Category Archives: Paleo

Yellow Squash Guacamole // Paleo // Whole30

Pumpkin Muffin Cupcakes with Pumpkin Frosting // Paleo

I love making pumpkin desserts for Maya’s birthday. I mean, it’s October, so…duh? 🙂 I have tried something new every year, and this year was no different. These are in truth a muffin, but I call them muffin cakes to make Maya happy 😉

I adapted the Grain Free Coconut Flour Pumpkin Muffins from leelaLicious, (basically I used some dates to sweeten it and omitted the nuts) and then added an adapted version of Paleo Fondue’s Pumpkin Pie Frosting. I didn’t have Arrowroot starch nor did I want to use sugar, so I added some dates and Pure Maple Syrup thinking that would thicken/sweeten it up. Plus, it was what I used to sweeten the muffins, so I thought it would meld well for the recipe as a whole 🙂 The only reason I didn’t use her recipe for the muffins is that I didn’t have some of the ingredients haha. Do you ever do that? Google a recipe and insert what ingredients you actually have? Maybe that’s just me being lazy and not wanting to go to the store. But really, running to the store for one or two things is RARELY an option with a toddler. You deal with what you have! 🙂 And that is how I found leelaLicious. She made a muffin with almost exactly what I had on hand, and it looked delicious-WIN!

I actually made these as mini muffin cakes for Maya’s birthday celebration at preschool. They were such a hit at home with the teenage boys, that I decided to make them as their full size version for Maya’s actual birthday. Anyway, enough dialogue… Here’s a few pictures of the finished product 🙂

Ingredients for Muffins (Makes 12)

1/2 cup coconut flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice
Could also use pumpkin pie spice instead of all the above 🙂
pinch of salt
4 eggs (room temperature)
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup coconut oil
3 tablespoons Organic Pure Maple Syrup
4 Medjul Dates

Directions for Muffins

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Grease or line a muffin pan.
In a medium bowl whisk together coconut flour, baking powder and soda and spices. In a large bowl whisk together remaining (wet) ingredients
Add the flour mix to the wet mixture and stir until all lumps are gone.
(Time Saving Tip) I actually just dumped everything into a food processor and that worked too 😉 The batter will be pretty thick-almost like a cookie dough. Don’t think it should be like your typical muffin batter.
Pour batter into muffin pan and bake for 23 – 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Ingredients for Frosting

1 cup Coconut Oil (I didn’t have liquid coconut oil as the original recipe called for, but as long as your pumpkin puree is room temperature it worked! I attempted to melt the coconut oil on my first try and then my cold pumpkin puree made it all clumpy. Redid it with room temp pumpkin and voila!)
4 Medjul Dates
1½ cup of Pumpkin Puree
4 Tablespoons Pure Organic Maple Syrup
½ teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
¼ teaspoon of Cinnamon
¼ teaspoon of Nutmeg
Pinch of Salt

Directions for Frosting

Make sure everything is room temperature. If your pumpkin puree is cold it will make the coconut oil hard and clumpy.
Dump everything into a food processor and blend until creamy and smooth.
Scoop into pastry bag or you can use a ziploc bag with the tip cut off. Squeeze onto muffins. The frosting is a little liquidy. Either eat them right away or refrigerate to harden it up. Both times that I made these, I made them the day before and refrigerated them over night. The frosting gets pretty solid, but if you let them sit out for an hour they are perfect!

ENJOY!

Paleo Lady Finger Cookies

4 Replies

Tiramisu is one of my all time favorite desserts. Light crunchy Lady Finger cookies are soaked in coffee and rum and then layered with whipped cream, rich golden custard, and dusted with cocoa powder. Yum! Only one issue.. I’ve not been able to find gluten free lady fingers. I’m sure there are some good cookie alternates out there that would work (and I’d love to hear from you if so!) but here’s a recipe from scratch that is an option. While these cookies turned out a little denser and heavier that what I expected, they totally worked for the Tiramisu I was making (recipe coming Thursday! :)).

Lady Finger Cookies

6 Tablespoons of Coconut Flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
3 Tablespoons of Palm Shortening or Butter
2 Tablespoons of Raw Honey
2 Tablespoons of Coconut Sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper
Blend all the cookie layer ingredients together
Transfer the cookie dough to a piping bag and make three inch logs with the dough (about 1 inch thick).
Bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes
Let cool completely (leave on the sheet), at least 30 minutes before assembly

Looking for some true paleo inspiration? Check out this Paleo Tiramisu! I’ve not had the time to try to make this one yet.. but it sure looks amazing!

Paleo Chocolate Pudding

1 Reply

Awesome paleo chocolate pudding that can also be used for Chocolate Fudgesicles (more on that later! :-))

Whipped avocado, coconut milk, dates, honey and cocoa – make a velvety chocolately yummy dessert.

