Pancakes

Ok, I created this one from a few recipes I had on file....couldn't find one that I loved so I used bits and pieces from other recipes. hope you like it as much as I do!!!

INGREDIENTS

3 eggs
1 mashed banana
4 Tbsp coconut flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp melted coconut oil
2 Tbsp coconut milk
vanilla
cinnamon

Coconut oil for frying

Mash banana and add egg. mix rest of ingredients until well blended. I took a 1/4 measuring cup, levelled it and poured onto heated, greased frying pan. You can make them any size you want but this gave me about 6 fair sized pancakes.  Cook about 3-5 min per side. Don't have your heat too high or they will smoke - i find lower temperature is best. I really enjoyed the texture of these and they were great with home-made rhubarb and strawberry jam :)

Kale Salad with Currants and Walnuts

Make sure the kale is finely shredded. Adapted from Epicurious. Serves 6

For the currants:

4 tablespoons dried currants
4 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar

For the dressing:

1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar (or coconut vinegar for a grain-free option)
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon Celtic sea salt

For the salad:

1 large head kale, center ribs and stems removed, leaves thinly sliced crosswise
4 tablespoons chopped walnuts, lightly toasted
1/4 cup Pecorino Romano shavings (shave with a vegetable peeler)

Directions:
Place currants in small saucepan. Pour 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar over the currants and heat over medium-low until just simmering. Remove from heat. Drain currants, reserving liquid. Cool.

Whisk 2 tablespoons of the reserved white balsamic vinegar (from the currants), rice vinegar, honey, oil, and salt in large bowl. Add kale, currants, and walnuts; toss to coat. Let marinate 20 minutes at room temperature, tossing occasionally. Season to taste with sea salt. Sprinkle cheese shavings over salad and serve.

RAW BROWNIES & AVACODO FROSTING
 

BROWNIE LAYER                                   

1cup pitted dates (if the dates are hard, soak them in a little water for a few hours first)
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 cup walnuts


combine all ingredients in in food processor or blender & blend until somewhat smooth but with some chunks in it.  put in pan & press down.


(NOTE: i'm a HUGE fan of pure peppermint extract so I often add a few drops to this recipe, makes it taste like after 8 chocolate!)



FROSTING

1/2 avocado
3-5 tbsphoney (adjust to taste)
1/4 cup cocoa
2tsp vanilla extract
2 hefty dashes cinnamon
sm pinch salt


make sure your avocado is fairly ripe (and soft) mix all in a small bowl with a fork till well blended. spread over brownie with a knife. put in freezer (lasts longer in there!) and let set for about 20 min. cut into squares and serve. best served chilled  as no matter how long they are in the freezer, they never get rock hard :)

Chocolate Macaroons

1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup coconut oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon real vanilla extract
3.5 cups medium or large unsweetened flaked coconut
2/3 cups cocoa
1/2 cup almond meal (you could just use finely shredded unsweetened coconut flakes if you don’t have almond meal)

Melt honey on low heat on the stovetop. Try to keep the heat as low as possible so as to keep all the beneficial enzymes and such. Add coconut oil, melt all together.

Add flaked coconut and stir. Add salt and vanilla extract. Stir.

Add the almond meal. (you can just use unsweetened finely ground coconut instead - however i did once and didn't like it as much.)

Add in the cocoa, then stir it all together with a wooden spoon.

When all of the ingredients are mixed, drop by the spoonful onto a cookie sheet (i used a Tablespoon measuring spoon!). I lined mine with parchment paper 

Place them in your freezer for at least 20 minutes - then store in an air-tight container in the fridge.

Revised - Ultimate Brownie (Paleo Mug Cake)

You’re going to want to bookmark this one; trust me.

i have made this and my oh my!! its the real deal!!!!! tastes like a brownie (actually since posting this I have revised it somewhat and now it tastes more like chocolate cake - but that's not bad, right? I bet it would be amazing cooled ( i couldn't wait that long!) and topped with the avocado choc frosting....mmmmm

The original recipe is only 4 ingredients, but you can add in things like chocolate chips, walnuts, candied ginger, vanilla extract, and anything else to shake things up.  NOTE: since posting this last year i've played around with it and made it more cake like. hope you like the new revised recipe :)

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 3 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 1 cake):

1 ripe banana

1 tsp almond butter(or any nut butter) - try my sunbutter recipe on this blog!!!

1 egg

1 heaping Tablespoon cocoa powder

1 Tablespoon coconut flour
1 Tablespoon almond meal (almond flour) - you can make your own in a coffee grinder
1/2 tsp baking powder

** sometimes i add a big heaping spoonful of full fat sour cream or yogurt to make it more moist ***

(I also add a tsp of whatever extract flavouring I feel like - almond, orange, vanilla, peppermint)

        

·         Chocolate chips, walnuts, dried fruit, coconut or other mix-ins(optional)

1.       With a fork, mash the banana into a smooth puree.

2.      Mix the almond butter, egg, cocoa powder, coconut flour, baking powder and flavouring into the banana puree until it forms an even batter.

3.      Fold in any mix-ins into the batter that you’d like. Otherwise, our the batter into a mug or other microwave safe container. lately i've been greasing a soup bowl with coconut oil and pouring the batter into the bowl.  comes out a lot easier.

4.      Microwave on high for 3 minutes. Carefully remove the mug from the microwave and enjoy hot, cold, or at room temperature.

NOTE: my good friend Nicole made this in a square 5 x 5 dish - it comes out flatter and makes 4 really nice sized "brownies" - since I LOVE peppermint, I have been adding a couple of drops of peppermint extract as well - sorta tastes like "After Eight" chocolate to me :)  Also, I love topping mine with fresh cream and drizzling it with maple syrup and shaved dark chocolate!!!! Below is a pic of my square brownie (this is one of 4 pieces) 

Paleo Chocolate Cake in a Mug

I have yet to make this but I've read that's is similar to a gooey choc cake!!!

Ingredients

o    1.5 tablespoons coconut flour

o    1.5 tablespoons almond flour

o    2 tablespoons walnut oil (i assume you can substitute coconut oil)

o    2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

o    2 tablespoons raw honey

o    1 egg

o    1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

o    pinch of salt

o    pinch of cinnamon

Instructions

1.       Add all ingredients to a mug.

2.       Mix all ingredients well with a spoon.

3.       Microwave for 2 minutes.

4.       Consume.

Muffin in a Mug

I make one of these every week!!! Makes me feel like I’m cheating and having a muffin!! So good and fast

3 Tbsp ground flax

1 tsp cinnamon (or more)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp coconut oil (or butter and/or apple sauce)

1 envelope stevia (optional) – I often use honey instead

1 egg.

(lately, i have been adding almost 1 Tbsp of almond flour for a heartier muffin)

Mix all in deep cup (I used a soup cup- as it will OVERFLOW if you don’t use something bigger than a coffee cup), microwave 50-65 sec depending on your microwave. (if adding extra ingredients might put it few seconds longer)

To this I sometimes add about an inch of banana chopped up small and a few walnuts chopped. I have also added a few blueberries (however they do sink to the bottom of the cup EVERY time), couple HEAPING tsp cocoa, or tsp of almond butter, applesauce, canned coconut milk (to make more moist) anything !!! as you can see, you can put whatever you want in it……hope you like! – you might want to play around with this one J

I’ve made it before without anything sweet and added some garlic and onion powder and made it into a bun for my burger…………..it is quite thick so i've cut it into three layers and only use 2 layers for a burger bun.

Chicken Curry Casserole

This is a recipe that I created :)  It's another recipe where I didn’t exactly “measure” anything. I made this the other night as I wanted a chicken casserole without the rice. i used grated cauliflower for the rice and put it in my food processor and it was done in seconds.  Here's what I did:

Take grated cauliflower (about 1.5 cups) and fry it for about 5-8 minutes in a fry pan with a bit of oil.  I then threw in some water, covered it and let it steam for about another 5 or 6 minutes.  turn off and set throw in stainless steel bowl.

Cut up mushrooms, green and red peppers, onions and spinach and put them in microwaveable bowl and nuke for about 2 minutes.

Cook some diced chicken and throw that in the bowl with the "rice" and cooked veggies, stir.

i then made a sauce for my casserole.  As I was craving curry, I put about 1 cup of canned coconut milk (mostly the cream part), added a few tablespoons of curry paste (I’m sure curry powder or any other spices would be ok) and then added a couple tablespoons of sour cream – if you don’t do dairy, just eliminate the cream and just use coconut cream.  stir well and then throw it in with your rice and veggies. Mix and pour into small casserole dish (I have one that is about 5 x 5 and perfect for two small servings. 

Top with cheese (I used goat and mozza ) and bake!

As you can see, you can mix this up any way you want with whatever ingredients you want – easy and delicious!