Sunday 27 May 2012

chocolate Mousse

2 frozen bananas (sliced)
1/2 cup organic (canned) coconut milk
2-3 tsp of cocoa powder

put all in small mixer or blender and whip. you can eat as a mousse or put in freezer and every 30 min, take it ut and whip it with a wisk and that's it!! if you freeze it, it comes out like a choc ice cream!!

nice frozen treat!!

from Rocofit website
http://www.rocofit.com/2011/05/14/chocolate-mousse/

Saturday 26 May 2012

Grain-Free Everything Crackers



Haven't made these yet but plan to soon!! according to the website, "These crackers are very reminiscent of an everything bagel"...if anyone tries them, let me know how they turn out!


Grain-Free Everything Crackers

Preheat oven to 325.
1 3/4 C almond flour
1/4 C combined seeds (I used poppy, sesame, and caraway)
1t sea salt (use coarse if you like the occasional pop of salt like on an everything bagel)
dash garlic powder, optional
1 T melted butter
1 egg, well beaten
Combine all ingredients and mix / knead well.
Turn out onto a cookie sheet sized piece of parchment paper and flatten a bit. Top with another piece of parchment paper and roll out to about 1/8 inch thick. Remove the top sheet of parchment and cut into 1-2 inch squares with a sharp knife.
Bake for 14-20 minutes, or until The crackers are golden brown. The outside ones may cook first, and it’s OK to carefully remove them as they do, and cook the rest for a few minutes more.
Allow to cool, and store in an airtight container.

Friday 25 May 2012

Maple-Curry Chicken


Yield 4 servings

Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast meat
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
  • 1 cup heavy cream  (milk/ greek yogurt or half and half OR coconut milk)
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons hot curry paste
Directions
1.   Heat butter and oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and peppers, and cook until onions are soft and translucent. Stir in cooked chicken and garlic, and sprinkle with sugar. Cook, stirring for about 3 minutes, then stir in maple syrup, and cook for about 5 more minutes, until caramelized.
2.     Stir in curry paste and heavy cream, and reduce heat to low. Simmer uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the sauce reaches your desired thickness.

3.     Serve over rice, couscous, penne, grated cauliflower, julienned zuchinni

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp



Ingredients:

2 cup Strawberries
2 cups Rhubarb (I was afraid this would be too sour so I added mash banana and mango with this when I used rhubarb) 
can also use apples, pears, peaches
2 TBS Splenda (or your choice of sweetener – brown, coconut palm sugar)
Cinnamon, nutmeg

-Topping-1/3 cup Flax meal
2/3 cup Almond Flour
1/2 cup or more shredded unsweetened Coconut
2 TBS Splenda (or brown sugar or coconut palm sugar)
1/2 tsp Cinnamon, nutmeg
3 TBS Butter

Heat oven to 375. In 9 x 9 greased pan, spread out fruit. Sprinkle with sweetener and cinnamon, nutmeg.

Melt butter, mix in the flax and almond and coconut. Add cinnamon and nutmeg. Spread mixture evenly on top of fruit. Bake about 45 min. serve warm or cold

Nutrition Facts per serving:
101 Calories, 9g Fat, 4.6g Carbs (2.5g Fiber),1.7g Protein



(IN this photo, the crisp is topped with my homemade ice cream - you can also used whipped coconut cream from the can)

Sunday 20 May 2012

Fennel and Dill Omelet



This is from Mark's Daily Apple site. i have yet to try it but plan to soon!.
Quoting Mark: "I decided to attempt to utilize own of my favorite vegetables for this recipe: fennel. I was hoping to encourage more variety with this delicious vegetable than the obvious, which is to grill it or sauté it, and serve it on a platter (also delicious). Cooking fennel in bacon fat was another twist. The fat added a delicious savory taste that olive oil or even butter just can’t. Dill was a wonderful component too, which should be used liberally in this recipe."
Ingredients:
1 tsp bacon fat
½ fennel bulb, cut into chunks
2-4 teaspoons fresh dill
4 eggs
capers (optional)
Directions:
Heat a cast iron skillet on medium heat and add a small scoop of (now cooled and solidified) bacon fat (about 1 tsp). When skillet surface is hot, add the sliced fennel and dill, and cover. Cook fennel and dill in bacon fat until fennel is soft, about 3-5 minutes.
In a small bowl, beat eggs until fluffy and pour into the skillet over the fennel, making sure to quickly spread the fennel throughout the egg before it becomes firm. Lift edges occasionally with a spatula to see when other side looks cooked. Flip, cook until at desired consistency and serve. Add capers and fresh dill for garnish. Makes one omelet big enough for two.