Ingredients

8 soft medjool dates, pitted
1/2 cup water
3 medium avocados, pitted
1 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup honey
5 to 7 tablespoons raw cacao powder
2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions

Place the dates into your blender and cover with the 1/2 cup warm water. Pack the dates down if needed so they are covered, for the most part, in the water. Let soak for about 30 minutes.
Add in the remaining ingredients and blend until very smooth and creamy. Add extra liquid (coconut milk or water) if needed.
Chill and serve with fresh berries

Thanks nourishingmeals.com!

Bouillabaisse

2 Replies

We were in lovely Walla Walla this summer and thanks to the Grandparents, Adam and I got a rare night out while on a trip! We had dinner at Brasserie Four, a fabulous little French restaurant on main street.. Everything on the menu looked excellent and everything we sampled was excellent! I had Bouillabaisse for dinner – fresh seafood in golden saffron, orange, fennel and wine broth – amazing! After some searching and testing I found a recipe from Steamy Kitchen that was a close match. And here it is! Enjoy! 🙂

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 leek, white part only, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
peel of 1 orange, orange part only (use vegetable peeler)
3 tomatoes, chopped
1/3 cup chopped fennel fronds
fresh herbs (in any combination): thyme, parsley, oregano (I used 1 tsp each of dry herbs, as I did not have fresh ones at hand)
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed
3-4 pounds of fish trimmings (heads, bones, tail), shrimp shells (I skipped this as did not have – worked out fine, but the broth was probably less ‘seafoody’ than it could have been)
10 cups water
1 cup dry white wine
sea salt to taste
3 pounds of assorted fish and shellfish (clams and mussels should be scrubbed clean)

Directions

In a large stockpot, heat the olive oil on medium heat. When hot, add in the leek, onion and garlic. Sauté for 5 minutes until softened but not brown.
Add in the orange peel, tomatoes, fennel, fresh herbs, saffron, fish trimmings, water, wine, salt turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Then turn the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain the soup into another large pot.
Bring the strained soup to a boil over medium high heat. Taste and adjust with additional salt if needed. The soup should be slightly salty (remember we still have unseasoned seafood to add into the soup). Now we’ll cook the seafood, adding in the items that require the most cooking time first. If you have whole lobster tails or large crab claws, add them in first and give them a 2-minute head start. Clams next, then the mussels and extra-large shrimp, lastly the fish, scallops and any smaller shrimp. You want to be careful not to overcook the seafood, so 4-5 minutes max then turn off the heat.
Ladle bouillabaisse into each bowl with the seafood and garnish with fresh fennel fronds.

Thanks Steamy Kitchen!

Chia Pudding with Blackberries + Coconut

3 Replies

One of the many things I love about social media is the creativity it sparks. It can also spark feelings of inadequacy, but that’s another post for another day 😉 I’ve seen a lot of posts about chia pudding/porridge/smoothies around Instagram, and it got me thinking about the ginormous bag of chia seeds in our cupboard. The Huz goes online and buys various things to put in his after work out smoothies. This was one of them, yet he wasn’t putting it in the smoothies. Not sure why, but I hate for things to go to waste! So…I thought I’d make some pudding!

I am always looking for easy healthy desserts, and this totally fits the bill! I haven’t tested it out on the boys yet (who would be harsher critics), but Maya gobbled it up and asked for more 🙂 And, with a little extra drizzle of raw honey, I did too haha. Ingredients

1/3 cup chia seeds (or more depending on how many people you want to feed-this would make about four to five 1/2 cup servings)
2 Cups unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk (or whatever milk you want to use)
1 Tablespoon raw honey or agave, plus a little additional for drizzling.
Raw Unsweetened Coconut shavings to sprinkle on top (got mine for totally cheap at the bulk section of PCC)
1 cup of blackberries (or whatever berry you’d like to use!)

Directions

Mix, chia seeds and Honey/Agave in with the milk and let it sit overnight, or do it first thing in the morning, if you want to have it for dessert. It will plump up, and ends up looking like tapioca pudding.
Scoop out into bowls. Top with berries, coconut and drizzle a little more honey over the top.

Enjoy!

Keeping it Real…

This is not a decadent rich dessert. It’s a relatively healthy option when you are craving dessert, but don’t want to feel too guilty 🙂

Paleo Peach Crisp

1 Reply

Have an abundance of sweet juicy peaches? This is a wonderful paleo peach crisp – the combination of peaches and a toasted almondy crust is… as my daughter Ava says… “de – de – de – de – delicious”! We added some wild blueberries – any berry would be a fabulous addition! Vanilla ice cream on the side or a drizzle of chilled coconut milk for paleo fans – is amazing too!

Sweet juicy peaches with a toasty almond crust – mmm perfection!

Ingredients

2 pounds peaches, sliced
1¼ cups blanched almond flour
⅛ teaspoon celtic sea salt
2 tablespoons butter or palm shortening
1 tablespoon maple syrup
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Place peaches in an 8×8 or round pie baking dish
In a food processor, combine almond flour and salt
Pulse in butter, maple syrup, and vanilla
Sprinkle topping over fruit
Bake at 350º for 35-45 minutes
Remove from oven, then cool and serve

Serves 4

Place fruit in pan and sprinkle the topping on

Blueberries, raspberries or blackberries would make a fabulous addition

Thanks Elana’s Pantry!

