve.
  • Garnish with a fresh strawberry and a few drops of balsamic vinegar (optional)

Thanks PCC Natural Markets for the inspiration!

dit-elle-Esther

Cranberry Jalapeno Granita

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A deliciously refreshing icy dessert for hot summer days (or Christmas holiday season). The Jalapeno adds a bit of heat (you can remove the seeds for a milder taste), so this is not really a kid dessert. Someone mentioned topping oysters on the half shell with this spicy-sweet ice, but I have not been that brave yet. 🙂

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Ingredients

  • 2 cups cranberry juice cocktail
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 4 mint sprigs
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, slices
  • 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice

Directions

  • Combine first 4 ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to boil
  • Cover and remove from het, let stand for 15 minutes
  • Strain cranberry mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a baking dish, discard solids
  • Cool to room temperature, stir in lime juice
  • Cover and freeze.
  • Once frozen, remove mixture from freezer and scrape with a fork until fluffy
  • Serve and enjoy with a mint sprig for garnish

dit-elle-Esther

Red, White, and Blue Salad | Happy 4th of July!

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So, I’m not recreating the wheel by any means with this salad, but for those of you that need inspiration for a 4th of July dinner/picnic…done 🙂  All of these items are from Trader Joe’s 🙂Blog Red White Blue 4th of July Salad-1 Ingredients

  • Mixed Greens
  • Kale Broccoli Mix
  • Blueberries
  • Beets
  • Raspberries
  • Goat Cheese
  • Cranberry Walnut VinagretteBlog Red White Blue 4th of July Salad-2 Blog Red White Blue 4th of July Salad-3What to do
  • Dice up the beets, and toss it all together-DONE!Blog Red White Blue 4th of July Salad-4 Blog Red White Blue 4th of July Salad-5 Blog Red White Blue 4th of July Salad-6Enjoy and Happy 4th of July!dit-elle-Lauren

Paleo Plum Pie with Crumb Topping

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This is a totally delicious breakfast, snack or dessert. Make it when plums are in season and top with ice-cream or Greek yogurt for some totally non-paleo deliciousness! 🙂

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Ingredients

For the crust

  • 2 cups almond meal
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
  • 1 egg
  • dash of salt (optional)

For the filling

  • 4 cups sliced plums
  • 1/3 cup coconut sugar
  • 2 teaspoons arrowroot powder (I used 1 Tbsp potato starch instead since I didn’t have arrowroot powder)
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the topping

  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1/2 cup almond meal
  • 3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
  • 3 tablespoons coconut sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Preparation

  • Preheat oven to 350° F.
  • Place almond meal and salt in a food processor and pulse briefly. Add coconut oil and egg and pulse until mixture forms a ball, adding a little water if necessary to make dough stick. Press dough into a 9-inch pie dish.
  • Toss together filling ingredients in a bowl; arrange in pie crust and pour remaining liquid over the top.
  • Stir together topping ingredients and crumble over filling.
  • Bake until the filling is tender and the top is golden, 35 to 45 minutes.

Thanks PCC Natural Markets for the inspiration!

dit-elle-Esther

Healthy Bake at Home Pizza

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Some nights pizza just sounds good.  Ok, most nights pizza sounds good haha, but that’s not going to happen… I love trying to make healthy options that our teenage boys will still like.  Do they like it as good as our favorite delivery?  No…but they still chow it down, and I feel good.  Oh, and it’s pretty easy too!blog Costco Healthy Cheese Pizza Aidells Chicken Sausage Peppers Avocado Basil-1Ingredients

  • Pizza crust or ready made frozen cheese pizza of your choice (you can find gluten free options easily now!)  I used Costco’s Frozen Cheese pizza-not greasy at ALL!
  • Aidell’s Chicken Sausage (I used apple), diced.  Amount varies on how many you are feeding.
  • Red, Yellow, and Orange Bell Peppers (diced) Amound varies on how many you are feeding.
  • 1 Avocado diced
  • Handful of Basilblog Costco Healthy Cheese Pizza Aidells Chicken Sausage Peppers Avocado Basil-2What to do
  • LOAD the pizza up with the chicken sausage and peppers.  That way, everyone is filling up on healthy stuff!  Cook as per directions.
  • Once cooked, top with avocado and basil and serve it up!

blog Costco Healthy Cheese Pizza Aidells Chicken Sausage Peppers Avocado Basil-3 blog Costco Healthy Cheese Pizza Aidells Chicken Sausage Peppers Avocado Basil-4Enjoy!dit-elle-Lauren

Potato Egg Baskets

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Potatoes, eggs, prosciutto and some herbs all in one! These are a very pretty addition to a breakfast or brunch spread, or keep in the freezer for a great protein snack!