Crackers (2 versions)


I have made these (Primal crackers) and they really turned out well! try to get them fairly thin, they make a much nicer (and more natural) cracker. 


Primal Crackers:

1.5 cup almond flour (1/2 cup of dry roasted almonds makes 1 cup flour)
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup ground flax meal
1 egg (if the mix is too dry and not staying together at all, add one more egg)
1/8 cup of olive oil or coconut oil
salt and any other spices you would like

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Mix all together in large bowl then squish it together in a ball with your hands.Put between parchment paper and roll out to the thickness you desire. (we like them thinner) Use a pizza cutter to make them into cracker shapes.Bake on the parchment for 12-14 minutes (ovens vary, so watch them for the crispness you like)


Savory Herb Crackers
1 cup almond flour/meal
1 cup flax meal
1 – 1.5 teaspoon sea salt (I prefer mine saltier)
2 – 3 tablespoons 21 Seasoning Salute (or substitute any other dry herb)
1 tablespoon olive oil (or melted coconut oil or butter)


1 egg
2 tablespoons water
1.   Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2.   Mix all ingredients together until thoroughly combined.
3.   Roll dough to 1/8 to 1/4 inch thickness between 2 silicone baking sheet or pieces of parchment.
4.   Score dough into 2 inch squares using pizza cutter.
5.   Place baking sheet on cookie tray and bake for 10 – 12 minutes. 
6.   Let cool completely before breaking crackers apart.

Secret Liver Burgers


I haven't made these yet. but want to start eating more liver so this looks worth a try :) might 1/2 the recipe as there is only two of us
  • 1lb ground Beef (grass fed, if you have it)
  • 1lb ground Bison (also grass fed, if you have it)
  • 6 slices of Bacon
  • 8 ounces Calf Liver, sliced and frozen (preferably grass fed)
  • 1 Small Yellow onion diced
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Garlic powder
  • 1/2 tablespoon Cumin
  • Salt and Pepper
toppings (use whatever you like):
  • Mustard
  • Pickles
  • Other ideas: like avocado, cheese, homemade mayo.

This is what you do:
  • Fry the bacon strips, chop up and set aside 
  • put liver in blender and blend it till there are no ore chunks, it will look kinda like ground beef.
  • Take the chopped liver, and mix it with the bison, hamburger, bacon, onion , and spices.
  • Form the patties depending on how thick you like them, then throw them on the grill  
Top with your toppings of choice!!

Saturday 19 May 2012

Banana Walnut Muffins



  • 3 eggs
  • ¼ cup coconut oil (I bought the Nutiva brand, you could probably use butter NOT margarine)
  • 2 medium bananas (I used 2.5 RIPE ones)
  • 3 dates, pitted (I used 4 dates and soaked them in a little bit of hot water )
  • 10 drops stevia (this is a natural sugar – I used the hot water from the dates in place of this)
  • ¼ cup coconut flour (bulk barn)
  • ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
(I’m sure you could throw in a handful of blueberries too – I LOVE blueberries)
  1. Place eggs, oil, bananas, dates and stevia in a blender or food processor; blend on medium speed until combined
  2. Add in coconut flour, salt and baking soda and blend until smooth
  3. Fold in walnuts
  4. Scoop ¼ cup batter into a lined muffin pan (I got 9 muffins)
  5. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes (my batch took 30 minutes; all ovens are slightly different)
  6. Cool and serve

Wheat Belly Flaxseed Wrap



I made this and added paprika, onion powder, garlic powder.  I bet it would be great with cinnamon and used as a wrap for fruit.  

it says to make this in a greased microwaveable pie pan but I used my crepe pan and it was perfect.
You could sweeten this lightly with sweetener & cinnamon as a pancake. Serve with SF pancake syrup.

Ingredients
3 Tbsp ground flaxseed
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1 large egg
1 Tbsp water
Directions
Mix together flax and baking powder. Stir in melted coconut oil. Beat in egg and water until blended. Pour into greased microwave safe pie plate. Microwave on high for 2-3 minutes until cooked  9” crepe pan. Cook for about 2-5 minutes (I then slid it onto a dinner plate and quickly flipped it over, back onto the crepe pan J)  Allow to cool for about 5 minutes. Gently lift an edge with a spatula, loosen from the pan. Flip the wrap over and top with desired toppings.


NOTE: this holds up pretty well as a wrap. i think i needed to thin mine out a bit. i have used it very successfully as a pizza crust!!!

Serving Size: 1 wrap

TUNA-AVOCADO SALAD




Few combinations burst with as much flavor and zest as this mixture of avocado with
lime and fresh cilantro. If being prepared forlater, the avocado and lime are best added just before serving. The salad can be served as is or with added salad dressing. Avocado salad dressing
match particularly well


Makes 2 servings

4 cups mixed greens or baby spinach
1 carrot, shredded
4 ounces tuna (pouch or canned)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 avocado, pitted, peeled, and cubed
2 lime wedges

Combine the greens and carrot in a salad bowl (or storage bowl). Add the tuna and cilantro and
toss to combine.  Just before serving, add the  avocado and squeeze the lime wedges over the salad. Toss and serve immediately.

Hot Coconut Flaxseed Cereal




Low carb, gluten free hot breakfast or supper 'porridge'.
Minutes to Prepare: 5
Minutes to Cook: 2
Number of Servings: 1

Ingredients
½ c Coconut Milk
¼ c Flaxseed, ground
1/8 c unsweetened shredded Coconut
1/8 c chopped Walnuts
Ground Cinnamon
Directions
Mix all ingredients in a small sauce pan. Cook on low heat for about 2 min till hot. (the original recipe says to use the microwave but I don’t like to)
I then top this with fresh raspberries or blueberries and a touch of maple syrup.  (IF YOU FIND this too “gummy” simply add a bit more milk)

Pina Colada Chicken & Calypso Confetti Cauliflower


We tried this last night, I REALLY liked the sauce. Found it was very WHITE so I added a dash of soya to give it more color, but the sauce, was delicious!! AND it was very pretty on the plate J



This recipe makes enough for 2; easy to double or triple!

8 oz. grilled chicken (If you don’t have already grilled chicken you can just dice the chicken and saute it in some olive oil, then set aside.)



Sauce
1/2-1 cup unsweetened, crushed pineapple (I added an entire can!!! – drained)
1/2-1 cup CANNED coconut milk (i only use the cream from the can)
juice of 1 lime
2 garlic clove, crushed
pinch of cayenne pepper or more



VEGGIES
1/2 cup onion, finely diced
1 green pepper, finely diced
1/2 red pepper, finely diced
1 carrot, grated 

(i also add finely diced orange and yellow pepper if i have it)
2-3 cups grated cauliflower
olive oil or coconut oil for sautéeing
Directions:

1. Make the sauce. Place the coconut milk, pineapple, lime juice, garlic clove, and cayenne, in a medium sauce pan. Heat over medium while you make the rest of the meal. (I found this very WHITE so added a dash of soya for color)

2. Prep the vegetables & chicken. Dice the peppers and onion in a 1/4-inch dice; try to make them all the same size so they cook evenly. Shred the carrot with a grater or peeler. Turn the cauliflower to “rice” in a food processor or with a grater; see this link for details. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces.

3. Cook the vegetables. Put some oil in a saute pan. Cook onions, peppers, and carrot until they’re tender and starting to brown. Then I added another 2 teaspoons of oil, the cauliflower, a pretty good sprinkle of salt, and stir-fried the whole thing ’til it was hot and slightly browned. (I COOKED MY CAULIFLOWER SEPARATELY IN ANOTHER FRY PAN AS PAT WAS HAVING NOODLES WITH HIS)

4. Heat the chicken. I used the microwave. You can also just throw in the chicken on top of the veggies and re-heat it that way.

5. Assemble. Make a bed of Calypso Confetti Cauliflower on a plate, then top with the diced chicken. Remove the sauce from the stove and take a big whiff – it smells heavenly! Pour the sauce over the chicken and vegetables.


Add diced avocado on top and crushed toasted pecans or macadamians on top
Add handful of chopped cilantro and grated ginger to sauce
would look lovely with chopped chives sprinkled on top!

Nutty Bread


This is from the elana’s pantry website. http://www.elanaspantry.com/



I made it a few weeks ago and really liked it. see my substitutions below. After it was baked and cooled, I cut it up into slices and froze it so I take out a slice when I need one. NOTE: it calls for a VERY small loaf pan.





This hearty, gluten free bread with seeds and nuts is delicious anytime of day.
Toast it for breakfast and serve with a side of scrambled eggs.  Works great along with a big salad at lunch.   Or, for a quick and easy dinner, it makes a great sandwich with organic turkey, avocado, romaine, tomatoes and dijon mustard.
  1. In a medium bowl, combine almond flour, arrowroot, flax meal, salt and baking soda
  2. In a larger bowl, blend eggs 3-5 minutes until frothy
  3. Stir agave and vinegar into eggs
  4. Mix dry ingredients into wet, then add nuts and seeds
  5. Pour batter into a well greased 7.5" x 3.5" Magic Line Loaf Panhttp://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=elanaspantryc-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B001TH8YU6
  6. Bake at 350º for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of loaf comes out clean
  7. Cool and serve

Primal Pancakes


Made these for breakfast this morning. I made HALF of this recipe as I was the only one eating them (plus I only had ONE ripe banana)

PANCAKES

2 bananas (as ripe as you can get)
3 Tbsp nut butter (I used almond butter)
¼ c flax meal
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs

Oil to fry (I used coconut)

Mash banana, add rest of ingredients. Beat the egg a little in the bowl to make it frothy. I added cinnamon cause I add that shit to everything. you could add a few blueberries, nuts or whatever .

Like I said, I made HALF of this recipe and got 6 small pancakes.  I scooped them up using a 1/8 cup measuring cup. These make small pancakes about 3 inches wide. After cooking these, I believe that if you make them any biggerthey will be VERY hard to flip. They don’t bubble a lot so watch they don’t burn.  I loosened them up with a spatula and flipped them carefully with the spatula.  I  topped mine with homemade rhubarb jam J

Creamy Dill Sauce




1/3 c sour cream
1 Tbsp dijon
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1 Tbsp lemon juice (fresh)
i Tbsp fresh dill or 1 tsp dry
1 tsp grated lemon juice

Thai "Peanut" Sauce



Makes enough for 2 people to dip a serving of glorious grilled meat and some veggies



Ingredients:
2 tablespoons lime juice (i squeezed mine fresh)
1 clove garlic, minced (about 1 teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon coconut aminos ( can use soya if no gluten allergy)
1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger ( used fresh grated)
1/2 teaspoon rice vinegar
1/4 cup sunflower seed butter (I used almond butter)
dash ground cayenne pepper (optional) I used MORE
1/4 cup can coconut milk (I probably added another ¼ cup – mostly the cream part)

NOTE: this isn’t sweet – I added 2-3 Tbsp of pure maple syrup – I just kept mixing and adding until it was sweet enough for me

Directions:
1. Place all the ingredients except the coconut milk in the bowl of a food processor and whirl until well blended.
2. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber scraper, then add the coconut milk. Process until it’s blended and smooth - you don't want this too thick so thin it out if needed with coconut milk. Store covered in the fridge. (I warmed mine – DON’T boil – in a sauce pan)

I cooked spaghetti squash, made it into spaghetti, cooked diced chicken and sautéed veggies and then poured this sauce over it. (you can also julienne zucchini and sautee that as well in place of pasta)

I had tried to get the Memories of Thai spicy peanut sauce mix at the Superstore but they NO LONGER carry it so I went home and found this! 

I basically kept adding more coconut milk and maple syrup until I got the consistency I liked. I used the A-Roy D coconut milk as I find it has so much cream (I even drained off the milk and used mostly cream in this recipe)

Sunday 13 May 2012

Chicken Curry -low carb


 Low Carb Chicken Curry


Makes 4 small servings

1-3 tablespoons of oil, butter
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tablespoons curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon of garam marsala
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
1/16 teaspoon pure stevia extract
1/8-1/4 teaspoon sea salt
3 boneless chicken thighs or 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup plain yogurt or pureed cottage cheese
3/4 cup coconut milk (lite, if you prefer)
1/2 lime, juiced
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Saute onion until brown. Add garlic, curry, cinnamon, paprika, bay leaf, ginger, sweetener, and sea salt, stir around pan for 2 minutes. Use a food processor to puree cottage cheese or yogurt with coconut milk and tomato paste. Add chicken and coconut milk mixture to pan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, squeeze in the lime juice, simmer -20 mins. Remove bay leaf, stir in cayenne pepper. Finish with more lime juice to taste, serve over riced cauliflower.


Riced Cauliflower

Makes four small servings


4 cups of fresh grated cauliflower
1 tablespoon organic unsalted butter
1/2 crumbled
organic boullion cube (watch out for MSG!)

Grate cauliflower with a cheese grater. Add butter to a pan over medium heat. Stir fry cauliflower for 2 minutes, crumbling the boullion cube over it during the cooking process. Cook until just tender, and remove from pan.

~3g net carbs per serving

Garnished with fresh cilantro and a squeeze of lime, mm-mmmm