Chicken and Spinach Stuffed Sweet Potato with Soft Boiled Egg! // Paleo // Whole30

2 Replies

What is it about soft boiled eggs? I’ll tell you. The soft ooey goey yolk!!! They make just about anything they are on look DELICIOUS and taste decadent! So…I figured I better add it to my first attempt at a Whole30 dish that I was going to make for the boys 🙂 It worked! They devoured it!!Ingredients

4 sweet potatos (or, however many people you have. If you get ridiculously large ones like I did, you can cut them in half per serving)
6 cups spinach
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Teaspoon crushed garlic (I cheat and use Trader Joe’s pre crushed :))
2-3 large bone in chicken breasts or if you’re in a pinch for time a rotisserie chicken and shred the breasts from it (I’m not a big fan of dark meat, but you could use all of it!) Bone in is so much juicier and easier to shred.
4 Eggs (or as many people that you have)

Directions

Cook chicken ahead of time (to make shredding easier) by coating with 1 Tbl Olive Oil and use crushed sea salt/pepper. Bake in preheated oven 375 until chicken meat is no longer pink at the bone and the juices run clear, 45 to 60 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the breast meat should read 165 degrees F. Or, you could BBQ on med 10-15 minutes each side depending on size.
Place sweet potatoes on a baking sheet or a baking pan, pierce with a fork and bake for an hour, or until the inside is soft. It took my ginormous ones an hour and 15, so fair warning if you are on a time schedule for dinner!! 😦
Start boiling water for the eggs. Once water is boiled, add eggs. Boil for 6 minutes. Drain the hot water and add cold water a few times until they are completely cool. Once cool, peel and set aside to put on top of dish. Good luck getting all of them to completely come out of the shell. I’ve never been able to! :{ Feel free to make extra if you are serving to people that care haha.
Dice up the red onion
Sautee 2 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil with red onions and garlic for about 5 minutes
Shred the chicken and add it to the above.
Toss in the spinach until it’s wilted.
When potatoes are done, take them out, cut in half if big, or slice down the center if small or medium. Crush it up a little. Spoon on chicken and spinach mixture. Top with soft boiled egg.

Enjoy!

40 Clove Garlic Lemon Chicken // Paleo and Whole30

1 Reply

I’ve seen this recipe in various forms, and have been so intrigued by all the garlic! 40 cloves sounds like a lot, but it really isn’t! I might add more next time I make it. When it bakes, it gets golden on the outside and buttery smooth on the inside. It’s not overpowering at all and so delicious!! I added some onion and lemon to give it a little more flavor, and I think next time I will throw in some grape tomatoes!Ingredients

4 chicken breasts (I used boneless and skinless, although you could use bone in!)
40 garlic cloves, peeled (I bought pre-peeled cloves from Costco, and yes, I counted them :))
One large yellow onion cut into 1 inch pieces.
2 lemons cut into 1/4 inch slices and quartered.
1/4 cup olive oil
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste (I did about 20 grinds for the pepper and 10 for the sea salt)
Garnish with fresh basil (mainly because I have a basil plant that I’ve managed to keep alive! :))

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Put chicken breasts, garlic, and lemons in a big bowl. Pour olive oil over the entire mixture, salt and pepper to taste and toss until everything is evenly coated.
Pour into 9×13 pan and cover pan with aluminum foil.
Bake for covered for 30 minutes.
Uncover and cook for 15 minutes uncovered or until chicken is cooked all the way through.

(I used really large chicken breasts and did them for an extra 10 minutes.)
I served it over quinoa, but it would be fine all by itself with a salad or with some crusty artisan bread that you could smear the garlic on YUM!!! (Not Paleo or Whole 30 if you do this :))
Enjoy!!

Grilled Chicken, Onions, and Peaches with Avocado Tomato Salsa // Paleo and Whole30

6 Replies

I love when one ingredient is the basis for a meal. In this case it was some peaches that I bought that weren’t quite ripe, but I was itching to eat them. So…I BBQ’d them! I swear everything tastes better when you put it on the grill! Although, I may still be still flushed with my new found grilling ability 🙂 Ingredients (to serve 4)

2 peaches (I used ones that were almost ripe, but still a little on the firm side)
4 boneless chicken breasts
1 large sweet onion
1 avocado
10 cherry tomatos
3 large leaves of basil
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (amount not measured, but will describe in instructions :))
Sea Salt and Pepper

Directions

Light your grill and set it to a medium heat.
Cut your onion into 1/2 inch slices
Season the chicken breasts and onion with olive oil, sea salt and pepper.
Set both on the grill for 8-10 minutes (depending on the size of your chicken breasts)
Cut peaches in half and lightly coat with olive oil and a little bit of sea salt.
At the 8-10 minute mark, flip both the chicken and onion and add the peaches to the grill.
Cook everything for another 8-10 minutes until chicken cooked all the way through.
During the cooking, cut avocado and tomatoes into 1/2 inch squares. Dice up the basil and toss all together in a bowl.
Layer everything together and ENJOY!!! 🙂

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: