Paleo Strawberry Kiwi Ice Cream

Okay, my eating has been atrocious lately and the scale is a good reminder each morning:). Not tracking what I've eaten today b/c it's horribly bad, but I did make some paleo ice cream yesterday to help with my ice cream/sweet cravings in the evenings. It's super easy, took a little from various recipes on the web.

Ingredients:
1 quart of strawberries (which is what, 2c. sliced roughly?)
1 can coconut milk
3 kiwis
1/4c. raw honey (or to taste)
1tsp. vanilla extract (or a vanilla bean would be better)

Directions:
Puree all ingredients together in a blender.
Add to ice cream maker and churn for 30 minutes or so.

It comes out more as a sorbet type dessert, but it is still very delicious and refreshing!

I'll try to remember to post some pics today. It's a very pretty pink color as well!

EDIT: Well, when I went to eat some more of this last night, it was FROZEN SOLID. So you might need to heat it up a bit in the microwave before you'll be able to scoop it out like ice cream (otherwise it would be more of the consistency of shaved ice). But it was delicious just a little bit melted.

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Paleo Curried Cream of Broccoli Soup

Apparently I like all my soups to be the consistency of baby food:). It seems that's the only kind of soup I make anymore. This would actually be good as a chunky vegetable soup, I think. Just don't blend it and add in coconut milk & spices after cooking broccoli through.

Ingredients:
2tsp. coconut oil (or olive oil)
3c. cut broccoli (I used frozen cut broccoli (which apparently means all stems:), but florets would probably be better)
2.5c. homemade chicken stock
1 can (14 fl. oz.) coconut milk
3 carrots
2 celery stalks
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
salt & pepper
1/2tsp. curry powder
1/8tsp. cayenne pepper

Directions:
Heat coconut/olive oil over medium heat and saute onion, carrots, celery & garlic until onion is soft. Add in chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add broccoli, reduce heat, cover & simmer about 5-10 minutes (until broccoli is soft).

Blend soup to desired consistency. Return to pot and add in can of coconut milk. Heat through and add in salt, pepper, curry powder & cayenne pepper.

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Makin' Bacon - Part 1

Okay, my first attempt at homemade bacon was this morning. I got the recipe from HubPages.com












I started with a huge slab of pork belly and cut it into evenly sized slabs. I'm hoping I estimated the 5lbs. required in the recipe correctly. Otherwise, I'll need to adjust the salt in the next batches.

I'll store the other slabs in my freezer (double-bagged). If you have a freezer bag system, that would probably be a much better way to store these, but I'm not willing to spend the money on one just yet.






Recipe:

5lb. slab of pork belly
1/4c. salt (I used kosher)
1tsp. pink salt (bought from The Spice House
1/2c. maple syrup or honey (I used maple syrup)





Directions:

Slather the pork belly in the salt mixture (I didn't do this, but next time I'll mix the two salts together FIRST!).






Then slather with maple syrup.










Put it in a ziplock baggie and store in the fridge for 7 days (or until the bacon no longer gives when you poke it). Turn the bacon every day.

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My Plan for a Paleo Halloween Party

Okay, so I know I'll be tempted for Halloween, but hopefully I'll be able to avoid the candy and instead opt for some of the recipes below:

Pumpkin Spiced Mixed Nuts:

Ingredients:
* 1 egg white—lightly beaten
* 1 tsp. water
* 1 cup blanched whole almonds
* 1 cup walnut
* 1 cup pecan halves
* 1/4c. raw honey (*next time I'll use LESS of this, too strong)
* 1 Tbs. pumpkin pie spice (or mix together ingredients:1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice)

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine egg white and water. Add nuts, toss to coat. Combine honey and spice, sprinkle over the nuts and toss until well coated. Place nuts in a single layer on lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 300 degrees F for 20-25 minutes. Immediately transfer the nuts to waxed paper; cool. Break up any large clusters. Store in a covered container.
**After making these, I would suggest leaving them in the oven a little longer. They were yummy, but sticky. I think longer in the oven would have helped with this. Also, add in some salt, they definitely needed salt.

Banana Nut Cookies from thisprimallife.com
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup almond flour
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
few shakes of salt
5 tbsp melted coconut oil
3 tbsp honey or maple syrup (I used maple syrup)
1 mashed banana
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 oz chopped almonds

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix almond flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl, set aside. Mix coconut oil, honey, mashed banana, and vanilla extract in a separate bowl, add to dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Fold in nuts and seeds. Spoon batter onto parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-13 minutes until set and slightly toasty.

"Angelic Eggs"
(using Paleo Mayo recipe below)

Ingredients:
6 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and cut lengthwise
1/4 cup paleo mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon dry ground mustard
1.2 teaspoon white vinegar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Paprika for garnish

Remove the egg yolks and mash with a fork. Add mayonnaise, mustard powder, vinegar, salt and pepper and mix thoroughly. Fill the empty egg white shells with the mixture and sprinkle lightly with paprika.

Paleo Mayonnaise: Yields 1.5c.

Ingredients:
1 whole egg
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tbs. lemon juice
1 tbs. boiling water

Place the egg, mustard and 1/4 cup of the oil in an electric blender. Turn
on the motor and add the remaining 3/4 cup oil in a slow, thin stream. Add
the lemon juice and water. Refrigerate.

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Roasted Eggplant

I don't know what it is about roasting vegetables, but it makes everything better!

Ingredients:
1 medium eggplant (peeled)
3 tbs. olive oil (or enough to spread on eggplant slices)
Salt & pepper
Lemon juice

Directions:
Peel eggplant and slice lengthwise into about 1/4 inch slices. Brush each side of each slice with olive oil, salt & pepper one side and place on a greased cookie sheet (I covered it in foil first and then sprayed with Pam).

Place in pre-heated 400 degree oven about 10 minutes. Flip when the bottoms are gold brown. Cook an additional 5 minutes. The eggplant will be soft and delicious. Squeeze lemon juice on top after removing from the oven.

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Easy Paleo Butternut Squash Soup

My estimate is this makes about 8 cups.

Ingredients:
1 medium butternut squash, peeled & cut into 1" cubes
1 yellow/white onion
2-3 tbs. olive oil
2 c. homemade chicken stock
1 c. water (or more if you want a thinner soup)
generous shakes of cinnamon
few shakes of nutmeg
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
Heat olive oil over medium heat and add onions. Cook until translucent. Add in butternut squash & chicken stock + 1c. water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer until squash is tender.

Put entire mixture into a blender (be careful of it exploding out of the top due to the heat), and puree until smooth. Transfer back to the stovetop & simmer until reheated through. Add in cinnamon, nutmeg & salt & pepper. Add in water to thin, if desired.

Nutritional information from The Daily Plate:
Calories = 932
Fat = 48g
Carbs = 100g
Protein = 19g
(divide everything by 8 for 1c. measurements)

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Paleo Chicken Salad

After my horrible eating this weekend, I decided to make something paleo for dinner last night that would be good leftover as well.

Paleo Chicken Salad (with green mayo per Paleofood.com)
Ingredients:
3c. cooked chicken, diced (used organic/free-range)
1/4c. raisins
2 stalks celery
1/4 medium onion (I used yellow, but red would be better)
1/3c. chopped pecans
5tbs. paleo green mayonnaise (recipe below)
1tsp. lemon juice
1/8tsp. curry powder
salt & pepper to taste
Green leaf lettuce (or any kind of big leaf lettuce)

Directions:
I pan-fried the chicken breasts in 1tbs. coconut oil and 1tbs. olive oil, after salting & peppering. While that was cooking, I chopped up the onion & celery (finely diced) and combined them with the raisins & chopped pecans. Once chicken was done, I added that to the mixture.

In a separate bowl, I combined the paleo mayo, lemon juice, curry powder, salt & pepper. Added this to the chicken & vegetable mixture. This is good warm, but better after it has been refrigerated.

Paleo Green Mayonnaise:
Ingredients:
3/4c. parsley
1/5c. fresh basil
1 whole egg
splash of water
3/4c. olive oil
2tbs. lemon juice
ground pepper

Directions:
In a blender, combine egg, parsley, fresh basil & water until herbs are crushed. While blending, slowly drizzle in olive oil. Add lemon juice & pepper. I played around with the measurements until I got it to a consistency that I was comfortable with. The original recipe calls for 1 egg and 1 egg yolk, but I didn't want waste an egg white, so I just used water instead.

Very creamy & delicious. This won't last long, a few days in the refrigerator due to the fresh herbs, so use it fast!

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Spicy Collard Greens

Got this recipe off the back of a package of frozen collard greens. Very easy and very delicious.

Ingredients:
1 package frozen collard greens
14-15oz. chicken broth (I used 1c. homemade stock, and then 6-7oz. of water)
1 clove garlic, minced
few shakes crushed red pepper flakes (as much as to your taste, I like quite a bit)
1/4tsp. salt

Directions:
Add frozen greens, broth & garlic to skillet/pot and bring to a boil. Boil for 3 minutes. Reduce heat, cover & simmer for 30 minutes. Add in salt & red pepper. Serve!

Super easy:).

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Primal Raisin Walnut Cookies

Really fiendin' for some cheat foods. My mom gave me a loaf of baked sweet bread, so now that it's in the house and I know I can't eat it, I'm having a crisis:). So I took Shelley's cookie recipe and tweaked with the ingredients slightly to add a new flavor (& remove the chocolate chips since I'm on my challenge). The batter was REALLY yummy, you should try it raw if you make these:)!



Ingredients:
1 1/4c. almond flour
1/8tsp. baking soda
few pinches of kosher salt
5tbs. butter (melted)
3tbs. maple syrup
1/4c. chopped walnuts
1/4c. raisins

Mix almond flour, salt & baking soda together. Mix butter & maple syrup (vanilla would be good here as well, just didn't have any in the house). Mix wet ingredients into dry and then fold in walnuts & raisins.

Bake at 350 degrees (F), for about 15 minutes. Keep an eye on them after 12 minutes or so.

Nutritional info (per www.thedailyplate.com):
Serving size: 2-3 cookies
Calories: 398
Carbs: 27g
Fat: 27g
Protein: 7g
*This is an estimate based on my calculations on The Daily Plate.

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Primal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made Shelley at This Primal Life's chocolate chip cookies today. It's been a weekend of so-so eating, so I figured I'd just go ahead and take care of the cravings in the best way possible:).

Ingredients:
1 1/4c. almond flour
1/8tsp. baking soda
1/4 - 1/2tsp. kosher salt
3tbs. maple syrup
5tbs. melted butter
vanilla
1/3c. chocolate chips (I did a mix of semisweet & bittersweet b/c it was what I had on hand)

- Mix dry ingredients together and wet ingredients together. Then put wet into dry and mix until combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Spoon onto waxed/parchment papered cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Came out DELICIOIUS!

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Roasted Butternut Squash + Dijon Vinaigrette

This is the yummiest vinaigrette and it's super simple to make. You can use any kind of vinegar (which I know isn't EXACTLY paleo, but it's only a little bit).

Dijon Vinaigrette
1 clove garlic
1/2tbs. dijon mustard
1/8c. red wine vinegar
EVOO (to the consistency you want or a little over 1/4c.)
Salt & pepper to taste

Mix mustard, garlic & vinegar, then whisk as you drizzle the olive oil in slowly. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Roasted Butternut Squash
I got this recipe from Ina Garten off Food Network. I love her recipes, but most of them are hard to transform into anything resembling paleo. As soon as I get some almond flour, I might try a few, though.

1 medium sized butternut squash, cubed
1 tbs. maple syrup
2 tbs. olive oil
Salt & pepper

Toss butternut squash cubes with olive oil, maple syrup, salt & pepper. Roast at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. I broiled mine for a little while as well.

