Paleo Bran Muffins

Went to dinner the other night at Claim Jumpers and ordered the Salad bar, my boyfriend and I were reminiscing about the amazingly good Bran muffins you used to get with it. I got to thinking about finding a recipe to make Paleo friendly Bran Muffins and started my "Google" research. I came across 2 and decided to try the one here as it has less dates and calls for a banana, I had one I needed to use so it worked out. I have to say, they turned out really good. 

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup almond flour (meal)

1/2 cup flax meal

1 tbsp coconut flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp sea salt

2 tbsp almond butter

3 eggs

3 dates, pitted

2 tbsp molasses( I Used Maple Syrup as a Substitute)

1/2 ripe banana

1/4 cup almond milk  

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup walnuts (chopped) (I used pecans as I am not a fan of walnuts)

Directions:

1. Blend almond butter, eggs, dates, molasses, banana and almond milk in a Blender and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl mix together almond flour, flax meal, coconut flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in wet mixture from your blender and fold in raisins and walnuts.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

 

Love and Enjoy!

 

Original Recipe from Elana's Pantry and revised by Stacy Deering. 

 

 

Grain-Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Always up for trying something new I decided today I would bake these cookies I found on Pinterest. These are grain free and super easy, and so tasty I am having a hard time not eating them all! Ive hear they are not good cold but considering I just made them I have no idea if this is true or not yet, but they are definitely yummy after cooling for 10-15 min.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans), well-rinsed and patted dry with a paper towel
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (165 grams) natural peanut butter
1/4 cup (80 grams) honey (commenters have used agave with success!)
1 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt if your peanut butter doesn't have salt in it
1/2 cup (90 grams) chocolate chips ( I used Enjoy Life semi-sweet chocolate mega chunks, they are dairy, nut and soy free)

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350°F / 175°C. Combine all the ingredients, except for the chocolate chips, in a food processor and process until very smooth. Make sure to scrape the sides and the top to get the little chunks of chickpeas and process again until they're combined. I moved the contents to a bowl and stirred in the chocolate chips. The mixture will be very thick and sticky. With wet hands, form into 1 1/2" balls. Place onto a Silpat or a piece of parchment paper ( I used wax paper since I was out of parchment). If you want them to look more like normal cookies, press down slightly on the balls. They don't do much rising. Bake for about 10-12 minutes. Yields about twenty 1 1/2" cookie dough balls.

Serving Size: Yields about twenty 1 1/2" cookie dough balls

Love and Enjoy!

Paleo Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

Trying to expand my Paleo Horizons and make some of my favorite recipes the Paleo way. I found this one by way of Google on PrimalPal's website. I don't know that Im that crazy about the seasonings they used, its a little much for my tastes but it was still good. I will most likely try it again using different flavoring and post both recipes. For now, here is how this one was made:


Prep Time: Approx 20 mins.
Cook Time: Approx 30 mins.
Serves: 4 ( I cut this into 6 servings)
Ingredients for Savory Paleo Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie
1 lb ground beef
2 large sweet potatoes
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
1 cup of mushrooms, chopped ( I opted to leave this out and replaced with chopped green bell peppers)
2 tbsp of butter ( I only used 1tbsp and it was just fine this way)
1/4 cup of full fat coconut milk ( I used almond milk instead)
1 egg
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of allspice
1 tsp of nutmeg
3 tsp of salt ( I went light on the salt as I am not a big fan)
2 tsp of black ground pepper

Directions for Savory Paleo Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie
1. Rinse of your sweet potatoes and place them in a glass microwave safe dish with about a 1/2 inch of water. Pierce the potatoes a few times, cover and cook in the microwave for 10 - 15 minutes. All microwaves are different so you'll just want to ensure the potatoes are cooked all the way through and are soft. ( I do not like to microwave potatoes so I peeled and boiled them for 8 minutes instead)

2. While the potatoes are cooking take your cast iron skillet ( I do not own one of these so I just used a regular frying pan) and cook the beef, onion, carrots and mushrooms until the beef is no longer pink and the carrots are soft. Mix in the cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, 1 teaspoon of black pepper and 2 teaspoons of the salt.

3. Take your sweet potatoes out and give them a minute to cool so they are easy to handle. You'll make a cut down the middle of the potatoes and then scoop out all the good stuff into a mixing bowl.

4. Mash the sweet potatoes with the egg, butter, coconut milk, 1 teaspoon of black pepper and 1 teaspoon of salt. Mash the potatoes until they are smooth.

5. Spread the mashed sweet potatoes over the ground beef as evenly as possible. (since I do not have a skillet I placed the meat mixture in a casserole dish and baked it in that)

6. Bake the dish in the oven at 350 degrees for approximately 22 - 25 minutes.

7. Broil the dish for 8 minutes to give it a nice finish.

8. Serve it up and enjoy.

Love and Enjoy!

Paleo Chipotle Chicken Vegetable Bake

This flavorful, dairy-free and gluten-free dish is a great way to use leftover chicken and bacon (if you have that kind of self-control) and get your veggies, too.

Ingredients

• 1 large head of cauliflower ( I did half cauliflower and half broccoli)
• 4 Stalks of Celery sliced
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped (I used a variety pack from Trader Joes that had red, yellow and green)
• 1 cup green onions, chopped
• 1 tsp chile powder
• 1 tsp chipotle powder (Did not have so I substitued with red pepper flakes, basil, oregano, thyme and some extra chili powder, you can also use paprika)
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• Salt, to taste
• 2 chicken breasts, grilled and chopped
• 6 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, chopped
• 3 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
• Olive oil or bacon fat for sautéing

Instructions

1. Cut cauliflower and broccoli into florets. Steam over boiling water for about 12 minutes, until it florets are tender but not mushy. (Note: this is a good time to cook up your chicken and bacon if you haven’t already.)
2. Preheat oven to 375 degree F.
3. Heat frying pan to medium high heat. Add olive oil or bacon fat and red peppers. Sauté for 3 minutes. Add green onions and garlic and sauté for 2 minutes longer. Set aside.
4. Place cauliflower, broccoli and celery in a large mixing bowl. Stir in chile powder, chipotle powder, cumin, and salt until well blended. Stir in red pepper mixture, chicken chunks, crumbled bacon, tomatoes, and cilantro.
5. Pour mixture into a lightly greased casserole dish. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes, or until heated through and the top is golden brown.
6. Serve.

Love and Enjoy!
Recipe courtesy of Maoomba

Paleo Quiche

 

Being on the Paleo diet I have had to experiment with different things for breakfast; this has become one of my favorites. I like to slice it into 8 pieces and I have one slice with an apple every morning. The nice thing I like is that you can have variety with this and change it up every week with different ingredients.

Basic paleo spinach quiche recipe

Ingredients

• 5-6 large eggs;
• 1 ½ cups fresh spinach, chopped;
• ½ medium onion, chopped;
• 1 clove garlic, minced;
• ½ cup coconut/almond milk;
• ½ tsp baking powder;
• 1/2 cup diced/sliced assorted bell peppers;
• You can also add some meat like various diced sausages
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and coconut/almond milk together. Make sure you mix things up really well. As you continue to whisk, start adding in all the other ingredients.
3. Now you are left with greasing a 9” pie dish and pouring everything in. Bake the quiche for about 30 minutes, or until cooked through in the center. I also like when the edges get golden brown and have a little crunch to them.
4. If you are opened to consuming some dairy, it is quite popular to add some cheese into the quiche.

Love and Enjoy!
Recipe courtesy of Paleo Diet Lifestyle

Stuffed Cabbage Casserole

Its that time of year again and we have started getting our CSA, which means lots of fruits and veggies to get creative with. The last 2 weeks I have gotten a medium head of cabbage and Ive been contemplating what to do with them. I went to work with google and came across this healthy recipe filled with ingredients I already had on hand. I cannot tell you how delicious this is and good for you at the same time.

Stuffed Cabbage Casserole

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp olive oil, divided
• 1 lb. 95% lean ground beef (or ground turkey)
• 1 large onion, chopped fine
• 1 tbsp finely minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 tsp sweet Hungarian Paprika
• salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 heads green cabbage, coarsely chopped
• 1 can (14.5 oz.) petite dice tomatoes with juice
• 1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 cups cooked brown rice (I used a quinoa/brown rice mix)
• 2 cups low-fat mozzarella cheese

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a large glass casserole dish with non-stick spray. (My dish was 13" x 10")
Heat a large frying pan on medium heat; add ground beef and cook until it's browned and cooked through, breaking it apart as it cooks. Remove ground beef and set aside.

In the same pan, add 1 tsp olive oil, chopped onion and cook over medium heat until the onion is translucent and starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic, dried thyme, and paprika and cook about 2 minutes more. Then add the diced tomatoes with juice, tomato sauce, and ground beef. Add water to the pan. Simmer until it's hot and slightly thickened, about 15-20 minutes.

While it simmers, cut cabbage in half, cut out the core, and remove any wilted outer leaves; chop the cabbage coarsely into 1 inch pieces.

Heat remaining olive oil in a large frying pan or dutch oven; add the cabbage and cook over medium-high heat until the cabbage is wilted and about half cooked, turning it over several times so it all wilts and cooks. Season with salt and fresh-ground black pepper.

When the meat and tomato sauce mixture has cooked and thickened a bit, stir in the 2 cups of cooked rice and gently combine.

Layer half the cabbage, half the meat mixture, remaining cabbage, and remaining meat mixture. Cover tightly with foil and bake 40 minutes, or until the mixture is just starting to bubble on the edges.

Remove foil and sprinkle on cheese (if using.) Bake uncovered an additional 10-20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and starting to slightly brown. Serve hot.

Freezer friendly if you have leftovers. To reheat, thaw overnight in the refrigerator and then either microwave until hot or heat in the oven in a glass dish covered with foil.

Love and Enjoy!
Recipe courtesy of Skinnytaste.com



Meatloaf Stuffed Peppers

Here is a fun and healthy way to make meatloaf that I got from my mom. With this you get your protein and your vegetables all in one. I have included Paleo substitutes for anyone interested in making it that way. This is one of our favorites because each one is a portion already created and will last a couple nights if there are just two of you.

Ingredients:

• 1lb Hamburger (or Ground Turkey)
• 1/2 Onion diced
• Chopped Bell Peppers (I usually dice up the tops after I have cut them off)
• 1 Clove Garlic
• 1 Egg
• 1 Cup Soda Crackers (crushed) or bread/seasoning ( I also use Almond Meal)
• 1/2 Cup Milk (I use Almond Milk)
• 1/3 Cup Ketchup
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• Salt and Pepper to taste 
• 6 to 8 Bell Peppers

Sauce 

• 2 Tbsp Prepared Mustard
• 2Tbsp Brown Sugar ( I sometimes substitute with Honey)
• 2 Tbsp Ketchup 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
In large bowl combine meatloaf ingredients with the exception of your whole peppers.
In a separate bowl combine ingredients for sauce and set aside. 
Place whole peppers in a glass baking dish and add about 1/2 inch of water to the bottom. Add meatloaf mixture to inside of pepper and pour sauce over top. 
Cook for 1 hour 25 min 

Love and Enjoy!