Blueberry Breakfast Cake

That's right, CAKE! I made this last night and sent it to work with Evan so it wasn't tempting me in the house. I've been informed it is the perfect mid-morning pick me up and is even better after sitting in the fridge.

You could sub out the blueberries for another fruit. Or even better, remove completely and add cinnamon instead!

Ingredients
For Cake:
3/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
dash of salt
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup maple syrup (can sub for honey or agave)
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs, whisked lightly
1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/4-1/2 cup blueberries

For Frosting:
4-6 T palm shortening, softened (15 seconds top in the microwave)
2 Tbsp honey or sweetener of choice
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 scoop vanilla protein powder (We love Pure Selection)
1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk





Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350. Grease an 8 x 8 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients and mix well.
In a small bowl, whisk the milk, vanilla extract and egg - pour into the dry mixture.
Add the melted coconut oil, maple syrup, and applesauce and mix very well until a batter is formed. Divide the batter in half.
In one half, fold through the blueberries.
Pour the blueberry filled batter to evenly cover the baking tray or loaf pan. Top with the other half of the batter.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown on top and a toothpick comes on clean.
 - It will feel spongy still but will hold it's shape
Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

Soften the palm shortening in the microwave and add in honey, almond extract.
Mix the protein powder with the milk, then add to the shortening.
Wait until cake is completely cool before frosting (I let the cake sit in the fridge overnight).



**Note: It's best kept in the refrigerator before serving, allowing frosting to harden.

Enjoy!

Dreams Achieved

Ever since I started eating paleo, there have been a few things escaping my reach in the kitchen. They include but are not limited to:

1. Pancakes
2. Chocolate chip cookies
3. Brownies

Well I am happy to announce, last night I achieved 2 of these things! Pancakes and brownies. Now the brownies comply with our paleo+ mentality, the chocolate used was Enjoy Life chips which are dairy free but use cane juice as sweetner. But both were completely delicious (according to Evan). I tell you what, this man tastes whatever I put in front of him without complaint. 

The pancakes were fluffy.

Ingredients

1/2 cup almond flour

1/2 cup tapioca flour

1 tsp baking powder

dash of salt

1-2 tsp honey

2-3 tbsp melted coconut oil
2 eggs

Instructions

Mix ingredients together.

Heat up pan.

Grease pan and use 1/3 cup to scoop out mix.

Add toppings as you wish.

The brownies were fudgy. And even had that coveted "film" on top!
(technically Evan baked these...)
Ingredients
6 Tbsp. coconut oil
6oz Enjoy Life mini chips (Can be found at Kroger)
2 large eggs, room temperature
2/3 cup coconut sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 Tbsp. arrowroot powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F and line 8x8 pan with foil, leaving a few inches of overhang on the sides to allow for easy removal.
Grease the foil and set aside.
Add coconut oil and chocolate chips to a small saucepan set over low heat.
Stir until oil and chocolate have melted before removing from heat and setting aside to cool slightly.
Using a handheld mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat together eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract until smooth and pale, about 2 minutes.
Add melted chocolate mixture and mix until well combined.
Reduce speed to low and add cocoa powder, arrowroot powder, and salt, mixing until well combined.
Batter should be thick and smooth.
Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, until center is set.
Remove from oven and let cool in pan for about 15 minutes before removing and transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Take a look, give them a try. Enjoy!

And bonus video - before we even started dating Evan sweetly tried my paleo lemon bars. They were easily the most disgusting thing I've ever cooked. He was after my heart before I even knew he was interested <3

A Test of Love

Do-nut Know What I'd Do

A spike in boredom or in a craving and I turn to baking. This one is Evan approved and made my house smell like peanut butter. Enjoy!

Directions
Ingredients
Donut:
1/2 c coconut flour
3 Tbsp chocolate protein powder
2 tsp honey or other sweetner
3 eggs
1/3 c unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/3 c coconut, melted.
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp almond butter or nut butter of choice
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda + 1 tsp apple cider vinegar, mixed in a separate pinch bowl (will be fizzy)

Frosting:
1/4 c peanut butter or nut butter of choice
3 1/2  tsp coconut oil
Sweetener of choice: 1 tsp honey or sweetner of choice