Drain on paper towels and enjoy!

Like Ina's recipe, I added walnut halves, but I didn't toast mine and they were still delicious. Next time I have chicken breasts in the house, I'm going to add them to this.

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Beef Roast w/Veggies

Recipe from southernfood.about.com.
Ingredients:
* 1 boneless beef chuck roast, about 2 to 3 pounds
* 2 teaspoons paprika
* Salt and pepper
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1/2 cup beef broth
* 1/2 cup red wine, such as cabernet or pinot noir, or more beef broth
* 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
* 1 tablespoon honey
* 1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
* 1 large onion, sliced
* 3 large carrots, cut in 1/2-inch slices
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 4 red potatoes (omit if only paleo eaters)
* 2 sweet potatoes

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.

Sprinkle the roast all over with salt and pepper, then rub the paprika into all sides. Cook the roast for about 5 minutes on each side to brown.

Meanwhile, combine the broth, wine (if using), tomato paste, vinegar, and honey; set aside. Put the sliced onions, carrots, potatoes and garlic in the bottom of a 5 to 7-quart slow cooker.

Remove the roast from the heat and place it on the vegetables in the slow cooker. Pour the broth mixture into the hot skillet and use a spatula to scrape up any browned bits; pour over the roast in the slow cooker.

Cover and cook on HIGH for 1 hour. Reduce to LOW and cook for 7 to 9 hours longer, or leave on HIGH and cook for 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours longer.

I want to try this with butternut squash or some other paleo friendly veggies (instead of potatoes).

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Super Spicy Buffalo Wings & Celery, Carrot & Almond Salad

Tonight, I decided to make some buffalo wings for the hubby & me:).

Buffalo Wings:
8-12 wings (with tips removed and separated at joint)
3tbs. melted butter
4tbs. hot sauce
1/2tsp. salt
1/4tsp. black pepper
1/2tsp. cayenne pepper
1tbs. paprika

Mix all the ingredients together (except for wings), reserving some of the sauce for basting once cooked. In a ziplock baggie, combine the sauce & wings marinade for a few hours. Make sure to coat each wing with the sauce.

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes, turning once, until well-browned. Baste with reserved sauce.

As a side dish for this, I made a celery, carrot & almond salad (from Mark's Daily Apple).

5-7 stalks celery
3 carrots
1c. almonds

Dressing:
4tsp. lemon juice
1tsp. honey
1/4c. olive oil
1/2tsp. fresh ginger, minced
Salt & pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients and serve cold or at room temperature.

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"Spaghetti" w/Meat Sauce

Another yummy dinner tonight. I made the following meat sauce and used spaghetti squash instead of pasta. (Adam ate regular pasta and canned sauce... grrr!)

Ingredients:
1/2lb. ground beef
1, 28oz. can of diced tomatoes
1/2c. beef broth
1 med. onion
3 cloves garlic
basil, thyme, oregano
red pepper flakes
salt & pepper
1 med. spaghetti squash
olive oil

Directions:
Cook up the onions & garlic until soft, then add beef broth and let it absorb into the onions & garlic mixture a little. Add in tomatoes, cooked beef, & spices and simmer to let flavors meld. I cooked mine for over an hour b/c I started the sauce right when I got home, but this definitely isn't necessary.

For the spaghetti squash, I cut it in half, scooped out the seeds and cooked it, covered, in the microwave for 10 minutes, per Elizabeth @ Caveman Food. Then you just run a fork through the meaty part of the squash and it comes out like angel hair pasta!

For lunch today, I ate the wings that we BBQ'd yesterday & leftover cauliflower. I used the Son of Grok's BBQ sauce and just marinated the wings before throwing them on the grill.

Had an afternoon snack of one drumstick, 1/2c. grapes, and 1 tsp. of peanut butter (not paleo), and an evening snack of 4 strawberries, 1/4c. blueberries, 1 banana & 6 pecans.

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Tandoori Chicken w/ Roasted Cauliflower & Dill/Cilantro Yogurt Sauce

Not exactly paleo, since there is yogurt in the dish, but it needed a little something to cool down the tandoori chicken. This was really, really good. I'm not sure if it's because I haven't eaten meat in so long or if the grass-fed meat is super tasty or what, but I am really enjoying all of the meat dishes I've made so far. Adam doesn't seem as enamored with the dishes, so it might be just me:).


Tandoori Chicken (marinade from Paleofood.com):
* 1/2 cup coconut milk
* 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
* 2 Tbsp. lime juice
* 2 tsp. salt
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 1 tsp. ginger, minced
* 1/2 tsp. cumin seed
* 1/2 tsp. coriander
* 1/4 tsp. turmeric
* 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
* 1/4 tsp. black pepper
* 1/8 tsp. cinnamon
* pinch ground cloves
* 2 chicken breasts

Mix all ingredients making sure that all the spices are well blended.
Marinade chicken breasts in the sauce for several hours. Grill over med-high heat for 6 minutes on each side.

Yogurt Sauce:
* 1/2 c. plain yogurt
* 2 tsp. dill
* 1 tsp. cilantro

Mix together and serve over chicken.

Roasted Indian Cauliflower:
* 1 head cauliflower
* Olive oil
* Garam Masala

Cut up cauliflower into florets and drizzle with olive oil. Add desired amount of garam marsala and roast in the over at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

I cut up the whole chicken raw this time instead of after it was cooked. I think I did a pretty good job for a novice! We used the chicken breasts for this recipe, but you could use it for any other parts or pork or fish.

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Spicy, Spicy Steak

Well, I had my first steak in seven years last night. It was delicious! I've never really been big on steak b/c growing up our steaks were always cooked "well done"... ICK! Last night, I had the hubs cook mine to medium (130 degrees) on the grill and it was perfect.

I used a basic rub of the following:

* 1 tbs. paprika
* 1 tbs. crushed black pepper
* 1 tsp. kosher salt
* 1/2 tbs. garlic powder
* 1/2 tablespoon onion salt (powder would have been better, but I didn't have any)
* 1/2 tbs. crushed coriander
* 1/2 tbs. dried dill
* 1/2 tbs. crushed red pepper flakes
* 1 tsp. cayenne red pepper
* 1 tsp. ground ginger

It was so spicy and delicious:). We both had rib-eye steaks, but Adam (the hubs) used a marinade of A-1 sauce and Worcestershire (among other things). However, A-1 has HFCS! I never knew that (not that I ate it anyways as a vegetarian).

We also had asparagus with lemon juice & salt. Seriously delicious meal!

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Pecan Crisp with Peaches & Blueberries

I made a really delicious dessert Saturday night b/c I was craving sweets and didn't want to make peach cobbler (with all that sugar/flour). Inspiration came from Mark's Daily Apple and I just tweaked it to what I had on hand.

Ingredients:
1 peach
5-10 blueberries (fresh is best, but frozen okay too, just don't thaw first)
1/2 cup pecans (chopped)
2 tbs. butter
Cinnamon & nutmeg
2 tsp. honey (optional, but delicious)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees and toast the pecans for about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Heat 1 tbs. butter over med-low heat. Add in sliced peaches and coat in cinnamon & nutmeg to your preference. Cook for 10-15 minutes.

Add cooled pecans to food processor and pulse until finely ground. Slowly drizzle in 1 tbs. of cooled, melted butter while pulsing.

Add this crumb crust to the bottom of a small baking dish and push down to form a loose crust. Top with peaches & fresh/frozen blueberries and bake in a 350 degree oven for 5-10 minutes (just to warm everything up together).

I topped mine with 2 tsp. of honey and it really sweetened it up, but it could go without as well if you didn't want the sugar.

I imagine the crust would work well with any kind of nut (almonds, walnuts, etc.).

I think this is sort of paleo, except for the butter, right? :)

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