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Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and grated (super fast – run potatoes through your food processor with grater blade)
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
  • 12 eggs
  • 3 slices prosciutto, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons freshly chopped chives
  • 1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • Cayenne pepper, to taste (optional)

Preparation

  • Preheat oven to 425° F. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
  • Combine potatoes, butter, 1/4 cup cheese, salt and pepper in a bowl. Divide potato mixture evenly among prepared muffin tin and gently press to form a thin layer on the bottom and sides of each cup.
  • Bake until just golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes. Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 350° F.
  • Gently crack 1 egg into each potato basket. Sprinkle with prosciutto, chives and parsley.
 Top each egg with remaining cheese.
  • Return to the oven and bake until eggs are set, 10 to 13 minutes. Sprinkle with cayenne pepper before serving.

Thanks PCC Natural Markets!

dit-elle-Esther

Mango Pineapple Smoothie

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Mango, pineapple and coconut give this smoothie a delicious tropical flavor. Not to sweet, not tart.. it’s the perfect summer snack! There was so much smoothie, I made popsicles for the kids as well! 🙂

Blog mango smoothie

Ingredients

  • 1 Cup Greek Yogurt
  • 1 1/2 Cup Pineapple (I used frozen, but can also use fresh)
  • 1 Cup Mango (approximately one whole mango, if not using frozen)
  • 3/4 Cup Coconut Milk
  • 1 TBSP Chia Seeds

Directions

  • Blend all ingredients together and enjoy! 🙂

Thanks Athleta for the inspiration!

dit-elle-Esther

Paleo Coconut Almond Butter Mug Cakes with Banana Ice Cream

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Do you ever have a craving for cake, but don’t want to make/have to restrain yourself from eating an entire cake?  ME TOO! 🙂 Mug cakes are easy to make, SUPER easy to clean up from, and take a little over 5 minutes from start to finish-WIN!

I’d heard about mug cakes before, but had never really thought to try my hand at them until I saw Regina from Leelalicious  post this recipe.  Once I saw that you could make them relatively healthy, I was all in!  I’m already thinking of different variations I want to try next!

Blog Paleo Coconut Almond Mug Cake with Banana Ice Cream-Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons coconut flour
  • ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons Almond Butter
  • 1-½ tablespoons melted coconut oil
  • 1-½ tablespoons raw honey
  • 1 tablespoon almond milk (or any milk you’d like)
  • ½ a vanilla bean (scrape out the inside, throw away the shell) or ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 4-5 dollops of Medjul Date Caramel Sauce (omit if strictly Paleo)
  • Other topping ideas- chocolate chips, coconut flakes, or berries (dried or fresh)!

Directions

  • In a separate bowl whisk together coconut flour, and baking powder.
  • Add egg, almond butter, coconut oil, honey, almond milk and vanilla bean and blend until creamy.

Blog Paleo Coconut Almond Mug Cake with Banana Ice Cream-1Blog Paleo Coconut Almond Mug Cake with Banana Ice Cream-2Maya loved doing this part, but of course just wanted to eat the batter 😉  Yes, I know…raw egg batter = a no no, but I did it as a kid all the time and turned out just fine! Blog Paleo Coconut Almond Mug Cake with Banana Ice Cream-3Instead of pouring the batter into one large mug, I greased up two ramicans to make two little cakes! Blog Paleo Coconut Almond Mug Cake with Banana Ice Cream-4 Blog Paleo Coconut Almond Mug Cake with Banana Ice Cream-5 Microwave for 2 minutes (depending on your microwave) and you magically have cake!!Blog Paleo Coconut Almond Mug Cake with Banana Ice Cream-6 Blog Paleo Coconut Almond Mug Cake with Banana Ice Cream-7 It turned out surprisingly moist, but I wanted to add a little something to it.  You could do a healthy frosting, but I added some banana ice cream to go along with it.  Only added 2-3 minutes to the process and was SO GOOD!

Take 2 frozen bananas (cut in 3rds before you freeze), add 1/3 cup almond milk or enough to get a creamy consistency.  Blend in Cuisinart or high speed blender for a minute or two.Blog Paleo Coconut Almond Mug Cake with Banana Ice Cream-8Enjoy!!dit-elle-Lauren

Chia Seed Pudding Cups

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Chia Seed Pudding Cups are super easy to make and a tasty and healthy paleo snack! You mix chia seeds into a cup of coconut milk, add some flavor and toppings, refrigerate for a few hours and voila! 🙂 No baking, no cooking, no fuss!

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Ingredients (1 serving)

  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • 1 Tbsp chia seeds
  • Flavor/topping of choice (pick one or make up your own combo!) 🙂
    • 1/2 tsp almond essence + chopped almonds
    • 1/4 tsp ground cardamom or cardamom seeds (open the pod)
    • 1/2 tsp vanilla essence + fresh berries (I used red currants)
    • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon + cinnamon sticks

Directions

  • Mix the coconut milk, chia seeds and flavor well
  • Pour into serving cup
  • Cover and refrigerate for a few hours or up to a couple of days
  • Serve and enjoy

dit-elle-Esther