Preheat oven to 350◦ F, and spray a donut baking tray, or 8x8 baking pan
Sift coconut flour and cocoa powder together in a large mixing bowl. Add sea salt to the flour mixture. Set aside.
Combine in a medium size mixing bowl: eggs, coconut milk, melted coconut oil, vanilla extract, melted nut or seed butter.
Add premixed baking soda- apple cider vinegar mixture to the egg mixture, and stir in well.
Add Sweetener of choice to the egg mixture and combine thoroughly.
Combine dry flour mixture and liquid egg mixture. Stir until chocolate batter forms.
Fill each depression until almost level with the top of depression. If you don’t have donut pan, then spoon batter into baking pan and spread around evenly, (can be cut into small squares when done).
Bake for 20 minutes or until it feel spongy to the though.
Let cool in pan for 5 minutes, then remove. Let cool completely before frosting.
In a small bowl combine all the ingredients except chocolate chip garnish.
Place in microwave for about 30 seconds, keep an eye it doesnt start to bubble.
Remove and let cool a few minutes.
Dip donut or square into melted nut butter frosting and roll around until covered in frosting.
Place on a baking sheet line with parchment paper. Repeat until all are frosted.
Place baking sheet in freezer for 20 minutes or until the nut butter frosting has solidified.

It Helps Pretending - Mini Loaf

After being away for 4 days, leaving Evan to fend for himself with 2 annoying pups, I decided to make him a treat. Something easy, obviously. But since he's trying to stay paleo with me it needed to stay within our paleo+ style.

Not only did it turn out delicious (according to Evan) - just baking something helped curb my desire for "off the plan" food. So enjoy!

Nut Butter Mini Loafs

Ingredients:

1/2 c Almond Butter ( I used Justin's)

1/2 c Creamy Peanut Butter (I used JIF Natural Creamy)

4 eggs

1 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp honey

pinch of salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325.

Mix together your nut butters and eggs until super smooth - I suggest using a mixer. 

Add in baking soda and salt, mix.

Add in honey, mix.

Using a mini loaf - spray pan and scoop out batter. For me, it made 4 loafs with a little let over that I discarded. 

Bake for 18-20 minutes - loaf should feel cake like and bouncy when you test the top. 

Let sit for 20 minutes or until cool. 

Evan said the taste is light enough to use it as sandwich bread OR add some fruit and butter to it. Either way, you should try it!

Diced, Smothered & Covered Chops

I've never been a big fan of pork. Mostly because I tend to overcook it or it ends up dry. But I found a recipe idea, tweaked it, added sweet potatoes and cheese (because cheese makes everything great) and boom: Deliciousness. I'll definitely be trying more pork recipes that involve 1 pain and the oven.
*Please note the fine china used in the making of this amazing dish.

Behold -
Diced, Smothered, and Covered Chops
Ingredients
4 - 6 pork chops
2-3 sweet potatoes, diced
1 tbsp minced garlic
⅓ cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon paprika
1 cup shredded cheese (I used the casserole blend)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Peel and dice sweet potatoes. Place in metal baking dish.
Rub both sides of pork chops with garlic and brown sugar.
Place on top of sweet potato bed and drizzle butter over top.
Sprinkle with paprika, alt and pepper.
Bake on 350 for 25, then cover in foil and bake an additional 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and sprinkle with cheese.
Bake for another 5 minutes (or until cheese is melted).

ENJOY!

Tis the Season for Peaches

Peach Upside Down Cake

Ingredients

For the Glaze:
⅓ cup honey
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1-2 ripe peaches, sliced (or about 1½ cup sliced frozen peaches)

For the Cake:
½ cup coconut flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
4 eggs
¼ cup applesauce
⅓ cup honey
1 Tablespoon vanilla
⅓ cup coconut oil, melted
¼ cup almond milk



Instructions

• Mix the honey, nutmeg, and cinnamon together. 
• Pour into an 8 inch round baking pan that has been greased.
• Place sliced peaches on top in any pattern you prefer.
• Mix the coconut flour and baking soda together, making sure no lumps remain.
• In separate bowl, beat the eggs.
• Add the applesauce, honey, vanilla, and coconut oil and beat well.
• Combine with the dry ingredients and stir in the milk. Spread over peaches.
• Bake uncovered at 350° for 35 minutes (until the top is set). 
• Cover with foil to prevent burning the surface and bake an additional 5 minutes, until top is light brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• Allow to cool, then run a knife around the side of the pan (between the cake and the pan). Turn the cake onto a serving dish.

Adapted from Gluten-Free Homemaker

Pumpkin Muffins

Who says you can only use pumpkin in the fall? These treats are spongy and sweet and sure to satisfy that pumpkin craving you may get any time of the year!

Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients

6 eggs, room temperature

4 Tbsp. coconut oil or butter, melted

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1 cup honey

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. pumpkin spice

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup sifted coconut flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Blend together the eggs, oil, pumpkin, honey, cinnamon, pumpkin spice, salt and vanilla.

Combine coconut flour with baking powder and whisk into batter until there are no lumps.

Pour batter into greased muffin cups. Fill ½ - ¾  full.

Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, or until a toothpick or fork comes out clean and the muffin feels spongy.

ENJOY!

*original recipe on Small Footprint Family

Snickerdoodles

When the sweet tooth strikes, I try to fight it with a new paleo treat. This time, snickerdoodles! They were super easy and came out tasting absolutely delicious!

Snickerdoodles

Ingredients

For cookie:

2 cups Almond Flour

1/8 tsp Sea Salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

5 Tbsp Coconut oil, melted

1/4 cup Organic honey

1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract

For Coating:

2-3 Tbsp Coconut sugar

2-3 Tbsp Cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degree F.

Mix dry ingredients together.

Add in wet ingredients and combine.

Spoon out dough and roll into 1 inch balls.
*the dough should hold it's shape, if it doesn't add a little more flour

Roll dough in coating and place on ungreased baking sheet. 

Flatten out to about 1/2in thick (I used the bottom of a glass).

Bake for about 10 minutes, cookies will still feel very squishy but it's OK.

Let cool, they will firm up to perfection. 

ENJOY!

Easy Peasy Meal Prep

Every week I love but hate having to meal prep. The end result: having meals ready to pop in the microwave for lunch and dinner, is to say the least great. However, the 2+ hours it takes to make it all is not so great. The easy or large batch recipes are what I look for and a lot of times I'm mixing together some favorite food iteams and hope they taste good together. Here are just a couple I've come up with lately.

Squashed Banana Turkey

Ingredients:

1 Spaghetti squash

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt & pepper

1 lb Ground turkey

1 jar Banana peppers

Directions:

Start the squash by following these directions: Prefect Every Time

While the squash is baking cook the ground turkey (drain the excess liquid off).

After the turkey is browned add in the banana peppers, as many or as little as you like. 

     *I used about half the jar

Let the 2 simmer until 

Once the squash has cooled and you've scrapped the "noodles" out layer the squash on the bottom of your container and then top with the turkey and peppers. Enjoy!

Italian Sour Apples

1 lb Ground Italian sausage

3 medium apples, chopped

24 oz. Sauerkraut

Directions:

Cook sausage

Remove sausage and add apples on low heat.

Let apples warm up, stirring frequently.

Add the sausage on top of the apples and layer the sauerkraut on top. 

Cover and let simmer for 15 minutes. 

Drain excess liquid and separate into your containers. 

Enjoy!

Easter Sunday

So yes, I'm a little behind on posting my Easter creations but what are you gonna do? We had Easter lunch at my parents house. Mom took care of most of the cooking but I come baring a carrot cake and apple slaw (with BACON). Both seemed to be hits!

My mom recently started cutting sugar from her diet, but isn't sold on stevia so I was hoping she'd enjoy the cake. She did...but still added some real whip cream. Eh, still a small step in the right direction.

So here we go...

Apple Slaw
Ingredients

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

3/4 cup mayonnaise (I used Kraft Olive Oil)

1/3 cup honey

1 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup pulp free orange juice (optional)

 juice from 1/2 a lemon

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 sm fennel, shredded

1 medium cabbage, shredded

1 pack of bacon fried crispy then broken up into small pieces (truthfully use as much or as little as you’d like!)

1 bunch scallions, thinly slice

2-4 firm granny smith apples, chopped

Directions

Mix everything in a large bowl and let sit in the fridge overnight, it helps bring the flavors out.

Adapted from Ghetto Foodie 

Carrot Cake

Ingredients

Cake

2 cups finely shredded carrot

3 large organic eggs

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup coconut oil, melted

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2.5 cups almond flour

1 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp baking soda
Dash of salt

1/2 cup pecans, chopped (optional)

Icing

1 can full fat coconut milk refrigerated overnight

2-3 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp melted coconut oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F.

Grease a 9 inch cake tin.

Combine eggs, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, vanilla extract and melted coconut oil in your food processor.

Add in almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg. Process to combine.

Pour into a bowl and fold in carrots and pecans.

Pour into cake tin and bake in the preheated oven for 20-22 minutes until risen, browned and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Meanwhile pour water out of the can of coconut milk and whisk together hardened cream with all other coconut cream ingredients. Place in the fridge.

Once the cakes have cooked and fully cooled spread the coconut cream on top.

Store cake in the fridge in a seal tight container for 2-3 days. Serve at room temperature.

Adapted from Peachy Palate

Tortilla Tortilla

This week we experimented on Saturday rather than Sunday. I was craving some mexican food so we tried the coconut flour tortilla. The nice thing with this recipe is that it's for a single tortilla! Vamonos!

1 TBSP Coconut flour
1/16 tsp Baking powder
3 TBSP Egg whites (we used the egg whites from a container)
2 TBSP + 1/2 tsp Water

Whisk all ingredients together until smooth consistency. Pour into greased warm pan and carefully tilt pan in a circular motion to spread the batter out. The should be fairly thin once spread out, remember you're making a tortilla! Once edges are lightly browned CAREFULLY use spatula to flip. It only takes about 30 seconds on the other side and you're all done.

Fill with anything from meat and beans to berries and cream and ENJOY!

*altered recipe from Carbswitch*

Go Nuts for Donuts

I'm not ashamed to admit that my boyfriend has always been the better paleo baker than myself. Even though I've improved by leaps and bounds lately! He just has the patients and attention to detail that I tend to lack. Anywho, this weekend he successfully attempted paleo donuts with a strawberry filling (actually ours turned out more like mini cakes but delicious nonetheless). So just to keep it in mind, the recipe can be for an actual donut pan but we made 4 mini cakes per batch. If you do different donuts you'll need to adjust the bake time.

Donuts

Dry ingredients:

1¼ cup blanched almond flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Wet ingredients:

3 Tablespoons pure maple syrup, grade B

1/4 teaspoon maple extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 Tablespoons coconut oil, melted

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

2 eggs, at room temperature, whites and yolks separated

1/2 cup fresh strawberry, mince in food processor

Instructions: 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a 12-mold mini loaf pan.

Combine the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. In another medium bowl combine all of the wet ingredients except egg whites and minced strawberries.

Mix the wet with dry and set aside.

Beat the egg whites until peaks start to form. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter. Fold in the minced strawberries.

Carefully fill each each mold about 1/2 full. Bake for 20 minutes until lightly golden.

Allow the donuts to cool, remove from pan and then chill in the fridge for half an hour before filling and glazing.

Strawberry Filling

Ingredients:

1 lb. fresh strawberries minced in food processor

1/2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

2 Tbsp. raw honey

1 1/2 tsp. gelatin (optional)

Instructions:

Put the strawberries, lemon juice and raw honey in a small saucepan and place over medium-high heat.

Allow the mixture to boil lightly for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

If not using gelatin: Reduce the heat to low and allow the mixture to simmer, stirring occasionally, for another 20-30 minutes or until desired thickness is reached.

If using gelatin: Remove the pan from the heat, add the gelatin and stir until well combined.

Transfer the mixture to a jar and allow the cool for about 15-20 minutes. 

Place the lid on the jar and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

*You want as few chunks as possible when mincing

Strawberry Glaze

Ingredients:

1/2 cup coconut oil melted

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon almond extract

1 Tablespoon raw honey

pinch of sea salt

3/4 cup fresh strawberries, minced in food processor

Instructions:

Combine all of the strawberry glaze ingredients in a food
processor or high speed blender. 

Pulse until completely pureed and uniformly a light pink.
Pour the glaze into a shallow bowl for dipping. 

Immediately chill for 30 minutes until the glaze hardens. 

*Remember you're working coconut oil so if it starts to harden just stick in the microwave for a few seconds. 

Use a filling needle to fill donuts. Dip into the glaze and chill donuts for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes...Enjoy!

*based off recipes from Paleo Cupboard and Real Healthy Recipes*

Peanut Butter Pie

I'm a peanut butter fanatic and growing up my grandma used to make the BEST pb pie so I thought I'd take a swing at making it compliant. The recipe makes enough for 2 pies or 1 pie and some "frosted" cookies if you'd prefer. Or feel free to just make the filling (which I've deemed PB Fluff) and use it for a dip - either for food or fingers.

Let's get started!

Crust:

Dry Ingredients

3/4 cup coconut flour

1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt

1-2 stevia packets

Wet Ingredients

1/2 cup melted butter, or for totally casein free - use Virgin Coconut Oil or even half cup EVOO

1/2 cup almond milk

4 eggs, preferably free range and organic

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

2-3 dropperfuls of vanilla liquid stevia

Turn on oven to 350 degrees. Grease a pie pan.

In a food processor, whip the 4 eggs thoroughly. Add milk in, butter, vanilla, and liquid stevia. Pulse several times to thoroughly mix. Add in half of the dry ingredients then transfer the liquid to a bowl and mix in the rest of the dry ingredients. You want a spongy consistency, so if needed add additional coconut flour.

Spread into a pie pan and bake for 15 min. 

Filling: 
1 jar natural peanut butter - I used Smuckers brand
2 cans of chilled coconut milk (you only want the thick cream part scooped out)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tbsp. honey
*you can add more/less honey depending on the sweetness level you want

Using a mixer, combine all the ingredients together.



After the crust is done baking, let cool. Once it has cooled, pour the filling in and spread it out evenly. Place in the freezer until ready to serve and ENJOY!

Sunday Experiments

Sunday is one of the few days a week I actually get to cook and try new recipes. This Sunday I was craving pizza, which is just completely not Paleo+, let alone Paleo at all. So cooked up a delicious and semi fluffy crust topped with all the goodies, including "cheese"! And for dessert, peach cobbler.

Let the drooling begin...

Paleo Pizza

Many Paleo crusts are dry or gritty and my goal was to get a little fluffiness; that's why I went with coconut flour rather than the almond flour that a lot of recipes call for.

Obviously, without yeast you won't have that typical deep dish crust, as with many Paleo recipes you can't expect it to taste exactly like the real thing. But it needs to be good enough to quench that craving.

Dry Ingredients:

3/4 cup Coconut flour

1/4 tsp. Sea salt

1 tbsp. Italian seasonings

1 tsp. Zesty seasonings

1/4 tsp. Baking powder

Mix well, set aside.

Wet Ingredients:

1/2 cup melted butter, or Coconut Oil or EVOO

1 cup almond milk

6 eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a food processor, whip the 6 eggs thoroughly. Add milk and melted butter in, then pulse several times to blend. Pour into bowl and add dry ingredients, go a 1/4 cup at a time until fully mixed. It needs to be a spongy consistency so you may need to add more flour, I suggest a tbsp. at a time.

Once mixed, spread on a greased baking pan. I used a round pizza pan and covered it in foil. Spread it out to about 1/2 inch in thickness. Place in oven for 20 min, or until the edges are golden brown.

Remove from oven, add toppings, place back in to warm up (about 20 min - melt cheese, crisp meat, etc.), and ENJOY!

Fruit Cobbler

For the filling:

Fresh fruit (enough to cover 8x8 pan)

2 - 4 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp arrowroot powder

For the topping:

1½ cups of almond flour

2 Stevia in the Raw packets

1/4 cup of melted butter or coconut oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

dash of cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl mix together all the ingredients for the filling and gently toss. Dump into 8x8 lightly greased pan.

In a small bowl mix together all the ingredients for the topping and then spread evenly over the top of the filling mixture.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the topping is slightly golden.

Let cool and ENJOY! Goes great with compliant whip cream or almond milk ice cream.

Coconut Whip Cream

To make the coconut shipped cream, you will need one can of Thai's Kitchen Organic Coconut Milk. Place the can in the fridge to chill overnight. The fat will float to the top! Scoop the creamy part out of the can and into a bowl. Whisk it together with some sweetener - either vanilla extract, cinnamon, honey, etc. and there you have it! 

Date Paste

Figured I'd start with something that will be useful in many of the recipes to come. It's simple and great to have on hand.

Ingredients

8 ounces pitted dried dates

1-2 cups water

Optional Additions

Pinch of cinnamon

Vanilla paste

Instructions

Transfer dates to a bowl and pour water over them until dates are fully submerged.

*Allow dates to soak for at least 30 minutes.

Remove dates from water and transfer to a food processor or blender. Reserve soaking liquid.

Add 1 Tb of soaking liquid and begin to puree. How quickly the dates break down depends on the quality of your processor.

*I usually end up adding 3-4 Tb liquid to get my preferred consistency.

Continue processing and adding soaking liquid by the tablespoon until you get your desired consistency.

Also add the cinnamon or vanilla for a flavored date paste. (I prefer plain)

Transfer date paste to a jar or sealed container and store in the refrigerator.

*Use within 1 weeks.